MUSTERING AND MUSTERERS.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 12969, 23 November 1907, Page 3

MUSTERING AND MUSTERERS.

WORK IX THE HIGH COUNTRY. (By J.S.R/i i*-'cn:e rerent evielenco in the Firm Labourers' Union ca_*e before the Conciliation Board givee* particular interest to the following description of the muMerer's work, n'rit.fii by one Avho ha* done it. A musterer is o shepherd, oi course but ho is different from the ordinary shepherd, in that he is a specialist h his particular kind of sheep Avork. musterer's duties are far more arduott than these of the average shepherd who mostly tend :-heep in paddocks drait, or do the driving along tia. road. The musterer does his work on n far Jorger scale, and it is oonsidem. the hardest work that one run follow on any rough back-block sheep stattoi in New Zealand. His duties aro t< collect tho sheep from off the hills am to bring them into the homestead al shearing tim.* and to return then -igaiu to tiif hii!.* alter shearing, dip •ping, a .-id draiting are over. On s\ large stntii.n W...-.U reis are engaged ioi the .seais.tii omy. 'J hey are paid any. thine from iTJ to Co per week anr. found in fool for thein.-*elves. dogs, anc horses. The musterer will probably be. guaranteed six months' work, am will have with him from four to si? sheep dogs, as without these lie avoulc be useless in mountainous country. . On a typical back-block station like Mount W'h.te. in North Canterbury the mu.xtcrer will commence to rol up about the first of November. Whei you see one going along the road making for the back country, riding a tire.; horse, -i swrg in front of him, dog chains dangling from the saddle 01 around the horse's neck, and dogs following behind in various stages oi weariness, a-ou may know tint mustering and shearing are draAving near, and that each sheep station for -a while will be like a little township, as lonp as there aro any sheep to be mustered from off the hills or shorn. The commencement of the wool season to the out-back station hand is like Carnival Week to the townsman. Ho meets old friends and new faces and has many enquiries to make about Sandy, Mick! or Jim of last year. Ii he is a ''doggy man he' will recognise his various friends among tho dog: when talking to their respective mas tors. A cobbler is known to talk about his boots and last, a shearer talks about his shears, but a musterer wif give them all points Avhen it cometo talking about his dogs. He wiL give you the history of all the dogs he had, from the day Avhen ho first starteci mustering Avith old half-blind Stumpy to the pup he is breaking in at tin present time. Before starting tho season's mustering the men generally have two oi three days' end! at the homestead, to got Ihe dogs freshened up, camping gear and all packing accessories in order, packhorses shod and inspected, for whenever tho musterer goes out the packman must go with his horses, ca-mping outfit, tucker, swags, etc., foi he has the dual occupation of packman and cook to the musterer. I have seen the AA-hole Avork on the station delayed at -shearing time through the musterers going out on strike through nn incompetent packman. To see them departing from the homesteael reminds one of a straggling Boer commando going out- on a linecutting expedition, but for the execssiA r o number of dogs which are barking or frisking around—a sheep dog will almost ask you to take liira out to work after ilmving a fetv days' spell. The noise is confusing, but at last they are. away and have settled down tc .* good day's rido before they camp for the night. All aro glad to offsaddle when they com© to the appointed camping ground. Somo help the packman to unload and hobble the horses, pitch the tents, tie up tho dogs cut grass or break twigs for bedding By that time the packman has got supper, consisting of Iwi.od pota.toes, fried chops, bread and butter (if the buttei hasn t melted on the way). After sup-, per comes a look around, and then l bed, foj unless fog. rain, or snow eomo< on they Avill have to be up by the first glimmer of daylight, and' that moans two o'clock in the morning in the summer time, it that hour the packman will W«ro or thrro pans Jul of chops fried, and announce breakfast by cracking his whip or rat ."!£ IT' 0 i tm P ]aios That starts the dogs barking, and then ther is « etir up a I around, a hasty was! in the creek close by, and then'all ar fast rOUg ' 6uheta »tial breakOne can almost nick a musterer's nationality or particular weakness by the way he names his dozs. If he is a Scotchman they are Donald, Geordie, n.yde. or Sandy; an Irishman, Barney •; : • '-.m - T i inl ' J. { he is foiul of l'<l»or it is Whiskey, Kip, or Brandy, whilst the softer sex is remembered by the names of favourite girls, such as Sol, Rose, or Kate. A musterer alAvays has short names for his dogs, for that means a lot when one is working dogs all day and there is no water near to quench your thirst. A good dog can be Avorked by whistling alone when he is at a distance from yon. The better hand you are at understanding your dogs tho easier it will be for you on the hills, as instead of going here and there-you can trust to your dogs, and keep straight on the beat yourself. The particular mountain that our musterers have climhed is one that will keep them going at a good gait if they ivant to get off the hills before dusk. Sometimes tho sheep will not run, then dogs and man hove a rough time. If a long range has to be mustered, the men will start at the head of the range, and drive the sheep before them. Tho packmen in the meantime shifts camp to a convenient place agreed ut>on. The sheep are hunted Avell ahead, so that when the musterer starts the next morning none will have time to get back on to th© ground that has been covered on the previous day. The muster will continue from day to day until the whole range has been gone over. The head musterer at breakfast gives directions to each individual as to what beat he will have, where to stop the sheep from going into such and such a place, or to hunt or slew them around, as the case may be. The man with the best dogs is often given tho easiest, though most important, beat. Perhaps ho will have to go to a certain part, stop there, and wait until the others have driven the sheep towards him. I have seen a whole day's muster by twelve men spoilt by one man getting at the stopping place too late, through' the sheep running faster than was expected. Waiting to stop the mob is alt right on a fine day, but on a cold or foggy day the men prefer to be on the travel. The general rule in mustering is to get behind them, and hunt and drive them forward towards a convenient camping ground or yard, and there collect them in a mob, ready to be driven into the homestead to be shorn. Some days the men will climb a mountain four or five thousand feet high go down the other side, get at the back of the 6hecp, and muster them as they come home, or some will go over tho top, and the others go around. The river or bush will giA'e the boundary for a certain day's work. To-day our men are all going to the top together before they will branch off. It is here where you -will often see a bit of racing done. The head musterer, as a rule, makes the pace, the others keeping near him, each picking his way amongst the rooks, shingle, ,

or tussock. Perhaps a previous day's boast or a quiet hint will start one of the follows gcin? lor all he is worth if lie manages to hit a good bit of country, but he docs it in such a.quiet ami unassuming manner that the others take no notice of him until he has a fair lead. Then perhaps one sets on to his little game, and is after him, or the head musterer, ever jealous of his prowess, is put on his mettle, and he settles down to overtake j the leading man, and the others, net jto be outdone, are after him also. I Then you may see twelve silent puffing j men racing one another for all they jure worth up that mountain side, stopping only to call or whistle to thendogs—a grand excuse to get fresh wind j—then otf again. Arrived at the top jof the mountain, they have a few minutes' spell to get their wind, ar.d take final directions from the her._l man. who takes hi. beat and follows j along the top of the range, so that he jean watch the others as they go along. j The idea is to spread tho men half on [ each .side of him, and sidle along the mountain side, each man to keep near enough to the other to prevent any sheep passing between them. Twelve men ran muster a g-orl wic'.th of coun--1 try, as Avith their dogs they can hunt •U" slop anything Avithin a quarter or half-mile of them. When tiie men a-e out of sight of one another, they light small tussock fires, so that the outside men can see by the smoke how t'.e muster is progressing. Obstinate mobs of sheep will keep one or other of ike men back, but the rule is to help your mate on either side of you Avhen re- j quired, or wait for the others who have I tho rough beats. A mustercr can and does go into some very dangerous places amongst the rocks, and it is n.> j joke being underneath a mob of shtv.v I which arc sending down stones and | rocks from far above you. A mob <;i sheep may be amongst the rocks and hard to get out; after spending a geod • I while with them, and perhaps get uj)r. j J behind in the muster, the men wiil I hnvo eventually to leuve them to get ! out the best A\ay they can. and tab* tho chance of getting them in the next muster. Sow tho sheep are running along half a mile ahead of you in fi:.k~._Hr.obs. You onn just see the men on e«c_i side _ of you, ond heir the f.houting as the muster progresses. You will now scothe smoke from the (ires of the ontsuk men, -who-.are commencing to close in. • Tho sheep are running strong, and a rest ringing well out before you in hundreds, collecting «s they go along. Were it not for their habit of following one another and mobbing up. ii would toke a. hundred men with ft proportionflito number of dogs to mutter a back station. Each man now is sending his dogs after the stragglers, hunting and stopping those that are obstinately trying to get back to thenfeeding and camping ground. The top men are commencing to come down, and thoso to the right and left are working well forward to help stop the sheep, which aro heginning to give the men stopping them in front all they can do to keep them from bolting across their boundary. Eqprywhere now, a* tho circle of men and dogs decrease, are slhcep, strung along or collected together in mobs. Blocked in front and hunted from behind, they run hero and there in confusion, as the mustercr.* quickly surround them. It is worth going a few miles to see tho men working their dogs, trying to got the sheep to ail mob together. With tho bleating of the sheep, men shouting and whistling, dogs, barking and dashing about, and sheep all over the place, , confusion reigns supremo for a while, but eventually men and dogs win the , day, and the sheep are at last in one huge mob, ready to be driven to the homestead to be shorn, or put in a big detention paddock until they are Wanted. The mtistorer now works his way back to tho camp, enjoys a good Araßh and meal, and finishes up the day or night by swopping dogs* or, boasting about tho way the neAV pup shaped in heading, a rushing mob when on the hills for the first time to-day. Eventually the packman sings out that it is time lights were out, and so ends the first day's muster of the season.