66 NATURE'S REALM. : 
man's possession is as large as an English 
county, the muster would not be much even if 
it included the whole population ; but we found 
ourselves twenty-five strong of armed men, 
and, what with black fellows and small settlers, 
there were between forty and fifty beaters on 
horseback. 
What a hullabaloo there was, as we fore- 
gathered in the home paddock! Dogs were 
barking, ‘men shouting, and there was much 
running to and fro. One man wanted a strap, 
another a length of greenhide to repair broken 
gear. The laughing jackasses in the scrub 
beyond the vineyard cachinnated one against 
the other, as only those comical birds can do. 
The pretty little blue-mountain parrots, flash- 
ing green, blue, and orange, screamed in their 
rapid flight overhead. Still higher, like pure 
white flecks against the serene blue of the 
cloudless sky, the cockatoos flocked to raid 
upon the Indian corn of some poor husbandman. 
The magpie fluted sweetly from the three gum 
trees by the milking yard. Far as the eye 
could reach, far as it would have reached had 
its powers been doubled, stretched the free 
forest of the Australian bush, with patches of 
clearing here and there; and, for the horizon, 
there were mountain ranges upon which the 
gauzy drapery of the night mists still lightly 
hovered. Words altogether fail to describe 
the sense of absolute freedom and delight felt 
by the healthy man at such a moment. His 
strength seems renewed like the eagle's. His 
chest expands as he draws a deep, sound breath, 
and thanks God that he is alive and that the 
world is so fair. 
We had to reach those mountains and take 
up our positions upon the ridges and the spurs 
thereof. The beaters were to operate on the 
intervening flats and drive the game upward. 
It was my privilege to accompany both parties ; 
to ride away with the beaters, and afterward 
join the firing party. The beaters, having a 
aétour to accomplish, started first. We 
mounted, not in hot haste, but with the orderly 
leisure of men who wished to be thorough. In 
the bush you must learn to be your own groom 
when occasion requires; to catch your horse, 
bridle and saddle it, and mount with never a 
hoy at its head holding the off-stirrup ready. 
In time the new chum becomes fond of doing 
so, and feels a pride in seeing for himself that 
the saddlecloth (often a simple piece of blanket) 
and girths are in order, and the bit and bridle 
comfortably disposed; also in being able, 
nimbly and safely, to mount a restless animal. 
Not one horse of our squadron had been sta- 
bled or groomed or corn-fed for many a day. 
Not one of the beaters wore coat or braces. 
The shirt and trousers, belt, and broad-brim- 
med hat, leggings, and more often one spur than 
two, completed the equipment, always adding 
the everlasting stock-whip. 
Under the orders of our ‘‘boss,” we in due 
time spread out over four or five miles of coun- 
try, with instructions to make as much noise 
as we could after a certain interval had elapsed. 
The country over which we had to beat was 
more or less closely timbered, and there were 
small belts of scrub from which we knew there 
would be plenty of game to be dislodged. The 
general plan was to advance in a semi-circular 
line, so as to drive the marsupials toward a 
particular ridge for which they would be sure 
to make. 
Within a mile of the home paddock behold 
them—kangaroos, wallabies, and even kanga- 
roo rats—enjoying their morning meal, for 
their large pricked ears already betrayed a 
mild alarm. They had heard the crackling of 
dead branches as we rode toward them, and 
were discovered sitting on their haunches with 
their heads erect, and with one consent looking 
toward us. When the stock-whips began to 
crack, and the voices to resound far and near, ° 
they remained no more upon the order of their 
going, but went. You could see them bound- 
ing over the open spaces in their queer, half- 
upright position, with long balancing tails out- 
stretched, and hear the dead wood creaking in 
the bits of scrub. The beaters were, as per 
instructions, first to advance at a walk, and 
only to begin the business in earnest when’two 
shots, fired in quick succession from the ridge, 
gave the signal. 
By taking a short cut, calculating my time, 
and using the spurs, I was able to keep com- 
pany for a short distance with the beaters, and 
yet come up with the gunners, before the first 
shot was fired on the ridge. Guided by Billy 
O_o 
