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.)