AN AUSTRALIAN STAG-HUNT 



A71 Australiaji Stag-hunt 



AS DESCRIBED BY A NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



SPORTSMAN 



Melbourne, 1878. 



THE sport which at Melbourne they stag-hunt- 

 ing call, 

 Is to clear the stiff rail and to charge the stone wall ; 

 At the fence in his front whatsoe'er be its size 

 With the speed of a whirlwind the colonist flies. 



Like the ground which he rides on, himself hard 



as nails, 

 His heart, while his horse remains fit, never fails ; 

 But unlike the hard ground which he treads on, full 



oft 

 That horse's condition is puffy and soft. 



At noon-day the stag stood erect in his cart. 



Till the long pole and whip have provoked him 



to start ; 

 At home whippers-in have much work to fulfil, 

 A whipper-out here is more requisite still. 



The line which they took to the Muse is unknown. 

 What horses were pounded, what riders were thrown ; 

 That they cross'd o'er the water, suffice it to say. 

 Where at bay stood the stag, and so ended the day. 



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