LIFE OUT BACK.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1166, 29 June 1911, Page 2

LIFE OUT BACK.

a.) THE 1! ABB ITER. [BY H. P. JOVCE.] Of all (he lives men load out-back, working for wages or tucker, or cadging the former and blowing the latter, surely tho lot of the rabbitcr is the most lone: some. lie is something apart from the rest of the station, something alone, working alone, tuckering alone, sleeping alone, and in case of accidents dying alone. His dogs never help the shepherds' mustering stock from distant paddocks (0 the homestead. His horses never join in the rough gallops down the spurs after wild cattle, lie himself is 'seldom called upon to assist in the work nf the shepherds, fenctrs, scrub-cuilcrs, and the like. He has his own work to do, and docs it alonn.

"Bunnic" ho is usually called. The very name seems to call to mind something cheerful, .something that can b<; happy without outside assistance. Bunnie lives 111 a lent 'ncath a sheltered patch of bush with a rippling creek running through it. Or perhaps in a tumbledown whare, put up many years before by some early pioneer. Ur perhaps in a hous« and school, the onc-timo home of a hard-working settler and his lamily, now last falling to dccay, as tho great lnndsuukin.i; octopod--"Tliij SijUitllt-r"—drains tho' dregs of the pioneer's purse, and takes his land in payment of tho extortionate interest on a little loan lent hi a friendly way, to help tide over rough years. One room and the kitchen are all ho uses, while the school serves a3 a kennel for the pack, and perhaps another' room for drying rabbitskms. A hundred of flour, a sack of' "'spuds," tin of syrup, few currants, and perhaps some onions, and fifteen pounds of salt beef, with one pound of factory butter per week form tho monotonous fare of a station hand out-back; while station tea, morning, noon, and night is the only Uiristquencher for the toilers of the land. More fortunate than his mates, in the scrub or among tho fences, for he is a bad shot if he cannot sometimes bring home a pheasant or some pigeons; while his dogs often enjoy a long chase after wild pigs, when fresh pork ousts the salt btel', which in turn forms a welcome change from the boiled rabbits for \h' dogs Rarlj in 'lie morning he cooku his breakfast of fried "spuds" and salt beef, and cuts himself some rounds of bread, baked a night or a week before, smeared iVith treacle, and if his palate is sufficiently degenerated he might tackle some station butter wrapped in a page or twu of an illustrated weekly, and •stuffed into an accommodating pocket for luncheon. Ho catches his horse, and lets hell loose in _ tho shape of some half a dozen noisy canine friends of mixed breeds. Two long, lanky, smoothcoated greyhounds, three spaniels, and 0110 v;eo terrier. The pack is well trained— that is as far as rabbit dogs go. But it is a rare rabbiter who can exact implicit obedience from the pack, when the scent has been picked up and the trail grows hot. The ever-present inborn passion of exerting the supremacy of the stronger over the weaker; tlio primeval nature of men and beasts, though more dormant in some than others, rises to tlio surface, flooding all the peaceful cellules of the brain, calling into force every muscle of tho body to one end: "kill." Thus even a well-trained rabbit pack is at times, deaf to all commands, entreaties, shoutings, and whistlings of its owner. Armed with gun and cartridges or axe and spade Bunnic rides out to the paddock where his work'begins. A thousand acres of broken country, strewn with logs, charred and. rotting remnants of the giants of the forest. Hero and there aro patches of manuka scrub and by sheltered creelw and hillsides are occasional pieces of Native busli, (hat-hare escaped tho winds and fires of former years, now remaining a living example of the grandeur of what was. The sun is shining and a light southerly breeze lends the atmosphere a certain freshness, appreciated by all who work in nature's fields. The noisy flutter of tho quail; tho -whistle of tlie.tue; the distant moo of a calf searching for its, mother; the.baa of tho startled sheep,.all seem in harmony, when yap, yap, yap, yap, yap of tho "black spaniels sets everything agog with excitement or fear. The fantails flit -to and fro among the rangiora branches, a pheasant, retreats to a distant patch of bush, sheep run pell-mell down the hill-side, and the cattle lift up their heads and stare. Tho rabbitcr dismounts, throwing the reins over tho horse's head and cocks his gun. All the dogs, save tho greyhounds, join in the chaso after" a pooy, frightened rabbit. . . The "greyhounds stand one; 011 either side of their master, watching,' calm, yet their very eyes glisten with excitement;- nothing escapes those watchful pairs of eyes. Meanwhile, the quarry lias taken refuge in a patch of manuka scrub; three spaniels are noisily, hunting him out, while tlio high-pitched, would-be bark of the wee terrier shows that ho too is joining in tho snort. Then silence. They havo lost him"; only the sound of breaking sticks reaches the ears of the attentive greyhounds, when suddenly both spring away with leaps and bounds towards tho scrub, like racehorses starting from scratch, in a short handicap. Unseen by tlio rabbitcr, the quarry had just peeped out on the edge of tho scrub. The dogs start yapping, having just picked up the scent again from inside, and bunnie, paralysed,'or who shall not say hypnotised, wi'th fear, abject horror, lies hugging tho ground, with ears down and eyes open, awaiting eternity. A fraction of a second cr.ly, and yet perhaps a whole lifetime passes slowly through his brains, for even a rabbit has brains; thoughts of days not so very long ago, when ho was but a little hairless creature among ten other hairless creatures, in a dark hole where a warm Huffy cloud used to cover him, howhe used to obtain from this cloud the waters of life, delicious, wa:rm, and invigorating. Then camo the days when he used to crawl outside and the fluffy cloud resolved itself into something more than an. automatic sustainer of his tiny existence. It was something kind, something inexpressibly dear—it was mother. Then camo tho days of youth, days when tho family grew smaller day by day. Sometimes a black-brown •" thing would come down from the sky and carry aw'ay a brother or sister. The hawks account for many deaths, out-back. Then, too, a hungry cat would jump from nowhere into their midst, and so the family circle grew less. At last, alone with mother, ho learned where the sweetest grass was to be found, which were tho safest places to hide in the day, how to burrow holes, and many other tilings pertaining to "rabbit" life. Then a weariness oppressed him: he grew tired of mother, tired with a yearning for fresh companionship. He had seen others of his own kind always in pairs, basking in the moonshine or nestling together where the thick "mingi" breaks tho vertical rays of a noonday sun. Instinct and experience seemed to teach him that those pairs were something sacrod ? something not to be interfered with, and so he wandered about alone. One day he camo across a littlo doe nibbling alone at somo cocksfoot and clover. He watched and waited while 110 one joined her; indeed, she seemed a kindred spirit, and . they both shared the clover patch. Many a bright starlight night they roamed about together, nibbling here a little, there a little. They wero'supremely happy. They were mates. He found himself growing bigger and stronger day by day, and with strength came tho confidence of youth, coniidcnco of knowing better than his ciders, and so disregarding the warnings and entron(ies of his mother lie spent more and more timo in the open, gambolling ami bathing in the sun, and to-day, at this psychical moment, six gaping jaws of death are seizing him. One long squeal —tho agony of a thousand ages—and lie is 110 more.

''Down, Bell." "Come into heel. Jack." "Drop it, Vic, you blanky ." And Nell, tho carrying greyhound, whoso (colli were tho first (0 grip, gripping in the nape of the back, brings (he bleeding corpse lo her master, wliu deprives ii cit its skin and throws the carcass to I ho tlogs. Then, yap, van, yap, and bunnies mate joins bunnie, again, skin lo skin, flesh to (bo (logs and spirits, who can say? Perhaps they reunite on some greener clover paleli, where hawks come not and cats and dogs are scarce, reincarnated in a future generation. Meanwhile tho rabbiter i; reap.

ing his toH of skins, shooting some, digging oihvis out ot ilieir hoivs, sluumug all.

in sonic sequestered spot, where bush slopes down t j creek, or n iiero I lie mkau paims guard the suit grass Irum tlie sun's seorcliing blaze, and tlio creek ripples musically by, are to he found the remains ol luncheons, a sheet or two ot paper, and the lay end ot a cigarette, or Ihe ashes of a pipe, denoting the midday resting place of a solitary rabbiier and his tired dogs. .Anon tjio sun throws long shadows from the tall pines, and plodding his homeward way, up the winding track to the one-lime homestead, trots a sturdy little station hack, with a dozen or so for-ponnd rabbits hanging from the saddle, and riding thereon sits a calm, quiet rabbitcr, whistling a long-forgotten air, heard, perhaps, in bettor days from the stalls oi a London theatre, Or thinking of the buck he missed upon (he Ratipn plain, or tlio lino loft and right that caused tho sugar bug on his shoulder to bulge with a pair of wild ducks. Home at 5 o'clock. The horse unsaddled, and with a happy little whinny scampers off to joint his mate, whose turn for work wil; come to-morrow. The dogs are chained up, and the dying embers fanned to a blaze. Soon a kerosino tin of rabbits aro boiling for the pack, and another contains a round of beef, while a treacle tin holds the "spuds" and another billy hot water for. the milkless tea.

Supper over, skins stretched, dogs fed, Bunnie sits in an apology for an easy chair, and rends; or perhaps he thinks— thinks over tho events of a sporting day, or his thoughts may travel further: travel back to England, to a lit.tlo homo in a quiet coastal village, whero a widowed mother sometimes wonders how her only son lives in tho far-away land over tho seas. A tear trickles down his sunburnt cheek as he gets up, wondering if ho will ever see that home again, and his hard, rough hand pens a letter—a letter breaking the silenco of years—a letter Home. I've heard of many strange stories told of rabbiters out back, sometimes substantiated by a cutting from soin'o local rag, others verified by "tho mates who know him." Stories of drownings in swollen rivers, whin a horse or dog has found its way to a distant homestead, and with a dumb sagacity only appreciated by those who have lived among those faithful equine and canine friends has broken tho news—tho sad news, "somethings up with Bunnie." There and then all the station hands turn out to a man. With horses, dogs, and bush lanterns, searching through the night. Bunnic is found lying cold and still' 011 somo steep _ hillside, with a stirrup leather still jammed on a hobnailed boot. Or sometimes the river lias to bo dragged or a landslip dug over to recover the unfortunate recluse. Perhaps he is only hurt —a sprained ankle or "broken leg. Then a stretcher is hastily improvised from manuka poles and (lax bushes, and with the tenderness of hospital nurses Bunnio is lifted en the makeshift mattress and carried miles to whore the necessary assistance can be obtained.' There aro tales, too. tales from the southern mountains, where tho rabbiters have very large packs and very little tucker. Talcs of a drunken rabbitcr starving into madness the dogs that earn his living. A cruel blow, to a hungry dog: retaliation, and the whole pack join in. A whip, a fun, and a white skull are all that aro found of the rabbitcr, while the dogs roam at large, a menace to stock and civilisation.