292 Chances of Life 



work of this sort ; but these animals, which have been 

 turned loose in the woods, do seem to have planted 

 many clusters of young poplars, for the age of the 

 trees just corresponds with the date when the pigs 

 were first brought into the settlement. 



Other animals, such as squirrels, also give similar 

 help by digging through the leaves ; and the hoofs of 

 bullocks make deep tracks in the ground, in which any 

 falling seeds have a fair prospect of rooting them- 

 selves. 



A change deserving of notice has been wrought in 

 some parts of the Riverina, New South Wahs, solely, 

 as it would seem, by the introduction of cattle. In the 

 old times there were not animals enough to eat the 

 grass down ; and so, when it became ripe and dry, it 

 was easily set alight by a chance spark from the fire of 

 a native. The natives were, indeed, suspected of firing 

 it on purpose, to ensure a fresh crop to tempt the 

 kangaroos within their reach. Any seeds of eucalyptus 

 or other trees were either killed in the conflagration or 

 by exposure the weather, for they lay on the surface 

 of the ground, with no animal sufficiently heavy of foot 

 to tread them in ; and it would seem that their only 

 hope could be in chance cracks. Trees were accord- 

 ingly scarce in these parts ; but the scarcity evidently 

 arose, not from want of seed, but from want of oppor- 

 tunity for its growth. For all now is altered: the 

 cattle tread the seeds in, and don't, apparently, eat 

 the young plants which spring from them ; for dense 

 forests and scrubs have arisen not to the satisfaction 

 of the graziers, who would prefer grass alone. 



Some .seeds appear to have only an occasional chance 

 of germinating in a state of nature; for they must 



