Reminiscences of Queensland, 1862-1869 — John Shaqi
Reminiscences of Queensland, 1862-1869Corfield, William Henry
History
Reminiscences of Queensland, 1862-1869
Corfield, William Henry
Frontier and pioneer life -- Australia -- Queensland; Queensland -- History
During his stay at Burketown he became the guest of Mr. Surveyor Sharkey
on Sweers Island, and met Miss Huey, sister of Mrs. Edkins, late of
Mount Cornish Station, who became the second Mrs. Corfield. His first
wife was a Miss Murray, sister of the highly-respected Police
Magistrate, who died in Brisbane a few years ago, and also of the late
Inspector Fred Murray. Her death on Teebar, in 1853, so affected my
uncle that he sold the property for a nominal sum to his head stockman,
John Eaton. He then took up and formed Gigoomgan, which he soon after
sold to Anderson and Leslie. He afterwards bought Stanton Harcourt from
W. H. Walsh, of Degilbo Station. There I joined him in 1862.
CHAPTER IV.
After handing the station over to Mr. Hawkes, I went to Canobie to
muster my horses, which were running on the Williams River, and thence
travelled eastward in company with Carolan.
On arrival at the Punch Bowl, on the Flinders River, we heard that there
was a hundred mile dry stage ahead, so decided to camp.
One afternoon, Mr. Roland Edkins, later so long manager of Mount
Cornish, and his wife, travelling on their honeymoon, drove up and asked
if we had any meat we could spare. I informed him we had none, but that
if he had a gun, and lent it to me, I would get some. A mob of cattle
had been to the water-hole earlier in the day. Armed with his gun I
followed the cattle and shot a clean-skin, which we dressed, and jerked
in the sun, not having salt. The supply of meat was sufficient for all
our needs. Mr. Edkins informed us that thunderstorms had fallen up the
river, so we made a start. While camping in the bed of the river one
night the water came down on us rather suddenly. We managed to get our
belongings up the bank before they became wet.
In those days thunderstorms seemed to be more prevalent during November
than in later years. Before we reached Telemon, the river was a banker,
flooding the plains, and compelling us one night to camp on an ant bed,
which was the only dry spot we could find. Fortunately, the ants were
not of the bulldog breed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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