First specimen of wool produced in Australia

Wool sample, hair from a ewe (No.1), from sheep bred by Samuel Marsden, New South Wales, Australia, 1804. In 1890 Alfred Hawkesworth, honorary wool-classer to the Museum, noted the following about this specimen:

"Hair from ewe, such as has been commonly imported from India and the Cape" (Samuel Marsden's description). This specimen is evidently from an Indian sheep, and comparison with wools from that country confirms this statement. All sheep bred and reared within the tropics, if not very carefully treated, by classing, culling, and introducing fresh blood, throw hair instead of wool, and the appearance of this specimen is more like a white and brown kemp, being very straight in fibre as well as hard and brittle.