ack and
white--quails, snipes, cranes, and water-hens, are everywhere abundant,
and in the Bush, the varieties of the parrot kind are out of number.
Kangaroos, opossums, and flying-squirrels, are common near the town, and
afford plenty of amusement to the sportsman. No game license required!
_Sunday_ used to be the tradesman's day for shooting, and to a new comer
the proceeding had a very queer appearance. By act of council, Sunday
shooting is prohibited under a heavy penalty, which has been inflicted on
several transgressors, but, like most laws, this is evaded. _Shooting_ is
forbidden, but _hunting_ is not. Accordingly numerous parties sally forth
on the Sabbath to _hunt_ the kangaroo. The dog used for the sport is a
cross between a rough greyhound and a bull; but others follow in the pack.
Every man, woman, and child, keeps a dog. Some families have eight or nine
running over a house, and the natives have them without number. A few
months ago these animals congregated so thickly in the streets, that the
magistrates directed the police to shoot all that were not registered and
had a collar with the owner's name; as many as fifty were killed in a
morning. It costs nothing to feed a dog; the heads of bullocks and the
heads and feet of sheep are either thrown away or given to any one who
asks for them. The _bone manure system_, if brought into operation, would
help to keep the streets from a bony nuisance. _Memorandum_: Let the next
emigrant to this colony bring a good strong fox-hound bitch with him; he
will find it to his advantage. A cross between her and a Newfoundland or
large greyhound would do any thing. There are a couple of fox-hounds here,
but no bitch. It would do your heart good to see the pace at which the
fellows ride. Twenty miles on horseback they think about as much of as we
do of five. There is nothing to obstruct the animals; they are not even
shod, and they fly over the smooth sward. A hundred and twenty miles is
reckoned a journey of a day and a half. A dray, with eight, ten, or twelve
bullocks in it, according, to load, will travel thirty miles a-day. When
the folks travel, they take no shelter in a house or hut for the night.
When night approaches, they alight, and tie their horses to a stump; they
draw down some of the thick branches of the gum-tree, and peel off the
bark of a large tree, kindle a fire with a match, or, for want of this,
rubbing two sticks together, get up a blaze, and fall to sleep