1 88 Australian Life 



on the other hand, draws its regular crowds of 

 spectators; and it is not uninteresting to note 

 that in most of the Australian States, the game 

 is played according to a set of rules of local 

 origin. The result is a fast, exciting game, best 

 played on a dry field with a lively ball. For a 

 bracing, sunny winter afternoon, there is no finer 

 game for player or spectator, and the popularity 

 of football can readily be understood. 



A visit to one of the large city parks on Satur- 

 day afternoon will show that the Australian's 

 aptitude for sport has caused him to adopt, not 

 only all the recognised pastimes of Great Britain, 

 but those of many other countries as well. He 

 takes baseball from the United States, lacrosse 

 from Canada, and polo from Asia, and can boast, 

 in addition, of one or two sports that are 

 peculiarly his own. 



Most of these belong to the men of the bush, 

 and, perhaps, the most interesting and character- 

 istic among them is the sport of wood-chopping. 

 A championship contest is at once a novel and 

 exciting spectacle, and one not readily forgotten. 

 Each axeman has his trainer, who plays the 

 part of mentor during the contest, sometimes 

 pointing to the spot where the next blow could be 

 delivered with most advantage, and continually 

 reporting the progress made by the other com- 

 petitors. The logs to be severed all practically 

 of the same girth stand upright, so that the 

 axemen deliver their blows in the same position 



