THE COLONIAL HORSE 189 



may be. Two years ago they sent their printed circular letters 

 to all the shippers, stating the numbers that would be required 

 for that year ; they also wrote confirming it. Some months 

 after, when the shippers had chartered vessels and had got 

 most of their horses ready, they wrote to say that the price 

 would be reduced 61. per horse, and this in the face of the 

 continued depreciation of the rupee. 



The horses of the police force and battery of volunteer 

 artillery at Brisbane represent a useful kind of animal. These 

 horses are mostly bred on the plateau of the Darling plains, 

 and in the vicinity of Toowoomba, in Queensland. Good 

 horses are sold at Brisbane, but on account of the still unde- 

 veloped export trade scarcely realise paying prices. 



Farther to the north, and in the interior of the colony, 

 numbers of a small type of bush horse run on the arid plains that 

 constitute so considerable a portion of Queensland ; but this 

 class is disappearing to make way for a better kind, which is to 

 supply Rockhamptonand the increasing population of the Mount 

 Morgan gold district. When the northern railway system reaches 

 the Gulf of Carpentaria, not only will large tracts of fertile land 

 be opened for grazing, but the great advantage of a shorter 

 and safer sea-route for the exportation of horses to India via 

 Singapore will be gained, and the colony will then be in a 

 position to compete successfully with Victoria in the trade. 



Two Royal Artillery officers travel about the colony pur- 

 chasing horses for the Queensland artillery batteries at prices 

 averaging i2/. to i5/. ; they make model gun teams, and several 

 of them have been photographed for the benefit of officers 

 seeking Indian remounts as the type which the authorities there 

 should aim at procuring for the Imperial army. 



Horses in Tasmania enjoy advantages very similar to those 

 which the insular position and temperate climate of New 

 Zealand afford. 



The general aspect of the country, especially on the line of 

 railway between Launceston and Hobart, is more English than 

 any other part of Australasia. The homesteads and small 



