Camels And
Horses Suffer Rather Severely Sometimes, The Constant Pricking Causing
Sores On Their Legs.
So long, however, as a camel does not drag his hind
legs he will be no worse treated than by having all the hair worn off his
shins.
The side of the foot is an easily affected spot, and a raw there,
gives them great pain and is hard to cure.
There are two varieties of spinifex known to bushmen - "spinifex" and
"buck" (or "old man") spinifex. The latter is stronger in the prickle
and practically impossible to get through, though it may be avoided by
twists and turns. There are a few uses for this horrible plant; for
example, it forms a shelter and its roots make food for the kangaroo, or
spinifex, rat, from its spikes the natives (in the northern districts)
make a very serviceable gum, it burns freely, serves in a measure to bind
the sand and protect it from being moved by the wind, and makes a good
mattress when dug up and turned over. I should advise no one to try and
sleep on the plant as it grows, for "He who sitteth on a thistle riseth
up quickly." But the thistle has one advantage, viz., that it does not
leave its points in its victim's flesh. In Northern Australia spinifex is
in seed for three weeks, and when in this state, forms most excellent
feed for horses, and fattens almost as quickly as oats; for the rest of
the year it is useless.
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