The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-03-05
"Never-Never Laud.s

Nineteenth Century.
 An attractive feature of the far
 West is the absence of fear in animals.
 To a certain extent absence of fear is
 characteristic of all the Australian
 fauna, and 1t must need a very stern
 sportsman , to shoot a native bears
 which, without the slightest attempt
 to escape, turns upon the gumtree
 bough to look with puzzled wistfulness
 at the strange creature below. The
 same is true to a less degree of that
 most inquisitlve among animals, the
 kangaroo. Kangaroos have been
 known to come almost within putting
 distance' Of traveller, but the kan
 garo shooter is rapidly discouTaging
 marsupial curiosity, and at the same
 time in reducing the number of these
 interesting survivals by a bygone age.
 Australian birds are equally fearless.
 Travelling in the far northwest of
 Queensland in 1904, I camped for a
 night by creek where a small trough
 contained the only surface water for
 probably twenty or thirty miles around. The next morning while I performed
 my toilet at the rough basin there
 were beside me thousands of tiny
 painted fences, ignorant of the uncer-
 tain temper of man, who took no more
 notice Of me than of some friendly an-
 imal. Thoy almost disputed for the complete possession of their bathing pOiu lncJ pAAyeu ana QTlIIGQ Tn the water beside me. The whole scene was radiant with joy and beauty.
 The remaining three months of the year present to those who move about the country discomforts and dangers difficult to realize except by experience. The tropical rainy season normally commences in January and ends in April. During that period, the trav- eler by coach must be prepared to work hard breaking with a tomahawk the heavy black soil which every few yards cakes so thick upon the wheels that they cannot revolve. The luckless workman drags the while at hls own feet an ever-gathering load of mother earth, and after a days fatigue thrown his blanket upon the sodden ground only to sink deeper and deeper into his own form until the morning brings the grey light of another muggy day. During the wet season the wide dry sandy watercourses of winter are changed into raging rushing rivers. It needs some courage to face a river a mile wide, even though the greater part of that distance can easily be forded. Still more discouraginE are the narrow creeks with narrower cross- ings and at such crossings the horses heads must resolutely be. kept up stream, or all will drift to death among the uprooted trees lying hidden be- meath the surging flood. One Sunday morning last summer one of my clergy put his horse to a certain flooded liver that separated him from the Hodg- kinson gold field, where he was to give monthly service The water was deeper than 1t appeared to be. and both horse and rider were quickly strug- gling in the stream. Happily the river was wide and clear of snags, but it was over a mile before the rider, taking advantage of projecting tree bough, was able to steer his almost beaten steed into a backwash and so to reach the shore. The pair landed upon the same bank from which they had entered the water, and as a second attempt to cross seemed inadvisabie. there was no hope of reaching the Hodgkihson that day. The Fedoubtable cleric, however after brief survey of the situation. decided to ride to another township on the same side of the river; there, to the surprise of the inhabitants, he con duoted a service. Tho surprise, it Is only fair to say, was solely due to the unexpected nature of the service. while ft is not a little interesting to record that the only local comments upon the adventurous ride, I have since heard, have beeD concerned with the house and not with the rider
 Even the wet season has some com There is planty of water. and scarcity of water at other times Is theg Featest danger the bushman has ti meet It goes without saying that in the dry season the water Is fre- quently far from good. During a recent journey had one night to choose between the respective merits of two small and excessively dirty pools in A sandy river bottom. Tn one pool there was a dead bullock. and the other was covered with green slime. Needless to say chose the latter, and. having skinned the surface, filled my 'bfIlycan' with unsavoury water. The tea( 1 remember, was little thick but we were very thirsty. On the same