THEIR ADVENTUROUS LIVES.

185

great excitement, which constantly calls every energy into action, is full of romantic and novel situations, and habituates the mind to self-possession and command. The large and stately herd of cattle, is at least a fine, if not even an imposing sight. The fierce and deadly contests which at times take place with the natives, when two or three hardy Europeans stand opposed to an apparently overwhelming majority of blacks, call for a large share of personal courage and decision; whilst the savage yells, and diabolic whoops of the barbarians in their onsets, their fantastically painted forms, their quivering spears, their contortions, and shifting of their bodies, and their wild leaps, attach a species of romance to these encounters, which affords plentiful matter for after meditation. As the love of war, of gaming, or of any other species of violent excitement, grows upon the mind from indulgence, so does the love of roving grow upon the Overlanders, and few or none of them ever talk of leading a settled life.

And it is not to be wondered at, that the young and ardent eagerly embrace a line of life so replete with exciting events and incidents, and which at once enriches the successful speculator, and fills with plenty and prosperity the region which he enters. The first individual who opens a market, which no other Overlander has yet visited, rides into the district, an ill clothed way-worn traveller; the residents do not at first deign to cast a glance upon him, till presently it is noised about that an overland party has arrived, that a route from the stock

districts has been formed, and that the incalculable advantage of abundance of cattle at a cheap rate has been secured; landed property instantaneously rises, perhaps to double the value it had a few hours before; numbers of persons find themselves suddenly made rich, without an exertion on their own part, and from all sides individuals flock to see their benefactor. The ill clothed way-worn traveller, now finds himself at once invested with the dignity of a conqueror. On all hands he is fêted, dinners are given to him, a piece of plate presented, and as he feels the sweets of renown, and of the wealth which he has won, he meditates fresh conquests on the trackless desert, new adventures with his tried stock men, and further acquisitions of riches.

Then comes a strange change over the unoccupied Overlander; he has brought with him every head of stock which he could muster, and in the course of a few days his last beast is disposed of; his establishment is broken up, he awakes some morning and finds himself a rich man, but he has no stock; he has so much money, but no cattle. but no cattle. He no longer follows the long array of his stately herd and bleating flocks, his loaded drays and bearded stockmen, through the free wilderness; no longer regulates and watches their perilous course through the intricate ford of a deep river, or stands upon some solitary hill to reconnoitre the trackless country, and select the line along which the motley assemblage is to pass. He is now an idle unoccupied gentleman, the inhabitant of a boarding-house, with no object in

M&N & Hanhart, Lith. Printers, 54, Charlotte St Rathbone M. CROSSING CATTLE OVER THE MURRAY, NEAR LAKE ALEXANDRINA.

Published by Tand W. Boone, London.

MAGNITUDE OF THEIR OPERATIONS.

187

the world before him; but ere long the plans of fresh achievements and speculations are sketched out. You see a muster of bearded weather-beaten men, carrying short-handled whips. The Overlander enters the group, a short consultation takes place, and in a day or two more himself and his followers are under weigh for some district, where he can purchase stock cheapest, and make a good start for another market.

The magnitude of the operations of the Overlanders would scarcely be credited; a whole fortune is risked, and in the wilderness: its safety depends upon good guidance; yet far from being intimidated by the thought, the adventurers are only stimulated to a greater degree of activity. The stock of an Overlander is the capital which he has invested in a single speculation; and to give an idea of the amount of this, I will shew, at a moderate estimate, the value of a herd, the property of an Overlander who arrived in Adelaide in the month of March, 1840, from the district of Illawarra, New South Wales.