178 Australian Life 



that disturbs him everywhere else. Their mem- 

 bership is almost exclusively confined to the 

 squatters, mine owners, and property owners, 

 who find themselves, by sheer force of circum- 

 stances, in direct opposition to the socialistic spirit 

 that pervades the working classes. Other clubs 

 are founded on an artistic or literary basis, but 

 the average Australian, who cannot be considered 

 a club man in the English sense of the word, is 

 usually content with his suburban club, with its 

 tennis-lawns, bowling-greens, and modest card 

 and billiard rooms. Throughout Australia, the 

 sporting and recreation club flourishes exceed- 

 ingly, but the political club, so dear to the British 

 tradesman and artisan, is an unknown thing. Its 

 place, however, is more than taken by such 

 organisations as the Australian Natives' Associa- 

 tion, some account of which is given in another 

 chapter. 



The social life of the bush, based on the general 

 foundation of comradeship and mutual helpful- 

 ness, is grandly simple in principle. Men under- 

 take for one another obligations not recognised 

 in other communities, and rely upon one another 

 in a spirit of trust that is marvellously justified. 

 By this rule of the bush, the population of a 

 whole district sets itself to scour the country for 

 days in search of a lost child, and the same rule 

 makes it possible for a bushman to travel on foot 

 throughout Australia without a shilling in his 

 pocket. Life in the bush is hard and monoton- 



