to the extreme northern points of the Vic- | ized; no attempt should be made to stop torian territory-nay, there seems no them, which would now be an impossibil reason to doubt that some of them had ity; their march should only be stayed. annexed several small islands in the river, Let them pass along north. The timber which appeared when the waters were low. fences which bear east and west should be Then the long-delayed flood came at last; fitted with rabbit-proof wire netting in with a clean sweep over the salient Vic approved fashion-i.e., with eight or nine torian capes, it carried the rabbits in heaps inches of the wire netting laid out south, on to the northern (Riverina) shores. All pinned down, and then lightly covered animals (except man) can swim when with soil. From these wire-fitted fences, needs must be; even barn-door fowls and stays (colonial breaks) should be run down kangaroos manage in a fashion. Thou- south every mile or two; they need not sands tens of thousands of these Vic- be long (twenty chains would suffice), but torian rabbits must have been drowned, they should be carefully fitted with netbut enough survived to establish them- ting, pinned down, as in the case of the selves firmly on Riverina territory at dif- east-and-west fences. The rabbits arrivferent places. There they recruited their ing at the fences cannot at once get north energies and gathered their forces until by burrowing under such fences, but they they set off again north-for north is still will travel along them until they reach a their aim. I think that this has become break; they will run along it until they an instinctive desire. I hope that it has, again meet the fence, and in the angles, for in such case it will make their destruc- formed by the fences and the breaks, tion so much the easier. there should be swinging or falling traps through which the rabbits should be able to pass under the wired fence. These traps should discharge the rabbits passing through them into pitfalls fitted up to receive and retain them. These pitfalls must be periodically visited by mounted men told off for that purpose.

It may be as well to pause here and endeavor to learn why rabbits keep marching on. It may be supposed that they are pressing on for fresh pastures. It is not so at all. For this army is on the march, and is to be viewed under quite a different light than if they had made a permanent settlement in the country which they have

overrun.

The foregoing is a mere sketch. There are plenty of clever practical men among the sheep-farmers of Australia who can carry out (and improve upon) the hints given. The main idea is, that as it is quite impossible to stop the march of the rabbits, they should always have a seem

must be constantly disturbed in and hunted out of the southern parts of the paddocks, but never obstructed in the northern, and never closely dealt with until they run through the traps into the pitfalls, out of which escape should be made impossible.

When he was a boy, did any one of my readers ever keep pet rabbits? If he did, he may remember that we were taught to keep the buck rabbit in a box by himself; we were told that he would eat the young ones if he got among them. Neverthe-ingly clear way before them; that they less, we were to put the buck into the doe's box as soon as the young ones were able to take care of themselves. This visit by the buck was just to keep all in good humor. Now we know that this was in part a fable, but not altogether so. The buck does kill the young ones if he can To justify this expensive procedure, it get at them when they are very young, is, of course, presupposed that the natural and the does are aware of this his propen- defence afforded by the river Murray has sity. Thus it happens that, in a state of been built up again. It has once been freedom, after the does have had inter- stormed by Master Bunny that should course with the males and find themselves never be allowed to occur again. It will pregnant, they slip away from the males be more easily defended now, for agencies and press on in a northerly direction. in Victoria are actively at work keeping The deserted bucks lie quietly by until down the pest. The various Victorian some other drove of mateless does passes shire councils seem to be zealous in the up to them from the south, after having matter, and in time their efforts must tell. kindled. Here they again mate, and the But that is a contingency upon which New does again pass on north to kindle in South Wales has no right to depend. A safety. That northerly march has now wire rabbit-proof fence, with breaks, reached the borders of Queensland, some swing-traps, and pitfalls, should be run hundreds of miles from where they crossed along the north bank of the river, followthe river Murray. What I advise is this, ing its course in a general way west to the that this instinct of theirs should be util-eastern boundary of South Australia.

That wire rabbit-proof fence should be some miles back from the river, and existing fences might be utilized for the purpose; it should, if possible, be north of the main roads which run down the course of the river, and it might well commence about Tocumwal.

selves down and die. To persons who fugitively glance at the matter, this may appear to be a gross exaggeration. It is not so. It is only a question of time - of a year or two -one way or another. Just about the time that the rabbits fairly made their appearance north of the Murray The country between the river Murray River, I remember that the lessee of Tapio and this rabbit-proof fence should be Run told me that he had somewhere read, closely watched by the board of sheep- that from one pair of rabbits in one year directors, under whose control the arrange- there would be a progeny of sixty thouments should be carried out under them, sand. Now my friend must either have or some other body of a similar character. forgotten what he had read or his authorThere should be a guiding central authority was a bad one. Alas! sixty thousand ity certainly, for it is not a question is soon reached, but not in one year-not which affects pastoralists only it affects quite so; under the most favorable cir every one in Australia, and money will be cumstances that is quite impossible. I required to carry out any scheme which have, however, made a computation which may be fixed upon. That guiding author- includes all sorts of allowances as against ity must be the New South Wales execu- the increase. I will not trouble the reader tive, of course. But the directors of the with the items; but I find that in the fifth sheep boards the more immediately and year there might well have sprung from directly interested persons - should have the original couple no less than one milthe practical working out of any scheme lion and five hundred thousand rabbits. which may be adopted. When did a As there may probably have been hunfarmer in Great Britain ever get his barnsdreds of couples swept across the Murray cleared thoroughly cleared-from rats? I may safely write - never. There were always a few "left to breed." Many of the rabbiters hitherto employed in New South Wales have been smart fellows, but the best of them never would have killed that "last rabbit" about which we heard so much. When scalps got scarce, these rabbiters insisted on being shifted out to more rabbity country. In fact the whole working of the Rabbit Act hitherto has been a grand and expensive mistake; it has been a direct incentive to the propagation of the pest. That might have been foretold, and was so. It might have been different had all the people employed sternly done their duty, and had there not been so much centralization, and so much pen-and-ink work about its working probably unavoidable under the phases it had assumed.

In any new scheme to be adopted there should be one clear fiat issued: There shall be no more rabbit scalps (or skins) paid for. The destruction of rabbits should be looked upon as a paramount duty- a disagreeable one, no doubt, but of most urgent necessity. It has, in plain words, come to this- that rabbits must be utterly subdued in New South Wales, or the colonists must once more withdraw themselves into the county of Cumberland, and therein quietly await the wearing out of the pest. That time will arrive; when all vegetation has been utterly destroyed, the rabbits must lay them

into Riverina seven or eight years ago, I leave the reader to ponder the matter. It is asserted, truly enough no doubt, that there is a law of nature by which that increase is kept within certain bounds — for rabbits have their enemies which prey on them. That is true in the abstract; but in Riverina these useful enemies of the rabbits are carefully destroyed by the rabbit-trappers. These men are determined that the rabbits shall remain for their peculiar benefit, and take active means to secure that result. How they manage this, and how they provide for successive crops of rabbits for themselves, must form the subject of further explanation. In the mean time, each Australian who reads these lines should determine to use his influence to stop payment for rabbit scalps (or skins). Such payments actually propagate the dreaded evil. It is, of course, quite impossible to prevent a sheep-farmer from throwing away his money if he so choose. But one and all should protest against any more money going from the public treasury for the purpose of paying for rabbits destroyed. This trapping of rabbits has been such a source of wealth such an unexpected one- - for loafing tramps, for country store. keepers, and for bush publicans, that there is sure to be a great outcry at the stopping of supplies. But let the sheep-farmer employ a superior class of men henceforth with whom to fight the rabbits. Where the rabbits have firmly established them

selves by burrowing, let the paddocks be| cleared of them by contract. Let the rabbits' natural enemies be once more protected instead of being persecuted as hitherto, then we shall find the balance of nature restored, and no more rabbits come to the front than we can find a legitimate use for.

Wales is the 141st degree of east longitude bearing north from the river Murray, and has been already surveyed and fenced, but I think the fencing is not wire-netted. The fence which I have suggested as proper to be run westerly, some miles out from and parallel with the Murray River, should be continued across the Darling River to the South Australian boundary, and breaks and traps in it should be set up, as formerly described. The facilities for working the trapping successfully in that locality are very great. Nearly all that rabbit-infested frontage is liable to inundations at uncertain intervals, which cause most of the rodents to clear out of it. Such of them as may have found refuge on islands may be driven out by what are called “rouse-about men " landed from boats, which are easily procurable. Strong reserves of such men are, or should be, kept on the various stations. The fence bearing westerly to the South Australian boundary should pass well north of Lake Victoria; the rabbits inside of it would be always well on the move, and easily dealt with if the traps were duly attended to.

I have so far endeavored to describe the march northward of the gray rabbits turned loose near Geelong in Victoria, the most southern of the Australian colonies; their crossing of the river Murray above the junction of the river Darling there with, and their invasion of the district familiarly known as Riverina. I have pointed out how the rabbits already within Riverina might be so dealt with as greatly to mitigate the evi!-whereupon they might be in a great degree left to the mercy of their natural enemies. But in order to cause that plan to be successful, the co-operation of Victoria must be secured. This co-operation, I think, may be depended upon, if only from motives of self-preservation. But lest it should be only partially rendered, I have recommended that a line of wired fencing should be carried down a few miles north of the But, as regards the fenced boundary river Murray, and parallel with that line between the two colonies, it must be stream, in a general way, so that any strag- borne in mind that the rabbits which gling rabbits from Victoria, crossing the reach it have come out of the South Ausriver, should be dealt with ere they got too tralian Murray River scrubs, and their line far out. I may here particularly point out of march has been latterly north-east. But that that fence must be, if possible, some the same method of capture will be sucmiles away from the roads ordinarily used cessful. The boundary fence should be by loafing tramps or ci-devant trappers. hung with wire-netting, and breaks, if posFrom sheer mischief they would soon de-sible at every mile of it, should conduct stroy the traps and have the rabbits back again. The management of the rabbits must be in the hands of the sheep boards; and the matter above alluded to they will have to watch closely-that and other matters cognate thereto.

the rabbits into pitfalls. But in this case, as one pitfall is filled from New South Wales, the next one should be filled from South Australia. Along this fence it may be in places difficult to fit up conducting breaks, as there is, for about sixty or sev

this wire fence rabbits are sure to travel long distances in summer, as water is very scarce. If my memory does not fail me, about the seventy-one-mile tree, north from the river Murray, there is water generally on some nice little plains suitable for a camp for persons attending to the breaks and traps. At about the one hundred and two to one hundred and five mile peg, one comes again to open fine country on the Buckalow Run, and water is to be had on both sides of the boundary. Here the pest has fine room to spread over a country suitable to it in every way.

I have also alluded to a constant creep-enty miles, a great deal of scrub. Along ing upwards of rabbits from South Austra lia, along both banks of the river Murray. That has become a serious factor in the rabbit question. After the influx of the Darling therewith (at Wentworth), the Murray becomes such a considerable stream that there is not much chance of rabbits crossing over it until it is well within the South Australian boundary line, when much of its volume has been removed by evaporation or filtration. That boundary is some ninety or hundred miles below Wentworth. The area between the Darling River, the river Murray, and the South Australian boundary is already pretty full of rabbits. The boundary between South Australia and New South

From what I can remember, it is about eight years since the rabbits, crossing the Murray, started for Queensland. They

If, three or four years ago, the southern boundary of Queensland had been fenced with wire netting, if breaks had been erected at every mile or two along that fence, to turn the travelling rabbits through traps into pitfalls; if faithful and intelligent men had been procured, to work out the simple system, then that colony might have scorned the possibility of the danger now threatening her. Ålas! it may be too late, the rabbits most probably are within the lines of Queensland;|from Adelaide, or some other seaboard but a second parallel may be drawn well ahead of the invaders with good effect. It is all a question of money. In any case, the cost must be great, but it is

I shall not refer further to the cat tribe, but only here remind the sheep-farmer of the claims of this humble and despised friend. If the grazier thinks over the matter, he will discern why the cat has so many enemies. Every one in the bush is his enemy who in any shape or form has a share of the scalp-money. The trapper is his enemy, of course, as also every official who is connected with the "new industry," as I may call it, the storekeeper, with whom the trapper deals, and the publicans, who welcome the trapper's well-filled purse. They who should be the cat's friend, foolishly leave him to the tender mercies of his enemies. On every station and on every conditional purchase there should be nurseries and homes for cats, and these, as they reach maturity, would go abroad to do the work which trappers less thoroughly perform.

One

whole comparison between these two ani- | done for us during the hours that we were mals may be summed up in a few words; sleeping. the cat is credited with ten lives, the rabbit has barely one. Hold the rabbit up by his hind legs, he can be killed by a single blow behind his ears from your open hand. The cat is always on the qui vive. No reptile can approach a bush cottage without his informing you of it. He never fails to kill any moderately sized snake (say thirty inches long), if you will only allow him to attack it in his own way. In the next place, the cat seems hardly to require water if there be any animal life about; the blood of its victims seems to suffice him. I have once or twice come across them out twenty miles from any water known to any of the station hands. When running thus at large, the male cat assumes the air and demeanor of a small tiger, and all the adults of the tribe can preserve themselves from danger by the use of their climbing powers; they are not fond of leaving the timber lands far behind them. But, above all, cats do not hunt merely to feed themselves; they hunt as we do, for the pleasure of hunting, and are often satisfied with merely disabling their foc. When night falls, and it can see clearly about, it marches off, sometimes for miles, to return to its home at dawn, ofttimes laden with a titbit for its master, besides food for the kittens which had been left behind. Castration does not diminish their hunting powers and courage; and I have seen most valiant specimens. At a friend's station I knew one which, during nearly every night, brought home and deposited in the verandah a paddy-melon much larger than an ordinary rabbit. This nightly task must have evoked a wonderful perseverance. Poor It must not be supposed that the rabfellow! the day came on which there was no game brought home. He was sought for far and near, but was never seen again. My wife had a favorite "Tommy" which would tackle anything in the world, I think (of its own weight, be it understood). That which he killed he used to bring home and deposit by night under her couch, the door being generally open. Rabbits there were none about in those days he and a few others like him had taken care of that—but I have known him to bring in a water-hen as large as a bantam, to which I had to give the coup de grâce. Thoughtful creature! He devoured in the garden the bodies of such snakes as he had killed during the night, but left their poison-laden heads on the gravel walks, as evidence of what he had

The iguanas are large lizards. variety, of a dark color, is from five to six feet long, and much resembles a small alligator. It inhabits the lofty gum-trees which grow along the various watercourses. The individuals of this variety are wonderful climbers, and used to wage war on the opossum tribe; but that occupation is nearly gone. They descended ofttimes and robbed such fowl-houses as were near the water. I do not think that they would much help the destruction of rabbits; but under the changed circumstances of their usual game, they might do so. The variety which is peculiarly worth preserving is much smaller, not more than two and a half feet long, having a bright bronze-like skin.

bits, on their march northward, did not leave any colonies behind them. They did; and it is in regard to these colonies that the smaller iguanas are found so useful. These colonies may be called burrows, in fact, and are of two kinds: first, those which the rabbits themselves made; and secondly, those which they found ready-made for them. The first are merely temporary shelters, in which they deposit their young whilst on their march. The soil is very loose, and the does do not excavate to any depth. I have often seen lads thrust their arms in and drag the young ones out. The reason of this shal lowing burrowing is, that if they dig in deeper than the shrub and grass roots, the sand runs down and chokes the excavation. The iguanas are aware of this, and