Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1886-02-25


that he enever fails to make perfect i'm
preston of his hoofs in the earth has
made him known to every stockman in
this valley. He has .ured away more ami
mails than any drove Of horses in the
bush, I believe, and fears nothing but
man. Onour last trip I saw him kill a
rival with single downward blow Of bis
fore-feet. He reared on his launches just
as the other made spring toward him,
and brought his little, solid hoofs down
on the others head above theeyess The
bone broke like paper, and the great
brute went down like bullock under
ak. All, good boy, CudjoT
The stallion suddenly ceased his rear
ing and prancing, stared fxedly toward a
grass tree, whlch I had not noticed be-
fore, growing in the center of the plain
between him and the great body of wild
horses, and then, throwing out his
streaming tail and arching his neck, he
cantered proudly up the valley, past
the suspicious tree, taking care
to give it a wide berth, and
joined his companions. The group of
runaways started to follow, when sud
denly the grass tree broke into animated
life. It threw off its crown of pendant
grass and ran like deer in front of the
truant herd, where it tossed white mass
upon the ground. The stockman's horses
stopped as by one impulse, and crowded
about the mass Of salt which the astute
Cudjo had brought for this very purpose,
allowing him to tether them where they
stood. Meanwhile the wild herd, with
their great white king at their head, was
laundering up the valley toward
heavy coppice which guarded the upper
entrance.
eff nothing frightens them, . said my
companion, ''they will only put that
brush between ourselves and them, and
then we can steal up on them and let our
rifles talk.
But something did frighten them. 1t
was Cudjo. He suddenly left the tethered
horses and ran in the direction of the fly
ing herd, yelling at the top Of his
lungs and firing his rifle repeatedly,
although the distance was SO great
that there was no possibility
of the bullets hitting the animals
aimed at. The reports Of the gun, how
ever, were plainly audible to the now
frantic drove, and it dashed up the plain
at redoubled speed The front rank
seemed to faulter when the coppice was
reached, as though unwilling to enter it;
but the rear guard pressed on, and
whether they would or no the leaders
were forced into the Jungle Before half
the horses had passed through, however,
a wild commotion was observed among
the others. They separated and ran
along the edge of the bush in two con
verging lines like the waters parting be-
fore rock, and finally disappeared in
the open country at each end of the cop
pice
'sYou black houndln roared the stock
man, shaking his fist at the far-away fig
ure of the black, who was coolly trotting
toward US, dragging his smoking gun by
its leathern shoulder strap, "what was
the use Of frightening those horsess W
can never shoot them now; they will run
for the next twelve hours
s'Peter not run no more, +" came the as
founding answer s'Cudjo make him
budgery. Boss give Cudjo two bull
locks.n
He held up two black fingers and
pointed to the tethered horses and then
to the coppice, as a reminder Of the bar
gain made earlier in the day that when
the horses were recaptured and Peter
was killed, Cudjo was to be rewarded
with two beeves.
A couple Of horses were struggling out
of the coppice. One Of them was milk
white. A second glance showed that it
was Peter His head dropped; his tail
dragged on the ground, and he staggered
like drunken man. The other was in
an equally sorry condition, and presently
the whole plain in the region of the jun
gle was covered with PROSTATE and stag
gering horses.
The coppice was growth of nettle or
stinging trees, SO well known to the Aus
trailian settler as prolific cause Of death
among the horses which touch it.
The doomed Peter staggered for few
minutes and then fell heavily, where he
lay painting, only presently to start up
plunging and rearing furiously. He fell
again, arose, and dashed like a Malay
running a-muck across the plain, crash
ing into the heavy gum trees, plunging
his head against their trunks, as though
frantic and seeking death by suicide.
We ran to the scene Of the tragedy,
and with our rifles put as many of the
victims out Of their misery as was possi-
BILE, but for two hours the plain was
dotted with mad horses plunging in the
throes Of death. Then it was all over
and the last victim gave his last gasp and
the carcasses of more than ninety horses
lay under the hot sun. Peters lately
beautiful form was swollen into shape
less mass; his white coat was torn by
the branches through which he had
dashed, and his forelock was dabbled in
blood from his forehead.
It was a good day for the stockmen in
the Macquarie valley; but although con-