TOLL OF DROUGHT.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 114, 17 May 1933, Page 8

TOLL OF DROUGHT.

INLAND AUSTRALIA. EVEN "BRUMBIES" DYING. SHEEP AT 1/ A HEAD. (From Our Own Correspondent.) SYDNEY, May 12. Away in the north-west of tlie State, in the district of Bavadinc, about 350 miles from Sydney, there is a tract of wooded country about SO square miles in extent where a large number of "brumbies" or wild horses are to be found. Many hundreds of horses turned out to grass by drovers and teamsters have,run wild, and have bred large herds, which, in mo*t parts of the country are regarded as "a picturesque nuisance." Thev eat the grass, they break down the fences, (hey trample bare drains and open tanks or springs into quagmires in which Sheep are bogged and the water, spread too widely, quickly evaporates.

In Queensland where there are large numbers of such herds, regular hunting expeditions are sometimes organised to keep them down, and stationhoklers have paid as much as ;">/ a head to sharpshooters to abate (his nuieance. In New South Wales, on smaller holdings, the movements of the "brumbies" are hampered by the numerous fences, and they are for the most part located in certain fenced districts. In the Baradine area there were last year about 1000 "brumbies"; and while they are ii great deal of a nuisance to settlers, they arc not of much viiliiß to anyone. In that rough country it would take three good horses to catch one "brumby;" and a valuable animal might be killed in the attempt.

Following the Creek-beds

But this season the prolonged drought has brought disaster upon the '•brumbies." In time of drought, they follow the line of the dry creek beds where instinct tells them water is to be found beneath the earth. They paw eagerly at the sand till they reach a subterranean spring, and by working together they often unearth an ample supply of water. But thics seasion the drought has been too much for them, and the carcases of wild horses, dead of thirst, are scattered about the dry billabohgs.; In the past, even without water they have Usually been able to sustain .life by chewing the prickly pear, which contains a great den! of moisture. But in the Baradine district the cactus insect, imported to destroy the prickly pear, lias done its work so well that the "brumbies' " last hope lias failed them. It i* a piteous business, but so far the Australian settler has not been able to devise effective means for coping with droughts so as to save hte own stock, let alone the wild horses.

Transport Costs Too Heavy.

The other day in Queensland not far from the New South Wales border, a

line of 4000 sheep were eold at 1/ a lfead. and that shocking price has also been recorded in the north-west of this State. During a severe drought such as tho present one, when the local springs and creeks give out, and the Wells and bores along the stock routes dry up, the railway is the only means of transit, and the cost of .transferring the peritshing'eheep to well-watered grazing ground is usually prohibitive —hence, the sheep are practically given away. Yet it is asserted by the meteorologists that if tho rain fall were conserved and the Darling were dammed, New South! Wales need never fear a drought again.