The intending squatter1 might either purchase a sheep run outright2, if opportunity offered, or if he was fortunate enough to discover a tract3 of unclaimed country, he could occupy it at once by paying the Provincial4 Government a nominal5 rental6, something like half a farthing an acre. This would only be the goodwill7 of the land, which was liable to be purchased outright by anybody else direct from Government, at the upset price fixed8, which in Nelson was one pound per acre for hilly land, and two pounds for flat land suitable for cultivation9. Nobody could purchase outright a run or portion of it while another occupier held the goodwill of it without first challenging the latter, who retained the presumptive right to purchase.
To protect themselves as much as possible from land being purchased away from them, or from being obliged to purchase themselves, goodwill holders10 were in the habit of buying up the best flat land, as well as making the land around their homesteads private property. A run so divided and cut up would not be so tempting11 to a rich man, and would effectually debar the man of small means, as the present occupier would not sell his private property unless at a price which would reimburse12 him for the loss of his interest in the goodwill of the run, and the new-comer, if he did not possess the scraps13 of private property as well as the remainder of the run, would be continually harassed14 by the previous owner occupying the best portions, and would be liable to fine for trespass15, etc.
When a tract of country is occupied for the first time, it will usually be found covered with tussocks of grass scattered16 far apart and lying matted and rank on the ground. The first thing to do is to apply the match and burn all clean to the roots, and after a few showers of rain the grass will begin to sprout17 from the burnt stumps18. Then the sheep are turned on to it, and the cropping, tramping, and manuring it receives, with occasional further burnings, renders it in a couple of years fair grazing country. An even sod takes the place of the isolated19 tussock, and the grass from being wild and unsavoury becomes sweet and tender.[Pg 26]
It takes, however, three to five years to transform a wild mountain side (if the land be moderately good) into an ordinarily fair sheep-run calculated to carry one sheep to every five acres—that is, of course, for the native or indigenous20 grass; the same ground cleared and laid down in English grass would carry three to five sheep to the acre.
A settler having obtained his run is bound by Government to stock it within a year with a stipulated21 number of sheep per 1,000 acres, failing which he forfeits22 his claim to possession. A man holding a fairly good run of 30,000 acres may feed from 3,000 to 4,000 sheep upon it, making due allowance for increase and disability to dispose of surplus stock.
The farming is conducted as follows: The flock is divided into two or more parts, in all cases the wethers being kept separate from the ewes and lambs, and occupying different portions of the run, the object being that the ewes and lambs may have rest, the wethers being liable to be driven in for sale or slaughter23.
A shepherd is put in charge of each flock, and he resides at some convenient place on the boundary, whence it is his duty to walk or ride round his boundary at least once a day, and see that no sheep have crossed it. If he discovers tracks made during his absence he must follow them until he recovers his wanderers.
It is not necessary that a shepherd should see his sheep daily; he may not see a third of his flocks for months, unless he wishes to discover their actual whereabouts; he has only to assure himself that they have not left the run, and it is practically impossible for them to do so without leaving their footprints to be discovered on the boundary.
The breeding season is spring and the shearing24 season summer, which corresponds to our winter in England. The usual increase of lambs, if the ewes be healthy and strong, is 75 to 95 per cent. in about equal proportions of male and female.
When the lambs are about six weeks old the entire flock is driven in for cutting, tailing, and earmarking. The tails are cut off and the ear nicked or punched with the registered earmark of the station, and a certain number of the most approved male lambs are reserved. A good hand can cut and mark two thousand lambs per day, and not over one per cent. will die from the consequences. When the operation is over, the flock is counted out and handed over to the shepherd to take them back to their run until the shearing season.[Pg 27]
At this time a complete muster25 is made; all hands turn out on the hills, and every sheep is brought in that can be found. Not infrequently in the hilly country an exciting chase is had after a wild mob that have defied the exertions26 of the shepherds and their dogs for a considerable time. These animals will run up the most inaccessible27 places, skirt the edges of precipices28 at a height at which they can be discovered only by the aid of a telescope, and have been known to maintain their freedom in spite of man or dog for years. When at length caught they present a ludicrous appearance; their fleeces have become tangled29 and matted, hanging to the ground in ragged30 tails, and can with difficulty be removed, their feet have grown crooked31 and deformed32, and they rarely again become domesticated33 with the flock.
The shearing is carried on in a large shed, divided into pens or small compartments34, each connected separately with the attached yards. It is usually done by contract, the price being ￡1 to ￡1 5s. per hundred sheep. Each man has his pen, which is cleared out and refilled as often as necessary, and at each clearance35 the number therein are counted to his name. The shorn sheep are passed direct to the branding yard, and from thence to a common yard, from which all are counted out at nightfall for return to the run.
A good shearer36 will clip one hundred sheep in a day, the average for a gang of men being 75.
Upon the fleece being removed it is gathered up by an attendant placed for the purpose, and handed over to the sorter, who spreads it upon a table and removes dirty and jagged parts, and sometimes it is classed. It is then rolled up and thrown into the wool press to be packed for export.
The wool bales so pressed measure 9 ft. by 4 ft. by 4 ft., and contain on an average one hundred fleeces, and each fleece runs from three to four pounds in weight. The lambs' wool is pressed separately, and commands a higher price than that of the adult sheep.
The hand press is a wooden box, made the size of the canvas bale, which is suspended therein by hooks from the open top; the box has a movable side, which is loosened out to give exit to the bale when pressed. The pressing is done by the feet, assisted by a blunt spade, and the bales are generally very creditably turned out, the sheep-farmer priding himself on a neatly37 pressed bale. When pressed the end is sewn up and the bale rolled over to a convenient place for branding, when it is ready for loading on the dray.[Pg 28]
Previous to shearing, the sheep are sometimes driven through a deep running stream and roughly washed, to remove sand and grease. Wool certified38 to have been so cleaned will command a higher price than unwashed wool.
At the time to which I refer, most of the runs in Nelson Province were "unclean"—that is, infected with scab; and it became so general that it was considered almost impossible to eradicate39. The disease was most infectious. A mob of clean, healthy sheep merely driven over a run upon which infected sheep had recently fed would almost surely catch the disease.
A sheep severely40 infected with scab becomes a pitiful object. The body gets covered with a yellow scaly41 substance, the wool falls off or is rubbed off in patches, the disease causing intense itchiness, the animal loses flesh and appetite, and unless relieved sickens and dies.
The Nelson settlers, although they could not hope to speedily eradicate the pest, were nevertheless bound by the Provincial Government to adopt certain precautions against its spreading. Every station was provided with a scab yard and a tank in which the flocks were periodically bathed in hot tobacco water, and such animals as were unusually afflicted42 received special attention and hand-dressing. These arrangements strictly43 enforced proved successful to a great extent in keeping the disease in check.
Mr. Lee's run was scabby, although not so bad as some of his neighbour's, and the strictest precautions were observed to keep it as clean as possible.
Upon arrival at Highfield we had immediate44 opportunity to see for ourselves the most interesting part of the working of the run. The cutting season had just commenced, and the mustering45 and shearing would ere long follow.
My chum C—— was a particularly smart fellow at everything appertaining to this kind of life. He speedily picked up the routine, and made himself so generally valuable that Mr. Lee offered him the post of overseer, with ￡60 a year as a beginning, and all found. But C——, on the plea that the pay was too small, refused it. This was his great mistake, to refuse what ninety-nine men in a hundred would have jumped at in his circumstances! It would have been the first step on the ladder, and with his abilities and experience he had only to wait a certain time to become a partner. But his heart was not in the country, and nothing would reconcile him to remaining in it. Within two months of our coming to Highfield he determined46 to return home.[Pg 29]
This resolution being taken, nothing would shake it, and the day was fixed for his departure. He and I were badly suited I fear to work together, and had he had some other chum perhaps he might have agreed with the new life better, and turned out a successful colonist47; for most certainly, although we were not able to see it at the time, he had eminent48 opportunities open to him for becoming one.
I rode twenty miles with him on his way to Christchurch. He was to stay the first night at a station twenty-five miles from Highfield. On the bank of the Waiou river we parted—we two chums who had come all the way from the Old Country to work and stick together. I thought it then hard of C——, although I had no right to expect him to stay in New Zealand in opposition49 to his own wishes and judgment50 to please me. As I watched him cross the river and presently disappear between the hills further on, a feeling of strange loneliness came over me. Well, I was not much more than a child!
I must have sat there ruminating51 for a considerable time, for when I came to myself it was dark, and I remembered that I was in an almost trackless region which I had passed through only once before in daylight, and in company, when we had a view of the hills to guide us, and that I was at least seven miles from the nearest station (Rutherford's), but of the exact direction of which I was not certain. However, I had been long enough in the country to have passed more than one night in the open air, and at the worst this could only happen again, and I was provided with a blanket strapped52 to my saddle. I was not, however, to be without bed or supper. I mounted my mare53, which had been browsing54 beside me, and gave her her head—the wisest course I could have taken. After an hour's sharp walk I discovered lights in the distance, which soon after proved to be those of Rutherford's station, where I was most hospitably55 received.
Considerable astonishment56 was expressed at C——'s—to them—unaccountably foolish action in throwing over, after two months' trial, an opportunity which most men situated57 as he was would have worked for years to obtain.
C—— reached the Old Country in due time, resumed his small farm, married, had a large family, and died a poor man.
The following morning I returned to Highfield feeling myself a better man and more independent now that I had myself only to depend on.
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1
squatter
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| n.擅自占地者 | |
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outright
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| adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的 | |
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tract
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| n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林) | |
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provincial
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| adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人 | |
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nominal
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| adj.名义上的；(金额、租金)微不足道的 | |
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rental
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| n.租赁，出租，出租业 | |
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goodwill
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| n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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cultivation
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| n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成 | |
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holders
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| 支持物( holder的名词复数 )； 持有者； （支票等）持有人； 支托（或握持）…之物 | |
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tempting
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| a.诱人的, 吸引人的 | |
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reimburse
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| v.补偿，付还 | |
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scraps
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| 油渣 | |
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harassed
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| adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词 | |
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trespass
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| n./v.侵犯，闯入私人领地 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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sprout
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| n.芽，萌芽；vt.使发芽，摘去芽；vi.长芽，抽条 | |
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18
stumps
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| （被砍下的树的）树桩( stump的名词复数 )； 残肢； （板球三柱门的）柱； 残余部分 | |
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isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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indigenous
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| adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的 | |
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stipulated
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| vt.& vi.规定；约定adj.[法]合同规定的 | |
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forfeits
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| 罚物游戏 | |
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slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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shearing
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| n.剪羊毛，剪取的羊毛v.剪羊毛( shear的现在分词 )；切断；剪切 | |
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muster
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| v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册 | |
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exertions
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| n.努力( exertion的名词复数 )；费力；（能力、权力等的）运用；行使 | |
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inaccessible
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| adj.达不到的，难接近的 | |
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precipices
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| n.悬崖，峭壁( precipice的名词复数 ) | |
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tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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deformed
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| adj.畸形的；变形的；丑的，破相了的 | |
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domesticated
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| adj.喜欢家庭生活的；（指动物）被驯养了的v.驯化( domesticate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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compartments
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| n.间隔( compartment的名词复数 )；（列车车厢的）隔间；（家具或设备等的）分隔间；隔层 | |
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clearance
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| n.净空；许可(证)；清算；清除，清理 | |
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shearer
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| n.剪羊毛的人；剪切机 | |
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neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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38
certified
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| a.经证明合格的；具有证明文件的 | |
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eradicate
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| v.根除，消灭，杜绝 | |
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severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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scaly
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| adj.鱼鳞状的；干燥粗糙的 | |
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42
afflicted
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| 使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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45
mustering
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| v.集合，召集，集结（尤指部队）( muster的现在分词 )；（自他人处）搜集某事物；聚集；激发 | |
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46
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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colonist
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| n.殖民者，移民 | |
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eminent
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| adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的 | |
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opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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50
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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51
ruminating
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| v.沉思( ruminate的现在分词 )；反复考虑；反刍；倒嚼 | |
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52
strapped
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| adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带 | |
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mare
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| n.母马，母驴 | |
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54
browsing
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| v.吃草( browse的现在分词 )；随意翻阅；（在商店里）随便看看；（在计算机上）浏览信息 | |
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55
hospitably
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| 亲切地，招待周到地，善于款待地 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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