UNSTEADY SEAT.
"There are men who go about breaking horses for eight or ten dollars a head. They are regular cow-boys, who cannot be thrown out of a saddle by any motions the horse may make short of lying down and rolling over them. A lot of young horses which have never been in a yard twice in their lives are driven up into an enclosure; a horse is selected, separated from the herd, and driven into a small yard by himself. He is lassoed or secured in some way, and a saddle and bridle are put on him. While the animal is held by his assistants, the horse-breaker mounts, and then sticks his spurs into the poor beast and sets him to bucking till he is tired out and gives in; then the horse is left for a few hours with the saddle on. After two or three days of this kind of treatment he is turned over to his owner as 'broken.'
"The Australian saddle is very much like the Mexican, or like that used in the Western States of North America and on the frontier. It has a high pommel and cantle, weighs not far from twenty pounds, and is used with a saddle-cloth beneath it, the same as the Whitman and other well-known saddles of American make. Some riders prefer English saddles, but they are useless for bucking horses. A gentleman who has had a great deal of experience in Australia says he has seen men ride very bad buck-jumpers barebacked, and has often heard of men who could ride them in an English saddle, but he never saw it done, and does not believe such a thing possible.
"For breakfast we had broiled steak, with fried eggs and bacon, plenty of good bread, some pickles and jam, washed down with strong tea. Coffee is not often used in the Australian bush, the greater convenience of tea having made it much more popular. Living in the bush is not luxurious, and on many stations the unvarying round of tea, damper, and beef or mutton soon becomes monotonous. These are the staples of food; vegetables of any kind are rarely seen; and as for pickles, jam, and the like, they are luxuries which only the prosperous can afford. 'Damper' is dough baked in hot ashes or on a hot stone; when you are hungry and the damper is fresh, it is by no means unpalatable; but cold damper requires an excellent appetite to get it down.
A NEW CHUM'S FIRST RIDE.
"Soon after breakfast the horses were brought up, and we started, under the guidance of Mr. Watson, for a ride among the cattle. The run, as a cattle or sheep range is called (the word corresponding in usage to the American 'ranch'), was about twenty miles square, and was said to be an excellent one, as the grass was good and there was plenty of water. Cattle and sheep runs are frequently much larger than this; I heard of some that covered areas of more than six hundred square miles, and were capable of carrying thirty thousand head of cattle; but such runs are becoming more and more rare every year.