ned, and most of whom were resident
on their properties, only one remains--John Bostock, of Sesbania. If
those men did not win success they deserved it, and no one was more
worthy (and there were many worthy men) than John Bostock. Schollick's
spent over L100,000 on Oondooroo, and left it practically penniless.
Macpherson drove from Dagworth with all his belongings on a buck-board,
leaving unprofitable, and lost many thousands of pounds. Fraser, of
Manuka, who came a little later, died of a broken heart. Western
Queensland is greatly subject to mirages, and it is of the nature of
these which deluded many men with bright hopes to spend great fortunes.
These men battled on to the end, but being of fighting races, when they
went down they were still fighting with never a word of despair or of
defeat, and John Bostock alone remains.

In this year Sir Thomas and Lady McIlwraith passed through Winton on
their way to Ayrshire Downs. The whole of the inhabitants turned out to
meet them at the police water-hole (six miles from Winton) after dark.
An address was read to Sir Thomas by the aid of a lamp on the road. I
had the pleasure of having them as guests in my cottage.

This was my first meeting with McIlwraith, and I was greatly struck with
his personality. He was a man, big and broad, both physically and
mentally. Yet like most strong men, he was very head-strong and
impatient of obstruction to or criticism of his proposals. Neither could
he understand that it was not given to every man to see quickly and to
act promptly, attributes he possessed in a remarkable degree.

At this time he had his Trans-continental Railway in mind, and he
patiently tried to get me to realise how closer settlement of the
western country by smaller areas would obtain under it more than it
would, under the conditions by which it was then held, that is, in very
large areas. The then short experience of residents of the western
country were conditions of drought, and I must admit that I thought his
ideas were visionary. I have, however, lived to see the success of the
grazing farm system and the great improvements effected by underground
water supplies. In 1881, these were practically undreamt of. It is
likely that McIlwraith could see farther into the future and dream
dreams unthought of by others.

The publication of McIlwraith's scheme without doubt gave the hint to
Dutton, whose Land Act of 1884 was the inception of our present system
of graz