sick, having only twenty-five days rations left, and being then still three hundred miles from his ultimate destination, the Adelaide and Port Darwin Telegraph Line, he was unable to trace the course of the river; and proceeding Eastward, after much hardship, at length successfully accomplished his long and arduous exploration. He reports the limestones found to the West of King Sound as similar to those near Eucla.
The principal events during the Government of Sir H. Ord were:—
- The opening of the railway from Geraldton to Northampton.
- The establishment of a fortnightly mail service with Europe.
- The raising a loan for £200,000, principally for railway communication between Fremantle, Perth, and the Eastern Districts. :The abandonment of all proposed harbour improvements at Fremantle, in consequence of the report made by Sir John Coode.
- The increase of the Volunteer Force by a Company at Albany, and formation of a Naval Artillery Company.
- The occupation of the Gascoigne District.
Sir H. Ord left the Colony the 8th of April, and was succeeded by Sir W. C. F. Robinson, K.C.M.G., who returned to the Colony from the Government of the Straits Settlements, and was sworn in on the 10th of the same month. Since then the railway has been completed from Fremantle to Perth, and will be ready for traffic to Guildford by the beginning of 1881. Also, the Pensioner Force has been disbanded, and a subsidy of £4,000 a year given by the Imperial Government for the increase of the Local Force, which was thus rendered necessary.
The Revenue and Expenditure for the years 1878-9 were:—
| £ | s. | d. | £ | s. | d. | ||
| 1878—Revenue | 150,094 | 8 | 9 | Expenditure | 198,213 | 8 | 3 |
| 1879—Do. | 184,065 | 0 | 11 | Do. | 195,812 | 4 | 5 |
and during the same period the trade of the Colony was represented by
| £ | s. | d. | £ | s. | ||
| Imports, 1878— | 74,496 | 16 | 10 | Exports, 1878— | 428,491 | 3 |
| Do., 1879— | 86,978 | 0 | 8 | Do., 1879— | 494,883 | 10 |
To the schools of the Colony has been added one for the education of girls, established by the Bishop of Perth.
The staff of the Protestant Episcopal Church has been increased by Clergy, stationed respectively in the Williams River District, at Dongarra, and at Nickol Bay.
