855 Total head of Horned Cattle.

HORSES.

22 Mares, all in foal, 3 to 5 years old. 5 do., 5 to 8 years old. 7 Fillies, do., 2 to 3 years old. 3 do., rising 3 years, not in foal. 5 do., rising 2 years, not in foal. 10 Saddle and Draught Horses. 5 Colts, rising 4 years old. 1 Colt, rising 3 years old. 1 Colt, rising 2 years old. 1 Blood Stallion. 1 Draught entire Horse. 1 Entire Pony.

62 Total number of Horses.

900 Fat Wethers.

AMOUNT OF STOCK VENTURES.

Now, striking a low average, the value in pounds of this herd of cattle, horses, and sheep, in South Australia, was: 

Horned Stock 8,550. 
Horses 3,720. 
Wethers 1,575.

Total:  13,845 pounds.

But between this and an ordinary mercantile risk no parallel can be drawn.  A merchant insures his cargo so that his total loss can but be a small portion of the whole.  The Overlander cannot do this with his stock and runs a far greater proportionate risk.  It must also be borne in mind that the statement of the herd, which I have above given, does not include all that started for South Australia, but only the survivors, who, after traversing so many hundred miles, reached in safety the destined mart.

INFLUX OF STOCK TO SOUTH AUSTRALIA.

When the Overlanders drive sheep alone, without horned stock or horses, the number of heads is much increased, as from 8000 to 12,000 sheep are brought over at one time.  They are driven in separate flocks of about 1000 each, and these follow one another in regular succession.  The value of a flock of 6000 sheep cannot be estimated under 10,500 pounds.

RAPID INCREASE OF WEALTH IN NEW SETTLEMENTS.

So much for the operations of single parties; but when once a road to a new market is opened numbers follow up the tracks of the first hardy adventurer, and the operations of the whole combined are not less startling in their magnitude than are those of enterprising individuals.  From New South Wales into the province of South Australia the Overlanders introduced, in 1839: 

4,200 Head of Horned Cattle, 130 Horses, 35,000 Sheep;

and within the three succeeding months of 1840, upwards of: 

7,000 Head of Horned Cattle, 100 Horses, 25,000 Sheep;

making, in fifteen months, a total of: 

11,200 Head of Horned Cattle, 230 Horses, 60,000 Sheep.

The value in pounds of the above stock being in the whole about: 

Horned Cattle 112,000,
Horses 13,800,
Sheep 105,000,

Total:  230,800 pounds.

And this wonderful amount of stock was brought into a country which, three years before, only resounded to the war-cry of the naked savage; and the soil of which, hardened, baked, and unstirred for centuries, nursed not within its bosom seeds from which a plenteous harvest might spring, but, as if irritated by neglect and indifference, gave forth unwillingly only acid roots and scanty bulbs.