CHAPTER XIII 



THE AUSTRALIAN WOMAN 



THE ups and downs of Australian life have 

 forced upon the Australian woman very 

 many different parts in life. Fifty years ago, 

 upon the goldfields at least, woman occupied the 

 position which Mr. Bret Harte has so aptly pic- 

 tured in his stores of the Pacific Slope. The few 

 women upon the goldfields were made the objects 

 of a chivalrous admiration that was not without 

 its humorous side. I have often heard a lady 

 she is a very old lady now describe her first ap- 

 pearance in one of the more prosperous mining 

 camps. As she walked from the coach to her 

 husband's tent, her uplifted skirts displaying a 

 stout pair of Wellington boots prudently worn as 

 some protection against the stettgJr-uf mud and 

 clay through which she had to struggle, the camp 

 resounded with cries of "Jo, Jo," and ten thou- 

 sand jolly miners threw down picks and dishes 

 to gaze at the novel sight of a woman. For 

 months, she was the heroine of that out of the 

 way camp, the miners resorting to all sorts of 

 novel expedients to procure her some delicacy 



