On the Wallaby Track 75 



sets out on a long journey with an equipment 

 that, at the first glance, would appear to be lu- 

 dicrously inadequate. When unrolled, his swag 

 consists of nothing more than a pair of coarse blue 

 blankets, a few spare garments, and some odds 

 and ends, hardly worth the trouble of carrying. 

 With a few shillings in his pocket, to be hus- 

 banded most economically, and enough flour, tea, 

 and sugar to last him a week, he is ready for the 

 track. 



Of course, the experienced traveller is master 

 of all sorts of devices to make life on the track 

 more bearable. There is an art in the very rolling 

 of the swag, and in the adj ustment of the straps 

 which secure the ends to that which forms the 

 loop through which the arm is passed, which 

 materially lessens the weight of the swagman's 

 burden. It requires experience to make a light 

 and palatable damper, just of the right thickness, 

 and neither doughy nor hardbaked, and the 

 compounding of billy tea has been reduced to a 

 science, upon which lengthy essays have been 

 written. The billy-can, a tin pot with a wire 

 handle across the top, and usually fitted with a lid, 

 is the swagman's only cooking utensil. He may 

 carry two, one fitting inside the other, the larger 

 one being used for boiling meat, while the 

 smaller one is at once kettle and teapot. The 

 praises of billy tea have been sung by all who 

 have picnicked in the bush, its excellence being 

 probably due to the infusion of the tea leaves at 



