a. As the station needed
shepherds, the agents in Brisbane were instructed to engage two married
couples and three single men. I was despatched with a black boy, three
horses and a dray, to bring them from Maryborough. Their luggage filled
the dray, but I managed to find room for the two women and the children.
The others had to walk. The first day out we reached Mr. Helsham's
station at South Doongal. He allotted me an empty hut for the party. At
dinner that evening I told him and the overseer how very frightened the
emigrants were of the blacks. "Is that so," he said. "Well, we will try
them to-night after the boys have had their evening corroborree." A
number of blacks were camped there at the time, so he sent word to his
station boys to come up. When they did so, he told them to surround the
hut, and yell out, "Kill 'em white fella, kill 'em white Mary." We went
down to see what we thought was fun. I never had to run harder than I
did to reach the station before the new chums, who streamed out of the
hut in their night attire, and made for the house. I had the greatest
difficulty in pacifying them. They refused to return to the hut, and
camped on the verandah, the single men remaining on watch.

After their flight from the hut, the pigs appropriated their rations
which confirmed their belief in a narrow escape from wholesale
slaughter. I felt sorry for the joke, more particularly as for the
remainder of the journey they would not leave the dray, or go for water,
unless the black boy or I went with them. As shepherds these men were
not a success. They were invariably losing sheep, adding to my
responsibility as overseer.

In September of that year, I had my first experience of
shearing--getting through 20 the first day. It was back-aching and
wrist-breaking work, and I longed for the day when I went out with the
ration pack-horse.

In those days the sheep were hand-washed in a water hole, in which we
worked up to our middle all day. The blacks had to be watched very
closely, as, if opportunity offered, they would catch a sheep's hind leg
with their toes, and drown the animal, expecting they would get the
meat. I detected them in the act, so I burnt the carcase. This put an
end to the practice. Mustering and branding the cattle followed the
shearing, and these were much livelier occupations. We had a heavy wet
season in that year, and I had plenty of opportunities to gain
experience in flooded creeks. About April,