Page:The Boy Travellers in Australasia.djvu/416

392 to look after sheep affected with the foot-rot. Every morning each animal had to be caught, its hoofs pared, and a dressing applied of a peculiar ointment that burned a hole in the operator's clothing if any fell upon it. He and another man had seven hundred sheep to look after, and each animal had to be lifted bodily over a fence, and held down by main force during the operation. When this was completed the flock had to be fed; and if any sheep died while they were out in pasture the men brought in the skins, or the value of the animals was deducted from their wages. No wonder he left the place at the end of two months, and walked back to Brisbane."

Fred remarked that they must have a very busy time of it at the sheep-stations during the shearing season.

"It is the busiest time of the year," said Mr. Watson, "and one that taxes all our abilities. The sheep are driven to the wool-shed, which is a large quadrangular building, varying in size according to the capabilities of the station and the extent of its working force. Walk out with me and look at ours, which is accounted a good one."

The boys were interested in the building, and especially so as Mr. Watson explained its peculiarities and uses.

"You observe," said he, "that there is a bulkhead running across the middle of the building, dividing it into two parts, one of which is intended for sheep, and when full holds about five hundred. This smaller enclosure opens out from the larger one, and is always kept full, so that a shearer can lay his hands on a sheep at once without the necessity of chasing it. This plank floor on each side of the small enclosure is for the shearers, and there is a small door abreast of where each man stands. He lets his sheep out of that door after they have been sheared; and there is a small yard outside each door, where they remain, so that they can be counted by the manager, and thus all disputes avoided.

"The shearer drags a sheep from the pen, and places it between his knees with its head uppermost; he always stands when at work, and for a novice it is very wearying till he gets used to it. He shears from the throat downward, leaving the back to the last, when the fleece falls off in one piece."

"Do the men ever cut the sheep while shearing?" Fred asked.

"Yes, very often," was the response; "and some men 'tomahawk' a great deal worse than others, and never seem to improve. When this happens the shearer does not stop an instant; he calls out 'tar!' and the man or boy whose duty it is to gather up the fleeces rushes to the spot