Ere nerve and sinew began to fail
In the consulship12 of Plancus.
[Pg 152]
The ball was in its way perfect, "with music, moonlight, love, and flowers," probably in the usual proportions. Daylight found the revellers still unsated; but an hour before the first tremulous dawn wavelet rippled13 over the pale sky-line I had doffed14 the canonicals, slipped on boots and breeches, mounted my favourite hackney—"The Gaucha" to wit—and was stretching out along the track to Eumeralla at the rate of twelve miles an hour.
The summer morn was refreshingly15 cool, the first hour's ride delicious; then an increasing drowsiness16 made itself felt, and ere long I would have given all the world to lie down under a tree and sleep till noon. But the inclination17 was sternly repressed, and less than another hour's ride brought the creek18 in view, below the blackwood-crowned slopes of Lyne, one of the loveliest spots in all the West. The position of the stock-yard was denoted from afar by the great cloud of dust which rose pillar-like to the clear sky, while the "roaring" of the restless, excited cattle had been audible long before the dust-cloud was visible.
It was a lovely, clear, summer morning; yet, as I rode onward19, the sentence of Holy Writ7 kept ceaseless iteration through my brain as curiously20 apposite, while ever and anon through the green forest echoed the deep-resounding lowing of the imprisoned21 herd22—"And the smoke of their torment23 ascendeth for ever." As I rode up to the yard a score of stock-horses stood under the trees. The ocean of unbroken greenery that lay to the eastward24 was flame-tinted by the rising sun, but, early as was the hour, work had begun. Joe Twist of [Pg 153]Werrongourt, and Mackay of Eumeralla, were at the drafting gates; the cattle were running through. I was just in time to enter upon my duty as classifier, at which arduous25 and delicate task I continued till noon. A half-hour for the mid-day meal, a few minutes' grace while pipes are lighted, then through the long, dusty hours of the hot afternoon the laborious26, exciting work is ceaselessly carried on. Strangers and pilgrims, calves27 and clear-skins, are separated at the same time. The sun declines, dips lower still, and lower. The day is done, and a highly respectable amount of necessary work has been performed. The liberated28 herd streams back in a score of droves to familiar pastures. Two hundred and twenty "boilers29" are safe in the small yard, the which will be started for their last drive on the following morning. The stock-riders are accommodated on the station. Some ride home—those who had no calves or stray cattle on their minds; the rest remain, ready to give a hand with the boiling-down draft next day. I partake of Captain Carr's hospitality, warmly thanked for my exertions30. Do I not doze31 off almost before the evening's meal is concluded? I beg to be excused on the ground of fatigue32, and depart incontinently for bed thereafter. Do I turn round until sunrise next morning? I trow not.
But I was soon in the saddle then, and away with the drove referred to. What a rush they made when the gate was opened!—what a pace they went for the first mile or two! I can see Joe Twist now on his favourite stock-horse—a steed that even his[Pg 154] master cared not to ride without his permission—going like a Comanchee Indian, the merest trifle less than racing33 speed, parallel with a tossing forest of horns, his bridle-hand low, his stock-whip raised threateningly, the eager horse's head now on the ground, now raised higher than a nervous rider would choose. Was there another man "steadying the lead" on the opposite side, right well mounted also, gallant34 in the pride of youthful horsemanship and the full inspiration of "God's glorious oxygen"? It may have been so. Ah me! those were pleasant days. Would they might return! Even as I write,
Still comes the memory sweet
Of bygone hours, long-gathered flowers
Pressed by our youth's gay feet.
It may not have been wholly in the interests of an Australian merino principality that our shores were honoured by the captain's company and capital. With him—and to a certain extent, it was understood, indebted to his guardianship—came a Prince of Augustenburg, who had not then succeeded to his present exalted35 position. This royal personage was apparently36 not deeply interested in the pastoral life of Australia, and remained to the last unconcerned about the weights and fineness of fleece of merino sheep. Providence37 had arranged his destiny so as to be unaffected by the wool market, or even by the prevalence of dry seasons. He also spoke38 English indifferently, and, thus handicapped, preferred the sylvan39 shades of Toorak and the tempered solitude40 of a club smoking-room to the primeval waste. His more mercurial41 senior [Pg 155]meanwhile utilised his colonial experience to some purpose, as the sequel will show.
Possibly a strict provincial42 life at Lyne became monotonous43 after the "boilers" had realised some 30s. per head. The Ballarat diggers would have eaten them gaily44 at ￡7 or ￡8 each a year or two after, but we did not forecast that and a few other unimportant changes. After the calves were branded, after the German shepherd had with paternal45 care cured the Silesians of foot-rot—(how different from the demeanour of Australian Corydon puffing46 at his foul47 pipe, and double-blanking the sheep, with everybody connected with the place, from the ration-carrier upwards48, as he pares the offending hoof)—after these, and divers49 other engrossing50 duties, had helped to hurry along the stream of Time, the captain delegated such and the like, permanently51, to Mr. J. R. Nowlan, a gentleman who dwelt hard by, constituting him his managing partner. He then betook himself with his Prince back to Europe, via Panama, a route then coming into fashion with Australian home-returning voyagers. The travellers—including, I think, Messrs. Lang and Winter—had nearly completed their foreign tour in an abrupt52 and melancholy53 fashion. While crossing the Chagres river (I will not certify54 as to the name, but, if doubtful on the point, communicate with Baron55 Lesseps, Captain Mayne Reid, and Mr. Frederick Boyle) their light bark sprang a leak. They were partly canoe-wrecked, and left by their boatman upon a sandbank in the mid-stream of a big, rapid river, swarming56 with alligators57. The river was rising, which tended to limit their period of security. In this strait, a small[Pg 156] dug-out was seen approaching from the farther bank. The Indian paddler explained by pantomime that he could take but two. That was self-evident. One passenger even suggested risk. Then arose a generous contention58. To the Prince was unanimously yielded the pas. The second place the captain was prayed to take. "No," said the gallant veteran; "you fellows have all the world before you. I have had my innings, and a deuced good one too. Moi qui parle! Get in, either of you; I'm dashed if I do." The time was rapidly growing shorter; the sandbank contracting its area. The boatman gesticulated. The alligators, presumably, were expectant. It was no time for overstrained ceremony. One of the squatters stepped in, and the frail60 craft swirled61 into the eddying62 current. It returned in time, and the Greytown Herald63 missed a sensational64 paragraph.
That was in other respects an exciting trip. Mr. Lang found himself, when at Panama, relegated65 to a huge dormitory, crowded like a sixpenny boarding-house. Comforting himself with the reflection that it was but for a night, he invoked66 Somnus, all vainly. The groans67 of a sick man on the next couch forbade repose68. "What's the matter with him?" he inquired at length of his nearest "strange bedfellow." "Only Isthmus69 fever," was the answer. My friend shuddered70, knowing how the railway labourers were even then being decimated.
"And why is the bed between you and me vacant?" he went on to inquire. "They buried a cholera71 patient out of it this morning. You don't happen to have a cigar, do you?"
[Pg 157]
It was too late to retreat. The streets were none too safe. But it may well be believed that the ex-owner of Lyne wished himself back among the blackwood trees, or even in the stock-yard, were the day ever so dusty, and what delicately constituted persons term oppressive. And when the red sun aroused him from the troubled slumber72 which ended the night's unrest, he naturally doubted whether cholera or "the fever" would first lay upon him a fatal grasp.
Mr. Nowlan, an experienced manager, after Captain Carr's departure "worked" Lyne pretty vigorously, selling the original herd as they became fit for market, and putting on store cattle to the full carrying capacity of the run. The gold discovery of course transmuted73 profits magically. At the first onset74 of the revolution, cattle stations reaped most of the benefit, so much less labour being required than on sheep stations. Within a few years not only had large profits been realised for the partnership75, but the value of the property had quintupled. An estate of freehold land had been purchased at Melton, near Melbourne, from the profits of fat stock. A thousand head of cattle more than the station had been purchased with were now depastured. At the post-auriferous prices then obtaining, Lyne, with 3000 head of cattle, was a very different property from that which Captain Carr had originally purchased.
At this stage a plenipotentiary from Captain Carr arrived in the person of Baron von Loesecke, a jolly, blue-eyed, fair-bearded Teuton, who had married his only daughter and heiress. He prudently[Pg 158] concluded to sell. Lyne and the Melton property were accordingly, "on a future day, of which," etc., put up to auction76 by, I think, Messrs. Kaye and Butchart.
The Baron used to remind us at the Melbourne Club a good deal of Monsieur le Comte de Florac, in the character of his sentiments and the quality of his English. He was good-natured, effusive77, polite, though ready to resent any criticism which he did not interpret as friendly. "Do you think he intended himself to be satirical for me?" he once inquired, with earnestness; "if I thought so, I would challenge him on the instant." The challenge did not come off, and it need hardly be said that no offence was intended to a guest and a foreigner. The day of sale came off, and as we walked up from the Club the Baron requested a friend to bid for him the amount of the reserve price, which had been fixed, I think, at ￡6 or ￡5 : 15s. per head. The run was, if anything, overstocked. As a number of stores had been recently put on, it was thought a fair price. Whatever it was, owing to a misconception, he went ￡500 higher than he had been instructed to do. The bidding was not very brisk towards the end, the sale trembled on the balance for a minute or two, then the purchaser came forward and made a further advance. The station was knocked down to him. The Baron rushed up to his friend and shook his hand enthusiastically; "You have made for me ￡500," he said, "but I did hold my breath till the next offaire arrive." Mr. Nowlan, as well as the captain, his heirs and assigns, must have realised handsomely from the[Pg 159] proceeds of Lyne. Purchased for less than ￡4000, it fetched nearly ￡20,000, not reckoning intervening profits and the Melton freehold. It afforded one more illustration of the strangely-assorted luck which apparently besets78 colonial investments, the occasional success of outsiders, not less than the hard measure too often dealt out to pioneers.
I am not aware whether the last purchaser of Lyne found the scale of profits perennial79. I doubt it, inasmuch as Duffy's Act followed, bringing darker days for the squatter59. Fortune did not favour the original owners either. Cheery and full of pluck to the last, George Elms sailed for Fiji, as after an interval80 did his old comrade Lang—pleasant, ever-courteous "Allan-a-Dale." It was the fashionable "rush" for a while. They lie at rest under the whispering palm. Perhaps, ere the last slumber, the murmur81 of the surges had lulled82 to sleep all bitter memories of the wild southland in which their early manhood was passed.
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1
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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2
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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3
specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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4
condemning
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| v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地 | |
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accede
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| v.应允，同意 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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writ
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| n.命令状，书面命令 | |
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ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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votary
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| n.崇拜者；爱好者；adj.誓约的，立誓任圣职的 | |
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10
conscientious
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| adj.审慎正直的，认真的，本着良心的 | |
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11
discrepancies
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| n.差异，不符合（之处），不一致（之处）( discrepancy的名词复数 ) | |
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12
consulship
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| 领事的职位或任期 | |
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13
rippled
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| 使泛起涟漪（ripple的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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14
doffed
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| v.脱去，（尤指）脱帽( doff的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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15
refreshingly
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| adv.清爽地，有精神地 | |
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16
drowsiness
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| n.睡意；嗜睡 | |
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17
inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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18
creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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19
onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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21
imprisoned
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| 下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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22
herd
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| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
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23
torment
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| n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠 | |
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24
eastward
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| adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部 | |
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25
arduous
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| adj.艰苦的，费力的，陡峭的 | |
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26
laborious
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| adj.吃力的，努力的，不流畅 | |
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27
calves
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| n.(calf的复数)笨拙的男子，腓；腿肚子( calf的名词复数 )；牛犊；腓；小腿肚v.生小牛( calve的第三人称单数 )；（冰川）崩解；生（小牛等），产（犊）；使（冰川）崩解 | |
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28
liberated
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| a.无拘束的，放纵的 | |
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29
boilers
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| 锅炉，烧水器，水壶( boiler的名词复数 ) | |
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30
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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31
doze
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| v.打瞌睡；n.打盹，假寐 | |
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32
fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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33
racing
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| n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的 | |
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34
gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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35
exalted
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| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
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36
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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37
providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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38
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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39
sylvan
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| adj.森林的 | |
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40
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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41
mercurial
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| adj.善变的，活泼的 | |
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42
provincial
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| adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人 | |
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43
monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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44
gaily
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| adv.欢乐地，高兴地 | |
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45
paternal
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| adj.父亲的，像父亲的，父系的，父方的 | |
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46
puffing
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| v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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47
foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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48
upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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49
divers
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| adj.不同的；种种的 | |
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50
engrossing
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| adj.使人全神贯注的，引人入胜的v.使全神贯注( engross的现在分词 ) | |
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51
permanently
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| adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地 | |
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52
abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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53
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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54
certify
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| vt.证明，证实；发证书(或执照)给 | |
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55
baron
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| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
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56
swarming
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| 密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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57
alligators
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| n.短吻鳄( alligator的名词复数 ) | |
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58
contention
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| n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张 | |
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59
squatter
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| n.擅自占地者 | |
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60
frail
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| adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的 | |
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61
swirled
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| v.旋转，打旋( swirl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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62
eddying
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| 涡流，涡流的形成 | |
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63
herald
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| vt.预示...的来临，预告，宣布，欢迎 | |
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64
sensational
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| adj.使人感动的，非常好的，轰动的，耸人听闻的 | |
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65
relegated
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| v.使降级( relegate的过去式和过去分词 )；使降职；转移；把…归类 | |
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66
invoked
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| v.援引( invoke的过去式和过去分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求 | |
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67
groans
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| n.呻吟，叹息( groan的名词复数 )；呻吟般的声音v.呻吟( groan的第三人称单数 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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68
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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69
isthmus
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| n.地峡 | |
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70
shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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71
cholera
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| n.霍乱 | |
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72
slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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73
transmuted
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| v.使变形，使变质，把…变成…( transmute的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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74
onset
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| n.进攻，袭击，开始，突然开始 | |
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75
partnership
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| n.合作关系，伙伴关系 | |
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76
auction
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| n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖 | |
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77
effusive
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| adj.热情洋溢的；感情(过多)流露的 | |
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78
besets
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| v.困扰( beset的第三人称单数 )；不断围攻；镶；嵌 | |
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79
perennial
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| adj.终年的；长久的 | |
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interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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81
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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82
lulled
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| vt.使镇静，使安静（lull的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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