After the Canoona rush in 1858 and 1859, the tide of pastoral run hunting set in; the route northwards followed by stock going out to occupy new country led by Princhester and through Marlborough. Here the route turned off westwards towards the Peak Downs, and extended still further to the interior where the Barcoo, Thomson, and Alice Rivers flowed into a mysterious land. The northern road led on to Broad Sound, where Connor’s Range had to be passed; this spur of the main coast range comes close in to the coast. Overlanders could not avoid crossing it, and this was an undertaking. It was reckoned to be two miles from the first rise to the summit, and to get drays and stock across sometimes took several days, as they had to unload some of their goods at the steep pinches and return empty for the balance of the loading. The road was in a state of nature, and wound round gullies and sidings through the forest trees that grew on the steep sides of the mountain; many a curse was wasted on its stony, dusty inclines ere the long looked for summit was reached. After crossing the range, the first settlement in those early days, about 1860, was Lotus Creek station. From Lotus Creek the road led on to Fort Cooper station, considered one of the best coast stations then discovered. As early as 1863, Nebo Creek, west of Mackay, was made a recruiting centre, where stores could be obtained from a firm named Kemmis and Bovey. Passing along Funnel Creek, still going northwards, the head of the Bowen River was reached.

The Bowen River country was soon occupied with runs and stock from the south, passing along the coast route that led by Rockhampton, Marlborough, and Nebo. The roads were lined with flocks and herds of those entering on the pioneering work of the North of Queensland, and business men were following in the wake of the early stock settlers to commence a trade wherever an opportunity offered. The settlement was bona fide and genuine; men with means, energy and experience were entering on it with great enthusiasm and high hopes of the future of the new country. The wave of occupation passed on to the Burdekin River, causing a great demand for sheep and cattle for the purpose of stocking new country in the north and west. The requirements of this great augmentation of the stock northwards led to the opening of Bowen or Port Denison as a port of shipment for supplies. The discovery and opening of Port Denison will be treated of elsewhere; its opening to commerce was a boon to those who were occupying the country immediately at the rear of the port. Many overlanders took advantage of the port by shearing or lambing their sheep wherever a chance offered, and after obtaining supplies for the road, were prepared to extend their search for new country still further away. The Bowen River country is very interesting and its scenery most picturesque; it has first-class grazing qualities, small open plains, with patches of brigalow scrub scattered over black-soil country. Sandstone ranges bound the creeks on the coast side, whence they come down to the main stream. The river is a fine stream, with long and deep reaches, in which are found alligators of large size that have come up from the Burdekin River. Among the early settlers to take up country was Mr. J. G. Macdonald, afterwards an early pioneer in the Gulf country, though not a resident there. He took up, in conjunction with others, a large area of country in the Bowen district, afterwards known as Dalrymple, Inkermann, Strathbogie, and Ravenswood. His residence at Adelaide Point was at one period the show place of the North, where Mrs. Macdonald (after whom Adelaide Point was named) dispensed hospitality with a kindly grace which won all hearts. Of all this, nothing now remains but a memory. The house is gone; Mr. Macdonald is dead, and the family dispersed. Carpentaria Downs was also taken up by J. G. Macdonald, on the head of the Einasleigh River, for a long time the outside settlement.

One of the early sheep stations held by Mr. Henning was located on the Bowen River, while lower down a fine piece of country called Havilah was held with sheep by Hillfling and Petersen—this was before 1862. Other stations occupied somewhere about this time, or even earlier, were Strathmore and Sonoma, held by Sellheim and Touissaint, with stock from Canning Downs. These stations were a stage still further north, the surrounding country being fine open forest land, very well grassed and watered. These runs were the first taken up in the pastoral district called Kennedy.

The main stock route northward followed the Bowen River settlements crossing Pelican Creek, a tributary of the Bowen, through Sonoma run, then to the Bogie, and across to the Burdekin River, following up that stream to the Clarke and Lynd Rivers. Knowledge of a great pastoral country away to the shores of the Gulf and extending far up the Burdekin River was in the possession of many pioneer explorers whose names are unrecorded, and the tide of advancing settlement followed on as fast as was possible, stations being formed to the right and left of the main routes, while others moved forward with a restless energy that nothing would satisfy but the best country for their stock. One route turned on the Bowen River to the west, and crossed the Suttor River above Mount McConnel near the junction of the Cape River that came in from the westward. This stock track soon became a main road owing to the traffic which was carried on from the newly-opened port of Bowen or Port Denison to the western settlements, even to Bowen Downs station. The road led across the Leichhardt Range—another heavy piece for teams, equal to Connor’s Range, the sharp stones laming the bullocks, and making the ascent a trial of patience and endurance to man and beast. A station called Natal Downs was held by Kellet and Spry on the Cape River, and by this route a great many of the early settlers in the far west travelled their stock during 1864-65. The blacks were aggressive in those days on Natal Downs, and were in the habit of cutting off the shepherds at outstations; it was reported and believed that as many as eighteen shepherds were killed at various outstations in the first few years of settlement there.

Onward and westward went the movement of stock. The principal topic of conversation turned always upon new country, the latest discoveries of good grazing lands, and the men who were following with sheep and cattle. The way out west in those first days led up the Cape River through poor country, with a good deal of spinifex grass and patches of poison bush. On the flat tableland dividing the Gulf waters from those flowing towards the Thomson, were a series of large shallow swamps, known as Billy Webb’s Lake, a kind of halting place for stock. Between this and the Flinders waters lies a tract of country nearly two hundred miles in width, called the Desert—and the name is a well-deserved one. The Desert consists of spinifex ridges and sandy sterile country, covered in large patches with the desert poison shrub botanically known as “Gastrolobium grandiflora.” This dangerous plant grows to a height of six to eight feet in separate bushes, and exhibits a bluish-silvery sheen conspicuous afar off. It bears a scarlet blossom like a vetch, and the leaf is indented at the outer end. Its poisonous nature was soon proved by the first stock that attempted the passage. Many of the early drovers lost large numbers of both cattle and sheep from its deadly effects. In one camp, Halloran’s and Alexander’s, as many as 1,500 sheep died in one night from eating it. All the stock passing through this belt of desert country paid some tribute to its evil properties. This poison plant is peculiar to the strip of desert country that extends along the dividing watershed for many hundreds of miles, from the Alice River reaching north as far as the Lynd.

The symptoms of poisoning from this plant are a kind of madness, causing animals to rush about furiously, and then, becoming paralysed, to fall helpless to the ground, and soon expire. There are but one or two varieties of the plant in Queensland, though in Western Australia twelve or fourteen varieties of Gastrolobium are found.

Besides the destructive poison plant, there is the evil-smelling repellant spinifex growing through this strip of vile country, as well as a low, close scrub, through all of which stock has to be got before the open plain country is reached. A great scarcity of surface water, and low stony ridges with heavy patches of red sand, are characteristic of poison country. Glad indeed were the pioneers to leave it behind, and with great satisfaction to stand on the rocky eminence that bounded it on the western side, whence they looked down the open valley of the Jardine, and beheld the downs and the grassy plains of the Flinders spreading out before them for many miles. The sight came as a surprise and relief after so much disagreeable travelling through the worst portion of North Queensland, especially should a thunderstorm have passed over the country recently and caused a spring in the herbage. The Flinders River flowing to the west and north-west towards the Gulf of Carpentaria, through most extensive plains and downs, traverses a different geological formation to that which the pioneers crossed when coming from the east coast. The edge of the great cretaceous formation which forms the major portion of the western country, is here entered on for the first time, and a new strange world seems to open up. A new fauna and flora is evident on the very first entrance into the new region; the birds are different and more numerous; galas, parrots, and pigeons abound, and assure the newcomer that he has found a new pastoral country, the grasses and herbage of which are more permanent, enduring and nutritive than those he has hitherto met with. The downs, covered with the Mitchell grass, with scarcely a bush or shrub to break the monotony, stretch away as far as the eye can see; while the heavy timber along the creeks and rivers indicates their course. A dreary monotony prevails on the western rivers, the same everlasting plains, the same great grassy waste of downs like an ocean without its interesting motion. Far ahead can be seen the river timber winding through the brown plains, so that the traveller can see a whole day’s stage ahead. For over a hundred of miles along the north-eastern, or right bank of the Flinders River, is a tableland of basaltic formation, near which the river winds its course; a dark fringe of rocks rises abruptly, broken here and there by indentations through which flow creeks to join the main channel. The cone of eruption for this vast overflow of lava is said to be somewhere about Mount Sturgeon, to the eastward. The lava has flowed over the original sandstone formation, and formed a level tableland now broken and covered with black, porous blocks of lava of every size. It is utilised for pasture purposes, notwithstanding its forbidding aspect.

Some time after Rule and Lacy stocked the Aramac, Mr. Hodgson arrived on it with sheep and took up and stocked Rodney Downs; he crossed the spinifex country from the Belyando to the Alice River, and lost about six thousand sheep on this track by poison bush, the Gastrolobium grandiflora. Mr. Meredith arrived in May of the same year on the Thomson, and took up and stocked Tower Hill station. During June of this year the Thomson and Aramac Creek were in high flood; Rule and Lacy were flooded out of their first camp, and removed to where Aramac station now is. Some stockmen looking after the company’s cattle on an anabranch of Cornish Creek, were surrounded by water, and lived on jerked beef for a month. About July the head station was shifted up to Cornish Creek, taking the name of Bowen Downs with it, which name it has since retained. In 1872 the cattle station was formed into a separate establishment under the management of Mr. E. R. Edkins, who called it Mount Cornish, in honor of the late E. B. Cornish, of Sydney. This year wound up with a wet Christmas. Wages in those days were very high, stockmen getting as much as 40s. a week, and cooks 30s.; any old horse would bring £25. The year 1864 may be styled the year of Hegira or flight of stock outwards to settle new country; they came from all parts, and helped to fill the land everywhere with the beginning of civilisation. A boom had set in for pastoral occupation; the reports of recent explorations told of enormous tracts of grand open country waiting for stock to utilise it, and each one was anxious to be the first to secure some of it for his sheep or cattle. The head of the Flinders River was occupied by a few settlers, and two lots of sheep passed Bowen Downs, en route to the Flinders. They belonged to Kirk and Sutherland, and Mr. J. L. Ranken, and came from Fort Cooper way, losing heavily in crossing the range between Bully Creek and Lake Buchanan, between eight and ten thousand sheep perishing through eating the desert poison bush. They discovered what was the cause of such losses by feeding some sheep on the suspected plant when they died with all the symptoms of the victims in the desert track. The first white man known to have been killed by the blacks on the Thomson was one of the shepherds with Kirk and Sutherland’s sheep. He was killed on Duck Pond Creek, a tributary of Cornish Creek. After he was buried, the blacks dug the body up at night and drove a stake through it, pinning it to the ground. Kirk and Sutherland must have reached the Flinders about April, and then occupied and stocked Marathon. Mr. J. L. Ranken occupied Afton Downs, but was dried out the following year, and he lost a number of his sheep in consequence of having to remove them lower down the Flinders. In March of this year Mr. Meredith, of Tower Hill, formed a station on the east side of Landsborough Creek, naming it Eversleigh, and stocked it with cattle. In March also Bowen Downs sent cattle up the Landsborough for the purpose of stocking the west side of the creek. The men with the cattle had a very rough trip, as there was incessant rain, and the country became one vast quagmire; all their rations and ammunition were spoilt, and they had to live on young calf, “staggering bob,” as they called it. Mr. E. H. Butler was in charge, and after leaving the cattle, started for home at the Mud Hut, when a thunderstorm occurred that put out their fire and wet all their matches. The river branches were flooded, and during the next two days they had nothing to eat, and no fire, and were drenched to the skin by thunderstorms; their pack-horse with all their blankets had knocked up, and they passed the night without sleep, being wet and cold and hungry; next morning they had to swim the main branch of the river, and then walk four miles to the station, leaving behind one of their mates knocked up on an island in the river. About September of this year (1864), Bowen Downs despatched about fifteen hundred head of cattle in charge of Mr. Donald McGlashen to the Gulf of Carpentaria for the purpose of taking up country and stocking it. These cattle travelled up the Landsborough, crossed the watershed on to Walker’s Creek, followed it down to the Flinders, and down that river to the turn off to Sackey’s Lagoon, and down the Alexandra to the Leichhardt, then across by Miller’s Waterhole to Beame’s Brook, where the first station was formed called the Brook, about sixteen miles above where Burketown now stands; they arrived there before the end of 1864, and were the first stock to occupy the Gulf country. When Mr. Landsborough left the Albert River on his trip in search of Burke and Wills, he left a four hundred gallon tank there with a lot of rations in it for the use of any distressed explorers or others, and fastened the lid in such a way that he thought the blacks would be unable to open it; but when Mr. McGlashen found the tank, he discovered that the blacks had solved the problem, and the rations were not there. When they were mustering these cattle before starting, the boss, Mr. A. Scott Holmes, riding along with a stockman, met a blackfellow whose gin had two half-caste children with her, aged about nine and seven years; the blackfellow evidently wanted them to see the children, as he kept pointing to them. Some years after this it was reported that two half-castes were with the blacks out to the west of the Thomson, but nothing more was heard of them.

It was during this year of 1864 that the first settlers found their way to the Barcoo, although the fame of its pastures had been known years before from the reports of Sir Thomas Mitchell and others explorers. Among the first to settle there was J. T. Allen, who took up Enniskillen in 1862, and who still resides there. Bell and Dutton took up Tambo station, close to where the township of the same name sprang up afterwards. Govett and Parsons took up Terrick, and Yaldwyn occupied Ravensbourne, while Moor and Reid held Moorsland, now called Lorne. Henry Edwards, from the Burnett, took up Malvern, which was sold the same year to the Ellis Bros., who then occupied Portland.

In 1865, C. Lumley Hill, with Allen and Holberton, took up Isis Downs. Then a pause ensued in occupying new runs, and progress was checked; but after the passing of the Pastoral Leases Act of 1869, which gave greater facilities for the occupation of new country, and more liberal terms, many runs were occupied; among them, Mr. Hill held Westlands. A. B. Buchanan took up Wellshot, while Welford took up Welford Downs, and was killed by the blacks in 1872. Among the runs opened in those days were Tocal, Bimerah, Mount Marlow, and Louisa Downs. The stock to occupy all these runs in those early days mainly came from the Darling Downs and Burnett, as in the first days of the Queensland Parliament an Act was passed excluding New South Wales stock. Mr. Hill, in 1874, sold Isis Downs, which was divided into three runs called Albilbah, Ruthven, and Isis Downs. A great deal of the western plain country was occupied during the years between 1865 and 1870, and a great deal of interest and energy was exhibited in taking up and selling large blocks of fine pastoral country. Sheep for stocking country rose to high prices, but when the crisis occurred, there was a collapse in values, and many abandoned a good deal of the country and disappeared from the scene.

Berkelman and Lambert discovered and settled Elizabeth Creek and Listowel Downs. Mr. H. E. King was the first Land Commissioner, and superintended the laying out of Tambo, the first town on the Barcoo. The price of carriage for supplies in those day was £46 per ton. Cameron and Crombie took up Barcaldine in 1864 with sheep from New England, and, in conjunction with Mr. Allen, they also took up Home Creek, Enniskillen, Minnie Downs, Vergemont, and Evesham. They brought their stock by the Burnett, the Dawson, and Springsure, over the Expedition Range. There was the usual trouble with the blacks after settling down. The natives killed the shepherds and robbed the huts of rations and cooking utensils that were very difficult to replace in those days. The Peak Downs was first reported on by Dr. Leichhardt, but many years elapsed before occupation set in. Among those who were prominent in the opening up and early settlement of the fine tableland of Peak Downs, with its rich soil, were De Satge and Milford, of Wolfang; Mackay, of Huntley; Gordon Sandeman, of Gordon Downs; Hood, of Hood and Manning; and Lamb and Black, of Yamala.

As the character of the new country became known, many other runs near Hughenden were occupied by overlanders struggling along with stock, among them was Fairlight, on the basalt ridge, held with sheep by Henry Betts. Afton Downs, as has already been mentioned, was taken up with sheep by Mr. Ranken, who deserted it later with a considerable loss of stock owing to drought. Kirk and Sutherland, who had come from Suttor Creek with sheep in 1863 were also dried out from Marathon, and suffered great losses. Both of these runs now possess flowing streams in every direction, formed by artesian bores. Notable among the early settlers was the family of the Annings, father and sons, from Victoria. They held Reedy Springs, on the head waters of the Flinders, Charlotte Plains, and several other stations formed by their enterprise; the sons still occupy the same country, and have grown gray in pioneering. Another Victorian firm, Muirson, Jamieson and Thompson, occupied Mount Emu with sheep in 1862, after much travelling about in search of suitable country. Mrs. Thompson, with a young family, accompanied her husband in those early pioneering days of roughness and privation, and lived at Mount Emu for many years, where her large family grew up, and her sons are now occupying runs throughout the district. The hospitality of Mount Emu was proverbial, and the refinement that prevailed in all the arrangements at the head station gave additional value to the welcome that was extended to all travellers. On the Burdekin country, the family of the Hanns, father and sons, possessed themselves of Maryvale, a splendid piece of country.

The farthest outstation north in 1860-61 was that of W. Stenhouse, on the Clarke, a tributary of the Burdekin. Seventy miles nearer Bowen, was the station of Allingham Bros., and thirty-five miles still nearer port were located the Messrs Cunningham. Ernest Henry very early took up Mount McConnel, at the junction of the Suttor and Selheim Rivers; this is one of the old landmarks of Leichhardt when on his trip to Port Essington in 1844-45. Stock were taken there from Baroondah, on the Dawson, in 1860; and later on Hughenden station was settled with stock taken from Mount McConnel. Hughenden is situated at the beginning of the open plain country on the Flinders; it was one of the first stations settled there in 1864. The present head station is on the exact spot taken up so long ago, but is somewhat different in style to the original slab hut on the ridge in which Mr. R. R. Morrissett and his hutkeeper, old Jack Ryan, dwelt in 1864, when water for the use of the head station was drawn from the junction of the creek with the river, that being the only surface water within miles. Mr. Ernest Henry, a most energetic and indefatigable pioneer carried on a good deal of prospecting on the Cloncurry, and was the earliest discoverer of the mineral wealth of the district. A company was formed in 1868 to work the copper lodes discovered by Mr. Henry, but after expending large sums of money on smelting works, etc., they were obliged to cease operations on account of the expense of carriage and the low price of copper. H. Devilin was one of the most active and venturesome pioneers in discovering and making known to others the country on the Flinders. He opened the way for several stockowners in that extensive district, though he himself does not appear to have had much personal interest in any of the speculations.

In opening up the highway through the head of the Flinders to the far west, these pioneers were the forerunners of the great wave of settlement that followed on immediately afterwards, notwithstanding the deterrent features of the desert and the poison bush, through which they had to pass with their stock. Up to 1864 the runs that had been stocked on the Upper Flinders downs were Fairlight, by Betts and Oxley with sheep, and Telemon station by Collins and Walpole. This last property is now owned by J. L. Currie, of Melbourne, is mostly freehold, and with the discovery of artesian water, and the introduction of fine wooled sheep, has become a most valuable estate. It consists of open rolling downs, with patches of gidya, a species of acacia. Marathon, on the Upper Flinders, was taken up by R. H. Sheaffe, who for five years represented the Burke district in the Legislative Assembly. The run was sold by him to Kirk and Sutherland, who were in search of grass for their sheep. Marathon is now owned by a Melbourne firm, and by means of artesian wells, carries 200,000 sheep. After being dried out from Afton Downs, John Ranken, a member of a very old colonial family in New South Wales, eventually found his way to Barkly Tableland, where he settled for a time. Afton Downs is situated on Walker’s Creek, a tributary of the Flinders on the western side, and is of the usual open rolling downs formation. All these runs, as previously mentioned, were occupied before the discovery of artesian springs, and therefore subject to being periodically dried out. At the present day, with judicious expenditure on artesian wells, and other improvements, this run annually shears close on 100,000 sheep. Following down the Flinders through the great plain country, the next station occupied was Richmond Downs, where a struggling township named Richmond now stands; this was held in 1864 by Bundock and Hays, with cattle from the Clarence River, in New South Wales. They lost many on their way out by pleuro-pneumonia and the desert poison bush already described. Opposite to Richmond Downs, across the Flinders River, Kennedy and Macdonald took up about the same time a run which they called Cambridge Downs, now a large sheep station. All these runs on the Upper Flinders were first settled in 1864, and formed an outpost of settlement by which other pioneers directed their course lower down the river. During 1865 and the following year, another wave of occupation flowed on past these outside stations, and the new pioneers finding country further on, became in their turn a starting point for others, and still the tide flowed outwards and westwards till all available country was taken up. Those who came out during 1864 and 1865 had a serious difficulty to contend with in facing a drier season than has since been experienced up to 1897. The pioneers with their stock were compelled to follow the course of the river, as it was almost certain death to go far to the west looking for water or country. All the tributary creeks of the Flinders were dry, and those who ventured out had soon to return to the main watercourse. The native dogs crowded in on the Flinders in thousands, and the blacks themselves had also to resort to it. During that trying season, none of the rivers ran in their channels, and even most of the large waterholes in the bed of the Flinders dried up, while stages of thirty or forty miles without water were frequent. Notwithstanding these drawbacks to stockowners who were on the search for some unfrequented nook to unharness on, the crowd pressed on in the hope of better country ahead, some Canaan far beyond, where hills were always green and water abundant. These men followed each other in quick succession and took up runs on the Lower Flinders and all over the Gulf country, wherever water could be found.

This settlement, carried out in those early years, was most extensive and comprehensive, and during the time the western country was being sought out and utilised the Burdekin was being stocked in every part. One of the pioneers was Mr. Robert Stewart, of Southwick station, on Fletcher’s Creek, a stream of pure, clear water, flowing from the great basaltic wall into the Burdekin. Reedy Lake station was stocked with sheep by O’Reilly and Reeve, near Dalrymple, where the main route from Bowen to the Gulf crossed the Burdekin River. Many other runs were taken up on the Burdekin and towards the coast, and many soon changed hands, the first settlers passing on to occupy country in the interior. Several of these first-comers took up coast runs and stocked them with sheep, believing they would thrive there. This was found to be a mistake, and from Wide Bay to the north scarcely any sheep are now to be met with on coastal runs. For a few years in some places they did well enough, but they soon began to die from fluke, worms, and grass seeds, and they were accordingly replaced by cattle. The sheep on being removed to western pastures throve well, and soon recovered health. The seeds of the spear grass (Andropogon contortus) were a terrible scourge—they are finely barbed and intensely sharp and hard; once entered they pass right through the skin of the sheep, even into the flesh, causing great annoyance and leading to poverty and death. The soil in which this grass thrives best is in the sandy strips along the banks of creeks. After seeding, the heads bunch together, in tangled masses, and shower the seeds on to sheep passing through. It is of use as a fodder grass only when young and green, although cattle thrive fairly well upon it, and its presence in any quantity at once determines whether the pasturage is favourable to sheep or not. The cattle that were brought from Bowen Downs to stock the runs taken up on the Gulf, were brought to their northern starting point from Fort Cooper and further south during 1860 by N. Buchanan and W. Landsborough, who were both very active and enterprising in opening up new country. This splendid property (Bowen Downs) was settled by the Landsborough River Company, held in shares by Messrs. N. Buchanan, W. Landsborough, Cornish, and W. Glen Walker, with Messrs. Morehead and Young, of Sydney. The first four went out of the company shortly afterwards, and Mr. Cornish, after visiting the Gulf country, fell a victim to maladies contracted during the journey. Mount Cornish was known in the early days as the Mud Hut. Mr. E. R. Edkins, who has now been the manager for many years, was among the very early drovers of stock to the Gulf. He left the Murray in 1861, and started from the Gil-gil in January, 1862, passed Rockhampton, took in charge Mr. R. Stewart’s cattle, and brought them to Fletcher’s Creek, now Southwick, on the Lower Burdekin, and reached Maryvale in September of that year. He then returned to the Murray, and brought out another lot of cattle, passing Bowen in April, 1864. Here the cattle were placed in quarantine. After being inoculated for pleuro, they travelled on to Mount Emu, in September, 1864. James Gibson also took up a run on Junction Creek, also Wanda Vale and Cargoon stations.

Among the settlers who were first in the new country on the Flinders were Messrs. Little and Hetzer, who took up a run called Uralla, near the junction of the Saxby and Flinders Rivers. Their stock consisting of cattle and sheep came by Bowen Downs to the head of the Flinders, and then followed the usual route. The blacks made some trouble at the station and several lives were sacrificed. Others of the pioneers to try their fortune in the general rush for new country were the Earle Brothers, who had a station near Bowen; one of them, Mr. Thomas Earle, took up country on Spear Creek, the head of the Norman River, in 1865, and called the station Iffley. The season was so uncommonly dry, that permanent water was the chief attraction, and the splendid waterhole at Iffley, more than two miles long, and very deep, decided the Earles to fix themselves there with their cattle and drays. There was at the time a vast extent of country open for settlement; the terms were fairly liberal, and the prospects good for those in search of new runs. The settlers were like a great advancing army, confident in their numbers and strength; and so they advanced into the unknown land, and left the rest to fortune. They came from all the settled parts of Australia; that was what induced Mr. H. F. Smith, of Barnes and Smith, to bring cattle from Lyndhurst and take up a run on the Lower Flinders, called Tempe Downs, on L Creek, so called from a tree marked L, one of Leichhardt’s marked trees when on his expedition to Port Essington, 1844-5. In 1865 James Kennedy took stock from Cambridge Downs, and held a fine run on the Upper Leichhardt River, calling it Pentland Downs. In the same year, James Cassidy occupied country lower down on the same river with sheep. One of the pioneers who went through much personal privation and hardship in the general forward march to discover new country, was Mr. Reginald Halloran, associated with his brother-in-law, Mr. Robert Alexander, of Proston, on the Burnett. They suffered heavy losses among the sheep while going through the desert, from the poison plant, and also from want of water. With the party was a young fellow named Briggs, who was killed by the blacks on Skeleton Creek before reaching Hughenden while a detachment of the party was camped there. The remnant of the stock that survived the trip were placed on a piece of country on the Lower Flinders, which they named Home Creek, but which was soon deserted by this firm, though held as a station years afterwards. Mr. Halloran was a man conspicuous for his utter disregard of personal comfort; he would start on a ride of a hundred miles without rations or blanket, trusting to the chapter of accidents for food, and to his saddle cloth for covering for the night, and he was always welcome at any camp owing to his geniality and fund of humour. The young fellow, Briggs, who met with an untimely death, had arrived at the advance camp only the night before for rations, and while alone in the tent next morning, the other man being absent horse-hunting, a party of blacks visited the camp. The white man showed fight, breaking a gun over the head of one of the blacks, but was soon killed, and when the horse-hunter returned, he found Briggs dead and the camp looted.

A place called Sorghum Downs, on the Lower Cloncurry, now part of Conobie, was claimed by an old colonist and pioneer named Murdoch Campbell; he and his wife (a Devonshire woman), had camped on the Bowen River in 1863, but it was a long time before they found their way out so far west. Mrs. Campbell’s hospitality and kindness to all travellers was one of the pleasant remembrances of those early hard times. Campbell died in 1867, and Mrs. Campbell ultimately went to New Zealand, where she had friends. A small firm of two men, Anderson and Trimble, successful diggers from the Snowy River, in New South Wales, joined the rest of the pushing crowd, and held a good run on the Saxby River with sheep.

Still the tide of occupation flowed on, and when all the available watered runs around the Gulf were occupied in 1865 and the following year, those remaining unsatisfied, marched on, restless as the surges that beat on the shore. Several of those in charge of stock travelled up the Gregory River southwards, and out far away on to Barkly Tableland, discovered by Mr. W. Landsborough. These were among the first to make known the capabilities of this splendid district. The Stieglitz Brothers held country far away to the south on the Herbert River, called now the Georgina, having passed through all the Flinders and Gulf country unrewarded.

Gregg and Nash, with sheep for the Messrs. J. and E. Brown, of Newcastle, followed on the far-away track to the inland Never-Never, Mrs. Gregg and her daughter accompanying the party in all their wanderings. The attention and hospitality of this lady to all travellers was as conspicuous as it was highly prized, and it will not be easily forgotten. Several other pioneers occupied runs on the Barkly tablelands, which was recognised as some of the finest pastoral land in Queensland. In after years, when this country came to be restocked by a new generation from the south, after being deserted and forsaken by the original pioneers, the new settlers were surprised to find evidences of a previous occupation. Where the early settlers had come from, where they had gone to, and who they were, were matters of curiosity; sheets of galvanised iron they well knew did not grow like the gidya trees, neither were old sheepyards (built of basaltic stones) the work of blacks. But who those early pioneers were, and what their fate, was utterly unknown, and caused much speculation.

All the country bordering on the Gulf suitable for grazing purposes was portioned out and occupied between the years 1864 and 1868. Though in most cases the number of stock on each run was small, the runs were numerous, and most of the owners were resident. It was recognised that a great future was in store for this vast new territory just opening up to enterprise and capital. The Plains of Promise, named by one of the early navigators (Captain Stokes, of the “Beagle,” in 1842), had been much talked of for years, but when they were stocked, the distant fields lost much of their interest. The fine rivers flowing into the Gulf of Carpentaria, through hundreds of miles of open plains and rolling downs, covered with permanent and valuable pasturage, gave to the early settlers good reasons for believing they were the pioneers in opening up a grand and wealth-producing territory.

Stations were formed, stock brought out, improvements made, and the way opened for permanent occupation. The high hopes entertained seemed likely to be realised, until a change came over the aspect of things—a change brought about by influences far removed from the local scene, and in which the settlers had no voice—a change in which no amount of energy or sacrifice on their part could avail aught. The days of commercial panic set in, culminating in the crisis of 1868-69, the march of settlement was instantly checked, and the outward flow of civilisation turned backwards. The financial crisis was felt all over the mercantile world; banks of old standing collapsed, and low prices for wool and stock, and all station produce, brought the pastoral industry to a low ebb.

In consequence of these monetary disturbances, agents declined to find money to carry on places so far distant as the Gulf stations—even the little required for current expenses. All credit was stopped, and supplies also, and as the newly-formed stations could not be made self-supporting in the absence of local markets, the stock had to be abandoned or removed. The tide began to ebb at a greater rate than it had risen; some of the stock were sent south, while the rest were boiled down, scarcely clearing expenses in either case; the improvements were abandoned as well as the runs. The sheep came in from Barkly Tableland, the Gregory, and the Leichhardt, and by the year 1871, there were but few runs occupied. The great flood of 1869-70 helped to fill the cup of misfortune for the Gulf residents; no such flood was ever dreamt of, or has ever been seen since; it rained all January, February, and most of March, and the rivers covered all the plain country, though the loss of stock was small. A few runs on the Flinders and Cloncurry were still kept in occupation, but they were not many, and these only struggled along, hoping for better times. No value was attached to runs or stock in any of the Gulf country then, as runs could be obtained much nearer settlement for next to nothing, many being thrown up through the general depression. It seemed as if the bottom had fallen out of the pastoral industry, and hope had gone, but relief came sooner than was expected. The Etheridge goldfield was opened, and served to employ a good deal of the floating population. This field is situated to the east of Normanton on the Delany and Etheridge Rivers, about 250 miles towards the east coast. The discovery of auriferous reefs there, as well as some alluvial gold, helped to keep trade alive, until the discovery of the rich fields on the Palmer in 1873, when a great demand set in for cattle. The financial depression lifted, the price of wool went up 100 per cent., and a demand again arose for runs to stock; the old ones were all taken up, new country was applied for, and the voice of the man with money was heard again in the land. In the years following, up to 1884, much speculation was carried on in buying and selling runs and stock, and country for occupation was as eagerly sought after as in the early days.

Advantage was taken of the liberal provisions of the Pastoral Leases Act of 1869, to take up unoccupied country, even if it was dry. Cattle were selling on the Palmer diggings at £10 and £12 a head cash, and the supply of bullocks was not equal to the demand, because the runs had been so thinned by the exodus of stock south to clear expenses, that no surplus was available to meet such a sudden demand as that caused by the arrival of 20,000 diggers in the north. Then the tide flowed again, and became the flood that helped to fill the country with work and life. Cattle came out in large numbers, and passed on to occupy country in the northern territory of South Australia, and even in Western Australia. As many as 30,000 head passed over the border in one year at Burketown, for the purpose of stocking country around Port Darwin.

For several years travelling stock went out to the far north-west, and all had to pass through the Gulf country. The route followed from the borders of Queensland was by the track that Leichhardt took on his journey to Port Essington, between the tableland and salt water, crossing the Macarthur, Roper, Calvert, and other rivers. Stations were occupied on the Orde and Victoria Rivers on the Cambridge Gulf side with stock from North Queensland. In those districts some very fine open downs country had recently been discovered. Fisher and Lyons had 20,000 head of cattle sent out to their country in the north-west. Osman and Panton also had large numbers of cattle from Queensland. Dr. Brown is reported to have expended £100,000 is sending sheep and cattle from the Adelaide side to the northern territory. The stocking of this far away country was extremely expensive owing to the distance the cattle had to travel, and the unusually high percentage of losses on the way. Some of the stock were two years on the road, and a new disease called red water attacked them when passing the Roper River. This disease is supposed to be due to cattle ticks (Ixodes Bovis), and has since carried disaster into many herds in Queensland. The average cost of some of the cattle when arrived on their country was equal to £7 a head, in consequence of losses and expenses. The Gordon Brothers were among the early drovers to take stock over the borders to West Australia, and they made several trips. The Duracks are another family of pioneer settlers in the northern territory, and held extensive possessions. The country bordering the rivers that flow into the Cambridge Gulf was reported to be of a superior description and of a fattening nature. Though much of the country in the northern territory was reckoned of an inferior description for grazing, the encouraging terms of leasing offered by the South Australian Government induced many to venture on the hazardous undertaking. The markets opened up by the goldfields of Port Darwin repaid some of their enterprise. Bullocks were sold at from £17 to £20 cash for butchering purposes. Eventually a shipping trade in cattle was opened up with Singapore from Port Darwin; a company built special steamers for carrying stock and passengers to the northern ports. The results have proved satisfactory, as the s.s. “Darwin” lately (1897) took a cargo of 190 head of fat bullocks on board, this being her forty-second trip.

The Cape York Peninsula, within which was found the rich Palmer diggings, came in for a share of settlement between 1875 and 1880. The first of the early pioneers to take up a cattle run on the Mitchell River was Mr. A. C. Grant, now of Messrs. B. D. Morehead and Co. He left the Bowen River with three hundred fat cattle from Havilah station for Messrs. Skene and Henderson, and took up Wrotham Park in 1873, situated between the Mitchell and Walsh Rivers, on Elizabeth Creek, 120 miles N.N.E. from Georgetown, a nice open piece of country, consisting of black soil flats and ridges. The cattle he took up realised £11 5s. per head cash all round; beef was then selling on the field at 1s. per lb. Mr. Patrick Callaghan held a few blocks of country along the Mitchell River, chiefly as a depÔt for bullocks for sale on the various diggings, as he became a large buyer of cattle from the local market in conjunction with F. Leslie, J. Edwards, and J. Duff. The transactions and profits of this enterprising firm were on a very large scale, one partner travelling outside buying cattle, another superintending the supply to local butchers, and the other two attending to the gold buying, slaughtering, and financial business of the concern. The next to take up country for pastoral purposes on the Mitchell water was Edward Palmer (the author of these notes), who, in conjunction with John Stevenson and Walter Reid, took up and stocked Gamboola in 1879 with cattle from Ravenswood and Mount McConnel runs. The extent of good pasture land on the Mitchell waters, or anywhere on the Peninsula, further north, is limited. When the Palmer goldfield was opened the farthest outstation stocked on the overland route was Mount Surprise, on Junction Creek, held by the Firths, and this was over 200 miles from the diggings by the nearest practicable road. The road was opened by drovers taking stock, and carriers and miners passing northwards with their faces set direct to the wonderful land of gold. The road crossed the Tate, the Walsh, and the Mitchell Rivers, and then followed up the Palmer River through some of the roughest country in North Queensland. When Cooktown was opened as a port for the diggings, the overland route was abandoned for dray traffic, and droving stock alone used it. The consumption of beef on the field for several years demanded an average annual supply of from 15,000 to 20,000 head, most of the cattle realising from £7 to £10 each. The stock came from coastal runs mostly, Dotswood and the Burdekin country supplying much of it, Bowen Downs and Aramac[E] also sending in many large mobs. Very few breeding cattle were brought out, but some small runs towards Cooktown were occupied with cattle, the country consisting of open timbered ridges of only a second-class description, but fairly well watered. The Mitchell River was named by Dr. Leichhardt in memory of another explorer, Sir Thomas Mitchell. Leichhardt saw this river where it junctioned with the Lynd, and one of his old camps is still to be seen on the Lynd a little above this junction. It is really a beautiful river, with a clear running stream all the year round, and some deep reaches of still water; the banks are covered with scrubs of pencil cedar and a great variety of hanging vines and thick shrubs. The principal source of the river is near Port Douglas on the east coast, within six miles of the township, on the top of the range, from whence the water flows north-west, and continues its course to the Gulf of Carpentaria, where it empties itself in latitude 15 deg. 10 sec. In its course, it receives the waters of the Walsh, Lynd, and Palmer Rivers, as well as the Hodgkinson, and becomes a mighty stream. Indeed it is one of the most picturesque and interesting rivers in Queensland. The upper parts of this stream were explored by J. V. Mulligan and his party of prospectors in 1875. Leichhardt followed it below the junction of the Lynd when on his trip to Port Essington, before leaving it to cross to the Gulf country. The Mitchell River country is famous for its native game; the scrubs abound with wallaby, turkeys, and pigeons; the river and lagoons teem with fish of every variety, and waterfowl cover the shallow waters where the alligators are unable to reach them. The open country surrounding has the large kangaroo and the common bustard (plain turkey) in abundance. The country fattens stock, and is well watered. It consists of alluvial soil and open ridges of a sandy nature, where the grass is coarse and is covered with a low mimosa scrub.

[E] The word “Aramac” was coined by the late Mr. W. Landsborough, the well-known explorer, and is an euphonious abbreviation of the name of the late Sir Robert Ramsey Mackenzie, who was Colonial Secretary in the first Macalister Ministry (1866) and Colonial Treasurer and Premier 1867-8. Mr. Landsborough was fond of coining words by joining the first syllable of one name to the first syllable of another name—thus the run known as “Willandspey,” on Vine Creek, near Mount Hope, just below the junction of the Belyando and Suttor Rivers, is a combination of the names of William Landsborough and Peyton, the first lessee of the run.