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National Geographic : 1916 Dec
Contents
LONELY AUSTRALIA: THE UNIQUE CONTINENT physical comfort and social companion ship the battle with the bush is lost at the outset. The struggle demands self-con fidence, a dogged refusal to be discour aged, a faith in the future of the country, and a profound belief that a man's life sacrificed for the good of coming genera tions is well spent. A TYPICAL SHEEP STATION Yalata, South Australia, is a typical sheep station of the better class. Parts of this ranch, which was formerly about the size of Connecticut, and still retains the generous proportions of 300,000 acres, are inclosed by dog-and-rabbit-proof fences and subdivided into grazing pad docks. The all-essential water is obtained from wells of uncertain yield, from storm-water "tanks," and from the roofs of buildings. The ranch is a community in itself. There is a blacksmith shop, a carpenter shop, and a laundry, in addition to the familiar sheep pens and wool sheds. Be sides the station-house-a roomy struc ture of stone and galvanized iron-there are outlying houses for workmen and huts for the families of "blackfellows" docile dependents who are fed, cared for like children, and render a little inefficient service. Teams of camels bring in fuel and haul wool to the port at Fowler Bay (see map, pages 480-481) and pack-cam els carry water to distant points. There is not the bustle and long hours of labor common to American ranches, for the Australian employee has clearly defined working days. But the employer and his family are not restricted and their work is varied and arduous. The owner is incessantly busy with repairs, with examination of fences and water supplies, and keeps a cheerful and generous spirit in spite of the fact that hopes of financial independence, which had come within reach after years of isolation and struggle, were shattered by the drought of the previous year. The women of the family, refined, educated and broadened by travel, are bearing the household burdens, running the store, post-office, and telegraph station, acting as nurse and medical ad viser to women and children of the "blacks," and making life more endurable for the small ranchmen of the neighbor hood, who had lost much through failure of crops and starvation of their meager flocks. The ever-present temptation to "let things slide" is courageously resisted. Culture is shown in a collection of good books and musical instruments, in the appearance of the table, the leisurely ordering of meals, and the discarding from conversation of the cares of a busy day. Time is arranged for reading, for quiet gossip, and for interchange of ideas on a wide range of subjects. The dirt and annoyances incident to ranch life are kept outside of the home. When a traveler comes along he is accepted on terms of equality, receives what the station has to offer, and is expected to give from his store of ex periences. The bushman looking for work is passed along from station to station, hospitably entertained and supplied with provisions for the road. For us hospitality was begun by the owner, who sent a cordial invitation 130 miles inland to our desert camp, and was ended by his daughter, who guided us on the 400-mile "track" to the boat at Port Lincoln. THE LANDS OF COTTON AND WOOL What America is for cotton, Australia is for wool. The Australian has no seri ous rival as a producer of Merino wool. In this favorable climate sheep multiply rapidly and produce the heaviest known fleece of the finest known quality. The fiber is fine, of great length, unusual strength, and therefore holds first place in the manufacture of high-grade cloths in England, Germany, and America. With a satisfactory market assured for every pound of wool Australia can raise, it is natural to find all sorts of people trying their hand at sheep-raising. Law yers, physicians, clerks, teachers, titled aristocracy, as well as farmers and stock men, are enrolled as wool-raisers, and while the actual work on the run requires few men, the number indirectly connected with the wool and mutton business prob ably includes one-third of the population. During a series of good seasons his returns are very great, but he must fight 533
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