no part of the globe do we find a country free from natural or artificial inconveniences, so salubrious in its climate as to prevent disease, so immaculate in its Government as to defy complaint. Some foreign countries may be eligible in some respects, either from the low price of provisions and labour, the lightness of taxation, or the facility of acquiring gain. Yet it cannot be denied, that in every one of them there is much to deter the Englishman from abandoning the comforts of his home, for a residence amongst those whose habits are dissimilar to his—whose laws are at variance with the equitable spirit in which those of the United Kingdom are framed— where the climate may be injurious to his health, and the only land he can conveniently obtain, of very moderate fertility, or at an immense distance from a mart for its produce.
The commencement of a residence amongst foreigners is almost always attended with serious inconvenience and mistakes, which commonly arise from the stranger's non-acquaintance with the language and customs of those with whom he sojourns. He is liable to be imposed upon by his not understanding the currency of the country, and by those who will eagerly take advantage of his inexperience in the value of the commodities he wishes to purchase, or the weights, measures, and customary dealing by which they are sold.
His ignorance of the laws of the country may subject him to punishment for unintentional transgressions, and his whole property may be lost by his investing it in the purchase of an estate from one, who could not, or did not legally convey it to him.
And a long time after his arrival he must feel himself alone; every one looking upon him with a jealous or suspicious eye, and he regarding them with the natural apprehensions which all men entertain towards strangers. But in the Colony on the Swan River none of these disadvantages or inconveniences exist. The currency, the administration of justice, the Governor himself, are all British. The Englishman, on landing in the Settlement, finds himself among his own countrymen; in one he sees the native of his own county, in another perhaps a friend. In short, in Perth and Freemantle he may make himself at home.
When this Colony was first established, under the most flattering representations and favourable auspices, we looked forward with sanguine expectation to its ultimate success: we eagerly received the reports which reached us from the newly arrived Settlers, trusting that they contained a confirmation of our hopes, and an assurance of their well doing. But, to our great surprize, the soil, described by Captain Stirling and Mr. Frazer as generally productive, was declared to be a barren sand: the harbour was represented not as a safe anchorage, as we were led to believe, but another Yarmouth Roads or Bristol Channel; and the Settlers, who sailed in the expectation of meeting with abundance, were stated to be perishing from want.
Deeply sympathizing with those who bewailed their miserable disappointment, we were naturally anxious to ascertain how far these statements were correct, and whether they might not have been exaggerated. Inquiries were made in every quarter, from whence information could be obtained, and some fortunate coincidences having occurred by which the accounts from disinterested persons of an opposite nature were corroborated. I have taken no little pains to ascertain the grounds and causes of complaints of disorderly labourers, disappointed Settlers, and real state of the alleged or supposed dangerous harbours.