154 WHIPS 



crop often has a leather handle covering a third 

 of the stock, from the silver mount upwards. 

 Clouded rattan are generally considered to be 

 the smartest cane hunting-crops, but they are not 

 equal to those made from whalebone and covered 

 with sheep or lamb-gut. By the way, a popular 

 error is to imagine that first-class whips are made 

 with " cat-gut " ; the right expression is sheep or 

 lamb-ofut. 



The peculiarity of the polo whip is that it is 

 much longer than an ordinary racing whip, and 

 more swishy. A stock-whip has sometimes a 

 lash as long as eighteen feet, and its crack may 

 be heard half a mile off, if the whip is skilfully 

 whirled round a stockman's head, and then 

 allowed to fall without being jerked. The best 

 are those which are hand-made on a station. 

 It is advisable to have a smooth wooden handle, 

 cut from an Australian tree that has a native 

 name not unlike " Gedgee." A bullock-whip is 

 much heavier than its first cousin the stock-whip; 

 it requires two hands to crack it properly. When 

 the atmosphere is in favour of a listener hearing 

 noises a long distance, the report from this 

 modern stimulus will travel three miles easily. 

 But of course the ordinary bullock-driver is not 

 cruel enough to hit one of his team every time 

 he uses his whip, or none of the animals would 

 have a hide that was not scored with lash marks. 

 " American straight buggy whips " are largely 

 made at Westfield, Massachusetts ; it is the 

 principal industry of the town. Throughout the 

 United States, whips of all sorts are made by 



