Thamanampalli Surekha

prospect of realising an independency by attention and industry. So free and self-dependent are its contingencies, that a species of romances seems to clothe the occupations of the bush. Such feelings, however, soon pass away before the stern realities of a squatter's life during the lambing and shearing seasons, the delinquencies of servants, and low returns from wool-sales. Then follows the monotany of inspecting the out-stations, which fills up the remainder of the year; and frequently the settler wishes himself back into the bustle of a town." Here our hast was interrupted by one of the other two gentlemen visitors, who possessed a cattle-station, and as he was a younger man, he spoke in more glowing terms of a bush life. " Although monotonous at times, " he said, " yet still there is a pleasure unspeakable to the man of mental vigour, in the healthful exhilaration experienced by riding through the silent forests, and over the smiling flowery plains, in the exercise of his bush duties, which not only reconciles him to his lot, but leads him to prefer it to a town life, especially if his sphere of action is on a cattle - station, where every thing is fraught with excitement, from the first occupation of the run to the branding of the increase annually. And if he is a lover of horse-flesh, with its attendant amusements, he will find no want of opportunities for gratifying his inclinations in this respect, at the same time rendering useful service. " I will guarantee him as good sport in dingo-hunting as he would find in fox-hunting-in cattle-driving as much excitement as in following the hounds. In fine, to be the squatter par excellence, a man must be possessed of indomitable perseverance, with a good store of moral courage, and be to some extent a disciplinarian, so as to keep his men in check, and enforce order and regularity throughout his run, for it is upon these matters, and not by engrossing his time with calculations of profit and loss amongst his herbs and flocks, that the successful management of a station depends. " Taking all things into consideration, therefore, and notwithstanding the present temporary distress amongst us for want of labour, we can safely agree in stating, that as long as grass grow upon our undulating forest- lands, furnishing food for our beeves and flocks, so long will capital invested in our living streams of beef and mutton yield a steady and remunerating profit." In such instructive and agreeable conversation did we pass the evening until it was time to retire, and our host persuaded his tow friends to remain until the morning " Early to bed, and early to rise, " is the bush-man's maxim: and the rest of the adage fallows, according to our squatter friend's account. Next morning we were up early, and joined our host in a ride before breakfast round the outskirts of his homestead. We were much surprised at the extent of ground he had fenced in for pasturing his horses and milch cows, which he informed us would not feed where sheep had been. The number of small huts clustered about the place also gave it much the appearance of a little country village, - which in fact it had been before the diggings began, but now most of the cottages were empty. Within the precincts of his house and out - offices was a complete farm, with all its appurtenances. He grew as much wheat in his paddocks as supplied the station with flour, which was ground by hand in large steel mills. He reared an abundance of poultry upon maize, besides having sufficient for his horses and pigs. He cured hams and bacon, and made cheese and butter. In making the latter he ad a commodious underground dairy to facilitate the operation of churning in the summer. Then he had a garden, where he grew fruit of many kinds, grapes, peaches, oranges, apples and pears, besides kitchen-garden stuffs, from a potato to a pumpkin. There was scarcely an article of dairy or farm produce but was raise on this spot, where twelve years before the pear starved aborigines could scarcely find a few roots of murnong. In fact, this enterprising settler was independent of supplies for the subsistence of his people, if they would have done without the foreign articles of tea and sugar. A peep into his store, where these and other luxuries and comforts were kept, was not the least interesting sight upon this little colony. Here was a regular shop in the middle of the bush, as tidily arranged, with its counter and scales, as any in the towns. Articles of every description were to be had within, from a tarpaulin to a lady's muslin dress, from a watch-guard to a bullock- chain. After breakfast we all walked down to the washing-pool and wool-shed, to witness the operations of sheep- washing and sheep-shearing. It was a pleasant spot he had selected for the farmer; A stream had been dammed up where some shea-oak and flooded gum-trees lent their grateful shade from the powerful sunbeams. Across this pool half a dozen men stood up to their waists in the water, plunging the frightened sheep overhead, and sousing their fleeces until they became as white as snow, a gentle current carrying off the dirty water. In this manner they passed each animal from one to another until they crossed the pool, where they were landed upon a clean grassy paddock. Here they remained until the fleece dried, and the yolk or natural oil of the wool began to rise, after which they were considered to be ready for shearing.