432 THE ORIGIN OF THE LIBYAN HORSE [CH. 



At one time about twenty years ago the horses became such a 

 nuisance in the cattle stations in the district that steps were 

 taken to get rid of them. This was most successfully done by 

 building a yard of tree trunks on one of their main tracks, 

 which led from one valley across a range to another. This 

 was left open at each end for a time until the horses became 

 accustomed to pass through it. Then a slip of white calico 

 about 18 to 24 inches wide was fastened at each side of the 

 entrance to the yard, continued from tree to tree for a consider- 

 able distance, diverging from the track on either hand. The 

 wild horses being then driven from their feeding-grounds in 

 the valley started to escape along the track across the range, 

 and having entered between the two converging lines of calico 

 were driven into the yard, the farther opening having been 

 closed. The other entrance could be closed behind them. It 

 was a usual practice to catch them and hobble them with 

 plaited strips of green hide (salted and dried) before they 

 were let out of the yard to prevent them escaping again and 

 to admit of their being watched while grazing in the neigh- 

 bourhood. Finally, they were driven to some market. I know 

 of cases w^here they were driven to the coast, say at Bega, and 

 sold at half-a-crown a head to people to repay themselves 

 Avith the skin and hair, the flesh being boiled to feed pigs. I 

 may add that so far as I remember it was not found to be 

 possible to run in one of those ' mobs ' to a yard, as they 

 separated, the stronger ones outstripping the weaker. I re- 

 member another plan being tried. The ' mobs ' on the western 

 side of the country — near the Snowy River — were all started 

 by a number of men on horseback, who drove them at full 

 speed to the other side of the country, not themselves going all 

 the way, but making as much noise by shouting and cracking 

 whips as possible. The horses having gone even as much as 

 eight miles, were turned back by other men ; after a couple of 

 days most of the horses had separated, and were scattered all 

 over the country in twos and threes and even singly, many 

 were lame, and some were then caught, but the expenditure of 

 horseflesh in doing this was not compensated by the result. 

 After this the method by a yard and calico ' wings ' was 



