Home and Social Life 179 



ous, and sometimes breeds bitter senseless feuds 

 and stupid misunderstandings. But in time of 

 trouble or loss, fancied slights and ancient 

 grudges are forgotten, and the sufferer experi- 

 ences only the full and practical sympathy of his 

 neighbours. The traditional hospitality of Aus- 

 tralia is the hospitality of the bush, extended 

 without a second thought to acquaintance and 

 stranger alike, and accepted in the same unques- 

 tioning spirit. "I have ridden," writes Sir 

 Gilbert Parker, "to a plantation late at night, 

 turned my horse into the horse paddock, entered 

 the house, struck a match, found a sofa, lain 

 down, and waked in the morning to find life 

 bustling about me, my breakfast ready on the 

 table, and I an utter stranger! . . . They 

 appreciated the desire on my part not to disturb 

 their rest, and they apologised for the hardness 

 of the sofa. ' ' 



The social code of the bush is summed up by 

 Mr. Henry L,awson in one brief sentence : "Drunk 

 or sober, mad or sane, good or bad, it is n't bush 

 religion to desert a mate in a hole. ' ' And among 

 all bushmen there is an acknowledged mateship. 



City and bush meet in the country townships, 

 where neither shows to any great advantage. To 

 begin with, the township, whether new or old, is 

 invariably unlovely. A wide street of strag- 

 gling, iron-roofed houses, a hotel or two and a 

 few stores, at least two churches and a school, 

 each building as monotonously unsightly as its 



