". . . I Regret That I Am Only Able To Give Such A Bad
Report Of The Far Interior Of This Colony;
But even so, and even though
it has not been our fortune to discover any country useful either to the
Pastoralist or miner, yet I hope we have done good service in proving the
nature of a large tract of country previously unknown. Our late journey
will, I think, give an answer to the oft-repeated question, "Does the
gold-belt extend in a direct line from Coolgardie to Kimberley?" and the
answer is in the negative. At least we have demonstrated the uselessness
of any persons wasting their time and money in farther investigation of
that desolate region. Such an expedition might be undertaken for
pleasure, but this I should not recommend, for few countries present such
difficulties of travel or such monotony of scenery or occupation.
Although I am leaving this country, probably for good, I would not wish
it to be thought that I have no faith in it, for the late developments
and marvellous returns from the goldfields should convert the most
sceptical. Nor have the other sources of wealth to the Colony failed to
impress their importance on me. . . Every one is glad to return to his
home, and I am no exception; but however happy I am at the prospect of
again seeing my native land, yet I cannot say goodbye to the numerous
friends I have been fortunate in making in this Colony without sincere
feelings of regret. Every day the Old Country, which we are all proud to
call Home, and the New are learning to understand each other better, and
the bond of friendship between them is ever strengthening. If I have been
able to promote these feelings in however small a degree, and have been
able to show that the Home-born is still able, and willing, to take his
share in the pioneer work of this continent of Australia, as his fathers
were before him, then I have not worked in vain."
APPENDIX
The foregoing pages would, I fear, give the reader a very bad impression
of the Colony of West Australia, until it was fully understood that my
experiences relate solely to the interior and to that part of the
interior the borders of which can only be reached by a journey of some
four hundred miles by train from the coast - that part of the Colony, in
fact, which lies to the East of longitude 121 degrees.
Now West Australia is so large that, despite the desert nature of so much
of it, there still remain many thousand square miles of country suitable
for settlement and rich in mineral wealth.
The settled portions show a picture the reverse of that I have been
compelled to exhibit in the course of my travels.
The Colony altogether covers no less an area than 975,920 square miles, a
little over eight times the area of Great Britain and Ireland. It
occupies the whole of the continent West of the he 129th east meridian.
In 1826 a party of soldiers and convicts formed the first settlement at
King George's Sound. Three years later a settlement was established on
the banks of the Swan River. From this modest beginning the progress of
the settlement, which at first was slow in the extreme, came with a rush
on the discovery of gold. The population of the Colony now exceeds
150,000 souls, and there can be no doubt that this population will be
substantially added to annually, when the advantages which the country
possesses, over and beyond its auriferous districts, come to be more
generally known and recognised.
The progress of prosperity and civilisation undoubtedly runs parallel
with railway progress, and since the Government of the Colony became
autonomous that progress has been rapid. Seven years ago the total
mileage was 193. There is now, as I write, a total length of 1,200 miles,
1,000 of which have been constructed during the past six years. Of these
1,200 miles, 923 belong to the State and the balance to a private
company, whose line runs from Perth, along the coast northward, to the
port of Geraldton. But though lines have been laid from Perth to
Coolgardie, Kalgoorlie, and Cue, settlers are breaking ground farther
afield, and further extensions both in the direction of the agricultural
districts and of the goldfields are contemplated. The State railways,
which may be looked upon as completely efficient, have paid, according to
a statement in the West Australia year-book, a dividend of 11 1/2 per
cent.
Although I have elsewhere described the primitive nature of the postal
arrangements on the goldfields, it must be borne in mind that this
relates to early days; now, the number of letters passing through the
offices reaches 26,000,000; of newspapers, 17,000,000; while parcels to
the extent of 5,000,000, and over a quarter of a million of postcards,
and 1,000,000 telegrams were dispatched in one year, although the Postal
Department all over the Colony is shockingly managed. There are no less
than 5,429 miles of telegraph line open. The rapid increase displayed in
these figures is the outcome, undoubtedly, of the gold discovery. The
first official record of gold production was in 1886, when the yield for
the six months ending that year was 302 oz., valued at 1,148 pounds. The
yield for 1897 was over 700,000 oz., representing rather more than 2 1/4
millions sterling.
Owing to the "sporadic and pockety" nature of the finds it was at first
supposed that gold would only be found in superficial deposits. This
supposition has now been completely upset by the result of sinking
operations at Kalgoorlie and elsewhere.
The richness of the Western Australian goldfields is established beyond
the possibility of a doubt, and though over-capitalisation and want of
proper management have had their customary ill-effects upon the industry,
yet the undoubted and immense value of the auriferous yield should make
the ultimate prosperity of the Colony a matter of certainty.
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