BUSH HORSES 41 



head cattle station, or the large wool sheds of the 

 sheep runs close to the Boss's house, built in the 

 bungalow style. Now and again travellers on 

 the main road pass huge flocks of sheep, or large 

 " mobs " of cattle, that are being driven towards 

 a newly purchased run, or else in a southerly 

 direction for the consumption of citizens in the 

 large towns. No rougher life is known than that 

 of these drivers of stock " on the road," who 

 seldom move more than a few miles a day, and 

 camp out in all weathers. Though many books 

 have been written upon Australasia, more especi- 

 ally by globe-trotters, their authors have usually 

 omitted to accurately describe the Bush life, 

 which has very much monotony and a few com- 

 pensating pleasures. The freedom, the absence 

 of conventionalities, the rough-and-ready hospi- 

 tality, have only been lightly touched upon. 

 Narrators have overlooked, or never sufficiently 

 appreciated, the spirited love of adventure which 

 has prompted men to shake off many of the 

 trammels of civilisation, and to seek a livelihood 

 in remote regions, inhabited but a few years ago 

 solely by the aboriginal, the dingo, and the 

 'possum. After a hasty inspection of both sheep 

 and cattle stations, the literary tourist has pined 

 after the flesh-pots of Melbourne and Sydney, or 

 the Western world ; and so untravelled minds 

 have acquired but slight knowledge of colonial up- 

 country life, and have, consequently, sighed over 

 the fate of relatives and friends who eke out an 

 existence in what seem unfavourable conditions. 

 Some few years ago five or six men were 



