TRAINING, AND GENERAL MANAGEMENT. 179 



made to gallop. I caught a mare myself and broke 

 her. She was a natural trotter, absolutely refusing to 

 gallop, and she headed in her wild state a mob at the 

 trot. I shall never forget her. She was indeed a 

 " bone shaker," and would trot over fearfully rough 

 ground at a fast pace, till at last I had to give up rid- 

 ing her altogether. I broke her to harness. She 

 could do from Paramatta to Sydney, 15 miles, easily 

 in the hour in an ordinary buggy. 



THE LIFE OF AN AUSTRALIAN 



SHEPHERD. 



The shady side of an Australian shepherd's life is 

 thus exhibited by the " Old Chum " in " Old 

 Colonials :" — 



" I'm a shepherd. That's so. I've been a shepherd 

 for nigh on twenty-five years. And I've earned good 

 wages, too, for all I look so ragged. I remember, in 

 the good old times, when the shepherds was the 

 bosses. That was at the time of the big rushes to the 

 diggings. Money was plentiful then, and we used to 

 have some tremendous sprees. Why didn't I save my 

 money? There was never a chance to save. First of 

 all, when we got our wages, the cheque wasn't a right 



