Page:The Boy Travellers in Australasia.djvu/410

386 Frank asked what was the nature of the droughts of which Mr. Watson had spoken.

"In a general way, they are like droughts anywhere else," was the reply; "but they have some features peculiar to Australia. In 1883 and 1884 we had two successive years of drought, a thing never known before. Very little rain fell in all that time, and in some localities not a drop; the grass withered, water-holes, springs, and creeks that for years had been unfailing sources of supply dried up, and the whole country was desolate. There were single areas hundreds of miles in extent where not a drop of natural water could be found, and the sheep and cattle perished in great numbers. Experience has shown that every part of Australia capable of producing sheep is subject to occasional periods of unusual drought, and nobody can foretell them. There is only one way of guarding against their effects."

"What is that?"

"Build reservoirs, and store water in sufficient quantities to last through the severest droughts. Of course this will cost money, but it will be a profitable investment in the long run. Many squatters are now doing this, and they are also putting down driven wells after the system invented in America about 1860. It is probable that the next long-continued drought will not cause the death of so many sheep as did that of 1883 and 1884. The loss of sheep in Queensland in those two years was nearly three millions."

Fred asked how many sheep, cattle, and horses there were in the colony.

"According to the official figures," Mr. Watson replied, "we had at the last reports (December, 1885), 260,207 horses, 4,162,652 cattle, and 8,994,322 sheep. Compare these figures with those of 1844, when we had 660 horses, 13,295 cattle, and 184,651 sheep. We had more than 12,000,000 sheep in Queensland at the end of 1882, and will doubtless reach that number again with a single prosperous season. Sheep increase more rapidly than cattle, as you are doubtless aware, provided the flocks do not suffer from distemper, drought, severe storms, or other drawbacks. According to the official figures, we have 75,000,000 sheep in Australia, or more than twice as many as you have in the United States."

At the end of the visit to the cattle-station Doctor Bronson and the youths returned to the railway, and proceeded to a sheep-station in which their polite and hospitable entertainer was interested. We have already described sheep-farming in New Zealand, and as the business is