2-165 (Raw)

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Wilachra Creek Dec 3 - 1837
My dear Brother & Sister
I should have written to you long since but I expected to move farther north & Dan talked of going to Port Lincoln to purchase some sheep but his men mutinied which prevented his going. I was very much obliged to them as I felt very uneasy at his going as the Blacks have killed several people there, I fear the daily Employment in the bush wont [sic] interest you much. I lived all last year with the children at the old run we get up at six in summer the children are put in a cold bath by the Irish servant girl every morning all the year, then breakfast, then I teach them Spelling reading writing figures untill one when we dine, then needlework at four when the children go for the Cows, at five we have tea and put the calves up feed the fowls, and Dimmy reads the Bible and we go to bed this is the way we spend the summer, we make our own bread and yeast with hops I have 3 Cows & we scald the milk when it is twelve hours old and scim it when it is 48 hours old which makes the cream very easy to churn in cold weather increases the quantity of butter and keeps the milk quite sweet in the very hot weather for the children to drink, when the rain comenced Dan sent down a flock of sheep with the rams which the children were obliged to mind, then our troubles began nothing will please a shepherd, and we had the yard to shift every day with the servant girl 62 hurdles & sometimes raining all the time, as Dan stayed at the new run and our doing so saved 18/ a week for a hut-keeper, the first of September Dan and all the sheep shearers drays horses Bullocks & & came packed us all up and sent us off to his lambing station as he wanted to shear in the house as it was built for that purpose, in a month the shearing was over and we were ordered to pack up and be ready to start to the new run we sent all the things on the bullock dray and we followed in the horse dray driven by the girl, and Dan rode after with the cows, as, James started a week before with two flocks of sheep, and Uncle Robert who came while we were sharing with his son he left his daughter with mother in Adelaide - ... we rested for a forthnight at one of the winter stations and Dan went in search of the Bullock dray. he found it broken down he had to ride 60 miles to borrow one. he came back in a week and took us over finders range [sic] where a white woman or child never went before, you may judge of the terrible journey we had when it took two days to go 10 miles walking nearly all the way and draging the luggage up every hill we crossed as the horse could not take it up, we stoped 2 months at another winter station where the water lasts untill Ja[nuary] while Dan went to town and got up building materi[al] and built the kitchen wing of a house on the Willachra creek. [97]
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