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Pan yr ewinedd yn rhy gelyd i gyllell eu torri, dodem y traed ar foncyff o bren; dodem gynion ar yr ewinedd; tarawem hwy a morthwylion; a cheid yr ewinedd ymaith. Tarawai Jack a minnau weithiau yn rhy agos i’r byw, a tharawsom ddarnau o draed rhai ymaith, ond heb geisio, yn mhellach na’n bod wrth waith na arferasom. Eithr pan y dygwyddai’r anffawd, dywedem fod traed y rhai hyny wedi myned yn dra drwg; canys y defaid ar ol y cyfryw driniaeth, a fyddent yn gloffion, a rhai bron a methu ymsymmud, o herwydd maint eu poenau o golli eu traed. |
When the horns were too hard to cut with a knife, we would place them on a tree stump; we put chisels on them, and struck them with hammers until we got them off. Sometimes Jack and I struck too close to the quick, and tore away pieces of the feet of some, without trying to, except in so far as we were doing unaccustomed work. But when this misfortune occurred, we would say the feet of those sheep had gone very bad, since they were lame after such treatment, and some could hardly walk because their feet were so painful. |
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Y ddyledswydd nesaf oedd eu taflu i byllau dwfr, cymysgedig ag arsenic, math o wenwyn cryf, i ladd pob anhwyldeb a darddai allan drwy eu crwyn. |
The next duty was to throw the sheep into pools of water mixed with arsenic, a kind of strong poison, to kill any pests [ticks] that came out of their hides. |
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Er fod ein meistr yn werth llawer o olud, efe a ystyrai saith bunt y dunell yn ormod am y glo: gan hyny, coed a losgent yn y palas, ac yn mhob lle arall, ar y tyddyn, yn gofyn tân. Jack a minnau a anfonid, yn gyffredin, i gludo coed tân, gyda phedrolfen a bustych. Ceid digonedd o honynt ychydig bellder oddiwrth y tyddyn, am fod y brodorion wedi eu anghymhwyso i bob peth arall yn yr amseroedd gynt, trwy eu harfer yn aelwydydd; sef, byddai’r brodorion yn ceibio, neu yn torri tyllau ychydig i’r ddaiar wrth fonion y coed, ac yn y tyllau hyny y byddai eu tân, yr hwn a enynai i galon pob pren y gwneid aelwyd dano; a’r coed, mewn canlyniad, a wywent ac a grinent trwyddynt; fel, pan y chwythai gwyntoedd cryfion, y syrthiant i’r llawr, gan falurio eu hunain yn eu codwm. |
Although our master was very wealthy, he considered seven pounds a ton too much to pay for coal: accordingly only wood was burnt in the mansion, and everywhere else on the farm where fire was required. Jack and I were generally sent to get firewood with a wagon and bullocks. There was plenty of firewood a short distance from the farm, from trees the natives had in former times rendered useless for anything else by using them as hearths; that is, they would dig or cut holes into the earth at the base of the trees, and light their fires in them, which would burn into the heart of each tree under which a hearth was made; and the trees in consequence would dry up and wither; so that when strong winds blew, they would fall and crumble. |
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Yr oedd genym hefyd i gyrchu dwfr, at wasanaeth y tyddyn, o bellder dwy filltir, gyda baril mawr wedi ei rwymo a’i sicrhau ar bedrolfen. Un tro, rhoddodd Jack y fflangell i mi, a pherodd i mi fyned yn mlaen at y dwfr, gyda’r bustych a’r bedrolfen, tra y tröai ef i ryw le allan o’r ffordd, gan hysbysu y byddai ef yn fy nàl cyn cyrhaedd o honwyf y dyfrle. Gan y teimlwn gryn ddyddordeb mewn gyrru bystych y tro cyntaf erioed, canlynais arnynt i brysuro’n mlaen, fel na oddiweddodd Jack mo honom hyd oni ein bod wrth y dwfr; ond yn y lle hwnw, cyn dyfod Jack, daeth yn ychydig ddyryswch; y pwll dwfr ydoedd ddwfn, a’r ffordd ato, gerllaw iddo ar i waered; ac at gael y bedrolfen yn gyfleus i dderbyn ei llwyth, byddai yn ofynol myned i lawr at y dwfr yn hŷf, a rhedeg at benau y bustych i’w troi yn chwyrn; ac wrth i mi wneyd hyny, cefais fy maglu gan goeden, trwy i un o’r olwynion blaen fachu am dani; tybiais yn ddilys, y gwnaethwn y bedrolfen yn ddrylliau, ac y syrthiasai y bustych yn bendramwnwgl i’r pwll dwfr; eithr bu yn well na’m dysgwyliad, a chefais y bedrolfen yn rhydd, heb un niwed mwy nag ychydig ar yr echel. |
We also had to fetch water for use on the farm, from a distance of two miles, with a large barrel tied and secured on a wagon. On one occasion, Jack gave me the whip and told me to take the wagon and bullocks on ahead to the waterhole, while he went off somewhere away from the road, saying he should catch me up before I got there. For the first time ever, I felt considerable interest in driving bullocks, and sped ahead behind them, so that Jack did not overtake me till we were near the water; but a slight difficulty arose there before Jack arrived; the pond was deep, and the way to it ran down beside it; and to position the wagon to receive its load, it was necessary to go boldly down to the water, and run towards the heads of the bullocks to turn them quickly. As I was doing this, one of the front wheels was caught about a tree; I really thought I should smash the wagon to pieces, and the bullocks would plunge headlong into the pond; but it went better than I expected, and I got the wagon free with no more damage than a little to the axle. |
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Ar y Sul, wedi ein dyfod i’r tyddyn hwn, cymerem gaib a rhaw i chwilio am aur; ac er ein bod ugeiniau o filltiroedd oddiwrth unrhyw gloddfa, eto, cawsom ychydig bach o’r duw melyn amryw o weithiau. |
On the Sunday after we came to the farm, we took a pick and spade to look for gold; and though we were many miles from any goldfield, we found a little bit of the yellow god several times. |
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Yn mhen y chwech wythnos o aros ar y tyddyn, daeth yr ail îs-lywydd atom, o un o’r bythod bugeilio, i’n denu at y meistr i’w hysbysu ein bod yn ymadael, i’r dyben o anturio i gloddfa aur Ballarat. Wedi i ni gyrhaedd at ei balas, ac erchi’r forwyn i’w ofyn at y drws efe a ddaeth, a chyfarchasom ef, gan drefnu ein neges ger ei fron. “O,” ebe efe, “nid ydych am fy ngadael mor fuan a hyn?” A dywedodd yr ail îs-lywydd, “Y mae’n rhaid i ni fyned, syr, cyn iddynt godi yr aur i gyd.” Gwahoddodd ni i mewn, gan ddywedyd, “Let us splice the main brace,” neu mewn geiriau cyffredin, gadewch i ni gymeryd gwydriad o rum bob un. Yna, ymbiliodd yn daerach am i ni aros ychydig yn hwy, a llwyddodd i gael genym aros ddwy wythnos yn ychwaneg, yr hyn at y chwech wythnos blaenorol a wnaeth ddau fis. |
After six weeks on the farm, the second mate came to us from one of the shepherds’ huts, and persuaded us to tell the master we were leaving to try our luck on the Ballarat goldfield. Having arrived at his mansion, we asked the maid to fetch him to the door. He appeared, and we greeted him, presenting our message to him. “Oh,” he said, “you don’t want to leave me as soon as that?” And the second mate said, “We must go, sir, before they dig up all the gold.” He invited us in, saying, “Let us splice the main brace,” or in common language, “let us all take a glass of rum.” Then he pressed us more earnestly to stay a little longer, and succeeded in getting us to stay another fortnight, which with the previous six weeks made two months. |