, 1880-12-26

sons, SllOulu THESE elSue. lit lS CeIllil tftIt
ually to pull things together, since the good
times which must recur lit the pastoral Occu-
pations seem always not only to cOMp+nsate
for the bad seasons, but to carry over lland-
some balance to boot The sluattcr, how
ever, Is always liable to runs OF terribly bad
he las no control. The most ordinary Of
these are successive seasons of drought, and
periods of depression In the wool itnd meat
markets; bur, IN addition, he is also liable to
heavy losses from busl-iires, which can never
be entirely prevented, and also over vast
tracts of country he may suffer FROM a cause
which, till | had myself witnessed IL in oper-
alton, l had never suspected cou Id have de-
yelopeu into so serious drawback.
As 4 matter OF fact, man may travel over
an immense distance, not only III settled dis
tricts but in the far-back bush, and rarely see
| anything larger than the little bush wall;l-
bles Iln[Matnrus Bennett and other species
and not always these, as the sntTerlngs anu
settlers anu explosers sufficiently prove.
The kangaroo is yet far enough from eX~
tinction III the bush, and not unfrequently
appears In such numbers rs to become pos
serious losses to the sQuatter: In the dis
trict In which we were staying these animals
and the walIabies had lately appeared in
such vast hoTdcs over thousands of square
Of grass that the owners and managers Of the
stations On which they had forced their ull-
welcome presence, dre;eding dearth of feed
for their stock similar to that produced by
drought, were at their Wits end to
rid the,aseyss ty Of ,,td' the nuisance; sane J.; !
to the case. The gentleman with whom we
were staying, as also others with whom
spoke, said that they had not multiplied iii
the district in the ordinary course OF nature,
but that they had come down suddenly like
q swarm Of locusts. There had always been
a certain number about, but not enough to
affect appreciably the feed. then suddenly
in short time had swollen SO as to make 1t
evident that either the sheep or the KAN
garoos must be driven out, since there was
not enough grass for both.
moving down from other districts further
back, driven forward by scarcity Of food on
their old camping grounds: yet there was
not any direct proof OF such migration,
which would be doubtless the more litlieut
moved in herds like butfalocs, anteiopes, or
other game. II such migrations occur, as
they doubtless do, each one must slip away
from his old run on his own account, though
most OF them doubtless arrive ut the conclt-
sion tnat it is desirable to move about the
same time.
Their numbers seemed to be tncalcu1able;
1t was impossible to ride i'll any direction IN
the paddocks without coming on mob Of
N+'-~."f
pnter fanfias, down to the little "pouch-
ers,n the infants in arms, as lt,Were. with
their heads hanging out OF their mothers
pouch, contentedly nibbltng their tlrsS grass
III happy Ignorance af the wrath they were
arousing in human breasts. while the great
blocks Of scrub scattered over the open downs
were literally alive with wallables, and the
ground inside, and for some distance around,
road. At Mi the. stations active measures
were being taken to destroy, them; prison,
which was necessarily out OF the question IN
the paddocks, was tried in the scrubs bug
the wablss did to aks it. an
then driving the animals i'll by grand hunt.
was voted too expensive.
So ut last tile sQuatters and hunters tell
back on persistent hunting aud shootlng Ill
the ordinary way. Our host employed three
or four sets Of men to hunt IN couples, pay
ing them at first one shilling tail for knnea-
roos and sixpence for wallables; afterward
sixpence tail all round; and out OF tlls
sport, supported q cook at twenty shlllinss
week and rrations, eight horses, and fifteen or
sixteen dogs, besides guns, powder, shot,
etc. !; the horses, however, being CRASHED,
nothing to keep. Up to the time of our ar
rival 1000 tails had been paid for, and on a
neighboring run, where the manager was
employing tribe of blacks, nearly 20, 0o0had
seem Seemed to be 'stl incTeasing, @ and in factwere
# I'll lad been necessary to remove the greater
number Of the sheep to save them f from star
yatio9 1t is an III VIM at noHs tSs
consequences Of this eruption of narsupials
Of great Interest and some amusement in
hnntag t. Us 5ofng Nc as9 m e,nns as Me
Leaving camp about a. m., accompanied
bv fiya oF six fairly bred greylounds-the