Vivienne Travels in Western Australia

1. Auflage 2022
ISBN: 978-3-98744-913-0
Verlag: OTB eBook publishing
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 0 - No protection

E-Book, Englisch, 271 Seiten

Reihe: Classics To Go

Travels in Western Australia is a delightful account of May Vivienne's tour through the South-West and the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia. Written at a time when the Colony was astonishing the world with its riches, travels continues to fascinate readers, showing a people with faith in their future and their new land.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Vivienne, May

Leseproben

CHAPTER II
Torbay—Denmark Timber Mills—Mount Barker—Katanning—Wagin—Narrogin—Beverly—York—Lovely Wildflowers. Leaving Albany under more auspicious circumstances this time than when I had left it by road, I took my seat in the train, my destination being Denmark Mills, where I went to see a great timber station and Jarrah Forest. On arrival at Torbay Junction, 9 miles from Albany, I left the mail train and took the timber train, as the company, who own the Denmark Timber Mills, have a private line running to that place; once seated I was soon carried into the timber country. We passed through country covered with boronia and other sweet flowers, and with Sheoak, Karri, and Jarrah trees. We crossed the Hay river and came to Denmark Mill and township. We were now in the thick of the Karri country, covered with immense trees. The site of the township, covering 150 acres, has, of course, been cleared, and there are many comfortable wooden and slab cottages with nice gardens attached, giving a plentiful supply of fruit and vegetables; as well as a good store, where everything appertaining to housekeeping can be obtained. No liquor is allowed to be sold at the mill on account of the dangerous nature of the occupation, consequently this is a model township. There are several coffee-houses, and, in spite of their enforced sobriety, the men seem to be very jolly and happy. An enormous stack of timber was ready to be shipped to Colombo, and the men were at work cutting more, as the enormous demand for Western Australian wood keeps the workmen busy night and day, working in relays. The line train wound round the hills in picturesque fashion, until we came to a valley which looked more picturesque still, but rather dangerous to cross in a timber-train. Here the flying fox or aerial tram is used to bridge the steep part and to carry small timber. I was glad I did not venture down into the valley, for I was afterwards told that it was not an infrequent occurrence for the timber-trucks, and occasionally the engine also, to leave the line, and as the trucks are of the roughest description, consisting merely of four wheels and a platform, and are loaded with immense logs, the passenger can only travel on the engine, or on the “dummy,” which is a special truck placed immediately behind the engine to keep it from being damaged in case some huge log, weighing perhaps 20 tons, should slide forward in the course of a descent. It is difficult to give an idea of the size of the gigantic Karri-trees here. One which I saw was quite hollow, and a bullock team drove right through it with perfect ease. In returning to the town I saw another large quantity of battens or pickets waiting to be shipped for London to fence two large cemeteries. Enormous fires are always burning in the town to consume the great heaps of waste from the mills. A pile, about 120 feet high, was waiting to be burned, and it did seem a pity that good wood should be reduced to ashes merely to get it out of the way. A scheme for shipping the refuse of the mills to America for conversion into paper has lately been mooted. THE HOMESTEAD, KENDINUP STATION Hauling Logs at the Mills The Karri-trees, grow to a height of 300 feet, with a circumference of from 20 to 30 feet. From one Karri-tree alone 100 tons of timber have been cut. Karri is also called Eucalyptus collossea or diversicolor, the latter name denoting the difference between its leaves and those of other eucalypti. The timber is impervious to damp. I was shown a block cut from a log that had been buried forty-six years in moist earth, and it was perfectly sound. For mining, harbour works, railways and street-paving the wood is unequalled, and is now greatly used in different parts of London, notably in paving Charing Cross, where traffic goes on at the rate of 402 omnibuses every hour; and in Paris the Rue Lafayette and Rue Château d’Eau are also paved with our famous Australian woods. This particular wood is preferred for street-paving because it is safer for horse traffic than other kinds; observations taken by Colonel Hayward, late City Engineer of London, have shown that horses might be expected to travel over 446 miles of Karri road without accident. On Westminster Bridge, London (south side), the Jarrah paving has lasted for seven years. This wood is also being used all over the world for jetty piles; some enormous ones, 90 feet in length, were waiting at the train-shed to go to Albany, where thirty vessels are under charter to take the timber away to South Africa, South America, India, &c. There is another very large karri district which I mean to visit; I must not therefore exhaust all I have to say about karri timber here, but pass on, leaving behind Denmark Mill with its 20,000 acres of forest, where the manager told me over two million loads of timber were waiting to be cut down. Mr. Millar also owns very large jarrah forests, the Wagerup of 35,000 acres, and the Mornington, 55,000 acres, and employs upon them a very large staff of workmen. Returning next day to Torbay Junction, I caught the mail-train and continued my travels, passing thousands of acres of land waiting for selectors. Stopping at Mount Barker, 28 miles from Torbay, I visited the homestead of Mr. Somnes, the land around which was first cultivated over 40 years ago by Mr. Somnes, senior, now 90 years of age, and many of the fruit-trees, though planted so long ago, are still bearing good crops of fruit. Over 55 acres of fruit-trees of different kinds, bearing lovely fruit, testify to the excellence of the soil. Two thousand apple-trees seem to be specially prolific. In another part of the Mount Barker district, Mr. Miller’s estate, comprising more than 5000 acres, has a fine orchard of over 6000 fruit-trees of all descriptions. Two other orchards, not quite so large but with much exquisite fruit, are not far off, and the old homestead of St. Werbergs, where the late Colonel Warburton resided, is a place of much interest. In addition to fruit, the necessary potato and onion are being cultivated, and in some cases yield very largely per acre. It was my intention to stay at Katanning, as I wished to see the much-talked-of orchard and vineyard of the Hon. F. H. Piesse. It being night when I arrived, I could not see what the place was like, but in the morning light I found it a most charming little village. A great deal of land has recently been taken up by selectors; during last year over 1500 applications were made for homesteads and farms on conditional purchase, and many more for pastoral leases and town and suburban lots. The harvest returns here are very satisfactory, 15 bushels of wheat to the acre being the average. Many farmers are coming over from the other colonies to select land for farms, as well as people from England and other countries. The Katanning area contains 100,000 acres, so there is plenty of room for many farms and orchards. Assisted passages are granted from England to intending farmers and agriculturists and their families, also to single women and widows. They can come to this colony by only paying £8 5s. towards their passages. These people must, however, be approved by the Agent-General, Hon. Henry Bruce Lefroy, in London (15 Victoria Street, Westminster, S.W.), from whose clerks intending passengers can get any necessary information by writing to ask for it. On arrival in Western Australia the new-comer will be afforded every assistance by the Government land-agents who are stationed in the principal towns. The orchards and vineyards of Mr. Piesse are really wonderful. There are 65 acres of fruit-trees, bearing all kinds of fruit of exquisite flavour, some of the pears weighing over 2 lb. each, and the peaches, apricots, and apples of equal size and beauty. The apples grown here are famed for their size, sweetness, and flavour. There were acres and acres of vines loaded with large and luscious grapes, the purple ones, with their lovely bloom, offering a picture to the eye as well as refreshment to the palate. The cost of clearing land in this district is only from 35s. to £3 per acre, so that any one with small capital could soon have an orchard or farm of their own. The day is evidently not far distant when Western Australia will not only produce sufficient for all her own requirements, but, being nearer the European markets by several days’ journey than the other colonies, will be able to supply the markets of the outside world with her fruits, especially grapes, the soil in some parts being particularly suitable for vine culture. Her goldfields may in time be exhausted, her forests may be converted into timber, but the soil will always remain and vines will always grow as long as the sun shines to mature the grapes for wine to make glad the heart of man. Almond-trees also grow wonderfully well, and tons of almonds are sent every year from Katanning to different parts of the colonies. One very great feature connected with fruit farming in Western Australia is that there are no fruit pests in the colony, no phylloxera, no codlin moth, and no nasty little fruit-fly to spoil the growth of things. Every care is taken that nothing of the kind shall be brought here from other places, all fruit being rigorously examined by experts before being passed by the Customs. Seated behind a fast pair of Australian brumbys—(these horses, called by the natives Warrigals, are very hardy animals, and are well known to go longer distances without nourishment of any sort than any others of their kind; when proper food is unobtainable, they can subsist on the driest of spinifex grass, or...