common during shearing.
Down the centre of the place runs a table made of stakes driven into the
ground, with cross-pieces supporting a top of half-round slabs set with
the flat sides up, and affording a few level places for soup-plates; on
each side are crooked, unbarked poles laid in short forks, to serve as
seats. The poles are worn smoothest opposite the level places on the
table. The floor is littered with rubbish--old wool-bales, newspapers,
boots, worn-out shearing pants, rough bedding, etc., raked out of the
bunks in impatient search for missing articles--signs of a glad and
eager departure with cheques when the shed last cut out.

To the west is a dam, holding back a broad, shallow sheet of grey water,
with dead trees standing in it.

Further up along this water is a brush shearing-shed, a rough framework
of poles with a brush roof. This kind of shed has the advantage of being
cooler than iron. It is not rain-proof, but shearers do not work in
rainy weather; shearing even slightly damp sheep is considered the
surest and quickest way to get the worst kind of rheumatism. The floor
is covered with rubbish from the roof, and here and there lies a rusty
pair of shears. A couple of dry tar-pots hang by nails in the posts. The
"board" is very uneven and must be bad for sweeping. The pens are formed
by round, crooked stakes driven into the ground in irregular lines, and
the whole business reminds us of the "cubby-house" style of architecture
of our childhood.

Opposite stands the wool-shed, built entirely of galvanized iron; a
blinding object to start out of the scrub on a blazing, hot day. God
forgive the man who invented galvanized iron, and the greed which
introduced it into Australia: you could not get worse roofing material
for a hot country.

The wool-washing, soap-boiling, and wool-pressing arrangements are
further up the dam. "Government House" is a mile away, and is nothing
better than a bush hut; this station belongs to a company. And the
company belongs to a bank. And the banks belong to England, mostly.

Mulga scrub all round, and, in between, patches of reddish sand where
the grass ought to be.

It is New Year's Eve. Half a dozen travellers are camping in the hut,
having a spell. They need it, for there are twenty miles of dry lignum
plain between here and the government bore to the east; and about
eighteen miles of heavy, sandy, cleared road north-west to the next
water in that direction. With one