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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/78425-0.txt b/78425-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ed0c5f5 --- /dev/null +++ b/78425-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,15099 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78425 *** + + + + + ADVANCE AUSTRALIA! + + + + +[Illustration: THE QUEEN OF THE SOUTH.] + + + + + ADVANCE AUSTRALIA! + + + _AN ACCOUNT OF + EIGHT YEARS’ WORK, + WANDERING, AND AMUSEMENT, + IN QUEENSLAND, NEW SOUTH WALES, + AND VICTORIA_ + + + BY + + THE HON. HAROLD FINCH-HATTON + + + SECOND EDITION + + LONDON + + W. H. ALLEN & CO. + + 13 WATERLOO PLACE, PALL MALL, S.W. + + 1886 + + (_All rights reserved_) + + + + + _Printed by_ R. & R. CLARK, _Edinburgh_. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAP. PAGE + + I. THE VOYAGE 1 + + II. THE VOYAGE (_continued_) 12 + + III. SOMERSET 21 + + IV. FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE BUSH 35 + + V. LIFE IN THE BUSH 54 + + VI. LIFE ON THE STATION 69 + + VII. PLAGUES AND PLEASURES OF THE BUSH 80 + + VIII. WILD CATTLE 95 + + IX. COMPARISON OF CATTLE AND SHEEP STATIONS 107 + + X. THE BLACKS 123 + + XI. SUGAR 138 + + XII. GOLD-MINING 154 + + XIII. GOLD-DIGGING 174 + + XIV. DRINK 197 + + XV. GOLD-DIGGING 208 + + XVI. GOLD-DIGGING 224 + + XVII. QUEENSLAND AND HER RESOURCES AND PROSPECTS 242 + + XVIII. BRISBANE 276 + + XIX. SYDNEY 291 + + XX. MELBOURNE 300 + + XXI. MELBOURNE 315 + + XXII. IMPERIAL FEDERATION 328 + + INDEX 341 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + THE QUEEN OF THE SOUTH _Frontispiece_ + + A QUEENSLAND BLACK _To face page_ 22 + + THE HERMITAGE PADDOCK ” 27 + + MOUNT SPENCER HEAD STATION ” 46 + + THE FARM, MOUNT SPENCER ” 54 + + GROUND-PLAN OF A STOCK-YARD ” 69 + + THE BRANDING BAIL ” 71 + + A BUSHMAN’S CAMP ” 77 + + BLACK FELLOW PREPARING TO GO UP A TREE ” 124 + + A BLACK “GIN” AT HOME ” 136 + + GOLD-DIGGING: CRADLING ” 166 + + BULLOCK TEAM CROSSING A LOG BRIDGE ” 177 + + DOWN-HILL WITHOUT A BRAKE ” 215 + + THE END OF A GOLD RUSH ” 238 + + GOVERNMENT HOUSE, SYDNEY ” 292 + + + + +ADVANCE AUSTRALIA! + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE VOYAGE + + +In January, about nine years ago, I climbed on board the Messageries +Maritimes steamer _Irouaddy_, for the purpose of getting to a +cattle-station in Queensland. Like many others of the same line, the +_Irouaddy_ is a grand boat, clean, well ventilated, very fast, and +steady in bad weather. + +Three days after leaving Marseilles we got to Naples. I had been there +before, but as I never can be twenty minutes in a steamer without +wanting to get out, of course I went ashore. There was nothing fresh +to be seen, and certainly nothing fresh to be smelt. In appearance +the whole place resembles a very inferior chromo-lithograph; and I +cannot help thinking that the saying, “_Vede Napoli e poi Mori_,” has +more reference to the asphyxiating nature of its smells than to any +overpowering beauty about the place. + +Leaving Naples, we passed through the Straits of Messina, and soon lost +sight of land. The weather was glorious, and one morning observing the +chief officer laboriously employed in doing nothing, I sauntered up to +him with a view to engaging him in conversation. With the originality +that distinguishes the British traveller, I observed that it was a fine +day. If I had had the foggiest idea of the effect that this remark +would have on him, I certainly should not have ventured to make it. He +looked at the sky: it was blue. He looked at the sea: it was blue too; +and I then noticed for the first time that the expression of his face +was infinitely more blue than either of them. Shrugging his shoulders +with an emphasis that would have fractured the collar-bone of anyone +but a Frenchman, he called the Deity to witness that although the +weather was indeed fine enough just now, neither he nor anyone else +could possibly foretell what it would be like in twenty-four hours’ +time. If it did come on to blow, he said, we were in a very exposed +part of the Mediterranean, and, as our present course lay, over 400 +miles from land. I left him, to meditate upon the extraordinary effect +that being out of sight of land has on a French sailor. It is true they +do not seem to come to grief very often, but still I rather mistrust +these French sailors in a bad time. The least thing puts them into +such a ludicrous state of fluster, one cannot help thinking that a +good gale of wind would dishearten them altogether. They never seem +to be quite at ease until they get back to Marseilles, and even then +religious enthusiasm, or the prospect of another voyage, often wrings +a votive offering to the Virgin out of the dregs of their past terror. +The Church of the Virgin and Child at Marseilles absolutely bristles +with these offerings, many of which indicate a singularly bad taste on +the part of the donor. Among a host of paltry toys calculated to amuse +none but the youngest children, I noticed one or two perambulators in +a prominent position. Now, under certain circumstances, a perambulator +might be a very neat and appropriate gift to the mother of a young +child; but when we consider to Whom they are in reality offered, such +presents become shocking in the extreme. It is impossible that people +can have any real veneration for a Deity Whom they like to imagine +wheeled about in a perambulator, or amusing Himself with the mechanical +movements of a woollen rabbit. Indeed, except on the supposition that +they are entirely destitute of any sense of humour, it is difficult to +acquit such people of wilful profanity. + +Upon this occasion, however, nothing occurred that the most pious or +pusillanimous Frenchman could distort into a pretext for presenting his +Maker with a toy, and three days after leaving Naples we reached Port +Said. This town forms a receptacle for all the scum and dregs of every +nation under the sun, and is undoubtedly one of the most villainous +dens in existence. Composed almost entirely of casinos, gambling +saloons, and houses sacred to the worship of blind Cupid, it is a sink +of iniquity whose waters, like those of the Dead Sea, are so dense as +to support numbers who would go to the bottom elsewhere. The lighthouse +and the coalsheds are probably the only buildings in the place that +have not a professional tendency towards the subversion of morals and +the encouragement of vice. + +Leaving Port Said, we crawled through the Canal, and after calling +at Suez, steamed away down the oily expanse of the Red Sea. Between +October and May the Red Sea is not often oppressively hot; but for the +rest of the year the heat is excessive, and deaths from heat apoplexy +not unfrequently occur. + +How is it that one so very seldom meets any nice people travelling at +sea, and then never discovers them until just before leaving the ship? +It cannot be that no nice people travel by sea. It must be that the sea +has a demoralising effect upon those who do. But it would seem that a +prolonged sojourn upon the ocean has exactly the opposite effect of +a temporary cruise, for sailors are, as a rule, as conspicuous for +those qualities that make a man a pleasant companion as passengers +are the reverse. Assuredly a passenger-ship presents humanity under +a most unfavourable aspect. Sea-sickness alone renders most people +positively misanthropic while it lasts, and excessively irritable for +some time after it has passed away. But besides this, and such minor +annoyances as having your cabin deluged with salt water if you leave +the port open, and being suffocated with foul air if you keep it shut, +the bare fact of being boxed up in the same ship with a number of +fellow-sufferers is often very exasperating. Just as in hot weather a +man is never so thirsty as when he knows that he can get nothing to +drink, so on board ship a wild yearning for solitude is apt to overtake +him, all the more violent that it cannot possibly be gratified. As to +the ordeal of being obliged to live in the same cabin with one or more +individuals for any length of time, it is not only sufficient to cause +unreasoning hatred between strangers, but often to destroy a friendship +of long standing. I am convinced that if David and Jonathan had been +subjected to the disenchanting test of sharing a small cabin in a +gale of wind, they would have been famous to posterity, less for the +great love that they bare one another than for a propensity to quarrel +savagely over trifles. + +Certainly the sea develops the worst qualities of human nature +more rapidly and more surely than any other phase of existence. +In particular, I remember one man in whose company it was once my +misfortune to make a voyage. My previous experience of him as a +fellow-traveller, on dry land, had led me to suppose he was rather a +pleasant companion than otherwise. Beyond an insane habit of appearing +on every possible occasion in a variety of hideous and fantastic +caps, he appeared to be unusually free from the vices of travellers. +That is to say, he was neither inordinately greedy nor passionately +selfish. He had no particular taste either for sight-seeing or for +grumbling, and when in the presence of strangers, he did not consider +it necessary either to insult them with impertinent familiarity or to +repel them with churlish incivility. When I say that he was capable of +visiting the Alhambra, St. Marc’s Cathedral, and the Pyramids, without +displaying the slightest desire to engrave his name on the walls of +any of them with a penknife, it will at once be seen that he had no +ordinary claims to respect. Furthermore, his manners were those of a +gentleman, and his language remarkable for the absence of anything like +expletives. After he had been at sea a week, his own mother would not +have recognised him. + +For the first few days it was calm, and everything went well enough. +My friend justified the sanguine expectations I had formed of him, +by reclining all day in a long chair, puffing at a pipe with a head +as big as his own, and with twice as much in it. This sort of thing +was too good to last. We dropped in for a spell of bad weather. +It did not last long, but from the moment that it began he was an +altered man. An expression dismal as the latter end of tea-time took +permanent possession of his usually cheerful countenance, and even the +reappearance of fine weather entirely failed to restore him. He became +exceedingly restless, and would indulge for hours at a time in the +reprehensible practice of pacing up and down the deck, which is of all +performances the most trying to the nerves of the spectators. Suddenly +he would flump down into a chair with a violence extremely distracting +to anyone who happened to be seeking repose within a radius of five +yards. Just as one began to hope that he was settled at last, he would +bound up again out of his chair, upsetting it against someone’s shins, +and, without thinking it necessary to apologise, resume his detestable +pastime of patrolling the deck. + +But what astonished me more than anything was the bad language that +he took to using upon the most trivial provocation. I lived in the +next cabin to him, separated only by a partition open at the top. One +day, as I was lying on my bunk reading, I heard him fossicking about +among the things in his cabin in that spasmodic way which, even when +a man is out of sight, never fails to convey an idea of awful passion +to the listener. For a while his movements were only illuminated by +smothered execrations, which the partition rendered nearly inaudible. +Suddenly, however, he broke out into a torrent of oaths so fluent, +so comprehensive, and so ornamental, that, shocked as I was at his +profanity, I could not help admiring his genius. I have since reason to +believe that he borrowed a great deal of it from the form of cursing +employed by the Church of Rome against persons who happen to disagree +with her doctrines. At the time, however, I thought it was quite +original, and, of course, shouted to him to know what was the matter, +“Oh! are you there?” he replied. “Nothing; only I cannot hang up my +towel.” + +He grew rapidly worse, but it was not until about a week later that +his downward career reached its Nadir of demoralisation. I hardly +expect to be believed when I say, that one day, without the slightest +provocation, at a distance of over 1500 miles from land, he appeared +in broad daylight, on the ship’s quarter-deck, in knickerbockers. The +spectacle of such a self-constituted pariah of society was extremely +depressing. I cannot help thinking that a man who wears knickerbockers +on board ship in the tropics must be capable of committing almost any +crime. It was a painful occurrence altogether, and I should not have +mentioned it, except with a view to showing how apparently harmless +people frequently become exceedingly disagreeable at sea. + +Six days out from Suez we got to Aden, a most magnificent cinder-heap, +quite unlike anything else I have ever seen. The town of Aden lies +at the foot of a range of most discouraging-looking mountains, so +forlornly barren, so pitilessly rugged, they do not appear to be made +of anything half so cheerful as rocks and stones. They have more the +appearance of the material by means of which an inferior birdstuffer +endeavours to reproduce the handiwork of Nature in a rockwork at the +back of his specimens. There is something genuine and hearty about +a good mass of rock very different to the attenuated peaks of Aden, +compared to which a granite boulder is affability itself. + +When lit up by the splendour of a tropical sunset, however, the +mountains of Aden assume a different aspect. They are usually of a pale +mauve colour, which deepens, as the sun sets, to a glorious purple, +forming a startling contrast to the green and golden expanse of the +surrounding sea. Gradually the purple fades, the opal light dies +out of the sea, and a spectral gloom creeps over everything but the +highest peaks. Round these the rays of the departed sun linger with an +unearthly glare, till in the increasing darkness they seem to glow like +the ragged teeth of a red-hot saw. + +On the whole, the scenery of the tropics can never compare with that +of higher latitudes. The strength of the sunlight is so great that +objects are either defined with unpleasant sharpness or blurred in +a quivering haze of heat. There is none of that glorious depth of +colouring and softness of outline, one distance fading into another, +softer and softer, yet still distinct, that the moist atmosphere of +the west coast of Scotland or of the fen countries produces in such +perfection. For my own part, I do not believe the scenery of the west +coast of Scotland has a rival in the world. Of course it is easy to +find places constructed on a far larger scale, but it is not altogether +upon this that the beauty of scenery depends. It is very doubtful +whether a mountain derives much additional beauty from its summit being +invisible; and certainly a river so broad that no one can see across +it, is less picturesque than one which affords a view of both its banks +at the same time. For a few minutes at sunrise, and at sunset, it is +difficult to imagine anything more gorgeous than the colouring of the +tropics. But it quickly fades, and even while it lasts it is more +calculated to dazzle than to please. There is too much of the patchwork +counterpane and the circus-poster about it. Of course a tropical sunset +is a sight that it does not happen to everyone to witness, but anyone +can get a very fair idea of what it is like by eating a quantity of +cold pork-pie and unripe apples just before going to bed. + +Leaving Aden, we passed one night to the northward of the island of +Socotra, and were fortunate enough to come across the phenomenon known +as a “milky sea.” It was a wonderfully beautiful sight. The sea was +deadly calm, and all round as far as the eye could reach it was as +white and as transparent as London milk. Out of this the mountains +of Socotra, distant eight miles, rose up clear and distinct in the +brilliant starlight, and black as ink by contrast with the whiteness +of the sea. Several ambitious passengers ladled up some of the water, +to try and discover its component parts, but I don’t think they found +out much, except that if it was allowed to stand some time, a thick +sediment was precipitated, leaving the water quite clear again. + +Crossing the Indian Ocean, the weather was so monotonously calm, that +one day the captain was encouraged to give the order for fire and boat +station practice. If intended to display the smart discipline and +efficiency of the ship’s company, this exhibition had better have been +suppressed; but if merely to warn passengers against the incautious +use of matches, and the danger of falling overboard, it was invaluable. +Whether the crew had been expecting the order or not, I cannot say; but +I will do them the justice to affirm that the ringing of the fire-bell +was followed by no sort of confusion or hurry. It was only after an +interval had elapsed, sufficient to allow the strongest swimmer to +drown, and the smallest spark to become a conflagration, that they +began to saunter leisurely aft, dragging after them coils of hose, with +the dejected air of men who have seen the same thing done a dozen times +before and never known any good to come of it. Far more activity was +displayed by a vast army of stewards who swarmed up the companion at +the first sound of the bell, headed by the chief steward, or _maître +d’hôtel_, with a drawn sword in his hand. As these worthies took no +part in the subsequent proceedings, they probably only came up to be +saved. + +After some consultation it was agreed that an attempt should be made +to lower one of the quarter-boats, and to this the crew turned their +attention. But an unforeseen difficulty presented itself. Who was to +undertake the arduous task of climbing into the boat, and removing +the canvas cover? An animated discussion took place, the result of +which was that one man was singled out, apparently much against +his inclination, for the enterprise in hand. With a vast effort he +collected his energies, and, scattering a glance of melancholy defiance +at his recreant companions, he ascended the bulwarks and climbed +cautiously on to the boat. It soon became evident that there was far +more cause for his alarm than at first appeared. As long as he was +engaged in unlashing the boat’s cover, the crew amused themselves by +rolling up cigarettes and smoking them. But he had no sooner finished +than the men stationed at the after “fall” of the boat suddenly awoke +to an enthusiastic sense of duty, and lowered away. Those at the other +“fall” were not so alert, and the consequence was the stem of the boat +went down with a run, sending oars, stretchers, planks, and everything +movable in her except the man, flying into the sea. Fortunately for +himself, this hero got mixed up round one of the thwarts and remained +there until the boat was once more raised to a horizontal position, +when he was extricated, positively gibbering with terror and rage. +It having been conclusively proved that in case of emergency one +end of the boat at any rate could be lowered, this was considered +sufficient, and the fire-hose became the next object of interest to +the company. After some minutes of patient toil, one end of this +ingenious contrivance was connected with the machinery, and the order +to start pumping was given. An ominous pause followed, during which not +a drop of water appeared. The men began to look grave and to whisper +hurriedly and excitedly together. But a breathless silence fell upon +all present when the second lieutenant advanced to the business end +of the hose, with the air of a man who knows his duty and is prepared +to perform it at all risks. The excitement now became so intense as +to be quite painful, but still silence prevailed. Suddenly a terrible +gurgle was heard in the pipe, absolutely paralysing the lieutenant, who +remained rooted to the spot with countenance transfigured by terror. +In a moment a young Niagara burst from the pipe, discharging itself +full upon the unfortunate officer, and hurling the hose in convulsions +about the deck. The shock at once restored the use of his limbs to the +lieutenant. With a loud yell of anguish he turned and fled from a foe, +with whom, to judge by appearances, it was some time since he had had +an encounter. + +This concluded the diversion of fire and boat station practice, +and the ship’s company returned once more to their ordinary duties. +The captain resumed his occupation of walking up and down, spitting +frequently and emphatically upon his own quarterdeck. The chief +engineer took up his position by the rails of the engine-room, and, +with his watch in his hand, counted the revolutions of the propeller. +The doctor and the first lieutenant threw quoits into a bucket, and the +remainder of the crew, with the exception of a few who still retained +sufficient energy to smoke, went fast asleep. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE VOYAGE--(_Continued_) + + +Among the passengers on board, there were several newly-married +couples, and their behaviour was sometimes rather interesting. Of all +places to spend a honeymoon, I can conceive none more discouraging +than the sea. We all know that some of the gilt must come off the +gingerbread sooner or later, but there are many ways of removing it, +and it is just as well to take care that the more solid material +beneath it is not injured during the process. + +It would be interesting to a psychologist who was also a good sailor, +to study the appalling effects of sea-sickness upon the soul, no less +remarkable in the case of a subject who does not actually suffer, but +is merely compelled to witness the misery of others. Cervantes, we are +told, smiled away the chivalry of Spain. Fortunate for Spain that he +did so. Had he lived in an age when globe-trotting and going down to +the sea in ships was as fashionable as it is now, he would have been +spared the effort of smiling. All the finer feelings of human nature +are more or less in abeyance during the reign of sea-sickness, but when +it has passed off, they, most of them, readily reassert their sway. +Not so with the feeling which we term chivalry, now rapidly becoming +an obsolete word in these days of social progress. Its loss is the +less felt, since its place has been supplied by coxcombry, a feeling +more nearly allied to chivalry than might at first be imagined. Both +have a common end in view, which is to please. But there is this +distinction, that whereas chivalry arises from a man’s exalted ideas +of the intrinsic perfections of the opposite sex, coxcombry originates +in an exaggerated notion of the perfections of his own. Chivalry, +however, cannot exist without a profound and sincere respect for woman; +and when that is once destroyed, or even severely shaken, chivalry +receives its deathblow. Sea-sickness is, of all iconoclasts, the most +terrible, and before its fell advances chivalry withers more quickly +and more surely than ever it did before the smile of Cervantes, and +it withers to anything but the tune of a smile. If it were only for +this reason alone, life at sea would present matrimony under the most +unfavourable aspect it is possible to imagine. Can anything be more +terrible than to watch a countenance in which you take the deepest +interest, transfigured by sea-sickness into the ghastly semblance of +a frost-bitten turnip, and every atom of self-respect crushed by this +most levelling malady. + +But there are other annoyances besides. Careful and comparative +observation leads me to believe that a woman whose digestive organs +have so far rallied from sea-sickness as to allow her to eat, but +whose appearance still forbids her to leave her cabin, is the +most transcendently selfish of all God’s creatures. Under such +circumstances I have seen offices of vicarious selfishness thrust +upon the unfortunate husband, which the veriest egotist would shrink +from negotiating for himself. He is expected to secure the undivided +attention of the doctor, the purser, all the stewardesses, and half of +the stewards, regardless of how many other passengers there may happen +to be in exactly the same, or in a worse, predicament than his wife. +He is further expected to ascertain from the captain (at intervals +varying from five to fifteen minutes, according to the severity of +the weather), the exact position of the ship, the amount of present +danger, the prospect of fine weather, and the precise moment when the +destination will be reached--distant, possibly, some two or three +thousand miles. Most likely he will be sent to ask the quartermaster to +prevent the crew from walking about overhead, and to induce the officer +of the watch to moderate the noise made by the creaking of the ship’s +timbers and the working of the donkey-engine. Occasionally I have seen +even severer tests applied to the devotion of man, but these have been +amongst people who have been some time married. One day the vessel +was rolling rather heavily, and though most of the passengers had got +their sea-legs, some few remained below. Among the latter was the wife +of a man whom I noticed staggering up the companion one morning, with +the watery eye and uncertain gait of one just recovering from violent +sickness. He reached the deck safely, however, and with a considerable +slue to port, brought himself up in a deck-chair. I saw him scatter a +glance round, possibly to discover the whereabouts of his better half. +Finding himself quite alone, his eye brightened, and he blew his nose +in that triumphant manner which a man never adopts except when he is +quite at ease. He even pulled out his cigar-case and looked at it, +but discretion overcame valour, and he put it back in his pocket, and +prepared for perfect repose. He was not destined to enjoy it long. +In a few minutes a whey-faced domestic appeared at the door of the +companion, shepherding two of the most disagreeable-looking children +I ever saw. They had faces like badly-baked buns, and were dressed as +outrageously as only the offspring of British parents of a certain +class ever are. Their legs and feet were like hockey-sticks, and looked +so utterly incapable of supporting the distended waistcoats above them, +that their prudent mother had attached a long red ribbon to each of +their arms, to act as a sort of reins. These were now entrusted to the +hands of paterfamilias, with instructions to drive his progeny up and +down the deck for exercise. Of course he did so, and very ridiculous he +looked; but there was a pathetic side to the picture as well. In his +eye there was a piteous glance of retrospection, which seemed to recall +the time when he could take his ease or his exercise, as the spirit +moved him, without being required to make a greater fool of himself +than Nature intended him to be. + +Eight days after leaving Aden we got to Galle, and a greater contrast +than the two places it would be difficult to find. At Aden, all the +inhabitants who can afford the luxury drive out daily a distance of +four miles to refresh their weary eyes with the sight of the Botanical +Gardens, which consist of six weak-looking trees and twelve blades of +grass in a flower-pot. But at Galle the sight is over-powered by the +extraordinary luxuriance of the vegetation, and the variety of shades +of green displayed among the trees and bushes. Round the edges, of +course, there is a decided preponderance of cocoa-nut trees, but a +little distance from the shore the crowded way in which all sorts of +trees and creepers are arranged is quite bewildering. There is a sort +of show place, called Wak-Walleh, a few miles from Galle, to which +everyone rushes directly they land, to get a view of the island. It is +needless to say that there is a public-house and a tea-garden there; +and as you approach it, the “spoor” of the British tourist, in the +shape of orange-peel and beer-bottles, is very strongly marked. The +view is glorious. A broad valley of green paddy-fields, fringed on +each side with densely-wooded hills, lies stretched out below. It is +mapped out almost into islands, so winding is the course of the river +which runs through it, its waters shining like silver in the sunlight. +In the distance rises the bold outline of Adam’s Peak, supported by +numerous other mountains of lesser pretensions. In the foreground are +several marble tables with iron legs, chairs to match, and a party +of tourists. Partly disguised by pith helmets and white trousers, +nevertheless these last remind one forcibly of Greenwich Fair. They +are shouting--positively shouting--and laughing in that aggressive way +that only a Briton out for a holiday is master of. Several of them are +drinking beer and throwing sticks at cocoa-nuts; and one or two, more +utterly degraded than the rest, pick up little pieces of stone to carry +away as relics of Wak-Walleh. The native jewellers do a very healthy +trade in counterfeit stones, manufactured at Birmingham expressly for +exportation to Ceylon. Sapphires are the favourite importations offered +to the verdant traveller. I saw one man beautifully let in. He was +offered a sapphire about the size of a small tea-cup, of a brilliant +hue that would have shamed the waters of the Mediterranean. Two hundred +pounds was the price demanded for this startling gem. The traveller +to whom it was offered had heard something of the dishonest practices +of the jewellers of Galle, and was anxious to display his capacity +for dealing. He winked at an admiring crowd of fellow-passengers, +and offered the man three pounds. Much to his disgust, the native +instantly closed with his offer, and, securing the coins, left the +ship with all possible speed. Of course the sapphire was glass, and, +with the setting, might have been worth half-a-crown. There are some +real sapphires but no very good ones to be had, as all that are worth +anything go direct to the London market. + +Five days after leaving Galle we got to Singapore, and had to wait +there a week, which was a nuisance, as there is only one hotel in +the place fit to live in, and even that one is certainly one of the +vilest in the world. The food is simply filthy, and not much of it, +the attendance wretched, and the manager gratuitously insulting to +everyone. While I was there he was knocked down and shut up in his own +coal-cellar by a resident in the town, to whom he had been impertinent, +to the intense delight of everyone else in the place. + +Singapore itself is a lovely place, with rather a disagreeable +climate. The thermometer never varies above a few degrees, and stands +at about 85° day and night, all the year round. The wealthier class +of inhabitants live in bungalows scattered about over the ridges in +the neighbourhood of the town, most of them surrounded by beautiful +gardens. They all seem utterly depressed by the enervating climate, and +do not aspire to any higher interest in life than a generous rivalry +in the concoction of marvellous curries. An old resident of Singapore +takes as much interest and pride in his curries as an Englishman does +in his racehorses or his hunters, and he always speaks of a rival +connoisseur with deep feeling and respect. Both men and women look very +faded and washed-out, and the only colour in their faces is yellow from +a prolonged course of curry. I used to walk all round the place for +miles every day, in the heat of the day, and never felt anything but +better for it. Nothing will induce Indians to expose themselves to the +sun, for fear of sunstroke, and nothing makes them so angry as to be +told that if they drank less, led a more healthy life, and took more +exercise, they would be able to stand the sun with impunity. And yet +it is the case. Of course, a man who lies on his back drinking brandy +and beer half the day, sleeps the other half, and sits up most of the +night, cannot safely expose himself to the full power of an Indian sun +without risk. There is something peculiarly treacherous in the sun all +over India and the East Indies, but the medical profession know that +nine-tenths of the cases of sunstroke that occur are the result of +drink. + +The only residents I ever saw, either in India, Ceylon, or Singapore, +who enjoyed perfect health, and had not the slightest fear of +exposing themselves to the sun, were invariably men who led most +temperate lives, and who were out of doors all day long. In the bush +of Australia, where men work all day long under a vertical sun, with +little covering on their heads, sunstroke is absolutely unknown. But in +the towns, where they drink all day, and take no exercise, it is not an +uncommon thing at all for a man to be knocked over by the sun just in +crossing the street. + +A week’s loafing around Singapore produced a wild longing to leave it, +but I must say I was not exhilarated by the sight of the boat that +was to carry me to Australia. She was called the _Somerset_, and was +the property of the Eastern and Australian Company, and was about as +depressing an old tub as I ever travelled in. In the best of weather +she was not good for more than eight knots, and if it came on to blow +ahead she went astern. The captain was in every respect worthy of the +ship he commanded. He spent most of his time sulking in his cabin, +and the remainder in entertaining the passengers with most gloomy +forebodings. Three days after leaving Singapore the weather got very +squally, and the rain came down in such torrents that, when standing +on the bridge, it was sometimes impossible to see the foremast. After +dark it grew worse, and the captain, who had been blowing an infernal +fog-whistle at intervals of five minutes all through the day, informed +the passengers that he had no idea where he was, but about three in the +morning he ought to go through a winding passage two miles long and +three-quarters of a mile wide, between two sunken reefs. After which, +he turned the fog-whistle permanently on, and retired into his cabin. + +Anything like the horrors of that voyage I never remember. The smell +of bilge-water and cockroaches in the saloon was so overpowering that +it was almost impossible to stay down long enough to swallow a meal. +There were 320 Chinese emigrants forward, who not only smelt horribly +themselves, but spent their whole time in cooking nauseous oily messes, +the stench from which was wafted aft in a continuous stream from one +day’s end to another. For days at a time there was not a breath of air, +and the heat was so intense that the pitch used to melt and bubble up +in the seams of the deck. I used to lie on deck all day and smoke, +with a saucer of chloride of lime under my nose as a disinfectant. It +was beginning to make the whole crowd of us quite ill. The captain, +the officers, and, I believe every one in the ship except myself, took +to being sick as violently as if they had never been to sea before. +Fortunately, when we got to the Arafura Sea we dropped in for a gale +of wind. This, as Robinson Crusoe observed, was an amusement the other +way. It delayed us three days, but I have not a doubt it saved some of +our lives. In the middle of the night, when the gale was at its height, +the boiler of the old _Somerset_ burst. The manhole plate flew clean +off, and every particle of steam, of course, escaped. It took seventeen +hours to repair it, during which time we lay like a log in the trough +of the sea, with the waves breaking over us fore and aft. It cleaned us +a little, though, which was very healthy. + +Two nights afterwards we ran down a native boat, and drowned everyone +in it. How many men there were in her I do not know, but we never +picked up one. The next day we lost a man overboard ourselves. He was +on the jibboom, where he had no business to have been sent, as there +was a heavy sea on at the time. The old _Somerset_ put her nose right +into a wave, and, of course, the man was washed away. In spite of the +sea that was running, he swam like a duck for about twenty minutes, +during which time the captain was busily engaged in turning his old +craft round to pick him up. I believe naval authorities are divided +as to the advisability of going astern or turning the ship round to +pick up a man overboard; but in the case of the _Somerset_ I should +certainly have preferred the former process, as she had at all times a +natural inclination to go astern instead of ahead. However, the captain +turned round, and I thought we should have got the poor fellow on +board again all right. He was swimming beautifully, keeping his head +and shoulders right out of the water, when suddenly he threw up his +arms, rose half out of the water, and then sank like a stone. I expect +a shark must have got him, as one had been prowling after us for some +time. This incident brought the captain’s ill-humour to a climax, and +next day, when he found me throwing little pieces of stick over the +side to see which way the vessel was going, he became quite uncivil. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +SOMERSET + + +No one was sorry when, about sixteen days after leaving Singapore, the +coast of Australia hove in sight. We passed through Torres Straits, +which were adorned with the remains of three recent wrecks, and +anchored off Somerset, the northernmost township in Australia. It is +merely a pearl-fishing station, and will never develop into anything, +as there is no back country to it. The pearl-fishers who live there +are a rough-looking lot, not encumbered with any superfluous clothing, +and generally without shoes or stockings. Their trade, which is an +exceedingly profitable one, is carried on by means of black divers, +who go down and bring up the mother-of-pearl shells. These shells, +which are about a foot or sixteen inches across, and shaped like +an oyster-shell, were worth at that time nearly £250 per ton. The +pearls found in the shell were reckoned to pay all expenses, and the +profits were enormous. Even at the present time, when pearl-shell has +fallen in value to £140 a ton, it pays well to get. There is another +pearl-fishery on the western coast of Australia, and some of the pearls +obtained there fetch large prices. Though they are never equal to the +Oriental pearls in colour, they make up for it in size, and I heard +of one being sold in London recently for £1500. The West Australian +pearl-fisheries are liable to the most terrific hurricanes. The signs +which herald their approach are perfectly well known, and give ample +time to a vessel to secure a good offing. But the pearl-fishers are +generally much too recklessly intent on their occupation to take any +such precaution, and every now and then the whole lot of them get swept +right away, some of their boats being sent to the bottom, and others +blown clean out of the water into the mangroves that fringe the shore. +The few that are not drowned in one of these visitations do not seem to +care or take any warning. _Mox reficit rates_, the pearl-fisher picks +up the pieces, sends off for another schooner if his own is hopelessly +damaged, and goes on again as if such a thing as a hurricane was +unknown. + +One or two white men, who have nothing to do with the pearl-fishing, +have taken up their permanent abode at Somerset for no reason at all +that I could see, except to enjoy the society of black women and to +run an imminent risk of being knocked on the head by black men. The +blacks in the neighbourhood of Somerset are very bad. They are a +fierce warlike race of athletic savages, with a cross of the Malay in +them. The Government Resident at Somerset wages an endless war with +them, and from the intrepid bravery which he has always displayed in +his encounters with them he has established a wonderful prestige. So +recklessly daring, and so successful have some of his raids against +them been, that he is firmly believed to be the Devil by all the +natives in the Somerset district. A mob of about 200 of them once came +and camped on an island opposite to his residence. He knew that they +would very shortly attack him, so he determined not to wait for them. +As soon as it was dark, he stripped himself naked, and tying his rifle +and his ammunition on to his head to keep them dry, he swam across to +the island. The tide ran very strong, and the channel was a quarter of +a mile wide, but he got across all right. + +[Illustration: A QUEENSLAND BLACK.] + +Without the slightest fear he attacked the whole camp of blacks single +handed, and routed them utterly. So terrified were they at the fact +of one white man daring to attack them alone, that they came to the +conclusion that there must be something superhuman about him, and +cleared out with all speed. It was months before he was troubled with +them again. He has been there now for a good many years, and numerous +are the hairbreadth escapes that he has had during that time. So far +his courage has carried him safely through, and though he has often +been wounded, he has never come to serious harm. But his enemies are +numerous and implacable, and it is odd if a spear or a tomahawk does +not finish him at last. + +From Torres Straits right away to below Cape Capricorn, runs the +great barrier reef of Australia. Inside this the navigation is very +intricate; a perfect network of islands and reefs. We took a pilot on +board at Somerset, but even then we had occasionally to anchor at night +when there was no room. The scenery all down the coast of Queensland +is very wild, and in some parts extremely beautiful. Endless masses +of wooded mountain-ranges run all along the mainland, and some of the +islands with their emerald slopes dotted over with patches of dark +green firs are very picturesque. + +Whit-sunday passage, just before coming to Bowen, is one of the +prettiest bits of scenery on the whole coast of Australia. The ranges +on the mainland here are very broken, and just off the shore is a +large group of lovely islands, between which and the mainland the +coasting-steamers’ track passes. It looked very beautiful in the +evening, when the mountains were turning to that soft clear smoky blue, +peculiar to Australian scenery, and the crimson fire of sunset was +still smouldering in the golden west. + +The _Somerset_ did not call off Mackay, which was my destination, so I +had to go on to Keppel Bay, the port for Rockhampton, 200 miles farther +south, and wait for a boat back to Mackay. + +I left the _Somerset_ with feelings of unmixed joy, and with a hearty +hope that she might go to the bottom when she got into Sydney harbour, +and stay there. Since that time, to the great delight of everyone +who ever travelled in any of their boats, the Eastern and Australian +Company have abandoned the Queensland mail service, after losing nearly +all their boats. The _Brisbane_, the best boat they had, was wrecked +near Torres Straits. The _Normanby_ shared her fate soon after. The +_Singapore_ ran ashore near Mackay and was totally lost, and the +_Queensland_ was run into by the _Barrabool_, and sunk just off Sydney. +They were altogether a most unfortunate company, and were very badly +treated by the New South Wales Government, who induced them to start by +the promise of a large subsidy, which promise was repudiated as soon as +the company’s ships began running. Their place has been taken by the +British India Company, who run a service of very fine boats from London +to Brisbane _viâ_ Batavia, carrying the mails, and calling at Thursday +Island, Cooktown, Townsville, Bowen, Mackay, and Keppel Bay on the +Queensland coast. They do not run farther south than Brisbane, and have +no subsidy from any Government except that of Queensland. + +My brother met me in Rockhampton, and we were fortunate enough to find +a boat sailing for Mackay a few hours after I landed. We ran up to the +entrance of the Pioneer River, on which Mackay is situated, in about +twenty-four hours, and had to anchor there and wait for the tide to get +in. We amused ourselves by fishing for sharks, and caught one about +six feet long. About one o’clock in the morning the tide served, and +we steamed up the Pioneer for a couple of miles, and lay alongside +of a rather dilapidated wharf. No one appeared to take sufficient +interest in the arrival of the steamer to be on the wharf, and, beyond +a few sheds, I could not, at first, see any signs of a town at all. My +brother knew the way, however, and, collaring as much of my luggage +as we could carry, we set off to the hotel. Following his lead, I +floundered through a mass of black mud and several deep puddles of +water, and emerged on to a road about three inches deep in dust. After +going along this for a hundred yards, some buildings began to loom up +against the starlit sky, and a little farther on we turned a corner, +and found ourselves in the main street of Mackay. + +It might have been the city of the dead for any signs of a population. +Not a light was to be seen in the rows of uneven, low, wooden buildings +that ran along each side of the street, and the only living creatures +were several dogs fast asleep in the middle of the road. Turning +another corner, we stumbled over the body of a man with his heels on +the pavement and his head in the gutter. His hat was off, and he was +evidently in the total-collapse stage of drunkenness. My brother struck +a match and examined his features. + +“Ah, I thought so,” he observed; “it’s the doctor. He’s been like that, +off and on, for a fortnight. Here, lend a hand, and pull him out of the +gutter. He’ll have a fit if he lies like that much longer.” + +Having dragged him into a less apoplectic position, we turned into the +hotel. There was no one up, but it was open; so we went upstairs and +hunted about for a couple of empty rooms. After one or two bad shots, +which disclosed the prostrate forms of several sleepers, most of whom +had gone to bed in their boots, we found what we wanted, and turned +in. It was pretty hot, and the musquitoes made it rather lively, but +we got a few hours’ sleep, and next morning turned out early to get +ready for a start up to the station. The first thing we heard from my +brother’s black boy, who was waiting about the town for him, was that +the horses had got out of the paddock. They were certain to go straight +back to the station, so my brother borrowed a horse and sent the boy +down the road to look for them. He got them about ten miles away, and +did not reappear till the middle of the day. + +Meanwhile, I amused myself by examining the town of Mackay. Of all +horrible places to live in, the worst is a small coast town in +Queensland. They are all alike. The streets are very broad, and almost +all the houses built entirely of wood, with verandahs in front of them, +extending over the pavement. There is not a green thing to be seen +anywhere. Dust is everywhere, inches deep in the streets that are not +macadamised, and trees, bushes, houses, and everything are powdered +over with it. In summer it is sweltering hot, the glare is frightful, +and before I had been half an hour in Mackay, I began to understand why +my brother was in such a hurry to get out of it. When I first landed +there, the white population of the whole district was under 2000, +and that of the actual township under 1000, but I counted seventeen +public-houses in the place. The first thing that struck me was that +not a single man in the town had a coat or waistcoat on, and the next +thing that struck me was what very sensible people they all were, for +it was about the middle of March, and the weather was so hot that any +superfluous clothing was unbearable. + +[Illustration: THE HERMITAGE PADDOCK--MACKAY.] + +There was a _table d’hôte_ at the hotel at which we camped, and at +dinner-time a crowd of men assembled for the feed. Squatters down from +the country, bank-clerks, planters, and business men, not one of +them had a coat on. Their invariable costume was a pair of moleskins or +tweed trousers, fastened round the waist with a leather belt, a cotton +shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and a silk handkerchief loosely tied +round the neck. The Bushmen were easily distinguished by the mahogany +brown to which constant exposure to the sun had turned their faces, +necks, and arms. + +The fashion of wearing no coats is peculiar to Mackay, and has been +adopted by the planters, who consider themselves the _elite_ of the +place. At a dinner-party on one of the plantations, it is a most +curious sight to see all the ladies, _en grande tenue_, dressed in +the latest fashion, and the gentlemen sitting down with no coat or +waistcoat, and their arms bare to the elbow. + +It was one o’clock before we were ready for a start, and, as our +station was forty-five miles away, we settled to go out and camp at +a station about five-and-twenty miles up the Pioneer River, and go +on home next day. The country round Mackay is a dead level alluvial +plain for ten or twelve miles, and is all under cultivation for +sugar-growing. Our road for the first mile and a half went through a +sort of straggling township of small detached houses, each surrounded +by a grass paddock; but after this we got among the cane-fields, and +the sight of them was very refreshing after being shut up for weeks at +sea. There are few prettier plants than sugar, and the panorama of the +Mackay cane-fields is really beautiful. For miles the cane stretches +away in a level sea of emerald green, here and there a tall brick +chimney rising up to indicate the whereabouts of a mill. A broad belt +of dark green forest marks the course of the Pioneer, winding through +the plains, and beyond this again the cane-fields rise right away to +the base of rugged mountains, thickly wooded to the very summit. All +along the horizon the mountains of the coast range are piled one behind +the other in dark blue masses, their outline rising here and there into +sharp peaks against the western sky, and forty miles away towers the +mighty form of Mount Dalrymple, over 4000 feet high, the second highest +mountain in Queensland. On both banks of the Pioneer, at intervals of a +few miles, are the residences of the planters, and certainly the lines +have fallen to them in pleasant places. Their houses, as a rule, are +extremely comfortable and very well furnished, and the gardens of many +of them are paradises of beauty. In good times they make tremendous +profits, and their occupation chiefly consists in watching other people +work, in the intervals of which they recline in a shady verandah with a +pipe and a novel, and drink rum-swizzles. Most of them keep a manager, +so that they can always get away for a run down south, or a kangaroo +hunt up the country. They are very hospitable, and keep their houses +always open to strangers visiting the place, and to their friends in +the country who come uninvited, and are welcome to stay as long as they +please. + +About fourteen miles from Mackay, we passed the last plantation, and +got among the gum-trees, and shortly afterwards the track struck the +bank of the Pioneer. I have seldom seen a more beautiful river. As a +rule, Queensland rivers are muddy, sluggish streams, with low banks +covered with mangroves, and many of them would not be called rivers +at all in a country where water was more plentiful. But the scenery +along the Pioneer is lovely. Its whole length is only about one hundred +miles, but it drains a large extent of country, and for the last thirty +miles the average width of its bed is from one to two hundred yards. It +rises in the coast range, and its course lies through heavily-timbered +country all the way to the sea. The banks, sometimes sloping, +sometimes very steep, vary in height from fifty to a hundred feet, and +are thickly covered with a dense forest of trees and creepers. The +river itself is a succession of deep black pools of beautifully clear +water, some of them nearly a mile in length, with long rocky rapids +between them. + +The track wound along the banks for some miles, and every now and then +we pulled up to admire some more than usually beautiful reach, where +the water was turned to gold in the evening sunlight, and the dim blue +mountains showed up through the forest beyond. Swarms of ducks of every +description were paddling about in the pools, and sunning themselves on +the rocks and sandbanks. + +At one bend of the river, just at the head of a deep pool, where +the “scrub” on the banks was very thick, my brother said there was +pretty sure to be an alligator, and if we went quietly we might get a +sight of it; so we got off, hung our horses up to a tree, and crawled +through the scrub down the bank to the water’s edge. Peering cautiously +through a tangled curtain of creepers that hung over the water, we were +rewarded by the sight of a huge alligator, basking on a sandbank about +sixty yards off, and apparently fast asleep. The instant we showed +ourselves, however, he shuffled into the water with incredible speed. +The upper waters of the Pioneer are inhabited by numbers of these +brutes, and some of them grow to an enormous size. One was killed not +long before I arrived, nineteen feet long, but even this was eclipsed +by Big Ben of the Fitzroy, who measured twenty-three feet six inches, +and who, when last I saw him, was in the possession of Mr. Jamrach in +London. These alligators do not seem to increase much in numbers, and +the same ones hang about the same pools for years. From October to +March, during the hot weather, they do not show themselves at all, but +during the rest of the year, in the cool weather, they lie about on +the sandbanks warming themselves all day. + +The sun was getting low, so we climbed on to our horses again, and +after a three-mile canter along a splendid level track winding through +an endless forest of gums, under which the grass grew three feet high, +our destination hove in sight. + +“Sleepy Hollow,” or, as it is always called, “The Hollow,” the station +at which we were going to camp that night, is about the prettiest +place on the whole of the Pioneer. As we rode up we were greeted with +a chorus of barking from a small army of cattle-dogs that were lying +about the outbuildings, and Mr. Charles Rawson, the owner of the +Hollow, came out to meet us. He gave a wild shout of delight when he +saw who it was. He was an old friend of my brother, and, seizing me by +the hand, he bade me welcome to Australia with a heartiness there was +no mistaking. + +“Hooray, boys!” he said, “this is just about the soundest day I’ve seen +for a deuce of a time. If I’d known when your old dug-out was going to +fetch the Mackay wharf, you bet I’d have been there to meet you. Here, +George, take these horses and turn them into the big paddock.” + +“Hold on,” said my brother. “Better put them in the small one, we want +to get away early to-morrow.” + +“To-morrow! to-morrow be blowed; you’ll stop here for a week any way. +You’ll surely never be so beastly mean as to come here for only one +night?” + +To his great disappointment my brother declared he must be back at the +station the next day, as there was a man coming up to pick fat cattle. + +“Well, if it’s business,” he observed sadly, “I don’t so much mind; +but any way, come on inside now, and have a drop of something short. +I was just going to make it sundown when you boys rode up, and I was +suffering to look at somebody through the bottom of a glass.” + +We followed our host into a cool shady verandah, and he quickly +produced the materials for a drink. + +“Now, then,” said he, “just let me mix you a swizzle. What’s a swizzle! +Oh! I forgot you’d only just landed. Well, I believe a swizzle is about +the squarest drink that’s yet been invented, and there’s no one in the +district can lay over me at mixing one. But hold on till you try it.” + +Never having heard of a swizzle, which is a drink peculiar to Mackay, I +believe, I watched his proceedings with interest. First of all he put +two inches of Jamaica rum into the bottom of a tumbler, into which he +shook a few drops of Angostura bitters from a bottle, with a small hole +in the cork. Next he added a small teaspoonful of brown sugar, and a +squeeze of a lemon, and filled the tumbler two-thirds full of water. He +then took a small stick with three prongs growing the reverse way up at +the end, and whirled it round in the tumbler between his hands, with a +dexterity only to be acquired by constant practice, till the decoction +was foaming to the top of the glass. + +Handing it to me quickly, with directions to “drink it while fizzing,” +he watched it going down, with one eye shut, and an expression of +sympathetic interest on his face. + +“How’s that for high?” he asked as I set down the glass with a sigh of +satisfaction. + +I acknowledged that he had not overrated the beauties of the drink, and +asked him where he got the peculiar little stick with which he stirred +it up. + +“Ah!” he said, “that’s just it. That’s nothing short of a +swizzle-stick, and it grows on a tree that’s peculiar to the Mackay +district, and no doubt a bountiful Providence placed it there +on purpose for the inhabitants to stir up their liquor with. I +discovered it myself, and it hadn’t a name, so we christened it the +_Swizzlestickia Rawsoniensis_. There’s two of them growing down there +in the paddock, alongside the fence.” + +The owner of the Hollow is probably one of the most popular men in +the north of Queensland. He was one of the earliest settlers in the +district, has been identified with its rise and progress, and has not +an enemy in the place. There were wild times in the early days of +Mackay, and most of his contemporaries have been stretched out for the +undertaker, or, if they still live, are mere wrecks of their former +selves. But sixteen years of hard work and hard living in the tropics +have made never a mark on the iron constitution of our host. His head +is marble, and perfectly proof against the influence of Mackay rum, +forty-five over proof, as anyone who drinks alongside of him will +find to their cost. Many a reveller, waking after a heavy night to +repentance and a sick headache, has turned sicker still to see him +enter his room at five the next morning, with a cheery smile on his +face, a pipe of nigger-head between his lips, and an invitation to come +down and bathe in the river. He is nearer fifty than forty now, and +his hair is not quite so thick as it was, and getting gray in places. +But, to use his own words, “he has still got as bully a set of works as +there are in the island, and, bar accidents, is good for another ten +years yet.” A kind heart and an inexhaustible fund of good spirits made +him as pleasant a mate as a man could wish for, and if there’s any fun +going, from an exploring expedition to a game of euchre, he is bound to +be up to the neck in it. Having finished our drinks and lit our pipes, +we sallied out to scatter a glance round the place. + +The forest has been cleared for a little distance round, and the house +and garden are surrounded by a paddock of short green turf. The house +itself is a large one-storied building, with a fourteen-foot verandah +all round covered with masses of every sort of creeper. It stands right +on the river-bank, which rises to an elevation of a hundred feet above +the bed, and the view up the river is magnificent. Right in front of +the house the bed of the river is full of rocky islands and rapids; +but above this there is a long stretch of still deep water up to the +next bend, three quarters of a mile away. The opposite bank is covered +with a most magnificent forest of enormous trees, called in Australia a +“scrub,” to distinguish it from open timbered country. + +Nothing can be more beautiful in the way of a forest than a Queensland +scrub. Fig-trees, Leichardts, white cedar, red cedar, beech, and a +hundred other trees whose names I never heard, are crowded together +in wild confusion, their dense foliage mingled in masses of every +conceivable shade of green. Here and there a group of feathery palms +rear their heads above the surrounding forest, and giant creepers hang +suspended in thick curtains from one huge tree to another. + +In front of the house, just on the fall of the river-bank, is a +gigantic bamboo, the father of all bamboos in the Mackay district, and +round about the house are several smaller ones. But the garden running +along the top of the bank is a sight worth going to Queensland to see. +There is fifty feet of black soil here, and it must be a mean sort +of plant that would not grow. Lemons, limes, guavas, custard-apples, +grapes, mangoes, oranges, and grenadillas, all flourish in a state +of perfection that speaks equally well for the care of their owner +and the excellence of the climate. Mangoes and oranges seem to do +especially well, and the trees of the latter were absolutely weighed +down with fruit, and Bananas and passion fruit grow like weeds. In +the middle of the garden, on a patch of smooth green turf, stands the +most magnificent Poinciana tree I ever saw, about sixty feet high, with +huge spreading boughs sweeping right down to the ground. The foliage +is light green, and exactly resembles the leaf of a sensitive plant, +and in summer it is literally covered with huge spiral flowers of the +most brilliant crimson. The roof and side verandah of the house are +overrun with masses of Boganvillea creepers, of every shade from pink +to purple, and the flower-beds around are full of roses and geraniums. +Gardenias grow all about, in bushes five feet high, and flower most +beautifully. The back of the garden is sheltered all along by an +impenetrable row of bamboos, Leichardts, and fig-trees, and in front, +just along the edge of the river-bank, runs a low hedge of hybiscus, +blazing with scarlet flowers. The front verandah of the house has been +extended into a sort of conservatory, made of a lattice-work of battens +split from palm-trees, inside which is a rockery covered with most +beautiful ferns. + +The mountains and creeks of Northern Queensland are full of every +sort of fern, and in the fernery at the Hollow I counted over thirty +varieties which Mr. Rawson had picked up in his wanderings about his +own runs, and brought home and planted. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE BUSH + + +Next morning, my brother and I saddled up early, and started off +through the Bush for Mount Spencer, directly after breakfast. There +is something very bewildering about one’s first introduction to the +Bush, especially in the coast country of Queensland, which is one vast +stupendous forest of different sorts of trees. Mile after mile, day +after day, you ride on through the forest, with a tree on an average +every ten yards. If you keep in the valleys you see nothing but trees, +and if you climb up a mountain you see nothing but more trees. Here +and there you come upon a small open plain, a few hundred yards in +extent; but until you get used to it the monotony of the endless timber +is appalling, and it is easy to realise the terrible madness that so +often comes over those who get lost in the Bush. The only change is +from white gum-trees on the flats, to black iron-barks on the ridges, +and one ridge and one flat is so like another, to an inexperienced +eye, it seems incredible that anyone can ever find their way about, or +know exactly where they are. Some people never can, and I have known +natives of the country, who have lived for twenty years in the Bush, +and who have still been helpless to get from one place to another +without a guide, in country that they had ridden over for years. These +are the exceptions, however, and, as a rule, a man with a moderate +bump of locality soon learns the art of finding his way in the Bush. +Very slight landmarks will serve to guide a good Bushman, for no two +places are really exactly alike, and on the coast country there is +generally some mountain or other to get a sight of, which will enable +anyone who knows the country he is in to take his bearings. Away on the +open rolling plains of the West, or, worse still, in country covered +with endless brigalow scrub, the Bushman has often not a single mark +to guide him for many miles, except the sun or stars. In such country, +finding one’s way about is reduced to an instinct, which is a natural +gift by no means to be acquired; and unless a man be endowed with +it, he had better never attempt to wander far alone in the trackless +wilds of the Australian Bush. Many a man who has tried it, under the +delusion that he was born to be an explorer, has paid the penalty of +his rashness with his life. Witness the fate of Burke and Wills, whose +miserable end was due not nearly so much to the force of circumstances, +as to their being by nature utterly unfitted to find their way about +the Bush; for they perished within a few miles of their own plant of +provisions, without having the slightest idea where they were. + +The first thing that strikes one is the lifeless solitude of the Bush. +The fierce searching light of a vertical sun prevents it from being +gloomy, and, indeed, the trees in the open timbered country give a +very scanty shade, but everywhere there is a weird solemn stillness +that is most impressive. In the middle of the day, birds and beasts +retire to the cool shade of the scrubs on the banks of the creeks, and +there is not a sound to be heard, nor a living thing to be seen. The +accumulated silence of a thousand years seems to brood over some of +the mountains and valleys of this vast land, where, perhaps, the sound +of man’s voice has never yet been heard. Now and then a light breeze +rustles in the tops of the trees, which move softly, as if stirring in +their sleep, but it quickly passes away, and sunshine and silence are +everywhere again. But the sensation of loneliness very soon wears off, +and in a little while even the endless trees come to look like friends +in whose company it is no hardship to pass a day. There is a deep +fascination about the freedom of the Bush, whose subtle influence very +soon enslaves those who go to live there, and generally unsettles them +for any other mode of living. + +A “new chum,” as a new arrival in Australia is called, is never very +long in the country without getting some sort of fall off a horse, and +I got my first one a few miles from the Hollow. Like nine out of every +ten station horses, the animal I was riding had a sore back, and was +girth-galled as well, so I was riding with the girths very loose. Now +there is one thing in riding through the Bush which the sooner a man +learns the better, and that is, however fast he is going, and however +thick the timber is, never to attempt to guide his horse clear of +the trees. As long as he gives him his head and does not attempt to +interfere with him, his horse will never run him against a tree; but +he is certain only to have one side to his mouth, and any efforts to +keep him clear of one tree will probably send him into another. The +way in which an old stock-horse shaves the trees with just a couple of +inches to spare, at racing pace, makes his rider’s hair stand on end, +and gives him a cold feeling down the back at first, but he soon drops +down to sitting back and leaving his horse to steer clear of the timber +by himself. These sorts of little peculiarities are so well known to +everyone who has been a little while in the country, that they always +forget to tell anyone of them who has not. As I followed my brother at +a hard canter along the track winding through the timber, an ill-judged +attempt to induce my horse to give rather a wider berth to a gigantic +gum-tree produced exactly the opposite effect, and a collision was the +result. The girths being quite loose, the cant which we got from the +gum-tree, turned me and my saddle half round, and, as my intelligent +animal at once redoubled its speed, it was not long before we parted. +I landed on my shoulder, and the pace at which we were going sent +me head over heels, my farther advance being abruptly stopped by an +iron-bark tree, against which I brought up with considerable violence. +My horse tore past my brother, who immediately set off after it, and +they both disappeared in the Bush. The first impulse of anyone under +the circumstance would have been to have a smoke, and my temper was by +no means improved by finding that my pipe had been smashed to pieces +between myself and the iron-bark tree. However, I set off down the +track, and after about half a mile, met my brother coming back, leading +my horse. He had hunted it for about a mile, and fortunately bailed +it up between two gullies, and caught it; for, as a rule, it takes at +least three men to surround a loose horse in the Bush, and even then, +unless it is a very quiet one, they will not catch it. After about +fifteen miles of low ridges and flats, we came to the foot of the main +coast range. + +A zigzag road cut through the scrub took us over the pass, and the +moment that we got to the top the change in the atmosphere was quite +extraordinary. Though the sun was just as hot, there was a delightfully +fresh light feeling in the air, the horses ceased to sweat, and one +felt the same sensation as when one comes out of a greenhouse into the +open air. The top of the range was covered with spotted or scented +gum, the perfume of which is very strong, and rather like that of a +lemon-scented verbena. + +About sixteen miles of monotonous stony ridges covered with endless +black iron-barks brought us to a dense clump of wattles, a sort of +mimosa--tall, feathery, graceful trees, with leaves like a willow, and +sweet-scented yellow flowers. Through this the road passed, and we +emerged on to a piece of level country covered with white poplar-gums +and grass-trees. The latter are most comical-looking objects. They have +a black bare stem, from one to eight feet high, surmounted by a tuft +of a sort of half rushes and half grass, out of which, again, grows +a long thing exactly like a huge bulrush. A lot of them always grow +together, and a little way off they are not unlike the illustrations +of Red Indian chiefs in Fenimore Cooper’s novels. The tuft of grass at +the top has a sort of core, white and soft, that tastes rather like a +Spanish chestnut, and is good to eat, when there is nothing else to +be had. About a mile along the flat brought us to the Mount Spencer +horse-paddock fence, through which we passed, and got to the station +just at sundown. + +Somehow or other, in Australia, no matter how long or how short one’s +journey is, one nearly always gets to the end of it about sundown, +which seems to be the orthodox hour, especially for strangers, to +arrive at a station. As we emerged from the timber in the paddock into +the large open space in which the station lay, it struck me as one of +the most beautiful places I had ever seen. As a rule, on the coast +country the timber is so thick that the look-out is necessarily very +limited, and although here and there there are very pretty spots, it +is very seldom that there is a panorama of any extent worth looking +at. Of course on the downs you can see as far as the horizon in every +direction, but the monotony of the rolling plains of grass is almost +as bad as the Atlantic. The view, however, from Mount Spencer is +magnificent, and certainly beats anything I ever saw in Australia. +The station stands on a low broad ridge, which was originally timbered +like the surrounding Bush; but the trees have all been cleared away, +the stumps burned out, and the holes filled in, so that the ground is +now a smooth expanse of short green turf, sloping gently down to the +edge of a large lagoon, about 300 yards away. The lagoon itself is a +mile and a half long, and about a mile across, the centre covered with +water-lilies, and the edges fringed with a thick wide belt of rushes. +On the far side from the station a forest of huge gum-trees follows the +winding shores of the lagoon, its outline broken by one or two little +promontories running out into the water; and above the forest, like an +amphitheatre, rise the mountains of the coast, running back in broken +rocky spurs to Blue Mountain, a vast densely-wooded range 3000 feet +high and fourteen miles away. + +The sun had just set when we arrived, and everything was deadly still. +The shadow from the hills at the back of the station had fallen across +the lagoon, in whose dark waters the forms of the white gum-trees +around were perfectly reflected. The shades of evening had fallen upon +the forest, but the mountain ranges beyond were still lit up with the +rosy after-glow of sunset, and looked almost transparent against the +deep pure blue of an autumn evening sky. Hundreds of water-fowl of +every description were dotted over the expanse of the lagoon, the ducks +now and then rising up in flights, and passing over the station to a +swamp at the back. Rows of solemn-looking white egrets were sitting +on the fences, running out into the water, or stalking about amongst +the reeds; and high overhead a solitary pelican was wheeling round in +circles, with wings outstretched and motionless. Now and again a flock +of whistlers would rise up with a tremendous clatter and excitement out +of the rushes, as if they were frightened out of their wits, and then, +after going for a fly round, settle again close to where they started +from. The shores of the lagoon, in front of the station, between the +two fences of the small paddock, were always kept as a sanctuary for +all the ducks and white fowl. Here they were never fired at. They knew +it perfectly well, and, when inside the bounds, they were so tame that +they would let anyone walk up to within twenty yards of them. + +On the far side of the lagoon the smoke of a Black’s camp was rising +up through the trees, and a mob of cattle were standing up to their +knees in the water, taking their evening drink, and lazily nibbling at +the rushes round them. The whole place looked wonderfully peaceful and +quiet,--altogether the kind of place that it would be very easy to make +a home of, and where it would be very difficult to keep up the feelings +of an exile for very long. + +The last feed on a station--dinner, tea, supper, or whatever it may be +called--is always just after dark, and is the most solid meal in the +day. Bushmen smoke so much and drink so much tea, that they are rather +mean performers at breakfast, and in the middle of the day they are +generally out on the run, but there must be something wrong if they +cannot eat a square meal in the evening. After we had had supper, and +a smoke, of course, I was shown my camp, which was a slab hut about a +hundred yards away from the big house. The furniture consisted of a +canvas stretcher for a bed, a fragment of looking-glass balanced on two +nails driven into a post, a table with a tin basin, and a bucket. But +there were heaps of blankets, and a fireplace, which is all that is +wanted to make one perfectly comfortable. The slabs which formed the +sides of the hut were put up vertically, and as I lay in bed the spaces +between them afforded a fine view of the surrounding country. There was +no door, and the roof was not as water-tight as it might have been, +so that when it rained, five little streamlets of water descended on +my bed; but I subsequently diverted them on to the floor by means of a +couple of sheets of corrugated iron, which I secured overhead. + +Besides the light of a wood fire, the inside of the hut was illuminated +by a fat-lamp, a simple contrivance, in the form of a jam-tin full of +fat, with a fragment of tweed trousers stuck through a hole in the top +for a wick, which gives a very fair light. I was rather tired, and not +sorry for the prospect of a camp; but when I dragged back the blankets +to turn in, I discovered an enormous carpet-snake, about eleven feet +long, comfortably coiled up in my bunk. It raised its head lazily, and +after looking at me for a second or two with a want of interest that I +was far from feeling myself, it coiled itself up again, and prepared +for another sleep. My brother had just gone, but I shouted to him to +bring a stick or something and help me kill it. He came back and looked +in. + +“What’s the matter? Snake? Oh, don’t kill that one. That’s a tame one, +that belongs to Rice. He wouldn’t have it killed for anything, and, +besides, it’s only a carpet-snake, and they are perfectly harmless.” + +“H’m, it’s all very well to say it’s harmless,” I observed; “I suppose +you mean it’s not poisonous. From the look of its head, it could bite a +piece out of you about the size of a tea-cup, and anyhow it’s not going +to sleep in my bed.” + +“Oh no,” said my brother, “it has no business here. It lives in a tub. +Here, I’ll take it away and put it to bed,” and seizing it by the neck, +he dragged it off, and dropped it into a barrel outside the store, +about fifty yards away, from which I devoutly hoped that it would not +be able to get out again that night. + +I turned in, in hopes of a good sleep, but I soon discovered that I +was very unlikely to get it. The station seemed peaceful enough at +sundown, but no sooner had night fairly settled down than a combination +of noises arose that would have awakened Rip Van Winkle himself. In +the first place my camp was not far from the calf-pen, in which the +six or seven calves belonging to the milkers were shut up every night. +These little brutes bellow incessantly all night, and their mothers +come and look over the railings, and answer them. Then my partner Rice +was a great poultry fancier, and had a vast army of chickens. Cocks in +Australia always begin to crow about twelve o’clock at night, and leave +off at sunrise, so about twelve of these pests added their voices to +the general clamour, supported by a dozen or so of call-ducks, which +were certainly pure-bred, if the noise that they make has anything to +do with their pedigree. But the din reached its climax when a native +dog howled somewhere away in the Bush. Instantly every dog on the +station started up mad with excitement, and began barking with a fury +that nothing but exhaustion could abate. Two Russian wolf-hounds, +three Kangaroo-dogs, three cattle-dogs, four bull-dogs, and five +fox-terriers, all started a volley of barking which was kept up +incessantly for a quarter of an hour, and then slackened down to a sort +of platoon-fire of yaps and howls which lasted the rest of the night. +In time one gets perfectly used to this sort of nocturnal concert, +and can sleep through any amount of it; but at first it is simply +maddening, not one wink of sleep did I get the first night, and I was +glad when daylight came, and it was time to turn out. + +No words can describe the glory of a morning in the Australian Bush. +There is a pure soft freshness about the air, full of the peculiar +scent of the gum-trees, of which no one ever tires, and a sparkling +brilliancy in the morning sunlight that no other climate can produce. +Surely this is the time of all others for a smoke. There is sure to be +something left in your pipe from the night before. If not, fill it +again, and light it with a fire-stick from the hearth; and years after, +if you are a true lover of the weed, you will own that no smoke in the +world comes up to the one before breakfast on a summer’s morning in the +Bush. There is something in the climate that brings out the flavour +of tobacco, and a good deal in the way of living that encourages +smoking; for Bushmen, as a race, are probably the heaviest smokers in +existence. The tobacco they smoke is very good and very strong, mostly +manufactured in America, and known as fig-tobacco. When once a man +takes to smoking it, it ruins him for any other sort of tobacco, but as +a general rule, about ten years is as long as a man can go on smoking +it without finding that it is knocking his nerves to pieces. A fig a +day, or just short of an ounce, is a common allowance, but a Bushman’s +pipe is never out of his mouth. He is always lighting it to have a few +whiffs, which is a most poisonous form of smoking. The last thing he +puts away at night, and the first thing he looks for in the morning, is +his pipe; and if he wakes in the night, he has a smoke then. + +I was not long in falling into the ways of the country in this respect, +and, lighting a pipe, I sallied out to have a look round. A soft white +curtain of mist was rising off the lagoon and rolling away before +the sun, to gather for a little while on the sides of the deep blue +mountains around before it finally disappeared. The sun rose over +the range in a blaze of heat, turning the dark waters of the lagoon +into a sheet of gold, and streaming through the forest in long bands +of glittering light. The water-fowl on the lagoon awoke, uttering a +hundred different cries, the ducks standing up on the lily leaves and +flapping the dew from their wings. Close to the station one or two +butcher-birds were piping their morning song, a strange little melody +with not many notes, which no one who has heard it will ever forget. +On a dead iron-bark tree, just outside the horseyard, three or four +black crows were sitting, talking to each other, and looking as wise +as nothing but an Australian crow ever did. They are far the most +interesting birds in the Bush, and the way in which they talk to each +other is simply fascinating, for it really seems as if one could not +help knowing exactly what they are saying. + +Round the store-door a sound assortment of poultry were assembled +waiting for their morning feed, most of them thoroughbred game, bred +from imported birds, and on the roof were about a hundred pigeons +of every conceivable breed. Rice was immensely fond of his chickens +and pigeons, never went home to England without bringing back a +fresh supply, and some of the birds which he raised on the station +were very high-class specimens indeed. Besides all these he always +had a menagerie of tame birds and beasts of all kinds. When I got +there the collection contained an eagle-hawk, three crested falcons, +seven wood-ducks, five whistlers, a magpie, three teal, a kangaroo, +a wallaroo, a native bear, five flying squirrels, three spur-winged +plovers, and a cageful of parrots and small birds, and last, but not +least, the infernal carpet-snake which I found in my bed. They were all +quite tame, and, except the flying squirrels and parrots, which lived +in cages, and the eagle-hawk, which had a string to its leg, they all +used to hang about the place on the loose. + +The station itself was quite a small village of houses. The big house +stood a little way apart, in a garden with a paling-fence round it, +about eighty yards square. Unfortunately it was right on the top of +a quartz ridge, where there was very little soil, so that it was +difficult to get trees of any size to grow; but all sorts of creepers +throve wonderfully. In front of the house were one or two Poincianas, +and a very pretty bunya, a sort of fir-tree; and round every pile +of the house grew masses of scarlet geraniums, which are supposed to +possess the virtue of keeping away snakes. At the back there was a +rockwork covered with beautiful ferns, and beyond that a small pond +with dwarf bamboos round it, where the tame wild-ducks lived. + +The house itself was a very comfortable building, two stories high, +about sixty feet long and thirty-five feet wide, built upon round +piles seven feet high, with an eight-foot verandah all round. Down +below was the dining-room, with a huge brick fireplace, the pantry, a +small store, an office and a bathroom. Over the dining-room was the +sitting-room, also with a large fireplace, and with “French-lights” +opening on to the verandah, and, on the same floor, four very +comfortable bedrooms. The house, with the exception of the chimney, +was built entirely of wood, the walls being made of iron-bark slabs, +dressed very smooth, and laid horizontally; and the roof covered with +shingles, which are small pieces of wood, eighteen inches long and +about four inches wide, split out of iron-bark or stringy-bark wood. If +properly laid on, with sufficient pitch, shingles make about the best +roof possible for a hot climate; they are perfectly water tight, keep +out the heat, and last for many years. But there is a good deal of art +in laying them on, and unless it is done scientifically, they let the +water through like a sieve. The sitting-room was very well furnished, +with any amount of tables, pictures, bookshelves, armchairs, and above +all an excellent piano. Rice and my brother had been there for some +years, and had made the place very comfortable, and altogether hardly +what one would expect to find in the Bush. + +Near the house stood the kitchen, with a cook’s room adjoining, and a +little covered way all overgrown with creepers, leading from it to the +house. + +[Illustration: MOUNT SPENCER: HEAD STATION.] + +About a hundred yards away were the rest of the station buildings, +consisting of two stocksmen’s houses, a store, a meathouse, the spare +hut in which I camped, the men’s kitchen, the blacksmith’s forge, +and the black boys’ hut, all slab buildings with shingle roofs; also +a large dovecot and a row of fowlhouses, surrounded by wire-netting +yards, and beyond these again the milking-yards, killing-yard, +calf-pens, and horseyards. + +Having completed my round of the station, I had just arrived at the +rails of the horseyard, when I heard a sound like distant thunder away +down the horse-paddock. In a few seconds a mob of about seventy horses +came tearing down the track in a cloud of dust, with their tails in the +air, and dashed into the big yard, of which the slip rails were down. +Behind them came a black boy, cantering leisurely along, who proceeded +to put up the rails, and then, taking the saddle off the horse he was +riding, he turned him out in hobbles into the small paddock. All the +station-horses in use are run up every morning into the yards, and then +turned out again, when the stockmen have picked out those that they +require for the day. + +Anyone would think that with seventy or eighty horses in the yard, and +only three or four men to ride, there would be plenty for everyone. +But a nearer inspection generally shows that at least half of them are +unavailable from sore backs or want of condition. No one ever yet saw +a cattle station that was not in a chronic state of being short of +horses, and it is easier for a stranger to squeeze blood out of a stone +than to borrow a horse from the manager. + +Sore backs and girth-galls are the curse of Australian Bush-riding, and +are chiefly due to carelessness on the part of the riders. Of course +a horse fed entirely upon grass is much more liable to a sore back +than one which is fed upon corn. Then, again, they are never groomed, +and, therefore, their coats are very dirty. The colonial saddle, too, +is a shapeless cumbersome fabric, made of rough leather, with a high +pommel and cantel, and huge knee-pads, weighing on an average 20 lbs. +The greatest care is necessary to prevent such a diabolical machine +from giving a horse a sore back, but still it can be done. The chief +points to attend to are, always to brush a horse’s back before putting +the saddle on, to wash it and rub it dry after taking the saddle off, +and to keep the saddle-cloth scrupulously clean and soft. Few Bushmen +ever take the trouble to use these precautions, and the consequence +is that it is the rarest thing in the world to see a Bush horse over +three years old that has not got either a sore back or the mark of an +old sore. An English saddle seldom gives a horse a sore back; with +decent care, and all the time I was in the Colony I always used one, +unless I knew the horse I was going to ride was certain to buck, in +which case it is perfectly hopeless to try and stick on in an English +saddle. I have seen men ride very bad buck-jumpers barebacked, and I +have often _heard_ of men who could ride them in an English saddle, but +I never saw it done, and do not believe that it is possible. As long +as a horse bucks straight ahead it is all right enough, being no worse +than crossing a succession of high fences; but when he takes to bucking +sideways, and turning round as he bucks, I never saw anyone that could +stay on in an English saddle. + +The performance of buck-jumping is a most extraordinary one to watch, +and still more extraordinary to feel underneath one. When seated on a +bucking horse the rider sees nothing whatever in front of him but the +pommel of the saddle, and feels rather as if he was assisting at an +earthquake or a railway accident. The performance is quite peculiar +to Australian horses, and no one who has not seen them at it would +believe the rapid contortions of which they are capable. In bucking, +a horse tucks his head right between his forelegs, sometimes striking +his jaw with his hind feet. The back, meantime, is arched like a boiled +prawn’s; and in this position the animal makes a series of tremendous +bounds, sometimes forwards, sometimes sideways and backwards, keeping +it up for several minutes with intervals of a few seconds, and +occasionally falling flat down and rolling over his rider if he fails +to get rid of him in any other way. Of course a “new chum” succumbs at +once to the movements of a buck-jumper, but, after a little practice, +anyone who keeps his nerve and sits back can easily learn to stick on +in a colonial saddle with big knee-pads to help him. With practice some +men become extraordinary hands at sitting rough horses, and a favourite +piece of “flashness” is to stick half-a-crown between each thigh and +the saddle, and keep it there while the horse is bucking. + +The great art consists in getting cleverly on to a rowdy horse; for +it is before a man is fairly seated, just as he is swinging himself +on, that a horse is likely to get the best of him. An old hand draws +the reins tightly through his fingers, and takes hold of a piece of +the mane with the same hand to keep his horse’s head well in to his +neck, and then, with his face to the horse’s tail, he sneaks one foot +into the stirrup, and swings himself into his seat with the rapidity +of lightning. A great deal of practice is required to do this neatly, +and to avoid touching the horse with either foot during the act of +mounting, which would almost certainly start it bucking if it were that +way inclined. + +The ordinary run of Bush horses show a great deal of breeding, but they +are generally deficient in bone, and the worst point about them is the +shoulder. You often come across a well-shaped one in every other point, +but the whole time that I was in the Bush I never saw a really pretty +pair of shoulders on a horse. They run about fifteen two in height, +and are very low in the wither, which accounts for the extraordinary +feat which I have several times witnessed, of a horse bucking its rider +and saddle over its head, without breaking the girths. But whatever +they may be to look at, horses raised in the Bush have generally a +good heart inside them, and the amount of work that they will do upon +nothing but grass is almost incredible. + +A ride of a hundred miles from sunrise to sundown is no uncommon +performance, and there is a well-authenticated instance of a man who, +for a large bet, rode a pony a hundred miles in that time, and then +carried it a hundred yards. The unfortunate animal died, and the man +ought to have been knocked on the head for his cruelty, but the feat +stands recorded as showing what an Australian horse can do. + +A still more remarkable performance was that of a son of Panic, bred +in Victoria, who carried his rider, Mr. Lord, 263 miles in three days, +88 miles on the first, 83 on the second, and 92 on the third. Mr. Lord +rode 14 st. 3 lb., and the journey was accomplished without any bad +effects upon the horse. + +Considering the treatment that Bush horses get, it is wonderful how +they live at all. After a long hard day they are turned out, dripping +with sweat, into a cold winter’s night, where, perhaps, in a few hours +the temperature will be down to freezing point. They are ridden hard +after cattle, over stony ridges and black-soil bogs, and yet filled +legs and curbed hocks are unknown; and the whole time that I was in +Australia I never saw a broken-winded horse, or even a whistler. It is +very rare indeed to find a really pleasant horse to ride in the Bush. +They are all very badly broken in, and have nearly always had their +tempers spoiled when quite young, so that they generally have some +disagreeable tricks, and it is never safe to go near the heels of one +of them. There are men who make a living by breaking in young horses, +going round the stations and contracting to break in a mob at thirty +shillings a head. Considering the way in which it is done, it is no +wonder that Australian horses buck, and are generally vicious. + +A lot of young ones are run into a yard, most of which have probably +never seen a man within a quarter of a mile since they were foals, and +have certainly never been in a yard more than once in their lives. The +horsebreaker picks out one, and with the help of another man runs it +into a small yard by itself. If the animal is not very nervous, with +a little patience he will be able to go up and handle it, and get a +bridle over its head. If all other ways fail, he has to lasso it. The +next thing is to sneak a saddle on to it, the wretched animal standing +shaking and shivering with fright the whole time. The horsebreaker is +most likely a man that no living horse can throw by any means short of +rolling on him; so he blindfolds the horse, and gets straight on to its +back. His mate removes the bandage from its eyes, and the rider sticks +the spurs into the horse, and makes it buck, till it cannot buck any +more. He then leaves it for a few hours with the saddle on, and having +repeated the process on two subsequent days, he hands it over to the +owner as broken in, and it is probably turned out for six months into +the Bush. It is real rough work breaking in young horses in this way, +and very few men stick at it for more than a year or two. Undoubtedly +the very worst man in the world to give a young horse to, to break in, +is a “flash” rider. He is not the least afraid of its bucking, and will +probably make it do so on purpose, in order to display his powers of +riding, or rather sticking on. + +Bucking is a regular habit; and when once a horse acquires it he never +altogether loses it. The surest way to get a horse quietly and well +broken in is to give it to the most nervous and arrant funk you can +find, if he will undertake it. He will spend days in getting the horse +used to the vicinity of a man, and sit for hours on the top of a rail +alongside of it, to accustom it to seeing him above it, before ever he +attempts to get on its back, and the odds are that he will have it so +quiet by the time that he dares mount it, that it will never think of +bucking, except under extraordinary provocation, for the rest of its +life. + +The proceedings of a “new chum,” as a recent arrival in the Colony +is called, are always a source of amusement to all old residents, +and nothing is more entertaining than his early struggles to catch +his horse in the yard. Having cornered it off, with the help of a +black boy, he advances towards it, in a hesitating, doubtful sort of +way, addressing it in soothing terms which are entirely thrown away +upon a Bush horse. The animal detects him instantly as a novice, and +prepares to take advantage of him by every trick that it knows. Jammed +up against the rails, in a corner of the yard, it stands, looking at +him as he approaches, with an expression in its eye and a droop of its +quarters that no one could mistake. When he gets up to it he probably +discovers that he has got the bridle over the wrong arm, and while he +is changing it the brute gives a frightful snort, rushes past him, +rolling him over in the dust, and gallops round and round the yard, +with its tail in the air. Once more he pins it up in a corner, and has +nearly got the bridle over its head when it gently turns its head away +and sticks it over the rails, where he cannot possibly reach it, at the +same time turning its quarters round, and lifting a hind foot, in a way +that causes its future rider to get out of focus as quickly as possible. + +After a few more vain attempts the “new chum” looks imploringly round, +and one of the old hands gets down from the rails, where he has been +sitting enjoying the fun. Hanging the bridle over his left arm, he +walks straight up to the animal and addresses it with, “Stand up, you +crowbait!” in a tone that knocks all the folly out of it for the rest +of the morning. Bush horses are as cunning as foxes, and, unless they +are really rowdy, they never attempt to play the fool with men who are +used to handling them, so it caves in at once, and allows him to put +the bridle on without any further trouble. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +LIFE IN THE BUSH + + +Mount Spencer country consisted of three runs adjoining each other, +known respectively as Mount Spencer, Haslewood, and Blue Mountain. The +whole area was nearly 400 square miles, capable of carrying over 20,000 +head of cattle in any season; but when I first went there, there were +not above 12,000. Though some parts of the run were very rough riding, +it was all very good cattle country, and wonderfully well watered. +Numbers of large creeks ran in every direction, and large water-holes +were scattered all over the run, so that it hardly suffered at all in +the severest drought. The cattle were a very well-bred herd, and the +grass was first-rate, so they fattened splendidly. The head station +was at Mount Spencer, and the adjoining run was kept principally for a +breeding station. At Haslewood there was another station, with yards +and paddocks, and the run was fenced off from Mount Spencer by a line +of fence twelve miles long, and was used with Blue Mountain run for a +fattening station for bullocks. At Blue Mountain there was a small hut, +a horse paddock, and stockyard, and at the far end of Mount Spencer run +was another small hut, used for camping out, and a sapling yard for +yarding cattle at night, when it was too late to take them to the head +station. + +[Illustration: THE FARM--MOUNT SPENCER.] + +At Mount Spencer there were two stockmen, Frank Boyle and Timothy +Harris, and a couple of black boys. At Haslewood was another stockman, +Billy Burgess, with a couple of boys, one white and the other black; +and at Blue Mountain a half-caste named Yellow Pat lived by himself, +and looked after a mob of draught mares. Of course Rice and my brother +worked amongst the cattle themselves just like the other stockmen, but +this was all the “permanent staff” on the place, and quite sufficient +to work the cattle. + +In mustering, more hands are required, but at such times neighbouring +stations always help each other, and send up a spare hand or two to +help muster and brand, and to bring back their own cattle, of which +there are sure to be some that have strayed on to their neighbours’ +country. The ordinary work of a stockman is rather monotonous. Every +morning he gets on his horse, and goes out on the run, jogging +along about five miles an hour the whole day, and returning in the +afternoon. His business is to be constantly amongst the cattle, riding +the boundaries to put his own cattle back, and his neighbour’s away, +hunting up stray calves and bringing them home and branding them. + +It is impossible to do too much of this work. The more cattle are +worked, and accustomed to the sight of men when they are young, the +better they will fatten when they grow up; and, of course, it is of +the greatest importance to get all the male calves branded before a +certain age. In rough country where there are few fences, numbers of +calves escape the general muster, and the more the stockmen scour the +run, and hunt them up, the better the station will pay. Sometimes the +stockman takes a black boy with him, but more frequently he is quite +alone. Occasionally he goes and camps out for a few days, to work some +outlying end of the run, rolling up sufficient beef and damper in his +blanket strapped across his saddle, to last him until he returns. In +rough country, such as the coast of Queensland, no one ought ever to +ride about the run alone. While riding hard after cattle through the +long grass, it is impossible to avoid a nasty fall occasionally; and +if a man were to be crippled away in the Bush, and unable to ride or +walk home, it is a thousand to one if he would ever be found before a +miserable death had overtaken him. Considering the number of men who +every day of their lives make a practice of riding about the Bush quite +alone, it is astonishing that more of them do not come to grief. But +the annals of the country contain ghastly records of the horrible death +of solitary riders who have met with an accident, and been rendered +helpless, and many an unfortunate being has disappeared entirely, +without leaving a trace of his fate. Years afterwards, perhaps, a +skeleton is found somewhere near where he was supposed to have been +lost, and the few who have not forgotten all about him connect the +discovery with the unknown end of the missing man. Not far from Mount +Spencer run, a man came to his end a few years ago, in a manner that +is almost unique in horror. He was away riding by himself in the Bush, +and his horse threw him, injuring his spine in the fall, so that he was +quite powerless to move. Close to where he fell was an enormous ants’ +nest, and when he was found three days afterwards he was half eaten by +millions of ants. He was still conscious, but unable to speak, and died +very shortly afterwards. It is impossible to imagine a more terrible +death than to lie paralysed and helpless, to the agony of intolerable +thirst being added the torture of being eaten alive by crawling insects. + +If any parallel could be found for the awfulness of such a fate, it +would be in the case of a man who was burned to death by a tree which +fell on him. He was working by himself, several miles away from +anywhere, and a burning tree fell on him, pinning him to the ground, +without doing him any serious injury. The tree was alight at the butt +end, some thirty feet away from where he lay; but it is a peculiarity +of some sorts of Australian trees that when once they are set on fire +they will smoulder entirely away, leaving nothing but a track of white +ashes in the grass. No efforts of the unfortunate man could extricate +him from his awful position, and after a time he appears to have +abandoned himself to his fate, for he amused himself by scratching a +record of his sensations with a knife upon the bottom of a tin dish +that lay within reach. It took a day and a half before the fire reached +him, and it is shocking to think of what his sufferings must have been. +When he was found he was nothing but a charred and blackened mass, +which no one would have taken to have been a man, had his fate not been +recorded on the tin dish that was found near him. + +In the north of Queensland very few of the cattle-runs have boundary +fences. There are large paddocks, of course, but the cattle roam at +large over the greater portion of the run. All about the run, at +intervals of five or six miles, are cattle-camps, and the cattle that +belong to the surrounding districts are mustered on their respective +camps. + +The camp is generally a level place, as free from stones as possible, +where there is water handy, and where the timber is not too thick. It +is the stockman’s business to ride round constantly, and put the cattle +on to the different camps, so as to accustom them to running there. +The same mobs of cattle frequent the same districts, and if they are +properly broken in they will run right into the camp by themselves, +when started with a few cracks of the stock-whip, and stay there till +the middle of the day. In mustering, of course, it is essential that +a stockman should know the country thoroughly, and be perfectly +acquainted with the run of all the gullies and creeks, or he will never +get all his cattle on to the camp. + +Two mornings after I arrived at Mount Spencer, we all started out to +muster the Water-hole camp, at the lower end of the run, twelve miles +away. Frank and Billy had gone on the night before, and camped out, +to work the country on the far side of the camp. Having had breakfast +about five, Rice, my brother, Timothy, and I, started off, soon after +sunrise, with the man who had come up to buy cattle. He had been +butchering on the Palmer diggings, and made a rise, and was hunting up +a big mob of fat cattle to take back with him. He had a huge nugget of +gold hanging on to his watch-chain, and always wore a waistcoat and no +coat, a get-up which in the Bush somehow or other imparts an air of +blackguardism to a man which it is impossible to describe. + +After going a few miles through the forest of endless gum-trees and +blood-wood, we crossed a big creek, and came to a succession of low +iron-bark ridges. Everywhere the country was heavily timbered, and it +was impossible to see more than half a mile through the trees in any +direction. Here we separated, Rice and the cattle-dealer going in one +direction, and Timothy, my brother, and I, in another. Presently a mob +of about seventy cattle appeared ahead of us in the long grass. We rode +up to them at a canter, shouting, and cracking our whips; and they set +off at a gallop, apparently in the right direction, for my brother and +Timothy pulled up and did not attempt to follow them. + +A little farther on we came upon another small mob, which turned as +soon as they saw us, and trotted off towards a creek on our left. Off +went my brother after them, full gallop, through the grass, which was +up to his knees as he rode, shouting out that “he knew that old devil +of a white cow was off to the Island camp again.” He disappeared after +them over the creek, and we did not see him again until he turned up +on the camp an hour later, driving the refractory mob in front of him. +Timothy and I jogged along for some distance, and fell in with some +more cattle, that looked lazily at us as we rode up. Timothy scared +them up with a shout and a crack of his whip; but they did not seem in +any great hurry, and rather inclined to stop, so he turned to me, and +told me that “if I would keep behind them, that old yellow cow with a +down-horn would take me right into the camp, a couple of miles away, +while he went and tried the ridges away to the right.” I had not the +least idea where the camp was, and only very vague ideas of where I was +myself, and the idea of being shown the way about the Bush by a yellow +cow with a down-horn seemed rather novel; but Timothy had already +started, so I thought I had better do as I was told. + +There was not a vestige of a track to be seen anywhere, and, as I +jogged along behind the mob, I could not help thinking to myself, +“Supposing this flaming old cow takes it into her head to go to the +wrong camp, like the other one did, or lies down, or gets sick, where +the deuce will I be?” The sun was just about square overhead, so it +was difficult to tell where the points of the compass lay, and I was +by no means sure that if the cow did not take me to the camp I could +find my way home again. However, she trotted along with a business kind +of an air that was very encouraging, always keeping in the lead of the +mob, while I brought up the rear. After crossing two more deep-running +creeks, and struggling down several awful gullies and up the other +side, clinging on to my horse’s mane with rather a weak feeling about +the inside during the final struggle that landed us on the top, I came +on to a long black-soil flat, covered with big box-trees, at the far +end of which I could see a big mob of cattle standing on a low ridge. +My pilot had led me as straight as a die, and when I got up I found +Frank and Billy were already on the camp with about 600 head of cattle. +There are few sights more picturesque than an Australian cattle-camp, +and it is one that anyone who takes an interest in stock will never +grow weary of. + +The Water-hole camp lay on a broad low ridge, running down to a big +creek full of flooded gums and dark green she-oaks, about 300 yards +away. Close to the camp was a round water-hole, covered with lilac +water-lilies, from which the camp took its name. The cattle were moving +restlessly about on the camp, the cows bellowing in search of their +lost calves, their red, roan, and white colours looking wonderfully +bright in the sunlight, among the trunks of the black iron-bark trees. +The two stockmen, and a couple of black boys, were riding incessantly +round the edges of the camp to keep the cattle together, and prevent +them from straying away; so my brother and I lit our pipes, and rode in +amongst the cattle to have a look at them. The first thing that struck +me was what a very well-bred lot they were. Here and there was an old +crow-bait of a cow, a miserable relic of old times, crawling about to +save itself the annoyance of a funeral, but most of the cattle showed a +great deal of quality. Among the young ones there was scarcely a hard +skin to be seen, and some of the heifers were perfect pictures. There +were not many bullocks on the camp, as most of them had been cleared +off Mount Spencer and put on to Haslewood, but what there were left +were very healthy sights. It is astonishing to anyone who has been used +to cramming bullocks with oil-cake, hay, and mangolds, before they are +fit for the market, to see animals raised entirely on grass, with the +fat laid on level all over them wherever there is room for it. A mob +of seventy bullocks once left Mount Spencer that averaged over 1000 +lbs. when they were killed, one of them weighing 1430 lbs. They were +four and five year olds, and the weight was taken as they hung up clean +in the butcher’s shop. + +“Well, Sam,” said my brother as we finished a round of the camp, “what +do you think of them? Not a bad lot, are they?” + +“Very sound,” said I. “What are those bullocks worth now?” + +“Six pound ten delivered at the yard, and heaven send they may stick +at it. They’ve never been up to that before, around these edges. Look +there, at that white one; he’ll go over a thousand; and isn’t he a plum +to look at?” + +The animal referred to was a four-year-old bullock, with the head of +a heifer on him, and a soft white skin, very deep in the girth, with +a broad, level back, on which the fat was laid on to admiration. It +struck me that I had seen many worse animals in the show-yards of the +old country, and there were several quite as good as him on the camp. + +Climbing off our horses, we sat down on a log, and waited for the +others to come up to camp with the rest of the cattle. Our horses were +standing lazily brushing away the flies with their tails, with their +heads down, and their eyes half shut; but presently they pricked up +their ears and looked up. Following the direction in which they were +looking, we saw a long string of cattle in the distance, winding along +like a snake through the forest towards the camp. Timothy had fallen in +with Rice and the cattle-dealer, and they all three appeared, bringing +about 400 head of cattle with them. There were now about 1000 head on +the camp, and Frank and Billy declared it was pretty full--that is to +say, that all the cattle belonging to the district in which it lay were +there. + +Nothing is more extraordinary than the knowledge of cattle that those +who work constantly among them acquire. A good stockman will go on to a +camp where there are 1000 head of cattle, and in ten minutes’ time will +tell you if there are any missing that should be there. Very likely he +has half-a-dozen similar camps in other parts of the run; but if he has +been a year or two on the place, he knows most of the cattle by sight +perfectly well. Although a great deal may be done by practice, no one +who is not born in the country ever possesses this power to the same +extent as a native, with some of whom it is really a remarkable gift. +Billy Burgess was a native of Australia, and was generally allowed to +be one of the best hands at working cattle in the north. His faculty +for remembering cattle was simply astounding. I have seen him come on +to a camp where he had not been for two years, and on which there were +about 1200 head of cattle at the time. After riding round the camp +amongst the cattle for a little while, he began inquiring from the +stockman who was working that part of the run at the time, why such and +such a cow or steer was not there, and in every instance he was right. +Animals that must have been almost calves when he was last there, he +instantly recognised; in fact, if once he saw a beast, it seemed as if +no alteration in its appearance could ever prevent him from identifying +it afterwards. + +Having scattered a glance round the Water-hole camp, he said all the +bullocks were there that ought to be, and, as it was roasting hot, we +left the black boys to mind the camp, and went down to the creek to +have a feed, and to give the cattle a spell before we started drafting. +Dinner did not take long, none of us having brought more than a piece +of beef and a bit of damper, and most of us had forgotten to bring any +at all, and had an extra smoke instead. When we had finished we went +back to the camp, and Frank and my brother started drafting out the +bullocks, the cattle-dealer riding through the camp and picking the +ones that he wanted. Drafting on the camp, or “cutting out” as it is +generally called, is a very pretty performance to watch, if it is well +done. First of all a small mob is cut off from the main body of the +cattle, and driven gently away for a little distance, and then allowed +to stand. This is the nucleus of the draft-mob; for no beast will stand +still a moment by itself, and one of the hands is told off to watch +them. One or two men then ride in among the cattle, and draft out the +ones they want, one at a time, while the rest of the hands ride round +the camp and keep the cattle from breaking away. Both my brother and +Frank were very sound hands at cutting out, and they were both riding +first-rate camp-horses, so I watched them at work with the greatest +interest. A “camp-horse” is one used for cutting out cattle on a camp, +and very few horses are good at it; but the performance of a really +first-class one is a sight worth seeing. Each man picks his beast, and +edges him gently to the outside of the mob, on the side of the camp +nearest the draft-mob. The instant the animal finds itself cut off from +the camp it makes the most desperate efforts to rejoin the herd, and +the speed at which a bullock can travel, and the activity with which he +turns, are marvellous. + +The timber was pretty thick round the camp, and as I watched my brother +it seemed as if he must inevitably come to grief; but a good camp-horse +is wonderfully smart upon his legs, and goes through the trees like +an eel. Away went the bullock round the edge of the camp, my brother, +with his reins loose, and his hat on the back of his head, going after +it through the timber as if there was no futurity. As he ranges up +alongside, the bullock wheels sharp round and gallops back again the +way that he came. Toby, the camp-horse, stops dead short, with a +violence that would have sent an inexperienced rider ten yards over +its head, and is off after the beast again like lightning, following +every twist and turn as if he was tied to the bullock’s tail with a +string. Toby’s heart and soul are in the work, and without a word or +a touch from his rider he hits out all he knows, to keep the animal +from getting back into the camp. This time as he comes up alongside, +the bullock lowers his head and charges; but Toby has had a horn in +his ribs before now, and avoids the sweep of the bullock’s head with +marvellous dexterity. For a while the tables are turned, and for a +hundred yards or so the bullock hunts Toby; and though the horse is as +quick on his legs as a rabbit, a pair of sharp horns are kept quite as +near his quarters as is pleasant. Finding that Toby is too quick for +him, the bullock turns and gallops back towards the camp. Once more the +horse is after him, and turns him back into the Bush; and this time the +bullock gives in, and trots sulkily off to join the draft-mob. + +The cattle-dealer knew his business, and picked out about forty +grand-looking bullocks, which pretty well cleaned out the Water-hole +camp. On a camp of mixed cattle, of course, it is not very difficult to +pick the best bullocks; but when there are nothing but bullocks, and +perhaps eight or nine hundred of them, it takes a consummate judge to +go in and pick the cream of the camp, as he rides through them on his +horse. It was past three o’clock when we finished drafting, and, as we +had twelve miles to drive the cattle home, it looked liked taking us +all our time to get them in the yard before dark. Fat bullocks are the +worst kind of cattle to drive, as they are always inclined to break +away, and, of course, have to be driven dreadfully slow, in order +to take as little out of them as possible. A long drive home is very +tedious after a hard day’s ride, and it takes a great deal of patience +to prevent a man from hurrying the cattle. The great thing is never +to push them too fast at first. If cattle are allowed to start very +steady, they will walk quietly along, and by and by get over the ground +at a very fair pace; but if they are hustled when they first leave +the camp they will not settle down, and are certain to be troublesome +all the way home. On the whole, about two or two and a half miles an +hour is quite fast enough to drive cattle, and, of course, if they are +going to be on the road for some days or weeks, they must not be driven +nearly so fast. Droving, however--that is to say, taking a mob of +cattle on a journey extending, perhaps, over three or four months--is a +science of itself, and is a very different thing from merely driving a +mob home from the camp to the yards. + +Some of the bullocks had come a long distance to camp in the morning; +so we took them home very slowly, and it was dark before we got within +two miles of the station. In a little while, however, the moon got up; +not the sickly, dissipated-looking object that makes night hideous in +northern latitudes, but a good, useful, healthy sort of moon that rose +suddenly in a circle of ruddy gold, and threw a powerful light over the +whole country. + +We looked a very weird sort of procession, as we wound along through +the thick, long grass. The huge gums rose up on all sides, giants of +the forest, their towering tops meeting high overhead, and their stems, +white and ghostly, throwing deep, clear shadows across the brilliant +moonlight. Ahead of the cattle, to prevent them from going too fast, +rode one of the black boys, perched on an old white horse, and looking +as utterly disreputable as only a black boy can. Behind the mob rode +the rest of the men, wild-looking objects begrimed with dust and sweat, +their arms bare to the elbow, and each with the battered remains of +a broad-brimmed felt hat jammed on the back of his head. Every now +and then one of them would drop behind for a hundred yards, and the +ruddy light that shortly afterwards illuminated the end of his nose +proclaimed him to have stopped to light his pipe, which he dare not +do in the vicinity of the cattle. No one spoke. The men rode silently +behind the mob, checking instantly the slightest evidence of a wish to +break on the part of any of the cattle. They were getting very nervous, +and disinclined to go on, as they drew near the yard, and any mistake +on the part of the men would have been disastrous. The yard stood on a +slight rise about a quarter of a mile from the station, and on the side +from which we were approaching them the fences of two paddocks ran out +from the gates like wings. + +Suddenly, as the cattle were going up the rise to the yard, three or +four ducks got up with a loud clatter out of a small water-hole in one +of the paddocks. With a sudden rush the bullocks turned and dashed down +the hill, breaking through the line of horsemen, and tearing off into +the Bush as if all the fiends were after them. Fortunately the country +below the yard was a pretty level plain; but the timber was thick, +and the grass three feet long, and full of fallen trees. To ride full +gallop by moonlight over such country seems little short of madness; +but his neck is the last thing that a stockman ever thinks of, and +away we all went after them, as hard as ever our horses could go. A +“new chum” on occasions like this is never of the slightest use, and +generally very much in the way; but this time I was saved from doing +any mischief by my horse going head over heels into the head of a +dead tree in the long grass, before I had gone 300 yards, and sending +me flying. Luckily I was able to catch him before he got clear of the +fallen timber. We were neither of us hurt, and in the distance I could +hear the men shouting at the cattle, so I cleared out of the way as +quickly as I could, to let them come up to the yard again. Fortunately +the cattle kept together pretty well, and the men were able to round +them up on the flat, about half a mile away, and brought them back to +the yard with the loss of only three, which got clear away over the +creek, where it was useless to follow them. This time they went into +the yard without any trouble, and with a sigh of relief we secured the +gates, and went down to the station and turned our horses out. Having +forgotten to take out with me anything to eat, I was beginning to get +hungry, as it was now about nine o’clock, and I had breakfasted at five +in the morning. + +During the next few days we were out again every day, and collected +about a hundred fats; and some men belonging to the cattle-dealer +having come up in the meantime, he started off on the road to Cooktown, +over 500 miles away to the north. We heard afterwards that he got the +bullocks up all right, and made a big profit on them. + +In Australia large mobs of mixed cattle are continually being moved +about from one station to another, or to stock outlying country, +and fat cattle are often obliged to travel an enormous distance to +market. For the Barcoo, and central districts of Queensland and South +Australia, the best markets are Melbourne and Adelaide, each of them +distant about 1000 miles. Droving, in consequence, becomes a regular +profession, and there are numbers of men who make a living, and a very +good one too, by nothing else but taking charge of cattle that are +travelling from one place to another. To take a mob of a thousand fat +bullocks over a thousand miles of all sorts of country, and bring them +into market in prime condition, is a business involving a great deal of +responsibility and care, for, although cattle are generally travelled +at the owner’s risks, of course the drover’s reputation depends upon +the order in which his cattle reach the end of the journey. A good +drover is always in requisition, and the wages of the head man in +charge of a mob are generally about £4 a week. It is a dog’s life, +too, a drover’s. From daylight to dark he is on horseback, exposed to +all kinds of weather, crawling along behind his cattle at the slowest +possible rate that is consistent with moving at all. If he averages +between four and five miles a day, on a long journey, it is quite as +fast as his cattle ought to travel. Every day the man in charge rides +on ahead of the mob, to pick a place for them to camp at night. Water, +of course, is a _sine qua non_, and he must have reliable information +as to the state of road for a hundred miles ahead of him, or he will +get his cattle in a terrible fix. Every night the cattle have to be +rounded up, and watched on the camp the whole night long. A drover +never gets more than four hours’ sleep at a stretch, and he is lucky if +he can get that for the first month his cattle are on the road. + +There is nothing better for a new arrival in the country, who wishes +to get colonial experience, than to be sent on the road with a mob of +cattle. He will get an insight into the country and its ways, become +acquainted with the habits of cattle, get nothing but the plainest +possible food, and altogether he will have such a disgustingly bad +time, that he will afterwards accept any other sort of work with +cheerfulness. + +[Illustration: GROUND PLAN OF A STOCK YARD.] + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +LIFE ON THE STATION + + +Three times a year all the cattle on the run are mustered, and passed +through the drafting-yards, that the young calves may be branded, and +the older ones weaned. + +The cattle belonging to each camp are brought in separately, drafted +and turned out again to make room for the next lot, as the yards will +only hold about a thousand head comfortably at a time. Mustering +is pretty hard work, for, when once you start, you have to stick +at it from daylight to dark, Sundays very often included, until it +is finished. A general muster at Mount Spencer used to take us a +month, and a fortnight after to “clean up.” One or two hands from the +neighbouring stations used generally to come up and help, and look +after their own cattle, a good number of which were pretty certain to +pass through the yards. + +Drafting cattle in the yards is very good fun, especially if they are +at all rowdy, but it is work that requires a good deal of nerve to +start with, and long practice before a man becomes a good hand at it. +The yards are very strong enclosures of posts and rails, the posts +from a foot to sixteen inches thick, set in eight feet apart, and the +rails not less than four inches thick and ten inches wide, the top rail +being about six feet from the ground. For the purpose of drafting the +various classes of cattle, the yards are subdivided according to the +accompanying plan. The whole mob are first of all run into one of the +big “receiving yards,” an enclosure about seventy yards long and forty +yards broad. The gate leading into “the lane” is then thrown open, +and five or six men, each armed with a sapling about six feet long, +and a couple of inches thick, go into the receiving yard, and jam the +cattle up into the corner against the gate of “the lane,” until seventy +or eighty have gone through, when the gate is shut. This is called +“yarding up,” and is about the most dangerous part of the work; for if +a beast charges a man in the middle of a big yard, he has a very poor +chance of getting out of its way. An old hand knows in a moment, from +the look of a beast that charges him, whether it is safe for him to +stand his ground and turn it with a blow on the nose from his stick, +or whether he ought to clear out for the rails. But the instant the +cattle begin to move in the yard, the dust becomes something awful. It +rises in dense clouds, sometimes entirely hiding the cattle from view, +getting into one’s eyes, nose, and mouth, and mixing with the sweat +into a thick black paste, which makes white men and niggers all pretty +much the same colour for the time being. I have often seen the dust so +bad that we have had to knock off for half an hour to let it settle, +as it was perfectly impossible to see to work the cattle. Under cover +of the dust it is often hard to see a beast charging, until it is too +late to attempt to get out of the way, and then the best thing to do is +to lie flat down in front of it, and in nine cases out of ten it will +jump over you and pass on, unless it is a cow, when most likely it will +stop, turn round, and horn you as you lie on the ground. When a beast +comes tearing out of the mob in an awful hurry, its head down, its tail +in the air, and its eye rolling, it is quite safe to stand still. It +will pass you with a frightful snort, that gives a new chum rather a +queer sensation under the ribs, but hardly makes an old hand smile. But +when it comes out rather slowly, with its head in the air, its brisket +shaking, and its eye fixed straight upon you, it is time to clear out. +The animal means business, and, be it a cow or a bullock, you might as +well hope to stop the charge of an express train. It will hunt you for +your life, and if you are not up the rails before it can catch you, it +will have its horns into you as sure as fate. + +[Illustration: THE BRANDING BAIL.] + +A man running for his life, pursued by an infuriated animal with horns +two feet long and as sharp as needles, does not at first sight seem +to be a particularly mirthful spectacle. Familiarity, however, breeds +contempt, and a charge in the yard is always greeted with shouts of +laughter from the lookers-on, especially if the man who is hunted has +a narrow escape. Provided he is not actually hurt, the nearer he is to +being horned the funnier everyone thinks it, including the individual +himself, who is always ready to join in the laugh the instant that he +has got up the rails out of harm’s way. Occasionally the best and most +experienced hands get caught, and very few men have worked for any +length of time amongst Bush cattle without getting a horn into them +once or twice. The wound from a beast’s horn is always a nasty one, and +very bad to heal, and I have known several cases where it has ended +fatally. + +The “lane” leads into a small square enclosure called “the pound,” from +which gates open into five different yards. Behind each gate a man +stands, ready to open it when a beast intended for his special yard +comes into the pound. Two men work the cattle in the lane, running +them into the pound according to their respective classes, calling out +“stranger,” “weaner,” or “calf,” as the case may be. The proper gate +is open ready for it, before it gets into the pound, and a man stands +ready to hurry it through, so that no time is lost. + +In drafting cattle, everything of course depends upon the men working +in the lane, and there are very few prettier sights than to see a +good hand amongst cattle that are inclined to be rowdy. The least +nervousness or flurry on the part of the man communicates itself in a +marvellous way to the cattle, and makes them perfectly unmanageable; +while, on the other hand, a man who keeps quite cool and collected has +an extraordinary influence over the animals which he is working. + +One of our stockmen, Billy Burgess, was reckoned to be about the best +hand in the yards in the north of Queensland, and, certainly, the +whole time I was in the country, I never saw anyone who could hold a +candle to him. No one ever saw him in a hurry, but he would draft more +cattle in an hour than most men would in two. While other men were +shouting, and swearing, and running for their lives, he would stand +perfectly still, watching the cattle with an amused smile on his face, +and seeming to know by instinct exactly how far he could trust them. To +an outsider, the power he possessed over cattle seemed little short of +mesmerism; but in reality it was only the result of years of experience +and work amongst them, combined with an excellent temper and iron +nerves. + +In or out of the yards he knew every beast on the run by sight, and was +never at a loss for a moment when he was drafting. A furious charge +from an animal that would send most men flying up the rails, seldom +elicited more than a gentle remonstrance of, “Steady, old man! where +are you coming to now?” from Billy, and perhaps a tap on the nose from +his stick if its horns went rather nearer to him than he considered +good manners. But if a beast meant mischief, no one knew it sooner, and +he took care to put himself out of harm’s way. If the animal was more +than usually vicious he would wait his opportunity, and give it a blow +just behind the horns with infinite precision, which would bring it +blundering on to its knees, and, without killing it, leave it sick and +stupid for the rest of the day. + +It does not require at all a heavy blow to stun a beast, if laid on +in the right place, just on the “pith” of the neck, behind the horns. +I have seen a full-grown bullock drop in its tracks, as dead as a +herring, from a blow with a stick no thicker than a man’s finger. + +The rowdiest cattle, as a rule, are bullocks, and the quietest of all, +in or out of the yards, are bulls; but a cow, if she is rowdy, is the +worst of all. It is a curious thing, however, that the quietest of +bullocks will become absolutely infuriated, and charge anything and +everything he can see, if he is shut up alone in a yard for a little +while. A bullock bred and raised in the Bush, though he may be as fat +as a pig, is a very different animal to the sleepy creatures that one +meets on their way to an English market, driven by a couple of small +boys and a dog. He is as quick on his legs as a rabbit, and for a few +furlongs it takes a good horse to get away from him, and, moreover, as +a rule, he can jump like a deer. + +One day my brother was drafting in “the lane,” and I was working “the +pound.” I had just turned a beast back into the lane, and was going +back through the gate, when my brother sang out, “Stranger! clear +out, or he’ll have you!” Looking round, I saw a great hard-skinned +white bullock belonging to the next station, with horns about a yard +long, just behind me. He was charging up the lane full gallop, and +as I sprang through the gateway and turned aside, he made a sweep at +me which just grazed my ribs, but, fortunately, did no damage beyond +tearing my shirt. Without the least hesitation, the brute went +straight at the opposite fence of the pound, six feet high, and got +over without a fall, though he hit the top rail hard with every leg he +had. The performance was the more astonishing as he had not a very long +run, and what there was of it up the lane was slightly uphill. We ran +him round again, and into the lane, as he had jumped into the wrong +yard. The next time he came up we all let him alone to see what he +would do. He came full tilt up the lane as usual, looking for someone +to kill, and when he got into the pound, he turned sharp to the right, +pulled himself together, and going straight for the gate at the far +end of the pound, five feet six high, he cleared it without a mistake. +After this performance we concluded to leave him alone until we had +finished drafting. + +In some yards it is the fashion to leave a big post, or the stump of +a tree about four feet high, in the middle of the big yard, so as to +afford a shelter for anyone who is charged and has no time to get to +the rails at the side. We had nothing of the kind at Mount Spencer; +but I remember a most ludicrous scene at Gracemere, a station near +Rockhampton, where there was one of these harbours of refuge in the +middle of the yard. Seven or eight men were yarding up a mob of cattle, +when suddenly an old cow came out and charged in a most business-like +manner. Five men all ran for their lives for the post. The first who +got there, of course, was all right; but there was only room for one, +so the next man had to hang on to the belt of the man in front, and so +on, till the whole five were extended in a row. The cow charged, and, +of course, no one could tell which side of the post she would pass, so +it was not until she was within a few feet that the human tail swung +round out of her way, a yell of terror escaping from the last two men, +as the brute’s horns passed within an inch of them. Quick as lightning +the cow turned and charged again, and again the end of the tail had a +narrow escape. Four times the cow charged, four times the tail swept +round, their howls of anguish mingling with shouts of laughter from the +men on the rails who were looking on. Anything more ridiculous than the +whole scene cannot possibly be imagined. The last man at the end was +very fat, and very nervous, and had no business in a yard at all. He +was evidently getting weak with terror and exhaustion, so a diversion +was made by those on the rails, and, the cow having been induced to +charge someone else, the men in the middle of the yard were enabled to +leave their post and make for the rails. + +When the cattle are run through the yards in a general muster, all +the calves that are old enough to wean are picked out. They are then +“tailed,” as it is called, for several weeks; that is to say, they are +let out in a mob in the daytime to feed, and carefully watched by one +or two hands, to see that none get away, and that no strange cattle +mix with them, and shut up in a small paddock every night. Of course, +the object of everyone in working a cattle-station is to get all the +cattle as quiet as possible, and nothing has such an excellent effect +in quieting a whole herd as tailing the weaners when they are young. +But of all occupations that fall to the Bushman’s lot, it is probably +the most irksome. + +Shepherding sheep is bad enough, and the asylums are three parts full +of idiot shepherds, whose reason has succumbed to the dreariness of +their lives; but for a short time it is infinitely preferable to +tailing a mob of weaners. A man who is looking after sheep can, at +all events, enjoy long intervals of perfect repose, during which, +if he likes, he can lie on his back and read a book. But a mob of +weaners will never give him an instant’s peace. Without being at all +interesting, their habits are extremely irritating. They never know +exactly where they want to go, or what they want to do, but the one +thing they will not do is to keep still and feed sensibly. Out of a +thousand weaners you may possibly induce nine hundred and ninety-nine +to lie down round a water-hole for an hour in the middle of the day. +But the remaining one is certain to keep on the move the whole time, +walking off into the Bush, first one way and then another, so that you +never have a spell. If you get off your horse for a drink, the whole +mob will probably pretend they never saw a man on foot before in their +lives, and make a wild stampede. Fortunately, it is an occupation that +does not last long; for a continuance of it at the best of times would +drive the most sane man out of his mind, and in wet, cold weather it +is simply deadly. However, it is very necessary and very useful work, +though everyone shirks it who can, and a “new chum,” if one can be +found, is invariably selected for the duty. + +A great many young men who go out to the colony with the view of +following stock-growing as a profession, make a grave error in not +making themselves fully acquainted with all the details connected +with the working of a station. Of course, before starting on their +own account to work a station, they go into the Bush to gain colonial +experience, during which process they are known in the colony as +“Jackaroos.” Especially on a cattle-station, the Jackaroo very soon +discovers that a great deal of the work is very pleasant. He goes into +the yard every morning and catches his horse, rides round the run with +the stockman, camps out when required, and lends a hand to draft and +brand at the general muster, and generally has a very good time. The +consequence is, at the end of a couple of years he knows very little +more about the management of a cattle-station than he did when he +started, and probably labours under the additional disadvantage of +imagining that he knows a great deal. + +[Illustration: A BUSHMAN’S CAMP.] + +The efficiency of the manager of a cattle-station depends largely upon +his being a good judge of other men’s work; and it is impossible for +him to be this, unless he has actually performed the work himself. It +is not enough to sit on a rail and watch another man breaking in a +horse or a milking-cow. However good a hand he may be, you will learn +much more by helping him than by watching him. One of the largest items +of expenditure on every station is always fencing, and the manager +should be thoroughly able to form an estimate of how much it ought to +cost. It is nearly always done by contract, and, of course, the price +at which a contractor will put up fencing varies enormously according +to the nature of the country. An old hand riding through the forest +with a tomahawk, and cutting a chip out of a tree here and there to +try if it will work freely, can tell to a nicety at what price it +will pay him to split posts and rails and any other class of timber +that may be required. But this experience is only gained by practical +work, by felling trees and splitting them up with a maul and wedges +oneself. The manager of a station ought always to be a thorough judge +of timber-getting in all its branches, for it is a part of his yearly +expenditure where experience and judgment will enable him to save +largely. It is pretty hard work to pull a cross-cut saw and swing a +heavy maul all day, with a vertical sun and the thermometer up to 110° +in the shade, and it requires a good constitution to stand it. But if +a man is thoroughly sound, the harder he works in Australia the better +health he will have, and it is odd if he does not look back to the time +when he was splitting rails for ten hours a day as one of the happiest +in his life. It is not a very intellectual employment, certainly. +Still, it must be an unfortunate nature to which perfect health does +not bring the keenest pleasure, in a climate like that of Australia. + +It is pleasant to set out to work in the morning, after eight hours of +such sleep as none but men who work hard ever enjoy. The sun is just +rising, and there is not a breath of wind, but the air feels as cool +and fresh as iced champagne. The tools have been “planted” under a +sheet of bark by the big tree which you felled overnight; so you have +nothing to carry but a pipe, and as the blue smoke curls round your +lips, mingled with the fragrant scent of the gum-trees and blood-wood +flowers, you decide that certainly the first pipe after breakfast is +the most thoroughly enjoyable of any. By the time that you have got +to your work you are wet through up to the knees, and it is just cold +enough to make you very glad to roll up your sleeves and start in with +a will to work yourself dry. This does not take long, and as the sun +rises and makes himself felt, it does not take long to work yourself +damp again. If you are wise you will not drink much in the morning, +for if you once start you will be thirsty all day. With a cheery mate, +and an occasional spell of five minutes for a smoke, the morning does +not seem very long, and the sun fair overhead, combined with certain +internal sensations, warns you that it is time to knock off and boil +the “billy” for dinner. Every meal in the Bush is, if possible, +accompanied by a brew of tea; and, though it may seem strange, when you +have worked yourself up to boiling point under a grilling sun, there +is nothing in the world so refreshing as a pannikin of very hot tea, +not too strong, with not too much sugar and without any milk. Refreshed +with a square meal of salt beef and damper, which is of all forms of +bread the sweetest and most easily digested if it is properly made, you +start in again, with a firm determination to raise a good “tally” by +the end of the day. As the sun gets low, a hundred sound rails, nine +feet long, bear witness that your day’s work has been an honest one. +A pleasant feeling of languor, which cannot be called fatigue, makes +you very glad to get home, and a wash in the creek brings a sensation +of perfect strength and soundness into every fibre and muscle of your +body, unknown to those who have not worked hard in the healthiest +climate in the world. Supper ended, you pitch a fresh log on the +fire to make a blaze, and, stretching your limbs full length on a +’possum-rug, prepare to devour the last number of the _Australasian_, a +paper which, for general interest and information, was never surpassed. +A fresh pipe lighted with a fire-stick, just as the stars are coming +out, makes you forget the sweetness of the morning air; and for the +hundredth time you tell yourself that tobacco never tastes so nice as +in the cool of the evening, after a real sound day’s work splitting +rails. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +PLAGUES AND PLEASURES OF THE BUSH + + +Emus are still plentiful in the downs country, and occasionally we used +to come across a straggler that had wandered on to the timbered country +of our run. Quite a young one appeared once, in a little open plain +on the opposite side of the lagoon from the house. With the help of +several blacks, after a tremendous chase, we ran it down, and brought +it home intending to tame it. + +It was only about two feet high, and could not have been more than six +weeks old; but the way it ran before we caught it made us think it +must be tired, so we shut it up in a stable about twenty feet square. +The instant that we put it down it began to run round and round the +stable as hard as it could go. My brother suggested that this might be +nervousness, and that perhaps it did not like strangers looking at it. +So we left it for an hour quite alone. When we came back it was running +round harder than ever, with its mouth open and its wings hanging down. +Frank declared that young emus always acted like that when they were +having a good time, but its appearance was anything but joyful. Three +hours after it was still running round, and it never stopped till it +fell down dead four hours and a half after we first shut it up, during +which time I am certain it must have travelled over forty miles. + +The speed and the endurance possessed by a full-grown emu are perfectly +incredible to anyone who has not tried the experiment of running one +down. The only way is to make a dash at them, and try and come up +with them in the first spurt, for if they once get their second wind, +very few horses will ever catch them. They straggle along in the most +ungainly fashion, looking all the time as if they were dead-beat, and +were going to drop with exhaustion, but the way in which they get over +the ground is quite astonishing. I once rode a very good horse five +miles on end across the downs after an emu as hard as we could go, +but no efforts could diminish the distance between us. The bird kept +about ten yards in front of me the whole way, and finally escaped into +a patch of scrub. Their bones contain the celebrated oil very much in +favour among the blacks for curing swollen joints and sprained sinews. +None but full-grown men, whose frames are thoroughly set, ever use it, +for they declare that it has the effect of softening anyone’s bones +who has not arrived at maturity. The penetrating qualities of the oil +are certainly very remarkable, for if it is placed in a glass bottle a +portion of it will always sweat through the glass and escape. + +The birds themselves are easily tamed if they are caught quite young. +In their wild state they are mischievous where there is much fencing +about, as they seem to take a delight in breaking down the wires. + +Many people, whose ideas of Australia are chiefly gathered from +representations of the traditional Bush-ranger in the illustrated +periodicals, imagine that the inhabitants of the country are invariably +arrayed in enormous long boots half way up their thighs, to protect +them from the attacks of snakes and other deadly reptiles. There never +was a greater delusion. The whole time that I was in the Bush I never +in my life saw a man with long boots on, unless he was a very recent +arrival in the country. The fact is that long boots in a country where +you have often to camp out are the greatest mistake. In cold weather +you cannot pull them off, and in wet weather if you pull them off you +can never get them on again. As for taking the slightest precaution to +guard against being bitten by a snake, I never knew anyone who did it +after the first week in the Bush. It is impossible to live in a state +of chronic apprehension. The feeling is bound to wear off, and, after +riding about the Bush for some time, the most nervous man discovers +that snakes, as a rule, are quite as anxious to avoid a _rencontre_ as +he is himself, and very soon he ceases to trouble his head about them +until he happens to see one. + +In some localities, as, for instance, the canefields of Mackay, or +the reedbeds on the Murray River, snakes are so plentiful that it is +necessary to be extremely cautious. But generally, all over the Bush, +especially in Queensland, it is curious how seldom one stumbles upon +one. In Queensland there are five deadly kinds, the black snake, the +brown snake, the tiger snake, the diamond snake, and the death-adder. +Of these the black and the brown are the commonest; the latter +sometimes reaching a length of eight or nine feet. The bite of any of +these varieties is sufficient to cause death within a few hours, unless +the proper remedies are applied at once, but by far the worst is the +death-adder. It has this peculiarity, that, unlike all other snakes, +it does not attempt to move out of anyone’s way, but lies quite still +until it is touched, when it fastens with a spring upon its victim. +Its bite is by far the most deadly of all Australian snakes, and, with +the exception of Underwood’s celebrated performance, I never knew a +well-authenticated instance of recovery from it. + +Deaths from snake-bite are not uncommon, especially among the Kanakas +who work in the canefields. The best known remedies are injection of +ammonia, and large quantities of brandy taken internally. + +Undoubtedly the man Underwood, above alluded to, was the possessor of +a perfectly efficacious antidote to the bite of any Australian snake. +He gave a series of performances, in which he used to allow the most +deadly snakes to bite him, afterwards applying some remedy, the nature +of which was known only to himself. There can be no sort of doubt that +the reptiles which he employed were perfectly healthy, and in full +possession of their poisonous faculties. + +The second bite of any snake is always less poisonous than the first, +as some time is required to secrete a full supply of the venom which +has been partially exhausted in the first bite. But dogs and rabbits +which were bitten immediately after Underwood by the same snakes died +very shortly, which conclusively proves the genuine nature of his +experiments. Indeed, the most convincing proof of all was the death of +the unfortunate man himself. Having one day allowed a snake to bite +him, while he was himself under the influence of liquor, he forgot +where to find his own antidote, and died from the effects of the bite. +He demanded £10,000 from the Victorian Government as the price of his +discovery, which they refused to pay, so his secret perished with him. + +Almost as deadly in its effects as any snake, and far more dangerous +in its habits, is a small black spider, about the size of a large pea, +with a brilliant crimson mark on its back. It lives mostly in old +timber, but frequently it takes up its abode in an inhabited house, +and, far from having any fear of man, it does not wait to be provoked +before attacking him. Its bite, unlike that of a snake, causes the +most intense agony, and the after effects are very bad. Death is by +no means an uncommon result, but more frequently the victim becomes +hopelessly insane, or paralysed. I killed several of them at odd times +in my room, and once, while on the diggings, I was unfortunate enough +to get a bite from one. I was camped in front of the fire, and, just +as it got light, I sat up and kicked the blanket off. As I did so I +felt a sharp pain in the calf of my leg, and looking down I saw one of +these little black devils on it. I killed it instantly, and reaching +out my hand for a knife, I took up the piece of my leg where the bite +was, between the finger and thumb of my left hand, and cut it clean +out. I had always some ammonia with me, and I rubbed a quantity of +that in. Certainly not more than ten seconds elapsed between the time +I was bitten and when I cut the piece out. But my leg got very bad. +The pain for days afterwards was intense, and after that, the whole +leg swelled and became soft like dough. The place itself turned into a +running sore, about an inch deep, which did not heal for four months +afterwards. Centipedes and scorpions are common enough, and the bite of +either of them is painful, but not dangerous to anyone who is in a good +state of health. + +The real pests of the Bush are flies. Mosquitoes and sandflies are bad +enough, but after a time one gets used to them, and, after all, they +do not come out much except at night, and are very local annoyances, +some places being almost entirely free from them. But I defy the most +philosophical of men to get used to flies. On the coast they are only +troublesome for a few months in the year, during the autumn. But in +the interior they are always bad, and really sometimes they make life +almost intolerable. In the western country no one ever rides about in +fly-time without wearing a veil. As I write now I can almost fancy I +am in the middle of them again. One falls into the ink, crawls out +again nearly drowned, tumbles with a flop on to the paper on which I +am writing, and, rolling over on to its back, whirls round and round +in a death-flurry, leaving an archipelago of ink-blots on the paper. +A savage dip of the pen into the inkpot, the result of suppressed +irritation, harpoons the corpse of another one, and discloses the +interesting fact that the bottom of the inkpot is full of dead flies +that have fallen in and never got out again. Four in each eye, three +inside my shirt, two in each nostril, one glued firmly to my under lip, +entirely unmoved by the language that is flying past it, thousands +on my hands and arms, and several crawling pensively over the most +sensitive portion of my ear,--oh! what on earth do they want? I would +give them anything to eat or drink if they seemed to want it, but they +do not. They simply come for the fun of crawling about, like people +go to look at the wicket at a cricket-match between the innings, +from conceited curiosity. Far from being a plague to which one grows +accustomed, the annoyance of flies is one which gets worse and worse +the longer that one has to endure it. It is a kind of cumulative +irritant, which has the effect of making a man feel more entirely +wicked than anything else in the world. Millions of flies are bad +enough, but I am not at all sure that one fly which you cannot kill is +not worse. The combined attack of a large number produces a sensation +of general discomfort and irritation which is very hard to bear, but +the deeper feelings of one’s nature remain untouched. It is reserved +for the solitary and persevering fly to call forth the wildest passion +and the bitterest personal animosity of which the human breast is +capable. There is no mistake about which fly it was that crawled up +your nose and caused you to let fall your favourite pipe in a spasm of +facial agony, and break it to pieces on the floor. There is only one. +There is not another near you for miles. He is always bad at any time, +but pray earnestly that the Solitary Fly may never attack you after +dark, just when you have lit the lamp and are preparing for a quiet +read and a smoke. If he does he will break everything in the room; at +least, he will make you, which comes to the same thing. Having smashed +your pipe, an injury which he knows you will resent deeply, he settles +in a conspicuous position on the edge of the mantelpiece, not on the +clock, but near it, and remains perfectly still. As you sit down again +with a fresh pipe, the idea is certain to suggest itself that, now he +is so quiet, it is a splendid opportunity to finish him. There is sure +to be a towel, or a coat, or something handy, left there by your evil +genius to lure you on to ruin. Seizing the towel, and laying your pipe +carefully down for fear of accidents, you rise cautiously up, keeping +an eye on the fly all the time. If absolute immobility means anything, +he does not see you coming. His indifference is, if anything, just a +little overdone. You do not notice it at the time, in your excitement, +but afterwards it occurs to you that no fly ever sat as still as that, +except with some diabolical purpose. + +Fury nerves your arm, and the towel descends upon the mantelpiece with +a violence that throws a transient uncertainty over the fate of the +fly, but leaves no sort of doubt about the clock, which is hurled into +the fireplace, and lies there a hopeless wreck. The towel was longer +than you thought it was, that is all, and two china ornaments, after +rocking doubtfully backwards and forwards once or twice, roll suddenly +over the edge, and commit suicide by the remains of the clock. The +ruin is so complete that you are encouraged to hope that your enemy +has perished in the midst of it. Once more you sit down, and the few +minutes of peace that succeed would be heaven, if it were not for the +uncertainty that still surrounds the fate of the fly. Just as you are +beginning to allow yourself to hope that your troubles are over, small +cold damp feet planted on the back of your neck remind you that your +adversary is not only not dead, but inclined to be quite as brutally +annoying as ever. You had better give in. He will settle on the lamp +next, and you will certainly smash it to pieces in trying to kill him; +so you may just as well put it out at once, and go to bed. + +About the end of July, on the coast, Bush-fires begin, and go on all +August and September. The grass grows very rank and long in many +places, and is much improved by being burnt off every year. It is a +great object to get the whole of one’s run burnt every year, but it +is also very important to avoid getting the whole of it swept at the +same time. In order to guard against this, the parts of it that will +burn first are set fire to as soon as they are ready. Directly the +first shower falls these parts are immediately covered with beautiful +young grass, “burnt feed” as it is called, which grows with wonderful +rapidity. When the whole country is burning in patches for miles round, +it is a very pretty sight to see the fire at night creeping up the +sides of the mountains, the whole outline of a range sometimes being +marked by a long line of fire against the steel blue of the sky. A +considerable rise in the normal temperature, of course, takes place +in a district where large Bush-fires are burning, and the atmosphere +for weeks at a time is hazy with smoke. But to anyone who has seen +a Bush-fire, at any rate in Queensland, the wild stories of men on +horseback, and herds of wild animals, flying for their lives before the +advancing flames, become the merest fables. + +I never saw a Bush-fire, even when backed up by a strong wind, that +one could not walk away from, with the greatest ease; and even when +the grass was three or four feet long, I never saw one that one could +not, with equal ease, walk straight through on to the blackened country +beyond. In Victoria and New South Wales the danger of a Bush-fire is +much increased by the fact that the tops of the trees burn as well as +the grass, and the flames are carried away from one to the other with +considerable rapidity, if there is a high wind blowing at the time. But +unless deprived of his senses by terror, no one but the most stupid man +could contrive to be killed by a Bush-fire. + +In the dry weather, as the small lagoons and water-holes scattered +all over the country get low and dried up, large numbers of every +kind of wild ducks congregate on the big lagoon in front of Mount +Spencer station. In the evenings we used to have some very good +flight-shooting, one of us standing on each side of the lagoon, at +a point in the middle where it narrowed down to a neck only about +a hundred yards wide, opening out again beyond into a second large +lagoon, or rather a swamp, between which and the main water the ducks +used to fly backwards and forwards just about sundown. But by far the +best duck-shooting, and indeed the best shooting of any kind that I +ever saw in Australia, was down on the Pioneer River, which literally +swarmed with ducks from October to January. + +One day, towards the end of November, eight of us set off, with a gun +apiece, and several niggers to drive, a spring-cart keeping in our +tracks to bring along the ducks which we bagged. There are about ten +duck-drives on the river, each from a mile to a mile and a half in +length, and it takes two days to work it all properly. + +Arrived at the first station, we hung our horses up some distance from +the bank, and stationed ourselves in a line across the bed of the +river, which just there was full of rocky islands covered with bushes. +On each side the banks rose up to a great height, so that there was no +fear of any ducks that the niggers might put up leaving the river. They +all came in twos and threes, and small mobs, beautiful “rocketers” +right over our heads, as pretty shooting as one would wish to see. I +know nothing pleasanter, on a broiling hot day, than to stand up to +one’s knees in the cool clear running water, or sit down on a shady +rock, with a pipe of nigger-head in full swing, knocking over the ducks +as they come overhead. Let those who like extol the pleasure of walking +up your game. For myself, I infinitely prefer the delights of driving, +which combines the joy of anticipation, the additional satisfaction of +shooting a bird that is flying as fast as it can instead of flapping, +and the inestimable advantage of sitting perfectly still oneself. There +is no lack of variety in the shooting on the Pioneer, and the bag at +the end of the day is certain to contain at least five different kinds +of ducks. + +How many ducks eight good shots would bag in the two days it is very +difficult to say. My brother was not with us on this occasion, and I +can confidently declare that I never saw seven worse shots. My own was +by no means a satisfactory performance, and I do not think I got more +shots than anyone else, but out of 117 ducks, which we killed in one +day, I myself shot sixty-three, and ought to have shot a great many +more. Of course, numbers are lost. In the middle of a drive one cannot +stop to pick them up; and besides the winged ones which escape, many +which fall into the stream are carried out into the deep pools, where +it is most unsafe to follow them, on account of the numerous alligators +which haunt the river. These brutes breed on the banks, and I remember +once coming upon a nest that had just hatched. The young ones had +shuffled into the water for the first time, and were paddling about +in the most awkward way, some on their sides and some on their backs, +learning how to swim. The old one was there, lying close to the bank, +in about three feet of perfectly clear water. She never attempted to +move until I got a long pole and jobbed her on the back with it, when +she crawled sulkily off into the black depths of the pool. + +In crossing the Fitzroy River at Yaamba I once had a narrow escape of +being “scruffed” by an alligator. There was a fresh in the river at the +time, and the water was very muddy and thick. The crossing was about a +hundred yards wide, and the water just up to the saddle-flaps. When I +got within about ten yards of the opposite bank, my horse made a roll +and a plunge forward, sending his head right under water. I thought, +of course, that he had stumbled over a log; but a moment after the +head of an enormous alligator appeared close to my leg. His jaws were +open, and he made a snap which took effect on my horse’s belly, the +two upper teeth of the brute leaving two clean deep cuts about four +inches long. This had the effect of considerably hastening my horse’s +exit from the water, but it had exactly the opposite effect on the +animal that a man was riding some twenty yards behind me. Evidently it +had caught sight of the alligator, for it remained rooted to the spot, +shaking and snorting with terror, and absolutely refusing to move one +way or the other. The apprehensions of its rider were, if anything, +even more acute, and his appearance was a perfect study, as he knelt +up on the highest point of his saddle, tucking his feet under him, and +trying to make himself as small as possible. He had no whip, and would +have died sooner than put one of his feet down to use his spurs; so +he did nothing but shout and swear at his horse, which had the effect +of terrifying it more than ever. Every moment I expected, and so did +he, to see the alligator’s head alongside of him; but, strange to say, +though it was at least five minutes before his horse would move, it +never appeared again until just as he was safe ashore. + +The Fitzroy is the most southern water in Australia in which +alligators are found, but from there up to Cape York the rivers and +creeks are full of them. Why they are called alligators no one knows, +for the formation of their jaws and the shape of their head distinctly +prove them to be crocodiles. They have a great fancy for dogs in the +way of food when they can get them; but their diet extends over a +varied range, from a full-grown cow to a paving-stone. On one of the +plantations on the Pioneer an alligator was seen to perform a feat +which gives some idea of the enormous strength which these brutes +possess. The milking-cows belonging to the plantation used to go down +every morning to the river to drink. The bank was rather steep, and the +water just there deepened very quickly. As one of the cows was standing +drinking, with her forelegs in the water, an alligator came up and +caught her by the nose, and, in spite of the animal’s struggles, held +firmly on, and succeeded in dragging her down into the depths of the +pool. The incline of the bank was, of course, in the reptile’s favour, +and no doubt terror deprived the cow partly of her strength; but, +anyway, the pair of them disappeared, and the cow never was seen again. + +With regard to the paving-stones, no one knows whether they are taken +in for ballast, or to assist digestion, or to fill a vacuum caused by +hunger; but it is a very common thing to find half-a-dozen stones, each +double the size of a man’s fist, in the stomach of an alligator. + +Down at the end of the run, at a place called Blue Mountain, about +fourteen miles from Mount Spencer, there were a quantity of wild pigs, +and we had long been meditating a pig-sticking excursion. No one had +ever tried to import this kind of sport into Australia before. There +are plenty of wild pigs in some parts; but the country in which they +are found is so rough, it looks almost like suicide to ride after them. +However, one has to ride after cattle in just the same country; and +there is no more reason why one should break one’s neck riding after a +pig than after a bullock, seeing one goes just as fast as the other. + +My brother had written home to me that he thought there was some +healthy fun to be got out of the pigs on Blue Mountain flats, so I +brought out three of Thornhill’s spears with me, and on my way through +Singapore I collected some bamboos for shafts. Armed with a spear +apiece, Rice and my brother and I set out one day, towards the end of +August, to try our luck. It was the wrong time of year, as the grass +was fearfully long; but we had been so busy, and had to put it off so +often, we would not wait any more, and took the first spare time that +we could get. We camped over-night at the hut at Blue Mountain, a small +out-station with a horse-paddock and a yard, and early next morning we +sallied out on to the neighbouring flats to look for the pigs. + +The country was heavily timbered, and the grass everywhere from two +to three feet long, and in some places four or five. Any quantity of +fallen trees and dead timber were scattered about, but there were +no stones, and the country was pretty free from blind gullies, and, +barring the long grass, it was not a bad place for galloping. We had +not to look long for our game. Sneaking quietly across a small creek, +as we emerged on the opposite bank, we came right upon a mob of eleven +pigs, and amongst them two enormous boars. The instant they saw us +they tried to make for the bank of the creek, but with a wild yell +we charged at them, and succeeded in cutting them off from the creek +and turning them back on to the flat. Away we went after them, and, +neglecting the small fry, my brother and I singled out one of the +boars, and Rice pursued the other. For about half a mile the pace was +excellent, and the fallen timber made it very lively. + +My brother and I were rapidly coming up with our pig, when suddenly he +disappeared into a gully. He was out the other side and away again in +a moment; but we had to make a slight round to cross the gully, which +gave him a bit of a start again. The country was pretty open the other +side, so we could hit out like anything, and once more we were close +on to the boar, who was getting about played out, when in crossing a +patch of long grass my horse went head over heels over a fallen tree, +and sent me flying over his head. Neither of us were hurt, but, of +course, my horse cleared out for home, with his tail in the air, as +every Australian horse does the instant it parts with its rider; so I +picked up my spear, and set off after my brother as hard as I could to +see the fun. A few hundred yards farther on he came alongside the boar +and speared him in the neck. The brute turned sharp round and rushed +between his horse’s legs, almost upsetting it. My brother pulled up, +and the boar promptly charged again; whereupon his horse, which had +never been at close quarters with a pig in its life, began to buck like +mad. My brother hung on like wax, the natural disinclination of anyone +to be slung from his horse being considerably enhanced in his case by +the infuriated animal waiting to get a chance at him on the ground. +But the blood was pouring in torrents from the wound in its neck; and +before I got up, it had lain down to die. We finished it off, and then +examined my brother’s horse, to see if it was damaged. Fortunately it +had escaped with only a slight cut on the fetlock, which was lucky, as +the old boar’s tusks were over six inches long, and as sharp as knives. + +A cooee from the ridges away to the right, about a quarter of a mile +off, informed us of the whereabouts of Rice. We set off, and when +we came up we found him standing with a broken spear in his hand, +examining the carcase of a still more enormous boar than the one +which my brother had killed. He had run him for about three quarters +of a mile, and in trying to spear him he had broken his spear, leaving +only about five feet of a shaft. A little farther on the boar “bailed +up,” on the top of a ridge, and stood with his legs wide apart, and +the foam dropping from his huge tusks, and looking altogether such +a discouraging sight, that nothing would induce Rice’s horse to go +anywhere near him. Whereupon he coolly got off, and, grasping the +remains of his spear, walked straight at the boar, without, as he +said afterwards, the slightest notion of what either he or the animal +was going to do. Of course the boar charged, and as the brute came at +him, Rice slung the spear at him with all his force, and with infinite +precision. It entered the animal’s chest, and he ran right on to it, +driving it into his heart, and falling dead on the spot. It was a most +miraculous escape for Rice; for if he had not killed the boar, it is +pretty certain the boar would have killed him. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +WILD CATTLE + + +On the whole, Australia is one of the worst countries for sport that +can be imagined. There is no big game of any kind, except kangaroos; +and after the novelty of a kangaroo hunt has worn off, it is very +poor fun. Since the destruction of native dogs and eagle-hawks by +the squatters who stocked the country with sheep, the kangaroos have +not a single natural enemy left, and in some districts of Queensland +they have increased to such an extent as to bring absolute ruin upon +the runs which they infest. An Act known as the Marsupial Act was +accordingly passed to encourage their destruction, a reward of so much +a scalp being offered by the Government. In some places countless +droves of them blacken the plains, eating up every vestige of grass, +and literally starving the sheep off the country. Some of the squatters +have gone to a vast expense in fencing in their runs with marsupial +fencing, but it never pays. + +The usual method adopted for slaughtering them is to build a yard with +a very high fence in one of the “scrubs” on the plains. From this yard +two fences run out through the “scrub,” widening out and extending like +wings for a long distance over the surrounding plain. A whole crowd of +men on horseback get together, with a mob of blacks to assist them, and +drive the country for miles around up towards the wings of the fence. +Once between the fences, the wretched animals are doomed. They make +straight for the “scrub,” and never know where they are till they find +themselves inside the yard, with a mob of black devils yelling behind +them. The rails are then put up, and the blacks go in and slaughter +them with tomahawks and clubs. Hundreds and hundreds of kangaroos are +often secured at a single “battue” of this kind; but when once a good +herd of them gets fairly started on a run, it is very difficult to get +rid of them, or even to keep them down. This, however, is brutal work, +though it is absolutely necessary it should be done, and no one could +possibly describe it as sport. Even with good dogs and good horses, +there is not much fun to be got out of hunting kangaroos singly. It is +too much like coursing, which is of all bastard forms of sport the most +detestable; and though an “old-man” kangaroo will generally show fight +when he is bailed up, there is very little difficulty in knocking him +senseless with a stick. + +Away up north an occasional raid after the wild Blacks enlivens the +monotony of life, and there are some men who are brutal enough to enjoy +hunting them down. But apart from the chance of getting a spear through +his ribs, or a tomahawk in his skull, no one who has not lost every +vestige of decent feeling could possibly look upon this as sport, or +be induced to undertake it except in self-defence. Of the few kinds of +sport which Australia does afford, undoubtedly the finest is hunting +wild cattle. It is part of the legitimate business of a stockman, and +a very necessary part too, for nothing is more injurious to a tame +herd than the presence of wild cattle on a run. It ought, therefore, +to be classed as work rather than sport; but anyone who has once been +at it will own that it is a form of entertainment that is exceedingly +bad to beat. Of course there are no wild cattle indigenous to the +country, but in some places there are cattle that have been neglected, +and that have bred wild for generations, and they are to all intents +and purposes as wild, and twice as savage, as bisons. There was one +corner of Mount Spencer run, on the coast-fall of the range, known as +Black’s Creek, the creek itself being one of the heads of the Pioneer +River, and here the former owner of the station had allowed a mob of +wild cattle to establish themselves. In reality it was the business +of the neighbouring run, below the range, to get rid of them. The +Black’s Creek country belonged half to Mount Spencer and half to our +neighbours, whose yards were very much nearer to it than ours, and very +much more accessible from the part where the wild cattle were. But they +neglected their business, and, as the wild cattle were a great nuisance +to us, we had great sport for several years in hunting them down. + +Black’s Creek was about as wild a piece of country as it would be +possible to find in Queensland. Its course lay right among the +mountains, which towered on both sides, sending rocky spurs down in +many places right up the banks of the creek. The grass was frightfully +long, for it was not once in two years that we could get it to burn, +and in many places it was up to one’s elbows as one rode through it. +There were a few little open flats along the course of the creek, but +the rest of the country was very heavily timbered, the banks of the +creek and a good deal of the country being covered with dense scrub, +for which the cattle made the instant they were disturbed. Once in the +scrubs, one never saw them again that day, and the only chance was to +corner them off, and hunt them out on to the more open country. + +One day my brother and I settled we would make an expedition down +Black’s Creek, and hunt up some of the “clean-skins,” as the wild +cattle are called, in allusion to their never having been branded. We +sent over to Haslewood for Billy Burgess, who appeared armed with an +uncomfortable-looking sort of old musket, which he declared was a most +reliable weapon if it was only held straight. My brother and I had +a “Winchester” rifle each, and we provided Frank with an “Express,” +with which he was not half a bad shot. Rolling up our weapons in our +blankets, which were strapped on to the saddle in front, we set off one +afternoon in October, taking a black boy and some rations with us. The +head of Black’s Creek was about thirteen miles from the station; so we +meant to camp out, and start early the next morning to look for the +cattle. + +There are various phases of camping-out in the Bush, some of them very +pleasant, and some of them very much the reverse. On a warm dry summer +night, with plenty of food and tobacco, and one or two good mates, +there are few things more thoroughly enjoyable than to turn your horses +out, light a fire and boil a “billy” of tea, and, after supper, to sit +round smoking and yarning till it is time to roll yourself up in a +blanket and sleep like a top under a tree. Occasionally, however, there +are times when the camper-out does not have by any means a good time, +and anyone who has knocked about the Bush for some time is sure to have +spent more than one night of which the dismal recollection will not +easily be wiped out of his mind. When the rain is falling in torrents, +and a cold winter’s night overtakes the solitary wanderer who has lost +his way and knocked up his horse, it is by no means pleasant to find +that he has got between two flooded creeks, and that the only thing +to do is to wait for the morning’s light before he attempts to go any +farther. Soaked to the skin, and shivering with cold, without shelter +and without food, he is lucky if he can find a rock, or the trunk of a +big tree, to keep the piercing winter’s wind from freezing the marrow +in his back-bone. As he sits there huddled up, with his horse’s bridle +between his numbed fingers, the howl of the native dog, and the forlorn +wail of the stone-curlew, strike with a mournful cadence upon his +ears, about which the dead sticks from the trees overhead are flying. +Mechanically he cuts up a pipe of tobacco, and fills his pipe, fumbling +with shaking fingers in the recesses of his pouch for a dry match. +Fortunate for him if he finds one dry enough to raise a smoke; but if +the hours before morning do not seem preternaturally long he must be of +an exceedingly cheerful disposition. + +Just before sundown we got to the place where we meant to camp, on the +bank of the creek. The creek was not running; but just here there was a +small water-hole in the bed, full of clear water, with rocks all round +covered with beautiful maiden-hair fern. + +A little way back from the bank a huge mass of rock rose up, and +between this and the creek we camped. Having unstrapped our blankets, +we put our weapons together, and, taking off the saddles, we piled +them against the rock, spreading the saddle-cloths over them to keep +off the dew, and then, having hobbled the horses, we turned them out, +with a small bell hung round the neck of one of them to tell us their +whereabouts in the morning. In a few minutes the black boy had got +a good fire going, with a couple of quart-pots set down to boil for +making tea. “Quart-pot” tea, as tea made in the Bush is always called, +is really the proper way to make it. A tin quart of water is set down +by the fire, and when it is boiling hard a handful of tea is thrown in, +and the pot instantly removed from the fire. Thus the tea is really +made with boiling water, which brings out its full flavour, and it is +drunk before it has time to draw too much. + +Frank, meanwhile, went and chopped a piece of bark off a tree, and +set about making some “Johnny cakes” for supper with a small bag of +flour which he had brought with him. Emptying some of the flour into +the sheet of bark, he poured some cold water into the middle of it, +and stirred it quickly up into a paste. “Johnny cakes” are made with +nothing but flour, but there is a great art in mixing them. If it is +done properly, they are about the lightest and nicest sort of bread +that can be made; but the efforts of an amateur generally result in a +wet heavy pulp, that sticks round one’s teeth like bird-lime. Frank, +however, was quite a professor, and, having got his dough to his +satisfaction, he pressed it out very thin, and tossed it on to the hot +ashes in three-cornered pieces, which he kept turning over with a stick +every few seconds. In a very few minutes a good supply of them were +done, and as the tea was made, and a “Johnny cake” is nothing unless it +is eaten red-hot, we produced the salt beef, and set to work at once. + +After supper we all lit our pipes--except Frank, who did not smoke--and +lay down round the fire with a sensation of absolute contentment and +peace that one must go and camp-out in the Bush to understand. The only +single drawback to my enjoyment was that Frank did not smoke. There +is always something uncomfortable about a man who does not smoke; but +in the Bush, where one’s pipe gets to be such a companion as it never +does elsewhere, it was really quite painful to think of Frank setting +off out on the run every day by himself without a pipe. He and Billy, +not having seen each other for some weeks, began instantly to jaw about +cattle, and the way in which they went at it laid over anything in +the way of “shop” that I ever heard. Two fox-hunters fighting their +battles over again are bad enough, and a couple of old University +men recounting their college experiences will drive anyone who is +obliged to listen nearly out of his mind. But for pure professional +“shop-talking,” unbroken by a single pause, and undiluted by a single +digression, commend me to a pair of stockmen who take a hearty interest +in the cattle that they are discussing, and who have not seen each +other for a month. + +Frank began it. + +“I say, Billy,” he said, “I was over at the head of Running Creek +yesterday, and I saw that red bullock that we missed last time we +mustered on Tommy’s Camp.” + +“Ah!” said Billy, “he runs about there now. Was that dying old +crow-bait of a white cow along with him?” + +“Yes; and that strawberry heifer too, whose mother died in the yard +this time last year, when Stewart came up for fat cattle.” + +“I remember; and a fine old bit of stuff her mother was, too. She was a +calf of one of the last of old Lloyd’s lot, that were here when I came.” + +“What! not that big roan cow that used to run down at the Gum Swamp, +that broke away the time you and me and Fraser were yarding that mob +down at the Hut?” + +“No, no, not that one at all. Do you remember a dark-red cow, branded +AL on the cheek, that was always with that mob that used to be about +the ridges behind the Black Swamp about five years ago?” + +“Of course I do. She was a milker.” + +“Well, _she_ wasn’t the mother of that strawberry heifer’s mother, +but her sister was. They were both of them milker’s calves, and their +mother was the mother of that big yellow bullock that went away down to +Rockhampton with Kirwan’s mob five years ago.” + +“My word, what a rowdy brute he was! Do you remember how nearly +he horned Dick in the yard? And when we let them out that white +down-horned bullock hunted you half-way across the swamp. His mother’s +alive yet, and got another calf, as like its mother as can be, only +it’s got a white star. I saw them the other day down Black Creek, the +time I fetched in that big roan calf belonging to that white cow, that +was a calf of old ‘Susan’s.’” + +And so they go on, discussing the appearance and the performance of +one animal after another, and all its sisters and its cousins and its +aunts, till one’s brain reels in trying to follow them. + +I had always heard Brahmins upheld as the possessors of the most +marvellous memories in the world, but until a Brahmin gives some better +proof of it than merely reciting five or six thousand lines of prose by +heart, he must sink into insignificance compared to men who have 12,000 +cattle to look after, ranging over 400 square miles of country, and +increasing at the rate of 3000 every year, and who apparently know them +every one by sight, and can remember most of the ones that they have +seen during the preceding ten years, whereabouts they used to run, and +how they were bred. + +Hour after hour Frank and Billy went on, and when I lay down to sleep, +with my feet to the fire and a big stone for a pillow, they were +still hard at it, in the middle of a discussion as to whether the +great-great-grandmother of a big roan bullock on the Main Camp had a +black nose or not. + +Next morning we all woke up just before daybreak, while the stars were +still shining, the straw-coloured light over the hills to the east +showing that it would not be very long before the sun appeared. The +ashes of last night’s fire were still hot, and the addition of a few +dry sticks soon raised a blaze again. After a wash in the creek we +lit our pipes, and, leaving Billy to boil the tea for breakfast, we +sallied out to look for our horses. The grass was up to our waists, +and saturated with dew, so that before we had gone fifty yards we were +soaked to the skin; but the weather was warm, so it did not matter. +In winter, when the ground is covered with hoar frost, it is no joke +to have to wade perhaps a couple of miles through the long grass to +look for your horse, for it is hours before the sun has sufficient +strength to dry your clothes. On such occasions I used to leave all my +clothes at the camp-fire, and set out without a rag on, as I infinitely +preferred a slight cut or two from the grass to sitting on my horse, +shaking with cold and perfectly wet through, for four or five hours. +This time our horses had not gone very far, and we were back in the +camp by the time that the tea was made. Breakfast did not take long, +and the instant we had done, we loaded our weapons, and, clambering on +to our horses, we set off down the creek to look for the cattle. + +Frank had been down some weeks before, and burnt as much of the grass +as he could, but it was only in places that it would burn. In such +a country it was perfectly hopeless to dream of getting any of the +“clean-skins” home to the yards, and all we wanted to do was to shoot +as many of them as we could. Sneaking silently along for about a couple +of miles, we came to a crossing of the creek, on the opposite side of +which was a small plain. As we emerged on to this, we came suddenly +upon a mob of about thirty wild cattle, among which were six or seven +bulls, one of them about the biggest I ever saw. The instant they saw +us the whole mob charged, and cleared us out in every direction. The +black boy’s bridle came off, and his horse tore wildly into the middle +of a mob of raging bulls, with him yelling murder and absolutely white +with funk. Frank and my brother disappeared into the creek after the +big bull and one or two others, and Billy and I tore across the plain +after a small mob that were going like mad for the ridges beyond. As +we came up with them, Billy discharged his weapon at a young bull that +was a little behind the rest, the bullet breaking his shoulder, and +bringing him bellowing on his head. Away we went after the rest; but +a little farther on Billy got a most awful buster over some rocks in +the long grass, he and his horse rolling over each other in a most +uncomfortable kind of way. Looking back over my shoulder as I galloped +on, I saw him on his legs again, so I hit out like anything to get +a shot at the rest of the mob before they got away into the ridges. +Just on the edge of the plain I came up with them, and put a bullet +behind the shoulder of a good-sized bull that was nearest me. He turned +and charged, but my horse cleared out too quick for him, and after +struggling on for about a hundred yards, he rolled over. The others +were gone where it was hopeless to follow them, so I rode up and put +another shot into him to finish him, and then turned back to see how +Billy was getting on. + +Fortunately he had landed clear of the rocks, in the long grass, but +his saddle was smashed to pieces, and his horse’s legs very much cut +and knocked about. We rode back and finished off the bull that Billy +had shot first, and then went over the creek to see what had become of +the others. Following their tracks for about half a mile, we came upon +my brother sitting upon a log all alone, smoking a pipe, and mopping +the blood from his forehead. + +“Hullo,” I said, “are you hurt? had a buster? where’s Frank? and what’s +happened to your horse?” + +“Why, my horse has cleared out, and Frank has gone after him. He and +I cornered off that big bull, and I rode up alongside and put a shot +into him. I never saw anything turn as quick. He got me full on the +ancle, and that kept his horn out of ‘Darkie’s’ ribs; but the fool, +instead of clearing, went into figures, and what with the cant I got +from the bull, and the rifle, and one thing and another, down I went. +It was all so mixed I thought the bull had upset me. ‘Darkie’ cleared +out then, and left me on the ground five yards from the bull, on a dead +level plain, without a bush for a hundred yards. I struggled on to my +knees, and worked the rifle so as to load again; but before I could get +it up the brute charged, and caught me full over the eye. Frank was +yelling to me to lie down, but it’s all gammon. I saw a bull the other +day rooting up a daisy with perfect ease. I scrambled up again, and, +the rifle being loaded, I put another shot into his shoulder, when he +fortunately gave me best and left me. He’s dead somewhere in the creek +down there, I think. The ‘Winchester’ is good, and they always die of +it, but the bullet is not stopping enough to prevent a charge. However, +I’ve got off very well, with a sprained ancle from the first charge, +and as to my eye, I think my head must be nearly as hard as the bull’s, +for, beyond cutting it open, it hasn’t hurt me much.” + +“Well, hold on a minute,” I said, “and I’ll fetch you a pannikin of +water out of the creek, if there is any here.” + +A little lower down I found a small pool of water, and having got my +brother some, and washed his head for him, I set off down the creek to +look for the bull. Sure enough, he was lying in the bed of the creek, +stone dead, about a quarter of a mile below where my brother had last +shot at him. Just then Frank reappeared leading “Darkie,” whom he had +managed to bail up amongst some big rocks lower down. Billy’s horse +was dead lame, and my brother’s ancle so swollen that he could only +just manage to ride; so we concluded to knock off and go home, and +altogether, considering the frightful nature of the country, we had +not done so badly to kill three of the bulls before they got away. + +The next time we went down Black’s Creek after the clean-skins we had a +still more lively time. In the early part of the day my horse got badly +horned in the belly, and not long after, while galloping after a beast, +he went head over heels into a hole where the stump of a big tree had +been burned out, and broke his shoulder. O’Donnell, the stockman from +the neighbouring run, who came with us, came to fearful grief. He and +his horse, and the bull that he was after, all went head foremost into +a deep rocky gully. When we found them, the bull was lying in the +bottom, among the rocks, with its neck broken, and O’Donnell on top of +it, quite insensible. We got him out, and carried him home on a litter +of saplings. For twenty-four hours he lay quite still, bleeding at the +ears, and we thought he was away, but he came round, and eventually got +all right again. The rest of us managed to get a mob of cattle, mostly +clean-skins, into the yards; and about the gayest time that we had was +drafting them. They exhibited shocking temper. + +The worst of having wild cattle anywhere near one’s run is that the +tame ones go and join them, and become nearly as wild themselves. The +country was so rough down Black’s Creek that it was almost impossible +to clean it up thoroughly, and we hardly ever went down there without +crippling somebody. But there is no doubt that hunting wild cattle +there was as healthy a form of sport as anyone could wish for. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +COMPARISON OF CATTLE AND SHEEP STATIONS + + +The whole of the coast country of Queensland is unsuited for sheep, +chiefly owing to the prevalence of grass-seed, but it fattens +cattle admirably, and it is along the coast-range that most of +the cattle-stations in the Colony are situated. Grass-seed is an +abomination which appears in autumn in all the grass on the coast. It +forms in bundles of hundreds of seeds, each of which is a hard, black, +little weapon, about a third of an inch long, with a sharp barbed point +at the business end. When ripe, they shake off the instant anything +touches them, and attach themselves to it, and, the point being as +fine as a needle, they work their way into any soft substance in a +marvellous way, the barb preventing them from ever going backwards. +Anyone walking or riding through the long grass in seed-time is certain +to get his clothes full of them, and the sharp pricks from their +points are most irritating. Life for a sheep in such a country is an +impossibility. Their wool becomes so full of seeds that it is perfectly +worthless, and eventually the seeds work their way right into the flesh +of the sheep, and, of course, when they reach the vital organs, destroy +its life. I have seen the unfortunate wretches with their fleeces +stuffed so full of grass-seed that they are absolutely incapable of +moving, and can only stand still, with their legs wide apart, looking +more like a hedgehog on stilts than a sheep. Of course, grass-seed +does not affect cattle, which do very well on the coast runs. But it is +a remarkable thing that, although they lay on just as much fat upon the +coast-country as they do upon the western downs, they will not travel +without losing it. Cattle fattened upon the salt-bush and grasses of +the west will, if driven carefully, carry their condition for hundreds +of miles; but the fat that they acquire on the coast-grass, and +especially below the range, runs off them like melting butter when they +travel. + +Cattle-growing is not nearly so profitable as sheep, but, on the other +hand, it requires far less capital to start with, and is attended with +much less risk. The vast difference between a cattle-station and a +sheep-station is this, that whereas the former can be made to pay its +own way from the first, the latter requires a heavy outlay before it +can be safely stocked at all. + +Of course, in proportion as a man lays out money in improving a +cattle-station at the first start, so his returns will be quicker, +heavier, and more certain. But, if he is unable to do so, he will find +that the expenses absolutely necessary to keep the place going are +by no means heavy. We will suppose that a squatter puts 5000 head of +cattle on to a piece of entirely unimproved country. He ought to get +the cattle, and sufficient country to carry 10,000 head, for £20,000. +For about £400 he can put up yards, and a weaning-paddock for working +the cattle, horseyard, and paddock, and comfortable houses for himself +and his men. Another £150 will start him with sufficient horses, and, +if he is at all inclined to work himself, two stockmen and a black boy +will be quite enough hands to work the cattle. The wages of the two +former, at £75 a year, and the black boy at 10s. a week, come to £176 +per year, and another £100 a year ought to find them all in rations. + +We will suppose that the increase is allowed to accumulate, nothing but +fat cattle being sold off the run for the first five years. + +During that time the proceeds from sales of fat cattle should be amply +sufficient to cover all working expenses, and to enable the squatter +to keep on improving his run by fencing, etc., to meet the increasing +requirements of his herd. + +At the end of five years he should have at least 10,000 head of cattle, +and have completed all the improvements necessary for working them. + +Allowing a liberal percentage for deaths, his annual increase from +10,000 head would be fully 2500, of which about 800 would be fat cattle. + +Supposing him, for the future, to keep his herd at 10,000, and sell the +whole of his annual increase, his yearly profits would be as follows:-- + + By sale of 800 fat cattle, at £4 £3200 + ” 1700 store cattle, at £1:10s. 2550 + ----- + £5750 + ===== + To working expenses £1700 + ” Balance 4050 + ----- + £5750 + ===== + +In the above calculation the price of fat cattle is taken at the +average price in Queensland for some years past, and the price of store +cattle at the lowest possible figure, which is called “boiling-down” +price; for when store cattle are perfectly unsaleable, as they +sometimes are, it is always possible to clear £1:10s. a head on them by +boiling them down for tallow and hides. + +The working expenses have been put rather high, and the increase below +the average of fair seasons. + +Thus, in five years the squatter’s original capital of £20,000 will +have increased to £40,000, for which he will get a return of £4000. + +Of course, in good times, when fat cattle are up to £5 or £6, and store +cattle to £2:10s., his profits will be very much larger, but, at the +same time, a squatter must always be prepared to spend a large sum of +money upon the purchase of land, to secure his run against selectors. +No allowance has been made for this in the above calculations, for +legislation on the land question is continually assuming different +phases, but a squatter may take it for granted that, sooner or later, +he will have to lay out a great deal of money in securing his run, and +he is generally quite willing to do so when the time comes. + +The risks attending the working of a cattle-station are the possibility +of an epidemic of pleura-pneumonia breaking out in the herd, and, of +course, the danger of a very severe drought. But the coast country, +to which cattle are chiefly confined, is, as has been already said, +not nearly so liable to drought as the interior, where sheep-farming +is carried on; and although isolated cases of pleuro-pneumonia are +nearly always to be met with in a big herd, it is extremely seldom +that the disease assumes an epidemic form. On the whole, therefore, +the risks of growing cattle may be considered as being very small. The +disadvantages of a cattle-station from a business point of view are, +that, in the first place, although it will return a high and safe rate +of interest if properly managed, still it will never afford a chance +of making the rapid fortune that four or five consecutive good seasons +on a sheep-station ensure. In the second place, a cattle-station +requires very few hands, and not much capital to work it, and opens no +connection with the banks and the business men in the towns. No one +cares the least for the connection with a cattle-station, for it is +worth nothing. The cattle are raised at a small expense, driven down +to market by the station hands, sold to the butchers, and there is an +end to them. + +It is very often greatly to the interest of a squatter to be able +to raise money on the security of his run, either to tide over bad +times, to make improvements, or to secure his country by the purchase +of freehold land. The indifference of the banks and of business men +generally to the cattle industry makes it very much more difficult +to raise money upon a cattle-station than upon a sheep-station. With +the latter there is not the slightest difficulty. Wool is the staple +product of the country, and represents an enormous proportion of the +aggregate wealth of the community, and the bulk of the population are +either directly or indirectly connected with its growth. Consequently +“financing” is rendered very much easier upon the security of a +sheep-station; and if a man puts £20,000 of his own money into forming +a sheep-station, if he knows anything at all of finance, he will easily +get £40,000 of someone else’s money to help him, at a rate of interest +that will pay him remarkably well. All over the country a bale of wool +is nearly as good security as the banknote that represents its value; +and it is no matter if a man’s wool be in his woolshed in the centre of +Australia, under a tarpauling on the banks of a flooded creek, or in a +vessel coming down the coast, he can always get an advance upon it from +the bank. + +Sheep-farming in Australia is now a very different thing to what it was +twenty or even ten years ago. In those days a man had nothing to do +but to go far enough into the interior, and he could take up as much +new country as he pleased, paying nothing for it beyond the annual +rent to the Crown. He put his sheep on to it, and in a few years, if +he had good seasons, he made an enormous fortune, partly from his +annual profits, but chiefly from the extraordinary rise in value of +his country and stock. But if in the meantime he had two bad seasons, +he was probably ruined; for the early settlers did not comprehend the +vital importance of laying out capital in storing water upon their +runs, to guard against the possibility of a long drought. + +Long experience has now shown that every part of Australia that +is fit for growing sheep is subject to occasional periods of very +severe drought, at uncertain intervals, the occurrence of which it +is quite impossible to foretell. Some of these droughts have been of +extraordinary duration, and the early settlers were astonished to find +that water-holes and creeks which they had been for years accustomed +to regard as affording an inexhaustible supply of permanent water, +succumbed at length to the severity of one of these visitations, and +left their country without a drop of water upon it. Hundreds of men +were ruined by trusting to the natural water upon their runs, while +others, of course, who were fortunate enough to have a run of good +seasons, made tremendous profits. + +But the lesson which has been learned is this, that in order to provide +against the possibility of a prolonged drought, the squatter must treat +his country as if practically there was no natural water upon it at +all, and expend a large amount of capital in making dams and tanks, so +as to have, if possible, a supply of water stored in every part of his +run that is capable of holding out against any drought, however severe. +This entails vast expense, but it is the only possible way of making a +safe and profitable investment of sheep-farming in Australia. Of course +there are some lagoons and water-holes upon which the most prolonged +drought has little or no effect, and their existence greatly enhances +the value of any piece of country upon which they may happen to be +found. + +An immense amount of loss was sustained in the early days by +overstocking the country, and in some parts the evil effects of so +doing are still felt; for to such extremities were the unfortunate +sheep reduced in a drought, that they not only ate up every blade of +grass, but tore out the roots and ate them as well, so that it took +years before any grass would grow there again. It is by no means +uncommon in such districts as the Riverina, to be reduced to feeding +the sheep upon the leaves of gum-trees to keep them alive during a dry +season, when every vestige of grass has disappeared. In most parts of +Australia, however, water is the main thing, for, unless the country +has been overstocked, sheep will manage to eke out an existence in +a most extraordinary way, provided they have a sufficient supply of +water. A dozen years ago, if it had been represented to an English +capitalist that the safest and most profitable investment that he +could possibly find for his money would be to take up dry country in +Queensland, and make a permanent supply of water on it, the idea would +probably have struck him as eminently fantastic and unpractical. But it +is probable that the world has never yet seen so certain and so quick +a means of realising an enormous fortune. At that time an unlimited +extent of country was to be had for next to nothing, which has since +risen to a fabulous value, where money has been expended in storing +water upon it. + +At the present time, there is not the same amount of money to be made +at it as there was in the old days, because every mile of country that +is worth anything in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, and the +greater portion of South Australia and the Northern Territory, has +been taken up; so that instead of getting his country for nothing, the +squatter has now to start by paying at least £10 a square mile, even in +the back-blocks of Queensland, for, say, a twenty-one years’ lease of +perfectly bare country, without permanent water, stock, or improvements +of any kind. + +In Victoria the plundering and blundering of an ignorant Radical +legislature has considerably reduced the market value of every acre +of pastoral land in the colony. In New South Wales the value of land +is about stationary; but in Queensland and South Australia its value +is still increasing, though not at the same rate as formerly. The +tremendous sums that have lately been paid for sheep-stations in +Queensland might at first seem like fancy prices, but the profits +subsequently derived forbid the application of any such term. Hitherto +most of the large fortunes that have been made in connection with +sheep-farming have been made more from the rise in value of the country +than from the annual profits derived from the industry itself, though +these have been very great. + +If we follow the career of the “leviathans” of Australia in the +squatting line, we shall see that most of them made their fortunes +by constantly taking up new country, stocking it and improving it, +and selling it again as soon as possible, at an immense profit. +Now, however, this can only be carried out in a very modified form. +The value of country, whether dry or watered, stocked or unstocked, +all over New South Wales and Queensland, has risen to such a point +that, for the future, profit must be expected more from the annual +proceeds of working the country than from any great subsequent rise +in its value. Of course there are still districts, such as the +northern territory of South Australia, and the Gulf of Carpentaria in +Queensland, where a considerable rise in the value of bare country may +be confidently looked for during the next few years. But in the central +and southern districts the country itself may be considered to have +attained a value at which it will remain steady for some years, and +profits, as I have said, must be derived from increase of stock and +sale of wool. What these profits amount to in fair seasons will be seen +from the statistics appended below, and it must be acknowledged that +they are in themselves sufficiently startling. + +The following are the particulars of a station in the Barcoo district +of Queensland, consisting of 800 square miles of country, of which only +about 600 are available:-- + + Bought in 1882 for £200,000, with 135,000 sheep. Out of these there + were 62,000 ewes in lamb, from which they got 54,000 lambs the first + year. + + Clip of wool 1882 (135,000 sheep), 1730 bales valued at £35,000. Sold + since purchase 30,000 sheep off the run, at £15,000. + + In 1883 they shore 190,000 sheep, and including lambs there are now + 210,000 sheep on the run. The value of this year’s clip is £48,000, + and the value of the increase is between £30,000 and £40,000. + + Taking the expenses at £15,000 per annum, this leaves a nett profit + in two years of at least £113,000, besides which the station has + risen greatly in value. + +The following shows the rise in value and returns of another +sheep-station in the Aramac district of Queensland. It consists of +about 1000 square miles of country, and was bought in June 1881 for +£70,000, together with 41,703 sheep and 2230 cattle on the run. + + Original number of sheep 41,703 + In all to date (Oct. 1883) they have had 77,327 lambs. + And bought 86,014 sheep. + ------- + 205,044 + ======= + + Deaths and killed for rations to date 12,996 + Lost travelling on road 216 + Sold 34,830 + Number at present on the station 157,002 + ------- + 205,044 + ======= + Number of sheep at present on station 157,002 + ” cattle ” ” 5,610 + +In 1882 they shore 93,204 sheep, producing 383,174 pounds of wool, +which brought £21,000 in London. Improvements since June 1881 have cost +about £18,000. This year, 1883, they will shear 157,000 sheep, the wool +from which will be worth £33,000, and the station is now valued at +£200,000. + +We will now consider the case of an outlying piece of country, which +has never been stocked with anything but cattle, and which it is +proposed to turn into a sheep-station. + +The following tables of expenditure, income added to paid-up capital, +and approximate increase and numbers of sheep, refer to an estimate +made by the manager of a leading firm in Melbourne, for forming and +stocking a piece of country in the Burke district of Queensland, about +250 miles from Normanton, a township on the Gulf of Carpentaria. The +run consisted of 500 miles of the best description of sheep country, +and there were on it 2000 head of cattle, and no improvements of any +kind. It was proposed to form a company with a capital of £100,000 to +purchase the run and stock it with sheep. The former owners agreed to +take £5000 in cash, and £20,000 in paid-up shares for the property. + +The accompanying tables show the position of the station at the end of +four years. The run is capable, when fully improved, of carrying from +180,000 to 200,000 sheep, and would be worth at the end of four years, +with the sheep, at least £150,000. In computing the cost of management +£100 per annum has been allowed for every thousand sheep, whereas £70 +per thousand is allowed to be the average cost; but the country being +new, and labouring therefore under some disadvantage for the time +being, so much more has been allowed for the cost of management. + +The cost of everything has been put at the highest, and the selling +price of wool and sheep at the lowest. The calculations have only +been made for four years, showing the position of affairs, value of +the station and stock; and the returns, if the stock were allowed to +increase, and improvements to carry the extra number of sheep were +made, would increase wonderfully if allowed to go on. In computing the +number of sheep at the end of four years, 2½ per cent, which is usually +allowed per annum for losses, has not been taken into consideration, +but at the same time the percentage of lambs has been put at only 70 +per cent, which is much under the mark in anything like a favourable +season; the expense of water to be made in the paddocks has been put at +a very high figure, and the fact of there being a good deal of natural +water on the run has not been taken into consideration. If sheep were +placed on the run at once, and improvements commenced, there can be no +doubt that within three years the cost of management, etc., would be at +least 20 per cent less than that computed. In allowing for the cost of +water to be made the second and third years, a great reduction has been +made, as the cost of plant, etc., would not have to be calculated; and +experience has shown that, after stocking a run, plenty of water that +has not been permanent before becomes so, as the country is trodden in +by the stock. Due allowance may therefore be made for a certain amount +of natural water lasting permanently. + + +ESTIMATE OF EXPENDITURE. + + +_First Year._ + + Cost of 40,000 ewes, and driving them to station £40,000 0 0 + Fencing four paddocks five miles square; + fencing to consist of five wires, at £50 + per mile 4,000 0 0 + Dams to be constructed in each paddock 4,000 0 0 + Woolsheds, hut and yards 3,000 0 0 + Management, at £100 per 1000 sheep 4,000 0 0 + Horses, plant, and contingencies 2,000 0 0 + Rams 1,200 0 0 + ----------- + £58,200 0 0 + =========== + + +_Second Year._ + + Cost of fencing paddocks for first year’s lambs, + say 70 per cent on 28,000 sheep; three + paddocks as above £3,000 0 0 + Dams made in paddocks 2,000 0 0 + Management, £100 per 1000, on 68,000 sheep 6,800 0 0 + ----------- + £11,800 0 0 + =========== + + +_Third Year._ + + There would be 54,000 ewes to lamb, which + at 70 per cent would be 37,800 lambs, for + which fencing would have to be put up, + say at a cost of £4,000 0 0 + Expenditure for water 2,000 0 0 + Management, 96,000 at £100 per 1000 9,600 0 0 + ----------- + £15,600 0 0 + =========== + + +_Fourth Year._ + + There would be in all 132,000 sheep on the + run by this time, and if it were intended + to keep the numbers at this, the cost of + management with that amount of sheep at + £100 per 1000 would be (_though it certainly + would not be more than £80 per 1000_) £13,200 0 0 + =========== + + +CAPITAL AND INCOME during four years expended on the Property. + +After paying the original owners in shares, it was proposed to call up +two-thirds of the remaining capital, which, after deducting £5000 due +to the original owners in cash, would leave £48,333:6:8 to commence +operations with, the balance to be called up as agreed on. + + Capital, two-thirds of £80,000, less £5000 + paid to original owners £48,333 6 8 + Clip of 1st year, 40,000 sheep at 4s. nett 8,000 0 0 + ” 2d ” 68,000 ” ” 13,600 0 0 + ” 3d ” 96,000 ” ” 19,200 0 0 + ” 4th ” 132,000 ” ” 26,400 0 0 + Sale of increase, 14,000 wethers, half of first + year’s increase, at 5s. per head 3,500 0 0 + ------------ + £119,033 6 8 + ============ + + +EXPENDITURE. + + First year £58,200 0 0 + Second year 11,800 0 0 + Third year 15,600 0 0 + Fourth year 13,200 0 0 + ----------- + £98,800 0 0 + =========== + +At the end of four years, supposing the number of sheep to be kept +at 132,000, the station would be worth at least £150,000, and should +return an annual profit of fully £30,000. + +In fair seasons, with good management, experience shows that the above +figures are below rather than above what is certain to be realised from +working a good piece of sheep country. Against this there is always the +danger of a drought such as the whole of New South Wales and Queensland +are now suffering from. An ordinary drought can be provided against by +the precaution of storing water, and by carefully avoiding overstocking +the country. But a period of such exceptional severity as the drought +which has now (Dec. 1884) lasted for nearly two years in the above +countries cannot fail to do a certain amount of injury to everyone, +and, of course, brings utter ruin to all who have not provided an +artificial storage of water. A great deal of well-sinking has been done +lately in Queensland, and so far with very satisfactory results. In +many parts of the Burke district, round the Gulf, water has been struck +at a few feet below the surface, which, of course, increases the value +of the country considerably. + +The effects of a drought in Australia at the present time are not +nearly so disastrous as was the case formerly. In the first place, from +the amount of artificial water that has been made, the country is far +better fitted to withstand a severe season. In the second place, the +extraordinary rallying powers of the country have been so conclusively +proved, that a drought, even although the mortality among the stock +at the time may be very heavy, does not produce the commercial crisis +that invariably followed in the early days. The banks see that it is +their interest to go on backing the squatters who are in their books, +instead of selling them up, as they used to do; and the squatters whose +stations are free from debt simply lay themselves out to cut down +expenses in every way, and wait for better times, instead of giving +way to panic and putting their property in the market at a ruinous +reduction in price. A run of bad seasons may make pastoral property +almost unsaleable for the time, owing to the reduction it produces +in the amount of floating capital throughout the country; but it has +not the effect of materially lowering prices, except in the case of +unstocked and outlying runs. + +Civilisation is continually extending farther inland from the coast, +and as it advances the halcyon days of the squatter are swept away. It +is in the early part of his tenure that he must look to realise vast +profits; for when once his run is thrown open for selection, he must +be prepared to secure the freehold of a great portion of it at a heavy +outlay, and his subsequent profits will not exceed 10 per cent on the +money expended. + +There is a fine opening at the present time for investing capital in +developing the country in the Gulf district of Queensland. A great +deal of it is allowed to be equal to any sheep country in Queensland, +and in point of carriage--always a heavy item of expenditure on a +sheep-station--it compares most favourably with the Central and +Western districts, where sheep are now raised most profitably; for the +distance to Normanton and Burketown, on the Gulf of Carpentaria, is +not above 300 miles. It further possesses the incalculable advantage +of being free for many years to come from all danger of selection, +and, altogether, it is undoubtedly the “coming country” of Australia; +for eventually one of the chief outlets to the commerce of the +continent must inevitably be a port on the Gulf of Carpentaria. + +An English company has recently been formed, with a capital of +£275,000, to work a large tract of country in this district; and with +good management there is no doubt that they will get an excellent +return for the money invested. + +The new Land Bill in Queensland is not yet through Committee, but from +the draft there is every reason to believe that it will be a most +favourable one for the squatters, the main feature of it being that +while half the squatter’s run is taken from him and thrown open to +selection, his tenure of the remaining half is rendered secure. For the +half which is thrown open he can, of course, compete on equal terms +with any other selector. + +It is an ill wind that blows no one any good, and there is no doubt +that the severity of the recent drought has had an excellent effect +in moderating the severity of the Land Bill. Had the so-called reform +been undertaken by the Legislature in the midst of good seasons, when +the squatting industry was flourishing, there is no sort of doubt +that we should have been plundered in the same ruthless manner that +our neighbours in Victoria have been, who have escaped the drought. +“_Cantat vacuus coram latrone_”; and the Queensland squatters have +suffered so severely from natural causes, that even the Government +realised that it would be unwise to rob them any further for the +present. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE BLACKS + + +If you ask what sort of a race the Blacks of Australia are, nine people +out of ten will immediately answer your question with that prompt +assurance which no one ever ventures to bring to bear on any subject, +except one about which he knows nothing and has thought less, and will +tell you that they are physically and intellectually the most degraded +race in the world. + +There being no fixed standard to apply to the different races of the +world for the purpose of gauging their physical and intellectual +merits, we can only do so by comparing them with each other. When +compared with those nations of the Old World who are universally +admitted to have reached the highest point of civilisation as yet +known, the Australian Black is, of course, a very low specimen of the +human race indeed. But compared with the Digger Indians, the Bushmen of +South Africa, and the inhabitants of not a few of the islands of the +Pacific Ocean, he at once assumes a different aspect. I had thought of +comparing him to some of those savages by no means extinct in the Old +Country at the present day; but the comparison seems more than usually +odious, and I will pass on. + +From a physical point of view, many of the Australian Blacks are +exceedingly fine specimens of humanity, and possess great muscular +strength. In swimming, diving, climbing, picking up and following a +trail, they are a match for any race under the sun; and in running +and jumping many of them would give a good deal of trouble to a +professional athlete. The extraordinary art of throwing a boomerang is +peculiar to them, and with a spear they are not to be surpassed. + +It will be objected that these are a very low class of accomplishments, +displaying, with the exception of the boomerang, no inventive genius +whatever. This is quite true, but it is equally true that they answer +the end in view, which is more than can be said of many more elaborate +contrivances; and, as a rule, the simplest means of obtaining an +object are the best. Now the object of an Australian Black, in common +with most of his fellow-creatures, is to provide himself with food; +and it has been frequently brought forward as a proof of great want +of intelligence, that he has never invented a bow and arrow for this +purpose. But necessity, we all know, is the mother of invention, and +so long as a Black can with perfect ease kill as many birds and beasts +as he wants with sticks and spears, it is hardly fair to accuse him of +want of intelligence for not employing the more complicated appliances +which are necessary in countries where food is less plentiful and less +easily obtained. We might with equal justice and discernment abuse the +inhabitants of Upper Egypt, where it rains once in five years, for not +having invented umbrellas; or the Esquimaux for not using refrigerators +to preserve their meat. That the Blacks are by no means deficient in +natural ingenuity is proved by the stone-headed tomahawks, heavy wooden +swords, and bone-tipped spears which are in use amongst the wildest +of the tribes. No doubt, when game becomes too wild or too scarce to +be easily killed with sticks and stones, they will invent some more +ingenious way of procuring it. + +[Illustration: BLACK-FELLOW PREPARING TO GO UP A TREE.] + +The countenances of these niggers, often very pleasing, are seldom +devoid of a good deal of intelligence, and after a short intercourse +with civilisation are highly susceptible of that expression of finished +rascality which is usually supposed to be a peculiarity of the white +man. Their sense of humour and perception of the ridiculous is +exquisitely keen. A cow tumbling head over heels across a log in the +long grass, a man looking for a pipe which he has got in his mouth, or +a dog in search of food upsetting something on to its own head, and +running away like the deuce, with nothing after it, will make a black +fellow laugh for a week afterwards whenever he thinks of it. Nothing +with the ghost of a joke in it escapes him, and finer shades of humour +that are entirely lost upon many well-educated whites will be instantly +and thoroughly appreciated by him. + +We had a black fellow on the station, by name Wakarra, who was as +pleasant a companion for a day’s ride as could be wished. It is not too +much to say his manners were those of a perfect gentleman. No amount of +hurry ever made him forget himself for an instant, no scolding made him +sulky, and no kindness made him disrespectful. The graceful ease with +which he used to remove his battered hat to any ladies that happened +to be staying on the station, was a sight that might have moved an Old +Country swell to tears of admiration. He learned to read with ease, and +had a most surprising faculty for asking questions. One day he wanted +to know how the sun set and rose. I explained to him that the earth +went round, which he understood perfectly; but when I told him how fast +it went, he thought for a bit, and asked why the trees and houses and +things did not all fall off? I told him that they were stuck on with +a kind of invisible glue, which only partially allayed his thirst for +information. He is certainly rather an extraordinary Black, and perhaps +hardly a fair specimen of his race. But I never saw one upon whose +education so much pains had been bestowed; and most likely here, as +elsewhere, there are just as good fish in the sea as ever came out of +it. + +In acquiring the rudiments of civilisation, such as drinking, lying, +thieving, and twisting red handkerchiefs round their heads, the Blacks +show themselves to be very apt pupils. But in all the higher branches +of social science they are very backward. For instance, when their +relations become incapacitated by age or disease from following the +wanderings of the tribe, they have a nasty low habit of beating in +their heads with a club, instead of gently assisting the course of +nature by giving them little or nothing to eat, a method which I have +occasionally seen pursued with the greatest success by the inhabitants +of more civilised countries. Then, again, they are extremely particular +about their wives, and resent any interference with them on the part +of the rest of the tribe, with a violence which civilised society of +modern times has branded as being in the worst possible taste. + +It has often been said that it is impossible to teach any sort of +religion to the Australian Blacks. I never heard of any great exertions +being made in this direction; but undoubtedly the great obstacle to +success would be not so much a black fellow’s want of intelligence, as +his unrestrained sense of the ridiculous. One of our poets has declared +that + + “Life is a jest, and all things show it”; + +and seeing that it is impossible at the outset to impress a nigger with +the solemnity of religion, there is great likelihood that he will fall +in with the views of the poet, and laugh at it immoderately. + +I remember once trying to give a fairly intelligent Black some idea of +a future state. In the course of conversation he pointed up to the sky, +and said: + +“Big one Master stop up there? Where you been see Him that One?” + +“Yowi” (yes), I replied, “you better believe it. By and by you see Him +that One too.” + +After a pause he again inquired, “That One got a store up there?” + +Now the possession of a store implies unlimited power to a black +fellow, so I promptly replied: + +“My word! altogether big one store up there. Plenty flour, plenty +tobacco; supposin’ you good one nigger, by and by you get plenty up +there.” + +His next remark was, “I say! you go along o’ that One by and by?” + +“Yowi,” said I, “mine think it. By and by go along o’ that One, get +wings, fly about close up like a bird.” + +This appeared to interest him immensely, without striking him as +the least odd. But when I told him that if he behaved well he would +go there too, he had barely time to say “Gammon!” with an amount of +expression that no one but a nigger can put into that one word, before +rolling on to the ground in perfect convulsions of laughter. That a +white man should go to heaven seemed perfectly natural to him; but the +idea of a black fellow by any possibility getting there too, struck him +as so utterly funny that he went on laughing for a week after whenever +he saw me. + +The Blacks that have received any religious instruction generally +sneak up to you in the towns and offer to parade their knowledge for a +consideration. “I say! you give it me one fellow sixpence, plenty mine +yabber-yabber--belief! I say! Glass of whiskey--Our Father,” and so on. + +The most notable instance of anything like success attending the +attempt to proselytise a Black, was that of an old nigger who once +observed, in answer to some inquiry as to his views of a future state, +that, “supposin’ he was a bad nigger, altogether debbil-debbil come and +take him off.” + +Their ordinary creed is very simple. “Directly me bung (die) me jump up +white feller,” and this seems to be the height of their ambition. + +They have some sort of religion or superstition of their own. When a +warrior of celebrity dies, or succumbs to a blow on the head from a +nullah, they skin him with the greatest care, and, after eating as +much of him as they feel inclined for, they pick his bones beautifully +clean and wrap them up in his skin. Instances have been known where +Blacks have carried these relics about with them in all the wanderings +of their tribe for many years. Sometimes they embalm their chiefs, +but very rarely one would suppose, as up to the present time very few +of these mummies have ever fallen into the hands of white men. One of +them is now in the Queensland Museum at Brisbane, and, according to the +account of the tribe from which it came, it is over 200 years old. + +Whether it would be possible to teach Christianity to the Australian +Blacks, or not, I do not pretend to say; but I am very certain that it +would be far better to begin by teaching them to behave as respectable +members of the community. By the time that they have learned to refrain +from smashing the skulls of decrepit relations, from killing a man +simply because he has some article about him which they wish for, +and from eating him afterwards if they are hungry, it will be quite +time enough to direct their attention to a future existence. The task +of persuading an average nigger that punishment follows crime, and +prosperity is the reward of virtue, will be found quite arduous enough +to satisfy the most zealous of missionaries, even though it be the +business of these admirable men to “turn black into white,” after a +fashion. Having, at any rate, got him to comprehend that there are +certain rules that he cannot transgress with impunity, and certain +enjoyments that he can only obtain by exertion, he will be more fit to +be initiated into the mysteries of Christianity than when he had no +idea of right and wrong. + +A more lamentable example of misdirected zeal than is afforded by the +South Sea Islanders cannot be imagined. If we may take as examples +the large number of Kanakas who come over to Australia every year, +we are obliged to conclude that any teaching that they get from the +missionaries does them infinitely more harm than good. No one will have +anything to do with a “missionary boy,” if he can by any means get +another one. We cannot for a moment allow the blame of this to rest +on the religion taught, and we should be sorry to think that it was +entirely the fault of those who teach it. Experience proves that it has +nothing whatever to do with the Kanakas themselves; for, until they are +persuaded to become Christians, they are an orderly, contented, and +industrious race. The fault, then, must lie in the manner of teaching. + +Religion, someone says, makes an excellent roof, but a very bad +floor; and it is the height of folly to try and teach Christianity +to a savage before he has any idea of those fundamental laws which, +quite independent of any revealed religion, govern the welfare of a +community. It is not only teaching him to run before he can walk, but +expecting him to jump over obstacles at every other step which, from +the earliest ages, have brought the most eminent divines to grief. More +than this, it is putting an exceedingly dangerous weapon into the hands +of an inexperienced and mischievous child. + +For example, suppose that you make a savage understand that the God +whom you are teaching him to serve has bade all the rich in this world +to sell all that they have, and give it to the poor. What will be the +effect upon his mind? An earthly paradise of rum, blankets, and tobacco +is at once opened up before him; and having most probably gone to sleep +the night before without even one of these luxuries, he must inevitably +arrive at one of two conclusions, either that you are telling him +a lie, or that there are a number of rich people around him sadly +ignorant of their duties. + +Most probably the latter is the view to which he will incline, and, +fully persuaded that he is only promoting the gospel of peace on earth +and goodwill towards men, he will set off to the nearest plantation, +and give the owner of it a lesson in practical Christianity by removing +as many articles of value as he can, and retiring to distribute them +amongst his friends. Be this as it may, one broad truth remains, that +in attempting to convert a South Sea Islander into a Christian, the +missionaries rarely fail to convert an innocent and industrious savage +into an idle and worthless scoundrel. + +Nearly every station in Queensland has one or two black boys employed +on it as stock-riders, in which capacity they are very useful, as they +soon learn to ride well, and are invaluable in tracking lost cattle and +sheep. As a rule, however, they are not much use after they get about +twenty years old. By that time they have begun to find out that they +are useful; and as their idea of the value of their services seldom +corresponds with that of their employer, they generally get sent away. +Having once been employed by white men, they would instantly be killed +if they tried to rejoin their tribe; so they generally take to loafing +about the nearest town, and sooner or later die of drink. + +There is a school now, down in Mackay, to teach Blacks to read and +write, and get their living by some sort of work. It has hardly been +started long enough to see how it will work. At present the only +place where Blacks are employed in any numbers is upon the Mackay +tobacco-plantations, and their being so is a most unqualified nuisance +to the district. Of course any effort to induce the Blacks to work for +their living, instead of spearing other people’s cattle and picnicking +on their own relations, deserves the highest praise. But we solemnly +protest against their being turned loose on society before their +education is completed; and we infinitely prefer having to deal with +an entirely wild Black than with one who has imbibed a great deal of +mischief, and very little good, from a temporary residence amongst +white men. The services of these Blacks are only required for a few +months during the year on the plantations, and they are then allowed to +wander off into the Bush, and amuse themselves until the busy season +comes round again. Familiarity having, of course, bred contempt, and +cunning taken the place of timidity, they no longer scruple to turn the +hitherto sacred runs into their Happy Hunting-grounds. Picnics on the +cattle camps, and wild chases amongst if not after the cattle, form the +principal amusements of these emancipated scholars. The results are +appalling. We have all heard of swine urged by devils running violently +down a steep place and being lost to their owners in the sea. Here in +the Antipodes we observe that our cattle, under similar circumstances, +pursue an opposite but equally disastrous course, and are lost to us in +the mountain ranges. + +It is annoying to go and muster a camp where a few days before you had +been gloating over thirty or forty fat bullocks, and to find that the +Blacks have been scouring the whole country around, and frightening the +cattle into fits; so that instead of thirty fat bullocks you probably +only find half-a-dozen wretched crow-baits, with staring coats and +protruding ribs, and altogether such a played-out appearance, you can +hardly believe they are the same animals that a few days before you +watched swaggering up to camp, with that satisfied, well-to-do air +that so endears a fat bullock to the eye of his owner. In the more +settled districts along the coast of Southern Queensland, and in New +South Wales and Victoria, the Blacks have given up spearing cattle, +and, beyond frightening them occasionally, do not do much harm. But in +the north and interior of Queensland they are still very troublesome, +and never lose a chance of killing cattle and horses, and spearing +any unfortunate shepherd or traveller if they get a chance. They will +follow a man for days, just keeping out of his sight, until they get +an opportunity for killing him. Sometimes, when they feel more than +usually cheerful, even the half-tame Blacks in the settled districts +cannot resist the temptation of spearing a traveller. It is not long +since they killed two South Sea Islanders on the range about fifteen +miles from our head station. For the purpose of repressing this kind +of joviality, there are native police-stations, at tolerably wide +intervals, all over the country. At each of these are stationed a few +black troopers, under the charge of a white man. These troopers become +perfect devils for hunting down and killing the wild tribes from which +they have themselves been taken when young. The duty of the white man +who commands them is a very unpleasant one. Whenever the wild Blacks +in the neighbourhood become troublesome, and take to spearing cattle, +or otherwise misbehave themselves, it is his business to sally out +with his mounted troopers, and “disperse” them, the meaning of which +word is well known all through the colony. If it can be proved that +in “dispersing” a mob of Blacks he has killed a single one except in +self-defence, he is liable by the laws of the country to be hanged. On +the other hand, he knows perfectly well that unless he manages to shoot +down a decent number of them before they can escape, his services will +soon be dispensed with. The Government will then replace him by a man +who is better able to understand the peculiar form of justice which +hangs a man for being detected in carrying out his recognised duty. It +is very difficult to know what to do with the Blacks. It seems unjust +to drive them out of a country to which they have at least as good a +right as we have. On the other hand, we know that if they are allowed +to remain, they take every opportunity of killing us and our cattle. It +is impossible to tame them unless they are caught very young, and even +then they are not always to be relied on. Whether the Blacks deserve +any mercy at the hands of the pioneering squatters is an open question, +but that they get none is certain. They are a doomed race, and before +many years they will be completely wiped out of the land. + +A gentleman who shall be nameless, but who once resided at a place +well known as the Long Lagoon, in the interior of Queensland, is +still famous for the tremendous “haul” of Blacks which he made in one +day. They had been giving him a great deal of trouble, and had lately +killed four of his shepherds in succession. This was past a joke, and +he decided that the niggers required something really startling to +keep them quiet, and he hit upon the following device, which everyone +must admit was sufficiently startling. One day, when he knew that a +large mob of Blacks were watching his movements, he packed a large +dray with rations, and set off with it from the head station, as if +he was going the rounds of the shepherds’ huts. When he got opposite +to the Long Lagoon, one of the wheels came off the dray, and down it +went with a crash. This appeared to annoy him considerably; but after +looking pensively at it for some time, he seemed to conclude that there +was nothing to be done, so he unhitched the horses and led them back +to the station. No sooner had he disappeared than, of course, all +the Blacks came up to the dray to see what was in it. To their great +delight, it contained a vast supply of flour, beef, and sugar. With +appetites sharpened by a prolonged abstinence from such delicacies, +they lost no time in carrying the rations down to the waterside, and +forthwith devoured them as only a Black-fellow can. + +Alas for the greediness of the savage! alas for the cruelty of his +white brother! The rations contained about as much strychnine as +anything else, and not one of the mob escaped. When they awoke in the +morning they were all dead corpses. More than a hundred Blacks were +stretched out by this ruse of the owner of the Long Lagoon. In a dry +season, when the water sinks low, their skulls are occasionally to be +found half buried in the mud. + +As a rule, however, few people are ambitious of indulging in such +wholesale slaughter, and, when the Blacks are troublesome, it is +generally considered sufficient punishment to go out and shoot one or +two. They are easily discouraged in their wild state, especially by +anything that they cannot understand. Not very long after this station +was first taken up, while the wild Blacks were still very bad round +about, my partner Rice was digging one day in the garden. Suddenly he +became aware that half-a-dozen of these “Myalls,” as they are called, +were creeping towards him through the long grass. Armed with spears and +boomerangs, they were evidently on anything but hospitable thoughts +intent. Rice waited until they got about fifty yards off, and then, as +they stood up ready to sling their spears at him, he suddenly pointed +his spade at them like a gun. Two warriors fell flat down on the spot +from sheer fright, upsetting a third one who was just about starting to +flee. Two of the remaining three tried to run away so fast that they +hardly made any progress at all, and the last one, while scattering +a Parthian glance at the object of terror in his rear, ran with awful +violence against a gigantic gum-tree. The prevailing idea of all six +of them seemed to be a wish for seclusion, and in an incredibly short +space of time they had all picked themselves up and disappeared over +the horizon in a cloud of dust. + +Some of the northern Blacks, however, are not so easily frightened. +They are a much finer race than those in the interior and the south, +and will stand up and fight like anything. + +There seems to be an inherent dislike in all Blacks to anything like +regular work. They will hit out like Trojans for about a week, and then +they cave in, and declare they are sick. A few days’ spell and the +diversion of a kangaroo-hunt will sometimes induce them to try another +term of treadmill; but, as a rule, they never stick long to any heavy +work. Sometimes, when they see any work going on in the Bush, the +half-tame ones come up and offer to help, and are quite content with +half a stick of tobacco and a good feed for a day’s work. Sometimes +they content themselves with criticising, without offering to assist. + +There was a party (I use the word in its plural sense) putting up a +telegraph-line not far from here. One day a Black-fellow sauntered up +to them with the easy air of an owner of the soil, the freedom of his +movements being unhampered by anything but a red cotton handkerchief +twisted round his head. Securing the loan of an atom of tobacco +from the superintendent, he put it in his mouth and sat down on a +log. Presently he glanced contemptuously at the telegraph-wire high +overhead, and remarked: + +“Altogether----fool mine think it white feller.” + +This did not look promising for an extended conversation. The +superintendent, however, had the curiosity to ask why; whereupon the +child of Nature pointed to the telegraph-posts and wires and said: + +“You think it bullock stop along o’ that one paddock? My word! you +plenty stoopid!” + +And then, without listening to the infuriated official’s explanation +that it was not a paddock that he was putting up at all, the Black-man +sauntered off again into the Bush. + +They are incurable nomads, these Blacks, and never stay long in one +place. They wander about the country in mobs, invariably accompanied +by a vast army of the most wretched-looking, mange-stricken dogs. They +camp for a while where there is a good supply of food, and when that is +done they move on. A couple of hours after they have camped they have +completed as good a house as a Black-fellow ever wants, by stripping +a few sheets of bark off the nearest trees and propping them up with +saplings. + +They are passionately fond of tobacco, and the children begin to smoke, +when tobacco is plentiful, literally before they can walk. I have often +seen a little object, not many months old, slung over its mother’s +shoulder, puffing away at a short pipe stuck in its mouth. + +Away in the far north, round about the Herbert and the Cooktown +district, numbers of white men are “put down” by the Blacks every year. +A few months ago the manager of Rocklands, a station on the Herbert +water adjoining ours, was killed; and many a solitary traveller who +disappears in the lonely wilds of the Bush of Northern Queensland +doubtless owes his death to these black devils, who are always lurking +in his tracks, waiting for a favourable chance to kill him. The +traveller in the north carries his life in his hand. Any day he is +liable to be attacked by the Blacks; and at night when he lies down, +he can never be sure that his awakening may not be a spear through his +ribs or a blow on the head from a tomahawk. + +It is very seldom that the Blacks will attack a man on horseback. +They will sooner follow him for days, until, perhaps, they get a +chance at him when he is off his horse, stooping down to drink at a +water-hole. Upon one occasion a traveller was riding quickly round the +corner of a scrub, when he came suddenly on to a camp of wild Blacks. +His horse propped short, and sent him flying over its head right into +the middle of them. If he had displayed the slightest signs of alarm he +would most certainly have been instantly killed; instead of which he +burst into wild shrieks of laughter, as if he had done it for a joke, +which so delighted the Blacks that they all began to laugh too, and let +him go unmolested, after helping him to catch his horse. + +[Illustration: A BLACK GIN AT HOME.] + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +SUGAR + + +Although the cultivation of wheat is developing very rapidly, +sugar-growing is at present the only agricultural industry of any +importance that Queensland possesses. Her climate and soil are no +doubt favourable to others, and, in small quantities, tobacco, coffee, +and cotton have been grown successfully. But, so far, sugar alone has +been cultivated to any great extent, and undoubtedly it is an industry +that has a great future before it. It is only of late years that it +has commanded much attention, and it is extremely interesting to see +the rapid progress that has been made. For a long time sugar-growing +languished. As is always the case in a new country, the pioneers were +not altogether successful, and the losses which many of the early +planters sustained deterred capitalists from investing their money +until it was proved whether sugar could be successfully grown or not. + +To Mackay belongs the honour of being the parent of all sugar-growing +in Queensland. In 1866 Mr. John Spiller first made the experiment of +growing cane in this district, and the end of the year saw twelve acres +growing, which was increased to 140 acres the following year. + +In 1868 the first mill was erected by Mr. John Ewen Davidson, and +the output for the first season was 230 tons of sugar. From this +date the progress was steady until 1875, when a serious visitation +of “rust” took place. This disease for a long time puzzled all the +efforts of scientific men and planters either to discover its cause or +to arrest its progress, and its effects were so serious that at one +time the sugar industry seemed about to entirely collapse. Many of +the planters were working on borrowed capital, and the ravages of the +rust were so great as to completely ruin some of them. Even now the +real origin of the disease remains a mystery. All that is certain is +that some varieties of cane are more liable to it than others, and the +epidemic has so far been of service that it has enabled the planters +to determine what varieties can be most profitably grown, and turned +their attention to the economical working of their plantations--a +consideration that had been too much effaced by the enormous profits +made before the appearance of the disease. + +In two years the district had pretty well recovered itself, and in +1879 the crop amounted to 10,000 tons. The following season was a bad +one, and the yield fell off to 7500 tons. In 1881 10,000 tons was +again reached, and then a “rush” on sugar commenced among the southern +capitalists. The success of sugar-growing was considered to be assured, +and, after the manner of a new country, a perfect spasm of speculation +set in. Many of the older planters of Mackay took advantage of the +sugar mania that prevailed down south, and sold their plantations at +high prices. + +The profits made about this time were very great. One of the oldest +planters in Mackay in one year cleared £40,000 on his crop, and the +next year sold one of his plantations for £95,000 and the other one +for £85,000. The run on land anywhere within twenty miles of Mackay +was astounding, and every acre, good, bad, and indifferent, was taken +up. Land that had been for years considered barely worth paying rent +for as a pastoral selection, and that nothing but the most vivid +imagination could suppose capable of growing sugar, was readily +disposed of to southern speculators at £10 per acre. + +In the course of two years (1882, 1883) eleven new mills were erected, +with a crushing capacity of 12,000 tons per season, bringing the total +of the whole district to more than 30,000 tons. Taking the average +price at £25 per ton, the annual output of the district has risen in +fifteen years from £3500 to £350,000, and the total value of the sugar +grown during that time is fully two millions sterling. When we consider +that this represents merely the probationary period of sugar-growing +in the district, we may safely predict that its future is a great one; +and the impetus that the industry has received from the tremendous +accession of capital invested during the last few years, makes it +certain that the progress that has already been made will be trifling +compared to the advance that will take place during the next ten years. + +There are now thirty mills at work in the district, and others in +course of construction. The white population has more than doubled +during the past two years, and now amounts to 7000. + +As soon as it was proved that sugar could be grown successfully in +Mackay, the rush for sugar-land extended to every other part of +Queensland. To the north of Mackay, on the Burdekin, Johnson, and +Herbert rivers, every acre of land was taken up, and a great deal of +sugar is now being grown there. At present it seems doubtful whether +the climate of any other part of Queensland is as favourable for +growing sugar as that of Mackay. On the Burdekin the rainfall is too +light; on the Johnson and northern rivers it is too heavy, amounting +sometimes to 180 inches a year. In Mackay the average rainfall is 83 +inches, which is distributed over a longer period than almost any +other district, a circumstance which is extremely favourable to the +growth of the young cane. + +There is very little doubt that a great deal of money will be dropped +in these northern sugar speculations. When the sugar mania set in, +people who knew nothing about sugar, except the market price, rushed +at it like a bull at a gate, quoting the enormous profits made in the +Mackay district, and firmly believing that nothing but land and capital +were necessary to grow sugar anywhere on the coast of Queensland. They +quite forgot that not even the favourable climate of Mackay saved +numbers of people from being ruined in the process of discovering what +varieties of cane were best suited to that particular locality. It is +probable that in the future the growing of sugar will develop into +an enormous industry, and will include many other districts besides +Mackay; but it is certain that numbers of people will be ruined in the +process of developing it. The prices paid for land during the run on +sugar-growing were far too high to allow of any profit, and in many +cases, even supposing the climate to turn out favourable, the expense +of clearing will be ruinous. By and by the reaction will set in. Most +of the pioneers will collapse, and a fresh lot of capitalists will come +and buy up their improvements for next to nothing, and make a real good +thing out of it. + +Sugar has also been grown for some time at Maryborough and Bundaberg, +to the south of Mackay; but the frosts to which these districts are +liable make it an exceedingly risky speculation. On the whole, Mackay, +as it was the first, so it is also the finest, sugar district in +Queensland, and is likely always to hold a leading position, whatever +may be the progress of the more northern parts. The great rock ahead of +sugar-growing in Queensland at present is the difficulty of obtaining +coloured labour, and it is astonishing that the planters do not display +more enthusiasm on the subject. They are at present waiting with +apparent indifference until their masters--the working-men--have made +up their minds how to legislate in the matter. + +No class in the colony is so entirely at the mercy of legislation as +the planters. No class has shown itself more apathetic to its own +interests until it is too late to protect them. The planters are a +small community; but the absolute identity of their interests, and the +fact that numbers of them live close together, makes it very easy for +them to co-operate. Their trade is one involving an enormous outlay +of capital, and a heavy current expenditure, so that any interruption +in the work on the plantations is a matter which entails very serious +loss. They are absolutely dependent for their existence upon being able +to obtain a sufficient supply of coloured labour to do their work in +the cane. It has been conclusively proved, in the first place, that +white men cannot and will not do the work done by niggers in the field; +and, in the second place, that if white labour were available, it would +only be at wages which the planter could never afford to pay. The sugar +industry, therefore, is entirely dependent upon coloured labour. + +Now in this matter the planter knows perfectly well that every man’s +hand is against him, and yet he takes no pains to protect himself. The +conditions under which the existing labour traffic with the South Sea +Islands is conducted leave much to be desired. Though the frightful +accounts which are constantly circulated by sensation-mongers and +alarmists as to the cruelty practised towards the Islanders are very +much exaggerated, still there is just enough truth in them to make it +extremely dangerous for the planter that things should be allowed +to continue as they are. The labour trade should not be in the hands +of the planters and speculating captains of schooners. It should be +conducted by the Government at the expense of the employers. I am +taking the planter’s view, of course. As far as the kanakas themselves +are concerned, the fact of the Government of Queensland superintending +the trade by no means implies that all abuses connected with it would +cease, but rather the reverse. But it would take away one great weapon +of attack from the working-man, which is the accusation of cruelty and +slave-driving that is now so constantly urged against the planters. + +The legislation of Queensland is entirely in the hands of the +working-men; and it is only in a new colony, where a six-months’ +residence suffrage gives full scope to ignorance and prejudice, that we +can realise the suicidal mistakes which they are occasionally capable +of making. A more extraordinary instance of inability on the part of +working-men to understand their own interests than is afforded by the +agitation against coloured labour in Queensland cannot be imagined. + +We will take the case of Mackay. Before sugar-growing was started there +were not a hundred residents in the whole district, and there were +never likely to be any more as long as it was merely used for pastoral +purposes. It is now one of the most thriving and rapidly increasing +places in Queensland, with a population, as has been above stated, of +7000 whites and 3500 kanakas. Last year’s sugar crop was worth over +£300,000, and next year’s will be very much larger. The amount of money +annually expended in wages in the district is startling. The monthly +paysheet of one of the plantations alone is £5000. There is a very +fair foundry in the town, and the demand for timber is so great as +positively to have run the southern markets dry at times. Houses are +being run up as fast as material can be procured, and are let before +the piles to carry them are in the ground. + +The whole of this progress is entirely due to the development of the +sugar industry, which is, as has been said, dependent upon coloured +labour. If this were withdrawn, the Mackay district would shut up +like a match-box. And yet, so obstinate are the prejudices of the +working-classes in the colony, that the very men in the district +themselves--carpenters, sawyers, ploughmen, engineers, and all who get +their living entirely from the plantations--are foremost in the insane +outcry that has been raised against coloured labour. The planters are +represented as slave-drivers, and as taking the bread out of the mouths +of white men to put it into the mouths of niggers. The fact is that the +niggers do work in the plantations that no white man could or would +do in such a climate, and by doing it they develop an industry that +supplies thousands of white workmen with a means of living in clover. + +In return the working-men of Queensland are doing all they can to bring +in a Bill for prohibiting the introduction of Black labour, which, +if passed, would for a time paralyse the growing of sugar throughout +the colony. That so important an industry as the sugar-growing of +Queensland has now become could be permanently destroyed by any such +false legislation I do not for a moment believe. + +The result of any attempt on the part of the Brisbane Government to +stop Black labour would inevitably be to make the north of Queensland, +where the sugar is grown, insist upon separation from the south. But +in the meantime, before this could be done, the trade would sustain a +very serious shock, and the loss to the planters would be enormous. To +many of them, who work upon borrowed capital, it would mean utter ruin. +Seeing that the planters are perfectly well aware of the feeling of +the working-classes in the colony against coloured labour, it is really +surprising that they do not take more pains to prevent its finding +expression in legislation. Were the planters to form a sort of trades +union, and shut up their mills for a couple of months, the white men +would get a practical lesson that would enable them to determine the +exact source from which their livelihood is derived, with an accuracy +they never would forget. + +Up to the present time, the coloured labour market of Queensland has +been supplied by kanakas, as the inhabitants of the South Sea Islands +are called. The word “kanaka” is really a Maori word, signifying a +man, but in Australia it has come to be applied exclusively to the +inhabitants of the South Sea Islands. The trade is carried on by means +of schooners which run between Queensland and the Islands. These +vessels are usually the joint property of one or two planters and the +captain, who share the risks and the profits of the venture between +them. At first there was not much difficulty in inducing the kanakas +to come to Queensland and enter into an engagement for a term of +years’ work there. But as the demand increased, greater difficulty was +experienced in obtaining a sufficient supply; and there is no doubt +that in many cases the captains of these vessels resorted to unlawful +means to induce the kanakas to leave their homes. Kidnapping became +frequent, and as a matter of course this aroused the resentment of the +natives, who in one or two instances have retaliated by massacring +the crews of the schooners that visited their islands. The kanakas +themselves, when well treated, are a cheerful, hard-working, and rather +intelligent race. + +The inhabitants of some of the islands are very much superior to +those of the others, but all of them are admirably qualified for the +work that is required of them in the canefields of Queensland. Their +agreement with the planters is for a term of three years, during which +time they are fed, housed, and supplied with blankets, and receive £6 a +year wages. At the expiration of their agreement the planter is bound +to ship them back to their own country at his own expense, if it be +their wish to return. But they can, if they like, remain in Queensland +and enter into other engagements for such wages as may be agreed upon. +Many of them remain as indoor servants, in which capacity they are very +useful, and some of them make excellent cooks. + +There is not the slightest doubt that as a general rule they are +well treated on the plantations, and perfectly contented and happy. +There are, of course, instances where they have been treated with +injustice and cruelty, but they are the exception and not the rule; +and a convincing proof of this is to be found in the fact that many +kanakas elect to remain in the country of their own free will, and many +others return a second time after having paid a visit to their native +country. They are strong, sturdy men, as a rule, capable of doing a +good day’s work, but their constitutions seem to be perfectly incapable +of standing against any sort of illness. Directly a kanaka gets ill +he lies down, and apparently very often dies for no reason at all +except pure funk and lack of the wish to get well. They are especially +liable to consumption; and when an epidemic of measles breaks out, as +it sometimes does, amongst them, its ravages are appalling. When they +feel the fever upon them, nothing can keep them from going and plunging +themselves into the water, and they die off like rotten sheep. + +Not a shilling of their wages do they ever carry back to their own +country, either in money or in money’s value. The whole of their wages +passes into the hands of the storekeepers of the nearest town, whose +right to plunder them there is none to dispute. It is illegal to supply +liquor to kanakas, so the storekeeper has no rival to fear in spoiling +them of their hard-earned gains. The storekeepers of Mackay have earned +an unenviable notoriety by the alacrity with which they have turned the +ignorance of the unsuspecting savage to account. They import a special +class of fancy goods, of the most utterly worthless description, and +realise fabulous profits by selling them to the kanakas for about four +hundred times what they are worth. There is no one to interfere with +them, and it is difficult to see how it could be done, for, of course, +at the end of his agreement the kanaka is entirely his own master, and +if he likes to pay an exorbitant price for a worthless article, there +is no way of preventing him. + +Indirectly the planters could do a great deal if they chose, by +intimating that their custom would be withdrawn from any storekeeper +who continued the practice of fleecing kanakas. The storekeepers +are entirely supported by the planters, and they would have to give +in. Undoubtedly the temptation is a very great one. A cheerful and +perfectly ignorant savage, who has just been long enough in the land +to know that money will procure certain articles, but without the +slightest idea of their relative value, exhilarated by the prospect +of an immediate return to his native country, and with £18 in his +possession, is a bait which, perhaps, it is too much to expect any +tradesman to resist. + +Certainly in Queensland they improve the occasion. Knives and tomahawks +made of that peculiarly vile iron which combines the brittleness of +glass with the softness of lead, muskets and pistols of a class unknown +to modern warfare, handkerchiefs, hats, tobacco-pipes, and fancy +rubbish of every description, fit only to hang upon a Christmas-tree, +are palmed off upon these unfortunate savages for enormous prices. Many +a time have I seen one of them returning from investing his wages in +Mackay, with nothing on but a tomahawk and a tall hat, and perhaps a +miniature lady’s travelling bag on his arm, the delighted grin upon his +countenance expressing perfect satisfaction and conscious pride in his +recent purchases. + +Of course the storekeepers justify their conduct by saying that as long +as the kanaka is satisfied they fail to see what injury he sustains. +That is all very well; but to my mind there is something intensely +melancholy in the spectacle of an industrious savage returning to his +native country, after three years’ toil in a foreign land, with nothing +to show for it but a musket that would kill him if he tried to fire it +off, and a cotton handkerchief that would fly to pieces if he blew his +nose in it. + +Intercourse with civilisation is producing its usual results among +uneducated savages, and the kanakas in Mackay are beginning to get +troublesome. The other day, at the Mackay races, a big mob of them +attacked the whites, and a general scrimmage ensued. Had the kanakas +only been armed with such weapons as the Mackay tradesman might have +supplied them with, they would have been quite harmless. But they had +provided themselves with a supply of glass bottles, which they slung +with infinite precision at the whites. + +A glass bottle is by no means a contemptible weapon in the hands of +athletic savages, trained to throw clubs and stones ever since they +could walk. A lot of the white men climbed on to their horses and +charged the kanakas, armed with their stirrup-irons, with which they +knocked them over like ninepins. The fight did not last long; but there +were a good many broken heads even amongst the white men, and several +of the kanakas were killed before they were finally driven off the +racecourse into the canefields. This is the only instance I ever knew +of kanakas joining together to show fight away from their own country; +but now that they have begun, no doubt this will not be the last +disturbance of the kind. + +The evening after the fight on the racecourse a scare was got up that +the kanakas were going to storm the town of Mackay. No one knows who +started the report, and nobody cared; but it was quite sufficient to +terrify the inhabitants. The peaceful town of Mackay presented a most +ludicrous appearance; everyone having armed himself with some sort of +weapon, a musket, a pistol, or a butcher’s knife, with which he paraded +the streets, giving all the corners a wide berth as he turned them, +for fear of falling a prey to some bloodthirsty kanaka. The Mackay +Volunteers, never having had an opportunity before of displaying their +valour, except by shooting at each other with blank cartridge, showed +the greatest enthusiasm and firmness upon this trying occasion. + +Just after dark the most piercing shrieks from a woman’s voice were +heard, coming from the opposite side of the river from the town. No +one lived over there except an old man and his wife, who kept a market +garden; and the idea at once seized the citizens of Mackay that the +man was away from home, and the kanakas were murdering his wife. A +wild rush was made for the ferry, and four or five men, armed to the +teeth, jumped into a boat and pulled like mad for the opposite bank. +A volunteer who was with them assumed the brevet rank of captain for +the occasion, and directed the movements of the attacking force. As +they got near the other bank the shrieks for help became perfectly +heartrending; and the captain, wild with excitement, exhorted his men +to redouble their exertions. + +“Pull, boys; pull like mad,” he exclaimed, “or, by Jove! we’ll be too +late. These treacherous devils of niggers must have swum across here. +Look out for their heads in the water, or we’ll be having some of them +in the boat. They swim like fish, and it’s so dark you can’t see ten +yards.” + +The instant the boat touched the shore they all sprang out, and rushed +up the track to the house. The cries by this time had ceased, and it +was feared that all was over. When they got there a sad sight presented +itself. The hut was quite quiet, and the lights all out; but just then +the moon appeared from behind a cloud, and revealed the figure of an +old woman, with nothing on but a nightgown, sitting on a log in front +of the hut, crying and sobbing in the most pitiable manner. In answer +to a hurried inquiry as to what was the matter, and where the niggers +were, she replied that “she hadn’t seen any niggers about the place, +and the matter was that her old devil of a husband had come home very +drunk, and given her the almightiest hammering she ever had in her +life.” + +“Well, boys,” said the captain, “this is the infernalest, meanest +swindle I ever was amongst in my life. Never mind, we’ll go back and +have a drink. And I say, missus, hadn’t you better turn in again? +That’s rather an unhealthy get-up for a winter’s night.” + +But the woman absolutely refused to go near her husband again that +night, and was rowed across to the town by the disappointed warriors, +and taken to some of her friends. The whole town was assembled to see +them return, and yells of laughter arose when it was discovered that +the weird, white figure in the sternsheets was nothing but the ill-used +wife of one of the oldest inhabitants of Mackay, and that never a +nigger had been seen. A vast procession escorted the poor old woman to +her friends’ house; after which all hands adjourned for a drink, and +the scare of the kanaka invasion subsided. + +In the meantime the present supply of labour from the South Sea Islands +is rapidly becoming quite inadequate to meet the increasing demand. +Not only has the cost of obtaining kanakas greatly increased, but much +difficulty is experienced in inducing them to come to the country. +In view of this state of affairs, the attention of the planters was +naturally directed to India as a source of labour supply. Both from her +enormous population and from her geographical position, this country +seems to be most fitted to supply the requirements of Queensland in +this respect. It is known that in India there are millions of coolies +exactly suited for the class of employment that Queensland can supply, +and to transfer some of them from the one country to the other would +be to confer a benefit upon both. It would help, if ever so little, to +relieve the great difficulty which is experienced in India in finding +work for the enormous working population, and at the same time it would +supply what is rapidly becoming a pressing want in Queensland. + +The proposal to introduce coolies into the colony was met with a +universal howl of rage. For electioneering purposes it was invaluable, +and dismal pictures of the future of Queensland overrun by niggers, +and her white population starving, formed the _pièce de résistance_ in +every idiot candidate’s address. + +About this time a change of Ministry took place. Sir Thomas M’Ilwraith +retired after the collapse of the Transcontinental Railway Bill, and +Mr. Griffith formed a new Ministry. Had Mr. Griffith and his party +remained content with having defeated the iniquitous project of their +predecessors, they would have been entitled to the undying gratitude +of the colony. But they advanced under the anti-coolie flag, and +must therefore be regarded either as enemies to the progress of +Queensland or as strangers to common sense. An attempt was made to pass +regulations for the purpose of restricting coolies solely to the work +of sugar-growing; but the present Ministry have refused to legislate +on the subject at all, and its leader declares that he is incapable of +devising any regulations that would be respected in this connection. + +The very serious position in which the planters now find themselves has +induced them to try several experiments for the purpose of obtaining +such low-class labour as they require to carry on their operations. +So far, these experiments have all resulted in something worse than +failure. A shipment of Cingalese was brought down. Anything less like +agricultural labourers never was seen. They were arrayed in fine linen, +with tortoise-shell combs stuck in their hair, and looked as if they +had never done a harder day’s work than stealing their own dinner in +their lives. Some of them were very well-educated, and spoke three or +four languages; but evidently they had all been induced to come under +false pretences, and had no notion of the sort of work that they were +expected to perform. The majority of them absconded from service, +taking with them as much of their employers’ property as they could +conveniently remove, as a souvenir of their visit to Mackay. A few +Malays have been introduced, and a shipment of Maltese were tried, but +with very discouraging results. + +The remedy for which the working-man clamoured was then tried in +an increased supply of white immigrants. The result followed which +everyone who knew anything at all about the matter predicted. There was +an immediate fall in wages, and it was discovered that the white men +were entirely unable to compete with kanakas in the low-class labour +on the plantations, and consequently took the first opportunity that +occurred to break their engagements. + +In the face of all this, it is still maintained by the working-classes +in the colony that the industry can be carried on by white men alone, +and the problem seems as far off solution as ever. The capitalists who +are engaged in the industry demand a large supply of coloured labour, +and are perfectly willing that such labour should be so restricted as +to make it impossible that it should ever come into competition with +white men, and should be entirely confined to a class of labour that, +from climatic reasons, white men have shown themselves quite unable to +perform. + +On the other hand, we have the insane outcry raised by the +working-classes against every sort of coloured labour, backed up by +the admission of the present Premier of his inability to frame any +laws that would restrict the employment of coolies to sugar-growing. +Unless some satisfactory solution of the difficulty can be found, +there is undoubtedly a very bad time in store for the planters. But +the importance of the sugar industry to Queensland is so manifest, +and the amount of capital already invested in it so great, that there +is no doubt that eventually common sense will triumph even over the +prejudices of the working-classes in the colony, and coolie labour will +be introduced. If this were done, the future success of sugar-growing +would be assured, and there is no doubt that it is an industry which +is capable of contributing largely towards placing Queensland in the +position of the leading agricultural colony of Australia. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +GOLD-MINING + + +One day I heard that gold had been found in a creek on the western fall +of the coast range, about forty miles from here, and that a “rush” +had already set in, so I determined to go up and see what was going +on. I was delayed for a few days by the flooded state of the creeks +between here and the diggings. While I was waiting I was joined by Dick +Absolon, formerly in our employ as stockman, and now on his way to the +new rush. + +Dick Absolon is the _beau idéal_ of a colonist. Brave as a lion, which +animal he somewhat resembles in appearance, gentle as a child, with a +capacity for hard work that nothing can satisfy, and a cheerfulness +that no run of bad luck can discourage, whatever he starts at he is a +bad man to beat. His brother Jack, in every way as good a bit of stuff +as himself, was already on the diggings waiting for him. They both +came to the colony very young, and, through many ups and downs, have +stuck together ever since. To use an Americanism, they have been pulled +through all sorts of knotholes; stockriding, carrying on the road, +contract-fencing, gold-mining, copper-mining, managing stations, they +have worked hard at all of them, and finally, having made a rise, they +went into sugar-growing in the Mackay district at a bad time, and lost +all they had made. + +Altogether they are sad examples of the fact that it is possible, even +in Australia, for a shrewd sensible man to work hard and keep sober, +and still to be pursued by a run of bad luck, that leaves him no richer +in pocket than when he began, and poorer by the loss of the best years +of his life. “Hope springs eternal,” however, and here they are, ready +to try again with undefeated ardour and cheerfulness, confident that +this time at last fortune’s wheel will give them a turn. + +The weather, being the middle of our wet season, had been, as they say +in the west of Scotland, “showery and rain atween whiles”; but the +morning after his arrival Absolon went down to the first creek, half a +mile from the station, to see if it was crossable, while I ran up the +horses ready for a start. He came back and said he thought we could +just do it without a swim, so we settled to go. + +My swag was soon ready, consisting of a pick and shovel, a tin +prospecting dish for washing gold, 20 lbs. flour, 12 lbs. beef, some +tea and sugar, a couple of changes of clothes, and a blanket, unlimited +tobacco and matches, a revolver, a quart pot, a calico fly of a small +tent, a Shakespear, a pack of cards, a piece of soap, two towels, +and a toothbrush. Having planted these scientifically on the back +of a packhorse, we climbed on to our own horses, and, lighting the +inevitable pipe, sallied down to the first creek. + +It was coming down very strong, muddy and thick, but from the marks +on the banks we thought it was good enough, and, sousing in, we just +managed to sneak across without absolutely swimming, a performance to +be carefully avoided in Queensland creeks. The banks are always very +steep and high, and the bed of the creek heavily timbered, and full of +snags and fallen trees. The current is usually very strong, and the +crossing-place, where the trees in the bed and on the banks of the +creek have been cleared away, very narrow; so that if you happen to be +swept down below the opposite crossing, the chance of ever getting +out again is very small. Your horse is certain to be drowned, and the +strongest swimmer, when swept by a furious current into a forest of big +trees and saplings, and tangled masses of creepers along the banks, +has no more chance than a fly in a cobweb. Numbers of travellers are +drowned every year in this way. + +Having crossed this creek we had the satisfaction of seeing it get up +rapidly behind us, effectually barring our return. The next creek was +seven miles ahead, and if that happened to be up too, we should have +the pleasure of finding ourselves between two flooded creeks, with +the cheerful prospect of sitting on the bank of one of them until it +subsided. Of course, as a rule, we should not have thought anything of +having to swim, but when you have got all your belongings with you on +a packhorse, and are on your way to a place where you cannot replace +them, you are rather shy of risking a swim. + +Some horses swim most beautifully, and will carry their rider in the +saddle across almost any creek or river. Others lose all heart, and go +down like a stone or roll over on their backs. The best way is, just as +your horse gets into deep water and begins swimming, to slide quietly +off, hang on to his tail, and let him tow you across in his wake. +This time we were fortunate, and we managed to cross the eight creeks +between us and the open country without any delay, and without wetting +the pack. + +We camped the first night at an old bark hut, the remains of a deserted +station, about fourteen miles from the diggings. + +Next morning we made a fresh start. Neither of us knew exactly where +the diggings lay, beyond a vague idea that they were in the western +fall of the main range, somewhere to the north of us; but after jogging +along for a few miles we came across a new mark-tree line, made by +the first prospectors of the diggings, which took us right away into +them. As we got near the place, we began to overtake a few straggling +swagsmen, pounding along through the black soil as if the devil was +behind them instead of in front of them. + +To the initiated it did not require the pick and shovel slung on their +backs to tell where they were bound for. The pace at which they were +going, so different from the languid dawdle habitual to men who are +merely wandering about in search of work, betrayed at once that the +“gold fever” was upon them. Once smitten by this malady, a man seldom +or never thoroughly recovers, and the exertions he will make while +under its influence are perfectly incredible. + +All the evils that humanity naturally shrinks from at once assume +a cheerful aspect. When the Palmer rush broke out on the Gulf of +Carpentaria, it is a positive fact that a man walked the whole way from +Melbourne to get to it, a distance of nearly 2000 miles. + +While I was on Mount Britten diggings, a man came in, wheeling his +Lares and Penates before him in a wheelbarrow. The whole certainly +weighed over 150 pounds, and he had wheeled it through 200 miles of +heavy black-soil country, in pouring rain, in just a fortnight’s time. + +The true professional digger passes his life in wandering about from +one new rush to another. Any regular employment he considers beneath +him; and except for the purpose of raising sufficient money to carry +him on to the next diggings, he will never work for wages. No class of +men work so hard; as soon as it is light in the morning he is off, and +seldom knocks off before dark. That a man should work so hard to get +gold is not in the least odd, but it is odd that the value he sets on +it should be in exactly inverse proportion to the trouble it costs +him to get it. And yet such is the case. As long as he is at work, no +miser could be more careful than a real digger in the actual process +of collecting gold. When he has got it, no spendthrift could be more +reckless in flinging it away. Whether up to his knees in the freezing +waters of the Snowy River, or grilling under the fires of a Queensland +sun, no day is too long for him while he is on gold. Not a crevice of +his claim is unexplored, not a particle of dirt likely to contain gold +is wasted; and he will spend as much time and trouble in collecting +the finest particles of gold in his dish, as if he were an analytical +chemist making an experiment in weights and measures. He toils +patiently on, day after day, week after week, undismayed by failure, +and quite unelated by success, until the moment comes when something +impels him irresistibly to squander all that he has collected. + +The instant this happens, he knocks off work, and his fetische at once +assumes a different aspect. Not only does the gold he has taken such +pains to get become worthless, but apparently it becomes an incumbrance +that some hidden law of his being obliges him to get rid of without +delay. The only variation in the method of this madness is in the time +allotted respectively to collecting and to spending. This varies with +the individual. Some men will never work more than a week at a time +before spending all they have made; others will go on for several +weeks, even for months, before going on the spree, but invariably +with the same purpose, which seems to be simply that of collecting +sufficient to make fools of themselves. At least 90 per cent of their +earnings goes in drink, of course; and the rest in good living when it +is to be had. Whilst working, a digger generally keeps sober, but he +lives on the best of food he can get. His drinking is reserved for +when he knocks off work. As a rule, if he is getting gold, from Monday +to Friday is about as long as a digger can stand without a spree; he +then flings down his tools, leaves his claim, though he knows perfectly +well that by so doing he is liable to have it taken from him by the +first comer, and retires to the nearest public-house, to spend what +plunder he has amassed in getting hopelessly drunk till Monday morning. +He then creeps back, dejected in appearance, and shaking in every limb +from the effects of the poisonous liquor he has swallowed, probably to +find that some less fortunate individual, who had not raised sufficient +for a spree by Friday, and so had to go on working, had “jumped” his +claim. A row ensues, which is referred for immediate settlement to the +arbitration of a couple of shovels, or whatever weapons are handiest, +and subsequently to the decision of the Warden of the goldfield. + +The idea of saving any money, and settling down anywhere to live +comfortably, never enters a digger’s head. He goes on at the same old +game, sometimes for twenty or thirty years, exactly as eager to get to +a new field and peg out the best claim as the first day he started, +until drink, exposure, and disease put an end to his wanderings. It is +only the new chum who occasionally has sense enough to let well alone, +and clear out on his first rise. I remember a man who had only been a +few months in the colony, who used to dig in our garden at the station. +He went up to the diggings, with no more notion of a digger’s craft +than of astronomy. He had not been above a week or two at it when he +stumbled across a nugget of pure gold weighing seventy ounces. The very +same day he set off down to the coast, climbed on to the first boat +that started, and went back to the old country. I never saw anyone in +such a hurry to get anywhere. But he was a very rare instance of an +uneducated man who did not get more harm than good by finding gold. +Although gold-digging is a profession requiring the exercise of some +of the best qualities of human nature--enterprise, perseverance, a +disregard of hardships, accompanied by unceasing toil--still there is +something about the acquisition of the raw material direct from the +ground that has anything but an elevating effect upon the lives of +those who make it their business. This is probably accounted for by +the enormous element of pure chance that enters into it. When employed +in any other profession, a man knows that, with fair abilities and +advantages, hard work is likely to be followed by the acquisition of +money in direct proportion to the amount of energy and perseverance +displayed. Profit follows labour to a greater or less extent, as +regularly as day follows night in summer or winter. + +But it is quite otherwise with the profession of mining, which is, +in fact, the rankest gambling. Not only does a digger know that it +is quite possible he may find a great deal of gold with very little +trouble, but, worse still, he knows he may work very hard without +getting any gold at all. He may toil for ten hours a day, and not +“raise the colour,” while his neighbour in the next claim, with half +the exertion, is getting an ounce of gold to the dish. He therefore +very justly ceases to connect the idea of profit and labour in any +way, and comes to regard his profession as one of pure chance. Both +wealth and labour lose their true value in his estimation, the one from +its being occasionally unmerited, the other from its being frequently +unrewarded. + +The history of a new colony teems with examples in every profession +and occupation of money quickly made and lightly lost; of men, on the +one hand, who have squandered vast fortunes in the attempt to increase +them, and, on the other hand, of men who have started with nothing +at all, and by their own exertions and perseverance amassed colossal +wealth. + +The subsequent career of many of the latter has shown them to be +capable of employing their riches to the credit of themselves and for +the benefit of mankind. It is reserved for the profession of mining to +deal destruction to its followers with the two-edged sword of profit +and loss; and it would seem that the only worse thing that can happen +to a man than losing money at it, is that he should make any. + +Numerous as are the instances of enormous fortunes made in mining, I +doubt if the history of the Australian Colonies affords a score of +examples where money so made has not done more harm than good. As a +rule its possessor becomes bitten with an incurable mania for wild +speculation, if for nothing worse; and whether he makes a few ounces +out of a pot-hole in a creek and spends it at the nearest shanty, or +makes a rise of £100,000 out of a good reef and fools it away trying to +get more, it seems to be an inevitable law that money made by mining +should be provided with something worse than wings. + +Innumerable are the cases where it has brought utter ruin; a whole +legion of the lost rises before me when I think of it. + +I remember four men on Gympie, who in a short time took £25,000 a-piece +out of a claim. Previous to their striking gold they had been sober, +industrious men; but in two years three out of the four, and one of +their wives, were dead from drink, and the fourth had lost all he was +worth in prospecting other claims. + +Another sad case I remember, of a man on Charters Towers. He was a +blacksmith by trade, but he dabbled a little in mining, and by degrees +got so much in debt to the bank that they would not allow him to leave +the field and go to the Palmer, a new rush which broke out a few +hundred miles away. He stuck to his claim, and one day struck gold. In +a short time he was in receipt of £500 a day, and continued at that for +a very long while. I do not think anyone, not even himself, ever knew +exactly how much he was worth. If he had simply sat down, and stuck to +his money as fast as it came in, he would have been one of the richest +men in the colony. But he never did any good. He taught himself to read +and write; took to wild speculation in other mines, in racehorses, in +wheat, in everything; drank like a fish; and finally completed his +downward career by becoming a member of the Legislative Assembly in +Brisbane, and his bankruptcy appeared a short time ago in the London +_Times_. + +Besides the fatality that apparently attends all profits made from +mining, the statistics show that it is the least profitable of all +professions. The average value of an ounce of gold is £3:10s., but +every ounce of gold raised costs nearly £5 to get. In Victoria, where +mining is more economically and profitably worked than in any of the +other colonies, the average earnings of every man connected with it in +1873 was only £98 per head, considerably less than he could have made +at the lowest wages work in the colony. When we consider that every +year some few individuals make enormous fortunes at it, the balance of +loss to be distributed amongst the remainder is considerable. + +Still, it is an industry most necessary to the world at large, and +especially conducive to the prosperity of a young colony, and it is +well that there are men found willing to carry it on. The _auri sacra +fames_ is a very pretty subject for a moral essayist to decry, but it +would be extremely awkward if that particular form of it which impels +men to seek gold in the earth were eliminated from a community. It is +to that same hunger that no surfeit can satisfy, and no defeat blunt +the edge of, that we owe the constant supply of victims, eager to +embark in an industry which all must allow is a very necessary one, but +which is clearly proved to be anything but profitable to those actually +employed in it. Besides the race of veteran diggers, a new rush, of +course, always attracts a heterogeneous crowd of outsiders, many of +whom have never handled a pick and shovel in their lives, and whose +pale faces and dissipated appearance proclaim them town-loafers, and +strangers to the bush and hard work. + +When I first arrived on Mount Britten goldfield there were seventy men +on it, all living in tents. The only building that had any appearance +of permanence about it was a butcher’s shop and store, made out of a +few sheets of bark and saplings. Flour had run out, the drays having +all stuck in the mud half-way from port to the diggings; but there were +tea, sugar, and tobacco, and a few tools to be had, and any amount of +beef, supplied by fat cattle from the neighbouring run, two or three +of which were run in every week into a sapling yard near the butcher’s +shop, and killed. For some time beef was all we had to eat; but it was +very good, and there was plenty of it, so we were glad enough to get it. + +The diggings are very prettily situated in the centre of a horse-shoe +formed by a spur running out from the main range on to the plains. A +heavily-timbered creek running up the centre of the valley was where +the gold was found first. Vast ranges of mountains rise up all round, +the slopes of which are covered with forests of gigantic trees, and +patches of dense scrub. The summit of the range is formed by a crown of +cliffs, which rise sheer from the slopes below to a height varying from +400 to 1000 feet, the red and yellow tints of their rocks contrasting +beautifully with the sombre mass of dark-green woods below them. + +Three very startling peaks, known as the Marlingspikes, guard the +entrance to the valley; bare sugar-loaves of weather-beaten gray +rock, quite detached from the main range, which rise right out of the +surrounding country to a height of 1700 feet, and form a glorious +landmark over miles and miles of the adjacent plains. + +The first time I saw the valley of Mount Britten was about sundown, and +I never remember a more beautiful sight. To the dwellers in the valley +the sun sets early behind the false range that lies between them and +the west. But just at the head of the valley there is a narrow dip in +the range, and through this the sunlight streams long after the sun +himself has disappeared. As I surveyed the scene, seated on a rock at a +considerable elevation above the valley, the effect was most startling. + +Below my feet was stretched out a vast forest of every conceivable +shade of green, from black to emerald; here and there the stem of some +gigantic tree showing white and ghostly against the surrounding mass of +foliage. + +Along through the forest the creek wound its way, its course distinctly +marked by the darker green of the trees that fringed its banks. A soft +blue mist, the smoke of many a camp-fire, was rising and creeping +gently up the valley, lingering just above the tops of the trees, as if +unwilling to leave their shelter. In the centre of the valley rose a +stupendous mass of rock, the rugged offspring of some awful convulsion +of nature, towering like a ruined castle over the woods below, shadowy, +vast, and indistinct in the deepening shades of evening. + +Away to the head of the valley, through the gap in the range, there +swept across the forest a flood of amber light, the dying glory of +a setting sun, turning rocks and trees, where it touched them, into +figures of molten gold, and lighting up the face of the opposite cliffs +with a ruddy glow, made all the more startling by the gloom of the +valley beneath. To the east, above the cliffs, the soft azure of an +autumn sky was hardening into the pure steel-blue of a night such as +only Queensland knows. + +Not a cloud marred the purity of the expanse above, not a sound broke +the stillness of the valley below. One by one the stars blazed out +in the deepening blue of their eternal home, the green shades of the +valley sank to rest in the obscurity of advancing night, and still the +amethyst light lingered on the face of the cliffs above. The effect was +so weird I was spellbound as I watched it, and began to experience an +uncomfortable feeling of unreality, which was fortunately dispelled by +a _deus ex machina_, in the shape of a green-head ant, which just then +bit the back of my neck. The bite of this insect is well calculated to +dispel any momentary illusions as to the reality of existence. For some +minutes the pain is excruciating, and by the time I had recovered my +temper the last rays of sunlight had departed, leaving me to stumble +down the steep side of a mountain covered with long grass and rocks the +best way I could. + +Most of the men who were on the ground when I arrived were getting fair +gold, though nothing heavy had as yet been discovered. Alluvial digging +in Queensland is never worth very much; in fact, with the exception +of the Palmer, on the Gulf of Carpentaria, nothing worth calling an +alluvial diggings has as yet been discovered. In Victoria the alluvial +diggings are of enormous extent and great richness. They are worked +on a scale requiring a large capital, and go on for years and years +yielding tremendous profits. + +The underground workings of many of them are on a gigantic scale. But +in Queensland the run of gold is very irregular, and never of any great +extent. + +Seldom at any depth, it is generally confined to “potholing” and +“crevicing” in the banks and bed of the creeks. This was the case at +Mount Britten. The alluvial digging never extended above a few yards +from the banks of the creek, and all the heavy gold was found in +the bed of the creek itself, and cost little or no trouble to get, +beyond the bare labour of shifting and washing the soil. No sinking or +timbering was required, and what gold was got, paid those well who got +it. + +Taking into account the comparative worthlessness of alluvial in +Queensland, and the richness of many of the reefs, Jack Absolon had +not thought it worth while to peg out a claim in the creek, but was +spending his time prospecting the ranges at the head of it, in search +of a reef. + +From the appearance of the gold found in the creek, which was very +little water-worn, and mostly in the form known as “specimen,”--that +is, quartz and gold mixed,--and from the formation of the surrounding +country, it seemed certain it must have come from a reef somewhere in +the ranges to the head of the creek. As yet nothing in the shape of a +reef carrying payable gold had been found; but a prospector, Charley +Gibbard by name, had got on to a leader carrying nice gold, at the head +of the valley. + +Jack Absolon and I had a consultation, and it was determined that he +and I, and his brother Dick, should go on looking for a reef, without +troubling about the alluvial. Henceforth we were what is known on a +diggings as “dividing mates.” No written agreement is necessary. The +fact of two or more men working together on a diggings constitutes a +partnership in colonial law, which enables either party to claim his +share of anything found by the others, and which can only be dissolved +by the parties forming it declaring before witnesses that they are no +longer mates. + +[Illustration: GOLD DIGGING: CRADLING AND PANNING-OFF.] + +The process of searching for a golden reef is often one requiring +unlimited patience, and a great deal of hard work. The first thing +to do is to apply to the Warden of the goldfield you are on for a +Protection Area. You can get one 400 yards square for a month. In this +piece of ground the prospector has the exclusive right of hunting for +a reef. No one else can come on to it, provided he works eight hours a +day on it. Having secured his ground, the prospector sets to work to +see if he can find gold on the surface, by washing prospects of surface +dirt in a tin dish. Often he has to carry the dirt a long distance to +water, and to wash hundreds of dishes before he gets a colour of gold. + +Once let him get on a trail of gold, however, if he knows his trade he +will never lose it. He will follow it up with the instinct and patience +of a hound, and it is a hundred to one, unless the country is very +broken, he will find the reef it came from. + +Having followed the gold as far as he can trace it on the surface, he +then knows the reef is not below him, and begins to look for it above. +The usual course of true reefs is nearly due north and south; sometimes +they crop out of the surface of the ground, with what is called a big +“blow” of quartz. + +Generally, however, the cap of the reef is a little distance below the +surface, and it is necessary to dig for it, which is done by cutting +narrow trenches, a foot or two deep, east and west, so as to cut across +the course of the reef you are looking for. + +Sometimes the reef or leader is merely a thread of pipeclay, or rotten +quartz, no thicker than a sheet of paper, but there is no mistaking the +formation when once you know it. + +Having hit on the reef, if it is what is known as “mullocky”--that is, +soft and rotten--the next thing is to take out a prospect from between +the walls, and wash it to see if it carries gold. If the reef is well +defined, and the quartz hard, it requires to be crushed in an iron +mortar before the prospect is washed. + +Day after day the Absolons and I used to scour the ranges, opening +up and prospecting numerous reefs and leaders, without coming upon +anything that looked at all payable. Meanwhile, every hour brought news +of richer alluvial finds in the creek below. + +A real rush had now set in. Men poured in by hundreds, and the whole +creek was pegged out in claims from the lowest point where gold had +been found right up to the head in the ranges where we were working. +In two months from the time I came there were nearly 2000 men on the +field. Hundreds came from the adjacent colonies, and many even from +New Zealand, attracted by the fabulous reports that never fail to be +circulated about a new rush, and never fail to be believed. + +These mad stampedes to a new rush are occasionally attended with very +serious consequences. Thousands flock from all sides, each anxious +to get first on to the field, without the slightest idea of how he +is going to support life when he gets there, and usually entirely +destitute of means to carry him away from it should the new field prove +a failure. + +Rockhampton, the second largest town in Queensland, owes its existence +to a “duffer rush.” Gold was discovered at a place called Canoona, +thirty miles higher up the Fitzroy River. In a short time there were +about 50,000 men deposited by steamers on the bare banks of the +Fitzroy, with no means of procuring food, or of getting away again. + +The Government was obliged to supply them with means of getting +away; but before this was done, many of them were reduced to absolute +starvation. The township of Rockhampton was formed to supply the +diggings. + +The rush to Mount Britten was stopped before it assumed a serious +phase, but at no time was the field capable of supporting more than +200 men on payable gold. Most of those who came were rank new-chums +at digging. Instead of setting to work to look for a new run of gold, +they generally confined themselves to the melancholy pastime of sitting +down and watching others getting it, and by and by, finding that, with +a few exceptions, gold is no more to be picked up without hard work on +a diggings than anywhere else, they cleared out, leaving the fortunate +ones who had secured good claims to work them out. + +It is always difficult to estimate the amount of alluvial gold taken +from a field, owing to the unwillingness of all old hands to tell +anyone how much they have got or are getting. But I reckon that at +least 10,000 ounces must have been taken from the two miles of the +creek to which the diggings were confined, and, from the inexperience +of many of those who worked the ground, it is certain that as much gold +was wasted as was got. + +By and by a mob of Chinamen, the most patient, persevering, +hard-working of all races under the sun, will start and systematically +“ground-sluice” the whole course of the creek, from one end of the +workings to the other, and make a real good thing of it. + +A dead set has been made at this unfortunate race by the inhabitants +of Queensland. A poll-tax of £10 a head has been imposed upon them on +entering the colony, and they are not allowed upon any goldfield until +it has been open two years. + +Very heavy gold was now being got in the creek below where we were +working, and the finding of nuggets ranging from ten to twenty +ounces was no unusual occurrence. Occasionally a wild shout would +come ringing up the valley, hailing the appearance of one of these +“welcome strangers.” A knot of men would immediately congregate round +the finder, whose joy betrayed him a novice at the trade, and the whole +lot would probably adjourn incontinently to the “pub.,” and, handing +the plunder over the counter, never cease drinking as long as the +publican’s conscience impelled him to supply them with liquor, which +would probably be to about one-fourth of the value of the gold he had +received from them. + +These repeated cries of joy were getting too much for Dick Absolon. The +gold fever attacked him with a violence not to be allayed by wandering +about the ranges looking for a reef. It was with difficulty that Jack +and I dissuaded him from going to try his luck at the alluvial. But the +more gold they found in the creek, the more certain we were that there +must be a good reef somewhere near us. + +Meanwhile Gibbard was opening up his reef, which looked very promising; +so when he offered to sell me an eighth share in the claim, I closed +with him. He had christened his reef the “Little Wanderer.” + +One day soon after this, Jack, who had been patiently following a trail +of gold up a little gulley in our Protection Area, discovered the cap +of a reef from which it seemed likely the gold had come. A few hours’ +work exposed the reef clearly defined between two walls about two +feet thick. The cap was of hard, hungry-looking spar; but when we had +removed that, a vein of very healthy-looking bluish quartz was opened +up. We broke up a few pieces, and in almost every one gold was plainly +visible. + +It is very rich stone that shows gold when you break it; usually it has +to be crushed to powder and washed before gold shows, and many reefs +pay well to work in which you never see a colour of gold in breaking +down. + +Jack and I looked at each other, and our countenances expanded into +a smile of satisfied delight. Dick was called up from where he was +working a bit down the side of the mountain, and we all sat down and +had a smoke, a solemn rite never neglected by an Australian when +entering upon a new phase of his career. + +Alas! _Aurum irrepertum et sic melius situm!_ Perhaps it would have +been better for me if we had never found it at all. No such misgivings +crossed our minds at the time, however, and we hit out with a will to +see what our new reef was worth. + +A few days’ sinking on the underlie of the reef opened up such a +fine-looking body of stone, carrying splendid gold, that we decided to +give notice to the Warden of the finding of a payable reef, and get him +to come and lay off our claim. + +Anyone finding a reef that in the opinion of the Warden of the field +is a payable one, can take up as much ground along the line of reef as +he pleases; but he is bound by the Government regulations to keep one +man at work on it for every hundred feet he takes up, until there is +machinery on the ground, and after that, one man for every fifty feet. +The breadth of a reef-claim is always 400 feet. + +A few feet to the north of where we first found the reef, its course +was intersected by what is known as a cross-course; that is, a belt of +foreign country cutting diagonally right through the reef, and shifting +the course of it away towards the east. Beyond this cross-course we +found the reef again, carrying still richer gold than below, and it was +here we finally decided to commence operations. + +We applied for six men’s ground; that is, 300 feet along the reef, +which, with a reward claim of 100 feet which is always given to +the first prospectors of a new reef, would give us a claim 400 feet +square. Nothing can be done without the sanction of the Warden of the +goldfield, whose business it is to see that the Government regulations +are carried out, and who has full power to settle any disputes about +claims that may arise in the most arbitrary manner. + +Mount Britten was not yet of sufficient importance to be honoured with +a Warden of its own, so the Warden for Clermont had his jurisdiction +extended to take in our field. Clermont is 180 miles from Mount +Britten, and often we had to wait a couple of months before getting the +decision of the Warden as to some point in dispute. + +The first thing to do upon finding a new reef is to christen it. +After some discussion we decided to call ours the “Erratic Star”; its +subsequent behaviour fully testified to the justice of the first part +of the title. I do not suppose there ever was a reef whose wanderings +so entirely mystified those who attempted to follow them. + +This time the Warden was not long coming; but by the time he came we +had already driven a tunnel in along the course of the reef for some +distance, opening up magnificent stone as we went along. Our claim was +situated on the fall of a very steep spur of the range, down the centre +of which the course of the reef ran. + +The Warden climbed up the hill to inspect our workings, and we invited +him to scratch a prospect out of the reef for himself. He took a few +pieces of stone from different parts of the reef, and we all retired +down to the creek to crush them and wash out the gold. A mob of at +least a hundred idlers, attracted by the smell of gold, sat round, like +crows round a killing-yard, to watch the proceedings. + +When the prospects were washed out, the excitement amongst the crowd +was immense. As the last particles of dirt were deftly washed out of +the dish by Jack Absolon, leaving the gold exposed, the Warden’s jaw +dropped, and his eyes started out of his head with surprise. Even Jack +and I began to stare at each other. We had expected to get a good show; +half a pennyweight, or a pennyweight at most, which would have been +a tremendously rich prospect. Instead of which, though the stone was +by no means carefully crushed, we got at least a quarter of an ounce +of gold out of about a pound and a half of stone. As soon as he had +recovered from his astonishment the Warden congratulated us upon our +discovery, and laid off our claim on the spot. + +In anticipation of this auspicious moment I had armed myself with a +couple of bottles of rum, with which we proceeded to celebrate the +occasion. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +GOLD-DIGGING + + +When I first came to the diggings, I pitched my camp on the bank of the +creek about two miles below the reefs. It never was much of a camp at +the best of times. A piece of calico stretched over a pole supported +by two forked saplings formed the roof, and the sides were made of a +few sheets of bark knocked off the nearest trees. It rained incessantly +for weeks after I got there, and, the calico roof being no more use +for turning water than a hair-sieve, everything I had was always wet +through, and the floor of my camp a morass of black mud. + +Besides having to walk two miles up a steep rocky path to get to my +work every morning, and the same distance home at night, the increasing +population of the place made my camp a most undesirable one. A rowdy +township was springing up all round it. Two stores, a post-office, a +tobacconist and bookseller’s shop, and no less than five public-houses, +surrounded my peaceful abode. + +Besides all these buildings, which were constructed at considerable +trouble and expense out of sheets of box-tree bark and saplings, a +perfect forest of tents grew up like mushrooms all round. One of these +infernal public-houses was put up a few yards from my tent, and sleep +at night became out of the question. + +An army of drunken revellers made night hideous with their yells. They +used to start drinking about sundown, and pass successively through the +convivial, uproarious, and quarrelsome stages of drunkenness during +the night, ending with total collapse about five in the morning. No +early-closing interfered with the even tenor of their enjoyment, and +there were no police to damp the geniality of their proceedings. As a +rule, the fun did not begin much before one in the morning, by which +time they had drunk sufficient to make them quarrelsome, and fighting +took the place of singing for the remainder of the night. + +This sort of programme was no doubt infinitely entertaining to those +who assisted at it, most of whom slept solidly through the hours of +sunlight, only waking up in time to begin the next night’s orgie; but +to anyone who had to work in the day, and wanted to rest at night, +it was simply maddening. Nearly every night one or more of these +Bacchanalians would stagger into my tent, and either collapse in a +shapeless heap on the floor or begin shouting for liquor in language +that made the whole place smell of sulphur. It was difficult to know +what to do with them. Threatening to shoot them never had the slightest +effect, and one has naturally a great disinclination to hammer a man +when he is drunk, even though he does wake one out of a comfortable +sleep at three o’clock on a cold winter’s morning. If they were very +drunk, I used to drag them out and roll them down the bank of the creek +into the bushes that grew below. + +One bitter cold night I was woke up by one of these worthies hammering +at the sheet of bark I had stuck in the doorway of my tent to keep +out intruders. He was demanding a drink in a whining voice of abject +distress that would have done credit to a professional beggar. A happy +thought occurred to me, and instead of replying in the language I was +in the habit of using to my nocturnal visitors, I very civilly begged +him to wait one moment while I got him a drink. A bucket of ice-cold +water from the creek was standing by the doorway of my tent. Rising +softly, I crept to the door and peered over the sheet of bark, which +was barely five feet high, to ascertain his exact whereabouts. He was +crouching close to the foot of it, so I seized the bucket of water and +emptied it gently but firmly all over him. A galvanic shock could not +have cleared him out quicker. He disappeared into the distance, too +much surprised to say anything but “Oh dear! oh dear!” which he kept +on repeating as long as I could hear him. He even forgot to swear. The +night was so cold, and his voice sounded so utterly dreary as he went +off, not even my fury at having been woke up prevented my being sorry +for him, and my heart smote me at the thoughts of the miserable night +he must have passed. + +However, I had something better to do than shepherd drunken men all +night, and I settled to shift my camp up the creek. I fixed on a place +about a mile and a half above the township, on the bank of the creek, +about half a mile below the reefs, for my new camp. I had sent a man +out, some time before, to strip me seventy sheets of box-tree bark, on +the plains a few miles away. He made an attempt to draw them right up +to my camp with a bullock-waggon, but the country was too rough and too +heavily timbered. He got his waggon stuck in a short gully, and his +team of sixteen bullocks so beautifully mixed up round the trees on the +opposite bank, it took him a clear half-day to get out again. + +When I found him he had been stuck about three hours. He was then +perfectly exhausted with swearing, and as no team of bullocks will +ever move without the incentive of most awful language on the part of +the driver, he was obliged to hire a man to help him swear at them +for the rest of the afternoon. So universal is this habit amongst +bullock-drivers, and so well do their bullocks know the words that +precede the application of the whip, they will not attempt to exert +themselves until they hear them. I knew a man who once bought an +admirable team of bullocks that were perfectly useless to him, from +his disinclination to address them in the language they were used to +hearing. + +[Illustration: BULLOCK-TEAM CROSSING A LOG BRIDGE.] + +The driver had unloaded my sheets of bark about a mile below my camp, +so I hired a mob of Blacks to carry them the rest of the way. This is +the sort of work at which a Black-fellow shines, and which no white +man I ever saw could do. Each sheet of bark was from six to eight feet +long, and four or five feet wide. Many of them weighed considerably +over a hundredweight each, and it is difficult to imagine more awkward +things to handle. And yet some miserable, half-starved looking “gin,” +whose spindle legs look barely equal to supporting her own weight, will +get under one of these enormous sheets of bark, and, balancing it on +her head, walk off with it up a steep rocky path, for half a mile at a +stretch, with perfect ease. + +In a couple of days my new hut was finished. Of all buildings a bark +hut is the quickest and easiest to put up, and the most comfortable to +live in in a climate like Queensland. The framework is made of round +saplings, on which the sheets of bark are laid and secured by strips of +green hide. If the bark is carefully put on, and plenty of lap allowed +for each sheet over the next one, it is perfectly proof against wind +and rain, and in summer the thickness of the bark keeps the heat out +admirably. + +One of the chief elements of amusement on the field was an old German +doctor who came and settled there. Although he was one of the cleverest +men in his profession I ever saw, and a wonderful surgeon besides, he +never made any money in Queensland because he was a homœopath. + +The Queensland Government, not contented with figuring before the +civilised world as sordid and immoral politicians, never lose an +opportunity of proving themselves benighted barbarians as well. +Accordingly, they refuse to recognise a homœopathic physician’s +diploma; and he is, therefore, not legally able to recover his fees. +The world is not slow to take advantage of this, as the poor old doctor +found to his cost. He was far too kindhearted ever to refuse his +services to those who were really in need of them; but it speaks ill +for humanity that, out of the many patients I knew who called him in, +and were perfectly well able to pay him, very few ever did so. Had he +been paid one half of what he justly earned, he would have made a very +good living on the field. + +But I have known him keep sick men for weeks in his own hut, sitting +up with them at night, and feeding them on the best of everything he +could procure for them, only to see them clear out without paying him a +farthing. Often I knew for a fact that the scoundrels who did this had +quantities of gold in their possession, and they generally proved it +by celebrating their recovery at the adjacent “pub.” with a tremendous +spree. + +Later on, when the reefs were in full swing, and I had nearly a hundred +men in my employ, I used to help him all I could by threatening to sack +any men working for me who availed themselves of his services without +paying him. But I could not do him much good, and finally he was +starved out and had to leave the field. + +I was very sorry when he went. He had a claim in the creek. I do not +think there was ever anything in it, but it was close to his tent, and +it used to amuse him to go and imagine he was working tremendously hard +in it. + +One day the doctor was subpœnaed to attend an inquiry on the death of +a man at Nebo, a township about twenty-seven miles off. While he was +away a party of men jumped his claim, and on his return he found them +hard at work in it. They had not the slightest right to do it, as he +was called away on Government work; but what annoyed the doctor more +than anything was, that they absolutely refused to stop working until +the dispute was settled. + +The rule is, that, if there is any dispute about a claim, it is to +be referred at once to the Warden of the field. Pending his decision +neither party has any right to work in the claim, and anyone who works +a disputed claim at once forfeits any right in it. + +The three men who had jumped the doctor’s claim had done about as much +work in the forty-eight hours he had been away as he had done himself +in the six weeks he had been there; and from the rapidity with which +they progressed, it became perfectly apparent that long before the +Warden could arrive the biggest part of his claim would be worked out. + +The doctor’s fury knew no bounds. He stormed and swore, and threatened +and raved, but without the slightest effect in stopping the plundering +of his claim. + +Before two days were over, there was not a man in the field who did not +know all about it, and the Doctor’s Claim became the sort of theatre of +the diggings, to which anyone, who had nothing better to do, adjourned +to see what was going on. A more amusing scene than it occasionally +presented it is impossible to imagine. + +The old doctor was very short, very fat, and quite bald. His usual +get-up was the most entirely disreputable one I ever saw, consisting +of a pair of untanned leather slippers, no socks, a pair of flannel +pajamas, a thin jersey with as many holes to the square foot as a +herring net, finished off with a red cotton nightcap balanced on one +ear. Thus attired, he was generally to be found executing a frantic +war-dance on the edge of his claim, hurling the most awful language +at his enemies below, three murderous-looking Italian scoundrels, who +continued grubbing away, perfectly indifferent to everything but their +one object of looking for gold. A fair-sized audience of loafers was +generally seated around, encouraging the doctor, and trying to wind him +up to the point of dropping a stone on his foes’ heads below. + +The poor old doctor was far too good-natured ever willingly to hurt a +flea, but to hear him talk when excited would make anyone feel quite +weak who did not know him. He was absolute master of the English +language, and displayed a knowledge of its back premises I had not the +slightest idea a foreigner could ever attain. Under the influence of +passion, he would run down a chromatic scale of declamation, with an +ornamental fluency that never failed to excite admiration, even from +those at whom it was levelled. + +I remember one day, after a more than usually severe attack of what he +called “Choleric nervousness,” the old doctor turned suddenly round, +and found he had been overheard by a clergyman. The countenance of this +worthy man, I am grieved to say, indicated more admiration, and less +regret, than the occasion called for. + +“My dear doctor,” he observed, “I suppose it is my duty to tell you it +is very wrong to use such language; but I am going to do nothing of the +kind. I am simply going to ask you how, when, and where on earth did +you learn to swear like that?” + +“Learn?” said the doctor; “learn! my good sir, you _can’t_ learn it. It +is a gift!” + +About this time the Government thought fit to honour the field with +the presence of a policeman. He was a poor miserable crow-bait of an +Irishman, and, like most of his compatriots, an arrant coward when +alone. + +I have often noticed that if half-a-dozen Irishmen can manage to set +upon two or three men, they are all as brave as lions. But get one by +himself, and he is a wretched funk. + +The specimen sent up to keep the peace on the diggings was no exception +to the rule. He used to creep about under the shade of a pith helmet, +with a huge revolver dangling in front of him, like a Scotchman’s +sporran. He never ventured beyond the most crowded parts of the field, +and, if called upon to act in an official capacity, his face used to +turn the colour of cigar-ash with terror. + +The doctor, however, hailed his arrival with delight, as he thought he +saw his way to bringing the arm of the law to bear upon the plunderers +of his claim. Off he started and called upon the constable to interfere +at once, and stop the work. So far from doing this, it was with the +greatest difficulty the constable could be persuaded to visit the claim +at all, and, when there, he absolutely refused to interfere. + +The doctor, whose last hope had now departed, became perfectly beside +himself. The foam flew in spray from his lips, but for the first time +in his life language failed him, and he became inarticulate from fury. +Suddenly a horrible sort of spurious calm came over him, and he retired +into his tent. In a minute he reappeared armed with the fossil remains +of an aged pistol. One glance at it was sufficient to show that it was +fearfully dangerous everywhere except at the business end, and that +if it ever did go off, the safest place to stand would be straight in +front of it. + +No such reassuring considerations entered the mind of the constable. +He remained rooted to the spot with terror, while the doctor’s shaking +fingers accomplished the task of loading. + +An enormous audience had by this time assembled, most of whom were +stretched on the ground in convulsions of laughter. Even the three +ruffians in the claim became interested, and ceased their monotonous +occupation of baling water and cradling to watch the proceedings. +_Stetit urna paullum sicca_, while the doctor delivered his harangue +at the constable, for whom flight had now become impossible. He +was trembling so that he certainly could not have walked, besides +which, the doctor had edged round, and pinned him against a bank from +which there was no escape. Drawing gradually nearer towards him, and +brandishing his weapon all the while, the doctor swore all he knew that +he was going to kill him on the spot. + +The wretched man’s terror now almost overcame him. His jaw dropped, he +half-shut his eyes, and threw back his head in a mute appeal, which +ought to have softened the doctor’s heart, but which merely excited him +afresh. + +“Call yourself a policeman!” he screamed; “why do you hold your head +back like a fowl drinking water? I kill five better men than you on the +Lachlan before breakfast, for nothing at all! So help me three men and +a boy, I shoot you now like one damn dog!” + +The few of us who were not too weak from laughing began to think it was +time to interfere, when suddenly the doctor’s attention was caught by a +parrot seated in a tree over his head. + +“Look!” he shouted in a voice that would have frightened anything but a +parrot into the next colony. “Look! you say I can’t shoot! I soon show +you. Watch me knock the stuffing out of that parrot, then you know what +I do to you next time I catch you loafing round my side of the creek!” + +A breathless silence ensued, while the doctor levelled his weapon at +the now interested parrot. After aiming for about two minutes and a +half, he pulled the trigger. The cap exploded and the parrot flew +screaming away, leaving one of its tail feathers, in its hurry, to +float gently down at the doctor’s feet. + +Nothing could exceed his pride and delight, and none of us were cruel +enough to mar it by suggesting he could not have hit the parrot because +his pistol had never gone off. Brandishing the feather as a trophy, he +scattered a glance of withering contempt at the reviving constable, and +retired to his tent to spend the afternoon in trying to give electric +shocks to a mob of Blacks, by the bait of a shilling placed in a basin +of water connected with a small battery. + +The inside of his hut presented the climax of disorder and untidiness. +Rows of medicine-bottles were littered along the shelves, some +with corks, some with none, mixed up with tins of pepper, boxes +of ointment, jars of pickles, old clothes, and carpenter’s tools. +Surgical instruments used for cutting up tobacco or spreading butter, +frying-pans, telescopes, boots, books, photographs, tobacco-pipes, +the remains of a damper, and several packs of cards, were generally +strewed about the floor, in a way suggestive of nothing short of an +earthquake in a curiosity shop. Here he was generally to be found, when +not dancing around his claim, bending over the fire, in the agonies +of concocting some vile stew, which none but a German is capable of +eating. I have seen him put tea, rum, milk, colonial wine, mustard, +lime-juice, vinegar, and ginger into a sauce for some hideous mess +which he afterwards ate. + +The capacity of his internal economy was enormous. One Sunday I invited +a party of seven, including the doctor, to dinner. I made two plum +puddings in honour of the occasion, each about the size of my head. +Seven of us ate one, and the doctor ate the other. He had already +stowed away two vast mountains of salt beef, so no one was surprised +when, after attending the funeral of a whole pudding, he patted his +distended waistcoat, and observed that he “felt as if he had one +schnake coiled up there!” After which he became partially torpid for +some hours. + +The Little Wanderer reef, at which Gibbard was working, soon began to +show heavy gold. He had three mates in the claim, two of whom drank +themselves out, and I bought their shares at the same figure which I +had paid Gibbard for his. + +The third, a young fellow called S----, formerly an officer in the +navy, was killed in a very sad manner. A drunken man came into his tent +one night, and S---- got up and turned him out. The man closed with +him and threw him, and, in falling, a stake of poison-wood entered +S----’s leg, inflicting a shocking wound. His hut was not far from +mine, and after his accident I used to go down and sit with him in +the evenings after work. For a few days he seemed to be going on all +right, and I believe, if it had been possible to have kept him quite +quiet and away from everyone, he might have recovered. But he had been +drinking heavily for some time past, and now he drank more than ever; +for the whole day long, and well into the night, his hut was besieged +by a succession of visitors anxious to show their sympathy for his +misfortune. Unfortunately their invariable method of doing so was to +insist upon his having a drink with them; and his wound, which was a +serious one in any case, soon began to assume a dangerous appearance. + +On the fifth night the old doctor came and told me that he thought very +badly of him, so I immediately went round to his hut. A sadder sight +than the interior of it presented I never saw. There was no furniture +of any kind, of course, and the floor was a thick paste of black mud. +Seated on packing-cases or buckets turned upside down, were five or +six of the rowdiest men on the diggings. On the floor was a tin +prospecting-dish half full of rum, and a bucket of water, and each man +helped him with a pannikin when he wanted a drink. + +The place was so thick with tobacco smoke that at first I could hardly +see across it, though the hut was not above twelve feet long. By +degrees, as my eyes got accustomed to it, the light of a fat-lamp at +the far end showed me poor S---- lying on a rough sort of bed made of a +sheet of bark laid upon a heap of grass. + +A great change had come over him since I had last seen him, not very +many hours before, and I felt certain, directly I looked at him, that +he was dying. His cheery features had a drawn and haggard look, and +already there was that unmistakable far-off look in his eyes that too +surely announces the speedy approach of death. Evidently his companions +had not the slightest idea of the state he was in. To do them justice +they were all half drunk, and doing their best to become quite so; but +when I came in they were all shouting and laughing and blaspheming, +with the most uproarious cheerfulness, and one of them had just called +on S---- to give them a song. + +S---- himself was perfectly sober, and, I am certain, knew that he had +only a few hours to live. But he came of the sort that die very hard, +and, calling for a pannikin of rum, he raised himself on his elbow to +comply with his mates’ request. The hardened and reckless countenances +of those revellers, drinking in the presence of death, the unearthly +look upon S----’s face, rendered doubly ghastly by the miserable +flickering light over his head, formed a scene which I shall never +forget. His voice rang out clear in the weird, solemn silence of a +winter’s night, and the words of his last song are indelibly impressed +upon my memory. They contain only too true a history of his own ruined +life, and of hundreds of others who have fallen victims to the terrible +curse of drink. + + Who cares for nothing alone is free: + Sit down, good fellow, and drink with me. + With a careless heart and a merry eye + He will laugh at the world as the world goes by. + He laughs at power, and wealth, and fame; + He laughs at virtue, he laughs at shame; + He laughs at hope, and he laughs at fear, + And at memory’s dead leaves, crisp and sear; + + He laughs at the future, cold and dim, + Nor earth nor heaven is dear to him: + Oh! that is the comrade fit for me, + He cares for nothing, his soul is free, + Free as the soul of the fragrant wine! + Sit down, good fellow, my heart is thine; + For I heed not custom, creed, nor law,-- + I care for nothing that ever I saw. + + In every city my cup I quaff, + And over my liquor I riot and laugh. + I laugh like the cruel and turbulent wave, + I laugh at the church, and I laugh at the grave; + I laugh at joy, and right well I know + That I merrily, merrily laugh at woe. + I terribly laugh, with an oath and a sneer, + When I think that the hour of death is near; + + For I know that Death is a guest divine + Who will drink my blood as I drink this wine. + Ah! he cares for nothing, a king is he! + Come on, old fellow, and drink with me. + With you I will drink to the solemn past, + Though the cup that I drain should be my last; + I will drink to the Phantoms of Love and Truth, + To ruined manhood and wasted youth. + + I will drink to the woman that wrought my woe, + In the diamond morning of long ago; + To a heavenly face in sweet repose, + To the lily’s snow and the blood of the rose. + To the splendour caught from southern skies, + That shone in the depths of her glorious eyes; + Her large eyes wild with the fire of the South, + And the dewy wine of her warm, red mouth. + + I will drink to the thought of a better time, + To innocence gone like a death-bell chime; + I will drink to the shadow of coming doom, + To the phantoms that wait in my lonely tomb. + I will drink to my soul in its terrible mood, + Dimly and solemnly understood. + And lastly I drink to the monarch of Sin, + Who has conquered that fortress and reigns within. + + My sight is fading, it dies away; + I cannot tell, is it night or day? + My heart is burnt and blackened with pain, + And a horrible darkness crushes my brain; + I cannot see you--the end is nigh, + But we’ll drink together before I die. + Through awful chasms I plunge and fall, + Your hand, good fellow; I die--that’s all. + +Exhausted by the exertion, S---- sank down again on the couch, and a +deadly look came over his face. Even the drunkards began to see that +there was something wrong, and obeyed a not very civil recommendation +to clear out of the hut with unexpected readiness. I got the doctor to +come as soon as I could, and he at once pronounced S----’s case to be +hopeless. Mortification set in, and he died not many hours after. + +He was a great favourite with all who knew him, and much regretted, +especially by his mates, as he used to do all the work in their claim +in the creek, while they got drunk at the public-houses. His share in +the Wanderer Reef was sold by auction, and knocked down to me at the +reserve price, without a bid. + +I and Gibbard were now sole owners of the Wanderer, I holding +seven-eighths and he one-eighth. + +Meanwhile the Absolons and I had got down with our shaft on the Erratic +Star to a depth of sixty feet, and the prospects on both reefs were +so good that I determined to put up machinery for crushing the stone. +For this purpose I went down to Gympie, one of the chief goldfields +of Queensland, and got the estimate of a first-rate engineer for the +cost and erection of a battery of ten head of stampers, and a seventeen +horse-power stationary engine. His estimate was £1500 for the cost of +the machinery in Melbourne, and £1000 for the cost of erection on the +field. + +I mentally doubled his estimate on the spot; but, for the benefit of +anyone who is ever tempted to go in for putting up a quartz-mill on a +new field, I may here observe that before I had completed the work it +cost £9000. It is almost impossible to estimate beforehand the cost +of such an undertaking in new country, a hundred miles from anywhere +where you can buy a nail or a piece of string. The natural difficulties +incidental to the work are great enough, but in my case the unnatural +ones I had to contend against were greater still. + +As a rule, anyone who starts putting up machinery on a new gold field, +or who does anything towards developing any sort of mining, is hailed +as a public benefactor by the neighbouring towns. The inhabitants, +especially of the nearest seaport towns, hasten to display their +appreciation of the good gifts of Providence by putting the roads +between themselves and the new diggings in good order, and vie with +each other in offering every assistance to the prospectors and +promoters of the mines. + +The reason of this is not far to seek. Nothing gives such an impulse to +the trade of a seaport as the vicinity of a diggings. Many large towns +have been called into existence by nothing else. The town of Melbourne +itself, one of the greatest wonders of the world, with its 300,000 +inhabitants, its broad streets, its magnificent public buildings, and +its almost unlimited wealth, owes its rise, its very existence, to the +Ballarat diggings. + +It is a very common thing for the storekeepers of a town to supply +parties of men with tools and rations gratis, for months at a time, to +prospect the adjacent country in hopes of discovering a gold field. + +The Mount Britten diggings, upon which I was at work, was most +unfortunately situated. The only possible means of communication with +the coast was through the port of Mackay, from which it was distant 100 +miles by road. Now the distance was nothing, and the road, fairly good +at all times, might easily have been made an excellent one. But the +township of Mackay is a very peculiar one. It is the saccharopolis of +Queensland, and in point of intelligence may safely be described as the +Bœotia of Australia. + +The planters of the district have long been a byword for meanness and +stupidity. Entirely absorbed in the process of growing and making +sugar, they absolutely refuse to acknowledge the importance of any +other industry, and have always entertained an unreasoning aversion to +any kind of mining in the neighbourhood, only to be accounted for by +the supposition that a prolonged course of sugar-boiling has turned +their heads into vacuum-pans, and raised the density of their wits to +the level of that of their most prolific cane-juice. + +Nothing is of more vital importance to the prosperity of a coast town +in Australia than to keep open its communication with the interior. If +the outside roads are allowed to fall into bad repair, the wool and +other traffic is rapidly diverted to some other port; and, once lost, +it is extremely difficult to regain. + +The difference of fifty or sixty miles more or less is nothing to a +carrier, compared with the difference between a bad and a good road. +When in the interior he will infallibly choose the best road to the +coast, though it may be very much the longest. + +And yet I have heard one of the leading planters, at a meeting of the +Mackay Road Board, openly declare that Mackay had nothing to do with +the interior, that she did not want the wool, or the copper, or the +gold, or the squatters; and that there was no necessity to spend a +shilling in keeping up the road to the interior. + +Now I should be the last person to under-rate the value of the sugar +industry to Mackay. It has raised a population of 7000 people, where +formerly there were not thirty, and brought some millions of capital +into the district. But I cannot conceive why Mackay, because it is +blessed with one most prosperous industry, should close its doors to +every other. + +The dislike of the planters to any sort of mining being started in the +district I can, to a certain extent, understand. They are ignorant and +shortsighted, and no doubt imagine that the proximity of a diggings +would raise the price of labour on their plantations. It would do +nothing of the kind. The class of men who follow mining as a profession +are quite distinct from the sort of hands required on a plantation. + +Besides this, a diggings always attracts a large number of men who go +there with a vague idea they are going to get gold, but are destitute +of either the knowledge or the means to set about it. They dig for a +while, and, finding the work very hard and gold very scarce, they clear +out, and are glad to find employment elsewhere. + +Our station, which lay half-way between Mackay and the diggings, was +inundated with men returning from the field in search of work. So +that it is probable that the immediate effect of a diggings in the +neighbourhood would be to lower, rather than to raise, the price of +labour on the plantations; while the indirect benefit that the planters +would derive from the increased trade of the town would be considerable. + +Whatever the planters’ views might be, I should have thought that +the storekeepers in Mackay would have held but one opinion as to the +advantages they would be likely to derive from a diggings. And yet so +saturated were they with the prevailing sugar mania, and so servilely +dependent upon the planters had they become, I soon found out that any +exertions upon their part would be directed more towards retarding than +assisting the progress of the diggings. + +The whole district unanimously refused to spend a penny on repairing +the road to the Mount Britten field. My orders for goods were +persistently unattended to or delayed. The manager of one of the +principal banks took the trouble to ride up to the field for the sole +purpose of returning to spread false reports as to the poverty of the +reefs which I was engaged in working. My own agents left my machinery +lying for weeks on the wharf, and sent empty away the carriers +whom I myself had taken the trouble to hunt up and send down for +loading. The inconvenience and loss which I suffered in consequence +was incalculable. After hanging about Mackay for some days, vainly +endeavouring to induce my agents to give them my machinery, the +carriers loaded up for elsewhere, and went off up the country. + +It was months before I could get hold of them again. Meantime the +wet season set in, and the roads became perfectly impassable. I had +soon a vast army of men at work on the diggings--sawyers, carpenters, +boiler-makers, brickmakers, and others--whom I was very unwilling to +leave to themselves for any length of time. + +But after I discovered that the whole district of Mackay had +deliberately laid themselves out to block my endeavours to develop the +Mount Britten diggings, and were prepared to resort to foul means to +accomplish their object, I resolved not to trust to any agents, but +always to personally superintend the loading of any of my machinery or +stores that might arrive in Mackay. + +Many a hundred miles of travelling it cost me. It was eighty-six miles +to ride from the diggings to Mackay, and sometimes I had to ride up and +down twice in a week. I soon found that this kind of business, combined +with superintending the working of the two reefs, was more than could +be done effectually by one man. + +But the engineer I had engaged in Gympie to put up the mill turned out +an invaluable acquisition. His name was William Holliman; and a smarter +man at his trade never existed. From morning till night he worked as I +never saw a man work for wages before. The erection of a quartz-mill, +at any time, is an undertaking that involves very heavy work, and no +little engineering skill. But in an out-of-the-way place like Mount +Britten the difficulties are increased a hundredfold, and can only be +overcome by infinite patience and skill. Holliman, however, proved +himself equal to any emergency, and finally accomplished the work +in a way that has earned for the obscure field of Mount Britten the +reputation of possessing the most perfectly erected mill in Queensland. +It is impossible to do justice to the admirable qualities he displayed +during the time he was with me. Machinery stuck in the mud, broken +castings, drunken contractors going on the spree with their contract +uncompleted, thunderstorms sweeping away work half finished, the wrong +goods sent up by a mistake which takes months to rectify; these and +many other annoyances await the enthusiastic individual who is rash +enough to start putting up a mill on a new field. + +Holliman was equal to them all; and, though his professional reputation +was at stake, and I believe he felt any hindrance to the work far more +than I did, I never saw him discouraged for a minute, or otherwise than +cheerful. + +For anyone who lives in the midst of civilisation, and who has nothing +to do but walk into a shop and buy what he wants, it is impossible to +realise the situation. What words can depict the helpless fury of a +man in the mountains of Northern Queensland, who has ordered a keg of +a peculiar kind of nails from Sydney, and who, after an interval of +four months, receives a barrel of rock-sulphur instead? This actually +happened--without, however, in the least disturbing the equanimity of +Holliman. He merely remarked, with an expression of countenance it is +impossible to describe, that “he hoped my dog was not going to have +the distemper.” Though not a teetotaller, he was strictly sober, and a +keen sense of humour, combined with an inexhaustible fund of anecdotes, +made him an exceedingly pleasant companion. He was with me for eighteen +months and when at last I handed over the concern to a company, who +sent up their own manager, I parted with him greatly to my regret. + +A most absurd accident happened one day at a shaft on the “Star” line +of reef. The shaft was down about thirty feet, and, as usual, one man +was working below, and his mate on top, winding up the stuff in an +old oil-drum instead of a bucket. Somehow or other the man on top let +fall the drum right on his mate’s head below. Fortunately, though made +entirely of iron, the bottom was very nearly worn out, and the man’s +head went fair through it. He was naturally very angry, but his rage +redoubled when he discovered that all attempts to get his head out +again were perfectly useless. Though bashed in, none of the bottom was +actually knocked out, and the jagged edges had closed round his neck +again, like a spring trap, causing him excruciating pain. + +He was wound up the shaft, perfectly helpless and swearing fearfully, +and led down the hill to the blacksmith’s, to get his helmet knocked +off. + +Anything more ridiculous than he looked I never saw in my life. He kept +up a perfect hurricane of blasphemy, rendered absolutely awesome by the +unearthly metallic ring which the oil-drum gave to his voice. + +We were, most of us, too weak from laughing to be of the slightest +assistance to him. Had the rim of the drum caught him, instead of the +bottom, of course it would have killed him on the spot. Accidents of +this kind are very frequent. + +The greatest care is required on the part of those working at the mouth +of a shaft to see that nothing, however small, is allowed to fall down +below. A very small stone, falling from a great height on to a man’s +head, is sufficient to cause instant death. + +It is extraordinary what escapes some men have, and what a slight +thing will kill sometimes. I remember a man being killed on the spot +by a pound of candles being dropped from a height of sixty feet on +to his head. On the other hand, Jack Absolon was once working at the +bottom of a shaft seventy feet deep, when the whole windlass up above +carried bodily away. It came right down the shaft, together with a +hundredweight of copper ore that was being wound up. He heard it +coming, squeezed himself into a corner of the shaft, and never got a +scratch. + +No one on a diggings ever seems to possess a surname. But there is +generally some epithet attached to their Christian names, whereby they +may be distinguished. “Red Pat,” “Maori Bob,” “Little Dave,” “Ironstone +George,” “Long Mick,” and “Deaf Harry,”--a host of them rises before +me. Their faces were better known to me than my own, seeing that the +back of a sardine-box was the only looking-glass I had for months; but +if they ever had any surname it was known only to themselves. + +“Deaf Harry” had certainly the best right to his name of any man I +ever knew. The immoderate use of quinine had made him so deaf that no +combination of sounds, however appalling, could attract his attention. + +I used to work with him for a long while, sinking a shaft, and soon +gave up attempting to make him hear. If he was below and I wanted him, +I used to carefully drop a small pebble on his head. + +One day Deaf Harry was at the windlass, and another man working below. +They had arranged a series of signals between themselves. Two jerks on +the rope meant “heave up,” one meant “steady,” and three meant “lower +away.” + +I was working a little higher up the hill, when all of a sudden I heard +most awful noises echoing out of the shaft. Looking down the hill I +saw Harry peacefully winding away at the windlass, quite unconscious +of the yells and oaths that were flying up the shaft past his ear. +I knew something must be wrong, so I ran down the hill, and arrived +just in time to see Harry’s mate being wound slowly up to the mouth +of the shaft head-downwards, with his foot noosed in the rope. He +was struggling fearfully, and still trying to swear, but was rapidly +becoming speechless from having been wound up a distance of seventy +feet in that position. + +For once in his life Harry’s rugged countenance relaxed into an +expression of delighted surprise. Instead of making the slightest +attempt to extricate the unfortunate man, he remained looking +critically at him for several seconds, with the windlass handle in his +hand. Then turning towards me, he said, quite quietly: + +“Well! I’ve been twenty-two years digging, and I never saw a man come +up the shaft like that before!” + +I made a dive at the wretched man’s leg, dragged him out of the shaft, +and laid him out to dry. He was perfectly exhausted, and purple in +the face, but, having been revived by a bucket of water poured over +his head, he explained that he had been standing in the bottom of the +shaft, and, he supposed, had unintentionally jerked the rope twice with +his foot. Harry, of course, began to wind up, and knew no more about it +till his mate appeared at the top. He lost all interest in him as soon +as he found he had not come up head-downwards on purpose. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +DRINK + + +One day a man known as Ironstone George died at one of the +public-houses on the field, entirely from the effects of drink. It +is really infamous that no one has any power to interfere in such +cases. I had seen the man hopelessly drunk, day after day, at the same +public-house, and had warned the owner that I should take the first +opportunity of taking away his license. + +Being the only resident magistrate on the field, I held an inquest on +the body. In the inquiry it appeared that the publican had supplied him +during a fortnight with as much liquor as he could drink, but had never +given him anything to eat. A nearer approach to wilful murder it is not +easy to imagine. I took the opportunity of repeating my assurance to +the publican that he need never expect a license again, coupled with +an expression of my unfeigned regret that the law of the land did not +allow me to hang him. + +I was unfortunately unable to attend the first licensing board for the +diggings, and the rascally local magistrates granted no less than six +licenses for the Mount Britten field. + +These public-houses are a perfect curse all through the Bush of +Australia, and no finer field was ever open to a philanthropist than a +crusade against the iniquity that goes on in them. + +In touching upon this subject, I wish very clearly to state the ground +that I take up, which is not so much reduction of drunkenness as the +prevention of murder. In spite of the most specious attempts on the +part of such fanatical optimists as Mr. Gladstone, Mr. Mundella, +and others, to cook the returns of drunkenness and liquor consumed, +statistics show that the amount varies very little. Wherever a certain +number of the British race are gathered together, there a certain +amount of liquor will be consumed, and my own conviction is that +legislation can do little or nothing to prevent drunkenness. It can, +if it please, force men to get drunk in their own homes instead of in +public-houses, but here its power ends. + +There is no truer picture of humanity than John Leech’s cartoon of the +British workman arriving home on Saturday night, laden with an enormous +jar of liquor, to provide against the inconvenience of a Sunday Closing +Act. + +But legislation can and ought to do a great deal towards the prevention +of such monstrous crimes as are universally prevalent throughout +the Bush public-houses in Australia. The most violent poisons are +habitually used to adulterate the liquor sold, and to an extent which +renders a very moderate consumption sufficient to destroy life. +Bluestone and tobacco are the most favourite drugs in use, the effect +of them being to cause temporary insanity, accompanied by raging thirst. + +I have seen a strong sober man driven perfectly mad for the time being +by two glasses of so-called rum, supplied to him at one of these +shanties. He had not the slightest appearance of being drunk about him, +but every appearance of having been poisoned, and he did not recover +from the effects for a fortnight. + +There is not a shadow of a doubt that scores of perfectly healthy men +die every year from the immediate effects of being poisoned at these +infernal dens. It is a very common occurrence for a man to be found +dead within a short distance of one of them. Possibly he has retained +sufficient vitality to drag himself a few hundred yards on his journey, +after exhausting his credit with the publican. Possibly he has actually +died in the house, and been dragged a little way down the road by the +publican, to avoid the unpleasantness which an inquiry into a death in +his house might entail. Fear of any such unpleasantness, however, must +be purely sentimental, for I never heard of a single case where any +death of the kind brought serious consequences to the publican. + +It is by no means necessary that a man should be a drunkard for him to +fall a victim to this system of secret murder. + +After a twenty-mile tramp, or a fifty-mile ride along a scorching road, +the traveller arrives at the public-house, possibly the only building +that lies between him and a similar journey in front. There is no +earthly reason he should not have a drink. He is tired and thirsty, and +the water is probably very bad. And yet it is possible that the very +first glass he swallows may entirely deprive him of his reason. + +The object of every Bush publican is to make anyone with money, who +visits his house, as quickly as possible drunk, in order that he may +either voluntarily hand over all he has got to the publican, and drink +it out, or become so helpless as to allow himself to be robbed. + +A system known as “knocking down one’s cheque” prevails all over the +unsettled parts of Australia. That is to say, a man with a cheque, or +a sum of money in his possession, hands it over to the publican, and +calls for drinks for himself and his friends until the publican tells +him he has drunk out his cheque. Of course he never gets a tithe of +his money’s worth in any shape or way--indeed, the kindest thing a +publican can possibly do is to refuse him any more liquor at a very +early stage of the proceedings; for cheques for enormous amounts are +frequently “knocked down” in this way. A quarter of the worth of them, +if honestly drunk out in Bush liquor, would inevitably kill a whole +regiment. + +I remember a man who, for years, had been a hard drinker. He went on +the square--that is, he kept perfectly sober--for five years, during +which time he raised a cheque of £600. With this he started down to +the coast, intending to go home to the old country. On the way he was +persuaded to have a drink. The old madness came over him, and in three +weeks he had drunk out every penny of his cheque. + +At one of the public-houses at which he stayed he had champagne at a +guinea a bottle, in a bath in front of the house, with a pannikin by +the side for all comers to help themselves. + +As if by instinct, crowds of loafers assemble at a Bush “pub.” where +a good cheque is going, like flies round a honey-pot, and the wildest +orgies prevail. The scene is generally pretty much the same. A crowd of +noisy blasphemers, enveloped in a haze of tobacco-smoke, elbowing each +other to get near the counter where drinks are served. + +Behind this stands the barman and the landlord, the obsequious +expression on the latter’s face indicating to the initiated that the +time has not yet arrived when his conscience will allow him to declare +the cheque drunk out. He is still anxious to supply everyone with +everything they want. + +In one corner of the room lies huddled a shapeless mass, which few +would suppose to be the hospitable individual at whose expense the +company are drinking. An inarticulate moan bursts from the sufferer +on the ground. Possibly he has been in the same position for some +twenty-four hours. The landlord, who is civility itself, springs to +attention at once, and hastening to him bends over him. + +“Beg pardon, sir--what did you please to say?” + +Another groan. + +“Certainly, sir. All right; Jim” (to the barman), “drinks for thirteen.” + +And so it goes on. Half the men drinking at the unfortunate wretch’s +expense probably never saw him before, and the other half do not care +if they never see him again--until he has raised another cheque. + +The prevalence of drinking throughout the Bush, and in all the big +towns of Queensland especially, is one of the most extraordinary +features of the country. If it were possible to obtain any accurate +returns, it would be very interesting to ascertain the exact proportion +of the whole amount of wages earned in the colony that passes into +the hands of the publicans. The amount of liquor consumed in no way +represents it, owing to the system to which I have just alluded, +which enables the publican to get possession of a man’s money without +supplying him with anything like the value of it in return. It is +no exaggeration to say it is the universal custom of most of the +working-classes of Queensland, whether stockmen, miners, sawyers, +carpenters, fencers, or shepherds, to spend the whole of their earnings +in drink. + +Their method of doing so is peculiar, and not many of them are what +could fairly be called habitual drunkards. That is to say, they do +not, as a rule, drink while they are at work, and they make a practice +of working steadily and industriously for long spells at a time. But, +in working, the object of nine out of every ten of them is simply to +raise enough money for a spree. A periodical spree seems a necessity +in the life of a Bushman. It is, to him, what an annual excursion to +the seaside is to an overworked London tradesman. It brings him into +contact with fresh faces and scenes, empties his pocket, restores him +to cheerfulness, and sends him back with renewed ardour to work. + +Now, if a Bushman were sure of being supplied with good liquor, instead +of poison, it is doubtful whether this mode of living would ever do +him any harm at all. It is notorious that a man who gets occasionally +drunk, and drinks nothing between whiles, suffers far less than a man +who is continually drinking without ever getting drunk at all. Further +than this, a Bushman, while at work, is of necessity restricted to +the simplest possible fare. Vegetables, or luxuries of any kind, he +can seldom procure. A prolonged course of nothing but tea, beef, and +damper, renders a change of living indispensable, to ward off scurvy +and similar diseases. + +Under these circumstances, though it is extremely to be regretted that +he should carry it to the length of the orgies that prevail amongst his +class, it is certain that an occasional drinking-bout does a Bushman +more good than harm. + +In considering the question, and the best means of dealing with it, +it is better at once to relegate to a visionary Utopia the hope of +universal thrift and sobriety; we may take it for granted that as +long as men retain their individual freedom of action, they will +drink just exactly as much as they want to. Of course, it admits of +argument whether you cannot educate men up to the point of wanting to +drink less. But the votaries of any such scheme would derive little +encouragement from studying the subject in Queensland. So far from +drunkenness being confined to the uneducated, it is, if anything, +more prevalent among the upper and middle classes than any other. +They drink incessantly, while the lower classes can only afford to +drink occasionally. Preventive legislation, in the shape of early +closing, or penalties for drunkenness, will never do the slightest +good. Early closing only makes men drink at home, and drunkenness is +not a vice upon which the fear of consequences will ever exert any +great restraint, for the simple reason that few men, when they start +drinking, do so with the deliberate intention of getting drunk, and +when they are under the influence of liquor they are, of course, +utterly indifferent to consequences of any kind. + +What legislation can and ought to do, is to interfere to prevent a man +being made to get drunk when he does not want to, and to save him from +being poisoned after he has lost all command of his senses. + +The conduct of the Queensland Government with regard to the +adulteration of liquor in public-houses is perfectly scandalous. The +penalties for its detection are by no means such as the gravity of +the offence calls for, and are rarely enforced. The excise is most +inefficient, and its duties are discharged in a way that no one +acquainted with the morality of Colonial Government would credit. It +is not long since the Queensland Government sent the excise round some +public-houses in the neighbourhood of Brisbane. They had no difficulty +in collecting a quantity of sixteen different sorts of deadly poisons, +used for the adulteration of liquor. Instead of destroying them, the +Government had the shameless effrontery to sell these poisons by public +auction. + +A great deal might be done by the local magistrates if they chose. They +have discretionary power to grant or refuse licenses to holders of +public-houses, and there is no appeal from their decision. If it were +known that a man’s license was certain to be refused him if he were in +the habit of adulterating his liquor, it would undoubtedly act as a +check upon the practice. + +If, in addition to this, a man were liable to be hanged, if convicted +of causing the death of a fellow-creature by supplying him with +poisonous liquor, it would go a long way towards stopping it altogether. + +The extreme difficulty of obtaining any such conviction, the isolated +position of these Bush publics, which makes supervision next to +impossible, renders some extreme legislation on the subject imperative. +Owing to the scarcity of population, and the consequent facilities +afforded to crime, rape is punishable in Queensland by hanging. I +cannot conceive that the crime of wilfully taking a man’s life by +poison calls for a less severe sentence. As a matter of fact little or +nothing is ever done towards the prevention of this most dastardly of +all forms of murder. + +The reformation of Bush public-houses in Queensland would be a +difficult task, even supposing that any large section of the community +were interested in its accomplishment. It is rendered hopeless by +the universal indifference on the subject that, to a certain extent, +pervades every class in the colony. + +The sympathies of the whole of society are largely with the publican. +The squatters themselves, of whom the licensing board is usually +composed, will always uphold him. They may regret that he sells +poisonous liquor to stray travellers, but they have no fear of being +treated in the same way themselves--at least, by the publicans in the +neighbourhood of their own station. In return for the assurance of his +license, the publican has always the wisdom to keep a supply of decent +liquor on hand for his supporters when they pay him a call. + +A visit to the seat of power in Brisbane would be the reverse of +encouraging to anyone interested in this subject. + +A crusade against publicans is not likely to find much favour with an +executive composed of men who spend half their time loafing around the +drinking-bars in the town, and whose ranks generally contain one or two +notorious drunkards, who are not in the least ashamed to take their +seat in the House, or to be seen in the streets while in a state of +intoxication. It is no uncommon thing to see a telegram in a Queensland +paper to the effect that at such and such an hour “Mr. So-and-so, who +was intoxicated, rose to move the adjournment of the House.” + +Our neighbours in New South Wales and Victoria are not behind us in +this respect. If anything, the Queensland Assembly is the most sober +of the three. The drunkenness of the judges throughout Australia has +become such a byword as to entirely deprive the time-honoured proverb +of any but a sarcastic meaning. + +I read, the other day, in the _Sydney Bulletin_, the following +interesting comment on the subject:-- + +“We have all of us heard the expressions ‘as drunk as a lord,’ and ‘as +sober as a judge.’ Can anything be more ridiculous? Who ever heard of +a lord being drunk, or a judge being----(ED.--There is no occasion to +continue this subject any further).” + +It is by no means an uncommon occurrence for a magistrate or a judge to +take his seat on the bench in a state of intoxication. Not long ago a +most absurd scene took place at the petty sessions at a township which +shall be nameless, but which is not a hundred miles from Bowen. One +magistrate, as not unfrequently happens, was sitting in solitary state +on the bench. His features wore that expression of ludicrous solemnity +by the adoption of which a man who knows himself to be drunk endeavours +to disguise the fact from his neighbours. + +A prisoner was brought in, charged with having removed goods to the +value of 1s. 4d. from a store. Before the evidence was half finished, a +terrible frown gathered on the magistrate’s brow. Jamming his battered +cabbage-tree hat well over his eyes, in imitation of the awful ceremony +of putting on the black cap, he rose slowly up, and, pointing a shaking +finger at the culprit, said: “Take’imawayand’ang’im!” + +“Beg pardon, your Worship,” said the constable, “this is only a case +of----” + +“Take’im-’way--and _’ang_ ’im!” repeated his Worship, more slowly and +impressively than before. + +“But, your Worship,” expostulated the bewildered official, “you have no +power----” + +“No power! Just ain’t I, though,” shouted the now thoroughly infuriated +magistrate. “’Ear what I shay? Take ’im away and ’ang ’im!” And, +subsiding into his seat, he was heard to add, in a voice of maudlin +pathos: “An’ Lor’ a mercy on his soul!” + +Seeing that remonstrance was useless, the constable removed the +prisoner, and shortly afterwards returned. + +“Taken’imawayand’ung’im?” asked the magistrate, cheerfully. + +“Yes, your Worship.” + +“All right. I ’shmis shcase.” + +As long as the supervision of Bush public-houses remains in the hands +of such men as these, no reform is possible. And no reform will ever +come until a healthier tone as regards the subject of drunkenness +pervades every class in the colony. Throughout the whole country the +reputation of being mighty to mingle strong drink carries no little +admiration along with it, while the fact of getting occasionally drunk +entails little or no reproach. + +Of course, in and near the big towns the possibility of a visit from +the excise makes the adulteration of liquor rather more difficult than +in the Bush. Away in the back blocks it is done openly and shamelessly, +and looked on, by everyone concerned, in the light of rather a good +joke. + +A friend of mine went into a Bush “pub.” near Hungerford, on the +borders of New South Wales and Queensland, accompanied by three or four +other men, for whom he was going to “shout.” The usual invitation, +“Give it a name, boys,” was followed by requests on the part of his +friends for various sorts of drinks. One called for rum, another for +beer, and a third was just remarking that gin-and-bitters was what the +doctor had ordered, when a cynical smile was observed on the landlord’s +face. + +“Hold on,” he said, “it’s no use going on like that. We’ve run out of +every drop of liquor, and been drinking ‘Pain-killer’ for a week. So +you can take that or leave it alone.” + +On another occasion I remember hearing a man ask for a glass of gin, +at a very out-of-the-way Bush shanty. He was supplied with a glass of +bluish-white-looking stuff, which, after the fashion of dwellers in the +Bush, he swallowed raw, intending to help himself to water afterwards. +No sooner had he swallowed it than an expression of awful rage and +terror came over his face. + +“Why, damn everything an inch high,” he exclaimed, as soon as he got +his breath, “that ain’t gin--that’s kerosene!” + +“Well,” said the woman who had served him, “and what if it is? There’s +no call to make any flaming fuss. There’s three gentlemen in the +parlour drinking Farmer’s Friend for rum, and they don’t say anything.” + +On the next annual licensing day after my arrival on the diggings, I +took the opportunity of refusing licenses to every single publican on +the field except one. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +GOLD-DIGGING + + +Meanwhile the work of putting up the mill got on very slowly. The +A.S.N. Co.,[1] whose idea of handling machinery is to raise it to as +great a height as possible, and then suddenly drop it, contrived to +smash some of my heaviest castings in landing them on the wharf at +Mackay. I had to send to Melbourne to get them replaced, and this +caused a delay of several months. + +[1] The Australasian Steam Navigation Company, always known throughout +the colonies as the A.S.N. + +Water was so scarce in the creek on which the diggings lay that I was +obliged to put up the mill a mile and a half below the reef, at the +junction of another creek. Even here there was so little water that I +thought it was advisable to throw a dam across the creek. + +Damming a Queensland mountain-creek is no joke. The violent storms +which occur, and the heavy freshes that they cause in the creeks, make +it necessary that any sort of dam should be remarkably solid. + +The creek here was about 120 feet wide, and there was about ten feet of +drift in the bottom. Of course it was necessary to cut a trench through +this, right down to the bed rock, and fill it with clay, for the +puddle-wall. The trench was three feet wide, and in it I sunk a double +row of piles a foot thick, to support the frame of the dam above. +Horizontal logs were laid against these and in between them, and this +formed the centre wall of the dam. The amount of labour connected with +this work was very great. + +We used to keep three shifts going, night and day, at the pumps, to +keep the work in the trench clear of water, and the clay for the +puddle-wall had to be carted from a considerable distance. Several +small freshes came down while the work was going on, and did a good +deal of damage; but we managed to repair it, and at last the dam looked +like being finished. I faced the front wall entirely with stone, and +gave it a very big batter, to allow for the heavy floods that I knew +the creek was subject to. + +Had twenty-four hours more been given me to finish the work, I believe +the dam would have been there to-day, and for twenty years to come. The +by-wash was almost finished, and there were only a few feet more of +the stone facing to be done. Those few feet, however, settled the fate +of the dam. There came one of the most brilliant storms I ever saw. +Queensland, at all times, can be relied upon to crowd more thunder and +lightning into a minute than most countries can into an hour, and no +better place for a display of the kind can be imagined than the valley +of Mount Britten. It is a perfect funnel for collecting rain, about +five miles across the centre, narrowing down to a few hundred yards at +the mouth, where the dam across the creek was situated. + +The row that a storm makes there is appalling. When once a clap of +thunder is loosed off into the valley it can never get out. It slams +round, cannoning up against the cliffs that surround the place, till +its echoes are drowned in a fresh discharge, and so it goes on, till +anyone who happens to be out in it feels as if the thunder was being +manufactured in his own hat. + +In ordinary countries, forked lightning descends from a storm one flash +at a time, and its home invariably seems to be the earth. In Queensland +lightning is slathered about as if it was of no value at all. Two or +three flashes set off at the same time, and, after hunting each other +about the firmament for some time, either part company and go off +opposite ways, or twist themselves into a tangled knot, and discharge +smaller flashes in every direction. In the background a perfectly +incessant supply of sheet-lightning is kept up, which is constantly +changing colour; sometimes it is white, sometimes a golden yellow, and +sometimes a beautiful pale lilac, and the effect is most lovely. + +The rain that accompanies these storms is sometimes terrific. I have +seen as much as five inches fall in an hour. When this particular storm +broke over the valley I was up at the reefs, a mile and a half above +the mill. + +It was about ten o’clock at night, and deadly dark; but I started off +down the track at once to see how the dam would stand. Fortunately, +I knew every inch of the road, for a more disagreeable place for a +stranger to find his way along in the dark it would be difficult to +imagine. Besides the natural pitfalls in the way of rocks, logs, and +gullies all down the track, the whole place was a perfect warren of old +shafts that had been sunk in prospecting for gold. The mouths of them +were quite open, and several of them were sunk right in the middle of +the old track; so that anyone who did not know them, and remember them, +was certain to come to grief. + +The track crossed the creek twice between the reefs and the mill, and +when I started up in the afternoon the creek was not running at all. +At the first crossing on my way back it was only ankle-deep. The next +crossing was half a mile lower down; and, though I ran all the way, by +the time that I got there there was ten feet of water in the creek, +running like a mill-race. + +The lightning made the whole place as light as day now, and, as the +crossing seemed to be clear, I soused in and got out all right at the +other side. As soon as I got down to the dam, I saw at once that it was +doomed. The by-wash was of no use at all to take the overflow. It had +never been intended to do more than relieve the pressure, as the dam +was an overshot one. But it was the few feet where the stone facing +was still incomplete that ruined it. The water got a start there, and +gradually ate away the whole concern like cheese; and in six hours +there was nothing left but a few piles sticking up to mark where the +puddle-wall had been. + +Holliman was standing watching the destruction of the work, looking the +image of despair. The rain was coming down in sheets, but nothing could +get him away. He looked so utterly miserable, standing on the edge +of a foaming creek, with the water running in streams down his back +and out of his boots, lit up every now and then by a purple streak of +lightning, that I went into shrieks of laughter at him. + +After a time a melancholy sort of smile stole over his face, and he +allowed himself to be taken away. The water came down while some of the +men were at work, and so suddenly that two of them, who attempted to +save their tools, uncommonly nearly got drowned. They managed to hold +on to some trees that had been left growing in the face of the dam, and +stayed there till Holliman helped them out with a rope. + +This settled the Mount Britten dam. It cost over £350, and would never +have been any use, as from some subsequent working we found that there +was an old underground course of the creek in one of the banks, through +which all the water would have escaped. At the end of about eight +months’ patient toil, and after innumerable breakdowns and delays, the +mill looked like being completed; so I called for tenders for carting +the quartz down from the reefs ready for a start. Plenty of carriers +were willing to contract for the “Wanderer” stone, as there was no +difficulty about the road, except in wet weather, when it was very +greasy. But the “Erratic Star” was a different matter altogether. + +The quartz-paddock was on the side of a mountain, and the last 300 feet +up to it was a “pinch” so steep that no one who did not know what a +team of bullocks can do would ever imagine it was possible to get to +it with a waggon. At last a man called George Tucker, well known as +one of the best drivers in the district, offered to try. His team of +fourteen bullocks were a perfect picture. He was always very quiet with +them, and very seldom used his whip, but his bullocks were marvellously +obedient to the least word, and would follow him about like children. +I believe they would have gone up two pair of stairs and down again +without getting mixed up. + +There is something wonderfully impressive about a good team of +bullocks. In all their movements there is a solemn deliberation that +it is most entertaining to watch. Nothing can hurry them. If you were +going for the doctor you could not get three miles an hour out of a +bullock-team. + +When the waggon gets stuck, they never plunge about, and snort, and +struggle, as a team of horses do when they are called upon to do some +extra pulling. They just lay themselves quietly down to their work, +looking back occasionally at their driver out of their great, wise, +patient eyes, as much as to say, “We’re hitting out all we can, and if +you swear till you burst, you can’t make us pull any harder.” + +Each bullock has a name, which it knows perfectly. The driver gives his +directions to each one separately, keeping up a running commentary of +blasphemy the whole time; and according to the amount of bad language +that accompanies the use of its name, each animal knows the exact +amount of exertion that is required of it. It is a beautiful sight to +see a good driver straighten out a team of eighteen bullocks to fetch +a waggon and five ton of a load out of a bad place. Apparently without +the slightest effort, his animals just lean gently forward on the yoke; +but when once they get the pressure on, it is perfectly irresistible, +and something is certain to happen. Either the waggon will shift or the +chains must break. + +The bullock-whip with which the driver is armed is a terrible weapon in +the hands of a man who knows how to use it. The lash is made of plaited +greenhide about nine feet long, and is hung square on the end of a +six-foot stick by way of a handle. A good driver very seldom touches +his bullocks with the whip at all, the crack of it, which is as loud as +a pistol-shot, being quite sufficient to induce a well-broken team to +pull their hardest. + +Occasionally, however, the best driver finds it necessary to let a +bullock feel the whip, and then he will do it in a way that the animal +will never forget. A well-laid-on cut of the whip from the hand of a +workman will lay six inches of a bullock’s ribs open as clean as if it +had been done with a knife. I have seen a bullock lie down and begin +to bellow with terror when it got to the exact spot in a road where, +months before, it had been flogged for not pulling. + +Many drivers are brutally cruel to their bullocks, and are continually +laying the whip into them merely to vent their own savage temper. But +a good driver will always be known by the hides of his team. The marks +of the whip will be scarce, but what there are will be deep and laid +on in the right place. From constantly associating with his team, a +bullock-driver imbibes a great deal of the lethargic nature of the +animals themselves. + +After crawling along the road for years beside his bullocks at the rate +of a mile and a half an hour, anything approaching to hurry becomes +eliminated from his nature. + +There is an incurable dilatory dawdle about every movement of a man +who has been a few years on the road that will always proclaim his +profession, and will stick to him ever after, whatever other line he +may take up. + +If you speak to a bullock-driver he will take as long to turn his head +round to look at you as a horse-driver would to answer you, and nothing +will ever induce him to get his bullocks yoked up before about ten +o’clock in the day. When on the road, if he knocks eight or nine miles +a day out of his team, he reckons that is very fair travelling. + +George Tucker was a model specimen of his class. He was wonderfully +patient with his bullocks, but he could get more work out of them than +almost anyone I ever saw, and, I believe, was as fond of them as if +they had been his own children. The first day that he started up to the +reefs to bring the quartz down, I went with him, to see how he got on. + +He got up to the “Star” paddock all right, having hitched his team on +to the back of the waggon, and drawn it up backwards, as there was no +room to turn at the top. Having loaded up, he prepared to start down +the steep pinch again, and, in order to save the necks of his “polers,” +he tried to get the waggon as near the edge of the paddock as possible +before locking the wheels. Relying upon the handiness and obedience of +his team, he made a strange mistake for so old a hand, and had not even +the brake on. In drawing on to the edge he just went a yard too far, +and away went the waggon down the hill, with four ton and a half of +quartz on it. + +[Illustration: DOWN-HILL WITHOUT A BRAKE.] + +Tucker rushed after it, trying in vain to get the brake on, while the +“off-sider,” who was helping him, made futile attempts to keep the team +straight out in front of the waggon. It was no use. For a few yards +it went slowly enough, and it looked as if it might get safely to the +bottom. But gradually the pace increased, the leading bullocks stumbled +and fell, bringing the others down on top of them, and the waggon went +with irresistible force right over the struggling mass of bullocks, +forging its way down the hill, till their carcases blocked it from +going any farther. + +When we got down there the team was a most heart-rending sight. Horns, +hair, and blood were strewed about in all directions, and at first it +looked as if every bullock was dead. They were all jammed up in a dense +mass, with chains wound round them in such confusion it was difficult +to know where to begin taking them out of winding. + +By degrees we got them all clear, and found that three were killed +outright, another had its back broken, and the two others were terribly +knocked about. Nearly every one had lost a horn, and some of them both. +The waggon, strange to say, had never even upset, and, of course, was +quite uninjured. Fortunately, Tucker had only taken six of his bullocks +up the hill, and left the rest down below. + +He took it quite quietly. The occasion was far too solemn for any +swearing; so he helped us to light a funeral pyre over the carcases of +his dead favourites, and, climbing on to his horse, he turned the rest +of his team out into the Bush, and went off to Grosvenor Downs, some +sixty miles away, to hunt up some fresh bullocks. In a week he had his +team in working order again, and finished the job of drawing down the +quartz without any further misfortune. + +Anyone would have thought that such an event as the sudden death of +four of his best bullocks would have called forth a paroxysm of fury +from such a habitual blasphemer as a bullock-driver, and made him +exhaust every possible combination of oaths in his vocabulary. But in +reality a great deal of the bad language which he is in the habit of +using is what may be called professional swearing, and does not in the +least imply loss of temper. A bullock-driver knows that his bullocks +are so accustomed to hearing disgraceful language that certain words +and a certain tone of voice are absolutely necessary to make them pull, +and when they get in a fix he has to work himself up to a pitch of +simulated fury, and use most awful expressions to induce them to exert +themselves. + +But while the rocks around are still resounding with oaths that make +one shiver to hear, he will turn round with a cheery smile on his face +to greet anyone who happens to be passing, and wipe the foam from +his mouth to answer a question with the utmost good humour. It is +astonishing how a man who is apparently in the habit of getting into a +violent passion upon the slightest provocation will sometimes command +his temper when one would think it was impossible. + +I remember perfectly well the disappointment of a large audience +at finding that like causes do not always produce like results in +matters pertaining to temper. A carrier was drawing sand up a very +long steep hill, at the top of which there were a lot of men at work. +He was a most notorious blasphemer, and his power of language was so +extraordinary that everyone used to put down their tools and listen +when he had a bad attack. Upon one occasion, as he was coming up the +hill, the tail-board of his dray fell out without his knowing it, and, +of course, all the sand ran out. + +One of the men who was working near the top saw what had happened, +and instantly attracted the attention of his mates to the impending +scene. As the dray drew near the top all the men knocked off work and +gradually collected around, in sure and certain hope of a more than +usually lively display of profanity from the carrier. + +When he got to the top he stopped and looked round. A breathless +silence prevailed whilst it gradually soaked into him what had +happened. He looked at the empty dray, and at the weary long pull up +the hill which he had just accomplished. Then he looked sadly and half +apologetically at the expectant crowd around him, and in a tone of +deep feeling observed, “Boys, I ain’t equal to the occasion,” and went +straight off for another load. + +While I was putting up the mill I had a bullock-team of my own to draw +in the logs for sawing and do the work about the place. Whenever there +was a slack time I used to send it down to Port Mackay for a load, +but it was a horrid fraud. The bullocks were good enough, but it was +impossible to get a decent man to drive them. + +A man who drives his own bullocks is lazy enough, but a man who drives +someone else’s is simply the incarnation of idleness. I had several +drivers one after the other, but it was always the same old game. +When they were at home they used to swear they had lost the bullocks, +having, of course, “planted” them up some obscure creek, and if they +were sent on the road they always got on the spree. + +I was very glad when Dick Absolon offered to take the team off my +hands, and to contract for the work about the place. I had a lot of +trouble in getting sound trees for the bed-logs of my machinery. There +was any amount of timber about the place, but it takes a good tree to +square twenty-four inches for a length of twenty feet, because most +Queensland trees, when they get to a certain size, get a pipe in the +middle, and I would not stand anything that was not perfectly solid. +In putting up a battery for crushing quartz it is impossible to be +too careful about getting the foundations solid. Upon this everything +depends. You may have the best mill, and all the most recent appliances +and improvements for saving gold, but if your foundations shake you +will lose a lot of gold. + +Many a promising gold field has been ruined by having bad machinery put +up on it. Reefs that would have paid handsomely with good machinery are +abandoned as unpayable, and the field is deserted. + +In laying the foundations of my stamper-boxes I went right down to the +bed rock, with a trench twenty feet long and four feet six inches wide. +In the bottom of this I laid three feet of concrete cement for the +foundation of the bed-logs. The bed-logs themselves were two splendid +sticks of curly red-gum, nineteen feet long, sawn square twenty-four +inches by twenty-one, and bolted together with two-inch iron bolts. +These were laid horizontally in the trench. Three upright piles, five +feet high and twenty-four inches square, standing on the bed-logs, +formed the foundation of each stamper-box. These piles were very +strongly bolted together, fitted with the utmost nicety, and levelled +with the accuracy of a billiard table. + +Each stamper-box was a solid casting, weighing nearly a ton, about four +feet long, four feet high, and fifteen inches in width. + +In each box five stampers work. The stampers are raised about ten +inches, and then allowed to fall, by means of a shaft which revolves +overhead, which is fitted with “cams” or “wipers,” which give two drops +of the stamper for every revolution of the shaft. The weight of each +stamper with the shank, head, shoe, and disc complete, is about eight +hundredweight. They work close together in the box, and underneath +each is placed a die of hematite iron, and between the bottom of this +and the floor of the box itself a layer of quartz is always placed, to +prevent the shock of the stamper’s fall from breaking the box. + +Round the boxes is placed a frame of heavy cross-logs to support the +columns upon which the cam-shaft works. These logs are kept quite clear +of any contact with the foundation of the boxes, so that the inevitable +jar of the constant fall of the stampers may not injure the rest of the +machinery. The shaft is worked by belting connected with a stationary +engine, which can be instantly disconnected on to a loose pulley-wheel. + +At the back of the boxes are the quartz-shoots into which the quartz is +tipped out of the drays from the reefs, and broken up into pieces about +the size of a man’s fist. The feeder stands here with a long-handled +shovel, and slings the quartz into an opening at the back of the box. + +There is a good deal of art in feeding the stampers properly, and a +good man will run a ton a shift more through the boxes than a duffer, +with the same number of revolutions to the minute. If he feeds too +slow, of course there is waste of power, and he is liable to break the +dies by letting the stampers fall on to them too clean. On the other +hand, if he feeds too fast he chokes them, and wastes any amount of +time that way. A feeder takes a twelve hours’ shift right on end, and a +very monotonous occupation it is. + +In the front of the box is an opening about two feet long and a foot +high, fitted with gratings. The fineness of the gratings used varies +according to the coarseness of the gold in the stone crushed, but from +a hundred and eighty to two hundred and forty holes to the square inch +are the ordinary ones. A constant stream of water is kept flowing +through the boxes while the stampers are at work, and the stone is +pounded up inside till it can only escape in the form of fine mud +through the gratings. + +From time to time a little quicksilver is thrown into the boxes, and +all the coarse gold collects in the form of amalgam. + +Below the boxes are the tables upon which the fine gold that escapes +from the boxes is collected. These tables are sheets of copper on +wooden frames, and have a slope of about half an inch to the foot. +There are three sets of them, and at the end of each is what is called +a quicksilver ripple, which is a solid piece of wood with three +troughs cut along it, about two inches deep, each a little lower than +the other, and filled nearly full of quicksilver. The copper tables +themselves are faced with quicksilver, which is kept constantly bright +by the use of nitric acid or cyanide of potass. + +Keeping the tables and quicksilver in good order is a science of +itself, for, unless the quicksilver is lively, quantities of gold are +lost. + +The water flows from the boxes along the whole length of the tables, +carrying with it the tailings from the boxes and the fine gold. This +last is caught by the quicksilver, and hardens on to the plates in +amalgam. From time to time this is scraped off as the crushing goes on, +and the tables faced again with fresh quicksilver. + +The man who attends to the tables, and to the retorting and smelting +of the gold, is called the “amalgamator.” Good men at this trade +are scarce, and will easily earn from four to six pounds a week on +a Queensland diggings. Even with the greatest care, and first-rate +tables, a good deal of gold always contrives to get away. The tailings, +as they are called, that have passed over the tables and run away into +the waste drain, are analysed from time to time to test the waste of +gold that is going on. + +This process, above described, is the simplest form of crushing quartz, +and is only fit for stone which contains gold in a pure form, unmixed +with pyrites, galena, and other abominations that drive an amalgamator +out of his mind. Where these exist, the tailings have to be separately +treated, with more elaborate contrivances. + +The tables lie close under the stamper-boxes, but great care is taken +to keep them from actually coming into contact, for fear the jar of the +stampers should interfere with them. + +Holliman certainly did his work to admiration, and the mill is now +reckoned to be about the best set up of any in Queensland. + +Having got everything ready for a start, we fixed on a day for +christening the mill, and my brother’s wife came up from the station, +forty miles away, to perform the ceremony. After some consideration +I determined to call the mill the “Sabbath Calm.” Anyone who has +ever lived near a quartz mill will see at once that the name was not +altogether inappropriate. The row made by the stampers is perfectly +deafening. They go on, when quartz is available, from six o’clock on +Monday morning till six o’clock on Saturday night, and no one who has +not been maddened by the incessant din for a whole week can thoroughly +appreciate the repose that Sunday’s quiet brings with it. + +The christening morning broke fair over the valley of Mount Britten, +and, if the sun thought anything about it at all, he must have been +startled at the change which a few months had made in the wilderness. +The mill itself was a most imposing sight, with its vast expanse of +galvanised iron roof and tall brick stack; and anyone who scattered +a glance over the tremendously heavy machinery, fitted with all the +most recent improvements, and faultlessly erected, would have found it +difficult to realise that he was in the heart of the lonely mountains +of Queensland, where, eighteen months before, the kangaroos and +wallabies had had it all to themselves. + +All the men who were working for me had a holiday in honour of the +occasion, and all who were not gave themselves one, so that the whole +population of the diggings assembled to see the start. They had all +treated themselves to a wash in the creek, and everyone who could had +fossicked out a clean shirt and a flash-coloured silk handkerchief as a +tribute of respect to the important day. + +The old doctor was in splendid form. He had been saving himself up for +the occasion for ever so long, and, I believe, had drunk nothing for a +week on purpose to enjoy himself all the more. In his excitement he had +forgotten the wash in the creek, but he had climbed into an old pith +helmet and a faded blue coat, which made him look far more disreputable +than he did in his working clothes. He drank enough for four without +ever turning a hair, and never stopped talking and laughing from +sunrise to sundown. + +Holliman surveyed his own completed work with perfect satisfaction, and +without a particle of anxiety as to the working of the machinery in +the approaching trial. He had the confidence of a real artist in his +own performance, and, knowing that it had all been done in the best +possible way, he had not a doubt about the result. The amalgamating +table was turned into a bar, and one of the men told off as barman, +with orders to give everyone anything they wanted as long as the liquor +held out. He had a couple of buckets full of rum, with a pannikin to +ladle it out, and an enormous army of bottles of beer, porter, brandy, +and whisky. + +A bottle of brandy decorated with streamers of red, white, and blue +ribbon was hung from the roof, opposite the fly-wheel. Punctually, at +12 o’clock, my brother’s wife advanced, amid a solemn silence, and +grasped the bottle. Holliman looked at me as much as to say, “I’ve done +my part of the business, now you can start yours.” + +The steam was on, so I jammed down the lever. Slowly and smoothly the +vast fly-wheel began to revolve; the bottle, discharged with unerring +precision, was dashed to pieces against it; and the “Sabbath Calm” +was fairly started, amid wild cheers from the assembled crowd. The +old doctor nearly went mad with delight. He flung his old helmet +into the air, and, waving his third pannikin of rum round his head, +was about to give vent to the discordant bellow by which a German +endeavours to imitate a British cheer, when he overbalanced himself and +fell backwards into an enormous tailing-tub full of water. Far from +discouraging him, this catastrophe seemed to delight him immensely. +He was extricated, perfectly good-humoured and cheerful, and, having +called for another pannikin of rum, he insisted on making a speech, +to which no one listened, all hands being busily engaged in drinking +success to the new mill. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +GOLD-DIGGING + + +We had 98 tons of quartz to go through from the “Erratic Star,” and 185 +tons from the “Wanderer”; and there was great excitement all over the +field to know the result of the first crushing; for upon the success of +a first crushing depends, in a great measure, the fate of a gold field. + +Until you get used to the appearance of the stone you are working, it +is very difficult to form an estimate beforehand of the yield. There +was the greatest divergence of opinion as to the “Wanderer” stone, in +which coarse gold showed freely, and wagers were laid that it would go +anything up to twenty ounces to the ton. + +Gibbard and I knew better, and we decided that we should be very much +pleased if it went four ounces. After the stampers had been at work a +few hours the amalgam began to show on the distributing plate, as the +table next below the boxes is called. This was a good sign, as we had +not expected to find very much fine gold in the stone. + +There was no particular hurry, so we put the stone through slowly, in +order to give it every chance. If the stone is pretty clean, ten head +of stamps will crush about a ton an hour; but we only put through about +sixteen hundredweight. I used to take the night shift of twelve hours, +driving the engine and firing up. This last is pretty hard work, when +round logs with the bark on are used for firewood. Iron-bark wood burns +perfectly well when quite green, and a log a foot through and five feet +long requires a little handling to plant it scientifically in a furnace +without wasting any heat. The shareholders in a claim always take turns +to watch the boxes and tables when a good crushing is going through, +and never leave their post for an instant. Nothing is easier than for +anyone working about the tables to remove some of the amalgam, and +retort it at his leisure; and in order to prevent this there is always +a shareholder on guard. Charlie Gibbard used to watch all night, armed +with a revolver, and in the intervals of firing-up I used to sit and +yarn and smoke with him, and speculate on the result of the crushing. + +We went on crushing for eighteen days and nights, with Sundays +interval, and at the end of that time the whole of the stone was +through. We had collected about 100 ounces of amalgam off the plates, +which would yield about thirty-five ounces of gold; but the important +part of the plunder was, of course, inside the boxes. + +When we opened them a very healthy sight was there. In the corners of +the boxes the amalgam was piled like snow collected in the corners of a +window-pane, and we saw at once that the crushing was fully as good as +we had expected. The whole contents of the boxes were raked carefully +out, and run through a sluice-box, to separate the amalgam from the +quartz. + +The amalgam thus collected was mixed with that already taken from +the tables, and with the quicksilver from the ripples, and the whole +of it strained through a piece of strong brown holland. The free +quicksilver passes through this, leaving the amalgam behind, which is +then retorted. The process of retorting is very simple. The amalgam +is placed in an iron pot, fitted with a lid which is wedged on very +tight, the joint being made up with a compound of ashes and clay. On +the top of the lid is a long curved iron pipe. The retort is placed +over a fire, and as it gets hot the quicksilver ascends in fumes into +the iron pipe, over the lower portion of which a stream of cold water +is kept constantly flowing. The quicksilver is condensed again, and +flows down the pipe into a bucket placed at the end to receive it. + +Quicksilver can be used over and over again in this way, and not +above seven or eight per cent is lost in the retorting. Just after it +has been retorted it is in the best possible order for amalgamating +purposes. We got 1650 ounces of amalgam from the 185 tons of stone. + +As a rule, amalgam does not retort more than a third of its own weight +in gold, but the “Wanderer” gold was so coarse that we hoped for a much +higher percentage. The event proved we were right, for the amalgam +gave us 870 ounces of retorted gold. We had used two retorts, in order +that the gold might be more conveniently packed for travelling, and it +was turned out in two cakes about the size and shape of a beefsteak +pudding. Retorted gold is curious-looking stuff, all porous and +honeycombed where the quicksilver has left it. + +This gave an average yield of 4 oz. 14 dwt. to the ton, which was very +satisfactory, as it paid all the back expenses of the reef, and, after +paying the mill 30s. a ton for crushing, left a very good dividend. + +My brother, who was half shares with me in the mill and the reef too, +came up just before the end of the crushing to help me bring the gold +down to the bank in Mackay. Towards the last we had been running the +stone from the “Erratic Star” through one of the batteries, and we +cleaned up shortly after the “Wanderer.” The “Erratic Star” turned out +a fraud. We had only run the pick of the stone through, and 98 tons +only gave us 102 ounces of gold. + +It was midday when we finished retorting, and my brother and I lost no +time in getting ready for a start. We wrapped the gold up carefully in +canvas, and then put it into two boxes, one of which we stowed away on +each side of a packhorse in leathern packbags. + +Gibbard came with us, and the three of us formed the first gold escort +that ever left Mount Britten. We had a revolver apiece, in case of +being stuck up on the road. Our own horses were good enough, but we had +rather misgivings about the packhorse, which was an old crow-bait my +brother had chartered from the station for the purpose of bringing down +the gold. + +The station was forty miles away, and we intended to get a feed and a +change of horses there, and go on to Mackay the same night. For the +first eighteen miles out of the diggings it was lovely travelling, +over the downs country, without a stone or a ridge to stop one. But we +made the pace rather too rough for the old packhorse, and when we got +to Nebo Creek, twenty-two miles from Mount Spencer, he knocked up. My +brother was a little way on ahead, and I sung out to him to stop. + +“Hi, Sammy! this dying old hair-trunk is about bust. We’ll have to go +steady or he’ll camp altogether.” + +“Camp!” said my brother; “no fear. He’s only blown; he was all right +when we started, and he simply _can’t_ have bust on seventeen miles. +Here, let me get behind him with a stick, and see if we can’t scare a +trot out of him.” + +So far from raising a trot, neither threats nor persuasion could induce +him to walk, and it was evident we should have to leave him. + +“Deuce take the old brute for going back on us like this,” I said; +“what are we going to do?” + +“Why--walk, of course,” said my brother. “We can’t sling the plunder, +and we certainly ain’t going to camp here.” + +Walk! The day was sweltering hot, we were twenty-two miles from home, +and the way lay over a succession of fiendish dry stony bare ridges. +No one who has not been in the country can form any conception of +the violent aversion which an Australian has to walking a yard if he +can help it. It is an old saying that an Australian will walk a mile +to catch a horse to ride half a mile, and there is a great deal of +truth in it. In this instance there was nothing else for it. We were +particularly anxious to get to Mackay the following morning early, and, +of course, could not dream of parting with the gold for an instant. + +Charlie offered to lend us his horse to pack the gold on, and walk +home, but we would not hear of it, so we decided to pack the gold on +one of our horses and take turns to run alongside. My brother took the +first spell on foot, and accomplished three miles and a half over the +ridges in excellent time. We managed to do the twenty-two miles in +three hours and a half, which was very fair travelling considering the +road and the weather. + +When we got to the station it was dark, but the moon got up soon after, +and we sent the black boy out to run up some fresh horses. Having had +a feed and a smoke, we lay down and had a sleep, and about one o’clock +in the morning started again on our journey down to Mackay, forty-five +miles away. This time we took care to select a reliable packhorse, and +we got safely to Mackay about eight in the morning. As soon as the +bank opened, we took the gold round there. Great was the astonishment +of everyone in Mackay when they saw the quantity of gold that we had +brought down. The townspeople had never taken any interest in Mount +Britten beyond trying to put me to all the inconvenience that they +could in connection with my work there, and the first crushing had been +such a long while coming they had all come to the conclusion that Mount +Britten was a “duffer,” and that there was no gold there at all. + +The manager of the bank especially had always had a great edge on the +diggings, and been very active in circulating reports that it was a +failure. His jaw dropped like a motherless calf’s when he saw nearly +1000 ounces of gold produced at the first start, and he barely retained +sufficient presence of mind to offer me his congratulations, which I +accepted for what they were worth, as I had not forgotten his flying +visit to Mount Britten, and his subsequent report of the field. My +brother and I finished what we had to do as quickly as possible, and +got back to the station the same night. + +I was back again at Mount Britten the next day at midday, and started +to get down another crushing from the reefs as quickly as possible. + +From the “Wanderer” the next crushing turned out over six ounces to the +ton, and the one after that between seven and eight ounces; and still +the reef looked splendid. But another hundred tons from the “Star” only +gave a hundred ounces, and the reef got so poor after that, that it was +no longer payable. + +As a speculation the mill itself did not pay, as there was not nearly +enough stone to keep it going. + +There were some other very nice reefs opened up, but there was no +capital available to work them, and they remained idle. I soon saw that +to look after the mines properly I should have to give up my whole time +to it, and make a profession of mining. This I was unwilling to do, so +my brother and I agreed to try and float the whole property, comprising +the Wanderer and Star Reefs and Sabbath Calm Mill, into a company down +in Melbourne. + +Having obtained offers of the other shareholders’ shares for a certain +time, I left Holliman in charge of the whole swim, and, armed with +specimens from the different reefs, and authentic reports of the +crushings, I set off down to Melbourne. + +I was very sorry to leave Mount Britten. Certainly the two happiest +years of my life were spent there, and I knew very well that if I +ever revisited it, it would not be to live there. In the intervals of +working, and on Sundays, I had contrived to finish a very comfortable +little house for myself on the opposite side of the creek from the +mill, and there I had been living for some months. It was all built of +Bush stuff; but I dressed it all myself, and put it up very carefully. +The slabs were adzed as smooth as glass inside, laid horizontal, and +bevilled and fitted with the utmost nicety. I bestowed infinite pains +upon the roof, which was shingles; and the whole, when finished, was as +weather-tight as a bottle. + +It was twenty-four feet long and twelve feet wide, the whole of one end +being blocked up by an enormous fireplace seven feet square inside. I +always believe in a big fireplace. On a cold winter’s night you can get +right in and sit at the side of the fire, and it is a first-rate place +to hang clothes up to dry, and also to smoke beef in. + +There was plenty of waste timber of all sorts from the mill, so I +had no lack of material for doors, windows, tables, shelves, and +other fixings. The floor was tongue and groove pine, which is a great +luxury in the Bush, as it is always dry and easily kept clean. In one +corner was a bed; but I always kept it for visitors, as I infinitely +prefer the floor to sleep on. Anyone who has once acquired the habit +of sleeping on the floor or on hard ground will always wake up much +fresher, and feeling more rested, than if he takes to sleeping in a bed +again. + +A well-lined bookshelf and an enormous clock adorned the walls on one +side; on the other were rows of shelves filled with pickles, jam, soap, +matches, and other stores. The corner opposite the bed was turned +into an office, fitted up with innumerable pigeon-holes, shelves of +account-books, and a table with a copying-press, and writing material +of every description. + +One or two butter-tubs to sit on, a huge armchair near the fireplace, a +meat-safe, and a cupboard full of tobacco, completed the furniture of +the establishment. + +All the time that I was in the Bush I made it my boast that although I +might occasionally be found very indifferently clad, and sometimes very +short of rations, I never was without a supply of excellent tobacco. + +I had gone over the creek for a site for my hut, in the first place, to +be away from the clatter of the mill, and, in the second place, because +it was the most perfect situation for a house that could be imagined. +Just at the junction of two running creeks, there was a never-failing +supply of excellent water; and the soil, being the old bed of the +creek, was all made ground, and admirably suited for a garden, which I +intended to have had if I had remained there any time. The bed of the +creek was full of timber, she-oaks, fig-trees, and Leichardt; and just +opposite to my hut was a gigantic old flooded gum, with huge, spreading +branches and a trunk at least forty feet round. + +She-oaks are scraggy-looking poles of trees, rather like fir-trees; but +both fig-trees and Leichardt are very handsome, and give a splendid +shade. The latter is a very symmetrical tree, that grows to a height of +about sixty feet, and has leaves rather like a big laurel. + +Behind my hut towered the three mountains known as the Marling-Spikes; +and a gap which I cut in the timber on the banks of the creek gave me a +beautiful view right up to the head of the valley of Mount Britten. + +At the back of my hut I put up a bark building, which served for a +carpenter’s shop, and a kitchen; and beyond that was a small paddock +with a sapling fence, into which I could turn my horses for the night. +This was a great convenience. There was no paddock within four miles +of Mount Britten, and, for some reason or other, no horse, even in +hobbles, would ever stay a moment near the place. It is said that the +grass in localities where minerals are found is always sour. Anyway, no +cattle or horses would ever stay near the diggings, though the grass +looked good enough. + +I often used to get home in the middle of the night, and was always +losing my horses, until I put up a paddock. When I first got to the +diggings I brought four horses with me, and a black boy to look after +them. They all cleared out the first night. I sent the black boy after +them, but he was frightened of the other blacks, and went and planted +instead of looking for them. I was lame myself at the time, and could +not go out after them, but I got two of them back at the end of a +fortnight. The other two broke their hobbles, and I never saw them +again for nearly a year, when they turned up on a station about a +hundred miles off, as fat as pigs. + +On Sundays I used generally to have a good many visitors after my hut +was finished. It is said that there is no Sunday in the Bush, and +certainly it does not mean much of a day of rest to a man who lives +quite by himself, and works hard all the week. Sunday is always the +day for a general overhaul and repairs. Clothes are washed and mended, +the hut cleared and swept out, and a supply of firewood laid in for +the coming week; and a man who is away at work every day of the week, +from sunrise to sundown, will always find that a dozen little jobs will +accumulate in the week, which can only be done on Sunday. I had very +little time for cooking in the week, and it was always an occupation I +disliked, so I used to do most of the week’s cooking on Sunday. + +After the diggings had been open some time, the butcher used to kill a +bullock nearly every day, and there was always fresh meat to be had. +But the butcher’s shop was nearly a mile away from my house, and, +besides, I never would touch fresh meat as long as I could get salt. So +on Sunday I used to boil twelve or fourteen pounds of salt beef, and +bake a damper about the size of a small cartwheel; and this used to +last me, unless the beef went bad, until about Thursday. After which +I used to get some fresh meat, or boil some more salt if I had time, +until the next Sunday. Salt beef wants a lot of attention when it is +boiling, for if the water boils too fast it turns as hard as a stone, +and if it stops boiling it gets sodden. + +My hut, being three quarters of a mile away from the township, +possessed the great advantage of being perfectly quiet, and free from +any disturbance of nocturnal revellers. From sundown to sunrise I never +used to see a soul, or hear a sound except when the mill was at work. +It was rather a lonely place, too, at night, when the wind was howling +among the mountains, and the rain coming down in sheets, and the creek +foaming and roaring bank-high before the door. Often I have gone up to +the township after dark to get a supply of food, and had to swim the +creek on the way home, with my supper in the form of a beefsteak in +my mouth; and when I got home found the fire out, and nothing but a +poisonous black spider sitting on the table to welcome me. But anyone +who knocks about the Bush for a time, ceases to care a farthing +whether he is wet or dry as long as the weather is warm; and as for +being lonely, he soon comes to regard his own company, with a fire and +a pipe, as quite sufficient. + +As a speculation my mining had not been a success. + +During the time that I was working the Mount Britten reefs, the +receipts and expenditure were as follows:-- + +“Little Wanderer.” + + Gross expenses £4967 18 5 + Gold sold 8689 1 2 + +This left a balance of £3721:2:9 in favour of the claim. + +“Erratic Star.” + + Gross expenses £2275 5 10 + Gold sold 688 19 1 + ----------- + Leaving a deficit of £1586 6 9 + =========== + +The “Sabbath Calm” machine cost about £9000, against which it received +£1050 from the reefs for crushing stone. + +The first cost of opening up a reef is always very great, and it is +doubly so, of course, upon a new field. + +Wages at Mount Britten were very high, ordinary miners getting £3 a +week; carpenters, sawyers, and bricklayers from £4:10s. to £6. + +The cost of carriage to Mackay was £15 per ton at first, but it +afterwards fell to £8, at which figure it remained. My bill for +carriage alone was over £600. + +Had either the “Star” or the “Wanderer” continued for a year longer +as good as they proved at first, we should have made a small fortune +out of either of them, and the mill would have paid well as a separate +speculation. On a new field where crushing is charged for at the rate +of 30s or £2 a ton, the profits from a mill that can get sufficient +stone to keep it constantly going are enormous. + +Ten head of stampers will put through 120 tons a week with ease. At +30s. per ton this gives a return of £180 a week. The whole cost of +driving a mill, including wages, firewood, quicksilver, and repairs, +and allowing 7 per cent per annum for depreciation in value of the +plant, should not exceed £55 a week, even on a new field where wages +and carriage are high. This leaves a clear profit of £125 a week, or +£6500 a year. + +When we decided to try and float a company to work the reef the +“Wanderer” was in full swing, and turning out seven ounces to the ton. +But I know very well that all Queensland reefs are what is called +“patchy.” The gold runs in “levels” and “shoots,” and is seldom evenly +distributed throughout the whole line of reef, as is the case in +Victoria. Consequently, anyone working a Queensland reef is liable +at any moment to come upon a perfectly blank patch of stone; and the +expenses of working through this, and looking for another level of +gold, are far too heavy to be borne by a single individual. + +The “Wanderer” was what is called a first-rate show; that is to say, +the surrounding country, the formation of the reef, the work done, +and the yields already obtained, gave every indication of its being +permanent reef carrying heavy gold. More than this no one can ever say. +The extraordinary vagaries of gold, especially in Queensland reefs, +make mining the purest gambling, and any practical miner who has been +long at his trade comes to disbelieve entirely in the “nostrums” of +theoretical geologists and scientific miners for discovering gold, and +subscribes to the Cornishman’s maxim of “Where it be, there it be.” + +When a man has been working a particular reef for a length of time, he +may come to know from certain indications in the stone that he is in +the neighbourhood of a heavy patch of gold; but on a new field, where +the character of the country remains still untried, no man can see +farther than the point of his own pick. Indications that on one field +point with almost an absolute certainty to the vicinity of gold, may +mean nothing at all on a field fifty miles away. + +For instance, on Gympie the presence of black slate is invariably +accompanied by rich deposits of gold in the adjacent reef. When a claim +strikes black slate, the shareholders go about the streets brandishing +samples of it, and the shares go up just as if they had struck gold. + +There is certainly some mysterious affinity between gold and black +slate on Gympie. I have seen a reef there, in black-slate country, +carrying heavy gold all along, until a thin vein of gray rock came +between the reef and the slate. At the exact spot where this happened +the reef became perfectly blank, and not a colour of gold was seen +until the gray rock was cut out, and the reef touched the slate again, +when it carried as heavy gold as ever. + +On Mount Britten the presence of black slate meant apparently nothing +at all. There was no slate in the vicinity of the “Wanderer” at all, +and the “Star” lost her gold at a depth of ninety feet, just when she +got into the most magnificent black-slate country I ever saw. + +Again, on Charters Towers, when mundic is struck in a claim, the +fortune of everyone connected with it is considered to be made; but on +Ravenswood, sixty miles away, if they strike mundic they shut up the +claim at once, for the Ravenswood mundic has hitherto proved too much +for any appliances available in Australia for extracting the gold from +it. + +The Gympie reefs are very patchy, and some of them are marvellously +rich. I never saw a more wonderful sight than a “patch” in No. 2 North +Lady Mary claim. The reef, which was about eight inches thick, was of +milk-white quartz, in slate country as black as coal; and as I stood +back and held a candle over my head, the whole face of the reef, eight +feet high, was literally blazing with gold. It was sticking out in +bright, glittering masses, and even the slate walls of the reef were +thickly spotted over with the precious metal. + +Gold, when it is first broken down in a reef, bears no sort of +resemblance to the dull-coloured compound that is worked up into +jewellery and the coin of the realm. It is about the colour of brass, +or rock sulphur, and breaks into crystal cubes which glitter and shine +with dazzling brilliancy. + +This patch in the Lady Mary yielded 1470 ounces from twenty tons of +quartz. About the best paying claim on Gympie, when I was there, was +the No. 1 North Phœnix. A party of men had bought it about ten months +before for £100, and were considered to be perfect fools for their +pains. However, they set to work and sunk a shaft 320 feet, and struck +the reef carrying heavy gold. + +While I was there they crushed 700 tons for an average yield of over +eleven ounces to the ton. In eighteen months the claim had paid over +£100,000 in dividends, and the shareholders refused an offer of +£150,000 for the claim from a Sydney syndicate. The shares, of which +there were 24,000 in the original company, were selling at £7:10s. and +£8. + +In Victoria some of the big reefs there can pay a dividend with a +yield of four pennyweights to the ton; but in Queensland the reefs are +smaller as a rule, and it is seldom that anything less than one ounce +to the ton pays well. Were more capital available, this would not be +the case; and there is no doubt that in the future great numbers of +Queensland reefs that have been abandoned will be taken up and worked +again profitably. + +Gold-mining in Queensland is still in its infancy. The best geologists +declared that no gold would ever be found on Gympie below the second +bed of slate; but a few enthusiasts persisted in going down to see for +themselves, and experience proved that the surface-gold that had been +obtained was insignificant compared with the yield below the second and +third beds of slate. + +So far, the rule seems to be that the deeper you go the more gold you +get; but the deepest working in Queensland is only 600 feet, which +is mere scratching compared to some of the southern workings, which +are down nearly 3000 feet. The ordinary history of a Queensland gold +field is this, and it is repeated with monotonous regularity:--First +of all, alluvial gold is discovered, which brings a rush to the place. +Reefs are discovered, the surface of some of them proves tremendously +rich; a second reefing rush sets in, and the surface levels of gold +are worked out with a very small outlay of capital. The place is then +declared to be a “duffer,” and abandoned, except by a few fanatics, +who stick there for months and years, and by incredible patience and +perseverance manage to strike a fresh level of gold at a greater depth. +This brings capital to the field, the reefs are opened up and worked +systematically, and the place becomes a permanent gold field. + +[Illustration: THE END OF A GOLD RUSH.] + +Up to the present time Gympie, Charters Towers, the Etheridge, and +the Hodgkinson are the only diggings that have passed through the +transition changes, and assumed a permanent aspect. Of these Charters +Towers is far the best, and Gympie the next, but the other two are +developing quickly. But all through Queensland, inside the coast range, +runs a vast belt of gold-bearing quartz, and innumerable diggings have +been discovered, from which heavy surface yields were obtained, but +which have been partly deserted for want of capital to develop them. + +Mount Wheeler, Clermont, the Cape River, the Normanby, the Mulgrave, +Ravenswood, Cloncurry, and the Palmer have all as good prospects as +ever Gympie or Charters Towers had, but they are at present in a state +of suspended animation, waiting for capital to work their lower levels. +Of these Ravenswood and the Palmer are the most promising. On the +Palmer the richness of the reefs is beyond dispute, and it is simply +the heavy expense of keeping down the water in the claims that prevents +their being worked. On Ravenswood the prospects are still better. The +only difficulty to contend with there is the complicated nature of +the mundic in which the gold is found. The richness of the stone is +surprising, and the samples of mundic which have been sent home to +Swansea to be treated yield as high as twenty ounces to the ton. + +Undoubtedly in the future the gold-mining of Queensland will develop +into vast dimensions, and already it has contributed largely to +the prosperity of the colony. Gympie broke out at a time when the +Queensland exchequer was nearly empty, and the revival that took place +was undoubtedly due entirely to the discovery of gold. + +The annual yield of Gympie is now nearly 100,000 ounces, and that of +Charters Towers is considerably over. In 1879 the estimated value of +gold produced throughout the colony was £1,010,000, but since then a +large increase has taken place. The Day Dawn claim on Charters Towers +is about the best claim in Queensland at the present time. Four or five +separate companies were ruined in trying to make her pay, but in 1881 +a party of four or five Germans struck gold there. In eighteen months +they had taken £135,000 out of the claim, and apparently were only +just beginning to find out what it was worth, for when last I heard +of them, in July 1883, they had a reef nineteen feet thick crushing +regularly three ounces to the ton. + +By far the greater portion of gold raised in Queensland up to the +present time has been got by parties of working men, who have just gone +down as deep as they could without winding machinery, and then slung +the claim, having perhaps been flooded out, or come upon a blank patch +of stone. Scores of reefs are now lying idle in Queensland from which +tremendous yields were obtained near the surface, but which have been +abandoned for want of capital. It is only very lately that it has been +considered worth while to erect winding gear, and work the reefs at a +depth, but the results have been so eminently satisfactory that a vast +increase in the annual yield of gold may be looked for during the next +few years. + +Besides this, fresh fields are constantly being discovered. The +Government offers a reward of £1000 to anyone who discovers a gold +field upon which, six months after it is opened, there shall be upwards +of 200 men at work; and though experience shows that they avail +themselves of every possible technical or legal quibble to cheat the +prospector out of his reward, the pursuit of gold is quite sufficient +to keep up a constant supply of prospectors without any other +inducement. Money may be the root of all evil, but, if so, it is like +the root of a potato, the best part of it, and the Government need not +trouble themselves to offer rewards for the discovery of gold. + +They would do very much more to advance the good of the colony if they +were to prospect the lower levels of the fields already discovered, +by means of a diamond drill, at the public expense. Gold is of all +mistresses the most exacting, and as long as it maintains its market +value there will always be plenty of people to look for it. Experience +proves that gold-mining, as a rule, does not pay, but the pursuit of +gold is indeed the triumph of hope over experience. When once a man +takes to it he is unfit for anything else, and, whether it make or mar +him, he will pursue it to the end of the chapter. The noble army of +mining martyrs stick steadily to their post, and the gaps that time and +ruin make in their ranks are quickly filled up by an ever-increasing +supply of recruits. + + “Servitus crescit nova, nec priores + Impiæ tectum dominæ relinquunt + Sæpe minati.” + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +QUEENSLAND AND HER RESOURCES AND PROSPECTS + + +Queensland dates her existence from the year 1859, when she was +separated from New South Wales, and she is, therefore, the youngest of +the Australian group of colonies. But her vast area, almost the whole +of which is available, her varied climate, and the lavish manner in +which Nature has bestowed upon her all the resources that go to make +a country great, foretell, with certainty, that she will before long +assume the leading position among her sisters, and eventually develop +into one of the finest countries in the world. + +The area of Queensland is 668,224 square miles, rather more than +five and a half times the area of the United Kingdom, and the whole +population in 1882 was only 248,255. + +All along the coast runs a broad belt of mountainous country, entirely +covered with forest. The timber becomes thicker and thicker towards +the tops of the mountains, the higher ones being overgrown with dense +impenetrable “scrub,” while the slopes and valleys between are open +timber, with long grass growing everywhere amongst the trees. + +Between the foot of the coast range and the sea is a tract of level +country, varying from sixty to a few miles in width, in which are +situated large areas of the finest alluvial soil, suitable, in the +southern parts of the colony, for the growth of all the fruits and +cereals of a temperate climate, and, in the central and northern +districts, for the cultivation of cotton, coffee, tobacco, sugar, and +all the products of the tropics. + +The whole of the coast country is well watered, and is not subject +to the severe droughts which occasionally visit the interior. The +mountains, of course, attract rain, and the valleys between form +natural reservoirs, in the shape of chains of water-holes and big +lagoons, and, especially on the eastern slopes, innumerable creeks rise +in the ranges, and find their way down to the sea. + +One of the most extraordinary features of the coast country is the vast +quantity of timber that grows everywhere. It is positively bewildering +to think of the thousands of square miles that are covered with endless +trees. The most common varieties are the blue, red, and spotted gum, +iron-bark, stringy-bark, and blood-wood, all of which are admirably +adapted for fencing and building purposes, as they are easily split and +sawn, possess a very high breaking strain, and, when protected from the +weather and the attacks of white ants, are perfectly imperishable. Even +when standing in the ground, and exposed to the weather, they are good +for fifteen or twenty years. + +Of course, away in the Bush, the ravages of Bush-fires and white ants +make havoc among the fences; but I have seen a stringy-bark sap-paling +that had been twelve years in the ground, and when I took it up it was +so sound that I made it into axe-handles. + +Besides these varieties, on the eastern face of the coast range are +pine, red cedar, and beech, and, on the western slopes, rose-wood, +myall, dead-finish, plum-tree, iron-wood, and sandal-wood, all woods +with a fine grain suitable for cabinet-making and fancy work. With the +exception of cedar and pine, large quantities of which are exported +every year, these woods are of little value at present, and on the +Queensland lines of railway sandal-wood is used as fuel, the quantity +of heat which it gives out being greater than that of any other wood +in the colony. It is an inferior kind of sandal-wood, but still it +contains a great quantity of oil. + +The scrubs of Northern Queensland are full of different sorts of +hard-wood, with most beautiful variegated grains, admirable for +veneering; but at present their inaccessible position prevents their +attracting the attention that they undoubtedly will when the country +is more opened up. A visit to the Queensland gallery in the South +Kensington Museum will give some idea of the beautiful quality of her +different woods, but nothing but a visit to the colony can give any +idea of the quantity. + +The extent and richness of the mineral districts of Queensland are +almost fabulous; and although the accounts of experts and others of +what they have seen may, at first, appear incredible, experience +proves every day that they fall short of the reality, and that +the extraordinary wealth of the colony in metals is comparatively +unexplored. + +The recent crushings on Gympie gold field read more like a fairy tale +than anything else, and when the report of them appeared in the papers +everyone in the colony thought it was a misprint. One line of reef +there lately took 500 tons of quartz out of a shaft that they were +sinking, which averaged 20 ozs. of gold to the ton, and, on another +line, a crushing of 53 tons gave the astounding yield of 2534 ozs. In +nine months over £82,000 in dividends was paid by the latter claim. + +Startling, however, as these returns undoubtedly are, they are entirely +thrown into the shade by the recent discovery of gold at Mount Morgan, +in the neighbourhood of Rockhampton. + +The following is an account of the mine, taken from the Charters Towers +_Mining Journal_ for September 1884:-- + +“Situated about twenty-five miles south-east of Rockhampton, on one +of the branches of the Dee River, it seems to be a portion of a large +basin in the hills. It rises out of granite, and is from 400 to 500 +feet high from the site of the crushing mill, half a mile distant on +the creek, where an abundance of water may be conserved. The property +consists of 640 acres of freehold. + +“The gold-bearing stone is composed of ferrugineous quartz and +ironstone, some of it having the appearance of ‘clinkers’ from a +blacksmith’s forge. The lodes, which seem to be parallel, run north and +south. They are from 40 to 100 feet wide, and are very puzzling to most +visitors. In some places they are quartz, in others porous ironstone, +and in others there are cavities containing stalactites of black +oxidised iron. Some portions are very much richer than others. Gold of +a very fine grain is easily seen in the quartz, where it is not much +oxidised, and, when prospected, it is apparently free. + +“One lode now working is 40 feet wide, and another 100 feet wide in the +face, and about 70 or 80 feet from the crown of the hill, and about 100 +feet below this there is another face of similar stone, on the same +quarry-like lodes. + +“In these faces gold is always obtained from the drillings. By the +present appliances, which are totally inadequate, the yield of gold is +from 10 dwts. to 3 ozs. to the ton. Owing to the heavy nature of the +ironstone quartz there is great loss in the ‘tailings,’ all of which +and the sludge are being saved. Five assays from the ‘tailings’ give +over 4 ozs. to the ton, and the ‘blanketings,’ after being put through +the wheeler’s pan, and the Berdan, and concentrated in the shoot, +assay as high as 90 ozs. of gold to the ton. Taking it for granted that +this statement is correct about the tailings, if the gold can be got +out of the stone it will yield 5 ozs. of gold to the ton, and the top +lode alone is estimated to contain 450,000 tons. + +“According to Dr. Liebius, M.A., F.C.S., the gold from this mine is +worth £4:4:8 per ounce, assaying as high as 99·7 per cent of gold and +is free from silver. The cost of production is remarkably low. It is +said that 3 dwts. of gold to the ton pays for breaking, carting, and +crushing. The formation cannot be called a reef. The whole hill-top +seems to be of richly auriferous stone. It is merely cut away to suit +the convenience of the miners, so that a broad quarry or terrace has +been formed. The cutting is 20 feet deep and about 100 feet long; the +stone is of the same character the whole distance, and extends to the +summit of the mountain several chains higher. + +“With reference to the statement that only one half of the gold is +extracted in the ordinary quartz-crushing and amalgamating machinery, +Dr. Liebius says:-- + +“‘Having the small quartz-crushing machinery in the Sydney mint under +my charge, I had an opportunity of testing this fact. In November last +we received 458 lbs. of this ferrugineous quartz, part of it consisting +of picked stone. It was carefully crushed, and amalgamated in the +Chilian mill with 240 lbs. of mercury. Thus 7·41 ozs. of gold were +extracted. Another lot, weighing 174 lbs., was similarly treated, and +from this 12·12 ozs. of gold were extracted. Thus Lot 1 gave at the +rate of over 39 ozs. of gold to the ton of quartz, while Lot 2 gave +gold at the rate of over 169 ozs. of gold to the ton of quartz. In Lot +1 gold at the rate of 46 ozs. 2 dwts. 12 grs. was left in the tailings, +while in Lot 2 the tailings averaged 46 ozs. 5 dwts. 18 grs. of gold to +the ton.’ + +“This discovery of gold is the largest, and richest in quality, ever +yet made in any part of the world. A ninth share in the property +lately sold for £31,000 (the purchaser being one of the remaining +shareholders), a price very much below its value. Provided the owners +of the mine can extract the gold from the stone, and there is no +reasonable doubt of their being able to do so, the top lode alone +should yield over £9,000,000 of profit. + +“It may be that this mine is unique of its kind, but there is always +a very great likelihood that where there is one there are others. Its +development will give a great stimulus to prospecting, not only in the +neighbourhood of Rockhampton, but throughout the whole of Queensland. +It discloses what prizes this colony, almost unknown as yet, offers. It +is barely two years since the property was purchased from the Morgans; +and had they held on to their interests, they would soon have become +millionaires. As it is, they have in a very short space of time retired +with large fortunes. It is left for their successors to draw in the +future wealth from the mine beyond the wildest dreams of avarice.” + +Besides gold, the country is wonderfully rich in other metals; the +chief of which are copper, iron, tin, silver, cinnabar, lead, and +antimony. The deposits of copper are especially remarkable. The mines +are but little worked at present, since the price of copper fell to £60 +per ton, and the total amount exported in 1882 was only £650. + +But formerly, when copper was worth £90 per ton, the profits from the +mines were very great. Peak Downs copper-mine, the principal one in the +colony, has paid over £1,000,000 in dividends, and, so far from its +being worked out, it is the opinion of experts, and those who worked +in the mines, that there is as much copper there as ever came out. The +mines are not working at present--a circumstance due principally to +the greediness of the shareholders, who thought of nothing but their +dividends, and omitted to open up the mines ahead of the work. + +As an instance of how the work has been mismanaged, an engine shaft +twelve feet square was sunk to a depth of 150 feet, which cut the lode +they were looking for, eighteen feet from the surface, without the +manager ever detecting it. + +The reports of experts who have visited the copper-lodes of the north +show that the resources of the colony in this respect are unlimited. +The following account, by Mr. Sheaffe, of the Mackinlay ranges, and the +Cloncurry copper-mines, in the _Queenslander_ of August 9, 1880, is +well worthy of notice. He writes: + +“The Mackinlay ranges, teeming with an extraordinary wealth of +minerals, are flanked for nearly 200 miles by high undulating downs of +exceeding fertility; so that on the one hand you have almost boundless +pasture, and upon the other almost inexhaustible mines. That I am +justified in speaking of these mines as almost inexhaustible I shall +proceed to show. The first known copper-mines approached by this route +are the Mountain Home, the Rio Grande, and the West Briton, of which +Mr. W. Wellington, who was sent to England by Messrs. Bolitho and Sons, +reported as follows:-- + +“‘The principal lode is at Mount Norma, a well-defined lode, varying +from three to six feet wide, running north and south, and dipping to +the east. It stands in the face of an almost perpendicular mountain, +showing from 400 to 500 yards. The ore is principally gray, of the +following percentage, namely, thirty-four. The Rio Grande lodes consist +of two, running parallel, with a distance of 250 yards between them. +The outcrops show very distinctly on both these lodes for about 300 or +400 yards in length, consisting of red oxide and gray ores, of the +following percentage, namely, forty-four. The West Briton, also running +north and south, is about a mile north-east of the Mountain Home, +showing a large lode from six feet to eight feet wide, chiefly red +oxide and gray ore, of the following percentage, namely, thirty-eight. +These lodes appear to be well defined and regular, all running north +and south, and dipping to the east. The cost of working these lodes +would be very little for some time to come, in consequence of the ore +being so near the surface.’ + +“The line, after leaving these mines, should then pass near the gold +reefs of Bishop’s and Fisher’s creeks. Near this are situated the +Homeward Bound and Flying Dutchman copper-mines, from the former of +which 250 tons of ore have been sent to Sydney, all of which have +yielded over 40 per cent of pure copper. + +“Twelve miles farther on the Cloncurry copper-mines are reached, the +richness and magnitude of which it is difficult to conceive without +having seen them; and though I have known many skilled miners who have +worked at, and several mining engineers of note (Mr. H. A. Thompson, +the Chairman of the Mining Board being one) who have inspected these +mines, I have never known one who was not at first sight astonished +at the almost incredible amount of rich ore lying on the surface of +the ground. Half a mile to the south-west extremely rich and extensive +lodes occur, while thirty miles to the north-west unnumbered lodes +and copper-bearing veins appear. I myself know of nearly 100, only +eight or ten of which are secured, and none worked. Eight miles to the +north-west, on the Leichardt River, are two lodes, containing ores of +red oxide, gray, and malachite. These lodes are from twenty to thirty +feet wide, immense deposits of copper. Big boulders of gray are lying +loose on the surface, of tons’ weight.” + +Some very fine copper-lodes are situated at Mount Flora and Mount +Orange, ninety miles from Mackay. The horseshoe formed by the two +mountains and the ridge that connects them is one mass of copper-lodes, +some of them extremely rich, and consisting principally of red oxide +and malachite. An attempt was made to work them by some local men and +some Sydney capitalists, who put up smelting works on the field, and +obtained very fair results. But the company collapsed, from no fault +of the mines, but from the grossest mismanagement on the part of the +shareholders, backed up by swindling on the part of the mining manager. + +Men who used to work in the mines have since told me that they have +known the manager to put a shot or two into the wall, and entirely +conceal the face of the lode. He then reported to the shareholders +that the lode had “duffered out,” and that it was useless to continue +working; and one of the latter, who was “in the swim” with the manager, +obtained the whole claim from the rest for a trifling sum, and the lode +was opened up again. + +The peculiar natural advantages of the Mount Flora and Mount Orange +mines should make them pay well, if properly managed, even when the +price of copper is as low as it is now. Not only are they within a +short distance of the coast, with a good road all the way to port, but +they are in the centre of a district which is full of large deposits +of coal. It is the opinion of geologists that the western plains will +be found to overlie large beds of this mineral, which has already been +found in nearly every part of the colony where it has been searched for. + +In wandering about the runs in the neighbourhood of Mount Flora +copper-mines, and Mount Britten gold-mines, I have come across many +splendid seams of coal, cropping out in the gullies and banks of the +creeks, some of the seams being eight feet wide, and all of them a very +good sample of coal. In the neighbourhood of Bowen, 100 miles farther +north, there is a seam of coal fifty feet thick, but it is not of quite +such good quality as that farther south. + +The principal coal districts that have as yet been tried are near +Brisbane, in West Moreton, on Darling Downs, at Maryborough, at Bowen, +and at Cooktown in the far north. But I believe, myself, that the coal +beds in the neighbourhood of Grosvenor Downs and Lake Elphinstone, +runs lying between Clermont and Bowen, will prove equal to any yet +discovered in the colony both for quantity and for quality. + +The tin-mines of Queensland are remarkably rich, and the value of the +amount of that metal exported in 1882 was £269,904. The chief mines are +those at Stanthorpe on the southern boundary of the colony, from which +tin to the value of nearly a million sterling has been taken. Hitherto, +all through the colony the metal found has been chiefly in the form of +stream-tin; but recently what was thought to be a valuable discovery of +lode-tin was made at Herberton, in the far north. + +A tremendous rush set in, and boat-loads of speculators started up from +Melbourne and Sydney to secure the ground. Not a man came down from the +north in the steamers but had a sample of Herberton lode-tin in his +pocket, and glowing descriptions of the enormous quantity of it that +was sticking out of the ground excited the southern capitalists to the +verge of madness. + +Certainly the samples sent down were of extraordinary richness, but at +present it seems doubtful whether the lodes will prove permanent, and +I think the people who did best out of the Herberton tin-rush were the +working men who originally took up the ground, some of whom sold their +claims to maniacs from the south for as much as £20,000, without having +done £20 worth of work in them. + +Extraordinary as is the mineral wealth of Queensland, however, it +is not in this that her real greatness lies. Gold is all-powerful +in most things, and its acquisition will, for a time, outweigh all +other considerations, but its presence can never make a barren land +fertile, or turn a bad climate into a good one; and although immense +deposits of this and other metals will always attract a large floating +population, they will never support a permanent one, unless backed up +by other conditions. The real greatness of Queensland lies in the fact +that while she has been exceptionally endowed with what may be called +ready-made wealth in the form of minerals, she possesses at the same +time one of the healthiest climates in the world, and an enormous area +fit for cultivation and stock-rearing, capable of supporting a vast +population under conditions of life the most favourable. She is, in +fact, a self-contained country, having within herself all the elements +of a powerful nation, the germs almost of that chimerical greatness +that has been described by Prince Bismarck as “une puissance finie.” + +The term was applied to England; and whether it was intended to mean +that she is strong enough to maintain her position unassisted either +by an alliance with foreign Powers or by her Colonies, or whether the +double meaning of the last word was meant to imply that the greatness +of England has departed, in either case most Englishmen will be +inclined to question the fitness of its application. The phrase is a +trebly unfortunate one. + +In the first place, the greatness of England has not yet departed; in +the second place, no Power that has ever existed has proved itself +strong enough to entirely disregard an alliance with others; and in +the third place, the only thing in the history of the world that +has ever pointed to the possibility of such a Power arising, is the +present question of a permanent union of all British territories +throughout the world. The British Empire, so united, would be by far +the most powerful one that the world has ever seen, and would, indeed, +be independent of any possible combination against it. But as regards +England herself, now that Imperial Federation is attracting the +universal attention that it deserves, it is apparent that she depends +quite as much upon her Colonies for retaining her present position in +the world as her Colonies depend upon her for retaining theirs; and +Queensland, with a territory of over half a million square miles, and +a population of less than one for every two square miles, must be an +important factor in the future history of a country so over-populated +as Great Britain. + +To the west of the coast-range lie the prairies of Queensland, an +almost boundless extent of rolling downs and plains, covered with grass +and herbage that for rearing sheep and cattle is unsurpassed in any +country of the world. Every mile of available country is now taken up, +and held by the squatters, who are, of course, the chief producers of +the colony, and to get new country a man must go into the northern +territory of South Australia and into Western Australia. The number +of sheep in Queensland in 1882 was over 12,000,000, and the number of +cattle about 4,000,000; the value of the wool exported in the same +year being £1,329,019. In the future sheep will increase very much +faster than cattle, for no one who can afford the expense of forming +a sheep-station will continue to rear cattle upon country that is fit +to carry sheep. For many years to come, from climatic reasons if for +no others, it is certain that the interior of Queensland will continue +to be what it is now, essentially a wool-producing country; and its +capabilities in this respect are incalculable. + +The rainfall is unreliable, and the absence of natural water renders +even the squatter’s industry at all times rather a precarious one, and +obliges him to spend large sums of money in making permanent water upon +his runs. The danger of drought is lessened by the largeness of the +areas held by the squatter, and is further reduced by the precaution +of storing water, but in a drought such as has recently visited the +southern portion of Queensland, and New South Wales, nothing can save +him from serious loss, and it is in reality only the enormous profits +which he makes in good seasons that enable him to face an occasional +bad one with cheerfulness. + +In the chapter devoted to a comparison of the relative advantages of +a sheep-station and a cattle-station will be found statistics which +show what the profits of the former amount to in fair seasons; but +anyone who is acquainted with the Western country would see at once the +absurdity of supposing that it could be profitably held except in large +areas, for pastoral purposes, until a great change has taken place in +the civilisation of the colony. + +It is impossible, of course, to imagine that such a country can remain +permanently in the hands of a few hundred graziers, whose object is to +keep away any population from their runs beyond the few hands necessary +to work their flocks and herds. The Western Downs are supposed by +geologists to overlie large underground reservoirs of water, and +certainly wherever wells have been sunk to any depth success has +attended the experiments, so that in time it is probable that some +system of irrigation will be developed, which will turn the country +into something more profitable to the community than sheep-runs; and +the opening up of the country by railways will transform the interior +of Queensland from a purely pastoral into an agricultural country. +That cheap carriage to the coast is the one thing needful to make +wheat-growing pay has been conclusively proved by the large quantities +grown in the Allora and Roma districts, since the opening of the +railway from Brisbane to the latter town. Five quarters to the acre +is not an uncommon crop, and in 1880 250,000 bushels were raised in +the colony. The quality of the wheat is excellent, the weight being +as high as sixty-seven pounds to the bushel, and the flour fully +equal to Adelaide. Land is being rapidly laid down under wheat in the +Darling Downs and Maranoa districts, and it is expected that before +long Queensland will produce sufficient to make her independent of any +foreign supply. + +With such resources as these at her command, it is evident that the +colony requires nothing but an extended system of railway communication +from the interior to the coast, to bring population and prosperity in +its wake. The transformation that has been wrought in those districts +where railways have already been constructed, shows what progress might +be expected if the colony were to put forth her whole strength in this +direction. With a good Government the thing would be done at once--for +no sane man disputes the advisability of doing it; but, unfortunately, +Queensland, like her neighbours, New South Wales and Victoria, suffers +in this respect from a succession of selfish, sordid adventurers, +whose proceedings it is impossible to watch, without forgetting the +impurity of their principles in the imbecility of their policy. It is +as absurd to distinguish the members of either party as Conservatives +or Radicals, as it is to call any of them politicians, since the +transparent motive of all of them is to plunder their colony. The Ins +and Outs of Legislation would be a more appropriate term. The party who +are in go straight for whatever they want; and the only security of the +country lies in the certainty that the party who are out will do their +best to prevent them from getting it, not from any consideration for +the public weal, but because they want it themselves. + +The great natural want of Queensland is navigable rivers and deep-water +harbours. In all her seaboard of 2000 miles there are hardly any +good harbours for vessels of large draught, and not a single decent +navigable river. By a sort of practical joke of nature every one is +adorned with a sand-bar at the mouth and a mud-flat a little way up. +These efforts of nature are a thorn in the side of every coasting +skipper, and a perfect god-send to the rascally _employés_ and +_protégés_ of the Department of Public Works, who derive a regular +annuity from misdirected attempts to deepen the rivers. More or less +illegitimate plunder is made out of every public work in Australia by +all concerned in it, from the Ministry downwards; the most notable +instances being the adoption of Wood’s brake by the Victorian railways, +the Steel Rails Inquiry in Queensland, and the Transcontinental +Railway scheme in the same colony, which will be more fully described +hereafter. These are official swindles, and require the active +co-operation of those at the head of affairs, and a great deal of tact +on the part of all concerned, to carry them through. Even then they +do not always succeed. The Transcontinental Railway scheme was the +downfall of the Ministry whose Premier was its chief instigator and +promoter. + +But in a small way nothing is so profitable and so popular with +Government engineers as deepening a river, because it is work that can +be indefinitely prolonged. At any other work they are bound to show +some sort of progress, be it ever so miraculously slow, or else show +some reasonable cause for delay. But in deepening a river, the engineer +has it all his own way. No one can tell what he is about under water, +and, by combining a studious neglect of the most elementary principles +of engineering with a slight knowledge of the bottom of the river, he +can extend his work over any period of time. The amount of public money +that goes in this way is enormous. + +The Fitzroy River, on which lies the town of Rockhampton, affords a +striking example of Queensland Government engineering. Seven miles +below the town are situated the Flats, on which there was naturally +about three feet of water at low tide. It was decided to remove these +flats, so as to allow vessels drawing nine feet of water to get up at +any tide. The estimated cost of the undertaking was £25,000;--time not +specified, being, as the advertisements say, “not so much an object as +a comfortable home” for the engineer to whom the work was entrusted. + +After fooling around dredging for some time, this worthy hit upon a +notable scheme. Starting a little above the flats, he built a training +wall slantwise down the river, so as to leave a narrow passage near the +opposite bank. He calculated that the rush of the tide through this +narrow channel would very soon deepen it. + +He was perfectly right. It very soon did, and, by the simple process +known as robbing Peter to pay Paul, the sand so washed away formed a +fresh flat a little lower down, with only eighteen inches of water on +it, instead of three feet! + +Finally, after expending £110,000 during a period extending over ten +years, they have at last succeeded in getting a depth of about five +feet at low tide. Less than half the money wasted in tinkering the +bottom of the Fitzroy would have given Rockhampton a deep-water port in +Keppel Bay, at which ships drawing thirty feet of water could lie at +any tide, and a railway from thence to the town. + +There is not a single town on the coast of Queensland that has the +natural advantage of deep-water communication with the sea, either by +means of a harbour or a navigable river, except Bowen and Gladstone. +These two townships are situated on the coast itself, and have good +deep-water harbours; but there is no back country to either of them, so +it will be long before they are of much importance. All the other ports +are only accessible to boats of very light draught, and generally these +have to wait for the tide. + +Townsville lies right on the coast, but the neighbouring bay is so +shallow that no vessel of any size can get within a mile and a half of +the town. + +Mackay lies two miles up a river, with flats upon which there is not +more than a foot of water at low tide. At the mouth of the river is a +sand-bar, and outside nothing but an open roadstead. + +Rockhampton is forty-five miles from the coast, up the Fitzroy River, +the flats in which have just been described. + +Bundaberg and Maryborough are each of them some distance up a narrow, +muddy, shallow river. + +The coasting-trade of Queensland is increasing so enormously, there is +no doubt that in time these difficulties will be overcome, and some, +at least, of the coast towns will be provided with good artificial +harbours. + +In 1841 the whole trade of the colony of Queensland was carried on by a +small cutter trading between Brisbane and Sydney. In 1879 the entrances +inwards to Brisbane were 1261 vessels, with a tonnage of 637,695 tons, +and the clearance about the same. Since then the increase in the coast +trade has been even more surprising. + +In 1883 Townsville alone, the most northern town of any importance in +Queensland, was importing about 4000 tons of goods a week. + +The production of sugar alone in the colony has risen from 12,300 cwt. +in 1868 to over 400,000 cwt. in 1883. Very soon good seaports will be +an absolute necessity; but, in the meantime, with the exception of the +work done in the Brisbane River, all the money spent has been so much +thrown away. + +Mackay, the great sugar-growing district of Queensland, is about the +worst off for a port of any town on the coast. It has, as I have said, +a river with shallow flats and a bar at the mouth, and nothing but an +open roadstead outside. + +There are, however, two small islands, known as “Flat-top” and +“Round-top,” just off the mouth of the river; and it was thought that +something might be done in the way of a breakwater. The genius of the +Fitzroy flats was accordingly consulted on the subject. + +He assured the delighted inhabitants of Mackay that it would be the +simplest thing in the world to make an excellent harbour. Nothing +to do but connect one of the islands with the mainland, throw out a +breakwater on the far side, and run a railway right away from the end +of the breakwater into the town. + +After an interval of four years, during which time they had been driven +nearly out of their minds by the patriotic agitation on the subject by +the member for Mackay, the Government proceeded to vote some money for +the furtherance of this scheme. The breakwater was to be about a mile +long, and tenders were called for in sections. The first section was +the only one ever completed, and the only one ever likely to be, until +some very much more able men take it in hand. The contractor’s only +notion of a breakwater seemed to be to blast rock out of an adjacent +cliff, break it up small so as to be convenient for handling, and +barrow it into the sea, leaving it to form its own batter. He never +got farther than high-water mark. His work, about forty yards long, +remains, another monument of Government stupidity, and the Mackay +breakwater ends where most breakwaters begin. + +But the most notable attempt of modern times to rob the public +exchequer was the Transcontinental Railway scheme. The responsible +position of those whose names were connected with it, the magnitude +of the undertaking, and the great care with which the real conditions +under which it was to be carried out were concealed, for a long time +saved this gigantic fraud from detection. At length, however, it was +exposed, the public realised the amount of which it was intended the +colony should be robbed, and the result was that the Ministry who +brought in the Bill were defeated, and obliged to resign. + +The proposed scheme is really worth some consideration, in order to +show the enormous vitality of a colony that can still make rapid +progress, even under the incubus of a Government that endeavours to +plunder instead of fostering its resources. + +The Transcontinental Railway was to run from the inland head of the +Brisbane-Roma line (a Government line) to Point Parker, in the Gulf of +Carpentaria, a distance, roughly, of 1000 miles. + +There is no doubt that such a line would be of inestimable benefit to +Australia at large, and especially to Queensland; but it is certain +that the latter colony individually would benefit much more from an +extension of her existing lines of railway farther into the interior. + +The whole colony being fully alive to the importance of extending her +railway system in some shape or way, the Government made it their +business to try and persuade the inhabitants of Queensland that her +credit was already strained to the utmost, and that it would be +inadvisable, even if it were possible, to borrow sufficient to perform +the proposed work. + +We were told by the Premier that because we owed £58 per head of our +population, which would be increased to £70 when the loans authorised +were issued, we were on the verge of ruin, and could not possibly +borrow any more. + +Now it may be very sound to estimate the gravity of a public debt +in this manner, when the money has been borrowed for unproductive +purposes, such as war, or construction of national defences. But in a +colony like Queensland almost the whole of the money so borrowed has, +with a due allowance, of course, for official plunder, been expended +on developing the national estate, so that the debt is represented +to a great extent by valuable assets which bring in a revenue far in +excess of the interest on the capital borrowed. Thus, in New South +Wales, a colony that owes £18,000,000, the railways alone are valued at +£25,000,000, and pay 5 per cent on the cost of construction. + +The estimate of Sir Thomas M’Ilwraith, the Premier of Queensland, for +the construction of the Transcontinental Railway was £3260 per mile. + +In his reply of 22d February 1882, to General Fielding, the agent for +the Syndicate that was formed in Europe for taking up this scheme, +Sir Thomas M’Ilwraith declared most positively that the cost of a +railway from Charleville to the Gulf, including every item, surveying, +supervision, rolling stock, construction, stations, and all other +outlay, should not exceed the above sum. Sir Thomas is himself an +expert, and had besides the benefit of Mr. Watson’s survey and estimate +to help him. The whole cost for the 1000 miles, therefore, should not +exceed £3,260,000. + +The Syndicate were to be allowed seven years and a half to complete +their line. This gives £434,666 as the sum required to be spent every +year to complete the line within contract time. Queensland can borrow +at the rate of 4 per cent interest; we therefore find that had +Queensland herself undertaken the work-- + + Amount required to be spent annually on construction, £434,666. + + 1st year’s interest at 4 per cent £17,387 + 2d ” ” 34,774 + 3d ” ” 52,161 + 4th ” ” 69,548 + 5th ” ” 86,935 + 6th ” ” 104,322 + 7th ” ” 121,709 + half 8th ” ” 65,202 + -------- + £552,038 + ======== + +So that in seven years and a half Queensland would have completed the +1000 miles of railway, at a cost of £3,260,000 of loan funds, on which +she would have paid interest during that time £552,038. The total cost +to the colony therefore would be £3,812,038, and at the end of the time +she would herself be the owner of the line. + +Later on we shall see what it was proposed the colony should pay the +Syndicate for the railway before it eventually passed into her hands. +Having partly succeeded in persuading the colony that it would be +impossible for her to borrow sufficient to accomplish the work, the +Premier drew our attention to a body of philanthropists in the shape of +a European Syndicate, who were ready to do it for us. + +The fact of a joint-stock company being able to do what a colony like +Queensland cannot do is sufficiently startling. But no matter; we were +told that although our credit was run dry, Providence had provided us +with the means of accomplishing our object in the shape of land-grants. +Nothing could be more simple than to use the enormous area of +comparatively unremunerative land to pay for the railway. + +It is a most fortunate thing that the colony came to its senses, and +realised the merits of the case before it was too late. At one time +there was a danger that the Government might snatch a victory, and +rush their nefarious project through Parliament, before the colony +understood what was taking place. Had this happened, there is no doubt +it would have had a lasting and most injurious effect on the prospects +of Queensland. + +There is not space here to transcribe the full terms of the agreement +between the Queensland Government and the Transcontinental Syndicate, +but what it amounted to was this: the Syndicate in the first place were +to receive eleven million acres of land, freehold. This land was stated +by the Premier to be worth at least 10s. an acre, and Government have +been repeatedly solicited to offer it at auction at that upset price. + +Not allowing therefore for the prospective rise in the value of the +land upon the completion of the railway, this gives the value of the +land-grant to be given to the Syndicate at £5,500,000. But in exchange +for the inferior portion of land adjacent to the railway on the Gulf +watershed, the Syndicate were allowed to select 1,200,000 acres on the +Batavia River. This is grand agricultural land, which cannot be valued +at less than £1 per acre. This brings the total thus: + + 1,200,000 acres on the Batavia at £1 £1,200,000 + 10,000,000 acres along the line at 10s. 5,000,000 + ---------- + £6,200,000 + ========== + +In making this valuation no account has been taken of the extra value +of the land in the various townships along the line, and of the port on +the Gulf, half of all which was to belong to the Syndicate. + +Having induced the Syndicate to make the railway for us by the above +enormous bribe, the agreement further provided for the purchase of +the railway from the Syndicate when it was completed by the following +remarkable clause:-- + +“13. In the event of the Governor-in-Council exercising the right of +purchase of the said railway and rolling stock and appurtenances, +given by the 26th clause of the said Act, the basis of valuation upon +which the fair and reasonable value thereof shall be ascertained as +therein mentioned shall be twenty-five years’ purchase of the average +net earnings of the railway during the three previous years, with 15 +per cent added thereto for forced sale, but not being less in total +than £100 for every £100 of capital paid by and expended on the said +railway, rolling-stock, and appurtenances.” + +In order to give an idea of the probable amount that the colony would +be required to pay under this clause, I cannot do better than quote +from a pamphlet which appeared at the time the Bill was before the +country. It was called _The latest Political Device for partitioning +Queensland amongst Speculative Rings, and its Exposure_. It was +written, I believe, by Mr. R. Newton, and was of immense service +in showing up the gigantic fraud that the colony was very nearly +swallowing. He says: + +“From the above clause it may be inferred that the Government cannot +exercise the right to purchase the line till the expiration of three +years from its completion. By those most competent to form a correct +estimate, it is computed that this colony will possess not less than +30,000,000 sheep in its central districts by the expiration of the time +to be allowed to the Syndicate for the completion of their line to the +Gulf. For it must be remembered that the country through which this +Syndicate line is proposed to be taken, is not a useless, unoccupied +territory, only to be made of any value by this railway. With the +exception of a barren strip at the Point Parker end, the country is +occupied as grazing-runs along the whole length of the proposed line, +and for hundreds of miles to the west of it. Some of the country +through which the line would pass is highly improved, and the whole +is now being developed in an extraordinarily rapid manner. Few people +understand or realise the vast traffic this increase in sheep will +bring to our railways. + +“We will take, as a basis for calculation, that only the produce and +requirement for working one half of these 30,000,000 sheep can be +influenced on to the Syndicate lines; and considering the enormous +power they will possess, with the facilities they would be able to +give at their port, Point Parker, by lines of steamers of their own, +carrying at low freights, to allow the Syndicate line only one half the +traffic is a moderate calculation. + +“This, then, would give the Syndicate the traffic for 15,000,000 sheep. +The wool from these, at 4 lbs. all round for clean and greasy wool, +gives 26,786 tons. We will put the average freight on this at £8 per +ton, a rate much below what is at present charged on our lines, the +freight on clean wool from Roma to Brisbane, a distance of only 317 +miles, being now £8 per ton. + +“Allowing only double the weight of up-carriage to wool down, which is +considerably under what is found in practice (as _vide_ the traffic +returns of the Central Railway, a line supplying almost solely pastoral +country), and calculating the average charge on up-freight at the same +rate as wool down, viz. £8 per ton, and allowing for passenger fares, +together with the large traffic which may be expected from live-stock, +meat, etc. (without taking into account the mineral traffic from the +Cloncurry, which may be immense)--we give the same amount as wool +freights bring in--we have the following result:-- + + 26,786 tons wool down at £8 per ton, + average freight £214,288 + 53,572 tons up-loading at £8 428,576 + Passenger fares, live-stock, meat, etc. 214,288 + -------- + Total gross earnings £857,152 + ======== + +“Taking the working expenses at 50 per cent on gross earnings, which +is an ample allowance over such an extremely easy and level country, +we have £428,576 per annum nett earnings, which, at twenty-five +years’ purchase, with 15 per cent added, comes to the enormous total +of £12,321,560. This amount, if not considerably more, is the sum +we should have to borrow in a few years, to purchase a railway, for +the construction of which the country will have already given away +£6,200,000 of its lands, besides vast unknown values in sites of +towns, etc., and which line the country could have constructed itself, +including interest on loans and every possible charge, for a sum not +exceeding £3,812,038. It is simply utter nonsense to spread abroad the +idea that this great colony, with its vast undeveloped resources--with +the great future which is undoubtedly its inheritance--is unable to +borrow for the making of its main trunk lines of railway (which would +represent so grand an asset) a sum scarcely exceeding £3,000,000, +extended over a period of eight years.” + +Such was the great Transcontinental Railway scheme, which occasioned +the downfall of Sir Thomas M’Ilwraith’s Ministry. It is deeply to +be regretted that they ever took such a proposal in hand. They were +the best government Queensland has ever had, and, had they chosen +to do so, they were in a position to pass measures that would have +been of inestimable service to the colony, such as the Coolie Bill to +introduce coloured labour from India to the sugar plantations. Instead +of which they took advantage of the security of their position to +tamper with the interests of the colony. Allusion has been made above +to the Steel Rail Inquiry. This was an attack made by Mr. Griffiths, +the leader of the Opposition, upon Sir Thomas M’Ilwraith’s conduct in +the purchase of some £60,000 of steel rails for the Queensland railways. + +Mr. Griffiths directly impugned the honesty of the Premier’s conduct in +the transaction, and, although he was unable to establish his charge, +the extremely unsatisfactory circumstances that appeared in the inquiry +greatly weakened the confidence of the country in the Ministry. When +this further scheme for wholesale plunder was exposed, of course the +country could stand it no longer, and turned them out. + +Headed by Mr. Griffiths, their successors advanced, and, having elected +a congenial spirit in the shape of a thrice-convicted felon to the +Speaker’s chair, they laid themselves down to try by every means in +their power to retard the progress of the colony, and feather their own +nests. + +The conduct of the Queensland Parliament in selecting such a man to +fill the position of Speaker was severely censured by the neighbouring +colonies, and deeply resented throughout Queensland herself. The tone +of our Parliament has never been very high, but compared with the +Houses in New South Wales and Victoria we always felt ourselves to +be eminently respectable. All claim to such distinction is now gone. +Whatever elements a House may be composed of, it cannot fail to lose +caste by assigning the position of Speaker to such a man as now holds +it. + +But although the Queensland Assembly may be deficient in a sense of +dignity, it certainly does not lack wit. Some years ago the present +Speaker (Mr. Groom) was very desirous of obtaining a Government +appointment. In the course of debate, one of his friends declared that +Mr. Groom’s long services under Government most distinctly entitled +him to hold some office. Whereupon someone on the other side got up +and observed, with more truth than feeling, that “considering what +the nature of Mr. Groom’s services to the country had been, the only +appointment he was qualified to hold was that of Groom of the Stole.” + +It is deeply to be regretted that a more healthy tone does not pervade +the legislature of the Colonies. But as long as all respectable people +hold aloof, and excuse themselves from attempting to take part in the +government of their country, on the plea that they do not care to +be mixed up in such disreputable society, there is not much hope of +improvement. Such idle seclusion and selfish apathy deserves to be +afflicted, as it is, by the worst of governments. + +Throughout the whole of Australia a feeling obtains that Parliament is +a profession which it is just as well for all decent people to keep +clear of. In a book of advice to those visiting the colony of Victoria, +I read the following interesting warning:-- + +“If you enter into conversation with a respectable-looking individual +to whom you are a stranger, on no account ask him if he is a member of +the Legislative Assembly. You cannot offer him a greater insult.” + +As a class the squatters are marvellously indifferent to the +legislation of the colony they live in, and they have greatly their own +selfishness to thank for the losses that they suffer in consequence. +The squatters are, of course, the backbone of a pastoral country +like Australia, and represent the greater portion of its wealth. But +anything like co-operation amongst them for the purpose of protecting +their interests in Parliament is unknown. Each one thinks he can do +best for himself by attending to nothing but the management of his +station, and letting legislation take care of itself. They are by far +the most poorly represented class in Parliament throughout Australia, +and the consequence is that their seclusion in the Bush is subject to +periodical interruptions of a most disagreeable kind. + +While busily employed in making money in the back country, they awake +too late, to find that literally the ground has been cut from under +their feet at headquarters, and perhaps half their run taken away by +some empirical piece of legislation on the part of the town-loafers to +whom they have abandoned the reins of government without a struggle. + +Of course, in a new country, the most difficult question that any +Government has to deal with is a satisfactory adjustment of the +question as to how the land shall be occupied. So far the problem has +not been treated in the manner most likely to conduce to the welfare of +the community, for at first, in the older colonies, immense freeholds +were allowed to accumulate, the evil effects of which have found vent +in measures of retaliation against the class that owned them. + +The difficulty in a colony like Queensland lies in the fact that +while the great want is felt to be an increase of population, it is +almost impossible to find a class of people who can occupy the country +profitably in small areas. The squatter knows, of course, that he only +occupies his run upon sufferance, and that, unless he chooses to spend +large sums in securing it as a freehold, he must expect to surrender +his country when it is required for other purposes. When the time comes +he succumbs to the inevitable, and moves farther away in search of +fresh country; but his sorrow at being forced to give up the whole or +half of his run is by no means diminished by the discovery that it is +not of the slightest use to those who have taken it from him. + +Of course, if a squatter holds land that is fit for cultivation either +of sugar or of wheat, it is only right that he should hand it over to +those who are able and willing to turn it to a use which is obviously +more remunerative to the colony at large than the growing of stock. But +when he holds country that is out of the scope of agriculture for the +present, it is annoying to have to surrender it prematurely to people +to whom it is no sort of good. Even in Queensland, land without capital +is more of a curse than a blessing to those who are forced to hold it, +and there is no more wretched class in the colony than the holders of +pastoral selections. + +It is perfectly impossible that a man can make anything more than a +bare living out of one, and generally it is impossible for him to +do even that honestly. When he has complied with the conditions of +occupation, by completing the necessary improvements in the shape +of fencing-in his selection, there is no more work for him to do, +and he simmers down into growing pumpkins and sweet potatoes for his +own consumption, and generally ekes out a living by stealing his +neighbour’s cattle. A more utterly useless class of men to the colony +cannot be imagined. The fact is that, for a long time to come, the +most profitable way in which the greater portion of Australia, and +certainly of Queensland, could possibly be held, would be in the form +of large pastoral leaseholds, paying a fair rent to the Crown, but +having a security of tenure that would encourage their holders to +invest their capital largely in improvements. To throw open the runs +of the squatters to selection wholesale is merely to try and drive +civilisation at high pressure, which always means waste of power, and +to foster a mushroom growth of population that will weaken rather than +develop the natural resources of the country. + +The population required for a country like Queensland consists mainly +of two classes--large capitalists and skilled workmen of all trades. +The former will find an ample field for profitable investments upon any +scale that they may desire, and the latter will readily find employment +at a high rate of wages. + +But to the man of small capital, who is master of no trade, the colony +is indeed a delusion and a snare. The days are over when large fortunes +were rapidly made out of nothing at all, and anyone who makes money +there has to work for it, and to work hard too. The possessor of a few +hundreds, or even a few thousands of pounds, who goes to Queensland +with the idea that he is likely to make his fortune, will find himself +wofully mistaken; for the odds are a hundred to one on his losing every +penny of his money. + +If he goes out there to friends whom he can thoroughly trust, and +who will take care of his money for him, of course he will get a +higher rate of interest than he could get in England, and as he gains +experience of the country he will see opportunities of increasing his +capital safely. But unless he has good introductions to thoroughly +sound men of business, he had far better stay at home. + +The standard of honesty is no higher in the colony than it is +elsewhere, and there are always crowds of sharpers on the lookout for +men with money to invest. A form of partnership is often entered into, +in which the new arrival in the colony provides the money, and the old +hand the experience. These partnerships seldom last long, and at the +end of them the respective commodities have generally changed hands: +the unfortunate “new chum” has got the experience, and his rascally +partner has got the money. + +But Queensland is certainly the Utopia of the working-man who is not +afraid of work, and numerous are the ways of making a living that are +open to him. + +On the goldfields ordinary miners’ wages run from £2:10s. on the +old-established field to £4 on new diggings in the back country. +Amongst the trades, carpenters, joiners, masons, and workers in iron +are the most in demand, and at any of them a good tradesman will, +in the towns, earn at least fifteen shillings a day. In the Bush, +the wages for ordinary station-hands employed for shepherding or +stock-riding are from £1 to £1:15s. a week, with rations, running up +to £2:5s. for shearers in shearing time. Nearly all the fencing and +putting up of station-buildings, yards, etc., in the Bush, is done by +contract, and contractors always reckon to make at least £2:10s. a week. + +After he has been six months in the colony, the working-man is endowed +with the inestimable boon of the franchise--an advantage for which he +has at all times, and in all parts of the world, shown himself willing +to barter every other consideration. + +A great deal has been said about the climate of Queensland, and it is +often described as being a “trying” one. The only possible way in which +it can be justly so described is in the sense of its being a climate +in which people are constantly trying to kill themselves without +succeeding. Probably there is no other country in the world in which +men habitually take such frightful liberties with their constitutions +with impunity. + +The ordinary mode of living pursued by the inhabitants both of the town +and the Bush is such that, if the climate were not an extraordinarily +healthy one, they would die like rotten sheep. We will take the average +Bushman’s life, say a stockman, or a hard-working squatter, who helps +to work his own cattle. His food consists of beef and damper, and jam +if he is luxurious. Vegetables he often does not see for weeks and +weeks together, except in the form of pickles, and he is very lucky if +he can always get them. + +An occasional piece of pumpkin, or a sweet potato, forms a red-letter +day in the calendar of his diet, and every meal is washed down with +floods of strong scalding hot tea without any milk. Breakfast is the +only regular meal that he gets in the day, and he has that soon after +he gets up, but not before he has had a smoke. If he happens to be at +home in the middle of the day he has dinner; if not, he has nothing +from breakfast to supper, which is a movable feast, somewhere about +sundown. + +All day he is riding about under a broiling sun, and smokes an ounce of +the strongest tobacco in the world every twenty-four hours. For days +and nights together, sometimes, he is wet through, when camped out +away from home; sleeping at night under a tree, with no covering but a +blanket in winter, and in summer not even that, and awakening in the +morning, perhaps to find himself lying in a puddle of rain-water that +has fallen in the night, perhaps to find his hair stuck to his hat with +hoar frost. + +The only diversion in his _régime_ is an occasional visit to a +neighbouring town, where he probably gets half poisoned by the +extraordinary quantity and the infamous quality of the liquor that he +drinks. If after ten years of this he should find his digestion not as +good as it was, or feel symptoms of the approach of rheumatism, he is +certain to put it down to the climate instead of to his own imprudence. + +With the townsmen the case is still worse. Their climate is certainly +not as healthy as that of the Bush, and in summer it is rather +depressing; but they take little or no exercise, which is the only way +to counteract its effects, and drink quantities of spirits from morning +till night, every day of their lives, and even then it seems to take +years and years to do them much harm. + +All below the coast range of Queensland cannot be described as a +pleasant climate, though it certainly is not an unhealthy one. But +in summer it is rather a sticky, damp sort of heat, and both men +and animals perspire far more than they do over the range on the +table-lands. + +In the Bush, though the thermometer is very high all through the +summer from October to April, there is nothing whatever depressing or +enervating about the heat; and the harder a man works, even though he +be out in the sun all day, the better he will feel. + +It is only the habitual loafers and the constitutionally weak who feel +any bad effects from the heat of Queensland. The thermometer runs to +about 90° in the shade in the middle of the day in the summer months, +though on some few days it is much higher. I have seen it up to 120° in +the shade of a back verandah, and 176° in the sun; but I never felt the +slightest ill effects from going out and working all day in the sun, +with no more covering for my head than an old felt hat. + +Sunstroke in the Bush is unknown, though I have seen men working +all day in a brick-kiln, when there was not a breath of air, with a +vertical sun over their heads, and no protection but a workman’s linen +cap. Even in summer, in the Bush, when the sun goes down, the air +always gets nice and cool. Hot nights are unknown, and there are very +few all through the summer in which a man is not glad of a blanket just +before dawn. + +If the climate of Queensland were a perpetual summer, it might, indeed, +be rather trying to such people as are constitutionally unfitted to +stand heat; but for seven months in the year it is impossible to +imagine a more delightful climate, even for those who object to hot +weather. From the middle of March to the middle of October is an +unbroken series of bright, warm, sunny days, with a blue sky over which +soft, fat white clouds sail on the wings of a fresh, cool breeze, the +mornings and evenings being quite chilly, and the thermometer at +night, during the months of June and July, falling sometimes to ten +degrees below freezing, even in latitudes well within the tropics. + +As is always the case with new countries, ague prevails in Queensland, +but chiefly in the districts that have been recently taken up, and it +disappears almost entirely in places that have been settled for some +time. + +In the interior a form of blood-poisoning, known as slow-fever, is not +uncommon, and is entirely due to the effects of drinking impure water. + +The only really unhealthy district of Queensland is on the shores of +the Gulf of Carpentaria, where several obscure sorts of fever prevail, +one of which very closely resembles the terrible Yellow-Jack, if indeed +it is not the real article itself. + +The rest of the colony may be considered as extraordinarily free from +all the maladies incidental to hot climates, and it must be greatly a +man’s own fault if he does not enjoy as good health in Queensland as he +could in any other country in the world. I have tried the climates of +New South Wales and Victoria, and certainly prefer that of Queensland +to either of them; for during the seven years that I was knocking +about the latter colony, at all sorts of work, exposed to all kinds +of weather, I not only never had a day’s illness that I could by any +ingenuity attribute to the effects of the climate, but I feel that I +laid in a stock of good health, of which the beneficial effects will +last during the remainder of my lifetime. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +BRISBANE + + +Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, lies about twenty-five miles from +the coast, on the river of the same name. The town is rather prettily +situated on some high ridges sloping down to the river. Except in +point of size, all coast-towns of Queensland are pretty much alike, +and are certainly not pleasant places to live at. They have all the +disagreeables of town as compared with country life, and none of the +advantages which are to be found in the older-established towns of +Sydney and Melbourne. I never knew anyone who was obliged to live in a +Queensland coast-town who did not complain of his lot, and wish himself +elsewhere; and no Bushman will ever stay a day longer in one of them +than he can help. This is not to be wondered at, for the heat and dust +in summer are intolerable, and flies and mosquitoes abound. There are +hardly any places of amusement of any kind, and the consequence is that +in order to kill time, and to counteract the depressing effects of the +climate, most of the inhabitants drink a great deal more than is good +for them. + +The greatest misconception prevails in the old country as to the mode +of living generally in Australia; but especially as to the relative +advantages of life in the towns and in the Bush. Even amongst the +inhabitants of Australia themselves there is no subject upon which +I have heard more nonsense talked. The dwellers in the Bush are +constantly represented as dirty and degraded ruffians who, from their +very manner of living, cannot possibly continue to be decent members +of the community, while the inhabitants of the towns are upheld as +orderly, industrious, and useful citizens. Comparisons are always +odious, and I should never have dreamed of making one so especially +obnoxious as this. But it is so constantly done that I believe from +mere reiteration it passes for truth. + +Were any such idea to gain credence, it would undoubtedly deter numbers +of people from going into the Bush, or allowing any of their belongings +to do so. + +Now, to a country like Australia, at present the development of her +back-country is of infinitely greater importance than the growth of her +towns, and it should be the object of everyone who is interested in +her future to import as much capital and population into the Bush as +possible. + +In order to give a fair idea of the relative advantages of town and +Bush life in Queensland, it may be as well to make a few remarks on +the subject. The manners and morals of those who habitually reside in +the Bush are undoubtedly not all that can be desired; but to represent +them as a class with whom it is impossible to associate without being +defiled is unjust. + +It is true that a great many people are unable to do so, for there are +some in whom the struggle after cleanliness and morality is so feebly +maintained that a feather suffices to turn the scale, and these, of +course, avail themselves only too readily of the seclusion of the Bush +to give full swing to their degrading propensities. By all means let +such people keep out of the Bush, if they feel themselves unequal to +retaining their self-respect without such assistance as the external +influences of a town life afford them. + +The importance of such external influences it is impossible to +exaggerate, but it is very doubtful whether they are not of infinitely +greater value to a man’s neighbours than to himself, if he be such a +man as is above described. “A fig for virtue! ’Tis in ourselves that we +are thus or thus,” and the man who only washes under compulsion is not +likely to derive much moral benefit from his enforced ablutions, though +it is of paramount importance to all his associates that he should not +be allowed entirely to abstain from the use of soap and water. + +But writers on the subject would have us believe that he who journeys +into the Bush must leave his religion and his toothbrush behind; and +were there a turnpike to mark the entrance to this awful abode, they +would no doubt place over it the inscription with which Dante has +adorned the gate of inner Hell. We are further given to understand that +a short residence in this remarkable region destroys both youth and +abilities. + +Now youth is such a perishable commodity, and its decay such a fixed +law of nature, that no means have as yet been discovered of arresting +its departure. It seems rather unfair, therefore, to tax the Bush in +particular with promoting it; and as for a man’s abilities, it must be +his own fault if he finds them impaired by an open-air life of hard +work in what we conceive to be the healthiest country in the world. + +Nothing is more common than to hear a charge of drunkenness brought +against Bushmen, as if they as a class possessed a monopoly of this +vice. That there are drunkards in the Bush is beyond all question, but +that they are as numerous in proportion to the population as they are +in the towns is very doubtful. Neither is their method of drinking, +though equally deplorable, by any means as destructive to health as +that pursued by the inhabitants of the towns. + +In the first place, a man working hard in the open air can consume with +perfect impunity an amount of alcohol that would soon finish off a man +leading a less healthy life. + +In the second place, the Bush drunkard works hard for his cheque, +adjourns to the nearest public-house, and, having drunk it out, returns +to work again, to recruit his health and refill his pocket. “Though +this be madness, there is method in it.” + +Now the town drunkard, and many who would be inexpressibly shocked to +hear themselves described as such, indulge in a series of “nips,” the +frequency of which increases to such an alarming extent, that at last +the fleeting remnant of their brain is barely equal to the effort of +elaborating an excuse for swallowing another nobbler. + +It is the undivided opinion of medical men that this habit of soaking +is far more injurious to the system than getting occasionally drunk. +Either is bad enough, of course. Like Cassio, “we could well wish that +courtesy would devise some other custom of entertainment.” It is only +the fallacy of upholding the sobriety of the towns in Australia against +that of the Bush that I wish to draw attention to. + +In the columns of the _Queenslander_ I read not long ago a most +deplorable description of life in the Bush by an old colonist who +signed himself “Musca.” Anyone who read it would come to the conclusion +that Bushmen are the only men alive who really know how to drink and to +swear. + +After drawing a most romantic picture of the benign influence of a +“fair and virtuous woman” upon the destiny of man, and deploring +her absence in the Bush, “Musca” next proceeded to lay down the +extraordinary doctrine that the hardships and privations which the +pursuit of duty in the Bush entails must end in “moral degradation.” + +This prepares us for his no less startling theory that the “comforts, +luxuries, and enjoyments of a town life” are more conducive to health +than working in the Bush. The first of these fallacies is so ridiculous +as to need no answer. If the second required one, it would assuredly be +found in a glance at the relative physiques of the inhabitants of the +Bush and of the towns. Health is as conspicuous by its presence in the +one as it is by its absence in the other. + +How many men have I seen who, having exchanged a life of roughing it +in the Bush for the “comforts, luxuries, and enjoyments of a town,” +have exchanged with it the exterior of an athlete for that of an +anatomical specimen creeping about to save the expense of a funeral. +Really I should be ashamed to quote such rubbish, but for the fact that +“Musca” is unfortunately only a type of a large class who endeavour to +represent the Bush as a place entirely unfit to live in. + +The fact is that many men go into the Bush and fulfil their destiny by +making fools of themselves there as they would anywhere else. They then +return to loaf away the remainder of their existence in a town, and +amuse themselves by giving the world a history of their experiences, +distorted by the recollection of disappointed hopes, for which they +have only their own folly to thank. + +The custom of using profane language cannot be too severely censured. +But to maintain, as “Musca” and his class do, that the residents in the +Bush monopolise, or even excel in this bad habit, argues a very limited +experience. Deplorable as is the language of an excited bullock-driver +to a refractory steer, it pales before my recollections of the daily +conversation of a number of young gentlemen at Woolwich, qualifying to +serve in the highest branches of Her Majesty’s Service. While before me +rises a vision of more than one “fine old English gentleman” full of +strange oaths, which not even the presence of ladies prevents him from +using. + +In extolling the influence of a “fair and virtuous woman,” we must all +sympathise with “Musca,” and with him regret that her presence in the +Bush is not more frequent than it is. But we must also remember that +all women are not fair, neither are all women virtuous. + +Woman’s influence, equally potent for either, is more frequently +exerted for evil than for good. Were we to compare the instances +where a man’s downward career has been arrested with those where his +progress to the dogs has been assisted by the fair sex, numerous as +are the former, we fear the latter would greatly preponderate. We must +conclude, therefore, that the extreme scarcity of muslin in the Bush is +not a matter for unconditional regret. + +It is as ridiculous to say that everyone living in the Bush is +degraded, as it would be to say that everyone with red hair is a +ruffian. The inhabitants of the Bush are no doubt worse in some ways +than their neighbours, but certainly a great deal superior to them +in others; and I am heartily sorry for anyone who has lived amongst +them and has been unable to detect anything of good beneath the rough +exterior and somewhat battered appearance that are, to a certain +extent, the necessary effects of roughing it. I have seen as kind +and generous dispositions and as excellent qualities in a rugged and +toil-worn Bushman as I ever expect to see again. + +It is the tendency of nearly everyone to hold their circumstances, +their surroundings, and their neighbours responsible for failures +and mishaps for which they have only themselves to thank. There are +temptations in every line of life which no one can avoid. To try and +escape from them altogether is as foolish as it is cowardly. But to +select a line of life as free from them as possible is open to most +people, and, after dispassionate consideration, the Bush would seem +to offer as few temptations to go wrong as any line of life that +could be chosen. Certainly it offers far fewer than the towns--I am +talking, of course, of ordinary mortals. It is impossible to legislate +for persons so peculiarly constituted as to feel “morally degraded” +by sleeping under a tree and breakfasting off beef and damper. It is +not of such choice spirits that I am talking, for whom it would be +necessary to construct a Utopia upon a plan hitherto undreamed of, but +of the ordinary young man of sound constitution and fair abilities, +whom I maintain to have as fair a chance of keeping straight in the +Bush as anywhere else, and an infinitely better chance of preserving +his health. But both his constitution and his resolution must be of +no ordinary strength if he can sojourn for any length of time in a +Queensland town without being the worse for it. + +The climate of the coast-towns especially is, to say the least of +it, a thirsty one. He will be assailed from morning till night with +invitations to “step round and have a liquor,” which we all know it is +considered the height of churlishness to refuse. Even supposing society +in the Bush to be worse than that in the towns, still its existence is +necessary to the welfare of the country; and the desire of “Musca” and +his friends to keep all respectable and well-educated people out of it +is the strangest scheme for the improvement of a community that ever +was heard of. It would surely be better if as many respectable members +of society as possible were to go there and exert what influence they +have for good. + +The amount of hard, steady drinking that goes on in all the towns +of Queensland is astonishing. Brisbane is no exception to the rule. +Bankers and business men, legislators and lawyers, doctors and +tradesmen, they all make a practice of every now and then deserting +their business and sallying forth to the nearest bar for a drink. +Brandy and whisky are the favourite drinks, and the amount a man +consumes in the twenty-four hours by this habit of “nipping,” without +ever getting quite drunk, is surprising. + +No _habitué_ of a Queensland town who wishes to find a business +man ever goes to look for him first in his office. If he knows the +run of the town, he will start the reverse way round the various +public-houses, and if he fails to run the man he is looking for to +ground, he will then go to his office, in hopes of catching him before +he starts round for another series of drinks. + +At whatever hour of the day a man meets another whom he has not seen +for say twelve hours, etiquette requires that he shall incontinently +invite him to come and drink. This is a custom that pervades every +class in the colony, and cannot be departed from without something more +than a breach of good manners. + +Now, there is no harm whatever in inviting a man to have a drink. +The invitation would seem to be prompted by nothing but a feeling of +generous hospitality, and as such there is nothing to be said against +it. But it assumes a different aspect when a refusal on the part of +the man invited is regarded as little short of an insult. And yet such +is the case. No matter whether a man is thirsty or not,--no matter if +he has just swallowed a drink,--a refusal to swallow another cannot +be tolerated for a moment. A more insane custom cannot be conceived; +and there is no doubt that numbers of men who have naturally no taste +for drinking acquire the habit, and entirely ruin their health, from +reluctance to give offence by refusing to drink when invited. + +All through Australia, in every class, it is not considered good form +for a man to drink by himself. Very few even of the most hopeless +drunkards ever do so. The consequence is, that when a man feels +inclined for a drink he immediately looks out for someone to drink with +him. This accounts in a great measure for the annoyance that is aroused +by a refusal. + +In America an “Anti-shouting Society” has been formed, the members of +which bind themselves never to drink at anyone else’s expense. This +is a move in the right direction. Without going the length of forming +any society, which always argues a conscious weakness on the part of +its members, it would be an excellent thing for Queensland, and for +Australia generally, if the etiquette of drinking were so far relaxed +as to enable a man to refuse to drink when he does not want to without +risk of giving offence. + +The great want of Brisbane is a really good hotel. There is a +population of over 30,000 residents, besides a considerable floating +population of travellers on their way up and down the coast, and +squatters down from the country for a few days at a time on business. +This is just the sort of population to make hotel-keeping pay. And yet +in all the numerous hotels in Brisbane there is not one that can fairly +be ranked as third rate. + +The attendance and the food are both very bad, and the bedrooms +wretchedly small and stuffy. The summer nights in Brisbane are often +very hot, and sleep is out of the question in a wooden box no bigger +than the cabin of a steamer, so constructed as to allow the snoring of +anyone within twenty-five yards to be perfectly audible, but with the +worst possible provision for ventilation from the outer air. + +There is no doubt that anyone who put up a really first-rate hotel in +Brisbane, and ran it upon sound principles, would soon make an enormous +fortune. In the meantime, however, the want of hotels in Brisbane is +greatly made up for by the hospitality of the people who live there. +For several miles up and down the river the northern bank is dotted +with the country houses of those who have business in the town. + +Many of these houses are delightfully situated, with lovely gardens +sloping down to the river. The cool shade of these gardens is a +heavenly change from the blinding glare and dust in the town. Bamboos, +orange-trees, lime-trees, bananas, and other fruit-trees abound, and +their dark-green foliage is illuminated by the masses of gorgeous +colouring from the Boganvillea and other creepers which grow here in +perfection. + +Brisbane possesses a fair club, and supports a theatre, which is +visited by a succession of travelling companies. The chief recreations +of the inhabitants are standing on the wharf to see the steamers arrive +and depart, or going for a walk with the mosquitoes in the Botanical +Gardens. + +The most entertaining thing I ever saw in Brisbane was a small +detachment of the Salvation Army. They were parading the streets in +search of truth, and I had the curiosity to go up and examine them +closely. Their soul-saving apparatus consisted only of four blasphemous +hymn-books, a cracked concertina, and a very faded banner that I think +had once seen better days in the form of a kite. + +But although their technical appliances were rather defective, fate had +been kind in lavishing on them a profusion of those higher gifts that +are indispensable to their calling. They all possessed in perfection +the whining voice, the vicious droop of the eyelid, and the peculiar +expression of petrified rascality about the corners of the mouth, that +neither vice nor sickness, drink nor toil, are capable of implanting +there without the assistance of a course of open-air piety. I sincerely +hope that I did not misjudge them. Appearances are very deceitful, and +from a short distance I defy anyone to tell whether the _prima donna_ +was shouting “Glory” or had just sat down on a tin tack. + +In a few years there will be a railway right through from Brisbane to +Sydney. At present (1884) it only extends from Brisbane to Stanthorpe, +on the borders of Queensland, leaving a distance of 160 miles to be +done by coach to Armadale, in New South Wales. From there the railway +runs to Newcastle, a town on the coast sixty miles north of Sydney. +Between Armadale and Stanthorpe, and between Newcastle and Sydney, the +line is in course of construction. The latter section crosses some very +rough country. + +In the meantime anyone who wishes to see a marvellous performance in +the way of four-in-hand driving cannot do better than travel by one +of Cobb and Co.’s coaches from Stanthorpe to Armadale. This firm run +a perfect network of coaches all over Queensland, New South Wales, +and Victoria; and their drivers, for a rough country, are probably +the finest in the world. It is perfectly extraordinary how these men +will remember every bad place, and hole, and stump over a stretch of +perhaps fifty miles, so as to be able to avoid them on a dark night, +while going ten or a dozen miles an hour. It is not as if the road +always kept the same. Violent storms and floods are constantly washing +out fresh holes, and blowing down fresh trees, so that the driver has +to remember the road from day to day and from night to night. It is +possible that something fresh may have happened in the few hours that +have elapsed since he last went down the road, but he runs the chance +of this with perfect complacency. + +On a pitch dark night there is something awesome in the way these +mail-drivers slam through the forest, along what is by courtesy called +a road, but which in places is more like a rocky water-course than +anything else. An occasional log, or a fallen tree across the track, +prevent the road from being at all monotonous. If a passenger has time +to do anything but hold on he will be greatly interested. At every turn +of the road the glare of a lamp on each side of him will reveal some +obstacle or pitfall, which his pilot contrives to avoid with marvellous +dexterity. Sometimes he comes to grief, but not half so often as +would seem inevitable to anyone who did not know the capabilities of +an Australian mail-driver. An axe and a coil of green hide make him +independent of any catastrophe short of smashing a wheel, and when this +occurs there is nothing to do but to sit down and wait patiently for +the arrival of the coach coming the opposite way. They change horses +about every ten miles, and, barring accidents, they keep excellent time. + +The voyage down the coast from Brisbane to Sydney is a very unpleasant +one. There is a break here in the lines of ocean-going steamers which +call at all other ports of any importance on the coast of Australia. +From Cape York to Brisbane the British India Company run the Queensland +mails with a service of very fine boats, averaging nearly 3000 tons, +which call off all the Queensland ports. + +From Sydney to Melbourne and Adelaide the vessels of the P. and O., +Orient, and Messageries are constantly running. But the run from +Brisbane to Sydney has to be negotiated in the little coasting steamers +of the Australasian Steam Navigation Company, better known as the +A.S.N. This Company are the possessors of a flotilla of the most +villainous boats in the world. For a long time they waxed fat upon a +monopoly of the whole coasting-trade of Australia; and had they chosen +to keep pace with the advancing times by improving the class of their +vessels, they would now be in possession of as fine a trade as the +world ever saw. But want of competition produced its usual effect; and +instead they preferred to go on running a class of vessels which never +go to sea on a coast like that of Australia without endangering the +lives of all on board, and occasionally go to the bottom incontinently. + +Up to the present time they have still an enormous trade, as there are +many ports in Queensland into which their vessels are the only ones +small enough to go. But, if they continue their present extortionate +tariff, their trade will be taken away by some more enterprising +company better able to understand the spirit of the age. In all their +arrangements the A.S.N. display the most profound indifference to the +comfort and convenience of passengers. + +For example, at Port Mackay or Keppel Bay, where their steamers do +not go up the rivers, it is a constant occurrence to be kept waiting +out at sea in the tender for sixteen or twenty hours, simply because +the Company will not expend a shilling in telegraphing the steamer’s +departure from the last port of call. + +The distance from Brisbane to Sydney is about 500 miles, and ought +to be a forty-four hours’ run. I have lively recollections of the +indefinite way in which it can be prolonged by a bad boat in bad +weather. + +One Tuesday morning I got on board an old egg-shell fitted with +paddle-boxes, described by the advertisements of the A.S.N. as “the +magnificent full-powered steamship _City of Brisbane_, 450 tons, to +sail for Sydney at 10 A.M.” My heart sank as I observed the stormy +appearance of the sky, and noticed the steam escaping in every +direction but the right one from the boilers, the authorised pressure +on which had been reduced from 60 lbs. to 15 lbs. to the square inch. + +Quivering like a leaf, the old tub set off down the river at the rate +of a well-conducted funeral, and in the course of a few hours, assisted +by the tide, we got outside. The only other passengers besides myself +were a Roman Catholic priest, nearly dead with consumption, and a man +who went into violent _delirium tremens_ a few hours after we left +Brisbane. Anything so utterly depressing as that voyage I never wish to +see again. The weather, for the first day, was not bad, and with the +help of the great Australian current we got on capitally, and found +ourselves nearing Smokey Cape. Then it came on to blow, and got worse +and worse till the sea and wind were something startling. + +At a very early stage of the gale a big sea smashed the saloon +skylight, and left us with about a foot of water on the main deck. The +priest was sick with monotonous regularity about twice every three +minutes, and with a violence that made itself heard above the howling +of the storm. The man with D.T. wandered about yelling and howling +horribly, and tumbling up against all the fixtures until he had cut his +face out of all resemblance to anything human. With his eyes fixed with +horror, and the blood streaming down his face and neck, he presented +the most dreary spectacle I ever saw. We could do nothing for him, for +it was impossible to hold him, and we were at last obliged to put him +in irons. + +Meanwhile the old boat had managed, in the course of three days and a +half, to get down opposite Sydney, but there was such an awful sea on +that the captain dared not alter her course to enter the harbour for +fear of foundering. It now came on to blow worse than ever, and it is a +positive fact that by next morning we had been blown fifty miles back, +and found we were nearly opposite Newcastle. Here we lay for thirty +hours, without going either backward or forward. Had the wind been a +few points more on shore nothing could have saved us, as we were never +more than a few miles distant from land. Fortunately there came a lull +of a few hours, and we managed to sneak down and run into Sydney just +as it came on to blow as badly as ever. We had been five days and a +half out from Brisbane, and were running rapidly short of coal. + +The man with D.T. expired just as we got into harbour. + +Two years afterwards I found the old _City of Brisbane_ still running +the same track, the only change in her being a further reduction of 5 +lbs. pressure on the boilers. This time it did not blow so hard, and we +reached Sydney in three days and three quarters. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +SYDNEY + + +Where Sydney Harbour got its reputation for beauty I am quite at a +loss to imagine. I never saw anything more forlornly ugly in the way +of scenery. Undoubtedly it is one of the finest harbours from a naval +point of view in the world, but there is nothing whatever picturesque +about it. It is surrounded by low rocky ridges about 200 feet high, +covered all over with stunted trees. + +At the far end lies the town itself, which has not a single feature to +recommend it. All over the ridges to the south, and on a part of those +to the north, are scattered staring white villa residences. Many of +these have lovely gardens and grounds, and when you get near them are +very pretty spots. But the general panorama of Sydney Harbour, whether +viewed from the sea or from the land, is positively ugly. + +There is no distance to be seen anywhere, and nothing pretty in the way +of a foreground. The sea is never a healthy blue, and the colouring of +the land is a dull, dirty, monotonous green, that looks as if it had +been dredged over with sand. There is invariably a sickly glare in the +atmosphere, except just at sunrise and sunset, that would effectually +destroy far greater pretensions to beauty than any that Sydney can +boast of. I have lived in Sydney for months. I have sailed all over the +harbour in a boat, and have walked round about it on land. I have seen +it in every weather, under every sort of sky, but I never for a moment +saw it look pretty. + +The town of Sydney is by no means a pleasant one. The streets are +winding and cramped, the pavement in many places being only five or +six feet wide, and George Street, the main street, follows exactly +the winding of an old track that went through a Blacks’ camp that +originally occupied the present site of the town. There are many very +fine buildings in the town, but they do not show to advantage, and +their position prevents any possibility of widening or improving the +streets. The first thing that strikes anyone who goes to Sydney is the +extraordinary number of people that there seem to be there who have +nothing to do. + +Crowds of loafers block up the main streets, standing in mobs at the +corners, or sauntering along the _trottoir_, with their hands in their +pockets, a pipe in their mouth, and their hat tipped well over the +eyes. They never get out of anyone’s way, and are a source of infinite +inconvenience to anyone who is in a hurry. + +The town and suburbs are built on a series of steep hills and valleys +round the harbour, and it is impossible to go a hundred yards anywhere +without going up or down hill. The best thing about the place is the +Botanical Gardens and grounds of the late Exhibition, which are really +quite beautifully kept. + +[Illustration: GOVERNMENT HOUSE, SYDNEY.] + +The Exhibition itself was unfortunately burnt to the ground in 1883. It +would have been an eyesore anywhere else, but was quite an ornament to +Sydney, and its loss was deeply felt by the inhabitants, who entertain +feelings of superstitious reverence for the supposed beauty of the +place. Land in the town and suburbs has risen to such a fabulous value +that, although it is never likely to be worth less than it is at +present, it cannot rise much higher for some time. + +The wealth of Sydney is enormous. For miles to the north-east of the +town, away towards the south head, the suburbs are a mass of villa +residences overlooking the harbour. Many of them are extremely pretty, +and an immense deal of money has been laid out on them. But the +inhabitants of Sydney never know what to do with their money, and seem +incapable of having a really good time. + +In the first place, society is split up into cliques, the members +of which regard anyone who is not in their own set with the most +unreasoning hatred and contempt. Besides this, the climate is a most +depressing one, which accounts in a great measure for the prevailing +listlessness of everyone in the place. + +In spite of the climate, I have most pleasant recollections of many +very happy days spent at a house on the shores of the harbour beyond +Rose Bay. A son of the owner, whom I had known five years before, found +me staying at a hotel in the town. I was in bad health at the time, +and he took me away to stay at his home. He was the only member of the +family with whom I was acquainted, but had I been their oldest friend I +could not have been made more heartily welcome. + +Since then I have stayed there very often, and a friendship of many +years has given me ample opportunity of appreciating the real kindness +that has made the hospitality of Carrara a household word, even in +Australia, where kindness to strangers is the universal rule. I am +bound to say that the pleasure with which I look back upon the time +that I spent there has no reference to the proximity of Sydney. The +attractions of the place itself, beautifully situated on the shore of +the harbour, were sufficient to prevent any great wish to wander far +away, and the powers of entertainment possessed by its inmates made +their visitors quite independent of any other society, and rendered a +moment’s dulness impossible. + +The climate of Sydney, always a detestable one, is never the same +for more than a few hours. I have often seen a day there open with a +hot, scorching wind, which lasts perhaps until one o’clock; suddenly +a fierce, cold wind--a “southerly buster,” as it is called--sweeps up +from the ice-fields of the southern sea, and blows, perhaps, for two +days, perhaps only for a few hours, to be succeeded either by a dead +calm or a “black north-easter,” accompanied by torrents of rain. But +whether it is hot or cold, whether it blows from the north, south, +east, or west, or not at all, there is always a sickly, enervating +feeling about the air, which the inhabitants themselves complain very +much of, and which a stranger at first feels unbearable. Most of the +inhabitants who can afford it always go away for a few weeks in the +summer, either to Tasmania or to the Blue Mountains, which is the +sanitorium of Sydney, and where there are townships at an elevation of +from 2000 to 3000 feet. + +Sydney is, if possible, worse off than Brisbane for hotels. I have +tried half-a-dozen of the best of them, and everywhere the dirt, +discomfort, and bad attendance are the same. The Sydney waiter is +an entirely distinct species, of which fact he is himself quite +unconscious, and treats all visitors who will allow him to do so as his +equals. + +At the fashionable _table d’hôtes_, where hundreds of business-men and +visitors in the town assemble every day for luncheon, the flippant +behaviour of the waiters is perfectly bewildering to a stranger. +His call for “waiter” will probably be answered, after an interval, +by an inquiry of “Did I hear your lovely voice?” from a patronising +individual, who leans on the table and begins to talk on the merits +of the harbour. I have seen the astonished look on a visitor’s face, +who was explaining to a waiter that he had brought the wrong wine, when +that functionary suddenly offered to bet him five pounds that he had +done nothing of the kind. His neighbour, a stranger to Sydney too, was +so interested in the discussion, that he paused in his occupation of +helping himself to the greens, and remained motionless, with the spoon +in his hand, and an expression of blank amazement on his countenance. +From this trance he was rudely awakened by another waiter laying his +hand on his shoulder and remarking, “After you with the cabbage.” + +The first time I went to Sydney I camped at what was supposed to be +the best hotel in the town. The walls between the bedrooms were not +particularly thick, and the morning after I arrived, as I was lying in +bed, I overheard the following dialogue in the next bedroom to mine:-- + +“I say, old man, lend me a shirt.” + +“Can’t, old man. I’ve only got one.” + +“Never mind, lend it me. I want to go out for an hour now, but I’ll +bring it back before you want to get up.” + +The town of Sydney suffers from an odious nuisance in the shape of +steam tram-cars, which run along several of the main streets. The +shares of the company that works them are about the best paying thing, +next to the telephone, that has been started for a long while in +the colony. But the cars themselves are a perfect infliction. They +rush down the most crowded thoroughfares, terrifying the horses, and +killing, on an average, about two foot-passengers a week, besides +maiming numerous other ones. There are omnibuses and hansoms all over +the place, and, of course, any number of private carriages to be seen. +But although many of the latter are well-appointed, and the quality +of some of the horses undeniable, it is remarkable that one never by +any chance sees a coachman decently got up. There is something quite +pitiable in seeing the effect of a really good turn-out entirely marred +by an apparition on the box with check trousers, an acre of green tie, +and a moustache. + +Altogether Sydney strikes one as a steady-going, sleepy old town, +thickly covered with blue mould, without any of the rowdyism of the +north, and with little of the vigorous life of Melbourne. + +Nowhere in Australia are there to be found pleasanter people than in +Sydney in their own homes. But they do not care to go much out of them, +and take life very quietly. Money comes to them more by accumulation +than by speculation, and they spend it lavishly in beautifying their +residences by the shores of their beloved harbour. The lower orders in +Sydney drink heavily, but the middle and upper classes drink less than +any community in Australia, and the ascending scale of sobriety attains +its zenith in the present head of society, who, when he gives a ball, +regales his guests with nothing more potent than raspberry vinegar and +lemon syrup. + +Sydney keeps several newspapers going, the chief of which is the +_Sydney Morning Herald_. Except to the readers of advertisements, it +is impossible to imagine a more dreary publication. It contains the +“latest intelligence” only in the sense of its being a week later than +anywhere else, and most of the space allotted to news is occupied with +hypothetical accounts of what would have happened if something else had +taken place that never occurred. + +For instance, its readers are informed that H.M.S. _Wolverene_ has left +Fiji for Sydney. After following the editor in an intricate calculation +as to the different dates on which she may be expected, supposing the +wind to be favourable or not, and supposing her to steam seven knots +or eight, they are next informed that it is quite uncertain whether +the destination of H.M.S. _Wolverene_ be Sydney or not. This involves +more calculations as to how long she will take to arrive if she goes +round by New Zealand, Hobart, or Melbourne. Finally those who have +had patience to read to the end find a telegram to say that H.M.S. +_Wolverene_ entered Sydney Harbour from Fiji that morning. + +But the _Sydney Bulletin_, a weekly publication, is probably the +wittiest and most amusing social paper in the world. It sticks at +nothing, and never troubles its readers with asterisks instead of +names. The editor is constantly in hot water, and has more than once +been heavily fined for libel; but he is far too valuable an institution +to be parted with, and his supporters subscribe freely to see him +through a bad time, and the fire of sarcasm, raillery, and scandal +never ceases. Of its kind, the _Sydney Bulletin_ is perfect, and all +the wretched wit of _The World_, _Truth_, and all the London social +papers put together, might be clipped from it without being missed. + +The harbour always presents a most animated appearance. Vessels of +every description, from a yawl to a 4000-ton steamer, are constantly +passing in and out, and endless little steamers ply between the +different bays all round. Yachting is a very favourite pastime with the +inhabitants, and sometimes the whole harbour is alive with a flotilla +of small craft. The largest vessels can come right up and lay alongside +the quays right against the town. + +The line of railway is completed now from Sydney to Melbourne, but, of +course, the jealousy of the two colonies has impelled them to adopt +different gauges, so that through traffic is at present impossible. The +population of Sydney is 237,000, and that of the whole colony of New +South Wales 840,000. + +The first discovery of gold made in Australia was at Summer Hill +in 1851. Since then gold has been found occasionally in very large +quantities in various parts of New South Wales, and several of the +alluvial diggings have proved both rich and permanent. But so far, +strange to say, there has never been a true reef discovered in this +colony. Some immensely rich veins of quartz have been found, but they +have all run out, or proved barren at a depth. + +The chief produce of the country is stock of all kinds, and a +considerable quantity of wheat and Indian corn is also grown. The +number of sheep in the colony in 1883 was 31,796,308, and in the +previous year no less than 153,351,354 lbs. of wool were exported. New +South Wales, however, has suffered most terribly during the recent +drought, which has been the most severe ever known in the colony. + +The whole of the northern and western portions were described by one +who had recently visited them as one vast corpse-dotted desert, and the +description is hardly exaggerated. No returns have as yet been made of +the total losses, and, indeed, in Riverina and Southern Queensland the +drought still continues (October ’84); but I hear of one station alone +that has lost 160,000 sheep, and another where every single hoof of +cattle on the run, in number over 20,000, have perished. + +New South Wales and Southern Queensland have suffered by far the most +severely during the recent drought, Victoria and Northern Queensland +having had, if anything, more than usually favourable seasons. But the +depression caused by the enormous losses in stock has made itself felt +in every branch of industry, in every part of Australia; and although +the price of stations has not gone down, very few are changing hands. + +In New South Wales the feud against the squatters among the lower +classes, which obtains all through Australia, is very violent. +Following the example of Victoria, the Government have dealt with the +land question in a manner that has brought the transfer of leasehold +land throughout the colony to a dead-lock, and a Bill is now before +Parliament by which all squatters holding leases will be deprived of +half their runs; but the squatting element in New South Wales is still +very powerful, and it is probable that they will obtain compensation +for improvements. + +There is a railway from Sydney to Melbourne, and the journey across +takes about twenty-three hours. It is very comfortable travelling, the +berths in the sleeping-cars being certainly above the average in point +of size and cleanliness. There is nothing that could by courtesy be +called an express train, and on the Victorian line all the trains stop +at every station, and at about every third one there is an extra pause +for refreshment. + +On the New South Wales line the sale of liquor is everywhere +prohibited, and the consequence is that both the guards and the drivers +lay in a store of liquor to take with them, and consequently drink a +great deal more than they would if there were a bar at every other +station, which is shown by their being much more frequently drunk than +the _employés_ on the Victorian lines, who can get liquor whenever they +want it. + +The mail-train leaves Sydney every night at 8.30. Passengers for +Melbourne change carriages at Wodonga, a station on the border of +Victoria. On the Sydney line the trains travel a fair pace; but from +Wodonga to Melbourne, a distance of about 190 miles, they absolutely +crawl, and take nearly eight hours over the journey. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +MELBOURNE + + +Melbourne is one of the cleanest, best laid-out, and most +pleasantly-situated towns in the world. It lies on a succession of +gently undulating rises, about three miles from the sea, and, with the +suburbs, some of which extend down to the sea itself, has a population +of 290,000. The town itself is all laid out in rectangular blocks, and +the streets are very broad and well paved. + +Everywhere there is a look of permanent solidity and accumulated wealth +most extraordinary in so young a town. It would be difficult to pick +out a street in London where, in the same space, there are as many +fine buildings as there are in Collins Street, one of the main streets +in Melbourne. The banks especially are most of them very handsome +buildings, both inside and out, and an enormous amount of money has +been spent on their construction. + +The interior of the Bank of Victoria is modelled from that of the hall +of one of the palaces at Venice, and is most elaborately laid out with +marble floors and pillars and cedar fittings. Evidently the banks have +more money than they know what to do with, for the amount of dead +capital that they have sunk in building is astonishing. There are two +very good hotels, Menzies and the Oriental, one at each end of the +town, which is more than can be said of any other town in Australia, +except, perhaps, Townsville, the northernmost port of any importance +in Queensland, which, strange to say, possesses the next best hotel to +Melbourne of any town in the island. + +The most conspicuous building in Melbourne is the Scotch Presbyterian +Church, which stands in the highest part of the town, and has a +handsome tower and spire about 200 feet high. Besides this there are +the English and Roman Catholic cathedrals, and endless smaller churches +of every size and denomination. + +In spite of water being laid on everywhere and freely used, the dust +in the streets is very often appalling. It is not like ordinary dust +either; for the streets are all macadamised with a basalt rock, which +breaks up into a most detestably sharp, three-cornered, irritating +sort of dust, extremely trying to the eyes. At present the streets are +free from the Sydney abomination of tram-cars; but endless omnibuses +and hansoms pervade the town and suburbs, the fares being about half +as much again as those in London. There are open gutters along all the +streets, with little bridges over them at the crossings. + +A good shower of rain floods the lower parts of Melbourne in a few +minutes, and sets these gutters running like a mill-race, three feet +deep; and I once saw a man nearly drowned in one of them. A crowd of +passengers were waiting patiently at the crossing till the river in +the street subsided; but this particular man seemed in a hurry. He was +going to be very smart, and leap over the deep gutter; but he made a +bad shot, and soused right into the middle of it. He was swept down +like a straw for a little distance, and then jammed under a low bridge, +from which position he was fortunately pulled out by the heels before +he was quite drowned. + +The Public Library and Institute of Fine Arts is a very handsome +building in the Grecian style, open to the public every day of the +week except Sunday. The picture-gallery contains a good deal of +rubbish, and one or two good pictures, the best of which are Long’s +“Esther” and “Question of Propriety.” + +In the middle of the town is a splendid tennis-court, reckoned by +lovers of the game to be one of the best in existence, and at one of +the clubs there is an excellent racquet-court. + +The extraordinary proficiency of Australians in cricket, which enables +the representative eleven of a population of 3,000,000 to hold its own +against a country with 30,000,000, is less wonderful when one sees how +universally popular the game is in the colony. There is not a spare +piece of ground fit for a pitch anywhere round Melbourne that is not +covered with “larrikins” from six years old upwards, every evening +for nine months in the year. Their soul is in the game, and one and +all of them display a precocious talent for round-hand bowling, very +different to the sneaking underhand affected by the uneducated youth +of Great Britain. There are two or three excellent cricket-grounds in +Melbourne and the suburbs, the principal one in North Melbourne being +as good a ground as anyone could wish to play on, and the pavilions and +arrangements connected with it first-rate. + +Much as I admire the indomitable pluck of the Australian cricketers +who have met the English teams both at home and in their own country, +beyond their skill in handling the weapons of their trade, there is +little to be said in praise of their conduct. While arrogating to +themselves the title of amateurs, they make it perfectly plain that +they follow cricket as a lucrative profession, and do not care to play +except for sufficient plunder, and they seldom lose an opportunity of +taking an unfair advantage of their opponents. + +All round the suburbs of Melbourne there are local railways worked by +the Government. They run a frequent service of trains, and occasionally +have a smash. The inhabitants of Melbourne must be exceedingly nervous +upon wheels, for whenever there is an accident every single soul in the +train at the time goes straight for the public exchequer, and collects +heavy damages for a “shock to the nervous system.” An accident which +occurred recently on one of the suburban lines cost the Government, or +rather the colony, £140,000 in damages to the survivors. + +The chances of an accident are infinitely increased by the Government +having insisted upon adopting an utterly worthless description of brake +for all the railways. Of course, like every other contract of the kind, +it was made a rank political job. While I was in Melbourne the papers +were full of it, and a furious discussion was raging in Parliament as +to the rival merits of the Westinghouse and Wood’s brake, and some of +the scenes in the House were most amusing. + +A Commission was appointed to inquire into the practical working of +the two brakes, and their relative advantages, and an overwhelming +weight of evidence was brought to show that the Westinghouse brake +was infinitely the superior one of the two. But Mr. Straight, the +Commissioner of Railways at the time, whose legitimate business was +keeping a market-garden, inclined to the adoption of Wood’s brake, and, +entirely unassisted either by evidence or by common sense, succeeded in +carrying his point. + +Seeing that the experiments of the Commission proved conclusively +that whereas the Westinghouse brake was one of the most perfect ever +invented, Wood’s brake was only automatic in the sense of its being +frequently impossible either to put it on or to take it off when it +was wanted, cynical critics were ill-natured enough to attribute Mr. +Straight’s support of the latter contrivance to a personal intimacy +with the inventor. Indeed, in the heat of a discussion on the subject +in the House, one of his opponents went so far as to challenge Mr. +Straight to finish the controversy by personal combat, and in delicate +allusion to his professional calling, wound up by shouting out, “Come +outside! come outside! and I’ll put a head on you like one of your own +---- cauliflowers!” + +In spite of such heroic attempts to block Mr. Straight’s Bill, jobbery +finally triumphed over justice, and the inferior and more costly brake +was adopted on the local lines. + +The port of Melbourne is Williamstown, six miles away, and here all +the big steamers and sailing vessels lie. But the river Yarra runs +up through the town, and vessels of 1500 tons can get up, and lie +alongside of the wharves in the middle of the town. + +The Yarra is a foul, sluggish stream, brown in repose and the colour +of ink when stirred up, and smelling horribly all the time. On the +opposite side of it from the town, on a slight eminence, is situated +Government House, a large building with no pretensions to architectural +beauty of any kind; but the Botanical Gardens adjoining its grounds are +very prettily laid out, and nicely kept. St. Kilda and Brighton, the +two watering-places of Melbourne, are suburbs situated on the shores of +Hobson’s Bay, and their piers are a Sunday lounge for the inhabitants. +At both places there is excellent sea-bathing, and at St. Kilda an +extremely comfortable hotel. + +The busy life in the town of Melbourne is a striking contrast to sleepy +Sydney, whose streets are thronged with crowds of loafing idlers. An +experienced eye can always pick out a Sydney man in a Melbourne crowd +as easily as it would detect a weevil in a beehive; and though in point +of wealth there is not much to choose between the two places, it is +easy to see that in Melbourne money is made, while in Sydney it grows. + +The telephone is in use all over Melbourne, and the shares of the +Company that work it pay wonderfully well. In Collins Street is +situated the Melbourne Exchange and all the business men, brokers, +and mining men assemble there about noon every day to exchange notes; +and outside, in the racing season, there is always a whole crowd of +bookmakers, with their hats over their eyes, and pencil and notebooks +in their hands. + +I soon found out that as far as floating a company on the Mount Britten +mines was concerned, I had come to Melbourne at a very bad time. In +the first place, money was getting rapidly very tight, and the banks +instead of being anxious to cram money down people’s throats at 6 +per cent, suddenly refused to advance any more, and ran the rate of +interest on deposit up to 9 per cent. + +Between them the banks of Australia at that time had lent £83,000,000, +and speculation was getting so furious that they determined to put +a stop to it. In the second place the Melbourne mining men had just +dropped £80,000 in a fearful swindle in New South Wales, and this, +coupled with the tightness of the money market, had for the time +pretty well stopped all speculation. The mining market was as flat as +a postage-stamp in the dust; and here is where the luck of gold-mining +comes in, for the men to whom I subsequently disposed of the mines told +me themselves that had I offered them for sale six months earlier they +would willingly have given me the same money for them that they dropped +in the New South Wales venture, for that mine was by far the best show +of the two. + +With some trouble I succeeded in getting together a Syndicate to +consider my proposals as to the Mount Britten mines, and they sent up +an expert from Sandhurst to inspect the property. I had always heard +that the mining men of Melbourne were as great a lot of scoundrels as +there are in existence, but I was surprised to find that in addition to +this they were most of them perfectly ignorant of anything connected +with the practical or theoretical working of a mine. Most of them would +not know a gold-mine from a blue gum-tree, and the object of everyone +of them seemed to be to puff up the shares of the companies whose scrip +they held by lying reports, and to sell out at a profit. + +So low had the morality of mining in Victoria sunk, that it was almost +impossible to float a company involving the shareholders in any +liability, and the industry suffered severely in consequence. To remedy +the evil, the Legislature has legalised an anomalous form of swindle +called a No-Liability Company, the shareholders in which can at any +moment abandon their interest in the concern. + +The very title of a No-Liability Company is a contradiction in terms, +for I cannot conceive how there can be a company formed without +liability, nor how any body of men working without liability can obtain +credit for so much as a box of lucifer matches. Yet in the whole colony +of Victoria there is not a single gold-mining company that is not +registered as a No-Liability one. + +But, as I told the votaries of the scheme, who pointed out triumphantly +that this system had revived the mining industry of Victoria, it only +shows that mining in Victoria is more mining in people’s pockets than +in the ground, and my subsequent acquaintance with the Melbourne mining +market tended most materially to strengthen my opinion. I at once +informed the Syndicate that if they did not choose to float a Limited +Liability Company on Mount Britten they could leave it alone, as I had +no idea of being connected with such a no-nation piece of rascality as +a company without any liability. + +A fierce discussion ensued, for nothing terrifies a Melbourne mining +man so much as the prospect of having to pay calls. As long as a mine +pays dividends he is all there; but a call of threepence is generally +sufficient to make him sling up every share he holds. It is impossible +to conceive mining enterprise at a lower ebb than is represented by +a community whose mutual faith is so severely shaken as to make it +impossible to induce them to incur a joint liability for the purpose of +prospecting a mine. + +In Queensland mining is conducted on very different principles, and the +dogged persistence with which comparatively poor men will go on paying +call after call into a mine that never returns them anything for years, +in the hope of striking gold, is as remarkable as is the impulse of +Victorians to throw up really valuable property the moment it ceases +to pay dividends, and, of course, does infinitely more to develop the +gold-bearing resources of the country. + +The Syndicate, however, having received an excellent report of the +Mount Britten mines from the expert who went up to inspect them, and +from one of their own number who accompanied him, finally agreed to +my conditions, and a Limited Liability Company was formed to work the +properties. The price paid to my brother and myself was £11,000, and a +fourth share of the company in fully paid-up shares. After paying the +remaining original shareholders for their shares, and deducting the +cost of the mill, this did not leave a farthing of profit, and our only +chance of making any lay in the shares we still held in the new company. + +The gold-mines of Victoria, both alluvial and quartz, are of great +extent, and some of them of extraordinary richness. The reefs as a rule +are larger, and carry their gold more regularly throughout than do the +reefs in Queensland. Many of them are worked on a gigantic scale, +and will pay a dividend with a yield of 4 dwt. to the ton. The chief +alluvial diggings is Ballarat, and Sandhurst is the head mining centre. +They are both distant about 100 miles from Melbourne, and connected +with it by rail. But the whole colony is full of both alluvial and +reefing districts, and while the old fields continue to develop, fresh +ones are still being discovered. The total yield of gold in 1883 was +808,521 oz., valued at £3,234,124, showing an increase of £133,036 over +the yield of 1878; but there is little doubt that if a healthier tone +of speculation pervaded the mining market of Victoria, her gold-fields +would be developed very much more quickly. The gold-mines of Victoria, +however, are an important factor in the money market of the world; and +since the discovery of gold in 1851, to the end of the year 1882, the +quantity of gold raised amounted to £205,600,216. + +The population of Victoria in the last five years has increased over +100,000. The following are the figures:-- + +POPULATION. + + December 1878 827,439 + ” 1883 931,800 + ------- + Increase 104,361 + ======= + +The revenue has increased even faster than the population, for whereas +the increase of the latter was only 12½ per cent in five years, that +of the former was as much as 24½ per cent in a similar period. This +is readily accounted for by two causes, the high protection tariff of +the colony and the extortionate taxation of land recently introduced +by the Government, which, of course, for a time increases the revenue, +but cannot fail in the end to injure the prosperity of the colony by +deterring immigration and bringing the transfer of land to a dead lock. + +REVENUE. + + 1877-78 £4,504,413 + 1882-83 5,611,253 + --------- + Increase £1,106,840 + ========= + +The imports in 1883 exceeded those in 1878 by over one and a half +millions sterling, and the exports in 1883 exceeded those in 1878 by +nearly that amount. + +IMPORTS and EXPORTS. + + Imports. Exports. + 1878 £16,161,880 £14,925,707 + 1883 17,713,484 16,394,936 + ---------- ---------- + Increase £1,551,604 £1,469,229 + ========== ========== + +RAILWAYS. + + Year. Miles open. Receipts. + 1878 1,052 £1,391,701 + 1883 1,562 1,898,311 + ------ ---------- + Increase 510 £506,610 + ====== ========== + +AGRICULTURE. + + Acres Wheat. + Year. under cultivation. Acres under crop. Bushels raised. + 1879 1,688,275 707,188 9,398,858 + 1883 2,208,652 1,099,944 15,499,143 + --------- --------- ---------- + Increase 520,377 392,756 6,100,285 + ========= ========= ========== + +It will be seen that the average yield of wheat per cent is very low, +being under 2½ quarters to the acre. + +In 1880 3,580,000 bushels of wheat were exported, and in 1884 it is +calculated that the amount will rise to 9,000,000 bushels. + +WOOL PRODUCED (excess of Exports over Imports). + + Quantity. Value. + Year. Lbs. £ + 1878 52,639,293 3,447,451 + 1883 64,095,489 5,178,081 + ---------- --------- + Increase 11,456,196 1,730,630 + ========== ========= + +LIVE STOCK. + + Year. Horses. Cattle. Sheep. + 1878 203,150 1,169,576 10,117,867 + 1883 280,874 1,287,088 10,174,246 + ------- --------- ---------- + Increase 77,724 117,512 56,379 + ======= ========= ========== + +The fact that whereas the number of sheep in five years has only +increased 56,379, the amount of wool produced during the same period +has increased 11,456,196 lbs. at first sight seems rather curious. It +is accounted for by three causes. In the first place, in the last few +years a great many people have given up washing their wool. In the +second place, whereas at the end of 1878 the sheep in Victoria were +almost entirely merinos, there are now a great number of cross-breds, +which, of course, carry greater weight of wool per sheep. In the +third place, and this is the most important cause of all three, the +wool-growers of Victoria, by improving the breed of their sheep, have +during the last few years, in many instances, increased the wool +produced by their flocks considerably over one pound per head. + +The increase indicated above in cattle and sheep in the colony is +ridiculously small. But during the next few years it is pretty certain +that the returns will show a considerable decrease. A stock tax was +passed a year or two ago of 5s. per head on all cattle, and 1s. per +head on all sheep in Victoria. The public revenue derives little +benefit from it, for it costs as much to collect as it is worth; but +it is a ruinous imposition on the growers of stock, and is driving +sheep and cattle out of the colony in great numbers. Quite recently +over 200,000 fat sheep have passed from Victoria into New South Wales, +where, of course, they will be slaughtered, and their fleeces go to +swell the returns of that colony. + +The existence of immense freeholds in Victoria has aroused the +fiercest class-hatreds in that democratic community, and has provoked +legislation which can only be described as free plunder. It is not long +since _The Times_ drew the attention of England to the astonishing +fact that one tenth of the revenue from taxation is paid by a few +individuals. + +Now, as the population of a country increases, the continued existence +of large tracts of land, whether freehold or leasehold, held for +pastoral purposes, is to a certain extent a barrier to the advance of +civilisation. But we must remember that, had these lands never been +taken up and improved by their owners and holders, civilisation could +never have advanced at all. + +Throughout the whole of Australia rages an internecine war between +the two great rival classes competing for the possession of the land, +the squatters and the selectors. The squatter is the pioneer of +civilisation. His profits are often great, but they are no greater than +his risks deserve, and it is his capital and enterprise alone that open +up the country. At his heels follow the selectors, an impecunious tribe +of jackals armed with manhood suffrage, who rob him of his hard-earned +gains. + +Now it would be utterly unreasonable that the squatter should expect to +remain unmolested in possession of vast tracts of country, requiring +a very few hands to work. When the proper time comes, he must give +way to the advancing tide of population, and move on farther away from +civilisation. But when we consider that at great risk to himself he +has made life possible in a country where it was impossible before, it +is evident that every consideration is due to the squatter, and, at +anyrate, that he is entitled to some compensation for being forcibly +ejected. Had it not been for the squatter’s water-tanks, some of the +railways in Victoria and New South Wales could never have been made, +and, as has been already said, it is his capital and enterprise alone +that have developed the country. + +But in Victoria the possession of a large estate is considered as +a crime, and the holder a fair mark for reprisals. The recent land +legislation in the colony is perfectly indefensible. + +A few years ago a land-tax was passed, which, until it was surpassed +by a still worse measure, stood alone for a piece of villainous +legislation. It was directed entirely against one class, the holders +of large freeholds, for all town-lands and anything under the value of +£2500 were exempt. The value of the whole tax is about £200,000, and it +is paid by a little over 800 individuals. + +If anything could be worse than the Land Bill itself, it is the way +in which the provisions of it are carried out. The assessment of the +land was entrusted to the hands of publicans, newspaper editors, and +schoolmasters; and the way in which it has been carried out is a +perfect scandal. I have seen a large open plain, divided merely by a +wire fence, the land on one side of which was taxed at threepence per +acre, and on the other side at a shilling. Extensive bribery prevails, +of course, the assessors being generally amenable to the influence of +a ten-pound note; but where this inducement is not forthcoming, the +assessment is regulated by purely political considerations. + +A friend of mine, a Conservative, pays the same rent for 7000 acres +of land as his next neighbour, a Radical, pays for 17,000 acres of +exactly the same class of country. The classification of the land is +itself a most phenomenal piece of absurdity, involving not only rotten +legislation but false arithmetic. The land is assessed as follows:-- + + 1st class 1s. per acre. + 2d ” 9d. ” + 3d ” 6d. ” + 4th ” 3d. ” + +Thus the rise in the tax from the fourth to the third class is 50 per +cent, from the third to the second class is 33⅓ per cent, and from the +second to the first is only 25 per cent. + +As a matter of course the value of land all over the colony went +down 30 per cent; but the land-tax has been entirely eclipsed by the +infamous Bill that has just now been passed. The original leases of the +squatters having all of them expired some years ago, they have been +holding their runs under yearly lease from the Crown. The Government +have now resumed all lands so held without option of purchase, and +without any compensation for improvements of any kind, and are going to +put them up to auction with all improvements standing on them. It is +impossible to imagine more wholesale and unjustifiable robbery, and the +effect to many of the squatters will be disastrous. + +There is no doubt that the high protection tariff of Victoria and +recent land legislation are doing a great deal to retard the progress +of the colony, and to darken her future prospects. Though the tables of +statistics above show fairly satisfactory progress, we must remember +that they were taken just after a run of five remarkably good seasons, +and before the evil effects of the Land Acts were beginning to be +severely felt. + +In the next decade the progress of Victoria will not be anything like +so rapid, and, as it is, she has chiefly her enormous yield of gold to +thank for the position she holds. That position she is doing her best +to forfeit, and she will very soon be eclipsed by the sister colonies +of Queensland and New South Wales. It has been calculated that over +15,000,000 of capital have been driven from Victoria into Queensland +and New South Wales during the last three years. + +In Victoria there is manhood suffrage, and the members of the Lower +House of Parliament receive a salary of £300. The Upper House has +recently been Liberalised to a very considerable extent by reducing +the qualifications both of its members and of those by whom they are +elected. While this has had the effect, if indeed that were possible, +of lowering the tone of the Upper House, it has materially strengthened +its position. To any attempt to raise an outcry against the Upper House +as being representatives of merely a class, the answer is obvious that +the Upper House now represents the people, and is elected by them just +as much as the Lower House. The language used in the latter assembly is +disgraceful; some of its members are not unfrequently intoxicated, and +occasionally there is a fight on the floor. + +In Victoria, as in New South Wales and in Queensland, Members of +Parliament are principally collected from the scum of the community, +and politics are looked down on as being unfit either for the +occupation of a gentleman or the profession of an honest man. + +It is pleasant to turn from the spectacle of a mob of selfish ruffians +struggling to fill their own pockets by ruining a colony, to the +society of Melbourne, which is one of the cheeriest and pleasantest in +the world. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +MELBOURNE + + +To know what real hospitality means, a man must needs go to Australia. +Let him journey through the length of the land, in the solitude of the +back country or in the busiest of the towns, he has nothing to do but +to say he is a stranger to ensure him a welcome. Whether he brings +letters of introduction or not, as long as he behaves like a gentleman +he will find no door in the country closed against him; and if he stays +any length of time he will ever after attach a meaning to the word +hospitality, such as he never realised in any other country in the +world. + +In England hospitality is a lukewarm and cheerless commodity, +occasionally doled out in the form of patronage to those from whom +no return can be expected, but generally only extended in carefully +measured quantities to those from whom an equivalent in kind is +anticipated at no distant date. In Australia the word has a very +different significance. Hospitality there is no respecter of persons, +but is extended alike to rich and to poor, to those who have come from +ten miles off, or to people from the other side of the world, who are +extremely unlikely ever to be able to return it. + +Prompted neither by a recollection of past benefits nor by expectation +of favours to come, it originates in a real honest care for the +comfort of others, and looks for no other reward than that of giving +happiness, and for no other thanks than a kindly recollection on the +part of those to whom it is offered. + +It is deeply to be regretted that even this small return is so +frequently not forthcoming. Too many of our own countrymen are, I fear, +open to a charge of the basest ingratitude in this respect. They go +out to visit Australia with a sort of notion that they are conferring +a favour on the inhabitants by doing so. While they are there they +avail themselves to the utmost of the kindness that is everywhere shown +them, and on their return to England they abuse the country that they +have just left, and run down its institutions and inhabitants in every +possible way. + +It is difficult to imagine a more disgusting picture of humanity than +a young man, educated as a gentleman, who does not scruple to extract +all the pleasure and profit he can from people upon whom he has not the +slightest claim, and who, as soon as his back is turned, has not the +generosity to acknowledge the kindness with which he has been treated, +or to refrain from laughing at some solecism which the extreme delicacy +of his insular breeding imagines it has been able to detect in his +entertainers. + +And yet it is a picture that I have seen only too often. Many of my own +countrymen only think it necessary to behave like gentlemen so long as +they are in England, and when they get to Australia offer but a sorry +sample of the manners and customs of the country that raised them. They +seem to consider that because they are in a new country they can behave +just as they please, and often do not wait till their return to requite +with rudeness the hospitality they seem to expect as a right. + +The rampart of pseudo-refinement and class prejudice behind which that +portion of English society known as the “Upper Ten” is accustomed +to shelter itself is usually supposed to be the result of birth, +breeding, and education. Since I have had an opportunity of observing +the altered behaviour of the members of that mystic guild who find +their way to Australia, I have come to the conclusion that their +“insular reserve” is not so much a question of class as of climate. + +Probably there is something in the genial atmosphere of Australia that +so quickly thaws the reserve of Englishmen, and causes them to enter +heart and soul into all the amusement that is to be found there, and +to accept without hesitation the hospitality that is offered them by +perfect strangers. + +It must be the warmth of the climate that does this, for I have noticed +that the reverse process takes place when they return to the lower +temperature of their mother country. There, if chance throws them, as +it often does, into the society of those with whom they have made merry +in Australia, they find it convenient once more to esconce themselves +behind the barrier of their own society’s law, which holds that except +in a foreign land a man cannot associate with anyone out of his own set +without losing caste, and at home must not introduce any outsider into +its enchanted circle unless he be the possessor of fabulous wealth. + +Armed with this, the Australian in London may hope for a certain +percentage of return hospitality from those whom he may have +entertained in his own country. If he takes a house in a fashionable +situation, he may even hope to find a few people so inquisitive as to +wish to make his acquaintance. But, wherever he goes, he must always +expect to be reminded that he is only there on sufferance; and, if he +has a wife, he must not mind her being stared at as if she were a wild +beast by members of a society that prides itself on being the most +refined in the world. If people who consider themselves in the best +society in London were simply to declare that anyone who was born south +of the equator is unfit to associate with them, and refuse to recognise +Australians at all, such conduct, though open to a charge of prejudice, +would at least have the merit of consistency. + +What is difficult to understand is how people who pride themselves on +the perfection of their breeding can ask Australians to their houses +and then be gratuitously rude to them. The prejudice that exists +in England against Australians is a perfect discredit to an age so +enlightened as the present, and is calculated to do serious injury to +the prospect of maintaining the permanent union of the two countries, +which is of such vital importance to both. There is no doubt that this +prejudice is partly owing to the bad impression created by some few +Australians who have brought their money to England to make such fools +of themselves with it that many people are only too ready to tar all +their compatriots with the same brush. + +But this is not the real origin of the feeling. The real indictment +brought against the Australians is that they come from a land where +there was once a penal settlement, and consequently are open to the +suspicion of being descended from those who have worked for the good +of their country. This may have been all very well in the infancy of +the Colonies, but we must remember that Australia is no longer a very +young country, and it is fully time that her early social history were +relegated to the annals of the past. It is inconceivable how any class +of people can be found so bigoted as to keep such a prejudice up. + +Any Englishman who is so fortunate as to be able to trace his family +history back a couple of centuries, will certainly come across several +relations who were executed for treason, if for nothing worse; and +if he pursues his inquiries any farther he must inevitably run his +ancestors to ground in a rabbit-warren of immorality, from which no +College of Heraldry can ever really extricate them. It is difficult to +follow the subtle reasoning of a pride that looks up to an ancestor +whose head was certainly chopped off for conspiracy, and looks down on +an acquaintance whose grandfather was possibly transported for fraud. + +Many Englishmen who visit Australia form an erroneous opinion of its +society because they persist in applying to it the standard of the one +that they have just left. They stay sufficiently long to discover that +in some points it differs from what they have been accustomed to, and +not long enough to discover that difference does not necessarily imply +inferiority. Having in too many cases brought with them the prejudice, +and left behind them the polish of England’s society, their views +are occasionally still further warped by the discovery that, even in +Australia, a man cannot behave otherwise than like a gentleman without +an occasional rebuff. + +It is from the views of such critics as these that English notions of +Australian society are chiefly derived, and upon no point are they +more unjustly censorious than upon what they are pleased to call the +fastness of the women of Australia. If the canons of English society +of the nineteenth century were a fixed standard for determining the +propriety of woman’s behaviour, there might be some show of justice +in condemning anything that falls short of it. But we all know that +nothing of the kind is the case. Society’s laws are constructed on a +sliding scale that varies from one generation to another. In the words +of Macaulay, “we change the fashion of our morals with our coats and +our hats, and wonder at the depravity of our ancestors.” + +We have only to look at the relative measure of justice that the same +society deals to a man and to a woman for the same offence, to see +that it is regulated by arbitrary laws, which have little reference to +abstract principles of right and wrong. + +Nothing can be more unjust than to try one community by the social laws +which govern another; for although there are certain broad rules which +cannot with impunity be transgressed in any society at present, still, +in minor matters, what constitutes a breach of propriety in one society +does not necessarily do so in another. + +The frank demeanour and the entire absence of affectation that make +an Australian girl such a pleasant companion after ten minutes’ +acquaintance, would in England, of course, be set down to fastness, if +to nothing worse. Society in England holds affectation in an unmarried +woman to be an integral part of modesty, and in order, therefore, to +guard against the imputation of forwardness, reserve with a recent +acquaintance must be pushed to the verge of stupidity. + +Now, as long as critics upon this point recognise that it is simply the +veneering of outward demeanour that they are discussing, no harm is +done. But any inference as to the morality that may lie beneath it, is +most reprehensible. Whether it be a more excellent thing in woman to +try and entertain a man to whom she is introduced, or to make it next +to impossible for him to entertain her, is a question which should be +decided entirely upon its own merits. But it is infamous to say that +the absence of reserve, which in some women is the natural outcome of +good spirits and a desire to please, argues the slightest inferiority +of moral principles to those who have been brought up to consider that +purity can only be preserved in ice. + +In point of actual immorality, it is doubtful whether fashionable +society has varied very much in any country since the age that evoked +the satires of Horace and Juvenal. There are periods during which open +immorality is fashionable, just as there are some summers hotter than +others, but in the end the mean temperature is maintained. Certainly +just now there seems to be a fall in the moral thermometer all over the +world. + +A poet not long dead has declared that London is no better than the +cities for whom “God heard Abraham pray in vain.” And assuredly we do +not seem far off the time when the words, _quæ jussa coram non sine +conscio surgit marito_, will cease to convey any great reproach to +those to whom they may apply. At present, however, even in London a +departure from the path of virtue derives an additional piquancy from +the danger of social ostracism to which detection exposes the offender. + +As long as Australia is not more lax than London in upholding the +Eleventh Commandment, no one has the slightest right to disparage the +tone of her society. But it must be indeed a captious and cynical +disposition that would prevent a man, at least during his stay in +Australia, from flinging all such considerations as these to the winds, +and abandoning himself to the charm of his surroundings. + +In Melbourne especially it is impossible for a man to stay long without +feeling that he is in an atmosphere of cheerfulness, and amongst people +who are determined to enjoy life thoroughly. A single introduction +makes him free of the guild, and before he has been there a week he +will know everyone in the place. In this respect Melbourne has a great +advantage over Sydney, where society is split up into several sets, +each of which, for some unaccountable reason, refuses to mix with the +others. + +Whatever a man’s tastes may be, it must be his own fault if they are +not gratified in Melbourne. If he is inclined for sport, from October +to March he will see as good racing as he ever saw in his life, and +during the remainder of the year he will have an excellent opportunity +of breaking his neck with the Melbourne hounds. If he is fond of good +living, he will find that it is with good reason that the “viveurs” of +Melbourne pride themselves on the excellence of their wines and the +proficiency of their “chefs.” After dinner, if he wishes to gamble, at +either of the clubs he will find a certain number of congenial spirits, +and, whether he win or lose, it is extremely unlikely next morning that +he will complain of the smallness of the stakes. + +There are two exceedingly comfortable clubs, the “Australian” and the +“Melbourne,” both of which admit honorary members for a period of not +more than six months in two years--a very liberal allowance, which adds +considerably to the pleasure of a visitor’s stay in the place, without +putting him to any expense. Occasionally rather heavy play goes on at +both the clubs. I have known a single player to drop over ten thousand +pounds at a sitting. + +For several miles to the south-east the suburbs consist of nothing +but detached houses, each surrounded by more or less extensive +gardens and grounds. Many of these houses have been constructed at an +enormous expense, and fitted up by their owners with every comfort and +luxury that can be imagined. The grounds of some of them are really +beautifully laid out, and there is invariably a well-kept, prosperous +kind of look about the whole concern, from the gatepost to the +weather-cock. + +A glorious ballroom is a very common appendage to one of these +Melbourne houses. Dancing, with the people of Melbourne, is a passion; +and, like everything else that they go in for, they do it well. The +ballroom is strictly sacred to its legitimate use, and no profane feet +are allowed to invade its precincts between whiles. All the anxious +care of a mother for a delicate child is lavished by the hostess on +her ballroom floor, when she is about to give a dance. The music is +generally excellent, and they have a happy knack in Melbourne of +filling their rooms without crowding them. + +Most of the women dance divinely. All through Australia dancing seems +to come as naturally to girls as walking; and in Melbourne it is as +rare to find a woman between fifteen and fifty who dances badly as it +is in England to find one who dances well. Altogether, if a man goes +to a ball to dance and not to lean against a doorpost, it is odd if he +does not look back to some of these small dances in Melbourne, where +everyone knows each other, as amongst the pleasantest he ever was at in +his life. + +Lawn-tennis is everywhere immensely popular. Young men and maidens, old +women and children, at it they go, with the enthusiasm which, whether +in the pursuit of business or of pleasure, is a distinctive feature of +the inhabitants of Melbourne. Really the energy with which some of the +fair sex devote themselves to the game savours rather of work than of +play. Those who do play, play for four hours every day of their lives, +and those who do not, come to look on. A round of afternoon calls means +visiting the various lawn-tennis courts in succession. Here, between +the hours of three and seven, the youth, beauty, and fashion of the +place are every day to be found, comfortably located in a summer-house +overlooking the court, drinking tea and talking scandal, and watching +the enthusiasts below, who are playing as if their lives depended upon +every stroke of the game. + +Hotbeds of scandal are these lawn-tennis parties, but here the people +of Melbourne show their wisdom by declining to spoil two good things by +mixing them. No one who plays is expected to talk scandal on the same +afternoon. The players may sit down to rest their aching limbs, and if +there is time they may have some tea; but they must be prepared to put +down their cups untasted, and start up again at a moment’s notice to +make up another set, lest a minute’s interval in the play should take +place. To display the slightest inclination to sit still is to risk +offending an otherwise most indulgent hostess, who is certain to be an +indefatigable player herself. + +Many a time have I watched a recent arrival in the colony, whose +ignorance of its customs leads him to suppose that an hour’s hard play +under a broiling sun entitles him to a few minutes’ repose. Having +secured a cup of tea and asked permission to smoke, he lights a cigar, +and, establishing himself comfortably in an armchair, prepares to +enjoy the society of one of his fair neighbours who does not play. +Just then the set is finished. The relentless eye of his hostess marks +him out for another, and he is forthwith invited to play again. It +is no use refusing. He will have to give in. His hostess is going to +play again herself, and for very shame he cannot say he is too tired. +There is something sublime in the vitality of a woman who can handle a +lawn-tennis racquet for three hours at a stretch under the afternoon +fire of an Australian sun. Gradually he will find himself infected by +such heroism, and by the time that he has been a week in the town he +will never dream of refusing to play when he is asked. + +The climate of the town itself is rather enervating at times, +especially in summer, when hot winds blow occasionally for one or +two days at a time; and before a stranger has been long in Melbourne +society, especially if he goes much into the bachelor portion of it, +he will find that he needs a good constitution and a hard head to drink +fair with some of his entertainers. The excellent quality of the wine +he is drinking is apt to make him rather careless about the quantity. +One of these hot winds, therefore, coming on the top of a “Burgundy +night” at the Melbourne Club, will probably recall to a visitor’s mind +the numerous invitations that he is certain to have received to go and +spend a few days in the country. + +Away to the north of Melbourne the plain country rises gradually for +about forty miles to an elevation of about 1500 feet. Beyond this are +heavily-timbered mountain ranges, on the southern slopes of which are +some of the most exquisitely-situated country houses in the world. The +owners of many of them seem to keep open house the whole year round, +and are never happy unless they have a succession of visitors from +Melbourne to keep their houses full. When Melbourne is suffocated +with dust and heat, the climate up here is delightfully cool and +pleasant. Anything more beautiful than some of these places cannot be +imagined. Of course the grounds around them are artificially made, +being clearances in the endless forest of huge gum-trees, but they +have been turned by the genius of their owners into perfect paradises +of beauty. Ornamental trees, flowering shrubs, and creepers of every +description, grow as if they were determined to make up for lost time +in never having been planted before. Wild flowers flourish as if nature +had upset her basket here and never stopped to pick it up, and exotics +are scattered around with a profusion that quite takes a stranger’s +breath away, and makes him rub his eyes to be sure that good living in +Melbourne has not had the effect of making him see double. + +Here the exhausted lawn-tennis player from Melbourne can stretch his +weary limbs in perfect peace, idly drinking in the pure mountain air +and feasting on the beauty of the scene around him, without risk of any +less pleasant interruption than a stroll round the garden and through +the fern-tree gullies. With a pipe to keep away mosquitoes, and the +conversation of one of Australia’s daughters to keep away care, a man +must be indeed hard to please who cannot enjoy himself thoroughly. He +need not exert himself. He has nothing to do but to allow his fair +companion to entertain him. She will do it with an ease that no other +woman in the world is so thoroughly mistress of as an Australian. + +The scene is one which is not readily forgotten. Around on three sides +rise wild mountain ranges, covered to the very summit with dense masses +of dark-green forest. Behind them the sun sinks to rest-- + + “Not, as in northern climes, obscurely bright, + But one unclouded blaze of living light.” + +In front a garden bright with every conceivable shade of colouring +slopes gently down to a miniature lake, whose glassy surface, unmarred +by a single ripple, reflects with startling distinctness the trees that +fringe its edges. Beyond this the plains go rolling down to Melbourne, +forty miles away, dimly visible, except on a very clear day; but its +whereabouts is distinctly marked by a murky cloud of smoke, which rises +up and drifts away to seaward over the shining expanse of Port Philip +harbour. It is pleasant to watch the storm-clouds gathering in the +south, and to see the steamers creeping out to sea, to fight their way +along the most pitiless coast in the world. “Suave mari magno” rises +to the spectator’s lips, and as he turns to the home-like comfort and +fairy beauty of the scene around him, the conviction comes across +him that by no race in the world is the philosophy of life better +understood than by the inhabitants of Australia. + +Small wonder if the lawn-tennis player who comes up here to recruit +occasionally imbibes something else besides mountain air. The perfect +repose of his surroundings, the sensation of “masterly inactivity” in +himself, which is never felt to perfection out of a hot climate, will +make him feel that the world is very pleasant to live in; an impression +that will deepen as he listens to his entertainer’s refreshing views of +life, and notes her unaffected interest in everything, which proclaims +her a stranger to the meaning of the word _ennui_. + +The stillness of the evening air is heavy with the scent of +orange-flowers, gardenias, and stephanotis; and as the charm of his +companion’s manner grows upon him, he will own to himself that some of +the daughters of the South are wondrous fair. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +IMPERIAL FEDERATION + + +It is impossible for anyone to visit Australia without speculating +upon the future that awaits a country possessing such enormous +natural wealth and resources. The rapid development that has taken +place in every part of this continent during the past thirty years--a +development for which there is no parallel in history--makes it certain +that before long Australia will form a very considerable item in making +up the balance of political power throughout the world. Already she has +become a financial power of the first magnitude, and the annual yield +of gold in Victoria alone has no small share in determining the value +of money in every market from Hong-Kong to London. + +It is obvious that a country with the natural advantages of Australia, +inhabited, as she is, by the only race who have ever proved themselves +able to rise from a colony into a nation, has before her, if she choose +to claim it, an existence as one of the independent powers of the +world. The question, therefore, naturally arises as to whether she will +elect to remain a portion of the British Empire, or whether she will +prefer to sever the connection that binds her to the mother country. + +In the whole history of the world there has probably never been a +question raised of such stupendous importance. The remarks which +apply to Australia apply with equal force to Canada, and the subject +involves a consideration of the British Empire as a whole, its possible +development, its possible disintegration, and the relation of both +these contingencies to the future of England herself, of her colonies, +and of the whole world. + +The Imperial Federation of the British Empire is too vast a subject +to be considered at any length in a work of this kind, but it is one +with which the future of Australia is so intimately connected that it +is impossible to pass over it in silence. Imperial Federation has long +been regarded as a mere vision of theorists, sufficiently alluring +as a sentimental idea, but wholly incapable of being worked out as a +practical problem. + +Because no definite scheme has as yet been propounded, the unthinking +majority, a class ever the foremost to criticise, have sneered at the +notion as utterly unpractical, and relegated it in their own minds to +the Millennium. + +Opinion on the subject may be divided into three classes. + +Firstly, there is the opinion of those who believe that the existing +relations between England and her colonies are sufficiently close to +secure the permanent unity of the Empire, in spite of the causes which +at present threaten to break it up. This opinion may fairly be taken as +an epitome of the ignorance of those who know nothing whatever about +the subject. + +Secondly, there is the opinion of those who recognise the likelihood of +disintegration, but who face it with perfect equanimity, and entirely +deny the possibility of framing any scheme of Federation that will +avert it. This is a much more comprehensive class of ignorance than the +first, a species of perverted knowledge which has been crystallised +into drivelling similes. Colonies are compared to children who leave +their parents as soon as they are grown up, or to fruit dropping +off a tree when it is ripe. It is impossible to condemn too harshly +such mischievous fallacies as these. Our Colonies are not the fruit, +they are the branches of the tree itself--stalwart limbs of a mighty +empire--and they drop off, not when they are ripe, but when the +connection between them and the mother country is rotten. + +Thirdly, there is the opinion of those who share neither the false +security of the optimists nor the apathy of the pessimists, and who, +while they see clearly the disintegrating causes that are undermining +the fabric of the Empire, have set themselves resolutely to work +to elaborate a practical scheme for reconstructing its political +organisation upon a permanent basis. These are the men who, with a full +recognition of the danger of doing nothing, and of the difficulty of +doing anything, have rescued Imperial Federation from the misty regions +of dreamland, and brought it within the scope of practical politics. + +The standard of Imperial Federation has been set up, and the alacrity +with which men of all political parties, in every part of the Empire, +have hastened to enlist in the ranks of its supporters, proves +conclusively how powerful a hold the idea has over all the leading +spirits of the age. The extraordinary support which it has received +at the outset has almost entirely silenced the enemies of the League +which has now been formed. Here and there some editor of a newspaper, +determined to prove that his ignorance does not arise from want of +information, but from inability to digest it, exposes the petrifaction +of his intellect in the shape of an article sneering at the promoters +of Imperial Federation, because they have as yet laid down no definite +scheme. + +Fortunately it is not by babbling critics such as these that the matter +will be decided. + +Imperial Federation is a question that will be tried entirely upon +its own merits, and if ever any practical form of it be carried out, +it will be due to the “masterly inactivity” of those who forebore to +hamper its development at the outset by any premature discussion of +details. The time is rapidly approaching when some well-defined and +precise scheme for the Federation of the Empire must be laid down. + +But in the meantime it is the wise policy of the League to arouse +popular enthusiasm in every British community, to point out the dangers +that threaten, and the necessity for immediate action; so that when the +time comes for the details of any scheme to be considered, the various +portions of the Empire may be prepared to make mutual concessions to +avert a common evil, and to secure a common good. + +The ever-increasing majority in whose hands the power of deciding +the destiny of their country has been placed, are men who, in +the struggle for existence, have little leisure to devote to the +consideration of politics. When a fair statement is laid before them, +the working-classes are marvellously shrewd in discerning in which +direction their best interests lie; but it is too much to expect them +to evolve, out of their inner consciousness, a knowledge of what may be +termed the unwritten current history of the world. + +It is the solemn duty of every statesman worthy of the name to +enlighten the minds of the working-classes upon those momentous +questions which have now, by an extended suffrage, been surrendered +into their hands for decision. The masses of the people have not the +means for forming an independent judgment upon foreign affairs, and are +only too ready to take their opinions at second hand from those who, +from their position, are supposed to be qualified to direct them. + +A change so momentous as the dismemberment of the Empire of Greater +Britain is not accomplished in a day. It is a process so gradual +that, unless we look carefully both at the past and at the present, +we do not recognise that it is taking place. He alone reads history +aright who, observing the events which conduce to the rise and fall of +nations, traces those events back to their true cause, and applies the +experience so gained to the solution of the problems of the present. +Unfortunately the people of England at the present time are likely +to gain but a scant insight into Imperial policy, from observing the +flounderings of a Ministry whose actions have alienated every single +European Power, and who have carried War with Dishonour into almost +every portion of their own Empire. + +Whatever questions of Colonial policy have been brought before them +have been treated by the present Ministry with a mixture of stupidity +and indifference which clearly proves them to be unworthy of the name +of statesmen. It is evident that in the hearts of more than one of them +the cry of “Perish India” finds only too ready an echo. The importance +of retaining India is a question which cannot be discussed here, for +its abandonment is bound up with the Disintegration of the Empire, and +with the ruin of millions of the working-classes in Great Britain. +It is sufficient that “Perish India” is identified with the name of +a veteran agitator, a retrospect of whose long and still unfinished +career shows that, under the mask of hypocritical friendship, he has +never neglected an opportunity of injuring the working-classes. + +We should be sorry to believe that the present Ministry in any way +represents the feeling of England toward the Colonies. Most of its +members neither know nor care anything whatever about foreign affairs, +and the few whose political and geographical knowledge is not entirely +bounded by the “silver streak” are consistent in nothing but a fixed +determination to alienate the Colonies. + +Mr. Gladstone repudiates the idea of Imperial Federation as “wholly +visionary,” and declares that the most he hopes for as a statesman is +to effect a separation from the Colonies without bloodshed. + +If Lord Derby and Lord Granville are allowed to pursue their present +treatment of Colonial interests much longer, it is probable that even +the modest hope of Mr. Gladstone will not be realised. + +The Colonial correspondence during the last twenty years shows that +neither Lord Granville nor Lord Derby have ever lost an opportunity of +insulting Colonial susceptibilities and injuring Colonial interests. + +In 1870 it was openly stated in the Dominion Parliament of Canada +by Sir Alexander Galt and Mr. Huntington that it was with unfeigned +regret that they were obliged to conclude that it was the deliberate +intention of Her Majesty’s Ministers to effect a separation between the +two countries. Even stronger was the feeling which was aroused in New +Zealand at the same time. + +But all previous blunders of Colonial policy fade into insignificance +when compared with the New Guinea question, and we can conceive nothing +better calculated to produce a revolution in Australia than the conduct +of the English Government in the matter. That it has not done so is +entirely due to the fact that the Australians are able to discriminate +between the English Government and the English people. + +But no one can pretend that distinctions of this kind are a basis upon +which the unity of the Empire can be long maintained. + +Those who imagine that the existing relations between England and +her Colonies are satisfactory will do well to study the New Guinea +question, for it is one which conclusively proves that the Empire +cannot remain united upon its present political basis. + +The main facts connected with the case are well known to all. New +Guinea is an island off the north-east coast of Queensland. Its +southern shores form one side of Torres Straits, which is one of the +main approaches to Australia, and altogether the island bears about the +same geographical relation to Queensland that Ireland does to England. + +For many years New Guinea has always been looked upon as belonging +by natural right to the continent of Australia; but it was not until +the danger of foreign annexation was felt that Australian statesmen +realised the importance of at once securing the island for their +country. + +So great was the scare lest France should secure a foothold in the +island, that even the delay of applying to the English Government was +felt to be dangerous, and Queensland annexed the whole unoccupied +portion of the island, with the full consent of Australia, and then +invited the English Government to sanction the annexation. + +The contemptuous incivility with which the Australian proposals were +met proves, not only that Lord Derby had no sense of the delicate +relations between a mother country and her colonies, but also that he +entirely failed to realise the intrinsic importance of the question. + +Setting aside any question of good feeling or decent behaviour, so as +to bring the matter as far as possible within the scope of the present +Foreign Office, it was surely most impolitic to irritate Australia by +an uncivil demurrer to her just claims, when there was nothing whatever +to be gained by opposing them. + +Finding that open opposition was arousing a feeling in Australia which +it would be difficult to deal with, Lord Derby then had recourse to +treachery to accomplish his object of thwarting the wishes of the +Australians. Yielding so far to the pressure which was brought to bear +upon him, he annexed a portion of the island, and allayed the fears +of Australia on the score of foreign intervention, by giving the most +unqualified assurances that no other Power should be allowed to touch +New Guinea. + +While these very assurances were on their way out to the Colonies, +it now transpires that Lord Derby and Lord Granville were engaged +in handing over a portion of New Guinea to Germany, for no other +conceivable purpose than at once to insult and to injure the most loyal +of communities. + +We look in vain for the motive which prompted this betrayal of +Australian interests, but the result is, unfortunately, only too +apparent. The question is not one of sentiment, but of real and +tangible interest. + +In annexing New Guinea, Australia was simply making a wise and politic +effort to avail herself of geographical advantages, to secure a +peaceful future. But the presence of the most powerful military nation +in Europe, in an island adjacent to her shores, has entirely altered +the prospects of Australia, and has inflicted a lasting injury upon her +future. + +It is not by the geographical advantages of an isolated position, but +by an enormous addition to her naval and military force, that Australia +must in future be prepared to secure herself from foreign aggression; +and for this she has only the English Government to thank. + +The surrender of Australian interests to Germany by English statesmen +has aroused a feeling of bitter resentment and humiliation throughout +the Colonies, and the feeling is not likely to be weakened by the +discovery that while the action itself was discreditable to statesmen, +the manner in which it was done was unworthy of gentlemen. + +The recent offer of military assistance from the Colonies must awake +enthusiastic admiration in the heart of every true Englishmen for the +patriotism and loyalty of our kin beyond the sea. But the joy with +which we in England hail the offer must be considerably lessened by the +reflection that while the troops are embarking in Sydney for Suakim, +the Colonial Secretary is being burnt in effigy in various parts of +Australia. + +Too many of us will be only too ready to jump to the conclusion that +because the Colonies have shown themselves willing to take an active +part in fighting our battles, therefore Imperial Federation is a _fait +accompli_, and that nothing more remains to be done. A more mischievous +delusion can hardly be imagined, and it is of the utmost importance +that the present attitude of the Colonies should not be misunderstood. + +The present offer of military assistance proves, indeed, that the +Colonies are able and willing to bear their share of Imperial Defence. +But we must remember that the offer is coupled with a protest against +the recent action of the English Government, which no statesman will be +wise to neglect. + +The tone of the Australian Press with regard to the New Guinea question +is a solemn warning that the present relations between the mother +country and the Colonies cannot exist much longer. + +The enthusiasm which prompted Australia to send her money and her men +to help England in the Soudan, while still smarting under her betrayal +to Germany by the English Government, is indeed the triumph of loyalty +over exasperation. It is, in fact, a direct overture for Imperial +Federation, and we shall do well to accept it as such, and as nothing +more. + +The sixteen Cabinet Ministers who have brought dishonour and disaster +upon their country in every quarter of the globe, and who still cling +desperately to office like barnacles to the bottom of a wreck, +undoubtedly do not represent either the intelligence or the feeling of +the country which they still pretend to govern. This the Australians +recognise; but while their loyalty at present remains unshaken, +they see clearly that where such a state of things exists their own +interests cannot fail to be compromised, of which fact they have lately +had a most disastrous example. + +Let all those who believe that Imperial Federation now exists ask +themselves if it is likely that the Colonies will continue to supply +men and money for wars in the conduct of which they have no voice, and +which are carried on upon purely party principles by a Government in +whose imbecility they originated. + +Is it likely that, after the warning of New Guinea, the Colonies will +continue to surrender their interests to the arbitrary control of +statesmen who betray every determination to repeat the blunders which +caused the American Revolution? + +It is possible that in years to come England may alienate Australia +in the same way that she alienated America. Undoubtedly a prolonged +succession of such statesmen as at present guide her foreign policy +would have the effect of forcing every one of England’s Colonies, who +were strong enough to do so, to declare their independence. + +Fortunately, however, Imperial Federation is not a matter that will +be left to be manipulated into a party question by politicians whose +blunders have made all Europe merry for four years. It will be decided +by the working men of Great Britain and her Colonies, whose interests +are most deeply affected by the question; and it is probable that when +the time comes, as it shortly will, that the matter must be settled +one way or the other, they will decide in favour of retaining their +respective positions as portions of one Empire. + +There exists in Australia, among all classes, a feeling of loyalty +and affection for the old country that has been well described as a +passion. To those who look below the surface, there is something very +instructive in the sentiment that prompts all Australians, born and +bred in the colony, invariably to speak of England as “home,” though +very possibly they may never have been there, and never intend to go. +But although sentiment is undoubtedly an important element, there are +other and far more weighty considerations which nearly affect the +future of England and her Colonies. + +The cardinal point upon which Imperial Federation turns is Imperial +Defence; and the more closely we investigate both questions, the more +impossible we shall find it is to separate them. The growing population +of England, combined with her fiscal policy during the last thirty +years, have made her dependent upon foreign supply for the necessaries +of life, to an extent that it is impossible to contemplate without the +gravest misgivings. + +The only precaution that could neutralise the danger would be an +enormous addition to the strength of her navy, and this has been +neglected. At the same time the increase in the navies of other Powers +has been so great that it is now doubtful whether, in the event +of war, England could defend her own shores and at the same time +afford sufficient protection to her commerce to avert the horrors of +starvation. + +It is evident, then, that if the Empire is to hold together, the +Colonies must be prepared to contribute their due share towards its +defence. That they are perfectly willing to do so there is little +doubt, provided that their true position as integral portions of the +Empire be recognised. England lost America because in the days of +her weakness she never made it worth her while to continue as part of +the Empire. She made the fatal mistake of treating her as an outlying +estate, from which as much as possible was to be squeezed for her own +benefit; and the consequence was, as soon as America was strong enough +she severed the connection. + +The slightest attempt on the part of England to repeat the same +tactics with regard to Australia at the present time, or to treat +with her otherwise than as an equal in the matter of Federation, +would inevitably be followed by separation. And very justly so; for +the question of Imperial Federation, though it is undoubtedly for the +advantage both of England and of Australia, is of infinitely greater +importance to the future of the mother country than to that of the +colony. Both Australia and Canada have before them a glorious future, +whether they remain portions of the Empire or become independent. But +the future of England herself, deprived of her Colonies, is too gloomy +a picture to dwell upon for a moment. + +Indeed the Disintegration of the Empire would be a sufficiently +deplorable catastrophe, supposing that it were inevitable. It is +rendered doubly so by the brilliant prospect that is opened up by the +possibility of Federation. + +There is now, outside of England herself, a population of 10,000,000 +of Englishmen, inhabiting a territory of almost boundless extent, and +with unlimited capabilities for development. In about fifty years +these 10,000,000 will have increased to 50,000,000, which, with the +population of the mother country, will make a total of at least +100,000,000. + +The question, therefore, for Englishmen in every quarter of the globe +to ask themselves is this: Are we, by a wise and far-seeing policy, +going to unite this enormous nationality in the close relations of an +Imperial Federation; or are we, by neglecting the lessons of the past, +and by ignoring the warnings of the present, going to allow the vast +mass to resolve itself into hostile and helpless fragments, most of +which will fall into obscurity among the increasing Powers of the world? + +Shall our children and our grandchildren see the sublime spectacle of +100,000,000 of the most highly-civilised race in the world, inhabiting +an Empire upon which the sun never sets, united by the bonds of race +and religion, and still more closely united by the interests of an +inter-dependent trade, secure from the attack of any foe from without, +and developing an ever-increasing prosperity within; or shall they be +forced to mourn over the ruins of the finest Empire that the world has +ever seen, to watch one after another of its provinces detached from +their centre, whether alienated by England’s own folly or torn from +her by a Power which she can no longer resist; and, finally, to watch +England herself, shorn of the strength which her remote Dependencies +alone can give her, sinking beneath the burden of a paralysed trade and +an enormous population, into an obscurity among the nations from which +she will never rise again? + +A Federation of all parts of the British Empire would form by far the +most mighty Power that has ever existed in the world, and could laugh +at any possible combination of hostile nations. England’s future as one +of the leading Powers depends upon the success of the movement that has +now started; and we believe that although an independent existence is +open to more than one of her Colonies, they will one and all prefer the +still more glorious future that awaits them as portions of the Empire +of Greater Britain. + + + + +INDEX + + + Aden, scenery of, 7, 8. + + Adventures with--alligators, 89-91; + black spider, 83; + emus, 80, 81; + kanakas, 148-151; + tame snake, 42; + wild Blacks, 132-134; + wild cattle, 97-100; + and wild pigs, 91-94. + + Agricultural resources of Queensland, 254. + + Ague, prevalence of, in Queensland, 275. + + Alligators, in the Pioneer River, 29; + adventures with, 89-91. + + Anecdotes of--French sailor, 2; + German doctor at the diggings, 177-184, 222; + a “sober” judge, 205, 206. + + Ant, green-head, effects of a bite from, 165. + + Australia, voyage to, 1-20; + pearl-fisheries of, 21-23; + alligators in, 89-91; + importance of good roads, 189; + the land question, 300-314; + and New Guinea, 333-335; + Governments of, 255; + and Government jobs, 256, 303, 304; + banks of, 305; + gold-mining (_q.v._), 156-173 _et seq._; + first discovery of gold at Summer Hill (1851), 298; + comparison of cattle and sheep stations in, 107-122; + effects of the drought in, 112, 113, 120, 298. + Judges of, 205; + the Blacks (_q.v._), 123-137; + mode of living in, 276; + benefit of hard work in, 77, 272; + drunkenness in, 198-207 (_see also_ Drink); + hospitality in, 315; + Englishman in, 316, 317, 318; + Australian in London, 317; + morality in London and Australia, 319; + woman in, 319, 320, 323, 327; + sport in, 95; + Australian cricketers, 302; + coaching in, 287, 288; + its future, 328. + (_See also_ Bush, _and_ Queensland.) + + Australian Steam Navigation Company, 287. + + + Bark, buildings of, 175, 176, 177. + + Batavia River, agricultural land on, 263. + + Blacks, the, of Australia, 123-137; + physical qualities, 123; + their sense of humour, 125; + homicidal propensities, 128, 129, 132, 133; + their habits, 126, 130, 136, 137; + their creed, 127; + and superstition, 128, 129; + their troublesomeness, 135, 136; + at Somerset, 22, 24; + at hard work, 177; + a noble specimen, 125, 126; + missionaries among them, 129; + under religious instruction, 130; + employed by white men, 131, 132; + the labour question, 144; + native police among, 136; + hunting them, 96; + a wholesale poisoning, 134; + adventures with, 136, 137. + + Black’s Creek, hunting wild cattle at, 97-106. + + Blue Mountain, a Bush station, 55; + pig-sticking adventures at, 91-94. + + Brighton, near Melbourne, 304. + + Brisbane, population of, 284; + the town, 276; + hotel accommodation, 284; + railway through, 286; + the people, 283, 284; + hospitality of the residents, 285; + amusements of, 285; + Salvation Army in, 285, 286; + voyage from, to Sydney, recollections of, 287-290; + coast trade at (1879), 258. + + Bullock-driving at the diggings, 177; + a model team, 214; + the driver, 214, 217; + method of, 213; + use of the whip, 213, 214; + professional swearing, 177, 216; + downhill without the brake, 217. + + Bush, the, first impressions of, 35; + dangers of, 36, 55; + eaten alive by ants, 56; + slowly burned to death, 56, 57; + snakes, 82; + black spiders, 83, 233; + pest of flies, 84; + Bush fires, 85; + emus, 80, 81; + glory of morning, 43, 44. + A station in, 39-53; + houses, 46, 47, 174, 175, 178; + home in, 230-232; + life in, 54 _et seq._; + mode of living, 273, 274; + manners and morals, 277, 278; + absence of woman, 279; + sleeping, 42; + boots, 81; + riding in, 37, 66; + splitting timber, 78, 79; + wages in, 272; + pig-sticking adventures, 91-94; + Sunday in, 233; + the drink curse, 197 _et seq._ (_see also_ Drink); + prevalence of drinking, 201; + a Bushman’s method of drinking, 201, 283; + “knocking down a cheque,” 200; + relative advantages of town and Bush life, 280 _et seq._ + + Buck-jumping, by Bush horses, 48, 49, 50. + + Burgess, Billy, a model stockman, 62, 63, 101-103. + + Butcher-bird, in the Bush, 44. + + + Camping-out in the Bush, 98 _et seq._ + + Capitalists, advice to, 271, 272. + + Carpentaria, Gulf of, unhealthy district, 275. + + Cattle, wild, hunting them, 98-106. + + Cattle-camps, 58, 59, _and see_ Cattle-growing. + + Cattle-growing, the runs, 54; + fencing, 77, 79; + camps, 58, 59; fat cattle, 60, 61; + rowdy cattle, 73; + agility of Bush cattle, 74; + wild cattle on a run, 98, 106; + “burnt feed,” 87. + + Stockman’s work, 55, 62; + stockman’s faculty, 62; + a model stockman, 62, 69; + mustering, 58, 69; + drafting or “cutting out,” 63, 69 _et seq._; + “yarding-up,” 70; + “tailing,” 75; + choosing cattle, 64; + “droving,” 65, 68; + driving fat cattle, 65. + + Expenses and profits of station, 109, 110; + prices of cattle, 110; + risks, 110, 111; + losses from drought, 298; + “financing,” 115, 116; + comparison of cattle and sheep stations, 108-122; + cattle and sheep in Victoria, 310, 311. + + Ceylon, tourists in, 15, 16. + + Charters Towers, gold-field, 236, 238, 239. + + Chinamen at the diggings, 169. + + Cingalese at sugar-growing, 152. + + “Clean skins,” wild cattle so called, 98. + + Cloncurry, copper mines, 249. + + Coaching in Australia, 286, 287. + + Coal-beds in Queensland, 251. + + Coasting trade of Queensland, 258. + + Cobb and Co.’s mail-coaches, 286. + + Colonies, British, and Imperial Federation, 332-340. + + Colonist, an ideal, 154. + + Coolies, for sugar-growing, 151, 152. + + Copper mines of Queensland, 247-250; + at Peak Downs, 247; + the Mackinlay ranges, 248; + Cloncurry, 249; + Mount Flora and Mount Orange, 250. + + Cricket, at Melbourne, 302; + Australian cricketers, 302. + + + Davidson, Mr. John Ewen, first sugar-mill in Queensland erected by, + 138. + + Derby, Lord, and the New Guinea question, 333, 335, 336. + + Diggings, life on, 174 _et seq._; + names on, 195; + “jumping” a claim, 159, 180; + settling disputes, 159, 180; + accidents in the shaft, 193-196; + wages on, 234, 272; + home on, 231-234; + the doctor at, story of, 178-184, 222; + the policeman, 180-182; + drink curse on, 197 _et seq._ (_see also_ Drink); + deathbed scene on, 184-187. + (_See also_ Gold-mining _and_ Mount Britten.) + + Draught-cattle, _see_ Bullock-driving. + + Drink, evils of, 18; + its deadly consequences, 199; + death from, on the diggings, 197; + public-houses in Mackay, 26; + public-houses on the diggings, 197; + adulteration of liquor, 198; + conduct of Government with regard to adulteration, 203, 204; + substitutes for liquor--“Pain-killer,” kerosene, “Farmer’s Friend,” + 207. + On the diggings, 159, 170, 197 _et seq._; + Bacchanalians, 175; + cold water cure, 176; + the Bush drunkard, 279; + a Bushman’s method of drinking, 202, 279; + “knocking down a cheque,” 199; + drinking £600 in three weeks, 200; + “hospitality,” 201; + drinking with Death, 185-187. + Prevalence of drinking among all classes, 202; + preventive legislation useless, 198, 202; + difficulties of reform in liquor traffic, 203, 204, 206; + drinking customs in towns, 282, 283; + drunken legislators, 205; + “sober” judges, 205; + anecdote of one, 205, 206; + the doctor drunk, 25; + the town drunkard, 279; + “nipping,” 279, 283; + “a swizzle,” 31; + “anti-shouting,” 284; + drink on New South Wales Railway, 299; + a man with D.T. on voyage, 289. + + Drought in Australia, 112, 113, 122, 298; + provision against, 120. + + “Droving” in Australia, 67, 68. + + Drunkenness in Australia, 197-207. + (_See also_ Drink.) + + Duck-driving on the Pioneer River, 89, 90. + + + Eastern and Australian Steamship Co., boats of, 18, 24. + + Eaten alive by ants in the Bush, 56. + + England, hospitality in, 317, 318; + Australian in London, 318; + morality in London and Australia, 320. + + Englishman in Australia, 317, 318. + + Emu, in the Bush, 81; + suicide of, 80; + oil, 81. + + “Erratic Star” gold reef, 172 _et seq._ + (_See also_ Mount Britten.) + + + Fashion in Mackay, 26, 27. + + Fencing for cattle stations, 77, 79. + + Fielding, General, agent for the Syndicate of the Transcontinental + Railway Scheme, 263. + + Fitzroy River, alligators in, 90, 91; + removing the Flats, 257. + + “Flat-top,” an island at mouth of the Pioneer River, 259. + + Flies in the Bush, pest of, 84; + the solitary fly, 85. + + French sailor, anecdote of, 2. + + + Galle, description of, 15; + tourists at, 15, 16. + + German doctor at the diggings, story of, 177-184, 222. + + Gibbard, Charley, of the “Little Wanderer” (_q.v._) gold reef, 166, + 170, 184, 187. + + Gladstone, Mr., on Imperial Federation, 333. + + Gold-mining, gold first discovered in Australia at Summer Hill + (1851), 298; + in Queensland, 165 _et seq._; + Queensland gold-fields, 238, 239; + future of, in Queensland, 240; + gold-mines of Victoria, 308; + yield of gold there, 308; + Gympie reefs, 236 _et seq._; + richest mine in the world at Mount Morgan, account of, 245-247; + at Mount Britten (_q.v._), 169 _et seq._; + “Little Wanderer,” 170 _et seq._ (_see also_ Mount Britten); + “Erratic Star,” 172 _et seq._ (_see also_ Mount Britten); + alluvial gold, 166, 169; + uncertainty of gold, 235, 236; + significance of black slate, 236. + The gold fever, 161; + the professional digger, 157; + a new chum’s luck, 169; + a “duffer rush,” 168; + “dividing mates,” 166; + prospecting for a reef, 167; + discovering a reef, 170, 171; + a good “prospect,” 171; + warden of gold-field, 171. + Life at the diggings, 174 _et seq._ (_see also_ Diggings); + accidents in the shaft, 193-196; + cost and difficulties of setting up machinery, 188-193, 208, 211, + 212; + damming a creek, 209-211; + a quartz mill, 212; + retorting, 220. + Uncertainty of mining, 162, 167; + instances of evil effects of, 161; + cost of gold, 162; + expenses and profits, 234, 235; + statistics of Mount Britten reefs, 234; + ordinary history of a gold-field, 232; + floating a company, 307. + + Gracemere, near Rockhampton, scene in a cattle-yard at, 74. + + Granville, Lord, and the New Guinea question, 333, 335. + + Grass-seed, on the coast of Queensland, evils to sheep from, 107. + + Grass-trees in the Bush, 39. + + Griffiths, Mr., his Ministry, 267; + in the Steel Rail Inquiry, 267. + + Groom, Mr., Speaker in the Queensland Parliament, 268. + + Gulf district of Queensland, advantages for sheep-farming, 121; + unhealthiness of, 273. + + Gympie, gold-field, 188, 238-241. + + + Haslewood, a Bush station, 55. + + Holliman, William, erects mill at Mount Britten diggings, 192, 211, + 222. + + Horses, in the Bush, 37, 47-53, 228; + buck-jumping, 48, 49; + endurance of, 50; + breaking-in, 49, 50; + “camp-horse,” 63. + + Houses, of wood, in the Bush, 46, 174, 177, 230. + + Hunting in Queensland, 92, 106. + + + Imperial Federation, opinions on, 328; + opponents of, 329; + work of the League, 330; + disintegration theory, 329; + dismemberment of the Empire a gradual process, 330; + conduct of present Ministry in Colonial affairs, 332-335; + and New Guinea, 333-335; + not a party question, 337; + will be decided by working-men of Great Britain and her Colonies, + 337; + importance of Australia, 340 _et seq._; + sentiment in Australia, 337; + question of Imperial Defence, 337; + the case of America applied to Australia, 339; + to be, or not to be? 339. + + + “Jackaroos,” in the Bush, 76. + + “Johnny cakes,” in the Bush, 100. + + “Jumping,” on the diggings, 159, 179. + + + Kanakas, who and what they are, 145, 146; + effect of religious teaching on, 129, 130; + “missionary boys,” 129; + kidnapping them, 145; + employment of, 146, 147; + plundered by storekeepers, 146; + troublesomeness of, 146; + a scare, 149, 150. + + Kangaroos, in Queensland, 95; + hunting them, 96. + + + Labour question, in sugar-growing, 136-153. + + Land, price of, in Australia, 113, 114. + + Land question, the, in Australia, 298, 311; + in New South Wales, 298; + in Queensland, 270, 271; + in Victoria, 311, 312; + selectors, 270. + + Lawn-tennis, in Melbourne, 323, 324. + + “Little Wanderer,” gold reef, _see_ Mount Britten. + + + Mackay, description of, 25, 26, 27; + need of port at, 259; + story of its breakwater, 259; + copper mines near, 250; + opposition of, to mining, 191; + sugar-growing (_q.v._) in, 138; + progress of, 140, 143; + planters of, 190; + fashion at, 27. + + Mackinlay ranges copper mines, 248. + + Marseilles, votive offerings of sailors at, 2, 3. + + M’Ilwraith, Sir T., Premier of Queensland, his Ministry, 266; + his estimate for Transcontinental Railway, 261; + on the Colonial debt, 261; + in the Steel Rail Inquiry, 267. + + Melbourne, its origin, 189; + climate, 324; + population, 300; + the town, 300, 304; + Government House and Botanical Gardens, 304; + Public Library and Institute of Fine Art, 301; + its fine buildings, 300; + hotels, 300; + and churches, 301; + its streets, 301; + a man nearly drowned in a gutter, 301; + the river Yarra, 304; + railways, cost of an accident, 303, 304; + the telephone, 305; + the Exchange, 305; + mining speculation at, 305, 306. + The people, 304; + life in, 320, 321; + drinking in, 324; + its clubs, 322; + dancing in, 323; + cricket at, 302; + lawn-tennis in, 326, 327; + tennis-court, 302; + suburbs, 303, 325; + country residences, 325-327. + + “Milky Sea,” near Aden, 8. + + Mines, advantage of, to a district, 189, 190; + of Queensland, 247. + (_See also_ Coal, Copper, Gold, Tin.) + + Mount Britten, description of valley of, 164; + gold-field at, 163; + “Little Wanderer” reef at, 170, 184, 187, 226, 227; + “Erratic Star” reef at, 172; + accidents, 193-196; + damming a creek, 209-211; + setting up a mill, 192, 195-197, 208, 211, 218-223; + “Sabbath Calm” mill, 221; + a first crushing, 222, 223; + first gold escort from, 227; + result of further crushings, 227; + statistics of reefs at, 229, 230; + floating the Company, 305-307. + + Mount Flora, copper mines at, 250. + + Mount Morgan, richest mine in the world, account of, 245-247. + + Mount Orange, copper mines at, 250. + + Mount Spencer, a Bush station, 39-41; + description of, 45, 46; + the horse-yards, 47; + cattle runs, 54; + cattle-growing (_q.v._) at, 55 _et seq._; + camping at, 44. + (_See also_ Bush.) + + Mount Spencer country, its extent and divisions, 53. + + Mummies of Australian Blacks, 128. + + “Myalls,” wild Blacks (_q.v._) of Australia, 134. + + + Naples, beauties of, 1. + + New Guinea question, 334-336; + public feeling in Australia, 335. + + New South Wales, the Colonial debt, 261; + population, 255; + gold diggings of, 298; + mining swindle in, 305; + chief produce of, 298; + the drought, 298; + the land question, 299. + + Newton, Mr. R., his exposure of the Transcontinental Railway Scheme, + 264. + + + Palmer, gold-field, 239. + + Peak Downs, copper mines, 247. + + Pearl-fishing, Australia, 21, 22. + + Pigs, wild, adventures with, at Blue Mountain, 92-94. + + Pioneer River, scenery of, 24, 27; + alligators in, 29; + wild duck shooting on, 89, 90. + + Poison-wood, effects of, 184. + + Port Said, character of, 3. + + + Queensland, voyage to, 1-20; + coast scenery, 23, 24; + coast towns, 24; + area and population, 242; + climate, 272-274; + unhealthy district of, 273; + fever and ague in, 275. + Her resources and prospects, 242-275; + forests and timber, 242; + the Bush (_q.v._), 40; + mineral wealth, 244-247; + gold-fields, 238, 239; + gold-mining (_q.v._) in, 154 _et seq._; + mining in, 307; + copper mines, 247-249; + coal-beds, 251; + tin-mines, 251; + her real greatness, 252; + prairies, 253; + stock-rearing resources, 253 (_see_ Cattle-growing _and_ + Sheep-farming); + advantages of Gulf country for sheep-farming, 121; + comparison of cattle and sheep stations, 107-122; + drought, 298; + well-sinking, 120; + agricultural resources, 255; + price of land in, 113, 114; + sugar-growing (_q.v._) in, 138-153; + need of railways, 255, 256; + great want of harbours and sea-ports, 256, 258; + coasting-trade, 258; + vitality of the Colony, 260; + the Colonial debt, 261. + The Government, 143, 151, 256; + conduct of Government with regard to adulteration of liquor, 203, + 204; + and the Mackay breakwater, 256, 260; + the M’Ilwraith Ministry, 266; + and the Transcontinental Railway Scheme, 260-266; + the new Speaker, 267; + depravity of Parliament, 267; + indifference of squatters to legislation, 268, 269; + coloured labour question, 142-153; + the land question, 269, 270; + selectors, 270; + the Land Bill, 136. + The population required, 270; + capitalists in, 271; + the working-man in, 271; + wages in, 272. + Life in coast-towns, 273; + townsmen’s mode of living, 273, 274; + relative advantages of town and Bush life, 274 _et seq._; + sport in, 88 _et seq._, 96-106; + coaching in, 286, 287; + a thunder-storm in, 209, 210; + the Blacks troublesome in, 131; + native police of, 132. + (_See also_ the Bush.) + + + Railways, in Australia, 286; + in Victoria, 308; + Brisbane-Roma line, 260; + the Central Railway, 265; + from Sydney to Melbourne, 299; + of Melbourne, 303; + cost of an accident, 303; + rival brakes, 303, 304; + great need of, in Queensland, 255, 256; + benefit of, to Queensland, 260; + story of the Transcontinental Railway Scheme, 261-266. + + Ravenswood, gold-field, 236. + + Rawson, Mr. Charles, of “Sleepy Hollow,” Mackay, 30-32. + + Riding, in the Bush, 35, 47-49, 66; + dangers in the Bush, 56. + + Rockhampton, origin of, 168; + richest mine in the world, in neighbourhood of, 245-247; + scene in a cattle-yard near, 74, 75. + + “Round Top,” an island at mouth of the Pioneer River, 259. + + + “Sabbath Calm,” mill at Mount Britten (_q.v._), 221. + + Salvation Army in Brisbane, 285, 286. + + “Scrub,” a, in Queensland, 33. + + Sheep-farming, in Queensland, 107 _et seq._; + past and present, 111 _et seq._; + advantages of the Gulf country for, 121; + estimate of expenditure on sheep-station, 118, 119; + price of land, 113, 114; + drought, 112, 113, 120; + losses from drought, 298; + “financing,” 111; + overstocking, 113; + produce of wool, 115, 116; + profits of, 115-117; + comparison of cattle and sheep stations, 107-122; + number of sheep in New South Wales (1883), 298; + in Victoria, 310, 311. + + Shepherding, effects of, 75. + + Shooting wild ducks on the Pioneer River, 88, 89. + + Singapore, description of, 17, 18. + + “Sleepy Hollow,” station in Mackay, 30, 32, 33. + + Smoking, among Bushmen, 44, 100. + + Snakes, in the Queensland Bush, 82; + snake-bite and antidote, 83; + a tame one, 42. + + Somerset, pearl-fishing at, 21; + Blacks and Whites at, 22, 23. + + South Sea Islands, labour traffic, 142 _et seq._ + (_See also_ Kanakas.) + + Spider, black, poisonous effects of bite, 83; + met by, 233. + + Spiller, Mr. John, first to grow sugar in Queensland (1866), 138. + + Sport in Queensland, 88-94 _et seq._, 96-106. + + Squatters of Queensland, 269-272; + pioneers of civilisation, 311; + and the Land Bill, 312. + + St. Kilda, near Melbourne, 304. + + Steel Rail Inquiry, account of, 267. + + Stockmen, their work, 58 (_see also_ Cattle-growing); + faculty for remembering cattle, 62, 100; + their conversation, 100-102; + a model, 62, 72, 100, 102. + + Straight, Mr., Commissioner of Railways, his Bill, 303. + + Sugar-growing, in Queensland, 138-153; + in Mackay, 30; + favourable climate for, 141; + a “rush” on, 139, 140; + over-speculation in, 141; + risks of, 142; + effects of “rust,” 139; + increase of trade, 258, 259; + progress in Mackay, 141, 143; + labour question, 142-153; + kanakas (_q.v._), 145-149; + coolies (_q.v._), 151; + and white labour, 152. + + Sugar planters in Mackay, 27. + + Sunday in the Bush, 232, 233. + + Sunstroke, causes of, 17; + in the Bush, 273. + + Swearing, 280; + among bullock-drivers, 176, 210. + + Swimming in Queensland creeks, 161. + + “Swizzle,” a, what it is, 31. + + Sydney, its climate, 294; + population, 297; + the harbour, 291, 297; + the town, 291, 292; + the Exhibition, 292; + hotel accommodation, 294, 295; + steam tramcars, 295; + its newspapers, 296, 297; + railway, 297, 299; + and wealth, 293. + Its society, 293; + and people, 292, 293, 294, 296; + the Sydney waiter, 294; + yachting at, 297; + value of land in and near, 292; + recollections of hospitality at, 293, 294. + + _Sydney Morning Herald_, 296. + + _Sydney Bulletin_, 297. + + + Tea-drinking in the Bush, 78; + “quart-pot” tea, 99. + + Thunder-storm in Queensland, 209, 210. + + Timber, varieties of, in Queensland, 242, 243. + + Tin-mines, of Queensland, 251; + at Stanthorpe, 251; + the Herberton “rush,” 251. + + Townsville, imports of (1883), 258. + + Tramcars, by steam, in Sydney, 295. + + Transcontinental Railway Scheme, story of the, 260-266; + its exposure, 264. + + + Underwood’s antidote for snakebite, 83. + + + Victoria, population of, 308; + Government, 259; + scene in the House, 304; + statistics of, 309, 310; + mining in, 307; + gold-mines, 308; + and gold-mining in, 162, 165; + yield of gold in, 308; + the land question, 311, 312; + the land-tax, 312; + prospects of, 313. + + + Water-hole camp, at Mount Spencer (_q.v._), 60. + + Whitsunday Passage, scenery of, 23. + + Williamstown, port of Melbourne, 304. + + Woman, her influence, 279. + + Wool, value of, in Australia, 111; + produce of, in Queensland, 115, 116; + increase of, in Victoria, 310; + amount exported from New South Wales (1883), 298. + (_See also_ Sheep-farming.) + + + Yarra River, through Melbourne, 304. + + +THE END + + + + +_Printed by_ R. & R. 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WILBERFORCE, R.E._ + + =The Persian Manual.= A Pocket Companion. + + Part I.--A Concise Grammar of the Language, with Exercises on its + more Prominent Peculiarities, together with a Selection of Useful + Phrases, Dialogues, and Subjects for Translation into Persian. + + Part II.--A Vocabulary of Useful Words, English, and Persian, + showing at the same time the Difference of idiom between the two + Languages. 18mo. 7s. 6d. + + =The Bustan.= By Shaikh Muslihu-d-Dín Sa’di Shírází. Translated for + the first time into Prose, with Explanatory Notes and Index. With + Portrait. 8vo. 30s. + + =The Sikandar Nama, e Bara=, or, Book of Alexander the + Great. Written, A.D. 1200, by Abu Muhammad Bin Yusuf Bin + Mu’ayyid-i-Nizámu-d-Dín. Translated for the first time out of the + Persian into Prose, with Critical and Explanatory Remarks, and an + Introductory Preface, and a Life of the Author, collected from + various Persian sources. 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Demy 8vo. 5s. + + +ARABIC. + + _FORBES, DUNCAN, LL.D._ + + =Arabic Grammar=, intended more especially for the use of young men + preparing for the East India Civil Service, and also for the use of + self-instructing students in general. Royal 8vo., cloth. 18s. + + =Arabic Reading Lessons=, consisting of Easy Extracts from the best + Authors, with Vocabulary. Roy. 8vo., cloth. 15s. + + _KAYAT, ASSAAD YAKOOB._ + + =The Eastern Traveller’s Interpreter=; or, Arabic Without a + Teacher. Oblong. 5s. + + _PALMER, Prof. E. H., M.A., &c._ + + =Arabic Grammar.= On the principles of the best Native Grammarians. + 8vo. 18s. + + =The Arabic Manual.= Comprising a condensed Grammar of both + Classical and Modern Arabic; Reading Lessons and Exercises, with + Analyses and a Vocabulary of useful Words. Fcap. 7s. 6d. + + _RICHARDSON, --._ + + =Arabic, Persian, and English Dictionary.= Edition of 1852. 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H. ALLEN & Co.’s Oriental Manuals. + + + _CLARKE, Captain H. W., R.E._ + + =The Persian Manual.= Containing a Concise Grammar, with Exercises, + Useful Phrases, Dialogues, and Subjects for Translation into + Persian; also a Vocabulary of Useful Words, English and Persian. + 18mo. 7s. 6d. + + _GOUGH, A. E._ + + =Key to the Exercises in Williams’s Sanscrit Manual.= 18mo. 4s. + + _MACKENZIE, Captain C. F._ + + =A Turkish Manual.= Comprising a Condensed Grammar with Idiomatic + Phrases, Exercises and Dialogues, and Vocabulary. Fcap. 6s. + + _PALMER, Professor E. H., M.A._ + + =The Arabic Manual.= Comprising a Condensed Grammar of both + Classical and Modern Arabic; Reading Lessons and Exercises, with + Analyses and a Vocabulary of Useful Words. 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S.W. + + + + +TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES + + +Page 42: missing apostrophe added in “it’s only a carpet-snake”. + +Page 81: duplicate “the” removed from “has the effect of softening” + +Page 121: duplicate “the” removed from “to the commerce of the” + +Page 129: missing period added after “cannot be imagined”. + +Page 228: missing opening quote added to the quotation beginning with +“Why--walk”. + +Page 234: stray period removed from “at the rate”. + +Index, page 343: stray punctuation removed for entry “richest mine...” + +Index, page 344: period corrected to comma for entry “Horses, in the +Bush”. + +Advertisements: missing punctuation added. + +Inverted asterisms were printed in the original edition of the book. +They have been represented as upright asterisms (⁂) in this edition +for technical reasons. + +All other spelling and grammatical errors, as well as inconsistencies +in hyphenation, left unchanged. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78425 *** diff --git a/78425-h/78425-h.htm b/78425-h/78425-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8312c41 --- /dev/null +++ b/78425-h/78425-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,19495 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html lang="en"> +<head> + <meta charset="UTF-8"> + <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> + <meta name="format-detection" content="telephone=no,date=no,address=no,email=no,url=no"> + <title> + Advance Australia! | Project Gutenberg + </title> + <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover"> + <style> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .5em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .5em; +} + +.p2 {margin-top: 2em;} +.p4 {margin-top: 4em;} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: 33.5%; + margin-right: 33.5%; + clear: both; +} + +hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} +@media print { hr.chap {display: none; visibility: hidden;} } +hr.full {width: 95%; margin-left: 2.5%; margin-right: 2.5%;} + +hr.r5 {width: 5%; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 47.5%; margin-right: 47.5%;} +hr.double { border: none; border-top: 3px double black; } + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always;} +h2.nobreak {page-break-before: avoid;} + +ul.index { list-style-type: none; } +li.ifrst { + margin-top: 1em; + text-indent: -2em; + padding-left: 1em; +} +li.indx { + margin-top: .5em; + text-indent: -2em; + padding-left: 1em; +} +li.isub1 { + text-indent: -2em; + padding-left: 2em; +} +li.isub2 { + text-indent: -2em; + padding-left: 3em; +} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} +table.autotable { border-collapse: collapse; } +table.autotable td, +table.autotable th { padding: 0.25em; font-weight: normal; } + +.tdl {text-align: left;} +.tdr {text-align: right;} +.tdc {text-align: center;} +td.vbottom, th.vbottom { vertical-align: bottom; } +.tnum-r { + display: inline-block; + min-width: 5em; + text-align: right; +} + +.pagenum { + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: small; + text-align: right; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal; + font-variant: normal; + text-indent: 0; +} /* page numbers */ + + +blockquote { + margin-top: 0; + margin-bottom: 0; + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +.center {text-align: center; text-indent: 0;} + +.right {text-align: right;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +.allsmcap {font-variant: small-caps; text-transform: lowercase;} + + +figcaption {font-weight: bold;} +figcaption p {margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: .2em; text-align: inherit;} + +/* Images */ + +img { + max-width: 100%; + height: auto; +} +img.w100 {width: 100%;} + + +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; + page-break-inside: avoid; + max-width: 100%; +} + +/* Footnotes */ + +.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + +.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + +.fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: + none; +} + +/* Poetry */ +/* uncomment the next line for centered poetry */ +/* .poetry-container {display: flex; justify-content: center;} */ +.poetry-container {text-align: center;} +.poetry {text-align: left; margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%;} +.poetry .stanza {margin: 1em auto;} +.poetry .verse {text-indent: -3em; padding-left: 3em;} + +/* Transcriber's notes */ +.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; + color: black; + font-size:small; + padding:0.5em; + margin-bottom:5em; + font-family:sans-serif, serif; +} + +.ph1 { + text-align: center; + font-size: xx-large; + font-weight: bold; +} +.ph2 { + text-align: center; + font-size: x-large; + font-weight: bold; +} +.ph3 { + text-align: center; + font-size: large; + font-weight: bold; +} +.transnote { + margin-left:17.5%; + margin-right:17.5%; +} + +.upper-case +{ + text-transform: uppercase; +} + +.oldenglish {font-family: "Old English Text MT", + "Engravers Old English BT", + "Old English", + "Collins Old English", + "New Old English", + serif; +} + +.s-serif { font-family: sans-serif; } + +.x-ebookmaker .ep6 {margin-top: 6em;} + +.lsoff { list-style-type: none; } +li { margin-top: 0.25em; margin-bottom:0; line-height: 1.2em; } + +/* Poetry indents */ +.poetry .indent0 {text-indent: -3.0em;} + + +/* Illustration classes */ +.illowp80 {width: 80%;} +.x-ebookmaker .illowp80 {width: 100%;} + + </style> +</head> +<body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78425 ***</div> + + +<p class="ph1 ep6"> +ADVANCE AUSTRALIA! +</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<figure class="figcenter illowp80" id="i_a004" style="max-width: 24em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_a004.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + THE QUEEN OF THE SOUTH. + </figcaption> +</figure> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<h1>ADVANCE AUSTRALIA!</h1> + + +<p class="center" style="font-size: small;"><i>AN ACCOUNT OF</i></p> + +<p class="center" style="line-height: 1.3; word-spacing: 0.2em;"><i>EIGHT YEARS’ WORK,<br> +WANDERING, AND AMUSEMENT,<br> +IN QUEENSLAND, NEW SOUTH WALES,<br> +AND VICTORIA</i></p> + + +<p class="center p4"><span style="font-size: small;">BY</span> +<br>THE HON. HAROLD FINCH-HATTON</p> + + +<p class="center p4 s-serif" style="font-size: small;">SECOND EDITION</p> + +<p class="center p4" style="line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: 0.05em; word-spacing: 0.05em;">LONDON<br> +W. H. ALLEN & CO.<br> +13 WATERLOO PLACE, PALL MALL, S.W.<br> +1886</p> + +<p class="center" style="font-size: small;">(<i>All rights reserved</i>)</p> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + <p class="center ep6" style="font-size: small;"> + <i>Printed by</i> <span class="smcap">R. & R. Clark</span>, <i>Edinburgh</i>. + </p> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS"> + CONTENTS + </h2> +</div> + + +<table class="autotable"> +<tr> +<th class="tdr"> +CHAP. +</th> +<th></th> +<th class="tdr"> +PAGE +</th> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"> +I. +</td> +<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Voyage</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_I">1</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"> +II. +</td> +<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Voyage</span> (<i>continued</i>) +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_II">12</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"> +III. +</td> +<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Somerset</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_III">21</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"> +IV. +</td> +<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">First Impressions of the Bush</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IV">35</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"> +V. +</td> +<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Life in the Bush</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_V">54</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"> +VI. +</td> +<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Life on the Station</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VI">69</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"> +VII. +</td> +<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Plagues and Pleasures of the Bush</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VII">80</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"> +VIII. +</td> +<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Wild Cattle</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">95</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"> +IX. +</td> +<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Comparison of Cattle and Sheep Stations</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IX">107</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"> +X. +</td> +<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The Blacks</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_X">123</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"> +XI. +</td> +<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Sugar</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XI">138</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"> +XII. +</td> +<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Gold-Mining</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XII">154</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"> +XIII. +</td> +<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Gold-Digging</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">174</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"> +XIV. +</td> +<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Drink</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">197</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"> +XV. +</td> +<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Gold-Digging</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XV">208</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"> +XVI. +</td> +<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Gold-Digging</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">224</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"> +XVII. +</td> +<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Queensland and her Resources and Prospects</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">242</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"> +XVIII. +</td> +<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Brisbane</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">276</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"> +XIX. +</td> +<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Sydney</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">291</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"> +XX. +</td> +<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Melbourne</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XX">300</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"> +XXI. +</td> +<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Melbourne</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">315</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr"> +XXII. +</td> +<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Imperial Federation</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">328</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" colspan="2"> +<span class="smcap">Index</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<a href="#INDEX">341</a> +</td> +</tr> +</table> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + <h2 class="nobreak" id="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS"> + LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + </h2> +</div> + + +<table class="autotable"> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap">The Queen of the South</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<i><a href="#i_a004">Frontispiece</a></i> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap">A Queensland Black</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +<i>To face page <a href="#i_b022a">22</a></i> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap">The Hermitage Paddock</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr" style="word-spacing: 2em;"> +” <a href="#i_b026b">27</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap">Mount Spencer Head Station</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr" style="word-spacing: 2em;"> +” <a href="#i_b046a">46</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap">The Farm, Mount Spencer</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr" style="word-spacing: 2em;"> +” <a href="#i_b054a">54</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap">Ground-Plan of a Stock-Yard</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr" style="word-spacing: 2em;"> +” <a href="#i_b068b">69</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap">The Branding Bail</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr" style="word-spacing: 2em;"> +” <a href="#i_b070b">71</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap">A Bushman’s Camp</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr" style="word-spacing: 2em;"> +” <a href="#i_b076b">77</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap">Black Fellow preparing to go up a Tree</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr" style="word-spacing: 1.5em;"> +” <a href="#i_b124a">124</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap">A Black “Gin” at Home</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr" style="word-spacing: 1.5em;"> +” <a href="#i_b136a">136</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap">Gold-Digging: Cradling</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr" style="word-spacing: 1.5em;"> +” <a href="#i_b166a">166</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap">Bullock Team crossing a Log Bridge</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr" style="word-spacing: 1.5em;"> +” <a href="#i_b176b">177</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap">Down-Hill without a Brake</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr" style="word-spacing: 1.5em;"> +” <a href="#i_b214b">215</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap">The End of a Gold Rush</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr" style="word-spacing: 1.5em;"> +” <a href="#i_b238a">238</a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="smcap">Government House, Sydney</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr" style="word-spacing: 1.5em;"> +” <a href="#i_b292a">292</a> +</td> +</tr> +</table> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</span></p> + + + <p class="ph1"> + ADVANCE AUSTRALIA! + </p> + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I"> + CHAPTER I. + <br> + <span style="font-size: medium;">THE VOYAGE</span> + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>In January, about nine years ago, I climbed on board the +Messageries Maritimes steamer <i>Irouaddy</i>, for the purpose +of getting to a cattle-station in Queensland. Like many +others of the same line, the <i>Irouaddy</i> is a grand boat, clean, +well ventilated, very fast, and steady in bad weather.</p> + +<p>Three days after leaving Marseilles we got to Naples. +I had been there before, but as I never can be twenty +minutes in a steamer without wanting to get out, of course +I went ashore. There was nothing fresh to be seen, and +certainly nothing fresh to be smelt. In appearance the +whole place resembles a very inferior chromo-lithograph; +and I cannot help thinking that the saying, “<i>Vede Napoli e +poi Mori</i>,” has more reference to the asphyxiating nature of +its smells than to any overpowering beauty about the place.</p> + +<p>Leaving Naples, we passed through the Straits of Messina, +and soon lost sight of land. The weather was glorious, and +one morning observing the chief officer laboriously employed +in doing nothing, I sauntered up to him with a view to +engaging him in conversation. With the originality that +distinguishes the British traveller, I observed that it was a +fine day. If I had had the foggiest idea of the effect that +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</span>this remark would have on him, I certainly should not have +ventured to make it. He looked at the sky: it was blue. +He looked at the sea: it was blue too; and I then noticed +for the first time that the expression of his face was infinitely +more blue than either of them. Shrugging his +shoulders with an emphasis that would have fractured the +collar-bone of anyone but a Frenchman, he called the Deity +to witness that although the weather was indeed fine enough +just now, neither he nor anyone else could possibly foretell +what it would be like in twenty-four hours’ time. If it did +come on to blow, he said, we were in a very exposed part +of the Mediterranean, and, as our present course lay, over +400 miles from land. I left him, to meditate upon the +extraordinary effect that being out of sight of land has on +a French sailor. It is true they do not seem to come to +grief very often, but still I rather mistrust these French +sailors in a bad time. The least thing puts them into such +a ludicrous state of fluster, one cannot help thinking that a +good gale of wind would dishearten them altogether. They +never seem to be quite at ease until they get back to +Marseilles, and even then religious enthusiasm, or the +prospect of another voyage, often wrings a votive offering +to the Virgin out of the dregs of their past terror. The +Church of the Virgin and Child at Marseilles absolutely +bristles with these offerings, many of which indicate a +singularly bad taste on the part of the donor. Among a +host of paltry toys calculated to amuse none but the +youngest children, I noticed one or two perambulators in a +prominent position. Now, under certain circumstances, a +perambulator might be a very neat and appropriate gift to +the mother of a young child; but when we consider to +Whom they are in reality offered, such presents become +shocking in the extreme. It is impossible that people can +have any real veneration for a Deity Whom they like to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</span>imagine wheeled about in a perambulator, or amusing +Himself with the mechanical movements of a woollen rabbit. +Indeed, except on the supposition that they are entirely +destitute of any sense of humour, it is difficult to acquit +such people of wilful profanity.</p> + +<p>Upon this occasion, however, nothing occurred that the +most pious or pusillanimous Frenchman could distort into +a pretext for presenting his Maker with a toy, and three +days after leaving Naples we reached Port Said. This +town forms a receptacle for all the scum and dregs of every +nation under the sun, and is undoubtedly one of the most +villainous dens in existence. Composed almost entirely of +casinos, gambling saloons, and houses sacred to the worship +of blind Cupid, it is a sink of iniquity whose waters, like +those of the Dead Sea, are so dense as to support numbers +who would go to the bottom elsewhere. The lighthouse +and the coalsheds are probably the only buildings in the +place that have not a professional tendency towards the +subversion of morals and the encouragement of vice.</p> + +<p>Leaving Port Said, we crawled through the Canal, and +after calling at Suez, steamed away down the oily expanse +of the Red Sea. Between October and May the Red Sea is +not often oppressively hot; but for the rest of the year +the heat is excessive, and deaths from heat apoplexy not +unfrequently occur.</p> + +<p>How is it that one so very seldom meets any nice people +travelling at sea, and then never discovers them until just +before leaving the ship? It cannot be that no nice people +travel by sea. It must be that the sea has a demoralising +effect upon those who do. But it would seem that a +prolonged sojourn upon the ocean has exactly the opposite +effect of a temporary cruise, for sailors are, as a rule, as +conspicuous for those qualities that make a man a pleasant +companion as passengers are the reverse. Assuredly a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</span>passenger-ship presents humanity under a most unfavourable +aspect. Sea-sickness alone renders most people positively +misanthropic while it lasts, and excessively irritable +for some time after it has passed away. But besides this, +and such minor annoyances as having your cabin deluged +with salt water if you leave the port open, and being +suffocated with foul air if you keep it shut, the bare fact of +being boxed up in the same ship with a number of fellow-sufferers +is often very exasperating. Just as in hot weather +a man is never so thirsty as when he knows that he can get +nothing to drink, so on board ship a wild yearning for +solitude is apt to overtake him, all the more violent that it +cannot possibly be gratified. As to the ordeal of being +obliged to live in the same cabin with one or more individuals +for any length of time, it is not only sufficient to cause +unreasoning hatred between strangers, but often to destroy +a friendship of long standing. I am convinced that if David +and Jonathan had been subjected to the disenchanting test +of sharing a small cabin in a gale of wind, they would have +been famous to posterity, less for the great love that they +bare one another than for a propensity to quarrel savagely +over trifles.</p> + +<p>Certainly the sea develops the worst qualities of human +nature more rapidly and more surely than any other phase +of existence. In particular, I remember one man in whose +company it was once my misfortune to make a voyage. +My previous experience of him as a fellow-traveller, on dry +land, had led me to suppose he was rather a pleasant +companion than otherwise. Beyond an insane habit of +appearing on every possible occasion in a variety of hideous +and fantastic caps, he appeared to be unusually free from +the vices of travellers. That is to say, he was neither +inordinately greedy nor passionately selfish. He had no +particular taste either for sight-seeing or for grumbling, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</span>and when in the presence of strangers, he did not consider +it necessary either to insult them with impertinent familiarity +or to repel them with churlish incivility. When I say +that he was capable of visiting the Alhambra, St. Marc’s +Cathedral, and the Pyramids, without displaying the slightest +desire to engrave his name on the walls of any of them +with a penknife, it will at once be seen that he had +no ordinary claims to respect. Furthermore, his manners +were those of a gentleman, and his language remarkable for +the absence of anything like expletives. After he had been +at sea a week, his own mother would not have recognised him.</p> + +<p>For the first few days it was calm, and everything went +well enough. My friend justified the sanguine expectations +I had formed of him, by reclining all day in a long chair, +puffing at a pipe with a head as big as his own, and with +twice as much in it. This sort of thing was too good to +last. We dropped in for a spell of bad weather. It did +not last long, but from the moment that it began he was an +altered man. An expression dismal as the latter end of +tea-time took permanent possession of his usually cheerful +countenance, and even the reappearance of fine weather +entirely failed to restore him. He became exceedingly +restless, and would indulge for hours at a time in the +reprehensible practice of pacing up and down the deck, +which is of all performances the most trying to the nerves +of the spectators. Suddenly he would flump down into a +chair with a violence extremely distracting to anyone who +happened to be seeking repose within a radius of five yards. +Just as one began to hope that he was settled at last, he +would bound up again out of his chair, upsetting it against +someone’s shins, and, without thinking it necessary to +apologise, resume his detestable pastime of patrolling the +deck.</p> + +<p>But what astonished me more than anything was the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</span>bad language that he took to using upon the most trivial +provocation. I lived in the next cabin to him, separated +only by a partition open at the top. One day, as I was +lying on my bunk reading, I heard him fossicking about +among the things in his cabin in that spasmodic way which, +even when a man is out of sight, never fails to convey an +idea of awful passion to the listener. For a while his +movements were only illuminated by smothered execrations, +which the partition rendered nearly inaudible. Suddenly, +however, he broke out into a torrent of oaths so fluent, so +comprehensive, and so ornamental, that, shocked as I was +at his profanity, I could not help admiring his genius. I +have since reason to believe that he borrowed a great deal +of it from the form of cursing employed by the Church of +Rome against persons who happen to disagree with her +doctrines. At the time, however, I thought it was quite +original, and, of course, shouted to him to know what was +the matter, “Oh! are you there?” he replied. “Nothing; +only I cannot hang up my towel.”</p> + +<p>He grew rapidly worse, but it was not until about a +week later that his downward career reached its Nadir of +demoralisation. I hardly expect to be believed when I +say, that one day, without the slightest provocation, at a +distance of over 1500 miles from land, he appeared in broad +daylight, on the ship’s quarter-deck, in knickerbockers. +The spectacle of such a self-constituted pariah of society +was extremely depressing. I cannot help thinking that +a man who wears knickerbockers on board ship in the +tropics must be capable of committing almost any crime. +It was a painful occurrence altogether, and I should not +have mentioned it, except with a view to showing how +apparently harmless people frequently become exceedingly +disagreeable at sea.</p> + +<p>Six days out from Suez we got to Aden, a most magnificent +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</span>cinder-heap, quite unlike anything else I have ever +seen. The town of Aden lies at the foot of a range of +most discouraging-looking mountains, so forlornly barren, +so pitilessly rugged, they do not appear to be made of +anything half so cheerful as rocks and stones. They have +more the appearance of the material by means of which +an inferior birdstuffer endeavours to reproduce the handiwork +of Nature in a rockwork at the back of his specimens. +There is something genuine and hearty about a good mass +of rock very different to the attenuated peaks of Aden, +compared to which a granite boulder is affability itself.</p> + +<p>When lit up by the splendour of a tropical sunset, +however, the mountains of Aden assume a different aspect. +They are usually of a pale mauve colour, which deepens, +as the sun sets, to a glorious purple, forming a startling +contrast to the green and golden expanse of the surrounding +sea. Gradually the purple fades, the opal light dies out of +the sea, and a spectral gloom creeps over everything but +the highest peaks. Round these the rays of the departed +sun linger with an unearthly glare, till in the increasing +darkness they seem to glow like the ragged teeth of a +red-hot saw.</p> + +<p>On the whole, the scenery of the tropics can never +compare with that of higher latitudes. The strength of +the sunlight is so great that objects are either defined with +unpleasant sharpness or blurred in a quivering haze of +heat. There is none of that glorious depth of colouring +and softness of outline, one distance fading into another, +softer and softer, yet still distinct, that the moist atmosphere +of the west coast of Scotland or of the fen countries produces +in such perfection. For my own part, I do not +believe the scenery of the west coast of Scotland has a +rival in the world. Of course it is easy to find places +constructed on a far larger scale, but it is not altogether +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</span>upon this that the beauty of scenery depends. It is very +doubtful whether a mountain derives much additional +beauty from its summit being invisible; and certainly a +river so broad that no one can see across it, is less picturesque +than one which affords a view of both its banks at +the same time. For a few minutes at sunrise, and at +sunset, it is difficult to imagine anything more gorgeous +than the colouring of the tropics. But it quickly fades, +and even while it lasts it is more calculated to dazzle than +to please. There is too much of the patchwork counterpane +and the circus-poster about it. Of course a tropical sunset +is a sight that it does not happen to everyone to witness, +but anyone can get a very fair idea of what it is like by +eating a quantity of cold pork-pie and unripe apples just +before going to bed.</p> + +<p>Leaving Aden, we passed one night to the northward of +the island of Socotra, and were fortunate enough to come +across the phenomenon known as a “milky sea.” It was a +wonderfully beautiful sight. The sea was deadly calm, +and all round as far as the eye could reach it was as white +and as transparent as London milk. Out of this the +mountains of Socotra, distant eight miles, rose up clear +and distinct in the brilliant starlight, and black as ink by +contrast with the whiteness of the sea. Several ambitious +passengers ladled up some of the water, to try and discover +its component parts, but I don’t think they found out +much, except that if it was allowed to stand some time, a +thick sediment was precipitated, leaving the water quite +clear again.</p> + +<p>Crossing the Indian Ocean, the weather was so monotonously +calm, that one day the captain was encouraged to +give the order for fire and boat station practice. If intended +to display the smart discipline and efficiency of the ship’s +company, this exhibition had better have been suppressed; +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</span>but if merely to warn passengers against the incautious use +of matches, and the danger of falling overboard, it was +invaluable. Whether the crew had been expecting the +order or not, I cannot say; but I will do them the justice +to affirm that the ringing of the fire-bell was followed by +no sort of confusion or hurry. It was only after an interval +had elapsed, sufficient to allow the strongest swimmer to +drown, and the smallest spark to become a conflagration, +that they began to saunter leisurely aft, dragging after +them coils of hose, with the dejected air of men who have +seen the same thing done a dozen times before and never +known any good to come of it. Far more activity was +displayed by a vast army of stewards who swarmed up the +companion at the first sound of the bell, headed by the +chief steward, or <i>maître d’hôtel</i>, with a drawn sword in his +hand. As these worthies took no part in the subsequent +proceedings, they probably only came up to be saved.</p> + +<p>After some consultation it was agreed that an attempt +should be made to lower one of the quarter-boats, and to +this the crew turned their attention. But an unforeseen +difficulty presented itself. Who was to undertake the +arduous task of climbing into the boat, and removing the +canvas cover? An animated discussion took place, the +result of which was that one man was singled out, apparently +much against his inclination, for the enterprise in +hand. With a vast effort he collected his energies, and, +scattering a glance of melancholy defiance at his recreant +companions, he ascended the bulwarks and climbed cautiously +on to the boat. It soon became evident that there was far +more cause for his alarm than at first appeared. As long +as he was engaged in unlashing the boat’s cover, the crew +amused themselves by rolling up cigarettes and smoking +them. But he had no sooner finished than the men +stationed at the after “fall” of the boat suddenly awoke +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</span>to an enthusiastic sense of duty, and lowered away. Those +at the other “fall” were not so alert, and the consequence +was the stem of the boat went down with a run, sending +oars, stretchers, planks, and everything movable in her +except the man, flying into the sea. Fortunately for +himself, this hero got mixed up round one of the thwarts +and remained there until the boat was once more raised to +a horizontal position, when he was extricated, positively +gibbering with terror and rage. It having been conclusively +proved that in case of emergency one end of the boat at +any rate could be lowered, this was considered sufficient, +and the fire-hose became the next object of interest to the +company. After some minutes of patient toil, one end +of this ingenious contrivance was connected with the +machinery, and the order to start pumping was given. An +ominous pause followed, during which not a drop of water +appeared. The men began to look grave and to whisper +hurriedly and excitedly together. But a breathless silence +fell upon all present when the second lieutenant advanced +to the business end of the hose, with the air of a man who +knows his duty and is prepared to perform it at all risks. +The excitement now became so intense as to be quite +painful, but still silence prevailed. Suddenly a terrible +gurgle was heard in the pipe, absolutely paralysing the +lieutenant, who remained rooted to the spot with countenance +transfigured by terror. In a moment a young +Niagara burst from the pipe, discharging itself full upon +the unfortunate officer, and hurling the hose in convulsions +about the deck. The shock at once restored the use of his +limbs to the lieutenant. With a loud yell of anguish +he turned and fled from a foe, with whom, to judge +by appearances, it was some time since he had had an +encounter.</p> + +<p>This concluded the diversion of fire and boat station +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</span>practice, and the ship’s company returned once more to +their ordinary duties. The captain resumed his occupation +of walking up and down, spitting frequently and emphatically +upon his own quarterdeck. The chief engineer took +up his position by the rails of the engine-room, and, with +his watch in his hand, counted the revolutions of the +propeller. The doctor and the first lieutenant threw quoits +into a bucket, and the remainder of the crew, with the +exception of a few who still retained sufficient energy to +smoke, went fast asleep.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II"> + CHAPTER II. + <br> + <span style="font-size: medium;">THE VOYAGE—(<i>Continued</i>)</span> + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>Among the passengers on board, there were several newly-married +couples, and their behaviour was sometimes rather +interesting. Of all places to spend a honeymoon, I can +conceive none more discouraging than the sea. We all +know that some of the gilt must come off the gingerbread +sooner or later, but there are many ways of removing it, +and it is just as well to take care that the more solid +material beneath it is not injured during the process.</p> + +<p>It would be interesting to a psychologist who was also a +good sailor, to study the appalling effects of sea-sickness +upon the soul, no less remarkable in the case of a subject +who does not actually suffer, but is merely compelled to +witness the misery of others. Cervantes, we are told, +smiled away the chivalry of Spain. Fortunate for Spain +that he did so. Had he lived in an age when globe-trotting +and going down to the sea in ships was as fashionable as it +is now, he would have been spared the effort of smiling. +All the finer feelings of human nature are more or less in +abeyance during the reign of sea-sickness, but when it has +passed off, they, most of them, readily reassert their sway. +Not so with the feeling which we term chivalry, now rapidly +becoming an obsolete word in these days of social progress. +Its loss is the less felt, since its place has been supplied by +coxcombry, a feeling more nearly allied to chivalry than +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</span>might at first be imagined. Both have a common end in +view, which is to please. But there is this distinction, that +whereas chivalry arises from a man’s exalted ideas of the +intrinsic perfections of the opposite sex, coxcombry originates +in an exaggerated notion of the perfections of his own. +Chivalry, however, cannot exist without a profound and +sincere respect for woman; and when that is once destroyed, +or even severely shaken, chivalry receives its deathblow. +Sea-sickness is, of all iconoclasts, the most terrible, and +before its fell advances chivalry withers more quickly and +more surely than ever it did before the smile of Cervantes, +and it withers to anything but the tune of a smile. If it +were only for this reason alone, life at sea would present +matrimony under the most unfavourable aspect it is possible +to imagine. Can anything be more terrible than to watch +a countenance in which you take the deepest interest, +transfigured by sea-sickness into the ghastly semblance of a +frost-bitten turnip, and every atom of self-respect crushed +by this most levelling malady.</p> + +<p>But there are other annoyances besides. Careful and +comparative observation leads me to believe that a woman +whose digestive organs have so far rallied from sea-sickness +as to allow her to eat, but whose appearance still forbids +her to leave her cabin, is the most transcendently selfish of +all God’s creatures. Under such circumstances I have seen +offices of vicarious selfishness thrust upon the unfortunate +husband, which the veriest egotist would shrink from +negotiating for himself. He is expected to secure the +undivided attention of the doctor, the purser, all the +stewardesses, and half of the stewards, regardless of how +many other passengers there may happen to be in exactly +the same, or in a worse, predicament than his wife. He is +further expected to ascertain from the captain (at intervals +varying from five to fifteen minutes, according to the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</span>severity of the weather), the exact position of the ship, the +amount of present danger, the prospect of fine weather, +and the precise moment when the destination will be +reached—distant, possibly, some two or three thousand +miles. Most likely he will be sent to ask the quartermaster +to prevent the crew from walking about overhead, +and to induce the officer of the watch to moderate the noise +made by the creaking of the ship’s timbers and the working +of the donkey-engine. Occasionally I have seen even +severer tests applied to the devotion of man, but these +have been amongst people who have been some time +married. One day the vessel was rolling rather heavily, +and though most of the passengers had got their sea-legs, +some few remained below. Among the latter was the wife +of a man whom I noticed staggering up the companion one +morning, with the watery eye and uncertain gait of one +just recovering from violent sickness. He reached the +deck safely, however, and with a considerable slue to port, +brought himself up in a deck-chair. I saw him scatter a +glance round, possibly to discover the whereabouts of his +better half. Finding himself quite alone, his eye brightened, +and he blew his nose in that triumphant manner which a +man never adopts except when he is quite at ease. He +even pulled out his cigar-case and looked at it, but discretion +overcame valour, and he put it back in his pocket, and +prepared for perfect repose. He was not destined to enjoy +it long. In a few minutes a whey-faced domestic appeared +at the door of the companion, shepherding two of the most +disagreeable-looking children I ever saw. They had faces +like badly-baked buns, and were dressed as outrageously as +only the offspring of British parents of a certain class ever +are. Their legs and feet were like hockey-sticks, and +looked so utterly incapable of supporting the distended +waistcoats above them, that their prudent mother had +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</span>attached a long red ribbon to each of their arms, to act as +a sort of reins. These were now entrusted to the hands of +paterfamilias, with instructions to drive his progeny up and +down the deck for exercise. Of course he did so, and very +ridiculous he looked; but there was a pathetic side to the +picture as well. In his eye there was a piteous glance of +retrospection, which seemed to recall the time when he +could take his ease or his exercise, as the spirit moved him, +without being required to make a greater fool of himself +than Nature intended him to be.</p> + +<p>Eight days after leaving Aden we got to Galle, and a +greater contrast than the two places it would be difficult to +find. At Aden, all the inhabitants who can afford the +luxury drive out daily a distance of four miles to refresh +their weary eyes with the sight of the Botanical Gardens, +which consist of six weak-looking trees and twelve blades +of grass in a flower-pot. But at Galle the sight is over-powered +by the extraordinary luxuriance of the vegetation, +and the variety of shades of green displayed among the +trees and bushes. Round the edges, of course, there is a +decided preponderance of cocoa-nut trees, but a little distance +from the shore the crowded way in which all sorts of +trees and creepers are arranged is quite bewildering. There +is a sort of show place, called Wak-Walleh, a few miles from +Galle, to which everyone rushes directly they land, to get a +view of the island. It is needless to say that there is a +public-house and a tea-garden there; and as you approach +it, the “spoor” of the British tourist, in the shape of +orange-peel and beer-bottles, is very strongly marked. The +view is glorious. A broad valley of green paddy-fields, +fringed on each side with densely-wooded hills, lies stretched +out below. It is mapped out almost into islands, so +winding is the course of the river which runs through it, +its waters shining like silver in the sunlight. In the distance +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</span>rises the bold outline of Adam’s Peak, supported by +numerous other mountains of lesser pretensions. In the +foreground are several marble tables with iron legs, chairs +to match, and a party of tourists. Partly disguised by pith +helmets and white trousers, nevertheless these last remind +one forcibly of Greenwich Fair. They are shouting—positively +shouting—and laughing in that aggressive way +that only a Briton out for a holiday is master of. Several +of them are drinking beer and throwing sticks at cocoa-nuts; +and one or two, more utterly degraded than the rest, pick +up little pieces of stone to carry away as relics of Wak-Walleh. +The native jewellers do a very healthy trade in +counterfeit stones, manufactured at Birmingham expressly +for exportation to Ceylon. Sapphires are the favourite +importations offered to the verdant traveller. I saw one +man beautifully let in. He was offered a sapphire about +the size of a small tea-cup, of a brilliant hue that would +have shamed the waters of the Mediterranean. Two +hundred pounds was the price demanded for this startling +gem. The traveller to whom it was offered had heard +something of the dishonest practices of the jewellers of +Galle, and was anxious to display his capacity for dealing. +He winked at an admiring crowd of fellow-passengers, and +offered the man three pounds. Much to his disgust, the +native instantly closed with his offer, and, securing the +coins, left the ship with all possible speed. Of course the +sapphire was glass, and, with the setting, might have been +worth half-a-crown. There are some real sapphires but no +very good ones to be had, as all that are worth anything +go direct to the London market.</p> + +<p>Five days after leaving Galle we got to Singapore, and +had to wait there a week, which was a nuisance, as there +is only one hotel in the place fit to live in, and even that +one is certainly one of the vilest in the world. The food +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</span>is simply filthy, and not much of it, the attendance wretched, +and the manager gratuitously insulting to everyone. While +I was there he was knocked down and shut up in his own +coal-cellar by a resident in the town, to whom he had been +impertinent, to the intense delight of everyone else in the +place.</p> + +<p>Singapore itself is a lovely place, with rather a disagreeable +climate. The thermometer never varies above +a few degrees, and stands at about 85° day and night, all +the year round. The wealthier class of inhabitants live in +bungalows scattered about over the ridges in the neighbourhood +of the town, most of them surrounded by beautiful +gardens. They all seem utterly depressed by the enervating +climate, and do not aspire to any higher interest in life than +a generous rivalry in the concoction of marvellous curries. +An old resident of Singapore takes as much interest and +pride in his curries as an Englishman does in his racehorses +or his hunters, and he always speaks of a rival connoisseur +with deep feeling and respect. Both men and women look +very faded and washed-out, and the only colour in their +faces is yellow from a prolonged course of curry. I used +to walk all round the place for miles every day, in the heat +of the day, and never felt anything but better for it. +Nothing will induce Indians to expose themselves to the +sun, for fear of sunstroke, and nothing makes them so +angry as to be told that if they drank less, led a more +healthy life, and took more exercise, they would be able to +stand the sun with impunity. And yet it is the case. Of +course, a man who lies on his back drinking brandy and +beer half the day, sleeps the other half, and sits up most of +the night, cannot safely expose himself to the full power +of an Indian sun without risk. There is something +peculiarly treacherous in the sun all over India and the +East Indies, but the medical profession know that nine-tenths +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</span>of the cases of sunstroke that occur are the result +of drink.</p> + +<p>The only residents I ever saw, either in India, Ceylon, +or Singapore, who enjoyed perfect health, and had not +the slightest fear of exposing themselves to the sun, were +invariably men who led most temperate lives, and who +were out of doors all day long. In the bush of Australia, +where men work all day long under a vertical sun, with +little covering on their heads, sunstroke is absolutely unknown. +But in the towns, where they drink all day, and +take no exercise, it is not an uncommon thing at all for a +man to be knocked over by the sun just in crossing the +street.</p> + +<p>A week’s loafing around Singapore produced a wild +longing to leave it, but I must say I was not exhilarated +by the sight of the boat that was to carry me to Australia. +She was called the <i>Somerset</i>, and was the property of the +Eastern and Australian Company, and was about as depressing +an old tub as I ever travelled in. In the best of +weather she was not good for more than eight knots, and +if it came on to blow ahead she went astern. The captain +was in every respect worthy of the ship he commanded. +He spent most of his time sulking in his cabin, and the +remainder in entertaining the passengers with most gloomy +forebodings. Three days after leaving Singapore the +weather got very squally, and the rain came down in such +torrents that, when standing on the bridge, it was sometimes +impossible to see the foremast. After dark it grew +worse, and the captain, who had been blowing an infernal +fog-whistle at intervals of five minutes all through the day, +informed the passengers that he had no idea where he was, +but about three in the morning he ought to go through a +winding passage two miles long and three-quarters of a +mile wide, between two sunken reefs. After which, he +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</span>turned the fog-whistle permanently on, and retired into his +cabin.</p> + +<p>Anything like the horrors of that voyage I never remember. +The smell of bilge-water and cockroaches in the +saloon was so overpowering that it was almost impossible +to stay down long enough to swallow a meal. There were +320 Chinese emigrants forward, who not only smelt horribly +themselves, but spent their whole time in cooking nauseous +oily messes, the stench from which was wafted aft in a +continuous stream from one day’s end to another. For +days at a time there was not a breath of air, and the heat +was so intense that the pitch used to melt and bubble up +in the seams of the deck. I used to lie on deck all day +and smoke, with a saucer of chloride of lime under my +nose as a disinfectant. It was beginning to make the +whole crowd of us quite ill. The captain, the officers, and, +I believe every one in the ship except myself, took to +being sick as violently as if they had never been to sea +before. Fortunately, when we got to the Arafura Sea we +dropped in for a gale of wind. This, as Robinson Crusoe +observed, was an amusement the other way. It delayed +us three days, but I have not a doubt it saved some of our +lives. In the middle of the night, when the gale was at +its height, the boiler of the old <i>Somerset</i> burst. The manhole +plate flew clean off, and every particle of steam, of +course, escaped. It took seventeen hours to repair it, +during which time we lay like a log in the trough of the +sea, with the waves breaking over us fore and aft. It +cleaned us a little, though, which was very healthy.</p> + +<p>Two nights afterwards we ran down a native boat, and +drowned everyone in it. How many men there were in +her I do not know, but we never picked up one. The +next day we lost a man overboard ourselves. He was on +the jibboom, where he had no business to have been sent, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</span>as there was a heavy sea on at the time. The old <i>Somerset</i> +put her nose right into a wave, and, of course, the man +was washed away. In spite of the sea that was running, +he swam like a duck for about twenty minutes, during +which time the captain was busily engaged in turning his +old craft round to pick him up. I believe naval authorities +are divided as to the advisability of going astern or turning +the ship round to pick up a man overboard; but in the +case of the <i>Somerset</i> I should certainly have preferred the +former process, as she had at all times a natural inclination +to go astern instead of ahead. However, the captain +turned round, and I thought we should have got the poor +fellow on board again all right. He was swimming beautifully, +keeping his head and shoulders right out of the +water, when suddenly he threw up his arms, rose half out +of the water, and then sank like a stone. I expect a shark +must have got him, as one had been prowling after us for +some time. This incident brought the captain’s ill-humour +to a climax, and next day, when he found me throwing +little pieces of stick over the side to see which way the +vessel was going, he became quite uncivil.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_III"> + CHAPTER III. + <br> + <span style="font-size: medium;">SOMERSET</span> + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>No one was sorry when, about sixteen days after leaving +Singapore, the coast of Australia hove in sight. We +passed through Torres Straits, which were adorned with +the remains of three recent wrecks, and anchored off +Somerset, the northernmost township in Australia. It is +merely a pearl-fishing station, and will never develop into +anything, as there is no back country to it. The pearl-fishers +who live there are a rough-looking lot, not encumbered +with any superfluous clothing, and generally without +shoes or stockings. Their trade, which is an exceedingly +profitable one, is carried on by means of black divers, who +go down and bring up the mother-of-pearl shells. These +shells, which are about a foot or sixteen inches across, and +shaped like an oyster-shell, were worth at that time nearly +£250 per ton. The pearls found in the shell were reckoned +to pay all expenses, and the profits were enormous. Even +at the present time, when pearl-shell has fallen in value to +£140 a ton, it pays well to get. There is another pearl-fishery +on the western coast of Australia, and some of the +pearls obtained there fetch large prices. Though they are +never equal to the Oriental pearls in colour, they make up +for it in size, and I heard of one being sold in London +recently for £1500. The West Australian pearl-fisheries +are liable to the most terrific hurricanes. The signs which +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</span>herald their approach are perfectly well known, and give +ample time to a vessel to secure a good offing. But the +pearl-fishers are generally much too recklessly intent on +their occupation to take any such precaution, and every +now and then the whole lot of them get swept right away, +some of their boats being sent to the bottom, and others +blown clean out of the water into the mangroves that +fringe the shore. The few that are not drowned in one of +these visitations do not seem to care or take any warning. +<i>Mox reficit rates</i>, the pearl-fisher picks up the pieces, sends +off for another schooner if his own is hopelessly damaged, and +goes on again as if such a thing as a hurricane was unknown.</p> + +<p>One or two white men, who have nothing to do with +the pearl-fishing, have taken up their permanent abode at +Somerset for no reason at all that I could see, except to +enjoy the society of black women and to run an imminent +risk of being knocked on the head by black men. The +blacks in the neighbourhood of Somerset are very bad. +They are a fierce warlike race of athletic savages, with a +cross of the Malay in them. The Government Resident at +Somerset wages an endless war with them, and from the +intrepid bravery which he has always displayed in his +encounters with them he has established a wonderful +prestige. So recklessly daring, and so successful have +some of his raids against them been, that he is firmly +believed to be the Devil by all the natives in the Somerset +district. A mob of about 200 of them once came and +camped on an island opposite to his residence. He knew +that they would very shortly attack him, so he determined +not to wait for them. As soon as it was dark, he stripped +himself naked, and tying his rifle and his ammunition on +to his head to keep them dry, he swam across to the island. +The tide ran very strong, and the channel was a quarter of +a mile wide, but he got across all right.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp80" id="i_b022a" style="max-width: 28em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b022a.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + A QUEENSLAND BLACK. + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</span></p> + +<p>Without the slightest fear he attacked the whole camp +of blacks single handed, and routed them utterly. So +terrified were they at the fact of one white man daring to +attack them alone, that they came to the conclusion that +there must be something superhuman about him, and +cleared out with all speed. It was months before he was +troubled with them again. He has been there now for +a good many years, and numerous are the hairbreadth +escapes that he has had during that time. So far his +courage has carried him safely through, and though he has +often been wounded, he has never come to serious harm. +But his enemies are numerous and implacable, and it is +odd if a spear or a tomahawk does not finish him at last.</p> + +<p>From Torres Straits right away to below Cape Capricorn, +runs the great barrier reef of Australia. Inside this the +navigation is very intricate; a perfect network of islands +and reefs. We took a pilot on board at Somerset, but +even then we had occasionally to anchor at night when +there was no room. The scenery all down the coast of +Queensland is very wild, and in some parts extremely +beautiful. Endless masses of wooded mountain-ranges run +all along the mainland, and some of the islands with their +emerald slopes dotted over with patches of dark green firs +are very picturesque.</p> + +<p>Whit-sunday passage, just before coming to Bowen, is +one of the prettiest bits of scenery on the whole coast of +Australia. The ranges on the mainland here are very +broken, and just off the shore is a large group of lovely +islands, between which and the mainland the coasting-steamers’ +track passes. It looked very beautiful in the +evening, when the mountains were turning to that soft +clear smoky blue, peculiar to Australian scenery, and the +crimson fire of sunset was still smouldering in the golden +west.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</span></p> + +<p>The <i>Somerset</i> did not call off Mackay, which was my +destination, so I had to go on to Keppel Bay, the port for +Rockhampton, 200 miles farther south, and wait for a boat +back to Mackay.</p> + +<p>I left the <i>Somerset</i> with feelings of unmixed joy, and +with a hearty hope that she might go to the bottom when +she got into Sydney harbour, and stay there. Since that +time, to the great delight of everyone who ever travelled +in any of their boats, the Eastern and Australian Company +have abandoned the Queensland mail service, after losing +nearly all their boats. The <i>Brisbane</i>, the best boat they +had, was wrecked near Torres Straits. The <i>Normanby</i> +shared her fate soon after. The <i>Singapore</i> ran ashore near +Mackay and was totally lost, and the <i>Queensland</i> was run +into by the <i>Barrabool</i>, and sunk just off Sydney. They +were altogether a most unfortunate company, and were +very badly treated by the New South Wales Government, +who induced them to start by the promise of a large subsidy, +which promise was repudiated as soon as the company’s +ships began running. Their place has been taken by the +British India Company, who run a service of very fine +boats from London to Brisbane <i>viâ</i> Batavia, carrying the +mails, and calling at Thursday Island, Cooktown, Townsville, +Bowen, Mackay, and Keppel Bay on the Queensland +coast. They do not run farther south than Brisbane, and +have no subsidy from any Government except that of +Queensland.</p> + +<p>My brother met me in Rockhampton, and we were +fortunate enough to find a boat sailing for Mackay a few +hours after I landed. We ran up to the entrance of the +Pioneer River, on which Mackay is situated, in about +twenty-four hours, and had to anchor there and wait for +the tide to get in. We amused ourselves by fishing for +sharks, and caught one about six feet long. About one +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</span>o’clock in the morning the tide served, and we steamed up +the Pioneer for a couple of miles, and lay alongside of +a rather dilapidated wharf. No one appeared to take +sufficient interest in the arrival of the steamer to be on the +wharf, and, beyond a few sheds, I could not, at first, see +any signs of a town at all. My brother knew the way, +however, and, collaring as much of my luggage as we could +carry, we set off to the hotel. Following his lead, I +floundered through a mass of black mud and several deep +puddles of water, and emerged on to a road about three +inches deep in dust. After going along this for a hundred +yards, some buildings began to loom up against the starlit +sky, and a little farther on we turned a corner, and found +ourselves in the main street of Mackay.</p> + +<p>It might have been the city of the dead for any signs of +a population. Not a light was to be seen in the rows of +uneven, low, wooden buildings that ran along each side of +the street, and the only living creatures were several dogs +fast asleep in the middle of the road. Turning another +corner, we stumbled over the body of a man with his heels +on the pavement and his head in the gutter. His hat was +off, and he was evidently in the total-collapse stage of +drunkenness. My brother struck a match and examined +his features.</p> + +<p>“Ah, I thought so,” he observed; “it’s the doctor. He’s +been like that, off and on, for a fortnight. Here, lend a +hand, and pull him out of the gutter. He’ll have a fit if +he lies like that much longer.”</p> + +<p>Having dragged him into a less apoplectic position, we +turned into the hotel. There was no one up, but it was +open; so we went upstairs and hunted about for a couple +of empty rooms. After one or two bad shots, which +disclosed the prostrate forms of several sleepers, most of +whom had gone to bed in their boots, we found what +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</span>we wanted, and turned in. It was pretty hot, and the +musquitoes made it rather lively, but we got a few hours’ +sleep, and next morning turned out early to get ready for +a start up to the station. The first thing we heard from +my brother’s black boy, who was waiting about the town +for him, was that the horses had got out of the paddock. +They were certain to go straight back to the station, so my +brother borrowed a horse and sent the boy down the road +to look for them. He got them about ten miles away, and +did not reappear till the middle of the day.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, I amused myself by examining the town of +Mackay. Of all horrible places to live in, the worst is a +small coast town in Queensland. They are all alike. The +streets are very broad, and almost all the houses built +entirely of wood, with verandahs in front of them, extending +over the pavement. There is not a green thing to be +seen anywhere. Dust is everywhere, inches deep in the +streets that are not macadamised, and trees, bushes, houses, +and everything are powdered over with it. In summer it +is sweltering hot, the glare is frightful, and before I had +been half an hour in Mackay, I began to understand why +my brother was in such a hurry to get out of it. When I +first landed there, the white population of the whole +district was under 2000, and that of the actual township +under 1000, but I counted seventeen public-houses in the +place. The first thing that struck me was that not a single +man in the town had a coat or waistcoat on, and the next +thing that struck me was what very sensible people they +all were, for it was about the middle of March, and the +weather was so hot that any superfluous clothing was +unbearable.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp80" id="i_b026b" style="max-width: 42em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b026b.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + THE HERMITAGE PADDOCK—MACKAY. + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>There was a <i>table d’hôte</i> at the hotel at which we camped, +and at dinner-time a crowd of men assembled for the feed. +Squatters down from the country, bank-clerks, planters, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</span>and business men, not one of them had a coat on. Their +invariable costume was a pair of moleskins or tweed +trousers, fastened round the waist with a leather belt, a +cotton shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and a silk handkerchief +loosely tied round the neck. The Bushmen were +easily distinguished by the mahogany brown to which +constant exposure to the sun had turned their faces, necks, +and arms.</p> + +<p>The fashion of wearing no coats is peculiar to Mackay, +and has been adopted by the planters, who consider +themselves the <i>elite</i> of the place. At a dinner-party on one +of the plantations, it is a most curious sight to see all the +ladies, <i>en grande tenue</i>, dressed in the latest fashion, and the +gentlemen sitting down with no coat or waistcoat, and their +arms bare to the elbow.</p> + +<p>It was one o’clock before we were ready for a start, and, +as our station was forty-five miles away, we settled to go +out and camp at a station about five-and-twenty miles up +the Pioneer River, and go on home next day. The country +round Mackay is a dead level alluvial plain for ten or +twelve miles, and is all under cultivation for sugar-growing. +Our road for the first mile and a half went through a sort +of straggling township of small detached houses, each +surrounded by a grass paddock; but after this we got +among the cane-fields, and the sight of them was very +refreshing after being shut up for weeks at sea. There are +few prettier plants than sugar, and the panorama of the +Mackay cane-fields is really beautiful. For miles the cane +stretches away in a level sea of emerald green, here and +there a tall brick chimney rising up to indicate the whereabouts +of a mill. A broad belt of dark green forest marks +the course of the Pioneer, winding through the plains, and +beyond this again the cane-fields rise right away to the +base of rugged mountains, thickly wooded to the very +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</span>summit. All along the horizon the mountains of the coast +range are piled one behind the other in dark blue masses, +their outline rising here and there into sharp peaks against +the western sky, and forty miles away towers the mighty +form of Mount Dalrymple, over 4000 feet high, the second +highest mountain in Queensland. On both banks of the +Pioneer, at intervals of a few miles, are the residences of +the planters, and certainly the lines have fallen to them in +pleasant places. Their houses, as a rule, are extremely +comfortable and very well furnished, and the gardens of +many of them are paradises of beauty. In good times they +make tremendous profits, and their occupation chiefly +consists in watching other people work, in the intervals of +which they recline in a shady verandah with a pipe and a +novel, and drink rum-swizzles. Most of them keep a +manager, so that they can always get away for a run down +south, or a kangaroo hunt up the country. They are very +hospitable, and keep their houses always open to strangers +visiting the place, and to their friends in the country who +come uninvited, and are welcome to stay as long as they +please.</p> + +<p>About fourteen miles from Mackay, we passed the last +plantation, and got among the gum-trees, and shortly +afterwards the track struck the bank of the Pioneer. I +have seldom seen a more beautiful river. As a rule, +Queensland rivers are muddy, sluggish streams, with low +banks covered with mangroves, and many of them would +not be called rivers at all in a country where water was +more plentiful. But the scenery along the Pioneer is +lovely. Its whole length is only about one hundred miles, +but it drains a large extent of country, and for the last +thirty miles the average width of its bed is from one to two +hundred yards. It rises in the coast range, and its course +lies through heavily-timbered country all the way to the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</span>sea. The banks, sometimes sloping, sometimes very steep, +vary in height from fifty to a hundred feet, and are thickly +covered with a dense forest of trees and creepers. The +river itself is a succession of deep black pools of beautifully +clear water, some of them nearly a mile in length, with +long rocky rapids between them.</p> + +<p>The track wound along the banks for some miles, and +every now and then we pulled up to admire some more +than usually beautiful reach, where the water was turned +to gold in the evening sunlight, and the dim blue mountains +showed up through the forest beyond. Swarms of ducks +of every description were paddling about in the pools, and +sunning themselves on the rocks and sandbanks.</p> + +<p>At one bend of the river, just at the head of a deep +pool, where the “scrub” on the banks was very thick, my +brother said there was pretty sure to be an alligator, and +if we went quietly we might get a sight of it; so we +got off, hung our horses up to a tree, and crawled through +the scrub down the bank to the water’s edge. Peering +cautiously through a tangled curtain of creepers that hung +over the water, we were rewarded by the sight of a huge +alligator, basking on a sandbank about sixty yards off, +and apparently fast asleep. The instant we showed ourselves, +however, he shuffled into the water with incredible +speed. The upper waters of the Pioneer are inhabited by +numbers of these brutes, and some of them grow to an +enormous size. One was killed not long before I arrived, +nineteen feet long, but even this was eclipsed by Big Ben +of the Fitzroy, who measured twenty-three feet six inches, +and who, when last I saw him, was in the possession of +Mr. Jamrach in London. These alligators do not seem to +increase much in numbers, and the same ones hang about +the same pools for years. From October to March, during +the hot weather, they do not show themselves at all, but +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</span>during the rest of the year, in the cool weather, they lie +about on the sandbanks warming themselves all day.</p> + +<p>The sun was getting low, so we climbed on to our horses +again, and after a three-mile canter along a splendid level +track winding through an endless forest of gums, under +which the grass grew three feet high, our destination hove +in sight.</p> + +<p>“Sleepy Hollow,” or, as it is always called, “The Hollow,” +the station at which we were going to camp that +night, is about the prettiest place on the whole of the +Pioneer. As we rode up we were greeted with a chorus +of barking from a small army of cattle-dogs that were lying +about the outbuildings, and Mr. Charles Rawson, the owner +of the Hollow, came out to meet us. He gave a wild shout +of delight when he saw who it was. He was an old friend +of my brother, and, seizing me by the hand, he bade me +welcome to Australia with a heartiness there was no +mistaking.</p> + +<p>“Hooray, boys!” he said, “this is just about the +soundest day I’ve seen for a deuce of a time. If I’d known +when your old dug-out was going to fetch the Mackay +wharf, you bet I’d have been there to meet you. Here, +George, take these horses and turn them into the big +paddock.”</p> + +<p>“Hold on,” said my brother. “Better put them in the +small one, we want to get away early to-morrow.”</p> + +<p>“To-morrow! to-morrow be blowed; you’ll stop here +for a week any way. You’ll surely never be so beastly +mean as to come here for only one night?”</p> + +<p>To his great disappointment my brother declared he +must be back at the station the next day, as there was a +man coming up to pick fat cattle.</p> + +<p>“Well, if it’s business,” he observed sadly, “I don’t so +much mind; but any way, come on inside now, and have +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</span>a drop of something short. I was just going to make it +sundown when you boys rode up, and I was suffering to +look at somebody through the bottom of a glass.”</p> + +<p>We followed our host into a cool shady verandah, and +he quickly produced the materials for a drink.</p> + +<p>“Now, then,” said he, “just let me mix you a swizzle. +What’s a swizzle! Oh! I forgot you’d only just landed. +Well, I believe a swizzle is about the squarest drink that’s +yet been invented, and there’s no one in the district can +lay over me at mixing one. But hold on till you try it.”</p> + +<p>Never having heard of a swizzle, which is a drink +peculiar to Mackay, I believe, I watched his proceedings +with interest. First of all he put two inches of Jamaica +rum into the bottom of a tumbler, into which he shook a +few drops of Angostura bitters from a bottle, with a small +hole in the cork. Next he added a small teaspoonful of +brown sugar, and a squeeze of a lemon, and filled the +tumbler two-thirds full of water. He then took a small +stick with three prongs growing the reverse way up at the +end, and whirled it round in the tumbler between his +hands, with a dexterity only to be acquired by constant +practice, till the decoction was foaming to the top of +the glass.</p> + +<p>Handing it to me quickly, with directions to “drink it +while fizzing,” he watched it going down, with one eye +shut, and an expression of sympathetic interest on his face.</p> + +<p>“How’s that for high?” he asked as I set down the +glass with a sigh of satisfaction.</p> + +<p>I acknowledged that he had not overrated the beauties +of the drink, and asked him where he got the peculiar +little stick with which he stirred it up.</p> + +<p>“Ah!” he said, “that’s just it. That’s nothing short +of a swizzle-stick, and it grows on a tree that’s peculiar to +the Mackay district, and no doubt a bountiful Providence +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</span>placed it there on purpose for the inhabitants to stir up +their liquor with. I discovered it myself, and it hadn’t a +name, so we christened it the <i>Swizzlestickia Rawsoniensis</i>. +There’s two of them growing down there in the paddock, +alongside the fence.”</p> + +<p>The owner of the Hollow is probably one of the most +popular men in the north of Queensland. He was one of +the earliest settlers in the district, has been identified with +its rise and progress, and has not an enemy in the place. +There were wild times in the early days of Mackay, and +most of his contemporaries have been stretched out for the +undertaker, or, if they still live, are mere wrecks of their +former selves. But sixteen years of hard work and hard +living in the tropics have made never a mark on the iron +constitution of our host. His head is marble, and perfectly +proof against the influence of Mackay rum, forty-five over +proof, as anyone who drinks alongside of him will find to +their cost. Many a reveller, waking after a heavy night +to repentance and a sick headache, has turned sicker still +to see him enter his room at five the next morning, with +a cheery smile on his face, a pipe of nigger-head between +his lips, and an invitation to come down and bathe in the +river. He is nearer fifty than forty now, and his hair is +not quite so thick as it was, and getting gray in places. +But, to use his own words, “he has still got as bully a set +of works as there are in the island, and, bar accidents, is +good for another ten years yet.” A kind heart and an +inexhaustible fund of good spirits made him as pleasant a +mate as a man could wish for, and if there’s any fun going, +from an exploring expedition to a game of euchre, he is +bound to be up to the neck in it. Having finished our +drinks and lit our pipes, we sallied out to scatter a glance +round the place.</p> + +<p>The forest has been cleared for a little distance round, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</span>and the house and garden are surrounded by a paddock +of short green turf. The house itself is a large one-storied +building, with a fourteen-foot verandah all round covered +with masses of every sort of creeper. It stands right on +the river-bank, which rises to an elevation of a hundred +feet above the bed, and the view up the river is magnificent. +Right in front of the house the bed of the river is full of +rocky islands and rapids; but above this there is a long +stretch of still deep water up to the next bend, three +quarters of a mile away. The opposite bank is covered +with a most magnificent forest of enormous trees, called in +Australia a “scrub,” to distinguish it from open timbered +country.</p> + +<p>Nothing can be more beautiful in the way of a forest +than a Queensland scrub. Fig-trees, Leichardts, white +cedar, red cedar, beech, and a hundred other trees whose +names I never heard, are crowded together in wild confusion, +their dense foliage mingled in masses of every +conceivable shade of green. Here and there a group of +feathery palms rear their heads above the surrounding +forest, and giant creepers hang suspended in thick curtains +from one huge tree to another.</p> + +<p>In front of the house, just on the fall of the river-bank, +is a gigantic bamboo, the father of all bamboos in the +Mackay district, and round about the house are several +smaller ones. But the garden running along the top of +the bank is a sight worth going to Queensland to see. +There is fifty feet of black soil here, and it must be a mean +sort of plant that would not grow. Lemons, limes, guavas, +custard-apples, grapes, mangoes, oranges, and grenadillas, +all flourish in a state of perfection that speaks equally well +for the care of their owner and the excellence of the climate. +Mangoes and oranges seem to do especially well, and the +trees of the latter were absolutely weighed down with fruit, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</span>and Bananas and passion fruit grow like weeds. In the +middle of the garden, on a patch of smooth green turf, +stands the most magnificent Poinciana tree I ever saw, +about sixty feet high, with huge spreading boughs sweeping +right down to the ground. The foliage is light green, and +exactly resembles the leaf of a sensitive plant, and in +summer it is literally covered with huge spiral flowers of +the most brilliant crimson. The roof and side verandah of +the house are overrun with masses of Boganvillea creepers, +of every shade from pink to purple, and the flower-beds +around are full of roses and geraniums. Gardenias grow +all about, in bushes five feet high, and flower most beautifully. +The back of the garden is sheltered all along by +an impenetrable row of bamboos, Leichardts, and fig-trees, +and in front, just along the edge of the river-bank, runs +a low hedge of hybiscus, blazing with scarlet flowers. The +front verandah of the house has been extended into a sort +of conservatory, made of a lattice-work of battens split +from palm-trees, inside which is a rockery covered with +most beautiful ferns.</p> + +<p>The mountains and creeks of Northern Queensland are +full of every sort of fern, and in the fernery at the Hollow +I counted over thirty varieties which Mr. Rawson had +picked up in his wanderings about his own runs, and +brought home and planted.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IV"> + CHAPTER IV. + <br> + <span style="font-size: medium;">FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE BUSH</span> + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>Next morning, my brother and I saddled up early, and +started off through the Bush for Mount Spencer, directly +after breakfast. There is something very bewildering +about one’s first introduction to the Bush, especially in +the coast country of Queensland, which is one vast stupendous +forest of different sorts of trees. Mile after mile, day +after day, you ride on through the forest, with a tree on +an average every ten yards. If you keep in the valleys +you see nothing but trees, and if you climb up a mountain +you see nothing but more trees. Here and there you come +upon a small open plain, a few hundred yards in extent; +but until you get used to it the monotony of the endless +timber is appalling, and it is easy to realise the terrible +madness that so often comes over those who get lost in the +Bush. The only change is from white gum-trees on the +flats, to black iron-barks on the ridges, and one ridge and +one flat is so like another, to an inexperienced eye, it seems +incredible that anyone can ever find their way about, or +know exactly where they are. Some people never can, +and I have known natives of the country, who have lived +for twenty years in the Bush, and who have still been +helpless to get from one place to another without a guide, +in country that they had ridden over for years. These are +the exceptions, however, and, as a rule, a man with a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</span>moderate bump of locality soon learns the art of finding +his way in the Bush. Very slight landmarks will serve to +guide a good Bushman, for no two places are really exactly +alike, and on the coast country there is generally some +mountain or other to get a sight of, which will enable +anyone who knows the country he is in to take his bearings. +Away on the open rolling plains of the West, or, worse +still, in country covered with endless brigalow scrub, the +Bushman has often not a single mark to guide him for +many miles, except the sun or stars. In such country, +finding one’s way about is reduced to an instinct, which is +a natural gift by no means to be acquired; and unless a +man be endowed with it, he had better never attempt to +wander far alone in the trackless wilds of the Australian +Bush. Many a man who has tried it, under the delusion +that he was born to be an explorer, has paid the penalty +of his rashness with his life. Witness the fate of Burke +and Wills, whose miserable end was due not nearly so +much to the force of circumstances, as to their being by +nature utterly unfitted to find their way about the Bush; +for they perished within a few miles of their own plant +of provisions, without having the slightest idea where +they were.</p> + +<p>The first thing that strikes one is the lifeless solitude +of the Bush. The fierce searching light of a vertical sun +prevents it from being gloomy, and, indeed, the trees in +the open timbered country give a very scanty shade, but +everywhere there is a weird solemn stillness that is most +impressive. In the middle of the day, birds and beasts +retire to the cool shade of the scrubs on the banks of the +creeks, and there is not a sound to be heard, nor a living +thing to be seen. The accumulated silence of a thousand +years seems to brood over some of the mountains and +valleys of this vast land, where, perhaps, the sound of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</span>man’s voice has never yet been heard. Now and then a +light breeze rustles in the tops of the trees, which move +softly, as if stirring in their sleep, but it quickly passes +away, and sunshine and silence are everywhere again. +But the sensation of loneliness very soon wears off, and in +a little while even the endless trees come to look like +friends in whose company it is no hardship to pass a day. +There is a deep fascination about the freedom of the Bush, +whose subtle influence very soon enslaves those who go +to live there, and generally unsettles them for any other +mode of living.</p> + +<p>A “new chum,” as a new arrival in Australia is called, +is never very long in the country without getting some +sort of fall off a horse, and I got my first one a few miles +from the Hollow. Like nine out of every ten station +horses, the animal I was riding had a sore back, and was +girth-galled as well, so I was riding with the girths very +loose. Now there is one thing in riding through the Bush +which the sooner a man learns the better, and that is, however +fast he is going, and however thick the timber is, +never to attempt to guide his horse clear of the trees. As +long as he gives him his head and does not attempt to +interfere with him, his horse will never run him against a +tree; but he is certain only to have one side to his mouth, +and any efforts to keep him clear of one tree will probably +send him into another. The way in which an old stock-horse +shaves the trees with just a couple of inches to spare, +at racing pace, makes his rider’s hair stand on end, and +gives him a cold feeling down the back at first, but he +soon drops down to sitting back and leaving his horse to +steer clear of the timber by himself. These sorts of little +peculiarities are so well known to everyone who has been +a little while in the country, that they always forget to +tell anyone of them who has not. As I followed my brother +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</span>at a hard canter along the track winding through the timber, +an ill-judged attempt to induce my horse to give rather a +wider berth to a gigantic gum-tree produced exactly the +opposite effect, and a collision was the result. The girths +being quite loose, the cant which we got from the gum-tree, +turned me and my saddle half round, and, as my intelligent +animal at once redoubled its speed, it was not long before +we parted. I landed on my shoulder, and the pace at +which we were going sent me head over heels, my farther +advance being abruptly stopped by an iron-bark tree, against +which I brought up with considerable violence. My horse +tore past my brother, who immediately set off after it, and +they both disappeared in the Bush. The first impulse of +anyone under the circumstance would have been to have a +smoke, and my temper was by no means improved by finding +that my pipe had been smashed to pieces between +myself and the iron-bark tree. However, I set off down +the track, and after about half a mile, met my brother +coming back, leading my horse. He had hunted it for +about a mile, and fortunately bailed it up between two +gullies, and caught it; for, as a rule, it takes at least three +men to surround a loose horse in the Bush, and even then, +unless it is a very quiet one, they will not catch it. After +about fifteen miles of low ridges and flats, we came to the +foot of the main coast range.</p> + +<p>A zigzag road cut through the scrub took us over the +pass, and the moment that we got to the top the change in +the atmosphere was quite extraordinary. Though the sun +was just as hot, there was a delightfully fresh light feeling +in the air, the horses ceased to sweat, and one felt the same +sensation as when one comes out of a greenhouse into the +open air. The top of the range was covered with spotted +or scented gum, the perfume of which is very strong, and +rather like that of a lemon-scented verbena.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</span></p> + +<p>About sixteen miles of monotonous stony ridges covered +with endless black iron-barks brought us to a dense clump +of wattles, a sort of mimosa—tall, feathery, graceful trees, +with leaves like a willow, and sweet-scented yellow flowers. +Through this the road passed, and we emerged on to a piece +of level country covered with white poplar-gums and grass-trees. +The latter are most comical-looking objects. They +have a black bare stem, from one to eight feet high, surmounted +by a tuft of a sort of half rushes and half grass, +out of which, again, grows a long thing exactly like a huge +bulrush. A lot of them always grow together, and a +little way off they are not unlike the illustrations of Red +Indian chiefs in Fenimore Cooper’s novels. The tuft of +grass at the top has a sort of core, white and soft, that +tastes rather like a Spanish chestnut, and is good to eat, +when there is nothing else to be had. About a mile along +the flat brought us to the Mount Spencer horse-paddock +fence, through which we passed, and got to the station just +at sundown.</p> + +<p>Somehow or other, in Australia, no matter how long or +how short one’s journey is, one nearly always gets to the +end of it about sundown, which seems to be the orthodox +hour, especially for strangers, to arrive at a station. As +we emerged from the timber in the paddock into the large +open space in which the station lay, it struck me as one of +the most beautiful places I had ever seen. As a rule, on +the coast country the timber is so thick that the look-out +is necessarily very limited, and although here and there +there are very pretty spots, it is very seldom that there is +a panorama of any extent worth looking at. Of course on +the downs you can see as far as the horizon in every direction, +but the monotony of the rolling plains of grass is +almost as bad as the Atlantic. The view, however, from +Mount Spencer is magnificent, and certainly beats anything +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</span>I ever saw in Australia. The station stands on a low broad +ridge, which was originally timbered like the surrounding +Bush; but the trees have all been cleared away, the stumps +burned out, and the holes filled in, so that the ground is +now a smooth expanse of short green turf, sloping gently +down to the edge of a large lagoon, about 300 yards away. +The lagoon itself is a mile and a half long, and about a +mile across, the centre covered with water-lilies, and the +edges fringed with a thick wide belt of rushes. On the +far side from the station a forest of huge gum-trees follows +the winding shores of the lagoon, its outline broken by one +or two little promontories running out into the water; +and above the forest, like an amphitheatre, rise the mountains +of the coast, running back in broken rocky spurs to +Blue Mountain, a vast densely-wooded range 3000 feet +high and fourteen miles away.</p> + +<p>The sun had just set when we arrived, and everything +was deadly still. The shadow from the hills at the back +of the station had fallen across the lagoon, in whose dark +waters the forms of the white gum-trees around were +perfectly reflected. The shades of evening had fallen upon +the forest, but the mountain ranges beyond were still lit +up with the rosy after-glow of sunset, and looked almost +transparent against the deep pure blue of an autumn +evening sky. Hundreds of water-fowl of every description +were dotted over the expanse of the lagoon, the ducks now +and then rising up in flights, and passing over the station +to a swamp at the back. Rows of solemn-looking white +egrets were sitting on the fences, running out into the +water, or stalking about amongst the reeds; and high overhead +a solitary pelican was wheeling round in circles, with +wings outstretched and motionless. Now and again a flock +of whistlers would rise up with a tremendous clatter and +excitement out of the rushes, as if they were frightened out +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</span>of their wits, and then, after going for a fly round, settle +again close to where they started from. The shores of the +lagoon, in front of the station, between the two fences of +the small paddock, were always kept as a sanctuary for all +the ducks and white fowl. Here they were never fired at. +They knew it perfectly well, and, when inside the bounds, +they were so tame that they would let anyone walk up to +within twenty yards of them.</p> + +<p>On the far side of the lagoon the smoke of a Black’s +camp was rising up through the trees, and a mob of cattle +were standing up to their knees in the water, taking their +evening drink, and lazily nibbling at the rushes round +them. The whole place looked wonderfully peaceful and +quiet,—altogether the kind of place that it would be very +easy to make a home of, and where it would be very +difficult to keep up the feelings of an exile for very long.</p> + +<p>The last feed on a station—dinner, tea, supper, or whatever +it may be called—is always just after dark, and is the +most solid meal in the day. Bushmen smoke so much and +drink so much tea, that they are rather mean performers +at breakfast, and in the middle of the day they are generally +out on the run, but there must be something wrong +if they cannot eat a square meal in the evening. After we +had had supper, and a smoke, of course, I was shown my +camp, which was a slab hut about a hundred yards away +from the big house. The furniture consisted of a canvas +stretcher for a bed, a fragment of looking-glass balanced on +two nails driven into a post, a table with a tin basin, and +a bucket. But there were heaps of blankets, and a fireplace, +which is all that is wanted to make one perfectly comfortable. +The slabs which formed the sides of the hut were +put up vertically, and as I lay in bed the spaces between +them afforded a fine view of the surrounding country. +There was no door, and the roof was not as water-tight as +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</span>it might have been, so that when it rained, five little +streamlets of water descended on my bed; but I subsequently +diverted them on to the floor by means of a couple +of sheets of corrugated iron, which I secured overhead.</p> + +<p>Besides the light of a wood fire, the inside of the hut +was illuminated by a fat-lamp, a simple contrivance, in +the form of a jam-tin full of fat, with a fragment of tweed +trousers stuck through a hole in the top for a wick, which +gives a very fair light. I was rather tired, and not sorry +for the prospect of a camp; but when I dragged back the +blankets to turn in, I discovered an enormous carpet-snake, +about eleven feet long, comfortably coiled up in my bunk. +It raised its head lazily, and after looking at me for a second +or two with a want of interest that I was far from feeling +myself, it coiled itself up again, and prepared for another +sleep. My brother had just gone, but I shouted to him to +bring a stick or something and help me kill it. He came +back and looked in.</p> + +<p>“What’s the matter? Snake? Oh, don’t kill that one. +That’s a tame one, that belongs to Rice. He wouldn’t have +it killed for anything, and, besides, it’s only a carpet-snake, +and they are perfectly harmless.”</p> + +<p>“H’m, it’s all very well to say it’s harmless,” I observed; +“I suppose you mean it’s not poisonous. From the look +of its head, it could bite a piece out of you about the size +of a tea-cup, and anyhow it’s not going to sleep in my bed.”</p> + +<p>“Oh no,” said my brother, “it has no business here. +It lives in a tub. Here, I’ll take it away and put it to +bed,” and seizing it by the neck, he dragged it off, and +dropped it into a barrel outside the store, about fifty yards +away, from which I devoutly hoped that it would not be +able to get out again that night.</p> + +<p>I turned in, in hopes of a good sleep, but I soon discovered +that I was very unlikely to get it. The station +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</span>seemed peaceful enough at sundown, but no sooner had +night fairly settled down than a combination of noises arose +that would have awakened Rip Van Winkle himself. In +the first place my camp was not far from the calf-pen, in +which the six or seven calves belonging to the milkers were +shut up every night. These little brutes bellow incessantly +all night, and their mothers come and look over the railings, +and answer them. Then my partner Rice was a great +poultry fancier, and had a vast army of chickens. Cocks +in Australia always begin to crow about twelve o’clock at +night, and leave off at sunrise, so about twelve of these pests +added their voices to the general clamour, supported by a +dozen or so of call-ducks, which were certainly pure-bred, +if the noise that they make has anything to do with their +pedigree. But the din reached its climax when a native +dog howled somewhere away in the Bush. Instantly every +dog on the station started up mad with excitement, and +began barking with a fury that nothing but exhaustion +could abate. Two Russian wolf-hounds, three Kangaroo-dogs, +three cattle-dogs, four bull-dogs, and five fox-terriers, +all started a volley of barking which was kept up incessantly +for a quarter of an hour, and then slackened down to a sort +of platoon-fire of yaps and howls which lasted the rest of +the night. In time one gets perfectly used to this sort of +nocturnal concert, and can sleep through any amount of it; +but at first it is simply maddening, not one wink of sleep +did I get the first night, and I was glad when daylight +came, and it was time to turn out.</p> + +<p>No words can describe the glory of a morning in the +Australian Bush. There is a pure soft freshness about the +air, full of the peculiar scent of the gum-trees, of which no one +ever tires, and a sparkling brilliancy in the morning sunlight +that no other climate can produce. Surely this is the time +of all others for a smoke. There is sure to be something +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</span>left in your pipe from the night before. If not, fill it again, +and light it with a fire-stick from the hearth; and years +after, if you are a true lover of the weed, you will own that +no smoke in the world comes up to the one before breakfast +on a summer’s morning in the Bush. There is something +in the climate that brings out the flavour of tobacco, and a +good deal in the way of living that encourages smoking; +for Bushmen, as a race, are probably the heaviest smokers +in existence. The tobacco they smoke is very good and +very strong, mostly manufactured in America, and known +as fig-tobacco. When once a man takes to smoking it, it +ruins him for any other sort of tobacco, but as a general +rule, about ten years is as long as a man can go on smoking +it without finding that it is knocking his nerves to pieces. +A fig a day, or just short of an ounce, is a common allowance, +but a Bushman’s pipe is never out of his mouth. He +is always lighting it to have a few whiffs, which is a most +poisonous form of smoking. The last thing he puts away +at night, and the first thing he looks for in the morning, is +his pipe; and if he wakes in the night, he has a smoke +then.</p> + +<p>I was not long in falling into the ways of the country in +this respect, and, lighting a pipe, I sallied out to have a +look round. A soft white curtain of mist was rising off the +lagoon and rolling away before the sun, to gather for a little +while on the sides of the deep blue mountains around before +it finally disappeared. The sun rose over the range in a +blaze of heat, turning the dark waters of the lagoon into a +sheet of gold, and streaming through the forest in long +bands of glittering light. The water-fowl on the lagoon +awoke, uttering a hundred different cries, the ducks standing +up on the lily leaves and flapping the dew from their +wings. Close to the station one or two butcher-birds were +piping their morning song, a strange little melody with not +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</span>many notes, which no one who has heard it will ever forget. +On a dead iron-bark tree, just outside the horseyard, three +or four black crows were sitting, talking to each other, and +looking as wise as nothing but an Australian crow ever did. +They are far the most interesting birds in the Bush, and +the way in which they talk to each other is simply fascinating, +for it really seems as if one could not help knowing +exactly what they are saying.</p> + +<p>Round the store-door a sound assortment of poultry were +assembled waiting for their morning feed, most of them +thoroughbred game, bred from imported birds, and on the +roof were about a hundred pigeons of every conceivable +breed. Rice was immensely fond of his chickens and +pigeons, never went home to England without bringing +back a fresh supply, and some of the birds which he raised +on the station were very high-class specimens indeed. +Besides all these he always had a menagerie of tame birds +and beasts of all kinds. When I got there the collection +contained an eagle-hawk, three crested falcons, seven wood-ducks, +five whistlers, a magpie, three teal, a kangaroo, a +wallaroo, a native bear, five flying squirrels, three spur-winged +plovers, and a cageful of parrots and small birds, +and last, but not least, the infernal carpet-snake which I +found in my bed. They were all quite tame, and, except +the flying squirrels and parrots, which lived in cages, and +the eagle-hawk, which had a string to its leg, they all used +to hang about the place on the loose.</p> + +<p>The station itself was quite a small village of houses. +The big house stood a little way apart, in a garden with a +paling-fence round it, about eighty yards square. Unfortunately +it was right on the top of a quartz ridge, where +there was very little soil, so that it was difficult to get trees +of any size to grow; but all sorts of creepers throve wonderfully. +In front of the house were one or two Poincianas, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</span>and a very pretty bunya, a sort of fir-tree; and round every +pile of the house grew masses of scarlet geraniums, which +are supposed to possess the virtue of keeping away snakes. +At the back there was a rockwork covered with beautiful +ferns, and beyond that a small pond with dwarf bamboos +round it, where the tame wild-ducks lived.</p> + +<p>The house itself was a very comfortable building, two +stories high, about sixty feet long and thirty-five feet wide, +built upon round piles seven feet high, with an eight-foot +verandah all round. Down below was the dining-room, +with a huge brick fireplace, the pantry, a small store, an +office and a bathroom. Over the dining-room was the +sitting-room, also with a large fireplace, and with “French-lights” +opening on to the verandah, and, on the same floor, +four very comfortable bedrooms. The house, with the +exception of the chimney, was built entirely of wood, the +walls being made of iron-bark slabs, dressed very smooth, +and laid horizontally; and the roof covered with shingles, +which are small pieces of wood, eighteen inches long and +about four inches wide, split out of iron-bark or stringy-bark +wood. If properly laid on, with sufficient pitch, +shingles make about the best roof possible for a hot climate; +they are perfectly water tight, keep out the heat, and last +for many years. But there is a good deal of art in laying +them on, and unless it is done scientifically, they let the +water through like a sieve. The sitting-room was very +well furnished, with any amount of tables, pictures, bookshelves, +armchairs, and above all an excellent piano. Rice +and my brother had been there for some years, and had +made the place very comfortable, and altogether hardly +what one would expect to find in the Bush.</p> + +<p>Near the house stood the kitchen, with a cook’s room +adjoining, and a little covered way all overgrown with +creepers, leading from it to the house.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp80" id="i_b046a" style="max-width: 42em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b046a.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + MOUNT SPENCER: HEAD STATION. + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</span></p> + +<p>About a hundred yards away were the rest of the station +buildings, consisting of two stocksmen’s houses, a store, a +meathouse, the spare hut in which I camped, the men’s +kitchen, the blacksmith’s forge, and the black boys’ hut, +all slab buildings with shingle roofs; also a large dovecot +and a row of fowlhouses, surrounded by wire-netting yards, +and beyond these again the milking-yards, killing-yard, +calf-pens, and horseyards.</p> + +<p>Having completed my round of the station, I had just +arrived at the rails of the horseyard, when I heard a sound +like distant thunder away down the horse-paddock. In a +few seconds a mob of about seventy horses came tearing +down the track in a cloud of dust, with their tails in the +air, and dashed into the big yard, of which the slip rails +were down. Behind them came a black boy, cantering +leisurely along, who proceeded to put up the rails, and then, +taking the saddle off the horse he was riding, he turned +him out in hobbles into the small paddock. All the station-horses +in use are run up every morning into the yards, and +then turned out again, when the stockmen have picked +out those that they require for the day.</p> + +<p>Anyone would think that with seventy or eighty horses +in the yard, and only three or four men to ride, there would +be plenty for everyone. But a nearer inspection generally +shows that at least half of them are unavailable from sore +backs or want of condition. No one ever yet saw a cattle +station that was not in a chronic state of being short of +horses, and it is easier for a stranger to squeeze blood out +of a stone than to borrow a horse from the manager.</p> + +<p>Sore backs and girth-galls are the curse of Australian +Bush-riding, and are chiefly due to carelessness on the part +of the riders. Of course a horse fed entirely upon grass is +much more liable to a sore back than one which is fed upon +corn. Then, again, they are never groomed, and, therefore, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</span>their coats are very dirty. The colonial saddle, too, is a +shapeless cumbersome fabric, made of rough leather, with +a high pommel and cantel, and huge knee-pads, weighing +on an average 20 lbs. The greatest care is necessary to +prevent such a diabolical machine from giving a horse a +sore back, but still it can be done. The chief points to +attend to are, always to brush a horse’s back before putting +the saddle on, to wash it and rub it dry after taking the +saddle off, and to keep the saddle-cloth scrupulously clean +and soft. Few Bushmen ever take the trouble to use these +precautions, and the consequence is that it is the rarest +thing in the world to see a Bush horse over three years old +that has not got either a sore back or the mark of an old +sore. An English saddle seldom gives a horse a sore back; +with decent care, and all the time I was in the Colony I +always used one, unless I knew the horse I was going to +ride was certain to buck, in which case it is perfectly hopeless +to try and stick on in an English saddle. I have seen +men ride very bad buck-jumpers barebacked, and I have +often <i>heard</i> of men who could ride them in an English +saddle, but I never saw it done, and do not believe that it +is possible. As long as a horse bucks straight ahead it is +all right enough, being no worse than crossing a succession +of high fences; but when he takes to bucking sideways, +and turning round as he bucks, I never saw anyone that +could stay on in an English saddle.</p> + +<p>The performance of buck-jumping is a most extraordinary +one to watch, and still more extraordinary to feel underneath +one. When seated on a bucking horse the rider sees nothing +whatever in front of him but the pommel of the saddle, +and feels rather as if he was assisting at an earthquake or +a railway accident. The performance is quite peculiar to +Australian horses, and no one who has not seen them at it +would believe the rapid contortions of which they are capable. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</span>In bucking, a horse tucks his head right between his +forelegs, sometimes striking his jaw with his hind feet. The +back, meantime, is arched like a boiled prawn’s; and in this +position the animal makes a series of tremendous bounds, +sometimes forwards, sometimes sideways and backwards, +keeping it up for several minutes with intervals of a few +seconds, and occasionally falling flat down and rolling over +his rider if he fails to get rid of him in any other way. +Of course a “new chum” succumbs at once to the movements +of a buck-jumper, but, after a little practice, anyone +who keeps his nerve and sits back can easily learn to stick +on in a colonial saddle with big knee-pads to help him. +With practice some men become extraordinary hands at +sitting rough horses, and a favourite piece of “flashness” +is to stick half-a-crown between each thigh and the saddle, +and keep it there while the horse is bucking.</p> + +<p>The great art consists in getting cleverly on to a rowdy +horse; for it is before a man is fairly seated, just as he is +swinging himself on, that a horse is likely to get the best +of him. An old hand draws the reins tightly through his +fingers, and takes hold of a piece of the mane with the +same hand to keep his horse’s head well in to his neck, and +then, with his face to the horse’s tail, he sneaks one foot +into the stirrup, and swings himself into his seat with the +rapidity of lightning. A great deal of practice is required +to do this neatly, and to avoid touching the horse with +either foot during the act of mounting, which would almost +certainly start it bucking if it were that way inclined.</p> + +<p>The ordinary run of Bush horses show a great deal of +breeding, but they are generally deficient in bone, and the +worst point about them is the shoulder. You often come +across a well-shaped one in every other point, but the whole +time that I was in the Bush I never saw a really pretty +pair of shoulders on a horse. They run about fifteen two +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</span>in height, and are very low in the wither, which accounts +for the extraordinary feat which I have several times +witnessed, of a horse bucking its rider and saddle over its +head, without breaking the girths. But whatever they may +be to look at, horses raised in the Bush have generally a +good heart inside them, and the amount of work that they +will do upon nothing but grass is almost incredible.</p> + +<p>A ride of a hundred miles from sunrise to sundown is +no uncommon performance, and there is a well-authenticated +instance of a man who, for a large bet, rode a pony +a hundred miles in that time, and then carried it a hundred +yards. The unfortunate animal died, and the man ought +to have been knocked on the head for his cruelty, but the +feat stands recorded as showing what an Australian horse +can do.</p> + +<p>A still more remarkable performance was that of a son +of Panic, bred in Victoria, who carried his rider, Mr. Lord, +263 miles in three days, 88 miles on the first, 83 on the +second, and 92 on the third. Mr. Lord rode 14 st. 3 lb., +and the journey was accomplished without any bad effects +upon the horse.</p> + +<p>Considering the treatment that Bush horses get, it is +wonderful how they live at all. After a long hard day +they are turned out, dripping with sweat, into a cold +winter’s night, where, perhaps, in a few hours the temperature +will be down to freezing point. They are ridden +hard after cattle, over stony ridges and black-soil bogs, and +yet filled legs and curbed hocks are unknown; and the +whole time that I was in Australia I never saw a broken-winded +horse, or even a whistler. It is very rare indeed to +find a really pleasant horse to ride in the Bush. They are +all very badly broken in, and have nearly always had their +tempers spoiled when quite young, so that they generally +have some disagreeable tricks, and it is never safe to go +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</span>near the heels of one of them. There are men who make +a living by breaking in young horses, going round the +stations and contracting to break in a mob at thirty shillings +a head. Considering the way in which it is done, it +is no wonder that Australian horses buck, and are generally +vicious.</p> + +<p>A lot of young ones are run into a yard, most of which +have probably never seen a man within a quarter of a mile +since they were foals, and have certainly never been in a +yard more than once in their lives. The horsebreaker +picks out one, and with the help of another man runs it +into a small yard by itself. If the animal is not very +nervous, with a little patience he will be able to go up and +handle it, and get a bridle over its head. If all other ways +fail, he has to lasso it. The next thing is to sneak a saddle +on to it, the wretched animal standing shaking and shivering +with fright the whole time. The horsebreaker is most +likely a man that no living horse can throw by any means +short of rolling on him; so he blindfolds the horse, and +gets straight on to its back. His mate removes the bandage +from its eyes, and the rider sticks the spurs into the horse, +and makes it buck, till it cannot buck any more. He then +leaves it for a few hours with the saddle on, and having +repeated the process on two subsequent days, he hands it +over to the owner as broken in, and it is probably turned +out for six months into the Bush. It is real rough work +breaking in young horses in this way, and very few men +stick at it for more than a year or two. Undoubtedly the +very worst man in the world to give a young horse to, to +break in, is a “flash” rider. He is not the least afraid of +its bucking, and will probably make it do so on purpose, in +order to display his powers of riding, or rather sticking on.</p> + +<p>Bucking is a regular habit; and when once a horse +acquires it he never altogether loses it. The surest way to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</span>get a horse quietly and well broken in is to give it to the +most nervous and arrant funk you can find, if he will +undertake it. He will spend days in getting the horse +used to the vicinity of a man, and sit for hours on the top +of a rail alongside of it, to accustom it to seeing him above +it, before ever he attempts to get on its back, and the odds +are that he will have it so quiet by the time that he dares +mount it, that it will never think of bucking, except under +extraordinary provocation, for the rest of its life.</p> + +<p>The proceedings of a “new chum,” as a recent arrival in +the Colony is called, are always a source of amusement to +all old residents, and nothing is more entertaining than his +early struggles to catch his horse in the yard. Having +cornered it off, with the help of a black boy, he advances +towards it, in a hesitating, doubtful sort of way, addressing +it in soothing terms which are entirely thrown away upon +a Bush horse. The animal detects him instantly as a novice, +and prepares to take advantage of him by every trick that +it knows. Jammed up against the rails, in a corner of the +yard, it stands, looking at him as he approaches, with an +expression in its eye and a droop of its quarters that no +one could mistake. When he gets up to it he probably +discovers that he has got the bridle over the wrong arm, +and while he is changing it the brute gives a frightful snort, +rushes past him, rolling him over in the dust, and gallops +round and round the yard, with its tail in the air. Once +more he pins it up in a corner, and has nearly got the +bridle over its head when it gently turns its head away and +sticks it over the rails, where he cannot possibly reach it, +at the same time turning its quarters round, and lifting a +hind foot, in a way that causes its future rider to get out +of focus as quickly as possible.</p> + +<p>After a few more vain attempts the “new chum” looks +imploringly round, and one of the old hands gets down +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</span>from the rails, where he has been sitting enjoying the fun. +Hanging the bridle over his left arm, he walks straight up +to the animal and addresses it with, “Stand up, you crowbait!” +in a tone that knocks all the folly out of it for the +rest of the morning. Bush horses are as cunning as foxes, +and, unless they are really rowdy, they never attempt to +play the fool with men who are used to handling them, so +it caves in at once, and allows him to put the bridle on +without any further trouble.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_V"> + CHAPTER V. + <br> + <span style="font-size: medium;">LIFE IN THE BUSH</span> + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>Mount Spencer country consisted of three runs adjoining +each other, known respectively as Mount Spencer, Haslewood, +and Blue Mountain. The whole area was nearly +400 square miles, capable of carrying over 20,000 head of +cattle in any season; but when I first went there, there +were not above 12,000. Though some parts of the run +were very rough riding, it was all very good cattle country, +and wonderfully well watered. Numbers of large creeks +ran in every direction, and large water-holes were scattered +all over the run, so that it hardly suffered at all in the +severest drought. The cattle were a very well-bred herd, +and the grass was first-rate, so they fattened splendidly. +The head station was at Mount Spencer, and the adjoining +run was kept principally for a breeding station. At Haslewood +there was another station, with yards and paddocks, +and the run was fenced off from Mount Spencer by a line +of fence twelve miles long, and was used with Blue Mountain +run for a fattening station for bullocks. At Blue +Mountain there was a small hut, a horse paddock, and +stockyard, and at the far end of Mount Spencer run was +another small hut, used for camping out, and a sapling yard +for yarding cattle at night, when it was too late to take +them to the head station.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp80" id="i_b054a" style="max-width: 42em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b054a.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + THE FARM—MOUNT SPENCER. + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>At Mount Spencer there were two stockmen, Frank +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</span>Boyle and Timothy Harris, and a couple of black boys. +At Haslewood was another stockman, Billy Burgess, with +a couple of boys, one white and the other black; and at +Blue Mountain a half-caste named Yellow Pat lived by +himself, and looked after a mob of draught mares. Of +course Rice and my brother worked amongst the cattle +themselves just like the other stockmen, but this was all +the “permanent staff” on the place, and quite sufficient to +work the cattle.</p> + +<p>In mustering, more hands are required, but at such +times neighbouring stations always help each other, and +send up a spare hand or two to help muster and brand, +and to bring back their own cattle, of which there are sure +to be some that have strayed on to their neighbours’ +country. The ordinary work of a stockman is rather +monotonous. Every morning he gets on his horse, and +goes out on the run, jogging along about five miles an +hour the whole day, and returning in the afternoon. His +business is to be constantly amongst the cattle, riding the +boundaries to put his own cattle back, and his neighbour’s +away, hunting up stray calves and bringing them home and +branding them.</p> + +<p>It is impossible to do too much of this work. The +more cattle are worked, and accustomed to the sight of +men when they are young, the better they will fatten +when they grow up; and, of course, it is of the greatest +importance to get all the male calves branded before a +certain age. In rough country where there are few fences, +numbers of calves escape the general muster, and the more +the stockmen scour the run, and hunt them up, the better +the station will pay. Sometimes the stockman takes a +black boy with him, but more frequently he is quite alone. +Occasionally he goes and camps out for a few days, to +work some outlying end of the run, rolling up sufficient +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</span>beef and damper in his blanket strapped across his saddle, +to last him until he returns. In rough country, such as +the coast of Queensland, no one ought ever to ride about +the run alone. While riding hard after cattle through the +long grass, it is impossible to avoid a nasty fall occasionally; +and if a man were to be crippled away in the Bush, and +unable to ride or walk home, it is a thousand to one if he +would ever be found before a miserable death had overtaken +him. Considering the number of men who every day of +their lives make a practice of riding about the Bush quite +alone, it is astonishing that more of them do not come to +grief. But the annals of the country contain ghastly +records of the horrible death of solitary riders who have +met with an accident, and been rendered helpless, and +many an unfortunate being has disappeared entirely, without +leaving a trace of his fate. Years afterwards, perhaps, +a skeleton is found somewhere near where he was supposed +to have been lost, and the few who have not forgotten all +about him connect the discovery with the unknown end of +the missing man. Not far from Mount Spencer run, a +man came to his end a few years ago, in a manner that is +almost unique in horror. He was away riding by himself +in the Bush, and his horse threw him, injuring his spine in +the fall, so that he was quite powerless to move. Close to +where he fell was an enormous ants’ nest, and when he was +found three days afterwards he was half eaten by millions +of ants. He was still conscious, but unable to speak, and +died very shortly afterwards. It is impossible to imagine +a more terrible death than to lie paralysed and helpless, to +the agony of intolerable thirst being added the torture of +being eaten alive by crawling insects.</p> + +<p>If any parallel could be found for the awfulness of such +a fate, it would be in the case of a man who was burned to +death by a tree which fell on him. He was working by +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</span>himself, several miles away from anywhere, and a burning +tree fell on him, pinning him to the ground, without doing +him any serious injury. The tree was alight at the butt +end, some thirty feet away from where he lay; but it is a +peculiarity of some sorts of Australian trees that when +once they are set on fire they will smoulder entirely away, +leaving nothing but a track of white ashes in the grass. +No efforts of the unfortunate man could extricate him from +his awful position, and after a time he appears to have +abandoned himself to his fate, for he amused himself by +scratching a record of his sensations with a knife upon the +bottom of a tin dish that lay within reach. It took a day +and a half before the fire reached him, and it is shocking +to think of what his sufferings must have been. When he +was found he was nothing but a charred and blackened +mass, which no one would have taken to have been a man, +had his fate not been recorded on the tin dish that was +found near him.</p> + +<p>In the north of Queensland very few of the cattle-runs +have boundary fences. There are large paddocks, of course, +but the cattle roam at large over the greater portion of the +run. All about the run, at intervals of five or six miles, +are cattle-camps, and the cattle that belong to the surrounding +districts are mustered on their respective camps.</p> + +<p>The camp is generally a level place, as free from stones +as possible, where there is water handy, and where the +timber is not too thick. It is the stockman’s business to +ride round constantly, and put the cattle on to the different +camps, so as to accustom them to running there. The same +mobs of cattle frequent the same districts, and if they are +properly broken in they will run right into the camp by +themselves, when started with a few cracks of the stock-whip, +and stay there till the middle of the day. In +mustering, of course, it is essential that a stockman should +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</span>know the country thoroughly, and be perfectly acquainted +with the run of all the gullies and creeks, or he will never +get all his cattle on to the camp.</p> + +<p>Two mornings after I arrived at Mount Spencer, we all +started out to muster the Water-hole camp, at the lower +end of the run, twelve miles away. Frank and Billy had +gone on the night before, and camped out, to work the +country on the far side of the camp. Having had breakfast +about five, Rice, my brother, Timothy, and I, started off, +soon after sunrise, with the man who had come up to buy +cattle. He had been butchering on the Palmer diggings, +and made a rise, and was hunting up a big mob of fat +cattle to take back with him. He had a huge nugget of +gold hanging on to his watch-chain, and always wore a +waistcoat and no coat, a get-up which in the Bush somehow +or other imparts an air of blackguardism to a man which +it is impossible to describe.</p> + +<p>After going a few miles through the forest of endless +gum-trees and blood-wood, we crossed a big creek, and +came to a succession of low iron-bark ridges. Everywhere +the country was heavily timbered, and it was impossible to +see more than half a mile through the trees in any direction. +Here we separated, Rice and the cattle-dealer going in one +direction, and Timothy, my brother, and I, in another. +Presently a mob of about seventy cattle appeared ahead of +us in the long grass. We rode up to them at a canter, +shouting, and cracking our whips; and they set off at a +gallop, apparently in the right direction, for my brother +and Timothy pulled up and did not attempt to follow +them.</p> + +<p>A little farther on we came upon another small mob, +which turned as soon as they saw us, and trotted off +towards a creek on our left. Off went my brother after +them, full gallop, through the grass, which was up to his +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</span>knees as he rode, shouting out that “he knew that old +devil of a white cow was off to the Island camp again.” +He disappeared after them over the creek, and we did not +see him again until he turned up on the camp an hour +later, driving the refractory mob in front of him. Timothy +and I jogged along for some distance, and fell in with some +more cattle, that looked lazily at us as we rode up. Timothy +scared them up with a shout and a crack of his whip; but +they did not seem in any great hurry, and rather inclined +to stop, so he turned to me, and told me that “if I would +keep behind them, that old yellow cow with a down-horn +would take me right into the camp, a couple of miles away, +while he went and tried the ridges away to the right.” +I had not the least idea where the camp was, and only +very vague ideas of where I was myself, and the idea of +being shown the way about the Bush by a yellow cow +with a down-horn seemed rather novel; but Timothy had +already started, so I thought I had better do as I was told.</p> + +<p>There was not a vestige of a track to be seen anywhere, +and, as I jogged along behind the mob, I could not help +thinking to myself, “Supposing this flaming old cow takes +it into her head to go to the wrong camp, like the other +one did, or lies down, or gets sick, where the deuce will +I be?” The sun was just about square overhead, so it was +difficult to tell where the points of the compass lay, and I +was by no means sure that if the cow did not take me to +the camp I could find my way home again. However, she +trotted along with a business kind of an air that was very +encouraging, always keeping in the lead of the mob, while +I brought up the rear. After crossing two more deep-running +creeks, and struggling down several awful gullies and +up the other side, clinging on to my horse’s mane with +rather a weak feeling about the inside during the final +struggle that landed us on the top, I came on to a long +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</span>black-soil flat, covered with big box-trees, at the far end of +which I could see a big mob of cattle standing on a low +ridge. My pilot had led me as straight as a die, and when +I got up I found Frank and Billy were already on the +camp with about 600 head of cattle. There are few sights +more picturesque than an Australian cattle-camp, and it is +one that anyone who takes an interest in stock will never +grow weary of.</p> + +<p>The Water-hole camp lay on a broad low ridge, running +down to a big creek full of flooded gums and dark green +she-oaks, about 300 yards away. Close to the camp was +a round water-hole, covered with lilac water-lilies, from +which the camp took its name. The cattle were moving +restlessly about on the camp, the cows bellowing in search +of their lost calves, their red, roan, and white colours looking +wonderfully bright in the sunlight, among the trunks of +the black iron-bark trees. The two stockmen, and a couple +of black boys, were riding incessantly round the edges of +the camp to keep the cattle together, and prevent them +from straying away; so my brother and I lit our pipes, +and rode in amongst the cattle to have a look at them. +The first thing that struck me was what a very well-bred +lot they were. Here and there was an old crow-bait of a +cow, a miserable relic of old times, crawling about to save +itself the annoyance of a funeral, but most of the cattle +showed a great deal of quality. Among the young ones +there was scarcely a hard skin to be seen, and some of the +heifers were perfect pictures. There were not many bullocks +on the camp, as most of them had been cleared off +Mount Spencer and put on to Haslewood, but what there +were left were very healthy sights. It is astonishing to +anyone who has been used to cramming bullocks with oil-cake, +hay, and mangolds, before they are fit for the market, +to see animals raised entirely on grass, with the fat laid on +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</span>level all over them wherever there is room for it. A mob +of seventy bullocks once left Mount Spencer that averaged +over 1000 lbs. when they were killed, one of them weighing +1430 lbs. They were four and five year olds, and the +weight was taken as they hung up clean in the butcher’s +shop.</p> + +<p>“Well, Sam,” said my brother as we finished a round +of the camp, “what do you think of them? Not a bad lot, +are they?”</p> + +<p>“Very sound,” said I. “What are those bullocks worth +now?”</p> + +<p>“Six pound ten delivered at the yard, and heaven send +they may stick at it. They’ve never been up to that +before, around these edges. Look there, at that white +one; he’ll go over a thousand; and isn’t he a plum to +look at?”</p> + +<p>The animal referred to was a four-year-old bullock, with +the head of a heifer on him, and a soft white skin, very +deep in the girth, with a broad, level back, on which the +fat was laid on to admiration. It struck me that I had seen +many worse animals in the show-yards of the old country, +and there were several quite as good as him on the camp.</p> + +<p>Climbing off our horses, we sat down on a log, and +waited for the others to come up to camp with the rest of +the cattle. Our horses were standing lazily brushing away +the flies with their tails, with their heads down, and their eyes +half shut; but presently they pricked up their ears and +looked up. Following the direction in which they were +looking, we saw a long string of cattle in the distance, +winding along like a snake through the forest towards the +camp. Timothy had fallen in with Rice and the cattle-dealer, +and they all three appeared, bringing about 400 +head of cattle with them. There were now about 1000 +head on the camp, and Frank and Billy declared it was +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</span>pretty full—that is to say, that all the cattle belonging to +the district in which it lay were there.</p> + +<p>Nothing is more extraordinary than the knowledge of +cattle that those who work constantly among them acquire. +A good stockman will go on to a camp where there are +1000 head of cattle, and in ten minutes’ time will tell you +if there are any missing that should be there. Very likely +he has half-a-dozen similar camps in other parts of the run; +but if he has been a year or two on the place, he knows +most of the cattle by sight perfectly well. Although a +great deal may be done by practice, no one who is not +born in the country ever possesses this power to the same +extent as a native, with some of whom it is really a remarkable +gift. Billy Burgess was a native of Australia, and +was generally allowed to be one of the best hands at +working cattle in the north. His faculty for remembering +cattle was simply astounding. I have seen him come on +to a camp where he had not been for two years, and on +which there were about 1200 head of cattle at the time. +After riding round the camp amongst the cattle for a little +while, he began inquiring from the stockman who was working +that part of the run at the time, why such and such a cow +or steer was not there, and in every instance he was right. +Animals that must have been almost calves when he was +last there, he instantly recognised; in fact, if once he saw +a beast, it seemed as if no alteration in its appearance +could ever prevent him from identifying it afterwards.</p> + +<p>Having scattered a glance round the Water-hole camp, +he said all the bullocks were there that ought to be, and, +as it was roasting hot, we left the black boys to mind the +camp, and went down to the creek to have a feed, and to +give the cattle a spell before we started drafting. Dinner +did not take long, none of us having brought more than a +piece of beef and a bit of damper, and most of us had +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</span>forgotten to bring any at all, and had an extra smoke +instead. When we had finished we went back to the camp, +and Frank and my brother started drafting out the bullocks, +the cattle-dealer riding through the camp and picking the +ones that he wanted. Drafting on the camp, or “cutting +out” as it is generally called, is a very pretty performance +to watch, if it is well done. First of all a small mob is +cut off from the main body of the cattle, and driven gently +away for a little distance, and then allowed to stand. This +is the nucleus of the draft-mob; for no beast will stand still +a moment by itself, and one of the hands is told off to watch +them. One or two men then ride in among the cattle, +and draft out the ones they want, one at a time, while the +rest of the hands ride round the camp and keep the cattle +from breaking away. Both my brother and Frank were +very sound hands at cutting out, and they were both riding +first-rate camp-horses, so I watched them at work with the +greatest interest. A “camp-horse” is one used for cutting +out cattle on a camp, and very few horses are good at it; +but the performance of a really first-class one is a sight +worth seeing. Each man picks his beast, and edges him +gently to the outside of the mob, on the side of the camp +nearest the draft-mob. The instant the animal finds +itself cut off from the camp it makes the most desperate +efforts to rejoin the herd, and the speed at which a bullock +can travel, and the activity with which he turns, are +marvellous.</p> + +<p>The timber was pretty thick round the camp, and as I +watched my brother it seemed as if he must inevitably +come to grief; but a good camp-horse is wonderfully smart +upon his legs, and goes through the trees like an eel. +Away went the bullock round the edge of the camp, my +brother, with his reins loose, and his hat on the back of his +head, going after it through the timber as if there was no +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</span>futurity. As he ranges up alongside, the bullock wheels +sharp round and gallops back again the way that he came. +Toby, the camp-horse, stops dead short, with a violence that +would have sent an inexperienced rider ten yards over its +head, and is off after the beast again like lightning, following +every twist and turn as if he was tied to the bullock’s +tail with a string. Toby’s heart and soul are in the work, +and without a word or a touch from his rider he hits out +all he knows, to keep the animal from getting back into +the camp. This time as he comes up alongside, the bullock +lowers his head and charges; but Toby has had a horn in +his ribs before now, and avoids the sweep of the bullock’s +head with marvellous dexterity. For a while the tables +are turned, and for a hundred yards or so the bullock +hunts Toby; and though the horse is as quick on his legs +as a rabbit, a pair of sharp horns are kept quite as near +his quarters as is pleasant. Finding that Toby is too quick +for him, the bullock turns and gallops back towards the +camp. Once more the horse is after him, and turns him +back into the Bush; and this time the bullock gives in, +and trots sulkily off to join the draft-mob.</p> + +<p>The cattle-dealer knew his business, and picked out +about forty grand-looking bullocks, which pretty well +cleaned out the Water-hole camp. On a camp of mixed +cattle, of course, it is not very difficult to pick the best +bullocks; but when there are nothing but bullocks, and +perhaps eight or nine hundred of them, it takes a consummate +judge to go in and pick the cream of the camp, +as he rides through them on his horse. It was past three +o’clock when we finished drafting, and, as we had twelve +miles to drive the cattle home, it looked liked taking us +all our time to get them in the yard before dark. Fat +bullocks are the worst kind of cattle to drive, as they are +always inclined to break away, and, of course, have to be +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</span>driven dreadfully slow, in order to take as little out of +them as possible. A long drive home is very tedious after +a hard day’s ride, and it takes a great deal of patience to +prevent a man from hurrying the cattle. The great thing +is never to push them too fast at first. If cattle are +allowed to start very steady, they will walk quietly along, +and by and by get over the ground at a very fair pace; +but if they are hustled when they first leave the camp +they will not settle down, and are certain to be troublesome +all the way home. On the whole, about two or two +and a half miles an hour is quite fast enough to drive +cattle, and, of course, if they are going to be on the road +for some days or weeks, they must not be driven nearly so +fast. Droving, however—that is to say, taking a mob of +cattle on a journey extending, perhaps, over three or four +months—is a science of itself, and is a very different thing +from merely driving a mob home from the camp to the +yards.</p> + +<p>Some of the bullocks had come a long distance to camp +in the morning; so we took them home very slowly, and +it was dark before we got within two miles of the station. +In a little while, however, the moon got up; not the sickly, +dissipated-looking object that makes night hideous in +northern latitudes, but a good, useful, healthy sort of moon +that rose suddenly in a circle of ruddy gold, and threw a +powerful light over the whole country.</p> + +<p>We looked a very weird sort of procession, as we +wound along through the thick, long grass. The huge +gums rose up on all sides, giants of the forest, their +towering tops meeting high overhead, and their stems, +white and ghostly, throwing deep, clear shadows across the +brilliant moonlight. Ahead of the cattle, to prevent them +from going too fast, rode one of the black boys, perched +on an old white horse, and looking as utterly disreputable +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</span>as only a black boy can. Behind the mob rode the rest +of the men, wild-looking objects begrimed with dust and +sweat, their arms bare to the elbow, and each with the +battered remains of a broad-brimmed felt hat jammed +on the back of his head. Every now and then one of +them would drop behind for a hundred yards, and the +ruddy light that shortly afterwards illuminated the end +of his nose proclaimed him to have stopped to light his +pipe, which he dare not do in the vicinity of the cattle. +No one spoke. The men rode silently behind the mob, +checking instantly the slightest evidence of a wish to +break on the part of any of the cattle. They were getting +very nervous, and disinclined to go on, as they drew near +the yard, and any mistake on the part of the men would +have been disastrous. The yard stood on a slight rise +about a quarter of a mile from the station, and on the side +from which we were approaching them the fences of two +paddocks ran out from the gates like wings.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, as the cattle were going up the rise to the +yard, three or four ducks got up with a loud clatter out +of a small water-hole in one of the paddocks. With a +sudden rush the bullocks turned and dashed down the +hill, breaking through the line of horsemen, and tearing +off into the Bush as if all the fiends were after them. +Fortunately the country below the yard was a pretty +level plain; but the timber was thick, and the grass three +feet long, and full of fallen trees. To ride full gallop by +moonlight over such country seems little short of madness; +but his neck is the last thing that a stockman ever thinks +of, and away we all went after them, as hard as ever our +horses could go. A “new chum” on occasions like this +is never of the slightest use, and generally very much in +the way; but this time I was saved from doing any +mischief by my horse going head over heels into the head +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</span>of a dead tree in the long grass, before I had gone +300 yards, and sending me flying. Luckily I was able +to catch him before he got clear of the fallen timber. +We were neither of us hurt, and in the distance I could +hear the men shouting at the cattle, so I cleared out of the +way as quickly as I could, to let them come up to the yard +again. Fortunately the cattle kept together pretty well, +and the men were able to round them up on the flat, about +half a mile away, and brought them back to the yard with +the loss of only three, which got clear away over the creek, +where it was useless to follow them. This time they went +into the yard without any trouble, and with a sigh of relief +we secured the gates, and went down to the station and +turned our horses out. Having forgotten to take out with +me anything to eat, I was beginning to get hungry, as it +was now about nine o’clock, and I had breakfasted at five +in the morning.</p> + +<p>During the next few days we were out again every day, +and collected about a hundred fats; and some men belonging +to the cattle-dealer having come up in the meantime, +he started off on the road to Cooktown, over 500 miles +away to the north. We heard afterwards that he got the +bullocks up all right, and made a big profit on them.</p> + +<p>In Australia large mobs of mixed cattle are continually +being moved about from one station to another, or to stock +outlying country, and fat cattle are often obliged to travel +an enormous distance to market. For the Barcoo, and +central districts of Queensland and South Australia, the +best markets are Melbourne and Adelaide, each of them +distant about 1000 miles. Droving, in consequence, becomes +a regular profession, and there are numbers of men +who make a living, and a very good one too, by nothing +else but taking charge of cattle that are travelling from +one place to another. To take a mob of a thousand fat +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</span>bullocks over a thousand miles of all sorts of country, and +bring them into market in prime condition, is a business +involving a great deal of responsibility and care, for, although +cattle are generally travelled at the owner’s risks, +of course the drover’s reputation depends upon the order +in which his cattle reach the end of the journey. A good +drover is always in requisition, and the wages of the head +man in charge of a mob are generally about £4 a week. +It is a dog’s life, too, a drover’s. From daylight to dark +he is on horseback, exposed to all kinds of weather, crawling +along behind his cattle at the slowest possible rate that is +consistent with moving at all. If he averages between +four and five miles a day, on a long journey, it is quite as +fast as his cattle ought to travel. Every day the man in +charge rides on ahead of the mob, to pick a place for them +to camp at night. Water, of course, is a <i>sine qua non</i>, and +he must have reliable information as to the state of road +for a hundred miles ahead of him, or he will get his cattle +in a terrible fix. Every night the cattle have to be rounded +up, and watched on the camp the whole night long. A +drover never gets more than four hours’ sleep at a stretch, +and he is lucky if he can get that for the first month his +cattle are on the road.</p> + +<p>There is nothing better for a new arrival in the country, +who wishes to get colonial experience, than to be sent on +the road with a mob of cattle. He will get an insight into +the country and its ways, become acquainted with the +habits of cattle, get nothing but the plainest possible food, +and altogether he will have such a disgustingly bad time, +that he will afterwards accept any other sort of work with +cheerfulness.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp80" id="i_b068b" style="max-width: 24em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b068b.png" alt=""> + <figcaption> + GROUND PLAN OF A STOCK YARD. + </figcaption> +</figure> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VI"> + CHAPTER VI. + <br> + <span style="font-size: medium;">LIFE ON THE STATION</span> + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>Three times a year all the cattle on the run are mustered, +and passed through the drafting-yards, that the young +calves may be branded, and the older ones weaned.</p> + +<p>The cattle belonging to each camp are brought in +separately, drafted and turned out again to make room +for the next lot, as the yards will only hold about a +thousand head comfortably at a time. Mustering is pretty +hard work, for, when once you start, you have to stick at +it from daylight to dark, Sundays very often included, +until it is finished. A general muster at Mount Spencer +used to take us a month, and a fortnight after to “clean +up.” One or two hands from the neighbouring stations +used generally to come up and help, and look after their +own cattle, a good number of which were pretty certain to +pass through the yards.</p> + +<p>Drafting cattle in the yards is very good fun, especially +if they are at all rowdy, but it is work that requires a +good deal of nerve to start with, and long practice before +a man becomes a good hand at it. The yards are very +strong enclosures of posts and rails, the posts from a foot +to sixteen inches thick, set in eight feet apart, and the rails +not less than four inches thick and ten inches wide, the +top rail being about six feet from the ground. For the +purpose of drafting the various classes of cattle, the yards +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</span>are subdivided according to the accompanying plan. The +whole mob are first of all run into one of the big “receiving +yards,” an enclosure about seventy yards long and forty +yards broad. The gate leading into “the lane” is then +thrown open, and five or six men, each armed with a +sapling about six feet long, and a couple of inches thick, +go into the receiving yard, and jam the cattle up into the +corner against the gate of “the lane,” until seventy or +eighty have gone through, when the gate is shut. This is +called “yarding up,” and is about the most dangerous part +of the work; for if a beast charges a man in the middle of +a big yard, he has a very poor chance of getting out of its +way. An old hand knows in a moment, from the look of +a beast that charges him, whether it is safe for him to +stand his ground and turn it with a blow on the nose from +his stick, or whether he ought to clear out for the rails. +But the instant the cattle begin to move in the yard, the +dust becomes something awful. It rises in dense clouds, +sometimes entirely hiding the cattle from view, getting +into one’s eyes, nose, and mouth, and mixing with the +sweat into a thick black paste, which makes white men +and niggers all pretty much the same colour for the time +being. I have often seen the dust so bad that we have +had to knock off for half an hour to let it settle, as it was +perfectly impossible to see to work the cattle. Under +cover of the dust it is often hard to see a beast charging, +until it is too late to attempt to get out of the way, and +then the best thing to do is to lie flat down in front of it, +and in nine cases out of ten it will jump over you and +pass on, unless it is a cow, when most likely it will stop, +turn round, and horn you as you lie on the ground. When +a beast comes tearing out of the mob in an awful hurry, +its head down, its tail in the air, and its eye rolling, it is +quite safe to stand still. It will pass you with a frightful +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</span>snort, that gives a new chum rather a queer sensation under +the ribs, but hardly makes an old hand smile. But when +it comes out rather slowly, with its head in the air, its +brisket shaking, and its eye fixed straight upon you, it is +time to clear out. The animal means business, and, be it +a cow or a bullock, you might as well hope to stop the +charge of an express train. It will hunt you for your life, +and if you are not up the rails before it can catch you, it +will have its horns into you as sure as fate.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp80" id="i_b070b" style="max-width: 40em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b070b.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + THE BRANDING BAIL. + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>A man running for his life, pursued by an infuriated +animal with horns two feet long and as sharp as needles, +does not at first sight seem to be a particularly mirthful +spectacle. Familiarity, however, breeds contempt, and a +charge in the yard is always greeted with shouts of laughter +from the lookers-on, especially if the man who is hunted +has a narrow escape. Provided he is not actually hurt, +the nearer he is to being horned the funnier everyone +thinks it, including the individual himself, who is always +ready to join in the laugh the instant that he has got up +the rails out of harm’s way. Occasionally the best and +most experienced hands get caught, and very few men +have worked for any length of time amongst Bush cattle +without getting a horn into them once or twice. The +wound from a beast’s horn is always a nasty one, and very +bad to heal, and I have known several cases where it has +ended fatally.</p> + +<p>The “lane” leads into a small square enclosure called +“the pound,” from which gates open into five different +yards. Behind each gate a man stands, ready to open it +when a beast intended for his special yard comes into the +pound. Two men work the cattle in the lane, running +them into the pound according to their respective classes, +calling out “stranger,” “weaner,” or “calf,” as the case +may be. The proper gate is open ready for it, before it +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</span>gets into the pound, and a man stands ready to hurry it +through, so that no time is lost.</p> + +<p>In drafting cattle, everything of course depends upon +the men working in the lane, and there are very few +prettier sights than to see a good hand amongst cattle that +are inclined to be rowdy. The least nervousness or flurry +on the part of the man communicates itself in a marvellous +way to the cattle, and makes them perfectly unmanageable; +while, on the other hand, a man who keeps quite cool and +collected has an extraordinary influence over the animals +which he is working.</p> + +<p>One of our stockmen, Billy Burgess, was reckoned to +be about the best hand in the yards in the north of +Queensland, and, certainly, the whole time I was in the +country, I never saw anyone who could hold a candle to +him. No one ever saw him in a hurry, but he would +draft more cattle in an hour than most men would in two. +While other men were shouting, and swearing, and running +for their lives, he would stand perfectly still, watching the +cattle with an amused smile on his face, and seeming to +know by instinct exactly how far he could trust them. To +an outsider, the power he possessed over cattle seemed +little short of mesmerism; but in reality it was only the +result of years of experience and work amongst them, +combined with an excellent temper and iron nerves.</p> + +<p>In or out of the yards he knew every beast on the run +by sight, and was never at a loss for a moment when he +was drafting. A furious charge from an animal that would +send most men flying up the rails, seldom elicited more +than a gentle remonstrance of, “Steady, old man! where +are you coming to now?” from Billy, and perhaps a tap +on the nose from his stick if its horns went rather nearer +to him than he considered good manners. But if a beast +meant mischief, no one knew it sooner, and he took care to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</span>put himself out of harm’s way. If the animal was more +than usually vicious he would wait his opportunity, and +give it a blow just behind the horns with infinite precision, +which would bring it blundering on to its knees, and, +without killing it, leave it sick and stupid for the rest of +the day.</p> + +<p>It does not require at all a heavy blow to stun a beast, +if laid on in the right place, just on the “pith” of the +neck, behind the horns. I have seen a full-grown bullock +drop in its tracks, as dead as a herring, from a blow with +a stick no thicker than a man’s finger.</p> + +<p>The rowdiest cattle, as a rule, are bullocks, and the +quietest of all, in or out of the yards, are bulls; but a cow, +if she is rowdy, is the worst of all. It is a curious thing, +however, that the quietest of bullocks will become absolutely +infuriated, and charge anything and everything he can see, +if he is shut up alone in a yard for a little while. A bullock +bred and raised in the Bush, though he may be as fat +as a pig, is a very different animal to the sleepy creatures +that one meets on their way to an English market, driven +by a couple of small boys and a dog. He is as quick on his +legs as a rabbit, and for a few furlongs it takes a good +horse to get away from him, and, moreover, as a rule, he +can jump like a deer.</p> + +<p>One day my brother was drafting in “the lane,” and I +was working “the pound.” I had just turned a beast back +into the lane, and was going back through the gate, when +my brother sang out, “Stranger! clear out, or he’ll have +you!” Looking round, I saw a great hard-skinned white +bullock belonging to the next station, with horns about a +yard long, just behind me. He was charging up the lane +full gallop, and as I sprang through the gateway and +turned aside, he made a sweep at me which just grazed my +ribs, but, fortunately, did no damage beyond tearing my +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</span>shirt. Without the least hesitation, the brute went straight +at the opposite fence of the pound, six feet high, and got +over without a fall, though he hit the top rail hard with +every leg he had. The performance was the more astonishing +as he had not a very long run, and what there was +of it up the lane was slightly uphill. We ran him round +again, and into the lane, as he had jumped into the wrong +yard. The next time he came up we all let him alone to +see what he would do. He came full tilt up the lane as +usual, looking for someone to kill, and when he got into +the pound, he turned sharp to the right, pulled himself +together, and going straight for the gate at the far end of +the pound, five feet six high, he cleared it without a mistake. +After this performance we concluded to leave him +alone until we had finished drafting.</p> + +<p>In some yards it is the fashion to leave a big post, or +the stump of a tree about four feet high, in the middle of +the big yard, so as to afford a shelter for anyone who is +charged and has no time to get to the rails at the side. +We had nothing of the kind at Mount Spencer; but I +remember a most ludicrous scene at Gracemere, a station +near Rockhampton, where there was one of these harbours +of refuge in the middle of the yard. Seven or eight men +were yarding up a mob of cattle, when suddenly an old +cow came out and charged in a most business-like manner. +Five men all ran for their lives for the post. The first +who got there, of course, was all right; but there was only +room for one, so the next man had to hang on to the belt +of the man in front, and so on, till the whole five were +extended in a row. The cow charged, and, of course, no +one could tell which side of the post she would pass, so it +was not until she was within a few feet that the human +tail swung round out of her way, a yell of terror escaping +from the last two men, as the brute’s horns passed within +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</span>an inch of them. Quick as lightning the cow turned and +charged again, and again the end of the tail had a narrow +escape. Four times the cow charged, four times the tail +swept round, their howls of anguish mingling with shouts +of laughter from the men on the rails who were looking +on. Anything more ridiculous than the whole scene cannot +possibly be imagined. The last man at the end was +very fat, and very nervous, and had no business in a yard +at all. He was evidently getting weak with terror and +exhaustion, so a diversion was made by those on the rails, +and, the cow having been induced to charge someone else, +the men in the middle of the yard were enabled to leave +their post and make for the rails.</p> + +<p>When the cattle are run through the yards in a general +muster, all the calves that are old enough to wean are +picked out. They are then “tailed,” as it is called, for +several weeks; that is to say, they are let out in a mob in +the daytime to feed, and carefully watched by one or two +hands, to see that none get away, and that no strange cattle +mix with them, and shut up in a small paddock every +night. Of course, the object of everyone in working a +cattle-station is to get all the cattle as quiet as possible, +and nothing has such an excellent effect in quieting a whole +herd as tailing the weaners when they are young. But of +all occupations that fall to the Bushman’s lot, it is probably +the most irksome.</p> + +<p>Shepherding sheep is bad enough, and the asylums are +three parts full of idiot shepherds, whose reason has succumbed +to the dreariness of their lives; but for a short +time it is infinitely preferable to tailing a mob of weaners. +A man who is looking after sheep can, at all events, enjoy +long intervals of perfect repose, during which, if he likes, +he can lie on his back and read a book. But a mob of +weaners will never give him an instant’s peace. Without +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</span>being at all interesting, their habits are extremely irritating. +They never know exactly where they want to go, or what +they want to do, but the one thing they will not do is to +keep still and feed sensibly. Out of a thousand weaners +you may possibly induce nine hundred and ninety-nine to +lie down round a water-hole for an hour in the middle of +the day. But the remaining one is certain to keep on the +move the whole time, walking off into the Bush, first one +way and then another, so that you never have a spell. If +you get off your horse for a drink, the whole mob will +probably pretend they never saw a man on foot before in +their lives, and make a wild stampede. Fortunately, it is +an occupation that does not last long; for a continuance +of it at the best of times would drive the most sane man +out of his mind, and in wet, cold weather it is simply +deadly. However, it is very necessary and very useful +work, though everyone shirks it who can, and a “new +chum,” if one can be found, is invariably selected for the +duty.</p> + +<p>A great many young men who go out to the colony with +the view of following stock-growing as a profession, make a +grave error in not making themselves fully acquainted with +all the details connected with the working of a station. +Of course, before starting on their own account to work a +station, they go into the Bush to gain colonial experience, +during which process they are known in the colony as +“Jackaroos.” Especially on a cattle-station, the Jackaroo +very soon discovers that a great deal of the work is very +pleasant. He goes into the yard every morning and catches +his horse, rides round the run with the stockman, camps +out when required, and lends a hand to draft and brand at +the general muster, and generally has a very good time. +The consequence is, at the end of a couple of years he +knows very little more about the management of a cattle-station +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</span>than he did when he started, and probably labours +under the additional disadvantage of imagining that he +knows a great deal.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp80" id="i_b076b" style="max-width: 40em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b076b.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + A BUSHMAN’S CAMP. + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>The efficiency of the manager of a cattle-station depends +largely upon his being a good judge of other men’s work; +and it is impossible for him to be this, unless he has actually +performed the work himself. It is not enough to sit on a +rail and watch another man breaking in a horse or a milking-cow. +However good a hand he may be, you will learn +much more by helping him than by watching him. One of +the largest items of expenditure on every station is always +fencing, and the manager should be thoroughly able to form +an estimate of how much it ought to cost. It is nearly +always done by contract, and, of course, the price at which +a contractor will put up fencing varies enormously according +to the nature of the country. An old hand riding through +the forest with a tomahawk, and cutting a chip out of a +tree here and there to try if it will work freely, can tell to +a nicety at what price it will pay him to split posts and +rails and any other class of timber that may be required. +But this experience is only gained by practical work, by +felling trees and splitting them up with a maul and wedges +oneself. The manager of a station ought always to be a +thorough judge of timber-getting in all its branches, for it +is a part of his yearly expenditure where experience and +judgment will enable him to save largely. It is pretty +hard work to pull a cross-cut saw and swing a heavy maul +all day, with a vertical sun and the thermometer up to +110° in the shade, and it requires a good constitution to +stand it. But if a man is thoroughly sound, the harder he +works in Australia the better health he will have, and it is +odd if he does not look back to the time when he was +splitting rails for ten hours a day as one of the happiest in +his life. It is not a very intellectual employment, certainly. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</span>Still, it must be an unfortunate nature to which perfect +health does not bring the keenest pleasure, in a climate like +that of Australia.</p> + +<p>It is pleasant to set out to work in the morning, after +eight hours of such sleep as none but men who work hard +ever enjoy. The sun is just rising, and there is not a +breath of wind, but the air feels as cool and fresh as iced +champagne. The tools have been “planted” under a sheet +of bark by the big tree which you felled overnight; so you +have nothing to carry but a pipe, and as the blue smoke +curls round your lips, mingled with the fragrant scent of +the gum-trees and blood-wood flowers, you decide that +certainly the first pipe after breakfast is the most thoroughly +enjoyable of any. By the time that you have got to your +work you are wet through up to the knees, and it is just +cold enough to make you very glad to roll up your sleeves +and start in with a will to work yourself dry. This does +not take long, and as the sun rises and makes himself felt, +it does not take long to work yourself damp again. If you +are wise you will not drink much in the morning, for if +you once start you will be thirsty all day. With a cheery +mate, and an occasional spell of five minutes for a smoke, +the morning does not seem very long, and the sun fair +overhead, combined with certain internal sensations, warns +you that it is time to knock off and boil the “billy” for +dinner. Every meal in the Bush is, if possible, accompanied +by a brew of tea; and, though it may seem strange, when +you have worked yourself up to boiling point under a +grilling sun, there is nothing in the world so refreshing as +a pannikin of very hot tea, not too strong, with not too +much sugar and without any milk. Refreshed with a +square meal of salt beef and damper, which is of all forms +of bread the sweetest and most easily digested if it is +properly made, you start in again, with a firm determination +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</span>to raise a good “tally” by the end of the day. As the +sun gets low, a hundred sound rails, nine feet long, bear +witness that your day’s work has been an honest one. A +pleasant feeling of languor, which cannot be called fatigue, +makes you very glad to get home, and a wash in the creek +brings a sensation of perfect strength and soundness into +every fibre and muscle of your body, unknown to those who +have not worked hard in the healthiest climate in the +world. Supper ended, you pitch a fresh log on the fire to +make a blaze, and, stretching your limbs full length on a +’possum-rug, prepare to devour the last number of the +<i>Australasian</i>, a paper which, for general interest and +information, was never surpassed. A fresh pipe lighted +with a fire-stick, just as the stars are coming out, makes +you forget the sweetness of the morning air; and for the +hundredth time you tell yourself that tobacco never tastes +so nice as in the cool of the evening, after a real sound +day’s work splitting rails.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VII"> + CHAPTER VII. + <br> + <span style="font-size: medium;">PLAGUES AND PLEASURES OF THE BUSH</span> + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>Emus are still plentiful in the downs country, and occasionally +we used to come across a straggler that had wandered +on to the timbered country of our run. Quite a young one +appeared once, in a little open plain on the opposite side of +the lagoon from the house. With the help of several +blacks, after a tremendous chase, we ran it down, and +brought it home intending to tame it.</p> + +<p>It was only about two feet high, and could not have +been more than six weeks old; but the way it ran before +we caught it made us think it must be tired, so we shut it +up in a stable about twenty feet square. The instant that +we put it down it began to run round and round the stable +as hard as it could go. My brother suggested that this +might be nervousness, and that perhaps it did not like +strangers looking at it. So we left it for an hour quite +alone. When we came back it was running round harder +than ever, with its mouth open and its wings hanging +down. Frank declared that young emus always acted like +that when they were having a good time, but its appearance +was anything but joyful. Three hours after it was still +running round, and it never stopped till it fell down dead +four hours and a half after we first shut it up, during +which time I am certain it must have travelled over +forty miles.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</span></p> + +<p>The speed and the endurance possessed by a full-grown +emu are perfectly incredible to anyone who has not tried +the experiment of running one down. The only way is to +make a dash at them, and try and come up with them in +the first spurt, for if they once get their second wind, very +few horses will ever catch them. They straggle along in +the most ungainly fashion, looking all the time as if they +were dead-beat, and were going to drop with exhaustion, +but the way in which they get over the ground is quite +astonishing. I once rode a very good horse five miles on +end across the downs after an emu as hard as we could go, +but no efforts could diminish the distance between us. +The bird kept about ten yards in front of me the whole +way, and finally escaped into a patch of scrub. Their +bones contain the celebrated oil very much in favour +among the blacks for curing swollen joints and sprained +sinews. None but full-grown men, whose frames are +thoroughly set, ever use it, for they declare that it has +the effect of softening anyone’s bones who has not arrived +at maturity. The penetrating qualities of the oil are +certainly very remarkable, for if it is placed in a glass +bottle a portion of it will always sweat through the glass +and escape.</p> + +<p>The birds themselves are easily tamed if they are caught +quite young. In their wild state they are mischievous +where there is much fencing about, as they seem to take +a delight in breaking down the wires.</p> + +<p>Many people, whose ideas of Australia are chiefly +gathered from representations of the traditional Bush-ranger +in the illustrated periodicals, imagine that the inhabitants +of the country are invariably arrayed in enormous long +boots half way up their thighs, to protect them from the +attacks of snakes and other deadly reptiles. There never +was a greater delusion. The whole time that I was in the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</span>Bush I never in my life saw a man with long boots on, +unless he was a very recent arrival in the country. The +fact is that long boots in a country where you have often +to camp out are the greatest mistake. In cold weather you +cannot pull them off, and in wet weather if you pull them +off you can never get them on again. As for taking the +slightest precaution to guard against being bitten by a +snake, I never knew anyone who did it after the first week +in the Bush. It is impossible to live in a state of chronic +apprehension. The feeling is bound to wear off, and, after +riding about the Bush for some time, the most nervous man +discovers that snakes, as a rule, are quite as anxious to +avoid a <i>rencontre</i> as he is himself, and very soon he ceases +to trouble his head about them until he happens to see one.</p> + +<p>In some localities, as, for instance, the canefields of +Mackay, or the reedbeds on the Murray River, snakes are +so plentiful that it is necessary to be extremely cautious. +But generally, all over the Bush, especially in Queensland, +it is curious how seldom one stumbles upon one. In +Queensland there are five deadly kinds, the black snake, +the brown snake, the tiger snake, the diamond snake, and +the death-adder. Of these the black and the brown are the +commonest; the latter sometimes reaching a length of +eight or nine feet. The bite of any of these varieties is +sufficient to cause death within a few hours, unless the +proper remedies are applied at once, but by far the worst is +the death-adder. It has this peculiarity, that, unlike all +other snakes, it does not attempt to move out of anyone’s +way, but lies quite still until it is touched, when it fastens +with a spring upon its victim. Its bite is by far the most +deadly of all Australian snakes, and, with the exception of +Underwood’s celebrated performance, I never knew a well-authenticated +instance of recovery from it.</p> + +<p>Deaths from snake-bite are not uncommon, especially +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</span>among the Kanakas who work in the canefields. The +best known remedies are injection of ammonia, and large +quantities of brandy taken internally.</p> + +<p>Undoubtedly the man Underwood, above alluded to, +was the possessor of a perfectly efficacious antidote to +the bite of any Australian snake. He gave a series of +performances, in which he used to allow the most deadly +snakes to bite him, afterwards applying some remedy, the +nature of which was known only to himself. There can be +no sort of doubt that the reptiles which he employed were +perfectly healthy, and in full possession of their poisonous +faculties.</p> + +<p>The second bite of any snake is always less poisonous +than the first, as some time is required to secrete a full +supply of the venom which has been partially exhausted in +the first bite. But dogs and rabbits which were bitten +immediately after Underwood by the same snakes died +very shortly, which conclusively proves the genuine nature +of his experiments. Indeed, the most convincing proof of +all was the death of the unfortunate man himself. Having +one day allowed a snake to bite him, while he was himself +under the influence of liquor, he forgot where to find his +own antidote, and died from the effects of the bite. He +demanded £10,000 from the Victorian Government as the +price of his discovery, which they refused to pay, so his +secret perished with him.</p> + +<p>Almost as deadly in its effects as any snake, and far +more dangerous in its habits, is a small black spider, about +the size of a large pea, with a brilliant crimson mark on its +back. It lives mostly in old timber, but frequently it takes +up its abode in an inhabited house, and, far from having +any fear of man, it does not wait to be provoked before +attacking him. Its bite, unlike that of a snake, causes the +most intense agony, and the after effects are very bad. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</span>Death is by no means an uncommon result, but more +frequently the victim becomes hopelessly insane, or paralysed. +I killed several of them at odd times in my room, +and once, while on the diggings, I was unfortunate enough +to get a bite from one. I was camped in front of the fire, +and, just as it got light, I sat up and kicked the blanket off. +As I did so I felt a sharp pain in the calf of my leg, and +looking down I saw one of these little black devils on it. +I killed it instantly, and reaching out my hand for a knife, I +took up the piece of my leg where the bite was, between the +finger and thumb of my left hand, and cut it clean out. I +had always some ammonia with me, and I rubbed a quantity +of that in. Certainly not more than ten seconds elapsed +between the time I was bitten and when I cut the piece +out. But my leg got very bad. The pain for days afterwards +was intense, and after that, the whole leg swelled +and became soft like dough. The place itself turned into a +running sore, about an inch deep, which did not heal for +four months afterwards. Centipedes and scorpions are +common enough, and the bite of either of them is painful, +but not dangerous to anyone who is in a good state of +health.</p> + +<p>The real pests of the Bush are flies. Mosquitoes and +sandflies are bad enough, but after a time one gets used to +them, and, after all, they do not come out much except at +night, and are very local annoyances, some places being +almost entirely free from them. But I defy the most philosophical +of men to get used to flies. On the coast they are +only troublesome for a few months in the year, during the +autumn. But in the interior they are always bad, and really +sometimes they make life almost intolerable. In the western +country no one ever rides about in fly-time without wearing a +veil. As I write now I can almost fancy I am in the middle +of them again. One falls into the ink, crawls out again nearly +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</span>drowned, tumbles with a flop on to the paper on which I +am writing, and, rolling over on to its back, whirls round and +round in a death-flurry, leaving an archipelago of ink-blots +on the paper. A savage dip of the pen into the inkpot, +the result of suppressed irritation, harpoons the corpse of +another one, and discloses the interesting fact that the +bottom of the inkpot is full of dead flies that have fallen +in and never got out again. Four in each eye, three inside +my shirt, two in each nostril, one glued firmly to my under +lip, entirely unmoved by the language that is flying past it, +thousands on my hands and arms, and several crawling pensively +over the most sensitive portion of my ear,—oh! what +on earth do they want? I would give them anything to eat +or drink if they seemed to want it, but they do not. They +simply come for the fun of crawling about, like people go to +look at the wicket at a cricket-match between the innings, +from conceited curiosity. Far from being a plague to which +one grows accustomed, the annoyance of flies is one which +gets worse and worse the longer that one has to endure it. +It is a kind of cumulative irritant, which has the effect of +making a man feel more entirely wicked than anything else +in the world. Millions of flies are bad enough, but I am +not at all sure that one fly which you cannot kill is not worse. +The combined attack of a large number produces a sensation +of general discomfort and irritation which is very hard to +bear, but the deeper feelings of one’s nature remain untouched. +It is reserved for the solitary and persevering fly +to call forth the wildest passion and the bitterest personal +animosity of which the human breast is capable. There is +no mistake about which fly it was that crawled up your +nose and caused you to let fall your favourite pipe in a +spasm of facial agony, and break it to pieces on the floor. +There is only one. There is not another near you for miles. +He is always bad at any time, but pray earnestly that the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</span>Solitary Fly may never attack you after dark, just when +you have lit the lamp and are preparing for a quiet read +and a smoke. If he does he will break everything in the +room; at least, he will make you, which comes to the same +thing. Having smashed your pipe, an injury which he +knows you will resent deeply, he settles in a conspicuous +position on the edge of the mantelpiece, not on the clock, +but near it, and remains perfectly still. As you sit down +again with a fresh pipe, the idea is certain to suggest itself +that, now he is so quiet, it is a splendid opportunity to finish +him. There is sure to be a towel, or a coat, or something +handy, left there by your evil genius to lure you on to +ruin. Seizing the towel, and laying your pipe carefully +down for fear of accidents, you rise cautiously up, keeping +an eye on the fly all the time. If absolute immobility +means anything, he does not see you coming. His indifference +is, if anything, just a little overdone. You do not +notice it at the time, in your excitement, but afterwards it +occurs to you that no fly ever sat as still as that, except +with some diabolical purpose.</p> + +<p>Fury nerves your arm, and the towel descends upon the +mantelpiece with a violence that throws a transient uncertainty +over the fate of the fly, but leaves no sort of doubt +about the clock, which is hurled into the fireplace, and lies +there a hopeless wreck. The towel was longer than you +thought it was, that is all, and two china ornaments, after +rocking doubtfully backwards and forwards once or twice, +roll suddenly over the edge, and commit suicide by the +remains of the clock. The ruin is so complete that you +are encouraged to hope that your enemy has perished in +the midst of it. Once more you sit down, and the few +minutes of peace that succeed would be heaven, if it were +not for the uncertainty that still surrounds the fate of the +fly. Just as you are beginning to allow yourself to hope +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</span>that your troubles are over, small cold damp feet planted +on the back of your neck remind you that your adversary +is not only not dead, but inclined to be quite as brutally +annoying as ever. You had better give in. He will settle +on the lamp next, and you will certainly smash it to pieces +in trying to kill him; so you may just as well put it out at +once, and go to bed.</p> + +<p>About the end of July, on the coast, Bush-fires begin, +and go on all August and September. The grass grows very +rank and long in many places, and is much improved by +being burnt off every year. It is a great object to get the +whole of one’s run burnt every year, but it is also very +important to avoid getting the whole of it swept at the +same time. In order to guard against this, the parts of it +that will burn first are set fire to as soon as they are ready. +Directly the first shower falls these parts are immediately +covered with beautiful young grass, “burnt feed” as it is +called, which grows with wonderful rapidity. When the +whole country is burning in patches for miles round, +it is a very pretty sight to see the fire at night creeping up +the sides of the mountains, the whole outline of a range +sometimes being marked by a long line of fire against the +steel blue of the sky. A considerable rise in the normal +temperature, of course, takes place in a district where large +Bush-fires are burning, and the atmosphere for weeks at a +time is hazy with smoke. But to anyone who has seen a +Bush-fire, at any rate in Queensland, the wild stories of men +on horseback, and herds of wild animals, flying for their lives +before the advancing flames, become the merest fables.</p> + +<p>I never saw a Bush-fire, even when backed up by a strong +wind, that one could not walk away from, with the greatest +ease; and even when the grass was three or four feet long, I +never saw one that one could not, with equal ease, walk straight +through on to the blackened country beyond. In Victoria +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</span>and New South Wales the danger of a Bush-fire is much +increased by the fact that the tops of the trees burn as well +as the grass, and the flames are carried away from one to +the other with considerable rapidity, if there is a high wind +blowing at the time. But unless deprived of his senses by +terror, no one but the most stupid man could contrive to be +killed by a Bush-fire.</p> + +<p>In the dry weather, as the small lagoons and water-holes +scattered all over the country get low and dried up, large +numbers of every kind of wild ducks congregate on the big +lagoon in front of Mount Spencer station. In the evenings +we used to have some very good flight-shooting, one of us +standing on each side of the lagoon, at a point in the middle +where it narrowed down to a neck only about a hundred +yards wide, opening out again beyond into a second large +lagoon, or rather a swamp, between which and the main +water the ducks used to fly backwards and forwards just +about sundown. But by far the best duck-shooting, and +indeed the best shooting of any kind that I ever saw in +Australia, was down on the Pioneer River, which literally +swarmed with ducks from October to January.</p> + +<p>One day, towards the end of November, eight of us set +off, with a gun apiece, and several niggers to drive, a spring-cart +keeping in our tracks to bring along the ducks which +we bagged. There are about ten duck-drives on the river, +each from a mile to a mile and a half in length, and it takes +two days to work it all properly.</p> + +<p>Arrived at the first station, we hung our horses up some +distance from the bank, and stationed ourselves in a line +across the bed of the river, which just there was full of +rocky islands covered with bushes. On each side the banks +rose up to a great height, so that there was no fear of any +ducks that the niggers might put up leaving the river. They +all came in twos and threes, and small mobs, beautiful +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</span>“rocketers” right over our heads, as pretty shooting as one +would wish to see. I know nothing pleasanter, on a broiling +hot day, than to stand up to one’s knees in the cool clear +running water, or sit down on a shady rock, with a pipe of +nigger-head in full swing, knocking over the ducks as they +come overhead. Let those who like extol the pleasure of +walking up your game. For myself, I infinitely prefer the +delights of driving, which combines the joy of anticipation, +the additional satisfaction of shooting a bird that is flying +as fast as it can instead of flapping, and the inestimable advantage +of sitting perfectly still oneself. There is no lack +of variety in the shooting on the Pioneer, and the bag at +the end of the day is certain to contain at least five different +kinds of ducks.</p> + +<p>How many ducks eight good shots would bag in the +two days it is very difficult to say. My brother was not +with us on this occasion, and I can confidently declare +that I never saw seven worse shots. My own was by +no means a satisfactory performance, and I do not think +I got more shots than anyone else, but out of 117 +ducks, which we killed in one day, I myself shot sixty-three, +and ought to have shot a great many more. Of +course, numbers are lost. In the middle of a drive one +cannot stop to pick them up; and besides the winged ones +which escape, many which fall into the stream are carried +out into the deep pools, where it is most unsafe to follow +them, on account of the numerous alligators which haunt +the river. These brutes breed on the banks, and I remember +once coming upon a nest that had just hatched. The +young ones had shuffled into the water for the first time, +and were paddling about in the most awkward way, some +on their sides and some on their backs, learning how to +swim. The old one was there, lying close to the bank, in +about three feet of perfectly clear water. She never attempted +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</span>to move until I got a long pole and jobbed her on +the back with it, when she crawled sulkily off into the +black depths of the pool.</p> + +<p>In crossing the Fitzroy River at Yaamba I once had a +narrow escape of being “scruffed” by an alligator. There +was a fresh in the river at the time, and the water was very +muddy and thick. The crossing was about a hundred yards +wide, and the water just up to the saddle-flaps. When I +got within about ten yards of the opposite bank, my horse +made a roll and a plunge forward, sending his head right +under water. I thought, of course, that he had stumbled +over a log; but a moment after the head of an enormous +alligator appeared close to my leg. His jaws were open, +and he made a snap which took effect on my horse’s belly, +the two upper teeth of the brute leaving two clean deep +cuts about four inches long. This had the effect of considerably +hastening my horse’s exit from the water, but it had +exactly the opposite effect on the animal that a man was +riding some twenty yards behind me. Evidently it had +caught sight of the alligator, for it remained rooted to the +spot, shaking and snorting with terror, and absolutely refusing +to move one way or the other. The apprehensions of +its rider were, if anything, even more acute, and his appearance +was a perfect study, as he knelt up on the highest +point of his saddle, tucking his feet under him, and trying to +make himself as small as possible. He had no whip, and +would have died sooner than put one of his feet down to use +his spurs; so he did nothing but shout and swear at his +horse, which had the effect of terrifying it more than ever. +Every moment I expected, and so did he, to see the alligator’s +head alongside of him; but, strange to say, though +it was at least five minutes before his horse would move, +it never appeared again until just as he was safe ashore.</p> + +<p>The Fitzroy is the most southern water in Australia in +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</span>which alligators are found, but from there up to Cape York +the rivers and creeks are full of them. Why they are called +alligators no one knows, for the formation of their jaws and +the shape of their head distinctly prove them to be crocodiles. +They have a great fancy for dogs in the way of food +when they can get them; but their diet extends over a +varied range, from a full-grown cow to a paving-stone. On +one of the plantations on the Pioneer an alligator was seen +to perform a feat which gives some idea of the enormous +strength which these brutes possess. The milking-cows +belonging to the plantation used to go down every morning +to the river to drink. The bank was rather steep, and the +water just there deepened very quickly. As one of the +cows was standing drinking, with her forelegs in the water, +an alligator came up and caught her by the nose, and, in +spite of the animal’s struggles, held firmly on, and succeeded +in dragging her down into the depths of the pool. The incline +of the bank was, of course, in the reptile’s favour, and +no doubt terror deprived the cow partly of her strength; +but, anyway, the pair of them disappeared, and the cow +never was seen again.</p> + +<p>With regard to the paving-stones, no one knows whether +they are taken in for ballast, or to assist digestion, or to fill +a vacuum caused by hunger; but it is a very common thing +to find half-a-dozen stones, each double the size of a man’s +fist, in the stomach of an alligator.</p> + +<p>Down at the end of the run, at a place called Blue +Mountain, about fourteen miles from Mount Spencer, there +were a quantity of wild pigs, and we had long been meditating +a pig-sticking excursion. No one had ever tried to +import this kind of sport into Australia before. There are +plenty of wild pigs in some parts; but the country in which +they are found is so rough, it looks almost like suicide to +ride after them. However, one has to ride after cattle in +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</span>just the same country; and there is no more reason why +one should break one’s neck riding after a pig than after a +bullock, seeing one goes just as fast as the other.</p> + +<p>My brother had written home to me that he thought +there was some healthy fun to be got out of the pigs on +Blue Mountain flats, so I brought out three of Thornhill’s +spears with me, and on my way through Singapore I collected +some bamboos for shafts. Armed with a spear +apiece, Rice and my brother and I set out one day, towards +the end of August, to try our luck. It was the wrong time +of year, as the grass was fearfully long; but we had been +so busy, and had to put it off so often, we would not wait +any more, and took the first spare time that we could get. +We camped over-night at the hut at Blue Mountain, a small +out-station with a horse-paddock and a yard, and early next +morning we sallied out on to the neighbouring flats to look +for the pigs.</p> + +<p>The country was heavily timbered, and the grass everywhere +from two to three feet long, and in some places four +or five. Any quantity of fallen trees and dead timber were +scattered about, but there were no stones, and the country +was pretty free from blind gullies, and, barring the long +grass, it was not a bad place for galloping. We had not to +look long for our game. Sneaking quietly across a small +creek, as we emerged on the opposite bank, we came right +upon a mob of eleven pigs, and amongst them two enormous +boars. The instant they saw us they tried to make for the +bank of the creek, but with a wild yell we charged at them, +and succeeded in cutting them off from the creek and turning +them back on to the flat. Away we went after them, +and, neglecting the small fry, my brother and I singled out +one of the boars, and Rice pursued the other. For about +half a mile the pace was excellent, and the fallen timber +made it very lively.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</span></p> + +<p>My brother and I were rapidly coming up with our pig, +when suddenly he disappeared into a gully. He was out +the other side and away again in a moment; but we had to +make a slight round to cross the gully, which gave him a +bit of a start again. The country was pretty open the +other side, so we could hit out like anything, and once +more we were close on to the boar, who was getting about +played out, when in crossing a patch of long grass my horse +went head over heels over a fallen tree, and sent me flying +over his head. Neither of us were hurt, but, of course, my +horse cleared out for home, with his tail in the air, as every +Australian horse does the instant it parts with its rider; so +I picked up my spear, and set off after my brother as hard +as I could to see the fun. A few hundred yards farther +on he came alongside the boar and speared him in the neck. +The brute turned sharp round and rushed between his +horse’s legs, almost upsetting it. My brother pulled up, +and the boar promptly charged again; whereupon his +horse, which had never been at close quarters with a pig +in its life, began to buck like mad. My brother hung on +like wax, the natural disinclination of anyone to be slung +from his horse being considerably enhanced in his case by +the infuriated animal waiting to get a chance at him on the +ground. But the blood was pouring in torrents from the +wound in its neck; and before I got up, it had lain down +to die. We finished it off, and then examined my brother’s +horse, to see if it was damaged. Fortunately it had escaped +with only a slight cut on the fetlock, which was lucky, as +the old boar’s tusks were over six inches long, and as sharp +as knives.</p> + +<p>A cooee from the ridges away to the right, about a +quarter of a mile off, informed us of the whereabouts of +Rice. We set off, and when we came up we found him +standing with a broken spear in his hand, examining the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</span>carcase of a still more enormous boar than the one which +my brother had killed. He had run him for about three +quarters of a mile, and in trying to spear him he had broken +his spear, leaving only about five feet of a shaft. A little +farther on the boar “bailed up,” on the top of a ridge, and +stood with his legs wide apart, and the foam dropping from +his huge tusks, and looking altogether such a discouraging +sight, that nothing would induce Rice’s horse to go anywhere +near him. Whereupon he coolly got off, and, grasping +the remains of his spear, walked straight at the boar, +without, as he said afterwards, the slightest notion of what +either he or the animal was going to do. Of course the +boar charged, and as the brute came at him, Rice slung the +spear at him with all his force, and with infinite precision. +It entered the animal’s chest, and he ran right on to it, +driving it into his heart, and falling dead on the spot. It +was a most miraculous escape for Rice; for if he had not +killed the boar, it is pretty certain the boar would have +killed him.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VIII"> + CHAPTER VIII. + <br> + <span style="font-size: medium;">WILD CATTLE</span> + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>On the whole, Australia is one of the worst countries for +sport that can be imagined. There is no big game of +any kind, except kangaroos; and after the novelty of a +kangaroo hunt has worn off, it is very poor fun. Since +the destruction of native dogs and eagle-hawks by the +squatters who stocked the country with sheep, the kangaroos +have not a single natural enemy left, and in some +districts of Queensland they have increased to such an +extent as to bring absolute ruin upon the runs which they +infest. An Act known as the Marsupial Act was accordingly +passed to encourage their destruction, a reward of +so much a scalp being offered by the Government. In +some places countless droves of them blacken the plains, +eating up every vestige of grass, and literally starving the +sheep off the country. Some of the squatters have gone +to a vast expense in fencing in their runs with marsupial +fencing, but it never pays.</p> + +<p>The usual method adopted for slaughtering them is to +build a yard with a very high fence in one of the “scrubs” +on the plains. From this yard two fences run out through +the “scrub,” widening out and extending like wings for a +long distance over the surrounding plain. A whole crowd +of men on horseback get together, with a mob of blacks to +assist them, and drive the country for miles around up +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</span>towards the wings of the fence. Once between the fences, +the wretched animals are doomed. They make straight +for the “scrub,” and never know where they are till they +find themselves inside the yard, with a mob of black devils +yelling behind them. The rails are then put up, and the +blacks go in and slaughter them with tomahawks and clubs. +Hundreds and hundreds of kangaroos are often secured at +a single “battue” of this kind; but when once a good herd +of them gets fairly started on a run, it is very difficult to +get rid of them, or even to keep them down. This, however, +is brutal work, though it is absolutely necessary it +should be done, and no one could possibly describe it as +sport. Even with good dogs and good horses, there is not +much fun to be got out of hunting kangaroos singly. It is +too much like coursing, which is of all bastard forms of +sport the most detestable; and though an “old-man” +kangaroo will generally show fight when he is bailed up, +there is very little difficulty in knocking him senseless with +a stick.</p> + +<p>Away up north an occasional raid after the wild Blacks +enlivens the monotony of life, and there are some men who +are brutal enough to enjoy hunting them down. But apart +from the chance of getting a spear through his ribs, or a +tomahawk in his skull, no one who has not lost every +vestige of decent feeling could possibly look upon this as +sport, or be induced to undertake it except in self-defence. +Of the few kinds of sport which Australia does afford, +undoubtedly the finest is hunting wild cattle. It is part +of the legitimate business of a stockman, and a very +necessary part too, for nothing is more injurious to a tame +herd than the presence of wild cattle on a run. It ought, +therefore, to be classed as work rather than sport; but +anyone who has once been at it will own that it is a form +of entertainment that is exceedingly bad to beat. Of course +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</span>there are no wild cattle indigenous to the country, but in +some places there are cattle that have been neglected, and +that have bred wild for generations, and they are to all +intents and purposes as wild, and twice as savage, as bisons. +There was one corner of Mount Spencer run, on the coast-fall +of the range, known as Black’s Creek, the creek itself +being one of the heads of the Pioneer River, and here the +former owner of the station had allowed a mob of wild +cattle to establish themselves. In reality it was the business +of the neighbouring run, below the range, to get rid of them. +The Black’s Creek country belonged half to Mount Spencer +and half to our neighbours, whose yards were very much +nearer to it than ours, and very much more accessible from +the part where the wild cattle were. But they neglected +their business, and, as the wild cattle were a great nuisance +to us, we had great sport for several years in hunting them +down.</p> + +<p>Black’s Creek was about as wild a piece of country as it +would be possible to find in Queensland. Its course lay +right among the mountains, which towered on both sides, +sending rocky spurs down in many places right up the +banks of the creek. The grass was frightfully long, for it +was not once in two years that we could get it to burn, and +in many places it was up to one’s elbows as one rode through +it. There were a few little open flats along the course of +the creek, but the rest of the country was very heavily +timbered, the banks of the creek and a good deal of the +country being covered with dense scrub, for which the +cattle made the instant they were disturbed. Once in the +scrubs, one never saw them again that day, and the only +chance was to corner them off, and hunt them out on to +the more open country.</p> + +<p>One day my brother and I settled we would make an +expedition down Black’s Creek, and hunt up some of the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</span>“clean-skins,” as the wild cattle are called, in allusion to +their never having been branded. We sent over to Haslewood +for Billy Burgess, who appeared armed with an +uncomfortable-looking sort of old musket, which he declared +was a most reliable weapon if it was only held straight. +My brother and I had a “Winchester” rifle each, and we +provided Frank with an “Express,” with which he was not +half a bad shot. Rolling up our weapons in our blankets, +which were strapped on to the saddle in front, we set off +one afternoon in October, taking a black boy and some +rations with us. The head of Black’s Creek was about +thirteen miles from the station; so we meant to camp out, +and start early the next morning to look for the cattle.</p> + +<p>There are various phases of camping-out in the Bush, +some of them very pleasant, and some of them very much +the reverse. On a warm dry summer night, with plenty of +food and tobacco, and one or two good mates, there are few +things more thoroughly enjoyable than to turn your horses +out, light a fire and boil a “billy” of tea, and, after supper, +to sit round smoking and yarning till it is time to roll +yourself up in a blanket and sleep like a top under a tree. +Occasionally, however, there are times when the camper-out +does not have by any means a good time, and anyone who +has knocked about the Bush for some time is sure to have +spent more than one night of which the dismal recollection +will not easily be wiped out of his mind. When the rain +is falling in torrents, and a cold winter’s night overtakes +the solitary wanderer who has lost his way and knocked +up his horse, it is by no means pleasant to find that he has +got between two flooded creeks, and that the only thing to +do is to wait for the morning’s light before he attempts to +go any farther. Soaked to the skin, and shivering with +cold, without shelter and without food, he is lucky if he +can find a rock, or the trunk of a big tree, to keep the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</span>piercing winter’s wind from freezing the marrow in his +back-bone. As he sits there huddled up, with his horse’s +bridle between his numbed fingers, the howl of the native +dog, and the forlorn wail of the stone-curlew, strike with a +mournful cadence upon his ears, about which the dead +sticks from the trees overhead are flying. Mechanically he +cuts up a pipe of tobacco, and fills his pipe, fumbling with +shaking fingers in the recesses of his pouch for a dry match. +Fortunate for him if he finds one dry enough to raise a +smoke; but if the hours before morning do not seem preternaturally +long he must be of an exceedingly cheerful +disposition.</p> + +<p>Just before sundown we got to the place where we +meant to camp, on the bank of the creek. The creek was +not running; but just here there was a small water-hole in +the bed, full of clear water, with rocks all round covered +with beautiful maiden-hair fern.</p> + +<p>A little way back from the bank a huge mass of rock +rose up, and between this and the creek we camped. +Having unstrapped our blankets, we put our weapons +together, and, taking off the saddles, we piled them against +the rock, spreading the saddle-cloths over them to keep off +the dew, and then, having hobbled the horses, we turned +them out, with a small bell hung round the neck of one +of them to tell us their whereabouts in the morning. In +a few minutes the black boy had got a good fire going, +with a couple of quart-pots set down to boil for making +tea. “Quart-pot” tea, as tea made in the Bush is always +called, is really the proper way to make it. A tin quart +of water is set down by the fire, and when it is boiling +hard a handful of tea is thrown in, and the pot instantly +removed from the fire. Thus the tea is really made with +boiling water, which brings out its full flavour, and it is +drunk before it has time to draw too much.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</span></p> + +<p>Frank, meanwhile, went and chopped a piece of bark +off a tree, and set about making some “Johnny cakes” +for supper with a small bag of flour which he had brought +with him. Emptying some of the flour into the sheet of +bark, he poured some cold water into the middle of it, and +stirred it quickly up into a paste. “Johnny cakes” are +made with nothing but flour, but there is a great art in +mixing them. If it is done properly, they are about the +lightest and nicest sort of bread that can be made; but the +efforts of an amateur generally result in a wet heavy pulp, +that sticks round one’s teeth like bird-lime. Frank, however, +was quite a professor, and, having got his dough to +his satisfaction, he pressed it out very thin, and tossed it +on to the hot ashes in three-cornered pieces, which he kept +turning over with a stick every few seconds. In a very +few minutes a good supply of them were done, and as the +tea was made, and a “Johnny cake” is nothing unless it +is eaten red-hot, we produced the salt beef, and set to +work at once.</p> + +<p>After supper we all lit our pipes—except Frank, who did +not smoke—and lay down round the fire with a sensation +of absolute contentment and peace that one must go and +camp-out in the Bush to understand. The only single +drawback to my enjoyment was that Frank did not smoke. +There is always something uncomfortable about a man +who does not smoke; but in the Bush, where one’s pipe +gets to be such a companion as it never does elsewhere, it +was really quite painful to think of Frank setting off out +on the run every day by himself without a pipe. He and +Billy, not having seen each other for some weeks, began +instantly to jaw about cattle, and the way in which they +went at it laid over anything in the way of “shop” that I +ever heard. Two fox-hunters fighting their battles over +again are bad enough, and a couple of old University men +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</span>recounting their college experiences will drive anyone who +is obliged to listen nearly out of his mind. But for pure +professional “shop-talking,” unbroken by a single pause, +and undiluted by a single digression, commend me to a +pair of stockmen who take a hearty interest in the cattle +that they are discussing, and who have not seen each other +for a month.</p> + +<p>Frank began it.</p> + +<p>“I say, Billy,” he said, “I was over at the head of +Running Creek yesterday, and I saw that red bullock +that we missed last time we mustered on Tommy’s Camp.”</p> + +<p>“Ah!” said Billy, “he runs about there now. Was +that dying old crow-bait of a white cow along with him?”</p> + +<p>“Yes; and that strawberry heifer too, whose mother +died in the yard this time last year, when Stewart came +up for fat cattle.”</p> + +<p>“I remember; and a fine old bit of stuff her mother +was, too. She was a calf of one of the last of old Lloyd’s +lot, that were here when I came.”</p> + +<p>“What! not that big roan cow that used to run down +at the Gum Swamp, that broke away the time you and me +and Fraser were yarding that mob down at the Hut?”</p> + +<p>“No, no, not that one at all. Do you remember a +dark-red cow, branded AL on the cheek, that was always +with that mob that used to be about the ridges behind +the Black Swamp about five years ago?”</p> + +<p>“Of course I do. She was a milker.”</p> + +<p>“Well, <i>she</i> wasn’t the mother of that strawberry heifer’s +mother, but her sister was. They were both of them +milker’s calves, and their mother was the mother of that +big yellow bullock that went away down to Rockhampton +with Kirwan’s mob five years ago.”</p> + +<p>“My word, what a rowdy brute he was! Do you +remember how nearly he horned Dick in the yard? And +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</span>when we let them out that white down-horned bullock +hunted you half-way across the swamp. His mother’s +alive yet, and got another calf, as like its mother as can +be, only it’s got a white star. I saw them the other +day down Black Creek, the time I fetched in that big +roan calf belonging to that white cow, that was a calf of +old ‘Susan’s.’”</p> + +<p>And so they go on, discussing the appearance and the +performance of one animal after another, and all its sisters +and its cousins and its aunts, till one’s brain reels in trying +to follow them.</p> + +<p>I had always heard Brahmins upheld as the possessors +of the most marvellous memories in the world, but until a +Brahmin gives some better proof of it than merely reciting +five or six thousand lines of prose by heart, he must sink +into insignificance compared to men who have 12,000 +cattle to look after, ranging over 400 square miles of +country, and increasing at the rate of 3000 every year, +and who apparently know them every one by sight, and +can remember most of the ones that they have seen during +the preceding ten years, whereabouts they used to run, and +how they were bred.</p> + +<p>Hour after hour Frank and Billy went on, and when +I lay down to sleep, with my feet to the fire and a big +stone for a pillow, they were still hard at it, in the middle +of a discussion as to whether the great-great-grandmother +of a big roan bullock on the Main Camp had a black nose +or not.</p> + +<p>Next morning we all woke up just before daybreak, +while the stars were still shining, the straw-coloured light +over the hills to the east showing that it would not be +very long before the sun appeared. The ashes of last +night’s fire were still hot, and the addition of a few dry +sticks soon raised a blaze again. After a wash in the creek +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</span>we lit our pipes, and, leaving Billy to boil the tea for +breakfast, we sallied out to look for our horses. The grass +was up to our waists, and saturated with dew, so that +before we had gone fifty yards we were soaked to the +skin; but the weather was warm, so it did not matter. +In winter, when the ground is covered with hoar frost, it +is no joke to have to wade perhaps a couple of miles +through the long grass to look for your horse, for it is +hours before the sun has sufficient strength to dry your +clothes. On such occasions I used to leave all my clothes +at the camp-fire, and set out without a rag on, as I +infinitely preferred a slight cut or two from the grass to +sitting on my horse, shaking with cold and perfectly wet +through, for four or five hours. This time our horses had +not gone very far, and we were back in the camp by the +time that the tea was made. Breakfast did not take long, +and the instant we had done, we loaded our weapons, and, +clambering on to our horses, we set off down the creek to +look for the cattle.</p> + +<p>Frank had been down some weeks before, and burnt as +much of the grass as he could, but it was only in places +that it would burn. In such a country it was perfectly +hopeless to dream of getting any of the “clean-skins” +home to the yards, and all we wanted to do was to shoot +as many of them as we could. Sneaking silently along for +about a couple of miles, we came to a crossing of the creek, +on the opposite side of which was a small plain. As we +emerged on to this, we came suddenly upon a mob of about +thirty wild cattle, among which were six or seven bulls, one +of them about the biggest I ever saw. The instant they +saw us the whole mob charged, and cleared us out in every +direction. The black boy’s bridle came off, and his horse +tore wildly into the middle of a mob of raging bulls, +with him yelling murder and absolutely white with funk. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</span>Frank and my brother disappeared into the creek after the +big bull and one or two others, and Billy and I tore across +the plain after a small mob that were going like mad for +the ridges beyond. As we came up with them, Billy +discharged his weapon at a young bull that was a little +behind the rest, the bullet breaking his shoulder, and +bringing him bellowing on his head. Away we went after +the rest; but a little farther on Billy got a most awful +buster over some rocks in the long grass, he and his horse +rolling over each other in a most uncomfortable kind of +way. Looking back over my shoulder as I galloped on, I +saw him on his legs again, so I hit out like anything to get +a shot at the rest of the mob before they got away into the +ridges. Just on the edge of the plain I came up with +them, and put a bullet behind the shoulder of a good-sized +bull that was nearest me. He turned and charged, but my +horse cleared out too quick for him, and after struggling on +for about a hundred yards, he rolled over. The others were +gone where it was hopeless to follow them, so I rode up +and put another shot into him to finish him, and then +turned back to see how Billy was getting on.</p> + +<p>Fortunately he had landed clear of the rocks, in the +long grass, but his saddle was smashed to pieces, and his +horse’s legs very much cut and knocked about. We rode +back and finished off the bull that Billy had shot first, and +then went over the creek to see what had become of the +others. Following their tracks for about half a mile, we +came upon my brother sitting upon a log all alone, smoking +a pipe, and mopping the blood from his forehead.</p> + +<p>“Hullo,” I said, “are you hurt? had a buster? where’s +Frank? and what’s happened to your horse?”</p> + +<p>“Why, my horse has cleared out, and Frank has gone +after him. He and I cornered off that big bull, and I +rode up alongside and put a shot into him. I never saw +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</span>anything turn as quick. He got me full on the ancle, and +that kept his horn out of ‘Darkie’s’ ribs; but the fool, +instead of clearing, went into figures, and what with the +cant I got from the bull, and the rifle, and one thing and +another, down I went. It was all so mixed I thought the +bull had upset me. ‘Darkie’ cleared out then, and left me +on the ground five yards from the bull, on a dead level +plain, without a bush for a hundred yards. I struggled on +to my knees, and worked the rifle so as to load again; +but before I could get it up the brute charged, and caught +me full over the eye. Frank was yelling to me to lie +down, but it’s all gammon. I saw a bull the other day +rooting up a daisy with perfect ease. I scrambled up +again, and, the rifle being loaded, I put another shot into +his shoulder, when he fortunately gave me best and left +me. He’s dead somewhere in the creek down there, I +think. The ‘Winchester’ is good, and they always die of +it, but the bullet is not stopping enough to prevent a +charge. However, I’ve got off very well, with a sprained +ancle from the first charge, and as to my eye, I think my +head must be nearly as hard as the bull’s, for, beyond +cutting it open, it hasn’t hurt me much.”</p> + +<p>“Well, hold on a minute,” I said, “and I’ll fetch you a +pannikin of water out of the creek, if there is any here.”</p> + +<p>A little lower down I found a small pool of water, and +having got my brother some, and washed his head for him, +I set off down the creek to look for the bull. Sure enough, +he was lying in the bed of the creek, stone dead, about a +quarter of a mile below where my brother had last shot +at him. Just then Frank reappeared leading “Darkie,” +whom he had managed to bail up amongst some big rocks +lower down. Billy’s horse was dead lame, and my brother’s +ancle so swollen that he could only just manage to ride; +so we concluded to knock off and go home, and altogether, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</span>considering the frightful nature of the country, we had not +done so badly to kill three of the bulls before they got +away.</p> + +<p>The next time we went down Black’s Creek after the +clean-skins we had a still more lively time. In the early +part of the day my horse got badly horned in the belly, +and not long after, while galloping after a beast, he went +head over heels into a hole where the stump of a big tree +had been burned out, and broke his shoulder. O’Donnell, +the stockman from the neighbouring run, who came with +us, came to fearful grief. He and his horse, and the bull +that he was after, all went head foremost into a deep rocky +gully. When we found them, the bull was lying in the +bottom, among the rocks, with its neck broken, and +O’Donnell on top of it, quite insensible. We got him out, +and carried him home on a litter of saplings. For twenty-four +hours he lay quite still, bleeding at the ears, and we +thought he was away, but he came round, and eventually +got all right again. The rest of us managed to get a mob +of cattle, mostly clean-skins, into the yards; and about +the gayest time that we had was drafting them. They +exhibited shocking temper.</p> + +<p>The worst of having wild cattle anywhere near one’s +run is that the tame ones go and join them, and become +nearly as wild themselves. The country was so rough +down Black’s Creek that it was almost impossible to clean +it up thoroughly, and we hardly ever went down there +without crippling somebody. But there is no doubt that +hunting wild cattle there was as healthy a form of sport as +anyone could wish for.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IX"> + CHAPTER IX. + <br> + <span style="font-size: medium;">COMPARISON OF CATTLE AND SHEEP STATIONS</span> + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>The whole of the coast country of Queensland is unsuited +for sheep, chiefly owing to the prevalence of grass-seed, but +it fattens cattle admirably, and it is along the coast-range +that most of the cattle-stations in the Colony are situated. +Grass-seed is an abomination which appears in autumn in +all the grass on the coast. It forms in bundles of hundreds +of seeds, each of which is a hard, black, little weapon, +about a third of an inch long, with a sharp barbed point +at the business end. When ripe, they shake off the +instant anything touches them, and attach themselves to +it, and, the point being as fine as a needle, they work +their way into any soft substance in a marvellous way, the +barb preventing them from ever going backwards. Anyone +walking or riding through the long grass in seed-time is +certain to get his clothes full of them, and the sharp pricks +from their points are most irritating. Life for a sheep in +such a country is an impossibility. Their wool becomes so +full of seeds that it is perfectly worthless, and eventually +the seeds work their way right into the flesh of the sheep, +and, of course, when they reach the vital organs, destroy +its life. I have seen the unfortunate wretches with their +fleeces stuffed so full of grass-seed that they are absolutely +incapable of moving, and can only stand still, with their +legs wide apart, looking more like a hedgehog on stilts +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</span>than a sheep. Of course, grass-seed does not affect cattle, +which do very well on the coast runs. But it is a remarkable +thing that, although they lay on just as much fat upon +the coast-country as they do upon the western downs, they +will not travel without losing it. Cattle fattened upon the +salt-bush and grasses of the west will, if driven carefully, +carry their condition for hundreds of miles; but the fat +that they acquire on the coast-grass, and especially below +the range, runs off them like melting butter when they +travel.</p> + +<p>Cattle-growing is not nearly so profitable as sheep, but, +on the other hand, it requires far less capital to start with, +and is attended with much less risk. The vast difference +between a cattle-station and a sheep-station is this, that +whereas the former can be made to pay its own way from +the first, the latter requires a heavy outlay before it can be +safely stocked at all.</p> + +<p>Of course, in proportion as a man lays out money in +improving a cattle-station at the first start, so his returns +will be quicker, heavier, and more certain. But, if he is +unable to do so, he will find that the expenses absolutely +necessary to keep the place going are by no means heavy. +We will suppose that a squatter puts 5000 head of cattle +on to a piece of entirely unimproved country. He ought +to get the cattle, and sufficient country to carry 10,000 +head, for £20,000. For about £400 he can put up yards, +and a weaning-paddock for working the cattle, horseyard, +and paddock, and comfortable houses for himself and his +men. Another £150 will start him with sufficient horses, +and, if he is at all inclined to work himself, two stockmen +and a black boy will be quite enough hands to work the +cattle. The wages of the two former, at £75 a year, and +the black boy at 10s. a week, come to £176 per year, and +another £100 a year ought to find them all in rations.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</span></p> + +<p>We will suppose that the increase is allowed to accumulate, +nothing but fat cattle being sold off the run for the +first five years.</p> + +<p>During that time the proceeds from sales of fat cattle +should be amply sufficient to cover all working expenses, +and to enable the squatter to keep on improving his run +by fencing, etc., to meet the increasing requirements of his +herd.</p> + +<p>At the end of five years he should have at least 10,000 +head of cattle, and have completed all the improvements +necessary for working them.</p> + +<p>Allowing a liberal percentage for deaths, his annual +increase from 10,000 head would be fully 2500, of which +about 800 would be fat cattle.</p> + +<p>Supposing him, for the future, to keep his herd at +10,000, and sell the whole of his annual increase, his +yearly profits would be as follows:—</p> + +<table class="autotable"> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +By sale of 800 fat cattle, at £4 +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +£3200 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span style="margin-left: 2.0em;"><abbr title="By sale of">”</abbr> 1700 store cattle, at £1:10s.</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +2550 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td></td> +<td class="tdr" style="border-top: 1px solid black; border-bottom: 3px double black;"> +£5750 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +To working expenses +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +£1700 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;"><abbr title="To">”</abbr> Balance</span> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +4050 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td></td> +<td class="tdr" style="border-top: 1px solid black; border-bottom: 3px double black;"> +£5750 +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>In the above calculation the price of fat cattle is taken +at the average price in Queensland for some years past, +and the price of store cattle at the lowest possible figure, +which is called “boiling-down” price; for when store +cattle are perfectly unsaleable, as they sometimes are, it is +always possible to clear £1:10s. a head on them by boiling +them down for tallow and hides.</p> + +<p>The working expenses have been put rather high, and +the increase below the average of fair seasons.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</span></p> + +<p>Thus, in five years the squatter’s original capital of +£20,000 will have increased to £40,000, for which he will +get a return of £4000.</p> + +<p>Of course, in good times, when fat cattle are up to £5 +or £6, and store cattle to £2:10s., his profits will be very +much larger, but, at the same time, a squatter must always +be prepared to spend a large sum of money upon the +purchase of land, to secure his run against selectors. No +allowance has been made for this in the above calculations, +for legislation on the land question is continually assuming +different phases, but a squatter may take it for granted +that, sooner or later, he will have to lay out a great deal +of money in securing his run, and he is generally quite +willing to do so when the time comes.</p> + +<p>The risks attending the working of a cattle-station are +the possibility of an epidemic of pleura-pneumonia breaking +out in the herd, and, of course, the danger of a very severe +drought. But the coast country, to which cattle are chiefly +confined, is, as has been already said, not nearly so liable +to drought as the interior, where sheep-farming is carried +on; and although isolated cases of pleuro-pneumonia are +nearly always to be met with in a big herd, it is extremely +seldom that the disease assumes an epidemic form. On +the whole, therefore, the risks of growing cattle may be +considered as being very small. The disadvantages of a +cattle-station from a business point of view are, that, in the +first place, although it will return a high and safe rate of +interest if properly managed, still it will never afford a +chance of making the rapid fortune that four or five consecutive +good seasons on a sheep-station ensure. In the +second place, a cattle-station requires very few hands, and +not much capital to work it, and opens no connection with +the banks and the business men in the towns. No one cares +the least for the connection with a cattle-station, for it is +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</span>worth nothing. The cattle are raised at a small expense, +driven down to market by the station hands, sold to the +butchers, and there is an end to them.</p> + +<p>It is very often greatly to the interest of a squatter to +be able to raise money on the security of his run, either to +tide over bad times, to make improvements, or to secure +his country by the purchase of freehold land. The indifference +of the banks and of business men generally to +the cattle industry makes it very much more difficult to +raise money upon a cattle-station than upon a sheep-station. +With the latter there is not the slightest difficulty. Wool +is the staple product of the country, and represents an +enormous proportion of the aggregate wealth of the community, +and the bulk of the population are either directly +or indirectly connected with its growth. Consequently +“financing” is rendered very much easier upon the security +of a sheep-station; and if a man puts £20,000 of his own +money into forming a sheep-station, if he knows anything +at all of finance, he will easily get £40,000 of someone +else’s money to help him, at a rate of interest that will pay +him remarkably well. All over the country a bale of wool +is nearly as good security as the banknote that represents +its value; and it is no matter if a man’s wool be in his +woolshed in the centre of Australia, under a tarpauling on +the banks of a flooded creek, or in a vessel coming down +the coast, he can always get an advance upon it from the +bank.</p> + +<p>Sheep-farming in Australia is now a very different +thing to what it was twenty or even ten years ago. In +those days a man had nothing to do but to go far enough +into the interior, and he could take up as much new country +as he pleased, paying nothing for it beyond the annual +rent to the Crown. He put his sheep on to it, and in a +few years, if he had good seasons, he made an enormous +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</span>fortune, partly from his annual profits, but chiefly from the +extraordinary rise in value of his country and stock. But +if in the meantime he had two bad seasons, he was probably +ruined; for the early settlers did not comprehend the vital +importance of laying out capital in storing water upon their +runs, to guard against the possibility of a long drought.</p> + +<p>Long experience has now shown that every part of +Australia that is fit for growing sheep is subject to +occasional periods of very severe drought, at uncertain +intervals, the occurrence of which it is quite impossible to +foretell. Some of these droughts have been of extraordinary +duration, and the early settlers were astonished +to find that water-holes and creeks which they had been +for years accustomed to regard as affording an inexhaustible +supply of permanent water, succumbed at length to the +severity of one of these visitations, and left their country +without a drop of water upon it. Hundreds of men were +ruined by trusting to the natural water upon their runs, +while others, of course, who were fortunate enough to have +a run of good seasons, made tremendous profits.</p> + +<p>But the lesson which has been learned is this, that in +order to provide against the possibility of a prolonged +drought, the squatter must treat his country as if practically +there was no natural water upon it at all, and expend a +large amount of capital in making dams and tanks, so as +to have, if possible, a supply of water stored in every part +of his run that is capable of holding out against any drought, +however severe. This entails vast expense, but it is the +only possible way of making a safe and profitable investment +of sheep-farming in Australia. Of course there are +some lagoons and water-holes upon which the most prolonged +drought has little or no effect, and their existence +greatly enhances the value of any piece of country upon +which they may happen to be found.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</span></p> + +<p>An immense amount of loss was sustained in the early +days by overstocking the country, and in some parts the +evil effects of so doing are still felt; for to such extremities +were the unfortunate sheep reduced in a drought, that they +not only ate up every blade of grass, but tore out the roots +and ate them as well, so that it took years before any grass +would grow there again. It is by no means uncommon in +such districts as the Riverina, to be reduced to feeding the +sheep upon the leaves of gum-trees to keep them alive +during a dry season, when every vestige of grass has disappeared. +In most parts of Australia, however, water is +the main thing, for, unless the country has been overstocked, +sheep will manage to eke out an existence in a most extraordinary +way, provided they have a sufficient supply of +water. A dozen years ago, if it had been represented to +an English capitalist that the safest and most profitable +investment that he could possibly find for his money would +be to take up dry country in Queensland, and make a +permanent supply of water on it, the idea would probably +have struck him as eminently fantastic and unpractical. +But it is probable that the world has never yet seen so +certain and so quick a means of realising an enormous +fortune. At that time an unlimited extent of country was +to be had for next to nothing, which has since risen to a +fabulous value, where money has been expended in storing +water upon it.</p> + +<p>At the present time, there is not the same amount of +money to be made at it as there was in the old days, +because every mile of country that is worth anything in +Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, and the greater +portion of South Australia and the Northern Territory, +has been taken up; so that instead of getting his country +for nothing, the squatter has now to start by paying at +least £10 a square mile, even in the back-blocks of Queensland, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</span>for, say, a twenty-one years’ lease of perfectly bare +country, without permanent water, stock, or improvements +of any kind.</p> + +<p>In Victoria the plundering and blundering of an ignorant +Radical legislature has considerably reduced the market +value of every acre of pastoral land in the colony. In +New South Wales the value of land is about stationary; +but in Queensland and South Australia its value is still +increasing, though not at the same rate as formerly. The +tremendous sums that have lately been paid for sheep-stations +in Queensland might at first seem like fancy prices, +but the profits subsequently derived forbid the application +of any such term. Hitherto most of the large fortunes +that have been made in connection with sheep-farming +have been made more from the rise in value of the country +than from the annual profits derived from the industry +itself, though these have been very great.</p> + +<p>If we follow the career of the “leviathans” of Australia +in the squatting line, we shall see that most of them made +their fortunes by constantly taking up new country, stocking +it and improving it, and selling it again as soon as +possible, at an immense profit. Now, however, this can +only be carried out in a very modified form. The value +of country, whether dry or watered, stocked or unstocked, +all over New South Wales and Queensland, has risen to +such a point that, for the future, profit must be expected +more from the annual proceeds of working the country +than from any great subsequent rise in its value. Of +course there are still districts, such as the northern territory +of South Australia, and the Gulf of Carpentaria in Queensland, +where a considerable rise in the value of bare country +may be confidently looked for during the next few years. +But in the central and southern districts the country itself +may be considered to have attained a value at which it +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</span>will remain steady for some years, and profits, as I have +said, must be derived from increase of stock and sale of +wool. What these profits amount to in fair seasons will +be seen from the statistics appended below, and it must +be acknowledged that they are in themselves sufficiently +startling.</p> + +<p>The following are the particulars of a station in the +Barcoo district of Queensland, consisting of 800 square +miles of country, of which only about 600 are available:—</p> + +<blockquote style="text-indent: -2em; padding-left: 2em;"> +<p>Bought in 1882 for £200,000, with 135,000 sheep. Out +of these there were 62,000 ewes in lamb, from which +they got 54,000 lambs the first year.</p> + +<p>Clip of wool 1882 (135,000 sheep), 1730 bales valued at +£35,000. Sold since purchase 30,000 sheep off the +run, at £15,000.</p> + +<p>In 1883 they shore 190,000 sheep, and including lambs +there are now 210,000 sheep on the run. The value of +this year’s clip is £48,000, and the value of the increase +is between £30,000 and £40,000.</p> + +<p>Taking the expenses at £15,000 per annum, this leaves a +nett profit in two years of at least £113,000, besides +which the station has risen greatly in value.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>The following shows the rise in value and returns of +another sheep-station in the Aramac district of Queensland. +It consists of about 1000 square miles of country, +and was bought in June 1881 for £70,000, together with +41,703 sheep and 2230 cattle on the run.</p> + +<table class="autotable"> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +Original number of sheep +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +41,703 +</td> +<td></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +In all to date (Oct. 1883) they have had +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +77,327 +</td> +<td class="tdl"> +lambs. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +And bought +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +86,014 +</td> +<td class="tdl"> +sheep. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td></td> +<td class="tdr" style="border-top: 1px solid black; border-bottom: 3px double black;"> +205,044 +</td> +<td></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</span>Deaths and killed for rations to date +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +12,996 +</td> +<td></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +Lost travelling on road +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +216 +</td> +<td></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +Sold +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +34,830 +</td> +<td></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +Number at present on the station +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +157,002 +</td> +<td></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td></td> +<td class="tdr" style="border-top: 1px solid black; border-bottom: 3px double black;"> +205,044 +</td> +<td></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +Number of sheep at present on station +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +157,002 +</td> +<td></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="word-spacing: 2em; text-indent: 2em;"> +” cattle ” ” +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +5,610 +</td> +<td></td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>In 1882 they shore 93,204 sheep, producing 383,174 +pounds of wool, which brought £21,000 in London. +Improvements since June 1881 have cost about £18,000. +This year, 1883, they will shear 157,000 sheep, the wool +from which will be worth £33,000, and the station is now +valued at £200,000.</p> + +<p>We will now consider the case of an outlying piece of +country, which has never been stocked with anything but +cattle, and which it is proposed to turn into a sheep-station.</p> + +<p>The following tables of expenditure, income added to +paid-up capital, and approximate increase and numbers of +sheep, refer to an estimate made by the manager of a +leading firm in Melbourne, for forming and stocking a piece +of country in the Burke district of Queensland, about +250 miles from Normanton, a township on the Gulf of +Carpentaria. The run consisted of 500 miles of the +best description of sheep country, and there were on +it 2000 head of cattle, and no improvements of any +kind. It was proposed to form a company with a capital +of £100,000 to purchase the run and stock it with sheep. +The former owners agreed to take £5000 in cash, and +£20,000 in paid-up shares for the property.</p> + +<p>The accompanying tables show the position of the +station at the end of four years. The run is capable, when +fully improved, of carrying from 180,000 to 200,000 sheep, +and would be worth at the end of four years, with the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</span>sheep, at least £150,000. In computing the cost of management +£100 per annum has been allowed for every thousand +sheep, whereas £70 per thousand is allowed to be the +average cost; but the country being new, and labouring +therefore under some disadvantage for the time being, so +much more has been allowed for the cost of management.</p> + +<p>The cost of everything has been put at the highest, and +the selling price of wool and sheep at the lowest. The +calculations have only been made for four years, showing +the position of affairs, value of the station and stock; and +the returns, if the stock were allowed to increase, and +improvements to carry the extra number of sheep were +made, would increase wonderfully if allowed to go on. In +computing the number of sheep at the end of four years, +2½ per cent, which is usually allowed per annum for losses, +has not been taken into consideration, but at the same +time the percentage of lambs has been put at only 70 per +cent, which is much under the mark in anything like a +favourable season; the expense of water to be made in the +paddocks has been put at a very high figure, and the fact +of there being a good deal of natural water on the run has +not been taken into consideration. If sheep were placed +on the run at once, and improvements commenced, there +can be no doubt that within three years the cost of management, +etc., would be at least 20 per cent less than that +computed. In allowing for the cost of water to be made +the second and third years, a great reduction has been +made, as the cost of plant, etc., would not have to be +calculated; and experience has shown that, after stocking +a run, plenty of water that has not been permanent before +becomes so, as the country is trodden in by the stock. +Due allowance may therefore be made for a certain +amount of natural water lasting permanently.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</span></p> + + +<p class="ph3"><span class="smcap">Estimate of Expenditure.</span></p> + + +<table class="autotable" style="font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums; max-width: 40em;"> +<colgroup> +<col style="width: 80%;"> +<col style="width: 20%;"> +</colgroup> +<tr> +<th style="font-weight: normal" colspan="2"> +<i>First Year.</i> +</th> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +Cost of 40,000 ewes, and driving them to station +</td> +<td class="tdr vbottom"> +£40,000 0 0 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +Fencing four paddocks five miles square; +fencing to consist of five wires, at £50 +per mile +</td> +<td class="tdr vbottom"> +4,000 0 0 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +Dams to be constructed in each paddock +</td> +<td class="tdr vbottom"> +4,000 0 0 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +Woolsheds, hut and yards +</td> +<td class="tdr vbottom"> +3,000 0 0 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +Management, at £100 per 1000 sheep +</td> +<td class="tdr vbottom"> +4,000 0 0 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +Horses, plant, and contingencies +</td> +<td class="tdr vbottom"> +2,000 0 0 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +Rams +</td> +<td class="tdr vbottom"> +1,200 0 0 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +</td> +<td class="tdr vbottom" style="border-top: 1px solid black; border-bottom: 3px double black;"> +£58,200 0 0 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<th style="font-weight: normal" colspan="2"> +<i>Second Year.</i> +</th> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +Cost of fencing paddocks for first year’s lambs, +say 70 per cent on 28,000 sheep; three +paddocks as above +</td> +<td class="tdr vbottom"> +£3,000 0 0 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +Dams made in paddocks +</td> +<td class="tdr vbottom"> +2,000 0 0 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +Management, £100 per 1000, on 68,000 sheep +</td> +<td class="tdr vbottom"> +6,800 0 0 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +</td> +<td class="tdr vbottom" style="border-top: 1px solid black; border-bottom: 3px double black;"> +£11,800 0 0 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<th style="font-weight: normal" colspan="2"> +<i>Third Year.</i> +</th> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +There would be 54,000 ewes to lamb, which +at 70 per cent would be 37,800 lambs, for +which fencing would have to be put up, +say at a cost of +</td> +<td class="tdr vbottom"> +£4,000 0 0 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +Expenditure for water +</td> +<td class="tdr vbottom"> +2,000 0 0 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +Management, 96,000 at £100 per 1000 +</td> +<td class="tdr vbottom"> +9,600 0 0 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +</td> +<td class="tdr vbottom" style="border-top: 1px solid black; border-bottom: 3px double black;"> +£15,600 0 0 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<th style="font-weight: normal" colspan="2"> +<i>Fourth Year.</i> +</th> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">There would be in all 132,000 sheep on the +run by this time, and if it were intended +to keep the numbers at this, the cost of +management with that amount of sheep at +£100 per 1000 would be (<i>though it certainly</i> +<i>would not be more than £80 per 1000</i>) +</td> +<td class="tdr vbottom" style="border-bottom: 3px double black;"> +£13,200 0 0 +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</span></p> + + +<p class="ph3"><span class="smcap">Capital and Income</span> during four years expended on the +Property.</p> + +<p>After paying the original owners in shares, it was proposed +to call up two-thirds of the remaining capital, which, +after deducting £5000 due to the original owners in cash, +would leave £48,333:6:8 to commence operations with, +the balance to be called up as agreed on.</p> + +<table class="autotable" style="font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums; max-width: 40em;"> +<colgroup> +<col style="width: 80%;"> +<col style="width: 20%;"> +</colgroup> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +Capital, two-thirds of £80,000, less £5000 +paid to original owners +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +£48,333 6 8 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +Clip of 1st year, 40,000 sheep at 4s. nett +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +8,000 0 0 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="padding-left: 1.8em; word-spacing: 0.8em;"> +<abbr title="Clip of">”</abbr> 2d <abbr title="year,">”</abbr> 68,000 <abbr title="sheep at 4s. nett">” ”</abbr> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +13,600 0 0 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="padding-left: 1.8em; word-spacing: 0.8em;"> +<abbr title="Clip of">”</abbr> 3d <abbr title="year,">”</abbr> 96,000 <abbr title="sheep at 4s. nett">” ”</abbr> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +19,200 0 0 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="padding-left: 1.8em; word-spacing: 0.7em;"> +<abbr title="Clip of">”</abbr> 4th <abbr title="year,">”</abbr> 132,000 <abbr title="sheep at 4s. nett">” ”</abbr> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +26,400 0 0 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +Sale of increase, 14,000 wethers, half of first +year’s increase, at 5s. per head +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +3,500 0 0 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td></td> +<td class="tdr" style="border-top: 1px solid black; border-bottom: 3px double black;"> +£119,033 6 8 +</td> +</tr> +</table> + + +<p class="ph3"><span class="smcap">Expenditure.</span></p> + +<table class="autotable" style="font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums; max-width: 40em;"> +<colgroup> +<col style="width: 75%;"> +<col style="width: 25%;"> +</colgroup> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +First year +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +£58,200 0 0 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +Second year +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +11,800 0 0 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +Third year +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +15,600 0 0 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +Fourth year +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +13,200 0 0 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td></td> +<td class="tdr" style="border-top: 1px solid black; border-bottom: 3px double black;"> +£98,800 0 0 +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>At the end of four years, supposing the number of sheep +to be kept at 132,000, the station would be worth at least +£150,000, and should return an annual profit of fully +£30,000.</p> + +<p>In fair seasons, with good management, experience shows +that the above figures are below rather than above what is +certain to be realised from working a good piece of sheep +country. Against this there is always the danger of a +drought such as the whole of New South Wales and +Queensland are now suffering from. An ordinary drought +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</span>can be provided against by the precaution of storing water, +and by carefully avoiding overstocking the country. But +a period of such exceptional severity as the drought which +has now (Dec. 1884) lasted for nearly two years in the +above countries cannot fail to do a certain amount of injury +to everyone, and, of course, brings utter ruin to all who have +not provided an artificial storage of water. A great deal of +well-sinking has been done lately in Queensland, and so far +with very satisfactory results. In many parts of the Burke +district, round the Gulf, water has been struck at a few feet +below the surface, which, of course, increases the value of +the country considerably.</p> + +<p>The effects of a drought in Australia at the present time +are not nearly so disastrous as was the case formerly. In +the first place, from the amount of artificial water that has +been made, the country is far better fitted to withstand a +severe season. In the second place, the extraordinary +rallying powers of the country have been so conclusively +proved, that a drought, even although the mortality among +the stock at the time may be very heavy, does not produce +the commercial crisis that invariably followed in the early +days. The banks see that it is their interest to go on +backing the squatters who are in their books, instead of +selling them up, as they used to do; and the squatters +whose stations are free from debt simply lay themselves +out to cut down expenses in every way, and wait for better +times, instead of giving way to panic and putting their +property in the market at a ruinous reduction in price. A +run of bad seasons may make pastoral property almost unsaleable +for the time, owing to the reduction it produces in +the amount of floating capital throughout the country; but +it has not the effect of materially lowering prices, except in +the case of unstocked and outlying runs.</p> + +<p>Civilisation is continually extending farther inland from +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</span>the coast, and as it advances the halcyon days of the +squatter are swept away. It is in the early part of his +tenure that he must look to realise vast profits; for when +once his run is thrown open for selection, he must be prepared +to secure the freehold of a great portion of it at a +heavy outlay, and his subsequent profits will not exceed +10 per cent on the money expended.</p> + +<p>There is a fine opening at the present time for investing +capital in developing the country in the Gulf district of +Queensland. A great deal of it is allowed to be equal to +any sheep country in Queensland, and in point of carriage—always +a heavy item of expenditure on a sheep-station—it +compares most favourably with the Central and Western +districts, where sheep are now raised most profitably; for +the distance to Normanton and Burketown, on the Gulf of +Carpentaria, is not above 300 miles. It further possesses +the incalculable advantage of being free for many years +to come from all danger of selection, and, altogether, it +is undoubtedly the “coming country” of Australia; for +eventually one of the chief outlets to the commerce of +the continent must inevitably be a port on the Gulf of +Carpentaria.</p> + +<p>An English company has recently been formed, with a +capital of £275,000, to work a large tract of country in +this district; and with good management there is no doubt +that they will get an excellent return for the money invested.</p> + +<p>The new Land Bill in Queensland is not yet through +Committee, but from the draft there is every reason to +believe that it will be a most favourable one for the +squatters, the main feature of it being that while half the +squatter’s run is taken from him and thrown open to selection, +his tenure of the remaining half is rendered secure. +For the half which is thrown open he can, of course, compete +on equal terms with any other selector.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</span></p> + +<p>It is an ill wind that blows no one any good, and there +is no doubt that the severity of the recent drought has had +an excellent effect in moderating the severity of the Land +Bill. Had the so-called reform been undertaken by the +Legislature in the midst of good seasons, when the squatting +industry was flourishing, there is no sort of doubt that +we should have been plundered in the same ruthless manner +that our neighbours in Victoria have been, who have +escaped the drought. “<i>Cantat vacuus coram latrone</i>”; and +the Queensland squatters have suffered so severely from +natural causes, that even the Government realised that it +would be unwise to rob them any further for the present.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_X"> + CHAPTER X. + <br> + <span style="font-size: medium;">THE BLACKS</span> + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>If you ask what sort of a race the Blacks of Australia are, +nine people out of ten will immediately answer your question +with that prompt assurance which no one ever ventures +to bring to bear on any subject, except one about which he +knows nothing and has thought less, and will tell you that +they are physically and intellectually the most degraded +race in the world.</p> + +<p>There being no fixed standard to apply to the different +races of the world for the purpose of gauging their physical +and intellectual merits, we can only do so by comparing +them with each other. When compared with those nations +of the Old World who are universally admitted to have +reached the highest point of civilisation as yet known, the +Australian Black is, of course, a very low specimen of the +human race indeed. But compared with the Digger Indians, +the Bushmen of South Africa, and the inhabitants of not a +few of the islands of the Pacific Ocean, he at once assumes +a different aspect. I had thought of comparing him to +some of those savages by no means extinct in the Old +Country at the present day; but the comparison seems +more than usually odious, and I will pass on.</p> + +<p>From a physical point of view, many of the Australian +Blacks are exceedingly fine specimens of humanity, and +possess great muscular strength. In swimming, diving, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</span>climbing, picking up and following a trail, they are a +match for any race under the sun; and in running and +jumping many of them would give a good deal of trouble +to a professional athlete. The extraordinary art of throwing +a boomerang is peculiar to them, and with a spear they are +not to be surpassed.</p> + +<p>It will be objected that these are a very low class of +accomplishments, displaying, with the exception of the +boomerang, no inventive genius whatever. This is quite +true, but it is equally true that they answer the end in +view, which is more than can be said of many more +elaborate contrivances; and, as a rule, the simplest means +of obtaining an object are the best. Now the object of an +Australian Black, in common with most of his fellow-creatures, +is to provide himself with food; and it has been +frequently brought forward as a proof of great want of +intelligence, that he has never invented a bow and arrow +for this purpose. But necessity, we all know, is the mother +of invention, and so long as a Black can with perfect ease +kill as many birds and beasts as he wants with sticks and +spears, it is hardly fair to accuse him of want of intelligence +for not employing the more complicated appliances which +are necessary in countries where food is less plentiful and +less easily obtained. We might with equal justice and +discernment abuse the inhabitants of Upper Egypt, where +it rains once in five years, for not having invented +umbrellas; or the Esquimaux for not using refrigerators +to preserve their meat. That the Blacks are by no means +deficient in natural ingenuity is proved by the stone-headed +tomahawks, heavy wooden swords, and bone-tipped spears +which are in use amongst the wildest of the tribes. No +doubt, when game becomes too wild or too scarce to be +easily killed with sticks and stones, they will invent some +more ingenious way of procuring it.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp80" id="i_b124a" style="max-width: 22em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b124a.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + BLACK-FELLOW PREPARING TO GO UP A TREE. + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</span></p> + +<p>The countenances of these niggers, often very pleasing, +are seldom devoid of a good deal of intelligence, and after +a short intercourse with civilisation are highly susceptible +of that expression of finished rascality which is usually +supposed to be a peculiarity of the white man. Their sense +of humour and perception of the ridiculous is exquisitely +keen. A cow tumbling head over heels across a log in the +long grass, a man looking for a pipe which he has got in his +mouth, or a dog in search of food upsetting something on +to its own head, and running away like the deuce, with +nothing after it, will make a black fellow laugh for a week +afterwards whenever he thinks of it. Nothing with the +ghost of a joke in it escapes him, and finer shades of humour +that are entirely lost upon many well-educated whites will +be instantly and thoroughly appreciated by him.</p> + +<p>We had a black fellow on the station, by name Wakarra, +who was as pleasant a companion for a day’s ride as could +be wished. It is not too much to say his manners were +those of a perfect gentleman. No amount of hurry ever +made him forget himself for an instant, no scolding made +him sulky, and no kindness made him disrespectful. The +graceful ease with which he used to remove his battered +hat to any ladies that happened to be staying on the station, +was a sight that might have moved an Old Country swell +to tears of admiration. He learned to read with ease, and +had a most surprising faculty for asking questions. One +day he wanted to know how the sun set and rose. I explained +to him that the earth went round, which he +understood perfectly; but when I told him how fast it +went, he thought for a bit, and asked why the trees and +houses and things did not all fall off? I told him that +they were stuck on with a kind of invisible glue, which +only partially allayed his thirst for information. He is +certainly rather an extraordinary Black, and perhaps hardly +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</span>a fair specimen of his race. But I never saw one upon +whose education so much pains had been bestowed; and +most likely here, as elsewhere, there are just as good fish +in the sea as ever came out of it.</p> + +<p>In acquiring the rudiments of civilisation, such as drinking, +lying, thieving, and twisting red handkerchiefs round +their heads, the Blacks show themselves to be very apt +pupils. But in all the higher branches of social science +they are very backward. For instance, when their relations +become incapacitated by age or disease from following the +wanderings of the tribe, they have a nasty low habit of +beating in their heads with a club, instead of gently assisting +the course of nature by giving them little or nothing to eat, +a method which I have occasionally seen pursued with +the greatest success by the inhabitants of more civilised +countries. Then, again, they are extremely particular about +their wives, and resent any interference with them on the +part of the rest of the tribe, with a violence which civilised +society of modern times has branded as being in the worst +possible taste.</p> + +<p>It has often been said that it is impossible to teach any +sort of religion to the Australian Blacks. I never heard of +any great exertions being made in this direction; but +undoubtedly the great obstacle to success would be not +so much a black fellow’s want of intelligence, as his unrestrained +sense of the ridiculous. One of our poets has +declared that</p> + +<blockquote class="center"> +“Life is a jest, and all things show it”; +</blockquote> + +<p>and seeing that it is impossible at the outset to impress a +nigger with the solemnity of religion, there is great likelihood +that he will fall in with the views of the poet, and +laugh at it immoderately.</p> + +<p>I remember once trying to give a fairly intelligent Black +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</span>some idea of a future state. In the course of conversation +he pointed up to the sky, and said:</p> + +<p>“Big one Master stop up there? Where you been see +Him that One?”</p> + +<p>“Yowi” (yes), I replied, “you better believe it. By +and by you see Him that One too.”</p> + +<p>After a pause he again inquired, “That One got a store +up there?”</p> + +<p>Now the possession of a store implies unlimited power +to a black fellow, so I promptly replied:</p> + +<p>“My word! altogether big one store up there. Plenty +flour, plenty tobacco; supposin’ you good one nigger, by +and by you get plenty up there.”</p> + +<p>His next remark was, “I say! you go along o’ that One +by and by?”</p> + +<p>“Yowi,” said I, “mine think it. By and by go along +o’ that One, get wings, fly about close up like a bird.”</p> + +<p>This appeared to interest him immensely, without +striking him as the least odd. But when I told him that +if he behaved well he would go there too, he had barely +time to say “Gammon!” with an amount of expression +that no one but a nigger can put into that one word, before +rolling on to the ground in perfect convulsions of laughter. +That a white man should go to heaven seemed perfectly +natural to him; but the idea of a black fellow by any +possibility getting there too, struck him as so utterly funny +that he went on laughing for a week after whenever he +saw me.</p> + +<p>The Blacks that have received any religious instruction +generally sneak up to you in the towns and offer to parade +their knowledge for a consideration. “I say! you give it +me one fellow sixpence, plenty mine yabber-yabber—belief! +I say! Glass of whiskey—Our Father,” and so on.</p> + +<p>The most notable instance of anything like success +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</span>attending the attempt to proselytise a Black, was that of +an old nigger who once observed, in answer to some inquiry +as to his views of a future state, that, “supposin’ he was a +bad nigger, altogether debbil-debbil come and take him off.”</p> + +<p>Their ordinary creed is very simple. “Directly me +bung (die) me jump up white feller,” and this seems to be +the height of their ambition.</p> + +<p>They have some sort of religion or superstition of their +own. When a warrior of celebrity dies, or succumbs to a +blow on the head from a nullah, they skin him with the +greatest care, and, after eating as much of him as they feel +inclined for, they pick his bones beautifully clean and wrap +them up in his skin. Instances have been known where +Blacks have carried these relics about with them in all the +wanderings of their tribe for many years. Sometimes they +embalm their chiefs, but very rarely one would suppose, +as up to the present time very few of these mummies have +ever fallen into the hands of white men. One of them is now +in the Queensland Museum at Brisbane, and, according to +the account of the tribe from which it came, it is over 200 +years old.</p> + +<p>Whether it would be possible to teach Christianity to +the Australian Blacks, or not, I do not pretend to say; but +I am very certain that it would be far better to begin by +teaching them to behave as respectable members of the +community. By the time that they have learned to refrain +from smashing the skulls of decrepit relations, from killing +a man simply because he has some article about him which +they wish for, and from eating him afterwards if they are +hungry, it will be quite time enough to direct their attention +to a future existence. The task of persuading an average +nigger that punishment follows crime, and prosperity is the +reward of virtue, will be found quite arduous enough to +satisfy the most zealous of missionaries, even though it be +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</span>the business of these admirable men to “turn black into +white,” after a fashion. Having, at any rate, got him to +comprehend that there are certain rules that he cannot +transgress with impunity, and certain enjoyments that he +can only obtain by exertion, he will be more fit to be initiated +into the mysteries of Christianity than when he had +no idea of right and wrong.</p> + +<p>A more lamentable example of misdirected zeal than is +afforded by the South Sea Islanders cannot be imagined. +If we may take as examples the large number of Kanakas +who come over to Australia every year, we are obliged to +conclude that any teaching that they get from the missionaries +does them infinitely more harm than good. No one +will have anything to do with a “missionary boy,” if he +can by any means get another one. We cannot for a +moment allow the blame of this to rest on the religion +taught, and we should be sorry to think that it was entirely +the fault of those who teach it. Experience proves that it +has nothing whatever to do with the Kanakas themselves; +for, until they are persuaded to become Christians, they +are an orderly, contented, and industrious race. The fault, +then, must lie in the manner of teaching.</p> + +<p>Religion, someone says, makes an excellent roof, but a +very bad floor; and it is the height of folly to try and teach +Christianity to a savage before he has any idea of those +fundamental laws which, quite independent of any revealed +religion, govern the welfare of a community. It is not only +teaching him to run before he can walk, but expecting him +to jump over obstacles at every other step which, from the +earliest ages, have brought the most eminent divines to grief. +More than this, it is putting an exceedingly dangerous +weapon into the hands of an inexperienced and mischievous +child.</p> + +<p>For example, suppose that you make a savage understand +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</span>that the God whom you are teaching him to serve has bade +all the rich in this world to sell all that they have, and give +it to the poor. What will be the effect upon his mind? +An earthly paradise of rum, blankets, and tobacco is at +once opened up before him; and having most probably +gone to sleep the night before without even one of these +luxuries, he must inevitably arrive at one of two conclusions, +either that you are telling him a lie, or that there are a +number of rich people around him sadly ignorant of their +duties.</p> + +<p>Most probably the latter is the view to which he will +incline, and, fully persuaded that he is only promoting the +gospel of peace on earth and goodwill towards men, he will +set off to the nearest plantation, and give the owner of it a +lesson in practical Christianity by removing as many articles +of value as he can, and retiring to distribute them amongst +his friends. Be this as it may, one broad truth remains, +that in attempting to convert a South Sea Islander into a +Christian, the missionaries rarely fail to convert an innocent +and industrious savage into an idle and worthless scoundrel.</p> + +<p>Nearly every station in Queensland has one or two black +boys employed on it as stock-riders, in which capacity they +are very useful, as they soon learn to ride well, and are +invaluable in tracking lost cattle and sheep. As a rule, +however, they are not much use after they get about twenty +years old. By that time they have begun to find out that +they are useful; and as their idea of the value of their +services seldom corresponds with that of their employer, +they generally get sent away. Having once been employed +by white men, they would instantly be killed if they tried +to rejoin their tribe; so they generally take to loafing about +the nearest town, and sooner or later die of drink.</p> + +<p>There is a school now, down in Mackay, to teach Blacks +to read and write, and get their living by some sort of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</span>work. It has hardly been started long enough to see how +it will work. At present the only place where Blacks are +employed in any numbers is upon the Mackay tobacco-plantations, +and their being so is a most unqualified nuisance +to the district. Of course any effort to induce the Blacks +to work for their living, instead of spearing other people’s +cattle and picnicking on their own relations, deserves the +highest praise. But we solemnly protest against their being +turned loose on society before their education is completed; +and we infinitely prefer having to deal with an entirely +wild Black than with one who has imbibed a great deal of +mischief, and very little good, from a temporary residence +amongst white men. The services of these Blacks are only +required for a few months during the year on the plantations, +and they are then allowed to wander off into the Bush, and +amuse themselves until the busy season comes round again. +Familiarity having, of course, bred contempt, and cunning +taken the place of timidity, they no longer scruple to turn +the hitherto sacred runs into their Happy Hunting-grounds. +Picnics on the cattle camps, and wild chases amongst if not +after the cattle, form the principal amusements of these +emancipated scholars. The results are appalling. We have +all heard of swine urged by devils running violently down +a steep place and being lost to their owners in the sea. +Here in the Antipodes we observe that our cattle, under +similar circumstances, pursue an opposite but equally disastrous +course, and are lost to us in the mountain ranges.</p> + +<p>It is annoying to go and muster a camp where a few +days before you had been gloating over thirty or forty fat +bullocks, and to find that the Blacks have been scouring +the whole country around, and frightening the cattle into +fits; so that instead of thirty fat bullocks you probably +only find half-a-dozen wretched crow-baits, with staring +coats and protruding ribs, and altogether such a played-out +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</span>appearance, you can hardly believe they are the same +animals that a few days before you watched swaggering up +to camp, with that satisfied, well-to-do air that so endears a +fat bullock to the eye of his owner. In the more settled +districts along the coast of Southern Queensland, and in +New South Wales and Victoria, the Blacks have given up +spearing cattle, and, beyond frightening them occasionally, +do not do much harm. But in the north and interior of +Queensland they are still very troublesome, and never +lose a chance of killing cattle and horses, and spearing +any unfortunate shepherd or traveller if they get a chance. +They will follow a man for days, just keeping out of +his sight, until they get an opportunity for killing him. +Sometimes, when they feel more than usually cheerful, +even the half-tame Blacks in the settled districts cannot +resist the temptation of spearing a traveller. It is not long +since they killed two South Sea Islanders on the range +about fifteen miles from our head station. For the purpose +of repressing this kind of joviality, there are native police-stations, +at tolerably wide intervals, all over the country. +At each of these are stationed a few black troopers, under +the charge of a white man. These troopers become perfect +devils for hunting down and killing the wild tribes from +which they have themselves been taken when young. The +duty of the white man who commands them is a very +unpleasant one. Whenever the wild Blacks in the neighbourhood +become troublesome, and take to spearing cattle, +or otherwise misbehave themselves, it is his business to +sally out with his mounted troopers, and “disperse” them, +the meaning of which word is well known all through the +colony. If it can be proved that in “dispersing” a mob of +Blacks he has killed a single one except in self-defence, he is +liable by the laws of the country to be hanged. On the other +hand, he knows perfectly well that unless he manages to shoot +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</span>down a decent number of them before they can escape, his +services will soon be dispensed with. The Government will +then replace him by a man who is better able to understand +the peculiar form of justice which hangs a man for being +detected in carrying out his recognised duty. It is very +difficult to know what to do with the Blacks. It seems +unjust to drive them out of a country to which they have at +least as good a right as we have. On the other hand, we +know that if they are allowed to remain, they take every +opportunity of killing us and our cattle. It is impossible +to tame them unless they are caught very young, and even +then they are not always to be relied on. Whether the Blacks +deserve any mercy at the hands of the pioneering squatters +is an open question, but that they get none is certain. +They are a doomed race, and before many years they will +be completely wiped out of the land.</p> + +<p>A gentleman who shall be nameless, but who once +resided at a place well known as the Long Lagoon, in the +interior of Queensland, is still famous for the tremendous +“haul” of Blacks which he made in one day. They had +been giving him a great deal of trouble, and had lately killed +four of his shepherds in succession. This was past a joke, +and he decided that the niggers required something really +startling to keep them quiet, and he hit upon the following +device, which everyone must admit was sufficiently startling. +One day, when he knew that a large mob of Blacks were +watching his movements, he packed a large dray with +rations, and set off with it from the head station, as if he +was going the rounds of the shepherds’ huts. When he +got opposite to the Long Lagoon, one of the wheels came off +the dray, and down it went with a crash. This appeared to +annoy him considerably; but after looking pensively at it +for some time, he seemed to conclude that there was nothing +to be done, so he unhitched the horses and led them +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</span>back to the station. No sooner had he disappeared than, of +course, all the Blacks came up to the dray to see what was +in it. To their great delight, it contained a vast supply of +flour, beef, and sugar. With appetites sharpened by a +prolonged abstinence from such delicacies, they lost no time +in carrying the rations down to the waterside, and forthwith +devoured them as only a Black-fellow can.</p> + +<p>Alas for the greediness of the savage! alas for the +cruelty of his white brother! The rations contained about +as much strychnine as anything else, and not one of the +mob escaped. When they awoke in the morning they +were all dead corpses. More than a hundred Blacks were +stretched out by this ruse of the owner of the Long +Lagoon. In a dry season, when the water sinks low, their +skulls are occasionally to be found half buried in the mud.</p> + +<p>As a rule, however, few people are ambitious of indulging +in such wholesale slaughter, and, when the Blacks +are troublesome, it is generally considered sufficient punishment +to go out and shoot one or two. They are easily +discouraged in their wild state, especially by anything +that they cannot understand. Not very long after this +station was first taken up, while the wild Blacks were still +very bad round about, my partner Rice was digging one +day in the garden. Suddenly he became aware that half-a-dozen +of these “Myalls,” as they are called, were creeping +towards him through the long grass. Armed with spears +and boomerangs, they were evidently on anything but +hospitable thoughts intent. Rice waited until they got +about fifty yards off, and then, as they stood up ready to +sling their spears at him, he suddenly pointed his spade at +them like a gun. Two warriors fell flat down on the spot +from sheer fright, upsetting a third one who was just about +starting to flee. Two of the remaining three tried to run +away so fast that they hardly made any progress at all, and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</span>the last one, while scattering a Parthian glance at the object +of terror in his rear, ran with awful violence against a +gigantic gum-tree. The prevailing idea of all six of them +seemed to be a wish for seclusion, and in an incredibly +short space of time they had all picked themselves up and +disappeared over the horizon in a cloud of dust.</p> + +<p>Some of the northern Blacks, however, are not so easily +frightened. They are a much finer race than those in the interior +and the south, and will stand up and fight like anything.</p> + +<p>There seems to be an inherent dislike in all Blacks to +anything like regular work. They will hit out like Trojans +for about a week, and then they cave in, and declare they +are sick. A few days’ spell and the diversion of a kangaroo-hunt +will sometimes induce them to try another term +of treadmill; but, as a rule, they never stick long to any +heavy work. Sometimes, when they see any work going on +in the Bush, the half-tame ones come up and offer to help, +and are quite content with half a stick of tobacco and a +good feed for a day’s work. Sometimes they content +themselves with criticising, without offering to assist.</p> + +<p>There was a party (I use the word in its plural sense) +putting up a telegraph-line not far from here. One day a +Black-fellow sauntered up to them with the easy air of an +owner of the soil, the freedom of his movements being +unhampered by anything but a red cotton handkerchief +twisted round his head. Securing the loan of an atom of +tobacco from the superintendent, he put it in his mouth and +sat down on a log. Presently he glanced contemptuously +at the telegraph-wire high overhead, and remarked:</p> + +<p>“Altogether——fool mine think it white feller.”</p> + +<p>This did not look promising for an extended conversation. +The superintendent, however, had the curiosity to +ask why; whereupon the child of Nature pointed to the +telegraph-posts and wires and said:</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</span></p> + +<p>“You think it bullock stop along o’ that one paddock? +My word! you plenty stoopid!”</p> + +<p>And then, without listening to the infuriated official’s +explanation that it was not a paddock that he was putting +up at all, the Black-man sauntered off again into the Bush.</p> + +<p>They are incurable nomads, these Blacks, and never +stay long in one place. They wander about the country +in mobs, invariably accompanied by a vast army of the +most wretched-looking, mange-stricken dogs. They camp +for a while where there is a good supply of food, and when +that is done they move on. A couple of hours after they +have camped they have completed as good a house as a +Black-fellow ever wants, by stripping a few sheets of bark +off the nearest trees and propping them up with saplings.</p> + +<p>They are passionately fond of tobacco, and the children +begin to smoke, when tobacco is plentiful, literally before +they can walk. I have often seen a little object, not many +months old, slung over its mother’s shoulder, puffing away +at a short pipe stuck in its mouth.</p> + +<p>Away in the far north, round about the Herbert and the +Cooktown district, numbers of white men are “put down” +by the Blacks every year. A few months ago the manager +of Rocklands, a station on the Herbert water adjoining +ours, was killed; and many a solitary traveller who disappears +in the lonely wilds of the Bush of Northern Queensland +doubtless owes his death to these black devils, who +are always lurking in his tracks, waiting for a favourable +chance to kill him. The traveller in the north carries his +life in his hand. Any day he is liable to be attacked by +the Blacks; and at night when he lies down, he can never +be sure that his awakening may not be a spear through +his ribs or a blow on the head from a tomahawk.</p> + +<p>It is very seldom that the Blacks will attack a man on +horseback. They will sooner follow him for days, until, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</span>perhaps, they get a chance at him when he is off his horse, +stooping down to drink at a water-hole. Upon one occasion +a traveller was riding quickly round the corner of a scrub, +when he came suddenly on to a camp of wild Blacks. His +horse propped short, and sent him flying over its head right +into the middle of them. If he had displayed the slightest +signs of alarm he would most certainly have been instantly +killed; instead of which he burst into wild shrieks of +laughter, as if he had done it for a joke, which so delighted +the Blacks that they all began to laugh too, and let him +go unmolested, after helping him to catch his horse.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp80" id="i_b136a" style="max-width: 22em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b136a.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + A BLACK GIN AT HOME. + </figcaption> +</figure> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XI"> + CHAPTER XI. + <br> + <span style="font-size: medium;">SUGAR</span> + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>Although the cultivation of wheat is developing very +rapidly, sugar-growing is at present the only agricultural +industry of any importance that Queensland possesses. +Her climate and soil are no doubt favourable to others, +and, in small quantities, tobacco, coffee, and cotton have +been grown successfully. But, so far, sugar alone has been +cultivated to any great extent, and undoubtedly it is an +industry that has a great future before it. It is only of +late years that it has commanded much attention, and it is +extremely interesting to see the rapid progress that has +been made. For a long time sugar-growing languished. +As is always the case in a new country, the pioneers were +not altogether successful, and the losses which many of the +early planters sustained deterred capitalists from investing +their money until it was proved whether sugar could be +successfully grown or not.</p> + +<p>To Mackay belongs the honour of being the parent of +all sugar-growing in Queensland. In 1866 Mr. John Spiller +first made the experiment of growing cane in this district, +and the end of the year saw twelve acres growing, which +was increased to 140 acres the following year.</p> + +<p>In 1868 the first mill was erected by Mr. John Ewen +Davidson, and the output for the first season was 230 tons +of sugar. From this date the progress was steady until +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</span>1875, when a serious visitation of “rust” took place. This +disease for a long time puzzled all the efforts of scientific +men and planters either to discover its cause or to arrest +its progress, and its effects were so serious that at one +time the sugar industry seemed about to entirely collapse. +Many of the planters were working on borrowed capital, +and the ravages of the rust were so great as to completely +ruin some of them. Even now the real origin of the +disease remains a mystery. All that is certain is that some +varieties of cane are more liable to it than others, and the +epidemic has so far been of service that it has enabled the +planters to determine what varieties can be most profitably +grown, and turned their attention to the economical working +of their plantations—a consideration that had been too +much effaced by the enormous profits made before the +appearance of the disease.</p> + +<p>In two years the district had pretty well recovered +itself, and in 1879 the crop amounted to 10,000 tons. +The following season was a bad one, and the yield fell off +to 7500 tons. In 1881 10,000 tons was again reached, +and then a “rush” on sugar commenced among the southern +capitalists. The success of sugar-growing was considered +to be assured, and, after the manner of a new country, a +perfect spasm of speculation set in. Many of the older +planters of Mackay took advantage of the sugar mania +that prevailed down south, and sold their plantations at +high prices.</p> + +<p>The profits made about this time were very great. One +of the oldest planters in Mackay in one year cleared +£40,000 on his crop, and the next year sold one of his +plantations for £95,000 and the other one for £85,000. +The run on land anywhere within twenty miles of Mackay +was astounding, and every acre, good, bad, and indifferent, +was taken up. Land that had been for years considered +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</span>barely worth paying rent for as a pastoral selection, and +that nothing but the most vivid imagination could suppose +capable of growing sugar, was readily disposed of to +southern speculators at £10 per acre.</p> + +<p>In the course of two years (1882, 1883) eleven new +mills were erected, with a crushing capacity of 12,000 tons +per season, bringing the total of the whole district to more +than 30,000 tons. Taking the average price at £25 per +ton, the annual output of the district has risen in fifteen +years from £3500 to £350,000, and the total value of the +sugar grown during that time is fully two millions sterling. +When we consider that this represents merely the probationary +period of sugar-growing in the district, we may +safely predict that its future is a great one; and the +impetus that the industry has received from the tremendous +accession of capital invested during the last few years, +makes it certain that the progress that has already been +made will be trifling compared to the advance that will +take place during the next ten years.</p> + +<p>There are now thirty mills at work in the district, and +others in course of construction. The white population +has more than doubled during the past two years, and now +amounts to 7000.</p> + +<p>As soon as it was proved that sugar could be grown +successfully in Mackay, the rush for sugar-land extended to +every other part of Queensland. To the north of Mackay, +on the Burdekin, Johnson, and Herbert rivers, every acre +of land was taken up, and a great deal of sugar is now +being grown there. At present it seems doubtful whether +the climate of any other part of Queensland is as favourable +for growing sugar as that of Mackay. On the Burdekin +the rainfall is too light; on the Johnson and northern +rivers it is too heavy, amounting sometimes to 180 inches +a year. In Mackay the average rainfall is 83 inches, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</span>which is distributed over a longer period than almost any +other district, a circumstance which is extremely favourable +to the growth of the young cane.</p> + +<p>There is very little doubt that a great deal of money +will be dropped in these northern sugar speculations. +When the sugar mania set in, people who knew nothing +about sugar, except the market price, rushed at it like a +bull at a gate, quoting the enormous profits made in the +Mackay district, and firmly believing that nothing but land +and capital were necessary to grow sugar anywhere on the +coast of Queensland. They quite forgot that not even the +favourable climate of Mackay saved numbers of people +from being ruined in the process of discovering what +varieties of cane were best suited to that particular locality. +It is probable that in the future the growing of sugar will +develop into an enormous industry, and will include many +other districts besides Mackay; but it is certain that +numbers of people will be ruined in the process of developing +it. The prices paid for land during the run on +sugar-growing were far too high to allow of any profit, +and in many cases, even supposing the climate to turn +out favourable, the expense of clearing will be ruinous. +By and by the reaction will set in. Most of the pioneers +will collapse, and a fresh lot of capitalists will come and +buy up their improvements for next to nothing, and make +a real good thing out of it.</p> + +<p>Sugar has also been grown for some time at Maryborough +and Bundaberg, to the south of Mackay; but the frosts to +which these districts are liable make it an exceedingly +risky speculation. On the whole, Mackay, as it was the +first, so it is also the finest, sugar district in Queensland, +and is likely always to hold a leading position, whatever +may be the progress of the more northern parts. The +great rock ahead of sugar-growing in Queensland at present +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</span>is the difficulty of obtaining coloured labour, and it is +astonishing that the planters do not display more enthusiasm +on the subject. They are at present waiting with +apparent indifference until their masters—the working-men—have +made up their minds how to legislate in the +matter.</p> + +<p>No class in the colony is so entirely at the mercy +of legislation as the planters. No class has shown itself +more apathetic to its own interests until it is too late to +protect them. The planters are a small community; but +the absolute identity of their interests, and the fact that +numbers of them live close together, makes it very easy +for them to co-operate. Their trade is one involving an +enormous outlay of capital, and a heavy current expenditure, +so that any interruption in the work on the plantations +is a matter which entails very serious loss. They are +absolutely dependent for their existence upon being able +to obtain a sufficient supply of coloured labour to do their +work in the cane. It has been conclusively proved, in the +first place, that white men cannot and will not do the work +done by niggers in the field; and, in the second place, that +if white labour were available, it would only be at wages +which the planter could never afford to pay. The sugar +industry, therefore, is entirely dependent upon coloured +labour.</p> + +<p>Now in this matter the planter knows perfectly well +that every man’s hand is against him, and yet he takes no +pains to protect himself. The conditions under which the +existing labour traffic with the South Sea Islands is conducted +leave much to be desired. Though the frightful +accounts which are constantly circulated by sensation-mongers +and alarmists as to the cruelty practised towards +the Islanders are very much exaggerated, still there is just +enough truth in them to make it extremely dangerous for +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</span>the planter that things should be allowed to continue as +they are. The labour trade should not be in the hands of +the planters and speculating captains of schooners. It +should be conducted by the Government at the expense of +the employers. I am taking the planter’s view, of course. +As far as the kanakas themselves are concerned, the fact +of the Government of Queensland superintending the trade +by no means implies that all abuses connected with it +would cease, but rather the reverse. But it would take +away one great weapon of attack from the working-man, +which is the accusation of cruelty and slave-driving that is +now so constantly urged against the planters.</p> + +<p>The legislation of Queensland is entirely in the hands +of the working-men; and it is only in a new colony, where +a six-months’ residence suffrage gives full scope to ignorance +and prejudice, that we can realise the suicidal mistakes +which they are occasionally capable of making. A more +extraordinary instance of inability on the part of working-men +to understand their own interests than is afforded +by the agitation against coloured labour in Queensland +cannot be imagined.</p> + +<p>We will take the case of Mackay. Before sugar-growing +was started there were not a hundred residents in the +whole district, and there were never likely to be any more +as long as it was merely used for pastoral purposes. It is +now one of the most thriving and rapidly increasing places +in Queensland, with a population, as has been above stated, +of 7000 whites and 3500 kanakas. Last year’s sugar crop +was worth over £300,000, and next year’s will be very +much larger. The amount of money annually expended in +wages in the district is startling. The monthly paysheet +of one of the plantations alone is £5000. There is a very +fair foundry in the town, and the demand for timber is so +great as positively to have run the southern markets +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</span>dry at times. Houses are being run up as fast as material +can be procured, and are let before the piles to carry them +are in the ground.</p> + +<p>The whole of this progress is entirely due to the development +of the sugar industry, which is, as has been +said, dependent upon coloured labour. If this were withdrawn, +the Mackay district would shut up like a match-box. +And yet, so obstinate are the prejudices of the working-classes +in the colony, that the very men in the district +themselves—carpenters, sawyers, ploughmen, engineers, and +all who get their living entirely from the plantations—are +foremost in the insane outcry that has been raised against +coloured labour. The planters are represented as slave-drivers, +and as taking the bread out of the mouths of white +men to put it into the mouths of niggers. The fact is that +the niggers do work in the plantations that no white man +could or would do in such a climate, and by doing it they +develop an industry that supplies thousands of white +workmen with a means of living in clover.</p> + +<p>In return the working-men of Queensland are doing all +they can to bring in a Bill for prohibiting the introduction +of Black labour, which, if passed, would for a time paralyse +the growing of sugar throughout the colony. That so +important an industry as the sugar-growing of Queensland +has now become could be permanently destroyed by any +such false legislation I do not for a moment believe.</p> + +<p>The result of any attempt on the part of the Brisbane +Government to stop Black labour would inevitably be to +make the north of Queensland, where the sugar is grown, +insist upon separation from the south. But in the meantime, +before this could be done, the trade would sustain a very +serious shock, and the loss to the planters would be +enormous. To many of them, who work upon borrowed +capital, it would mean utter ruin. Seeing that the planters +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</span>are perfectly well aware of the feeling of the working-classes +in the colony against coloured labour, it is really surprising +that they do not take more pains to prevent its finding +expression in legislation. Were the planters to form a +sort of trades union, and shut up their mills for a couple of +months, the white men would get a practical lesson that +would enable them to determine the exact source from +which their livelihood is derived, with an accuracy they +never would forget.</p> + +<p>Up to the present time, the coloured labour market of +Queensland has been supplied by kanakas, as the inhabitants +of the South Sea Islands are called. The word “kanaka” +is really a Maori word, signifying a man, but in Australia it +has come to be applied exclusively to the inhabitants of the +South Sea Islands. The trade is carried on by means of +schooners which run between Queensland and the Islands. +These vessels are usually the joint property of one or two +planters and the captain, who share the risks and the +profits of the venture between them. At first there was +not much difficulty in inducing the kanakas to come to +Queensland and enter into an engagement for a term of +years’ work there. But as the demand increased, greater +difficulty was experienced in obtaining a sufficient supply; +and there is no doubt that in many cases the captains of +these vessels resorted to unlawful means to induce the +kanakas to leave their homes. Kidnapping became frequent, +and as a matter of course this aroused the resentment of +the natives, who in one or two instances have retaliated by +massacring the crews of the schooners that visited their +islands. The kanakas themselves, when well treated, are a +cheerful, hard-working, and rather intelligent race.</p> + +<p>The inhabitants of some of the islands are very much +superior to those of the others, but all of them are admirably +qualified for the work that is required of them in +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</span>the canefields of Queensland. Their agreement with the +planters is for a term of three years, during which time +they are fed, housed, and supplied with blankets, and +receive £6 a year wages. At the expiration of their +agreement the planter is bound to ship them back to their +own country at his own expense, if it be their wish to +return. But they can, if they like, remain in Queensland +and enter into other engagements for such wages as may +be agreed upon. Many of them remain as indoor servants, +in which capacity they are very useful, and some of them +make excellent cooks.</p> + +<p>There is not the slightest doubt that as a general rule +they are well treated on the plantations, and perfectly +contented and happy. There are, of course, instances +where they have been treated with injustice and cruelty, +but they are the exception and not the rule; and a +convincing proof of this is to be found in the fact that +many kanakas elect to remain in the country of their own +free will, and many others return a second time after +having paid a visit to their native country. They are +strong, sturdy men, as a rule, capable of doing a good +day’s work, but their constitutions seem to be perfectly +incapable of standing against any sort of illness. Directly +a kanaka gets ill he lies down, and apparently very often +dies for no reason at all except pure funk and lack of the +wish to get well. They are especially liable to consumption; +and when an epidemic of measles breaks out, as it sometimes +does, amongst them, its ravages are appalling. When they +feel the fever upon them, nothing can keep them from +going and plunging themselves into the water, and they +die off like rotten sheep.</p> + +<p>Not a shilling of their wages do they ever carry back to +their own country, either in money or in money’s value. +The whole of their wages passes into the hands of the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</span>storekeepers of the nearest town, whose right to plunder +them there is none to dispute. It is illegal to supply +liquor to kanakas, so the storekeeper has no rival to fear +in spoiling them of their hard-earned gains. The storekeepers +of Mackay have earned an unenviable notoriety +by the alacrity with which they have turned the ignorance +of the unsuspecting savage to account. They import a +special class of fancy goods, of the most utterly worthless +description, and realise fabulous profits by selling them to +the kanakas for about four hundred times what they are +worth. There is no one to interfere with them, and it is +difficult to see how it could be done, for, of course, at +the end of his agreement the kanaka is entirely his own +master, and if he likes to pay an exorbitant price for a +worthless article, there is no way of preventing him.</p> + +<p>Indirectly the planters could do a great deal if they +chose, by intimating that their custom would be withdrawn +from any storekeeper who continued the practice of +fleecing kanakas. The storekeepers are entirely supported +by the planters, and they would have to give in. Undoubtedly +the temptation is a very great one. A cheerful +and perfectly ignorant savage, who has just been long +enough in the land to know that money will procure +certain articles, but without the slightest idea of their +relative value, exhilarated by the prospect of an immediate +return to his native country, and with £18 in his possession, +is a bait which, perhaps, it is too much to expect any +tradesman to resist.</p> + +<p>Certainly in Queensland they improve the occasion. +Knives and tomahawks made of that peculiarly vile iron +which combines the brittleness of glass with the softness +of lead, muskets and pistols of a class unknown to modern +warfare, handkerchiefs, hats, tobacco-pipes, and fancy +rubbish of every description, fit only to hang upon a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</span>Christmas-tree, are palmed off upon these unfortunate +savages for enormous prices. Many a time have I seen +one of them returning from investing his wages in Mackay, +with nothing on but a tomahawk and a tall hat, and +perhaps a miniature lady’s travelling bag on his arm, the +delighted grin upon his countenance expressing perfect +satisfaction and conscious pride in his recent purchases.</p> + +<p>Of course the storekeepers justify their conduct by +saying that as long as the kanaka is satisfied they fail to +see what injury he sustains. That is all very well; but to +my mind there is something intensely melancholy in the +spectacle of an industrious savage returning to his native +country, after three years’ toil in a foreign land, with +nothing to show for it but a musket that would kill him +if he tried to fire it off, and a cotton handkerchief that +would fly to pieces if he blew his nose in it.</p> + +<p>Intercourse with civilisation is producing its usual results +among uneducated savages, and the kanakas in Mackay are +beginning to get troublesome. The other day, at the +Mackay races, a big mob of them attacked the whites, and +a general scrimmage ensued. Had the kanakas only been +armed with such weapons as the Mackay tradesman might +have supplied them with, they would have been quite +harmless. But they had provided themselves with a +supply of glass bottles, which they slung with infinite +precision at the whites.</p> + +<p>A glass bottle is by no means a contemptible weapon in +the hands of athletic savages, trained to throw clubs and +stones ever since they could walk. A lot of the white men +climbed on to their horses and charged the kanakas, armed +with their stirrup-irons, with which they knocked them +over like ninepins. The fight did not last long; but there +were a good many broken heads even amongst the white +men, and several of the kanakas were killed before they +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</span>were finally driven off the racecourse into the canefields. +This is the only instance I ever knew of kanakas joining +together to show fight away from their own country; but +now that they have begun, no doubt this will not be the +last disturbance of the kind.</p> + +<p>The evening after the fight on the racecourse a scare +was got up that the kanakas were going to storm the town +of Mackay. No one knows who started the report, and +nobody cared; but it was quite sufficient to terrify the +inhabitants. The peaceful town of Mackay presented a +most ludicrous appearance; everyone having armed himself +with some sort of weapon, a musket, a pistol, or a butcher’s +knife, with which he paraded the streets, giving all the +corners a wide berth as he turned them, for fear of falling +a prey to some bloodthirsty kanaka. The Mackay Volunteers, +never having had an opportunity before of displaying +their valour, except by shooting at each other with blank +cartridge, showed the greatest enthusiasm and firmness upon +this trying occasion.</p> + +<p>Just after dark the most piercing shrieks from a woman’s +voice were heard, coming from the opposite side of the +river from the town. No one lived over there except an +old man and his wife, who kept a market garden; and the +idea at once seized the citizens of Mackay that the man +was away from home, and the kanakas were murdering his +wife. A wild rush was made for the ferry, and four or +five men, armed to the teeth, jumped into a boat and +pulled like mad for the opposite bank. A volunteer who +was with them assumed the brevet rank of captain for the +occasion, and directed the movements of the attacking +force. As they got near the other bank the shrieks for +help became perfectly heartrending; and the captain, +wild with excitement, exhorted his men to redouble their +exertions.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</span></p> + +<p>“Pull, boys; pull like mad,” he exclaimed, “or, by Jove! +we’ll be too late. These treacherous devils of niggers must +have swum across here. Look out for their heads in +the water, or we’ll be having some of them in the boat. +They swim like fish, and it’s so dark you can’t see ten +yards.”</p> + +<p>The instant the boat touched the shore they all sprang +out, and rushed up the track to the house. The cries by +this time had ceased, and it was feared that all was over. +When they got there a sad sight presented itself. The hut +was quite quiet, and the lights all out; but just then the +moon appeared from behind a cloud, and revealed the figure +of an old woman, with nothing on but a nightgown, sitting +on a log in front of the hut, crying and sobbing in the most +pitiable manner. In answer to a hurried inquiry as to what +was the matter, and where the niggers were, she replied +that “she hadn’t seen any niggers about the place, and the +matter was that her old devil of a husband had come home +very drunk, and given her the almightiest hammering she +ever had in her life.”</p> + +<p>“Well, boys,” said the captain, “this is the infernalest, +meanest swindle I ever was amongst in my life. Never +mind, we’ll go back and have a drink. And I say, missus, +hadn’t you better turn in again? That’s rather an unhealthy +get-up for a winter’s night.”</p> + +<p>But the woman absolutely refused to go near her husband +again that night, and was rowed across to the town +by the disappointed warriors, and taken to some of her +friends. The whole town was assembled to see them return, +and yells of laughter arose when it was discovered +that the weird, white figure in the sternsheets was nothing +but the ill-used wife of one of the oldest inhabitants of +Mackay, and that never a nigger had been seen. A vast +procession escorted the poor old woman to her friends’ +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</span>house; after which all hands adjourned for a drink, and +the scare of the kanaka invasion subsided.</p> + +<p>In the meantime the present supply of labour from the +South Sea Islands is rapidly becoming quite inadequate to +meet the increasing demand. Not only has the cost of +obtaining kanakas greatly increased, but much difficulty is +experienced in inducing them to come to the country. In +view of this state of affairs, the attention of the planters +was naturally directed to India as a source of labour supply. +Both from her enormous population and from her geographical +position, this country seems to be most fitted to +supply the requirements of Queensland in this respect. It +is known that in India there are millions of coolies exactly +suited for the class of employment that Queensland can +supply, and to transfer some of them from the one country +to the other would be to confer a benefit upon both. It +would help, if ever so little, to relieve the great difficulty +which is experienced in India in finding work for the +enormous working population, and at the same time it +would supply what is rapidly becoming a pressing want in +Queensland.</p> + +<p>The proposal to introduce coolies into the colony was +met with a universal howl of rage. For electioneering +purposes it was invaluable, and dismal pictures of the +future of Queensland overrun by niggers, and her white +population starving, formed the <i>pièce de résistance</i> in every +idiot candidate’s address.</p> + +<p>About this time a change of Ministry took place. Sir +Thomas M’Ilwraith retired after the collapse of the Transcontinental +Railway Bill, and Mr. Griffith formed a new +Ministry. Had Mr. Griffith and his party remained content +with having defeated the iniquitous project of their predecessors, +they would have been entitled to the undying +gratitude of the colony. But they advanced under the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</span>anti-coolie flag, and must therefore be regarded either as +enemies to the progress of Queensland or as strangers to +common sense. An attempt was made to pass regulations +for the purpose of restricting coolies solely to the work of +sugar-growing; but the present Ministry have refused to +legislate on the subject at all, and its leader declares that +he is incapable of devising any regulations that would be +respected in this connection.</p> + +<p>The very serious position in which the planters now find +themselves has induced them to try several experiments +for the purpose of obtaining such low-class labour as they +require to carry on their operations. So far, these experiments +have all resulted in something worse than failure. +A shipment of Cingalese was brought down. Anything +less like agricultural labourers never was seen. They were +arrayed in fine linen, with tortoise-shell combs stuck in +their hair, and looked as if they had never done a harder +day’s work than stealing their own dinner in their lives. +Some of them were very well-educated, and spoke three or +four languages; but evidently they had all been induced to +come under false pretences, and had no notion of the sort +of work that they were expected to perform. The majority +of them absconded from service, taking with them as much +of their employers’ property as they could conveniently +remove, as a souvenir of their visit to Mackay. A few +Malays have been introduced, and a shipment of Maltese +were tried, but with very discouraging results.</p> + +<p>The remedy for which the working-man clamoured was +then tried in an increased supply of white immigrants. +The result followed which everyone who knew anything +at all about the matter predicted. There was an immediate +fall in wages, and it was discovered that the white +men were entirely unable to compete with kanakas in +the low-class labour on the plantations, and consequently +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</span>took the first opportunity that occurred to break their +engagements.</p> + +<p>In the face of all this, it is still maintained by the +working-classes in the colony that the industry can be +carried on by white men alone, and the problem seems as +far off solution as ever. The capitalists who are engaged +in the industry demand a large supply of coloured labour, +and are perfectly willing that such labour should be so +restricted as to make it impossible that it should ever come +into competition with white men, and should be entirely +confined to a class of labour that, from climatic reasons, +white men have shown themselves quite unable to perform.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, we have the insane outcry raised by +the working-classes against every sort of coloured labour, +backed up by the admission of the present Premier of his +inability to frame any laws that would restrict the employment +of coolies to sugar-growing. Unless some satisfactory +solution of the difficulty can be found, there is undoubtedly +a very bad time in store for the planters. But the importance +of the sugar industry to Queensland is so manifest, +and the amount of capital already invested in it so great, +that there is no doubt that eventually common sense will +triumph even over the prejudices of the working-classes in +the colony, and coolie labour will be introduced. If this +were done, the future success of sugar-growing would be +assured, and there is no doubt that it is an industry which +is capable of contributing largely towards placing Queensland +in the position of the leading agricultural colony of +Australia.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XII"> + CHAPTER XII. + <br> + <span style="font-size: medium;">GOLD-MINING</span> + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>One day I heard that gold had been found in a creek on +the western fall of the coast range, about forty miles from +here, and that a “rush” had already set in, so I determined +to go up and see what was going on. I was delayed for a +few days by the flooded state of the creeks between here +and the diggings. While I was waiting I was joined by +Dick Absolon, formerly in our employ as stockman, and +now on his way to the new rush.</p> + +<p>Dick Absolon is the <i>beau idéal</i> of a colonist. Brave as a +lion, which animal he somewhat resembles in appearance, +gentle as a child, with a capacity for hard work that +nothing can satisfy, and a cheerfulness that no run of bad +luck can discourage, whatever he starts at he is a bad man +to beat. His brother Jack, in every way as good a bit of +stuff as himself, was already on the diggings waiting for him. +They both came to the colony very young, and, through +many ups and downs, have stuck together ever since. To +use an Americanism, they have been pulled through all +sorts of knotholes; stockriding, carrying on the road, +contract-fencing, gold-mining, copper-mining, managing +stations, they have worked hard at all of them, and finally, +having made a rise, they went into sugar-growing in the +Mackay district at a bad time, and lost all they had made.</p> + +<p>Altogether they are sad examples of the fact that it is +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</span>possible, even in Australia, for a shrewd sensible man to +work hard and keep sober, and still to be pursued by a +run of bad luck, that leaves him no richer in pocket than +when he began, and poorer by the loss of the best years of +his life. “Hope springs eternal,” however, and here they +are, ready to try again with undefeated ardour and cheerfulness, +confident that this time at last fortune’s wheel will +give them a turn.</p> + +<p>The weather, being the middle of our wet season, had +been, as they say in the west of Scotland, “showery and +rain atween whiles”; but the morning after his arrival +Absolon went down to the first creek, half a mile from the +station, to see if it was crossable, while I ran up the horses +ready for a start. He came back and said he thought we +could just do it without a swim, so we settled to go.</p> + +<p>My swag was soon ready, consisting of a pick and shovel, +a tin prospecting dish for washing gold, 20 lbs. flour, 12 +lbs. beef, some tea and sugar, a couple of changes of clothes, +and a blanket, unlimited tobacco and matches, a revolver, +a quart pot, a calico fly of a small tent, a Shakespear, a +pack of cards, a piece of soap, two towels, and a toothbrush. +Having planted these scientifically on the back of +a packhorse, we climbed on to our own horses, and, lighting +the inevitable pipe, sallied down to the first creek.</p> + +<p>It was coming down very strong, muddy and thick, but +from the marks on the banks we thought it was good +enough, and, sousing in, we just managed to sneak across +without absolutely swimming, a performance to be carefully +avoided in Queensland creeks. The banks are always very +steep and high, and the bed of the creek heavily timbered, +and full of snags and fallen trees. The current is +usually very strong, and the crossing-place, where the +trees in the bed and on the banks of the creek have been +cleared away, very narrow; so that if you happen to be +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</span>swept down below the opposite crossing, the chance of +ever getting out again is very small. Your horse is certain +to be drowned, and the strongest swimmer, when swept by +a furious current into a forest of big trees and saplings, +and tangled masses of creepers along the banks, has no +more chance than a fly in a cobweb. Numbers of travellers +are drowned every year in this way.</p> + +<p>Having crossed this creek we had the satisfaction of +seeing it get up rapidly behind us, effectually barring our +return. The next creek was seven miles ahead, and if +that happened to be up too, we should have the pleasure +of finding ourselves between two flooded creeks, with the +cheerful prospect of sitting on the bank of one of them +until it subsided. Of course, as a rule, we should not have +thought anything of having to swim, but when you have +got all your belongings with you on a packhorse, and are +on your way to a place where you cannot replace them, +you are rather shy of risking a swim.</p> + +<p>Some horses swim most beautifully, and will carry +their rider in the saddle across almost any creek or river. +Others lose all heart, and go down like a stone or roll over +on their backs. The best way is, just as your horse gets +into deep water and begins swimming, to slide quietly off, +hang on to his tail, and let him tow you across in his wake. +This time we were fortunate, and we managed to cross the +eight creeks between us and the open country without any +delay, and without wetting the pack.</p> + +<p>We camped the first night at an old bark hut, the +remains of a deserted station, about fourteen miles from +the diggings.</p> + +<p>Next morning we made a fresh start. Neither of us +knew exactly where the diggings lay, beyond a vague idea +that they were in the western fall of the main range, +somewhere to the north of us; but after jogging along for +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</span>a few miles we came across a new mark-tree line, made by +the first prospectors of the diggings, which took us right +away into them. As we got near the place, we began to +overtake a few straggling swagsmen, pounding along through +the black soil as if the devil was behind them instead of in +front of them.</p> + +<p>To the initiated it did not require the pick and shovel +slung on their backs to tell where they were bound for. +The pace at which they were going, so different from the +languid dawdle habitual to men who are merely wandering +about in search of work, betrayed at once that the “gold +fever” was upon them. Once smitten by this malady, a +man seldom or never thoroughly recovers, and the exertions +he will make while under its influence are perfectly incredible.</p> + +<p>All the evils that humanity naturally shrinks from at +once assume a cheerful aspect. When the Palmer rush +broke out on the Gulf of Carpentaria, it is a positive fact +that a man walked the whole way from Melbourne to get +to it, a distance of nearly 2000 miles.</p> + +<p>While I was on Mount Britten diggings, a man came in, +wheeling his Lares and Penates before him in a wheelbarrow. +The whole certainly weighed over 150 pounds, +and he had wheeled it through 200 miles of heavy black-soil +country, in pouring rain, in just a fortnight’s time.</p> + +<p>The true professional digger passes his life in wandering +about from one new rush to another. Any regular employment +he considers beneath him; and except for the +purpose of raising sufficient money to carry him on to the +next diggings, he will never work for wages. No class of +men work so hard; as soon as it is light in the morning +he is off, and seldom knocks off before dark. That a man +should work so hard to get gold is not in the least odd, +but it is odd that the value he sets on it should be in +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</span>exactly inverse proportion to the trouble it costs him to +get it. And yet such is the case. As long as he is at +work, no miser could be more careful than a real digger in +the actual process of collecting gold. When he has got it, +no spendthrift could be more reckless in flinging it away. +Whether up to his knees in the freezing waters of the +Snowy River, or grilling under the fires of a Queensland +sun, no day is too long for him while he is on gold. Not +a crevice of his claim is unexplored, not a particle of dirt +likely to contain gold is wasted; and he will spend as +much time and trouble in collecting the finest particles of +gold in his dish, as if he were an analytical chemist making +an experiment in weights and measures. He toils patiently +on, day after day, week after week, undismayed by failure, +and quite unelated by success, until the moment comes +when something impels him irresistibly to squander all +that he has collected.</p> + +<p>The instant this happens, he knocks off work, and his +fetische at once assumes a different aspect. Not only does +the gold he has taken such pains to get become worthless, +but apparently it becomes an incumbrance that some +hidden law of his being obliges him to get rid of without +delay. The only variation in the method of this madness +is in the time allotted respectively to collecting and to +spending. This varies with the individual. Some men +will never work more than a week at a time before spending +all they have made; others will go on for several +weeks, even for months, before going on the spree, but +invariably with the same purpose, which seems to be +simply that of collecting sufficient to make fools of themselves. +At least 90 per cent of their earnings goes in +drink, of course; and the rest in good living when it is to +be had. Whilst working, a digger generally keeps sober, +but he lives on the best of food he can get. His drinking +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</span>is reserved for when he knocks off work. As a rule, if he +is getting gold, from Monday to Friday is about as long as +a digger can stand without a spree; he then flings down +his tools, leaves his claim, though he knows perfectly well +that by so doing he is liable to have it taken from him by +the first comer, and retires to the nearest public-house, to +spend what plunder he has amassed in getting hopelessly +drunk till Monday morning. He then creeps back, dejected +in appearance, and shaking in every limb from the effects +of the poisonous liquor he has swallowed, probably to find +that some less fortunate individual, who had not raised +sufficient for a spree by Friday, and so had to go on +working, had “jumped” his claim. A row ensues, which +is referred for immediate settlement to the arbitration of a +couple of shovels, or whatever weapons are handiest, and +subsequently to the decision of the Warden of the goldfield.</p> + +<p>The idea of saving any money, and settling down +anywhere to live comfortably, never enters a digger’s head. +He goes on at the same old game, sometimes for twenty or +thirty years, exactly as eager to get to a new field and peg +out the best claim as the first day he started, until drink, +exposure, and disease put an end to his wanderings. It is +only the new chum who occasionally has sense enough to +let well alone, and clear out on his first rise. I remember +a man who had only been a few months in the colony, who +used to dig in our garden at the station. He went up to +the diggings, with no more notion of a digger’s craft than +of astronomy. He had not been above a week or two at it +when he stumbled across a nugget of pure gold weighing +seventy ounces. The very same day he set off down to +the coast, climbed on to the first boat that started, and +went back to the old country. I never saw anyone in such +a hurry to get anywhere. But he was a very rare instance +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</span>of an uneducated man who did not get more harm than +good by finding gold. Although gold-digging is a profession +requiring the exercise of some of the best qualities +of human nature—enterprise, perseverance, a disregard of +hardships, accompanied by unceasing toil—still there is +something about the acquisition of the raw material direct +from the ground that has anything but an elevating effect +upon the lives of those who make it their business. This +is probably accounted for by the enormous element of pure +chance that enters into it. When employed in any other +profession, a man knows that, with fair abilities and +advantages, hard work is likely to be followed by the +acquisition of money in direct proportion to the amount of +energy and perseverance displayed. Profit follows labour +to a greater or less extent, as regularly as day follows night +in summer or winter.</p> + +<p>But it is quite otherwise with the profession of mining, +which is, in fact, the rankest gambling. Not only does a +digger know that it is quite possible he may find a great +deal of gold with very little trouble, but, worse still, he +knows he may work very hard without getting any gold at +all. He may toil for ten hours a day, and not “raise the +colour,” while his neighbour in the next claim, with half +the exertion, is getting an ounce of gold to the dish. He +therefore very justly ceases to connect the idea of profit +and labour in any way, and comes to regard his profession +as one of pure chance. Both wealth and labour lose their +true value in his estimation, the one from its being occasionally +unmerited, the other from its being frequently +unrewarded.</p> + +<p>The history of a new colony teems with examples in +every profession and occupation of money quickly made +and lightly lost; of men, on the one hand, who have +squandered vast fortunes in the attempt to increase them, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</span>and, on the other hand, of men who have started with +nothing at all, and by their own exertions and perseverance +amassed colossal wealth.</p> + +<p>The subsequent career of many of the latter has shown +them to be capable of employing their riches to the credit +of themselves and for the benefit of mankind. It is reserved +for the profession of mining to deal destruction to its +followers with the two-edged sword of profit and loss; and it +would seem that the only worse thing that can happen to +a man than losing money at it, is that he should make any.</p> + +<p>Numerous as are the instances of enormous fortunes +made in mining, I doubt if the history of the Australian +Colonies affords a score of examples where money so made +has not done more harm than good. As a rule its possessor +becomes bitten with an incurable mania for wild speculation, +if for nothing worse; and whether he makes a few ounces +out of a pot-hole in a creek and spends it at the nearest +shanty, or makes a rise of £100,000 out of a good reef and +fools it away trying to get more, it seems to be an inevitable +law that money made by mining should be provided with +something worse than wings.</p> + +<p>Innumerable are the cases where it has brought utter +ruin; a whole legion of the lost rises before me when I +think of it.</p> + +<p>I remember four men on Gympie, who in a short time +took £25,000 a-piece out of a claim. Previous to their +striking gold they had been sober, industrious men; but in +two years three out of the four, and one of their wives, +were dead from drink, and the fourth had lost all he was +worth in prospecting other claims.</p> + +<p>Another sad case I remember, of a man on Charters +Towers. He was a blacksmith by trade, but he dabbled a +little in mining, and by degrees got so much in debt to the +bank that they would not allow him to leave the field and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</span>go to the Palmer, a new rush which broke out a few hundred +miles away. He stuck to his claim, and one day struck +gold. In a short time he was in receipt of £500 a day, and +continued at that for a very long while. I do not think +anyone, not even himself, ever knew exactly how much he +was worth. If he had simply sat down, and stuck to his +money as fast as it came in, he would have been one of the +richest men in the colony. But he never did any good. +He taught himself to read and write; took to wild speculation +in other mines, in racehorses, in wheat, in everything; +drank like a fish; and finally completed his downward +career by becoming a member of the Legislative Assembly +in Brisbane, and his bankruptcy appeared a short time ago +in the London <i>Times</i>.</p> + +<p>Besides the fatality that apparently attends all profits +made from mining, the statistics show that it is the least +profitable of all professions. The average value of an +ounce of gold is £3:10s., but every ounce of gold raised +costs nearly £5 to get. In Victoria, where mining is more +economically and profitably worked than in any of the other +colonies, the average earnings of every man connected with +it in 1873 was only £98 per head, considerably less than +he could have made at the lowest wages work in the colony. +When we consider that every year some few individuals +make enormous fortunes at it, the balance of loss to be +distributed amongst the remainder is considerable.</p> + +<p>Still, it is an industry most necessary to the world at +large, and especially conducive to the prosperity of a young +colony, and it is well that there are men found willing to +carry it on. The <i>auri sacra fames</i> is a very pretty subject +for a moral essayist to decry, but it would be extremely +awkward if that particular form of it which impels men to +seek gold in the earth were eliminated from a community. +It is to that same hunger that no surfeit can satisfy, and no +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</span>defeat blunt the edge of, that we owe the constant supply +of victims, eager to embark in an industry which all must +allow is a very necessary one, but which is clearly proved +to be anything but profitable to those actually employed in +it. Besides the race of veteran diggers, a new rush, of +course, always attracts a heterogeneous crowd of outsiders, +many of whom have never handled a pick and shovel in +their lives, and whose pale faces and dissipated appearance +proclaim them town-loafers, and strangers to the bush and +hard work.</p> + +<p>When I first arrived on Mount Britten goldfield there +were seventy men on it, all living in tents. The only +building that had any appearance of permanence about it +was a butcher’s shop and store, made out of a few sheets of +bark and saplings. Flour had run out, the drays having +all stuck in the mud half-way from port to the diggings; +but there were tea, sugar, and tobacco, and a few tools to +be had, and any amount of beef, supplied by fat cattle from +the neighbouring run, two or three of which were run in +every week into a sapling yard near the butcher’s shop, and +killed. For some time beef was all we had to eat; but it +was very good, and there was plenty of it, so we were glad +enough to get it.</p> + +<p>The diggings are very prettily situated in the centre of +a horse-shoe formed by a spur running out from the main +range on to the plains. A heavily-timbered creek running +up the centre of the valley was where the gold was found +first. Vast ranges of mountains rise up all round, the +slopes of which are covered with forests of gigantic trees, +and patches of dense scrub. The summit of the range is +formed by a crown of cliffs, which rise sheer from the slopes +below to a height varying from 400 to 1000 feet, the red +and yellow tints of their rocks contrasting beautifully with +the sombre mass of dark-green woods below them.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</span></p> + +<p>Three very startling peaks, known as the Marlingspikes, +guard the entrance to the valley; bare sugar-loaves of +weather-beaten gray rock, quite detached from the main +range, which rise right out of the surrounding country to a +height of 1700 feet, and form a glorious landmark over +miles and miles of the adjacent plains.</p> + +<p>The first time I saw the valley of Mount Britten was +about sundown, and I never remember a more beautiful +sight. To the dwellers in the valley the sun sets early +behind the false range that lies between them and the west. +But just at the head of the valley there is a narrow dip in +the range, and through this the sunlight streams long after +the sun himself has disappeared. As I surveyed the scene, +seated on a rock at a considerable elevation above the valley, +the effect was most startling.</p> + +<p>Below my feet was stretched out a vast forest of every +conceivable shade of green, from black to emerald; here +and there the stem of some gigantic tree showing white +and ghostly against the surrounding mass of foliage.</p> + +<p>Along through the forest the creek wound its way, its +course distinctly marked by the darker green of the trees +that fringed its banks. A soft blue mist, the smoke of +many a camp-fire, was rising and creeping gently up the +valley, lingering just above the tops of the trees, as if +unwilling to leave their shelter. In the centre of the +valley rose a stupendous mass of rock, the rugged offspring +of some awful convulsion of nature, towering like a ruined +castle over the woods below, shadowy, vast, and indistinct +in the deepening shades of evening.</p> + +<p>Away to the head of the valley, through the gap in the +range, there swept across the forest a flood of amber light, +the dying glory of a setting sun, turning rocks and trees, +where it touched them, into figures of molten gold, and +lighting up the face of the opposite cliffs with a ruddy +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</span>glow, made all the more startling by the gloom of the +valley beneath. To the east, above the cliffs, the soft azure +of an autumn sky was hardening into the pure steel-blue of +a night such as only Queensland knows.</p> + +<p>Not a cloud marred the purity of the expanse above, not +a sound broke the stillness of the valley below. One by +one the stars blazed out in the deepening blue of their +eternal home, the green shades of the valley sank to rest in +the obscurity of advancing night, and still the amethyst +light lingered on the face of the cliffs above. The effect +was so weird I was spellbound as I watched it, and began +to experience an uncomfortable feeling of unreality, which +was fortunately dispelled by a <i>deus ex machina</i>, in the shape +of a green-head ant, which just then bit the back of my +neck. The bite of this insect is well calculated to dispel +any momentary illusions as to the reality of existence. For +some minutes the pain is excruciating, and by the time I +had recovered my temper the last rays of sunlight had +departed, leaving me to stumble down the steep side of a +mountain covered with long grass and rocks the best way I +could.</p> + +<p>Most of the men who were on the ground when I +arrived were getting fair gold, though nothing heavy had +as yet been discovered. Alluvial digging in Queensland +is never worth very much; in fact, with the exception of +the Palmer, on the Gulf of Carpentaria, nothing worth +calling an alluvial diggings has as yet been discovered. +In Victoria the alluvial diggings are of enormous extent +and great richness. They are worked on a scale requiring +a large capital, and go on for years and years yielding +tremendous profits.</p> + +<p>The underground workings of many of them are on a +gigantic scale. But in Queensland the run of gold is very +irregular, and never of any great extent.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</span></p> + +<p>Seldom at any depth, it is generally confined to “potholing” +and “crevicing” in the banks and bed of the +creeks. This was the case at Mount Britten. The alluvial +digging never extended above a few yards from the banks +of the creek, and all the heavy gold was found in the bed +of the creek itself, and cost little or no trouble to get, +beyond the bare labour of shifting and washing the soil. +No sinking or timbering was required, and what gold was +got, paid those well who got it.</p> + +<p>Taking into account the comparative worthlessness of +alluvial in Queensland, and the richness of many of the +reefs, Jack Absolon had not thought it worth while to +peg out a claim in the creek, but was spending his time +prospecting the ranges at the head of it, in search of a reef.</p> + +<p>From the appearance of the gold found in the creek, +which was very little water-worn, and mostly in the form +known as “specimen,”—that is, quartz and gold mixed,—and +from the formation of the surrounding country, it +seemed certain it must have come from a reef somewhere in +the ranges to the head of the creek. As yet nothing in +the shape of a reef carrying payable gold had been found; +but a prospector, Charley Gibbard by name, had got on to +a leader carrying nice gold, at the head of the valley.</p> + +<p>Jack Absolon and I had a consultation, and it was +determined that he and I, and his brother Dick, should go +on looking for a reef, without troubling about the alluvial. +Henceforth we were what is known on a diggings as +“dividing mates.” No written agreement is necessary. +The fact of two or more men working together on a +diggings constitutes a partnership in colonial law, which +enables either party to claim his share of anything found +by the others, and which can only be dissolved by the +parties forming it declaring before witnesses that they are +no longer mates.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp80" id="i_b166a" style="max-width: 42em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b166a.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + GOLD DIGGING: CRADLING AND PANNING-OFF. + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</span></p> + +<p>The process of searching for a golden reef is often one +requiring unlimited patience, and a great deal of hard +work. The first thing to do is to apply to the Warden of +the goldfield you are on for a Protection Area. You +can get one 400 yards square for a month. In this +piece of ground the prospector has the exclusive right of +hunting for a reef. No one else can come on to it, provided +he works eight hours a day on it. Having secured his +ground, the prospector sets to work to see if he can find +gold on the surface, by washing prospects of surface dirt +in a tin dish. Often he has to carry the dirt a long +distance to water, and to wash hundreds of dishes before +he gets a colour of gold.</p> + +<p>Once let him get on a trail of gold, however, if he +knows his trade he will never lose it. He will follow it up +with the instinct and patience of a hound, and it is a +hundred to one, unless the country is very broken, he will +find the reef it came from.</p> + +<p>Having followed the gold as far as he can trace it on +the surface, he then knows the reef is not below him, and +begins to look for it above. The usual course of true reefs +is nearly due north and south; sometimes they crop out of +the surface of the ground, with what is called a big “blow” +of quartz.</p> + +<p>Generally, however, the cap of the reef is a little distance +below the surface, and it is necessary to dig for it, which is +done by cutting narrow trenches, a foot or two deep, east +and west, so as to cut across the course of the reef you are +looking for.</p> + +<p>Sometimes the reef or leader is merely a thread of +pipeclay, or rotten quartz, no thicker than a sheet of +paper, but there is no mistaking the formation when once +you know it.</p> + +<p>Having hit on the reef, if it is what is known as +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</span>“mullocky”—that is, soft and rotten—the next thing is to +take out a prospect from between the walls, and wash it to +see if it carries gold. If the reef is well defined, and the +quartz hard, it requires to be crushed in an iron mortar +before the prospect is washed.</p> + +<p>Day after day the Absolons and I used to scour the +ranges, opening up and prospecting numerous reefs and +leaders, without coming upon anything that looked at all +payable. Meanwhile, every hour brought news of richer +alluvial finds in the creek below.</p> + +<p>A real rush had now set in. Men poured in by +hundreds, and the whole creek was pegged out in claims +from the lowest point where gold had been found right up +to the head in the ranges where we were working. In two +months from the time I came there were nearly 2000 +men on the field. Hundreds came from the adjacent +colonies, and many even from New Zealand, attracted by +the fabulous reports that never fail to be circulated about +a new rush, and never fail to be believed.</p> + +<p>These mad stampedes to a new rush are occasionally +attended with very serious consequences. Thousands flock +from all sides, each anxious to get first on to the field, +without the slightest idea of how he is going to support life +when he gets there, and usually entirely destitute of means +to carry him away from it should the new field prove a +failure.</p> + +<p>Rockhampton, the second largest town in Queensland, +owes its existence to a “duffer rush.” Gold was discovered +at a place called Canoona, thirty miles higher up the +Fitzroy River. In a short time there were about 50,000 +men deposited by steamers on the bare banks of the +Fitzroy, with no means of procuring food, or of getting +away again.</p> + +<p>The Government was obliged to supply them with +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</span>means of getting away; but before this was done, many of +them were reduced to absolute starvation. The township +of Rockhampton was formed to supply the diggings.</p> + +<p>The rush to Mount Britten was stopped before it assumed +a serious phase, but at no time was the field capable +of supporting more than 200 men on payable gold. +Most of those who came were rank new-chums at digging. +Instead of setting to work to look for a new run of gold, +they generally confined themselves to the melancholy +pastime of sitting down and watching others getting it, +and by and by, finding that, with a few exceptions, gold is +no more to be picked up without hard work on a diggings +than anywhere else, they cleared out, leaving the fortunate +ones who had secured good claims to work them out.</p> + +<p>It is always difficult to estimate the amount of alluvial +gold taken from a field, owing to the unwillingness of all +old hands to tell anyone how much they have got or +are getting. But I reckon that at least 10,000 ounces +must have been taken from the two miles of the creek to +which the diggings were confined, and, from the inexperience +of many of those who worked the ground, it is certain +that as much gold was wasted as was got.</p> + +<p>By and by a mob of Chinamen, the most patient, persevering, +hard-working of all races under the sun, will start +and systematically “ground-sluice” the whole course of +the creek, from one end of the workings to the other, and +make a real good thing of it.</p> + +<p>A dead set has been made at this unfortunate race by +the inhabitants of Queensland. A poll-tax of £10 a head +has been imposed upon them on entering the colony, and +they are not allowed upon any goldfield until it has been +open two years.</p> + +<p>Very heavy gold was now being got in the creek below +where we were working, and the finding of nuggets ranging +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</span>from ten to twenty ounces was no unusual occurrence. +Occasionally a wild shout would come ringing up the +valley, hailing the appearance of one of these “welcome +strangers.” A knot of men would immediately congregate +round the finder, whose joy betrayed him a novice at the +trade, and the whole lot would probably adjourn incontinently +to the “pub.,” and, handing the plunder over the +counter, never cease drinking as long as the publican’s +conscience impelled him to supply them with liquor, which +would probably be to about one-fourth of the value of the +gold he had received from them.</p> + +<p>These repeated cries of joy were getting too much for +Dick Absolon. The gold fever attacked him with a violence +not to be allayed by wandering about the ranges looking +for a reef. It was with difficulty that Jack and I dissuaded +him from going to try his luck at the alluvial. But the +more gold they found in the creek, the more certain +we were that there must be a good reef somewhere near +us.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Gibbard was opening up his reef, which +looked very promising; so when he offered to sell me an +eighth share in the claim, I closed with him. He had +christened his reef the “Little Wanderer.”</p> + +<p>One day soon after this, Jack, who had been patiently +following a trail of gold up a little gulley in our Protection +Area, discovered the cap of a reef from which it seemed +likely the gold had come. A few hours’ work exposed the +reef clearly defined between two walls about two feet thick. +The cap was of hard, hungry-looking spar; but when we +had removed that, a vein of very healthy-looking bluish +quartz was opened up. We broke up a few pieces, and in +almost every one gold was plainly visible.</p> + +<p>It is very rich stone that shows gold when you break +it; usually it has to be crushed to powder and washed +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</span>before gold shows, and many reefs pay well to work in +which you never see a colour of gold in breaking down.</p> + +<p>Jack and I looked at each other, and our countenances +expanded into a smile of satisfied delight. Dick was +called up from where he was working a bit down the side +of the mountain, and we all sat down and had a smoke, a +solemn rite never neglected by an Australian when entering +upon a new phase of his career.</p> + +<p>Alas! <i>Aurum irrepertum et sic melius situm!</i> Perhaps +it would have been better for me if we had never found it +at all. No such misgivings crossed our minds at the time, +however, and we hit out with a will to see what our new +reef was worth.</p> + +<p>A few days’ sinking on the underlie of the reef opened +up such a fine-looking body of stone, carrying splendid +gold, that we decided to give notice to the Warden of the +finding of a payable reef, and get him to come and lay off +our claim.</p> + +<p>Anyone finding a reef that in the opinion of the Warden +of the field is a payable one, can take up as much ground +along the line of reef as he pleases; but he is bound by the +Government regulations to keep one man at work on it for +every hundred feet he takes up, until there is machinery +on the ground, and after that, one man for every fifty feet. +The breadth of a reef-claim is always 400 feet.</p> + +<p>A few feet to the north of where we first found the reef, +its course was intersected by what is known as a cross-course; +that is, a belt of foreign country cutting diagonally +right through the reef, and shifting the course of it away +towards the east. Beyond this cross-course we found the +reef again, carrying still richer gold than below, and it was +here we finally decided to commence operations.</p> + +<p>We applied for six men’s ground; that is, 300 feet along +the reef, which, with a reward claim of 100 feet which is +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</span>always given to the first prospectors of a new reef, would +give us a claim 400 feet square. Nothing can be done +without the sanction of the Warden of the goldfield, whose +business it is to see that the Government regulations are +carried out, and who has full power to settle any disputes +about claims that may arise in the most arbitrary manner.</p> + +<p>Mount Britten was not yet of sufficient importance to +be honoured with a Warden of its own, so the Warden for +Clermont had his jurisdiction extended to take in our field. +Clermont is 180 miles from Mount Britten, and often we +had to wait a couple of months before getting the decision +of the Warden as to some point in dispute.</p> + +<p>The first thing to do upon finding a new reef is to +christen it. After some discussion we decided to call ours +the “Erratic Star”; its subsequent behaviour fully testified +to the justice of the first part of the title. I do not suppose +there ever was a reef whose wanderings so entirely mystified +those who attempted to follow them.</p> + +<p>This time the Warden was not long coming; but by the +time he came we had already driven a tunnel in along the +course of the reef for some distance, opening up magnificent +stone as we went along. Our claim was situated on the +fall of a very steep spur of the range, down the centre of +which the course of the reef ran.</p> + +<p>The Warden climbed up the hill to inspect our workings, +and we invited him to scratch a prospect out of the reef +for himself. He took a few pieces of stone from different +parts of the reef, and we all retired down to the creek to +crush them and wash out the gold. A mob of at least a +hundred idlers, attracted by the smell of gold, sat round, +like crows round a killing-yard, to watch the proceedings.</p> + +<p>When the prospects were washed out, the excitement +amongst the crowd was immense. As the last particles of +dirt were deftly washed out of the dish by Jack Absolon, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</span>leaving the gold exposed, the Warden’s jaw dropped, and +his eyes started out of his head with surprise. Even Jack +and I began to stare at each other. We had expected to +get a good show; half a pennyweight, or a pennyweight at +most, which would have been a tremendously rich prospect. +Instead of which, though the stone was by no means +carefully crushed, we got at least a quarter of an ounce of +gold out of about a pound and a half of stone. As soon as +he had recovered from his astonishment the Warden congratulated +us upon our discovery, and laid off our claim on +the spot.</p> + +<p>In anticipation of this auspicious moment I had armed +myself with a couple of bottles of rum, with which we +proceeded to celebrate the occasion.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIII"> + CHAPTER XIII. + <br> + <span style="font-size: medium;">GOLD-DIGGING</span> + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>When I first came to the diggings, I pitched my camp on +the bank of the creek about two miles below the reefs. It +never was much of a camp at the best of times. A piece +of calico stretched over a pole supported by two forked +saplings formed the roof, and the sides were made of a few +sheets of bark knocked off the nearest trees. It rained +incessantly for weeks after I got there, and, the calico roof +being no more use for turning water than a hair-sieve, +everything I had was always wet through, and the floor of +my camp a morass of black mud.</p> + +<p>Besides having to walk two miles up a steep rocky path +to get to my work every morning, and the same distance +home at night, the increasing population of the place made +my camp a most undesirable one. A rowdy township was +springing up all round it. Two stores, a post-office, a +tobacconist and bookseller’s shop, and no less than five +public-houses, surrounded my peaceful abode.</p> + +<p>Besides all these buildings, which were constructed at +considerable trouble and expense out of sheets of box-tree +bark and saplings, a perfect forest of tents grew up like +mushrooms all round. One of these infernal public-houses +was put up a few yards from my tent, and sleep at night +became out of the question.</p> + +<p>An army of drunken revellers made night hideous with +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</span>their yells. They used to start drinking about sundown, +and pass successively through the convivial, uproarious, and +quarrelsome stages of drunkenness during the night, ending +with total collapse about five in the morning. No early-closing +interfered with the even tenor of their enjoyment, +and there were no police to damp the geniality of their +proceedings. As a rule, the fun did not begin much before +one in the morning, by which time they had drunk sufficient +to make them quarrelsome, and fighting took the place of +singing for the remainder of the night.</p> + +<p>This sort of programme was no doubt infinitely entertaining +to those who assisted at it, most of whom slept +solidly through the hours of sunlight, only waking up in +time to begin the next night’s orgie; but to anyone who +had to work in the day, and wanted to rest at night, it was +simply maddening. Nearly every night one or more of +these Bacchanalians would stagger into my tent, and either +collapse in a shapeless heap on the floor or begin shouting +for liquor in language that made the whole place smell of +sulphur. It was difficult to know what to do with them. +Threatening to shoot them never had the slightest effect, +and one has naturally a great disinclination to hammer a +man when he is drunk, even though he does wake one out +of a comfortable sleep at three o’clock on a cold winter’s +morning. If they were very drunk, I used to drag them +out and roll them down the bank of the creek into the +bushes that grew below.</p> + +<p>One bitter cold night I was woke up by one of these +worthies hammering at the sheet of bark I had stuck in +the doorway of my tent to keep out intruders. He was +demanding a drink in a whining voice of abject distress +that would have done credit to a professional beggar. A +happy thought occurred to me, and instead of replying in +the language I was in the habit of using to my nocturnal +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</span>visitors, I very civilly begged him to wait one moment while +I got him a drink. A bucket of ice-cold water from the +creek was standing by the doorway of my tent. Rising +softly, I crept to the door and peered over the sheet of +bark, which was barely five feet high, to ascertain his +exact whereabouts. He was crouching close to the foot of +it, so I seized the bucket of water and emptied it gently +but firmly all over him. A galvanic shock could not have +cleared him out quicker. He disappeared into the distance, +too much surprised to say anything but “Oh dear! oh +dear!” which he kept on repeating as long as I could hear +him. He even forgot to swear. The night was so cold, +and his voice sounded so utterly dreary as he went off, not +even my fury at having been woke up prevented my being +sorry for him, and my heart smote me at the thoughts of +the miserable night he must have passed.</p> + +<p>However, I had something better to do than shepherd +drunken men all night, and I settled to shift my camp up +the creek. I fixed on a place about a mile and a half above +the township, on the bank of the creek, about half a mile +below the reefs, for my new camp. I had sent a man out, +some time before, to strip me seventy sheets of box-tree +bark, on the plains a few miles away. He made an attempt +to draw them right up to my camp with a bullock-waggon, +but the country was too rough and too heavily timbered. +He got his waggon stuck in a short gully, and his team of +sixteen bullocks so beautifully mixed up round the trees on +the opposite bank, it took him a clear half-day to get out +again.</p> + +<p>When I found him he had been stuck about three hours. +He was then perfectly exhausted with swearing, and as no +team of bullocks will ever move without the incentive of +most awful language on the part of the driver, he was +obliged to hire a man to help him swear at them for the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</span>rest of the afternoon. So universal is this habit amongst +bullock-drivers, and so well do their bullocks know the +words that precede the application of the whip, they will +not attempt to exert themselves until they hear them. I +knew a man who once bought an admirable team of bullocks +that were perfectly useless to him, from his disinclination +to address them in the language they were used to hearing.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp80" id="i_b176b" style="max-width: 42em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b176b.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + BULLOCK-TEAM CROSSING A LOG BRIDGE. + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>The driver had unloaded my sheets of bark about a mile +below my camp, so I hired a mob of Blacks to carry them +the rest of the way. This is the sort of work at which a +Black-fellow shines, and which no white man I ever saw +could do. Each sheet of bark was from six to eight feet +long, and four or five feet wide. Many of them weighed +considerably over a hundredweight each, and it is difficult +to imagine more awkward things to handle. And yet +some miserable, half-starved looking “gin,” whose spindle +legs look barely equal to supporting her own weight, will +get under one of these enormous sheets of bark, and, +balancing it on her head, walk off with it up a steep rocky +path, for half a mile at a stretch, with perfect ease.</p> + +<p>In a couple of days my new hut was finished. Of all +buildings a bark hut is the quickest and easiest to put +up, and the most comfortable to live in in a climate like +Queensland. The framework is made of round saplings, +on which the sheets of bark are laid and secured by strips +of green hide. If the bark is carefully put on, and plenty +of lap allowed for each sheet over the next one, it is perfectly +proof against wind and rain, and in summer the +thickness of the bark keeps the heat out admirably.</p> + +<p>One of the chief elements of amusement on the field +was an old German doctor who came and settled there. +Although he was one of the cleverest men in his profession +I ever saw, and a wonderful surgeon besides, he never made +any money in Queensland because he was a homœopath.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</span></p> + +<p>The Queensland Government, not contented with figuring +before the civilised world as sordid and immoral politicians, +never lose an opportunity of proving themselves benighted +barbarians as well. Accordingly, they refuse to recognise +a homœopathic physician’s diploma; and he is, therefore, +not legally able to recover his fees. The world is not slow +to take advantage of this, as the poor old doctor found to +his cost. He was far too kindhearted ever to refuse his +services to those who were really in need of them; but it +speaks ill for humanity that, out of the many patients I +knew who called him in, and were perfectly well able to +pay him, very few ever did so. Had he been paid one +half of what he justly earned, he would have made a very +good living on the field.</p> + +<p>But I have known him keep sick men for weeks in his +own hut, sitting up with them at night, and feeding them +on the best of everything he could procure for them, only +to see them clear out without paying him a farthing. Often +I knew for a fact that the scoundrels who did this had +quantities of gold in their possession, and they generally +proved it by celebrating their recovery at the adjacent +“pub.” with a tremendous spree.</p> + +<p>Later on, when the reefs were in full swing, and I had +nearly a hundred men in my employ, I used to help him all +I could by threatening to sack any men working for me +who availed themselves of his services without paying him. +But I could not do him much good, and finally he was +starved out and had to leave the field.</p> + +<p>I was very sorry when he went. He had a claim in the +creek. I do not think there was ever anything in it, but +it was close to his tent, and it used to amuse him to go and +imagine he was working tremendously hard in it.</p> + +<p>One day the doctor was subpœnaed to attend an inquiry +on the death of a man at Nebo, a township about twenty-seven +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</span>miles off. While he was away a party of men jumped +his claim, and on his return he found them hard at work in +it. They had not the slightest right to do it, as he was +called away on Government work; but what annoyed the +doctor more than anything was, that they absolutely refused +to stop working until the dispute was settled.</p> + +<p>The rule is, that, if there is any dispute about a claim, +it is to be referred at once to the Warden of the field. +Pending his decision neither party has any right to work +in the claim, and anyone who works a disputed claim at +once forfeits any right in it.</p> + +<p>The three men who had jumped the doctor’s claim had +done about as much work in the forty-eight hours he had +been away as he had done himself in the six weeks he had +been there; and from the rapidity with which they progressed, +it became perfectly apparent that long before the +Warden could arrive the biggest part of his claim would +be worked out.</p> + +<p>The doctor’s fury knew no bounds. He stormed and +swore, and threatened and raved, but without the slightest +effect in stopping the plundering of his claim.</p> + +<p>Before two days were over, there was not a man in the +field who did not know all about it, and the Doctor’s Claim +became the sort of theatre of the diggings, to which anyone, +who had nothing better to do, adjourned to see what was +going on. A more amusing scene than it occasionally +presented it is impossible to imagine.</p> + +<p>The old doctor was very short, very fat, and quite bald. +His usual get-up was the most entirely disreputable one I +ever saw, consisting of a pair of untanned leather slippers, +no socks, a pair of flannel pajamas, a thin jersey with as +many holes to the square foot as a herring net, finished off +with a red cotton nightcap balanced on one ear. Thus +attired, he was generally to be found executing a frantic +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</span>war-dance on the edge of his claim, hurling the most awful +language at his enemies below, three murderous-looking +Italian scoundrels, who continued grubbing away, perfectly +indifferent to everything but their one object of looking for +gold. A fair-sized audience of loafers was generally seated +around, encouraging the doctor, and trying to wind him up +to the point of dropping a stone on his foes’ heads below.</p> + +<p>The poor old doctor was far too good-natured ever +willingly to hurt a flea, but to hear him talk when excited +would make anyone feel quite weak who did not know +him. He was absolute master of the English language, +and displayed a knowledge of its back premises I had not +the slightest idea a foreigner could ever attain. Under the +influence of passion, he would run down a chromatic scale +of declamation, with an ornamental fluency that never +failed to excite admiration, even from those at whom it +was levelled.</p> + +<p>I remember one day, after a more than usually severe +attack of what he called “Choleric nervousness,” the old +doctor turned suddenly round, and found he had been +overheard by a clergyman. The countenance of this +worthy man, I am grieved to say, indicated more admiration, +and less regret, than the occasion called for.</p> + +<p>“My dear doctor,” he observed, “I suppose it is my +duty to tell you it is very wrong to use such language; +but I am going to do nothing of the kind. I am simply +going to ask you how, when, and where on earth did you +learn to swear like that?”</p> + +<p>“Learn?” said the doctor; “learn! my good sir, you +<i>can’t</i> learn it. It is a gift!”</p> + +<p>About this time the Government thought fit to honour +the field with the presence of a policeman. He was a poor +miserable crow-bait of an Irishman, and, like most of his +compatriots, an arrant coward when alone.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</span></p> + +<p>I have often noticed that if half-a-dozen Irishmen can +manage to set upon two or three men, they are all as brave +as lions. But get one by himself, and he is a wretched +funk.</p> + +<p>The specimen sent up to keep the peace on the diggings +was no exception to the rule. He used to creep about +under the shade of a pith helmet, with a huge revolver +dangling in front of him, like a Scotchman’s sporran. He +never ventured beyond the most crowded parts of the field, +and, if called upon to act in an official capacity, his face +used to turn the colour of cigar-ash with terror.</p> + +<p>The doctor, however, hailed his arrival with delight, as +he thought he saw his way to bringing the arm of the law +to bear upon the plunderers of his claim. Off he started +and called upon the constable to interfere at once, and stop +the work. So far from doing this, it was with the greatest +difficulty the constable could be persuaded to visit the +claim at all, and, when there, he absolutely refused to +interfere.</p> + +<p>The doctor, whose last hope had now departed, became +perfectly beside himself. The foam flew in spray from his +lips, but for the first time in his life language failed him, +and he became inarticulate from fury. Suddenly a horrible +sort of spurious calm came over him, and he retired into +his tent. In a minute he reappeared armed with the fossil +remains of an aged pistol. One glance at it was sufficient +to show that it was fearfully dangerous everywhere except +at the business end, and that if it ever did go off, the safest +place to stand would be straight in front of it.</p> + +<p>No such reassuring considerations entered the mind of +the constable. He remained rooted to the spot with terror, +while the doctor’s shaking fingers accomplished the task of +loading.</p> + +<p>An enormous audience had by this time assembled, most +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</span>of whom were stretched on the ground in convulsions of +laughter. Even the three ruffians in the claim became +interested, and ceased their monotonous occupation of +baling water and cradling to watch the proceedings. <i>Stetit +urna paullum sicca</i>, while the doctor delivered his harangue +at the constable, for whom flight had now become impossible. +He was trembling so that he certainly could not +have walked, besides which, the doctor had edged round, +and pinned him against a bank from which there was +no escape. Drawing gradually nearer towards him, and +brandishing his weapon all the while, the doctor swore all +he knew that he was going to kill him on the spot.</p> + +<p>The wretched man’s terror now almost overcame him. +His jaw dropped, he half-shut his eyes, and threw back his +head in a mute appeal, which ought to have softened the +doctor’s heart, but which merely excited him afresh.</p> + +<p>“Call yourself a policeman!” he screamed; “why do +you hold your head back like a fowl drinking water? I +kill five better men than you on the Lachlan before breakfast, +for nothing at all! So help me three men and a boy, +I shoot you now like one damn dog!”</p> + +<p>The few of us who were not too weak from laughing +began to think it was time to interfere, when suddenly the +doctor’s attention was caught by a parrot seated in a tree +over his head.</p> + +<p>“Look!” he shouted in a voice that would have frightened +anything but a parrot into the next colony. “Look! you +say I can’t shoot! I soon show you. Watch me knock +the stuffing out of that parrot, then you know what I do +to you next time I catch you loafing round my side of the +creek!”</p> + +<p>A breathless silence ensued, while the doctor levelled +his weapon at the now interested parrot. After aiming +for about two minutes and a half, he pulled the trigger. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</span>The cap exploded and the parrot flew screaming away, +leaving one of its tail feathers, in its hurry, to float gently +down at the doctor’s feet.</p> + +<p>Nothing could exceed his pride and delight, and none +of us were cruel enough to mar it by suggesting he could +not have hit the parrot because his pistol had never gone +off. Brandishing the feather as a trophy, he scattered a +glance of withering contempt at the reviving constable, +and retired to his tent to spend the afternoon in trying to +give electric shocks to a mob of Blacks, by the bait of a +shilling placed in a basin of water connected with a small +battery.</p> + +<p>The inside of his hut presented the climax of disorder +and untidiness. Rows of medicine-bottles were littered +along the shelves, some with corks, some with none, mixed +up with tins of pepper, boxes of ointment, jars of pickles, +old clothes, and carpenter’s tools. Surgical instruments +used for cutting up tobacco or spreading butter, frying-pans, +telescopes, boots, books, photographs, tobacco-pipes, the +remains of a damper, and several packs of cards, were +generally strewed about the floor, in a way suggestive of +nothing short of an earthquake in a curiosity shop. Here +he was generally to be found, when not dancing around his +claim, bending over the fire, in the agonies of concocting +some vile stew, which none but a German is capable of +eating. I have seen him put tea, rum, milk, colonial wine, +mustard, lime-juice, vinegar, and ginger into a sauce for +some hideous mess which he afterwards ate.</p> + +<p>The capacity of his internal economy was enormous. +One Sunday I invited a party of seven, including the doctor, +to dinner. I made two plum puddings in honour of the +occasion, each about the size of my head. Seven of us ate +one, and the doctor ate the other. He had already stowed +away two vast mountains of salt beef, so no one was surprised +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</span>when, after attending the funeral of a whole pudding, he +patted his distended waistcoat, and observed that he “felt +as if he had one schnake coiled up there!” After which +he became partially torpid for some hours.</p> + +<p>The Little Wanderer reef, at which Gibbard was working, +soon began to show heavy gold. He had three mates +in the claim, two of whom drank themselves out, and I +bought their shares at the same figure which I had paid +Gibbard for his.</p> + +<p>The third, a young fellow called S——, formerly an +officer in the navy, was killed in a very sad manner. A +drunken man came into his tent one night, and S—— +got up and turned him out. The man closed with him +and threw him, and, in falling, a stake of poison-wood +entered S——’s leg, inflicting a shocking wound. His +hut was not far from mine, and after his accident I used to +go down and sit with him in the evenings after work. For +a few days he seemed to be going on all right, and I believe, +if it had been possible to have kept him quite quiet and +away from everyone, he might have recovered. But he +had been drinking heavily for some time past, and now he +drank more than ever; for the whole day long, and well +into the night, his hut was besieged by a succession of +visitors anxious to show their sympathy for his misfortune. +Unfortunately their invariable method of doing so was to +insist upon his having a drink with them; and his wound, +which was a serious one in any case, soon began to assume +a dangerous appearance.</p> + +<p>On the fifth night the old doctor came and told me that +he thought very badly of him, so I immediately went round +to his hut. A sadder sight than the interior of it presented +I never saw. There was no furniture of any kind, of course, +and the floor was a thick paste of black mud. Seated on +packing-cases or buckets turned upside down, were five or +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</span>six of the rowdiest men on the diggings. On the floor was +a tin prospecting-dish half full of rum, and a bucket of +water, and each man helped him with a pannikin when he +wanted a drink.</p> + +<p>The place was so thick with tobacco smoke that at first +I could hardly see across it, though the hut was not above +twelve feet long. By degrees, as my eyes got accustomed +to it, the light of a fat-lamp at the far end showed me poor +S—— lying on a rough sort of bed made of a sheet of +bark laid upon a heap of grass.</p> + +<p>A great change had come over him since I had last seen +him, not very many hours before, and I felt certain, directly +I looked at him, that he was dying. His cheery features +had a drawn and haggard look, and already there was that +unmistakable far-off look in his eyes that too surely announces +the speedy approach of death. Evidently his +companions had not the slightest idea of the state he was +in. To do them justice they were all half drunk, and doing +their best to become quite so; but when I came in they +were all shouting and laughing and blaspheming, with the +most uproarious cheerfulness, and one of them had just +called on S—— to give them a song.</p> + +<p>S—— himself was perfectly sober, and, I am certain, +knew that he had only a few hours to live. But he came +of the sort that die very hard, and, calling for a pannikin +of rum, he raised himself on his elbow to comply with his +mates’ request. The hardened and reckless countenances +of those revellers, drinking in the presence of death, the +unearthly look upon S——’s face, rendered doubly ghastly +by the miserable flickering light over his head, formed +a scene which I shall never forget. His voice rang out +clear in the weird, solemn silence of a winter’s night, and +the words of his last song are indelibly impressed upon my +memory. They contain only too true a history of his own +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</span>ruined life, and of hundreds of others who have fallen +victims to the terrible curse of drink.</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Who cares for nothing alone is free:</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Sit down, good fellow, and drink with me.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With a careless heart and a merry eye</div> + <div class="verse indent0">He will laugh at the world as the world goes by.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">He laughs at power, and wealth, and fame;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">He laughs at virtue, he laughs at shame;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">He laughs at hope, and he laughs at fear,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And at memory’s dead leaves, crisp and sear;</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">He laughs at the future, cold and dim,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Nor earth nor heaven is dear to him:</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Oh! that is the comrade fit for me,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">He cares for nothing, his soul is free,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Free as the soul of the fragrant wine!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Sit down, good fellow, my heart is thine;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">For I heed not custom, creed, nor law,—</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I care for nothing that ever I saw.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">In every city my cup I quaff,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And over my liquor I riot and laugh.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I laugh like the cruel and turbulent wave,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I laugh at the church, and I laugh at the grave;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I laugh at joy, and right well I know</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That I merrily, merrily laugh at woe.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I terribly laugh, with an oath and a sneer,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">When I think that the hour of death is near;</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">For I know that Death is a guest divine</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Who will drink my blood as I drink this wine.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Ah! he cares for nothing, a king is he!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Come on, old fellow, and drink with me.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">With you I will drink to the solemn past,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Though the cup that I drain should be my last;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I will drink to the Phantoms of Love and Truth,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To ruined manhood and wasted youth.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">I will drink to the woman that wrought my woe,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In the diamond morning of long ago;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To a heavenly face in sweet repose,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To the lily’s snow and the blood of the rose.</div> +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</span> <div class="verse indent0">To the splendour caught from southern skies,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That shone in the depths of her glorious eyes;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Her large eyes wild with the fire of the South,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And the dewy wine of her warm, red mouth.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">I will drink to the thought of a better time,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To innocence gone like a death-bell chime;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I will drink to the shadow of coming doom,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To the phantoms that wait in my lonely tomb.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I will drink to my soul in its terrible mood,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Dimly and solemnly understood.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And lastly I drink to the monarch of Sin,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Who has conquered that fortress and reigns within.</div> + </div> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">My sight is fading, it dies away;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I cannot tell, is it night or day?</div> + <div class="verse indent0">My heart is burnt and blackened with pain,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And a horrible darkness crushes my brain;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">I cannot see you—the end is nigh,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But we’ll drink together before I die.</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Through awful chasms I plunge and fall,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Your hand, good fellow; I die—that’s all.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>Exhausted by the exertion, S—— sank down again on +the couch, and a deadly look came over his face. Even +the drunkards began to see that there was something +wrong, and obeyed a not very civil recommendation to +clear out of the hut with unexpected readiness. I got +the doctor to come as soon as I could, and he at once +pronounced S——’s case to be hopeless. Mortification set +in, and he died not many hours after.</p> + +<p>He was a great favourite with all who knew him, and +much regretted, especially by his mates, as he used to +do all the work in their claim in the creek, while they got +drunk at the public-houses. His share in the Wanderer +Reef was sold by auction, and knocked down to me at the +reserve price, without a bid.</p> + +<p>I and Gibbard were now sole owners of the Wanderer, +I holding seven-eighths and he one-eighth.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</span></p> + +<p>Meanwhile the Absolons and I had got down with our +shaft on the Erratic Star to a depth of sixty feet, and +the prospects on both reefs were so good that I determined +to put up machinery for crushing the stone. For this +purpose I went down to Gympie, one of the chief goldfields +of Queensland, and got the estimate of a first-rate +engineer for the cost and erection of a battery of ten head +of stampers, and a seventeen horse-power stationary engine. +His estimate was £1500 for the cost of the machinery +in Melbourne, and £1000 for the cost of erection on +the field.</p> + +<p>I mentally doubled his estimate on the spot; but, for +the benefit of anyone who is ever tempted to go in for +putting up a quartz-mill on a new field, I may here observe +that before I had completed the work it cost £9000. It is +almost impossible to estimate beforehand the cost of such +an undertaking in new country, a hundred miles from +anywhere where you can buy a nail or a piece of string. +The natural difficulties incidental to the work are great +enough, but in my case the unnatural ones I had to +contend against were greater still.</p> + +<p>As a rule, anyone who starts putting up machinery on a +new gold field, or who does anything towards developing +any sort of mining, is hailed as a public benefactor by the +neighbouring towns. The inhabitants, especially of the +nearest seaport towns, hasten to display their appreciation +of the good gifts of Providence by putting the roads +between themselves and the new diggings in good order, +and vie with each other in offering every assistance to the +prospectors and promoters of the mines.</p> + +<p>The reason of this is not far to seek. Nothing gives +such an impulse to the trade of a seaport as the vicinity +of a diggings. Many large towns have been called into +existence by nothing else. The town of Melbourne itself, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</span>one of the greatest wonders of the world, with its 300,000 +inhabitants, its broad streets, its magnificent public buildings, +and its almost unlimited wealth, owes its rise, its very +existence, to the Ballarat diggings.</p> + +<p>It is a very common thing for the storekeepers of a +town to supply parties of men with tools and rations gratis, +for months at a time, to prospect the adjacent country in +hopes of discovering a gold field.</p> + +<p>The Mount Britten diggings, upon which I was at +work, was most unfortunately situated. The only possible +means of communication with the coast was through the +port of Mackay, from which it was distant 100 miles by +road. Now the distance was nothing, and the road, fairly +good at all times, might easily have been made an excellent +one. But the township of Mackay is a very peculiar one. +It is the saccharopolis of Queensland, and in point of +intelligence may safely be described as the Bœotia of +Australia.</p> + +<p>The planters of the district have long been a byword +for meanness and stupidity. Entirely absorbed in the +process of growing and making sugar, they absolutely +refuse to acknowledge the importance of any other industry, +and have always entertained an unreasoning aversion +to any kind of mining in the neighbourhood, only to +be accounted for by the supposition that a prolonged course +of sugar-boiling has turned their heads into vacuum-pans, +and raised the density of their wits to the level of that of +their most prolific cane-juice.</p> + +<p>Nothing is of more vital importance to the prosperity +of a coast town in Australia than to keep open its communication +with the interior. If the outside roads are +allowed to fall into bad repair, the wool and other traffic +is rapidly diverted to some other port; and, once lost, it +is extremely difficult to regain.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</span></p> + +<p>The difference of fifty or sixty miles more or less is +nothing to a carrier, compared with the difference between +a bad and a good road. When in the interior he will +infallibly choose the best road to the coast, though it may +be very much the longest.</p> + +<p>And yet I have heard one of the leading planters, at a +meeting of the Mackay Road Board, openly declare that +Mackay had nothing to do with the interior, that she did +not want the wool, or the copper, or the gold, or the +squatters; and that there was no necessity to spend a +shilling in keeping up the road to the interior.</p> + +<p>Now I should be the last person to under-rate the value +of the sugar industry to Mackay. It has raised a population +of 7000 people, where formerly there were not thirty, +and brought some millions of capital into the district. +But I cannot conceive why Mackay, because it is blessed +with one most prosperous industry, should close its doors +to every other.</p> + +<p>The dislike of the planters to any sort of mining being +started in the district I can, to a certain extent, understand. +They are ignorant and shortsighted, and no doubt imagine +that the proximity of a diggings would raise the price of +labour on their plantations. It would do nothing of the +kind. The class of men who follow mining as a profession +are quite distinct from the sort of hands required on a +plantation.</p> + +<p>Besides this, a diggings always attracts a large number +of men who go there with a vague idea they are going to +get gold, but are destitute of either the knowledge or the +means to set about it. They dig for a while, and, finding +the work very hard and gold very scarce, they clear out, +and are glad to find employment elsewhere.</p> + +<p>Our station, which lay half-way between Mackay and +the diggings, was inundated with men returning from the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</span>field in search of work. So that it is probable that the +immediate effect of a diggings in the neighbourhood would +be to lower, rather than to raise, the price of labour on +the plantations; while the indirect benefit that the planters +would derive from the increased trade of the town would +be considerable.</p> + +<p>Whatever the planters’ views might be, I should have +thought that the storekeepers in Mackay would have +held but one opinion as to the advantages they would +be likely to derive from a diggings. And yet so saturated +were they with the prevailing sugar mania, and so servilely +dependent upon the planters had they become, I soon +found out that any exertions upon their part would be +directed more towards retarding than assisting the progress +of the diggings.</p> + +<p>The whole district unanimously refused to spend a penny +on repairing the road to the Mount Britten field. My +orders for goods were persistently unattended to or delayed. +The manager of one of the principal banks took the trouble +to ride up to the field for the sole purpose of returning +to spread false reports as to the poverty of the reefs +which I was engaged in working. My own agents left my +machinery lying for weeks on the wharf, and sent empty +away the carriers whom I myself had taken the trouble +to hunt up and send down for loading. The inconvenience +and loss which I suffered in consequence was incalculable. +After hanging about Mackay for some days, vainly endeavouring +to induce my agents to give them my machinery, +the carriers loaded up for elsewhere, and went off up the +country.</p> + +<p>It was months before I could get hold of them again. +Meantime the wet season set in, and the roads became +perfectly impassable. I had soon a vast army of men at +work on the diggings—sawyers, carpenters, boiler-makers, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</span>brickmakers, and others—whom I was very unwilling to +leave to themselves for any length of time.</p> + +<p>But after I discovered that the whole district of Mackay +had deliberately laid themselves out to block my endeavours +to develop the Mount Britten diggings, and were prepared +to resort to foul means to accomplish their object, I resolved +not to trust to any agents, but always to personally +superintend the loading of any of my machinery or stores +that might arrive in Mackay.</p> + +<p>Many a hundred miles of travelling it cost me. It was +eighty-six miles to ride from the diggings to Mackay, and +sometimes I had to ride up and down twice in a week. I +soon found that this kind of business, combined with +superintending the working of the two reefs, was more +than could be done effectually by one man.</p> + +<p>But the engineer I had engaged in Gympie to put up +the mill turned out an invaluable acquisition. His name +was William Holliman; and a smarter man at his trade +never existed. From morning till night he worked as I +never saw a man work for wages before. The erection of +a quartz-mill, at any time, is an undertaking that involves +very heavy work, and no little engineering skill. But in +an out-of-the-way place like Mount Britten the difficulties +are increased a hundredfold, and can only be overcome by infinite +patience and skill. Holliman, however, proved himself +equal to any emergency, and finally accomplished the +work in a way that has earned for the obscure field of Mount +Britten the reputation of possessing the most perfectly +erected mill in Queensland. It is impossible to do justice +to the admirable qualities he displayed during the time he +was with me. Machinery stuck in the mud, broken castings, +drunken contractors going on the spree with their contract +uncompleted, thunderstorms sweeping away work half +finished, the wrong goods sent up by a mistake which takes +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</span>months to rectify; these and many other annoyances await +the enthusiastic individual who is rash enough to start +putting up a mill on a new field.</p> + +<p>Holliman was equal to them all; and, though his professional +reputation was at stake, and I believe he felt any +hindrance to the work far more than I did, I never saw +him discouraged for a minute, or otherwise than cheerful.</p> + +<p>For anyone who lives in the midst of civilisation, and +who has nothing to do but walk into a shop and buy what +he wants, it is impossible to realise the situation. What +words can depict the helpless fury of a man in the mountains +of Northern Queensland, who has ordered a keg of a peculiar +kind of nails from Sydney, and who, after an interval of +four months, receives a barrel of rock-sulphur instead? +This actually happened—without, however, in the least +disturbing the equanimity of Holliman. He merely remarked, +with an expression of countenance it is impossible +to describe, that “he hoped my dog was not going to have +the distemper.” Though not a teetotaller, he was strictly +sober, and a keen sense of humour, combined with an +inexhaustible fund of anecdotes, made him an exceedingly +pleasant companion. He was with me for eighteen months +and when at last I handed over the concern to a company, +who sent up their own manager, I parted with him greatly +to my regret.</p> + +<p>A most absurd accident happened one day at a shaft on +the “Star” line of reef. The shaft was down about thirty +feet, and, as usual, one man was working below, and his +mate on top, winding up the stuff in an old oil-drum instead +of a bucket. Somehow or other the man on top let fall +the drum right on his mate’s head below. Fortunately, +though made entirely of iron, the bottom was very nearly +worn out, and the man’s head went fair through it. He +was naturally very angry, but his rage redoubled when he +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</span>discovered that all attempts to get his head out again were +perfectly useless. Though bashed in, none of the bottom +was actually knocked out, and the jagged edges had closed +round his neck again, like a spring trap, causing him +excruciating pain.</p> + +<p>He was wound up the shaft, perfectly helpless and +swearing fearfully, and led down the hill to the blacksmith’s, +to get his helmet knocked off.</p> + +<p>Anything more ridiculous than he looked I never saw +in my life. He kept up a perfect hurricane of blasphemy, +rendered absolutely awesome by the unearthly metallic +ring which the oil-drum gave to his voice.</p> + +<p>We were, most of us, too weak from laughing to be of +the slightest assistance to him. Had the rim of the drum +caught him, instead of the bottom, of course it would have +killed him on the spot. Accidents of this kind are very +frequent.</p> + +<p>The greatest care is required on the part of those working +at the mouth of a shaft to see that nothing, however small, +is allowed to fall down below. A very small stone, falling +from a great height on to a man’s head, is sufficient to +cause instant death.</p> + +<p>It is extraordinary what escapes some men have, and +what a slight thing will kill sometimes. I remember a man +being killed on the spot by a pound of candles being +dropped from a height of sixty feet on to his head. On the +other hand, Jack Absolon was once working at the bottom +of a shaft seventy feet deep, when the whole windlass up +above carried bodily away. It came right down the shaft, +together with a hundredweight of copper ore that was +being wound up. He heard it coming, squeezed himself +into a corner of the shaft, and never got a scratch.</p> + +<p>No one on a diggings ever seems to possess a surname. +But there is generally some epithet attached to their +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</span>Christian names, whereby they may be distinguished. “Red +Pat,” “Maori Bob,” “Little Dave,” “Ironstone George,” +“Long Mick,” and “Deaf Harry,”—a host of them rises +before me. Their faces were better known to me than my +own, seeing that the back of a sardine-box was the only +looking-glass I had for months; but if they ever had any +surname it was known only to themselves.</p> + +<p>“Deaf Harry” had certainly the best right to his name +of any man I ever knew. The immoderate use of quinine +had made him so deaf that no combination of sounds, +however appalling, could attract his attention.</p> + +<p>I used to work with him for a long while, sinking a +shaft, and soon gave up attempting to make him hear. If +he was below and I wanted him, I used to carefully drop a +small pebble on his head.</p> + +<p>One day Deaf Harry was at the windlass, and another +man working below. They had arranged a series of signals +between themselves. Two jerks on the rope meant “heave +up,” one meant “steady,” and three meant “lower away.”</p> + +<p>I was working a little higher up the hill, when all of a +sudden I heard most awful noises echoing out of the shaft. +Looking down the hill I saw Harry peacefully winding +away at the windlass, quite unconscious of the yells and +oaths that were flying up the shaft past his ear. I knew +something must be wrong, so I ran down the hill, and +arrived just in time to see Harry’s mate being wound +slowly up to the mouth of the shaft head-downwards, with +his foot noosed in the rope. He was struggling fearfully, +and still trying to swear, but was rapidly becoming speechless +from having been wound up a distance of seventy feet +in that position.</p> + +<p>For once in his life Harry’s rugged countenance relaxed +into an expression of delighted surprise. Instead of making +the slightest attempt to extricate the unfortunate man, he +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</span>remained looking critically at him for several seconds, with +the windlass handle in his hand. Then turning towards +me, he said, quite quietly:</p> + +<p>“Well! I’ve been twenty-two years digging, and I never +saw a man come up the shaft like that before!”</p> + +<p>I made a dive at the wretched man’s leg, dragged him +out of the shaft, and laid him out to dry. He was perfectly +exhausted, and purple in the face, but, having been revived +by a bucket of water poured over his head, he explained +that he had been standing in the bottom of the shaft, and, +he supposed, had unintentionally jerked the rope twice with +his foot. Harry, of course, began to wind up, and knew +no more about it till his mate appeared at the top. He +lost all interest in him as soon as he found he had not +come up head-downwards on purpose.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIV"> + CHAPTER XIV. + <br> + <span style="font-size: medium;">DRINK</span> + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>One day a man known as Ironstone George died at one of +the public-houses on the field, entirely from the effects of +drink. It is really infamous that no one has any power to +interfere in such cases. I had seen the man hopelessly +drunk, day after day, at the same public-house, and had +warned the owner that I should take the first opportunity +of taking away his license.</p> + +<p>Being the only resident magistrate on the field, I held +an inquest on the body. In the inquiry it appeared that +the publican had supplied him during a fortnight with as +much liquor as he could drink, but had never given him +anything to eat. A nearer approach to wilful murder it is +not easy to imagine. I took the opportunity of repeating +my assurance to the publican that he need never expect a +license again, coupled with an expression of my unfeigned +regret that the law of the land did not allow me to +hang him.</p> + +<p>I was unfortunately unable to attend the first licensing +board for the diggings, and the rascally local magistrates +granted no less than six licenses for the Mount Britten field.</p> + +<p>These public-houses are a perfect curse all through the +Bush of Australia, and no finer field was ever open to a +philanthropist than a crusade against the iniquity that +goes on in them.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</span></p> + +<p>In touching upon this subject, I wish very clearly to +state the ground that I take up, which is not so much +reduction of drunkenness as the prevention of murder. In +spite of the most specious attempts on the part of such +fanatical optimists as Mr. Gladstone, Mr. Mundella, and +others, to cook the returns of drunkenness and liquor +consumed, statistics show that the amount varies very +little. Wherever a certain number of the British race are +gathered together, there a certain amount of liquor will be +consumed, and my own conviction is that legislation can +do little or nothing to prevent drunkenness. It can, if it +please, force men to get drunk in their own homes instead +of in public-houses, but here its power ends.</p> + +<p>There is no truer picture of humanity than John Leech’s +cartoon of the British workman arriving home on Saturday +night, laden with an enormous jar of liquor, to provide +against the inconvenience of a Sunday Closing Act.</p> + +<p>But legislation can and ought to do a great deal towards +the prevention of such monstrous crimes as are universally +prevalent throughout the Bush public-houses in Australia. +The most violent poisons are habitually used to adulterate +the liquor sold, and to an extent which renders a very +moderate consumption sufficient to destroy life. Bluestone +and tobacco are the most favourite drugs in use, the effect +of them being to cause temporary insanity, accompanied +by raging thirst.</p> + +<p>I have seen a strong sober man driven perfectly mad +for the time being by two glasses of so-called rum, supplied +to him at one of these shanties. He had not the slightest +appearance of being drunk about him, but every appearance +of having been poisoned, and he did not recover from the +effects for a fortnight.</p> + +<p>There is not a shadow of a doubt that scores of perfectly +healthy men die every year from the immediate effects of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</span>being poisoned at these infernal dens. It is a very common +occurrence for a man to be found dead within a short +distance of one of them. Possibly he has retained sufficient +vitality to drag himself a few hundred yards on his journey, +after exhausting his credit with the publican. Possibly he +has actually died in the house, and been dragged a little +way down the road by the publican, to avoid the unpleasantness +which an inquiry into a death in his house +might entail. Fear of any such unpleasantness, however, +must be purely sentimental, for I never heard of a single +case where any death of the kind brought serious consequences +to the publican.</p> + +<p>It is by no means necessary that a man should be a +drunkard for him to fall a victim to this system of secret +murder.</p> + +<p>After a twenty-mile tramp, or a fifty-mile ride along a +scorching road, the traveller arrives at the public-house, +possibly the only building that lies between him and a +similar journey in front. There is no earthly reason he +should not have a drink. He is tired and thirsty, and the +water is probably very bad. And yet it is possible that +the very first glass he swallows may entirely deprive him +of his reason.</p> + +<p>The object of every Bush publican is to make anyone +with money, who visits his house, as quickly as possible +drunk, in order that he may either voluntarily hand over +all he has got to the publican, and drink it out, or become +so helpless as to allow himself to be robbed.</p> + +<p>A system known as “knocking down one’s cheque” +prevails all over the unsettled parts of Australia. That is +to say, a man with a cheque, or a sum of money in his +possession, hands it over to the publican, and calls for +drinks for himself and his friends until the publican tells +him he has drunk out his cheque. Of course he never gets +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</span>a tithe of his money’s worth in any shape or way—indeed, +the kindest thing a publican can possibly do is to refuse +him any more liquor at a very early stage of the proceedings; +for cheques for enormous amounts are frequently +“knocked down” in this way. A quarter of the worth of +them, if honestly drunk out in Bush liquor, would inevitably +kill a whole regiment.</p> + +<p>I remember a man who, for years, had been a hard +drinker. He went on the square—that is, he kept perfectly +sober—for five years, during which time he raised a cheque +of £600. With this he started down to the coast, +intending to go home to the old country. On the way he +was persuaded to have a drink. The old madness came +over him, and in three weeks he had drunk out every +penny of his cheque.</p> + +<p>At one of the public-houses at which he stayed he had +champagne at a guinea a bottle, in a bath in front of the +house, with a pannikin by the side for all comers to help +themselves.</p> + +<p>As if by instinct, crowds of loafers assemble at a Bush +“pub.” where a good cheque is going, like flies round a +honey-pot, and the wildest orgies prevail. The scene is +generally pretty much the same. A crowd of noisy +blasphemers, enveloped in a haze of tobacco-smoke, +elbowing each other to get near the counter where drinks +are served.</p> + +<p>Behind this stands the barman and the landlord, the +obsequious expression on the latter’s face indicating to the +initiated that the time has not yet arrived when his +conscience will allow him to declare the cheque drunk out. +He is still anxious to supply everyone with everything +they want.</p> + +<p>In one corner of the room lies huddled a shapeless mass, +which few would suppose to be the hospitable individual at +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</span>whose expense the company are drinking. An inarticulate +moan bursts from the sufferer on the ground. Possibly he +has been in the same position for some twenty-four hours. +The landlord, who is civility itself, springs to attention at +once, and hastening to him bends over him.</p> + +<p>“Beg pardon, sir—what did you please to say?”</p> + +<p>Another groan.</p> + +<p>“Certainly, sir. All right; Jim” (to the barman), +“drinks for thirteen.”</p> + +<p>And so it goes on. Half the men drinking at the +unfortunate wretch’s expense probably never saw him +before, and the other half do not care if they never see +him again—until he has raised another cheque.</p> + +<p>The prevalence of drinking throughout the Bush, and +in all the big towns of Queensland especially, is one of the +most extraordinary features of the country. If it were +possible to obtain any accurate returns, it would be very +interesting to ascertain the exact proportion of the whole +amount of wages earned in the colony that passes into the +hands of the publicans. The amount of liquor consumed +in no way represents it, owing to the system to which I +have just alluded, which enables the publican to get +possession of a man’s money without supplying him with +anything like the value of it in return. It is no exaggeration +to say it is the universal custom of most of the working-classes +of Queensland, whether stockmen, miners, sawyers, +carpenters, fencers, or shepherds, to spend the whole of +their earnings in drink.</p> + +<p>Their method of doing so is peculiar, and not many of +them are what could fairly be called habitual drunkards. +That is to say, they do not, as a rule, drink while they are +at work, and they make a practice of working steadily and +industriously for long spells at a time. But, in working, +the object of nine out of every ten of them is simply to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</span>raise enough money for a spree. A periodical spree seems +a necessity in the life of a Bushman. It is, to him, what +an annual excursion to the seaside is to an overworked +London tradesman. It brings him into contact with fresh +faces and scenes, empties his pocket, restores him to +cheerfulness, and sends him back with renewed ardour +to work.</p> + +<p>Now, if a Bushman were sure of being supplied with +good liquor, instead of poison, it is doubtful whether this +mode of living would ever do him any harm at all. It is +notorious that a man who gets occasionally drunk, and +drinks nothing between whiles, suffers far less than a man +who is continually drinking without ever getting drunk at +all. Further than this, a Bushman, while at work, is of +necessity restricted to the simplest possible fare. Vegetables, +or luxuries of any kind, he can seldom procure. A +prolonged course of nothing but tea, beef, and damper, +renders a change of living indispensable, to ward off scurvy +and similar diseases.</p> + +<p>Under these circumstances, though it is extremely to be +regretted that he should carry it to the length of the orgies +that prevail amongst his class, it is certain that an occasional +drinking-bout does a Bushman more good than harm.</p> + +<p>In considering the question, and the best means of +dealing with it, it is better at once to relegate to a visionary +Utopia the hope of universal thrift and sobriety; we may +take it for granted that as long as men retain their individual +freedom of action, they will drink just exactly as +much as they want to. Of course, it admits of argument +whether you cannot educate men up to the point of wanting +to drink less. But the votaries of any such scheme would +derive little encouragement from studying the subject in +Queensland. So far from drunkenness being confined to +the uneducated, it is, if anything, more prevalent among +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</span>the upper and middle classes than any other. They drink +incessantly, while the lower classes can only afford to drink +occasionally. Preventive legislation, in the shape of early +closing, or penalties for drunkenness, will never do the +slightest good. Early closing only makes men drink at +home, and drunkenness is not a vice upon which the fear +of consequences will ever exert any great restraint, for the +simple reason that few men, when they start drinking, do +so with the deliberate intention of getting drunk, and +when they are under the influence of liquor they are, of +course, utterly indifferent to consequences of any kind.</p> + +<p>What legislation can and ought to do, is to interfere to +prevent a man being made to get drunk when he does not +want to, and to save him from being poisoned after he has +lost all command of his senses.</p> + +<p>The conduct of the Queensland Government with regard +to the adulteration of liquor in public-houses is perfectly +scandalous. The penalties for its detection are by no +means such as the gravity of the offence calls for, and are +rarely enforced. The excise is most inefficient, and its +duties are discharged in a way that no one acquainted with +the morality of Colonial Government would credit. It is +not long since the Queensland Government sent the excise +round some public-houses in the neighbourhood of Brisbane. +They had no difficulty in collecting a quantity of sixteen +different sorts of deadly poisons, used for the adulteration +of liquor. Instead of destroying them, the Government +had the shameless effrontery to sell these poisons by public +auction.</p> + +<p>A great deal might be done by the local magistrates if +they chose. They have discretionary power to grant or +refuse licenses to holders of public-houses, and there is no +appeal from their decision. If it were known that a man’s +license was certain to be refused him if he were in the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</span>habit of adulterating his liquor, it would undoubtedly act +as a check upon the practice.</p> + +<p>If, in addition to this, a man were liable to be hanged, +if convicted of causing the death of a fellow-creature by +supplying him with poisonous liquor, it would go a long +way towards stopping it altogether.</p> + +<p>The extreme difficulty of obtaining any such conviction, +the isolated position of these Bush publics, which makes +supervision next to impossible, renders some extreme +legislation on the subject imperative. Owing to the scarcity +of population, and the consequent facilities afforded to +crime, rape is punishable in Queensland by hanging. I +cannot conceive that the crime of wilfully taking a man’s +life by poison calls for a less severe sentence. As a matter +of fact little or nothing is ever done towards the prevention +of this most dastardly of all forms of murder.</p> + +<p>The reformation of Bush public-houses in Queensland +would be a difficult task, even supposing that any large +section of the community were interested in its accomplishment. +It is rendered hopeless by the universal indifference +on the subject that, to a certain extent, pervades every +class in the colony.</p> + +<p>The sympathies of the whole of society are largely with +the publican. The squatters themselves, of whom the +licensing board is usually composed, will always uphold +him. They may regret that he sells poisonous liquor to +stray travellers, but they have no fear of being treated in +the same way themselves—at least, by the publicans in the +neighbourhood of their own station. In return for the +assurance of his license, the publican has always the +wisdom to keep a supply of decent liquor on hand for his +supporters when they pay him a call.</p> + +<p>A visit to the seat of power in Brisbane would be the +reverse of encouraging to anyone interested in this subject.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</span></p> + +<p>A crusade against publicans is not likely to find much +favour with an executive composed of men who spend half +their time loafing around the drinking-bars in the town, +and whose ranks generally contain one or two notorious +drunkards, who are not in the least ashamed to take their +seat in the House, or to be seen in the streets while in a +state of intoxication. It is no uncommon thing to see a +telegram in a Queensland paper to the effect that at such +and such an hour “Mr. So-and-so, who was intoxicated, +rose to move the adjournment of the House.”</p> + +<p>Our neighbours in New South Wales and Victoria are +not behind us in this respect. If anything, the Queensland +Assembly is the most sober of the three. The drunkenness +of the judges throughout Australia has become such a byword +as to entirely deprive the time-honoured proverb of +any but a sarcastic meaning.</p> + +<p>I read, the other day, in the <i>Sydney Bulletin</i>, the following +interesting comment on the subject:—</p> + +<p>“We have all of us heard the expressions ‘as drunk as +a lord,’ and ‘as sober as a judge.’ Can anything be more +ridiculous? Who ever heard of a lord being drunk, or a +judge being——(<span class="smcap">Ed.</span>—There is no occasion to continue +this subject any further).”</p> + +<p>It is by no means an uncommon occurrence for a +magistrate or a judge to take his seat on the bench in a +state of intoxication. Not long ago a most absurd scene +took place at the petty sessions at a township which shall +be nameless, but which is not a hundred miles from Bowen. +One magistrate, as not unfrequently happens, was sitting +in solitary state on the bench. His features wore that +expression of ludicrous solemnity by the adoption of which +a man who knows himself to be drunk endeavours to +disguise the fact from his neighbours.</p> + +<p>A prisoner was brought in, charged with having removed +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</span>goods to the value of 1s. 4d. from a store. Before the +evidence was half finished, a terrible frown gathered on +the magistrate’s brow. Jamming his battered cabbage-tree +hat well over his eyes, in imitation of the awful ceremony +of putting on the black cap, he rose slowly up, and, pointing +a shaking finger at the culprit, said: “Take’imawayand’ang’im!”</p> + +<p>“Beg pardon, your Worship,” said the constable, “this +is only a case of——”</p> + +<p>“Take’im-’way—and <i>’ang</i> ’im!” repeated his Worship, +more slowly and impressively than before.</p> + +<p>“But, your Worship,” expostulated the bewildered +official, “you have no power——”</p> + +<p>“No power! Just ain’t I, though,” shouted the now +thoroughly infuriated magistrate. “’Ear what I shay? +Take ’im away and ’ang ’im!” And, subsiding into his +seat, he was heard to add, in a voice of maudlin pathos: +“An’ Lor’ a mercy on his soul!”</p> + +<p>Seeing that remonstrance was useless, the constable +removed the prisoner, and shortly afterwards returned.</p> + +<p>“Taken’imawayand’ung’im?” asked the magistrate, cheerfully.</p> + +<p>“Yes, your Worship.”</p> + +<p>“All right. I ’shmis shcase.”</p> + +<p>As long as the supervision of Bush public-houses remains +in the hands of such men as these, no reform is possible. +And no reform will ever come until a healthier tone as +regards the subject of drunkenness pervades every class in +the colony. Throughout the whole country the reputation +of being mighty to mingle strong drink carries no little +admiration along with it, while the fact of getting occasionally +drunk entails little or no reproach.</p> + +<p>Of course, in and near the big towns the possibility of a +visit from the excise makes the adulteration of liquor rather +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</span>more difficult than in the Bush. Away in the back blocks +it is done openly and shamelessly, and looked on, by +everyone concerned, in the light of rather a good joke.</p> + +<p>A friend of mine went into a Bush “pub.” near Hungerford, +on the borders of New South Wales and Queensland, +accompanied by three or four other men, for whom he was +going to “shout.” The usual invitation, “Give it a name, +boys,” was followed by requests on the part of his friends +for various sorts of drinks. One called for rum, another +for beer, and a third was just remarking that gin-and-bitters +was what the doctor had ordered, when a cynical smile +was observed on the landlord’s face.</p> + +<p>“Hold on,” he said, “it’s no use going on like that. +We’ve run out of every drop of liquor, and been drinking +‘Pain-killer’ for a week. So you can take that or leave it +alone.”</p> + +<p>On another occasion I remember hearing a man ask for +a glass of gin, at a very out-of-the-way Bush shanty. He +was supplied with a glass of bluish-white-looking stuff, +which, after the fashion of dwellers in the Bush, he +swallowed raw, intending to help himself to water afterwards. +No sooner had he swallowed it than an expression +of awful rage and terror came over his face.</p> + +<p>“Why, damn everything an inch high,” he exclaimed, +as soon as he got his breath, “that ain’t gin—that’s +kerosene!”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said the woman who had served him, “and +what if it is? There’s no call to make any flaming fuss. +There’s three gentlemen in the parlour drinking Farmer’s +Friend for rum, and they don’t say anything.”</p> + +<p>On the next annual licensing day after my arrival on +the diggings, I took the opportunity of refusing licenses to +every single publican on the field except one.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XV"> + CHAPTER XV. + <br> + <span style="font-size: medium;">GOLD-DIGGING</span> + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>Meanwhile the work of putting up the mill got on +very slowly. The A.S.N. Co.,⁠<a id="FNanchor_1_1" href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> whose idea of handling +machinery is to raise it to as great a height as possible, +and then suddenly drop it, contrived to smash some of my +heaviest castings in landing them on the wharf at Mackay. +I had to send to Melbourne to get them replaced, and this +caused a delay of several months.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_1_1" href="#FNanchor_1_1" class="label">[1]</a> The Australasian Steam Navigation Company, always known +throughout the colonies as the A.S.N.</p></div> + +<p>Water was so scarce in the creek on which the diggings +lay that I was obliged to put up the mill a mile and a half +below the reef, at the junction of another creek. Even +here there was so little water that I thought it was advisable +to throw a dam across the creek.</p> + +<p>Damming a Queensland mountain-creek is no joke. The +violent storms which occur, and the heavy freshes that +they cause in the creeks, make it necessary that any sort of +dam should be remarkably solid.</p> + +<p>The creek here was about 120 feet wide, and there was +about ten feet of drift in the bottom. Of course it was +necessary to cut a trench through this, right down to the +bed rock, and fill it with clay, for the puddle-wall. The +trench was three feet wide, and in it I sunk a double row +of piles a foot thick, to support the frame of the dam +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</span>above. Horizontal logs were laid against these and in +between them, and this formed the centre wall of the dam. +The amount of labour connected with this work was very +great.</p> + +<p>We used to keep three shifts going, night and day, at +the pumps, to keep the work in the trench clear of water, +and the clay for the puddle-wall had to be carted from a +considerable distance. Several small freshes came down +while the work was going on, and did a good deal of +damage; but we managed to repair it, and at last the dam +looked like being finished. I faced the front wall entirely +with stone, and gave it a very big batter, to allow for the +heavy floods that I knew the creek was subject to.</p> + +<p>Had twenty-four hours more been given me to finish +the work, I believe the dam would have been there to-day, +and for twenty years to come. The by-wash was almost +finished, and there were only a few feet more of the stone +facing to be done. Those few feet, however, settled the +fate of the dam. There came one of the most brilliant +storms I ever saw. Queensland, at all times, can be relied +upon to crowd more thunder and lightning into a minute +than most countries can into an hour, and no better place +for a display of the kind can be imagined than the valley +of Mount Britten. It is a perfect funnel for collecting rain, +about five miles across the centre, narrowing down to a few +hundred yards at the mouth, where the dam across the +creek was situated.</p> + +<p>The row that a storm makes there is appalling. When +once a clap of thunder is loosed off into the valley it can +never get out. It slams round, cannoning up against the +cliffs that surround the place, till its echoes are drowned +in a fresh discharge, and so it goes on, till anyone who +happens to be out in it feels as if the thunder was being +manufactured in his own hat.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</span></p> + +<p>In ordinary countries, forked lightning descends from a +storm one flash at a time, and its home invariably seems to +be the earth. In Queensland lightning is slathered about +as if it was of no value at all. Two or three flashes set off +at the same time, and, after hunting each other about the +firmament for some time, either part company and go off +opposite ways, or twist themselves into a tangled knot, and +discharge smaller flashes in every direction. In the background +a perfectly incessant supply of sheet-lightning is +kept up, which is constantly changing colour; sometimes +it is white, sometimes a golden yellow, and sometimes a +beautiful pale lilac, and the effect is most lovely.</p> + +<p>The rain that accompanies these storms is sometimes +terrific. I have seen as much as five inches fall in +an hour. When this particular storm broke over the +valley I was up at the reefs, a mile and a half above the +mill.</p> + +<p>It was about ten o’clock at night, and deadly dark; +but I started off down the track at once to see how the +dam would stand. Fortunately, I knew every inch of the +road, for a more disagreeable place for a stranger to find +his way along in the dark it would be difficult to imagine. +Besides the natural pitfalls in the way of rocks, logs, and +gullies all down the track, the whole place was a perfect +warren of old shafts that had been sunk in prospecting for +gold. The mouths of them were quite open, and several +of them were sunk right in the middle of the old track; so +that anyone who did not know them, and remember them, +was certain to come to grief.</p> + +<p>The track crossed the creek twice between the reefs and +the mill, and when I started up in the afternoon the creek +was not running at all. At the first crossing on my way +back it was only ankle-deep. The next crossing was half a +mile lower down; and, though I ran all the way, by the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</span>time that I got there there was ten feet of water in the +creek, running like a mill-race.</p> + +<p>The lightning made the whole place as light as day now, +and, as the crossing seemed to be clear, I soused in and got +out all right at the other side. As soon as I got down to +the dam, I saw at once that it was doomed. The by-wash +was of no use at all to take the overflow. It had never +been intended to do more than relieve the pressure, as the +dam was an overshot one. But it was the few feet where +the stone facing was still incomplete that ruined it. The +water got a start there, and gradually ate away the whole +concern like cheese; and in six hours there was nothing +left but a few piles sticking up to mark where the puddle-wall +had been.</p> + +<p>Holliman was standing watching the destruction of the +work, looking the image of despair. The rain was coming +down in sheets, but nothing could get him away. He +looked so utterly miserable, standing on the edge of a +foaming creek, with the water running in streams down +his back and out of his boots, lit up every now and then +by a purple streak of lightning, that I went into shrieks +of laughter at him.</p> + +<p>After a time a melancholy sort of smile stole over his +face, and he allowed himself to be taken away. The water +came down while some of the men were at work, and so +suddenly that two of them, who attempted to save their +tools, uncommonly nearly got drowned. They managed to +hold on to some trees that had been left growing in the +face of the dam, and stayed there till Holliman helped +them out with a rope.</p> + +<p>This settled the Mount Britten dam. It cost over £350, +and would never have been any use, as from some subsequent +working we found that there was an old underground +course of the creek in one of the banks, through which +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</span>all the water would have escaped. At the end of about +eight months’ patient toil, and after innumerable breakdowns +and delays, the mill looked like being completed; +so I called for tenders for carting the quartz down from +the reefs ready for a start. Plenty of carriers were willing +to contract for the “Wanderer” stone, as there was no +difficulty about the road, except in wet weather, when it +was very greasy. But the “Erratic Star” was a different +matter altogether.</p> + +<p>The quartz-paddock was on the side of a mountain, and +the last 300 feet up to it was a “pinch” so steep that no +one who did not know what a team of bullocks can do +would ever imagine it was possible to get to it with a +waggon. At last a man called George Tucker, well known +as one of the best drivers in the district, offered to try. +His team of fourteen bullocks were a perfect picture. He +was always very quiet with them, and very seldom used his +whip, but his bullocks were marvellously obedient to the +least word, and would follow him about like children. I +believe they would have gone up two pair of stairs and +down again without getting mixed up.</p> + +<p>There is something wonderfully impressive about a good +team of bullocks. In all their movements there is a solemn +deliberation that it is most entertaining to watch. Nothing +can hurry them. If you were going for the doctor you +could not get three miles an hour out of a bullock-team.</p> + +<p>When the waggon gets stuck, they never plunge about, +and snort, and struggle, as a team of horses do when they +are called upon to do some extra pulling. They just lay +themselves quietly down to their work, looking back occasionally +at their driver out of their great, wise, patient +eyes, as much as to say, “We’re hitting out all we can, +and if you swear till you burst, you can’t make us pull any +harder.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</span></p> + +<p>Each bullock has a name, which it knows perfectly. The +driver gives his directions to each one separately, keeping +up a running commentary of blasphemy the whole time; +and according to the amount of bad language that accompanies +the use of its name, each animal knows the exact +amount of exertion that is required of it. It is a beautiful +sight to see a good driver straighten out a team of eighteen +bullocks to fetch a waggon and five ton of a load out of a +bad place. Apparently without the slightest effort, his +animals just lean gently forward on the yoke; but when +once they get the pressure on, it is perfectly irresistible, +and something is certain to happen. Either the waggon +will shift or the chains must break.</p> + +<p>The bullock-whip with which the driver is armed is a +terrible weapon in the hands of a man who knows how to +use it. The lash is made of plaited greenhide about nine +feet long, and is hung square on the end of a six-foot stick +by way of a handle. A good driver very seldom touches +his bullocks with the whip at all, the crack of it, which is +as loud as a pistol-shot, being quite sufficient to induce a +well-broken team to pull their hardest.</p> + +<p>Occasionally, however, the best driver finds it necessary +to let a bullock feel the whip, and then he will do it in a +way that the animal will never forget. A well-laid-on cut +of the whip from the hand of a workman will lay six +inches of a bullock’s ribs open as clean as if it had been +done with a knife. I have seen a bullock lie down and +begin to bellow with terror when it got to the exact spot +in a road where, months before, it had been flogged for not +pulling.</p> + +<p>Many drivers are brutally cruel to their bullocks, and +are continually laying the whip into them merely to vent +their own savage temper. But a good driver will always +be known by the hides of his team. The marks of the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</span>whip will be scarce, but what there are will be deep and +laid on in the right place. From constantly associating +with his team, a bullock-driver imbibes a great deal of the +lethargic nature of the animals themselves.</p> + +<p>After crawling along the road for years beside his +bullocks at the rate of a mile and a half an hour, anything +approaching to hurry becomes eliminated from his nature.</p> + +<p>There is an incurable dilatory dawdle about every movement +of a man who has been a few years on the road that +will always proclaim his profession, and will stick to him +ever after, whatever other line he may take up.</p> + +<p>If you speak to a bullock-driver he will take as long to +turn his head round to look at you as a horse-driver would +to answer you, and nothing will ever induce him to get his +bullocks yoked up before about ten o’clock in the day. +When on the road, if he knocks eight or nine miles a day +out of his team, he reckons that is very fair travelling.</p> + +<p>George Tucker was a model specimen of his class. He +was wonderfully patient with his bullocks, but he could +get more work out of them than almost anyone I ever saw, +and, I believe, was as fond of them as if they had been his +own children. The first day that he started up to the reefs +to bring the quartz down, I went with him, to see how he +got on.</p> + +<p>He got up to the “Star” paddock all right, having +hitched his team on to the back of the waggon, and drawn +it up backwards, as there was no room to turn at the top. +Having loaded up, he prepared to start down the steep +pinch again, and, in order to save the necks of his “polers,” +he tried to get the waggon as near the edge of the paddock +as possible before locking the wheels. Relying upon the +handiness and obedience of his team, he made a strange +mistake for so old a hand, and had not even the brake on. +In drawing on to the edge he just went a yard too far, and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</span>away went the waggon down the hill, with four ton and a +half of quartz on it.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp80" id="i_b214b" style="max-width: 42em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b214b.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + DOWN-HILL WITHOUT A BRAKE. + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Tucker rushed after it, trying in vain to get the brake +on, while the “off-sider,” who was helping him, made futile +attempts to keep the team straight out in front of the +waggon. It was no use. For a few yards it went slowly +enough, and it looked as if it might get safely to the +bottom. But gradually the pace increased, the leading +bullocks stumbled and fell, bringing the others down on +top of them, and the waggon went with irresistible force +right over the struggling mass of bullocks, forging its way +down the hill, till their carcases blocked it from going any +farther.</p> + +<p>When we got down there the team was a most heart-rending +sight. Horns, hair, and blood were strewed about +in all directions, and at first it looked as if every bullock +was dead. They were all jammed up in a dense mass, +with chains wound round them in such confusion it was +difficult to know where to begin taking them out of +winding.</p> + +<p>By degrees we got them all clear, and found that three +were killed outright, another had its back broken, and the +two others were terribly knocked about. Nearly every +one had lost a horn, and some of them both. The waggon, +strange to say, had never even upset, and, of course, was +quite uninjured. Fortunately, Tucker had only taken six +of his bullocks up the hill, and left the rest down below.</p> + +<p>He took it quite quietly. The occasion was far too +solemn for any swearing; so he helped us to light a funeral +pyre over the carcases of his dead favourites, and, climbing +on to his horse, he turned the rest of his team out into the +Bush, and went off to Grosvenor Downs, some sixty miles +away, to hunt up some fresh bullocks. In a week he +had his team in working order again, and finished the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</span>job of drawing down the quartz without any further misfortune.</p> + +<p>Anyone would have thought that such an event as the +sudden death of four of his best bullocks would have called +forth a paroxysm of fury from such a habitual blasphemer +as a bullock-driver, and made him exhaust every possible +combination of oaths in his vocabulary. But in reality a +great deal of the bad language which he is in the habit of +using is what may be called professional swearing, and does +not in the least imply loss of temper. A bullock-driver +knows that his bullocks are so accustomed to hearing +disgraceful language that certain words and a certain tone +of voice are absolutely necessary to make them pull, and +when they get in a fix he has to work himself up to a pitch +of simulated fury, and use most awful expressions to induce +them to exert themselves.</p> + +<p>But while the rocks around are still resounding with +oaths that make one shiver to hear, he will turn round +with a cheery smile on his face to greet anyone who happens +to be passing, and wipe the foam from his mouth to answer +a question with the utmost good humour. It is astonishing +how a man who is apparently in the habit of getting into a +violent passion upon the slightest provocation will sometimes +command his temper when one would think it was +impossible.</p> + +<p>I remember perfectly well the disappointment of a large +audience at finding that like causes do not always produce +like results in matters pertaining to temper. A carrier +was drawing sand up a very long steep hill, at the top of +which there were a lot of men at work. He was a most +notorious blasphemer, and his power of language was so +extraordinary that everyone used to put down their tools +and listen when he had a bad attack. Upon one occasion, +as he was coming up the hill, the tail-board of his dray +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</span>fell out without his knowing it, and, of course, all the +sand ran out.</p> + +<p>One of the men who was working near the top saw +what had happened, and instantly attracted the attention +of his mates to the impending scene. As the dray drew +near the top all the men knocked off work and gradually +collected around, in sure and certain hope of a more than +usually lively display of profanity from the carrier.</p> + +<p>When he got to the top he stopped and looked round. +A breathless silence prevailed whilst it gradually soaked +into him what had happened. He looked at the empty +dray, and at the weary long pull up the hill which he had +just accomplished. Then he looked sadly and half apologetically +at the expectant crowd around him, and in a tone +of deep feeling observed, “Boys, I ain’t equal to the +occasion,” and went straight off for another load.</p> + +<p>While I was putting up the mill I had a bullock-team +of my own to draw in the logs for sawing and do the work +about the place. Whenever there was a slack time I used +to send it down to Port Mackay for a load, but it was a +horrid fraud. The bullocks were good enough, but it was +impossible to get a decent man to drive them.</p> + +<p>A man who drives his own bullocks is lazy enough, but +a man who drives someone else’s is simply the incarnation +of idleness. I had several drivers one after the other, but +it was always the same old game. When they were at +home they used to swear they had lost the bullocks, having, +of course, “planted” them up some obscure creek, and if +they were sent on the road they always got on the spree.</p> + +<p>I was very glad when Dick Absolon offered to take the +team off my hands, and to contract for the work about the +place. I had a lot of trouble in getting sound trees for the +bed-logs of my machinery. There was any amount of +timber about the place, but it takes a good tree to square +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</span>twenty-four inches for a length of twenty feet, because +most Queensland trees, when they get to a certain size, get +a pipe in the middle, and I would not stand anything that +was not perfectly solid. In putting up a battery for crushing +quartz it is impossible to be too careful about getting +the foundations solid. Upon this everything depends. +You may have the best mill, and all the most recent appliances +and improvements for saving gold, but if your +foundations shake you will lose a lot of gold.</p> + +<p>Many a promising gold field has been ruined by having +bad machinery put up on it. Reefs that would have paid +handsomely with good machinery are abandoned as unpayable, +and the field is deserted.</p> + +<p>In laying the foundations of my stamper-boxes I went +right down to the bed rock, with a trench twenty feet long +and four feet six inches wide. In the bottom of this I laid +three feet of concrete cement for the foundation of the +bed-logs. The bed-logs themselves were two splendid sticks +of curly red-gum, nineteen feet long, sawn square twenty-four +inches by twenty-one, and bolted together with two-inch +iron bolts. These were laid horizontally in the trench. +Three upright piles, five feet high and twenty-four inches +square, standing on the bed-logs, formed the foundation of +each stamper-box. These piles were very strongly bolted +together, fitted with the utmost nicety, and levelled with +the accuracy of a billiard table.</p> + +<p>Each stamper-box was a solid casting, weighing nearly a +ton, about four feet long, four feet high, and fifteen inches +in width.</p> + +<p>In each box five stampers work. The stampers are +raised about ten inches, and then allowed to fall, by means +of a shaft which revolves overhead, which is fitted with +“cams” or “wipers,” which give two drops of the stamper +for every revolution of the shaft. The weight of each +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</span>stamper with the shank, head, shoe, and disc complete, is +about eight hundredweight. They work close together in +the box, and underneath each is placed a die of hematite +iron, and between the bottom of this and the floor of the +box itself a layer of quartz is always placed, to prevent the +shock of the stamper’s fall from breaking the box.</p> + +<p>Round the boxes is placed a frame of heavy cross-logs +to support the columns upon which the cam-shaft works. +These logs are kept quite clear of any contact with the +foundation of the boxes, so that the inevitable jar of the +constant fall of the stampers may not injure the rest of the +machinery. The shaft is worked by belting connected +with a stationary engine, which can be instantly disconnected +on to a loose pulley-wheel.</p> + +<p>At the back of the boxes are the quartz-shoots into +which the quartz is tipped out of the drays from the reefs, +and broken up into pieces about the size of a man’s fist. +The feeder stands here with a long-handled shovel, and +slings the quartz into an opening at the back of the box.</p> + +<p>There is a good deal of art in feeding the stampers +properly, and a good man will run a ton a shift more +through the boxes than a duffer, with the same number of +revolutions to the minute. If he feeds too slow, of course +there is waste of power, and he is liable to break the dies +by letting the stampers fall on to them too clean. On the +other hand, if he feeds too fast he chokes them, and wastes +any amount of time that way. A feeder takes a twelve +hours’ shift right on end, and a very monotonous occupation +it is.</p> + +<p>In the front of the box is an opening about two feet +long and a foot high, fitted with gratings. The fineness of +the gratings used varies according to the coarseness of the +gold in the stone crushed, but from a hundred and eighty +to two hundred and forty holes to the square inch are the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</span>ordinary ones. A constant stream of water is kept flowing +through the boxes while the stampers are at work, and the +stone is pounded up inside till it can only escape in the +form of fine mud through the gratings.</p> + +<p>From time to time a little quicksilver is thrown into +the boxes, and all the coarse gold collects in the form of +amalgam.</p> + +<p>Below the boxes are the tables upon which the fine gold +that escapes from the boxes is collected. These tables are +sheets of copper on wooden frames, and have a slope of +about half an inch to the foot. There are three sets of +them, and at the end of each is what is called a quicksilver +ripple, which is a solid piece of wood with three troughs +cut along it, about two inches deep, each a little lower than +the other, and filled nearly full of quicksilver. The copper +tables themselves are faced with quicksilver, which is kept +constantly bright by the use of nitric acid or cyanide of +potass.</p> + +<p>Keeping the tables and quicksilver in good order is a +science of itself, for, unless the quicksilver is lively, quantities +of gold are lost.</p> + +<p>The water flows from the boxes along the whole length +of the tables, carrying with it the tailings from the boxes +and the fine gold. This last is caught by the quicksilver, +and hardens on to the plates in amalgam. From time to +time this is scraped off as the crushing goes on, and the +tables faced again with fresh quicksilver.</p> + +<p>The man who attends to the tables, and to the retorting +and smelting of the gold, is called the “amalgamator.” +Good men at this trade are scarce, and will easily earn +from four to six pounds a week on a Queensland diggings. +Even with the greatest care, and first-rate tables, a good +deal of gold always contrives to get away. The tailings, +as they are called, that have passed over the tables and run +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</span>away into the waste drain, are analysed from time to time +to test the waste of gold that is going on.</p> + +<p>This process, above described, is the simplest form of +crushing quartz, and is only fit for stone which contains +gold in a pure form, unmixed with pyrites, galena, and +other abominations that drive an amalgamator out of his +mind. Where these exist, the tailings have to be separately +treated, with more elaborate contrivances.</p> + +<p>The tables lie close under the stamper-boxes, but great +care is taken to keep them from actually coming into +contact, for fear the jar of the stampers should interfere +with them.</p> + +<p>Holliman certainly did his work to admiration, and the +mill is now reckoned to be about the best set up of any in +Queensland.</p> + +<p>Having got everything ready for a start, we fixed on a +day for christening the mill, and my brother’s wife came +up from the station, forty miles away, to perform the +ceremony. After some consideration I determined to call +the mill the “Sabbath Calm.” Anyone who has ever lived +near a quartz mill will see at once that the name was not +altogether inappropriate. The row made by the stampers +is perfectly deafening. They go on, when quartz is available, +from six o’clock on Monday morning till six o’clock +on Saturday night, and no one who has not been maddened +by the incessant din for a whole week can thoroughly +appreciate the repose that Sunday’s quiet brings with it.</p> + +<p>The christening morning broke fair over the valley of +Mount Britten, and, if the sun thought anything about it +at all, he must have been startled at the change which a +few months had made in the wilderness. The mill itself +was a most imposing sight, with its vast expanse of +galvanised iron roof and tall brick stack; and anyone who +scattered a glance over the tremendously heavy machinery, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</span>fitted with all the most recent improvements, and faultlessly +erected, would have found it difficult to realise that he was +in the heart of the lonely mountains of Queensland, where, +eighteen months before, the kangaroos and wallabies had +had it all to themselves.</p> + +<p>All the men who were working for me had a holiday in +honour of the occasion, and all who were not gave themselves +one, so that the whole population of the diggings assembled +to see the start. They had all treated themselves to a +wash in the creek, and everyone who could had fossicked +out a clean shirt and a flash-coloured silk handkerchief as a +tribute of respect to the important day.</p> + +<p>The old doctor was in splendid form. He had been +saving himself up for the occasion for ever so long, and, I +believe, had drunk nothing for a week on purpose to enjoy +himself all the more. In his excitement he had forgotten +the wash in the creek, but he had climbed into an old pith +helmet and a faded blue coat, which made him look far +more disreputable than he did in his working clothes. He +drank enough for four without ever turning a hair, and +never stopped talking and laughing from sunrise to sundown.</p> + +<p>Holliman surveyed his own completed work with perfect +satisfaction, and without a particle of anxiety as to the +working of the machinery in the approaching trial. He +had the confidence of a real artist in his own performance, +and, knowing that it had all been done in the best +possible way, he had not a doubt about the result. The +amalgamating table was turned into a bar, and one of the +men told off as barman, with orders to give everyone +anything they wanted as long as the liquor held out. He +had a couple of buckets full of rum, with a pannikin to +ladle it out, and an enormous army of bottles of beer, +porter, brandy, and whisky.</p> + +<p>A bottle of brandy decorated with streamers of red, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</span>white, and blue ribbon was hung from the roof, opposite +the fly-wheel. Punctually, at 12 o’clock, my brother’s +wife advanced, amid a solemn silence, and grasped the +bottle. Holliman looked at me as much as to say, “I’ve +done my part of the business, now you can start yours.”</p> + +<p>The steam was on, so I jammed down the lever. +Slowly and smoothly the vast fly-wheel began to revolve; +the bottle, discharged with unerring precision, was dashed +to pieces against it; and the “Sabbath Calm” was fairly +started, amid wild cheers from the assembled crowd. The +old doctor nearly went mad with delight. He flung his +old helmet into the air, and, waving his third pannikin of +rum round his head, was about to give vent to the discordant +bellow by which a German endeavours to imitate a British +cheer, when he overbalanced himself and fell backwards +into an enormous tailing-tub full of water. Far from +discouraging him, this catastrophe seemed to delight him +immensely. He was extricated, perfectly good-humoured +and cheerful, and, having called for another pannikin of +rum, he insisted on making a speech, to which no one +listened, all hands being busily engaged in drinking success +to the new mill.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVI"> + CHAPTER XVI. + <br> + <span style="font-size: medium;">GOLD-DIGGING</span> + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>We had 98 tons of quartz to go through from the “Erratic +Star,” and 185 tons from the “Wanderer”; and there was +great excitement all over the field to know the result of +the first crushing; for upon the success of a first crushing +depends, in a great measure, the fate of a gold field.</p> + +<p>Until you get used to the appearance of the stone you +are working, it is very difficult to form an estimate beforehand +of the yield. There was the greatest divergence of +opinion as to the “Wanderer” stone, in which coarse gold +showed freely, and wagers were laid that it would go +anything up to twenty ounces to the ton.</p> + +<p>Gibbard and I knew better, and we decided that we +should be very much pleased if it went four ounces. After +the stampers had been at work a few hours the amalgam +began to show on the distributing plate, as the table next +below the boxes is called. This was a good sign, as we +had not expected to find very much fine gold in the +stone.</p> + +<p>There was no particular hurry, so we put the stone +through slowly, in order to give it every chance. If the +stone is pretty clean, ten head of stamps will crush about +a ton an hour; but we only put through about sixteen +hundredweight. I used to take the night shift of twelve +hours, driving the engine and firing up. This last is pretty +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</span>hard work, when round logs with the bark on are used for +firewood. Iron-bark wood burns perfectly well when quite +green, and a log a foot through and five feet long requires +a little handling to plant it scientifically in a furnace +without wasting any heat. The shareholders in a claim +always take turns to watch the boxes and tables when +a good crushing is going through, and never leave their +post for an instant. Nothing is easier than for anyone +working about the tables to remove some of the amalgam, +and retort it at his leisure; and in order to prevent +this there is always a shareholder on guard. Charlie +Gibbard used to watch all night, armed with a revolver, +and in the intervals of firing-up I used to sit and yarn +and smoke with him, and speculate on the result of the +crushing.</p> + +<p>We went on crushing for eighteen days and nights, with +Sundays interval, and at the end of that time the whole +of the stone was through. We had collected about 100 +ounces of amalgam off the plates, which would yield +about thirty-five ounces of gold; but the important part +of the plunder was, of course, inside the boxes.</p> + +<p>When we opened them a very healthy sight was there. +In the corners of the boxes the amalgam was piled like +snow collected in the corners of a window-pane, and we saw +at once that the crushing was fully as good as we had +expected. The whole contents of the boxes were raked +carefully out, and run through a sluice-box, to separate the +amalgam from the quartz.</p> + +<p>The amalgam thus collected was mixed with that already +taken from the tables, and with the quicksilver from the +ripples, and the whole of it strained through a piece of +strong brown holland. The free quicksilver passes through +this, leaving the amalgam behind, which is then retorted. +The process of retorting is very simple. The amalgam is +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</span>placed in an iron pot, fitted with a lid which is wedged on +very tight, the joint being made up with a compound of +ashes and clay. On the top of the lid is a long curved iron +pipe. The retort is placed over a fire, and as it gets hot +the quicksilver ascends in fumes into the iron pipe, over +the lower portion of which a stream of cold water is kept +constantly flowing. The quicksilver is condensed again, +and flows down the pipe into a bucket placed at the end +to receive it.</p> + +<p>Quicksilver can be used over and over again in this +way, and not above seven or eight per cent is lost in the +retorting. Just after it has been retorted it is in the best +possible order for amalgamating purposes. We got 1650 +ounces of amalgam from the 185 tons of stone.</p> + +<p>As a rule, amalgam does not retort more than a third of +its own weight in gold, but the “Wanderer” gold was so +coarse that we hoped for a much higher percentage. The +event proved we were right, for the amalgam gave us 870 +ounces of retorted gold. We had used two retorts, in +order that the gold might be more conveniently packed for +travelling, and it was turned out in two cakes about the +size and shape of a beefsteak pudding. Retorted gold is +curious-looking stuff, all porous and honeycombed where +the quicksilver has left it.</p> + +<p>This gave an average yield of 4 oz. 14 dwt. to the ton, +which was very satisfactory, as it paid all the back expenses +of the reef, and, after paying the mill 30s. a ton for +crushing, left a very good dividend.</p> + +<p>My brother, who was half shares with me in the mill +and the reef too, came up just before the end of the +crushing to help me bring the gold down to the bank in +Mackay. Towards the last we had been running the +stone from the “Erratic Star” through one of the batteries, +and we cleaned up shortly after the “Wanderer.” The +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</span>“Erratic Star” turned out a fraud. We had only run the +pick of the stone through, and 98 tons only gave us 102 +ounces of gold.</p> + +<p>It was midday when we finished retorting, and my +brother and I lost no time in getting ready for a start. +We wrapped the gold up carefully in canvas, and then put +it into two boxes, one of which we stowed away on each +side of a packhorse in leathern packbags.</p> + +<p>Gibbard came with us, and the three of us formed the +first gold escort that ever left Mount Britten. We had a +revolver apiece, in case of being stuck up on the road. +Our own horses were good enough, but we had rather +misgivings about the packhorse, which was an old crow-bait +my brother had chartered from the station for the +purpose of bringing down the gold.</p> + +<p>The station was forty miles away, and we intended to +get a feed and a change of horses there, and go on to +Mackay the same night. For the first eighteen miles out +of the diggings it was lovely travelling, over the downs +country, without a stone or a ridge to stop one. But we +made the pace rather too rough for the old packhorse, +and when we got to Nebo Creek, twenty-two miles from +Mount Spencer, he knocked up. My brother was a little +way on ahead, and I sung out to him to stop.</p> + +<p>“Hi, Sammy! this dying old hair-trunk is about bust. +We’ll have to go steady or he’ll camp altogether.”</p> + +<p>“Camp!” said my brother; “no fear. He’s only +blown; he was all right when we started, and he simply +<i>can’t</i> have bust on seventeen miles. Here, let me get +behind him with a stick, and see if we can’t scare a trot +out of him.”</p> + +<p>So far from raising a trot, neither threats nor persuasion +could induce him to walk, and it was evident we should +have to leave him.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</span></p> + +<p>“Deuce take the old brute for going back on us like +this,” I said; “what are we going to do?”</p> + +<p>“Why—walk, of course,” said my brother. “We can’t +sling the plunder, and we certainly ain’t going to camp +here.”</p> + +<p>Walk! The day was sweltering hot, we were twenty-two +miles from home, and the way lay over a succession +of fiendish dry stony bare ridges. No one who has not +been in the country can form any conception of the violent +aversion which an Australian has to walking a yard if he +can help it. It is an old saying that an Australian will +walk a mile to catch a horse to ride half a mile, and there +is a great deal of truth in it. In this instance there was +nothing else for it. We were particularly anxious to get +to Mackay the following morning early, and, of course, +could not dream of parting with the gold for an instant.</p> + +<p>Charlie offered to lend us his horse to pack the gold +on, and walk home, but we would not hear of it, so we +decided to pack the gold on one of our horses and take +turns to run alongside. My brother took the first spell on +foot, and accomplished three miles and a half over the +ridges in excellent time. We managed to do the twenty-two +miles in three hours and a half, which was very fair +travelling considering the road and the weather.</p> + +<p>When we got to the station it was dark, but the moon +got up soon after, and we sent the black boy out to run +up some fresh horses. Having had a feed and a smoke, +we lay down and had a sleep, and about one o’clock in the +morning started again on our journey down to Mackay, +forty-five miles away. This time we took care to select a +reliable packhorse, and we got safely to Mackay about eight +in the morning. As soon as the bank opened, we took +the gold round there. Great was the astonishment of +everyone in Mackay when they saw the quantity of gold +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</span>that we had brought down. The townspeople had never +taken any interest in Mount Britten beyond trying to put +me to all the inconvenience that they could in connection +with my work there, and the first crushing had been such +a long while coming they had all come to the conclusion +that Mount Britten was a “duffer,” and that there was +no gold there at all.</p> + +<p>The manager of the bank especially had always had +a great edge on the diggings, and been very active in +circulating reports that it was a failure. His jaw dropped +like a motherless calf’s when he saw nearly 1000 ounces +of gold produced at the first start, and he barely retained +sufficient presence of mind to offer me his congratulations, +which I accepted for what they were worth, as I had +not forgotten his flying visit to Mount Britten, and his +subsequent report of the field. My brother and I finished +what we had to do as quickly as possible, and got back to +the station the same night.</p> + +<p>I was back again at Mount Britten the next day at +midday, and started to get down another crushing from +the reefs as quickly as possible.</p> + +<p>From the “Wanderer” the next crushing turned out +over six ounces to the ton, and the one after that between +seven and eight ounces; and still the reef looked splendid. +But another hundred tons from the “Star” only gave a +hundred ounces, and the reef got so poor after that, that +it was no longer payable.</p> + +<p>As a speculation the mill itself did not pay, as there +was not nearly enough stone to keep it going.</p> + +<p>There were some other very nice reefs opened up, but +there was no capital available to work them, and they +remained idle. I soon saw that to look after the mines +properly I should have to give up my whole time to it, +and make a profession of mining. This I was unwilling to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</span>do, so my brother and I agreed to try and float the whole +property, comprising the Wanderer and Star Reefs and +Sabbath Calm Mill, into a company down in Melbourne.</p> + +<p>Having obtained offers of the other shareholders’ shares +for a certain time, I left Holliman in charge of the whole +swim, and, armed with specimens from the different reefs, +and authentic reports of the crushings, I set off down to +Melbourne.</p> + +<p>I was very sorry to leave Mount Britten. Certainly +the two happiest years of my life were spent there, and I +knew very well that if I ever revisited it, it would not be +to live there. In the intervals of working, and on Sundays, +I had contrived to finish a very comfortable little house +for myself on the opposite side of the creek from the mill, +and there I had been living for some months. It was all +built of Bush stuff; but I dressed it all myself, and put it +up very carefully. The slabs were adzed as smooth as +glass inside, laid horizontal, and bevilled and fitted with +the utmost nicety. I bestowed infinite pains upon the +roof, which was shingles; and the whole, when finished, +was as weather-tight as a bottle.</p> + +<p>It was twenty-four feet long and twelve feet wide, the +whole of one end being blocked up by an enormous fireplace +seven feet square inside. I always believe in a big +fireplace. On a cold winter’s night you can get right in +and sit at the side of the fire, and it is a first-rate place to +hang clothes up to dry, and also to smoke beef in.</p> + +<p>There was plenty of waste timber of all sorts from the +mill, so I had no lack of material for doors, windows, +tables, shelves, and other fixings. The floor was tongue +and groove pine, which is a great luxury in the Bush, as +it is always dry and easily kept clean. In one corner was +a bed; but I always kept it for visitors, as I infinitely +prefer the floor to sleep on. Anyone who has once acquired +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</span>the habit of sleeping on the floor or on hard ground +will always wake up much fresher, and feeling more rested, +than if he takes to sleeping in a bed again.</p> + +<p>A well-lined bookshelf and an enormous clock adorned +the walls on one side; on the other were rows of shelves +filled with pickles, jam, soap, matches, and other stores. +The corner opposite the bed was turned into an office, +fitted up with innumerable pigeon-holes, shelves of account-books, +and a table with a copying-press, and writing +material of every description.</p> + +<p>One or two butter-tubs to sit on, a huge armchair near +the fireplace, a meat-safe, and a cupboard full of tobacco, +completed the furniture of the establishment.</p> + +<p>All the time that I was in the Bush I made it my boast +that although I might occasionally be found very indifferently +clad, and sometimes very short of rations, I never +was without a supply of excellent tobacco.</p> + +<p>I had gone over the creek for a site for my hut, in the +first place, to be away from the clatter of the mill, and, in +the second place, because it was the most perfect situation +for a house that could be imagined. Just at the junction +of two running creeks, there was a never-failing supply of +excellent water; and the soil, being the old bed of the +creek, was all made ground, and admirably suited for a +garden, which I intended to have had if I had remained +there any time. The bed of the creek was full of timber, +she-oaks, fig-trees, and Leichardt; and just opposite to my +hut was a gigantic old flooded gum, with huge, spreading +branches and a trunk at least forty feet round.</p> + +<p>She-oaks are scraggy-looking poles of trees, rather like +fir-trees; but both fig-trees and Leichardt are very handsome, +and give a splendid shade. The latter is a very +symmetrical tree, that grows to a height of about sixty +feet, and has leaves rather like a big laurel.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</span></p> + +<p>Behind my hut towered the three mountains known as +the Marling-Spikes; and a gap which I cut in the timber +on the banks of the creek gave me a beautiful view right +up to the head of the valley of Mount Britten.</p> + +<p>At the back of my hut I put up a bark building, which +served for a carpenter’s shop, and a kitchen; and beyond +that was a small paddock with a sapling fence, into which +I could turn my horses for the night. This was a great +convenience. There was no paddock within four miles of +Mount Britten, and, for some reason or other, no horse, +even in hobbles, would ever stay a moment near the place. +It is said that the grass in localities where minerals are +found is always sour. Anyway, no cattle or horses would +ever stay near the diggings, though the grass looked good +enough.</p> + +<p>I often used to get home in the middle of the night, and +was always losing my horses, until I put up a paddock. +When I first got to the diggings I brought four horses +with me, and a black boy to look after them. They all +cleared out the first night. I sent the black boy after +them, but he was frightened of the other blacks, and went +and planted instead of looking for them. I was lame myself +at the time, and could not go out after them, but I +got two of them back at the end of a fortnight. The other +two broke their hobbles, and I never saw them again for +nearly a year, when they turned up on a station about a +hundred miles off, as fat as pigs.</p> + +<p>On Sundays I used generally to have a good many visitors +after my hut was finished. It is said that there is no +Sunday in the Bush, and certainly it does not mean much +of a day of rest to a man who lives quite by himself, and +works hard all the week. Sunday is always the day for a +general overhaul and repairs. Clothes are washed and +mended, the hut cleared and swept out, and a supply of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</span>firewood laid in for the coming week; and a man who is +away at work every day of the week, from sunrise to sundown, +will always find that a dozen little jobs will accumulate +in the week, which can only be done on Sunday. I +had very little time for cooking in the week, and it was +always an occupation I disliked, so I used to do most of +the week’s cooking on Sunday.</p> + +<p>After the diggings had been open some time, the +butcher used to kill a bullock nearly every day, and there +was always fresh meat to be had. But the butcher’s shop +was nearly a mile away from my house, and, besides, I never +would touch fresh meat as long as I could get salt. So on +Sunday I used to boil twelve or fourteen pounds of salt +beef, and bake a damper about the size of a small cartwheel; +and this used to last me, unless the beef went bad, +until about Thursday. After which I used to get some +fresh meat, or boil some more salt if I had time, until +the next Sunday. Salt beef wants a lot of attention when +it is boiling, for if the water boils too fast it turns as hard +as a stone, and if it stops boiling it gets sodden.</p> + +<p>My hut, being three quarters of a mile away from the +township, possessed the great advantage of being perfectly +quiet, and free from any disturbance of nocturnal revellers. +From sundown to sunrise I never used to see a soul, or +hear a sound except when the mill was at work. It was +rather a lonely place, too, at night, when the wind was +howling among the mountains, and the rain coming down +in sheets, and the creek foaming and roaring bank-high +before the door. Often I have gone up to the township +after dark to get a supply of food, and had to swim the +creek on the way home, with my supper in the form of a +beefsteak in my mouth; and when I got home found the +fire out, and nothing but a poisonous black spider sitting +on the table to welcome me. But anyone who knocks +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</span>about the Bush for a time, ceases to care a farthing +whether he is wet or dry as long as the weather is warm; +and as for being lonely, he soon comes to regard his own +company, with a fire and a pipe, as quite sufficient.</p> + +<p>As a speculation my mining had not been a success.</p> + +<p>During the time that I was working the Mount Britten +reefs, the receipts and expenditure were as follows:—</p> + +<table class="autotable" style="font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums; max-width: 50em;"> +<colgroup> +<col style="width: 50%;"> +<col style="width: 50%;"> +</colgroup> +<tr> +<th colspan="2" style="font-weight: normal;">“Little Wanderer.”</th> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +Gross expenses +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +£4967 18 5 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +Gold sold +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +8689 1 2 +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>This left a balance of £3721:2:9 in favour of the +claim.</p> + +<table class="autotable" style="font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums; max-width: 50em;"> +<colgroup> +<col style="width: 65%;"> +<col style="width: 35%;"> +</colgroup> +<tr> +<th colspan="2" style="font-weight: normal;">“Erratic Star.”</th> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +Gross expenses +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +£2275 5 10 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +Gold sold +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +688 19 1 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="padding-right: 2em;"> +Leaving a deficit of +</td> +<td class="tdr" style="border-top: 1px solid black; border-bottom: 3px double black;"> +£1586 6 9 +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>The “Sabbath Calm” machine cost about £9000, against +which it received £1050 from the reefs for crushing stone.</p> + +<p>The first cost of opening up a reef is always very great, +and it is doubly so, of course, upon a new field.</p> + +<p>Wages at Mount Britten were very high, ordinary +miners getting £3 a week; carpenters, sawyers, and bricklayers +from £4:10s. to £6.</p> + +<p>The cost of carriage to Mackay was £15 per ton at first, +but it afterwards fell to £8, at which figure it remained. +My bill for carriage alone was over £600.</p> + +<p>Had either the “Star” or the “Wanderer” continued +for a year longer as good as they proved at first, we should +have made a small fortune out of either of them, and the +mill would have paid well as a separate speculation. On a +new field where crushing is charged for at the rate of 30s +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</span>or £2 a ton, the profits from a mill that can get sufficient +stone to keep it constantly going are enormous.</p> + +<p>Ten head of stampers will put through 120 tons a week +with ease. At 30s. per ton this gives a return of £180 a +week. The whole cost of driving a mill, including wages, +firewood, quicksilver, and repairs, and allowing 7 per cent +per annum for depreciation in value of the plant, should +not exceed £55 a week, even on a new field where wages +and carriage are high. This leaves a clear profit of £125 +a week, or £6500 a year.</p> + +<p>When we decided to try and float a company to work +the reef the “Wanderer” was in full swing, and turning out +seven ounces to the ton. But I know very well that all +Queensland reefs are what is called “patchy.” The gold +runs in “levels” and “shoots,” and is seldom evenly distributed +throughout the whole line of reef, as is the case +in Victoria. Consequently, anyone working a Queensland +reef is liable at any moment to come upon a perfectly blank +patch of stone; and the expenses of working through this, +and looking for another level of gold, are far too heavy to +be borne by a single individual.</p> + +<p>The “Wanderer” was what is called a first-rate show; +that is to say, the surrounding country, the formation of +the reef, the work done, and the yields already obtained, +gave every indication of its being permanent reef carrying +heavy gold. More than this no one can ever say. The +extraordinary vagaries of gold, especially in Queensland +reefs, make mining the purest gambling, and any practical +miner who has been long at his trade comes to disbelieve +entirely in the “nostrums” of theoretical geologists and +scientific miners for discovering gold, and subscribes to the +Cornishman’s maxim of “Where it be, there it be.”</p> + +<p>When a man has been working a particular reef for a +length of time, he may come to know from certain indications +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</span>in the stone that he is in the neighbourhood of a +heavy patch of gold; but on a new field, where the character +of the country remains still untried, no man can see +farther than the point of his own pick. Indications that +on one field point with almost an absolute certainty to the +vicinity of gold, may mean nothing at all on a field fifty +miles away.</p> + +<p>For instance, on Gympie the presence of black slate is +invariably accompanied by rich deposits of gold in the +adjacent reef. When a claim strikes black slate, the shareholders +go about the streets brandishing samples of it, and +the shares go up just as if they had struck gold.</p> + +<p>There is certainly some mysterious affinity between gold +and black slate on Gympie. I have seen a reef there, in +black-slate country, carrying heavy gold all along, until a +thin vein of gray rock came between the reef and the slate. +At the exact spot where this happened the reef became +perfectly blank, and not a colour of gold was seen until the +gray rock was cut out, and the reef touched the slate again, +when it carried as heavy gold as ever.</p> + +<p>On Mount Britten the presence of black slate meant +apparently nothing at all. There was no slate in the +vicinity of the “Wanderer” at all, and the “Star” lost +her gold at a depth of ninety feet, just when she got into +the most magnificent black-slate country I ever saw.</p> + +<p>Again, on Charters Towers, when mundic is struck in a +claim, the fortune of everyone connected with it is considered +to be made; but on Ravenswood, sixty miles away, +if they strike mundic they shut up the claim at once, for +the Ravenswood mundic has hitherto proved too much +for any appliances available in Australia for extracting the +gold from it.</p> + +<p>The Gympie reefs are very patchy, and some of them +are marvellously rich. I never saw a more wonderful sight +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</span>than a “patch” in No. 2 North Lady Mary claim. The +reef, which was about eight inches thick, was of milk-white +quartz, in slate country as black as coal; and as I stood +back and held a candle over my head, the whole face of +the reef, eight feet high, was literally blazing with gold. +It was sticking out in bright, glittering masses, and even +the slate walls of the reef were thickly spotted over with +the precious metal.</p> + +<p>Gold, when it is first broken down in a reef, bears no +sort of resemblance to the dull-coloured compound that is +worked up into jewellery and the coin of the realm. It +is about the colour of brass, or rock sulphur, and breaks +into crystal cubes which glitter and shine with dazzling +brilliancy.</p> + +<p>This patch in the Lady Mary yielded 1470 ounces from +twenty tons of quartz. About the best paying claim on +Gympie, when I was there, was the No. 1 North Phœnix. +A party of men had bought it about ten months before +for £100, and were considered to be perfect fools for their +pains. However, they set to work and sunk a shaft 320 +feet, and struck the reef carrying heavy gold.</p> + +<p>While I was there they crushed 700 tons for an average +yield of over eleven ounces to the ton. In eighteen months +the claim had paid over £100,000 in dividends, and the +shareholders refused an offer of £150,000 for the claim +from a Sydney syndicate. The shares, of which there +were 24,000 in the original company, were selling at +£7:10s. and £8.</p> + +<p>In Victoria some of the big reefs there can pay a +dividend with a yield of four pennyweights to the ton; +but in Queensland the reefs are smaller as a rule, and it is +seldom that anything less than one ounce to the ton pays +well. Were more capital available, this would not be the +case; and there is no doubt that in the future great +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</span>numbers of Queensland reefs that have been abandoned +will be taken up and worked again profitably.</p> + +<p>Gold-mining in Queensland is still in its infancy. The +best geologists declared that no gold would ever be found +on Gympie below the second bed of slate; but a few +enthusiasts persisted in going down to see for themselves, +and experience proved that the surface-gold that had been +obtained was insignificant compared with the yield below +the second and third beds of slate.</p> + +<p>So far, the rule seems to be that the deeper you go the +more gold you get; but the deepest working in Queensland +is only 600 feet, which is mere scratching compared to +some of the southern workings, which are down nearly +3000 feet. The ordinary history of a Queensland gold field +is this, and it is repeated with monotonous regularity:—First +of all, alluvial gold is discovered, which brings a rush +to the place. Reefs are discovered, the surface of some of +them proves tremendously rich; a second reefing rush sets +in, and the surface levels of gold are worked out with a +very small outlay of capital. The place is then declared +to be a “duffer,” and abandoned, except by a few fanatics, +who stick there for months and years, and by incredible +patience and perseverance manage to strike a fresh level of +gold at a greater depth. This brings capital to the field, +the reefs are opened up and worked systematically, and +the place becomes a permanent gold field.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp80" id="i_b238a" style="max-width: 42em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b238a.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + THE END OF A GOLD RUSH. + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>Up to the present time Gympie, Charters Towers, the +Etheridge, and the Hodgkinson are the only diggings that +have passed through the transition changes, and assumed +a permanent aspect. Of these Charters Towers is far the +best, and Gympie the next, but the other two are developing +quickly. But all through Queensland, inside the coast +range, runs a vast belt of gold-bearing quartz, and innumerable +diggings have been discovered, from which +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</span>heavy surface yields were obtained, but which have been +partly deserted for want of capital to develop them.</p> + +<p>Mount Wheeler, Clermont, the Cape River, the Normanby, +the Mulgrave, Ravenswood, Cloncurry, and the +Palmer have all as good prospects as ever Gympie or +Charters Towers had, but they are at present in a state of +suspended animation, waiting for capital to work their +lower levels. Of these Ravenswood and the Palmer are +the most promising. On the Palmer the richness of the +reefs is beyond dispute, and it is simply the heavy expense +of keeping down the water in the claims that prevents +their being worked. On Ravenswood the prospects are +still better. The only difficulty to contend with there is +the complicated nature of the mundic in which the gold is +found. The richness of the stone is surprising, and the +samples of mundic which have been sent home to Swansea +to be treated yield as high as twenty ounces to the ton.</p> + +<p>Undoubtedly in the future the gold-mining of Queensland +will develop into vast dimensions, and already it +has contributed largely to the prosperity of the colony. +Gympie broke out at a time when the Queensland exchequer +was nearly empty, and the revival that took place +was undoubtedly due entirely to the discovery of gold.</p> + +<p>The annual yield of Gympie is now nearly 100,000 +ounces, and that of Charters Towers is considerably over. +In 1879 the estimated value of gold produced throughout +the colony was £1,010,000, but since then a large increase +has taken place. The Day Dawn claim on Charters +Towers is about the best claim in Queensland at the present +time. Four or five separate companies were ruined in +trying to make her pay, but in 1881 a party of four or five +Germans struck gold there. In eighteen months they had +taken £135,000 out of the claim, and apparently were +only just beginning to find out what it was worth, for +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</span>when last I heard of them, in July 1883, they had a reef +nineteen feet thick crushing regularly three ounces to the +ton.</p> + +<p>By far the greater portion of gold raised in Queensland +up to the present time has been got by parties of working +men, who have just gone down as deep as they could +without winding machinery, and then slung the claim, +having perhaps been flooded out, or come upon a blank +patch of stone. Scores of reefs are now lying idle in +Queensland from which tremendous yields were obtained +near the surface, but which have been abandoned for want +of capital. It is only very lately that it has been considered +worth while to erect winding gear, and work the reefs at a +depth, but the results have been so eminently satisfactory +that a vast increase in the annual yield of gold may be +looked for during the next few years.</p> + +<p>Besides this, fresh fields are constantly being discovered. +The Government offers a reward of £1000 to anyone who +discovers a gold field upon which, six months after it is +opened, there shall be upwards of 200 men at work; and +though experience shows that they avail themselves of +every possible technical or legal quibble to cheat the +prospector out of his reward, the pursuit of gold is quite +sufficient to keep up a constant supply of prospectors +without any other inducement. Money may be the root +of all evil, but, if so, it is like the root of a potato, the best +part of it, and the Government need not trouble themselves +to offer rewards for the discovery of gold.</p> + +<p>They would do very much more to advance the good of +the colony if they were to prospect the lower levels of the +fields already discovered, by means of a diamond drill, at +the public expense. Gold is of all mistresses the most +exacting, and as long as it maintains its market value +there will always be plenty of people to look for it. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</span>Experience proves that gold-mining, as a rule, does not +pay, but the pursuit of gold is indeed the triumph of hope +over experience. When once a man takes to it he is unfit +for anything else, and, whether it make or mar him, he +will pursue it to the end of the chapter. The noble army +of mining martyrs stick steadily to their post, and the +gaps that time and ruin make in their ranks are quickly +filled up by an ever-increasing supply of recruits.</p> + +<blockquote class="center"> + “Servitus crescit nova, nec priores<br> + Impiæ tectum dominæ relinquunt<br> + <span style="margin-left: 8.0em;">Sæpe minati.”</span> +</blockquote> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVII"> + CHAPTER XVII. + <br> + <span style="font-size: medium;">QUEENSLAND AND HER RESOURCES AND PROSPECTS</span> + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>Queensland dates her existence from the year 1859, +when she was separated from New South Wales, and she +is, therefore, the youngest of the Australian group of +colonies. But her vast area, almost the whole of which +is available, her varied climate, and the lavish manner in +which Nature has bestowed upon her all the resources that +go to make a country great, foretell, with certainty, that +she will before long assume the leading position among +her sisters, and eventually develop into one of the finest +countries in the world.</p> + +<p>The area of Queensland is 668,224 square miles, rather +more than five and a half times the area of the United +Kingdom, and the whole population in 1882 was only +248,255.</p> + +<p>All along the coast runs a broad belt of mountainous +country, entirely covered with forest. The timber becomes +thicker and thicker towards the tops of the mountains, +the higher ones being overgrown with dense impenetrable +“scrub,” while the slopes and valleys between are open +timber, with long grass growing everywhere amongst the +trees.</p> + +<p>Between the foot of the coast range and the sea is a +tract of level country, varying from sixty to a few miles in +width, in which are situated large areas of the finest +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</span>alluvial soil, suitable, in the southern parts of the colony, +for the growth of all the fruits and cereals of a temperate +climate, and, in the central and northern districts, for the +cultivation of cotton, coffee, tobacco, sugar, and all the +products of the tropics.</p> + +<p>The whole of the coast country is well watered, and is +not subject to the severe droughts which occasionally visit +the interior. The mountains, of course, attract rain, and +the valleys between form natural reservoirs, in the shape +of chains of water-holes and big lagoons, and, especially on +the eastern slopes, innumerable creeks rise in the ranges, +and find their way down to the sea.</p> + +<p>One of the most extraordinary features of the coast +country is the vast quantity of timber that grows everywhere. +It is positively bewildering to think of the thousands +of square miles that are covered with endless trees. The +most common varieties are the blue, red, and spotted gum, +iron-bark, stringy-bark, and blood-wood, all of which are +admirably adapted for fencing and building purposes, as +they are easily split and sawn, possess a very high breaking +strain, and, when protected from the weather and the attacks +of white ants, are perfectly imperishable. Even when +standing in the ground, and exposed to the weather, they +are good for fifteen or twenty years.</p> + +<p>Of course, away in the Bush, the ravages of Bush-fires +and white ants make havoc among the fences; but I have +seen a stringy-bark sap-paling that had been twelve years +in the ground, and when I took it up it was so sound that +I made it into axe-handles.</p> + +<p>Besides these varieties, on the eastern face of the coast +range are pine, red cedar, and beech, and, on the western +slopes, rose-wood, myall, dead-finish, plum-tree, iron-wood, +and sandal-wood, all woods with a fine grain suitable for +cabinet-making and fancy work. With the exception of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</span>cedar and pine, large quantities of which are exported every +year, these woods are of little value at present, and on the +Queensland lines of railway sandal-wood is used as fuel, the +quantity of heat which it gives out being greater than that +of any other wood in the colony. It is an inferior kind +of sandal-wood, but still it contains a great quantity of oil.</p> + +<p>The scrubs of Northern Queensland are full of different +sorts of hard-wood, with most beautiful variegated grains, +admirable for veneering; but at present their inaccessible +position prevents their attracting the attention that they +undoubtedly will when the country is more opened up. +A visit to the Queensland gallery in the South Kensington +Museum will give some idea of the beautiful quality of her +different woods, but nothing but a visit to the colony can +give any idea of the quantity.</p> + +<p>The extent and richness of the mineral districts of +Queensland are almost fabulous; and although the accounts +of experts and others of what they have seen may, at first, +appear incredible, experience proves every day that they +fall short of the reality, and that the extraordinary wealth +of the colony in metals is comparatively unexplored.</p> + +<p>The recent crushings on Gympie gold field read more +like a fairy tale than anything else, and when the report of +them appeared in the papers everyone in the colony thought +it was a misprint. One line of reef there lately took 500 +tons of quartz out of a shaft that they were sinking, which +averaged 20 ozs. of gold to the ton, and, on another line, +a crushing of 53 tons gave the astounding yield of 2534 ozs. +In nine months over £82,000 in dividends was paid by +the latter claim.</p> + +<p>Startling, however, as these returns undoubtedly are, +they are entirely thrown into the shade by the recent +discovery of gold at Mount Morgan, in the neighbourhood +of Rockhampton.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</span></p> + +<p>The following is an account of the mine, taken from +the Charters Towers <i>Mining Journal</i> for September +1884:—</p> + +<p>“Situated about twenty-five miles south-east of Rockhampton, +on one of the branches of the Dee River, it seems +to be a portion of a large basin in the hills. It rises out of +granite, and is from 400 to 500 feet high from the site of +the crushing mill, half a mile distant on the creek, where +an abundance of water may be conserved. The property +consists of 640 acres of freehold.</p> + +<p>“The gold-bearing stone is composed of ferrugineous +quartz and ironstone, some of it having the appearance of +‘clinkers’ from a blacksmith’s forge. The lodes, which +seem to be parallel, run north and south. They are from +40 to 100 feet wide, and are very puzzling to most visitors. +In some places they are quartz, in others porous ironstone, +and in others there are cavities containing stalactites of +black oxidised iron. Some portions are very much richer +than others. Gold of a very fine grain is easily seen in the +quartz, where it is not much oxidised, and, when prospected, +it is apparently free.</p> + +<p>“One lode now working is 40 feet wide, and another +100 feet wide in the face, and about 70 or 80 feet from +the crown of the hill, and about 100 feet below this +there is another face of similar stone, on the same quarry-like +lodes.</p> + +<p>“In these faces gold is always obtained from the drillings. +By the present appliances, which are totally inadequate, +the yield of gold is from 10 dwts. to 3 ozs. to the ton. +Owing to the heavy nature of the ironstone quartz there +is great loss in the ‘tailings,’ all of which and the sludge +are being saved. Five assays from the ‘tailings’ give over +4 ozs. to the ton, and the ‘blanketings,’ after being put +through the wheeler’s pan, and the Berdan, and concentrated +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</span>in the shoot, assay as high as 90 ozs. of gold to the ton. +Taking it for granted that this statement is correct about +the tailings, if the gold can be got out of the stone it will +yield 5 ozs. of gold to the ton, and the top lode alone is +estimated to contain 450,000 tons.</p> + +<p>“According to Dr. Liebius, M.A., F.C.S., the gold from +this mine is worth £4:4:8 per ounce, assaying as high +as 99·7 per cent of gold and is free from silver. The cost +of production is remarkably low. It is said that 3 dwts. +of gold to the ton pays for breaking, carting, and crushing. +The formation cannot be called a reef. The whole hill-top +seems to be of richly auriferous stone. It is merely cut +away to suit the convenience of the miners, so that a broad +quarry or terrace has been formed. The cutting is 20 +feet deep and about 100 feet long; the stone is of the same +character the whole distance, and extends to the summit of +the mountain several chains higher.</p> + +<p>“With reference to the statement that only one half of +the gold is extracted in the ordinary quartz-crushing and +amalgamating machinery, Dr. Liebius says:—</p> + +<p>“‘Having the small quartz-crushing machinery in the +Sydney mint under my charge, I had an opportunity of +testing this fact. In November last we received 458 lbs. +of this ferrugineous quartz, part of it consisting of picked +stone. It was carefully crushed, and amalgamated in the +Chilian mill with 240 lbs. of mercury. Thus 7·41 ozs. of +gold were extracted. Another lot, weighing 174 lbs., was +similarly treated, and from this 12·12 ozs. of gold were +extracted. Thus Lot 1 gave at the rate of over 39 ozs. of +gold to the ton of quartz, while Lot 2 gave gold at the rate +of over 169 ozs. of gold to the ton of quartz. In Lot 1 +gold at the rate of 46 ozs. 2 dwts. 12 grs. was left in the +tailings, while in Lot 2 the tailings averaged 46 ozs. 5 dwts. +18 grs. of gold to the ton.’</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</span></p> + +<p>“This discovery of gold is the largest, and richest in +quality, ever yet made in any part of the world. A ninth +share in the property lately sold for £31,000 (the purchaser +being one of the remaining shareholders), a price very +much below its value. Provided the owners of the mine +can extract the gold from the stone, and there is no +reasonable doubt of their being able to do so, the top lode +alone should yield over £9,000,000 of profit.</p> + +<p>“It may be that this mine is unique of its kind, but +there is always a very great likelihood that where there is +one there are others. Its development will give a great +stimulus to prospecting, not only in the neighbourhood of +Rockhampton, but throughout the whole of Queensland. +It discloses what prizes this colony, almost unknown as +yet, offers. It is barely two years since the property was +purchased from the Morgans; and had they held on to +their interests, they would soon have become millionaires. +As it is, they have in a very short space of time retired +with large fortunes. It is left for their successors to draw +in the future wealth from the mine beyond the wildest +dreams of avarice.”</p> + +<p>Besides gold, the country is wonderfully rich in other +metals; the chief of which are copper, iron, tin, silver, +cinnabar, lead, and antimony. The deposits of copper are +especially remarkable. The mines are but little worked at +present, since the price of copper fell to £60 per ton, and +the total amount exported in 1882 was only £650.</p> + +<p>But formerly, when copper was worth £90 per ton, the +profits from the mines were very great. Peak Downs +copper-mine, the principal one in the colony, has paid over +£1,000,000 in dividends, and, so far from its being worked +out, it is the opinion of experts, and those who worked in +the mines, that there is as much copper there as ever came +out. The mines are not working at present—a circumstance +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</span>due principally to the greediness of the shareholders, who +thought of nothing but their dividends, and omitted to +open up the mines ahead of the work.</p> + +<p>As an instance of how the work has been mismanaged, +an engine shaft twelve feet square was sunk to a depth of +150 feet, which cut the lode they were looking for, eighteen +feet from the surface, without the manager ever detecting +it.</p> + +<p>The reports of experts who have visited the copper-lodes +of the north show that the resources of the colony in this +respect are unlimited. The following account, by Mr. +Sheaffe, of the Mackinlay ranges, and the Cloncurry +copper-mines, in the <i>Queenslander</i> of August 9, 1880, is +well worthy of notice. He writes:</p> + +<p>“The Mackinlay ranges, teeming with an extraordinary +wealth of minerals, are flanked for nearly 200 miles by +high undulating downs of exceeding fertility; so that on +the one hand you have almost boundless pasture, and upon +the other almost inexhaustible mines. That I am justified +in speaking of these mines as almost inexhaustible I shall +proceed to show. The first known copper-mines approached +by this route are the Mountain Home, the Rio Grande, and +the West Briton, of which Mr. W. Wellington, who was +sent to England by Messrs. Bolitho and Sons, reported as +follows:—</p> + +<p>“‘The principal lode is at Mount Norma, a well-defined +lode, varying from three to six feet wide, running north +and south, and dipping to the east. It stands in the face +of an almost perpendicular mountain, showing from 400 to +500 yards. The ore is principally gray, of the following +percentage, namely, thirty-four. The Rio Grande lodes +consist of two, running parallel, with a distance of 250 +yards between them. The outcrops show very distinctly +on both these lodes for about 300 or 400 yards in length, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</span>consisting of red oxide and gray ores, of the following +percentage, namely, forty-four. The West Briton, also +running north and south, is about a mile north-east of the +Mountain Home, showing a large lode from six feet to eight +feet wide, chiefly red oxide and gray ore, of the following +percentage, namely, thirty-eight. These lodes appear to +be well defined and regular, all running north and south, +and dipping to the east. The cost of working these lodes +would be very little for some time to come, in consequence +of the ore being so near the surface.’</p> + +<p>“The line, after leaving these mines, should then pass +near the gold reefs of Bishop’s and Fisher’s creeks. Near +this are situated the Homeward Bound and Flying Dutchman +copper-mines, from the former of which 250 tons of +ore have been sent to Sydney, all of which have yielded +over 40 per cent of pure copper.</p> + +<p>“Twelve miles farther on the Cloncurry copper-mines +are reached, the richness and magnitude of which it is +difficult to conceive without having seen them; and though +I have known many skilled miners who have worked at, +and several mining engineers of note (Mr. H. A. Thompson, +the Chairman of the Mining Board being one) who have +inspected these mines, I have never known one who was +not at first sight astonished at the almost incredible amount +of rich ore lying on the surface of the ground. Half a mile +to the south-west extremely rich and extensive lodes occur, +while thirty miles to the north-west unnumbered lodes and +copper-bearing veins appear. I myself know of nearly 100, +only eight or ten of which are secured, and none worked. +Eight miles to the north-west, on the Leichardt River, are +two lodes, containing ores of red oxide, gray, and malachite. +These lodes are from twenty to thirty feet wide, immense +deposits of copper. Big boulders of gray are lying loose +on the surface, of tons’ weight.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</span></p> + +<p>Some very fine copper-lodes are situated at Mount Flora +and Mount Orange, ninety miles from Mackay. The horseshoe +formed by the two mountains and the ridge that +connects them is one mass of copper-lodes, some of them +extremely rich, and consisting principally of red oxide and +malachite. An attempt was made to work them by some +local men and some Sydney capitalists, who put up smelting +works on the field, and obtained very fair results. But +the company collapsed, from no fault of the mines, but from +the grossest mismanagement on the part of the shareholders, +backed up by swindling on the part of the mining manager.</p> + +<p>Men who used to work in the mines have since told me +that they have known the manager to put a shot or two +into the wall, and entirely conceal the face of the lode. +He then reported to the shareholders that the lode had +“duffered out,” and that it was useless to continue working; +and one of the latter, who was “in the swim” with the +manager, obtained the whole claim from the rest for a +trifling sum, and the lode was opened up again.</p> + +<p>The peculiar natural advantages of the Mount Flora +and Mount Orange mines should make them pay well, if +properly managed, even when the price of copper is as low +as it is now. Not only are they within a short distance of +the coast, with a good road all the way to port, but they +are in the centre of a district which is full of large deposits +of coal. It is the opinion of geologists that the western +plains will be found to overlie large beds of this mineral, +which has already been found in nearly every part of the +colony where it has been searched for.</p> + +<p>In wandering about the runs in the neighbourhood of +Mount Flora copper-mines, and Mount Britten gold-mines, +I have come across many splendid seams of coal, cropping +out in the gullies and banks of the creeks, some of the +seams being eight feet wide, and all of them a very good +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</span>sample of coal. In the neighbourhood of Bowen, 100 miles +farther north, there is a seam of coal fifty feet thick, but it +is not of quite such good quality as that farther south.</p> + +<p>The principal coal districts that have as yet been tried +are near Brisbane, in West Moreton, on Darling Downs, at +Maryborough, at Bowen, and at Cooktown in the far north. +But I believe, myself, that the coal beds in the neighbourhood +of Grosvenor Downs and Lake Elphinstone, runs +lying between Clermont and Bowen, will prove equal to +any yet discovered in the colony both for quantity and for +quality.</p> + +<p>The tin-mines of Queensland are remarkably rich, and +the value of the amount of that metal exported in 1882 +was £269,904. The chief mines are those at Stanthorpe +on the southern boundary of the colony, from which tin +to the value of nearly a million sterling has been taken. +Hitherto, all through the colony the metal found has been +chiefly in the form of stream-tin; but recently what was +thought to be a valuable discovery of lode-tin was made at +Herberton, in the far north.</p> + +<p>A tremendous rush set in, and boat-loads of speculators +started up from Melbourne and Sydney to secure the +ground. Not a man came down from the north in the +steamers but had a sample of Herberton lode-tin in his +pocket, and glowing descriptions of the enormous quantity +of it that was sticking out of the ground excited the +southern capitalists to the verge of madness.</p> + +<p>Certainly the samples sent down were of extraordinary +richness, but at present it seems doubtful whether the lodes +will prove permanent, and I think the people who did best +out of the Herberton tin-rush were the working men who +originally took up the ground, some of whom sold their +claims to maniacs from the south for as much as £20,000, +without having done £20 worth of work in them.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</span></p> + +<p>Extraordinary as is the mineral wealth of Queensland, +however, it is not in this that her real greatness lies. +Gold is all-powerful in most things, and its acquisition +will, for a time, outweigh all other considerations, but its +presence can never make a barren land fertile, or turn a +bad climate into a good one; and although immense +deposits of this and other metals will always attract +a large floating population, they will never support a +permanent one, unless backed up by other conditions. +The real greatness of Queensland lies in the fact that +while she has been exceptionally endowed with what may +be called ready-made wealth in the form of minerals, she +possesses at the same time one of the healthiest climates in +the world, and an enormous area fit for cultivation and +stock-rearing, capable of supporting a vast population under +conditions of life the most favourable. She is, in fact, +a self-contained country, having within herself all the +elements of a powerful nation, the germs almost of that +chimerical greatness that has been described by Prince +Bismarck as “une puissance finie.”</p> + +<p>The term was applied to England; and whether it was +intended to mean that she is strong enough to maintain +her position unassisted either by an alliance with foreign +Powers or by her Colonies, or whether the double meaning +of the last word was meant to imply that the greatness of +England has departed, in either case most Englishmen will +be inclined to question the fitness of its application. The +phrase is a trebly unfortunate one.</p> + +<p>In the first place, the greatness of England has not yet +departed; in the second place, no Power that has ever +existed has proved itself strong enough to entirely disregard +an alliance with others; and in the third place, the only +thing in the history of the world that has ever pointed to +the possibility of such a Power arising, is the present +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</span>question of a permanent union of all British territories +throughout the world. The British Empire, so united, +would be by far the most powerful one that the world +has ever seen, and would, indeed, be independent of any +possible combination against it. But as regards England +herself, now that Imperial Federation is attracting the +universal attention that it deserves, it is apparent that she +depends quite as much upon her Colonies for retaining her +present position in the world as her Colonies depend upon +her for retaining theirs; and Queensland, with a territory +of over half a million square miles, and a population of less +than one for every two square miles, must be an important +factor in the future history of a country so over-populated +as Great Britain.</p> + +<p>To the west of the coast-range lie the prairies of +Queensland, an almost boundless extent of rolling downs +and plains, covered with grass and herbage that for rearing +sheep and cattle is unsurpassed in any country of the +world. Every mile of available country is now taken up, +and held by the squatters, who are, of course, the chief +producers of the colony, and to get new country a man +must go into the northern territory of South Australia and +into Western Australia. The number of sheep in Queensland +in 1882 was over 12,000,000, and the number of +cattle about 4,000,000; the value of the wool exported +in the same year being £1,329,019. In the future sheep +will increase very much faster than cattle, for no one who +can afford the expense of forming a sheep-station will +continue to rear cattle upon country that is fit to carry +sheep. For many years to come, from climatic reasons if +for no others, it is certain that the interior of Queensland +will continue to be what it is now, essentially a wool-producing +country; and its capabilities in this respect are +incalculable.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</span></p> + +<p>The rainfall is unreliable, and the absence of natural +water renders even the squatter’s industry at all times +rather a precarious one, and obliges him to spend large +sums of money in making permanent water upon his runs. +The danger of drought is lessened by the largeness of the +areas held by the squatter, and is further reduced by the +precaution of storing water, but in a drought such as has +recently visited the southern portion of Queensland, and +New South Wales, nothing can save him from serious +loss, and it is in reality only the enormous profits which +he makes in good seasons that enable him to face an +occasional bad one with cheerfulness.</p> + +<p>In the chapter devoted to a comparison of the relative +advantages of a sheep-station and a cattle-station will be +found statistics which show what the profits of the former +amount to in fair seasons; but anyone who is acquainted +with the Western country would see at once the absurdity +of supposing that it could be profitably held except in +large areas, for pastoral purposes, until a great change has +taken place in the civilisation of the colony.</p> + +<p>It is impossible, of course, to imagine that such a +country can remain permanently in the hands of a few +hundred graziers, whose object is to keep away any population +from their runs beyond the few hands necessary to +work their flocks and herds. The Western Downs are +supposed by geologists to overlie large underground reservoirs +of water, and certainly wherever wells have been +sunk to any depth success has attended the experiments, so +that in time it is probable that some system of irrigation +will be developed, which will turn the country into something +more profitable to the community than sheep-runs; +and the opening up of the country by railways will +transform the interior of Queensland from a purely pastoral +into an agricultural country. That cheap carriage to the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</span>coast is the one thing needful to make wheat-growing pay +has been conclusively proved by the large quantities grown +in the Allora and Roma districts, since the opening of the +railway from Brisbane to the latter town. Five quarters +to the acre is not an uncommon crop, and in 1880 250,000 +bushels were raised in the colony. The quality of the +wheat is excellent, the weight being as high as sixty-seven +pounds to the bushel, and the flour fully equal to Adelaide. +Land is being rapidly laid down under wheat in the +Darling Downs and Maranoa districts, and it is expected +that before long Queensland will produce sufficient to make +her independent of any foreign supply.</p> + +<p>With such resources as these at her command, it is +evident that the colony requires nothing but an extended +system of railway communication from the interior to the +coast, to bring population and prosperity in its wake. The +transformation that has been wrought in those districts +where railways have already been constructed, shows what +progress might be expected if the colony were to put +forth her whole strength in this direction. With a good +Government the thing would be done at once—for no sane +man disputes the advisability of doing it; but, unfortunately, +Queensland, like her neighbours, New South Wales and +Victoria, suffers in this respect from a succession of selfish, +sordid adventurers, whose proceedings it is impossible to +watch, without forgetting the impurity of their principles +in the imbecility of their policy. It is as absurd to +distinguish the members of either party as Conservatives +or Radicals, as it is to call any of them politicians, since +the transparent motive of all of them is to plunder their +colony. The Ins and Outs of Legislation would be a more +appropriate term. The party who are in go straight for +whatever they want; and the only security of the country +lies in the certainty that the party who are out will do +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</span>their best to prevent them from getting it, not from any +consideration for the public weal, but because they want it +themselves.</p> + +<p>The great natural want of Queensland is navigable +rivers and deep-water harbours. In all her seaboard of +2000 miles there are hardly any good harbours for vessels +of large draught, and not a single decent navigable river. +By a sort of practical joke of nature every one is adorned +with a sand-bar at the mouth and a mud-flat a little way +up. These efforts of nature are a thorn in the side of every +coasting skipper, and a perfect god-send to the rascally +<i>employés</i> and <i>protégés</i> of the Department of Public Works, +who derive a regular annuity from misdirected attempts to +deepen the rivers. More or less illegitimate plunder is +made out of every public work in Australia by all concerned +in it, from the Ministry downwards; the most notable +instances being the adoption of Wood’s brake by the +Victorian railways, the Steel Rails Inquiry in Queensland, +and the Transcontinental Railway scheme in the same +colony, which will be more fully described hereafter. +These are official swindles, and require the active co-operation +of those at the head of affairs, and a great deal of tact +on the part of all concerned, to carry them through. Even +then they do not always succeed. The Transcontinental +Railway scheme was the downfall of the Ministry whose +Premier was its chief instigator and promoter.</p> + +<p>But in a small way nothing is so profitable and so +popular with Government engineers as deepening a river, +because it is work that can be indefinitely prolonged. At +any other work they are bound to show some sort of +progress, be it ever so miraculously slow, or else show +some reasonable cause for delay. But in deepening a +river, the engineer has it all his own way. No one can +tell what he is about under water, and, by combining a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</span>studious neglect of the most elementary principles of +engineering with a slight knowledge of the bottom of the +river, he can extend his work over any period of time. +The amount of public money that goes in this way is +enormous.</p> + +<p>The Fitzroy River, on which lies the town of Rockhampton, +affords a striking example of Queensland Government +engineering. Seven miles below the town are situated +the Flats, on which there was naturally about three feet of +water at low tide. It was decided to remove these flats, +so as to allow vessels drawing nine feet of water to get up +at any tide. The estimated cost of the undertaking was +£25,000;—time not specified, being, as the advertisements +say, “not so much an object as a comfortable home” for +the engineer to whom the work was entrusted.</p> + +<p>After fooling around dredging for some time, this worthy +hit upon a notable scheme. Starting a little above the flats, +he built a training wall slantwise down the river, so as to +leave a narrow passage near the opposite bank. He calculated +that the rush of the tide through this narrow channel +would very soon deepen it.</p> + +<p>He was perfectly right. It very soon did, and, by the +simple process known as robbing Peter to pay Paul, the +sand so washed away formed a fresh flat a little lower +down, with only eighteen inches of water on it, instead of +three feet!</p> + +<p>Finally, after expending £110,000 during a period extending +over ten years, they have at last succeeded in getting +a depth of about five feet at low tide. Less than half +the money wasted in tinkering the bottom of the Fitzroy +would have given Rockhampton a deep-water port in +Keppel Bay, at which ships drawing thirty feet of water +could lie at any tide, and a railway from thence to the town.</p> + +<p>There is not a single town on the coast of Queensland +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</span>that has the natural advantage of deep-water communication +with the sea, either by means of a harbour or a navigable +river, except Bowen and Gladstone. These two +townships are situated on the coast itself, and have good +deep-water harbours; but there is no back country to either +of them, so it will be long before they are of much importance. +All the other ports are only accessible to boats of +very light draught, and generally these have to wait for +the tide.</p> + +<p>Townsville lies right on the coast, but the neighbouring +bay is so shallow that no vessel of any size can get within +a mile and a half of the town.</p> + +<p>Mackay lies two miles up a river, with flats upon which +there is not more than a foot of water at low tide. At the +mouth of the river is a sand-bar, and outside nothing but +an open roadstead.</p> + +<p>Rockhampton is forty-five miles from the coast, up the +Fitzroy River, the flats in which have just been described.</p> + +<p>Bundaberg and Maryborough are each of them some +distance up a narrow, muddy, shallow river.</p> + +<p>The coasting-trade of Queensland is increasing so enormously, +there is no doubt that in time these difficulties +will be overcome, and some, at least, of the coast towns +will be provided with good artificial harbours.</p> + +<p>In 1841 the whole trade of the colony of Queensland +was carried on by a small cutter trading between Brisbane +and Sydney. In 1879 the entrances inwards to Brisbane +were 1261 vessels, with a tonnage of 637,695 tons, and the +clearance about the same. Since then the increase in the +coast trade has been even more surprising.</p> + +<p>In 1883 Townsville alone, the most northern town of +any importance in Queensland, was importing about 4000 +tons of goods a week.</p> + +<p>The production of sugar alone in the colony has risen +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</span>from 12,300 cwt. in 1868 to over 400,000 cwt. in 1883. +Very soon good seaports will be an absolute necessity; +but, in the meantime, with the exception of the work done +in the Brisbane River, all the money spent has been so +much thrown away.</p> + +<p>Mackay, the great sugar-growing district of Queensland, +is about the worst off for a port of any town on the coast. +It has, as I have said, a river with shallow flats and a bar +at the mouth, and nothing but an open roadstead outside.</p> + +<p>There are, however, two small islands, known as “Flat-top” +and “Round-top,” just off the mouth of the river; +and it was thought that something might be done in the +way of a breakwater. The genius of the Fitzroy flats was +accordingly consulted on the subject.</p> + +<p>He assured the delighted inhabitants of Mackay that it +would be the simplest thing in the world to make an excellent +harbour. Nothing to do but connect one of the +islands with the mainland, throw out a breakwater on the +far side, and run a railway right away from the end of the +breakwater into the town.</p> + +<p>After an interval of four years, during which time they +had been driven nearly out of their minds by the patriotic +agitation on the subject by the member for Mackay, the +Government proceeded to vote some money for the furtherance +of this scheme. The breakwater was to be about a +mile long, and tenders were called for in sections. The +first section was the only one ever completed, and the only +one ever likely to be, until some very much more able men +take it in hand. The contractor’s only notion of a breakwater +seemed to be to blast rock out of an adjacent cliff, +break it up small so as to be convenient for handling, and +barrow it into the sea, leaving it to form its own batter. +He never got farther than high-water mark. His work, +about forty yards long, remains, another monument of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</span>Government stupidity, and the Mackay breakwater ends +where most breakwaters begin.</p> + +<p>But the most notable attempt of modern times to rob +the public exchequer was the Transcontinental Railway +scheme. The responsible position of those whose names +were connected with it, the magnitude of the undertaking, +and the great care with which the real conditions under +which it was to be carried out were concealed, for a long +time saved this gigantic fraud from detection. At length, +however, it was exposed, the public realised the amount of +which it was intended the colony should be robbed, and +the result was that the Ministry who brought in the Bill +were defeated, and obliged to resign.</p> + +<p>The proposed scheme is really worth some consideration, +in order to show the enormous vitality of a colony that can +still make rapid progress, even under the incubus of a +Government that endeavours to plunder instead of fostering +its resources.</p> + +<p>The Transcontinental Railway was to run from the +inland head of the Brisbane-Roma line (a Government +line) to Point Parker, in the Gulf of Carpentaria, a distance, +roughly, of 1000 miles.</p> + +<p>There is no doubt that such a line would be of inestimable +benefit to Australia at large, and especially to +Queensland; but it is certain that the latter colony individually +would benefit much more from an extension of +her existing lines of railway farther into the interior.</p> + +<p>The whole colony being fully alive to the importance of +extending her railway system in some shape or way, the +Government made it their business to try and persuade the +inhabitants of Queensland that her credit was already +strained to the utmost, and that it would be inadvisable, +even if it were possible, to borrow sufficient to perform the +proposed work.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</span></p> + +<p>We were told by the Premier that because we owed £58 +per head of our population, which would be increased to +£70 when the loans authorised were issued, we were on +the verge of ruin, and could not possibly borrow any +more.</p> + +<p>Now it may be very sound to estimate the gravity of a +public debt in this manner, when the money has been borrowed +for unproductive purposes, such as war, or construction +of national defences. But in a colony like Queensland +almost the whole of the money so borrowed has, with +a due allowance, of course, for official plunder, been expended +on developing the national estate, so that the debt +is represented to a great extent by valuable assets which +bring in a revenue far in excess of the interest on the capital +borrowed. Thus, in New South Wales, a colony that owes +£18,000,000, the railways alone are valued at £25,000,000, +and pay 5 per cent on the cost of construction.</p> + +<p>The estimate of Sir Thomas M’Ilwraith, the Premier of +Queensland, for the construction of the Transcontinental +Railway was £3260 per mile.</p> + +<p>In his reply of 22d February 1882, to General Fielding, +the agent for the Syndicate that was formed in Europe for +taking up this scheme, Sir Thomas M’Ilwraith declared +most positively that the cost of a railway from Charleville +to the Gulf, including every item, surveying, supervision, +rolling stock, construction, stations, and all other outlay, +should not exceed the above sum. Sir Thomas is himself +an expert, and had besides the benefit of Mr. Watson’s +survey and estimate to help him. The whole cost for the +1000 miles, therefore, should not exceed £3,260,000.</p> + +<p>The Syndicate were to be allowed seven years and a +half to complete their line. This gives £434,666 as the +sum required to be spent every year to complete the line +within contract time. Queensland can borrow at the rate +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</span>of 4 per cent interest; we therefore find that had Queensland +herself undertaken the work—</p> + +<p class="center">Amount required to be spent annually on construction, +£434,666.</p> + +<table class="autotable" style="font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums; max-width: 50em;"> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +1st year’s interest at 4 per cent +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +£17,387 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="word-spacing: 4em;"> +2d <abbr title="year's interest at 4 per cent">” ”</abbr> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +34,774 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="word-spacing: 4em;"> +3d <abbr title="year's interest at 4 per cent">” ”</abbr> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +52,161 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="word-spacing: 4em;"> +4th <abbr title="year's interest at 4 per cent">” ”</abbr> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +69,548 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="word-spacing: 4em;"> +5th <abbr title="year's interest at 4 per cent">” ”</abbr> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +86,935 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="word-spacing: 4em;"> +6th <abbr title="year's interest at 4 per cent">” ”</abbr> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +104,322 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="word-spacing: 4em;"> +7th <abbr title="year's interest at 4 per cent">” ”</abbr> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +121,709 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="word-spacing: 4em; text-indent: -1.7em;"> +<span style="word-spacing: 0;">half 8th</span> <abbr title="year's interest at 4 per cent">” ”</abbr> +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +65,202 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td></td> +<td class="tdr" style="border-top: 1px solid black; border-bottom: 3px double black;"> +£552,038 +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>So that in seven years and a half Queensland would +have completed the 1000 miles of railway, at a cost of +£3,260,000 of loan funds, on which she would have paid +interest during that time £552,038. The total cost to the +colony therefore would be £3,812,038, and at the end of +the time she would herself be the owner of the line.</p> + +<p>Later on we shall see what it was proposed the colony +should pay the Syndicate for the railway before it eventually +passed into her hands. Having partly succeeded in +persuading the colony that it would be impossible for her +to borrow sufficient to accomplish the work, the Premier +drew our attention to a body of philanthropists in the +shape of a European Syndicate, who were ready to do it +for us.</p> + +<p>The fact of a joint-stock company being able to do what +a colony like Queensland cannot do is sufficiently startling. +But no matter; we were told that although our credit was +run dry, Providence had provided us with the means of +accomplishing our object in the shape of land-grants. +Nothing could be more simple than to use the enormous +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</span>area of comparatively unremunerative land to pay for the +railway.</p> + +<p>It is a most fortunate thing that the colony came to +its senses, and realised the merits of the case before it was +too late. At one time there was a danger that the Government +might snatch a victory, and rush their nefarious +project through Parliament, before the colony understood +what was taking place. Had this happened, there is no +doubt it would have had a lasting and most injurious effect +on the prospects of Queensland.</p> + +<p>There is not space here to transcribe the full terms of +the agreement between the Queensland Government and +the Transcontinental Syndicate, but what it amounted to +was this: the Syndicate in the first place were to receive +eleven million acres of land, freehold. This land was +stated by the Premier to be worth at least 10s. an acre, +and Government have been repeatedly solicited to offer it +at auction at that upset price.</p> + +<p>Not allowing therefore for the prospective rise in the +value of the land upon the completion of the railway, this +gives the value of the land-grant to be given to the Syndicate +at £5,500,000. But in exchange for the inferior portion of +land adjacent to the railway on the Gulf watershed, the Syndicate +were allowed to select 1,200,000 acres on the Batavia +River. This is grand agricultural land, which cannot be +valued at less than £1 per acre. This brings the total thus:</p> + +<table class="autotable" style="font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums; max-width: 50em;"> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">1,200,000 acres on the Batavia at £1</td> +<td class="tdr">£1,200,000</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl">10,000,000 acres along the line at 10s.</td> +<td class="tdr">5,000,000</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td></td> +<td class="tdr" style="border-top: 1px solid black; border-bottom: 3px double black;"> +£6,200,000 +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>In making this valuation no account has been taken of +the extra value of the land in the various townships along +the line, and of the port on the Gulf, half of all which was +to belong to the Syndicate.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</span></p> + +<p>Having induced the Syndicate to make the railway for +us by the above enormous bribe, the agreement further +provided for the purchase of the railway from the Syndicate +when it was completed by the following remarkable +clause:—</p> + +<p>“13. In the event of the Governor-in-Council exercising +the right of purchase of the said railway and rolling stock +and appurtenances, given by the 26th clause of the said +Act, the basis of valuation upon which the fair and reasonable +value thereof shall be ascertained as therein mentioned +shall be twenty-five years’ purchase of the average net +earnings of the railway during the three previous years, +with 15 per cent added thereto for forced sale, but not +being less in total than £100 for every £100 of capital +paid by and expended on the said railway, rolling-stock, +and appurtenances.”</p> + +<p>In order to give an idea of the probable amount that +the colony would be required to pay under this clause, I +cannot do better than quote from a pamphlet which +appeared at the time the Bill was before the country. It +was called <i>The latest Political Device for partitioning Queensland +amongst Speculative Rings, and its Exposure</i>. It was +written, I believe, by Mr. R. Newton, and was of immense +service in showing up the gigantic fraud that the colony +was very nearly swallowing. He says:</p> + +<p>“From the above clause it may be inferred that the +Government cannot exercise the right to purchase the line +till the expiration of three years from its completion. By +those most competent to form a correct estimate, it is +computed that this colony will possess not less than +30,000,000 sheep in its central districts by the expiration +of the time to be allowed to the Syndicate for the completion +of their line to the Gulf. For it must be remembered +that the country through which this Syndicate line is +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</span>proposed to be taken, is not a useless, unoccupied territory, +only to be made of any value by this railway. With the +exception of a barren strip at the Point Parker end, the +country is occupied as grazing-runs along the whole length +of the proposed line, and for hundreds of miles to the west +of it. Some of the country through which the line would +pass is highly improved, and the whole is now being +developed in an extraordinarily rapid manner. Few people +understand or realise the vast traffic this increase in sheep +will bring to our railways.</p> + +<p>“We will take, as a basis for calculation, that only the +produce and requirement for working one half of these +30,000,000 sheep can be influenced on to the Syndicate +lines; and considering the enormous power they will +possess, with the facilities they would be able to give at +their port, Point Parker, by lines of steamers of their own, +carrying at low freights, to allow the Syndicate line only +one half the traffic is a moderate calculation.</p> + +<p>“This, then, would give the Syndicate the traffic for +15,000,000 sheep. The wool from these, at 4 lbs. all round +for clean and greasy wool, gives 26,786 tons. We will put +the average freight on this at £8 per ton, a rate much +below what is at present charged on our lines, the freight +on clean wool from Roma to Brisbane, a distance of only +317 miles, being now £8 per ton.</p> + +<p>“Allowing only double the weight of up-carriage to +wool down, which is considerably under what is found in +practice (as <i>vide</i> the traffic returns of the Central Railway, +a line supplying almost solely pastoral country), and +calculating the average charge on up-freight at the same +rate as wool down, viz. £8 per ton, and allowing for +passenger fares, together with the large traffic which may +be expected from live-stock, meat, etc. (without taking into +account the mineral traffic from the Cloncurry, which may +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</span>be immense)—we give the same amount as wool freights +bring in—we have the following result:—</p> + +<table class="autotable" style="font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums; max-width: 50em;"> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +26,786 tons wool down at £8 per ton, +average freight +</td> +<td class="tdr">£214,288</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +53,572 tons up-loading at £8 +</td> +<td class="tdr">428,576</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +Passenger fares, live-stock, meat, etc. +</td> +<td class="tdr">214,288</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdr">Total gross earnings</td> +<td class="tdr" style="border-top: 1px solid black; border-bottom: 3px double black;"> +£857,152 +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>“Taking the working expenses at 50 per cent on gross +earnings, which is an ample allowance over such an +extremely easy and level country, we have £428,576 per +annum nett earnings, which, at twenty-five years’ purchase, +with 15 per cent added, comes to the enormous total of +£12,321,560. This amount, if not considerably more, is +the sum we should have to borrow in a few years, to +purchase a railway, for the construction of which the +country will have already given away £6,200,000 of its +lands, besides vast unknown values in sites of towns, etc., +and which line the country could have constructed itself, +including interest on loans and every possible charge, for +a sum not exceeding £3,812,038. It is simply utter +nonsense to spread abroad the idea that this great colony, +with its vast undeveloped resources—with the great future +which is undoubtedly its inheritance—is unable to borrow +for the making of its main trunk lines of railway (which +would represent so grand an asset) a sum scarcely exceeding +£3,000,000, extended over a period of eight years.”</p> + +<p>Such was the great Transcontinental Railway scheme, +which occasioned the downfall of Sir Thomas M’Ilwraith’s +Ministry. It is deeply to be regretted that they ever took +such a proposal in hand. They were the best government +Queensland has ever had, and, had they chosen to do so, +they were in a position to pass measures that would have been +of inestimable service to the colony, such as the Coolie Bill to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</span>introduce coloured labour from India to the sugar plantations. +Instead of which they took advantage of the +security of their position to tamper with the interests of +the colony. Allusion has been made above to the Steel +Rail Inquiry. This was an attack made by Mr. Griffiths, +the leader of the Opposition, upon Sir Thomas M’Ilwraith’s +conduct in the purchase of some £60,000 of steel rails for +the Queensland railways.</p> + +<p>Mr. Griffiths directly impugned the honesty of the +Premier’s conduct in the transaction, and, although he +was unable to establish his charge, the extremely unsatisfactory +circumstances that appeared in the inquiry +greatly weakened the confidence of the country in the +Ministry. When this further scheme for wholesale plunder +was exposed, of course the country could stand it no longer, +and turned them out.</p> + +<p>Headed by Mr. Griffiths, their successors advanced, and, +having elected a congenial spirit in the shape of a thrice-convicted +felon to the Speaker’s chair, they laid themselves +down to try by every means in their power to +retard the progress of the colony, and feather their own +nests.</p> + +<p>The conduct of the Queensland Parliament in selecting +such a man to fill the position of Speaker was severely +censured by the neighbouring colonies, and deeply resented +throughout Queensland herself. The tone of our Parliament +has never been very high, but compared with the Houses +in New South Wales and Victoria we always felt ourselves +to be eminently respectable. All claim to such distinction +is now gone. Whatever elements a House may be composed +of, it cannot fail to lose caste by assigning the position of +Speaker to such a man as now holds it.</p> + +<p>But although the Queensland Assembly may be deficient +in a sense of dignity, it certainly does not lack wit. Some +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</span>years ago the present Speaker (Mr. Groom) was very +desirous of obtaining a Government appointment. In the +course of debate, one of his friends declared that Mr. +Groom’s long services under Government most distinctly +entitled him to hold some office. Whereupon someone on +the other side got up and observed, with more truth than +feeling, that “considering what the nature of Mr. Groom’s +services to the country had been, the only appointment he +was qualified to hold was that of Groom of the Stole.”</p> + +<p>It is deeply to be regretted that a more healthy tone +does not pervade the legislature of the Colonies. But as +long as all respectable people hold aloof, and excuse themselves +from attempting to take part in the government of +their country, on the plea that they do not care to be mixed +up in such disreputable society, there is not much hope of +improvement. Such idle seclusion and selfish apathy deserves +to be afflicted, as it is, by the worst of governments.</p> + +<p>Throughout the whole of Australia a feeling obtains that +Parliament is a profession which it is just as well for all +decent people to keep clear of. In a book of advice to +those visiting the colony of Victoria, I read the following +interesting warning:—</p> + +<p>“If you enter into conversation with a respectable-looking +individual to whom you are a stranger, on no +account ask him if he is a member of the Legislative +Assembly. You cannot offer him a greater insult.”</p> + +<p>As a class the squatters are marvellously indifferent to +the legislation of the colony they live in, and they have +greatly their own selfishness to thank for the losses that +they suffer in consequence. The squatters are, of course, +the backbone of a pastoral country like Australia, and +represent the greater portion of its wealth. But anything +like co-operation amongst them for the purpose of protecting +their interests in Parliament is unknown. Each one +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</span>thinks he can do best for himself by attending to nothing +but the management of his station, and letting legislation +take care of itself. They are by far the most poorly +represented class in Parliament throughout Australia, and +the consequence is that their seclusion in the Bush is subject +to periodical interruptions of a most disagreeable kind.</p> + +<p>While busily employed in making money in the back +country, they awake too late, to find that literally the ground +has been cut from under their feet at headquarters, and +perhaps half their run taken away by some empirical piece +of legislation on the part of the town-loafers to whom they +have abandoned the reins of government without a struggle.</p> + +<p>Of course, in a new country, the most difficult question +that any Government has to deal with is a satisfactory +adjustment of the question as to how the land shall be +occupied. So far the problem has not been treated in the +manner most likely to conduce to the welfare of the community, +for at first, in the older colonies, immense freeholds +were allowed to accumulate, the evil effects of which have +found vent in measures of retaliation against the class that +owned them.</p> + +<p>The difficulty in a colony like Queensland lies in the +fact that while the great want is felt to be an increase of +population, it is almost impossible to find a class of people +who can occupy the country profitably in small areas. The +squatter knows, of course, that he only occupies his run +upon sufferance, and that, unless he chooses to spend large +sums in securing it as a freehold, he must expect to surrender +his country when it is required for other purposes. +When the time comes he succumbs to the inevitable, and +moves farther away in search of fresh country; but his +sorrow at being forced to give up the whole or half of his +run is by no means diminished by the discovery that it is +not of the slightest use to those who have taken it from him.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</span></p> + +<p>Of course, if a squatter holds land that is fit for cultivation +either of sugar or of wheat, it is only right that he should +hand it over to those who are able and willing to turn it to +a use which is obviously more remunerative to the colony +at large than the growing of stock. But when he holds +country that is out of the scope of agriculture for the present, +it is annoying to have to surrender it prematurely to +people to whom it is no sort of good. Even in Queensland, +land without capital is more of a curse than a blessing to +those who are forced to hold it, and there is no more +wretched class in the colony than the holders of pastoral +selections.</p> + +<p>It is perfectly impossible that a man can make anything +more than a bare living out of one, and generally it is +impossible for him to do even that honestly. When he has +complied with the conditions of occupation, by completing +the necessary improvements in the shape of fencing-in his +selection, there is no more work for him to do, and he +simmers down into growing pumpkins and sweet potatoes +for his own consumption, and generally ekes out a living +by stealing his neighbour’s cattle. A more utterly useless +class of men to the colony cannot be imagined. The fact +is that, for a long time to come, the most profitable way in +which the greater portion of Australia, and certainly of +Queensland, could possibly be held, would be in the form +of large pastoral leaseholds, paying a fair rent to the Crown, +but having a security of tenure that would encourage their +holders to invest their capital largely in improvements. +To throw open the runs of the squatters to selection wholesale +is merely to try and drive civilisation at high pressure, +which always means waste of power, and to foster a mushroom +growth of population that will weaken rather than +develop the natural resources of the country.</p> + +<p>The population required for a country like Queensland +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</span>consists mainly of two classes—large capitalists and skilled +workmen of all trades. The former will find an ample +field for profitable investments upon any scale that they +may desire, and the latter will readily find employment at +a high rate of wages.</p> + +<p>But to the man of small capital, who is master of no +trade, the colony is indeed a delusion and a snare. The +days are over when large fortunes were rapidly made out +of nothing at all, and anyone who makes money there has +to work for it, and to work hard too. The possessor of a +few hundreds, or even a few thousands of pounds, who goes +to Queensland with the idea that he is likely to make his +fortune, will find himself wofully mistaken; for the odds +are a hundred to one on his losing every penny of his money.</p> + +<p>If he goes out there to friends whom he can thoroughly +trust, and who will take care of his money for him, of +course he will get a higher rate of interest than he could +get in England, and as he gains experience of the country +he will see opportunities of increasing his capital safely. +But unless he has good introductions to thoroughly sound +men of business, he had far better stay at home.</p> + +<p>The standard of honesty is no higher in the colony than +it is elsewhere, and there are always crowds of sharpers on +the lookout for men with money to invest. A form of +partnership is often entered into, in which the new arrival +in the colony provides the money, and the old hand the +experience. These partnerships seldom last long, and at +the end of them the respective commodities have generally +changed hands: the unfortunate “new chum” has got the +experience, and his rascally partner has got the money.</p> + +<p>But Queensland is certainly the Utopia of the working-man +who is not afraid of work, and numerous are the ways +of making a living that are open to him.</p> + +<p>On the goldfields ordinary miners’ wages run from +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</span>£2:10s. on the old-established field to £4 on new diggings +in the back country. Amongst the trades, carpenters, +joiners, masons, and workers in iron are the most in +demand, and at any of them a good tradesman will, in the +towns, earn at least fifteen shillings a day. In the Bush, +the wages for ordinary station-hands employed for shepherding +or stock-riding are from £1 to £1:15s. a week, +with rations, running up to £2:5s. for shearers in shearing +time. Nearly all the fencing and putting up of station-buildings, +yards, etc., in the Bush, is done by contract, and +contractors always reckon to make at least £2:10s. a week.</p> + +<p>After he has been six months in the colony, the working-man +is endowed with the inestimable boon of the franchise—an +advantage for which he has at all times, and in all parts +of the world, shown himself willing to barter every other +consideration.</p> + +<p>A great deal has been said about the climate of Queensland, +and it is often described as being a “trying” one. +The only possible way in which it can be justly so described +is in the sense of its being a climate in which people are +constantly trying to kill themselves without succeeding. +Probably there is no other country in the world in which +men habitually take such frightful liberties with their +constitutions with impunity.</p> + +<p>The ordinary mode of living pursued by the inhabitants +both of the town and the Bush is such that, if the climate +were not an extraordinarily healthy one, they would die like +rotten sheep. We will take the average Bushman’s life, +say a stockman, or a hard-working squatter, who helps to +work his own cattle. His food consists of beef and damper, +and jam if he is luxurious. Vegetables he often does not +see for weeks and weeks together, except in the form of +pickles, and he is very lucky if he can always get them.</p> + +<p>An occasional piece of pumpkin, or a sweet potato, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</span>forms a red-letter day in the calendar of his diet, and every +meal is washed down with floods of strong scalding hot +tea without any milk. Breakfast is the only regular meal +that he gets in the day, and he has that soon after he gets +up, but not before he has had a smoke. If he happens to +be at home in the middle of the day he has dinner; if not, +he has nothing from breakfast to supper, which is a movable +feast, somewhere about sundown.</p> + +<p>All day he is riding about under a broiling sun, and +smokes an ounce of the strongest tobacco in the world +every twenty-four hours. For days and nights together, +sometimes, he is wet through, when camped out away from +home; sleeping at night under a tree, with no covering but +a blanket in winter, and in summer not even that, and +awakening in the morning, perhaps to find himself lying in +a puddle of rain-water that has fallen in the night, perhaps +to find his hair stuck to his hat with hoar frost.</p> + +<p>The only diversion in his <i>régime</i> is an occasional visit to +a neighbouring town, where he probably gets half poisoned +by the extraordinary quantity and the infamous quality of +the liquor that he drinks. If after ten years of this he +should find his digestion not as good as it was, or feel +symptoms of the approach of rheumatism, he is certain +to put it down to the climate instead of to his own +imprudence.</p> + +<p>With the townsmen the case is still worse. Their +climate is certainly not as healthy as that of the Bush, and +in summer it is rather depressing; but they take little or +no exercise, which is the only way to counteract its effects, +and drink quantities of spirits from morning till night, +every day of their lives, and even then it seems to take +years and years to do them much harm.</p> + +<p>All below the coast range of Queensland cannot be +described as a pleasant climate, though it certainly is not +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</span>an unhealthy one. But in summer it is rather a sticky, +damp sort of heat, and both men and animals perspire far +more than they do over the range on the table-lands.</p> + +<p>In the Bush, though the thermometer is very high all +through the summer from October to April, there is nothing +whatever depressing or enervating about the heat; +and the harder a man works, even though he be out in the +sun all day, the better he will feel.</p> + +<p>It is only the habitual loafers and the constitutionally +weak who feel any bad effects from the heat of Queensland. +The thermometer runs to about 90° in the shade in the +middle of the day in the summer months, though on some few +days it is much higher. I have seen it up to 120° in the +shade of a back verandah, and 176° in the sun; but I never +felt the slightest ill effects from going out and working all +day in the sun, with no more covering for my head than an +old felt hat.</p> + +<p>Sunstroke in the Bush is unknown, though I have seen +men working all day in a brick-kiln, when there was not a +breath of air, with a vertical sun over their heads, and no +protection but a workman’s linen cap. Even in summer, +in the Bush, when the sun goes down, the air always gets +nice and cool. Hot nights are unknown, and there are +very few all through the summer in which a man is not +glad of a blanket just before dawn.</p> + +<p>If the climate of Queensland were a perpetual summer, +it might, indeed, be rather trying to such people as are +constitutionally unfitted to stand heat; but for seven +months in the year it is impossible to imagine a more +delightful climate, even for those who object to hot weather. +From the middle of March to the middle of October is an +unbroken series of bright, warm, sunny days, with a blue +sky over which soft, fat white clouds sail on the wings of +a fresh, cool breeze, the mornings and evenings being quite +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</span>chilly, and the thermometer at night, during the months +of June and July, falling sometimes to ten degrees below +freezing, even in latitudes well within the tropics.</p> + +<p>As is always the case with new countries, ague prevails +in Queensland, but chiefly in the districts that have been +recently taken up, and it disappears almost entirely in +places that have been settled for some time.</p> + +<p>In the interior a form of blood-poisoning, known as +slow-fever, is not uncommon, and is entirely due to the +effects of drinking impure water.</p> + +<p>The only really unhealthy district of Queensland is on +the shores of the Gulf of Carpentaria, where several obscure +sorts of fever prevail, one of which very closely resembles +the terrible Yellow-Jack, if indeed it is not the real article +itself.</p> + +<p>The rest of the colony may be considered as extraordinarily +free from all the maladies incidental to hot +climates, and it must be greatly a man’s own fault if he +does not enjoy as good health in Queensland as he could +in any other country in the world. I have tried the +climates of New South Wales and Victoria, and certainly +prefer that of Queensland to either of them; for during +the seven years that I was knocking about the latter colony, +at all sorts of work, exposed to all kinds of weather, I not +only never had a day’s illness that I could by any ingenuity +attribute to the effects of the climate, but I feel that I laid +in a stock of good health, of which the beneficial effects will +last during the remainder of my lifetime.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"> + CHAPTER XVIII. + <br> + <span style="font-size: medium;">BRISBANE</span> + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, lies about twenty-five +miles from the coast, on the river of the same name. The +town is rather prettily situated on some high ridges sloping +down to the river. Except in point of size, all coast-towns +of Queensland are pretty much alike, and are certainly not +pleasant places to live at. They have all the disagreeables +of town as compared with country life, and none of the +advantages which are to be found in the older-established +towns of Sydney and Melbourne. I never knew anyone +who was obliged to live in a Queensland coast-town who +did not complain of his lot, and wish himself elsewhere; +and no Bushman will ever stay a day longer in one of them +than he can help. This is not to be wondered at, for the +heat and dust in summer are intolerable, and flies and +mosquitoes abound. There are hardly any places of amusement +of any kind, and the consequence is that in order to +kill time, and to counteract the depressing effects of the +climate, most of the inhabitants drink a great deal more +than is good for them.</p> + +<p>The greatest misconception prevails in the old country +as to the mode of living generally in Australia; but +especially as to the relative advantages of life in the towns +and in the Bush. Even amongst the inhabitants of +Australia themselves there is no subject upon which I +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</span>have heard more nonsense talked. The dwellers in the +Bush are constantly represented as dirty and degraded +ruffians who, from their very manner of living, cannot +possibly continue to be decent members of the community, +while the inhabitants of the towns are upheld as orderly, +industrious, and useful citizens. Comparisons are always +odious, and I should never have dreamed of making one +so especially obnoxious as this. But it is so constantly +done that I believe from mere reiteration it passes for truth.</p> + +<p>Were any such idea to gain credence, it would undoubtedly +deter numbers of people from going into the +Bush, or allowing any of their belongings to do so.</p> + +<p>Now, to a country like Australia, at present the development +of her back-country is of infinitely greater importance +than the growth of her towns, and it should be the object +of everyone who is interested in her future to import as +much capital and population into the Bush as possible.</p> + +<p>In order to give a fair idea of the relative advantages +of town and Bush life in Queensland, it may be as well +to make a few remarks on the subject. The manners +and morals of those who habitually reside in the Bush +are undoubtedly not all that can be desired; but to +represent them as a class with whom it is impossible to +associate without being defiled is unjust.</p> + +<p>It is true that a great many people are unable to do +so, for there are some in whom the struggle after cleanliness +and morality is so feebly maintained that a feather +suffices to turn the scale, and these, of course, avail themselves +only too readily of the seclusion of the Bush to give +full swing to their degrading propensities. By all means +let such people keep out of the Bush, if they feel themselves +unequal to retaining their self-respect without such assistance +as the external influences of a town life afford them.</p> + +<p>The importance of such external influences it is impossible +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</span>to exaggerate, but it is very doubtful whether they +are not of infinitely greater value to a man’s neighbours +than to himself, if he be such a man as is above described. +“A fig for virtue! ’Tis in ourselves that we are thus or +thus,” and the man who only washes under compulsion is +not likely to derive much moral benefit from his enforced +ablutions, though it is of paramount importance to all his +associates that he should not be allowed entirely to abstain +from the use of soap and water.</p> + +<p>But writers on the subject would have us believe that +he who journeys into the Bush must leave his religion and +his toothbrush behind; and were there a turnpike to mark +the entrance to this awful abode, they would no doubt +place over it the inscription with which Dante has adorned +the gate of inner Hell. We are further given to understand +that a short residence in this remarkable region +destroys both youth and abilities.</p> + +<p>Now youth is such a perishable commodity, and its +decay such a fixed law of nature, that no means have as +yet been discovered of arresting its departure. It seems +rather unfair, therefore, to tax the Bush in particular with +promoting it; and as for a man’s abilities, it must be his +own fault if he finds them impaired by an open-air life of +hard work in what we conceive to be the healthiest country +in the world.</p> + +<p>Nothing is more common than to hear a charge of +drunkenness brought against Bushmen, as if they as a +class possessed a monopoly of this vice. That there are +drunkards in the Bush is beyond all question, but that +they are as numerous in proportion to the population +as they are in the towns is very doubtful. Neither is +their method of drinking, though equally deplorable, by +any means as destructive to health as that pursued by the +inhabitants of the towns.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</span></p> + +<p>In the first place, a man working hard in the open +air can consume with perfect impunity an amount of +alcohol that would soon finish off a man leading a less +healthy life.</p> + +<p>In the second place, the Bush drunkard works hard +for his cheque, adjourns to the nearest public-house, and, +having drunk it out, returns to work again, to recruit his +health and refill his pocket. “Though this be madness, +there is method in it.”</p> + +<p>Now the town drunkard, and many who would be +inexpressibly shocked to hear themselves described as such, +indulge in a series of “nips,” the frequency of which +increases to such an alarming extent, that at last the +fleeting remnant of their brain is barely equal to the +effort of elaborating an excuse for swallowing another +nobbler.</p> + +<p>It is the undivided opinion of medical men that this +habit of soaking is far more injurious to the system than +getting occasionally drunk. Either is bad enough, of +course. Like Cassio, “we could well wish that courtesy +would devise some other custom of entertainment.” It is +only the fallacy of upholding the sobriety of the towns in +Australia against that of the Bush that I wish to draw +attention to.</p> + +<p>In the columns of the <i>Queenslander</i> I read not long ago +a most deplorable description of life in the Bush by an +old colonist who signed himself “Musca.” Anyone who +read it would come to the conclusion that Bushmen are +the only men alive who really know how to drink and +to swear.</p> + +<p>After drawing a most romantic picture of the benign +influence of a “fair and virtuous woman” upon the destiny +of man, and deploring her absence in the Bush, “Musca” +next proceeded to lay down the extraordinary doctrine +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</span>that the hardships and privations which the pursuit of +duty in the Bush entails must end in “moral degradation.”</p> + +<p>This prepares us for his no less startling theory that +the “comforts, luxuries, and enjoyments of a town life” +are more conducive to health than working in the Bush. +The first of these fallacies is so ridiculous as to need no +answer. If the second required one, it would assuredly +be found in a glance at the relative physiques of the +inhabitants of the Bush and of the towns. Health is as +conspicuous by its presence in the one as it is by its +absence in the other.</p> + +<p>How many men have I seen who, having exchanged a +life of roughing it in the Bush for the “comforts, luxuries, +and enjoyments of a town,” have exchanged with it the +exterior of an athlete for that of an anatomical specimen +creeping about to save the expense of a funeral. Really I +should be ashamed to quote such rubbish, but for the fact +that “Musca” is unfortunately only a type of a large class +who endeavour to represent the Bush as a place entirely +unfit to live in.</p> + +<p>The fact is that many men go into the Bush and fulfil +their destiny by making fools of themselves there as they +would anywhere else. They then return to loaf away the +remainder of their existence in a town, and amuse themselves +by giving the world a history of their experiences, +distorted by the recollection of disappointed hopes, for +which they have only their own folly to thank.</p> + +<p>The custom of using profane language cannot be too +severely censured. But to maintain, as “Musca” and +his class do, that the residents in the Bush monopolise, +or even excel in this bad habit, argues a very limited +experience. Deplorable as is the language of an excited +bullock-driver to a refractory steer, it pales before my +recollections of the daily conversation of a number of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</span>young gentlemen at Woolwich, qualifying to serve in the +highest branches of Her Majesty’s Service. While before +me rises a vision of more than one “fine old English +gentleman” full of strange oaths, which not even the +presence of ladies prevents him from using.</p> + +<p>In extolling the influence of a “fair and virtuous woman,” +we must all sympathise with “Musca,” and with him regret +that her presence in the Bush is not more frequent than it +is. But we must also remember that all women are not +fair, neither are all women virtuous.</p> + +<p>Woman’s influence, equally potent for either, is more +frequently exerted for evil than for good. Were we to +compare the instances where a man’s downward career has +been arrested with those where his progress to the dogs +has been assisted by the fair sex, numerous as are the +former, we fear the latter would greatly preponderate. +We must conclude, therefore, that the extreme scarcity of +muslin in the Bush is not a matter for unconditional regret.</p> + +<p>It is as ridiculous to say that everyone living in the +Bush is degraded, as it would be to say that everyone +with red hair is a ruffian. The inhabitants of the Bush +are no doubt worse in some ways than their neighbours, +but certainly a great deal superior to them in others; and +I am heartily sorry for anyone who has lived amongst +them and has been unable to detect anything of good +beneath the rough exterior and somewhat battered appearance +that are, to a certain extent, the necessary effects of +roughing it. I have seen as kind and generous dispositions +and as excellent qualities in a rugged and toil-worn Bushman +as I ever expect to see again.</p> + +<p>It is the tendency of nearly everyone to hold their +circumstances, their surroundings, and their neighbours +responsible for failures and mishaps for which they have +only themselves to thank. There are temptations in every +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</span>line of life which no one can avoid. To try and escape +from them altogether is as foolish as it is cowardly. But +to select a line of life as free from them as possible is open +to most people, and, after dispassionate consideration, the +Bush would seem to offer as few temptations to go wrong +as any line of life that could be chosen. Certainly it offers +far fewer than the towns—I am talking, of course, of +ordinary mortals. It is impossible to legislate for persons +so peculiarly constituted as to feel “morally degraded” by +sleeping under a tree and breakfasting off beef and damper. +It is not of such choice spirits that I am talking, for whom +it would be necessary to construct a Utopia upon a plan +hitherto undreamed of, but of the ordinary young man of +sound constitution and fair abilities, whom I maintain to +have as fair a chance of keeping straight in the Bush as +anywhere else, and an infinitely better chance of preserving +his health. But both his constitution and his resolution +must be of no ordinary strength if he can sojourn for any +length of time in a Queensland town without being the +worse for it.</p> + +<p>The climate of the coast-towns especially is, to say the +least of it, a thirsty one. He will be assailed from morning +till night with invitations to “step round and have a +liquor,” which we all know it is considered the height of +churlishness to refuse. Even supposing society in the +Bush to be worse than that in the towns, still its existence +is necessary to the welfare of the country; and the desire +of “Musca” and his friends to keep all respectable and +well-educated people out of it is the strangest scheme for +the improvement of a community that ever was heard of. +It would surely be better if as many respectable members +of society as possible were to go there and exert what +influence they have for good.</p> + +<p>The amount of hard, steady drinking that goes on in all +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</span>the towns of Queensland is astonishing. Brisbane is no +exception to the rule. Bankers and business men, legislators +and lawyers, doctors and tradesmen, they all make +a practice of every now and then deserting their business +and sallying forth to the nearest bar for a drink. Brandy +and whisky are the favourite drinks, and the amount a +man consumes in the twenty-four hours by this habit +of “nipping,” without ever getting quite drunk, is surprising.</p> + +<p>No <i>habitué</i> of a Queensland town who wishes to find a +business man ever goes to look for him first in his office. +If he knows the run of the town, he will start the reverse +way round the various public-houses, and if he fails to run +the man he is looking for to ground, he will then go to his +office, in hopes of catching him before he starts round for +another series of drinks.</p> + +<p>At whatever hour of the day a man meets another +whom he has not seen for say twelve hours, etiquette +requires that he shall incontinently invite him to come and +drink. This is a custom that pervades every class in the +colony, and cannot be departed from without something +more than a breach of good manners.</p> + +<p>Now, there is no harm whatever in inviting a man to +have a drink. The invitation would seem to be prompted +by nothing but a feeling of generous hospitality, and as +such there is nothing to be said against it. But it assumes +a different aspect when a refusal on the part of the man +invited is regarded as little short of an insult. And yet +such is the case. No matter whether a man is thirsty or +not,—no matter if he has just swallowed a drink,—a refusal +to swallow another cannot be tolerated for a moment. A +more insane custom cannot be conceived; and there is no +doubt that numbers of men who have naturally no taste +for drinking acquire the habit, and entirely ruin their +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</span>health, from reluctance to give offence by refusing to drink +when invited.</p> + +<p>All through Australia, in every class, it is not considered +good form for a man to drink by himself. Very few even +of the most hopeless drunkards ever do so. The consequence +is, that when a man feels inclined for a drink he +immediately looks out for someone to drink with him. +This accounts in a great measure for the annoyance that is +aroused by a refusal.</p> + +<p>In America an “Anti-shouting Society” has been formed, +the members of which bind themselves never to drink at +anyone else’s expense. This is a move in the right direction. +Without going the length of forming any society, +which always argues a conscious weakness on the part of +its members, it would be an excellent thing for Queensland, +and for Australia generally, if the etiquette of drinking +were so far relaxed as to enable a man to refuse to drink +when he does not want to without risk of giving offence.</p> + +<p>The great want of Brisbane is a really good hotel. +There is a population of over 30,000 residents, besides +a considerable floating population of travellers on their +way up and down the coast, and squatters down from +the country for a few days at a time on business. This is +just the sort of population to make hotel-keeping pay. +And yet in all the numerous hotels in Brisbane there is +not one that can fairly be ranked as third rate.</p> + +<p>The attendance and the food are both very bad, and +the bedrooms wretchedly small and stuffy. The summer +nights in Brisbane are often very hot, and sleep is out of +the question in a wooden box no bigger than the cabin of +a steamer, so constructed as to allow the snoring of anyone +within twenty-five yards to be perfectly audible, but with +the worst possible provision for ventilation from the outer +air.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</span></p> + +<p>There is no doubt that anyone who put up a really first-rate +hotel in Brisbane, and ran it upon sound principles, +would soon make an enormous fortune. In the meantime, +however, the want of hotels in Brisbane is greatly made +up for by the hospitality of the people who live there. +For several miles up and down the river the northern +bank is dotted with the country houses of those who have +business in the town.</p> + +<p>Many of these houses are delightfully situated, with lovely +gardens sloping down to the river. The cool shade of these +gardens is a heavenly change from the blinding glare and +dust in the town. Bamboos, orange-trees, lime-trees, +bananas, and other fruit-trees abound, and their dark-green +foliage is illuminated by the masses of gorgeous +colouring from the Boganvillea and other creepers which +grow here in perfection.</p> + +<p>Brisbane possesses a fair club, and supports a theatre, +which is visited by a succession of travelling companies. +The chief recreations of the inhabitants are standing on +the wharf to see the steamers arrive and depart, or going +for a walk with the mosquitoes in the Botanical Gardens.</p> + +<p>The most entertaining thing I ever saw in Brisbane +was a small detachment of the Salvation Army. They +were parading the streets in search of truth, and I had +the curiosity to go up and examine them closely. Their +soul-saving apparatus consisted only of four blasphemous +hymn-books, a cracked concertina, and a very faded banner +that I think had once seen better days in the form of a +kite.</p> + +<p>But although their technical appliances were rather +defective, fate had been kind in lavishing on them a +profusion of those higher gifts that are indispensable to +their calling. They all possessed in perfection the whining +voice, the vicious droop of the eyelid, and the peculiar +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</span>expression of petrified rascality about the corners of the +mouth, that neither vice nor sickness, drink nor toil, are +capable of implanting there without the assistance of a +course of open-air piety. I sincerely hope that I did +not misjudge them. Appearances are very deceitful, and +from a short distance I defy anyone to tell whether the +<i>prima donna</i> was shouting “Glory” or had just sat down +on a tin tack.</p> + +<p>In a few years there will be a railway right through +from Brisbane to Sydney. At present (1884) it only +extends from Brisbane to Stanthorpe, on the borders of +Queensland, leaving a distance of 160 miles to be done by +coach to Armadale, in New South Wales. From there the +railway runs to Newcastle, a town on the coast sixty miles +north of Sydney. Between Armadale and Stanthorpe, +and between Newcastle and Sydney, the line is in course +of construction. The latter section crosses some very +rough country.</p> + +<p>In the meantime anyone who wishes to see a marvellous +performance in the way of four-in-hand driving cannot do +better than travel by one of Cobb and Co.’s coaches from +Stanthorpe to Armadale. This firm run a perfect network +of coaches all over Queensland, New South Wales, and +Victoria; and their drivers, for a rough country, are +probably the finest in the world. It is perfectly extraordinary +how these men will remember every bad place, +and hole, and stump over a stretch of perhaps fifty miles, +so as to be able to avoid them on a dark night, while going +ten or a dozen miles an hour. It is not as if the road +always kept the same. Violent storms and floods are +constantly washing out fresh holes, and blowing down fresh +trees, so that the driver has to remember the road from +day to day and from night to night. It is possible that +something fresh may have happened in the few hours that +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</span>have elapsed since he last went down the road, but he runs +the chance of this with perfect complacency.</p> + +<p>On a pitch dark night there is something awesome in +the way these mail-drivers slam through the forest, along +what is by courtesy called a road, but which in places is +more like a rocky water-course than anything else. An +occasional log, or a fallen tree across the track, prevent +the road from being at all monotonous. If a passenger +has time to do anything but hold on he will be greatly +interested. At every turn of the road the glare of a lamp +on each side of him will reveal some obstacle or pitfall, +which his pilot contrives to avoid with marvellous dexterity. +Sometimes he comes to grief, but not half so often as would +seem inevitable to anyone who did not know the capabilities +of an Australian mail-driver. An axe and a coil of green +hide make him independent of any catastrophe short of +smashing a wheel, and when this occurs there is nothing to +do but to sit down and wait patiently for the arrival of +the coach coming the opposite way. They change horses +about every ten miles, and, barring accidents, they keep +excellent time.</p> + +<p>The voyage down the coast from Brisbane to Sydney is +a very unpleasant one. There is a break here in the lines +of ocean-going steamers which call at all other ports of any +importance on the coast of Australia. From Cape York to +Brisbane the British India Company run the Queensland +mails with a service of very fine boats, averaging nearly +3000 tons, which call off all the Queensland ports.</p> + +<p>From Sydney to Melbourne and Adelaide the vessels +of the P. and O., Orient, and Messageries are constantly +running. But the run from Brisbane to Sydney has to be +negotiated in the little coasting steamers of the Australasian +Steam Navigation Company, better known as the A.S.N. +This Company are the possessors of a flotilla of the most +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</span>villainous boats in the world. For a long time they +waxed fat upon a monopoly of the whole coasting-trade +of Australia; and had they chosen to keep pace with the +advancing times by improving the class of their vessels, +they would now be in possession of as fine a trade as the +world ever saw. But want of competition produced its +usual effect; and instead they preferred to go on running +a class of vessels which never go to sea on a coast like that +of Australia without endangering the lives of all on board, +and occasionally go to the bottom incontinently.</p> + +<p>Up to the present time they have still an enormous +trade, as there are many ports in Queensland into which +their vessels are the only ones small enough to go. But, +if they continue their present extortionate tariff, their +trade will be taken away by some more enterprising +company better able to understand the spirit of the age. +In all their arrangements the A.S.N. display the most +profound indifference to the comfort and convenience of +passengers.</p> + +<p>For example, at Port Mackay or Keppel Bay, where +their steamers do not go up the rivers, it is a constant +occurrence to be kept waiting out at sea in the tender +for sixteen or twenty hours, simply because the Company +will not expend a shilling in telegraphing the steamer’s +departure from the last port of call.</p> + +<p>The distance from Brisbane to Sydney is about 500 +miles, and ought to be a forty-four hours’ run. I have +lively recollections of the indefinite way in which it can +be prolonged by a bad boat in bad weather.</p> + +<p>One Tuesday morning I got on board an old egg-shell +fitted with paddle-boxes, described by the advertisements +of the A.S.N. as “the magnificent full-powered steamship +<i>City of Brisbane</i>, 450 tons, to sail for Sydney at 10 +<span class="allsmcap">A.M.</span>” My heart sank as I observed the stormy appearance +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</span>of the sky, and noticed the steam escaping in every direction +but the right one from the boilers, the authorised pressure +on which had been reduced from 60 lbs. to 15 lbs. to the +square inch.</p> + +<p>Quivering like a leaf, the old tub set off down the river +at the rate of a well-conducted funeral, and in the course +of a few hours, assisted by the tide, we got outside. The +only other passengers besides myself were a Roman Catholic +priest, nearly dead with consumption, and a man who went +into violent <i>delirium tremens</i> a few hours after we left +Brisbane. Anything so utterly depressing as that voyage +I never wish to see again. The weather, for the first day, +was not bad, and with the help of the great Australian +current we got on capitally, and found ourselves nearing +Smokey Cape. Then it came on to blow, and got worse +and worse till the sea and wind were something startling.</p> + +<p>At a very early stage of the gale a big sea smashed the +saloon skylight, and left us with about a foot of water +on the main deck. The priest was sick with monotonous +regularity about twice every three minutes, and with a +violence that made itself heard above the howling of the +storm. The man with D.T. wandered about yelling and +howling horribly, and tumbling up against all the fixtures +until he had cut his face out of all resemblance to anything +human. With his eyes fixed with horror, and the blood +streaming down his face and neck, he presented the most +dreary spectacle I ever saw. We could do nothing for +him, for it was impossible to hold him, and we were at +last obliged to put him in irons.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the old boat had managed, in the course of +three days and a half, to get down opposite Sydney, but +there was such an awful sea on that the captain dared not +alter her course to enter the harbour for fear of foundering. +It now came on to blow worse than ever, and it is a positive +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</span>fact that by next morning we had been blown fifty miles +back, and found we were nearly opposite Newcastle. Here +we lay for thirty hours, without going either backward or +forward. Had the wind been a few points more on shore +nothing could have saved us, as we were never more than +a few miles distant from land. Fortunately there came a +lull of a few hours, and we managed to sneak down and +run into Sydney just as it came on to blow as badly +as ever. We had been five days and a half out from +Brisbane, and were running rapidly short of coal.</p> + +<p>The man with D.T. expired just as we got into harbour.</p> + +<p>Two years afterwards I found the old <i>City of Brisbane</i> +still running the same track, the only change in her being +a further reduction of 5 lbs. pressure on the boilers. This +time it did not blow so hard, and we reached Sydney in +three days and three quarters.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XIX"> + CHAPTER XIX. + <br> + <span style="font-size: medium;">SYDNEY</span> + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>Where Sydney Harbour got its reputation for beauty I +am quite at a loss to imagine. I never saw anything more +forlornly ugly in the way of scenery. Undoubtedly it is +one of the finest harbours from a naval point of view in the +world, but there is nothing whatever picturesque about it. +It is surrounded by low rocky ridges about 200 feet high, +covered all over with stunted trees.</p> + +<p>At the far end lies the town itself, which has not a +single feature to recommend it. All over the ridges to the +south, and on a part of those to the north, are scattered +staring white villa residences. Many of these have lovely +gardens and grounds, and when you get near them are +very pretty spots. But the general panorama of Sydney +Harbour, whether viewed from the sea or from the land, +is positively ugly.</p> + +<p>There is no distance to be seen anywhere, and nothing +pretty in the way of a foreground. The sea is never a +healthy blue, and the colouring of the land is a dull, dirty, +monotonous green, that looks as if it had been dredged +over with sand. There is invariably a sickly glare in the +atmosphere, except just at sunrise and sunset, that would +effectually destroy far greater pretensions to beauty than +any that Sydney can boast of. I have lived in Sydney for +months. I have sailed all over the harbour in a boat, and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</span>have walked round about it on land. I have seen it in +every weather, under every sort of sky, but I never for a +moment saw it look pretty.</p> + +<p>The town of Sydney is by no means a pleasant one. +The streets are winding and cramped, the pavement in +many places being only five or six feet wide, and George +Street, the main street, follows exactly the winding of an +old track that went through a Blacks’ camp that originally +occupied the present site of the town. There are many +very fine buildings in the town, but they do not show to +advantage, and their position prevents any possibility of +widening or improving the streets. The first thing that +strikes anyone who goes to Sydney is the extraordinary +number of people that there seem to be there who have +nothing to do.</p> + +<p>Crowds of loafers block up the main streets, standing in +mobs at the corners, or sauntering along the <i>trottoir</i>, with +their hands in their pockets, a pipe in their mouth, and +their hat tipped well over the eyes. They never get out +of anyone’s way, and are a source of infinite inconvenience +to anyone who is in a hurry.</p> + +<p>The town and suburbs are built on a series of steep hills +and valleys round the harbour, and it is impossible to go a +hundred yards anywhere without going up or down hill. +The best thing about the place is the Botanical Gardens +and grounds of the late Exhibition, which are really quite +beautifully kept.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp80" id="i_b292a" style="max-width: 40em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/i_b292a.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + GOVERNMENT HOUSE, SYDNEY. + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p>The Exhibition itself was unfortunately burnt to the +ground in 1883. It would have been an eyesore anywhere +else, but was quite an ornament to Sydney, and its loss +was deeply felt by the inhabitants, who entertain feelings +of superstitious reverence for the supposed beauty of the +place. Land in the town and suburbs has risen to such a +fabulous value that, although it is never likely to be worth +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</span>less than it is at present, it cannot rise much higher for +some time.</p> + +<p>The wealth of Sydney is enormous. For miles to the +north-east of the town, away towards the south head, the +suburbs are a mass of villa residences overlooking the +harbour. Many of them are extremely pretty, and an +immense deal of money has been laid out on them. But +the inhabitants of Sydney never know what to do with +their money, and seem incapable of having a really good +time.</p> + +<p>In the first place, society is split up into cliques, the +members of which regard anyone who is not in their own +set with the most unreasoning hatred and contempt. +Besides this, the climate is a most depressing one, which +accounts in a great measure for the prevailing listlessness +of everyone in the place.</p> + +<p>In spite of the climate, I have most pleasant recollections +of many very happy days spent at a house on the shores +of the harbour beyond Rose Bay. A son of the owner, +whom I had known five years before, found me staying at +a hotel in the town. I was in bad health at the time, and +he took me away to stay at his home. He was the only +member of the family with whom I was acquainted, but +had I been their oldest friend I could not have been made +more heartily welcome.</p> + +<p>Since then I have stayed there very often, and a friendship +of many years has given me ample opportunity of +appreciating the real kindness that has made the hospitality +of Carrara a household word, even in Australia, where +kindness to strangers is the universal rule. I am bound to +say that the pleasure with which I look back upon the +time that I spent there has no reference to the proximity +of Sydney. The attractions of the place itself, beautifully +situated on the shore of the harbour, were sufficient to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</span>prevent any great wish to wander far away, and the powers +of entertainment possessed by its inmates made their +visitors quite independent of any other society, and rendered +a moment’s dulness impossible.</p> + +<p>The climate of Sydney, always a detestable one, is never +the same for more than a few hours. I have often seen a +day there open with a hot, scorching wind, which lasts +perhaps until one o’clock; suddenly a fierce, cold wind—a +“southerly buster,” as it is called—sweeps up from the ice-fields +of the southern sea, and blows, perhaps, for two days, +perhaps only for a few hours, to be succeeded either by a +dead calm or a “black north-easter,” accompanied by +torrents of rain. But whether it is hot or cold, whether +it blows from the north, south, east, or west, or not at all, +there is always a sickly, enervating feeling about the air, +which the inhabitants themselves complain very much of, +and which a stranger at first feels unbearable. Most of +the inhabitants who can afford it always go away for a +few weeks in the summer, either to Tasmania or to the +Blue Mountains, which is the sanitorium of Sydney, and +where there are townships at an elevation of from 2000 to +3000 feet.</p> + +<p>Sydney is, if possible, worse off than Brisbane for hotels. +I have tried half-a-dozen of the best of them, and everywhere +the dirt, discomfort, and bad attendance are the +same. The Sydney waiter is an entirely distinct species, +of which fact he is himself quite unconscious, and treats +all visitors who will allow him to do so as his equals.</p> + +<p>At the fashionable <i>table d’hôtes</i>, where hundreds of +business-men and visitors in the town assemble every day +for luncheon, the flippant behaviour of the waiters is +perfectly bewildering to a stranger. His call for “waiter” +will probably be answered, after an interval, by an inquiry +of “Did I hear your lovely voice?” from a patronising +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</span>individual, who leans on the table and begins to talk on +the merits of the harbour. I have seen the astonished +look on a visitor’s face, who was explaining to a waiter +that he had brought the wrong wine, when that functionary +suddenly offered to bet him five pounds that he had done +nothing of the kind. His neighbour, a stranger to Sydney +too, was so interested in the discussion, that he paused in +his occupation of helping himself to the greens, and remained +motionless, with the spoon in his hand, and an expression +of blank amazement on his countenance. From this trance +he was rudely awakened by another waiter laying his hand +on his shoulder and remarking, “After you with the +cabbage.”</p> + +<p>The first time I went to Sydney I camped at what was +supposed to be the best hotel in the town. The walls +between the bedrooms were not particularly thick, and the +morning after I arrived, as I was lying in bed, I overheard +the following dialogue in the next bedroom to mine:—</p> + +<p>“I say, old man, lend me a shirt.”</p> + +<p>“Can’t, old man. I’ve only got one.”</p> + +<p>“Never mind, lend it me. I want to go out for an hour +now, but I’ll bring it back before you want to get up.”</p> + +<p>The town of Sydney suffers from an odious nuisance in +the shape of steam tram-cars, which run along several of +the main streets. The shares of the company that works +them are about the best paying thing, next to the telephone, +that has been started for a long while in the colony. But +the cars themselves are a perfect infliction. They rush down +the most crowded thoroughfares, terrifying the horses, and +killing, on an average, about two foot-passengers a week, +besides maiming numerous other ones. There are omnibuses +and hansoms all over the place, and, of course, any +number of private carriages to be seen. But although +many of the latter are well-appointed, and the quality of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</span>some of the horses undeniable, it is remarkable that one +never by any chance sees a coachman decently got up. +There is something quite pitiable in seeing the effect of a +really good turn-out entirely marred by an apparition on +the box with check trousers, an acre of green tie, and a +moustache.</p> + +<p>Altogether Sydney strikes one as a steady-going, sleepy +old town, thickly covered with blue mould, without any of +the rowdyism of the north, and with little of the vigorous +life of Melbourne.</p> + +<p>Nowhere in Australia are there to be found pleasanter +people than in Sydney in their own homes. But they do +not care to go much out of them, and take life very quietly. +Money comes to them more by accumulation than by +speculation, and they spend it lavishly in beautifying their +residences by the shores of their beloved harbour. The +lower orders in Sydney drink heavily, but the middle and +upper classes drink less than any community in Australia, +and the ascending scale of sobriety attains its zenith in the +present head of society, who, when he gives a ball, regales +his guests with nothing more potent than raspberry vinegar +and lemon syrup.</p> + +<p>Sydney keeps several newspapers going, the chief of +which is the <i>Sydney Morning Herald</i>. Except to the readers +of advertisements, it is impossible to imagine a more dreary +publication. It contains the “latest intelligence” only in +the sense of its being a week later than anywhere else, +and most of the space allotted to news is occupied with +hypothetical accounts of what would have happened if +something else had taken place that never occurred.</p> + +<p>For instance, its readers are informed that H.M.S. <i>Wolverene</i> +has left Fiji for Sydney. After following the editor +in an intricate calculation as to the different dates on which +she may be expected, supposing the wind to be favourable +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</span>or not, and supposing her to steam seven knots or eight, +they are next informed that it is quite uncertain whether +the destination of H.M.S. <i>Wolverene</i> be Sydney or not. +This involves more calculations as to how long she will +take to arrive if she goes round by New Zealand, Hobart, +or Melbourne. Finally those who have had patience to +read to the end find a telegram to say that H.M.S. <i>Wolverene</i> +entered Sydney Harbour from Fiji that morning.</p> + +<p>But the <i>Sydney Bulletin</i>, a weekly publication, is probably +the wittiest and most amusing social paper in the world. +It sticks at nothing, and never troubles its readers with +asterisks instead of names. The editor is constantly in hot +water, and has more than once been heavily fined for libel; +but he is far too valuable an institution to be parted with, +and his supporters subscribe freely to see him through a +bad time, and the fire of sarcasm, raillery, and scandal +never ceases. Of its kind, the <i>Sydney Bulletin</i> is perfect, +and all the wretched wit of <i>The World</i>, <i>Truth</i>, and all the +London social papers put together, might be clipped from +it without being missed.</p> + +<p>The harbour always presents a most animated appearance. +Vessels of every description, from a yawl to a +4000-ton steamer, are constantly passing in and out, and +endless little steamers ply between the different bays all +round. Yachting is a very favourite pastime with the inhabitants, +and sometimes the whole harbour is alive with a +flotilla of small craft. The largest vessels can come right +up and lay alongside the quays right against the town.</p> + +<p>The line of railway is completed now from Sydney to +Melbourne, but, of course, the jealousy of the two colonies +has impelled them to adopt different gauges, so that through +traffic is at present impossible. The population of Sydney +is 237,000, and that of the whole colony of New South +Wales 840,000.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</span></p> + +<p>The first discovery of gold made in Australia was at +Summer Hill in 1851. Since then gold has been found +occasionally in very large quantities in various parts of +New South Wales, and several of the alluvial diggings +have proved both rich and permanent. But so far, strange +to say, there has never been a true reef discovered in this +colony. Some immensely rich veins of quartz have been +found, but they have all run out, or proved barren at a +depth.</p> + +<p>The chief produce of the country is stock of all kinds, +and a considerable quantity of wheat and Indian corn is +also grown. The number of sheep in the colony in 1883 +was 31,796,308, and in the previous year no less than +153,351,354 lbs. of wool were exported. New South +Wales, however, has suffered most terribly during the +recent drought, which has been the most severe ever +known in the colony.</p> + +<p>The whole of the northern and western portions were +described by one who had recently visited them as one +vast corpse-dotted desert, and the description is hardly +exaggerated. No returns have as yet been made of the +total losses, and, indeed, in Riverina and Southern Queensland +the drought still continues (October ’84); but I hear +of one station alone that has lost 160,000 sheep, and +another where every single hoof of cattle on the run, in +number over 20,000, have perished.</p> + +<p>New South Wales and Southern Queensland have suffered +by far the most severely during the recent drought, +Victoria and Northern Queensland having had, if anything, +more than usually favourable seasons. But the depression +caused by the enormous losses in stock has made itself felt +in every branch of industry, in every part of Australia; +and although the price of stations has not gone down, very +few are changing hands.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</span></p> + +<p>In New South Wales the feud against the squatters +among the lower classes, which obtains all through +Australia, is very violent. Following the example of +Victoria, the Government have dealt with the land question +in a manner that has brought the transfer of leasehold +land throughout the colony to a dead-lock, and a Bill is +now before Parliament by which all squatters holding +leases will be deprived of half their runs; but the squatting +element in New South Wales is still very powerful, and +it is probable that they will obtain compensation for +improvements.</p> + +<p>There is a railway from Sydney to Melbourne, and the +journey across takes about twenty-three hours. It is very +comfortable travelling, the berths in the sleeping-cars being +certainly above the average in point of size and cleanliness. +There is nothing that could by courtesy be called an +express train, and on the Victorian line all the trains stop +at every station, and at about every third one there is an +extra pause for refreshment.</p> + +<p>On the New South Wales line the sale of liquor is +everywhere prohibited, and the consequence is that both +the guards and the drivers lay in a store of liquor to take +with them, and consequently drink a great deal more than +they would if there were a bar at every other station, which +is shown by their being much more frequently drunk than +the <i>employés</i> on the Victorian lines, who can get liquor +whenever they want it.</p> + +<p>The mail-train leaves Sydney every night at 8.30. +Passengers for Melbourne change carriages at Wodonga, +a station on the border of Victoria. On the Sydney +line the trains travel a fair pace; but from Wodonga to +Melbourne, a distance of about 190 miles, they absolutely +crawl, and take nearly eight hours over the journey.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XX"> + CHAPTER XX. + <br> + <span style="font-size: medium;">MELBOURNE</span> + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>Melbourne is one of the cleanest, best laid-out, and most +pleasantly-situated towns in the world. It lies on a +succession of gently undulating rises, about three miles +from the sea, and, with the suburbs, some of which extend +down to the sea itself, has a population of 290,000. The +town itself is all laid out in rectangular blocks, and the +streets are very broad and well paved.</p> + +<p>Everywhere there is a look of permanent solidity and +accumulated wealth most extraordinary in so young a town. +It would be difficult to pick out a street in London where, +in the same space, there are as many fine buildings as there +are in Collins Street, one of the main streets in Melbourne. +The banks especially are most of them very handsome +buildings, both inside and out, and an enormous amount +of money has been spent on their construction.</p> + +<p>The interior of the Bank of Victoria is modelled from +that of the hall of one of the palaces at Venice, and is most +elaborately laid out with marble floors and pillars and +cedar fittings. Evidently the banks have more money +than they know what to do with, for the amount of dead +capital that they have sunk in building is astonishing. +There are two very good hotels, Menzies and the Oriental, +one at each end of the town, which is more than can be +said of any other town in Australia, except, perhaps, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</span>Townsville, the northernmost port of any importance in +Queensland, which, strange to say, possesses the next best +hotel to Melbourne of any town in the island.</p> + +<p>The most conspicuous building in Melbourne is the +Scotch Presbyterian Church, which stands in the highest +part of the town, and has a handsome tower and spire +about 200 feet high. Besides this there are the English +and Roman Catholic cathedrals, and endless smaller +churches of every size and denomination.</p> + +<p>In spite of water being laid on everywhere and freely +used, the dust in the streets is very often appalling. It is +not like ordinary dust either; for the streets are all macadamised +with a basalt rock, which breaks up into a most +detestably sharp, three-cornered, irritating sort of dust, +extremely trying to the eyes. At present the streets are +free from the Sydney abomination of tram-cars; but endless +omnibuses and hansoms pervade the town and suburbs, the +fares being about half as much again as those in London. +There are open gutters along all the streets, with little +bridges over them at the crossings.</p> + +<p>A good shower of rain floods the lower parts of Melbourne +in a few minutes, and sets these gutters running +like a mill-race, three feet deep; and I once saw a man +nearly drowned in one of them. A crowd of passengers +were waiting patiently at the crossing till the river in the +street subsided; but this particular man seemed in a hurry. +He was going to be very smart, and leap over the deep +gutter; but he made a bad shot, and soused right into the +middle of it. He was swept down like a straw for a little +distance, and then jammed under a low bridge, from which +position he was fortunately pulled out by the heels before +he was quite drowned.</p> + +<p>The Public Library and Institute of Fine Arts is a very +handsome building in the Grecian style, open to the public +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</span>every day of the week except Sunday. The picture-gallery +contains a good deal of rubbish, and one or two good +pictures, the best of which are Long’s “Esther” and +“Question of Propriety.”</p> + +<p>In the middle of the town is a splendid tennis-court, +reckoned by lovers of the game to be one of the best in +existence, and at one of the clubs there is an excellent +racquet-court.</p> + +<p>The extraordinary proficiency of Australians in cricket, +which enables the representative eleven of a population of +3,000,000 to hold its own against a country with 30,000,000, +is less wonderful when one sees how universally popular +the game is in the colony. There is not a spare piece of +ground fit for a pitch anywhere round Melbourne that is +not covered with “larrikins” from six years old upwards, +every evening for nine months in the year. Their soul is +in the game, and one and all of them display a precocious +talent for round-hand bowling, very different to the sneaking +underhand affected by the uneducated youth of Great +Britain. There are two or three excellent cricket-grounds +in Melbourne and the suburbs, the principal one in North +Melbourne being as good a ground as anyone could wish to +play on, and the pavilions and arrangements connected +with it first-rate.</p> + +<p>Much as I admire the indomitable pluck of the +Australian cricketers who have met the English teams +both at home and in their own country, beyond their skill +in handling the weapons of their trade, there is little to be +said in praise of their conduct. While arrogating to themselves +the title of amateurs, they make it perfectly plain +that they follow cricket as a lucrative profession, and do +not care to play except for sufficient plunder, and they +seldom lose an opportunity of taking an unfair advantage +of their opponents.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</span></p> + +<p>All round the suburbs of Melbourne there are local +railways worked by the Government. They run a frequent +service of trains, and occasionally have a smash. The +inhabitants of Melbourne must be exceedingly nervous +upon wheels, for whenever there is an accident every single +soul in the train at the time goes straight for the public +exchequer, and collects heavy damages for a “shock to the +nervous system.” An accident which occurred recently +on one of the suburban lines cost the Government, or +rather the colony, £140,000 in damages to the survivors.</p> + +<p>The chances of an accident are infinitely increased by +the Government having insisted upon adopting an utterly +worthless description of brake for all the railways. Of +course, like every other contract of the kind, it was made +a rank political job. While I was in Melbourne the papers +were full of it, and a furious discussion was raging in +Parliament as to the rival merits of the Westinghouse and +Wood’s brake, and some of the scenes in the House were +most amusing.</p> + +<p>A Commission was appointed to inquire into the practical +working of the two brakes, and their relative advantages, +and an overwhelming weight of evidence was brought to +show that the Westinghouse brake was infinitely the +superior one of the two. But Mr. Straight, the Commissioner +of Railways at the time, whose legitimate business +was keeping a market-garden, inclined to the adoption of +Wood’s brake, and, entirely unassisted either by evidence +or by common sense, succeeded in carrying his point.</p> + +<p>Seeing that the experiments of the Commission proved +conclusively that whereas the Westinghouse brake was one +of the most perfect ever invented, Wood’s brake was only +automatic in the sense of its being frequently impossible +either to put it on or to take it off when it was wanted, cynical +critics were ill-natured enough to attribute Mr. Straight’s +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</span>support of the latter contrivance to a personal intimacy +with the inventor. Indeed, in the heat of a discussion on +the subject in the House, one of his opponents went so far +as to challenge Mr. Straight to finish the controversy by +personal combat, and in delicate allusion to his professional +calling, wound up by shouting out, “Come outside! come +outside! and I’ll put a head on you like one of your own +—— cauliflowers!”</p> + +<p>In spite of such heroic attempts to block Mr. Straight’s +Bill, jobbery finally triumphed over justice, and the inferior +and more costly brake was adopted on the local lines.</p> + +<p>The port of Melbourne is Williamstown, six miles away, +and here all the big steamers and sailing vessels lie. But +the river Yarra runs up through the town, and vessels of +1500 tons can get up, and lie alongside of the wharves in +the middle of the town.</p> + +<p>The Yarra is a foul, sluggish stream, brown in repose +and the colour of ink when stirred up, and smelling +horribly all the time. On the opposite side of it from +the town, on a slight eminence, is situated Government +House, a large building with no pretensions to architectural +beauty of any kind; but the Botanical Gardens adjoining +its grounds are very prettily laid out, and nicely kept. St. +Kilda and Brighton, the two watering-places of Melbourne, +are suburbs situated on the shores of Hobson’s Bay, and +their piers are a Sunday lounge for the inhabitants. At +both places there is excellent sea-bathing, and at St. Kilda +an extremely comfortable hotel.</p> + +<p>The busy life in the town of Melbourne is a striking +contrast to sleepy Sydney, whose streets are thronged with +crowds of loafing idlers. An experienced eye can always +pick out a Sydney man in a Melbourne crowd as easily as +it would detect a weevil in a beehive; and though in point +of wealth there is not much to choose between the two +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</span>places, it is easy to see that in Melbourne money is made, +while in Sydney it grows.</p> + +<p>The telephone is in use all over Melbourne, and the +shares of the Company that work it pay wonderfully well. +In Collins Street is situated the Melbourne Exchange and +all the business men, brokers, and mining men assemble +there about noon every day to exchange notes; and outside, +in the racing season, there is always a whole crowd of +bookmakers, with their hats over their eyes, and pencil +and notebooks in their hands.</p> + +<p>I soon found out that as far as floating a company on +the Mount Britten mines was concerned, I had come to +Melbourne at a very bad time. In the first place, money +was getting rapidly very tight, and the banks instead of +being anxious to cram money down people’s throats at 6 +per cent, suddenly refused to advance any more, and ran +the rate of interest on deposit up to 9 per cent.</p> + +<p>Between them the banks of Australia at that time had +lent £83,000,000, and speculation was getting so furious +that they determined to put a stop to it. In the second +place the Melbourne mining men had just dropped £80,000 +in a fearful swindle in New South Wales, and this, coupled +with the tightness of the money market, had for the time +pretty well stopped all speculation. The mining market +was as flat as a postage-stamp in the dust; and here is +where the luck of gold-mining comes in, for the men to +whom I subsequently disposed of the mines told me themselves +that had I offered them for sale six months earlier +they would willingly have given me the same money for +them that they dropped in the New South Wales venture, +for that mine was by far the best show of the two.</p> + +<p>With some trouble I succeeded in getting together a +Syndicate to consider my proposals as to the Mount Britten +mines, and they sent up an expert from Sandhurst to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</span>inspect the property. I had always heard that the mining +men of Melbourne were as great a lot of scoundrels as there +are in existence, but I was surprised to find that in addition +to this they were most of them perfectly ignorant of anything +connected with the practical or theoretical working +of a mine. Most of them would not know a gold-mine +from a blue gum-tree, and the object of everyone of them +seemed to be to puff up the shares of the companies whose +scrip they held by lying reports, and to sell out at a profit.</p> + +<p>So low had the morality of mining in Victoria sunk, +that it was almost impossible to float a company involving +the shareholders in any liability, and the industry suffered +severely in consequence. To remedy the evil, the Legislature +has legalised an anomalous form of swindle called a +No-Liability Company, the shareholders in which can at +any moment abandon their interest in the concern.</p> + +<p>The very title of a No-Liability Company is a contradiction +in terms, for I cannot conceive how there can be a +company formed without liability, nor how any body of +men working without liability can obtain credit for so +much as a box of lucifer matches. Yet in the whole colony +of Victoria there is not a single gold-mining company that +is not registered as a No-Liability one.</p> + +<p>But, as I told the votaries of the scheme, who pointed +out triumphantly that this system had revived the mining +industry of Victoria, it only shows that mining in Victoria +is more mining in people’s pockets than in the ground, and +my subsequent acquaintance with the Melbourne mining +market tended most materially to strengthen my opinion. +I at once informed the Syndicate that if they did not +choose to float a Limited Liability Company on Mount +Britten they could leave it alone, as I had no idea of being +connected with such a no-nation piece of rascality as a +company without any liability.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</span></p> + +<p>A fierce discussion ensued, for nothing terrifies a +Melbourne mining man so much as the prospect of having +to pay calls. As long as a mine pays dividends he is all +there; but a call of threepence is generally sufficient to +make him sling up every share he holds. It is impossible +to conceive mining enterprise at a lower ebb than is +represented by a community whose mutual faith is so +severely shaken as to make it impossible to induce them to +incur a joint liability for the purpose of prospecting a mine.</p> + +<p>In Queensland mining is conducted on very different +principles, and the dogged persistence with which comparatively +poor men will go on paying call after call into a +mine that never returns them anything for years, in the +hope of striking gold, is as remarkable as is the impulse of +Victorians to throw up really valuable property the moment +it ceases to pay dividends, and, of course, does infinitely +more to develop the gold-bearing resources of the country.</p> + +<p>The Syndicate, however, having received an excellent +report of the Mount Britten mines from the expert who +went up to inspect them, and from one of their own +number who accompanied him, finally agreed to my conditions, +and a Limited Liability Company was formed to +work the properties. The price paid to my brother and +myself was £11,000, and a fourth share of the company in +fully paid-up shares. After paying the remaining original +shareholders for their shares, and deducting the cost of +the mill, this did not leave a farthing of profit, and our +only chance of making any lay in the shares we still held +in the new company.</p> + +<p>The gold-mines of Victoria, both alluvial and quartz, +are of great extent, and some of them of extraordinary +richness. The reefs as a rule are larger, and carry their +gold more regularly throughout than do the reefs in +Queensland. Many of them are worked on a gigantic +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</span>scale, and will pay a dividend with a yield of 4 dwt. to +the ton. The chief alluvial diggings is Ballarat, and +Sandhurst is the head mining centre. They are both +distant about 100 miles from Melbourne, and connected +with it by rail. But the whole colony is full of both +alluvial and reefing districts, and while the old fields +continue to develop, fresh ones are still being discovered. +The total yield of gold in 1883 was 808,521 oz., valued +at £3,234,124, showing an increase of £133,036 over +the yield of 1878; but there is little doubt that if a +healthier tone of speculation pervaded the mining market +of Victoria, her gold-fields would be developed very much +more quickly. The gold-mines of Victoria, however, are +an important factor in the money market of the world; +and since the discovery of gold in 1851, to the end of the +year 1882, the quantity of gold raised amounted to +£205,600,216.</p> + +<p>The population of Victoria in the last five years has +increased over 100,000. The following are the figures:—</p> + +<p class="ph3"><span class="smcap">Population.</span></p> + +<table class="autotable" style="font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums; max-width: 50em;"> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="min-width: 10em;"> +December 1878 +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +827,439 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="word-spacing: 1.7em; text-indent: 2em;"> +<abbr title="December">”</abbr> 1883 +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +931,800 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc"> +Increase +</td> +<td class="tdr" style="border-top: 1px solid black; border-bottom: 3px double black;"> +104,361 +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>The revenue has increased even faster than the population, +for whereas the increase of the latter was only 12½ +per cent in five years, that of the former was as much as +24½ per cent in a similar period. This is readily accounted +for by two causes, the high protection tariff of the colony +and the extortionate taxation of land recently introduced +by the Government, which, of course, for a time increases +the revenue, but cannot fail in the end to injure the prosperity +of the colony by deterring immigration and bringing +the transfer of land to a dead lock.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</span></p> + +<p class="ph3"><span class="smcap">Revenue.</span></p> + +<table class="autotable" style="font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums; max-width: 50em;"> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="min-width: 6em;"> +1877-78 +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +£4,504,413 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +1882-83 +</td> +<td class="tdr"> +5,611,253 +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc"> +Increase +</td> +<td class="tdr" style="border-top: 1px solid black; border-bottom: 3px double black;"> +£1,106,840 +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>The imports in 1883 exceeded those in 1878 by over +one and a half millions sterling, and the exports in 1883 +exceeded those in 1878 by nearly that amount.</p> + +<p class="ph3"><span class="smcap">Imports</span> and <span class="smcap">Exports</span>.</p> + +<table class="autotable" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 1em 0; font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums; max-width: 50em;"> +<tr><th></th><th>Imports.</th><th>Exports.</th></tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="min-width: 6em;"> +1878 +</td> +<td class="tdr">£16,161,880</td> +<td class="tdr">£14,925,707</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +1883 +</td> +<td class="tdr">17,713,484</td> +<td class="tdr">16,394,936</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc"> +Increase +</td> +<td class="tdr" style="border-top: 1px solid black; border-bottom: 3px double black;"> +£1,551,604 +</td> +<td class="tdr" style="border-top: 1px solid black; border-bottom: 3px double black;"> +£1,469,229 +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p class="ph3"><span class="smcap">Railways.</span></p> + +<table class="autotable" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 1em 0; font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums; max-width: 50em;"> +<tr><th class="tdl">Year.</th><th class="tdc">Miles open.</th><th class="tdc">Receipts.</th></tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="min-width: 6em;"> +1878 +</td> +<td class="tdc">1,052</td> +<td class="tdr">£1,391,701</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +1883 +</td> +<td class="tdc">1,562</td> +<td class="tdr">1,898,311</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc"> +Increase +</td> +<td class="tdc" style="border-top: 1px solid black; border-bottom: 3px double black;"> +510 +</td> +<td class="tdr" style="border-top: 1px solid black; border-bottom: 3px double black;"> +£506,610 +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p class="ph3"><span class="smcap">Agriculture.</span></p> + +<table class="autotable" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 1em 0; font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums; max-width: 50em;"> +<tr><th class="tdl vbottom" rowspan="2">Year.</th><th class="tdc vbottom" rowspan="2">Acres under cultivation.</th><th class="tdc" colspan="2">Wheat.</th></tr> +<tr><th class="tdc" style="min-width: 8em;">Acres under crop.</th><th class="tdc">Bushels raised.</th></tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +1879 +</td> +<td class="tdc"><span class="tnum-r">1,688,275</span></td> +<td class="tdc"><span class="tnum-r">707,188</span></td> +<td class="tdc"><span class="tnum-r">9,398,858</span></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +1883 +</td> +<td class="tdc"><span class="tnum-r">2,208,652</span></td> +<td class="tdc"><span class="tnum-r">1,099,944</span></td> +<td class="tdc"><span class="tnum-r">15,499,143</span></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +Increase +</td> +<td class="tdc" style="border-top: 1px solid black; border-bottom: 3px double black;"> +<span class="tnum-r">520,377</span> +</td> +<td class="tdc" style="border-top: 1px solid black; border-bottom: 3px double black;"> +<span class="tnum-r">392,756</span> +</td> +<td class="tdc" style="border-top: 1px solid black; border-bottom: 3px double black;"> +<span class="tnum-r">6,100,285</span> +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>It will be seen that the average yield of wheat per cent +is very low, being under 2½ quarters to the acre.</p> + +<p>In 1880 3,580,000 bushels of wheat were exported, and +in 1884 it is calculated that the amount will rise to +9,000,000 bushels.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</span></p> + +<p class="ph3"><span class="smcap">Wool Produced</span> (excess of Exports over Imports).</p> + +<table class="autotable" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 1em 0; font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums; max-width: 50em;"> +<tr><th class="tdl">Year.</th><th class="tdc">Quantity.<br>Lbs.</th><th class="tdc">Value.<br>£</th></tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="min-width: 6em;"> +1878 +</td> +<td class="tdc">52,639,293</td> +<td class="tdr">3,447,451</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +1883 +</td> +<td class="tdc">64,095,489</td> +<td class="tdr">5,178,081</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc"> +Increase +</td> +<td class="tdc" style="border-top: 1px solid black; border-bottom: 3px double black;"> +11,456,196 +</td> +<td class="tdc" style="border-top: 1px solid black; border-bottom: 3px double black;"> +1,730,630 +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p class="ph3"><span class="smcap">Live Stock.</span></p> + +<table class="autotable" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 1em 0; font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums; max-width: 50em;"> +<tr><th class="tdl">Year.</th><th class="tdc">Horses.</th><th class="tdc">Cattle.</th><th class="tdc">Sheep.</th></tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="min-width: 6em;"> +1878 +</td> +<td class="tdc">203,150</td> +<td class="tdc">1,169,576</td> +<td class="tdc">10,117,867</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +1883 +</td> +<td class="tdc">280,874</td> +<td class="tdc">1,287,088</td> +<td class="tdc">10,174,24</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl"> +Increase +</td> +<td class="tdr" style="border-top: 1px solid black; border-bottom: 3px double black;"> +77,724 +</td> +<td class="tdr" style="border-top: 1px solid black; border-bottom: 3px double black;"> +117,512 +</td> +<td class="tdr" style="border-top: 1px solid black; border-bottom: 3px double black;"> +56,379 +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>The fact that whereas the number of sheep in five years +has only increased 56,379, the amount of wool produced +during the same period has increased 11,456,196 lbs. at first +sight seems rather curious. It is accounted for by three +causes. In the first place, in the last few years a great +many people have given up washing their wool. In the +second place, whereas at the end of 1878 the sheep in +Victoria were almost entirely merinos, there are now a +great number of cross-breds, which, of course, carry greater +weight of wool per sheep. In the third place, and this is +the most important cause of all three, the wool-growers of +Victoria, by improving the breed of their sheep, have +during the last few years, in many instances, increased +the wool produced by their flocks considerably over one +pound per head.</p> + +<p>The increase indicated above in cattle and sheep in the +colony is ridiculously small. But during the next few +years it is pretty certain that the returns will show a +considerable decrease. A stock tax was passed a year or +two ago of 5s. per head on all cattle, and 1s. per head +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</span>on all sheep in Victoria. The public revenue derives little +benefit from it, for it costs as much to collect as it is worth; +but it is a ruinous imposition on the growers of stock, and +is driving sheep and cattle out of the colony in great +numbers. Quite recently over 200,000 fat sheep have +passed from Victoria into New South Wales, where, +of course, they will be slaughtered, and their fleeces go to +swell the returns of that colony.</p> + +<p>The existence of immense freeholds in Victoria has +aroused the fiercest class-hatreds in that democratic community, +and has provoked legislation which can only be +described as free plunder. It is not long since <i>The Times</i> +drew the attention of England to the astonishing fact that +one tenth of the revenue from taxation is paid by a few +individuals.</p> + +<p>Now, as the population of a country increases, the +continued existence of large tracts of land, whether freehold +or leasehold, held for pastoral purposes, is to a certain +extent a barrier to the advance of civilisation. But we +must remember that, had these lands never been taken up +and improved by their owners and holders, civilisation +could never have advanced at all.</p> + +<p>Throughout the whole of Australia rages an internecine +war between the two great rival classes competing for the +possession of the land, the squatters and the selectors. +The squatter is the pioneer of civilisation. His profits are +often great, but they are no greater than his risks deserve, +and it is his capital and enterprise alone that open up the +country. At his heels follow the selectors, an impecunious +tribe of jackals armed with manhood suffrage, who rob him +of his hard-earned gains.</p> + +<p>Now it would be utterly unreasonable that the squatter +should expect to remain unmolested in possession of vast +tracts of country, requiring a very few hands to work. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</span>When the proper time comes, he must give way to the +advancing tide of population, and move on farther away +from civilisation. But when we consider that at great risk +to himself he has made life possible in a country where it +was impossible before, it is evident that every consideration +is due to the squatter, and, at anyrate, that he is entitled +to some compensation for being forcibly ejected. Had it +not been for the squatter’s water-tanks, some of the railways +in Victoria and New South Wales could never have been +made, and, as has been already said, it is his capital and +enterprise alone that have developed the country.</p> + +<p>But in Victoria the possession of a large estate is +considered as a crime, and the holder a fair mark for +reprisals. The recent land legislation in the colony is +perfectly indefensible.</p> + +<p>A few years ago a land-tax was passed, which, until it +was surpassed by a still worse measure, stood alone for a +piece of villainous legislation. It was directed entirely +against one class, the holders of large freeholds, for all +town-lands and anything under the value of £2500 were +exempt. The value of the whole tax is about £200,000, +and it is paid by a little over 800 individuals.</p> + +<p>If anything could be worse than the Land Bill itself, +it is the way in which the provisions of it are carried out. +The assessment of the land was entrusted to the hands of +publicans, newspaper editors, and schoolmasters; and the +way in which it has been carried out is a perfect scandal. +I have seen a large open plain, divided merely by a wire +fence, the land on one side of which was taxed at threepence +per acre, and on the other side at a shilling. Extensive +bribery prevails, of course, the assessors being generally +amenable to the influence of a ten-pound note; but where +this inducement is not forthcoming, the assessment is +regulated by purely political considerations.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</span></p> + +<p>A friend of mine, a Conservative, pays the same rent +for 7000 acres of land as his next neighbour, a Radical, +pays for 17,000 acres of exactly the same class of country. +The classification of the land is itself a most phenomenal +piece of absurdity, involving not only rotten legislation but +false arithmetic. The land is assessed as follows:—</p> + +<table class="autotable"> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="min-width: 8em;">1st class</td><td class="tdl">1s. per acre.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="word-spacing: 1em;">2d <abbr title="class">”</abbr></td><td class="tdl" style="word-spacing: 1em;">9d. <abbr title="per acre.">”</abbr></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="word-spacing: 1em;">3d <abbr title="class">”</abbr></td><td class="tdl" style="word-spacing: 1em;">6d. <abbr title="per acre.">”</abbr></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="word-spacing: 0.7em;">4th <abbr title="class">”</abbr></td><td class="tdl" style="word-spacing: 1em;">3d. <abbr title="per acre.">”</abbr></td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>Thus the rise in the tax from the fourth to the third +class is 50 per cent, from the third to the second class is +33⅓ per cent, and from the second to the first is only 25 +per cent.</p> + +<p>As a matter of course the value of land all over the +colony went down 30 per cent; but the land-tax has been +entirely eclipsed by the infamous Bill that has just now +been passed. The original leases of the squatters having +all of them expired some years ago, they have been holding +their runs under yearly lease from the Crown. The Government +have now resumed all lands so held without option +of purchase, and without any compensation for improvements +of any kind, and are going to put them up to auction +with all improvements standing on them. It is impossible +to imagine more wholesale and unjustifiable robbery, and +the effect to many of the squatters will be disastrous.</p> + +<p>There is no doubt that the high protection tariff of +Victoria and recent land legislation are doing a great deal +to retard the progress of the colony, and to darken her +future prospects. Though the tables of statistics above +show fairly satisfactory progress, we must remember that +they were taken just after a run of five remarkably good +seasons, and before the evil effects of the Land Acts were +beginning to be severely felt.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</span></p> + +<p>In the next decade the progress of Victoria will not +be anything like so rapid, and, as it is, she has chiefly her +enormous yield of gold to thank for the position she holds. +That position she is doing her best to forfeit, and she will +very soon be eclipsed by the sister colonies of Queensland +and New South Wales. It has been calculated that over +15,000,000 of capital have been driven from Victoria into +Queensland and New South Wales during the last three +years.</p> + +<p>In Victoria there is manhood suffrage, and the members +of the Lower House of Parliament receive a salary of £300. +The Upper House has recently been Liberalised to a very +considerable extent by reducing the qualifications both of +its members and of those by whom they are elected. +While this has had the effect, if indeed that were possible, +of lowering the tone of the Upper House, it has materially +strengthened its position. To any attempt to raise an +outcry against the Upper House as being representatives of +merely a class, the answer is obvious that the Upper House +now represents the people, and is elected by them just as +much as the Lower House. The language used in the +latter assembly is disgraceful; some of its members are +not unfrequently intoxicated, and occasionally there is a +fight on the floor.</p> + +<p>In Victoria, as in New South Wales and in Queensland, +Members of Parliament are principally collected from the +scum of the community, and politics are looked down on as +being unfit either for the occupation of a gentleman or the +profession of an honest man.</p> + +<p>It is pleasant to turn from the spectacle of a mob of +selfish ruffians struggling to fill their own pockets by +ruining a colony, to the society of Melbourne, which is one +of the cheeriest and pleasantest in the world.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXI"> + CHAPTER XXI. + <br> + <span style="font-size: medium;">MELBOURNE</span> + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>To know what real hospitality means, a man must needs +go to Australia. Let him journey through the length of +the land, in the solitude of the back country or in the +busiest of the towns, he has nothing to do but to say he is +a stranger to ensure him a welcome. Whether he brings +letters of introduction or not, as long as he behaves like a +gentleman he will find no door in the country closed against +him; and if he stays any length of time he will ever after +attach a meaning to the word hospitality, such as he never +realised in any other country in the world.</p> + +<p>In England hospitality is a lukewarm and cheerless +commodity, occasionally doled out in the form of patronage +to those from whom no return can be expected, but generally +only extended in carefully measured quantities to those +from whom an equivalent in kind is anticipated at no +distant date. In Australia the word has a very different +significance. Hospitality there is no respecter of persons, +but is extended alike to rich and to poor, to those who +have come from ten miles off, or to people from the other +side of the world, who are extremely unlikely ever to be +able to return it.</p> + +<p>Prompted neither by a recollection of past benefits nor +by expectation of favours to come, it originates in a real +honest care for the comfort of others, and looks for no +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</span>other reward than that of giving happiness, and for no +other thanks than a kindly recollection on the part of +those to whom it is offered.</p> + +<p>It is deeply to be regretted that even this small return +is so frequently not forthcoming. Too many of our own +countrymen are, I fear, open to a charge of the basest +ingratitude in this respect. They go out to visit Australia +with a sort of notion that they are conferring a favour on +the inhabitants by doing so. While they are there they +avail themselves to the utmost of the kindness that is +everywhere shown them, and on their return to England +they abuse the country that they have just left, and run +down its institutions and inhabitants in every possible way.</p> + +<p>It is difficult to imagine a more disgusting picture of +humanity than a young man, educated as a gentleman, who +does not scruple to extract all the pleasure and profit he +can from people upon whom he has not the slightest +claim, and who, as soon as his back is turned, has not the +generosity to acknowledge the kindness with which he has +been treated, or to refrain from laughing at some solecism +which the extreme delicacy of his insular breeding imagines +it has been able to detect in his entertainers.</p> + +<p>And yet it is a picture that I have seen only too often. +Many of my own countrymen only think it necessary to +behave like gentlemen so long as they are in England, +and when they get to Australia offer but a sorry sample of +the manners and customs of the country that raised them. +They seem to consider that because they are in a new +country they can behave just as they please, and often do +not wait till their return to requite with rudeness the +hospitality they seem to expect as a right.</p> + +<p>The rampart of pseudo-refinement and class prejudice +behind which that portion of English society known as +the “Upper Ten” is accustomed to shelter itself is usually +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</span>supposed to be the result of birth, breeding, and education. +Since I have had an opportunity of observing the altered +behaviour of the members of that mystic guild who find +their way to Australia, I have come to the conclusion that +their “insular reserve” is not so much a question of class +as of climate.</p> + +<p>Probably there is something in the genial atmosphere +of Australia that so quickly thaws the reserve of Englishmen, +and causes them to enter heart and soul into all the +amusement that is to be found there, and to accept without +hesitation the hospitality that is offered them by perfect +strangers.</p> + +<p>It must be the warmth of the climate that does this, +for I have noticed that the reverse process takes place +when they return to the lower temperature of their mother +country. There, if chance throws them, as it often does, +into the society of those with whom they have made merry +in Australia, they find it convenient once more to esconce +themselves behind the barrier of their own society’s law, +which holds that except in a foreign land a man cannot +associate with anyone out of his own set without losing +caste, and at home must not introduce any outsider into its +enchanted circle unless he be the possessor of fabulous +wealth.</p> + +<p>Armed with this, the Australian in London may hope +for a certain percentage of return hospitality from those +whom he may have entertained in his own country. If he +takes a house in a fashionable situation, he may even +hope to find a few people so inquisitive as to wish to +make his acquaintance. But, wherever he goes, he must +always expect to be reminded that he is only there on +sufferance; and, if he has a wife, he must not mind her +being stared at as if she were a wild beast by members +of a society that prides itself on being the most refined in +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</span>the world. If people who consider themselves in the best +society in London were simply to declare that anyone who +was born south of the equator is unfit to associate with +them, and refuse to recognise Australians at all, such +conduct, though open to a charge of prejudice, would at +least have the merit of consistency.</p> + +<p>What is difficult to understand is how people who +pride themselves on the perfection of their breeding can +ask Australians to their houses and then be gratuitously +rude to them. The prejudice that exists in England +against Australians is a perfect discredit to an age so +enlightened as the present, and is calculated to do serious +injury to the prospect of maintaining the permanent union +of the two countries, which is of such vital importance to +both. There is no doubt that this prejudice is partly +owing to the bad impression created by some few Australians +who have brought their money to England to make +such fools of themselves with it that many people are only +too ready to tar all their compatriots with the same brush.</p> + +<p>But this is not the real origin of the feeling. The real +indictment brought against the Australians is that they +come from a land where there was once a penal settlement, +and consequently are open to the suspicion of being +descended from those who have worked for the good of +their country. This may have been all very well in the +infancy of the Colonies, but we must remember that +Australia is no longer a very young country, and it is +fully time that her early social history were relegated to +the annals of the past. It is inconceivable how any class +of people can be found so bigoted as to keep such a prejudice +up.</p> + +<p>Any Englishman who is so fortunate as to be able to +trace his family history back a couple of centuries, will +certainly come across several relations who were executed +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</span>for treason, if for nothing worse; and if he pursues his +inquiries any farther he must inevitably run his ancestors +to ground in a rabbit-warren of immorality, from which +no College of Heraldry can ever really extricate them. +It is difficult to follow the subtle reasoning of a pride +that looks up to an ancestor whose head was certainly +chopped off for conspiracy, and looks down on an acquaintance +whose grandfather was possibly transported for fraud.</p> + +<p>Many Englishmen who visit Australia form an erroneous +opinion of its society because they persist in applying to +it the standard of the one that they have just left. They +stay sufficiently long to discover that in some points it +differs from what they have been accustomed to, and not +long enough to discover that difference does not necessarily +imply inferiority. Having in too many cases brought with +them the prejudice, and left behind them the polish of +England’s society, their views are occasionally still further +warped by the discovery that, even in Australia, a man +cannot behave otherwise than like a gentleman without an +occasional rebuff.</p> + +<p>It is from the views of such critics as these that +English notions of Australian society are chiefly derived, +and upon no point are they more unjustly censorious +than upon what they are pleased to call the fastness of +the women of Australia. If the canons of English society +of the nineteenth century were a fixed standard for determining +the propriety of woman’s behaviour, there might +be some show of justice in condemning anything that falls +short of it. But we all know that nothing of the kind is +the case. Society’s laws are constructed on a sliding scale +that varies from one generation to another. In the words +of Macaulay, “we change the fashion of our morals with +our coats and our hats, and wonder at the depravity of +our ancestors.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</span></p> + +<p>We have only to look at the relative measure of justice +that the same society deals to a man and to a woman for +the same offence, to see that it is regulated by arbitrary +laws, which have little reference to abstract principles of +right and wrong.</p> + +<p>Nothing can be more unjust than to try one community +by the social laws which govern another; for although +there are certain broad rules which cannot with impunity +be transgressed in any society at present, still, in minor +matters, what constitutes a breach of propriety in one +society does not necessarily do so in another.</p> + +<p>The frank demeanour and the entire absence of affectation +that make an Australian girl such a pleasant companion +after ten minutes’ acquaintance, would in England, +of course, be set down to fastness, if to nothing worse. +Society in England holds affectation in an unmarried woman +to be an integral part of modesty, and in order, therefore, +to guard against the imputation of forwardness, reserve +with a recent acquaintance must be pushed to the verge +of stupidity.</p> + +<p>Now, as long as critics upon this point recognise that +it is simply the veneering of outward demeanour that they +are discussing, no harm is done. But any inference as to +the morality that may lie beneath it, is most reprehensible. +Whether it be a more excellent thing in woman to try +and entertain a man to whom she is introduced, or to +make it next to impossible for him to entertain her, is a +question which should be decided entirely upon its own +merits. But it is infamous to say that the absence of +reserve, which in some women is the natural outcome of +good spirits and a desire to please, argues the slightest +inferiority of moral principles to those who have been +brought up to consider that purity can only be preserved +in ice.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</span></p> + +<p>In point of actual immorality, it is doubtful whether +fashionable society has varied very much in any country +since the age that evoked the satires of Horace and Juvenal. +There are periods during which open immorality is fashionable, +just as there are some summers hotter than others, +but in the end the mean temperature is maintained. Certainly +just now there seems to be a fall in the moral +thermometer all over the world.</p> + +<p>A poet not long dead has declared that London is no +better than the cities for whom “God heard Abraham +pray in vain.” And assuredly we do not seem far off the +time when the words, <i>quæ jussa coram non sine conscio surgit +marito</i>, will cease to convey any great reproach to those to +whom they may apply. At present, however, even in +London a departure from the path of virtue derives an +additional piquancy from the danger of social ostracism to +which detection exposes the offender.</p> + +<p>As long as Australia is not more lax than London in +upholding the Eleventh Commandment, no one has the +slightest right to disparage the tone of her society. But +it must be indeed a captious and cynical disposition that +would prevent a man, at least during his stay in Australia, +from flinging all such considerations as these to the winds, +and abandoning himself to the charm of his surroundings.</p> + +<p>In Melbourne especially it is impossible for a man to +stay long without feeling that he is in an atmosphere +of cheerfulness, and amongst people who are determined +to enjoy life thoroughly. A single introduction makes him +free of the guild, and before he has been there a week he +will know everyone in the place. In this respect Melbourne +has a great advantage over Sydney, where society is split +up into several sets, each of which, for some unaccountable +reason, refuses to mix with the others.</p> + +<p>Whatever a man’s tastes may be, it must be his own +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</span>fault if they are not gratified in Melbourne. If he is +inclined for sport, from October to March he will see as +good racing as he ever saw in his life, and during the +remainder of the year he will have an excellent opportunity +of breaking his neck with the Melbourne hounds. If he is +fond of good living, he will find that it is with good reason +that the “viveurs” of Melbourne pride themselves on the +excellence of their wines and the proficiency of their +“chefs.” After dinner, if he wishes to gamble, at either +of the clubs he will find a certain number of congenial +spirits, and, whether he win or lose, it is extremely unlikely +next morning that he will complain of the smallness of +the stakes.</p> + +<p>There are two exceedingly comfortable clubs, the +“Australian” and the “Melbourne,” both of which admit +honorary members for a period of not more than six months +in two years—a very liberal allowance, which adds considerably +to the pleasure of a visitor’s stay in the place, +without putting him to any expense. Occasionally rather +heavy play goes on at both the clubs. I have known a +single player to drop over ten thousand pounds at a sitting.</p> + +<p>For several miles to the south-east the suburbs consist +of nothing but detached houses, each surrounded by more +or less extensive gardens and grounds. Many of these +houses have been constructed at an enormous expense, and +fitted up by their owners with every comfort and luxury +that can be imagined. The grounds of some of them are +really beautifully laid out, and there is invariably a well-kept, +prosperous kind of look about the whole concern, +from the gatepost to the weather-cock.</p> + +<p>A glorious ballroom is a very common appendage to +one of these Melbourne houses. Dancing, with the people +of Melbourne, is a passion; and, like everything else that +they go in for, they do it well. The ballroom is strictly +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</span>sacred to its legitimate use, and no profane feet are allowed +to invade its precincts between whiles. All the anxious +care of a mother for a delicate child is lavished by the +hostess on her ballroom floor, when she is about to give a +dance. The music is generally excellent, and they have a +happy knack in Melbourne of filling their rooms without +crowding them.</p> + +<p>Most of the women dance divinely. All through +Australia dancing seems to come as naturally to girls as +walking; and in Melbourne it is as rare to find a woman +between fifteen and fifty who dances badly as it is in +England to find one who dances well. Altogether, if a +man goes to a ball to dance and not to lean against a +doorpost, it is odd if he does not look back to some of +these small dances in Melbourne, where everyone knows +each other, as amongst the pleasantest he ever was at in +his life.</p> + +<p>Lawn-tennis is everywhere immensely popular. Young +men and maidens, old women and children, at it they go, +with the enthusiasm which, whether in the pursuit of +business or of pleasure, is a distinctive feature of the +inhabitants of Melbourne. Really the energy with which +some of the fair sex devote themselves to the game savours +rather of work than of play. Those who do play, play for +four hours every day of their lives, and those who do not, +come to look on. A round of afternoon calls means visiting +the various lawn-tennis courts in succession. Here, between +the hours of three and seven, the youth, beauty, and fashion +of the place are every day to be found, comfortably located +in a summer-house overlooking the court, drinking tea and +talking scandal, and watching the enthusiasts below, who +are playing as if their lives depended upon every stroke of +the game.</p> + +<p>Hotbeds of scandal are these lawn-tennis parties, but +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</span>here the people of Melbourne show their wisdom by +declining to spoil two good things by mixing them. No +one who plays is expected to talk scandal on the same +afternoon. The players may sit down to rest their aching +limbs, and if there is time they may have some tea; but +they must be prepared to put down their cups untasted, +and start up again at a moment’s notice to make up another +set, lest a minute’s interval in the play should take place. +To display the slightest inclination to sit still is to risk +offending an otherwise most indulgent hostess, who is +certain to be an indefatigable player herself.</p> + +<p>Many a time have I watched a recent arrival in the +colony, whose ignorance of its customs leads him to suppose +that an hour’s hard play under a broiling sun entitles him +to a few minutes’ repose. Having secured a cup of tea +and asked permission to smoke, he lights a cigar, and, +establishing himself comfortably in an armchair, prepares +to enjoy the society of one of his fair neighbours who does +not play. Just then the set is finished. The relentless +eye of his hostess marks him out for another, and he is +forthwith invited to play again. It is no use refusing. +He will have to give in. His hostess is going to play +again herself, and for very shame he cannot say he is too +tired. There is something sublime in the vitality of a +woman who can handle a lawn-tennis racquet for three +hours at a stretch under the afternoon fire of an Australian +sun. Gradually he will find himself infected by such +heroism, and by the time that he has been a week in the +town he will never dream of refusing to play when he is +asked.</p> + +<p>The climate of the town itself is rather enervating at +times, especially in summer, when hot winds blow occasionally +for one or two days at a time; and before a stranger +has been long in Melbourne society, especially if he goes +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</span>much into the bachelor portion of it, he will find that he +needs a good constitution and a hard head to drink fair +with some of his entertainers. The excellent quality of the +wine he is drinking is apt to make him rather careless +about the quantity. One of these hot winds, therefore, +coming on the top of a “Burgundy night” at the Melbourne +Club, will probably recall to a visitor’s mind the numerous +invitations that he is certain to have received to go and +spend a few days in the country.</p> + +<p>Away to the north of Melbourne the plain country rises +gradually for about forty miles to an elevation of about +1500 feet. Beyond this are heavily-timbered mountain +ranges, on the southern slopes of which are some of the +most exquisitely-situated country houses in the world. +The owners of many of them seem to keep open house the +whole year round, and are never happy unless they have a +succession of visitors from Melbourne to keep their houses +full. When Melbourne is suffocated with dust and heat, +the climate up here is delightfully cool and pleasant. +Anything more beautiful than some of these places cannot +be imagined. Of course the grounds around them are +artificially made, being clearances in the endless forest of +huge gum-trees, but they have been turned by the genius +of their owners into perfect paradises of beauty. Ornamental +trees, flowering shrubs, and creepers of every +description, grow as if they were determined to make up +for lost time in never having been planted before. Wild +flowers flourish as if nature had upset her basket here and +never stopped to pick it up, and exotics are scattered +around with a profusion that quite takes a stranger’s +breath away, and makes him rub his eyes to be sure that +good living in Melbourne has not had the effect of making +him see double.</p> + +<p>Here the exhausted lawn-tennis player from Melbourne +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</span>can stretch his weary limbs in perfect peace, idly drinking +in the pure mountain air and feasting on the beauty of +the scene around him, without risk of any less pleasant +interruption than a stroll round the garden and through +the fern-tree gullies. With a pipe to keep away mosquitoes, +and the conversation of one of Australia’s daughters to +keep away care, a man must be indeed hard to please who +cannot enjoy himself thoroughly. He need not exert +himself. He has nothing to do but to allow his fair +companion to entertain him. She will do it with an ease +that no other woman in the world is so thoroughly mistress +of as an Australian.</p> + +<p>The scene is one which is not readily forgotten. +Around on three sides rise wild mountain ranges, covered +to the very summit with dense masses of dark-green forest. +Behind them the sun sinks to rest—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Not, as in northern climes, obscurely bright,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">But one unclouded blaze of living light.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>In front a garden bright with every conceivable shade of +colouring slopes gently down to a miniature lake, whose +glassy surface, unmarred by a single ripple, reflects with +startling distinctness the trees that fringe its edges. +Beyond this the plains go rolling down to Melbourne, +forty miles away, dimly visible, except on a very clear +day; but its whereabouts is distinctly marked by a murky +cloud of smoke, which rises up and drifts away to seaward +over the shining expanse of Port Philip harbour. It is +pleasant to watch the storm-clouds gathering in the south, +and to see the steamers creeping out to sea, to fight their +way along the most pitiless coast in the world. “Suave +mari magno” rises to the spectator’s lips, and as he turns +to the home-like comfort and fairy beauty of the scene +around him, the conviction comes across him that by no +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</span>race in the world is the philosophy of life better understood +than by the inhabitants of Australia.</p> + +<p>Small wonder if the lawn-tennis player who comes up +here to recruit occasionally imbibes something else besides +mountain air. The perfect repose of his surroundings, the +sensation of “masterly inactivity” in himself, which is +never felt to perfection out of a hot climate, will make +him feel that the world is very pleasant to live in; an +impression that will deepen as he listens to his entertainer’s +refreshing views of life, and notes her unaffected interest in +everything, which proclaims her a stranger to the meaning +of the word <i>ennui</i>.</p> + +<p>The stillness of the evening air is heavy with the scent +of orange-flowers, gardenias, and stephanotis; and as the +charm of his companion’s manner grows upon him, he will +own to himself that some of the daughters of the South +are wondrous fair.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XXII"> + CHAPTER XXII. + <br> + <span style="font-size: medium;">IMPERIAL FEDERATION</span> + </h2> +</div> + + +<p>It is impossible for anyone to visit Australia without +speculating upon the future that awaits a country possessing +such enormous natural wealth and resources. The rapid +development that has taken place in every part of this +continent during the past thirty years—a development for +which there is no parallel in history—makes it certain that +before long Australia will form a very considerable item +in making up the balance of political power throughout the +world. Already she has become a financial power of the +first magnitude, and the annual yield of gold in Victoria +alone has no small share in determining the value of money +in every market from Hong-Kong to London.</p> + +<p>It is obvious that a country with the natural advantages +of Australia, inhabited, as she is, by the only race who +have ever proved themselves able to rise from a colony +into a nation, has before her, if she choose to claim it, an +existence as one of the independent powers of the world. +The question, therefore, naturally arises as to whether she +will elect to remain a portion of the British Empire, or +whether she will prefer to sever the connection that binds +her to the mother country.</p> + +<p>In the whole history of the world there has probably +never been a question raised of such stupendous importance. +The remarks which apply to Australia apply with equal +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</span>force to Canada, and the subject involves a consideration +of the British Empire as a whole, its possible development, +its possible disintegration, and the relation of both these +contingencies to the future of England herself, of her +colonies, and of the whole world.</p> + +<p>The Imperial Federation of the British Empire is too +vast a subject to be considered at any length in a work of +this kind, but it is one with which the future of Australia +is so intimately connected that it is impossible to pass over +it in silence. Imperial Federation has long been regarded +as a mere vision of theorists, sufficiently alluring as a +sentimental idea, but wholly incapable of being worked out +as a practical problem.</p> + +<p>Because no definite scheme has as yet been propounded, +the unthinking majority, a class ever the foremost to +criticise, have sneered at the notion as utterly unpractical, +and relegated it in their own minds to the Millennium.</p> + +<p>Opinion on the subject may be divided into three +classes.</p> + +<p>Firstly, there is the opinion of those who believe that +the existing relations between England and her colonies +are sufficiently close to secure the permanent unity of the +Empire, in spite of the causes which at present threaten +to break it up. This opinion may fairly be taken as an +epitome of the ignorance of those who know nothing +whatever about the subject.</p> + +<p>Secondly, there is the opinion of those who recognise +the likelihood of disintegration, but who face it with +perfect equanimity, and entirely deny the possibility of +framing any scheme of Federation that will avert it. This +is a much more comprehensive class of ignorance than the +first, a species of perverted knowledge which has been +crystallised into drivelling similes. Colonies are compared +to children who leave their parents as soon as they are +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</span>grown up, or to fruit dropping off a tree when it is ripe. +It is impossible to condemn too harshly such mischievous +fallacies as these. Our Colonies are not the fruit, they are +the branches of the tree itself—stalwart limbs of a mighty +empire—and they drop off, not when they are ripe, but +when the connection between them and the mother country +is rotten.</p> + +<p>Thirdly, there is the opinion of those who share neither +the false security of the optimists nor the apathy of the +pessimists, and who, while they see clearly the disintegrating +causes that are undermining the fabric of the Empire, +have set themselves resolutely to work to elaborate a +practical scheme for reconstructing its political organisation +upon a permanent basis. These are the men who, with +a full recognition of the danger of doing nothing, and of +the difficulty of doing anything, have rescued Imperial +Federation from the misty regions of dreamland, and +brought it within the scope of practical politics.</p> + +<p>The standard of Imperial Federation has been set up, +and the alacrity with which men of all political parties, in +every part of the Empire, have hastened to enlist in the +ranks of its supporters, proves conclusively how powerful a +hold the idea has over all the leading spirits of the age. +The extraordinary support which it has received at the +outset has almost entirely silenced the enemies of the +League which has now been formed. Here and there +some editor of a newspaper, determined to prove that his +ignorance does not arise from want of information, but +from inability to digest it, exposes the petrifaction of his +intellect in the shape of an article sneering at the promoters +of Imperial Federation, because they have as yet laid down +no definite scheme.</p> + +<p>Fortunately it is not by babbling critics such as these +that the matter will be decided.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</span></p> + +<p>Imperial Federation is a question that will be tried +entirely upon its own merits, and if ever any practical +form of it be carried out, it will be due to the “masterly +inactivity” of those who forebore to hamper its development +at the outset by any premature discussion of details. The +time is rapidly approaching when some well-defined and +precise scheme for the Federation of the Empire must be +laid down.</p> + +<p>But in the meantime it is the wise policy of the League +to arouse popular enthusiasm in every British community, +to point out the dangers that threaten, and the necessity +for immediate action; so that when the time comes for the +details of any scheme to be considered, the various portions +of the Empire may be prepared to make mutual concessions +to avert a common evil, and to secure a common good.</p> + +<p>The ever-increasing majority in whose hands the power +of deciding the destiny of their country has been placed, +are men who, in the struggle for existence, have little +leisure to devote to the consideration of politics. When a +fair statement is laid before them, the working-classes are +marvellously shrewd in discerning in which direction their +best interests lie; but it is too much to expect them to +evolve, out of their inner consciousness, a knowledge of +what may be termed the unwritten current history of the +world.</p> + +<p>It is the solemn duty of every statesman worthy of the +name to enlighten the minds of the working-classes upon +those momentous questions which have now, by an extended +suffrage, been surrendered into their hands for decision. +The masses of the people have not the means for forming +an independent judgment upon foreign affairs, and are only +too ready to take their opinions at second hand from those +who, from their position, are supposed to be qualified to +direct them.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</span></p> + +<p>A change so momentous as the dismemberment of the +Empire of Greater Britain is not accomplished in a day. +It is a process so gradual that, unless we look carefully both +at the past and at the present, we do not recognise that +it is taking place. He alone reads history aright who, +observing the events which conduce to the rise and fall of +nations, traces those events back to their true cause, and +applies the experience so gained to the solution of the +problems of the present. Unfortunately the people of +England at the present time are likely to gain but a scant +insight into Imperial policy, from observing the flounderings +of a Ministry whose actions have alienated every single +European Power, and who have carried War with Dishonour +into almost every portion of their own Empire.</p> + +<p>Whatever questions of Colonial policy have been brought +before them have been treated by the present Ministry +with a mixture of stupidity and indifference which clearly +proves them to be unworthy of the name of statesmen. It +is evident that in the hearts of more than one of them the +cry of “Perish India” finds only too ready an echo. The +importance of retaining India is a question which cannot be +discussed here, for its abandonment is bound up with the +Disintegration of the Empire, and with the ruin of millions +of the working-classes in Great Britain. It is sufficient +that “Perish India” is identified with the name of a veteran +agitator, a retrospect of whose long and still unfinished +career shows that, under the mask of hypocritical friendship, +he has never neglected an opportunity of injuring the +working-classes.</p> + +<p>We should be sorry to believe that the present Ministry +in any way represents the feeling of England toward the +Colonies. Most of its members neither know nor care +anything whatever about foreign affairs, and the few whose +political and geographical knowledge is not entirely bounded +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</span>by the “silver streak” are consistent in nothing but a fixed +determination to alienate the Colonies.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gladstone repudiates the idea of Imperial Federation +as “wholly visionary,” and declares that the most he hopes +for as a statesman is to effect a separation from the Colonies +without bloodshed.</p> + +<p>If Lord Derby and Lord Granville are allowed to pursue +their present treatment of Colonial interests much longer, +it is probable that even the modest hope of Mr. Gladstone +will not be realised.</p> + +<p>The Colonial correspondence during the last twenty +years shows that neither Lord Granville nor Lord Derby +have ever lost an opportunity of insulting Colonial susceptibilities +and injuring Colonial interests.</p> + +<p>In 1870 it was openly stated in the Dominion Parliament +of Canada by Sir Alexander Galt and Mr. Huntington that +it was with unfeigned regret that they were obliged to +conclude that it was the deliberate intention of Her +Majesty’s Ministers to effect a separation between the two +countries. Even stronger was the feeling which was aroused +in New Zealand at the same time.</p> + +<p>But all previous blunders of Colonial policy fade into +insignificance when compared with the New Guinea +question, and we can conceive nothing better calculated +to produce a revolution in Australia than the conduct of +the English Government in the matter. That it has not +done so is entirely due to the fact that the Australians are +able to discriminate between the English Government and +the English people.</p> + +<p>But no one can pretend that distinctions of this kind +are a basis upon which the unity of the Empire can be +long maintained.</p> + +<p>Those who imagine that the existing relations between +England and her Colonies are satisfactory will do well to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</span>study the New Guinea question, for it is one which conclusively +proves that the Empire cannot remain united +upon its present political basis.</p> + +<p>The main facts connected with the case are well known +to all. New Guinea is an island off the north-east coast of +Queensland. Its southern shores form one side of Torres +Straits, which is one of the main approaches to Australia, +and altogether the island bears about the same geographical +relation to Queensland that Ireland does to England.</p> + +<p>For many years New Guinea has always been looked +upon as belonging by natural right to the continent of +Australia; but it was not until the danger of foreign +annexation was felt that Australian statesmen realised the +importance of at once securing the island for their country.</p> + +<p>So great was the scare lest France should secure a foothold +in the island, that even the delay of applying to the +English Government was felt to be dangerous, and Queensland +annexed the whole unoccupied portion of the island, +with the full consent of Australia, and then invited the +English Government to sanction the annexation.</p> + +<p>The contemptuous incivility with which the Australian +proposals were met proves, not only that Lord Derby had +no sense of the delicate relations between a mother country +and her colonies, but also that he entirely failed to realise +the intrinsic importance of the question.</p> + +<p>Setting aside any question of good feeling or decent +behaviour, so as to bring the matter as far as possible +within the scope of the present Foreign Office, it was surely +most impolitic to irritate Australia by an uncivil demurrer +to her just claims, when there was nothing whatever to be +gained by opposing them.</p> + +<p>Finding that open opposition was arousing a feeling in +Australia which it would be difficult to deal with, Lord +Derby then had recourse to treachery to accomplish his +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</span>object of thwarting the wishes of the Australians. Yielding +so far to the pressure which was brought to bear upon him, +he annexed a portion of the island, and allayed the fears +of Australia on the score of foreign intervention, by giving +the most unqualified assurances that no other Power should +be allowed to touch New Guinea.</p> + +<p>While these very assurances were on their way out to +the Colonies, it now transpires that Lord Derby and Lord +Granville were engaged in handing over a portion of New +Guinea to Germany, for no other conceivable purpose than +at once to insult and to injure the most loyal of communities.</p> + +<p>We look in vain for the motive which prompted this +betrayal of Australian interests, but the result is, unfortunately, +only too apparent. The question is not one of +sentiment, but of real and tangible interest.</p> + +<p>In annexing New Guinea, Australia was simply making +a wise and politic effort to avail herself of geographical +advantages, to secure a peaceful future. But the presence +of the most powerful military nation in Europe, in an island +adjacent to her shores, has entirely altered the prospects of +Australia, and has inflicted a lasting injury upon her future.</p> + +<p>It is not by the geographical advantages of an isolated +position, but by an enormous addition to her naval and +military force, that Australia must in future be prepared +to secure herself from foreign aggression; and for this she +has only the English Government to thank.</p> + +<p>The surrender of Australian interests to Germany by +English statesmen has aroused a feeling of bitter resentment +and humiliation throughout the Colonies, and the +feeling is not likely to be weakened by the discovery that +while the action itself was discreditable to statesmen, the +manner in which it was done was unworthy of gentlemen.</p> + +<p>The recent offer of military assistance from the Colonies +must awake enthusiastic admiration in the heart of every +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</span>true Englishmen for the patriotism and loyalty of our kin +beyond the sea. But the joy with which we in England +hail the offer must be considerably lessened by the reflection +that while the troops are embarking in Sydney for Suakim, +the Colonial Secretary is being burnt in effigy in various +parts of Australia.</p> + +<p>Too many of us will be only too ready to jump to the +conclusion that because the Colonies have shown themselves +willing to take an active part in fighting our battles, therefore +Imperial Federation is a <i>fait accompli</i>, and that nothing +more remains to be done. A more mischievous delusion +can hardly be imagined, and it is of the utmost importance +that the present attitude of the Colonies should not be +misunderstood.</p> + +<p>The present offer of military assistance proves, indeed, +that the Colonies are able and willing to bear their share +of Imperial Defence. But we must remember that the +offer is coupled with a protest against the recent action of +the English Government, which no statesman will be wise +to neglect.</p> + +<p>The tone of the Australian Press with regard to the +New Guinea question is a solemn warning that the present +relations between the mother country and the Colonies +cannot exist much longer.</p> + +<p>The enthusiasm which prompted Australia to send her +money and her men to help England in the Soudan, while +still smarting under her betrayal to Germany by the +English Government, is indeed the triumph of loyalty +over exasperation. It is, in fact, a direct overture for +Imperial Federation, and we shall do well to accept it as +such, and as nothing more.</p> + +<p>The sixteen Cabinet Ministers who have brought dishonour +and disaster upon their country in every quarter of +the globe, and who still cling desperately to office like +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</span>barnacles to the bottom of a wreck, undoubtedly do not +represent either the intelligence or the feeling of the country +which they still pretend to govern. This the Australians +recognise; but while their loyalty at present remains +unshaken, they see clearly that where such a state of +things exists their own interests cannot fail to be compromised, +of which fact they have lately had a most +disastrous example.</p> + +<p>Let all those who believe that Imperial Federation now +exists ask themselves if it is likely that the Colonies will +continue to supply men and money for wars in the conduct +of which they have no voice, and which are carried on +upon purely party principles by a Government in whose +imbecility they originated.</p> + +<p>Is it likely that, after the warning of New Guinea, the +Colonies will continue to surrender their interests to the +arbitrary control of statesmen who betray every determination +to repeat the blunders which caused the American +Revolution?</p> + +<p>It is possible that in years to come England may +alienate Australia in the same way that she alienated +America. Undoubtedly a prolonged succession of such +statesmen as at present guide her foreign policy would +have the effect of forcing every one of England’s Colonies, +who were strong enough to do so, to declare their independence.</p> + +<p>Fortunately, however, Imperial Federation is not a +matter that will be left to be manipulated into a party +question by politicians whose blunders have made all +Europe merry for four years. It will be decided by the +working men of Great Britain and her Colonies, whose +interests are most deeply affected by the question; and it +is probable that when the time comes, as it shortly will, +that the matter must be settled one way or the other, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</span>they will decide in favour of retaining their respective +positions as portions of one Empire.</p> + +<p>There exists in Australia, among all classes, a feeling of +loyalty and affection for the old country that has been well +described as a passion. To those who look below the +surface, there is something very instructive in the sentiment +that prompts all Australians, born and bred in the colony, +invariably to speak of England as “home,” though very +possibly they may never have been there, and never intend +to go. But although sentiment is undoubtedly an important +element, there are other and far more weighty +considerations which nearly affect the future of England +and her Colonies.</p> + +<p>The cardinal point upon which Imperial Federation +turns is Imperial Defence; and the more closely we +investigate both questions, the more impossible we shall +find it is to separate them. The growing population of +England, combined with her fiscal policy during the last +thirty years, have made her dependent upon foreign supply +for the necessaries of life, to an extent that it is impossible +to contemplate without the gravest misgivings.</p> + +<p>The only precaution that could neutralise the danger +would be an enormous addition to the strength of her +navy, and this has been neglected. At the same time the +increase in the navies of other Powers has been so great +that it is now doubtful whether, in the event of war, +England could defend her own shores and at the same time +afford sufficient protection to her commerce to avert the +horrors of starvation.</p> + +<p>It is evident, then, that if the Empire is to hold together, +the Colonies must be prepared to contribute their due share +towards its defence. That they are perfectly willing to do +so there is little doubt, provided that their true position as +integral portions of the Empire be recognised. England +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</span>lost America because in the days of her weakness she never +made it worth her while to continue as part of the Empire. +She made the fatal mistake of treating her as an outlying +estate, from which as much as possible was to be squeezed +for her own benefit; and the consequence was, as soon as +America was strong enough she severed the connection.</p> + +<p>The slightest attempt on the part of England to repeat +the same tactics with regard to Australia at the present time, +or to treat with her otherwise than as an equal in the +matter of Federation, would inevitably be followed by +separation. And very justly so; for the question of +Imperial Federation, though it is undoubtedly for the +advantage both of England and of Australia, is of infinitely +greater importance to the future of the mother country +than to that of the colony. Both Australia and Canada +have before them a glorious future, whether they remain +portions of the Empire or become independent. But the +future of England herself, deprived of her Colonies, is too +gloomy a picture to dwell upon for a moment.</p> + +<p>Indeed the Disintegration of the Empire would be a +sufficiently deplorable catastrophe, supposing that it were +inevitable. It is rendered doubly so by the brilliant +prospect that is opened up by the possibility of Federation.</p> + +<p>There is now, outside of England herself, a population of +10,000,000 of Englishmen, inhabiting a territory of almost +boundless extent, and with unlimited capabilities for development. +In about fifty years these 10,000,000 will have +increased to 50,000,000, which, with the population of the +mother country, will make a total of at least 100,000,000.</p> + +<p>The question, therefore, for Englishmen in every quarter +of the globe to ask themselves is this: Are we, by a wise +and far-seeing policy, going to unite this enormous nationality +in the close relations of an Imperial Federation; +or are we, by neglecting the lessons of the past, and by +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</span>ignoring the warnings of the present, going to allow the +vast mass to resolve itself into hostile and helpless fragments, +most of which will fall into obscurity among the increasing +Powers of the world?</p> + +<p>Shall our children and our grandchildren see the sublime +spectacle of 100,000,000 of the most highly-civilised +race in the world, inhabiting an Empire upon which +the sun never sets, united by the bonds of race and +religion, and still more closely united by the interests of +an inter-dependent trade, secure from the attack of any +foe from without, and developing an ever-increasing prosperity +within; or shall they be forced to mourn over the +ruins of the finest Empire that the world has ever seen, to +watch one after another of its provinces detached from +their centre, whether alienated by England’s own folly or +torn from her by a Power which she can no longer resist; +and, finally, to watch England herself, shorn of the strength +which her remote Dependencies alone can give her, sinking +beneath the burden of a paralysed trade and an enormous +population, into an obscurity among the nations from +which she will never rise again?</p> + +<p>A Federation of all parts of the British Empire would +form by far the most mighty Power that has ever existed +in the world, and could laugh at any possible combination +of hostile nations. England’s future as one of the leading +Powers depends upon the success of the movement that has +now started; and we believe that although an independent +existence is open to more than one of her Colonies, they +will one and all prefer the still more glorious future that +awaits them as portions of the Empire of Greater Britain.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</span></p> + + + <h2 class="nobreak" id="INDEX"> + INDEX + </h2> +</div> + + +<ul class="index"> + <li class="ifrst">Aden, scenery of, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Adventures with—alligators, <a href="#Page_89">89-91</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">black spider, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">emus, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">kanakas, <a href="#Page_148">148-151</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">tame snake, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">wild Blacks, <a href="#Page_132">132-134</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">wild cattle, <a href="#Page_97">97-100</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">and wild pigs, <a href="#Page_91">91-94</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Agricultural resources of Queensland, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Ague, prevalence of, in Queensland, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Alligators, in the Pioneer River, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">adventures with, <a href="#Page_89">89-91</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Anecdotes of—French sailor, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">German doctor at the diggings, <a href="#Page_177">177-184</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">a “sober” judge, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Ant, green-head, effects of a bite from, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Australia, voyage to, <a href="#Page_1">1-20</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">pearl-fisheries of, <a href="#Page_21">21-23</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">alligators in, <a href="#Page_89">89-91</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">importance of good roads, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the land question, <a href="#Page_300">300-314</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">and New Guinea, <a href="#Page_333">333-335</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">Governments of, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">and Government jobs, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">banks of, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">gold-mining (<i>q.v.</i>), <a href="#Page_156">156-173</a> <i>et seq.</i>;</li> + <li class="isub1">first discovery of gold at Summer Hill (1851), <a href="#Page_298">298</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">comparison of cattle and sheep stations in, <a href="#Page_107">107-122</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">effects of the drought in, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1">Judges of, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the Blacks (<i>q.v.</i>), <a href="#Page_123">123-137</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">mode of living in, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">benefit of hard work in, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">drunkenness in, <a href="#Page_198">198-207</a> (<i>see also</i> Drink);</li> + <li class="isub1">hospitality in, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">Englishman in, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">Australian in London, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">morality in London and Australia, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">woman in, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">sport in, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">Australian cricketers, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">coaching in, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">its future, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1">(<i>See also</i> Bush, <i>and</i> Queensland.)</li> + + <li class="indx">Australian Steam Navigation Company, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Bark, buildings of, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Batavia River, agricultural land on, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Blacks, the, of Australia, <a href="#Page_123">123-137</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">physical qualities, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">their sense of humour, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">homicidal propensities, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">their habits, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">their creed, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">and superstition, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">their troublesomeness, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">at Somerset, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">at hard work, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">a noble specimen, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">missionaries among them, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">under religious instruction, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">employed by white men, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the labour question, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">native police among, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">hunting them, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">a wholesale poisoning, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">adventures with, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Black’s Creek, hunting wild cattle at, <a href="#Page_97">97-106</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Blue Mountain, a Bush station, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">pig-sticking adventures at, <a href="#Page_91">91-94</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Brighton, near Melbourne, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Brisbane, population of, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the town, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">hotel accommodation, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">railway through, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the people, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</span>hospitality of the residents, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">amusements of, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">Salvation Army in, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">voyage from, to Sydney, recollections of, <a href="#Page_287">287-290</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">coast trade at (1879), <a href="#Page_258">258</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Bullock-driving at the diggings, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">a model team, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the driver, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">method of, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">use of the whip, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">professional swearing, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">downhill without the brake, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Bush, the, first impressions of, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">dangers of, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">eaten alive by ants, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">slowly burned to death, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">snakes, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">black spiders, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">pest of flies, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">Bush fires, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">emus, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">glory of morning, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1">A station in, <a href="#Page_39">39-53</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">houses, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">home in, <a href="#Page_230">230-232</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">life in, <a href="#Page_54">54</a> <i>et seq.</i>;</li> + <li class="isub1">mode of living, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">manners and morals, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">absence of woman, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">sleeping, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">boots, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">riding in, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">splitting timber, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">wages in, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">pig-sticking adventures, <a href="#Page_91">91-94</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">Sunday in, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the drink curse, <a href="#Page_197">197</a> <i>et seq.</i> (<i>see also</i> Drink);</li> + <li class="isub1">prevalence of drinking, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">a Bushman’s method of drinking, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">“knocking down a cheque,” <a href="#Page_200">200</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">relative advantages of town and Bush life, <a href="#Page_280">280</a> <i>et seq.</i></li> + + <li class="indx">Buck-jumping, by Bush horses, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Burgess, Billy, a model stockman, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101-103</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Butcher-bird, in the Bush, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Camping-out in the Bush, <a href="#Page_98">98</a> <i>et seq.</i></li> + + <li class="indx">Capitalists, advice to, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Carpentaria, Gulf of, unhealthy district, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Cattle, wild, hunting them, <a href="#Page_98">98-106</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Cattle-camps, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <i>and see</i> Cattle-growing.</li> + + <li class="indx">Cattle-growing, the runs, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">fencing, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">camps, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>; fat cattle, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">rowdy cattle, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">agility of Bush cattle, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">wild cattle on a run, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">“burnt feed,” <a href="#Page_87">87</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Stockman’s work, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">stockman’s faculty, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">a model stockman, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">mustering, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">drafting or “cutting out,” <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a> <i>et seq.</i>;</li> + <li class="isub1">“yarding-up,” <a href="#Page_70">70</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">“tailing,” <a href="#Page_75">75</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">choosing cattle, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">“droving,” <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">driving fat cattle, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Expenses and profits of station, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">prices of cattle, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">risks, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">losses from drought, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">“financing,” <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">comparison of cattle and sheep stations, <a href="#Page_108">108-122</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">cattle and sheep in Victoria, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Ceylon, tourists in, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Charters Towers, gold-field, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Chinamen at the diggings, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Cingalese at sugar-growing, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">“Clean skins,” wild cattle so called, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Cloncurry, copper mines, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Coaching in Australia, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Coal-beds in Queensland, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Coasting trade of Queensland, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Cobb and Co.’s mail-coaches, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Colonies, British, and Imperial Federation, <a href="#Page_332">332-340</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Colonist, an ideal, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Coolies, for sugar-growing, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Copper mines of Queensland, <a href="#Page_247">247-250</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">at Peak Downs, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the Mackinlay ranges, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">Cloncurry, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">Mount Flora and Mount Orange, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Cricket, at Melbourne, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">Australian cricketers, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Davidson, Mr. John Ewen, first sugar-mill in Queensland erected by, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Derby, Lord, and the New Guinea question, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Diggings, life on, <a href="#Page_174">174</a> <i>et seq.</i>;</li> + <li class="isub1">names on, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">“jumping” a claim, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">settling disputes, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">accidents in the shaft, <a href="#Page_193">193-196</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">wages on, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">home on, <a href="#Page_231">231-234</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the doctor at, story of, <a href="#Page_178">178-184</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</span>the policeman, <a href="#Page_180">180-182</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">drink curse on, <a href="#Page_197">197</a> <i>et seq.</i> (<i>see also</i> Drink);</li> + <li class="isub1">deathbed scene on, <a href="#Page_184">184-187</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1">(<i>See also</i> Gold-mining <i>and</i> Mount Britten.)</li> + + <li class="indx">Draught-cattle, <i>see</i> Bullock-driving.</li> + + <li class="indx">Drink, evils of, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">its deadly consequences, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">death from, on the diggings, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">public-houses in Mackay, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">public-houses on the diggings, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">adulteration of liquor, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">conduct of Government with regard to adulteration, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">substitutes for liquor—“Pain-killer,” kerosene, “Farmer’s Friend,” <a href="#Page_207">207</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1">On the diggings, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a> <i>et seq.</i>;</li> + <li class="isub2">Bacchanalians, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">cold water cure, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">the Bush drunkard, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">a Bushman’s method of drinking, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">“knocking down a cheque,” <a href="#Page_199">199</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">drinking £600 in three weeks, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">“hospitality,” <a href="#Page_201">201</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">drinking with Death, <a href="#Page_185">185-187</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1">Prevalence of drinking among all classes, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">preventive legislation useless, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">difficulties of reform in liquor traffic, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">drinking customs in towns, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">drunken legislators, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">“sober” judges, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">anecdote of one, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">the doctor drunk, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">the town drunkard, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">“nipping,” <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">“a swizzle,” <a href="#Page_31">31</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">“anti-shouting,” <a href="#Page_284">284</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">drink on New South Wales Railway, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">a man with D.T. on voyage, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Drought in Australia, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">provision against, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">“Droving” in Australia, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Drunkenness in Australia, <a href="#Page_197">197-207</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1">(<i>See also</i> Drink.)</li> + + <li class="indx">Duck-driving on the Pioneer River, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Eastern and Australian Steamship Co., boats of, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Eaten alive by ants in the Bush, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">England, hospitality in, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">Australian in London, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">morality in London and Australia, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Englishman in Australia, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Emu, in the Bush, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">suicide of, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">oil, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">“Erratic Star” gold reef, <a href="#Page_172">172</a> <i>et seq.</i></li> + <li class="isub1">(<i>See also</i> Mount Britten.)</li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Fashion in Mackay, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Fencing for cattle stations, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Fielding, General, agent for the Syndicate of the Transcontinental Railway Scheme, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Fitzroy River, alligators in, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">removing the Flats, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">“Flat-top,” an island at mouth of the Pioneer River, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Flies in the Bush, pest of, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the solitary fly, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">French sailor, anecdote of, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Galle, description of, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">tourists at, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">German doctor at the diggings, story of, <a href="#Page_177">177-184</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Gibbard, Charley, of the “Little Wanderer” (<i>q.v.</i>) gold reef, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, + <a href="#Page_187">187</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Gladstone, Mr., on Imperial Federation, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Gold-mining, gold first discovered in Australia at Summer Hill (1851), <a href="#Page_298">298</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">in Queensland, <a href="#Page_165">165</a> <i>et seq.</i>;</li> + <li class="isub1">Queensland gold-fields, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">future of, in Queensland, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">gold-mines of Victoria, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">yield of gold there, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">Gympie reefs, <a href="#Page_236">236</a> <i>et seq.</i>;</li> + <li class="isub1">richest mine in the world at Mount Morgan, account of, <a href="#Page_245">245-247</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">at Mount Britten (<i>q.v.</i>), <a href="#Page_169">169</a> <i>et seq.</i>;</li> + <li class="isub1">“Little Wanderer,” <a href="#Page_170">170</a> <i>et seq.</i> (<i>see also</i> Mount Britten);</li> + <li class="isub1">“Erratic Star,” <a href="#Page_172">172</a> <i>et seq.</i> (<i>see also</i> Mount Britten);</li> + <li class="isub1">alluvial gold, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">uncertainty of gold, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">significance of black slate, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1">The gold fever, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">the professional digger, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">a new chum’s luck, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">a “duffer rush,” <a href="#Page_168">168</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">“dividing mates,” <a href="#Page_166">166</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</span>prospecting for a reef, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">discovering a reef, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">a good “prospect,” <a href="#Page_171">171</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">warden of gold-field, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1">Life at the diggings, <a href="#Page_174">174</a> <i>et seq.</i> (<i>see also</i> Diggings);</li> + <li class="isub2">accidents in the shaft, <a href="#Page_193">193-196</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">cost and difficulties of setting up machinery, <a href="#Page_188">188-193</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">damming a creek, <a href="#Page_209">209-211</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">a quartz mill, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">retorting, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1">Uncertainty of mining, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">instances of evil effects of, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">cost of gold, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">expenses and profits, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">statistics of Mount Britten reefs, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">ordinary history of a gold-field, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">floating a company, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Gracemere, near Rockhampton, scene in a cattle-yard at, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Granville, Lord, and the New Guinea question, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Grass-seed, on the coast of Queensland, evils to sheep from, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Grass-trees in the Bush, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Griffiths, Mr., his Ministry, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">in the Steel Rail Inquiry, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Groom, Mr., Speaker in the Queensland Parliament, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Gulf district of Queensland, advantages for sheep-farming, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">unhealthiness of, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Gympie, gold-field, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238-241</a>.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Haslewood, a Bush station, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Holliman, William, erects mill at Mount Britten diggings, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Horses, in the Bush, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47-53</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">buck-jumping, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">endurance of, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">breaking-in, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">“camp-horse,” <a href="#Page_63">63</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Houses, of wood, in the Bush, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Hunting in Queensland, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Imperial Federation, opinions on, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">opponents of, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">work of the League, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">disintegration theory, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">dismemberment of the Empire a gradual process, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">conduct of present Ministry in Colonial affairs, <a href="#Page_332">332-335</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">and New Guinea, <a href="#Page_333">333-335</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">not a party question, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">will be decided by working-men of Great Britain and her Colonies, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">importance of Australia, <a href="#Page_340">340</a> <i>et seq.</i>;</li> + <li class="isub1">sentiment in Australia, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">question of Imperial Defence, <a href="#Page_337">337</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the case of America applied to Australia, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">to be, or not to be? 339.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst">“Jackaroos,” in the Bush, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">“Johnny cakes,” in the Bush, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">“Jumping,” on the diggings, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Kanakas, who and what they are, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">effect of religious teaching on, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">“missionary boys,” <a href="#Page_129">129</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">kidnapping them, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">employment of, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">plundered by storekeepers, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">troublesomeness of, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">a scare, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Kangaroos, in Queensland, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">hunting them, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Labour question, in sugar-growing, <a href="#Page_136">136-153</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Land, price of, in Australia, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Land question, the, in Australia, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">in New South Wales, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">in Queensland, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">in Victoria, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">selectors, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Lawn-tennis, in Melbourne, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">“Little Wanderer,” gold reef, <i>see</i> Mount Britten.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Mackay, description of, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">need of port at, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">story of its breakwater, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">copper mines near, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">opposition of, to mining, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">sugar-growing (<i>q.v.</i>) in, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">progress of, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">planters of, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">fashion at, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Mackinlay ranges copper mines, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Marseilles, votive offerings of sailors at, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</span>M’Ilwraith, Sir T., Premier of Queensland, his Ministry, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">his estimate for Transcontinental Railway, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">on the Colonial debt, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">in the Steel Rail Inquiry, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Melbourne, its origin, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">climate, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">population, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the town, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">Government House and Botanical Gardens, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">Public Library and Institute of Fine Art, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">its fine buildings, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">hotels, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">and churches, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">its streets, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">a man nearly drowned in a gutter, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the river Yarra, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">railways, cost of an accident, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the telephone, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the Exchange, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">mining speculation at, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1">The people, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">life in, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">drinking in, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">its clubs, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">dancing in, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">cricket at, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">lawn-tennis in, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">tennis-court, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">suburbs, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">country residences, <a href="#Page_325">325-327</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">“Milky Sea,” near Aden, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Mines, advantage of, to a district, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">of Queensland, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1">(<i>See also</i> Coal, Copper, Gold, Tin.)</li> + + <li class="indx">Mount Britten, description of valley of, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">gold-field at, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">“Little Wanderer” reef at, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">“Erratic Star” reef at, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">accidents, <a href="#Page_193">193-196</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">damming a creek, <a href="#Page_209">209-211</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">setting up a mill, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195-197</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218-223</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">“Sabbath Calm” mill, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">a first crushing, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">first gold escort from, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">result of further crushings, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">statistics of reefs at, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">floating the Company, <a href="#Page_305">305-307</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Mount Flora, copper mines at, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Mount Morgan, richest mine in the world, account of, <a href="#Page_245">245-247</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Mount Orange, copper mines at, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Mount Spencer, a Bush station, <a href="#Page_39">39-41</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">description of, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the horse-yards, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">cattle runs, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">cattle-growing (<i>q.v.</i>) at, <a href="#Page_55">55</a> <i>et seq.</i>;</li> + <li class="isub1">camping at, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1">(<i>See also</i> Bush.)</li> + + <li class="indx">Mount Spencer country, its extent and divisions, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Mummies of Australian Blacks, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">“Myalls,” wild Blacks (<i>q.v.</i>) of Australia, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Naples, beauties of, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">New Guinea question, <a href="#Page_334">334-336</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">public feeling in Australia, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">New South Wales, the Colonial debt, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">population, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">gold diggings of, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">mining swindle in, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">chief produce of, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the drought, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the land question, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Newton, Mr. R., his exposure of the Transcontinental Railway Scheme, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Palmer, gold-field, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Peak Downs, copper mines, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Pearl-fishing, Australia, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Pigs, wild, adventures with, at Blue Mountain, <a href="#Page_92">92-94</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Pioneer River, scenery of, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">alligators in, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">wild duck shooting on, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Poison-wood, effects of, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Port Said, character of, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Queensland, voyage to, <a href="#Page_1">1-20</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">coast scenery, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">coast towns, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">area and population, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">climate, <a href="#Page_272">272-274</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">unhealthy district of, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">fever and ague in, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1">Her resources and prospects, <a href="#Page_242">242-275</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">forests and timber, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">the Bush (<i>q.v.</i>), <a href="#Page_40">40</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">mineral wealth, <a href="#Page_244">244-247</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">gold-fields, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">gold-mining (<i>q.v.</i>) in, <a href="#Page_154">154</a> <i>et seq.</i>;</li> + <li class="isub2">mining in, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">copper mines, <a href="#Page_247">247-249</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">coal-beds, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">tin-mines, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">her real greatness, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">prairies, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">stock-rearing resources, <a href="#Page_253">253</a> (<i>see</i> Cattle-growing <i>and</i> Sheep-farming);</li> + <li class="isub2">advantages of Gulf country for sheep-farming, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">comparison of cattle and sheep stations, <a href="#Page_107">107-122</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">drought, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">well-sinking, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</span>agricultural resources, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">price of land in, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">sugar-growing (<i>q.v.</i>) in, <a href="#Page_138">138-153</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">need of railways, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">great want of harbours and sea-ports, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">coasting-trade, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">vitality of the Colony, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">the Colonial debt, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1">The Government, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">conduct of Government with regard to adulteration of liquor, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">and the Mackay breakwater, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">the M’Ilwraith Ministry, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">and the Transcontinental Railway Scheme, <a href="#Page_260">260-266</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">the new Speaker, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">depravity of Parliament, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">indifference of squatters to legislation, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">coloured labour question, <a href="#Page_142">142-153</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">the land question, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">selectors, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">the Land Bill, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1">The population required, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">capitalists in, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">the working-man in, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">wages in, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1">Life in coast-towns, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">townsmen’s mode of living, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">relative advantages of town and Bush life, <a href="#Page_274">274</a> <i>et seq.</i>;</li> + <li class="isub2">sport in, <a href="#Page_88">88</a> <i>et seq.</i>, <a href="#Page_96">96-106</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">coaching in, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">a thunder-storm in, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">the Blacks troublesome in, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">native police of, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>.</li> + <li class="isub2">(<i>See also</i> the Bush.)</li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Railways, in Australia, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">in Victoria, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">Brisbane-Roma line, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the Central Railway, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">from Sydney to Melbourne, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">of Melbourne, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">cost of an accident, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">rival brakes, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">great need of, in Queensland, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">benefit of, to Queensland, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">story of the Transcontinental Railway Scheme, <a href="#Page_261">261-266</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Ravenswood, gold-field, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Rawson, Mr. Charles, of “Sleepy Hollow,” Mackay, <a href="#Page_30">30-32</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Riding, in the Bush, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47-49</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">dangers in the Bush, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Rockhampton, origin of, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">richest mine in the world, in neighbourhood of, <a href="#Page_245">245-247</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">scene in a cattle-yard near, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">“Round Top,” an island at mouth of the Pioneer River, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst">“Sabbath Calm,” mill at Mount Britten (<i>q.v.</i>), <a href="#Page_221">221</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Salvation Army in Brisbane, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">“Scrub,” a, in Queensland, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Sheep-farming, in Queensland, <a href="#Page_107">107</a> <i>et seq.</i>;</li> + <li class="isub1">past and present, <a href="#Page_111">111</a> <i>et seq.</i>;</li> + <li class="isub1">advantages of the Gulf country for, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">estimate of expenditure on sheep-station, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">price of land, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">drought, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">losses from drought, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">“financing,” <a href="#Page_111">111</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">overstocking, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">produce of wool, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">profits of, <a href="#Page_115">115-117</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">comparison of cattle and sheep stations, <a href="#Page_107">107-122</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">number of sheep in New South Wales (1883), <a href="#Page_298">298</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">in Victoria, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Shepherding, effects of, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Shooting wild ducks on the Pioneer River, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Singapore, description of, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">“Sleepy Hollow,” station in Mackay, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Smoking, among Bushmen, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Snakes, in the Queensland Bush, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">snake-bite and antidote, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">a tame one, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Somerset, pearl-fishing at, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">Blacks and Whites at, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">South Sea Islands, labour traffic, <a href="#Page_142">142</a> <i>et seq.</i></li> + <li class="isub1">(<i>See also</i> Kanakas.)</li> + + <li class="indx">Spider, black, poisonous effects of bite, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">met by, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Spiller, Mr. John, first to grow sugar in Queensland (1866), <a href="#Page_138">138</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Sport in Queensland, <a href="#Page_88">88-94</a> <i>et seq.</i>, <a href="#Page_96">96-106</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Squatters of Queensland, <a href="#Page_269">269-272</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">pioneers of civilisation, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">and the Land Bill, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">St. Kilda, near Melbourne, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Steel Rail Inquiry, account of, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Stockmen, their work, <a href="#Page_58">58</a> (<i>see also</i> Cattle-growing);</li> + <li class="isub1">faculty for remembering cattle, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1"><span class="pagenum" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</span>their conversation, <a href="#Page_100">100-102</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">a model, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Straight, Mr., Commissioner of Railways, his Bill, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Sugar-growing, in Queensland, <a href="#Page_138">138-153</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">in Mackay, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">favourable climate for, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">a “rush” on, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">over-speculation in, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">risks of, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">effects of “rust,” <a href="#Page_139">139</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">increase of trade, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">progress in Mackay, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">labour question, <a href="#Page_142">142-153</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">kanakas (<i>q.v.</i>), <a href="#Page_145">145-149</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">coolies (<i>q.v.</i>), <a href="#Page_151">151</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">and white labour, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Sugar planters in Mackay, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Sunday in the Bush, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Sunstroke, causes of, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">in the Bush, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Swearing, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">among bullock-drivers, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Swimming in Queensland creeks, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">“Swizzle,” a, what it is, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Sydney, its climate, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">population, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the harbour, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the town, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the Exhibition, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">hotel accommodation, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">steam tramcars, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">its newspapers, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">railway, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">and wealth, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1">Its society, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">and people, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">the Sydney waiter, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">yachting at, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">value of land in and near, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>;</li> + <li class="isub2">recollections of hospitality at, <a href="#Page_293">293</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx"><i>Sydney Morning Herald</i>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx"><i>Sydney Bulletin</i>, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Tea-drinking in the Bush, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">“quart-pot” tea, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Thunder-storm in Queensland, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Timber, varieties of, in Queensland, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Tin-mines, of Queensland, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">at Stanthorpe, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the Herberton “rush,” <a href="#Page_251">251</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Townsville, imports of (1883), <a href="#Page_258">258</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Tramcars, by steam, in Sydney, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Transcontinental Railway Scheme, story of the, <a href="#Page_260">260-266</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">its exposure, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Underwood’s antidote for snakebite, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Victoria, population of, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">Government, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">scene in the House, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">statistics of, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">mining in, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">gold-mines, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">and gold-mining in, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">yield of gold in, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the land question, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">the land-tax, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">prospects of, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>.</li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Water-hole camp, at Mount Spencer (<i>q.v.</i>), <a href="#Page_60">60</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Whitsunday Passage, scenery of, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Williamstown, port of Melbourne, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Woman, her influence, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>.</li> + + <li class="indx">Wool, value of, in Australia, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">produce of, in Queensland, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">increase of, in Victoria, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>;</li> + <li class="isub1">amount exported from New South Wales (1883), <a href="#Page_298">298</a>.</li> + <li class="isub1">(<i>See also</i> Sheep-farming.)</li> + + + <li class="ifrst">Yarra River, through Melbourne, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>.</li> +</ul> + + +<p class="center p2">THE END</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + <p class="center ep6"> + <i>Printed by</i> <span class="smcap">R. & R. Clark</span>, <i>Edinburgh</i>. + </p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p class="right"> + <span class="smcap">July 1886.</span> +</p> + + +<p class="center ph2" style="line-height: 2;"> + BOOKS, &c.,<br> + <span style="font-size: small;">ISSUED BY</span><br> + MESSRS. W. H. ALLEN & Co., +</p> +<p class="center oldenglish"> + Publishers & Literary Agents to the India Office +</p> +<p class="center p2"> + <span style="font-size: small;">COMPRISING</span> +</p> +<p class="center p2"> + MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATIONS IN GENERAL<br> + LITERATURE.<br> + <br> + MILITARY WORKS, INCLUDING THOSE ISSUED<br> + BY THE GOVERNMENT.<br> + <br> + INDIAN AND MILITARY LAW.<br> + <br> + MAPS OF INDIA, &c. +</p> +<p class="center p4"> + LONDON:<br> + W. H. ALLEN & CO., 13 WATERLOO PLACE<br> + PALL MALL, S.W. +</p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p class="ph2" id="Works_issued_from_the_India_Office"> + Works issued from the India Office, and sold by<br> + W. H. ALLEN & Co. +</p> +</div> +<hr class="r5"> + + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Illustrations of Ancient Buildings in Kashmir.</b></p> + +<blockquote> +<p>Prepared at the Indian Museum under the authority of the Secretary of +State for India in Council. From Photographs, Plans, and Drawings +taken by Order of the Government of India. By Henry Hardy Cole, Lieut. +R.E., Superintendent Archæological Survey of India, North-West Provinces. +In 1 vol.; half-bound, Quarto. 58 Plates. £3 10s.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>The Illustrations in this work have been produced in Carbon from the +original negatives, and are therefore permanent.</p> +</blockquote> +</blockquote> + +<p><b>Pharmacopœia of India.</b></p> + +<blockquote> +<p>Prepared under the Authority of the Secretary of State for India. By +Edward John Waring. M.D. Assisted by a Committee appointed for the +Purpose. 8vo. 6s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><b>The Stupa of Bharhut. A Buddhist Monument.</b></p> + +<blockquote> +<p>Ornamented with numerous Sculptures illustrative of Buddhist Legend +and History in the Third Century <span class="allsmcap">B.C.</span> By Alexander Cunningham, C.S.I., +C.I.E., Major-General, Royal Engineers (Bengal Retired); Director-General +Archæological Survey of India. 4to. 57 Plates. 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With elegantly illuminated borders +from designs by Arthur Robertson, Fcap. 4to. 6s.</p> + +<p><b>Cruise of H.M.S. “Galatea,”</b> Captain H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh, +K.G., in 1867-1868. By the Rev. John Milner, B.A., Chaplain; and +Oswald W. Brierly. Illustrated by a Photograph of H.R.H. the Duke +of Edinburgh; and by Chromo-lithographs and Graphotypes from +Sketches taken on the spot by O. W. Brierly. Demy 8vo. 16s.</p> + +<p><i>CUNNINGHAM, H. S., M.A., one of the Judges of the High Court of Calcutta, and +late Member of the Famine Commission.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>British India, and its Rulers.</b> Demy 8vo. 10s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>CUVIER, BARON.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>The Animal Kingdom.</b> With considerable Additions by W. B. Carpenter, +M.D., F.R.S., and J. O. Westwood, F.L.S. New Edition, +Illustrated with 500 Engravings on Wood and 36 Coloured Plates. 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Demy 8vo. 7s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>DEIGHTON, K., Principal of Agra College.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Shakespeare’s King Henry the Fifth.</b> With Notes and an Introduction. +Cr. 8vo. 5s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>DE LISLE, EDWIN.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Centenary Studies: Wyclif and Luther.</b> Cr. 8vo. 3s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><b>Destruction of Life by Snakes, Hydrophobia, &c.</b>, in Western +India. By an Ex-Commissioner. Fcap. 2s. 6d.</p> + +<p><i>DICKENS, CHARLES.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Plays and Poems, with a few Miscellanies in Prose.</b> Now +first collected. Edited, Prefaced, and Annotated by Richard Herne +Shepherd. 2 vols. Demy 8vo. 21s.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>Edition de Luxe. 2 vols. Imp. 8vo. (Only 150 copies printed.)</p> +</blockquote> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>DICKINS, FREDERICK V., Sc.B. of the Middle Temple, Barrister-at-law +(translator).</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Chiushingura: or the Loyal League.</b> A Japanese Romance. 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INGRAM.</i> Cr. 8vo. +3s. 6d.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p><i>BLIND, MATHILDE.</i></p> + +<p style="margin-left: 2em; text-indent: 0;"> + <b>George Eliot.</b><br> + <b>Madame Roland.</b> +</p> + +<p><i>ROBINSON, A. MARY F.</i></p> + +<p style="margin-left: 2em;"> + <b>Emily Bronte.</b> +</p> + +<p><i>THOMAS, BERTHA.</i></p> + +<p style="margin-left: 2em;"> + <b>George Sand.</b> +</p> + +<p><i>GILCHRIST, ANNE.</i></p> + +<p style="margin-left: 2em;"> + <b>Mary Lamb.</b> +</p> + +<p><i>HOWE, JULIA WARD.</i></p> + +<p style="margin-left: 2em;"> + <b>Margaret Fuller.</b> +</p> + +<p><i>ZIMMERN, HELEN.</i></p> + +<p style="margin-left: 2em;"> + <b>Maria Edgeworth.</b> +</p> + +<p><i>PITMAN, Mrs. E. 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Cr. 8vo. 5s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><b>LAW AND PROCEDURE, INDIAN CIVIL.</b></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Mahommedan Law of Inheritance, &c.</b> A Manual of the Mahommedan +Law of Inheritance and Contract; comprising the Doctrine of +Soonee and Sheea Schools, and based upon the text of Sir H. W. Macnaghten’s +Principles and Precedents, together with the Decisions of the +Privy Council and High Courts of the Presidencies in India. For the +use of Schools and Students. By Standish Grove Grady, Barrister-at-Law, +Reader of Hindoo, Mahommedan, and Indian Law to the Inns of +Court. Demy 8vo. 14s.</p> + +<p><b>Hedaya, or Guide, a Commentary on the Mussulman Laws</b>, +translated by order of the Governor-General and Council of Bengal. By +Charles Hamilton. Second Edition, with Preface and Index by Standish +Grove Grady. Demy 8vo. £1 15s.</p> + +<p><b>Institutes of Menu in English.</b> The Institutes of Hindu Law or +the Ordinances of Menu, according to Gloss of Collucca. Comprising +the Indian System of Duties, Religious and Civil, verbally translated +from the Original, with a Preface by Sir William Jones, and collated +with the Sanscrit Text by Graves Chamney Haughton, M.A., F.R.S., +Professor of Hindu Literature in the East India College. New Edition, +with Preface and Index by Standish G. Grady, Barrister-at-Law, and +Reader of Hindu, Mahommedan, and Indian Law to the Inns of Court. +Demy 8vo. 12s.</p> + +<p><b>Indian Code of Civil Procedure.</b> Being Act X. of 1877. Demy 8vo. 6s.</p> + +<p><b>Indian Code of Civil Procedure.</b> In the form of Questions and +Answers, with Explanatory and Illustrative Notes. By Angelo J. Lewis. +Barrister-at-Law. Imp. 12mo. 12s. 6d.</p> + +<p><b>Hindu Law.</b> Defence of the Daya Bhaga. Notice of the Case on +Prosoono Coomar Tajore’s Will. Judgment of the Judicial Committee +of the Privy Council. Examination of such Judgment. By John +Cochrane, Barrister-at-Law. Roy. 8vo. 20s.</p> + +<p><b>Law and Customs of Hindu Castes</b>, within the Dekhan Provinces +subject to the Presidency of Bombay, chiefly affecting Civil Suits. By +Arthur Steele. Roy. 8vo. £1 1s.</p> + +<p><b>Moohummudan Law of Inheritance</b>, and Rights and Relations +affecting it (Sunni Doctrine). By Almaric Rumsey. Demy 8vo. 12s.</p> + +<p><b>A Chart of Hindu Family Inheritance.</b> By Almaric Rumsey. +Second Edition, much enlarged. Demy 8vo. 6s. 6d.</p> + +<p><b>INDIAN CRIMINAL.</b></p> + +<blockquote> +<p style="text-indent: 0;">Including the Procedure in the High Courts, as well as that not in the +Courts not established by Royal Charter; with Forms of Charges and +Notes on Evidence, illustrated by a large number of English Cases, and +Cases decided in the High Courts of India; and an Appendix of selected +Acts passed by the Legislative Council relating to Criminal matters. +By M. H. Starling, Esq., LL.B., and F. B. Constable, M.A. Third +Edition. 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Pocket size. 5s.</p> + +<p><b>Precedents in Military Law</b>; including the Practice of Courts-Martial; +the Mode of Conducting Trials; the Duties of Officers at +Military Courts of Inquests, Courts of Inquiry, Courts of Requests, +&c. &c. By Lieut.-Col. W. Hough, late Deputy Judge-Advocate-General, +Bengal Army, and Author of several Works on Courts-Martial. One +thick Demy 8vo. vol. 25s.</p> + +<p><b>The Practice of Courts-Martial.</b> By Hough and Long. Thick +Demy 8vo. London, 1825. 26s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>LEE, The Rev. F. G., D.D.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>The Church under Queen Elizabeth.</b> An Historical Sketch. +2 vols. Cr. 8vo. 21s.</p> + +<p><b>Reginald Barentyne</b>; or, Liberty without Limit. A Tale of the +Times. With Portrait of the Author. Second Edition. Cr. 8vo. 5s.</p> + +<p><b>The Words from the Cross</b>: Seven Sermons for Lent, Passion-Tide, +and Holy Week. Third Edition revised. Fcap. 8vo. 3s. 6d.</p> + +<p><b>Order Out of Chaos.</b> Two Sermons. 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Cr. 8vo. 5s.</p> + +<p><i>MITCHINSON, ALEXANDER WILLIAM.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>The Expiring Continent</b>; A Narrative of Travel in Senegambia, +with Observations on Native Character; Present Condition and Future +Prospects of Africa and Colonisation. With 16 full-page Illustrations +and Map. 8vo. 18s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>MITFORD, EDWARD L.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>A Land March from England to Ceylon Forty Years Ago.</b> +With Map and numerous Illustrations. 2 vols. Demy 8vo. 24s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>MITFORD, Major R. C. W., 14th Bengal Lancers.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>To Caubul with the Cavalry Brigade.</b> A Narrative of Personal +Experiences with the Force under General Sir F. S. Roberts, G.C.B. +With Map and Illustrations from Sketches by the Author. Second +Edition. Demy 8vo. 9s.</p> + +<p><b>Modern Parallels to the Ancient Evidences of Christianity.</b> +Being an attempt to Illustrate the Force of those Evidences by the +Light of Parallels supplied by Modern Affairs. Demy 8vo. 10s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>MULLER, MAX.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Rig-Veda-Sanhita.</b> The Sacred Hymns of the Brahmins; together +with the Commentary of Sayanacharya. Published under the Patronage +of the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for India in Council. +Demy 4to. 6 vols. £2 10s. per volume.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><b>National Review.</b> Vols. I. to V. Royal 8vo. 17s. each.</p> + +<p><i>NAVE, JOHANN.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>The Collector’s Handy-Book of Algæ, Diatoms, Desmids, +Fungi, Lichens, Mosses, &c.</b> Translated and Edited by the Rev. +W. W. Spicer, M.A. Illustrated with 114 Woodcuts. Fcap. 8vo. 2s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>NEVILLE, RALPH.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>The Squire’s Heir.</b> 2 vols. Cr. 8vo. 21s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>NEWMAN, The Late EDWARD, F.Z.S.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>British Butterflies and Moths.</b> With over 800 Illustrations. +Super-roy. 8vo., cloth gilt. 25s.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p><i>The above Work may also be had in Two Volumes, sold separately. Vol. I., +Butterflies, 7s. 6d.; Vol. II., Moths, 20s.</i></p> +</blockquote> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>NEWMAN, The Rev. JOHN HENRY (now Cardinal).</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Miscellanies from the Oxford Sermons of John Henry Newman, +D.D.</b> Cr. 8vo. 6s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>NICHOLSON, Capt. H. WHALLEY</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>From Sword to Share</b>; or, a Fortune in Five Years at Hawaii. With +Map and Photographs. Cr. 8vo. 12s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><b>Nirgis and Bismillah.</b> <span class="smcap">Nirgis</span>; a Tale of the Indian Mutiny, from the +Diary of a Slave Girl: and <span class="smcap">Bismillah</span>; or, Happy Days in Cashmere. +By Hafiz Allard. Post 8vo. 10s. 6d.</p> + +<p><i>NORRIS-NEWMAN, CHARLES L., Special Correspondent of the London “Standard.”</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>In Zululand with the British, throughout the War of 1879.</b> +With Plans and Four Portraits. Demy 8vo. 16s.</p> + +<p><b>With the Boers in the Transvaal and Orange Free State in +1880-81.</b> With Maps. Demy 8vo. 14s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><b>Notes on Collecting and Preserving Natural History Objects.</b> +Edited by J. E. Taylor, F.L.S., F.G.S., Editor of “Science Gossip.” +With numerous Illustrations. Cr. 8vo. 3s. 6d.</p> + +<p><b>Notes on the North-Western Provinces of India.</b> By a District +Officer. Second Edition. Post 8vo. 5s.</p> + +<p><i>O’DONOGHUE, Mrs. POWER.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Ladies on Horseback.</b> Learning, Park Riding, and Hunting. With +Notes upon Costume, and numerous Anecdotes. With Portrait. +Second Edition. Cr. 8vo. 5s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>OLDFIELD, The Late HENRY ARMSTRONG, M.D., H.M. 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New edition, +Crown 8vo. 7s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>OSBORNE, Mrs. WILLOUGHBY.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>A Pilgrimage to Mecca.</b> By the Nawab Sikandar Begum of Bhopal. +Translated from the original Urdu by Mrs. Willoughby Osborne. Followed +by a Sketch of the History of Bhopal by Colonel Willoughby +Osborne, C.B. With Photographs. Dedicated, by permission, to Her +Majesty Queen Victoria. Post 8vo. £1 1s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>OSWALD, FELIX S.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Zoological Sketches</b>: a Contribution to the Out-door Study of Natural +History. With 36 Illustrations by Hermann Faber. Cr. 8vo. 7s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>OXENHAM, Rev. HENRY NUTCOMBE, M.A.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Catholic Eschatology and Universalism.</b> An Essay on the Doctrine +of Future Retribution. Second Edition, revised and enlarged. +Cr. 8vo. 7s. 6d.</p> + +<p><b>Catholic Doctrine of the Atonement.</b> An Historical Inquiry into +its Development in the Church, with an Introduction on the Principle +of Theological Development. Third Edition and enlarged. 8vo. 14s.</p> + +<p><b>The First Age of Christianity and the Church.</b> By John Ignatius +Döllinger, D.D., Professor of Ecclesiastical History in the University +of Munich, &c. &c. Translated from the German by H. N. +Oxenham, M.A. Third Edition. 2 vols., Cr. 8vo. 18s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>OZANAM, A. F.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>History of Civilisation in the Fifth Century.</b> Translated from +the French by the Hon. A. C. Glyn. 2 vols., Post 8vo. 21s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>PANTON, J. E.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Country Sketches in Black and White.</b> Cr. 8vo. 6s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>PAYNE, JOHN.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Lautrec.</b> A Poem. New Edition. Paper cover. 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Indian (Home) Service, +Translator of Anwar-i-Suhaili, &c. 2 vols., Roy. 8vo. 32s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><b>Pen and Ink Sketches of Military Subjects.</b> By “Ignotus.” Reprinted, +by permission, from the “Saturday Review.” Cr. 8vo. 5s.</p> + +<p><b>Personal Piety</b>: a Help to Christians to walk worthy of their Calling. +24mo. 1s. 6d.</p> + +<p><i>PHILLIPS, Mrs. ALFRED.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Man Proposes.</b> A Novel. 3 vols., Cr. 8vo. 31s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>PINCOTT, FREDERIC, M.R.A.S.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Analytical Index</b> to Sir John Kaye’s History of the Sepoy War, and +Colonel G. B. Malleson’s History of the Indian Mutiny. (Combined in +one volume.) Demy 8vo. 10s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>PINKERTON, THOMAS A.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Agnes Moran</b>: A Story of Innocence and Experience. 3 vols., Cr. 8vo. +31s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>PITTENGER, Rev. 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Cr. 8vo. 6s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>RALFE, CHARLES H., M.A., M.D. Cantab.; F.R.C.P. Lond.; late Teacher of +Physiological Chemistry, St. George’s Hospital, &c.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Demonstrations in Physiological and Pathological Chemistry.</b> +Arranged to meet the requirements for the Practical Examination in +these subjects at the Royal College of Physicians and College of Surgeons. +Fcap. 8vo. 5s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>RAMANN, Fraulein L.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Franz Liszt, Artist and Man.</b> Translated from the German by Miss +E. Cowdery. 2 vols., Cr. 8vo. 21s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>RANSOME, A. H.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Sunday Thoughts for the Little Ones.</b> 24mo. 1s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>RAY, The Late JOSEPH, Esq., Commander R.N.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>The Captain’s Yarns.</b> A Memorial of Fifty Years Service. Edited by +<span class="smcap">James M. Menzies</span>. 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EDWARD, Professor Royal University of Berlin.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>The Chronology of Ancient Nations.</b> An English Version of the +Arabic Text of the Atbar-ut-Bâkiya of Albîrûnî, or “Vestiges of the +Past.” Collected and reduced to writing by the Author in <span class="allsmcap">A.H.</span> 390-1, +<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1000. Translated and Edited, with Notes and Index. Roy. 8vo. 42s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>SANDERSON, G. P., Officer in Charge of the Government Elephant Keddahs at +Mysore.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Thirteen Years among the Wild Beasts of India</b>; their Haunts +and Habits, from Personal Observation. With an account of the Modes +of Capturing and Taming Wild Elephants. With 21 full-page Illustrations +and 3 Maps. Second Edition. 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G., Interpreter to the Strangers’ Home for Asiatics.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>A Dictionary of Naval Terms, English and Hindustani.</b> For +the use of Nautical Men trading to India, &c. Cr. 8vo. 2s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>SMITH, J., A.L.S.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Ferns: British and Foreign.</b> Fourth Edition, revised and greatly +enlarged, with New Figures, &c. Cr. 8vo. 7s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>SMITH, WORTHINGTON, F.L.S.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Mushrooms and Toadstools</b>: How to Distinguish easily the Difference +between Edible and Poisonous Fungi. Two large Sheets, containing +Figures of 29 Edible and 31 Poisonous Species, drawn the natural size, +and Coloured from Living Specimens. With descriptive letterpress, 6s.; +on canvas, in cloth case for pocket, 10s. 6d.; on canvas, on rollers and +varnished, 10s. 6d. The letterpress may be had separately, with keyplates +of figures, 1s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>SOLYMOS, B. (B. E. 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Cr. 8vo. 6s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>STEINMETZ, A.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>The Smoker’s Guide, Philosopher, and Friend</b>: What to Smoke—What +to Smoke with—and the whole “What’s What” of Tobacco, +Historical, Botanical, Manufactural, Anecdotal, Social, Medical, &c. +Roy. 32mo. 1s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>STENT, GEORGE CARTER, M.R.A.S., Chinese Imperial Customs Service.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Entombed Alive</b>, and other Songs and Ballads. (From the Chinese.) +With 4 Illustrations. Cr. 8vo. 9s.</p> + +<p><b>Scraps from my Sabretasche.</b> Being Personal Adventures while in +14th (King’s Light) Dragoons. Cr. 8vo. 6s.</p> + +<p><b>The Jade Chaplet</b>, in Twenty-four Beads. A Collection of Songs, +Ballads, &c. from the Chinese. Second Edition. 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Cr. 8vo. 5s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>SWINTON, A. H.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>An Almanack of the Christian Era</b>, containing a legitimate prediction +of the Weather, Disasters by Wind and Rain, Shipwrecks and +River Floods, Prognostics of the Harvest, Havoc by Vermin and Infection, +Famines and Panics, Electrical Disturbances, Calamities by Earthquakes +and Volcanic Eruptions, with much that is Important or Curious. +A Record of the Past and Glimpse into the Future, based on Solar +Physics. 4to. 6s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>TAUNTON, ALFRED GEORGE.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>The Family Register.</b> A Key to such Official Entries of Births, +Marriages, and Deaths at the Registrar-General’s Office as may refer to +any particular family. Half-bound. Demy folio. 21s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>TAYLER, WILLIAM, Retired B.C.S., late Commissioner of Patna.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Thirty-eight Years in India</b>, from Juganath to the Himalaya +Mountains. 200 Illustrations from Original Sketches. 2 vols. Demy +8vo. 25s. each.</p> + +<p><b>The Patna Crisis</b>; or, Three Months at Patna during the Insurrection +of 1857. Third Edition. Fcap. 8vo. 2s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>TAYLOR, J. E., F.L.S., F.G.S., &c.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>The Aquarium</b>: Its Inhabitants, Structure, and Management. With +238 Woodcuts. Second Edition. Cr. 8vo. 3s. 6d.</p> + +<p><b>Flowers</b>: Their Origin, Shapes, Perfumes, and Colours. Illustrated +with 32 Coloured Figures by Sowerby, and 161 Woodcuts. Second +Edition. Cr. 8vo. 7s. 6d.</p> + +<p><b>Geological Stories.</b> Numerous Illustrations. Fourth Edition. Cr. +8vo. 2s. 6d.</p> + +<p><b>Nature’s Bye-paths</b>: A Series of Recreative Papers in Natural History. +Cr. 8vo. 3s. 6d.</p> + +<p><b>Half-Hours at the Sea-side.</b> Illustrated with 250 Woodcuts. Fourth +Edition. Cr. 8vo. 2s. 6d.</p> + +<p><b>Half-Hours in the Green Lanes.</b> Illustrated with 300 Woodcuts. +Fifth Edition. Cr. 8vo. 2s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>THOMS, JOHN ALEXANDER.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>A Complete Concordance to the Revised Version of the New +Testament</b>, embracing the Marginal Readings of the English Revisers +as well as those of the American Committee. Roy. 8vo. 6s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>THOMSON, DAVID.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Lunar and Horary Tables.</b> For New and Concise Methods of Performing +the Calculations necessary for ascertaining the Longitude by +Lunar Observations, or Chronometers; with directions for acquiring a +knowledge of the Principal Fixed Stars and finding the Latitude of +them. Sixty-fifth Edition. Roy. 8vo. 10s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>THORNTON, EDWARD.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>The History of the British Empire in India.</b> Containing a +Copious Glossary of Indian Terms, and a Complete Chronological Index +of Events, to aid the Aspirant for Public Examinations. Third Edition. +With Map. 1 vol. Demy 8vo. 12s.</p> + +<p>⁂<i>The Library Edition of the above in 6 volumes, 8vo., may be had, price +£2 8s.</i></p> +</blockquote> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>A Gazetteer of the Territories under the Government of +the Viceroy of India.</b> Revised and Edited by Sir Roper Lethbridge, +C.I.E., formerly Press Commissioner in India, &c., and Arthur +N. Wollaston, C.I.E., of H.M.’s Indian (Home) Civil Service, Translator +of the “Anvár-i-Sahaili.”</p> +</blockquote> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Gazetteer of the Punjaub, Affghanistan, &c.</b> Gazetteer of the +Countries adjacent to India, on the north-west, including Scinde, +Affghanistan, Beloochistan, the Punjaub, and the neighbouring States. +2 vols. Demy 8vo. £1 5s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>THORNTON, PERCY M.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Foreign Secretaries of the Nineteenth Century.</b> Lord Grenville, +Lord Hawkesbury, Lord Harrowby, Lord Mulgrave, C. J. Fox, +Lord Howick, George Canning, Lord Bathurst, Lord Wellesley (together +with estimate of his Indian Rule by Col. G. B. Malleson, C.S.I.), Lord +Castlereagh, Lord Dudley, Lord Aberdeen, and Lord Palmerston. Also, +Extracts from Lord Bexley’s Papers, including lithographed letters of +Lords Castlereagh and Canning, bearing on important points of public +policy; never before published. With Ten Portraits, and a View showing +Interior of the old House of Lords. Second Edition. 2 vols. Demy +8vo. 32s. 6d.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>Vol. III. Second Edition. With Portraits. Demy 8vo. 18s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><b>Harrow School and its Surroundings.</b> Maps and Plates. Demy 8vo. +15s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>THORNTON, T.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>East India Calculator.</b> Demy 8vo. 10s.</p> + +<p><b>History of the Punjaub</b>, and Present Condition of the Sikhs. 2 vols. +Cr. 8vo. 8s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>TILLEY, HENRY A.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Japan, the Amoor and the Pacific.</b> With Notices of other Places, +comprised in a Voyage of Circumnavigation in the Imperial Russian +Corvette Rynda, in 1858-1860. Eight Illustrations. Demy 8vo. 16s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><b>Time’s Footprints</b>: A Birthday Book of Bitter-Sweet. 16mo. 2s. 6d.</p> + +<p><i>TINCKER, MARY AGNES.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>The Jewel in the Lotos.</b> A Novel. By the Author of “Signor Monaldini’s +Niece,” &c. 5 Illustrations. Cr. 8vo. 7s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>TORRENS, W. T. McCULLAGH, M.P.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Reform of Procedure in Parliament</b> to Clear the Block of Public +Business. Second Edition. Cr. 8vo. 5s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><b>Treasury of Choice Quotations</b>: Selections from more than 300 Eminent +Authors. With a complete Index. Cr. 8vo. 3s. 6d.</p> + +<p><i>TRIMEN, H., M.B. (Lond.), F.L.S., and DYER, W. T., B.A.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>The Flora of Middlesex</b>: A Topographical and Historical Account +of the Plants found in the County. With Sketches of its Physical Geography +and Climate, and of the Progress of Middlesex Botany during +the last Three Centuries. With a Map of Botanical Districts. Cr. 8vo. +12s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>TRIMEN, Capt. R., late 35th Regiment.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Regiments of the British Army</b>, Chronologically arranged. Showing +their History, Services, Uniform, &c. Demy 8vo. 10s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>TROTTER, Capt. LIONEL JAMES, late Beng. Fusiliers.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>History of India.</b> The History of the British Empire in India, from +the Appointment of Lord Hardinge to the Death of Lord Canning (1844 +to 1862). 2 vols. Demy 8vo. 16s. each.</p> + +<p><b>Lord Lawrence.</b> A Sketch of his Career. Fcap. 8vo. 1s. 6d.</p> + +<p><b>Warren Hastings, a Biography.</b> Cr. 8vo. 9s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>TROTTER, M.E.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>A Method of Teaching Plain Needlework in Schools.</b> Illustrated +with Diagrams and Samplers. New Edition, revised and arranged +according to Standards. Demy 8vo. 2s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>TUPPER, MARTIN F., Author of “Proverbial Philosophy,” &c.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Three Five-Act Flays and Twelve Dramatic Scenes.</b> Suitable +for Private Theatricals or Drawing-room Recitation. Cr. 8vo. 5s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>TURGENEV, IVAN, D.C.L.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>First Dove, and Punin and Baburin.</b> Translated from the Russian +by permission of the Author, with Biographical Introduction, by Sidney +Jerrold. With Portrait. Cr. 8vo. 6s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><b>Turkish Cookery.</b> A collection of Receipts, compiled by Turabi Effendi +from the best Turkish authorities. Second Edition. Fcap. 2s. 6d.</p> + +<p><b>Under Orders.</b> By the Author of “Invasions of India from Central Asia.” +Third Edition. 3 vols., Cr. 8vo. 31s. 6d.</p> + +<p><i>UNDERWOOD, ARTHUR S., M.R.C.S, L.D.S.E., Assistant-Surgeon to the Dental +Hospital of London.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Surgery for Dental Students.</b> Cr. 8vo. 5s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>VALBEZEN, E. DE, late Consul-General at Calcutta, Minister Plenipotentiary.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>The English and India.</b> New Sketches. Translated from the French +(with the Author’s permission) by a Diplomate. Demy 8vo. 18s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>VAMBERY, ARMENIUS.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Sketches of Central Asia.</b> Additional Chapters on My Travels and +Adventures, and of the Ethnology of Central Asia. Demy 8vo. 16s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>VAN GELDER, Mrs. JANE.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>The Storehouses of the King; or the Pyramids of Egypt, +what they are and who built them.</b> Gilt. Demy 8vo. 21s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>VIBART, Major H.M., Royal (late Madras) Engineers.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>The Military History of the Madras Engineers and Pioneers.</b> +2 vols. With numerous Maps and Plans. Demy 8vo. 32s. each.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>VICARY, J. FULFORD.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>An American in Norway.</b> Cr. 8vo. 7s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><b>Victoria Cross (The), An Official Chronicle of Deeds of Personal +Valour</b> achieved in the presence of the Enemy during the Crimean and +Baltic Campaigns, and the Indian, Chinese, New Zealand, and African +Wars, from the Institution of the Order in 1856 to 1880. Edited by +Robert W. O’Byrne. With Plate. Cr. 8vo. 5s.</p> + +<p><i>VYSE, GRIFFIN W., late on special duty in Egypt and Afghanistan for H.M.’s +Government.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Egypt: Political, Financial, and Strategical.</b> Together with an +Account of its Engineering Capabilities and Agricultural Resources. +With Maps. Cr. 8vo. 9s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>WALFORD, M.A., &c. &c.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Holidays in Home Counties.</b> With numerous Illustrations. Cr. 8vo. +5s.</p> + +<p><b>Pleasant Days in Pleasant Places.</b> Illustrated with numerous +Woodcuts. Second Edition. Cr. 8vo. 5s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>WALL, A. J., M.D., F.R.C.S., Med. Staff H.M.’s Indian Army.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Indian Snake Poisons</b>, their Nature and Effects. Cr. 8vo. 6s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>WATSON, Dr. J. FORBES, and JOHN WILLIAM KAYE.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Races and Tribes of Hindostan</b>, A series of Photographic Illustrations +of; prepared under the Authority of the Government of India; +containing about 450 Photographs on mounts, in Eight Volumes, super +royal 4to. £2 5s. per volume.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>WATSON, MARGARET.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Money.</b> Translated from the French of Jules Tardieu. Cr. 8vo. 7s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>WEBB, Dr. ALLAN, B.M.S.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Pathologia Indica.</b> Based upon Morbid Specimens from all parts of +the Indian Empire. Second Edition. Demy 8vo 14s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>“<b>Where Chineses Drive.</b>” English Student-Life at Peking. By a +Student Interpreter. With Examples of Chinese Block-printing and +other Illustrations. Demy 8vo. 12s.</p> + +<p><b>Wellesley’s Despatches.</b> The Despatches, Minutes, and Correspondence +of the Marquis Wellesley, K.G., during his Administration in India. +5 vols. With Portrait, Map, &c. Demy 8vo. £6 10s.</p> + +<p><b>Wellington in India.</b> Military History of the Duke of Wellington in +India. Cr. 8vo. 1s.</p> + +<p><i>WHINYATES, Col. F. A., late R.H.A., formerly commanding the Battery.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>From Coruna to Sevastopol.</b> The History of “C” Battery, “A” +Brigade, late “C” Troop, Royal Horse Artillery. With succession of +officers from its formation to the present time. With 3 maps. Demy +8vo. 14s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>WHITE, Col. S. DEWÉ, late Beng. Staff Corps.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Indian Reminiscences.</b> With 10 Photographs. Demy 8vo. 14s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>WILBERFORCE, SAMUEL, D.D., Bishop of Winchester.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Heroes of Hebrew History.</b> New Edition. Cr. 8vo. 5s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>WILBERFORCE, E.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Franz Schubert.</b> A Musical Biography. Translated from the German +of Dr. Heinrich Kreisle von Hellborn. Cr. 8vo. 6s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>WILKIN, Mrs. (Mārā).</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>The Shackles of an Old Dove.</b> Cr. 8vo. 7s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>WILKINS, WILLIAM NOY.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Visual Art</b>; or Nature through the Healthy Eye. With some remarks +on Originality and Free Trade, Artistic Copyright, and Durability. +Demy 8vo. 6s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>WILLIAMS, FOLKESTONE.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Lives of the English Cardinals</b>, from Nicholas Breakspeare (Pope +Adrien IV.) to Thomas Wolsey, Cardinal Legate. With Historical +Notices of the Papal Court. 2 vols. Demy 8vo. 14s.</p> + +<p><b>Life, &c. of Bishop Atterbury.</b> The Memoir and Correspondence of +Francis Atterbury, Bishop of Rochester, with his distinguished contemporaries. +Compiled chiefly from the Atterbury and Stuart Papers. +2 vols. Demy 8vo. 14s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>WILLIAMS, S. WELLS, LL.D. Professor of the Chinese Language and Literature +at Yale College.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>The Middle Kingdom.</b> A Survey of the Geography, Government, +Literature, Social Life, Arts, and History of the Chinese Empire and Its +Inhabitants. Revised Edition, with 74 Illustrations and a New Map of +the Empire. 2 vols. Demy 8vo. 42s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>WILSON, H. H.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Glossary of Judicial and Revenue Terms</b>, and of useful Words +occurring in Official Documents relating to the Administration of the +Government of British India. From the Arabic, Persian, Hindustani, +Sanskrit, Hindi, Bengali, Uriya, Marathi, Guzarathi, Telugu, Karnata, +Tamil, Malayalam, and other Languages. Compiled and published +under the authority of the Hon. the Court of Directors of the E. I. +Company. Demy 4to. £1 10s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>WOLFF, Captain M. P., F.S.S., Author of “Food for the Million,” &c.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>The Rational Alimentation of the Labouring Classes.</b> With +an Alimentation Table. Crown 8vo. 1s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>WOLLASTON, ARTHUR N., C.I.E.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Anwari Suhaili</b>, or Lights of Canopus. Commonly known as Kalilah +and Damnah, being an adaptation of the Fables of Bidpai. Translated +from the Persian. Royal 8vo., 42s.; also with illuminated borders, +designed specially for the work, cloth, extra gilt. Roy. 4to. £3 13s. 6d.</p> + +<p><b>Half-Hours with Muhammad.</b> Being a Popular Account of the +Prophet of Arabia, and of his more immediate Followers; together with +a short Synopsis of the Religion he founded. Crown 8vo., cloth, with +Map and Nineteen Illustrations. 6s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>WOOLRYCH, HUMPHREY W., Serjeant-at-Law.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Lives of Eminent Serjeants-at-Law of the English Bar.</b> 2 vols. +Demy 8vo. 30s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>WORDSWORTH, W.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Poems for the Young.</b> With 50 Illustrations by John Macwhirter and +John Pettie, and a Vignette by J. E. Millais, R.A. Demy 16mo. 1s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>WRAXALL, Sir LASCELLES, Bart.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Caroline Matilda</b>, Queen of Denmark, Sister of George 3rd; from +Family and State Papers. 3 vols. Demy 8vo. 18s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>WYNTER, ANDREW, M.D., M.R.C.P.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Subtle Brains and Lissom Fingers</b>: Being some of the Chisel +Marks of our Industrial and Scientific Progress. Third Edition, revised +and corrected by Andrew Steinmetz. Fcap. 8vo. 3s. 6d.</p> + +<p><b>Our Social Bees</b>: Pictures of Town and Country Life. New Edition. +Cr. 8vo. 5s.</p> + +<p><b>Curiosities of Civilization.</b> Being Essays reprinted from the +<i>Quarterly</i> and <i>Edinburgh Reviews</i>. Cr. 8vo. 6s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>YOUNG, Prof. J. R.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Course of Mathematics.</b> A Course of Elementary Mathematics for +the use of candidates for admission into either of the Military Colleges; +of applicants for appointments in the Home or Indian Civil Services; +and of mathematical students generally. In one closely-printed volume. +pp. 648. Demy 8vo. 12s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>YOUNG, MINNIE</i>, and <i>TRENT, RACHEL</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>A Home Ruler.</b> A Story for Girls. Illustrated by C. P. Colnaghi. +Cr. 8vo. 3s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>ZERFFI G. G., Ph.D., F.R.S.L.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Manual of the Historical Development of Art</b>—Prehistoric, Ancient, +Hebrew, Classic, Early Christian. With special reference to +Architecture, Sculpture, Painting, and Ornamentation. Cr. 8vo. 6s.</p> +</blockquote> +</blockquote> +</div> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + <p class="ph2" id="A_Selection_from_Messrs_Allens_Catalogue"> + A Selection from Messrs. <span class="upper-case">Allen’s</span> Catalogue of + Books in the Eastern Languages, &c. + </p> +</div> + + +<p class="ph3">HINDUSTANI, HINDI, &c.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Dr. Forbes’s Works are used as Class Books in the Colleges and Schools in India.</i></p> + +<div style="text-indent: -1.5em; padding-left: 1.5em;"> +<blockquote> +<p><i>ABDOOLAH, SYED.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Singhasan Battisi.</b> Translated into Hindi from the Sanscrit. A New +Edition. Revised, Corrected, and Accompanied with Copius Notes. +Roy. 8vo. 12s. 6d.</p> + +<p><b>Akhlaki Hindi</b>, translated into Urdu, with an Introduction and Notes. +Roy. 8vo. 12s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>BALLANTYNE, JAMES R.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Hindustani Selections</b>, with a Vocabulary of the Words. Second +Edition. 1845. 5s.</p> + +<p><b>Principles of Persian Caligraphy.</b> Illustrated by Lithographic +Plates of the Ta’’lik Character, the one usually employed in writing the +Persian and the Hindustani. Prepared for the use of the Scottish +Naval and Military Academy. Second Edition. 4to. 3s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>EASTWICK, EDWARD B.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>The Bagh-o-Bahar</b>—literally translated into English, with copious +explanatory notes. 8vo. 10s. 6d.</p> + +<p><b>Hindostani Grammar.</b> Post 8vo. 5s.</p> + +<p><b>Prem Sagar.</b> Demy 4to. £2 2s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>FORBES, DUNCAN, LL.D.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Hindustani-English Dictionary</b>, in the Persian Character, with the +Hindi words in Nagari also; and an English-Hindustani Dictionary in +the English Character; both in one volume. Roy. 8vo. 42s.</p> + +<p><b>Hindustani-English and English-Hindustani Dictionary</b>, in +the English Character. Roy. 8vo. 36s.</p> + +<p><b>Smaller Dictionary</b>, Hindustani and English, in the English Character. +12s.</p> + +<p><b>Hindustani Grammar</b>, with Specimens of Writing in the Persian and +Nagari Characters, Reading Lessons, and Vocabulary. 8vo. 10s. 6d.</p> + +<p><b>Hindustani Manual</b>, containing a Compendious Grammar, Exercises +for Translation, Dialogues, and Vocabulary, in the Roman Character. +New Edition, entirely revised. By J. T. Platts. 18mo. 3s. 6d.</p> + +<p><b>Bagh o Bahar</b>, in the Persian Character, with a complete Vocabulary. +Roy. 8vo. 12s. 6d.</p> + +<p><b>Bagh o Bahar</b>, in English, with Explanatory Notes, illustrative of +Eastern Character. 8vo. 8s.</p> + +<p><b>Bagh o Bahar</b>, with Vocabulary. English Character. 5s.</p> + +<p><b>Tota Kahani</b>; or, “Tales of a Parrot,” in the Persian Character, with +a complete Vocabulary. Roy. 8vo. 8s.</p> + +<p><b>Baital Pachisi</b>; or, “Twenty-five Tales of a Demon,” in the Nagari +Character, with a complete Vocabulary. Roy. 8vo. 9s.</p> + +<p><b>Ikhwanu-s-Safa</b>; or, “Brothers of Purity,” in the Persian Character. +Roy. 8vo. 12s. 6d.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>[<i>For the higher standard for military officers’ examinations.</i>]</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><b>Oriental Penmanship</b>; a Guide to Writing Hindustani in the Persian +Character. 4to. 8s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>KEMPSON, M., Director of Public Instruction in N.W. Provinces, 1862-78.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Taubatu-n-Nusah</b> (Repentance of Nussooh) of Moulvî Hajî Hâfiz Nazîr +Ahmed of Delhi. Edited, with Notes and Index. Demy 8vo. 12s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>MULVIHILL, P.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>A Vocabulary for the Lower Standard in Hindustani.</b> Containing +the meanings of every word and idiomatic expression in +“Jarrett’s Hindu Period,” and in “Selections from the Bagh o Bahar.” +Fcap. 3s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>PINCOTT, FREDERIC, M.R.A.S., &c. &c.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Sakuntala in Hindi.</b> Translated from the Bengali recension of the +Sanskrit. Critically edited, with grammatical, idiomatical, and exegetical +notes. 4to. 12s. 6d.</p> + +<p><b>Alf Laila, ba-Zuban-i-Urdu</b> (The Arabian Nights in Hindustani). +Roman Character. Cr. 8vo. 10s. 6d.</p> + +<p><b>Hindi Manual.</b> Comprising a Grammar of the Hindi Language both +Literary and Provincial; a complete Syntax; Exercises in various styles +of Hindi composition; Dialogues on several subjects; and a complete +Vocabulary. Fcap. 6s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>PLATTS, J. T.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Hindustani Dictionary.</b> Dictionary of Urdu and Classical Hindi. +Super Roy. 8vo. £3 3s.</p> + +<p><b>Grammar of the Urdu or Hindustani Language.</b> 8vo. 12s.</p> + +<p><b>Baital Pachisi</b>; translated into English. 8vo. 8s.</p> + +<p><b>Ikhwanu-s-Safa</b>; translated into English. 8vo. 10s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>ROGERS, E. H.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>How to Speak Hindustani.</b> Roy. 12mo. 1s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>SMALL, Rev. G.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Tota Kahani</b>; or, “Tales of a Parrot.” Translated into English. +8vo. 8s.</p> + +<p><b>Dictionary of Naval Terms</b>, English and Hindustani. For the use +of Nautical Men Trading to India, &c. Fcap. 2s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> +</blockquote> +</div> + + +<p class="ph3">SANSCRIT.</p> + +<div style="text-indent: -1.5em; padding-left: 1.5em;"> +<blockquote> +<p><i>COWELL, E. B.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Translation of the Vikramorvasi.</b> 8vo. 3s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>GOUGH, A. E.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Key to the Exercises in Williams’s Sanscrit Manual.</b> 18mo. 4s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>HAUGHTON, —.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Sanscrit and Bengali Dictionary</b>, in the Bengali Character, with +Index, serving as a reversed dictionary. 4to. 30s.</p> + +<p><b>Menu</b>, with English Translation. 2 vols. 4to. 24s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><b>Hitopadesa</b>, with Bengali and English Translations. 10s. 6d.</p> + +<p><i>JOHNSON, Prof. F.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Hitopadesa</b>, with Vocabulary. 15s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>PINCOTT, FREDERIC, M.R.A.S., Corresponding Member of the Anjuman-i-Panjab.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Hitopadesa.</b> A new literal Translation from the Sanskrit Text of Prof. +F. Johnson. For the use of Students. 6s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>THOMPSON, J. C.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Bhagavat Gita.</b> Sanscrit Text. 5s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>WILLIAMS, —.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>English-Sanscrit Dictionary.</b> 4to., cloth. £3 3s.</p> + +<p><b>Sanscrit-English Dictionary.</b> 4to. £4 14s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>WILLIAMS, MONIER.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Sanscrit Grammar.</b> 8vo. 15s.</p> + +<p><b>Sanscrit Manual</b>; to which is added, a Vocabulary, by A. E. Gough. +18mo. 7s. 6d.</p> + +<p><b>Sakuntala</b>, with Literal English Translation of all the Metrical Passages, +Schemes of the Metres, and copious Critical and Explanatory +Notes. Roy. 8vo. 21s.</p> + +<p><b>Sakuntala.</b> Translated into English Prose and Verse. Fourth Edition. +8s.</p> + +<p><b>Vikramorvasi.</b> The Text. 8vo. 5s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>WILKIN, Sir CHARLES.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Sanscrit Grammar.</b> 4to. 15s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>WILSON, —.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Megha Duta</b>, with Translation into English Verse, Notes, Illustrations, +and a Vocabulary. Roy. 8vo. 6s.</p> +</blockquote> +</blockquote> +</div> + + +<p class="ph3">PERSIAN.</p> + +<div style="text-indent: -1.5em; padding-left: 1.5em;"> +<blockquote> +<p><i>BARETTO, —.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Persian Dictionary.</b> 2 vols. 8vo. 12s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>CLARKE, Captain H. WILBERFORCE, R.E.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>The Persian Manual.</b> A Pocket Companion.</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>Part I.—A Concise Grammar of the Language, with Exercises on its +more Prominent Peculiarities, together with a Selection of Useful +Phrases, Dialogues, and Subjects for Translation into Persian.</p> + +<p>Part II.—A Vocabulary of Useful Words, English, and Persian, showing +at the same time the Difference of idiom between the two Languages. +18mo. 7s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><b>The Bustan.</b> By Shaikh Muslihu-d-Dín Sa’di Shírází. Translated for +the first time into Prose, with Explanatory Notes and Index. With +Portrait. 8vo. 30s.</p> + +<p><b>The Sikandar Nama, e Bara</b>, or, Book of Alexander the Great. +Written, <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1200, by Abu Muhammad Bin Yusuf Bin Mu’ayyid-i-Nizámu-d-Dín. +Translated for the first time out of the Persian into +Prose, with Critical and Explanatory Remarks, and an Introductory +Preface, and a Life of the Author, collected from various Persian +sources. Roy. 8vo. 42s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>FORBES, DUNCAN, LL.D.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Persian Grammar, Reading Lessons, and Vocabulary.</b> Roy. +8vo. 12s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>IBRAHEEM, —.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Persian Grammar, Dialogues, &c.</b> Roy. 8vo. 12s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>KEENE, Rev. H. G.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>First Book of The Anwari Soheili.</b> Persian Text. 8vo. 5s.</p> + +<p><b>Akhlaki Mushini.</b> Translated into English. 8vo. 3s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>OUSELEY, Col.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Anwari Soheili.</b> 4to. 42s.</p> + +<p><b>Akhlaki Mushini.</b> Persian Text. 8vo. 5s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>PLATTS, J. T.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Gulistan.</b> Carefully collated with the original MS., with a full Vocabulary. +Roy. 8vo. 12s. 6d.</p> + +<p><b>Gulistan.</b> Translated from a revised Text, with copious Notes. 8vo. +12s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>RICHARDSON, —.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Persian, Arabic, and English Dictionary.</b> Edition of 1852. By +F. Johnson. 4to. £4.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>TOLBORT, T. W. H., Bengal Civil Service.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>A Translation of Robinson Crusoe into the Persian language.</b> +Roman Character. Cr. 8vo. 7s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>WOLLASTON, ARTHUR N., C.I.E.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Translation of the Anvari Soheili.</b> Roy. 8vo. £2 2s.</p> + +<p><b>English-Persian Dictionary.</b> Compiled from Original Sources. +8vo. 25s.</p> +</blockquote> +</blockquote> +</div> + + +<p class="ph3">BENGALI.</p> + +<div style="text-indent: -1.5em; padding-left: 1.5em;"> +<blockquote> +<p><i>BATRI, —.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Singhasan.</b> Demy 8vo. 5s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>FORBES, DUNCAN, LL.D.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Bengali Grammar</b>, with Phrases and Dialogues. Roy. 8vo. 12s. 6d.</p> + +<p><b>Bengali Reader</b>, with a Translation and Vocabulary. Roy. 8vo. 12s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>HAUGHTON, —.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Bengali, Sanscrit, and English Dictionary</b>, adapted for Students +in either language; to which is added an Index, serving as a reversed +dictionary. 4to. 30s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><b>Nabo Nari.</b> Anecdotes of the Nine Famous Women of India. [Text-book +for examinations in Bengali.] 12mo. 7s.</p> + +<p><b>Tota Itihas.</b> The Tales of a Parrot. Demy 8vo. 5s.</p> +</blockquote> +</div> + + +<p class="ph3">ARABIC.</p> + +<div style="text-indent: -1.5em; padding-left: 1.5em;"> +<blockquote> +<p><i>FORBES, DUNCAN, LL.D.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Arabic Grammar</b>, intended more especially for the use of young men +preparing for the East India Civil Service, and also for the use of self-instructing +students in general. Royal 8vo., cloth. 18s.</p> + +<p><b>Arabic Reading Lessons</b>, consisting of Easy Extracts from the best +Authors, with Vocabulary. Roy. 8vo., cloth. 15s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>KAYAT, ASSAAD YAKOOB.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>The Eastern Traveller’s Interpreter</b>; or, Arabic Without a +Teacher. Oblong. 5s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>PALMER, Prof. E. H., M.A., &c.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Arabic Grammar.</b> On the principles of the best Native Grammarians. +8vo. 18s.</p> + +<p><b>The Arabic Manual.</b> Comprising a condensed Grammar of both +Classical and Modern Arabic; Reading Lessons and Exercises, with +Analyses and a Vocabulary of useful Words. Fcap. 7s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>RICHARDSON, —.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Arabic, Persian, and English Dictionary.</b> Edition of 1852. By +F. Johnson. 4to., cloth. £4.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>STEINGASS, Dr. F.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Students’ Arabic-English Dictionary.</b> Demy 8vo. 50s.</p> + +<p><b>English-Arabic Dictionary.</b> Demy 8vo. 28s.</p> +</blockquote> +</blockquote> +</div> + + +<p class="ph3">TELOOGOO.</p> + +<div style="text-indent: -1.5em; padding-left: 1.5em;"> +<blockquote> +<p><i>BROWN, —.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Dictionary</b>, reversed; with a Dictionary of the Mixed Dialects used in +Teloogoo. 3 vols. in 2. Roy. 8vo. £5.</p> + +<p><b>Reader.</b> 8vo. 2 vols. 14s.</p> + +<p><b>Dialogues</b>, Teloogoo and English. 8vo. 5s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>CAMPBELL, —.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Dictionary.</b> Roy. 8vo. 30s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><b>Pancha Tantra.</b> 8s.</p> + +<p><i>PERCIVAL, —.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>English-Teloogoo Dictionary.</b> 10s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> +</blockquote> +</div> + + +<p class="ph3">TAMIL.</p> + +<div style="text-indent: -1.5em; padding-left: 1.5em;"> +<blockquote> +<p><i>BABINGTON, —.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Grammar</b> (High Dialect). 4to. 12s.</p> + +<p><b>Gooroo Paramatan.</b> Demy 4to. 8s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>PERCIVAL, —.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Tamil Dictionary.</b> 2 vols. 10s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>POPE, Rev. G. U.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Tamil Handbook.</b> In Three Parts. 12s. 6d. each. Part I. Introduction—Grammatical +Lessons—General Index. Part II. Appendices—Notes +on the Study of the “Kurral”—Key to the Exercises. Part III. +Dictionaries: I. Tamil-English—II. English-Tamil</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>ROTTLER, —.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Dictionary</b>, Tamil and English. 4to. 42s.</p> +</blockquote> +</blockquote> +</div> + + +<p class="ph3">GUZRATTEE.</p> + +<div style="text-indent: -1.5em; padding-left: 1.5em;"> +<blockquote> +<p><i>MAVOR, —.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Spelling</b>, Guzrattee and English. 7s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>SHAPUAJI EDALJI.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Dictionary</b>, Guzrattee and English. 21s.</p> +</blockquote> +</blockquote> +</div> + + +<p class="ph3">MAHRATTA.</p> + +<div style="text-indent: -1.5em; padding-left: 1.5em;"> +<blockquote> +<p><i>BALLANTYNE, JAMES R., of the Scottish Naval and Military Academy.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>A Grammar of the Mahratta Language.</b> For the use of the East +India College at Hayleybury. 4to. 5s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><b>Æsop’s Fables.</b> 12mo. 2s. 6d.</p> + +<p><i>MOLESWORTH, —.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Dictionary</b>, Mahratta and English. 4to. 42s.</p> + +<p><b>Dictionary</b>, English and Mahratta. 4to. 42s.</p> +</blockquote> +</blockquote> +</div> + + +<p class="ph3">MALAY.</p> + +<div style="text-indent: -1.5em; padding-left: 1.5em;"> +<blockquote> +<p><i>BIKKERS, Dr. A. J. W.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Malay, Achinese, French, and English Vocabulary.</b> Alphabetically +arranged under each of the four languages. With a concise Malay +Grammar. Post 8vo. 7s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>MARSDEN, —.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Grammar.</b> 4to. £1 1s.</p> +</blockquote> +</blockquote> +</div> + + +<p class="ph3">CHINESE.</p> + +<div style="text-indent: -1.5em; padding-left: 1.5em;"> +<blockquote> +<p><i>MARSHMAN, —.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Clavis Sinica.</b> A Chinese Grammar. 4to. £2 2s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>MORRISON, —.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Dictionary.</b> 6 vols., 4to.</p> + +<p><b>View of China</b>, for Philological Purposes. Containing a Sketch of +Chinese Chronology, Geography, Government, Religion, and Customs, +designed for those who study the Chinese language. 4to. 6s.</p> +</blockquote> +</blockquote> +</div> + + +<p class="ph3">PUS’HTO.</p> + +<div style="text-indent: -1.5em; padding-left: 1.5em;"> +<blockquote> +<p><i>RAVERTY, Major H. G., Bombay Infantry (Retired), Author of the Pus’hto +Grammar, Dictionary, Selections Prose and Poetical, Selections from the +Poetry of the Afgháns (English Translation), Æsop’s Fables, &c. &c.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>The Pus’hto Manual.</b> Comprising a Concise Grammar; Exercises +and Dialogues; Familiar Phrases, Proverbs, and Vocabulary. Fcap. 5s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>HUGHES, Rev. T. P.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Ganj-i-Pukto, or Pukto Treasury.</b> Being the Government Text-Book +for the Lower Standard of Examination in Pukto, the Language +of the Afghans. With Glossary of Words. Post 8vo. 10s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> +</blockquote> +</div> + + +<p class="ph3">MISCELLANEOUS.</p> + +<div style="text-indent: -1.5em; padding-left: 1.5em;"> +<blockquote> +<p><i>COLLETT, —.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Malayalam Reader.</b> 8vo. 12s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><b>Æsop’s Fables in Carnatica.</b> 8vo., bound. 12s. 6d.</p> + +<p><i>MACKENZIE, Captain C. F., late of H.M.’s Consular Service.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>A Turkish Manual.</b> Comprising a Condensed Grammar with Idiomatic +Phrases, Exercises and Dialogues, and Vocabulary. 6s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><b>Oriental Penmanship</b>: comprising Specimens of Persian Handwriting. +Illustrated with Facsimiles from Originals in the South Kensington +Museum, to which are added Illustrations of the Nagari Character. +By the late Professor Palmer and Frederic Pincott. 4to. 12s. 6d.</p> + +<p><i>REEVE, —.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>English-Carnatica and Carnatica-English Dictionary.</b> +(Very slightly damaged.) £8.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>SCHNURMANN, J. NESTOR.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Russian Manual.</b> 6s. (<i>For details see next page.</i>)</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>TIEN, REV. ANTON, M.R.A.S.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Egyptian, Syrian, and North African Handbook.</b></p> +</blockquote> +</blockquote> +</div> + +<hr> +<p class="center" style="font-weight: bold;">REEDS for Oriental Writing may be obtained from Messrs. +W. H. Allen & Co. Price 6d.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + <p class="ph2" id="W_H_ALLEN_Cos_Oriental_Manuals"> + W. H. ALLEN & Co.’s Oriental Manuals. + </p> +</div> + +<div style="text-indent: -1.5em; padding-left: 1.5em;"> +<blockquote> +<p><i>CLARKE, Captain H. W., R.E.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>The Persian Manual.</b> Containing a Concise Grammar, with Exercises, +Useful Phrases, Dialogues, and Subjects for Translation into +Persian; also a Vocabulary of Useful Words, English and Persian. +18mo. 7s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>GOUGH, A. E.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Key to the Exercises in Williams’s Sanscrit Manual.</b> 18mo. 4s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>MACKENZIE, Captain C. F.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>A Turkish Manual.</b> Comprising a Condensed Grammar with Idiomatic +Phrases, Exercises and Dialogues, and Vocabulary. Fcap. 6s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>PALMER, Professor E. H., M.A.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>The Arabic Manual.</b> Comprising a Condensed Grammar of both +Classical and Modern Arabic; Reading Lessons and Exercises, with +Analyses and a Vocabulary of Useful Words. Fcap. 7s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>PINCOTT, FREDERIC, M.R.A.S., Corresponding Member of the Anjuman-i-Panjab, +Editor and Annotator of the “S’akuntalâ in Hindî,” Editor of the Urdú +“Alf Lailâ,” and Translator of the Sanskrit “Hitopades’a.”</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>The Hindi Manual.</b> Comprising a Grammar of the Hindî Language +both Literary and Provincial; a Complete Syntax; Exercises in various +styles of Hindî Composition; Dialogues on several subjects; and a +Complete Vocabulary. Fcap. 6s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>PLATTS, J. T.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Forbes’s Hindustani Manual</b>, Containing a Compendious Grammar, +Exercises for Translation, Dialogues, and Vocabulary, in the Roman +Character. New Edition, entirely revised. 18mo. 3s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>RAVERTY, Major H. G.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>The Pus’hto Manual.</b> Comprising a Concise Grammar, Exercises and +Dialogues; Familiar Phrases, Proverbs, and Vocabulary. Fcap. 5s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>SCHNURMANN, J. NESTOR.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>The Russian Manual.</b> Comprising a Condensed Grammar, Exercises +with Analyses, Useful Dialogues, Reading Lessons, Tables of Coins, +Weights and Measures, and a Collection of Idioms and Proverbs, alphabetically +arranged. Fcap. 6s.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>TIEN, Rev. ANTON, Ph.D., M.R.A.S.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Egyptian, Syrian, and North-African Handbook.</b> A Simple +Phrase-Book in English and Arabic for the use of the British Forces, +Civilians, and Residents in Egypt. Fcap. 4s.</p> + +<p><b>Manual of Colloquial Arabic.</b> Comprising Practical Rules for +learning the Language, Vocabulary, Dialogues, Letters and Idioms, &c. +in English and Arabic. Fcap. 7s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>WILLIAMS, MONIER.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Sanscrit Manual.</b> To which is added a Vocabulary, by A. E. Gough. +18mo. 7s. 6d.</p> +</blockquote> +</blockquote> +</div> +<hr> + +<p class="center" style="font-size: x-large;"><i>Oriental Work in the Press.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><i>NICHOLL, Prof. G. F., Lord Almoner’s Professor of Arabic, Oxford.</i></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>Bengali Manual.</b></p> +</blockquote> +</blockquote> +<hr> + +<p class="center" style="font-size: x-large;">Maps of India, &c.</p> + +<div style="text-indent: -1.5em; padding-left: 1.5em;"> +<blockquote> +<p><b>A Diocesan Map of India and Ceylon, 1885.</b> Drawn and Compiled +from the latest Authorities by the Rev. Donald J. Mackey, M.A., F.S.S., +&c., Canon and Precentor of S. Ninian’s Cathedral, Perth; Author of +Diocesan Maps of England, Scotland, and Ireland. In cloth case, or on +roller varnished. Dedicated to the Metropolitan and Bishops of India. +31s. 6d.</p> + +<p><b>A General Map of India.</b> Corrected to 1884. Compiled chiefly from +Surveys executed by order of the Government of India. On six sheets—size, +5ft. 3in. wide, 5ft. 4in. high, £2; or on cloth, in case, £2 12s. 6d.; +or rollers, varnished, £3 3s.</p> + +<p><b>A Relievo Map of India.</b> By Henry F. Brion. In frame. 21s.</p> + +<p><b>District Map of India.</b> Corrected to 1885. Divided into Collectorates +with the Telegraphs and Railways from Government Surveys. On six +sheets—size, 5ft. 6in. high, 5ft. 8in. wide, £2; in a case, £2 12s. 6d.; or +rollers, varnished, £3 3s.</p> + +<p><b>Handbook of Reference to the Maps of India.</b> Giving the Latitude +and Longitude of places of note. 18mo. 3s. 6d.</p> + +<p><b>Map of India.</b> Corrected to 1876. From the most recent authorities. On +two sheets—size, 2ft. 10in. wide, 3ft. 3in. high, 16s.; or on cloth, in a +case, £1 1s.</p> + +<p><b>Map of the Routes in India.</b> Corrected to 1874. With Tables of Distances +between the principal Towns and Military Stations. On one +sheet—size, 2ft. 3in. wide, 2ft. 9in. high, 9s.; or on cloth, in a case, 12s.</p> + +<p><b>Map of the Western Provinces of Hindoostan</b>—the Punjab, Cabool, +Scinde, Bhawulpore, &c.—including all the States between Candahar and +Allahabad. On four sheets—size, 4ft. 4in. wide, 4ft. 2in. high, 30s.; or +in case, £2; rollers, varnished, £2 10s.</p> + +<p><b>Map of India and China, Burmah, Siam, the Malay Peninsula, +and the Empire of Anam.</b> On two sheets—size, 4ft. 3in. wide, +3ft. 4in. high, 16s.; or on cloth, in a case, £1 5s.</p> + +<p><b>Map of the Steam Communication and Overland Routes</b> between +England, India, China, and Australia. In a case, 14s; on rollers and +varnished, 18s.</p> + +<p><b>Map of China.</b> From the most authentic sources of information. One +large sheet—size, 2ft. 7in. wide, 2ft. 2in. high, 6s.; or on cloth, in case, +8s.</p> + +<p><b>Map of the World.</b> On Mercator’s Projection, showing the Tracts of the +Early Navigators, the Currents of the Ocean, the Principal Lines of +great Circle Sailing, and the most recent discoveries. On four sheets—size, +6ft. 2in. wide, 4ft. 3in. high, £2; on cloth, in a case, £2 10s.; or +with rollers, and varnished, £3.</p> + +<p><b>Russian Official Map of Central Asia.</b> Compiled in Accordance with +the Discoveries and Surveys of Russian Staff Officers up to the close of +the year 1877. In two sheets. 10s. 6d.; or in cloth case, 14s.</p> +</blockquote> +</div> +<hr> + +<p class="center" style="font-size: x-large;"><i>Works in the Press.</i></p> + +<div style="text-indent: -1.5em; padding-left: 1.5em;"> +<blockquote> +<p><b>Northern Hellas.</b></p> + +<blockquote> +<p>By J. Stuart Glennie.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><b>Orders of Chivalry.</b></p> + +<blockquote> +<p>By Major J. Lawrence Archer. With an Illustration of Every Order. 4to.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><b>Hydrabad and Kashmir.</b></p> + +<blockquote> +<p>By Sir Richard Temple. Edited by Captain B. C. Temple.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><b>The Lesters.</b></p> + +<blockquote> +<p>By Miss F. Skene, author of “Hidden Depths.”</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><b>A Memoir of the late Captain Dalton.</b></p> + +<blockquote> +<p>By C. Dalton.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><b>Recollections of a Chaplain in the Royal Navy.</b></p> + +<p><b>Colonial France.</b></p> + +<blockquote> +<p>By Captain C. B. Norman.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><b>Through the Long Day.</b></p> + +<blockquote> +<p>An Autobiography by Charles Mackay.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><b>Analysis of Wit and Humour.</b></p> + +<blockquote> +<p>By J. R. Fleet.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><b>Life of Bishop Grant.</b></p> + +<blockquote> +<p>By Miss K. O’Meara.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><b>How we Settled on a Ranch in California.</b></p> + +<p><b>Neo-Hellenic Manual</b>, containing Grammar, Exercises, and Vocabulary +of the great Commercial Language of the Levant. By the Rev. Dr. Tien.</p> +</blockquote> +</div> +<hr> + +<p class="center s-serif" style="font-weight: bold; word-spacing: 0.4em;">EMINENT WOMEN SERIES.</p> + +<p class="center" style="font-weight: bold;">Margaret of Angoulême, Queen of Navarre.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + <p class="ph2" id="NEW_ORIENTAL_WORKS"> + NEW<br> + ORIENTAL WORKS. + </p> +</div> +<hr class="double"> + +<div style="text-indent: -1.5em; padding-left: 1.5em;"> +<blockquote> +<p><b>A Dictionary of Urdu, Classical Hindi, and +English.</b> By <span class="smcap">John T. Platts</span>, M.A., Persian +Teacher at the University of Oxford, late Inspector +of Schools, Central Provinces, India. Imperial 8vo. +1,260 pp. £3 3s.</p> +<hr class="full"> +<p><b>The Student’s Arabic-English Dictionary.</b> Companion +Volume to the Author’s English-Arabic Dictionary. +By <span class="smcap">F. Steingass</span>, Ph.D., of the University +of Munich, &c. Royal 8vo. 1,242 pp. £2 10s.</p> +<hr class="full"> +<p><b>English-Arabic Dictionary.</b> For the Use of both +Travellers and Students. By <span class="smcap">F. Steingass</span>, Ph.D., +of the University of Munich. Royal 8vo. 466 pp. +28s.</p> +<hr class="full"> +<p><b>An English-Persian Dictionary.</b> Compiled from +Original Sources. By <span class="smcap">Arthur N. Wollaston</span>, H.M.’s +Indian (Home) Service, Translator of the “Anvar-i-Suhaili,” +&c. Demy 8vo. 462 pp. 25s.</p> +<hr class="full"> +<p><b>A Tamil Handbook; or, Full Introduction to the +Common Dialect of that Language, on the Plan of +Ollendorf and Arnold.</b> By the Rev. <span class="smcap">G. A. Pope</span>, +D.D. In Three Parts, 12s. 6d. each. Part I. Introduction—Grammatical +Lessons—General Index. +Part II. Appendices—Notes on the Study of the +“Kurral”—Key to the Exercises. Part III. Dictionaries: +I. Tamil-English—II. English-Tamil.</p> +</blockquote> +</div> + +<hr class="full"> +<p class="center s-serif"> + London:⁠—<br> + W. H. Allen & Co., 13 Waterloo Place. S.W. +</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + <p class="center"> + <i>In January and July of each year is published in 8vo., price 10s. 6d.</i> + </p> + <p class="center s-serif" style="font-size: large; font-weight: bold;" id="The_India_List_Civil_and_Military"> + THE INDIA LIST, CIVIL AND MILITARY. + </p> + <p class="center" style="font-size: small;"> + BY PERMISSION OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA IN COUNCIL + </p> +</div> +<hr> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Contents.</span></p> + +<div style="text-indent: -1.5em; padding-left: 1.5em;"> +<blockquote> +<p>CIVIL.—Gradation Lists of Civil Service, Bengal, Madras and Bombay. +Civil Annuitants. Legislative Council, Ecclesiastical Establishments, +Educational, Public Works, Judicial, Marine, Medical, Land Revenue, +Political, Postal, Police, Customs and Salt, Forest, Registration and +Railway and Telegraph Departments, Law Courts, Surveys, &c. &c.</p> + +<p>MILITARY.—Gradation List of the General and Field Officers (British and +Local) of the three Presidencies, Staff Corps, Adjutants-General’s and +Quartermasters-General’s Offices, Army Commissariat Departments, +British Troops serving in India (including Royal Artillery, Royal Engineers, +Cavalry, Infantry, and Medical Department), List of Native +Regiments, Commander-in-Chief and Staff, Garrison Instruction Staff, +Indian Medical Department, Ordnance Departments, Punjab Frontier +Force, Military Departments of the three Presidencies, Veterinary Departments, +Tables showing the Distribution of the Army in India, Lists +of Retired Officers of the three Presidencies.</p> + +<p>HOME.—Departments of the Office of the Secretary of State, Coopers +Hill College, List of Selected Candidates for the Civil and Forest +Services, Indian Troop Service.</p> + +<p>MISCELLANEOUS.—Orders of the Bath, Star of India, and St. Michael +and St. George. Order of Precedence in India. Regulations for Admission +to Civil Service. Regulations for Admission of Chaplains. Civil +Leave Code and Supplements. Civil Service Pension Code—relating to +the Covenanted and Uncovenanted Services. Rules for the Indian +Medical Service. Furlough and Retirement Regulations of the Indian +Army. Family Pension Fund. Staff Corps Regulations. Salaries of +Staff Officers. Regulations for Promotion. English Furlough Pay.</p> +</blockquote> +</div> + + +<p class="center"><i>With complete Index.</i></p> + +<hr> + +<p class="center" style="line-height: 1.2;"> + THE<br> + <span style="font-size: xx-large; letter-spacing: 0.1em; word-spacing: 0.4em;">ROYAL KALENDAR,</span><br> + <span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: sans-serif;">AND COURT AND CITY REGISTER,</span><br> + FOR ENGLAND, IRELAND, SCOTLAND, AND THE COLONIES,<br> + <span style="font-weight: bold; font-size: large;">For the Year 1886.</span> +</p> + +<p style="text-indent: 1.5em;">House of Peers—House of Commons—Sovereigns and Rulers of States +of Europe—Orders of Knighthood—Science and Art Department—Queen’s +Household—Government Offices—Mint—Customs—Inland Revenue—Post +Office—Foreign Ministers and Consuls—Queen’s Consuls Abroad—Naval +Department—Navy List—Army Department—Army List—Law +Courts—Police—Ecclesiastical Department—Clergy List—Foundation +Schools—Literary Institutions—City of London—Banks—Railway Companies—Hospitals +and Institutions—Charities—Miscellaneous Institutions—Scotland, +Ireland, India, and the Colonies; and other useful information.</p> + +<hr> +<p class="center" style="font-size: large;"><i>Price with Index, 7s.; without Index. 5s.</i></p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + <p class="center"> + <i>Published on the arrival of each overland Mail from India. Subscription<br> + 26s. per annum. Specimen copy, 6d.</i> + </p> + <p class="center" id="ALLENS_INDIAN_MAIL"> + <span style="word-spacing: 0.4em; font-size: xx-large;"> + ALLEN’S INDIAN MAIL, + </span> + <br> + <span style="font-size: x-small;"> + AND + </span> + <br> + <span class="oldenglish" style="font-size: x-large;">Official Gazette</span> + <br> + <span style="font-size: x-small;"> + FROM + </span> + <br> + <span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: bold;"> + INDIA, CHINA, AND ALL PARTS OF THE EAST. + </span> + </p> +</div> +<hr> + + +<p style="text-indent: 1.5em;"><span class="smcap">Allen’s Indian Mail</span> contains the fullest and most authentic Reports +of all important Occurrences in the Countries to which it is devoted, compiled +chiefly from private and exclusive sources. It has been pronounced +by the Press in general to be <i>indispensable</i> to all who have Friends or Relatives +in the East, as affording the only <i>correct</i> information regarding the +Services, Movements of Troops, Shipping, and all events of Domestic and +individual interest.</p> + +<p style="text-indent: 1.5em;">The subjoined list of the usual Contents will show the importance and +variety of the information concentrated in <span class="smcap">Allen’s Indian Mail</span>.</p> +<hr> + + +<table class="autotable"> +<tr> +<th colspan="2" style="font-weight: normal; font-size: large;"><i>Summary and Review of Eastern News.</i></th> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="border-right: 1px solid black;"><b>Precis of Public Intelligence</b></td> +<td class="tdl"><b>Shipping—Arrival of Ships</b></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="border-right: 1px solid black;"><b>Selections from the Indian Press</b></td> +<td class="tdl" style="word-spacing: 3.2em; padding-left: 2em;"><b><abbr title="Shipping—Arrival of">” ”</abbr> Passengers</b></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="border-right: 1px solid black;"><b>Movements of Troops</b></td> +<td class="tdl" style="word-spacing: 3.2em; padding-left: 2em;"><b><abbr title="Shipping—">”</abbr> <span style="word-spacing: 0;">Departure of Ships</span></b></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="border-right: 1px solid black;"><b>The Government Gazette</b></td> +<td class="tdl" style="word-spacing: 3.2em; padding-left: 2em;"><b><abbr title="Shipping—Departure of">” ”</abbr> Passengers</b></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="border-right: 1px solid black;"><b>Courts Martial</b></td> +<td class="tdl"><b>Commercial—State of the Markets</b></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="border-right: 1px solid black;"><b>Domestic Intelligence—Births</b></td> +<td class="tdl" style="word-spacing: 3.8em; padding-left: 2em;"><b><abbr title="Commercial—">”</abbr> <span style="word-spacing: 0;">Indian Securities</span></b></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="border-right: 1px solid black; word-spacing: 3.2em; padding-left: 1.6em;"><b><abbr title="Domestic Intelligence—">” ”</abbr> Marriages</b></td> +<td class="tdl" style="word-spacing: 3.8em; padding-left: 2em;"><b><abbr title="Commercial—">”</abbr> Freights</b></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="border-right: 1px solid black; word-spacing: 3.2em; padding-left: 1.6em;"><b><abbr title="Domestic Intelligence—">” ”</abbr> Deaths</b></td> +<td class="tdl" style="word-spacing: 2em; padding-left: 6em;"><b>&c. &c. &c.</b></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<th colspan="2" style="font-weight: normal; font-size: large;"><i>Home Intelligence relating to India, &c.</i></th> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="border-right: 1px solid black;"><b>Original Articles</b></td> +<td class="tdl"><b>Arrivals reported in England</b></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="border-right: 1px solid black;"><b>Miscellaneous Information</b></td> +<td class="tdl" style="word-spacing: 1.8em;"><b>Departures <abbr title="reported in England">” ”</abbr></b></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="vertical-align: top; text-indent: -1.5em; padding-left: 1.5em; border-right: 1px solid black;" rowspan="2"><b>Appointments, Extensions of<br>Furloughs, &c., &c.</b></td> +<td class="tdl"><b>Shipping—Arrival of Ships</b></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="word-spacing: 3.2em; padding-left: 2em;"><b><abbr title="Shipping—Arrival of">” ”</abbr> Passengers</b></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="border-right: 1px solid black; word-spacing: 3.5em; padding-left: 2.5em;"><b>” Civil</b></td> +<td class="tdl" style="word-spacing: 3.2em; padding-left: 2em;"><b><abbr title="Shipping—">”</abbr> <span style="word-spacing: 0;">Departure of Ships</span></b></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="border-right: 1px solid black; word-spacing: 3.5em; padding-left: 2.5em;"><b>” Military</b></td> +<td class="tdl" style="word-spacing: 3.2em; padding-left: 2em;"><b><abbr title="Shipping—Departure of">” ”</abbr> Passengers</b></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="border-right: 1px solid black; word-spacing: 3.5em; padding-left: 2.5em;"><b>” <span style="word-spacing: 0;">Ecclesiastical and</span></b></td> +<td class="tdl" style="word-spacing: 3.2em; padding-left: 2em;"><b><abbr title="Shipping—">”</abbr> <span style="word-spacing: 0;">Vessel spoken with</span></b></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdl" style="border-right: 1px solid black; word-spacing: 3.5em; padding-left: 2.5em;"><b>” Marine</b></td> +<td class="tdl" style="word-spacing: 2em; padding-left: 6em;"><b>&c. &c. &c.</b></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="tdc" colspan="2"> +<b>Review of Works on the East, and Notices of all affairs connected with India and the Services.</b> +</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<hr style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-bottom: 0.5em;"> + +<p class="center" style="font-size: small;">Throughout the Paper one uniform system of arrangement prevails, and at the +conclusion of each year an <span class="smcap">Index</span> is furnished, to enable Subscribers to +bind up the Volume, which forms a complete</p> + +<p class="center" style="font-size: large;">ASIATIC ANNUAL REGISTER AND LIBRARY OF REFERENCE.</p> + +<hr style="margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em;"> +<p class="center" style="font-size: large;"><span class="smcap">London</span>: W. H. ALLEN & Co., 13, WATERLOO PLACE, S.W.</p> + +<p class="center allsmcap">(PUBLISHERS TO THE INDIA OFFICE),</p> + +<p class="center"><i>To whom Communications for the Editor, and Advertisements, +are requested to be addressed.</i></p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> + <p class="ph2" id="EMINENT_WOMEN_SERIES"> + EMINENT WOMEN SERIES. + </p> +</div> +<hr class="r5"> + +<p class="center"><b>Edited by JOHN H. INGRAM.</b></p> + +<p class="center"><i>Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d. each. Already issued:⁠—</i></p> + +<p class="center"> + <span class="s-serif"><b>George Eliot.</b></span> By <span class="smcap">Mathilde Blind</span>. +</p> +<hr class="r5"> +<p class="center"> + <span class="s-serif"><b>George Sand.</b></span> By <span class="smcap">Bertha Thomas</span>. +</p> +<hr class="r5"> +<p class="center"> + <span class="s-serif"><b>Maria Edgeworth.</b></span> By <span class="smcap">Helen Zimmern</span>. +</p> +<hr class="r5"> +<p class="center"> + <span class="s-serif"><b>Emily Bronte.</b></span> By <span class="smcap">A. Mary F. Robinson</span>. +</p> +<hr class="r5"> +<p class="center"> + <span class="s-serif"><b>Mary Lamb.</b></span> By <span class="smcap">Anne Gilchrist</span>. +</p> +<hr class="r5"> +<p class="center"> + <span class="s-serif"><b>Margaret Fuller.</b></span> By <span class="smcap">Julia Ward Howe</span>. +</p> +<hr class="r5"> +<p class="center"> + <span class="s-serif"><b>Elizabeth Fry.</b></span> By <span class="smcap">Mrs. E. R. Pitman</span>. +</p> +<hr class="r5"> +<p class="center"> + <span class="s-serif"><b>Countess of Albany.</b></span> By <span class="smcap">Vernon Lee</span>. +</p> +<hr class="r5"> +<p class="center"> + <span class="s-serif"><b>Harriet Martineau.</b></span> By <span class="smcap">Mrs. Fenwick Miller</span>. +</p> +<hr class="r5"> +<p class="center"> + <span class="s-serif"><b>Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin.</b></span> By <span class="smcap">Elizabeth Robins Pennell</span>. +</p> +<hr class="r5"> +<p class="center"> + <span class="s-serif"><b>Rachel.</b></span> By <span class="smcap">Mrs. A. Kennard</span>. +</p> +<hr class="r5"> +<p class="center"> + <span class="s-serif"><b>Madame Roland.</b></span> By <span class="smcap">Mathilde Blind</span>. +</p> +<hr class="r5"> +<p class="center"> + <span class="s-serif"><b>Susanna Wesley.</b></span> By <span class="smcap">Eliza Clarke</span>. +</p> +<hr class="double"> + +<p class="center"><i>Volumes in Preparation:⁠—</i></p> + +<p class="center"> + <span class="s-serif"><b>Madame de Stael.</b></span> By <span class="smcap">Bella Duffy</span>. +</p> +<p class="center"> + <span class="s-serif"><b>Margaret of Navarre.</b></span> By <span class="smcap">Mary A. Robinson</span>. +</p> + +<hr> + +<p class="center">London: W. H. ALLEN & CO., 13 Waterloo Place. S.W.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> +<div class="chapter"> +<div class="transnote"> + <p class="ph2"> + TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES + </p> + +<p><a href="#Page_42">Page 42</a>: missing apostrophe added in “it’s only a carpet-snake”.</p> + +<p><a href="#Page_81">Page 81</a>: duplicate “the” removed from “has the effect of softening”</p> + +<p><a href="#Page_121">Page 121</a>: duplicate “the” removed from “to the commerce of the”</p> + +<p><a href="#Page_129">Page 129</a>: missing period added after “cannot be imagined”.</p> + +<p><a href="#Page_228">Page 228</a>: missing opening quote added to the quotation beginning with +“Why—walk”.</p> + +<p><a href="#Page_234">Page 234</a>: stray period removed from “at the rate”.</p> + +<p>Index, <a href="#Page_343">page 343</a>: stray punctuation removed for entry “richest mine...”</p> + +<p>Index, <a href="#Page_344">page 344</a>: period corrected to comma for entry “Horses, in the +Bush”.</p> + +<p>Advertisements: missing punctuation added. Annotation labels not added to some ditto marks in the advertisement for <a href="#ALLENS_INDIAN_MAIL">Allen's Indian Mail</a> due to ambiguity.</p> + +<p>Inverted asterisms were printed in the original edition of the book. +They have been represented as upright asterisms (⁂) in this edition +for technical reasons.</p> + +<p>All other spelling and grammatical errors, as well as inconsistencies in +hyphenation, left unchanged.</p> +</div> +</div> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78425 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/78425-h/images/cover.jpg b/78425-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..82bb339 --- /dev/null +++ b/78425-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/78425-h/images/i_a004.jpg b/78425-h/images/i_a004.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9b6de5b --- /dev/null +++ b/78425-h/images/i_a004.jpg diff --git a/78425-h/images/i_b022a.jpg b/78425-h/images/i_b022a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9b75b72 --- /dev/null +++ b/78425-h/images/i_b022a.jpg diff --git a/78425-h/images/i_b026b.jpg b/78425-h/images/i_b026b.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..bb6e0da --- /dev/null +++ b/78425-h/images/i_b026b.jpg diff --git a/78425-h/images/i_b046a.jpg b/78425-h/images/i_b046a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5187043 --- /dev/null +++ b/78425-h/images/i_b046a.jpg diff --git a/78425-h/images/i_b054a.jpg b/78425-h/images/i_b054a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8d25db3 --- /dev/null +++ b/78425-h/images/i_b054a.jpg diff --git a/78425-h/images/i_b068b.png b/78425-h/images/i_b068b.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..21cae96 --- /dev/null +++ b/78425-h/images/i_b068b.png diff --git a/78425-h/images/i_b070b.jpg b/78425-h/images/i_b070b.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4dc0c63 --- /dev/null +++ b/78425-h/images/i_b070b.jpg diff --git a/78425-h/images/i_b076b.jpg b/78425-h/images/i_b076b.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8c9011f --- /dev/null +++ b/78425-h/images/i_b076b.jpg diff --git a/78425-h/images/i_b124a.jpg b/78425-h/images/i_b124a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2ad3e67 --- /dev/null +++ b/78425-h/images/i_b124a.jpg diff --git a/78425-h/images/i_b136a.jpg b/78425-h/images/i_b136a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..362bb7c --- /dev/null +++ b/78425-h/images/i_b136a.jpg diff --git a/78425-h/images/i_b166a.jpg b/78425-h/images/i_b166a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..78b3423 --- /dev/null +++ b/78425-h/images/i_b166a.jpg diff --git a/78425-h/images/i_b176b.jpg b/78425-h/images/i_b176b.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..99a8ce9 --- /dev/null +++ b/78425-h/images/i_b176b.jpg diff --git a/78425-h/images/i_b214b.jpg b/78425-h/images/i_b214b.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..665c32e --- /dev/null +++ b/78425-h/images/i_b214b.jpg diff --git a/78425-h/images/i_b238a.jpg b/78425-h/images/i_b238a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..cf86fdc --- /dev/null +++ b/78425-h/images/i_b238a.jpg diff --git a/78425-h/images/i_b292a.jpg b/78425-h/images/i_b292a.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..528556a --- /dev/null +++ b/78425-h/images/i_b292a.jpg diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6c72794 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This book, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..38b4de7 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for eBook #78425 +(https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/78425) |
