Explore "The Shepherds' Dance: with the Lamb Markers of the Paroo" by Edward S. Sorenson on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
That is only the entrance gate. There are four or five more, opening into smaller and smaller yards, until the race is reached; and the same wild corroboree is repeated at every one of them. The small yards empty quickly, and have to be kept filled from the big receiving yard. The men are now distributed behind the various gates, so that there will be no break in the operations from start to finish. The boss takes charge of the drafting gates, a couple of men or boys stand outside the race, with long sticks in their hands, prodding the sheep up when they stop running, and another works continuously in the small feeding-yard behind. When the yards containing the drafted sheep are full, a halt is made while the lambs are marked. This does not take long, and at its completion the men rush to their places again, and as some of them have packed the small yards in the meantime, the flow of woollies through the race recommences straight away.