Old Melbourne Memories: Second Edition, RevisedBoldrewood, Rolf
History
Old Melbourne Memories: Second Edition, Revised
Boldrewood, Rolf
Frontier and pioneer life -- Australia -- Melbourne (Vic.); Victoria -- Description and travel; Victoria -- Social life and customs
A hut and yard were built--the cattle broken in, more or less--and the
occupation was complete. A year or two after Mr. Cay sold out to Mr.
Adolphus Goldsmith, of Trawalla, for a reasonable price, the cattle to
be taken by book-muster. Mr. Goldsmith had a herd at Trawalla, which was
being encroached upon by the sheep. He required room, and bought this
curiously unprofitable place to put them on. The Port Fairy district, I
should say, had a great reputation; so had the adjoining runs. Mr.
Goldsmith could not imagine that a run so near Tarrone, Yambuk, and
Dunmore could be so very bad. Buyer and seller rode over it together. At
the end of the day Mr. Cay said, "Look here, old fellow! I never saw
half as much of the run before. I had no idea it was such an infernal
hole, I give you my word. If you like you can throw up your bargain!"
"Oh no!" quoth Dolly, "I'll stick to it. It will answer my purpose."
The end of it was that Mr. Cunningham, as overseer, came down in charge
of five or six hundred well-bred cattle, which were turned out at St.
Ruth's after a reasonable "tailing," and presently were all over the
district. Mr. Cunningham, as I have before stated, was one of the most
energetic men possible, but he failed to make St. Ruth's a payable
speculation. The cattle never fattened; they became wild; they could
never be mustered with certainty; they furnished none of the pleasing
results with which cattle in a crack district are generally credited.
Eventually Mr. Goldsmith lost patience, and sold this valuable property
to a former manager of his own--Mr. Hatsell Garrard. This gentleman had
accompanied Mr. Goldsmith from England, and, it was said, had chosen for
him the celebrated "Cornborough," a son of Tramp, a grandson of
Whalebone, and one of the grandest horses that ever looked through a
bridle. A good judge of stock, both in England and Australia, how Mr.
Garrard came to buy such a place is "one of the mysteries." The terms
were easy, probably, and the price tempting; he thought "it couldn't
hurt at the price." The homestead, too (Mr. Cunningham was a great
improver), was now very comfortable. That and the name together did it.
Mr. Garrard, who was a most genial, jolly, but withal tolerably shrewd
old boy, kept the run for a year or two, just selling cattle enough to
pay his way, when _he_ dropped on a chance to "unload" and make a sale
to Messrs. Moutray and Peyton.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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