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II 2 
hence it is not surprising that this State was amongst one of 
the first to employ a geologist as part of the official staff. 
The position seems to have been first occupied by Dr. Fer- 
dinand van Sommer. This gentleman travelled extensively dur- 
ing the years 1847 to 1851 throughout the State. He geologi- 
cally examined the Victoria, Toodvay, and York districts, and 
extended his observations to the country lying between the 
latter and Mount Barren, on the south coast. Neither the 
maps nor the reports of this observer appear to have ever 
been published, although three articles from his pen bearing 
upon the geology of Western Australia have appeared in the 
current literature during the years 1848 and 1849. The 
original drawings of Dr. van Sommers’ maps have now been 
discovered, and are preserved by the Department along 
with that historical collection showing the progress of geological 
mapping in Western Australia, which is now on view in the Geo- 
logical Gallery of the Museum. 
After an interval of twenty-one years, during which much 
excellent geological work was accomplished by the Gregory 
Brothers, Mr. H. Y. Lyell Brown was appointed to the post of 
Government Geologist. This gentleman, during the years 1870 
to 1873, prepared three geological maps and issued ten reports 
(now out of print) , which referred principally to the Southern and 
Coastal portions of the State. One important map “ Showing the 
Progress of the Geological Survey ” on a scale of about 18 miles 
to the inch, indicates with a considerable amount of detail the 
geology of the coastline from Doubtful Baj^ to a little north of 
Geraldton. It is interesting to note that the first supply of \ 
artesian water in Western Australia was obtained in a bore near 
the Canning River, a few miles south-east of Perth, and close to 
the foot of the Darling Range, put down under the advice of Mr. 
Brown. His Excellency Governor Weld, in a despatch to the 
Earl of Carnarvon, dated 30th September, 1874, reported that 
"it was with much regret that in 1872, owing to the disinclination evinced 
“ by the Legislature in the then straitened circumstances of the Colony to 
“ expend money on a scientific department, that I was obliged to forego my 
"desire of making it (a Geological Department), a permanent part of the 
“ establishment.’’ 
In the same despatch the Governor, basing his information 
on the data contained in, and the deductions to be drawn from, 
Mr. Brown's reports, informed the British Government that : — 
‘ the mineral riches of the Colony are very great I have never doubted 
" but that they would ultimately become a main source of its advancement. 
"AH different kinds of auriferous quartz known in other colonies are abun- 
“ dantly found in various parts of this. The question of payable gold is, as 
“ I have long since reported, simply a question of time. . • - The Colony 
" is extraordinarily rich in lead, silver, copper, iron, plumbago, and many 
" other minerals are found in various localities, and indications of coal and 
"petroleum are not wanting — what is wanting is energy and enterprise to 
‘ ' develop these riches. . . 
