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Houses in the Falklands tend to be wooden framed, with 'wriggly tin' roofs (i.e. corrugated iron). This sketch shows a typical outside house, or shepherd's house with vegetable garden, cowshed, gear shed [saddles etc] , kennels etc. Macrocarpa trees shelter one side of the house and there's a wind charger on the roof to keep a radio battery topped up.

Inside the house there's homemade furniture plus a fancy imported sofa. The shepherd's wife is heaping hot peat embers over the shadro or basic oven, and more peat stands ready in a peat bucket. The rag rug at the door will be homemade, and the cow's tail in the hallway makes a handy holder for a comb to tidy windswept visitors' hair.

Until recent years peat was the main fuel used in the Falklands. Kerosene and diesel are taking over gradually, but peat is still cut by hand or by machine in many places. Draught horses have been superceded by tractors.

Most cows calve out in camp, i.e. a huge open area of the farm, and are brought into the settlement for milking once they have calved. This looks like quite a new calf that the boy is chivvying gently along, and he is probably keeping a wary eye on the cow in case she becomes over protective and turns on him.

Falkland cows are normally milked once a day unless they are heavy producers. Here the shepherd's wife has raked out the ashes and got her fire burning brightly, and is walking up the green to see to her cows. One is calling to its calf, shut inside the cowshed since the previous afternoon.

The calf is tied where its mother can lick it and be reassured, without it being able to suckle (though if she won't let her milk down, the milker will have let the calf take a few sucks just to stimulate the flow before tying it up again). The second cow waits impatiently, with its own calf in view.

Tussac is still cut for feed in some places. It grows on most islands still; at one time there was a coastal strip of it right around the Falklands, but overgrazing put paid to this. Bundles of tussac are cut and tied, then taken back in the waiting boat. One good bundle is enough for a cow for one day. Tussac responds well to cutting. It can grow very tall, well above head height from its strange hummocky base, and is often planted in hen-runs for shelter.

Once weaned, calves are allowed to grow on as future milk cows or as beef. They can become wild during this interim period, as this picture shows, and the dog may be being a bit foolhardy and probably hindering rather than helping... The steer or 'beef' has maybe spotted the gallows in the corral...

... which is a portent of things to come for him or a companion. In the sketch a cat eyes up the possibilities, while the shepherd and his helper return home for a well-earned smoko (midmorning tea or coffee) leaving the hapless beef to cool. After a day or two it will be split down the middle and again left for a while. Nowadays this means a full freezer, but in the days illustrated it would have meant a glut of beef to eat, much to pickle in brine, and plenty of delicious sausages.

Before radio arrived, signal fires were much used to send messages from outer islands to the mainland of East or West Falkland. Here the fire meant that mail was ready for collection, and the island farm has sent a boat across to pick up the bags. The packhorse or caragero doesn't like the sight of these strange objects and is sitting back... He can't go too far with manears or hobbles on his front legs. The cinch position on the riding horse is typical, set well back.

Packhorses were vitally important to all farms before 4 wheel drive vehicles arrived in the Islands or were widely spread. Here the led horse is jibbing at the thought of entering the water. I remember all too well when a horse I was riding leapt such a stream, while the led horse sat back. Guess where I ended up...

Horses played a vital role in transport generally. Shepherds in the outside houses miles from the main settlements led solitary lives, and a meeting such as this would have meant the chance to swap news and pass on messages. Maybe even a romantic tryst, as this sketch suggests...

Teachers and doctors had to travel their beats on horseback. Patients were carried long miles to catch up with a doctor on occasion. Entire families had to travel on horseback if they were to get to any social event. In this sketch father has a small child in front of him, two youngsters share a second horse, and mother is checking on a third child - her horse appears to be objecting to the hand behind the saddle... Both parents carry maletas or large canvas saddlebags, presumably with spare clothing and maybe a snack for the track.

Here a female Upland goose has been disturbed by an inquisitive sheepdog, flying up and startling the horse. Away in the distance the gander can be seen, laying away in an attempt to divert attention from the nest site. These geese are said to pair for life. Their eggs are popular eating, as are their goslings when part-grown.

Penguin eggs are no longer eaten as much as they used to be. Licences have to be obtained in order to collect them, and Islanders are becoming more aware of conservation issues. Here two keen eggers are using poles with tins or loops on the end of them, to hook Jackass (Magellanic) penguin eggs out of the burrows. A move often countered vigorously by both penguins and their attendants. (Scent was used liberally on raiders' arms and legs, to repel the fleas which invariably inhabit these burrows.)

Here an outside shepherd sets off to inspect his flock, with waterproofs strapped on behind the saddle since Falkland weather can change in the blink of an eye from sunny to downright nasty... A good shepherding horse is one that can manintain a steady trot all day, eating up the ground. In the sketch he uses a short cojinillo or sheepskin which probably indicates this was summer time. In winter he would use a longer one, wrapping cosily around the ankles and useful to sleep on at a pinch.

Here the dog is 'pointing' to a cast sheep, stuck on its back with a heavy and possibly wet fleece, unable to move. Unless found it would become fair game for the circling turkey buzzards . If it hasn't been there too long it will be fine...

... but it may have become cramped and unable to move. In this case, the shepherd has to manear or hobble his horse, and dedicate the next half hour or so to 'exercising' the sheep in order to get its circulation going again. The dogs watch with interest. The sketch shows clearly the hide sobre cinch or top cinch which holds the sheepskin in place on the horse, over the top of the bastos which are a South American type saddle, consisting of two leather 'sausages' laced together. There's a saddle blanket or rug underneath the bastos, and a main cinch goes right round the horse to hold the gear on.

Some sheep inevitably die in camp, either through being cast, or from lambing difficulties, or sheer age. Shepherds always used to carry large wool maletas in order to collect camp wool, ie wool from casualties, or skins if the carcass was fresh or the sheep had had to be killed. Here the shepherd is returning to the main settlement - the large sheds to the left would be the shearing shed etc. He wears a beret that was much favoured years ago (still is by some), and comfortably baggy trousers.

This wonderful scene is one that could be observed regularly until recent times. It was a marvellous sight to see a shepherd gang setting out on a gather, with one or two spare horses each and at least two dogs per man. In this sketch, one shepherd leads a packhorse laden with supplies provided by the farm's galley cook. These would include several cooked legs of mutton, sides of chops, loaves of rather solid bread made with mutton grease and slabs of cake (ditto). The worst that could happen would be for the led horse to erupt in a jumping (bucking) fit, which invariably having a disastrous effect on the victuals...

The end of a gather means taking sheep through a gateway. Depending on the sheep involved this can be the worst time of all for the shepherds. One wrong move by a dog, one contrary sheep that chooses not to go through, and the scene is set for a disaster. Here the sheep are fully grown and the leader may or may not go peacefully through the gate. Ewes with lambs are possibly the worst to get through gateways - it is quite possible to have a 'lamb break' occur, when a bunch of the little darlings take off hell for leather for no apparent reason and always away from the gate...

I hope you enjoyed these sketches, which are copyright Kitty Bertrand the artist and used with her kind permission.  Excuse any spelling mistakes, please...

Camp remains a very special and vital part of Falkland Islands life, and though some things have changed since Kitty drew her pictures, much remains the same. Sheep are still contrary, dogs can still let you down or save the day, and the weather can still drive you insane or make you glad to be alive. The lot of the shepherd's wife has improved considerably, and although a shepherd will never become a millionaire he might feel himself to be wealthy in other ways. On a good day, that is...