The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-01-01 00:00:00

THE AUSTRALIAN BUSH.

The following are extracts from a letter reosind ea
Christmas Eve, 1880, from a settler in the bush, New Suitk
Wales (says the Daily Telegraph):—

I was riding through the back scrub the other day,
horribly hot, when I saw something shining, on a
tree, which naturally excited my curiosity. I rode up
to it through the long grass, scaring away at the
same time a flock of crows and hawks, while four
large iguanas scuttled up the adjoining trees. The
shining object proved to be a tin "billy," and
underneath, at the foot of a great pine, with
his head resting on his "swag," lay an unfortunate
traveller, quite dead. He had been dead for two days,
I should think, and was evidently one of the great
army of workers who travel the length and breadth of
this continent on foot, seeking employment ; and for
weeks, and often months, seeking in vain. This poor
fellow must have travelled in our pathless scrub for
days, coming back in the ever fatal circle so well known
to dwellers in a wilderness, to the great pine where
he lay down
.at last, weary and hungry, to await the
end which he must have known to be near. Traced
on the "billy," with the point of a knife,
think, were the initials "H. A. E. P.," and the words,
"Lord Jesus, receive my soul." I found no papers
about him, no clue. He was quite young, too—about
four-and-twenty perhaps. We had a grave dug under
the great tree—a trooper, who came from Boggobu,
the nearest township, read the burial service; he was
rolled in his blankets and a few sheets of bark, and
laid in the grave, there to rest till the universal call.
Alas! how many such burials have I assisted at, and
how many nameless wanderers—each, iaerhaps, the
pride of a fond mother and the hope of a circle of
friends—have laid down to die in our drear Australian
bush. It always makes me miserable to read the
long lists of "missing friends" in the Colonial
papers. . . .

I was terribly frightened one night 'in Queensland
by a dead man riding up to my camp fire at midnight. I
was quite alone. I heard my horses neighing and
another one answering in the Malgas bushes, so I got
up and put wood on, making a bright blaze, and pre-
sently, into the circle of light came a horseman, bend-
ing over his pommel, with his large straw hat slouched
over his eyes. I took my revolver off my saddle,
and sung out, "Good night, mate ! You tnevel
late. Will you have a drink of tea?" Not a word
of answer. Just then my two dogs, who were
sniffing about, set up a terrible cry it made me
jump again. After a bit, I began to open my eyes to
the state of affairs, and mustered courage enough to
walk up to the horse and take hold of the reins.
While doing so I touched the rider's hands, which
were cold as ice. I tried to get him off the saddle,
but it was of no use. His legs were out of the irons,
and wound tightly round the mare. I had to cut the
reins from the grip of his fingers. I packed him on
the horse when sunrise came, and led him into Tambo,
where I found he was well known as a digger. He
had set out thence that morning—after drinking
nearly a bottle of brandy—to go to a place distant
about forty miles, and I was only twelve miles from
the township when he paid his ill-timed visit. When
I am camped out even now alone, strange thoughts of
that nocturnal horseman come come into my head. If
any one had told such a story to me, I should hardly
have credited it--rd mean that a man should stick to a
horse in that way without any other help than his
saddle-straps afforded. His little mare was very quiet
though, and was evidently- attracted by the Bound of
illy. horse-bells. However, I can do without any more
visitors of that sort. This happened in the country to
the north of Queensland, where blacks and alligators
do most abound. . . .

I have another "ar;,cf a most potent reason for cutting
this letter shorter than it otherwise would be. The
country for fully twenty miles round us on every side
is a raging fire—scrub and forest are all in a flame;
and I have just returned with a party from attempting
to stop its course in our direction. No pleasant affair
for us, I an assure you. It has been "fire fight firs"
all day long since sunrise. Of course we are accus-
tomed more or less to such fires, but this is on a very
different scale, and goes beyond a joke. I expect a
great deal of damage will be done to stock and fences.
It has burned already about 25 miles of the latter. It
is a pitiful sight to see the great droves of kangaroos
come hopping through the flames, many falling to rise
no more. The sun was quite obscured to-day by vast
masses of smoke, and four or five times we had to
use our spurs pretty sharply. As I write (nine
p.m.) a large hill higher than the Wrekin at home,
and clothed from bottom to top with great pines, has
'just begun to blaze, and soon will be a fire Mountain.
I expect we shall be off again before daylight, as some
of the sheep in the more distant paddocks are in
danger. A very strong west wind is blowing, and
people in Gunnedah will have a warm time of it. This
river (the Namoi) is a great blessing to us, though it is
very low just now. Thirty-seven big snakes were
killed by our party to-day—they were all. kinds and
sizes. They crawl along, over one's
.leggings some-
times and never appear to dream of biting.
I saw a heavy fight the other day between a large
iguana and a tree snake about five feet long. They
were both going to pay a visit to a " possum " who
lived in a big hole in a tree. Each went up a different
side of the tree, and met at the entrance to tie holf3,
and then the row began. The great lizard squealed
in a most defiant manner, and the snake was in no
ways behindhand in hissing. In fact, strong reptile
language filled the air for fully ten minutes before
the fight commenced; and then they went at it; but
the iguana was too much for the snake, and killed him
in a few minutes, seeming to take no notice of a good
many bites, for the snake fought pluckily. The
"possum profited by this chance to escape to a top
limb of the tree, where he sat blinking in the sunlight,
till presently a great eagle-hawk came swooping down
on him, and was carrying him off, when I put in a
word, or rather a charge of slot, and so earned two-
and-sixpence ; that is, head money. These birds are
very destructive to young lambs. . . .