Page:The State and Position of Western Australia.djvu/103

 there are possessed of large flocks and herds, but they derive little profit from them, owing to the inferiority of the breeds, the nominal value of cattle in the interior being somewhere about 1 l. and sheep 2 s. a head, for the use of the butcher; and mares being sold for 5 l. The “Fatherland” breed of cattle there is, however, a fine description of stock; and during the last twenty years some excellent horses have been bred, from the first-rate kinds introduced by Lord Charles Somerset and others. The colonists also seem now alive to the advantage of displacing their large-tailed sheep by Merinos; but the foregoing remarks are intended to apply to the general description of stock to be met with on the farms.

In Van Diemen’s Land, also, are large herds of cattle, only of value for their carcass, and as wild as deer, paying little more than the cost of catching and driving them to market. The writer, some years ago, purchased, at a cheap rate, as he then thought, two cows imported from that colony; but, after being a short time on his farm, one took to the woods, and was not seen afterwards; and the other strangled itself in an effort to break loose. The importance of avoiding these errors, into which the other colonies of Australia have fallen, at their commencement, will be appreciated by every practical farmer.

Another very important fact is confirmed by the preceding Report, viz., the existence of extensive pastoral districts in the interior. Alluding to one of these, Mr. Bland, a high authority on such a subject, is quoted as giving his opinion that it is “as healthy a sheep-run as can be found.”

It appears, from the W. A. Journal, that several cargoes of sheep to the colony were expected, and on the point of being conveyed thither. The paper of the 18th of December