82 The Carnivora. 
likely to exhibit much capacity for any kind of work. The 
Chinese shepherds do without dogs; at least, I never saw one 
in their possession. This may be owing to their ignorance 
of the uses of an animal which “John,” when at home, 
regards only with a view to soup and cutlets. The best of 
the Celestials, however, take infinite pains with a flock, and, 
as they work for much lower wages than Europeans, they 
are particularly anxious to avoid being mulcted in the sum 
of £1 for every fleece that cannot be shown to the superin- 
tendent when he counts their sheep. 
In the heavily-timbered districts of the back bush, where 
natives and dingoes are numerous, even a moderately good 
dog is of the utmost service. Had the shepherd, whose place 
I took, been accompanied by the commonest cur, no doubt 
he would have been warned of the approach of the savage who 
speared him at the door of his own hut. Mine would have 
been a like fate, I can pretty confidently assert, in the 
absence of a companion whose organisation seems to be such 
that he never sleeps deeply enough to suspend the sense of 
hearing, or even of smell. 
The shepherd’s hut is placed about fifty yards from the 
sheepfold, or near enough for him to hear any disturbance 
among them at night. The inclosure is made of strong stakes 
driven into the earth at intervals of 12ft., braced together 
with stout poles, and made dingo-proof by numerous smaller 
stakes, with boughs interlaced, and banked up with earth. 
This is solid enough to resist the rush and crowding of 
the sheep should they be alarmed at night by a prowling 
dingo or native, for, in the event of their breaking out, 
nothing would prevent them from dispersing themselves 
in the bush. For some reason the dingo is reluctant to 
jump into the inclosure, though three or four of them 
will nose round it for the hour together, endeavouring 
to find an opening. Notwithstanding the temptation of 
the reeking smell of mutton within, they, perhaps, fear to 
jump into a place from which they may not be able to 
