THE SQUATTER AND THE SETTLER. 207 



they returned to the hut at night. Many of them became eccentric, or, as 

 the working bushmen called it, " cranky," and were quite unfit for any other 

 occupation. As the stock increased, the whole flock could not be fed from 

 the home station, round which the grass was usually reserved for the horses 

 and working bullocks ; huts were then erected from three to ten miles or 

 even farther away, according to the size of the station or run, as the lease- 

 holds were called. At these huts, known as out-stations, generally two flocks 

 of sheep were kept, a hut-keeper being employed to cook for the shepherds 

 and shift the hurdle yards every day, so that the sheep might have a 

 clean bed. 



' In the old days the country was all unenclosed from one end to the 

 other. Vehicles were scarce — there were few coaches, and occasionally a gig 

 would be seen on a main road. The ordinary mode of travelling through 

 the country was on horseback. On arriving at a station the usual plan was 

 to ride up to the principal hut, ask for the proprietor, and announce your 

 name ; an invitation to stay all night followed as a matter of course. 

 Hospitality was a duty that was most religiously performed by almost every 

 squatter. There were a few exceptions, and they were branded with the 

 prefix of "hungry" attached to their names, and, being known, were avoided 

 alike by horsemen and footmen. 



* Improvements in bush life were being steadily made when the discovery 

 of gold brought the country prominently under the notice of European 

 countries. The old pastoral life, with all its rustic charm and quietude, 

 disappeared as thoroughly as if it had never been. In the rush and turmoil 

 that ensued many of the old squatters were ruined, while others, more lucky, 

 succeeded in making immense fortunes. Over the greater portion of Victoria 

 and a considerable area of New South Wales the land has been converted 

 into freeholds, and squatting is confined to Queensland, and the vast sultry 

 plains of Northern, Central and Western Australia. In these countries the 

 areas held under leasehold from the Crown are of immense size, many of 

 them being capable of carrying 300,000 sheep in good seasons. These great 

 runs are all fenced in and subdivided by wire fences. The sheep are run in 

 paddocks often containing over 20,000 acres. As there are few watercourses 

 the stock are watered by means of immense excavations, called tanks, 

 containing an area of 10,000 cubic yards of water when filled. Large as 

 they are many of them were dried up by the long drought of 1885 

 and 1886. The result has been that the holders of these great pastoral 

 properties have suffered heavy losses. I passed by one cattle station in 

 Queensland, four years ago, on which 60,000 head of cattle were grazing. 

 Since then, so severe has been the drought, the stock has been reduced by 

 deaths from starvation to 20,000 head. The deaths of stock on the sheep 

 stations in the same district have been equally heavy. When the seasons 

 have a fair average rainfall in these hot districts everything goes well, and 



