ful supply
of eggs and butter. The men clear the ground of trees, in order to sow
wheat and potatoes. Thus the family soon have all their wants supplied;
and they find time by degrees to build a stone house, with eight large
rooms; and when it is completed, they give up their wooden hut to one of
the laborers. This is the way of life in the "Bush;" for such is the name
given to the wild parts of Australia.

Some settlers keep large flocks of sheep, and gain money by selling the
wool and the fat, to make cloth and tallow. A shepherd in Australia leads
a very lonely life among the hills, and he is obliged to keep ever upon
the watch against the wild dogs. These voracious animals prowl about in
troops, and cruelly bite numbers of the sheep, and then devour as many as
they can. Happily there are no _large_ wild beasts, such as wolves, and
bears, lions, and tigers; for these would devour the shepherd as well as
the sheep.

But there are _men_, called "bush-rangers," as fierce as wild beasts.
These are convicts who have escaped from punishment. They often come to
the settlers' houses, and murder the inhabitants.

The natives are not nearly as dangerous as these wicked _white_ men;
indeed _they_ are generally very harmless, unless provoked by
ill-treatment. They are willing to make themselves useful, by reaping
corn, and washing sheep; and a little reward satisfies them, such as a
blanket, or an old coat. When some of the flock have strayed, the blacks
will take great pains to look for them, and seem as much pleased when
they have found them, as if they were their own sheep. The black women
can help in the wash-house, and in the farm-yard; but they are too much
besmeared with grease to be fit for the kitchen. It is wise never to give
a good dinner to a black, till his work is done; because he always eats
so much, that he can work no more that day.

Some of these poor blacks are very faithful and affectionate. There was
one who lived near a settler's hut, and he used to come there every
morning before the master was up; he would enter very gently for fear of
waking him,--light the fire by rubbing two pieces of wood together, and
set the kettle on to boil; then he would approach the bed, and putting
his hand affectionately on the hand of the sleeper would whisper in his
ear, till he saw him open his eyes, when he would greet him with a kind
and smiling look. These attentions were the mark of his attachment to the
white man.