Home and Social Life i? 1 



clerks and employees in business houses usually 

 take a cup of tea between four and five in the after- 

 noon, and supper in the evening. In Australia, 

 city workers lunch in the middle of the day, and 

 are able to reach their homes in time for a dinner 

 at six o'clock, so that they have little time or 

 inclination for the afternoon break. The pro- 

 fessional and upper middle classes dine a little 

 later, as a rule, and the cup of afternoon tea may 

 or may not be taken; but, in Australia, afternoon 

 tea is recognised as more exclusively a feminine 

 privilege. 



The large amount of meat eaten by the Aus- 

 tralians is due, in a great measure, to the cheap- 

 ness of that commodity. Statistics are rarely 

 interesting, but it is surprising to learn that each 

 Australian consumes two hundred and sixty-four 

 pounds of meat annually, as against one hundred 

 and nine pounds eaten by the average Briton, and 

 seventy-seven pounds by the Frenchman. Dur- 

 ing recent years, however, there is a noticeable 

 tendency among Australians to eat less meat, and 

 more of the abundant fresh fruit. Most Aus- 

 tralian doctors advise a breakfast of fruit, followed 

 by toast and coffee, in the place of the meat and 

 tea of the old Australian rgime> as being more in 

 keeping with the Australian climate. In the 

 cities, this advice begins to be followed, but the 

 bush remains faithful to the fried chops and 

 steaks which have always constituted its staple 

 fare. The monotony of this meat diet cannot 



