The Days of a Man 1907 



Down in the world where men toil and spin 



Dame Nature smiles as man's hand has taught her; 



Only the dead men her smiles can win 



In the great lone land by the Grey Gulf Water. 1 



* * * 



He tramped away from the shanty there, when the days were 



long and hot, 



With never a soul to know or care if he died on the track or not. 

 The poor of the city have friends in woe, no matter how much 



they lack, 

 But only God and the swagmen know how a poor man fares 



Out Back. 



A drover came, but the fringe of law was eastward many a mile; 

 He never reported the thing he saw, for it was not worth his 



while. 

 The tanks are full and the grass is high in the mulga 2 off the 



track, 

 Where the bleaching bones of a white man lie by his mouldering 



swag Out Back. 



For time means tucker, and tramp they must, where the plains 



and scrubs are wide, 

 With seldom a track that a man can trust, or a mountain peak to 



guide; 



All day long in the flies and heat the men of the outside track 

 With stinted stomachs and blistered feet must carry their swags 



Out Back. 3 



In memoranda written by me at the time, I find the 

 following observations: 



Australia is hampered by its geography, the heart of the 

 continent being unavailable for settlement. It suffers also from 

 too much public ownership, which reduces initiative and cuts 

 the nerve of enterprise. For want of incentive and opportunity 

 young men are idle and not ashamed of idleness. 



1 From "By the Grey Gulf Water," by Andrew Barton Paterson. 



2 Wattle tree Acacia aneura. 



3 From "Out Back," by Henry Archibald Lawson. 



c 230 





