Handbook of Western Australia/Part 1
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FALLS OF THE SERPENTINE.
PART I.
GEOLOGY AND PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.
As the horizontal contours of any portion of the earth's surface must depend on the vertical, or, in other words, the various features which are marked on the map—the coast line, plains, rivers, vallies, lakes, hills, mountains, &c., being consequent on the different elevations of the various portions of the surface above the level of the sea; and as those elevations are the results of geological formation, a general knowledge of the geology of any country is the best introduction to a knowledge of its geography.
The geology of Western Australia is in its general features very simple. Upon an undulating surface of granitoidal rocks, passing, as is common elsewhere, into gneiss and other forms of metamorphic rock, have been deposited strata, for the most part horizontal, of sandstones and limestones, the greatest thickness of which does not probably in any place exceed 700 feet. These form flat-topped ranges, and by process of denudation and consequent separation from the mass, detached masses and peaked hills, which are characteristic features of the country over a large portion of its area. The arenaceous and cretaceous deposits have, in process of denudation, been cut into valleys and gullies, in the courses of which the base rock is commonly laid bare; but as these deposits, even when obviously similar in formation, are found at different elevations, and as science has recently confirmed the possibility of similar deposits having been made at different periods under similar conditions, it will not follow that these are all of the same period in time, or that they have even been continuous. On the contrary, it would seem that the different positions in which such deposits are found are due to gradual or successive elevations of the land from its Western Coast, but, in addition to these causes of the superficial formation, recent examination of the Southern district of the Colony has shown that its area has been traversed by elevations of eruptive rocks. The same features have been observed in the upper basins of the Murchison River, and the highest and most prominent hills and ranges throughout the country have been so formed; those on the South being granitic or schistose, while those to the North are described as basaltic, trappean, or volcanic. Those erupted rocks, both on the South and in the Murchison District, form well defined ranges culminating in bold rocky peaks trending from East and North to South and West, and, about the sources of the Murchison, divide a series of parallel valleys forming the basins of its affluents. True basalt has been found in its crystalline forms in the South Western angle of the Colony at Bunbury on the North, and Cape Beaufort on the South, but connexion between these eruptive masses has not been determined.
Two geological maps of the South-Western part of the Colony have been published; one by F. H. Gregory (Arrowsmith, London, 1860) including the Gascoigne river, which is now very scarce, and the other by H. Y. L. Brown, giving the result of his surveys when employed as Government Geologist during the years 1870-73, which will be found with detailed maps, sections, &c., in the volumes of Council papers published by the Government during the years 1872-73. This of course is the more valuable, as of later date, and the work of a professional Geologist, but Mr. Gregory's map, including a much larger area both to the North and East, and marking the appearance of granitoid rocks in the river courses and elsewhere, as well as many erupted masses not included in Mr, Brown's map, gives valuable assistance in considering the general geological features of the Colony. Granitoid rocks appear in great masses, forming capes and headlands on the Southern Coast, as also in dome-like elevations and bare escarpments, on the summits and sides of the principal water-sheds of the country. These, in many places, and more especially from Champion Bay to the Murchison River, are traversed by dykes of greenstone and similar rocks, in which rich lodes of copper and lead are found; and on the surface, in other places, there are extensive deposits of brown hæmatitic iron ore. Silver exists in small quantities in the lead ores, and gold has been found both in alluvium and quartz reefs, but not as yet in quantity to make its working remunerative. Among the erupted schistose rocks on the Irwin, Phillips, and Fitzgerald rivers have been found, as probably there will be elsewhere, strata containing a semi-bituminous deposit which has been taken for coal. Tin and zinc have also been reported as existing in several places, but have not yet been discovered in workable quantities. Mr. Brown attributes the argillaceous clays, shales, and schists to the Silurian period, the bituminous shales to the Carboniferous, the sandstones and limestones to the Oolitic, but the coast limestone, evidently a more recent concretion, must be excepted, which, with its accompanying beds of calcareous grit and sandstone, he attributes to the Tertiary period. Some of the fossils which these limestones contain, differ but little from species still existing on the shores of the Colony; but Mr. Brown seems to think that the clays and laminated rocks found at the base of the hills may underlie them.
This outline sketch of the Geology of Western Australia may be sufficient to account for its most apparent physical features, but some further Geological notices will be required in considering them more in detail. On examination, the coast line of Western Australia will be seen to present three deep indentations—at King George's Sound on the South, Shark's Bay on the West, and King's Sound on the North coast, all trending to the Westward of North. To the West of King's Sound there is an extensive bight, reaching nearly to the N.W. angle of the Colony, while, on the South coast, the Great Australian Bight stretches Eastward from Cape Arid; and lines drawn from Fowler's Bay (beyond the Eastern limit of the Colony) to King's Sound, and, parallel to it, Northward from Cape Arid and Southward from Shark's Bay, will divide the Colony into three districts, trending about N.N.W. and S.S.E.
- 1. The Desert district, continuous beyond the Eastern limit of the Colony.
- 2. The Lake district, extending to the head waters of the Greenough and Murchison.
- 3. The Coast district, including the basins of all rivers South of the Greenough.
To these must be added the Coast districts of the North and South, including the basins of all rivers felling into the sea in those directions.
These divisions accord well with what is known of the Geology of the Colony, as a line drawn N.N.W. from Point Culver at the Western end of the Great Australian Bight will pass along the Western limit of the granitoid rocks on the edge of the great desert, and strike the mountains at the head of the Fortescue; while a similar line drawn from Fowler's Bay, at the head of the Bight, where Mr. Delisser found granite, will pass between Mounts Elvire and Fort Mueller granitic rocks, on Forrest's track, near the Eastern edge of the great desert. It is also apparent that a similar line, drawn from the Eastern shore of the Great Bight, would come out on the Northern coast in the deep indentation to the East of Cape Londonderry. These lines, and others drawn at right angles to them, will also be found to correspond generally with the coast line, so that, within a parallelogram of 1000 miles in length by 700 in breadth, which may form the normal figure of the Colony, its area to the West of a line drawn from King's Sound, S.S.E., would be included. If, however, the Southern limit of such a parallelogram were to be a line drawn through Point Culver, the Western coast limit of surface granite, in the desert district, it would pass to the North of that great mass of oolitic rock which appears on the shore of the Great Bight; and this exclusion would be consistent with the fact that this formation is exceptional, and differs from all other known geological formations in the Colony; the coast of the Great Bight extending at the foot of a limestone range of perpendicular cliffs, named after Governor Hampton. The limestones here found are of various qualities and have never been sufficiently examined, but, from the fossils they contain, which in all are numerous, and of which some entirely consist, they may probably be classed as approximating to the Great oolite of England. They are too dense to contain water, unless in fissures or caverns which are common in them. Their surface is grassed but waterless, though water, fit for stock, is found in Roe's Plains, at their base near the sea. Their Northern limit has not been observed. They present materials for building, for lime burning, and for such ornamental uses as marble is applied to. A similar line drawn from N. W. Cape, S.S.E., would exclude the projecting mass to the East of King's Sound, which has aim its own characteristic difference.
The Desert District, which had only been entered from the East and West until it was in the present decade crossed by Warburton, Forrest, and Giles, appears, so far as our present knowledge extends, to be a level expanse of sandstone, with some granitic elevations and depressions forming hills and pools, the surface covered by what is locally known as spinifex, thinly wooded with belts of mulga and other shrubs, and with scattered white gum trees near the pools of water. To the South, Giles found it waterless, but Forrest found water nearly throughout his whole route across the centre. It is therefore probable that water may exist in many places, but the district, so far as is known, offers no inducement even to further exploration; yet Forrest, in 1853, found a sandstone range extending into it under the parallel 28-30 South Latitude, and reports many natives, and much game in its interior; it may therefore possibly be more varied in character than is commonly supposed.
Of the Lake District more is known, but by no means as much as is to be desired. It presents an irregular undulating surface of granitic rocks, very varied, as is usual, in composition and structure, traversed by dykes of dioritic quartzose and schistose rocks, the general direction of which may be found to correspond to the normal lines already indicated. Masses termed indifferently trap or basalt by explorers, and cairns of granite, form isolated hilts and ranges, the relations of which have yet to be determined. Quartzose and schistose dykes in erupted masses appear to be most common in the South, and trap or basalt in the North.
Upon the undulating surface of the primitive rocks of this district horizontal strata of sandstone, but of no great thickness, have been deposited; the elevations are separated by broad irregular shallow troughs, the depressions in the surface of the primitive rocks, in which are deposited clays and sands disintegrated from them, which act as receptacles for water, and form lakes of greater or smaller extent, according to the amount of the rainfall, and which uniting in very wet seasons may have given rise to the report, once prevalent, of an inland sea. The lakes or swamps thus formed may probably cover one-third of the entire area of this district South of the sources of the Murchison river.
The disintegration of the surface rocks, even of the granite, from the quantity of feldspar contained in it, but more especially of the sandstone and schistose rocks, is effected with great rapidity both here and elsewhere in the Colony, and is not confined to wet periods, but is continuous from atmospheric action during the whole year; and it may be assumed that where sandstones dominate, the process of evaporation, by which only the surface waters are diminished, there being no known outfall for them, not only leaves in deposition any saline matters that may be present in them, but also may cause the formation of crystals of gypsum, as Mr. Brown supposes, and consequently the lakes so formed are salt; while those of which the clay basins are formed by the disintegration of granitic or erupted rocks are fresh, as are the springs commonly found at the bases of elevations of those rocks.
A considerable portion of this district is, after rains, richly grassed, and has been utilized for grazing sheep and cattle; but as rain falls at very irregular periods, and often at long intervals, it is therefore unfit for agricultural purposes. Long belts of a thick but low growth of small Eucalypti are found traversing it at intervals. It may probably be found hereafter rich in those minerals which accompany or are contained in granitic transition or erupted rocks.
The Lake district may be considered as a shallow basin on a plateau of 300 miles square, and is buttressed up on three sides by elevations which form the watersheds of the rivers, the valleys of which open to the coasts of the Colony. The superior ranges, which separate the river basins, commonly present bare surfaces of granitoid rock; the inferior are, for the most part, covered with a concretionary rock, frequently appearing as a conglomerate, known in the Colony as iron-stone, which is also common in the valleys and on the flanks of the ranges on the West Coast, while to the North and South sandstones predominate. As is commonly the case, the highest points project in front of the main mass, but it is not probable that any attain to 2000 feet above the level of the sea, and the greatest elevations will be found in the South-West and North-West; in the former about the middle of the river basins, and in the latter near the sources of the rivers.
As the basins of the larger rivers naturally divide the Coast Districts into areas having characteristic differences, they may be best considered separately, and, as the principal settlements are on the West Coast, it may claim priority in description. A line of about 300 miles, from the sources of the Blackwood to those of the Irwin, may represent the South-Western watershed of the Colony. This great mass of granitic rock,—the Western escarpment of which is known as the Stirling Range, which forms the watershed of the rivers of the South as well as West, and the spurs from which separate their basins—,has its greatest elevations to the South and West. The height of but few of these has been correctly ascertained, but Mt. William, at the source of Meares River, to the South of the Murray, rises 1685 feet above the level of the sea.
To the West and South another range has been thrown up, forming a sort of terrace below the main range, and this is marked by Roe's Range, of which Mt. Lennard on the Collie is the culminating point; beneath this, as has been noted, on the coast, both to the West and South, basaltic columns have been protruded at Bunbury and at Cape Beaufort; and beyond, about thirty miles to the West, the Coast Range, some points of which are nearly 800 feet above the sea, has by its elevation directed the course of the Blackwood to the South. This is also granitic, but has deposits of limestone and saliferous sandstones upon it. The former, probably of the same formation as the Coast limestone, are hollowed into numerous caverns containing fossils and fossiliferous deposits, while, in the lowlands at the base of the main range to the East, there are superficial masses of gravel containing fossil bones of large animals which have not yet been examined. The line of this coast range is apparently continued in the reefs which fringe the coast, the outer one being known as the Five Fathom Bank, possibly terminating in Houtman's Abrolhos.
The great granitic mass of the South-Western Ranges slopes downward to the North, where the strata of sandstones and limestones about Moore River and the rivers of the Victoria district to the North, and which rest upon it, give a distinct character to that portion of the Colony. The formation of these is not sufficiently well known, but it would seem that they are related to the schistose deposits on the Irwin and the South coast. The Blackwood, having had its lower course directed Southward by the interposition of the rock masses on the West Coast, from Cape Leeuwin to Cape Naturaliste, assumes an intermediate position in the South, as the Gascoigne, falling into Shark's Bay, does to the North. The rivers Murchison, Greenough, Swan, and Murray, the basins of which open to the West coast, have their sources in the main watershed, and mark the principal divisions of the Coast district; while the Hutt, Bowes, and Chapman, the Irwin and Moore, the Serpentine, Harvey, and Collie, have their sources in the outer slopes of the ranges which form the upper basins of the larger rivers, as other inferior rivers, so called, have their sources still nearer the Coast line. The rivers of the Colony are indeed, for the most part, water courses, down which torrents rush in wet seasons, which occur only occasionally and sometimes at long intervals; and their courses are at other times marked by sand and gravel, brought down by the floods, and pools formed in the bottom rocks, in which, as being below the general level of the river bed, water remains after a flood, and in some of which it is maintained by natural springs; these are fresh or saline, too frequently the latter, according to the conditions in which they are found. The lower course of the rivers commonly opens into lakes, lagoons, or (as they are termed) estuaries, often formed by elevations or depressions in the rocks near the coast, and shut in from the sea by a bar of rock and sand, a passage through the latter being opened in time of flood, to be immediately closed by the action of the sea, when the force of the current of the river is no longer sufficient to keep it open. Some few of the rivers have, however, a stream continuous throughout the year, and of fresh water; these will be found on the South-Western and Northern coasts of the Colony. It will be seen that the main, as well as the lateral valleys of the river basins, are generally in the direction of the normal lines already indicated.
DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHY.
When Captain Fremantle hoisted the British flag at the mouth of the Swan river, he took possession formally of all the land in the Great Island Continent now known as Australia not included in the Colony of New South Wales. Subsequently the Colony of Western Australia had its Eastern limit defined by the 129th meridian of longitude East from Greenwich, and in 1861 that also was made the Western boundary of the Colony of South Australia; the whole area to the West of that meridian is therefore within the limits of and subject to the Government of this Colony. By the supplementary commission granted to the Governor in 1873, the boundaries of the Colony were defined "as extending from the parallel of thirteen degrees thirty minutes South latitude to West Gape Howe, in the parallel of thirty-five degrees eight minutes South latitude, and from the Hartog's Island on the Western Coast, in longitude one hundred and twelve degrees fifty-two minutes, to one hundred and twenty-nine degrees of East longitude, reckoning from the meridian of Greenwich, including all the Islands adjacent in the Indian and Southern Oceans within the latitudes and longitudes aforesaid.
The positions of the extreme points of the Colony are: —
| S. Lat. | E. Long. | |
| On the North, Cape Londonderry … | 13·45 | 126·57 |
| On the West, Dirk Hartog Island. Cape Inscription … | 25·29 | 112·57 |
| On the South, Peak Head, S. of King George's Sound … | 25·13 | 117·57 |
The extent and area of the Colony, as estimated in the Office of the Surveyor General, are:—
| Length from North to South … | 1490 | English miles |
| Breadth from East to West … | 865 | do. |
| Length of line including the coast … | 3500 | do. |
| And in English square miles … | 1,060,000 | |
| " acres | 678,400,000 |
It is therefore the largest of the Colonies of Australia, and more than 80 times as large as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
The Swan River, as the centre of the population and industry of the Colony, and as having on its banks the capital, Perth, and at its mouth the principal port, Fremantle, may claim precedence in description. Its name was, moreover, that at first given to the new Colony, and is even yet more familiar to those engaged in trade than the more general and proper appellation of Western Australia.
The first land usually made by vessels on the West coast of Australia is Rottnest (i.e., Rat-nest) island. This is of irregular shape, having its greatest length on the transverse axis, from W. to E., t.e., from Cape Vlaming to Ft. Phillip, 7½ miles in length, and being from Ft. Parker to North Point, 2½ miles in breadth; it is 10 miles from the coast. The West point forms a small peninsula; and, on the East there are lagoons from which salt is extracted by native aboriginal convicts, who are confined on the island. Their prison, the superintendent's house, and other buildings have been erected, and a small farm is cultivated by them. There is also on the East side, on the shore of Thomson's Bay, a marine residence for the Governor of the Colony. A lighthouse stands on a hill 154 feet high, the lanthorn being 211 feet above the sea, and the light visible 21 miles. To the South of the island, in a hue on the main axis of elevation, two miles from its Eastern extremity, a series of rocks and reefs extends for seven miles to Carnac, a rocky islet, and is continued from thence for two miles to Garden Island, which has its greatest length of 5½ miles to within one mile of John's point to the North of Cape Peron, from which the mainland is continuous to the East and North, thus forming apparently an extensive and sheltered harbor 17 miles in length from North to South, The Southern portion, Cockburn Sound, is indeed a spacious basin, 8 miles long by 3½ wide, having 7 fathoms water within less than a cable's length of the East shore, but it is rendered inaccessible from the North by Parmelia bank, stretching from Woodman's Point to Carnac, which, although it affords protection from that quarter, has only 1½ fathoms water on its crest To the North of this, Owen's Anchorage has 4 fathoms water close to the shore, but this is again covered to the North by Success bank, which, however, has a channel between it and the Stragglers to the West, with 3¼ fathoms. The entrances between the reefs into these anchorages from the sea are narrow, tortuous, and difficult, which makes them at present inaccessible to large vessels in bad weather. The entrance between Garden Island and John's point is barred by the South flats, with only about 1½ fathoms water on the crest. The North channel has been recommended by the Admiralty Surveyor as affording entrance to the largest vessels, if properly lighted and buoyed, and with the removal of one rock. The Challenger Passage, however, he entirely condemns. Owen's Anchorage and Cockburn Sound are, however, resorted to by vessels drawing 16 feet when detained during winter months at Fremantle; the latter, besides its extensive area of some 28 square miles, with from 9 to 12 fathoms water, having the snug anchorage of Careening Cove, at the South-East point of Garden Island, three-quarters of a mile in width, and with five fathoms close to the North shore; and Mangles Bay to the South, one mile and a half broad, with seven fathoms within less than half a cable's length of the shore.
Between Rottnest and the main are Gage's Roads, but the reefs which extend to the North from Carnac on the line to Rottnest, limit their breadth to five miles from thence to the shoal water on the coast; they are from 9 to 13 fathoms deep, and are a safe anchorage for vessels, excepting, possibly, in very strong gales from the North, and, with the sounds and harbors to the South, naturally appertain to the embouchure of the Swan. The river itself, however, is only about 400 yards wide at the mouth, which was closed all but a very narrow channel to the South under Arthur's Head, by a reef, until a similar channel was opened under Rous' Head to the North. As these are seldom accessible to vessels drawing more than 6 feet, and as the rise of the tide does not commonly exceed 18 inches, the trade of the port at Fremantle has at present to be carried on by means of lighters, which either discharge their cargoes from vessels in the roads, at the jetty, or take them up the river to Perth and Guildford. Outward-bound vessels have to he loaded in the same manner. For the first two miles the river is narrow, and for the most part shallow, ledges of rock projecting into it from the shores on which sandbanks have been formed; but beyond it opens into a series of broad lake-like reaches for some 11 miles to the narrows above Perth, which should perhaps be considered, more properly, the real mouth of the river. Perth water is nearly land-locked and shallow, but from thence to Rocky Bay there are some 8 square miles of water, a large portion of which is deep carrying a channel of six fathoms, affording access to a coastline of 25 miles. The country about these waters has an undulating surface of limestone, the greatest elevations of which do not much exceed 250 feet. It has been, for the most part, covered with large timber trees, of which, however, but few remain. Perth water forms a pretty lake, on the West of which Mt. Eliza rises about 180 feet in a steep escarpment; it is about one mile and a half in length, and a mile in breadth. Perth, the capital of the Colony, is built on its North bank. Below Perth water the Canning, a small river rising in the face of the Darling Range, has its outlet in Melville water. It is navigable for boats and barges for some 12 miles, to the mills of Messrs. Mason & Bird, and affords means for taking the timber brought down their tramway, to Perth, or to Fremantle for shipment. Above the islands to the East of Perth water, the river has a tortuous course, forming a succession of broad reaches to the confluence of the Helena, a small stream from the East, above which it bends to the East round the town of Guildford, and thence, ascending the stream Northward, to Ellen's Brook, a distance of about 20 miles direct from Perth, which drains the base of the range to the North, whence the valley trends North-East to Toodyay, where it is joined by the Avon from the South-East. This is, indeed, the main river, but had been so named at York before its connexion with the Swan was known. The lateral valley of the Avon, and its affluent the Dale, from the South, extend about 60 miles in a direct line, and the main river about 50 miles from Toodyay to Perth.
The upper basins of the river present, as is usual in West Australia, chains of pools, for the most part formed in rock, connected only in times of flood by water, at others by deposits of sand. Granite is largely developed in the surface of the hills about the Avon valley, which is one of the most fertile, as well as beautiful, parts of the Colony. Throughout the whole course of the river the flats on the banks are very rich with springs of fresh water from the drainage of the ground above them; some are still uncultivated, but it is occupied nearly throughout its entire length, the land having been taken up in the early days of the Colony. The banks have been throughout well wooded, and are so now in many places. The tertiary and alluvial clays and sands of marine formation, which extend along the base of the Darling Range to the South coast across the valley of the Blackwood, present an apparently level surface, broken by small lakes, and crossed by numerous rivers. The coast limestone ranges, which in some places appear to have been deposited upon the tertiary strata, in some others may be clearly perceived to rest on granitic rocks. About the mouth of the Swan they have been found below the bed of the river resting on solid cretaceous sandstones. The superficial limestones, however, form ranges of low hills along the coast, between which are extensive lagoons, two of which only, Feel and Leschenanlt inlets, communicate with the sea, but neither are accessible to vessels; the former will not, but the latter will, admit the entrance of boats. Peel inlet extends 20 miles to the South in Harvey inlet and receives the waters of the Murray, with the smaller streams of the Serpentine and Harvey, which have their sources in the valleys in the face of the Darling Range, and with other rivers of the same class to the South, run a rapid course, broken by fells before reaching the plain at the foot of the hills. The falls of the Serpentine and Meares are most remarkable for their height and the picturesque scenery about them.
The Murray has its Northern sources—the Bannister and Hotham—near those of the Avon and Canning; while its Southern, which unite in the Williams, interlock with the Hillman and Arthur, the Northern affluents of the Blackwood. The lateral valleys of the Murray extend about 45 miles, and its main valley is in a direct line from its watershed to the confluence of the Williams and Hotham, about 50 miles in length, and from thence to Peel inlet about 50 more. It receives the North and South Dandalup, from the base of the range on the the North, in its lower course. Upon these, as on all the rivers of this coast, there is much fertile land, which however has been in occupation since the early days of the Colony. The mouth of the Murray is obstructed by sandbanks, but its lower course is navigable for small craft to Pinjarrah.
The area enclosed between the Murray and Blackwood is drained by the Collie, which receive the Brunswick and Wellesley from the foot of the range in its lower course; the Preston, with its affluent stream, the Dardanup, flowing into Leschenault inlet from the South, as the Vasse and other small streams do into Geographe Bay. The valley of the Margaret opens the the coast range to the "West, as Turner's River does to the South, the interior being accessible from those points. The Blackwood drains the largest area of all the rivers in the South of the Colony, but, in consequence of the secondary elevation of the ranges to the South-West, is confined to a narrow valley in its middle course of some 60 miles in direct distance, through a mountainous and well wooded country, in which there are, however, many fertile flats and well grassed banks. Its lower course for 40 miles is of the same character as the rivers of the West coast; but it has a much greater breadth and depth, and when in flood rises more than 20 feet above its ordinary level. The lateral valleys of the upper basin have an extent of about 75 miles, and from the sources of the Beaufort on the South, to its confluence with the Arthur from the North, may be 50 miles; about 15 miles below this it is joined by the Balgarup, also from the South, from whence to the sea it has no affluent stream worthy of notice, though it is fed by numerous torrents from the mountains on either side. As the lateral valleys of the Murray are separated from those of the Swan, so the head waters of the Arthur and Hillman are separated from those of the Murray and Collie by narrow watersheds, thus dividing the hill district of the South-West into their several basins, and, in like manner, the basins of the rivers of the South coast open from the reverse of the watershed of the sources of the Blackwood. These are the Gordon, formerly called the Frankland, the Kent or Macquoid, Hay, Kalgan, and Palinup, which drain the area from Cape Chatham to Point Henry at Dillon Bay on a coast line of about 180 miles, all having their sources in the flanks of the great granitic mass of the South-West; as has the Warren between Cape Beaufort and Point D'Entrecasteaux, near which are the smaller rivers Donelly and Gardner, formerly known as the Gordon, and the Shannon and Chesapeake, which fall into Broke's inlet from the North-West. On these there is much good land, and the country about them is well grassed, and consequently has been taken up by stock owners. The forests are from 15 to 20 miles from the coast, but there are groves of peppermint and other trees on the low sandy ranges between the inlets.
The Gordon, rising between the sources of the Palinup and Beaufort, has a Westerly course of 60 miles, when it is joined by the Frankland from the North, which formerly gave its name to the whole river; from thence it has its course through a narrow valley to the rapids at the foot of the hills, and is from thence navigable for small craft to its mouth in Nornalup inlet, which is, however, obstructed by sandbanks. There are many fertile flats and well grassed slopes throughout the valley of this river. The Kent and Kalgan have their rise in a district of small lakes on the outer slopes of the basin of the Gordon. The former has a course of about 70 miles, with no considerable affluents, to Irwin inlet, and is on a smaller scale similar to the Gordon; as is the Hay, falling from the Southern slopes of its watershed, which is about 35 miles from its source to its mouth in Wilson's inlet; this also receives the smaller streams of the Denmark on the West, and the Sleeman and Teutor on the East.
The Palinup and Kalgan are intermediate in character, for on their courses the granitic hills and forests die out; the Porongurup, extending in solitary grandeur to the East, and culminating 2145 feet above the sea, while between them the schistose peaks of the Stirling Range rise in rugged masses for 30 miles; Tolbrunup, near the centre, rising 3341 feet; Ellen's peak to the East, 3420 feet, and the highest points between the two 3640 feet above the sea, as recently estimated by Capt. Archdeacon. Across the lower course of the Palinup, a comparatively level plain extends to Doubtful Island Bay, formed by sandstone deposits on the granitic floor, which is apparent in the channels of the rivers, and has its surface partly covered with timber to the West, and numerous fresh water lakes, those to the East being marked by the belts of yeat and tea-trees which surround them. The Kalgan has its course of 75 miles round Porongurup Range, and falls into Oyster harbor, which opens into King George's Sound. It is, like the rivers to the West, a constantly flowing water, but the Palinup is, except in rare seasons of flood, marked only by occasional pools; it has its outlet after a course of about 100 miles, during which it receives only two small affluents from the North, in an estuary of about five miles in length, which lies in a very beautiful valley surrounded by lofty hills, but it is closed from the sea by a bank of sand.
The sandstone rocks are well developed on either side of the estuary of the Palinup, presenting steep escarpments to the sea of some 60 feet in height, but they attain their greatest elevation on the Fitzgerald River, which flows (when it does flow, which is at intervals of several years) between lofty cliffs in its middle course, having its sources beyond the granitic outcrop to the South of the district of the Lakes, which crosses the Palinup in its middle course, extending towards Cape Arid. The sandstones occupy less of the valley of the Phillips, and it is therefore more fertile; but the erupted schists, which are so largely developed in parallel lines near the coast of Doubtful Bay, cross the lower course of both rivers, and culminate in the three Mounts Barren. All the waters of the Fitzgerald are saline, but Hamersley's River, an affluent of the Phillips, on the North of Eyre's Range, is fresh. There are also deep and large fresh water pools on the Nicolay and Gardner Rivers, which traverse the centre of the plain, and have their estuaries in Bremer and Doubtful Island Bays. St. Mary's River drains the Eastern and Northern slopes of West Mount Barren, and is remarkable for the beauty of its estuary, and the romantic development of the schistose rocks at St. Mary's crags, on its middle course. There are also fresh water pools on the lower course of the Palinup, where the granitic rocks appear on the surface.
Mr. Price's recent survey of the coast from Bremer Bay to Eucla has given accurate knowledge of its physical features. Granitic rocks present themselves in ragged peaks at intervals to Cape Arid and Cape Pasley. The Steere falls into Cullum inlet to the East of the Phillips, some 20 miles beyond which the Judacup communicates with a chain of lakes; 25 miles further East is the Oldfleld. The Young and Lort fall into Stoke's inlet, and here limestones begin to appear above the granite floor. At Barker inlet the limestone cliffs are 250 feet in height, beyond which Gray's Kiver communicates with the lake of the same name; and other lakes and lagoons, both salt and fresh, are continued to the Eastward. At Esperance Bay the granite is again developed in high peaks, rising at Cape le Grand 1040 feet above the sea level. Thomas River to the East and the Weeauenginup Creek are the last waters on the South-east coast of the Colony, the latter being between Capes Arid and Pasley. The limestone cliffs of Hampden Range extend to Wilson's Bluff 7 miles beyond the landing place at Eucla; and Ross plains, beneath these, have an extreme breadth of 25 miles; they are covered with samphire bushes, and afford only water fit for stock.
The Western coast of the Colony presents a range of low sandhills, varied with occasional points of limestone rock, to beyond the Moore River; but the Southern rises in bold granitic headlands at Cape Chatham on the West, 820 feet above the sea, and at Mount Manypeake, to the East of King George's Sound, 1855 feet; Warricup and Bald island are both 1020 feet high; Bennet's Range, to the North of Parry's inlet, culminates in Mt. Lindsay, 1469 feet above the sea; and Kalganup, to the North of Nornalup, at 1384 feet. Between West Cape Howe and Cape Chatham are many extensive inlets,—Burkes, 7½ miles long, Nomalup 2¾, Irwin's, and Parry's, and Wilson's, 8 miles long, of which Nornalup alone is accessible to small craft. There are, however, at Point D'Entrecasteaux, Capes Leeuwin and Chatham, the mouth of Nornalup, and Point Hillier, as well as in Tor Bay, anchorages sheltered by islets and reefs; but, as the Admiralty survey now in progress is complete only in the coast line without soundings, nothing can be said certainly respecting them. King George's Sound, however, in the centre of this coast, is accessible to vessels of any class and at all times, and has a circular area of some six miles in diameter, protected to the East by Michaelmas and Breaksea, rocky islands, and surrounded for the most part by granitic hills; on the North it terminates in a sandy beach of three miles in length, on the East of which is Oyster Harbor, accessible to vessels drawing 14 feet, and carrying that depth to the mouth of King River, having a small area of deeper water within; to the South-East is an inner harbor, named Princess Royal, of which, though a great portion to the West is, as in Oyster Harbor, shallow, it is on the North capable of receiving the largest vessels; and here, at the town of Albany, at the base of Mt. Gardner, a granitic mass rising 860 feet above the sea, the mail steamers deliver their mails and passengers, and take in coal for their further voyage. This harbor is entirely landlocked, a long point crossing it to the East, rising in Quarantine hill, 260 feet, and the entrance being only three cables broad. The survey of King George's Sound is completed and published, as are those of the ports of Fremantle and Champion Bay.
A chain of fresh water lakes stretches to the North of Perth water for 30 miles towards the Moore River; and from thence to the Bowes River, beyond Champion Bay, the granite floor has a more even surface, and the sandstones and limestones are more largely and regularly developed, so that the ranges throughout this district, of which the principal near the coast are Gardner and Moresby's flat-topped ranges, have a level surface, varied only by the valleys of the rivers and by detached conical hills. Granite, however, forms elevated masses to the North of Moore River in Mounts Peron and Lesueur, which rise to more than 1000 feet above the sea, and on the Greenough River, and forms the surface of the greater portion of what is known as the Mines district, to the North of Champion Bay; it also appears in the Victoria Plains, where the Moore and Arrowsmith rivers take their rise about 50 miles from the coast. The rivers of this district are therefore mere watercourses, with occasional deep pools in the rocks, but in rainy seasons are filled with broad, deep, and rapid torrents. On and about their banks occasional flats of rich land are found, but the country is obviously more fitted for pastoral than agricultural pursuits. To this there are, however, two marked exceptions; one in the plains along the base of the hills below the upper valleys of the rivers, and the other in the lacustrine basins between the Irwin and Greenough, in which there is a large extent of rich alluvium, in the latter mostly under cultivation. The Moore, Arrowsmith, and Irwin have their sources in the Western slopes of the Northern spurs of the Darling Range, but the sources of the Greenough are in the North-West angle of the Lake district, and overlap those of the Irwin. The Chapman has its sources in the outer slopes of the basins of the Greenough, as the smaller rivers of the coast, the Buller, Oakagee, and Bowes, have from without the valley of the Chapman. The Greenough may have a direct course of more than 150 miles, and its lateral valleys may extend 100, but this part of the Colony has not been surveyed, although triangulations have been carried from Perth to the Weld Range, beyond the Murchison, under the direction of the Surveyor General, from which it appears that the principal elevations are Mt. Dalgeranger, to the East of the sources of the Greenough, 2100 feet, and Mt. Lulworth, the culminating point of Weld Range, 2330 feet above the sea.
Forrest found Mt. Hale, under the 26th parallel, composed of magnetic iron ore with brown hæmatite, similar to the peak in consequence named Mt. Magnet by Austin; and several other peaks in this and the Lake district are of the same formation.
The Murchison River is exceptional both in size, position, and character. It is the longest river of the Colony, has its upper basin in the North-West angle of the Lake district, to the Eastward of the Greenough and Gascoigne, and on its banks the first specimens of the fauna and flora of the North coast are apparent. It has a deep channel above its mouth. The river, in its middle and lower courses, winds through an irregular valley, rich in minerals, for more than 100 miles is a direct line without an affluent. The upper valleys of the Murchison have not been mapped, but it has several affluents, the Sanford, Impey, and Roderick, the valleys of which have an extent of from 100 to 200 miles. Forrest found the Eastern watershed under the 120th meridian, after passing over some 100 miles of undulating well-grassed country, traversed by numerous watercourses, the most important lateral valley being that of the Sanford, the waters of those to the North being fresh, and those to the South, for the most part, saline. Mounts Bartle and Russel, at the Eastern source, are in latitude 26° 5' South, and the valley lies to the South of Robinson Range. In ordinary seasons the course of this river is only marked by its bed, either of rock or sand, or by occasional pools; but in times of flood a vast volume of water is poured down to the sea, into which it passes through cliffs of limestone. The plains about the head waters of the Murchison and to the East of the Greenough are being rapidly occupied by sheep farmers, especially those of the Champion Bay district, to whom they have proved a most valuable means of extending their runs and increasing their flocks. Mr. Forrest discovered large surfaces of well-grassed land, and many pools and fresh water springs on the main source of the river. The Gascoigne and its affluent, the Lyons, form the connecting links between the rivers of the West and those of the North coasts, the head waters of the one interlocking with those of the Murchison, and of tine other with those of the Ashburton. The Lyons flows at the foot of the South face of Barlee Range, as the Ashburton does at the North of Capricorn Range, under the Southern tropic, the Spinifex district of the coastline extending to the Eastward between them.
The basin of the Upper Gascoigne is marked by lofty hills of erupted rock, trap, and basalt, as well as by schists and slates. It is rich in minerals, has many available arable and pastoral locations; it may present an irregular curved area of 200 miles in length by 60 in breadth. The Lyons joins the Gascoigne about 75 miles from the sea, at the base of the sandstones, which have here their escarpment on the North face of the Kennedy Range, through which the course of the river passes to the sea, in Sharks Bay. About the mouth there is much good pastoral land, which has been taken up and is in course of occupation. The mouth of the river covered by Babbage island forms a harbor accessible by the Southern channel to vessels drawing 14 feet. Sharks Bay will probably become the centre of the trade of the Upper Murchison, as well as of the Gascoigne; it is a vast sheet of water having a low Eastern coast of about 130 miles covered by mangrove flats on the South of the Gascoigne, and rising in the sandhills of Lyell's Range to the North, unbroken, save by the mouth of that river. This great gulf is divided at its Southern extremity into two large bays or sounds by Peron Peninsula, extending 70 miles to Cape Peron. The Eastern is again divided into two parts by Point Petit and Faure island. Durham Sound, on the West, is broken into several deep inlets, and terminates in Freycinet harbor. Sharks Bay is covered to the West by Dirk Hartog's island, about 70 miles in length by six in breadth, to the North of which Doore and Bernier islands, with their connecting reefs, extend 50 more. The Naturaliste channel, between Dirk Hartog and Bernier islands, is 15 miles broad, and the Geographe Channel, to the North, 50. There can be no doubt that this must become hereafter an important naval station. Dirk Hartog's island has been long occupied as a sheep station by Mr. F. von Bibra. These islands are all rocky. Dirk Hartog's rises 435 feet above the sea at the Northern extremity.
From the Murchison a barren sandstone plain extends to the coast near the mouth of the Ashburton, broken only by the lower course of the Gascoigne, and supposed to be waterless. With the valley of the Ashburton the pastoral district of the North-West coast commences, and extends for 300 miles to the DeGrey. Throughout this district from Exmouth Gulf the coast is generally low and covered with mangroves, while to the West it is bold and rocky, yet granitic rocks appear in many places. The principal rivers—the Ashburton, Fortescue, and DeGrey—have their sources among the granitic ranges of the interior, and their middle in the sandstone ranges which flank them, and from which the surface descends gradually to the sea, and below which the inferior rivers—the Cane, Robe, Maitland, Harding, and Yule—have their, rise. F. H. Gregory describes three distinct terraces rising from the sea to the South. Although much of the land is very fertile, yet, as the rainfall is uncertain, and often at long intervals, this district is not well fitted for agriculture; but as there is water for stock, and the natural grasses are permanent, it has become one of the most important grazing districts in the Colony.
The sources of the Gascoigne and Ashburton may he 1500 feet above the sea, and there are many points of considerable elevation about them. Mount Augustus, on the Lyons, was estimated by Gregory to be 3480 feet in height; here he found porphyritic, schistose, and metamorphic sandstone rocks; and the ridges, which separate the head waters of all the rivers, are commonly highly siliceous. Plutonic and erupted rocks, diorite, trap, and basalt have been also noticed by explorers in many parts of their valleys.
The Ashburton has a course of nearly 200 miles to the sea, and is 100 yards wide at the mouth, with deep water, but has no safe anchorage. It receives two considerable affluents on the right, Hardey River and Duck Creek, and has good alluvial land and well-grassed plains throughout its course. The upper basin may be 75 miles in width. The Fortescue may be in extent equal to the Ashburton, but has no considerable affluent; this river has much richly grassed country throughout its course, especially below Hamersley Range, which culminates in Mt. Pyrton, 2700 feet above the sea, and from the flanks of which a stream of fresh water, known as the Mill stream, debouches through a gorge. Here first are seen the palm-trees of the North coast. To the North-East of this river, about the sources of the Sherlock and Yule, plains covered with spinifex are found, which again extend beyond the DeGrey, limiting the area of the pastoral land; but Mr. Cowle saw splendid country to the South, and there is good land in patches on the DeGrey and its affluent, the Oakover; but the valley of the Strelly is closed in by granite ranges, with volcanic ridges appearing through them (F. H. Gregory), and similar rocky hills limit the valley of the Shaw to the West. On the Sherlock the sandstone hills rise in bold bluffs 300 feet above the pools of permanent water, and sandstone forms the surface of the spinifex district towards the East. Throughout this district scattered trees are found on the plains, and white gums in many of the river valleys, as well as about the sources of the Sherlock. The long low coastline is broken, near the centre, by the promontory which forms Nickol Bay and its adjacent islands; but neither Cossack, on its South-Eastern side, nor Tien Tsin, beyond Cape Lambert, its Eastern boundary, afford good accommodation for trade. Port Robinson has, however, been recently opened in Hampton Sound to the West; it is protected by Enderby and other islands to the North, and is accessible by Mermaid Passage, between them and the Legendre islands, to the North-West of Nickol Bay. Beyond Cape Latouche Treville, to which the plains of spinifex extend, the face of the country changes its character, presenting an aspect totally different from that of any other part of the Colony. The coast becomes rocky; the points and headlands are extended in numerous islands, of which also there are many outlying the coast, which is indented with bays and harbors throughout its entire length, many of the first class, with deep water close to the shore. Beyond Cape Leveque, King Sound opens to the South-East, and is about 90 miles in depth by 25 in greatest breadth, and, further Eastward, Prince Regent's River and many other narrow but deep inlets, with steep rocky sides, stretch deep into the land. This coast will be found clearly detailed on the Admiralty chart, but is too intricate and broken for general description. The only portion of the interior at all known is the valley of the Glenelg, which was examined by both Grey and F. H. Gregory; and if it may be taken as typical of the rest, the future importance of this part of West Australia can hardly be over estimated.
The Glenelg has its sources in the sandstone precipices of Stephen Range, the limit of Grey and Lushington's explorations, to the South of the 16th parallel of South latitude, and has its final outlet to the sea in Doubtful Bay, some 35 miles to the West, under the same parallel; and the line between these points forms the chord of the irregular arc of the course of the river. After descending from the rocky gorges of the sandstone range it flows with a deep and rapid current for about 20 miles in a North-West direction, through a valley rich with the disintegrations of the basaltic hills which now bound its valley to the East, and from which descend numerous streams of fresh water, to the base of the hills of the same character, rising at the foot of the sandstone range which separates it from Prince Regent's River, from which, at this point, it is distant only about 13 miles. These ranges trend North-West and South-East, as do the inlets of the coast, showing a change here in the axis of elevation, and, in consequence, the valley widens to the North-West, so that its affluent, the Gardner, which drains this part of the valley, has an extent of 15 miles, and the northern portion is a net work of running waters. From its North-East angle, where it falls over rocks, the course of the Glenelg is Westerly at the base of Mounts Eyre, Sturt, and Lyell, basaltic peaks rising 700 feet above the plain, which is everywhere fertile and rich in vegetation, and, for the most part, thinly wooded with large timber. This plain rises gradually to the North, to Harrington Downs, which are well grassed and watered. The sandstone ranges to the North-East are clothed with a forest of pine timber. From the rapids at the North-East angle, the Glenelg is broad and deep, and navigable for 20 miles, but its mouth, in Maitland Bay, is divided by an island into two narrow channels, accessible only to vessels of about 100 tons. It was entered by the Flying Foam, schooner, 32 tons, in 1864. George water is about 7 miles long and 4 broad, and is probably connected with Brecknock harbor, some 15 miles to the North; it opens by two narrow channels into Doubtful Bay, which has an area 8 miles in length by 6 in breadth, with deep water and sheltered to the West by islands forming a safe and commodious harbor. The Eastern shores are, however, formed of mangrove swamps, and it is separated from the valley of the Glenelg by rugged sandstone bill a rising 700 feet above the sea.
Prince Regent's River may be taken as an example of others on this coast. It opens to the sea in Brunswick Bay, among numerous islands which, with the indentations of the coast, form many large and safe harbors. Its entrance is covered to the North-West by a group of islands, which also protect Hanover Bay to the East. Below these it is 4 miles wide with 30 fathoms water; about 5 miles further it narrows to about ¾ of a mile, and then expands in St. George's basin, a noble sheet of water 10 miles long and nearly 7 broad, with two islands to the North-West, and from 8 to 14 fathoms water. Beyond the basins the river is continued through a narrow gorge for 15 miles, with water shoaling gradually to 2 fathoms. From the extremity, and from every gorge and ravine on either side, perennial streams of fresh water pour down. These are clothed with luxuriant vegetation (forests of pine trees were found by Grey on the hills on the South side), among which the pandanas and fern are most notable; and the whole country is not less rich in animal than in vegetable life, both by land and water.
The tides on this coast rise from 25 to 35 feet.