Charles Griffith

“ No use is as yet made of the refuse, except as manure, or to feed pigs, which, in process of time, are to be themselves boiled down; nor is the blood (which would be valuable for the manufacture of Prussian blue) turned to any account: but the thing is as yet in its infancy. The legs are either sold in Melbourne at eight pence each, or else cured, and exported to Van Dieman's Land, as mutton hams, and as the sheep must be old and in good condition, the meat is very good. ”

“ POPULATION—EXPORTS AND OTHER STATISTICS—EXPORTS AND REVENUE OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA—BOILING DOWN SHEEP—EXPORT OF TALLOW—SALT BEEF—HORSES—MIMOSA BARK
Having given a general sketch of the country and climate, I now come to the inhabitants, and their means of acquiring wealth and comfort. The population of the district of Port Phillip is estimated at 20,000; of these about 9,000 are supposed to be resident in Melbourne and its suburbs. This is far too large a proportion; in fact, the town of Melbourne is large enough to supply the wants of a rural population of 60,000 souls. ”

“ Men with families are very often worse off, and, as long as the present mode of dealing with squatters remains in force, it is impossible that married men can find accommodation and employment, in any numbers, on sheep or cattle stations, as men have no fancy for laying out money in improving government land. ”

“ Many persons are very sanguine about the export of horses to India, Manilla, and other places where they are in demand. The voyage from Sydney to Calcutta is on an average from two months to two months and a half; that from Melbourne would be somewhat shorter at one time of the year, and longer at another, according as the season suited for going round Cape Leewin, or through Torres straits. At present ships frequently go to India in ballast, so that the freight would not be very high. ”

“ It gives me pleasure to be able to say, that I have heard from several sources that South Australia is fast emerging from her difficulties, and that there also the revival of prosperity is attributed to the throwing overboard the Wakefield system of concentration, and giving their attention to pastoral pursuits. ”

“ The new export of tallow is one which has been forced on the attention of the flockmasters of New South Wales, by the necessity of finding some outlet for their surplus stock, and it is one likely to produce very important results. The mode adopted is this: A man selects a number of old ewes from his flock, say five hundred, and, if necessary, fattens them for some time. These ewes, when in good condition, are driven to one of the boiling-down establishments; they are there slaughtered, and cut up into pieces of a convenient size ”

“ At present the population is diminishing, by the inhabitants dispersing themselves over the rural districts, and there is a large number of houses unoccupied. This huddling together of a large population in a town, is the result of the present mode of disposing of crown lands, combined with the system, adopted by the Emigration Commissioners, of encouraging the emigration of artizans in preference to that of agricultural labourers, and of men with families in preference to that of single men. ”

“ If the English ships were only to bring out salt provisions enough for the passage out, and were to take Australian provisions for the passage home, it would save them so much freight out, besides giving them the advantage of purchasing in a cheaper market. However this they cannot be expected to do, until the thing is so established that they can always depend on a plentiful supply of good meat at a low rate. ”

“ The artizans naturally remain in towns to seek employment in their trades, but these being soon overstocked they find it impossible to succeed in obtaining it, and if they have not energy to look for situations as farm-servants in the bush, become discontented and miserable. ”

“ Three half-pence a pound for fat beasts at the slaughter-house, or even less, will afford the Australian stockholder a very fair remuneration. But, whether the export to England pay or not, I think that we ought to be able to undersell all competitors at the Mauritius, in China, Singapore, and all through the Indian seas, besides supplying the Australian trade. ”

“ The only danger is that people may overdo the thing to such an extent as to injure the export of wool, the real mainstay of the country. As, however, the annual increase of sheep is upwards of 400,000, there will be room left for a considerable export of tallow, without producing this effect. Probably a more profitable mode of disposing of part of this tallow would be to manufacture stearine candles at Melbourne. ”

“ The export of the wool is not entirely confined to the sheep reared on these stations, for already the squatters have pushed across the Glenelg, and formed numerous stations in a fine country to the north of a place called Port Rivoli, in the district of South Australia, and on the disputed territory between the boundaries of South Australia and Port Phillip ”