The Gilpins and their Fortunes | Page 6

done it all! Well may the golden fleece be
our emblem!" he observed.
At the late dinner hour they were introduced to Mrs Prentiss and two
daughters--the young lady they had before seen and a younger sister.
All awkwardness soon wore off, and they felt themselves perfectly at
home. Mr Prentiss had a conversation with Sam, the result of which
made him supremely happy; his satisfaction was not decreased either
when, two days afterwards, Sykes brought him his bag of clothes.
"Don't ask questions, young man," he observed, as he handed them;
"there are few of the old hands I don't know, and I guessed who had
your property."
Pleasant as the two young Gilpins found their stay in Sydney, they did
not disguise their anxiety to be off into the country; and their new
friend accordingly made arrangements for their journey.
CHAPTER TWO.
A dray, similar in construction to that used by brewers in England, but
drawn by oxen, and laden with all sorts of stores, such as are required
on an Australian farm--tea, carpenters' tools and agricultural
implements, groceries and casks of liquor, clothing and furniture--was
making its way towards the north-east from Sydney. There was the
bullock-driver in charge, with his chum, a newly hired hand, and Sam
Green, who walked or sat on the dray; while the two Gilpins rode
alongside on horses, provided by Mr Prentiss. They were dressed more
in the Australian style than when they landed, and in a way much better
suited to the climate. The road had been excellent for a hundred miles
or more, with numerous villages near it, and a large proportion of
houses of entertainment, so that they had no want of accommodation
when they halted. They had now for some time left the high-road, and
though there were inns, and occasionally villages, and farms, and stock
stations, they had sometimes to depend on their own resources, and to
bivouac in the bush. This the young immigrants found by far the
pleasantest part of their journey. The oxen were turned loose to graze at

leisure; sticks were collected, and a fire lighted for boiling the tea-kettle
and cooking the damper. The old hands troubled themselves very little
about their night's lodging; they, like Sam Green, were satisfied with
the bare ground under the dray if it threatened rain, or anywhere near it
if the weather was fine. A small tent had been provided by Mr Prentiss,
which, with some ticking filled with dry grass, gave the Gilpins a
luxurious lodging for the night. They could scarcely go to sleep on
turning in for their first real night in the bush, from the novelty of the
scene and the prospects opening up to them. Before dawn they both
started up, awoke by the strangest and most discordant sounds.
"What can it be?" cried James.
"An attack of the blacks," said Arthur, rubbing his eyes. "But no!
Listen! They are birds, I verily believe; but the strangest birds I ever
heard."
He was right: there was the hideous, unearthly cry of the
laughing-jackass, called often the bushman's clock; the screaming cry
of thousands of parrots flying here and there through the forest; there
was the cackle of the wattle-bird, the clear notes of the magpie, and the
confused chattering of thousands of leather-heads; while many other
birds added their notes to the discordant chorus, and speedily banished
sleep from the eyes of their hearers. The stockmen started to their feet,
and hurried off to bring in the oxen and horses; a fire was lighted, tea
boiled, breakfast discussed with considerable rapidity; and, before the
sun was up, the party had recommenced their journey along the dusty
dray-track--for as yet it deserved that name rather than a road. The
scenery was varied, and often very beautiful when viewed under a clear
blue sky and bright sun. The beds of streams were frequently passed,
but they were either dry altogether, or occasional holes only with water
in them could be seen here and there along the course, or, if nowhere
dry, they were easily forded. The Irish bullock-driver, Larry Killock,
told Sam that, in the rainy season, these were often foaming torrents,
rushing on with terrific noise, and sweeping away everything they
meet.
"Many a poor fellow has been drowned in trying to cross on horseback

where, perhaps, he went over with dry feet a few days before," said
Larry.
"That's after the snow melts," observed Sam.
"Snow! man alive! It's a small matter of snow comes down from the
sky in this beautiful country, except, now and then, on the top of the
Blue Mountains out there; though, as for frosts, it's cold enough on the
high ground in July and August, when the south wind blows, to make a
fellow blow his