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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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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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Specimen copy, 6d._ + +ALLEN’S INDIAN MAIL, + +AND + +Official Gazette + +FROM + +INDIA, CHINA, AND ALL PARTS OF THE EAST. + + +ALLEN’S INDIAN MAIL 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 _indispensable_ to all who +have Friends or Relatives in the East, as affording the only _correct_ +information regarding the Services, Movements of Troops, Shipping, and +all events of Domestic and individual interest. + +The subjoined list of the usual Contents will show the importance and +variety of the information concentrated in ALLEN’S INDIAN MAIL. + + +_Summary and Review of Eastern News._ + + =Precis of Public Intelligence= + =Selections from the Indian Press= + =Movements of Troops= + =The Government Gazette= + =Courts Martial= + =Domestic Intelligence--Births= + =” ” Marriages= + =” ” Deaths= + =Shipping--Arrival of Ships= + =” ” Passengers= + =” Departure of Ships= + =” ” Passengers= + =Commercial--State of the Markets= + =” Indian Securities= + =” Freights= + =&c. &c. &c.= + + +_Home Intelligence relating to India, &c._ + + =Original Articles= + =Miscellaneous Information= + =Appointments, Extensions of Furloughs, &c., &c.= + =” Civil= + =” Military= + =” Ecclesiastical and= + =” Marine= + =Arrivals reported in England= + =Departures ” ”= + =Shipping--Arrival of Ships= + =” ” Passengers= + =” Departure of Ships= + =” ” Passengers= + =” Vessel spoken with= + =&c. &c. &c.= + =Review of Works on the East, and Notices of all affairs connected + with India and the Services.= + + +Throughout the Paper one uniform system of arrangement prevails, +and at the conclusion of each year an INDEX is furnished, to enable +Subscribers to bind up the Volume, which forms a complete + +ASIATIC ANNUAL REGISTER AND LIBRARY OF REFERENCE. + + +LONDON: W. H. ALLEN & Co., 13, WATERLOO PLACE, S.W. + +(PUBLISHERS TO THE INDIA OFFICE), + +_To whom Communications for the Editor, and Advertisements, are +requested to be addressed._ + + + + +EMINENT WOMEN SERIES. + + +Edited by JOHN H. INGRAM. + +_Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d. each. Already issued:--_ + + =George Eliot.= By MATHILDE BLIND. + =George Sand.= By BERTHA THOMAS. + =Maria Edgeworth.= By HELEN ZIMMERN. + =Emily Bronte.= By A. MARY F. ROBINSON. + =Mary Lamb.= By ANNE GILCHRIST. + =Margaret Fuller.= By JULIA WARD HOWE. + =Elizabeth Fry.= By MRS. E. R. PITMAN. + =Countess of Albany.= By VERNON LEE. + =Harriet Martineau.= By MRS. FENWICK MILLER. + =Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin.= By ELIZABETH ROBINS PENNELL. + =Rachel.= By MRS. A. KENNARD. + =Madame Roland.= By MATHILDE BLIND. + =Susanna Wesley.= By ELIZA CLARKE. + + +_Volumes in Preparation:--_ + + =Madame de Stael.= By BELLA DUFFY. + =Margaret of Navarre.= By MARY A. ROBINSON. + + +London: W. H. ALLEN & CO., 13 Waterloo Place. 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 *** |