Sentence:  We had been absent from civilisation, so long, that our tin <WSD>billies</WSD>, the only boiling utensils we had, got completely worn or burnt out at the bottoms, and as the boilings for glue and oil must still go on, what were we to do with <WSD>billies</WSD> with no bottoms? 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A tin used by bushmen to boil tea; a billycan; a billypot.