78 CONFESSIONS OF A BEACHCOMBER 



Young Australians were once taught that Australian 

 trees cast no shade — that the edges of the leaves were pre- 

 sented to the sun to avoid the heat of the cruel luminary ; 

 that Australian flowers had no scent, and Australian birds 

 no song ; that the stones of Australian cherries grew on the 

 outside of the fruit, that the bees had no sting, and that the 

 dogs did not bark. In those days a gentleman with a 

 military title improved upon the then popular list of con- 

 tradictions by asserting that in Australia the compass 

 points to the south, the valleys are cold, the mountain-tops 

 warm, the eagles are white, and so on. Many accordingly 

 took their natural science as " Tomlinson " did his God — 

 from a printed book — and that compiled in England. 

 Until they began to investigate they were puzzled by 

 contradictions. The first prompt bee-bite — there are many 

 varieties of Australian bees, some pugnacious and pungent 

 — diverted attention from the school-book romances. It 

 was discovered that thousands of square miles of Austreilian 

 soil never catch glimpses of the sun in consequence of the 

 impenetrableness of the shade of Australian trees ; that the 

 scent of the wattles, the eucalypts, the boronias, the hoyas, 

 the gardenias, the lotus, etc., etc., are among the sweetest 

 and cleanest, most powerful and most varied in the world ; 

 that many of the birds of Australia have songs full of 

 melody ; that the so-called Australian cherry is no more a 

 cherry than an acorn ; that the Australian dog (though " the 

 only true wild dog in the world ") is deemed to be a com- 

 paratively recent introduction — a new chum of Asiatic 

 origin who entered the glorious constellation of the State 

 something before the era of exclusive legislation — so 

 naturally he does not bark, for barking is an evidence of 

 civilisation ; but he soon learns the universal language of 

 the dog. 



Many years ago most of this gross and superficial 

 ignorance was brushed away here, though now and again 

 evidence crops up that a good deal yet adheres in the old 

 country. Australian school-books of the present day con- 

 tain so much that is grossly false and misleading of the 



