BY THE HON. A. NORTON, M.L.O. 153 



Lying on a sofa in the inn at Drayton was a Mr. Perston, who 

 I had known a few months before as the managing partner at 

 Tooralle on the Darling River. Then the poor fellow was 

 suffering from lung disease ; now he was resting for a brief 

 space at Drayton, sent there by his medical adviser in the hope 

 that the fresh dry air would effect an improvement. A few 

 weeks later he rested from his labours for ever ! 



At this time I thought seriously of trying for country on 

 the Maranoa, and from Toowoomba I turned westwards, passing 

 Gowrie, then owned by Mr. Isaac; Jondaryan, which was under 

 the managementof Mr. J. C. White ; andDalby,thena very primi- 

 tive township. Information obtained " by the wayside " dis- 

 pelled the idea that I should find the class of country I wanted 

 on the Maranoa, and at Condamine township I again turned 

 northward, passing a station owned by Mr. John Ferrett and 

 managed by Mr. Lethbridge. Before I reached Juandah, where 

 resided Mr. Golden, the manager for the Brothers Royds, patches 

 of green feed here and there gave hope of a general improve- 

 ment in the state of the country, and the night after we 

 passed Juandah rain set in heavily and continued for some 

 days. The Juandah Station, by the way, was originally held 

 by Herbert Salway, of St. Leonards on New England, and 

 Percy Stephen, a nephew of the late Sir Alfred Stephen. 

 Until the rain had ceased I did not shift camp, and during that 

 little holiday heard many details of the Hornet Bank massacre 

 and the retributive massacres which followed. Mr. Royd's name 

 ought to be recorded amongst the chief of those who did their 

 utmost to protect blacks who had not participated in this 

 slaughter. By the time the rain ceased the country had become 

 terribly boggy ; but Mr. Golden enlightened me somewhat when 

 I referred to this by explaining the difference between it and the 

 country on the Dawson. " ^e /•«?," he said, " a horse will sink 

 to his hocks ; tliere he will sink below his hocks ! " I followed 

 the road towards Taroom as far as Hawkwood, a station owned 

 by Mr. Hook, who also had property near Dungog in New South 

 Wales. I am told the brigalow has spread very largely on 

 Juandah and Hawkwood since then. At that time it was com- 

 paratively open and much of the scenery was very beautiful, 

 numbers of bottle trees of great size standing out on the open 

 patches or growing along the edge of the brigalow. From 

 Hawkwood I turned in again towards the coast, passed Mr. 

 Long's Bungaban station, and then crossed the range on to 



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