of the river were united by one bridge only; and that at Perth, where, though the actual channel of the Swan is of no great width, a very long causeway is rendered necessary by the character of the land on the southern bank, which is low and much flooded in winter. On the small and insignificant causeway which existed at this place when we first went to Perth, a spot was pointed out to me where a gentleman had been drowned on horseback in trying to pass the bridge whilst the river was in a state of flood. Such accidents are happily rendered improbable in future by a new causeway of very great length, which was, like the bridge at Fremantle, begun and finished under the auspices of Governor Hampton, who, in promoting the construction of these two public works, has rectified, as far as may be, for Perth the disadvantages of a site in which beauty of locality was the single recommendation.
There are three little steamboats upon the Swan, two of them plying regularly between Perth and Fremantle, and venturing, in very calm weather, as far into the open sea as the inner roads; while the third, which is little more than a flat-bottomed barge, fitted with a small stern wheel, manages to ascend the river to Guildford, a few miles beyond Perth. These boats are, even yet, the only representatives of the genus steamer belonging to the colony, although coasting steam-vessels are much required, and would probably pay well if judiciously managed. In fact, the means of locomotion, whether by sea or land, are very deficient throughout the colony.
A journey to the northern settlement at Champion Bay occupies three weeks when undertaken overland, as
