COL. ANSTRUTHER THOMSON 321 



Hunt very smart and good horses ; middling pack 

 of hounds ; huntsman good keen chap, but don't 

 take enough notice of his hounds ; second whip, 

 George Clarke, from Mrs. Cheape's beagles. 



In 1897 my son Arthur went to Australia. After 

 staying there about a fortnight he sailed to New 

 Zealand, He there met the son-in-law of Captain 

 Gardner of Birchwood (Major Pat Carnegy's 

 cousin). He went on to Birchwood, twelve miles 

 from a post-office, a lovely place surrounded with 

 mountains. He expected to remain two or three 

 days, but stayed on a month, and wrote to me from 

 there on 7th May, 1898 : — 



" I had a ripping time. Captain Gardner reminds 

 me much of Major Pat. He has named one of his 

 properties Lour, and christened his son Carnegy. 

 Mrs. G. is absolutely kind and full of fun. Three 

 boys ; Carnegy, the eldest, is married and lives three 

 miles off He manages the station ; a big job, as 

 they have 12,000 Romney sheep. The second boy, 

 Struan, is eighteen and is learning the business. He 

 works as a shepherd at the ordinary wage. 



" Shepherding here doesn't mean sitting by a 



brook with a flute in one hand and a crook in the 



other, but riding all day long, driving seven or eight 



hundred sheep along a road to market, or climbing 



up hill, leading your horse and shouting to your 



collie dogs, of which every man has two, a ' huntaway ' 



and a 'ringer'. The first is trained to drive them 



from you, the second to head them and drive them 

 VOL. II. 21 



