192 Australian Life 



faces but those of our own party. That night we 

 were sitting around the fire under the stars, and 

 finishing the last of a demijohn of excellent Aus- 

 tralian wine bought at a vineyard on the road, 

 when we heard, far away, the footbeats of an 

 approaching horse. We listened in silence as 

 they came nearer, and presently a horseman rode 

 into our circle of firelight and drew rein. He 

 stayed only long enough to explain his errand, 

 for he was riding across country to the nearest 

 township for a doctor. Then he drank the 

 proffered cup of wine, and was gone into the 

 darkness, the only man we saw during our stay 

 there. 



Even big-game shooting is possible for the 

 ambitious sportsman in Australia. The Northern 

 Territory has its herds of swamp buffalo, the 

 descendants of animals introduced from the 

 Malay archipelago in the middle of the last cen- 

 tury. The shooting of these animals has been 

 made an occupation by a band of adventurous 

 men, who obtain handsome incomes from the 

 sale of hides, horns, and salted buffalo beef. On 

 Melville Island, near Arnheim Peninsula, the 

 buffalo herds are estimated to number fifty thou- 

 sand, the right of shooting them belonging to 

 one man, who has rigorously preserved them for 

 some years. The buffalo shooter must be able to 

 ride well, and willing at any time to take the risk 

 of an encounter with an infuriated buffalo bull. 

 The country inhabited by the buffalo herds is 



