ornamented with
a few pictures and native weapons, while two spare guns and some pistols
were against them. A couple of large Scotch deer hounds of a
badger-like colour accompanied their master. They were intelligent,
powerful-looking animals, and were used, he told us, for hunting the
kangaroo. Before a fire in a smaller hut on one side of the main
building, two joints of mutton were roasting.

"I can give you but bush fare," said our host, "mutton, damper, and tea;
for of wine and spirits I have none, with the exception of a bottle of
brandy, which I keep safely locked up for reasons which I will explain
to you."

Besides the large hut I have described there were two smaller ones and a
shed, which served as a stable and cowhouse. Near them was an enclosed
field and small kitchen-garden, such as is not often seen at an
Australian cattle or sheep station. To the west was a thick wood, which
afforded shelter from the winds blowing at times hot and sand-laden from
the interior; while in front was a slight dip, at the bottom of which
was the bed of a river, but through it a trickling stream alone at
present found its way to the eastward. Here and there appeared groves
of acacias, while as far as the eye could reach in every other direction
were grassy downs, scattered over which we caught sight of a
considerable herd of sheep wending their way homewards. Altogether,
Bracewell's station presented a more civilised aspect than any we had
fallen in with on our journey.

CHAPTER THREE.

We spent a pleasant evening with Bracewell, talking over old times and
our future prospects. He gave us a great deal of good advice, by which
we hoped to profit.

"I am very glad you have come out, old fellows, for I am sure you will
succeed if you stick to work," he observed. "I have not done badly. I
began with eight head of cattle, and now I have three hundred; and with
forty sheep, which have become upwards of two thousand. I should have
had a larger number had I known more of the business when I commenced,
but I have lost many by disease and dingoes, and the natives. You must
make up your mind to take the rough and smooth together, and not despair
though you happen to get what they call a run of ill-luck--which in nine
cases out of ten arises from a man's carelessness. I confess that I
have sometimes felt my solitude; but yet, with my friends on the shelves
up there, and these faithful animals at my feet, I have had