48 Australian Life 



off along the bush track, each child with its din- 

 ner and bottle of water in the bag with the school 

 books. It is four miles to the little school near 

 the main road, and the mother sighs as she thinks 

 of the snakes and other dangers of the track. 

 That is part of the bush training, however, and 

 helps to make children fearless and resourceful. 

 She has other things to think of, calves, pigs, and 

 poultry to feed, and dinner to prepare. Her hus- 

 band rides off in quest of some straying stock, and 

 to mend the gap in the field through which they 

 have escaped. He meets his neighbour, who is 

 on the same errand, and a long conversation en- 

 sues regarding the slackness of the Road Board, 

 the increase of rabbits in the district, and the re- 

 missness of the local Member of Parliament. The 

 cockie is an ardent politician, and is only diverted 

 from his subject by the arrival of the local grazier, 

 who repeats a long-standing offer for some sheep 

 which cockie number two has for sale. After the 

 usual chaffering, the matter is allowed to remain 

 open, and all three go off to their work. 



At midday, dinner is ready, and may consist of 

 beef salted and boiled, the remnant of a beast 

 killed some time before. A plentiful allowance of 

 pumpkin is served with it, for the pumpkin patch 

 repeats itself every year, the self-sown plants 

 thriving in a manner only possible where the soil 

 is very fertile. The scheme for a new house in- 

 cludes a large vegetable garden, where onions, 

 tomatoes, and cabbages will grow luxuriantly, 



