[Editor: This is section 8 of “Barcroft Boake: A Memoir ”, by A. G. Stephens, published in Where the Dead Men Lie and Other Poems (1897).]
[Writing from Burrenbilla and Yowah]
About the middle of October, the cattle were delivered at Cobb and Co.’s station, Burrenbilla, near Cunnamulla (Q.); and Boake writes to his father from that address —
21st October, 1889.
… We let the bullocks go yesterday, and went to bed last night with the strange feeling that we had no watch to do. However, it won’t be for long; for we start to-morrow for the Yowah, another of Cobb’s stations about 80 miles from here, to bring in a mob of fat cows, which will be drafted here, and then go on to Bathurst. In all probability I shall go with them, so that is four months of the future mapped out. I have a new boss now: the man I came in from the Diamantina with is not going to get any more cattle to drove — he loses too many.
2nd November.
… I had to leave this to go after horses, and have not had time to continue until to-day. We are out at the Yowah now, very busy mustering; and hope to be away next week some time. They had to knock off to-day to shoe horses, as they are nearly all too footsore from the stones. It is very rough country here — nothing but stones and scrub — a bit different to the Diamantina, where it is nothing but plains. The cattle here are as wild as hawks, and we are galloping all day long.
The first day we went out to camp about ten miles away. We just took pack-horses, and, as it was very hot, only a blanket apiece. In the middle of the night it started to rain hard, and I lay in two inches of water till morning. Nobody had any coats — only shirts and pants on. We were quite unprepared for any bad weather. We had a job to light a fire, and it was infernally cold; but it cleared up after breakfast. Anthony Trollope, in one of his books about Australia, says: ‘The life of the Australian bushman is one continual picnic.’ He would not have said so if he had put in that night alongside of me.
Oh, well! I suppose a man reaps as he sows. I often grumble at these sort of things, but at the same time console myself by the thought that it was my own choosing. I might have been jogging along in monotonous respectability as a civil servant; but they don’t live, these men — they only vegetate. We have a pleasure and excitement in our work that they never feel. Every day brings something new: no two are alike. There is a charm about this life always in the saddle only those can appreciate who have lived it.
I got dear Grannie’s letter. This must do for her and Addie as well as you, for I have to go up to the station presently. I am afraid Grannie must be getting very feeble. Dear old lady! won’t she be glad to see her good-for-naught grandson again! I often think about my prospective trip to Sydney when between the blankets, with the mosquitoes singing a sweet lullaby round my head. I have not decided yet whether I am going to surprise you at Croydon or in town. Don’t be surprised if you see a lanky young man with a cabbage-tree hat on walk into the office and say ‘Hello, Dad!’ — for that will be me. I have not altered a bit in appearance — at least, not that I can see. Some time in February we hope to be in Bathurst, when I may be able to run down for a few days.
I got a letter from Addie telling me about her little girl Doris. It is a pretty name. Fancy these two girls married and mothers! It will be right enough as long as they stop at one; but I have seen too many when I was in the Survey with big families and small salaries. Better to keep single than to drag your wife down to the level of a household drudge as many do. Well, my dear Dad, I must say Good-bye. I have a little while yet, but I must devote that to a letter to Mrs. McKeahnie, as they have not heard from me for a long time. Give my love to Grannie and Addie and the girls.
Hoping to see you all in a few months’ time. — Your affectionate son, BARTIE.
Source:
Barcroft Boake, Where the Dead Men Lie and Other Poems, Sydney (NSW): Angus and Robertson, 1897, pp. 186-188
Editor’s notes:
Addie = a diminutive form of the names “Addison”, “Adelaide”, “Adele”, and “Adeline” [in this instance, Barcroft H. Boake’s sister’s name was Adelaide]
Anthony Trollope = Anthony Trollope (1815-1882) an English novelist and travel writer; he was born in London (England) in 1815, and died in Marylebone (London, England) in 1882, aged 67
See: “Anthony Trollope”, Wikipedia
apiece = each; for each one, individually; for each person, piece, or thing; for, from, or to each one
cabbage-tree hat = a wide-brimmed hat made from the leaves of the Australian cabbage tree; they were commonly worn in colonial Australia
Diamantina = the Diamantina River, a river in central-west Queensland and north-east South Australia
See: “Diamantina River”, Wikipedia
Grannie = (also spelt: Granny) an abbreviation of “Grandmother”
job = regarding a hard task or difficult undertaking (e.g. “we had quite a job to round up the cattle”, “it was quite a job to convince some people”); can also refer to: a particular task or piece of work; a duty, function, responsibility, or role; a position of employment, a position or role for which one is paid, an occupation; an event, matter, or state of affairs
knock off = to stop work; to finish work at “knock-off time” (the time when the working day ends, prior to a designated break, or when a job or task has been completed); to stop doing an activity
mob = a large group of animals, especially used when referring to cattle, horses, kangaroos, and sheep; also used to refer to a group of people, sometimes — although definitely not always — used in a negative or derogatory sense (possibly as an allusion to a group of dumb or wild animals), but also used in a positive sense (e.g. “they’re my mob”), especially amongst Australian Aborigines
Mrs. = a conventional title of courtesy or respect prefixed to the name of a married woman or a widow, or to the name of a divorced woman who has kept her husband’s surname (except in the case of a woman who is entitled to, and uses, a rank, honorific, academic, or professional title, e.g. Private, Captain, Doctor, Professor, Sister, Director, Chancellor, Lady, Dame, Duchess, Baroness), although some women in modern times prefer to use the title “Ms”; an abbreviation of “Missus”, “Missis”, or “Mistress” (plural: “Mesdames”, abbreviated as “Mmes”)
naught = nothing; zero; failure, without result; lost, ruined (older meanings are: ruined, useless, worthless; morally bad, wicked)
Q. = an abbreviation of Queensland (a colony in Australia from 1859, then a state in 1901)
station = a large rural holding used for raising livestock, usually sheep or cattle (a pastoral property); can also refer to the principal homestead and main business centre of a pastoral property
See: “Station (Australian agriculture)”, Wikipedia
Survey = Survey Department
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