NEW SOUTH WALES.
THE HOT WINDS--PROJECTED MAIL-ROAD FROM SYDNEY
TO PORT ESSINGTON--SHEEP-FARMS--GRAZING IN
AUSTRALIA--HORSE-STOCK.
I have often heard the question raised in Australia, Whence proceed the
hot winds? Hitherto, this inquiry has not, to my knowledge, been
satisfactorily answered. These winds invariably blow from the
north-west; but the question is, Whence do they derive the heat they are
charged with? In the months during which they prevail, the north-west
monsoon is blowing in the Java sea, and thence all the way to Torres'
Straits; and northerly winds are prevalent on the eastern coast of
Australia. The weather in those seas, at that season, is wet and cold
for the latitude; consequently, the north-west wind, when it first
reaches the northern coast of Australia, is the reverse of a hot one:
whence, then, the heat it brings with it to the thirty-fourth degree of
south latitude? From Torres' Straits to this latitude, the distance is,
in southing alone, fifteen hundred miles, twelve hundred of which are
entirely unexplored. I have heard it suggested, that, in this space,
may, and probably does exist, a great inland desert, the crossing of
which heats and dries the wind. Whether such a desert does or does not
exist, is a problem that may not be solved for many years to come;
unless, indeed, the expedition now in contemplation, for the survey of
the country in search of a practicable overland route from Sydney to
Port Essington, should lead to its earlier solution. To this expedition,
should it ever start, I wish every possible success, though I have my
misgivings as to its favourable result, and question the soundness of
the judgment that advises the undertaking at this time. Supposing the
route should prove practicable simply as a mail line, is the Colony at
present in circumstances to bear the expense of keeping it up? The
object is, to have the overland Indian mail carried from Singapore by
steam to Port Essington, thence to Sydney overland; the distance being,
in round numbers, two thousand miles, three-fourths of the way through
an uninhabited and unknown country. To keep up such a line, the outlay
would be enormous, and would far exceed any return that could be
expected for the next fifty years. The good folks of Sydney seem bent on
trying it, however; and on being refused pecuniary aid from the
Government, they resolved on carrying it through at their own expense;
but they have since cooled in their ardour. At least, I have not heard
of the money being forthcoming.[19]
[Footnote 19: The expedition just alluded to has never been
attempted; and I think very wisely. The great commercial crisis
under which the Colony of New South Wales, in common with all
the Australian Colonies, has been suffering of late, has given
the Colonists other and more pressing matters to think of; and
if they will take the advice of one who wishes them well, they
will look to some other route for quicker communication with
the Mother Country, than that _viâ_ Port Essington.--October,
1845.]
I shall now proceed to offer a few observations upon sheep and
sheep-stations. A sheep-station is, probably, the most desolate place at
which a man could be sent to pass his time. Fancy three men in charge of
one thousand sheep, which range over five square miles of country, of
which five miles those three outcasts are literally the only
inhabitants, and, strange as it may seem, seeing but little of each
other. One is the watchman, who remains by the hut all day, shifts the
folds, and sleeps between them at night, to protect their occupants from
the prowling native dog: the other two are shepherds, who start every
morning at daylight, in different directions, each in charge of his
flock; they do not return to the hut till sun-down, when they are tired,
weary, and eager for supper and bed. Thus, day after day, and month
after month, pass in solitary wretchedness, relieved only on the
Saturday for a couple of hours, when a man with the week's rations
arrives at the station. These men live all the year round on salt beef
and bread, the latter baked by themselves: they have no change either of
diet, of employment, or of any thing else; for, be it known, a really
good sheep-station in Australia yields nothing but grass and gum-trees,
the soil being dry and poor. A shepherd on the hills of Scotland, who
returns every night to his _bothie_, and finds a _warm_ supper cooked
for him by some kind female hand, is a prince compared to the exile of
Australia, who comes home tired and sleepy at sun-down, and may then
either chop wood to cook his meal, or go supperless to bed, as suits his
fancy. It is under these circumstances that those unhappy connections
are formed with native women, the offspring from which are invariably
killed by the mother. Against these connections, the present Governor
has very properly set his face, and positively interdicted them.
Although he may check, he cannot, however, do away with the evil; which
leads not only to the murder of helpless infancy, but to bloodshed and
wrangling between the whites and the blacks.
Sheep, when I arrived in Australia in 1836, were in great request, and
ewes with lambs at their feet were worth 30s. each, while wool was at
2s. 2d. per pound. In 1837-38 and 1838-39, stock of every kind rose in
price; and in the former year, I paid as high as 3l. per head for a
flock of four hundred ewes with lambs five months old at their feet.
This purchase was not a safe one; it was made when I knew but little of
the value of stock, but acted under the advice of others, and when the
colony was in the very midst of that wild career of mad speculation
which has since worked so much misery to thousands. I suffered in common
with many others who invested money in sheep at the same time, and who
left the Colony. Nevertheless, I look upon sheep as one of the best
descriptions of stock in which a man can speculate, provided that he
keeps within reasonable bounds as to price. Good ewes purchased from
20s. to 25s. per head, will, nine times out of ten, pay their proprietor
from fifteen to twenty per cent, for his outlay. To do this, they must
of course be properly tended, and be kept on what is here called, a good
run, _i. e._ fine dry pasture on rather an elevated tract of country.
The sheep-farmer ought to have a good homestead in an agricultural part
of the Colony, (this, in my opinion, is indispensable to his success,)
where he may grow grain sufficient not only to render him almost
independent of bad seasons and high prices, but, generally, to give him
a few hundred bushels of surplus wheat and maize with which to buy tea,
sugar, and clothing. Hundreds of sheep-farmers have of late been ruined
by having to purchase the actual necessaries for their stations on
credit. Cash they had none, being unwilling to part with even their
surplus stock at the miserably low prices alone obtainable.
Another error that sheep-farmers fall into from time to time, is, the
allowing their establishments to outgrow themselves, as it were, by not
selling every year's surplus stock. I have known establishments become
quite unmanageable from this cause, and have heard large proprietors
frequently say, they were losers by holding so large a number of sheep:
still, they went on in spite of their own better judgment, from year to
year, without selling a single head of stock. This loss attendant upon
overgrown establishments, arises as much from the difficulty of getting
good and trustworthy servants, as from any other cause. The master's eye
cannot be everywhere, and the overseer's is seldom to be trusted. Lazy
shepherds keep sheep in till ten A. M. in place of turning them out at
six. Idle watchmen shift the folds twice a week, instead of every day.
Fifty other cases of this kind take place on a large sheep-farm, that
never could occur on a small establishment. In damp weather, the
watchman's neglecting to shift the folds, is sure to do harm. One of its
first evil effects is to give the sheep toe-rot; a troublesome complaint
that lames the animal, and is not easily got rid of. Then, a careless
shepherd will allow his flock to stray on your neighbour's run, which
may have been fed over by scabby sheep the day before. If no rain has
fallen during the night, the disease is sure, in that case, to be caught
by the trespassers, as I can testify from dear-bought experience. Scab,
here, is a very different disease from what the sheep-farmer at home is
acquainted with, and is much more difficult to cure. The remedies
applied for it are severe, and of a kill-or-cure description: indeed, it
requires a strong sheep to bear this application. Rubbing with tar, as
practised in Scotland, has been found utterly useless.
In advising sheep-farmers to have a good agricultural homestead, I am
aware I am recommending what hundreds have not the power to obtain. As a
general rule, however, it is a golden one; and I would adhere to it,
even were I compelled to have three hundred miles between my stations
and the homestead. Indeed, I have known those two establishments
separated by two hundred miles.
Since 1838-9, sheep have been sold in New South Wales as low as
ninepence a head: this, however, was under very extraordinary
circumstances, and is not likely to happen again; more especially since
the proprietor has found out that, by slaughtering the animal, and
boiling down the carcase, he can get 3s. 6d. for the tallow it yields.
During the recent distresses, thousands of sheep have been disposed of
in this way, the proprietors being so much reduced as to be literally
unable either to pay or to feed men to look after their flocks. I know
many parties who purchased sheep between the years 1837 and 1840, at the
rates then current, at three years' credit, paying ten per cent, per
annum for the indulgence, who, after keeping their purchases and their
increase for three years, were compelled, when their acceptances became
due, to sell off original stock, increase, and all, and then had not
half enough to satisfy their creditor. This, as I said before, arose
from peculiar circumstances, being caused by the prevailing panic. I
shall advert again to this subject, in offering a few remarks upon the
recent distresses and their causes.
Now as to cattle. The English or Scotch grazier, who has his cattle
brought home and housed every night, can have no idea of the sort of
work his brother grazier in Australia has to go through. Here, the
climate is so mild, that cattle are never housed, but wander in the bush
from year's end to year's end. The proprietor of five hundred head of
horned cattle, must command the run of five thousand acres of
pasture-land, of fair quality, as the grass in the woods of Australia is
so thin, that it takes three acres to feed a sheep, and ten for a
bullock. He generally employs two men, called stock-keepers, to look
after them: these are mounted, and ought to employ their time in riding
over and roundabout their master's run, to see that his cattle do not
stray, and that his grass is not trespassed on by others. This, however,
is more than most of these gentry condescend to do, many of them
preferring the company of cattle-stealers and other vagabonds, with whom
they are frequently leagued; and if I may judge from the money I have
seen in possession of stock-keepers, they share largely in the
cattle-stealers' plunder. With the exception of some twenty cows and
calves usually kept about the house, to give milk, which are called the
milking herd, the grazier sees nothing of his herds but on muster-days,
which occur twice a year. For some time previously to muster-day, the
stock-keepers have been very busy drawing their herds by degrees as near
the stock-yard as possible; and when the day arrives, the whole are
driven into the yard to be inspected. All the yearlings are then
branded, and fat bullocks are picked out for sale or slaughter. At this
time, the stock-keeper and his horse have no sinecure; for the cattle
they have to collect, are as wild, and nearly as swift as deer; so much
so, that a cattle-hunt in Australia is nearly as much enjoyed by the
young men as a fox-hunt in Old England. Some breeds of cattle are much
more easily managed than others, being naturally quieter; but, generally
speaking, the wild way in which the Australian herds are reared, makes
them intractable and troublesome.
In spite of all this thieving and trouble, however, cattle-stock is a
good investment for money in ordinary times. In extraordinary times like
the last year or two, no investment is safe, except to the man who can
hold on till things mend. In 1838, cattle were worth from 3l. 10s. to
5l. per head, for a herd consisting of cows, steers, and heifers from
one to three years old, and calves under six months. Very superior herds
were worth more; but I speak generally. Since that time, thousands of
cattle have been killed and boiled down for their tallow. But times are
mending, and this stock, like every other, is not likely to be again so
unsaleable.
It is of the greatest possible importance to a grazier, to have his
herds near some place where there is communication by water with Sydney.
In this respect, Hunter's river and Port Macquarie have the pre-eminence
over the rest of the Colony. The possessor of fat cattle, in either of
those districts, can at all times send them to market by steam, without
their losing much flesh; whereas I knew in 1839, when fodder was so
scarce, a man having three hundred head of beasts fit for the knife,
running in Wellington valley, which, could he have got them into Sydney,
would have brought 8l. per head ready cash, but which were utterly
valueless to him, from the impossibility of driving them through a
country almost bare of pasture. Had this man been on the banks of either
of my favourite rivers, he could have turned his cattle into cash in
three days.
The wild way in which cattle are reared in Australia, makes the young
steer a troublesome animal to break in for the plough; and then, the
absurd system of turning all the working bullocks into the bush to feed
after their day's work, adds very much to the farmer's cares. These
bullocks are very cunning, and at daylight, when they well know the
ploughman will be after them, invariably conceal themselves in some snug
corner. I have had men out for hours, looking for a team of bullocks in
this way, and have frequently been vexed to see them return as late as
noon with only half the number.
Were I again to turn Australian farmer, I would stable my working
cattle, keep a man to take care of them, grow ten acres of Lucerne hay
to feed them, save their manure, (an article almost universally thrown
away in Australia,) get double work out of them, and have the
satisfaction of seeing my ploughs going at regular hours, in place of
being worried "from July to eternity," as Sam Slick says, by having to
search for the cattle in the bush. It often struck me, that the
Australian grazier loses a chance of making a good deal of money by
neglecting his dairy produce. Had he a regular establishment in the
bush where his herds run, to milk the cows and make butter and cheese,
it would not only, in my opinion, pay well for the trouble, but would
make his cattle much less wild. His having forty or fifty cows brought
home every evening to milk, would not only make their calves quiet and
tractable, but would also compel the stock-keeper to be more active,
would keep him at his duty, and, I feel satisfied, would save the
proprietor a great deal in the course of the year. The butter and cheese
here are both of excellent quality, and might be made in large
quantities; yet, both are regularly imported into Sydney from the
Derwent (Van Diemen's Land) and Port Phillip; a state of things the
settlers of New South Wales ought to be ashamed of.
Many a fine cattle-run is rendered useless in dry seasons, by want of
water. Nature has provided, all over the country, reservoirs (or tanks)
for water, which are filled by every heavy rain; and their contents last
a long time: still, in a very dry season, these fail; and many a thirsty
bullock loses his life by tumbling, from excessive weakness, into one of
those pits. Some parts of the country have no tanks, (or water-holes, as
they are called,) except a few muddy puddles at the foot of the hills,
and thus become unavailing sooner than other parts. This inconvenience
might in a great measure be remedied, at trifling cost, by constructing
dams at properly chosen places in the ravines or gulleys that intersect
the hills from top to bottom, every two or three hundred yards. In one
instance, I have seen this plan adopted with success. The owners of
property between Sydney and Paramatta are compelled to make tanks, the
water in the river being salt, and that procured by digging wells being
very little better. Water, Water, is the cry, in dry seasons, all over
this otherwise highly favoured country; and till the end of time, this
want will prevent New South Wales from becoming a densely populated
country.
The horse-fancier may invest a few hundreds very profitably in the
purchase of some really good brood mares. From these, he will not only
draw a good return for his money, but will also derive a great deal of
pleasant pastime in superintending the breaking-in of his colts and
fillies. Horse-stock, like every other, has fallen much in price lately,
but will doubtless recover itself when times improve. I am acquainted
with more than one proprietor who has made no inconsiderable sum of
money by rearing horses. There is a constant demand for them; and of
late, a good market has been found in India for those suited for
cavalry.
Another profitable investment for money is to be found, in Sydney, in
the way of mortgage. Ten and twelve per cent, is paid regularly, and
security given of an undoubted character,--security that has not in one
instance failed the mortgagee, even in the recent desperate times. Large
sums may be invested in this way; and for the absent capitalist, it is
the mode of investment I would recommend in preference to any other.
Bank Shares used to be in great favour with monied men when I was in
Australia. The holders have, however, had a severe lesson since then,
having suffered seriously by some failures among those establishments.