It is but justice here to acknowledge the great benefit conferred on the settlement by Mr. Peel, in the introduction of men who were not only of good conduct, but well acquainted with farming pursuits or with trades.  For himself, the author feels happy in having this opportunity to express his sense of it, having had upwards of four years in his service, a family brought out by Mr. Peel.  The father of this family is a man of intelligence and observation.  Besides his own trade of brick and tile-making, he has a complete knowledge of farming, gardening, bricklaying, lime-burning, and brewing, in which various occupations he employs himself.  Such is his industry that he has been seen working for hours in the garden by moonlight, after spending a long day at labour in the field.  His wife is a regular dairywoman.  One of the sons is a carpenter, and another a ploughman, besides having each a knowledge of their father’s trade; and the rest of the family, down to the youngest, are training up habits of industry and labour.

Although, as has been shown, the conditions of the indentures were by the colonial laws enforced, it will nevertheless be manifest, that no law, in any country, can prevent an artful and unprincipled servant (anxious to be rid of his engagement) from acting in so vexatious a manner, that some masters, in preference to keeping such a one, would forgo any benefit the indenture might offer.  Such a course has been adopted in the colony by some masters thus circumstanced.  Those, however, who had been careful to bring out men of good character, and to whom they allowed an equitable compensation for their services, have rarely had cause for complaint; and, on the contrary, have generally been rewarded by the cheerful obedience of their servants.

The author is the more desirous of disproving the alleged lawless state of society in the colony, as the implied reproach is totally unmerited by the Governor, Sir James Stirling, who has been most indefatigable and self-denying in his exertions for the public welfare; and it is equally so by the magistracy, who have, from the outset, administered the laws with vigour and impartiality.

With reference to the assertion that some individuals had perished with hunger from not having been able to inform the Governor as to where they had settled, the author can only say, that he did not hear of any such circumstance while in the colony, and that he considers it very improbable; as, with the exception of the people connected with Mr. Peel, the settlers at the period alluded to were located on the Swan and the Canning, by following down which rivers they could have reached in the course of a single day the towns of Perth or Freemantle.