iii. 6 April 1839

Letter 3: Porter to Coates, 6 April 1839, p.1.
Class Mark: C N/O 70/-
MS page no: 4-008
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[note] Rec'd Sept. 3/39
A

Mission House, Wellington Valley
April 6th, 1839

Dear Sir

Having so much sameness in my daily labours in consequence of the severe drought; and the almost total absence of the Natives, I have considered it best to give the Society the substance of my proceedings & prospects in a letter. What I have done either as a Missionary or as an Agriculturist; has been comparatively little. What I have suffered has been much more.
The severe drought with which the Colony has been visited for many Months past; still continues with all its distressing consequences. We have been prevented entering into any Agricultural employments; in which we ought now to be fully engaged. We have not, & can not sow one grain of Wheat; until the Lord is pleased to send us a fall of rain: Nor can we even plow one single furrow as a preparatory step. We have spent much time in dragging Cows out of the River; the water of which had fallen so low; and left so much mud that the cows in going to drink stick fast in it, being too weak & poor (thru [sic] the scarcity of food) to get out again without help. We have sometimes had as many as 2 or 3 in a day: to drag out. A great many of our Cows with Calves have died: some in the bush; others have been drowned in the River before they could be got out. The calves generally died afterwards being too young to support themselves upon so scanty a subsistence. The Bullocks that we slaughter: being so young & so poor are exceedingly light; rarely exceeding 300 pounds in weight; & often times much less than that. This causes us to kill so many more, to supply us with the necessary quantity of Beef. On the one hand our Cows & Calves are dying through want; & on the other we are killing more Bullocks than usual to make up the required weight so that in a very short time our Herd will consist (with very few exceptions) only of a few young Cattle from 8 months to one and a half years old. Our Sheep have certainly done much better than the Cattle; comparatively few have died; and those generally very old ones. Still the Mothers that we have killed; (like the Bullocks) have been very light: & requiring 3 to make the same weight as2 would weigh; six months ago. Our Horses

People in WellPro Directory: Coates, Dandeson

Letter 3: Porter to Coates, 6 April 1839, p.2.
Class Mark: C N/O 70/-
MS page no: 4-009
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also are very poor; we have scarcely one that is fit to do a day’s work. We endeavour to keep alive those that we do work; by giving them a few reeds; which the Natives get for us out of the River.
Our Wheat crops having entirely failed: we are obliged to buy every Bushel we want; at the high price of one pound per Bushel and give nearly one pound per hundredweight to have it brought us the distance of 70 miles so that a Bushel of Wheat costs us ultimately about one pound ten per Bushel: and we use a little more than three Bushels weekly. The reason we are obliged to have our Wheat fetched is this. Our own Bullock team is quite broken up; 6 Bullocks have died; four more our men left on their way from Sydney with Supplies (being unable to travel) & I never expect that we shall find them again. The remaining 4 that we have are nearly all unfit for work.
We have only four Months’ Rations of Tea & Sugar in the Stores & no prospect of getting any more up from Sydney for almost every team that attempts to come up to Wellington; lose the greater number of their Bullocks on their way: with there being no feed for them. The distress is becoming truly alarming; as it will be impossible in a short time: if the drought continues; to obtain the necessities of life, Flour & Salt. We have been obliged to use the greatest possible economy in giving food to the Natives which has caused a great many of them to go away. And those that do remain are very unsteady in their habits. Sometimes being with the Police Constables: & sometimes with us; just as it suits their - fanciful minds. What I have done as a Missionary has been almost nothing: for it has occupied almost the whole of my time 6 Days of the week in providing the necessities of life for our Establishment: & on the Sabbath we have 2 Services at our Chapel which (taking into consideration the extreme indolence of the Natives) leaves me but little time to devote to their Instruction. Still whenever I have time & opportunity to instruct them either in reading or conversation I trust I never allow it to escape.
All these things, dear sir, added to those many difficulties, trials & lamentable recurrences: of which the Home Society, I have no doubt, are by this time made acquainted with. I mean more particularly, the conduct of the Colonial Government, in proceeding to take away the Land from the Mission: to build a Town upon it & also the unhappy way in which we as Missionaries have almost universally been living with respect to each other.

People in WellPro Directory: Coates, Dandeson

Letter 3: Porter to Coates, 6 April 1839, p.3.
Class Mark: C N/O 70/-
MS page no: 4-010
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All these things dear sir cannot fail to make a deep impression on the mind of a sincere Christian: & would be more than he could bear: were he not supported & comforted by the Lord his God.
The Society may conjecture; but they cannot enter fully into all the trials & sorrows I have met with in my short Missionary career at Wellington Valley. Had my trials & sorrows arisen simply from the persecuting spirit of a sinful world; or as discouragements from the Natives: I could rejoice; that the Lord had counted me worthy to suffer for His sake. For then I might hope (& that confidently) for better prospects: But when my trials are of that kind & arising from those causes, too well known to the Society: hope at once vanishes & my heart is filled with the heaviest grief. Nothing but a sense of duty, dear sir; induces me to continue here; where I have not the least prospect of encouragement & success. This I do anxiously waiting the decision of the Society respecting the removal of the Mission.
I trust that whenever or wherever the Society may re-establish the Mission amongst the Heathens of this Country; it may be established on a better plan than the present one is. I do think it to be improper & prejudicial to the interests of a Mission to employ any persons in it who are not sincere Christians.
It is far from my wish to dictate to the Society; but when I see evils existing; which I consider may be remedied; I cannot but point them out for the consideration of the Society.
I trust the Lord will direct The Society in all their decisions; respecting the Mission to these Poor Heathens. Such is the prayer of,

Dear sir,
Your humble Servt in the Lord,
William Porter.

People in WellPro Directory: Coates, Dandeson

Letter 3: Porter to Coates, 6 April 1839, p.4.
Class Mark: C N/O 70/-
MS page no: 4-011
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[addressed to]
Dandeson Coates Esqr
Church Missionary House
Salisbury Square
London

[addressed from] ..

People in WellPro Directory: Coates, Dandeson