22 A NATURALIST IN CANNIBAL LAND 



into the scrub again until they were wanted for the 

 fat stock market. 



The mustering of scrub cattle for branding is 

 exciting work. It is a game that horses simply love. 

 You may notice them when you are out in the scrub 

 after cattle, watching with eager eyes and straining 

 necks for a sight of the cattle. When they have 

 sighted them there is no need for whip or spur. The 

 horse is on the hunt like a flash, and if you are not 

 used to the ways of cattle you are out of the saddle 

 like a flash. 



When out after scrubbers the idea is to cut the cattle 

 off from any thick scrub. Once they are in a thick 

 scrub it is almost impossible to get them out. But in 

 the open you can always manage them. It is, how- 

 ever, delicate work getting them on the move. The 

 idea that some artists who picture cattle-droving seem 

 to have viz., that the drovers urge the beasts on 

 with galloping horse and flogging whip is of course 

 absurd. You coax a mob on very gently, relying 

 upon the quiet cattle to keep the wild ones in some- 

 thing like order. 



At this station, Keilambete, I had a first experience 

 of " moonlighting " cattle. The wild scrub cattle 

 were accustomed to come down at night to the water- 

 holes to drink. On moonlight nights we would 

 bring up a small mob of quiet cattle to the water- 

 holes, and try to manage things so that the wild ones 

 coming down to the water would get mixed up with 



