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Although the existence of the western side of the continent had been known for certainly two, and very probably three, centuries it was not until the third decade of the nineteenth century—some forty years after the foundation of the colony of New South Wales—that the British Government decided to take steps to found a settlement there. That the matter had not previously engaged the attention of the Home authorities was in all likelihood due to the unsatisfactory reports of the new territory brought back by navigators, who, confining themselves to the uninviting coastline, seemed to have neither the time nor the inclination to make any examination of the interior, and so missed the fertile inland districts. Neither was there at that period that congestion of population in the Old Country which made colonies necessary as outlets for her surplus people. The only inducement in those days to leave the comforts of civilization was the almost certain knowledge that fortune, rapid and large, was to be secured by a few years' exile. When, however, a strong suspicion began to gain ground that other nations were casting their eyes toward the southern seas the English people, with that profound belief that the Beatitude "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth" was part of their country's constitution, began to realize that a few settlements on the eastern coasts were scarcely sufficient, in the opinion of others, to establish a claim to the whole of this vast continent as British territory. There is very little doubt that the settlements at King George Sound and the Swan River were in the first place due to the activity being displayed by the French in Australian waters.

It was rumoured that Admiral Baudin had contemplated a settlement at Western Port in Victoria in 1802, and an exhaustive examination of the north-west coast had, it will be remembered, been made by Freycinet in 1818. In 1825 we find that another expedition consisting of the "Thetis" and "Esperance," commanded respectively by De Bougainville and Du Camper, was cruising about the southern coast. These voyages gave rise to the strong suspicion that France, recognizing that maritime power depended greatly on the possession of suitable colonies, was looking for the opportunity to establish a settlement in Australia. The suspicion may have been further strengthened by a belief that in the minds of Frenchmen the Napoleonic dream of an Indian conquest had not, perhaps, altogether vanished. In that case a colony on the west coast of Australia would, in conjunction with the Mauritius, have formed a strategic base of some value. Such a colony would also have been the means of introducing a formidable competitor into the trade relations then being fostered between India and the newly-established penal colony in New South Wales. Whatever the reasons may have been, there is no doubt that they were sufficient to move the English authorities to take action. The movements of the French were closely watched, and at the same time settlement both in Australia and New Zealand was pushed on, so as to deprive France of the chance of gaining any foothold on Australasian soil.

The fear of French annexation of the western and southern coasts caused General Darling, then Governor of New South Wales, to draw the attention of the Secretary of State for the Colonies to the possibility, and ask that steps be taken to avert it. "It will not be easy," he wrote, "to satisfy the French, if they are desirous of establishing themselves here, that there is any valid objection to their doing so on the west coast, and I therefore beg to suggest that the difficulty would be removed by a commission," proclaiming "the whole territory as within the Government." On March 1, 1826, Lord Bathurst addressed two despatches to Darling, informing him that two French vessels were reported to have sailed on a voyage of discovery, and suggesting that for fear the Frenchmen should attempt to take possession of or establish a claim to any part of the western coast of the continent, it would be advisable for the Governor to send an exploring party to Shark Bay. In one of these despatches—a private one—the Secretary of State was particularly careful to draw General Darling's attention to the fact that he had avoided any expressions which might, at some future time, be construed into an admission of there not having been a preoccupancy by Great Britain, and the Governor was pointedly warned to regulate his language accordingly. This probably explains the absence of any public proclamation as to the intention of the Government to found a settlement. On March 11 Lord Bathurst again addressed Governor Darling upon the subject (and it is more than likely that the three despatches came from England by the same ship), instructing him to have an examination made of King George Sound in preference to Shark Bay. The reasons given were that the soil at the Sound was reputed to be richer, and that, situated as it was on the track of vessels passing between Sydney and London, communication could more easily be kept up with a settlement in that locality. In October, 1826, Governor Darling replied to these despatches. He stated that in his opinion King George Sound was unsuited "even for a penal settlement," but promised to make early arrange-