Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 3.djvu/238

228 We hereby certify that the 250 thoroughbred Merino ewes, 28 thoroughbred Merino bucks, sold by us to J. H. Williams, Esq., Consul of the United States at Sydney, for shipment to California, were bred by us on this estate, being descendants in a direct line from the Merino sheep imported in 1804-5 by our father, the late John Macarthur, Esq., and by him selected from the Royal Kew flock, obtained from the Spanish Government by his majesty, the late King George III.

There has been no intermixture of any but undoubted Merino blood in the Camden Park flock. We have crossed only with rams of Merino race derived from the French Imperial flock of Rambouillet. Neither the sheep now sold by us nor the flock from which they are taken have ever had scab, catarrh, or any other infections.

A first-class medal was awarded to us for the wool of this flock exhibited at Paris Industrial Exhibition of all nations in 1855, in reference to which the following passage is extracted from a letter from Sir William Macarthur to James Macarthur, dated Paris, 12th August, 1855: "Of the samples exhibited of the wool of our thoroughbred Merino flock, taken from about 150 fleeces of the shearing of 1853, the jurors said in my presence that they were free from the defect often found in Australian wool of hollowness or spongeness of fibre, and combine in a remarkable degree all the most valuable qualities which distinguish German and Australian wools, preserving the true old Merino type in the greatest beauty."

The sheep are branded in the right cheek with the letter "M," which runs into a "U," the mark of our thoroughbred flock; they have also a pitch brand on the outside of the fleece upon the weathers of "J."

Signed:. Camden Park, N. S. Wales, 28th April, 1857.

To certify that we have this day sold to J. H. Williams, Esq., consul at Sydney for the United States, six thoroughbred Merino rams, in addition to the [twenty?] eight included in our certificate of the 28th instant. The pedigree and other remarks in that certificate apply equally to the six rams now sold, which had been reserved for our own use, and are considered to be very choice animals.

Signed:. Camden Park, N. S. Wales, 30th April, 1857.

, 29th July, 1857. This is to certify that the above are the true copies of the original certificates.

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