h, we
crossed the river, and under the bright light of myriad stars made our
way along the spit of sand to the scrub. Here we lit our camp fire under
the trees, boiled our billy of tea, and ate our cold beef and bread.
Then we lay down upon the soft, sweet-smelling carpet of dead leaves,
and yarned for a couple of hours before sleeping.

By the light of the fire I saw that my companion was a man of about
forty years of age, although he looked much older, his long untrimmed
brown beard and un-kept hair being thickly streaked with grey. He was
quiet in manner and speech, and the latter was entirely free from the
Great Australian Adjective. His story, as far as he told it to me, was a
simple one, yet with an element of tragedy in it.

Fifteen years before, he and his brother had taken up a selection on the
Brunswick River, near the Queensland border, and were doing fairly well.
One day they felled a big gum tree to split for fencing rails. As it
crashed towards the ground, it struck a dead limb of another great tree,
which was sent flying towards where the brothers stood; it struck
the elder one on the head, and killed him instantly. There were no
neighbours nearer than thirty miles, so alone the survivor buried his
brother. Then came two months of utter loneliness, and Joyce abandoned
his selection to the bush, selling his few head of cattle and horses
to his nearest neighbour for a small sum, keeping only one horse for
himself. Then for two or three years he worked as a "hatter" (i.e.,
single-handed) in various tin-mining districts of the New England
district.

One day during his many solitary prospecting trips, he came across a
long-abandoned selection and house, near the Warra Swamp (I knew the
spot _well_). He took a fancy to the place, and settled down there, and
for many years had lived there all alone, quite content.

Sometimes he would obtain a few weeks' work on the cattle stations in
the district, when mustering and branding was going on, by which he
would earn a few pounds, but he was always glad to get back to his
lonely home again. He had made a little money also, he said, by trapping
platypus, which were plentiful, and sometimes, too, he would prospect
the head waters of the creeks, and get a little fine gold.

"I'm comfortable enough, you see," he added; "lots to eat and drink,
and putting by a little cash as well. Then I haven't to depend upon the
storekeepers at Port ------ for anything, except powde