an to make plans for F---- and
me to stop there all night, offering to give up his "bunk" (some slabs
of wood made into a shelf, with a tussock mattress and a blanket), and
to sleep himself in his arm-chair.

In the meantime, Sandy was preparing our meal. There was an open hearth
with a fine fire, and a big black kettle hanging over it by a hook
fastened somewhere up the chimney. As soon as this boiled he went to a
chest, or rather locker, and brought a double-handful of tea, which he
threw into the kettle; then he took from a cupboard the biggest loaf, of
bread I ever saw--a huge thing, which had been baked in a camp-oven--and
flapped it down on the table with a bang; next he produced a tin
milk-pan, and returned to the cupboard to fetch out by the shank-bone a
mutton-ham, which he placed in the milk-dish: a bottle of capital whisky
was forthcoming from the same place; a little salt on one newspaper, and
brown, or rather _black_, sugar on another, completed the arrangements,
and we were politely told by Sandy to "wire in,"--digger's phraseology
for an invitation to commence, which we did immediately, as soon as we
could make an arrangement about the four tin plates and three pannikins.
I had one all to myself, but the others managed by twos and threes to
each plate. I never had a better luncheon in my life; everything was
excellent in its way, and we all possessed what we are told is the best
sauce. Large as the supplies were, we left hardly anything, and the more
we devoured the more pleased our host seemed. There were no chairs; we
sat on logs of trees rudely chopped into something like horse-blocks,
but to tired limbs which had known no rest from six hours' walking they
seemed delightful. After we had finished our meal, the gentlemen went
outside to have half a pipe before setting off again; they dared not
smoke whilst we were after the cattle, for fear of their perceiving some
unusual smell; and I remained for ten minutes with Mr----. I found that
he was very fond of reading; his few books were all of a good stamp,
but he was terribly hard-up for anything which he had not read a hundred
times over. I hastily ran over the names of some books of my own,
which I offered to lend him for as long a time as he liked: and we
made elaborate plans for sending them, of my share in which I took a
memorandum. He seemed very grateful at the prospect of having anything
new, especially now that he was likely to be laid up for some