20 Australian Life 



his wife and family, lives in a pleasant cottage 

 near the homestead. Under his supervision are 

 the bachelors, or jackaroos, as they are usually 

 called in the language of the bush. The jackaroos 

 on such a station as I am describing are often 

 young men of education and some position, who, 

 having chosen the pastoral life as a career, are 

 gaining the necessary experience. Some of them 

 are "new chums," born and brought up in Great 

 Britain, and now making their first acquaintance 

 with Australian manners and customs. The 

 jackaroo is the victim of all the practical jokes, 

 and the central figure in many of the yarns told 

 in the men's quarters. One of the best-known 

 jackaroo stories relates to the experiences of two 

 fresh-complexioned new chums, newly arrived 

 at an Australian sheep-run with a whole cart-load 

 of luggage, including a complete armoury of 

 weapons. They had been much disappointed at 

 the scarcity of game, both furred and feathered, 

 and had begun to despair of finding anything to 

 shoot. Their hopes, however, were revived by a 

 conversation overheard between a bearded horse- 

 man and the station cook, as follows : 



Cook: "Hullo!" 



The Bearded One : "Hullo ! " 



Cook : "Anything fresh ? " 



The Bearded One: "Nothin' much." (A 

 paused) "I just saw that (adjective} jackaroo 

 down by the water-hole again. ' ' (Another paused) 

 "Well, so long!" 



