forked stick, and sometimes by the hand, the man on whom this part of the work devolves taking care to elude a blow from the colt's forefeet, with which he strikes very quickly. But if the animal falls from exhaustion, which usually happens, the noose is immediately slackened, and he is kept down upon his side by main strength, one man pressing his head, another clinging to the uppermost foreleg, the power of which is greatly lessened by its being bent, while a third confines the hind legs in a shorter rope; the halter is then put on and fastened; and, finally, the catching-rope is taken off as he lies upon the ground. It is some time, however, before he recovers his fright; and for a long while after being allowed to rise, he looks, to use the colonial phrase, as if he couldn't believe it :" and, indeed, the whole affair is anything but moderate exercise to all parties concerned. Next day, when the colt's excitement has had time to subside, his breaking commences; and it frequently happens that the saddle is fairly put on his back in the course of three days from the time when he was first roped.

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I have often wondered that the lasso has never yet found its way into the interior of Australia, as the use of it would soon be acquired by men who are so skilful in everything connected with the management of stock. The present method, of catching animals with a rope placed on the end of a pole, is less dexterous, and attended with more danger, inasmuch as it cannot be practised without coming into very close contact with the animal destined to be caught.

Horse-hunting is glorious sport, the best perhaps that Australia can afford. The animal you are on, accustomed to his work, is doubly eager when in chase of his own species, and strains every nerve in the pursuit; while before you a large "body" of horses, "the wild, the free," going at a racing pace, up hill and down dale, with their long matted manes and tails streaming in the wind, form a very animated sight; and the 66 quadrupedans pedum sonitus," which makes the music of the chase, is peculiarly exhilarating.

The degree of excitement and trouble depends very much upon the habits of the herd pursued. Those which have been kept under constant control are driven in with ease; at starting, they take the right direction, and all that is to be done is to follow

them at a steady gallop, within a moderate distance, always taking care to be well up with them as they draw near the enclosures, to prevent their running past the entrance or breaking away, a trick which, like the half-wild cattle, they are apt to acquire. On the other hand, those that have been neglected soon become very refractory, urged by the natural propensity which all animals have, when running at large, as in Australia, to relapse into the wild state and they frequently give infinite trouble to their owners, by doing their best to avoid the right route to the enclosures, which, however, they well know, and submit to enter only on sheer compulsion; and this cannot be effected except by what, in colonial phrase, is denominated "solid galloping."

Some herds of horses have become, like numbers of the wild cattle, wholly irreclaimable; and having long defeated all attempts to drive them into the enclosures, are useless to their owner, to whom they are a tantalizing sort of property, visible, yet beyond his reach.

A friend of mine once purchased, on speculation, some of these wild horses, tempted probably by their low price, and by the hope that, as he had great experience in these matters, he might accomplish more than his forerunners; having, however, previously secured himself from loss by stipulating that the horses were to be delivered to him by their owner at the distance of fifteen miles from his station: for the great difficulty with the wild stock consists in driving them off their own pasture grounds in the first instance; when removed elsewhere, they invariably become less refractory.

The first party that went out in pursuit were five horsemen, all tried men, and well mounted for the occasion. After a long search, they happened to fall in with a small group of the same number, with which, in sporting phraseology, they immediately "went away." For a time they succeeded in keeping them together, which is a great point; but all attempts to get them into the enclosure proved, as before, abortive, for they would go no way but their own; and, finally, when hard pressed, would separate, or "split off," each in his own direction. The horsemen had no alternative but to do the same, and each singling out his quarry, continued the chase alone. The finale was the same as it had constantly been before, nearly all

G

parties, both pursuers and pursued, being run to a stand-still. One or two of the colts were brought in to the enclosures, so thoroughly exhausted that the horsemen could throw their stockwhips around their necks, and fairly lead them home, incapable of resistance. After many days' continued exertion, the party succeeded in getting a few together in the enclosures; but when they were again let out to be driven to the place of delivery, they all broke away in different directions, in spite of the efforts of seven or eight horsemen, and notwithstanding that they had been kept without food or water for some time previously; so that the purchaser, who in the early stage of the pursuit had dislocated his shoulder against a gum-tree, was forced to abandon his speculation.

The greater part of these bad habits arise in the first instance from neglect; and it is always very imprudent to allow horses to acquire the habit of rambling far from head-quarters, for, besides the wildness which it fosters, the severe gallops to which they will be subjected over all sorts of country are very injurious to them, especially to the young stock, many of whom are thereby crippled before they are old enough for breaking. Australian horses are chiefly descended from English blood, with a few Arabs. Their quality varies so much in different parts of the colony, that a fair estimate of them cannot be formed except by one who has visited many of the large breeding districts. In some of these coach and cart-horses are principally reared; in others, hacks and well-bred horses; and in not a few the stockowners, either from carelessness or want of judgment, pay no attention to quality, so long as they can increase their numbers; for this reason there are many herds in the interior of a very worthless description, being neither fit for saddle nor harness. But in other districts, where more attention has been paid to breeding, many excellent animals are produced-better, indeed, than might be expected, when it is remembered that no horses of first-rate form have as yet been imported to the colony, and that English horses certainly deteriorate in Australia, inasmuch as the young stock seldom equal their sires either in shape or size. This is chiefly owing to the nature of the climate, which, from the excessively rapid growth it promotes in all kinds of animals, causes them to shoot up too hastily, and, as a natural conse

quence, does not bring them ultimately to the same perfection to which they attain in England, where the form is more gradually developed.

One striking defect in the Australian-bred horses is the narrowness of their "build;" there is usually a want of expansion of the ribs and of the frame generally. Saddles intended for colonial use must be made narrower in the tree than those used in England, which would not be serviceable in New South Wales. On the other hand, they have many excellent qualities; activity and hardiness enabling them to sustain a great deal of work upon little food; journeys of many hundred miles in the interior, and all the severe work of the stock-stations, being performed by horses who neither in winter nor summer get more solid sustenance than the natural grass of the country. Their hoofs are remarkably sound and good, rendering the loss of a shoe a matter of little consequence.

But it must be owned that horses in New South Wales are, generally speaking, very harshly and injudiciously treated. In the interior, colts are usually broken and put to hard work at the age of two years, long before their strength is equal to it. Many suffer from this unfair treatment; and those that do not cannot long bear up against the very severe work to which they are afterwards unavoidably subjected, from the nature of the pursuits of the country; the consequence of which is that the majority are broken down before they have passed their prime and it is a rarity in New South Wales to meet with a sound horse after the age of eight or nine years: one that has long been used for the saddle in the interior, and remains sound, must indeed be a prodigy of hardiness.

Like the human race, horses are subject to very few disorders in Australia; that most fatal one, the glanders, being as yet unknown. Young stock are frequently attacked by inflammation of the throat, commonly called "the strangles," when under the age of eighteen months; but they suffer less from it than animals kept on artificial food, and usually recover without the assistance of man.

The best shaped horse of its kind to be met with in Australia is the light cart-horse, of which some very good specimens are bred. particularly on the beautiful farms in the vicinity of Windsor,

on the river Hawkesbury. The lighter sort is preferred, as being best adapted to a warm climate, where excessive size is less desirable than moderate bulk with more activity.

For long journeys and general purposes, the most useful sort of hack that a resident in the interior can possess, is a tolerably well-bred animal, combining activity and strength with compactness of form, or what is aptly described as a "large horse in a small compass."

To the breeder the most valuable animal is one suited to the Calcutta market. The East India Company have lately purchased numbers of Australian horses for the use of their cavalry; and for this and other purposes the better sort of animal selected from New South Wales has been much approved. One advantage which these horses possess is that, having been bred in a warm climate, they are less liable to be enervated by the excessive heat of India than those imported from colder latitudes.

Whatever be the description of animal that the breeder may prefer, only good ones of their kind hold out any prospect of remuneration; those of inferior quality are now hardly worth rearing, as the supply of all sorts of stock has long exceeded the colonial demand; and as the surplus of the horses cannot, like that of the sheep and cattle, be converted into an article of export by means of boiling down, there is little prospect but of their further depreciation. There is no property on a stock establishment so thoroughly valueless as a breed of ill-shaped and weedy, or, as they are styled in the colony, "three-cornered" horses. On the other hand, he who produces good animals, though at a greater expense, has a double chance of success; he will always find them more saleable in Sydney than inferior ones at half the price; and when the colonial market is unfavourable, their excellence will enable him to ship them to India with advantage,