THE SUPERINTENDENT OR MANAGER 199 



drives a four-in-hand, wears kid gloves on the station, 

 and keeps race horses. On such a " swell " station 

 there may be two overseers.* 



In early days it was impossible to distinguish between 

 manager and overseer ; the same individual was both ; 

 sometinjes the squatter was himself both. In course 

 of time, as stock increased and hands multiplied, the 

 two professions were differentiated. The manager re- 

 served for himself all larger matters — the employment 

 of men and their wages, the purchase and sale of sheep 

 or cattle, the breeding and allocation of them, while 

 the task of supervising both animals and men was left to 

 the overseer, who was the manager's executive. One 

 of his duties was to go the round of the sub-stations, 

 counting and inquiring about the sheep. The manager 

 might be a gentleman, or one who aped the manners of 

 such. On great stations in Queensland he might drive 

 about in drag and four and wear kid gloves on the 

 station, and have a salary of £1,000 a year. On smaller 

 sheep-stations in New South Wales the manager, in 

 the eighties, received a salary of £400 and sometimes 

 £500 a year. He, again, \^as the subordinate of a 

 general manager, who controlled three separate stations, 

 belonging to a single proprietor or, afterwards, a com- 

 pany or institution. The manager was an autocrat. 

 He might keep his family in town, where they lived in 

 ease, and where his children were educated. 



The overseer, who was often a hard-working bush- 

 man, was fed on salt junk, boiled pumpkin, and damper 

 (unleavened bread) — Nicols, Wild Life, 115-7. He 

 was sometimes of a different class. Dr. Traill's over- 

 seer was originally a " gentleman new chum," who went 

 to stay in New England with his relatives at Cassilis. 

 He at first " humped his swag " (went on tramp), 

 became a station-hand, was next made overseer, and 

 finally was appointed head-overseer. He was a man 

 of great determination of character. Some have won 

 the reputation of being first-rate station managers, and 

 * Grant, Bush Life in Queensland, ch. vi. 



