QUEENSLAND

Waikato Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 2669, 20 August 1889, Page 3

QUEENSLAND

Thk following iutotestinc letter has been forwarded to' by n correspondent in Oneenslnnd Sir,—Ninny thanks for your files of Thk. Waikato Timks which are regular'v received by me. Tho trip I am nmv undertaking will occupy about ssven month" continuous journeying from start to finish, and, I am happy to sny, takes ma through foiiio of tho best watered country in Queensland. Starting from Brisbane we trained horses and buggy to Zeulbah — 2,50 miles west. .Krom this point we chose the Southern road, which leads through Surat 011 to St. George—l-10 miles from Zeulbah—where we are at present located. Hence we proceed to Noondoo ((JO miles South)—a large station belonging to the Australian Pastoral Company, where this season they expect to shear over a million sheep. Noonrfoo is the head station in the district, and all the sheep are sent from the out. stations —sometimes a hundred miles distant—to "ie shorn at the head station. The wool is classed before shearing, and is scoured at tho station sheds. .["here is a great quantity of down country between Surat and St. George which is almost entirely used for sheep pasturing. Loorindoo, a large cattle station east of Surat, has a good area of down country. This class of country—in fact all the country about here that has not been ring-barked—is profuse in heibage and canies little or no grass proper. Everything is looking well just n ,uv—stock and stations—but, before the rainfall, as far as the eye could reach was to be seen nothing but hard clay, sand and black-soil wastes. The graziers and selectors had to travel for months with their stock looking for pasturage, and thought themselves fortunate did they save one-fifth of their flocks. By Queensland law all the land for half a mile on either side of the mam roads —whether fenced or otherwise —is free to drovers travelling with stock —provided they give noticc to the owners of snch land of their intention to camp there for the night. A drover must travel at least six miles per diem if weather permit, and is liable to a heavy fine should he break the law in this respect. These black soil plains are terrible to travel over in wet weather, in fact it is impossible to make headway. The bugey sinks down tr, its axle, and the mud literally sticks the wheels to the body of tho buggy. Every couple of yards it is necessary to shovel the soil off the wheels. Wo were forced in one instance to loave our vehicle, with four broken sprinter bars, embedded for four da}'s in the centre of a black soil plain—Pleona Downs. We find ,it necessary to travel with eight hordes, driving four, and the black boy bringing on the others. By the way, these blacks are excellent adjuncts to the traveller here. No matter how far your horses may wander at night, our boy has never yet failed to track them up and bring them in safety to tho camp. Tho great curse hero are the wild horses—brumbies as they are termed—who lead our innres away, and tear tho rugs otf our geldings. After leaving Noondoo we intend returning to St. George, and there to cross the Balonne, en route for Cunnamulla, 2.J0 miles further west. Thence further west to Thargomindah and Windorah—where we will turn and proceed in a south-easterly direction through the Dawson llivcr country to Brisbane. All the station-owners are most kind in the extension of their hospitality towards us, and do all in their power to forward our business. There can bo 110 doubt that could this country be certain of its rainfall, it would he unsurpassed as a grazing colony in Australasia, but I am afraid that until some proper scheme for artificial irrigation is established it will be with the country as ever, either a feast or a famine. With best wishes for yourself and the old colony (which I see is at last on the credit side of the ledger).—Believe me, ever faithfully yours, Wyn.vk C. S. Giiav.