(See Page 220, Vol. i.)
On account of the morbid appetite existing in the sheep, which I am about to relate, their natural innocent dispositions are changed; they become carnivorous and savage; and it is difficult to drive them away from the pits in which earth impregnated with alkaline salts may be situated; although, when taken to a fresh run, they proceed feeding as usual, until this salt earth is again discovered, when they became addicted to the unnatural custom of devouring their lambs. On discovering one of the pits, they rush to it with the activity of deer, licking and gnawing the earth with avidity.
Among breeding-ewes, eating the earth was followed by their devouring the progeny of the other ewes, when brought forth; and, on the shepherds endeavouring to save the lambs just born from their voracity, they would rush upon them, biting their trowsers, and making strenuous efforts to seize the lambs in the arms of the men.
The different places about the Murrumbidgee country, where this took place, was shown me during my visit to that part of the colony. One place was a black bog earth, on which marks of the tongues of the animals, at those places where they had been licking, could be distinctly seen; the second place was similar to the first, and two others consisted of a reddish clay.
The situations were about limestone ranges; and it has been remarked, that the water holes, as they are termed, (which when dry, are the places frequented by the sheep, for the purpose of licking and gnawing the earth,) after standing for three or four days, acquire a peculiar sickly, sweetish taste: and it is in these pools, after the evaporation of the water, that the earth is situated, so eagerly devoured by the breeding-ewes. When driven away, they are seen licking their mouths, as if enjoying the delicious treat of which they had just partaken, making every endeavour to return: and men were required to be kept constantly on the watch, to prevent them; but with every exertion it was almost impossible to keep them off, for one flock advanced as another was driven away, and the people are soon tired out.[139]
After eating the earth, they do not feed on the herbage in any regular manner; they are restless, picking a bit of grass here and there, according to the statement of the shepherds, until, on the approach of evening, they feed in a more regular manner.
Sometimes six or eight ewes may be seen running to a particular spot on the pasturage, about the roots of clumps of grass, and sometimes those of fallen trees, licking and gnawing about the spot, as if it had a similar earth to that found in the water holes. They will burrow underneath the bank, to get the saline earth, at those places where it may be most moist.
This quality of the ground is supposed by the shepherds to be more prevalent about limestone ranges than any other geological formation; but I cannot consider this as satisfactorily proved. Although it has prevailed, for the most part, in places at which the limestone has formed the principal geological character, yet there are other parts of the country, where sheep have manifested a similar morbid appetite, when no limestone has existed. An ewe being missing about some limestone ranges, was seen coming out of a small cavern, in which she seemed to have found some of the saline earth, as she had a quantity of earth about the mouth; and the place was afterwards much frequented by other ewes, until they were removed from the spot.
The sufferers in the loss of lambs and ewes from this morbid appetite of the latter, are principally Messrs. Dutton, O’Brien, Warby, Hume, Manton, &c., all having sheep-runs about the Murrumbidgee country.
Mr. Dutton addressed a letter to the government on the subject, with the intention of getting his grant of land, if possible, changed to some other part of the country. The following is an extract from his letter, which clearly points out the destructive effects produced among the flocks, the most valuable stock of the settler in this colony, and on which his prosperity greatly depends.
“The disadvantages which I have thus to detail to you, arise from the novel disease with which the sheep are affected. It appeared after the first lambing, and within four months from the time of my occupation of the land in question. Its unaccountable and destructive nature renders my selection utterly useless. The nature of the disease, as far as I have yet remarked, is as follows:—The sheep, in the first place, devour the earth ravenously, the pasture being at the same time luxuriant, principally rib-grass, and other succulent herbs; they become speedily emaciated, from this unnatural diet, more particularly as the lambing season advances, and when lambing commences: the other ewes surround the one lambing, and devour the young as they emerge from the mother. The lambs saved through the care of the shepherds become poverty stricken, from the low condition of the mothers, and generally die before they become a month old. Thus, instead of having twelve hundred lambs this season, as my regular increase, I do not count four hundred; besides a very great decrease from mortality in the maiden sheep, originally purchased at high prices. The number of shepherds required being at the same time thrice beyond the proportion usual in the colony.”—November 1832.
The result was, that as the regulations of the government could not permit the grant to be changed, Mr. D. was obliged to sell it as a cattle-station, and purchase land in a more favourable part of the colony for his flocks.
In December he removed them, as a temporary measure, to Yas Plains; some of the ewes lambed after they had been removed, but the morbid appetite had ceased with the exciting cause, and the lambs were not attacked by the other ewes.
At the Murrumbidgee country I saw one of the little lambs, which had just been saved from the ravenous ewes, and had its tail bitten off before it was rescued. The circumstance was as follows, which shows the mode of attack:—The ewe was lambing, when six or eight others rushed towards her, but were prevented from coming near by the shepherds; they would not, however, go away, but kept following; and as soon as the ewe dropped her lamb (the shepherds having been engaged for the moment in driving away another party from another lambing ewe) it was attacked, the tail was bitten, but they were prevented from proceeding further by the immediate return of the shepherds.
They also evince as much eagerness to devour the “cleanings,” or after-birth, if not prevented; but if the little animal has been licked clean by the mother, and is dry, it may be placed in the hurdles amongst the other ewes, without their being attacked or injured. Thus showing that the salt nature of the liquor amnii, which at that time covers the young one, is the principal exciting cause for this extraordinary propensity to destroy, that appetite being excited by having previously eaten the saline earth from the “water holes.”
At the places where this destruction to the hopes of the wool-grower takes place, the pasturage is luxuriant; and the situations would be selected, by a person ignorant of the before-mentioned circumstances, as some of the finest sheep-runs in the colony.
The mother will not devour her own progeny, but will sometimes (which is not unfrequent in maiden ewes) not take to the lambs, but forsake them; until the shepherds hurdling the mother and young one together, the mother at last acknowledges her young.
It is not uncommon, however, for them to follow other ewes, attack and devour the lambs brought forth by them, in as ravenous a manner as the others would have devoured their young.
The ewes will not even wait until the young lamb is born, but when they see an ewe yearning, will rush upon her, devour the young one as it proceeds from the mother, and thus sometimes half the lamb is devoured before it is wholly born. Although the shepherds, by attention, endeavour to avert the evil as much as possible, yet when many ewes are lambing, the number of shepherds attached to the flocks are too small to enable them to attend to every individual case.
It may be asked, Does not the usual impulse of natural feeling induce the mother to prevent the destruction of her offspring? In reply, it may be said, That the poor, helpless, timid creature bleats, but makes no effort to defend her young one from the furious attacks of the “mob.”
The poorest and leanest ewes are those remarked as being most eager to devour the lambs of others; they have been brought into that miserable state, from having previously been fine fat ewes, merely from the custom of devouring the saline earth.
The head shepherd of Mr. Dutton’s flocks told me that there was not a finer flock of sheep in the country than those, previous to their devouring the salt clay and earth; after which they “fell off in condition,” until they became in the miserable state in which I now saw them.
The following is another, among too many instances of their voracity. An ewe had just commenced lambing, was in labour, but no portion of the young one had yet been born, when from fifteen to twenty ewes were seen running towards her; the shepherds perceiving this, rescued the ewe, and remained near her until she had done lambing; the other ewes kept at a short distance, occasionally advancing to make an attack upon the young one. The lamb was brought forth, and when perfectly cleaned and dry, was placed in the sheep-fold, in the evening with the mother, as usual, but the other ewes then took no notice either of the mother or young one.
Although the breeding ewes suffer both in health, and acquire this morbid appetite of devouring the progeny of others, and their own cleanings, yet rams, wethers, and ewes, not breeding, fatten to an astonishing degree upon the same pasturage, where breeding ewes had become miserably lean, and died in numbers from being in so low a condition. On one of these spots, I saw a wether killed from a flock, which was so fat as to render the meat almost uneatable; and Mr. Manton, who, from the cause before-mentioned, had been obliged to remove all his breeding ewes from his pastures about the Murrumbidgee, would, nevertheless, send his rams and wethers on the luxuriant pasturage, as the best place to fatten them; indeed, all concurred that rams, wethers, and even the ewes, if not breeding, thrive and fatten upon that pasturage land about the Murrumbidgee country, which proves so destructive to breeding-ewes and their lambs.
Mr. Manton had sheep on the limestone ranges, near the banks of the Murrumbidgee river; they became impoverished, and acquired the morbid appetite for devouring the young lambs; but when he removed them to a granite soil, in the vicinity of Yas Plains, they speedily recovered their former good condition, and the morbid appetite left them, more probably from there being no “water holes” containing saline earth about the place, than from the change of strata; however, they never returned to the unnatural practices, as was so frequent on the sheep-runs at the former place.
At Jugiong, Mr. O’Brien suffered in the loss of lambs from the same cause; but by occasionally changing the pasturage, it was checked in some degree; and although lambs were sometimes lost, yet the destruction was much lessened.
Even when the lambs are not devoured or destroyed by the other ewes, yet from the miserable condition of the mothers, the shepherds have been obliged to remove the young from their care, from inability to support them, when they endeavour to rear them by hand as “pet lambs.” If this were not done, the ewe would be more weakened by having to nourish her offspring, so that (as is known from experience) both ewe and lamb would be lost.
In rearing lambs away from the mothers many perish; and besides, the shepherds object to raising pet lambs, if it could be avoided, because they are seldom good sheep; when turned out in the pasturage they become poverty stricken, still looking for the fostering hand that reared them.
At Narangullen a sheep-station, in the Murrumbidgee country, near Guadarigby, before the sheep discovered the spots in which the saline earth was situated, they brought forth the young in the usual manner, and the cleansings (if the delivery happened during the night) were found in the fold, and given as usual to the dogs; but when the earth was discovered, the lambs were attacked at birth, and the “cleansings” were devoured, if not timely removed by the shepherds.
At Darbylara (also situated on the banks of the Murrumbidgee river) Mr. Warby, who has a fine farm at that place, suffered such losses among his flocks from this cause, that he was obliged to sell those that remained; yet at Brungul, a station about eight miles distant, near the Tumat river, there was a small flock of sheep which had not shown any of this morbid appetite, and were in excellent condition.
On visiting Mr. Warby’s farm, the whole had the appearance of being excellent pasturage, and affording excellent sheep-runs; but about the pastures there were several pools of brackish water, to which the sheep resorted, and from which it was found at last impossible to keep them.
At this place again, although so destructive to breeding-ewes, rams, wethers, and ewes, not breeding, would fatten, and become in the finest condition, upon the same pasturage.
The sheep at these places eagerly devour the Azolla pinnata, which grows abundantly in the whole of the ponds and rivulets.
At Guadarigby I remarked that the cattle, after they had been turned out of the stock-yard, invariably came licking the ground about the huts. After some doubt as to the cause, it was found that the water in which salt-meat had been boiled, was thrown away about that place; and this it was that attracted the cattle: they would even attack one another to get at some places, which had been more impregnated with salt than another. This inclination of animals for salt is by no means adduced as any thing novel; it is not confined to those domesticated among the herbaceous, but also among the wild in that class of animals; for at Blowrin Flat, in the Tumat country, a water hole, nearly dry in some parts, and at others perfectly so, and similar to those I had before seen frequented by sheep, abounded in the tracks of the kangaroo; and, on a closer examination, the earth (which glittered in the sun, as if impregnated with saline particles) was licked and gnawed, as was done by sheep in other parts of the country; but it would be difficult to know whether similar results occurred with the breeding females of the kangaroos.
At Lomebraes, (about thirty miles from Goulburn Plains, on the road to Yas Plains,) the farm of Mr. John Hume, I was also informed that lambs and ewes had been lost, from similar causes to those I have been relating. The water of the river which runs through his farm in the summer season, when the stream is low, is hard, even so much so as to curdle the soap, and prevent any washing with it; but in the winter season, when the stream is increased, it becomes softer.
It is curious that Mr. Warby mentioned that a number of his cows had “slipped their calves,” or miscarried, and thought it proceeded from some poisonous herb they had eaten; but Mr. Hume mentioned that his cows, which are accustomed when breeding to devour the earth impregnated with saline particles, “slip their calves,” and he could attribute it to no other cause. This occurred also at the farms of Gonnong, Mut, mut, billy; and at all places where the same propensity of licking and gnawing the saline earth, and devouring the lambs, occurred among the ewes, “slipping the calves” occurred among the cows; but I heard nothing of their devouring the young.