Early Cargoes - Timber, Wool and Wheat

Jarrah, Eucalyptus marginata, is one of WA’s most important forest trees. It was used by Aboriginal Australians for tough, hard-wearing implements such as bowls, spears, spear throwers, shields, boomerangs and… well, you get the picture. From the very earliest days of European settlement it was realised that this tough, durable, beautiful timber was useful for dozens of purposes. In the earliest days it was so plentiful that it was squandered, with thousands of cubic metres being cut into blocks for paving streets in Perth, Fremantle, Durban, Capetown, and London! In fairness, the early Colony was so strapped for cash that they were happy to sell anything, as long as it brought in money. Speaking of which, if you visit the WA Shipwreck Museum, in Fremantle, you will find that several of its gallery floors are still paved with jarrah blocks which show hardly any wear, even though they were laid in the 1850s. Huge lengths of jarrah were exported to India and South Africa for bridge building and tens of thousands of railway sleepers were sent to the latter to extend the rail system during the war of 1899-1902. The reason for its popularity in India, South