That trade was the growth of wool.

He was a breeder of sheep on a Queensland sheep-run, and his flocks ran far afield over a vast territory of which he was the only lord.

His house was near the river Mary, and beyond the river his domain did not extend; but around him on his own side of the river he could ride for ten miles in each direction without getting off his own pastures.

He was master, as far as his mastership went, of 120,000 acres--almost an English county--and it was the pride of his heart to put his foot off his own territory as seldom as possible.

He sent his wool annually down to Brisbane, and received his stores, tea and sugar, flour and brandy, boots, clothes, tobacco, etc., once or twice a year from thence.