communicated by an outlet half a mile in width, and navigable for boats. It was conjectured that other communications might be found, but the exhausted state of the exploring party did not allow of their making an exact survey of their discoveries. Lake Alexandrina, as this great sheet of water was named by captain Sturt, is situated directly to the east of St. Vincent's Gulf, and appears itself like a great gulf, the mouth of which has been stopped up by sand banks. The provisions of the party, of which a portion had been lost by the upsetting of the boat, were now nearly consumed; and so great was the labour required to stem the current of the river, that the men were nearly worn out by fatigue when they reached the dépôt: they had been absent from it eighty-eight days, and in that time had travelled about 2000 miles. A river named the Lindsay flowed into the Murray from the south-east. If captain Sturt be correct in his conjectures that the Morrumbidgee communicates with the Lachlan, and that the great river which joins it from the east is the Darling, discovered in his former expedition, it follows that an immense extent of water communication exists in the interior, and that the Murray is probably the channel by which all the rivers, hitherto discovered running westward from the Blue Mountains, join the sea.

While the enterprise and perseverance of Mr. Oxley, Mr. Sturt, and others, have thus opened such an unbounded field to the speculations of colonial agriculturists, government has not been inattentive to the commercial advantages likely to arise from numberless settlements, at considerable distances from each other, and in different climates. On the eastern coast colonization has extended as far as Moreton Bay, 450 miles to the north of Sydney: at an equal distance to the south and west a colony has been recently established in Port Western, in the hope of turning to account the fine tract of country explored by Messrs. Hovell and Hume..

But of all the coasts of this great continent, the northern have the strongest claims to the regards of a speculative commercial nation. The great fisheries carried on there by the Malays support an advantageous trade with the Chinese: the general comparative fertility also of that portion of the coast; the warmth of its climate, which, lying within the tropics, enables it to produce many articles that are wanting in the southern colonies; its proximity to the Indian archipelago, inhabited by an active commercial people rapidly advancing in civilization,—all these circumstances combine to point out the advantages likely to result, at no great distance of time, from a colony established on the northern shores. The survey made by captain King was a preliminary step to the accomplishment of this purpose; and, in the beginning of 1824, the Tamar, captain Brewer, was despatched to take possession of Arnhem's Land, and to form an

establishment on whatever spot was deemed most eligible for a mercantile dépôt. The Tamar left Sydney in August; and, having cleared Torres' Strait, came to an anchor in Port Essington: where the union jack was hoisted on shore, and formal possession was taken of the whole northern coast between the meridians of 139° and 136°. No fresh water, however, was found there, and the ship proceeded to Apsley Strait, where a small river was discovered on Melville Island, running into the strait near Harris Island: this was immediately pitched upon as a convenient site for the colony. On the 2d of October they commenced the erection of Fort Dundas: the little promontory on which it stood received the name of Barlow Point, and the anchorage in the strait, Port Cockburn. The soil near the new settlement was found to be extremely rich, but the woods were thick. No natives made their appearance till November; but afterwards their frequent thefts gave rise to hostilities, which kept the infant colony in perpetual alarm. The settlers amounted in all to 126 individuals, of whom three or four were women, and forty-five convicts; the rest were soldiers of the 3d regiment. This important colony languished for some time, and was even on the point of being abandoned, nor are we sure that it has yet reached a state of confirmed prosperity; but it is to be hoped that government will not be deterred by ordinary difficulties from establishing a colony in so favourable a situation. How can presages of success be expected from a settlement composed in the first instance of unwilling residents, such as soldiers and convicts, without the sanguine spirit, the resignation, and the perseverance inspired by the presence of their families, and the prospect of permanent occupations?

The colony on the Swan River, established in the beginning of 1829, has already assumed the appearance of strength and stability; owing to the good materials with which it was constructed. Emigrants, possessing energy, intelligence, and capital, are sure of overcoming the difficulties that await every settler in a new country. The Swan River has been explored to the distance of about eighty miles from its mouth. The country in the interior is found fit for pasture, and capable of tillage; but the soil is by no means remarkably fertile; towards the sea it is sandy and barren in the extreme. The Canning River, flowing into the Swan River from the south, has as yet been examined but a little way. The great objection to this colony is the want of a secure harbour in its vicinity. The mouth of the Swan River is barred by a ledge of rocks, over which there is hardly six feet of water; and Gage's Roads, between the river and the island of Rottnest, are exposed to the weather from the south and south-west; but, in the close of 1829, a fine river, with a spacious port at its mouth, was said to have been discovered at some distance to the south, falling into the sea

near Cape Bouvard; and a party was then sent to explore it. The difficulties and embarrassments which the settlers at the Swan River have been obliged to endure, have been industriously exaggerated by the colonial press; the strong desire which exists in New South Wales to attract emigrants to that country being naturally allied with a disposition to disparage every other settlement.

The same indefatigable spirit of colonization led to the formation of a settlement in 1826, in King George the Third's Sound. This, it is well known, is the first good harbour which ships sailing from Europe to New South Wales arrive at, and the place is likely to become a dépôt for cattle and a restingplace for shipping, so as to lessen the risks of the tedious navigation round the southern coast. In Van Diemen's Land colonization extends through the middle of the island, from the Derwent on the south to the Tamar and Port Dalrymple, opening on the northern coast. Port Macquarie on the western shore, where the fine Huon pines are found in abundance, is much frequented by colonial shipping, and will, probably, at no distant day, become an important settlement. Thus there is scarcely a good harbour round all the shores of Australia, of which the English have not taken possession: Sharks' Bay, 400 miles to the north of the Swan River, is the only eligible spot which has escaped them. It was supposed that the French entertained the design of making a settlement upon that coast; but, if they abandon that intention, it is to be hoped that the colonial government will not overlook the advantages of a spot, which affords the only secure anchorage hitherto found on the western shores of New Holland.

CHAP. XI.

VANCOUVER'S VOYAGE.

Commencement of the Fur Trade.-Voyages of Meares.-Of Portlock and Dixon.-Of Grey.-Their Discoveries.-Fuca's Strait.-Jealousy of the Spaniards awakened by the Russians.-Settlement made at Monterey.-Expedition to the North.-Port Bucarelli discovered. - Second Expedition.-Its Results.Voyages of Haro and Martinez.-The Spaniards take Possession of N Jotka. -They seize an English Vessel.-The Dispute accommodated.-Vancouver proceeds to receive Restitution of Nootka.-He is instructed to survey the North-west Coast of America.-Voyage along New Holland.-Chatham Island discovered.-Vancouver enters Fuca's Strait.-It conducts' him northwards to the Sea.-He meets with the Spanish Surveyors.-Arrival at Nootka.-Columbia River explored.-Character of the Natives.-Their Architectire. The Ships winter at the Sandwich Islands.-Owhyhee voluntarily ceded to the King of Great Britain.-Vancouver returns to the American Coast.-Completes the Survey.-His great Merits.-Death.-English Possessions on the North-west Coast.-Voyage of Kotzebue.-His Inlet.

THE sensation created in Europe by Cook's geographical discoveries, was much exceeded in its immediate effects by the

excitement occasioned when it was known what a lucrative trade remained to be developed between China and the northwest coast of America. The furs collected by the Russians in the Fox Islands, sent by them to Kamtschatka, and thence to Kiachta, arrive in China, after passing through many hands, and performing a circuitous journey of many thousand miles, with a price enormously enhanced by the clumsy and complicated system by which they are forwarded to their destination. The Russians not yet acquainted with the refinements of commerce, and the Spaniards rendered torpid and inactive by the vices of a despotic government, had both remained in ignorance of the advantages that might be derived from a fur trade carried on directly between the coast of America and China, though the dominions of both adjoin the countries which support the trade. It remained for the English to make the circuit of the globe, in order to carry on a trade, which the nations more conveniently situated were too barbarous or too inert to engage in.

The last volume of Cook's voyages, in which captain King explains the profits that might be made by the fur trade, was published in 1784; and in the following year captain Hanna sailed from Canton, in a small brig of sixty tons, across the seas of Japan, and in the month of August arrived at Nootka Sound, which the experience of Cook had taught to be considered as the great mart of the furs of America. Proceeding to the northward, he discovered some fine harbours, and returned to China at the end of the year with a rich cargo of furs. This was the, commencement of a trade which afterwards rose to such great importance, and which has given a greater impluse to navigation than any other, except, perhaps, the whale fishery. In the following year captain Hanna returned to the fur coast, and again procured a valuable cargo. A rival ship, despatched from Macao about the same time, proceeded by the route of Kamtschatka, and was lost on Copper Island. At first, this trade was carried on by ships from the river of Canton, which had obvious advantages in its situation; but, in 1786, two ships, commanded by captains Lowrie and Guise, sailed from Bombay to Nootka Sound; and, advancing northwards, are said to have discovered the archipelago, to which Dixon afterwards gave the name of Queen Charlotte's Islands. Expeditions from Bengal followed close on those from the coast of Malabar. Captain Tipping, in the Sea Otter, was lost; but Captain Meares, in the Nootka, arrived in Prince William's Sound, where he was forced to spend the winter. Twenty-three of his people died from the severity of the climate and the want of provision; but Meares returned to Macao in the following year. His wintering on the coast of America, which was an act of necessity, was a decided step towards establishing a more intimate intercourse with the people.

If the English merchants established at Macao and India were the first to engage actively in the fur trade, they owed this temporary advantage merely to their position; although shipping from the Thames should have to pass round Cape Horn, and perform a voyage equal to half the circumference of the globe before it arrived at the scene of action, yet spirit and enterprise were not wanting to engage in an undertaking which marks the utmost extent to which the spirit of trade can urge the boldness of navigation. In 1785, a number of merchants formed an association under the name of the King George's Sound Company; they entered into negotiations with the South Sea and East India Companies, and purchased from both a suspension of those baneful privileges by which monopoly, however indolent itself, may fetter the active industry of others. In the same year, the newly formed company despatched two ships, under the command of captains Portlock and Dixon, who had both voyaged with Cook, and obtained under that distinguished commander a competent share of nautical experience. They arrived on the north-west coast of America in 1786, and then proceeded to winter in the Sandwich Islands, justly deeming it preferable to employ the seamen in temperate climates, than to expose them to the maladies and privations of a North American winter. In the spring of 1787 they returned to the American coast, separating so that they might not interfere with each other in their traffic with the natives. Portlock examined a number of inlets and harbours along the coast, to which he gave names, some of which are still retained, and the repetition of which would afford but little instruction. Dixon, in like manner, gained a minute knowledge of the portion of the coast along which he traded: directing his course to the southward, he discovered, in lat. 54° 24', the commencement of a chain of islands; and, following along its western shore to its southern extremity, he doubled it to the southward, and stood again to the northward, ranging along the eastern shore as far as 53° 10'. In this latitude he perceived to the eastward, in the distance, a cape of the continent, on which he imposed the name of Cape Dalrymple; a homage deservedly paid to a learned navigator, whose hydrographical labours and writings, by improving the description of the globe, have facilitated the communications between the old and new worlds. To the group of islands which Dixon had nearly circumnavigated, he gave the name of Queen Charlotte's Islands. The honour, indeed, of having discovered these islands is claimed by the French for La Perouse, who, in the preceding year (1786), had surveyed their western shores; but it must be observed, that captains Lowrie and Guise made the same discovery about the same time as the French navigator. Dixon then visited Nootka Sound, where he met some