e question of bait. Taking my gun I was starting off to look for
a bird of some sort, when one of my mates told me that a bit of wallaby
was as good as anything, and cut me off a piece from the ham of one I
had shot the previous day. The flesh was of a very dark red hue, and
looked right enough, and as I had often caught fish in both the Upper
and Lower Burdekin with raw beef, I was very hopeful of getting a nice
change of diet for our supper.

I was not disappointed, for the fish literally jumped at the bait, and
I had a delightful half-hour, catching enough in that time to provide
us with breakfast as well as supper. None of my catch were over half
a pound, many not half that weight, but hungry men are not particular
about the size of fish. My mates were pleased enough, and whilst we were
enjoying our supper before a blazing fire--for night was coming on--we
heard a loud coo-e-e from down the creek, and presently C------, the
owner of the cattle station, and two of his stockmen with a black boy,
rode up and joined us. They had come to muster cattle in the ranges
at the head of the creek, and had come to our "pocket" to camp for the
night. C------ told us that we need never have hesitated about killing
a beast. "It is to my interest to give prospecting parties all the beef
they want," he said; "a payable gold-field about here would suit me very
well--the more diggers that come, the more cattle I can sell, instead of
sending them to Charters Towers and Townsville. So, when you run short
of meat, knock over a beast. I won't grumble. I'll round up the first
mob we come across to-morrow, and get you one and bring it here for you
to kill, as your horses are knocked up."

The night turned out very cold, and although we were in a sheltered
place, the wind was blowing half a gale, and so keen that we felt it
through our blankets. However it soon died away, and we were just
going comfortably to sleep, when a dingo began to howl near us, and was
quickly answered by another somewhere down the creek. Although there
were but two of them, they howled enough for a whole pack, and the
detestable creatures kept us awake for the greater part of the night.
As there was a cattle camp quite near, in a sandalwood scrub, and the
cattle were very wild, we did not like to alarm them by firing a shot
or two, which would have scared them as well as the dingoes. The latter,
C------ told us, were a great nuisance in this part of the run, would
no