414 'J^he Australian Bush, 



bullock-driver — that most useful of all bush servauts, the true 

 pioneer into the heart of this wild country ; who, undeterred by 

 difficulties, wends his solitary way through ranges, traverses bogs, 

 and crosses creeks with no other guide than his own unerring 

 instinct 3 who looks upon his bullocks as his only friends and com- 

 panions, and with whom he keeps up a continual running discourse 

 as he walks by their side, to relieve the monotony of his tedious 

 journey, in a jargon which, if it were not for the oaths with which 

 it is interlarded, would be perfectly unintelligible to the stranger 

 (but every word of which the great, gaunt, spectral animals that 

 compose his team appear to understand as well as himself) — for of 

 the Australian bullock-driver it may with justice be observed that 

 m the use and abuse of expletives, in the number, variety, and 

 intensity of his oaths and maledictions, from the most childish im- 

 precations to the most daring and appalling blasphemy, " none but 

 himself can be his parallel." I allude to none of these, but to him 

 who — following 



The wish, which ages have not yet subdued. 

 Of man to have no master save his mood — 



pitches his tent in just such a spot as he fancies will suit his purpose, 

 and gains his living (it may not, perhaps, always be an easy one, but 

 it is always an independent one) solely by his gun — either shooting 

 game for the nearest market, or collecting birds and animal skins 

 for sale. I spent five such years myself, and truly happy years they 

 were 3 and to any one who may feel inclined to follow my steps, 

 the perusal of what I am now writing will, I trust, prove both 

 useful and interesting. 



And, by way of preface, I may add that, although the bush 

 in which I camped is no longer bush, but probably the site 

 of some flourishing township in embryo, and the little cockatoo 

 settler— the greatest pest to the real bushman — has built his rude 

 shanty on his small allotment in the heart of that forest, the 

 bush still retains its primeval character if we wander further 

 into the country 3 and although I believe a railway now 



