BUSH TRANSPORT

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 760, 5 September 1929, Page 15

BUSH TRANSPORT

TOILERS OF AUSTRALIAN PLAINS HORSE AND BULLOCK The vast distances which must of necessity be covered in the back country of Australia make her means of transport a matter of absorbing interest. As all the world knows, the horse has for more than a century been the stand-by of the settlers, both in saddle and harness. The part played by his comrade, the working bullock, has not been quite so fully realised and appreciated by those beyond the immediate inhere of his labours, but his share in Solving the transport problems of the West has been a solid and lasting one. For a great number of years before the advent ot the camel as a beast of burden suited to the arid conditions of the Outer West, all the heavy loading of the Bush was transported by teams of horses and bullocks; and these are •.till the mainstay of the l'ar-back stations and the scattered townships. Nut a road along the western rivers, not a tiack through the dense scrubs of Queensland or the Northern Territory, but bears silent witness, by the cleanpicked carcasses that line the highway, to the courage and devotion of the patient slaves of collar and yoke, writes \V ill H. Ogilvio in the “Glasgow Herald.’’ In spite of their slowness, the teambullocks have, perhaps, achieved the most notable work of all the toilers of the western ways. Year in, year out, in drought and flood, in chilly nights and burning noondays, they have bent willing necks to the bows and have kept open the lines of communication with the railways from the south. They have brought food and home comforts ■Sj the distant settler, and have carried bi S produce to the markets of the world, some day. perhaps, the epic of their brave endurance will be written by jiome poet of the Southern Cross. No partner in the Commonwealth’s march of progress deserves more praise than the humble steer —lean, footsore, and scarred by the chain. The great table-top wagons, broadtyred and of tremendous axle strength, loaded Inward with wool and outward with stores and equipment, pass hour after hour along the river roads, churning the sticky black soil, splashing the tlood water to their rails, or grinding up the grey dust into drifting, blinding clouds.

Sixteen. eighteen, or even twenty bullocks, are yoked two abreast along one stout chain, pulling under a heavy wooden yoke from which depend tho iron bows against which they thrust their patient shoulders. They move at a crawling pace, with heads lowered and slavering lips, their patient eyes for ever on the road that slides slowly behind their cloven hoofs. Beside them rides or walks the teamster, swinging his long-handled whip with its greenhide lash over the struggling line of reds and roans and whites. So slowly does tho team progress that you may see him walk up to the leaders and then walk slowly back to the pole-bul-locks, doing this many scores of times during the day while the plodding beasts pass and repass him at their own exasperating, unwavering pace. Most of these drivers are humane enough, and satisfy themselves with lurid oaths and threats and motions of tho whip; but when the sticky black soil makes itself felt and the great wagon is held up in some swamp or watercourse, then the whip falls In earnest on the straining beasts, and long red weals on rump and ribs testify to tho rigour of tine overland. The gameness of the working bullock is a proverb on the outposts, and he will pull as long as an ounce of strength remains in him. with the sullen, resigned determination of his race; the horse, on the other hand, being high-strung and nervous, is courageous enough so long as the wheels are moving, but is apt to get rattled when a wagon is bogged down to the axles, and to give up his efforts too soon. TEAMSTERS’ DIFFICULTIES It is for these qualities of pluck and endurance that the bullock is often preferred as a draught animal. He never plunges or jibs or slackens his chain, but leans persistently on the galling iron of his bow, till by sheer weight and courage he will shift almost any load if he is given time. When a wagon is hopelessly bogged in the clinging mire—and no soil is so bolding as this black soil of the plains —the teamsters, who almost invariably travel in groups of two, three, or four, lend atd to each other, unhitch their own teams, and add them to the strength of their comrades, whom they pull out of trouble with a thunder of whips and a volley of cheerful oaths, swearing picturesquely by the staunchness of some spotted hero or streaked champion in the long, wavering line. It is cruel enough work for the bullocks when the floods are down and every mile of the slow journey «*po.uires a heartbreaking shoulder-pull, s.nd the creeks and blUabongs are almost impassable. Occasionally the teamster is stopped altogether, and has to camp on the sandhill at the edge of particularly bad swamp or crossing before ho can venture the passage; but, sooner or later, with the assistance of his mates’ bullocks. he will win through with his loading, or pull his wagon to pieces in the gallant attempt. much foi* tho stamina of the teambullock and the pluck of his rough but brave-hearted driver. The achievement of both is a thing for wonder and for praise. Yet many men prefer horses to bul’ocks. They are mere companionable, i nd are fast«y and have a more fiery -ourage-—up to a certain point. They usually driven in teams of ten to sixteen, yok:*d two abreast and without rfins, being guided merely by the voice of the driver. Fourteen good horses will pull a twelve-ton load over any ordinary roads, and this load is seldom exceeded, but occasionally a teamster will put on fourteen or fifteen tons, In which case the number of horses is increased. Much depends on the wisdom of the two front horses, or the single loader which many drivers prefer. Some of these are almost human in their •kill in picking out the road and Jn avoiding begs, ruts and stumps, on behalf of the team behind them. Fabulous prices have been refused for some the most intelligent leaders, and between them and their masters is a faith and understanding which is touching to see. Besides being the choosers of the road they are very °ften the staunchest pullers and hardest workers in the team. Both horse and bullock drivers recognise that the greatest care is neces*arv in keeping their animals in the o«at possible condition, and with this view they will drive them long distances t.o grass and water when tho rs an< * Y°k es are dropped at night, tho teams are provided with bells that the owners may know their whereabouts when they are turned Jooee at sunset, and the jangle of the norse bells and the deep boom of those the bullocks contribute one of tli£ tttoet musical and characteristic sounds of a Bush night. Some of the bells L'an be heard at a distance of six or B «ven miles when the wind is favourable.

The great difficulty with which the have to contend is the scarcity of grass and tvater in periods of nought. Where a road iollows a river IT** moat of the main highways do—nere is generally some pool of water available even in the driest times; but the cross tracks which run over the ridges or barren sandhills, the oamster must depend on darns or holes at long intervals, and here ne daily stages must be accordingly

lengthened. From seven to nine miles a day for bullocks, and fifteen to twenty for horses, is good travelling; but these distances can be considerably increased when the exigencies of a waterless track compel haste. Many teams travel at night to take advantage of the coolness and absence of flies; in which case they are rested during the day. In a drought the horses are fed on wheat chaff, so-called—really chopped straw with all the grain left in it. This is carried in bags on tho wagons. Fodder for tho bullocks Is supplied by lopping boughs from such trees as the kurrajong, the white box, the wilga. and tho myall. Cattle feed greedily on the foliage and will keep their condition on a long trip when thus fed on “scrub,” as it is called.