Fremantle is at the mouth of the Swan River, and contains some tolerable houses, with a jetty and various other conveniences for trade, especially for the whale fishery; from the ships engaged in which pursuit, (chiefly American vessels,) a great portion of its commerce is derived. One cause of its trade and population not having increased more rapidly may be the bar across the mouth of the Swan River, having only a depth of six feet at low water, and preventing the approach of ships of large burden. The soil around is sandy, and produces little or no grass; but when well cultivated, it yields excellent vegetables. Two miles from Fremantle, up the river, there is a ferry across to Perth, the seat of government and capital of the colony, which is well situated, the river extending into a broad sheet, named Melville Waters, in front of the town. Here is good brick-earth and garden-ground, and near the town there are some tolerable farms. But at Guildford, seven miles further up the river, commences the rich corn-land of the colony, and the town itself contains six or seven hundred inhabitants. York is forty-eight miles eastward of Guildford; and King George's Sound, on the coast, where there is another settlement, is about one hundred and fifty miles from York. There are several other little stations scattered about in various directions, especially upon the coast. In 1840 there were five clergymen in Western Australia, and on the 1st of January, 1841, the foundation stone of a church at Perth to contain 600 persons was laid by the governor; its estimated cost was 4000_l._ There are churches also at Guildford, at the Middle Swan, the Upper Swan, and at York, and a new church erecting at Albany, near King George's Sound. Some humble little churches have also been built of mud, and thatched with rushes, in this colony. And although, where it can be done, we think that noble churches are most becoming to the service of the King of kings, yet we doubt not, in the cases where these lowly buildings are unavoidable, that since "the chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels," so these ministering spirits are sent forth into the wilderness to minister unto them that are heirs of salvation: we confidently trust that "the Lord is among them," even "as in the holy place of Sinai." Wesleyan meeting-houses are to be found at Perth and Fremantle. The governor and executive council were authorized to "grant aid towards ministers' stipends, and towards buildings, _without any distinction of sect_."[164] This precious system, which would make no "distinction of sect," between the doctrine of the beloved apostle St. John, and that of the Nicolaitans, "which God hates,"[165] is almost a dead letter in Western Australia, owing to the scattered state of the population, and the great majority of them being members of the Church of England. The duty of government to _tolerate_ separatists, (while they continue