This account of the French navigators was uppermost in the minds of
the English settlers on their first arrival, and contributed greatly
to the dread they felt at wandering a few yards from the settlement.
In those days, an orderly scarcely durst take a message from the
Governor to the Surveyor General's tent, within sight, unless
accompanied by a couple of his fellows, with their muskets ready for
action.

The borders of the river were in many parts, especially on the
present town site of Perth, so entangled with thick brushwood, that
enemies might be lying in swarms, close at hand, without the least
fear of detection. When Sir James Stirling and his party first
passed up the river in boats, they had the accounts of the French
sailors fully in mind, and were very cautious how they landed. They
passed the night in a state of preparation, if not of alarm, and were
kept in constant vigilance by the same fearful noises.

The woods were now supposed to be filled with wild beasts, and it was
not until some time had elapsed that people became convinced that the
dreadful sounds which assailed their ears at night proceeded from
myriads of frogs. These little creatures swarm in the samphire
marshes near the river, and possess voices far surpassing anything
known in their species in Europe.

I was once looking out for ducks or coots in a thicket of bulrushes
higher than my head, when I was startled by hearing a loud "bomb!" at
no great distance from me. Having no idea what kind of wild beast
had made its lair in that dense thicket, I got ready to fire both
barrels on the first appearance of danger. Again the same awful