to feed literally upon the land--that is grass land, then under
flood water. A fish bait they will not take--as a rule--but are fond of
earthworms, frogs, crickets, or locusts, etc.

Another very beautiful but almost useless fish met with in the Upper
Burdekin and its tributaries is the silvery bream, or as it is more
generally called, the "bony" bream. They swim about in companies of some
hundreds, and frequent the still water of deep pools, will not take a
bait, and are only seen when the water is clear. Then it is a delightful
sight for any one to lie upon the bank of some ti-tree-fringed creek or
pool, when the sun illumines the water and reveals the bottom, and
watch a school of these fish swimming closely and very slowly together,
passing over submerged logs, roots of trees or rocks, their scales of
pure silver gleaming in the sunlight as they make a simultaneous
side movement. I tried every possible bait for these fish, but never
succeeded in getting a bite, but have netted them frequently. Their
flesh, though delicate, can hardly be eaten, owing to the thousands of
tiny bones which run through it, interlacing in the most extraordinary
manner. The blacks, however "make no bones" about devouring them.

By 11 A.M. we had caught all the fish our pack-bags could hold--bream,
alleged grayling, and half a dozen "gars"--the latter a beautifully
shaped fish like the sea-water garfish, but with a much flatter-sided
body of shining silver with a green back, the tail and fins tipped with
yellow.

We shot but few duck, but on our way home in the afternoon "Peter" and
Gilfillan each got a fine plain turkey--shooting from the saddle--and
almost as we reached the station slip-rails "Peter," who had a wonderful
eye, got a third just as it rose out of the long dry grass in the
paddock.

And on the following day, when C------'s guests arrived (and after we
had congratulated ourselves upon having plenty for them to eat), they
produced from their buggies eleven turkeys, seven wood-duck, and a
string of "squatter" pigeons!

"Thought we'd better bring you some fresh tucker, old man," said one of
them to C-----. "And we have brought you a case of Tennant's ale." "The
world is very beautiful," said C------, stroking his grey beard, and
speaking in solemn tones, "and this is a thirsty day. Come in, boys.
We'll put the Tennant's in the water-barrels to cool."

*****

The first occasion on which I ever saw and caught one of the be