20 BUSH DAYS 



beauty that draws staid elderly men and little children out to 

 the bush in search of them. It is something that goes deeper 

 than mere artistic appreciation ; it is sentiment, pure and 

 simple. For Christmas bells and Christmas bush are to the 

 Australian what holly and mistletoe are to the Englishman ; 

 they are emblems of the season of happiness, and stand for the 

 brightness and good-fellowship of Christmas-time. 



And as the flower-seekers scour the gully and the hillside 

 in their eager quest, the summer breeze creeps softly down the 

 hill, and bends the clusters before it. To and fro they sway, 

 swinging out to the sunshine their gentle peal. It is the 

 music which they have rung, year in year out, through all the 

 ages the music of love and peace and Christmas-time. 



