216 NATUBAL HISTOET SKETCHES. 



to any one, cares little to form new acquaintances, and 

 always appears reserved and shy before strangers, espe- 

 cially "new chums;" but let him fall in with an old 

 mate, or man of his own stamp, and the meeting is often 

 of a boisterous character. No one more readily sym- 

 pathizes with the reverses of a mate ; and so little selfish- 

 ness is there in his nature, that he willingly shares his all 

 with him, whether it be his last shilling or his last fig of 

 tobacco. His rude hospitality is proverbial ; and the 

 benighted traveller always finds food and shelter at the 

 bushman's tent, as a matter of course ; and, unlike the- 

 way of the world in general, the more "hard up" the 

 stranger is, the more he is welcome. This is all done 

 without ostentation, as a duty he owes to his fellow-man, 

 and upon the principle that any day or night he may 

 require the same assistance himself. I am here alluding 

 to those men who knock about the bush on their own 

 resources, living by wood-splitting, shooting, &c., and 

 not to the regular settlers on stations ; although, for my 

 part, I can say that there were but few stations which I 

 called at where I was not welcome to such accommoda- 

 tion as the " men's hut " afforded. 



