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hobble the horse and camp out there. We used to go to waterholes [like] Horseshoe. We
get a lot from there, take them back to Oriners.
Marcus Barber: Did you go to Horseshoe just once or a few times?
Edwin David: I went there a few times.
Marcus Barber: Did you come from Koolatah or from Oriners?
Edwin David: Come from Koolatah, [and] Oriners to Horseshoe. Sometimes we used to go
to Koolatah, go to Horseshoe, camp there, and muster back here to Emu Yard.
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Marcus Barber: When you were mustering, did you go as far as Mosquito [Lagoon]?
Paddy Yam: Mosquito and Horseshoe [Lagoons]. We used to brand them and let the cows
go and take the bulls back.
Marcus Barber: Did you ever camp there at the Oriners lagoon when you were mustering?
Paddy Yam: Yes we used to camp around there.
Marcus Barber: Was there any shed or anything at Oriners at this time?
Paddy Yam: No. It was all clear.
Marcus Barber: Did you have any white foreman with you or were you by yourselves?
Paddy Yam: By ourselves.
Marcus Barber: What time was that? Were you burning the country or was it too late?
Paddy Yam: In June we used to do all that country. [By] October, we used to try to beat the
rain. Trying to get the cattle gone [by] then. [By] that time you could only pick up a few
cows and bulls.
Marcus Barber: So you mustered close to Koolatah first and then would slowly go further
out?
Paddy Yam: Walk around yes. Before it‟s getting [too] late. We do early muster around the
river side. Come down, through Black Gin [Yard], mustering, Kingfish [Yard], down the
bottom. Around Emu [Yard], muster around Jewfish waterhole, Moon creek, old station, old
Koolatah. When it‟s dry you know, we‟d burn the grass. It was good country to muster.
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Those old fellers were smart, we‟d see the cattle track and they‟d say „no, don‟t follow
them, Feel the wind, they will smell us. They‟ll be there at that swamp.‟ So we‟d go around
the side way and there they were, where the old fellers said. Nowadays you just wait on the
fence line and the helicopter brings the cattle to you! At Koolatah we would start in April.
We‟d be finished around the river by June, Then we‟d do the forest country, then hit the
river again. The Hughes‟ had it all worked out, They had it worked to a t.
Robert Murray
Later, following the purchase of Dixie by the Hughes‟ in the 1960s, Oriners mustering
became oriented towards Dixie:
Marcus Barber: When you got the cows from Oriners, did you take them to Koolatah or new
Dixie, which way were you going?
Philip Port: We take them back to Dixie.
Marcus Barber: Were there any wild cattle?
Philip Port: There were wild cattle. But there were Hereford bulls, and we had them
shorthorns, where now you still have them but have all these cross now with all these
Working Knowledge at Oriners Station, Cape York
106