CROCODILE COUNTRY

Waikato Times, Volume 124, Issue 20741, 27 February 1939, Page 9

CROCODILE COUNTRY

QUEENSLAND INTERIOR STORY OF THE “PONY EXPRESS” FIGHT AGAINST CATTLE TICK [ln thi? arm succeeding articles Mr George Campbell tells of his experiences in Northern Queensland in biR-g-ame hunting and lira fmong- the Australian It IH« au,»fv tty Ac?* aboriginals.] After leaving: “Coomooloobarloo*’ it took me all afternoon to reach Baralaba, on the other side of the station. Here a bridge crosses the top end of the Dawson. Now the Don River carries on. In this river I shot some grey duck, and one evening t. saw several platypuses swimming and playing near some boulders in the river. Although they resemble ducks they swim like rats in the water, only the nose showing. This quaint animal, or bird, is one of Nature's funny freaks and is fast disappearing, although protected. Like a duck, it lives in the water, and has a bill and web-feet. That is about all the duck contributed. Its brown, furry body and small head are not unlike those of the opossum, and in the same manner it suckles its young, but why lay an egg ? So far I have not heard of the rabbit’s name being brought into this bush scandal, but the platypus burrows a hole to live in just as do rabbits. Cars Replace Bullocks After leaving Baralaba I followed down through Rannes Biloela to Theodore station, owned by Charles House, an early settler in those parts, and a cattle grazier. In the early days the bullock waggon was their only means of transport: they now use the trucks and cars, although the roads are very little improved. Here the mosquito is a pest to be reckoned with at night, with sandflies during the day. Huge fires are kept going so that the cattle can stand in the smoke and get some relief from the pests. Children going to school carry a tin with a chemical, burning all the time to keep off the sandflies. Each child carries such a tin, and the horse also has a tin hanging under his neck like a cowbel, with burning cox-sex in it. The bite from these small sandflies is poirffnous to some people.

All this cattle land is tick-infested, and when the tick first appeared in this district and gave the cattle redwater, stock died in thousands. There was great consternation on the big stations. This was before the motor car age started, and the only cure was a serum taken from the cattle on the coast that had passed the tick stage and were immune from red-water. But how to get the serum fresh 375 miles from the meat works on the coast was the problem.

Pony Express Mr House organised the “pony express.” He arranged for 300 horses to be all at their allotted places at a certain time. He himself started this long race against time. Starting out from the works on the coast with the fresh precious serum, he galloped his horse over a mile, and the next rider he picked up took the packet with his fresh horse, and so on for the longest rela.. racy on record. Everyone was at his post. Their lives depended on speed, and so the precious packet was delivered 375 miles in under 2 4 hours. What a ride. And the cattle were yarded and waiting to be treated. The effort was successful and the dreaded red-water was arrested before it wiped out the whole herd Very soon the cattle men were taking the serum from their own cattle and inoculating others. I doubt very much whether the modern methods of travel in the best cars could still cut any time off the old pony express. Friend of the Birds Mrs House was another naturalist, and birds were her hobby. All bird life on this station was protected, with the result that this huge sanctuary was a safe harbour, and the birds were tame and plentiful. Mrs House contributed articles to manv leading journals on the life and habits of the many Australian birds. Although she has lived there all her life, her one ambition is to get a car-caravan and go into the territory studying birds. The birds have a great champion in her. To each of these stations a new car had to be delivered and the only way was to fly to Brisbane and drive a car back. This was actually cheaper than going down by train. In fact the Queensland Government is seriously thinking of doing away with first class carriages on the trains, as most of the passengers are now travelling by plane as it saves so much time, is more comfortable and is actually cheaper in many cases. I returned via Wowan to the coast. An inch of rain had fallen and the track ran through miles of the dreaded black soil country. Black soil is the

one dread of all motorists in the north. It gets very soft and the car soon buries itself. Chains are useless, as the soil packs up under the guards and does not fall off, with the result that the front wheels get jammed and do not revolve and the steering is useless. The only thing to do then is i take the wheels off and dig the soil out, go another 100 yards and repeat the process. By this time you have grown a few inches taller by the soil under your boots, and you look like an abo. The best thing to do is to camp with the car for 24 hours, let the soil dry out and make no attempt whatever to buck the black soil, because it always wins. In the old model cars it was not so bad, but with the new guards it is hopeless.