The dense tea-tree which bordered the banks of the river was the home
of wild hogs, which spent the nights in rooting up the soil and
destroying the grass. I therefore armed myself with a gun charged
with buckshot, and went to meet the animals by moonlight. I lay in
ambush among the tussocks. One shot was enough for each hog; after
receiving it he retired hastily into the tea-tree and never came out
again.
After I had cleared my land from sheep and pigs, the grass began to
grow in abundance; and passing travellers, looking pensively over the
fence, were full of pity for me because I had not stock enough to
eat the grass. One man had a team of bullocks which he was willing
to put in; another had six calves ready to be weaned; and a third
friend had a horse which he could spare for a spell. All these were
willing to put in their stock, and they would not charge me anything.
They were three more of the simple natives.
I would rather buy forty cows than one horse, because, even allowing
for the cow's horns, the horse has so many more points. I wanted a
good cow, a quiet milker, and a farmer named Ruffy offered to sell me
one. He was very rough indeed, both in words and work. He showed me
the cow, and put her in the bail with a big stick; said she was as
quiet as a lamb, and would stand to be milked anywhere without a
leg-rope.
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