412 TJie JHStraUdn Bush. 



]Uit. if we sock thcwiKl I'oivst or the riii;i;"cHl icll, the wide jirairie or 

 the silent busli — i\\v ;u\;iv iVom the hiiin;in herds — we shall see the 

 Torld as the A]iiiii;htv has ic\dlv jilanned it ; and here we can revel 

 in all the lu\nrianec> ol' untamed nature, with no other eonipanion- 

 ship than the wild animals who roam in laneied seeurity over 

 teedini^ grounds ran.'h' trodilen by an^' human toot save that ol" men 

 as wild and savage as themselves. 



It is sueh seeniN that ha\e a peculiar charm lor the hardy, 

 adventurous Kngiishman ; anil, no matter how distant, or how 

 inaccessible the land— no matter what hardshij>s or dangers he must 

 undergo betbre he can rc\ich it — tluMv we tind him adajiting his 

 habits to those ot" the rude people among whom he has voluntarily 

 exiled himself, and willingly relin(]uishing all thai, in the opinion of 

 many, alone makes lite wt)rth li\ ing tor — [)urely to gratil'y a K)ve of 

 danger ami adventure. 



The Ibish — what a magic is there in those two simple words to any 

 one who has spent a few^ years in its wild solitudes ! and w liat 

 remembrances will they conjure uj) in his mind of that vast tract 

 ot" w ide-spreading, gloomy-foliaged forest, impenetrable scrub, sandy 

 heath ; swamps d(Uted with the yellow-blossomed swamp oak ; lily- 

 covered lag"oi)ns, crei^ks, water-holes, and chains of ponds bristling 

 with rushes antl fringed with tea-tree scrub ; sun-baked plains, and 

 deep, dankgidlies, lighted up only by the yellow cones of the honey- 

 suckle or the light t'eathcrv foliage ol" the magniticent fern-tree J 

 Adtl to this the (juaint beasts, the brilliant birds, ever-bu/./ing 

 insec^ts, and remarkable-looking reptiles whii'h meet the eve at 

 every step, the pure salubrity of its climate, and, above all, the 

 careless contentment of a life passed in such a spot, where a man 

 has no other care than to int)\ ide his daily bread Irom a larder so 

 liberally spread out betbre him ; and where the thousand ])etty 

 vexations of x^ivilized life, and the thousand wants which the arti- 

 ticial state of man has now rendered indispensable to his very exist- 

 ence, are never lelt. 



And yet I have heanl some men stigmatize such a life as dull 

 and monotonous. 



