34 Australian Life 



with money at such a time, seldom fails to con- 

 tribute liberally. When shearing is over, the men 

 are paid their cheques, and the station reverts to its 

 normal condition and regular daily round of work. 

 The busy time on a cattle-station is the general 

 muster, a time of the greatest excitement and 

 anxiety. First comes the driving of the various 

 mobs to the "camp," a work accomplished with 

 as little whip-cracking and flurry as possible, for 

 the object in view is to prevent the animals from 

 becoming excited or unmanageable. When the 

 cattle are all collected, the work of "cutting out'* 

 begins. The cattle are packed together, some of 

 them wild with fear and disturbing the others by 

 their bellowing and sidelong thrusting of the 

 horns. Into the mob rides the stockman, intent 

 on separating from it some particular animal he 

 has picked out. The well-trained horse forces his 

 way through the cattle, obedient to every touch 

 of knee and rein. Soon he has grasped his mas- 

 ter's purpose and begins to edge the beast singled 

 out towards the outside of the throng. It is a 

 dangerous work, but man and horse have confi- 

 dence in each other, and both are alert and watch- 

 ful. Now the beast to be cut out is one of a dozen 

 on the edge of the pack, and with a crack of his 

 whip and a yell the stockman drives his horse be- 

 tween them and the mob, separating them from it. 

 They try to return, and those not required are al- 

 lowed to do so, but the beast that is to be cut out 

 finds, wherever he turns, that whip and horse 



