sive of squatters to the oldest of old hands. The
blackfellows were there, too--what was left of them. Billy Leura
walked all the way from Camperdown, and on the day before the regatta
came to my house with a couple of black ducks in his hand. Sissy,
six years old, was present; she inspected the blackfellow and the
ducks, and listened. Leura said he wanted to sell me the ducks, but
not for money; he would take old clothes for them. He was wearing
nothing but a shirt and trousers, both badly out of repair, and was
anxious to adorn his person with gay attire on the morrow. So I
traded off a pair of old cords and took the ducks.

Next day we had two guests, a Miss Sheppard, from Geelong, and
another lady, and as my house was near the lake, we did our
picnicking inside. We put on as much style as possible to suit the
occasion, including, of course, my best native wine, and the two
ducks roasted. Sissy sat at the table next to Miss Sheppard, and
felt it her duty to lead the conversation in the best society style.
She said:

"You see dose two ducks, Miss Sheppard?"

"Yes, dear; very fine ones."

"Well, papa bought 'em from a black man yesterday. De man said dey
was black ducks, but dey was'nt black, dey was brown. De fedders are
in de yard, and dey are brown fedders."

"Yes, I know, dear; they call them black ducks, but they are brown--
dark brown."

"Well, you see, de blackfellow want to sell de ducks to papa, but
papa has no money, so he went into de house and bring out a pair of
his old lowsers, and de blackfellow give him de ducks for de lowsers,
and dems de ducks you see."

"Yes, dear; I see," said Miss Sheppard, blushing terribly.

We all blushed.

"You naughty girl," said mamma; "hold your tongue, or I'll send you
to the kitchen."

"But mamma, you know its quite true," said Sissy. "Didn't I show you
de black man just now, Miss Sheppard, when he was going to de lake?
I said dere's de blackfellow, and he's got papa's lowsers on, didn't
I now?"

The times seemed prosperous with us, but it was only a deceptive
gleam of sunshine before the coming storm of adversity. I built an
addition to my dwelling; and when it was completed I employed a
paperhanger from London named Taylor, to beautify the old rooms. He
was of a talkative disposition; when he had nobody else to listen he
talked to himself, and when he was tired of that he began singing.
The weather was hot, and the heat, together with his tal