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The State Barrier Fence of Western Australia

CENTENARY 1901 - 2001

Contents page

CHECKING THE RABBITS
SURVEY OF THE FENCING LINE - INTERVIEW WITH SURVEYOR CANNING

An Interesting Report

Mr A.W. Canning of the Lands and Surveys Department, has just returned from an eleven months' survey trip in marking out the line which the rabbit-proof fence will follow. He was accompanied by six men, and the whole trip had to be made on camelback. Mr Canning, on being interviewed by one of our representatives yesterday, said:-

"I went first from Burracoppin to Starvation Boat Harbour, on the south coast, just east of Ravensthorpe. The line I marked out there was 215 miles in extent. I then went north for 369 miles to a point opposite the Kimberley Ranges, on the stock route, and permanently marked the line for the rabbit-proof fence all through. On the southerly portion the line is a very excellent one for fencing, considering the country right through the great obstacles being the want of permanent water and of good fencing timber. To a great extent there will be trouble with regard to the water on the northern portion. For 60 miles north of Burracoppin there are sufficient wells to enable the fence to be erected without any great trouble, but thence onwards for 230 miles there are no wells at all, and the contractors have to depend for water on the rockholes. On a great deal of that country wells could be got by sinking, but probably in parts the water would only be struck at a considerable depth. There would certainly be a great difficulty in getting permanent water at all. Some of the rock holes are the finest I have ever seen. We had some difficulty in making the survey, as water had to be found, and as the weather was very dry many of the rock holes had dried up. However, by searching continually, I managed to get through without any great hardship.

"From the White Well, on the Lawlers-Magnet Road, there are wells for a short distance, but thence for 80 miles I found no water, although there would be no difficulty in getting it by sinking. There are also some very good rock holes there, but they had dried up owing to the extremely hot weather. That part was fairly difficult to negotiate for at times we had to send 40 miles back for water. We managed to get through without being stopped, and never lost a day, as when the camels went back for water we continued working on. Running from Brown's Soak in a north easterly direction towards the Kimberley Ranges, we came to the Gum Creek Well, on the Nannine-Lake Way Road. There was excellent water there, as there was also at Brown's Soak. The line runs quite close to these wells. Thence up to the stock route for some 47 miles there is no surface water, but I do not think that even there there would be difficulty in getting supplies. On the stock route the water is very shallow; at a place where it is only 4 ft deep we saw stockmen watering 3,000 sheep and about 400 bullocks. After being emptied the soak fills again when left for a quarter of an hour. There is excellent country there both for cattle and sheep.

"On all the northern trip we found a very fair supply of timber for fencing purposes, especially for the last 230 miles, where there is ample timber quite close to the line. It is the mulga which I regard as the best of all timbers for the work, even better than the jam wood. We passed through a good deal of poor country in the first 200 miles, but after that it improves. Although the land is patchy, there is some good country. Right through I have endeavoured to keep just on the edge of the squatting country and have avoided the sand dunes.

"To show the difficulty we had to encounter owing to the lack of water, on one occasion the camels went for 14 days on three buckets of water apiece, and they all lived through it. Some of the camels were poisoned with the 'poison bush', and one of the animals went completely mad, but they all recovered after a time. We could never get a spell, as we had to push on in case the water gave out. On one occasion we went for about three weeks with only the merest wash. The larder was not replenished much with fresh food. We got a few kangaroos and turkeys, but there is very little game through the country, this being probably due to the lack of water. Indications which had been left by the blacks, evidently many years ago, were the means of our finding water on many occasions. I learnt to know these indications, which were the piling up of stones, and in every case I saw them we eventually found water in the direction towards which these pointed.

"I saw no rabbits on the trip at all, and on the northern route I do not think there are any near the line. The farthest place north that we heard of them was at Leonora, and I was told that several had been caught there. There is nothing to stop rabbits from getting up in that country, especially in a north-westerly direction, where there is a good quantity of pastoral country, much of which has been taken up lately. There are patches of desert, but in between them there is the pastoral country. I think that the fence will be such a check to the rabbits that they will not get through in any great numbers, and if they push on with the fence they can stop the rabbits now.

"We came across very few blacks, and in fact, I could not get one to accompany the party. All of them have gone into the mining towns, and we did not go far enough north to find them in any numbers. The heat while we were in the north was terrific. During the last two months it has ranged from 110 deg. to 118 deg. in the shade. We have not had any rain during the last three months. The carriage of the material for the fencing will be pretty difficult, for the nearest railway station to the line is distant 60 miles. The line for a considerable distance runs along a sort of valley between the cliffs, and I think I have go about the best route. The northern part of the country is broken considerably.

"With regard to the extension of the line further north, I think that it should be pushed on with as soon as possible, for the barrier will have to be put up right along, at all events within the next few years, if the rabbits are to be kept out. To protect the Gascoyne and North-West it will be absolutely necessary to fence that country. The authorities must not wait until the rabbits get round the top end of the fence before continuing it. There seems no reason to me whey the rabbits should not thrive there. Indeed the country is particularly suitable for them."

In conclusion, Mr Canning said that the trip had been a distinctly trying one, but he was glad to say that with the help of an excellent lot of men they had got through without any mishap.

(The eleven months mentioned would be from August 1901, when a preliminary survey was made from Burracoppin south to Starvation Boat Harbour (Now Bedford Harbour (215 miles) until eleven months later Canning reached the 369 mile peg, Burracoppin north. This did not complete the survey of No. 1 Fence.)

 


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