ART. II.-Regulations for the Guidance of those who may propose to embark, as Settlers, for the New Settlement on the Western Coast of New Holland. 1. His Majesty's Government do not intend to incur any expense in conveying settlers to the New Colony on the Swan River; and will not feel bound to defray the expense of supplying them with provisions, or other necessaries, after their arrival there, nor to assist their removal to England, or elsewhere, should they be desirous of quitting the Colony. 2. Such persons as may arrive in that settlement before the end of the year 1830, will receive, in the order of their arrival, grants of land, free of quit rent, proportioned to the capital which they may be prepared to invest in the improvement of the land, and of which capital they may be able to produce satisfactory proofs to the Lieutenant Governor (or other officer administering the Colonial Government), or to any two officers of the Local Government appointed by the Lieutenant Governor for that purpose, at the rate of forty acres for every sum of three pounds which they may be prepared so to invest. 3. Under the head of investment of capital will be considered stock of every description, all implements of husbandry, and other articles which may be applicable to the purposes of productive industry, or which may be necessary, for the establishment of the settler on the land where he is to be located. The amount of any half-pay or pension which the applicant may receive from Government, will also be considered as so much capital. 4. Those who may incur the expense of taking out labouring persons, will be entitled to an allowance of land at the rate of fifteen pounds, that is, of two hundred acres of land, for the passage of every such labouring person, over and above any other investment of capital. In the class of "labouring persons," are included women, and children above ten years old. Provision will be made by law, at the earliest opportunity, for rendering those capitalists, who may be engaged in taking out labouring persons to this settlement, liable for the future maintenance of those persons, should they, from infirmity or any other cause, become unable to maintain themselves there. 5. The licence of occupation of land will be granted to the settler, on satisfactory proof being exhibited to the Lieutenant Governor (or other officer administering the Local Government), of the amount of property brought into the colony. The proofs required of such property will be such satisfactory vouchers of expenses as would be received in auditing public accounts. But the full title to the land will not be granted in fee simple, until the settler has proved, to the satisfaction of the Lieutenant Governor (or other officer administering the Local Government), that the sum required by Article 2 of these regulations (viz. one shilling and sixpence per acre) has been expended in the cultivation of the land, or in solid improvements, such as buildings, roads, or other works of the kind. • 6. Any grant of land thus allotted, of which a fair proportion, of at at least one fourth, shall not have been brought into cultivation, otherwise improved or reclaimed from its wild state, to the extent of one shilling and sixpence per acre, to the satisfaction of the Local Government, within three years from the date of the licence of occupation, shall, at the end of the three years, be liable to a payment of sixpence per acre, into the public chest of the settlement; and, at the expiration of seven years more, should the land still remain in an uncultivated or unimproved state, it will revert absolutely to the Crown. 7. After the year 1830, land will be disposed of to those settlers who may resort to the colony, on such conditions as his Majesty's Government shall see occasion to adopt. 's. It is not intended that any convicts, or other description of prisoners, be transported to this new settlement. 9. The government will be administered by Captain Stirling, of the Royal Navy, as Lieutenant Governor of the settlement; and it is proposed that a bill should be submitted to parliament, in the course of the next session, to make provision for the civil government of the New Settlement.-Downing Street, 13th January, 1829.' THAT, in the present circumstances of this Empire, it is urgently necessary to adopt some decisive measures for the extension of domestic agriculture, we have laboured to satisfy all who are interested in the good of their country-and especially of Ireland. In doing so, however, we have never assented to those who maintain that the extension of agriculture in these islands is the only means which ought to be adopted. On the contrary, we have endeavoured to shew that both Mr. Sadler and the other advocates for the cultivation of our own waste lands, and the opposite party who acknowledge Mr. Wilmot Horton as their leader, are in the right. The evil is great and pressing; and the remedies which have been suggested should all be called in for its alleviation. We are fully aware of the nature and extent of the difficulties which lie in the way of carrying into effect any plan that would at once afford the relief that is so desirable; but, at the same time, we are as fully persuaded that certain measures might be adopted,-some in these islands, and others in their dependencies-which would prevent the evil from gaining ground, and attaining a height which it is fearful to contemplate. It is not our intention, however, here to entertain the large question of emigration. The New Settlement on the western coast of Australia, which we are about to describe, and the " regulations' on which it is founded, evidently hold out no immediate prospect of affording the relief we have alluded to, in any very considerable degree; but, unless we are much mistaken, this intended new settlement is one which bids fair, in process of time, to vie with the other Australian colonies in wealth and population; possessing the additional advantage, of a more select society society, which the regulations' provide for. As a spot, equally favoured by climate with the other two, and superior in point of situation, set apart, as it were, for the reception and encouragement of a respectable class of agriculturists, many of whom, from the circumstances of the times, may find it expedient to seek an asylum in some distant country, it is not surprising that the attention of a very numerous body of this class, as well as of many wealthy individuals, should be drawn towards this quarter; and as the knowledge of its localities, extent, qualities, and promising advantages, is as yet extremely scanty, we are willing to persuade ourselves that some more detailed information than has yet appeared, drawn from an authentic source, may prove acceptable and useful, more especially to those who may feel disposed to try their fortune in this distant part of the globe. The intended settlement is designated, in the Regulations,' as the New Colony on the Swan River'; * but this is a name, we think, not sufficiently comprehensive for the extent of territory meant to be occupied. What its future designation is meant to be, we pretend not to know, but if its soil should prove as fruitful as its climate is fine, the position and aspect of this part of the coast might justify the name of Southern, or Australian, Hesperia; under which might be included all that line of coast from Cape Leuwin, the southernmost point of New Holland, in lat. 34° 30', long. 115° 12′ E., to the lat. 31°, (or a degree or two more northerly), long. 115° 15′ East; and from the former point easterly to King George's Sound, where an English colony has already been established. This extent of territory, between the sea-coast and a range of mountains parallel to it, hereafter to be described, may be estimated to contain from five to six millions of acres, the greater part of which, from the general appearance of the two extreme portions, (the only ones examined,) may be considered as land fit for the plough, and, therefore, fully capable of giving support to a million of souls. The description we are about to give of this territory is mainly derived from Captain Stirling, the intelligent officer who explored the country, and of which he has been appointed the Lieutenant Governor, and from Mr. Fraser, an excellent botanist, who accompanied him, and who was well acquainted with the soil and products of New South Wales, on the opposite side of Australia. Captain Stirling, when commanding the Success frigate, was sent to New South Wales on a particular service, which the state of the monsoon prevented him from carrying into immediate execution. He determined, therefore, on the recommendation of * The Rivière de Cygnes of the French is a translation of the Zwanen Riviere of Vlaming. General General Darling, the Governor, to explore, in the meantime, this western part of Australia, which was omitted to be surveyed by Captain King, on the ground that it had been visited by the French in the expedition of Captain Baudin: the result of that visit, however, is so unsatisfactory, and so very inaccurate, that we are rather surprised Captain King should have passed over so interesting a portion, geographically considered, as the southwestern angle of this great country. Captain Stirling arrived at Cape Leuwin on the 2d March, 1827, stood along the coast, and anchored in Gage's Roads, opposite Swan River, which he afterwards ascended to its source in boats, and sent out exploring parties to ascertain the nature of the surrounding territory. 'We found,' he says, the country in general rich and romantic, gained the summit of the first range of mountains, and had a bird's-eye view of an immense plain, which extended as far as the eye could reach to the northward, southward, and westward. After ten days' absence, we returned to the ship; we encountered no difficulty that was not easily removable; we were furnished with abundance of fresh provisions by our guns, and met with no obstruction from the natives.' Captain Stirling describes the weather as very different from that which the French experienced; but the latter were on the coast at the commencement of the winter season. They were apparently so alarmed at the gales of wind, the rocks, and the reefs, and the banks, that they hastened to leave behind them this part of the coast unexamined, with all convenient speed. The strong westerly winds that prevail throughout the year in the southern ocean to the southward of the tropic, appear to assume a northern direction near this part of the Coast of Australia. These winds are here found to be cool and pleasant, and were generally accompanied by clear and serene weather. The summer winds from the N.W. are not infrequent; and, coming charged with moisture from a warm region into a colder one, they are invariably accompanied by rain; but, in the immediate vicinity of the shore, land and sea breezes are constant and regular. The climate appears to be delightful. While the Success was on the coast-that is, in the autumn, the average height of the thermometer was 72°, the extremes being 84° and 59°, the first occurring before the sea-breeze set in, the latter at midnight. The French found the temperature when at anchor, in June, from 14° to 17° of Reaumur, or 63° to 70° of Fahrenheit. On the mountains, Captain Stirling says, the temperature appeared to be about 15° below that of the plain. The alternate land and sea breezes create a moisture in the atmosphere which renders the climate cool and agreeable; the mornings and evenings are particularly so; and the nights are almost invariably brilliant and clear. Such a climate, it is almost unneces sary sary to say, must be highly favourable to vegetation, which was accordingly observed to be most luxuriant. The verdant appearance,' says Captain Stirling, and almost innumerable variety of grasses, herbaceous plants, shrubs, and trees, show that there is no deficiency in the three great sources of their sustenance, soil, heat, and moisture.' The general structure and aspect of the country may be thus described. From Cape Leuwin to Cape Naturaliste (the southern head of Baie Géographe), which is not quite a degree of latitude, the coast is formed of a range of hills, of uniform and moderate elevation, whose bases are a fine-grained granite, shooting up pinnacles into the superincumbent strata, composed of gneiss or schist. Above this lies a bed of sandstone and toadstone; and over these, defined by an accurately drawn horizontal line, is a bed of compact limestone: the latter, in some places, two hundred feet deep. The veins of quartz, mica, and feldspar, which traverse the schistose strata, are in many places highly metalliferous. The disintegration of the toadstone, mouldering away under the influence of the atmosphere, has left under the limestone cliffs a number of magnificent caverns, many of them remarkable for their extent and form, and some for the beautiful stalactites and incrustations which they contain. From Geographer's Bay to the northward of Swan River, the whole coast line is a limestone ridge, varying in height from twenty to six hundred feet, and extending inward to the distance of from one to five miles. In those parts of the coast, not protected by exterior islands or banks, the sea-breeze has blown up the sand, and covered the sides of these limestone hills- —a circumstance that appears to have given rise to the erroneous idea, that the western coast of Australia consists mostly of barren sandhills. Behind this ridge (whose occasional naked and barren appearance Captain Stirling also thinks may have caused the early and continued prejudice against the fertility of this western coast) commences a great plain, which occupies a space, from south to north, of undetermined length, (reaching, perhaps, to King George's Sound,) and varying, in breadth, from twenty to fifty miles. The eastern boundary of this plain skirts the base of an almost continuous and abrupt chain of mountains, to which Captain Stirling gave the name of General Darling's Range.' One of the points, the highest seen and measured by him, was about three thousand feet high. The average height is stated to be from twelve hundred to fifteen hundred feet. The base is granite; the sides, in many parts, naked; and the soil supports but little vegetation, except the Stringy-bark and some hardy plants. The plain, for about a mile from the base of the mountains, is strewed with fragments of |