WESTERN AUSTRALIA.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIV, Issue 1694, 8 January 1874, Page 4

WESTERN AUSTRALIA.

AJate Writer fronj Western .Australia, gives 1 ' the fdllowing afccoiVtit ' of' tha^t colony: — The colonisation/so far as the development of the natural yesqumes of this colony are concerned, seems Tikety'to be just now assisted effectively; j Jike , - a ; modernised compound steam-engine, by the expansion of some of the ,6apital !of "Victoria, which after having been worked thore at highpressure, finds much mky-'bedpne at a low here, with great results and large returns. The thin end of the wedge is in— timber companies, lead . .and, Sbpper mining companies, smelting 1 workaV pearling enterprises, and so on, ( are either being initiated, constructed, or worked by Victorian money, and really Lbelieve no fairer field exists at present in Australasia for the safe investment of ' capital. ? - The quartz reefs which permeate our colony, from south to north, appear likely to prove payable. Specimens and parcels which have been s'erit both 46 Mcl bourne arid Sydney show that a return of over an ounce to the ton of stone was obtained, a-nd thejre is no reason for belie ving 'that any of ttiis was especially picked stone. The four parties of prospectors now Out, • three of whom are from Victoria and one from the Northern Territory, seem, satisfied, as far as they have gone, and sanguine of the ulti- , mate results* , A , company is .now being .formed to work the 'Kehdeiiup retfs, which are situated on land which- is the private property of ,Mr.HasselL..pf Albany, from' which they are 'some 40 rings' distant. A five 6cwt.-stamper is now, I understand, being constructed ; at .Ballarat for pur Government,' for the purpose of testing the value of the stone from the reefs generally. A large > quantity will, no doubt, be sent in for trial ; it is estimated that this battery will put through 50 tons a week*. ; Tfhe l opening of th6l railway: at Champion Bay, now about to be contracted for, wUXassuredly establish the' j working on dlk^ge' scale bf> the" huge lodes; *of lead and copper, in a way that will command success. .; :.;.. vjy 4^ :t : I We have a prospect how of having the ■port of Freemantle improved. As I regard it the chief reason theiprincipal settlement of this colony has attracted so little atten-tion-is its remoteness and inaccessibility. The proposed extension of the telegraphic sy tern, of the .world via Adelaide into bttr coloriy'is another ; : great step' in 'the' right direction. It may*not be generally known that all our centres' of population are already connected by between 800 ana 900 "miles of wire.- ' ■ ' = ' - » Our territory is an immense one, rivalling nearly. Russia, ;in Europe. ... ; /True, there are vast sandy wastes, b'nt there exists amidst these very many pleasant and fertile oases, and the land is full of minerals ; hematite iron ore in mountains ; copper and ,'lead: iii; 'lodes t, that may be measured in thickness by the fathom, *jllimJLtable. uxtheirsuperficial extent ; forests of jarrah that Svoiild build" everlasting ; navies for the • world,; if ( :the ironclads of the period had not knocked the wooden walls out of time. The task? before us now is the manipulation of our minerals and' : bur timber. XJold— the precious metal • which ; has . gilded in . turns all . g the .colonies and countries and slates ,of \ the world in . which it has been f oundj— ' would no doubt immediately help to give 1 we want jibiitj' to'.iny mind," thepe'r- • bis te*nt and steady riiininglfor-th'e' baser 3;metals would really be ; better for'ithis ( r.co;lopy/at-, this time,?., though, .1 jfe.ar.^no .-colonist, hej;e w^uld, snpportfine.rjn. this, r am,,'' afraid rmighibe made . a^easy pervert f f oiii my o^ri ' philosophyr Tfie 1 sheepowhefs are prospering both 1 from good returns and from the natural -in-* ' breasei favoured fof a clement season,- and %■ pearl* shelling in the north seem, flourisli- ( : ; ingf,,as,,industries. : ; .llr ;A Trollope.,:pro..,fesj3es to ( .think,, judging: by his 'bdbk^'iliat •jwe Western ' Australians do . nothing' but 'eat'^drinii, and bask iii' bvit 'glorious sun-' shine. But looking at our exports- and '<. -imports, 1 which amounts together to nearly ;£600,000 this year, with./ a good preponderance on the side of the exports, I think it may-b e allowed that' somebddy- must be ; up and doing, thous;h the rest are sleeping — perhaps Bristol' f asliion',' with one eye open. Some 'capital •' to work the mines, some! good' experienced vrinirfera to work themj.and, au^upiyersial , wiU-;on the part of the colony not to call on Hercules, but ■^fo pufrite shoulder to; the wheel, will make this, just now the biggest and poorest.; of , ". the. AusJ-raisias, a pleasant land, A.