Ellen G. White: The Australian Years: 1891-1900 (vol. 4)

Report to the Foreign Mission Board

In his report written June 10 to the Foreign Mission Board in Battle Creek, W. C. White describes the tract in considerable detail, filling four single-spaced typewritten pages: 4BIO 152.5

Much of the land in this section of the country is a clayey gravel with subsoil of shale or rock, or a coarse red sand with a subsoil of red clay. So much of it is of this character that the district is generally spoken against. There is much good land to be found in strips, and some most excellent soil in places.... We estimate two hundred acres fit for vegetables, two hundred fit for fruit, and two hundred good for dairying. The cost of clearing will vary considerably.—4 WCW, pp. 420-422. 4BIO 152.6

Twenty-five years earlier, land in the area had been cleared for agriculture, and orange and lemon orchards had been planted. But the settlers neglected their orchards and turned to the cutting of timber to supply the nearby mines. W. C. White reported: 4BIO 152.7

We have prayed most earnestly that if this was the wrong place, something would occur to indicate it, or to hedge up the way; and that if it was the right place, the way might be opened up. So far, everything moves most favorably.... We have signed a contract to buy the place, and have paid £25. At the end of this month, June 30, we are to pay £275, and then we have two years in which to pay the balance, with the privilege of paying all at any time.— Ibid., 422, 423. 4BIO 152.8