4 THE SHEEP AND WOOL INDUSTRY 



Downs." He was so excited over his discovery that he galloped 

 his horse over the beautiful plains till it dropped to the ground 

 from exhaustion. The pastoralists of New South Wales soon got 

 to hear of the wonderful pastures in Victoria ; large numbers of 

 them crossed the Murray with their flocks, and settled down on 

 runs in the Western District of Victoria. In 1836 there were only 

 41,332 sheep in Victoria ; in 1838 the number had increased to 

 310,946, while two years later the number was 782,283. Things 

 were booming in Victoria at this time. Everybody was going in 

 for sheep-raising. Money was plentiful, and the bullock-drivers 

 who carried the produce to and from the stations and goldfields 

 had champagne in abundance. One writer describes Melbourne 

 as being strewn with champagne bottles. 



The boom, however, burst in 1839. Wool began to fall in price. 

 Five years later there was a decided slump, and wool-growing 

 became unprofitable. Everybody wanted to sell out ; sheep that 

 would have brought ^4 apiece a few years previously were sold 

 for 2s. and 33. per head, and many pastoralists were willing to 

 throw in the runs with the sheep. Melbourne had 280 bank- 

 ruptcies in less than two years, and gentlemen with 6,000 sheep 

 could not get credit for ordinary rations. Boiling down was com- 

 menced at this time, as tallow \vas about ^"28 per ton, say 3d. per 

 Ib. The average sheep would yield about 30 Ib. of tallow, besides 

 the skin and bones, both of which were saleable. This boiling 

 down saved a large number of the squatters from bankruptcy. In 

 1842 there were 1,404,333 sheep in Victoria. In 1844 these had 

 only increased to 1,860,912, as boiling down was still going on. 

 In 1845 boiling down ceased, as prices for wool began to get 

 better ; in 1847 there were 2,966,992 sheep in the State, and two 

 years later this number had nearly doubled. In 1851 there were 

 6,032,783 sheep in Victoria. Conditions changed very much in 

 Victoria when the gold rushes set in. Tradesmen, miners, and 

 others flocked to the country, and when the gold fever was over 

 they desired to go on to the land, but found that the pick of 

 the country was held by the early squatters, and each side became 

 very bitter towards the other. The new-comers, however, got a 



