"The horse followed the bullock wherever he went, as though the latter was leading him. Over rocks, fallen trees, and among upright ones went the bullocks, with men and horses after them, and it was a wonder that none of the men had their necks broken in the chase. Accidents do happen, however, and sometimes they are fatal; one occurred at this very place a few months ago, a stockman being killed by his horse falling and then rolling over him. He was a graduate of Cambridge College, in England, the son of a gentleman of good position but small fortune, and had come to Australia to make his way in the world.
"In speaking of this incident Mr. Watson said that a considerable proportion of the stockmen in Australia were men of education and of good families, who had come to the new country because it afforded better means of advancement than they could hope for at home. It is no disgrace in Australia for a man to work with his hands for an honest living, any more than it is in the new States and Territories of the United States. I heard a story of an ex-officer of a crack regiment of dragoons who cut wood near Brisbane, loaded it on a wagon with his own hands, unloaded it at the house of a Government official, and received his pay for it just as any other wood-dealer might have received it. In the evening of the same day he dined at a formal dinner at the very house where he had delivered the wood, and in consequence of his former rank in the army he escorted the hostess to the table.
"The Premier of one of the colonies—the Premier is equivalent to our Secretary of State—worked on the public roads when he first came to Australia, and nobody thinks the worse of him for it; the Minister of Public Instruction in another colony drove a coal-cart in Sydney, and there are dozens of men of prominence who have been shepherds, cattle-drivers, carpenters, bricklayers, and the like. Australia seems to have taken a leaf out of the history of the United States, and been greatly benefited by so doing. It appears to be the antipodes of England in many social customs, just as it is in geographical position and many of its natural features.
"While we were seated on the log, watching the drafting operations, Fred asked Mr. Watson about the daily life of the stockmen on a cattle-run.
BRANDING A CALF.
"Mr. Watson answered that it was active enough, and no man who engaged in the business need have a bad digestion. The stockman gets his breakfast early in the morning, and immediately after breakfast the horses are brought up. Then he starts out over that part of the run which is assigned to him; he jogs along about five miles an hour, accustoming the cattle to the sight of men, keeping his own mobs inside the boundaries and driving back those of his neighbors, hunting up stray calves, and bringing them home and branding them, and occasionally driving the cattle to the camps, so that they will know what is expected of them when they hear the cracking of the whip.
"Sometimes the man is accompanied by a black boy, but quite as frequently he goes alone. 'Really it ought to be the rule for a stockman never to go out alone,' said Mr. Watson, 'as there are so many dangers connected with bush-riding, and on my run I insist upon it.