THE COLONIAL HORSE 179 



polo pony, or that of the American cowboy, will follow the 

 object of pursuit almost without the guidance of their riders. 



They scour the dusky plains, circling round and round each 

 little knot of horses, and driving them towards others, till the 

 'mob' forms like a snowball. Every time a horse offers to 

 leave the mob one of the horsemen rushes for him, and with 

 the crack from the silken end of his thonged whip, which 

 sounds like the cracking of some forest tree, turns him shiver- 

 ing and trembling in every limb back to the crowd. 



At last the mob is large enough to bring into the home- 

 stead ; gradually they are guided towards paddocks where the 

 fences are high enough to forbid the possibility of escape by 

 jumping over them. The unwonted sight of small enclosures 

 strikes the leaders with panic ; they gallop a few yards forwards, 

 and then, sticking their forelegs in the dust, stop dead short and 

 try to rush back the way they came. The stockwhips circle in 

 the air over their heads, cracking like independent rifle firing. 

 It is evident there is no chance of escape ; the men shout and 

 swear and halloo, and the quivering mass dashes into the close 

 and well-fenced yard. With a rush they charge the opposite side 

 of the ' corral,' some with their heads and chests, some with their 

 flanks, all with the full force of their untamed strength ; but 

 the rails are made of strong Australian timber, not sawn but 

 split, and the animals, recoiling from it, huddle together in the 

 farthest corner, away from the dreaded men and their terrifying 

 whips. These yards resemble an English village pound, but 

 with a higher and stronger fence. They are of different sizes, 

 the one into which the mob has been driven is larger than the 

 others ; gates open from it into the smaller ones ; one of these 

 is next opened and a few horses are allowed to pass through it, 

 upon which it is slammed-to in the faces of the rest of the mob 

 seeking to follow their leaders. Across the top of the fence of 

 this smaller yard a plank is placed, which may remind those 

 who have seen the stockyards of Chicago of the plank running 

 along the tops of the pens adjoining the slaughter-houses, 

 where all day long and every day the minister of death walks 



N 2 



