Chapter 4

Sheep on Terms, Schedule and Explanation--Investment in Sheep-run--Risk of Disease, and Laws upon the Subject--Investment in laying down Land in English Grass--In Farming--Journey to Oxford--Journey to the Glaciers--Remote Settlers--Literature in the Bush--Blankets and Flies--Ascent of the Rakaia--Camping out--Glaciers--Minerals--Parrots--Unexplored Col--Burning the Flats--Return.

February 10, 1860.--I must confess to being fairly puzzled to know what to do with the money you have sent me. Everyone suggests different investments. One says buy sheep and put them out on terms. I will explain to you what this means. I can buy a thousand ewes for 1250 pounds; these I should place in the charge of a squatter whose run is not fully stocked (and indeed there is hardly a run in the province fully stocked). This person would take my sheep for either three, four, five, or more years, as we might arrange, and would allow me yearly 2s. 6d. per head in lieu of wool. This would give me 2s. 6d. as the yearly interest on 25s. Besides this he would allow me 40 per cent per annum of increase, half male, and half female, and of these the females would bear increase also as soon as they had attained the age of two years; moreover, the increase would return me 2s. 6d. per head wool money as soon as they became sheep. At the end of the term, my sheep would be returned to me as per agreement, with no deduction for deaths, but the original sheep would be, of course, so much the older, and some of them being doubtless dead, sheep of the same age as they would have been will be returned in their place.

I will subjoin a schedule showing what 500 ewes will amount to in seven years; we will date from January, 1860, and will suppose the yearly increase to be one-half male and one-half female.

Ewes Ewe Wether Ewe Wether Wethers Total Lambs Lambs Hoggets Hoggets 1 year old ] January, ] 1860 ] 500-- -- -- -- -- 500 1861 500 100 100 -- -- -- 700 1862 500 100 100 100 100 -- 900 1863 600 120 120 100 100 100 1140 1864 700 140 140 120 120 200 1420 1865 820 164 164 140 140 320 1748 1866 960 192 192 164 164 460 2132 1867 1124 225 225 192 192 624 2582

The yearly wool money would be:-

Pounds s. d. January, 1861 . . 2s. 6d. per head 62 10 0 1862 . . . . . . . . 87 10 0 1863 . . . . . . . . 112 10 0 1864 . . . . . . . . 142 10 0 1865 . . . . . . . . 177 10 0 1866 . . . . . . . . 218 10 0 1867 . . . . . . . . 266 10 0 Total wool money received . . . . 1067 10 0 Original capital expended . . . . 625 0 0

I will explain briefly the meaning of this.

We will suppose that the ewes have all two teeth to start with--two teeth indicate one year old, four teeth two years, six teeth three years, eight teeth (or full mouthed) four years. For the edification of some of my readers as ignorant as I am myself upon ovine matters, I may mention that the above teeth are to be looked for in the lower jaw and not the upper, the front