Page:Handbook of Western Australia.djvu/127

Rh .—The great staple of the Colony is wool. Of this, in 1876, 2,831,174 lbs. were exported, which at 1. 2d. per lb. would be in value £165,161 16s. 4d. The increase of this pastoral industry will appear, not only from the increase in the number of sheep already noted, but still more clearly from the fact that in 1860 the number of pounds exported was only 656,817, and in 1869, 1,880,426, or more than double, while in the six years following it had again increased by one-half. The great extension of area taken up for sheep runs during the last few years, promises as large an increase of produce for the future.

—The export of horses and cattle may also be expected to increase with production. Up to the year 1870 for ten years there is no export recorded. In 1872 the value exported, at £12 each, was for 427 horses £5124; in 1876 the number exported was 773, and the estimated value, at £14 each, £10,822. These are mostly sent to India for remounts for the army, and, at the contract price £45, should yield a good profit. Horses of high blood and lineage were, as has been already noted, introduced by the first colonists. Governor Stirling selected his stud from that at Petworth, and his horse Greylegs was own brother to Château Margeaux; and from that time many colonists have imported stock of equal character. There can be no lack of good blood among the horses of the Colony. Besides the blood stock imported from England, Ireland, and the other Australian Colonies, several high-bred Arabs imported from India, have assisted to give character to the West Australian horse. Mr. Maitland Brown, M. L. C, is the only