Squatters and Stations 21 



Cook: ' 'So long!" 



But the new chums had heard enough. They 

 hastily put their guns together, and crept down 

 to the water-hole, where they found a young man 

 of their own type, though not quite so fresh as to 

 the complexion, sitting on a log holding his head 

 in his hands, and groaning. The sportsmen 

 determined to question him. 



"Excuse me," said the spokesman, "have you 

 seen anything of a jackaroo about here ? " 



* ' What the blazes has that got to do with you ? ' ' 

 demanded the man on the log, glaring at them. 



"Oh, nothing, only we are trying to get a shot 

 at it." 



The jackaroo obtains practical experience of 

 station life by performing all the multifarious and 

 unpleasant tasks that come to hand. He learns 

 to ride, if he has not previously acquired that ac- 

 complishment, and to work cheerfully all day 

 under a broiling Australian sun. Under a good 

 manager, he rapidly obtains a mastery of all the 

 details connected with the management of flocks, 

 and, in time, he may himself become manager of 

 a station, or, if he can control the necessary 

 capital, may stock a run on his own account. 



On a run divided into paddocks after the fash- 

 ion described above, no shepherds are required, 

 but there will be one or two boundary riders, 

 whose business it is to see that there are no gaps 

 in the fences. Each day the boundary rider visits 

 a different part of the run, and reports to the 



