The lower Murrumbidgee River and the surrounding plains became firmly established in the consciousness of the colonists of New South Wales after the journey of Charles Sturt and his men down the Murrumbidgee and Murray rivers to the sea at Lake Alexandrina.  By the early 1830s pastoral runs along the Murrumbidgee, to about the present site of Wagga Wagga, had been taken up.  The establishment of the new colony of South Australia caused a demand for livestock and by 1838 cattle were being driven there through the Riverina region.  By that stage pastoralists had begun edging westward along the Lachlan, Murrumbidgee, Billabong and Murray systems, with squatters primarily occupying the valuable river frontages.  Pastoral runs in the vicinity of the present town of Hay were taken up by 1839.

 

The earliest European occupants of the Riverina pastoral holdings were shepherds, stockmen and station labourers (many of them ex-convicts and ticket-of-leave men), directed by a station superintendent.  Almost invariably they were single men who lived in primitive conditions, isolated from wider society.  Labour was scarce, so men were able to drift from job to job.  Aborigines were sometimes employed as stockmen and labourers in the absence of Europeans.

 

Aboriginal communities in the western Riverina had been concentrated in the more habitable river corridors prior to European settler expansion onto their lands.  The rapid pace of land occupation by squatters in the 1840s, following and securing these sought-after corridors, had a devastating effect on Aboriginal communities, with their rights to their own lands simply taken from them.  Traditional culture became fractured and progressively-diminished as a result, though the greatest amount of dispossession and alienation probably occurred in the following decades with the growth of the white population as townships developed in the region.

 

European women and children were a rarity on the Riverina pastoral runs in the 1840s and early 1850s.  Henry Angel's family joined him at "Wardry" in 1844.  In the same year Thomas D'Archy, with his wife and infant daughter, settled near the junction of the Murrumbidgee and Lachlan rivers.  In 1846 the Tyson brothers occupied a run opposite D'Archy's run near the junction of the rivers; they erected two bark huts on an "open grassy plain", bordered by reed-beds, and William Tyson's wife, Margaret, cooked for the men and kept the huts clean.

 

In most instances the lessees of the Riverina pastoral runs lived elsewhere.  Absentee squatters were often landholders in the more settled districts or investors from Sydney.  Resident owners were sometimes in partnership with a non-resident investor.  It was a common practice for a property to be run on a shares principle, whereby an investor lessee provided the stock and his manager, or a resident partner, took a percentage of the proceeds.

 

Men of modest means, such as Henry Angel and the Tyson brothers, tended to start by running cattle, which were less labour-intensive.  Cattle were allowed to wander freely over the runs until it was time for the yearly or half-yearly muster.  Cattle grazed further from water and so utilised more land.  When being driven to market cattle could travel further and faster and maintain condition.

 

A combination of factors in the early 1840s produced a severe economic depression in the colony of New South Wales.  Many of the early run-holders were ruined by these circumstances; stock-numbers fell ruinously and runs were abandoned or sold.   Despite setbacks the volume of wool exports to Britain increased dramatically as the decade progressed.  By 1844 two-thirds of the colony's sheep were located in the squatting districts.  The value of wool exports had transformed the squatters into a major political force in the colony.

 

John Tooth had purchased the "Wooloondool" run by 1844 and later acquired the leases for "Mungadal" and "Pevensey".  However Tooth overextended his pastoral ventures and became bankrupt in 1848.  "Mungadal" was sold to the Lang brothers and "Wooloondool" was sold to James McEvoy.  By the late 1840s Riverina pastoral runs began to change hands with some frequency.  Squatting leases were sold on the open market.  As unoccupied land became more scarce the acquisition of runs increasingly required larger capital outlays.

 

The township of Balranald developed in the early 1850s.  The position of the settlement, on the lower reaches of the Murrumbidgee River, was expected to be of strategic importance with the impending introduction of steam navigation on the Murray.  By the latter half of the 1850s, however, when the fat-stock market was at its peak, Balranald was exhibiting signs of stagnation (one significant factor being the development of a stock-route across the One-tree Plain to Lang's Crossing-place).

 

There was a dramatic acceleration of improvements on the Riverina pastoral holdings during the 1850s, as the value of the squatter's holdings increased due to the expanding markets to the south.   Post-and-rail fencing became more common and water storages – wells, dams and tanks – began to be constructed away from the river frontages, opening up the back-blocks for stock.  These improvements heralded the beginning of a shift from cattle to sheep, though the production of fat-cattle predominated until the early 1860s.  The construction of homesteads and other buildings was of a higher standard during the 1850s, coinciding with an increasing tendency for squatters and their families to reside on their holdings.  The larger, more-organised stations began to evolve village-like agglomerations at their hub.

 

By the time of the gold discoveries of the early 1850s the whole of the river-frontages had been taken up and their occupation consolidated.  The Victorian gold-rushes caused initial labour-shortages and wages tended to rise in the pastoral regions.  Immigration to the Australian colonies during the 1850s produced a steady increase in population and so the availability of labour became less of a problem as the decade progressed, especially as disillusioned miners continued to leave the diggings.  The gold-rushes also caused a disruption of the land-based transport system.  Until the mid-1850s carriers, or teamsters, with drays pulled by horse or bullock teams, were the primary means by which supplies reached the inland pastoral holdings.  Wool and other produce could then be loaded for the return leg.  The gold-rushes fractured this arrangement and increasingly teamsters became loathe to travel further than the diggings, where they could rely on full loads and inflated prices.

 

However, the concentrated and expanding population on the diggings provided a growing market for stock to be slaughtered.  During the 1850s a system developed whereby the Riverina squatters utilised the saltbush for fattening of stock.  The Riverina, as the prime fattening country closest to the market, became a sort of holding centre, from where the Victorian market could be supplied as required.  When the surplus of local stock had been sold the pastoralists drew on breeding areas to the north and east – the upper Darling, north of the Lachlan, the New England region and the hilly up-country to the east.  The runs became steadily de-stocked by the end of summer, before the inward movement of stock began again in the autumn (or earlier if there was good rain).   By the middle of the decade the new township of Deniliquin had become an important centre for the selling of stock.

 

With the increase in population and stock movements, roads and stock routes became more precisely defined.  One of the popular routes established in the mid-1850s crossed the Murrumbidgee River at Lang's Crossing-place (the location of the present town of Hay).

 

Stock travelling to the western Riverina from the north and north-west converged at Dubbo, then on to the Bogan River and across to the Lachlan River near Condobolin.  One of the popular routes from there followed the Lachlan downstream to Lake Walgiers, before crossing the One-tree Plain to the Murrumbidgee River at Lang's Crossing-place.  Stock travelling further south crossed the Old Man Plain for distribution to runs along the Billabong Creek, or on to Deniliquin for the Edward and Murray frontage runs.  Stock being overlanded to Victoria from the western Riverina districts typically crossed the Murray River at Maiden's Punt (Moama).

 

There were various factors that might induce stockmen to depart from the Lachlan at Lake Walgiers and cut across the intervening plain to the Murrumbidgee River at Lang's Crossing-place.  It shortened the journey and the distance between water-sources was considered reasonable in normal seasons (except perhaps during the summer months) to enable stock to be safely driven.  Lang's Crossing-place was relatively accessible during flood events; the configuration of creeks and other low-lying areas in the vicinity allowed reasonable access to the crossing-place when the Murrumbidgee overflowed its banks.  In addition, the stock-routes both north and south of this crossing-place had already been established by the Lang brothers.

 

Lang's Crossing-place was close to the home-station of the "Mungadal" run, leased by the brothers Thomas, William and Gideon S. Lang.  "Mungadal" was the earliest and the most developed of the brothers' Murrumbidgee frontage runs.  "Pevensey", further downstream, was purchased shortly after "Mungadal" and the "Eli Elwah" run (adjoining "Mungadal" upstream) was acquired during the mid-1850s.  The Lang brothers had pioneered a route to their "Mungadal" run from 1851 when they began to overland cattle from Queensland to their Murrumbidgee frontage runs.  The route south from Lang's Crossing-place became known as Lang's Wool Road.

 

By the late 1850s leasing and running a pastoral holding in the Riverina had become a rewarding enterprise: the markets were steady and profitable and the labour supply plentiful, due to disgruntled diggers and accelerated immigration.  Riverina pastoralists had assumed the role of dealers in stock.  Squatters such as the Tyson brothers and the Lang brothers had established a chain of runs used for both breeding and fattening.  The extension of the Victorian telegraph-line to Deniliquin bought more certainty to business and a greater knowledge of the state of the markets.

 

Where punts were not available, river-crossings of drays and carts in the sparsely settled inland districts usually entailed the lengthy and repetitious process of lashing empty casks to the vehicles in order to float them across.  Cattle and horses could be swum across, usually without incident, but sheep would often be drowned during crossings.  Punts at major crossing-places on inland rivers provided an opportune and valuable service and were lucrative businesses. 

 

By early June 1856 Christopher N. Bagot, the squatter leasing "Illilawa" station, had began operating a punt at Sandy Point, near the present town of Hay.  At that time Sandy Point was within the "Illilawa" run (close to the western boundary) and near to the boundary of James McEvoy's "Wooloondool" run.  In the mid-1850s Sandy Point was known as Police Point, reflecting the fact that Bagot's "Illilawa" run was sometimes referred to as "Police Point" run. 

 

Bagot's punt crossed to the opposite bank just upstream of Bungah Creek.  The vessel was described as "a small scow" (a flat-bottomed boat with square ends).  Though not considered large it was nevertheless able to accommodate a dray and four bullocks, or two hundred sheep.  Bagot also constructed "yards and other conveniences" in conjunction with his working punt.  His charges for crossing the river were: £3 for each thousand sheep; ten shillings for a bullock dray and team, or a horse and cart; and five shillings for a man and horse.  By late 1857 Christopher Bagot had sold the "Illilawa" run to the squatter Henry Jeffreys, who continued to operate the punt at Sandy Point.

 

Inland steam-boat navigation had initially developed along the Murray River, pioneered from mid-1853 by owner-captains such as William Randell and Francis Cadell.  In 1856 Captain Cadell established stores at Menindee on the Darling River and Wentworth at the Darling-Murray junction.  During that year Cadell's intention of navigating the Murrumbidgee River began to gather pace, and he employed men to gather wood-piles in readiness along its banks.  It wasn't until the spring of 1857 that a foray was made on the river.  The fifty-foot Mosquito, captained by William Masson and part-owned by Cadell's agent, A.H. Landseer, entered the mouth of the Murrumbidgee on 1 September 1857.  Hindered by snags and an unfamiliar river, the small steamer reached Balranald before turning back.  During the ensuing summer months Cadell's teams continued to cut and remove snags along the river.

 

In December 1857 a blacksmith called Thomas Simpson arrived at Lang's Crossing-Place and established his business there.  He had been invited to do so – in Simpson's own words he was "induced at the request of several of the squatters and other settlers in the Murrumbidgee district".  Thomas Simpson erected a cottage and blacksmith's shop at Lang's Crossing-place.  He chose a high spot on the eastern side of the river-bend (north of Bushy Bend), on a portion of the area which later became known as Wharf Reserve (in the vicinity of the present Hay Tennis Courts and nearby houses adjoining Bushy Bend).

 

Thomas Simpson was a young man, aged about 22 years, when he settled at Lang's Crossing-place.  He was from Yorkshire in England, the son of a blacksmith.  Simpson and his two elder brothers had arrived in Australia in the mid-1850s, living and working in various of the goldfields of central Victoria.  By 1857 the three brothers had made their way to Deniliquin. 

 

The establishment of a blacksmithing business at Lang's Crossing-place, nearby to a number of prosperous pastoral runs on a much-used stock-route, was a desirable amenity for settlers and travellers alike.  Simpson claimed that there was "no other blacksmith within a circuit of eighty miles" when he moved there.  He had received the sanction of Henry Jeffreys, the lessee of "Illilawa", on whose land he settled.

 

By late 1857 it was apparent that Francis Cadell was making preparations on several fronts to facilitate the extension of steam-navigation to the Murrumbidgee River and take advantage of the consequent trading opportunities.  As well as hiring men to undertake snagging operations and accumulating wood-piles on the riverbanks of the lower Murrumbidgee, Cadell was preparing to establish a store at Lang's Crossing-place.

 

On 29 December 1857 Captain Francis Cadell wrote from Echuca on the Murray River to the Postmaster-General of the Colony of New South Wales to recommend "the young Gentleman", Alexander C. Dunbar, to be appointed Postmaster at a "new Township to be formed" at the location described as "at the great 'crossing place' on the Murrumbidgee".  Cadell explained that Alexander Dunbar intended establishing a store at the crossing-place on the lower Murrumbidgee River.

 

In January 1858 William Henry Leonard – known as Henry Leonard – arrived at Lang's Crossing-place.  Henry Leonard was often referred to as an "American", though he was actually from Studholm in New Brunswick, the south-east corner of Canada.  Leonard was an experienced ship-builder who had supervised the construction of barges for Francis Cadell.  Leonard recognised a business opportunity and had arrived at Lang's Crossing-place to undertake construction of a punt for use at the locality.  Bagot's old punt, now operated by Henry Jeffreys, was considered "to be too small for the proper accommodation of the numerous travelling parties who desire to cross the Murrumbidgee at that place".  Leonard intended to supply the need for a larger punt at the site, with further plans to build a public house in conjunction with the punt.

 

Leonard decided to erect his public house on high ground near Thomas Simpson's blacksmith shop, on the eastern side of the river-bend.  However, his first task was to construct a punt, which he did over the next few months on the nearby river-bank.

 

By March 1858 Alexander Dunbar was established in a tent at Lang's Crossing-place and the building of the store had been commenced.  The site chosen for the store was on high ground north of Sandy Point on the boundary of the "Illilawa" and "Wooloondool" runs (near what is now known as Brewery Park at the south end of Lindsay Street).  During the period of Dunbar's residence at Lang's Crossing-place the store was known as Messrs. Dunbar & Co., or Dunbar's Overlanders' Store.  On early maps the building is marked as "Cadell's Store".  In November 1858 the establishment was described as "two large slabbed buildings occupied as stores by Mr. F. Cadell" which were "standing by themselves" on the western side of the river-bend.

 

During May 1858 working parties continued with preparations for the opening of the Murrumbidgee River to steamer navigation.  A man named Macgregor was engaged by Cadell to survey the river and compile a chart of the route.  To undertake the survey Macgregor and two other men travelled by boat from Wagga Wagga to the Murray junction.  During the voyage dangerous snags were marked with sapling beacons and coded navigation instructions were painted on trees. 

 

It was reported in early June 1858 that Leonard's "new and commodious" punt had been launched, "and now requires but little additional labour for her completion".  As it transpired, there was considerable antagonism between Leonard and the squatter Henry Jeffreys during this period.  One account states that Henry Leonard at one stage had to guard his punt with a loaded gun to prevent it being cut adrift.

 

An incident occurred in mid-July 1858 (by which time Leonard's punt was operating) when Leonard's partially-built hotel was deliberately damaged by Mr. Perston, the superintendent of the "Illilawa" run.  Perston and the bullock-driver, Killeen, had brought down a team of bullocks and fastened a chain to one of the verandah posts of the hotel.  Killeen, apparently disgusted with what was about to happen, "threw down his whip and Mr. Perston had to start the bullocks himself".

 

The deliberate damage inflicted on Henry Leonard's hotel at Lang's Crossing-place in July 1858 proved to be a key incident which stimulated the official process of establishing a township at the locality.  After the incident Leonard appealed to the Government for protection of his property and business and in August 1958 District Surveyor Peter Francis Adams, who was based at Albury, was instructed to lay out a township at Lang's Crossing-place as soon as it was practicable.

 

The reason for the antagonism directed at Henry Leonard by the squatter Henry Jeffreys seems likely to have derived from the fact that Leonard's punt was directing traffic away from Jeffreys' punt.  Henry Leonard's punt was in direct commercial opposition to the smaller punt operating at Sandy Point.  In the latter half of 1858 Jeffreys operated his punt free of charge in an effort to retain business and oppose Leonard's punt.  Henry Jeffreys' hostility to Leonard's improvements at Lang's Crossing-place was in sharp contrast to his more benign attitude to other building activities there just prior to Henry Leonard's arrival: the establishment by Thomas Simpson of a blacksmith's shop and Cadell's store on the road leading to the crossing-place.

 

In early August 1858 it was reported that the steamer Lady Augusta was at the mouth of the Murrumbidgee River awaiting a rise in the water-level.  It was expected that the steamer would soon be joined by the Albury steamer and "a third boat".  The Lady Augusta, under Captain Cadell, had been one of the first vessels to navigate the Murray River in 1853.  The third boat expected to arrive at the Murrumbidgee junction was the Gemini, a twin-hulled vessel owned and built by William Randell.

 

On 18 August 1858, after a flush of water in the river enabled progress upstream, the steamer Gemini under Captain William Randell entered the Murrumbidgee carrying fifty-five tons of cargo.  Although the Gemini and Lady Augusta were approximately comparable in regard to displacement tonnage, the Gemini was carrying less cargo than the other vessel.  Perhaps also the twin-hulled construction of the Gemini provided additional buoyancy to enable her to be the first to enter the river.  After reaching Lang's Crossing-place, the Gemini travelled a further ten miles to "Illiliwa" station before turning back on 27 August.  On his way downstream Captain Randell met two steamers making their way up the Murrumbidgee – first the Lady Augusta and then the Albury.

 

The Lady Augusta had entered the Murrumbidgee two days after the Gemini; she was under the command of Captain Edmund Robertson and had two barges in tow.  The Albury steamer arrived at the Murray-Murrumbidgee junction on 27 August 1858.  Captain Cadell was on board this vessel, which was commanded by Captain George Johnston.  The Albury reached Lang's Crossing-place on 4 September, where the last of her three barges were cast off.  After leaving Lang's Crossing-place the Albury steamer continued up the Murrumbidgee River.  The vessel arrived at Wagga Wagga and then continued on to Gundagai, arriving there on 16 September, before returning downstream.  The Albury passed by Lang's Crossing-place on 24 September on her downward leg.

 

In the meantime Henry Leonard continued with the construction of his hotel and associated buildings.  In early October Leonard successfully applied to the Balranald Bench of Magistrates for a Publican's License.  On 30 October 1858 the weatherboard Murrumbidgee Punt Hotel was opened for business. It was described as "a large, well-fitted-up and convenient building, standing in a good position; between it and the river is a large stable".  By that stage, in addition to the hotel, Lang's Crossing-place comprised "several buildings belonging to different persons" which "now dot the plain in various places".  The opening of Leonard's public-house was an important and auspicious occasion for the few residents living at the locality and those of the wider district.  At about the time of the opening of the hotel a Roman Catholic clergyman visited the locality.  He christened several children before proceeding up the river.

 

In about mid-October the Murrumbidgee River had risen rapidly and overflowed its banks.  On 5 November 1858, with a continuing high river, two steamers arrived separately at Lang's Crossing-place where they unloaded cargo.  The Bunyip, commanded by Captain William R. Randell, arrived in the morning, followed in the afternoon by the Albury on her return visit, under Captain George Johnson, towing the Wakool barge.

 

District Surveyor Adams arrived at Lang's Crossing-place during November 1858.  The layout of the settlement at Lang's Crossing-place when Surveyor Adams arrived was vividly described by George Boase, the 'Lower Murrumbidgee' correspondent to the Sydney Morning Herald:

 

Surveyor Adams decided to locate the streets and allotments of the proposed township on the eastern side of the river-bend, north of Leonard's and Simpson's existing buildings.  As previously described, Cadell's store had been placed on the western side of the river-bend beside the track leading to the main crossing-place at Sandy Point.  By the time of Adams' visit it had became apparent that Cadell's store was situated on the opposite side of the river-bend from the focus of settlement activity at Lang's Crossing-place.

 

The switch in importance to the eastern side of the river-bend had become a fait accompli even before Adams began his surveys, after the establishment of Leonard's punt and the opening of his hotel just to the north of Simpson's blacksmith-shop during the latter part of 1858.  Surveyor Adams' plan for the new township gave official sanction to this development, entrenching the fact that the locus of settlement was in the proximity of the Murrumbidgee Punt Hotel.  The placement of allotments on the eastern side of the river-bend also allowed access for travelling stock to the main crossing-place at Sandy Point, without the need to pass through the streets of the township.  In January 1859, in response to commercial and practical reality, Cadell's store was moved to a location on the river bank between Leonard's hotel and Simpson's blacksmith-shop.  This building became known as Cadell's Old Depot store.

 

In about January 1859 District Surveyor Adams suffered "a severe attack of ophthalmia", which prevented him from continuing with his work at Lang's Crossing-place.  Adams returned to Albury (probably in February) for medical treatment and to prepare his maps of Lang's Crossing-place and immediate vicinity for sending to Sydney.  During the months following Surveyor Adams' return to Albury there was a hiatus in government action, with New South Wales elections being held in June and early July 1859.  Despite the delay in marking out allotments to enable land-sales at Lang's Crossing-place reports indicate that the residents nevertheless continued with building activities at the locality.

 

In the period before Cadell's store was relocated, the manager, Alexander Dunbar, announced his intention of returning to England.   In December 1858 Francis Cadell wrote to the Postmaster-General in Sydney recommending Robert Neilson for the position of Postmaster at Lang's Crossing-place.  Robert Neilson was the son of one of Francis Cadell's cousins and had previously worked in the Windsor Post Office.

 

There was a delay in commencing the Postmaster's position while efforts were made to engage a contractor to convey the mail from Condobolin on the Lachlan to Lang's Crossing-place once each week.  The mail from Condobolin was particularly important as it was the most direct postal link from Sydney for the residents of the lower Murrumbidgee.  Eventually William Elliott was granted the postal contract and Robert Neilson was appointed as Postmaster at Lang's Crossing-place from 1 April 1859. 

 

The new postal arrangements caused some disquiet further down the river, with the mail from down the Lachlan by-passing Balranald for the new post-office at Lang's Crossing-place.  The mail route now followed the established stock route, which branched away from the Lachlan and across the One-tree plain to the Murrumbidgee.

 

On 12 April 1859 Henry Shiell was appointed Police Magistrate of the Balranald Police District (to be based at Lang's Crossing-place), on an annual salary of £375.  Shiell had previously been the Clerk of Petty Sessions at Deniliquin (to which he had been appointed in November 1853).  Shiell was from a prominent family on Montserrat in the Leeward group of islands, West Indies.  He and his wife had arrived in Australia in August 1853, and soon afterwards they travelled to Deniliquin where Henry took up the position of Clerk of Petty Sessions.

 

From about May 1859 local attention began to be focussed on raising funds for the purpose of sinking a well at Pine Ridge, 30 miles from Lang's Crossing-place on the road to Deniliquin, in an area known as Old Man Plain.  Reliable public watering-places on the routes in and out of the new township would insure its viability and continued use as a crossing-point for stock from the north.  In the meantime a petition had been submitted to the Postmaster-General proposing that a postal route be established between Lang's Crossing-place and Deniliquin.

 

In early June 1859 it was reported that the Government was "about to establish a pound" at Lang's Crossing-place.  Several petitions requesting the erection of a pound at the new township had previously been submitted to the local Bench of Magistrates.  In June 1859 Benjamin Bradley was appointed as Chief Constable at Lang's Crossing Place.  In late July Edward Cunningham, previously manager of "Toganmain" station, was appointed as the pound-keeper at the new township.

On 29 June 1859 two "portions of land", one on each side of the Murrumbidgee River at Lang's Crossing-place, were proclaimed as being "reserved for Public purposes… and excluded from the leases of the several Pastoral Runs of which they respectively form portions".  These reserves constituted the land set aside for the township at Lang's Crossing-place.

 

By July 1859 tenders had been sought for contracts to carry mail from Lang's Crossing-place to Deniliquin "once or twice a week".  It was announced soon afterwards that the firm of Marshall and Waring from Deniliquin had been accepted for this contract.

 

In early August 1859 Assistant Surveyor Edward Twynam arrived at Lang's Crossing-place to complete the work started by District Surveyor Adams.  The work which Twynam undertook at Lang's Crossing-place included the preparation of allotments for sale which involved clearing street lines of scrub and small trees, marking trees on allotment lines with the distinctive 'horse-shoe' Surveyor's mark, digging trenches (called lockspits) on the corners of sections and allotments, and driving stakes at the corners of each section (branded with appropriate numbers).  In the meantime a map of the river-bend had been prepared by the New South Wales Survey Department, based on the maps sent by District Surveyor Adams in April (showing the features of the locality as they were prior to Cadell's store being relocated, as well as the proposed town allotments that were to be sold).  A map, entitled 'Design for the Town of Hay in the Lachlan District, New South Wales, 1859', was laid before the Executive Council on 15 June 1859.

 

The mail service between Deniliquin and Lang's Crossing-place commenced in mid-August 1859.   The mail was conveyed by horseback, with the round trip of 80 miles being undertaken twice a week.  Attention was again focussed on the desirability of sinking a well on the Old Man Plain to facilitate safer and more convenient travel between Deniliquin and Lang's Crossing-place.

 

By August 1859 a medical practitioner, Dr. William Leahy Echlin, had settled at Lang's Crossing-place.  During the early to mid-1850s Dr. Echlin had served as a Government medical officer aboard immigrant ships sailing from the United Kingdom to Australia.  He settled in Australia in 1857.  Dr. Echlin briefly practised as a doctor in Victoria before settling at Lang's Crossing-place.

 

By early September 1859 it became known that Lang's Crossing-place was to be officially named 'Hay'.  Newspaper accounts suggest this was not a popular decision.  The new township was named after the politician and pastoralist, John Hay, who had been the Member for The Murrumbidgee since April 1956 in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly and held the position of Secretary for Lands and Works from October 1856 to September 1857.

 

On 11 October 1859 "the frame of a large building" was landed at Hay from the Gemini steamer, Captain William Randell's double-hulled steamboat.  The frame was used in the construction of the 'Old Iron Store', built at Hay by the firm of Randell and Scott (in opposition to Francis Cadell's store).  William Randell was a partner of Randell and Scott, based at Adelaide.  The 'Old Iron Store' was initially managed by George Dorward.

 

In mid-October it was reported that the firm of Messrs. Bregartner and Committi from Deniliquin had been selected to erect a court-house and lock-up at Hay.

 

Allotments of land at the new township of Hay was publicly auctioned on 11 and 12 October 1859.  The long-awaited land-sale was considered a success; reports state it "was very numerously attended" and many of the allotments, especially the suburban lots, realised high prices.  All of the allotments, except for one of the town lots, were sold.  The conventional theory of town planning was that town allotments formed the basis of the town centre, with larger suburban allotments adjoining the town boundary.  Some disquiet was expressed that the town allotments at Hay had been placed too far from the river frontage.  As the township developed the suburban allotments which were sold in October 1859 formed the basis of the town centre at Hay.  Early pioneers at the locality, such as Thomas Simpson, Francis Cadell and Henry Leonard, were eventually granted title to the land on which their buildings stood.

 

The township of Hay developed in tandem with villages such as Booligal and Maude which became established in key areas of the district, as did a series of public houses on the communication routes that developed in the region.  The pastoral properties remained the main employers of labour in the Riverina, and Hay developed as an essential hub of the surrounding pastoral district.  Sheep numbers rose dramatically in the Riverina, from an estimated one million in 1861 to over thirteen million by 1891.  In the decades after the early 1870s there was a steady growth of the grazier and large-selector class as the original leased runs were sub-divided, and rationalisation of selections occurred.  There were a succession of good seasons during the 1870s and the price of wool was high.

 

Hay became a municipality in 1872 and the bridge over the Murrumbidgee was formally opened in August 1874.  With its stores and hotels, hospital, post-office, banks, theatres, court-house and police-station, Hay was an important focus for rural workers and the district squatters.  Carriers, contractors, wool-buyers and dealers in stock established themselves at Hay and the township became a busy port for steamers (which for the first few decades were the principal means of transporting wool).  When the New South Wales railway was extended to Hay in 1882 the economic focus of the district began to change from Melbourne to Sydney.

 

Nowadays direct evidence of the early beginnings of Hay township can still be seen.  The smoothed contours of a well-used crossing-place for stock are apparent on the bank opposite Sandy Point.  The open woodland in the vicinity of Sandy Point is further evidence of this location being the main crossing-place before the township became established.  For about two-and-a-half years from mid-1856 Bagot's punt operated from Sandy Point across to the opposite bank (just upstream of the Bungah Creek gully).

 

On the opposite side of the river-bend the location where Henry Leonard established his punt can also be discerned.  Turning east off Lachlan Street the one-way dirt road which loops through Bushy Bend initially follows a straight line (with a levee bank and the Gordon Tindale Memorial Park on the left); as it turns to the south-east, veering towards the river, a dip in the river-bank (with a picnic table in place) can be seen between the road and the river.  This is the spot where Leonard and his successors operated their punts before the Hay Bridge was opened in the mid-1870s.

                                  

The following writings are the first four of a series of nine articles entitled 'The Riverine Trade', published from January to March 1876 in the Melbourne Argus newspaper.  The author's stated intention was to describe the commercial trade on the inland waterways of New South Wales and recount his trip on a steamer down the Murray River from Echuca to Port Victor in South Australia (incorporating a detour to Balranald on the Murrumbidgee).  These articles describe the first few legs of the correspondent's journey in early 1876 aboard the steamer Hero, from Echuca to Balranald and then back to the Murray River to Wentworth.  The first article has been edited.

The principal highways of commerce in Riverina are the three rivers – the Murray, the Murrumbidgee, and the Darling.  By these routes is conveyed nearly the whole traffic of the district.  The wool is brought down to one of these rivers, and placed on board a steamer, by which it is carried to Echuca, and from thence forwarded to Melbourne for shipment or sale, or sent down the Murray to South Australian ports.  The Victorian trade on these rivers may be said to have commenced on the opening of the railway through to Echuca, about 10 years ago.  Previous to that time, the trade was commanded by South Australia, whose boats went up the Murray as far as Albury, and who secured nearly the whole business on the three rivers.  But when, through the opening of the railway, facilities were offered for more direct communication with Melbourne, the energy and enterprise of Victorian traders came into full play.  In a remarkably short time the trade on these rivers was diverted to this colony, and South Australia resigned her hold on all except the Darling trade, with scarcely a struggle.  The Murray trade above Echuca was, as a matter of course, on the opening of the railway entirely wrested from her, but the trade below Echuca down to Wentworth was also taken, and nearly the whole of the Murrumbidgee traffic followed.  For a considerable time the Darling trade was undisturbed, and it is only within the last three seasons that any considerable portion of this trade has been obtained for this colony.  During the two last seasons nearly one-half of the Darling wool has come viâ Echuca, all of which previously went down the Murray to South Australia.  The stations on the Darling were owned principally by South Australians, but during the last three or four years many of the stations have changed hands, and the country has been extensively taken up by Victorians.  There were from 25,000 to 28,000 bales of Darling wool last season.  The Murrumbidgee traffic is at present of more importance than that of the Darling, and nearly the whole of this trade is now in the hands of Victorians.  This season about 40,000 bales of wool have been received from the Murrumbidgee.

… nearly 100,000 bales of wool are received annually from the Riverine district, and that the amount is steadily on the increase.  This season about 62,000 bales of wool have come to Echuca by steamer at the present time, about 40,000 from the Murrumbidgee, about 10,000 from the Darling, and about 6,000 from the Upper and the same number from the Lower Murray.  About 17,000 bales have been received by land carriage.  Wool is still arriving at Echuca, but the busy season is now nearly over.  During the first twelve months the outward traffic through Echuca to the Riverine district amounted to 7,000 tons of goods for the Murrumbidgee district, and 2,050 tons for the Darling.  There was, in addition, a large quantity of redgum and timber forwarded from the local sawmills to Riverina, even as far as Fort Bourke.  Since the establishment of the branch firm of Messrs. M'Culloch and Co. at Port Victor [in South Australia], a considerable quantity of goods have been sent to Riverina by that route.  For certain classes of goods that route offers special advantages owing to the border duties' arrangement between South Australia and New South Wales.  The tariff of South Australia is in some respects lower than the tariff of New South Wales, and goods sent, viâ South Australia only pay the South Australian tariff.  On goods such as wire, sugar, dried fruit, kerosene, and other articles, there is a considerable difference, which makes the Port Victor route more advantageous.  The cessation of the border treaty between New South Wales and Victoria impedes and injures the Riverina traffic.  The railway charges on wool from Echuca to Melbourne are as follows – Ordinary charge to Melbourne, 8s. per bale; to Williamstown, 8s. 6d.  A reduction is allowed on Murrumbidgee and Darling wool for the purpose of encouraging the traffic, Murrumbidgee wool being charged 7s. 3d. per bale to Melbourne, and 7s. 6d. to Williamstown, and Darling wool 6s. 6d. per bale to Melbourne, and 7s. to Williamstown.  Without these concessions it is doubtful whether the traffic could be profitably maintained against the competition of South Australia.  The long water carriage makes the down-stream route the cheaper.  In order to bring the wool to Echuca from the Murrumbidgee there is a distance of nearly 300 miles against stream to contend against, and from the Darling 550 miles.  It is owing to the energy of Messrs. William M'Culloch and Co. that a share in the Darling trade has been secured to this colony.  By their enterprise over 10,000 bales of Darling wool have been diverted during each of the two last seasons to Echuca, which would otherwise have been carried down the river to Port Victor.  The Railway department, reaping the benefit of this increase of traffic on the lines, were induced, at the instance of Messrs. M'Culloch and Co., to grant a further concession of a rebate of 10 per cent. off the railway carriage, on the undertaking that not less then 10,000 bales of Darling wool should be forwarded.  Even with this encouragement, Messrs. M'Culloch and Co. have not found the traffic remunerative hitherto, although they have succeeded in fulfilling their guarantee to obtain the 10,000 bales.  The charge for the carriage of wool from the Darling to Spencer-street station is from £4 15s. to £7 per ton, ex insurance, according to the distance of the places from which the wool is brought.  About 5½ bales of greasy wool go to the ton.  Outward cargo from Melbourne to its destination is about £5 to £7 10s. per ton.  During the busy season the wharf accommodation at Echuca is not found sufficient, and vessels loaded with wool have sometimes to wait a week before they can be unloaded.  The shipping on the Murray is now assuming considerable proportions, and new steamers and barges are constructed every year.  There are 23 steamers and 25 barges Victorian owned, which makes Echuca their port; and there are 16 steamers and 19 barges South Australian owned, whose port is Goolwa, near the Murray entrance.  Some of the steamers are of good size and considerable power, ranging as high as 100 horse-power and up to nearly 200 tons register.  Some of the barges are up to 220 tons.  The firm of Messrs. W. M'Culloch and Co. are interested in a large number of these steamers, but there are many owned by the captains, or by merchants in Melbourne or Adelaide.  The Hay Steam Navigation Company has the steamers Corrong and Burrabogie.  Between Echuca and the Darling the following steamers run among others:— Jupiter, Jane Eliza, Maranoa, Wentworth, Lady Daly, and the Pride of the Murray; between Echuca and the Murrumbidgee, Alfred, Waradgery, Corowa, Pearl, Victoria, Freetrader, Elizabeth, Hero, and Cumberoona.  The Murrumbidgee runs between Echuca and the Edwards, and the Wahgunyah between Echuca and the Upper Murray.  During the wool season all the vessels are kept busily employed, but for some time during the summer months, when the waters of the rivers are low, the boats have to be laid up.  The Darling is the most uncertain of the rivers, and some years is not navigable at all.

The extension of the New South Wales railway system in the direction of Riverina may have the effect of diverting to Sydney some of the trade which at present is obtained by Victoria.  It will be a considerable time, however, before any serious danger is likely to arise from this cause.  The Goulburn and Yass railway is now being pushed on to Wagga, and the contract has been let, but the works are proceeding but slowly, owing to the difficulty of obtaining labour.  The line, it is anticipated, will not be completed to Wagga much under two years.  Surveys have been made for the continuation of the line from Wagga on to Hay, and from Wagga to Albury, but these extensions exist as yet only in the future.  When the line is finished to Wagga, no doubt a considerable portion of the traffic will go to Sydney.  A proposal has been submitted by the New South Wales Government for an extension of the southern line to Narrandera, a township situated between Wagga and Hay.  The construction of this line is strongly advocated by the Riverine Grazier, published at Hay, which considers that a large amount of the trade would be thereby secured to Sydney.  It states that during the last 12 months there have been upwards of 36,000 bales of wool shipped in the steamboats plying on the Murrumbidgee and sent to Echuca, and thence by rail to Melbourne; of this number, 15,000 bales were shipped at Hay, and of the total of 36,000 bales a goodly part came from stations on the river above Narrandera and immediately below it, all of which would have been sent by railway to Sydney if the means of doing so had been available.  During the same period of 12 months there have been landed at Hay upwards of 7,000 tons of merchandise, either for stores in town or for transmission to the country on the Lachlan river and beyond it.  Of this amount 1,200 tons have come from South Australia, and the balance from Melbourne.  These figures do not include the quantity of goods delivered at the several stations below Hay, nor those sent direct to the stations above.  It is estimated, taking as a guide the fact that only a third of the wool from the Murrumbidgee district was sent from Hay, that but a third of the goods imported into the district by steamboats was landed at Hay.  Although the opening of the Wagga line may tend to divert a portion of the trade to Sydney, a compensating influence will be found in the Deniliquin and Moama line, which will certainly have the effect of concentrating the traffic of the district through it passes in the direction of Echuca.  The line, which is being constructed by a private company, in which all or nearly all interested are Victorians, will be completed about May next.

The importance of the Riverina trade has now been fully recognised in South Australia, and the competition both for the Darling and the Murrumbidgee trade is likely to be severe.  So far back as 1870 a committee of the South Australian Legislative Assembly was appointed, at the instance of Mr. Ebenezer Ward, to inquire into and report on the best means of facilitating this traffic, and of attracting the trade to South Australia.  After an examination of a number of witnesses of experience in the trade, the committee arrived at the opinion that South Australia had lost a large proportion of the trade she once possessed with the Riverine districts through neglecting to develop her natural and geographical advantages by supplementing them with necessary facilities for traffic and conveniences for commerce which a comparatively small expenditure prudently applied would have afforded.  They considered, however, that even under existing circumstances the South Australian route was cheaper than the other, and that by the removal of all unnecessary restrictions, the supply of such facilities as would ensure expedition, and the certainty of despatch in the conduct of the traffic, the trade might be regained, and South Australia once more attain a preponderance.  Improvements at Victor Harbour were recommended, but with these and the railway schemes proposed I shall deal at a later period.

Concerning the Darling trade, the South Australian Register recently quoted returns supplied by a correspondent at Wentworth, showing that while the wool traffic towards Adelaide from the Darling had increased from 13,273 bales in 1874 to 16,025 in 1875, that towards Echuca had in the same period diminished from 11,089 to 9, 889 bales.  There can be no doubt that in South Australian ports the Darling trade finds its natural outlet and it has been only by means of special inducements that Victoria has obtained a share in the trade… The Register on this point says:–– "It is now shown beyond a doubt that nothing but gross mismanagement on our part, amounting to a deliberate sacrifice of our natural advantages, can give Victoria the lead in the Darling trade, and it is equally susceptible of proof that without much difficulty she can be beaten out of the field entirely."  The proposals of the South Australian Government include the extension of the Kapunda railway to the Murray, to strike the river at the North-west Bend, and the extension of the railway from the Burra to Gottlieb's Wells, and from thence on to the south of Wankaringa, in the direction of Menindie, on the Darling.  It is further proposed to construct a breakwater at Victor Harbour, and otherwise to improve the shipping facilities at that port.

By these means South Australia hopes not only to regain the whole of the Darling commerce, but also to re-assert its position in the trade of Central Riverina.  That these efforts, if energetically carried out, will be successful in securing for that colony a portion of the trade cannot be doubted, and all the enterprise of Victoria will be needed to enable her to maintain the lead in the commerce of Riverina.  Even under existing circumstances wool can be placed in London from a station on the Murrumbidgee, viâ South Australia, and shipped from Port Victor direct, at a slightly cheaper rate than by way of Echuca and Melbourne.  Last season, Mr. Jenkins, of Buckingbong, a station near Wagga, sent all his clip, some 500 or 600 bales, to Goolwa, and the wool was shipped direct to England from Port Victor.  The cost was rather less than by the Echuca route.  The settlers of Riverina will certainly consider the route offering the most advantages, the best, whether it be by way of Melbourne, Sydney, or Adelaide, apart altogether from any personal or patriotic predilections.  Melbourne offers special advantages as a shipping port, and the business relations already established are strong points in favour of Victoria in the contest for the Riverina trade; but it will not do to overlook the advantage possessed by the rival aspirants.  The cheapest route will, in the long run, be the one which will obtain the preference.  If Victorian merchants desire to retain the trade, they will have to show to the satisfaction of the Riverine settlers that the Echuca route is the cheapest, all circumstances being taken into consideration.  It is true that at present a great deal of the wool sent viâ Port Victor, is transhipped to Melbourne, but this state of things is not likely to continue when increased facilities are offered for direct shipment.  The trade follows the wool and the wool goes to South Australia, the merchants of Adelaide will reap the benefit of supplying the stations with stores.

On Sunday, January 9, the Hero, a small but handy little steamer, in which I had secured my passage, left Echuca en route for Port Victor, viâ Balranald.  Rather than lay his vessel up during the dull season, the captain, who was also the owner, Mr. Maltby, had determined on taking the run down to the Murray mouths.  We started between 5 and 6 o'clock in the morning.  The sun was just rising, and promised a beautiful day, very different to the unseasonable weather so long experienced.  The Murray, as seen at Echuca, is disappointing to the highly raised anticipations of many who expect to see in the boundary line of two colonies a broad and rapid stream.  The river there is not much wider than the Yarra below the Saltwater river; but Echuca is nearly 1,500 miles from its mouth, and the river can be navigated to Albury, 300 miles higher up.  The Murray is one of the most winding of rivers.  For hundreds of miles there is not a bend exceeding a quarter of a mile in length.  The steering requires the constant attention of the man at the wheel.  A few miles below Echuca the Murray receives the waters of the Campaspe, which, though more than a creek, yet scarcely deserves to be dignified by the name of river.  It rises beyond Kyneton, and flows through Runnymede and into the Murray, but is never more than an inconsiderable stream.  For miles the Murray flows past the Wharparilla run, belonging to Mr. Robert Glass.  His house, situated on the river bank, is a commodious and comfortable looking building.  Wharparilla in days of yore was an extensive run, but now a great deal of the land, and especially the river frontage, has been taken up for selection.  On the New South Wales side of the river is the Moira run, owned by Sir John O'Shanassy, and the locality of the celebrated Joachim selection.  Below Moira is Perricoota, the station of Messrs. Robertson and Wagner.  The house, a large red brick building, is close to the river side, and is surrounded by a fine garden.  After Wharparilla comes the Torunbarry run and the Gunbower run.  The scenery for many miles down the river is of the same monotonous character.  The stream flows between low banks not more than three or four feet above the water.  In many places lagoons are formed from the overflow of the Murray, and these abound with game, wild ducks, black swans, cranes, and other semi-aquatic birds.  The country is not very heavily timbered.  Reach after reach presents itself with unvarying sameness.  So similar are they in appearance that even experienced river captains find a difficulty in identifying one bend of the river from another.  As we proceeded downwards the signs of habitation became few and far between.  After passing a spot known by the euphonious title of Dead Horse Point, the steamer ran out of its supply of firewood, and we had to come to a stop in order to replenish the stock.  The practice pursued is to purchase firewood from the wood-carters who reside along the banks of the river.  The cost is not more than 5s. a ton, and, although wood could be easily obtained by the steamers for the trouble of cutting it, yet it is found cheaper to buy the wood rather than delay.  On this occasion, however, we ran out of wood before we had reached any wood-pile, but the crew set-to with a will in cutting firewood, and we were soon enabled to resume our journey.  One of the reaches we passed, known as One-tree Reach, presented a distinguishing feature in the shape of one tree growing nearly in the centre of the river.  The small island upon which it grew was quite under water, but when the river is low it can be seen.  The tree affords an admirable beacon to warn navigators of the danger of the shoal.  Below Toorangabby station and homestead the river pursues an exceedingly tortuous course.  Sometimes from the deck of the steamer three, and even four reaches of the river can be seen.  In one part a bank of only 20 or 30 yards in width separated two reaches, which, following the labyrinthic windings of the stream, as of course the steamer was obliged to do, were nearly five miles distant.  On the Gunbower run there is a very extensive forest reserve, and on the New South Wales side the frontage of the river to a depth of four miles is reserved from selection.  We saw many kangaroos nipping the herbage near the river side.  The kangaroos I believe are very numerous on the runs in the vicinity.  I was told that over a thousand were killed last season on the Gunbower run without any apparent diminution of their number.  Formerly the native dogs destroyed a great many, but the dingoes, regarding sheep as fair game, have been themselves ruthlessly destroyed.  The kangaroos now increase and multiply without any check, beyond those which the squatter in his wrath at seeing the valuable grass destroyed by these to him useless creatures may apply.  Respecting one point in the river I was told an interesting story.  Thirty-six years ago or thereabouts there resided in a hut erected at a bend in the river a settler and his wife and a friend.  The Murray blacks, now dwindled down to a few wandering representatives, were then numerous and ferocious.  A number of the blacks attacked these invaders on their domain, and attempted to destroy their hut.  The settlers were well armed, and maintained a strong defence, and beat off their assailants from the front.  The blacks then endeavoured to take them in the rear, but met with a fearful lesson.  The settlers had a swivel gun, which they loaded to the muzzle.  They fired into the thick of the blacks as they were crossing the river.  The missiles did terrible execution, killing and wounding many, and driving the rest to seek safety in flight.  Since then the spot has been known as Slaughter-house Point.  I do not vouch for the truth of this legend; I but tell the tale as it was told to me as an incident illustrative of the perils attaching to settlement in the early days.

The Murray, for nearly 200 miles below Echuca, receives no tributary save the Campaspe.  The river does not drain the country through which it passes, in many places the banks being higher than the back lands, which in times of flood are converted into extensive marshes.  The overflow of the Murray is thus carried off, and drains into the Edwards and other streams, which join the Murray lower down its channel.  The reeds grow to a considerable height on the marshy lands, and at first sight convey the idea of cultivation.  The land, however, is so low and so liable to inundation that it would be unfit for settlement.  On the New South Wales side we passed the ruins of a saw mill, the proprietor of which, Mr. M'Growther, had removed his plant to the Victorian side, some distance lower down, and there commenced operations.  As a preliminary he was obliged to pay the duty of 20 per cent. on the value of the plant thus introduced into the colony.  The new mills are situated a few miles lower down the river.  About 50 men are employed there, and quite a little settlement has been formed.  The distance from Echuca 103 miles.  Mr. M'Growther has another mill at Echuca.  During the recent strike work was stopped at both mills, but has now been resumed.  It was between 9 and 10 o'clock in the evening that we passed the mill.  The steamers going down the Murray do not, as a rule, travel at night.  The force of the current necessitates a speed which, when the perils from snags and from the sharp turns in the river are considered, would render travelling during the hours of darkness both difficult and dangerous.  Coming up stream against the current there is less danger, as a lower rate of speed is maintained, and the steamers carrying wool to Echuca proceed during the night as well as the day.  The Hero went on until a later hour than usual the first night.  Mr. Shelley, who has the control of the snagging operations in the river, was on board, and was desirous of reaching his steamer, the Melbourne, which was moored near Gunbower Creek.  The moon was nearly at the full, and shed a brilliant light, which rendered the turns of the river as clearly visible as in the day.  This part of the river had also been cleared of snags, so that there was little danger.  The snagging of the Murray is performed by the Victorian Government, who devoted a sum of £3,000 last year to the purpose.  The stream is cleared of snags, and any trees on the banks which appear likely to fall into the river and obstruct the navigation are removed.  The Melbourne, an old steamer of very limited horse-power, is used for towing the snag boats from one part of the river to another.  The snag boats have no steam power, but are warped along the bank.  We passed the Wardell, a snag boat, above the saw-mills.  The men are now at work clearing up stream, towards Echuca.  Between 10 and 11 o'clock we arrived at Gunbower Junction, having travelled 120 miles that day, and then stopped for the night.  The next morning we started again about 5 o'clock, and before breakfast reached Parkman's dairy farm, a flourishing selection on the New South Wales side.  Here we stopped while the captain transacted some business.  The Hero is a kind of floating store, and supplies many of the settlements in the river.  We were here passed by the Pride of the Murray, bound for Echuca, loaded with wool and towing a barge similarly laden.  Soon after we arrived at Campbell Island, which is formed by the division of the Murray into two branches.  The main stream follows the Victorian shore, so that the island belongs to New South Wales.  Campbell Island comprises over 3,000 acres.  Mr. Ashworth and his sons, who have resided there for many years, have large selections, and own nearly one half the island.  They occupy it as a sheep-farm, and appear to be doing well.  We stopped at the main selection, and further down we passed the small wooden huts which are the temporary residences of the sons during the time that the provisions of selection have to be complied with.  The other part of the island is a portion of the sheep station of the pastoral tenant on the main land.  A great portion of the island is swampy.  The river is very much narrowed by the division of its waters, and is no wider than the Yarra at this part.  Some little distance after passing Campbell Island we came to Gonn, a cattle station owned by Mr. Capel, where we stopped for a short time.  A new house has been erected close to the river bank.  The hot, arid plain stretched away in the rear.  In time of flood the plain is covered with water, and the cattle have to take refuge on the few high knolls which are above the level.  Gonn is also on the N.S.W. side of the river.  On the Victorian side there are stations, but the homesteads are not near the water.  After leaving Gonn, until we arrive at Pental Island, the country on either side of the river was one extensive marsh, covered with reeds, with only here and there patches of dry ground on which sheep could depasture.  Innumerable wild fowl found there a habitation undisturbed.  The black swans gracefully floated on the placid waters of the lagoons; the ducks congregated there in flocks of twenties and thirties; the native companions in couples delicately stalked amongst the reeds; the cranes – grey, white, and nankeen – hovered in the air over the marshes, searching for their food; and the pelicans, stupid birds, sat solemnly together, as if a feathered Parliament assembled, doing nothing but – Oh ! vast improvement on the human assemblage – keeping silence.  In the rank grass there were wild turkeys to be seen, and also several emus.  The emus were mostly in pairs, but we saw one mother of a family followed by her brood of little ones.  As the steamer approached, all the feathered tribes, disturbed by the noise, were roused into activity.  The swans, so graceful in the water, stretched their long necks and beat the water with their wings in their ungainly attempts to rise; the ducks took to flight, and the pelicans broke up their proceedings, in admired disorder.  The endless marshes – dreary and desolate enough – were not without a certain wild picturesqueness of their own, and Mr. Hennings might here have found an original scene for his Home of the Batrachians.  After passing through miles upon miles of these dismal swamps we came to Pental Island, memorable as the occasion of the dispute respecting its ownership between Victoria and New South Wales.  Both colonies claimed the island, and neither would give way, so the question was referred home to the Privy Council, whose decision was in favour of Victoria.  This island is far larger and more valuable than Campbell Island.  Its length, taking the windings of the main stream, is over 30 miles.  The island is used for pastoral purposes.  The width of the river is very much diminished here.  The Little Murray – by which name the branch of the river is known – receives the waters of the Loddon, and rejoins the main stream just at Swan-hill.  The evening hours during which we travelled were extremely pleasant.  The hard glare of the sun was changed for the softening and mellow light of the moon, and instead of suffering under the oppressive heat of noonday, we were, refreshed and reinvigorated by the cool breezes of evening.  As the steamer steadily pursued its onward course down reach after reach of the river, over which the overhanging trees threw deep shadows, we seemed to be gliding along a watery avenue.  Above and on either side, the birds maintained a ceaseless concert and we could see them flit by and disappear in the hazy indistinctness of a moonlit night.  The melancholy call of the curlew, the hilarious chuckle of the laughing-jackass, the harsh screeching of the cockatoo, mingling with the other voices of the night, produced a concord of sounds, not melodious in themselves, but harmonizing well with the time and place.  When nearing Swan-hill we passed Mr. Officer's station, on the Riverine side of the Murray.  A large and lofty house has been erected here, dwarfing the diminutive but more comfortable cottage at its side, which, embosomed among the trees of the garden, affords the only pleasing feature in the landscape.  The house, judging from a moonlight glimpse of it, appears to be on the model of the Footscray Sugar Works, and can be seen for many miles on the treeless plains and swamps which surround it.  We reached Swan-hill between 10 and 11 o'clock, and moored to the bank for the night.  Swan-hill is a small, and, notwithstanding its 20 or 25 years of existence, not very flourishing, township.  It is built on a sand-hill, the only high ground in the locality, and even the hill itself is not many feet above the level of the river.  The population does not exceed 100 persons, but the township can boast of a substantial post and telegraph office, which is the principal building in the place.  There is a church built of brick, belonging to the Church of England, and a small wooden chapel owned by some other denomination.  The hospital, for Swan-hill can also boast of a hospital, is prettily situated at the junction of the Little Murray with the main stream.  The district around the town is principally pastoral.  About 10 or 12 miles distant there is a salt lake, from which a coarse salt is obtained and exported to Riverina and the Upper Murray.  There is a mail three times a week, and the township is already connected with the metropolis by telegraph.  An agitation has, I believe, been set on foot for railway extension from Sandhurst, distant 130 miles, but it will be safe to predict that many years will elapse before this movement bears fruit.

              Tooley Buc is on the New South Wales side of the river, and is on the mail road between Swan-hill and Balranald, being nearly equidistant between the two places.  There is no township there, unless a large public-house and a small and comical-looking wooden chapel, which, by the bye, appeared to be unused, can be held to constitute one, but there is a good deal of settlement in the neighbourhood.  A store and post-office are attached to the public-house.  Tooley Buc is a crossing-place for sheep and cattle.  About a week or 10 days before our arrival, the large punt there was accidentally sunk whilst a flock of 300 sheep was crossing.  The punt was just pulled out into the stream when the sheep running to one side capsized it, and down to the bottom of the river went the punt, only one end sticking out of the water.  A few of the sheep were drowned.  Captain Maltby had undertaken the task of raising the punt, a matter the difficulty of which he did not at the outset fully appreciate.  The punt was 50ft. in length, and was exceedingly cumbersome and unwieldy.  He set about the work without delay, and that evening had completed his preparations for commencing operations on the morrow.  A large hawser was stretched from two trees on the bank and blocks attached, through which a rope made fast to the end of the punt was run, and passed round the shaft of the steamer, by which means the hauling power of the machinery could be utilized.  On the Wednesday morning work was begun, and the operations were at first attended with so much success that the task appeared to be easy of accomplishment.  No one anticipated more than the delay of a day.  The steamer was moored securely to the bank and the order given to go astern.  As the shaft moved round a strain was brought on to the punt by means of the rope attached.  One thing was certain – either the shaft, the tackle, or the punt must give way.  Of the shaft there was no fear, and the contest lay between the punt and the ropes.  At first it seemed as if the punt would give way gracefully.  When the strain was felt the punt was slowly drawn out of the water and foot after foot appeared.  Mr. Maltby's first proposal was to cut down the sloping bank, and form a sort of dock in which the punt could float as it was drawn out, and had this been done the punt would probably have been raised the first day.  There were not, however, more than half-a-dozen men working, and the prospect of digging out a dock under the heat of the blazing sun was not an inviting one.  This idea was therefore not carried out, and instead an attempt was made as soon as the punt was half drawn out of the water to raise the other end to the level of the water, when the vessel could be pumped out.  This was found to be an extremely arduous work.  Three times in the first day did the tackle break, and on the following day (Thursday) no better success was experienced.  Five times did the tackle give way under the enormous strain.  A man of less patience and perseverance would have been inclined to give up the work as hopeless with the appliances he had at hand, but the captain and his men worked on with a determination deserving success.  When the rope was broke it was re-spliced and again made fast and the strain applied to other portions of the punt.  On Wednesday and Thursday the heat was extremely oppressive, and how men could work as they did under the rays of such a sun was astonishing to me.  I found the trouble of looking on sufficiently exhausting, and more than I could perform with comfort.  The thermometer was over 100 deg. in the shade, and what it was in the sun I should be afraid to say.  In the cook's galley the instrument registered 135 deg.  Thursday was the worst day of all, for besides the direct heat of the sun there was a sultry and heavy atmosphere which betokened a change of weather.  In the evening a thunderstorm threatened, but passed over with a few drops of rain.  Night was the only pleasant time.  Sleeping in the cabin was out of the question.  To lie on deck, one's only canopy,
was more romantic, and at the same time, more enjoyable.  But the pleasure was not without its pain.  At nightfall the mosquitoes sounded the attack, and came not in squads, but in batallions.  Resistance was useless.  I wrapped myself in a blanket, and exposing as little surface as possible to their attacks, dropped off to sleep, having them to do their worst.  On Friday the punt was still master of the situation.  A new plan was adopted, which promised well.  Two stout planks of red-gum were rigged up on the bow of the steamer, which was drawn close to the submerged end of the punt.  A rope was passed under the punt, and the tackle attached, a direct left being obtained by the purchase afforded by the erection on the bows.  When the strain was applied, both planks snapped like rotten timber.  Some planks were then laid straight along the deck, instead of being placed up, thus affording a stronger, though not so direct a purchase.  The end of the punt was raised a little in this way, but sank again immediately the strain was slackened.  The result of Thursday's and Friday's efforts was sufficiently disheartening.  On Saturday, however, better success attended the work, and the perseverance of the labourers was at last rewarded by seeing the punt floating again.  This result was accomplished by applying the strain to the submerged end, and weighing down the other end by several tons of earth being placed upon it.  The punt was loosened from its bed of mud by the ramming of the steamer, and at length the deck was brought to the level of the water.  The rest was then an easy matter.  Every one set to work baling the water out, and in a short time the punt was floated, and was towed over to the other side of the river.  All concerned were heartily glad that the work was done.  By the time all the preparations were made for the start, nightfall had come, and the steamer remained at Tooley Buc till next morning.  On the Saturday the Pearl and barge, loaded with goods for Hay passed down the river, and before we left on the Sunday morning, the Waradgery and barge, wool laden, passed up, bound for Echuca.

We started again about 6 o'c1ock.  Twenty-two miles from Tooley Buc we came to the Wakool junction, where the Edwards, Wakool, and other streams, which having drained the country between the Murray and Murrumbidgee, and carried off the back water of the former river, flow into the Murray.  The tributary is nearly as wide as the Murray at the junction, and brings a large body of water to the river, which is sensibly enlarged thereby.  The Edwards is navigable for some distance by small vessels, and one or two steamers now trade there.  The Edwards flows past Deniliquin, but is not navigable to that point.  The stream some distance up widens out into lagoons and marshes.  After the Wakool junction we came to Windomal, an out-station of Canally, which is on the Murrumbidgee.  A few miles lower down we passed Marong, a small township on the Victorian side, boasting one publichouse and a small police barracks, and another hour brought us to the junction of the Murrumbidgee.

The Murrumbidgee ranks next in importance to the Murray, and, passing into the centre of the Riverine district, affords a commercial highway of the utmost value.  It has a navigable course of over 700 miles, and is open as far as Hay, on the average eight months out of the twelve.  At the junction of the Murray the river is narrow.  Its course has been traced for nearly half a century.  Readers of Australian exploration will be familiar with the thrilling story of Sturt's journey down the Murrumbidgee to the Murray, and down the Murray to the sea.  In November, 1829, Sturt, who in the previous year had traced the Macquarie to its junction with the Darling, was sent by Governor Darling on another expedition.  Instead of following the Macquarie, he proceeded by way of the Goulburn and Yass Plains to the Murrumbidgee, and then followed the course of that river for 400 miles.  He was afraid, from the increasing narrowness of the stream, that the river, like so many Australian rivers, would end in a succession of marshes, and that his journey would be rendered almost fruitless; but as the explorers were about giving way to despair, they were projected by the force of the current into a magnificent stream 350 ft. wide, now known as the Murray.  The Murrumbidgee pursues a course even more tortuous than the Murray.  The Hero, having the main portion of her cargo for stations on this river and for Balranald, turned up the Murrumbidgee, and pursued its way amidst the almost inextricable windings of the stream.  At times, within a direct distance from point to point of less than a quarter of a mile, the river would take half a dozen turnings, the reaches running almost parallel to each other.  On the Murray the proportionate distance by water as against the distance by land is estimated at three to one, but on the Murrumbidgee it must be four and even five to one.  From Swan-hill to Balranald the distance by land is between 60 and 70 miles; by the rivers, over 170.  From Tooley Buc to Balranald, the distance by land is 35 miles; by water, 120 miles.  The Murrumbidgee for many miles passes through low, swampy country, which during the wet season is inundated by the waters of the river.  The navigation of the river is rendered most difficult by the number of snags in the stream.  No attempt whatever has been made to clear its course of these impediments.  The Victorian Government can not, the Murrumbidgee not being within their boundaries, and the New South Wales Government will not, partly from the apathy with which all matters relating to such a distant province are regarded by Sydney people, and partly from a desire to impede the traffic on the lower portions of the river, in order to divert the trade in the direction of Wagga, to which town railway communication is now being extended.  That this reason is a valid explanation of the line of conduct pursued is shown by the fact that while the lower portions of the river between Hay and Wagga is being cleared of snags.  The Murrumbidgee below Balranald is in a disgraceful condition.  Every few yards black and ugly-looking snags protrude themselves above the surface of the water, and the utmost skill has to be exercised in avoiding them.  Now and again a sharp shock proclaims a collision with some snag, which, perhaps hidden under the water, has escaped observation.  The steamers are stoutly built of red gum timber, and can withstand many shocks to which lighter-built boats would succumb, but many accidents do occur from this source.  Usually every season is marked by some such catastrophe as the sinking of a wool laden barge through collision with snags.  The difficulty of navigating a river in this state must be seen to be appreciated.  Many of the turns are at almost right angles, and as the steamer speeds sharply round the curve, right in her course will be seen a vicious snag.  Down goes the wheel, and this danger is escaped by a hair's breadth, only to rush into the jaws of another difficulty of the same kind.  In some places trees falling right across stream bar all progress, except at the expense of forcing a passage.  The trees on the banks grow close to the water's edge, and as slowly though surely the banks are washed away in each successive flood, the roots of the trees are exposed and lose all holding power.  In every reach of the river there are numbers of trees, many of them of large size, in this state.  They overhang the water, and it becomes only a question of time until they fall into the stream.  It is not creditable to the New South Wales Government that an important commercial highway should be allowed to remain in this state.  The river ought to be cleared of snags, and the trees on the banks which are likely to fall into the stream should be removed.  A mile or two after entering the Murrumbidgee, we passed a spot on the banks where a plain wooden cross marked the last resting-place of some poor nameless wanderer.  We stayed for the night at Canally woolshed, which is about halfway to Balranald.  A scene of busy activity at shearing time, the woolshed was now deserted.  The next morning we started at five o'clock, and soon after arrived at Canally-station, owned by Mr. Maguire.  The station is one of considerable size, returning a clip of from five to six hundred bales.  The homestead is a comfortable looking residence, surrounded by a nice garden.  A creek flows round the side.  In the winter all the adjacent lands are flooded.  I noticed a number of blacks employed about the place, many of them strong lusty fellows.  They wore the ordinary stockman's costume, and the gins were also adorned in European habillments.  All the blacks regard smoking as their chief luxury, and whenever they can obtain the necessary requirements, are not to be seen without a pipe in their mouths.  The gins appreciate as much as their lords and masters the […]thing influence of the narcotic weed.  At this place there was a small punt belonging to the station used for crossing sheep over, the run extending on both sides of the river, but fortunately there was no punt raising job to be performed here.  The abounds with fish, principally Murray cod, bream and perch, which scarcely need an invitation to come and be caught.  After leaving Canally the next station we reached was Yanga, the property of Mr. C. B. Fisher, having recently been bought by him.  The run is a very extensive one, and includes a good deal of purchased land.  The station was formerly a cattle station, but is now being converted into a sheep station.  There are over 11,000 head of cattle still on the run, but these will be disposed of, and by next season, it is anticipated that the station will carry over 150,000 sheep.  The run is now being fenced in, and about 25 tons of wire were landed from the Hero.  There were many tons of wire on the bank discharged from other steamers.  The woolshed only is on the river bank, the home station being situated by the Yanga Lake, about 10 miles back.  Just above the woolshed is a submerged barge, the Minnie Watt, which was sunk 12 months ago, when laden with wool.  The wool was recovered by divers, but the barge still remains at the bottom of the river, all attempts to raise her having failed.  Balranald is distant only a few miles from Yanga woolshed, by land three miles, by water about nine or ten, and we reached the township between 7 and 8 o'clock in the evening.

Of the Murrumbidgee above Balranald I can speak only from hearsay, as that township was the highest point to which the Hero went on this trip.  The river pursues its winding course through low swampy country for many miles.  Amidst these swamps, some considerable distance up, a party of woodcutters have established themselves, concerning whom I heard a story characteristic of the place.  During one of the recent trips of the Hero, when she stopped at this wood-pile, one of the woodcutters came on board to replenish his stores.  Amongst other purchases, he required three or four shillings worth of pins.  Astonished at the extensive demand for such an article by a bachelor, the captain's wife queried the reason.  Well," explained the settler, "you see these swamps are such 'tarnal bad places for snakes that we cannot keep them out of our hut, so we want these pins to make a snake-proof fence."  His idea was to stick these pins in pieces of plank with the sharp end out, and to make a fence of these around the hut.  Any snake desiring to intrude his company where it was not pleasing, would receive a polite hint from the sharp points of these pins to move elsewhere.  Whether the idea was successfully carried out or not I am not aware.  Probably the trouble of making such a fence would be found even more unendurable than the snakes.  The Lachlan junction is about 100 miles above Balranald.  The Lachlan is not navigable, and where it runs into the Murrumbidgee is so narrow that it appears like a small creek, and would not be noticed by any one unacquainted with the place.  A tree grows in the centre of the stream.  The river drains a large extent of country, and higher up is a very considerable stream, but it loses much of its waters in swamps and marshes.  About 40 miles beyond the Lachlan junction is Maud, a small township consisting of about a dozen houses.  It is a crossing-place for cattle and sheep.  Up to this point the river runs through low country, and swamps abound on either side.  Between Maud and Hay the country improves in appearance.  The banks are high and there are several large and important stations about.  The river gets much shallower here.  In many seasons the river is navigable for vessels of light draught up to Maud all the year round, but beyond the river falls very rapidly.  Hay, the central town of the Riverine district, and a very thriving and flourishing place is about 90 miles beyond Maud.  The river is spanned by a handsome bridge, which was opened rather over a year ago.  The country is occupied for pastoral purposes for hundreds of miles around Hay, to which town the trade of the district converges.  From the Lachlan and the Darling districts wool is brought down to Hay, and thence shipped by river steamer to Echuca, and sent on by rail to Melbourne.  There are three or four very large wool stores in Hay, and others are now being erected.  During the season the town presents a busy aspect.  Teams laden with wool from distant stations arrive at every hour of the day and night, the stores are crowded, and the streets overflow with wool.  Between Hay and Wagga Wagga the country is admirably suited for grazing, and there are many magnificent stations on the river returning an annual clip of from 1,000 to 2,000 bales of wool.  Amongst the largest stations are Barrabogie and Toganmain, which give over 2,000 bales each.  Elliwale, Wardry, Groongal, and Yanko give about 1,500 bales, and there are many others of equal size.  The river at this part is not so winding as lower down in its course, and it is cleared from snags by the New South Wales Government, who desire to divert the trade up the river to Wagga.  The stream flows between banks from 15ft. to 20ft. in height, but in exceptionally wet seasons the river even overflows these banks, and floods the surrounding country.  On many of the stations fine residences are erected along the river side.  Howlong – a large cattle station – is owned by several brothers named Rudd.  They are married, and all reside on the station, having comfortable houses erected at the distance of one or two miles apart.  The distance between Hay and Wagga is about 345 miles by water.  Narrandera, a small township, is about 125 miles on the Hay side of Wagga.  It is proposed to extend the railway to this place.  The country around Wagga is very hilly.  Wagga, apart from its claims to notoriety as the producer of the greatest impostor of modern days, is the most important town in the district, and contains several thousand inhabitants.  It is a substantially built town, possessing many public buildings, a gaol, a court-house, a post and telegraph office, a mechanics' institute, and free reading-room, and will in the course of a year or two be connected by a railway with Sydney.  The distance between Wagga and Albury, about 80 miles, will then only require to be bridged over to bring about direct railway communication between Melbourne and Sydney.  The river is navigable in some seasons beyond Wagga up to Gundagai, 70 or 80 miles higher.  The river rises and falls with great rapidity in this part of its course, where the stream is confined by high banks.  A very little rain is sufficient to produce a temporary freshet.  At a place some distance below Wagga, known as the 84-mile rocks, a rocky ridge runs across the river, and offers a great impediment to navigation, except when the river is high.

The Murrumbidgee is navigable on the average for about eight months of the year.  For the last three or four years, the seasons have been favourable, and the intermission in the traffic has not been of long duration.  The river was open from May, 1873, until the middle of February, 1874, and re-opened in that year about the middle of April.  In 1875 it closed about the end of January.  The Pearl made a trip at that time, but did not reach Hay.  This year the river has been unusually high.  When I left Echuca several boats were laid up there, but the Pearl, the Riverina, and other steamers have since made trips.  In order to afford an idea of the extent of the traffic on the Murrurnbidgee I will give you the names of the steamers which ply more or less regularly upon it.  They are as follow:— Waradgery, Alfred, Murrumbidgee, Corowa, Pearl, Riverina, Undaunted, Princess, Kingfisher, Kelpie, Edwards, Currong, Burrabogie, Tyro, Cumberoona, Maranoa, Napier, Hero, Pioneer, Elizabeth, Adelaide, Victoria, and Emily Jane, 23 in all.  Of these the Cumberoona, the Tyro, the Maranoa, and the Napier are South Australian boats, but the first named is the only regular trader.  She is owned by Messrs. White, Counsels, and Co., of Adelaide, who do an extensive trade amongst the squatters on the river.  The boat makes three or four trips a season, conveying in herself and her two barges sometimes as much as 200 or 300 tons of cargo a trip.  It is in the supply of stores to stations that South Australia feels the benefit of the border treaty arrangement with New South Wales and of the difference of the two tariffs.  The duty on wine, sugar, preserved fruits, and other articles is considerably lower under the South Australian tariff than under the New South Wales tariff.  The gain thus made more than counterbalances any difference in freight between Port Victor and the Murrumbidgee.  Messrs. W. M'Culloch and Co. have found it pay them better to send these goods round from Melbourne to Port Victor, and to ship them up the Murray, than to send them to Echuca and thence forward.  The other South Australian boats – the Tyro, Maranoa, and Napier – were employed last season principally in conveying goods from Port Victor up the Murrumbidgee on behalf of that firm.  The South Australian steamers convey little or no wool from the Murrutnbidgee down to Port Victor.  Both this season and last the only wool conveyed by that route was the clip of one station, Buckenbong, near Wagga, owned by Mr. Jenkins, and amounting to five or six hundred bales.  The distance, as far as the Murrumbidgee is concerned, is all in favour of Victoria.  From the Murrumbidgee Junction to Echuca is 295 miles, as against 920 miles to Goolwa; and the fact that South Australia obtains any portion of the Murrumbidgee trade is attributable, I believe, more to tariff and railway difficulties experienced by Victorian traders than to anything else.  The other steamers I have named trade between the Murrumbidgee and Echuca.  The Hay Steam Navigation Company owns two boats – the Currong and Burrabogie.  The large squatters in the neighbourhood of Hay are the principal shareholders in the company, and the principal object of their competition is to keep down the freights, in which, I understand, they are successful.  Freight from Balranald to Echuca is about 35s. per ton; from Hay, 45s. or 50s.; and from Wagga, £4 to £4 10s., out of which all charges, wharfage commission, &c., have to be paid.  The Wagga Steam Navigation Company own one vessel, the Victoria, which is the only regular trader from Wagga to Echuca, though the other steamers will go as far as Wagga, or even beyond, if sufficient inducement offers.  Messrs. M'Culloch and Co. own the Waradgery, Alfred, and Murrumbidgee, and most of the other boats run under their agency.  Messrs. Permewan, Hunt, and Co., another firm of carriers, are now established at Echuca, and have the agency of three or four steamers.  These firms contract with the squatters to convey their wool from the stations to the stores in Melbourne at a certain charge per bale, which includes all expenses by water carriage, railway, or otherwise.

Before the North-Eastern Railway was opened through to Wodonga, a great trade was done on the river between Echuca and Albury; several of the largest steamers were employed on that route.  Since the opening of the North-Eastern line that trade has been entirely diverted, and the Wahgunyah is the sole representative of the once numerous fleet.  The progress of the Murrumbidgee and Darling trade has, however, more than compensated for any loss sustained in the Upper Murray traffic.  I am informed that within the last three or four years the number of steamers and barges on the river has doubled, and new vessels are continually being added.  Both the Hay Company and the Wagga Company intend to have a new steamer constructed.  The Murrumbidgee wool is estimated at about 50,000 bales annually, and the amount is on the increase.  New country is constantly being taken up, and in the older settled districts the runs, now they are fenced in and dams and reservoirs and other improvements constructed, are more fully stocked.  The squatters have been reaping rich returns during the favourable seasons of the past three or four years.  Many of them have expended large sums of money in the improvement of their runs, and have spent thousands annually in the purchase of the choice blocks on their stations.  The squatters have been desirous of obtaining that security of tenure and freedom from the intrusion of selectors which the fee-simple of their land only could ensure.  The New South Wales Government has sold immense quantities of land in the Riverine district within the last year or two, and has swelled the annual revenue by the absorption of the capital of the country.  The wisdom of this policy may well be doubted.  At a comparatively small cost squatters have obtained large tracts of territory in absolute possession, and, by judiciously choosing the choice portions of the run, they virtually secure the undisturbed use of the remainder.  In the course of years, as the colony progresses and the land increases in value, these territorial magnates or their descendants must, even in spite of themselves, become "disgustingly rich."

The Hero arrived at Balranald on Monday evening, and we anticipated being able to get away next day, but the 25 or 30 tons of cargo were not landed until late, and our departure was therefore postponed until Wednesday morning.  On Tuesday night a very heavy thunderstorm passed over.  The rain came down in torrents, and any of us who had taken up our resting-place on the deck as usual were glad to obtain the shelter of the cabin.  The storm cleared the atmosphere, and the weather on Wednesday was as cool as could be desired.  At Balranald we overtook the Pearl, which passed us at Tooleybuc, and the Riverine, another steamer, with barge, reached there the same evening.  The next day both steamers resumed their journey to Hay.  The river was unusually high for the season of the year, and there was every probability of the steamers reaching their destination, although the trip was a late one.  The Hero left her moorings about 7 o'clock on Wednesday morning, and commenced her journey down the Murrumbidgee.  The 70 miles occupied between 11 and 12 hours, including stoppages.  The Hero hitherto had always been engaged in the Murrumbidgee trade, and neither the captain nor his vessel had been down the Lower Murray.  Not knowing the position of the wood-piles, he therefore thought it advisable to lay in a good supply of firewood before leaving his accustomed route.  Advantage was taken of the opportunity to throw out our fishing-lines, and in a minute or two two fine Murray cod, one weighing about 121b., were on deck.  This specimen of the finny denizens of the river was quite overshadowed by a monster cod which the owner of the wood-pile brought to us.  The fish must have weighed over 30lb.  He mentioned that a short time previously he had caught a Murray cod weighing 74lb.  Its mouth was so large that he had been able to put his head inside it.  The cod are extremely voracious, and no small fish, not even of their own kind, come amiss to their insatiable maw.  On some runs in this district there are herds of wild cattle, which are deemed rather a nuisance than a gain.  Blacks are employed to shoot them.  There are also a number of wild pigs in the bush.  Both in the swamps below Swan-hill and at the junction of the Murrumbidgee I saw some porkers trotting contentedly about.  I was under the impression at the time that they were tame ones, but there were no selections near, and wild pigs I am informed do abound there.  We may yet see the Indian sport of pig-sticking acclimatized in Australia.

We reached the junction of the Murrumbidgee with the Murray about half-past 6 o'clock.  As we turned out of the narrow devious stream of the Murrumbidgee into the noble river which the Murray at this point has become, all on board experienced a feeling of exultation similar to that produced by the first sight of the sea, and we could scarce forbear giving utterance to a cheer as the steamer, obeying the guidance of its helm, swung round and proceeded on its journey down the lower river.  Ponto, the intelligent animal who does duty as watchdog, joined in the general feeling, and expressed his pleasure in a congratulatory howl.  As fresh bends and reaches now opened out, he sat at the prow of the vessel surveying the scene with evident astonishment, or ran about the deck sniffing the unaccustomed air, and quite unable to make out the change of route.  The Murray here, at a distance of over 700 miles from its mouth, has a width of fully one hundred yards, and the reaches are between half-a-mile and a mile in length.  There is no danger to the navigation here from sharp turns or from snags, but a look-out has to be kept for the sand bars, which at some points jut out into the river.  The sunset at evening was most beautiful.  The sun, just sinking below the level of the horizon, cast a rich, warm colouring over the sky.  The fleecy clouds, blushing a rosy red from his rays, reflected their bright tints in the cool waters of the river beneath, whilst through the trees glimpses could be seen of the deep crimson which dyed the low bank of clouds above the declining orb.  The colours became more and more vivid, and as the clouds changed their varying form, the heavy bank on the horizon assumed the appearance of a city of fire.  Imagination could discern the towers and domes, the houses, and the streets, and the deep grey of the clouds behind, which, unlit by the warm effulgence of the sun, could be seen in parts through the fiery covering, seemed like the placid waters of calm lakes.  As the sun declined, the brilliant tints of the sky faded, and twilight changed to night.  The more sombre aspects of evening were also not without their beauty.  The trees lining the river's edge cast their deep shadows into the water.  In the darkness of the night they looked like armies drawn up in hostile array on the opposing banks, and only prevented from conflict by the intervening stream.  Down mid-channel the steamer steadily ploughed its onward way, a meteoric shower of sparks streaming from the funnel.  The country below the junction appeared to be more thickly timbered, but was still very low and swampy, and on both sides of the river liable to inundation.  Lagoons and blind creeks, or "billabongs," as they are termed, were numerous, and carried off a great deal of the back water of the Murray.  The grass in many places was beautifully green, but the country is too swampy to be well suited for pastoral purposes.  The only signs of habitation observable from the junction until we arrived at Youngera, a station on the Victorian side, belonging to the Hon. Henry Miller, were a stockman's hut on the New South Wales side, and a woodcutter's hut on the other.  Youngera and the three other stations comprised with it, extend from the junction many miles down the river.  The run occupies a very extensive tract of country, and is nearly 100 miles in length.  The distance from the junction to the homestead is about 25 miles, and the Hero travelled the distance under the two hours.  The house is a miserably dilapidated building, nearly tumbling to pieces, and not at all in keeping with the importance of the station.  The Victorian bank is high, with deep water close to it.  In the darkness we were nearly running past the place.  We stayed the night here, and next morning by 6 o'clock were off again.  About an hour and a half steaming brought us to Meilman, situated on the New South Wales side.  This station carries about 20,000 sheep, and was recently purchased by Mr. J. P. W. Laurie, who also owns a station in the Western district of Victoria.  Mr. Laurie was formerly a member of the South Australian Legislative Assembly.  The steamer stayed here for a short time, and I was afforded an opportunity for a brief conversation with Mr. Laurie on the subject of the Riverina trade.  At present the wool from these stations on the Murray, as far down as Went worth, goes to Echuca, but he pointed out that the advantage derived from the down-stream current would enable South Australia to compete favourably in this traffic.  The great superiority of Melbourne over Adelaide as e shipping port he regarded as one of the principal reasons for the almost monopoly of the wool trade possessed by Victoria.  A squatter sending his wool to London viâ Melbourne could rely upon his produce being shipped without undue delay, but in the case of wool sent viâ Adelaide, Mr. Laurie said that he was aware of instances where bills drawn at 60 days on London hypothecated on the wool, had actually become due before the wool had left Adelaide.  Ships were delayed three or even four months before being despatched, all of which waste of time meant loss to the squatter sending his wool by that route.  With greater facilities and more expedition in the shipment of wool, Mr. Laurie was of opinion that South Australia could secure not only the Darling and Lower Murray trade, but could compete on equal terms with Victoria for the Murrumbidgee trade.  If Victoria desired to maintain her hold on the trade he conceived that the best plan would be to construct a light railway from, say, Ararat to the Victorian boundary, opposite Euston or Wentworth.  No doubt this railway, if constructed, would attain the object desired of securing the trade; but the question arises whether the game would be worth the candle.  The distance is considerably over 100 miles, and though the line would pass through level country presenting no engineering difficulties, yet the expense, at the lowest computation, I presume would not fall short of, even if it did not considerably exceed, half a million.  The line, I believe, would secure the whole of the Murrumbidgee and very possibly the whole of the Darling trade, but this line would to a great extent benefit to the detriment of the Echuca line.  We should be competing not only with South Australia, but with ourselves.  The railway rates would require to be very low in order to compete with the water carriage.  I very much doubt the line proving remunerative, even under most favourable circumstances.  Whether as a matter of policy it might be advisable to suffer a present loss for the sake of a future gain, I am not prepared to say.

After leaving Meilman, the next station we passed was Euston station, owned by Mr. Taylor, of Keilor Plains.  The station is an extensive one, extending a long distance back.  The house and woolshed are not on the river, but on the banks of a lagoon, to which in the wet season steamers can obtain access.  Lower down, I noticed a blacks' encampment, and on the river two of the frail canoes which they construct from sheets of bark.  All the blacks I have seen have been semi-civilised, and have been dressed in European costume.  On the Victorian side the next station was Bumbang, owned by the Hon. Henry Miller, and one of the runs in connexion with Youngera.  The country is very poor, principally mallee scrub.  A mile or two lower down we reached Euston, a small township on the New South Wales bank.  Euston is a crossing-place for sheep and cattle.  There is a Custom-house officer here, though I should judge that his avocations were not of an extremely onerous nature, and the township also possesses a post and telegraph office.  If the building can be taken as a type of the township, Euston has not a long life before it.  The walls appear as if rent apart by an earthquake.  The hotels and about a dozen houses constitute the remainder of the township.  The river winds very much below Euston.  A large paddock of several hundred acres is formed by running a short fence from one bend to another, the river winding round a distance of seven miles.  The river banks below Euston present a change.  These are high banks of red earth, 30ft. or 40ft. in height on the Victorian side, whilst on the other the country is swampy for miles back.  The gum trees growing on the edge of the water do not reach the top of these banks.  Interspersed with the ever-present eucalyptus is the Murray pine, a handsome tree the dark foliage of which offers an agreeable contrast to the dusty green of the gum trees.  The pines do not reach a large size.  A grove of these trees resembles the shrubbery of a gentleman's garden, and one unconsciously looks for the elegant villa to which they should be attached.  On some of the land along the river I noticed the saltbush, which is highly relished by sheep for its saline qualities.  After passing Gell's Island, a small island in mid-stream covered with gum trees, we came to Ki, a station on the New South Wales side, belonging to Mr. Gell.  We were welcomed by a chorus from the house dogs on the bank.  The steamer stayed here for some time whilst various trading operations were in progress.  The arrival of a steamer causes quite a break in the monotony of station life on the Lower Murray, where steamers are not so numerous as above.  Leaving here, we went on until nearly 9 o'clock.  The weather during the day was delightful.  The sky was cloudless, and the heat of the sun was tempered by the cool breeze, which towards evening blew both cold and strong.  The water was ruffled by the wind into tiny waves, and presented in miniature the appearance of a chopping sea.  At night, the banks of the river could be distinguished only by the line of trees.  In many parts there were no banks at all, the water of the river flowing direct into the lagoons which fringe the Murray along nearly its whole course.  We passed Kulkyne station in the dark, and stopped for the night opposite a small wood-pile on the New South Wales bank, at a place known as Brett's.

The next day, Friday, I expected that we should reach Wentworth, distant about 111 miles, but so much time was consumed in stoppages that the steamer only managed 77 miles for the day's journey.  In the morning, having taken in wood, we started, and about seven miles lower down came to Tapalin station.  The homestead, a log and bark structure, is picturesquely perched on the top of a high bank overlooking the river.  Tapalin Island is a small island a few miles below the station.  A very striking feature in the scenery at this portion of the river are the mallee cliffs, high red banks, in some places not less than 50ft. in height, sometimes rising almost sheer from the water's edge, and in other places having a slight slope to the river with trees growing down the side.  Their tops are crowned with the Murray pine.  These high red banks sometimes appear on the Victorian side, and sometimes on the other side, but in either case the opposite bank of the river is very low, and liable to inundation whenever the river is flooded.  The stream is therefore not confined to the channel of the river by the banks.  The part known as the Mallee Cliffs is on the New South Wales side of the river, and stretches a distance of two or three miles.  We stopped at M'Farlane's station, about 15 miles lower down.  The station has about 15,000 sheep upon it.  The mail road from Balranald to Wentworth passes close by, and the line of telegraph can be seen from the river.  At Goll Goll Creek, a new house for the station is being erected.  Nearly all the settlement, or at any rate the signs of habitation, are on the New South Wales side of the river.  Our stopping-place for the night was Meldura, a fine station on the Victorian bank.  The homestead presented the appearance of a small township.  The residence was in the midst of a nice garden, and, with the outbuildings, looked commodious.  The huts for the men employed on the station were along the river bank, which at this part was high.  We did not reach the station until nearly 9 o'clock.  Next morning (Saturday) we were off at daylight, and after passing Cowana – the site of a police station on the Victorian bank – and Williams's station, a cattle run on the New South Wales side, we arrived at the junction of the Darling River with the Murray about half-past 10 o'clock, and reached Wentworth half an hour later.