Blackwood River
CHAPTER X
Dardanup Park—Donnybrook—Bridgetown—The Grange—Dallgarrup—A Prodigious Prize—Greenbushes—Tinfield—The Great Forest.
The Hon. H. W. Venn has a splendid estate called Dardanup Park, 10 miles from Bunbury. The dwelling-house is built in old English style and surrounded by a garden, where all kinds of beautiful flowers grow in profusion. There is an enormous shed, capable of holding large quantities of hay. The dairy cows, standing knee-deep in pasture, are specially sleek and fat; the milk and cream that I tasted at Dardanup seemed exceptionally sweet. I went for a six-mile drive to the Ferguson river, passing many pretty farms, nearly all on Mr. Venn’s land. One goes for miles down a narrow road like an English lane, except that the hedges are formed of the beautiful Australian wattle in place of English hawthorn. The grand Australian trees, red gum and jarrah (some of immense size), the pretty banksia, the delicate paper-tree, the coral creeper, which, as its name implies, is of the colour of pink coral, and in some instances, had embraced the banksia-trees and mingled lovingly with their broad green leaves, all combined to make a pretty picture. A little Roman Catholic church and, farther on, a Protestant one, gave token that the spiritual welfare of the people at Dardanup is well looked after. It is singular how many native names end with “up.” On to the road to Bunbury there is a station called Wagerup. An old settler in the district was not satisfied with that name, and wrote to Mr. Venn, the member for the district, to say that he was an old settler of 30 or 40 years, and thought he ought to have a say in the naming of the railway station. Being a loyal Englishman, he wished it to be called Queen Victoria Station. I am sorry to say his request has not yet been acceded to. Another loyal subject at another railway station, where there are about two other dwellings, has recently built a bush public-house, and outside is printed, in large letters, “The Palace Hotel.”
Mr. Venn is very much liked by all the farming community. I overheard a controversy on politics at the dinner-table between several farmers, and they were unanimous in their opinion that Mr. Venn was the man for them, and for the country.
Beyond lies Donnybrook, not the great Irish fair of that name, but a fertile spot of Western Australia. A mile before arriving there we stopped at Baxter & Prince’s siding, 2½ miles from which are their well-known sawmills, in which are employed a large number of workmen. There are some fine farms at Donnybrook, and the estate of the Hon. J. W. Hackett, with its orchards and gardens, is half a mile from the station. In these gardens all kinds of fruits, especially raspberries and strawberries, grow in luxuriance.
On account of the marvellous fertility of the ground there are a great many applications from people wishing to establish themselves on the land here, and take up small plots for fruit growing. Two miles out of Donnybrook is a goldfield, which may some day turn out to be immensely rich. Gold was first discovered in the surface soil by some men searching for the alluvial deposit. Further investigations with the miner’s faithful prospecting-dish eventually led to the discovery of quartz veins. There are several shafts sunk now to a great depth, all of which have yielded a profit. Perhaps a new Coolgardie will one day spring into existence here.
Mr. Maryanski, the well-known mining expert, is largely interested, has purchased property here, and has now gone to Europe for the purpose of floating companies.