WESTERN AUSTRALIA.

Globe, Volume XX, Issue 1416, 29 August 1878, Page 3

WESTERN AUSTRALIA.

[FROM THE “ ARGUS ” CORRESPONDENT.] Feeemantle, August 2, Since 1 wrote to you in July, 1872, there has been no succession of severe gales such as we have experienced during the past month. By telegrams you have been informed pf the loss of the barque Lady Elizabeth on Rottenest Island, and subsequently of the shipwreck of the James Service, with all hands, on the bar of the Murray river. The manner in whieh the vessels anchored in Gages Roads rode out the late severe weather is proof positive that, with good ground tackle, ships are safe enough in the roadstead, and masters of ships tell me that they would prefer the old-fashioned anchorage to that of Owen’s anchorage to the southward, which latter place has of late years been much used. In Owen’s anchorage the three-masted schooner Diana lately arrived from Natal, parted her cables, and went on shore. She became a total wreck and has since been sold by auction. Several small vessels were driven on shore during the same gale without rsceiving material damage, but down at Quindalup, below the Vasse, the Ella Gladstone became a total wreck. Beyond all measure, the most terrible disaster which this coast has ever witnessed took place at the Murray Bar, and it appears probable that we shall never know any details on the subject, for not a soul has survived to explain the catastrophe. On the 2nd of July a native reported that he had seen a vessel wrecked on goipe reefs a few mißs south of the Murray, and that her masts were visible above water. The beach was searched by mounted police, but no trace of any living being was found. On the same day the vessel totally disappeared, and soon after vast quantities of wreckage were thrown on the beach, consisting principally of cases of castor oil and passengers’ luggage, some of the latter being marked “ Miss Bessie Edwards, Theatre Royal, Calcutta.” A boat which was washed on shore determined the name of the unfortunate vessel, as it was marked “James Service, Melbourne,” About GOO cases of castor oil have been washed on the beach, and two bodies have been recovered and buried, but no living creature has reached the shore, and it is almost certain that all have perished. One of the most remarkable circumstances connected with the late gale, and one of those coincidences which often prove truth to bo stranger than fiction, is that two vessels which 18 years ago were built in the same seaport, Sunderland, should bo totally lost near each other during the same gale, and on the same comparatively unfrequented antipodal coast. What law of averages would meet this coincidence P I refer to the slla Gladstone and'the Diana. At the present time the weather is mild and fine. The purchasers of wrecks are very busy getting all the valuable portions of ships and cargoes placed in safety, and the coast in this neighborhood is strewn with sandalwood from the barque Lady Elizabeth. The Legislative Council was prorogued on the 24th July to the 13Lh November, after a session whieh lasted longer than on any previous occasion, and during which very many important topics have been discussed. A loan bill for £200,000 has been passed for the construction of public works ; a resolution in favour of responsible government has been brought forward and negatived, the votes being 13 against ; an expedition to search for and take possession of guano islands in the north has b’en sanctioned and despatched ; an expedition to explore territory pprth of the 19th pimllol of south latitude has boed determined m, and the cost is to be determined by the Government. In all, 33 Acts of more' or lest importance have been passed, and 31 have received the assent of the Governor, two have been reserved for Her

Majesty’s pleasure, and one lias boon disallowed. The expedition which is to bo sent to the north will, it is thought, start from the De Grey river early in 1879, and explore the country lying between the sea and the water sheds of the rivers as far north as the Victoria. There is splendid pastoral land in vast quantity, and there are great tracts of excellent soil free from underscrub in the territory. One traveller has stated that in a trip from Camden Harbor to Glenelg, a distance of twenty miles, and then south seventy miles, no less than 350,000 acres of excellent grazing land was traversed. Mr Cowle, a surveyor, who in former years did much for the colony, and had many strange incidents of travel in it, considered that, there was at least 3,000,000 acres of country fit for grazing purposes between Port Walcott and Roebuck Bay. The Hon. Mr Fraser, Commissioner of Crown Lands, prepared an able report on the subject. After alluding to the industries which may bo established, and the aid to the revenue which may be obtained, he points out that the climate is similar to that of North Queensland, and in many respects to that of Port Darwin, though, ho believes, more healthy than either, and he assumes that plantation labor would bo provided from Asiatic countries, and does not anticipate any impediment to successful settlement by both planters and stockowners with experience and capital. The reports respecting guano deposits on islands near the north coast are so favorable that it is thought the revenue from royalties next year may be £15,000.