run from two to twelve; also a kind of mussel, and a fish like a
lobster, not quite so large, but good eating. [Footnote: Crawfish;
the river lobster.]

Everyone who comes out does a very foolish thing in bringing such a
quantity of clothes that he never wants. All you require, even in
Melbourne, is a blue shirt, a pair of duck trousers, a straw hat or
wide-awake, and what they call a jumper here. It is a kind of
outside shirt, made of plaid, or anything you please, reaching just
below the hips, and fastened round the waist with a belt. It would
be a very nice dress for Charley. [Footnote: His youngest brother,
at home.] I should wear it myself if I were in England. It ought to
be made with a good-sized collar, and open at the breast, like a
waistcoat, only to button at the neck, if required. We brought out
the wrong sort of straw hat, as they are only fit for summer, but
we sold all but two. One I made six shillings of, but the
cabbage-tree hat is worth a pound. No one should bring out more
than he can carry on his back, except it be to sell. Boots and
shoes are at a great price, but they should be thick and strong.
Wages are very high for butchers, carpenters, and bakers. A
butcher's boy can get 3 pounds a week, with board and lodging.
Bullock-drivers get the same. Innkeepers are making fortunes. I
know a public-house, not larger than the Two Mile Oak, [Footnote: A
small public-house between Totnes and Newton.] that cleared 500
pounds in three months, so it was reported. Sydney, I hear, is as
cheap to live in as London. As to the diggings, I cannot say much
about them. I have seen many who have made money there, and many
who have lost it again. It is generally spent as fast as it is got.
I hope we shall send you some specimens of gold dust soon. Please
to give my love to my mother and all at home.

From your affectionate and dutiful son,

W.J. WILLS.

. . .

His subsequent letters were of the same kind, descriptive of
his management in his shepherd's life in the bush. He tells how he
converted legs of mutton into excellent hams by pickling and
smoking them; and how he also obtained preserves of melons, by
sowing seeds which produced abundantly. The flies and ants were
their greatest torment, particularly the former. The heat was not
great, as there was a constant breeze from one quarter or another.
Deniliquin is in between 35 and 36 degrees south latitude. The
trees are almost exclusively gum trees, but they d