THE DROUGHT IN QUEENSLAND.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume III, Issue 113, 26 February 1901, Page 4

THE DROUGHT IN QUEENSLAND.

The following (writes W. G. B. in the Brisbane Courier) is a des-. cription of one of the tragedies now ' being enacted over such a large area of the -Western country. It will, X hope, impress the people who sit at. heme at ease, with a sense of the enormous amount of suffering and loss such a drought entails. It does' not matter where the exact locality of this- particular scene is, as similar occurrences may be' witnessed almost anywhere west of the Maranoa, differing from each other only in degree. We had been told that we should find water on ahead, and by means Of; the usual “ dust map " had received full instructions,as to . . its whereabouts. Those instructions were, however, quite superfluous, even if understandable, for our sense of smell would infallibly have led us to the most wretched scone I. have ever fallen in with. It was “closup” sundown when we got ’ into range of the stench, and by the time we had reached the place where the water had been the sun had set, and we could go no further; besides, our • horses • were so thoroughly knocked; up that we had perforce to turn' out.- A mob. of about 600 bullocks (wo counted them next morning) had made the. hole a watering place, so We did not trouble to go for water, -our sense of smell informing us that it would.be futile to do so. The track led past the. hole, and abddt"3oO yards from it. The mulga grew pretty thickly right down to the edge of the creek, excepting at the waterhole, which * was part of it. • Thera, was a large Clearing there, made by teamsters and others, who had cut down the mulga for theii camp fires in the old times, when there were teamsters. We camped on the track, hoping thus to be free from the little black ants which swarm everywhere in the mulga, and which seem to bite inversely as their’size. Fortunately we had a full water bag with us, which we had carefully nursed during the day, for fear of a failure to find good water. We gave the horses their necessarily' scanty allowance of feed, made some tea, and turned in. The night was moonless, and the stars shone clear and bright, and we lay on our blankets. listening to the swish, swishing of the breeze through the thin tops of the trees. Not far away a family of dingoes, which bad followed the trap for miles during- the day, raised mournful cries, first a long-drawn howl, and then a chorus of short yelps, answered by a call from the distance, which, beginning low, gradually rose and then died away in the silence.. Horrid sounds at any time, but when, as now, they were varied by low, hopeless sounding moans from the poor cattle struggling in the creek, they were gruesome in the extreme. We had- but little sleep that night, so that we were glad indeed to see the first signs of dawn. We made up the fire, fed the horses, and while the; quarts were boiling we walked over to the hole, and this is what we saw: The water was nearly dried away, only a few pools pf green, slimy liquid, probably not more than 2in deep, remaining on the surface of the mud. At least a hundred head of dead cattle fringed the edges of the hole, a triple-row of carcases in every stage of decomposition, the row nearest the centre evidently • having only recently died. Their , eyes were protruding and their bodies swollen. These emitted a stench one could almost feel. Towards the centre, .isolated animals were bogged up to their bellies in the fast hardening tmud, some dead, r with necks 'Stretched' forward and heads resting on the surface,.; others, still alive, were waiting in dull despair for the end ; while, a few, . quite recently bogged, still, had strength to struggle against their . best friend (if they only - death. These last occasionally Uttered thejow moaning sounds wa y heard in the night. Oh the ground almost every. stump supported a recumbent frame coveted with a dry hide. These had been dead I. for some time, and it was almost a relief to notice that the cattle which had died on the solid ground appeared to have had an easy death. Most of them lay with fore and - hind legs tucked under them, and their heads turned into their flanks, seeming thus to be at rest. Only a few stood up, heads drooping, backs arched, and ribs and hip .bones appearing as if they were about to burst through their skins. The whole made a hideously wretched scene. The loneliness of the= place ,* did not lessen the feeling that God 1 had forgotten iti Even, the crows ? were not there, a fact tq be accounted for by the existence pf a sheep station within twenty miles. I Crows prefer sheep, as twang an. easier prey than cattle or ■ the occasional traveller which 'their * particular providence supplies iheifr | with during a drought such as this J auda%*a track;, like * the one- on 1 which we were travelling. We harnessed' up and went Oh as quickly as possible, ‘ ' ,