as he thought them to be, he gave the name of the
"Rats' Nest." The French call this animal the _preamble ... long new_.

It is not to be supposed that a hasty visit could enable the party
to explore the mineralogical resources of the country. It appears,
however, by a list of the soils and rock formations in Captain
Stirling's report, that he brought home specimens of copper ore, of
lead ore with silver, and also with arsenic, two species of magnetic
iron, several varieties of granite, and chalcedony, and of limestone,
with stalagmite incrustations, &c. The high cliffs of Cape Naturaliste
abound with large masses of what Mr. Fraser calls "an extraordinary
aggregate," containing petrifactions of bivalve and other marine
shells, every particle of which was thickly incrusted with minute
crystals. Here, too, he says, veins of iron of considerable thickness
were seen to traverse the rock in various directions; and he speaks of
the caverns formed in the minacious schistose between the granite
and the limestone, as something very extraordinary. They contained
rock-salt in large quantities, forming thick incrustations on every
part of the surface, beautifully crystallized, and penetrating into
the most compact parts of the rock. In many of these caverns were very
brilliant stalactites and stalagmites of extraordinary size adhering
to the nodules of granite which form their bases or floors, and which
are from forty to fifty feet above the level of the sea.

In several parts of the limestone formation, mineral springs were
found; one in particular was noticed within half a mile of the
entrance into Swan River. It bubbled out at the base of the solid rock
in a stream, whose transverse area was measured by Captain Stirling,
and found to be from six to seven feet, running at the rate of three
feet in a second of time. It was thermal, saline, pleasant to the
taste, and some, who partook of it, attributed to it an aperient
quality.

Such is the outline of a country on which the government have
determined to establish a colony, and over which they have justly,
and we think judiciously, appointed Captain Stirling to act as
lieutenant-governor. The plan on which it is to be founded is, in our
opinion, unobjectionable. It promises the most advantageous terms to
qualified settlers, and deserves only to be known to ensure as many of
the most respectable agriculturists as may in the first instance be
desirable.

In point of climate, t