LONELY AUSTRALIA : THE UNIQUE CONTINENT 



535 



the dingo and rabbit, and a year of 

 drought may mean complete loss of 

 flocks. During the past ten years he has 

 been called upon to give up his land to 

 farmers and to pay the cost of political 

 experiments designed to improve the lot 

 of the day laborer in cities. 



In 1913 there were 85,000,000 sheep in 

 the Commonwealth ; the value of wool 

 exports alone was $128,000,000, or 65 per 

 cent of the total pastoral products. In 

 addition to wool, there was sent to mar- 

 ket: mutton, $14,000,000; skins, $11,- 

 000,000, and tallow, $10,000,000; so that 

 if all products of the sheep industry be 

 combined, the total equals 40 per cent of 

 all exports from the Commonwealth. 



THE CATTLEMAN 



As in America, the cattlemen of Aus- 

 tralia occupy the outlying posts of civili- 

 zation. They are "way out back" in the 

 "Never-Never" country, or even "behind 

 the beyond." The cattle roam widely 

 over unfenced runs thousands of square 

 miles in area. The average size of pas- 

 toral holdings in the Northern Territory 

 is 275,000 acres. In West Australia one 

 hundred people own together 40,000,000 

 acres, and Frazer speaks of a Queensland 

 "cattle king" who held 60,000 square 

 miles — an area nearly as large as all New 

 England. 



The events of the year are the "mus- 

 ters" (round-ups), when the "mobs" 

 (herds) of cattle are assembled, counted, 

 and sorted, the "clean skins" branded and 

 suitable stock sent to market. But send- 

 ing to market is a serious business. Two, 

 three, or even five months may be re- 

 quired to drive cattle to the nearest port 

 or railroad. Unless the season is favor- 

 able it cannot be done at all, for feed and 

 water are lacking along the tracks. Even 

 in good years forage is insufficient and 

 water absent over long stretches of coun- 

 try, and herds of cattle started on the 

 long drive may be greatly depleted by 

 starvation and thirst, the remnant reach- 

 ing their destination fit only for "boiling 

 down." 



A stockman told me of one of his mobs 

 numbering 2,000 which succumbed com- 

 pletely to the hardships on an 800-mile 

 drive (see also page 537). 



STOCK ROUTES AND WATERING PLACES ARE 

 MAINTAINED BY THE GOVERNMENT 



Stock routes are laid out and tended 

 as carefully as wagon roads or railways. 

 They head for the principal markets, or 

 for the ends of railroads, which extend 

 into the arid belts and wind across the 

 country, taking advantage of all known 

 water supplies. Streams, springs, billa- 

 bongs, and gnamma holes are used, re- 

 gardless of the quality of the water, for 

 almost any liquid is acceptable in the 

 desert. 



When the distances between watering 

 places are too great, or areas of feed are 

 beyond the reach of water, artificial sup- 

 plies are provided and kept under sur- 

 veillance. In places wells are dug; else- 

 where reservoirs and tanks designed to 

 collect storm water of infrequent rains 

 are constructed. Many of these are built 

 below the surface and covered to check 

 evaporation. Where other means fail, 

 skeleton buildings with large roof area 

 are constructed to conserve rain-water. 



A land-office map of an Australian 

 State is decorated with a network of 

 crooked lines, main arteries with 

 branches, along which are indicated at 

 distances of 10 to 40 miles the watering 

 places and camping sites maintained by 

 the government. These stock routes 

 cover the continent like a system of rail- 

 ways, for which they form a substitute, 

 and their construction and maintenance 

 is a highly important function of the 

 States. 



In New South Wales 6,000,000 acres 

 are reserved for this purpose, and seven 

 hundred public watering places have been 

 constructed, three-fourths of them tanks 

 and reservoirs. In South Australia 

 routes extend from Port Augusta to the 

 borders of Queensland and West Aus- 

 tralia, and into the heart of the North- 

 west desert for a distance of 700 miles. 

 One route crosses the State and continues 

 through the Northern Territory to the 

 northern edge of the continent. West 

 Australia likewise maintains 2,000 miles 

 of stock routes leading from inland sta- 

 tions to the cities on the Southwest coast. 



While farmers in the new country were 

 few or absent, the cattlemen secured the 

 land. They were powerful financially 



