The Book Of The Bush by George Dunderdale (top fiction books of all time .TXT) 📖

Some Busybody Began To Insinuate That Their Tallow Was Contraband.

Then Joshua Took To Carrying Goods Up The Country,  And Neddy Took To

Drink.  He Died At The First Party Given By Mother Murden At Her

Celebrated Hostelry.

 

There Were At This Time About Two Hundred Men,  Women,  And Children

Scattered About The Neighbourhood Of New Leith (Afterwards Called

Port Albert),  The Old Port,  The New Alberton And Tarra Vale.

Alberton,  By The Way,  Was Gazetted As A Township Before The "Village"

Of St. Kilda Was Founded.  There Were No Licenses Issued For The

Various Houses Of Entertainment,  Vulgarly Called "Sly Grog Shops."

There Was No Church,  No School,  No Minister,  And No Music,  Until

Mother Murden Imported Some.  It Was Hidden In The Recesses Of A

Barrel Organ; And,  In Order To Introduce The New Instrument To The

Notice Of Her Patrons And Friends,  Mother Murden Posted On Her

Premises A Manuscript Invitation To A Grand Ball.  She Was Anxious

That Everything Should Be Carried Out In The Best Style,  And That The

Festive Time Should Commence At Least Without Intoxication.  She Therefore

Had One Drunken Man Carried Into The "Dead Room," Another To An

Outside Shed.  Neddy,  The Third,  Had Become One Of Her Best

Customers,  And Therefore She Treated Him Kindly.  He Was Unsteady On

His Legs,  And She Piloted Him With Her Own Hands To The Front Door,

Expecting That He Would Find A Place For Himself Somewhere Or Other.

She Gave Him A Gentle Shove,  Said "Good Night,  Neddy," And Closed The

Door.  She Then Cleared A Space For The Dancers In Her Largest Room,

Placed The Barrel-Organ On A Small Table In One Corner,  And Made Her

Toilet.

 

The Guests Began To Arrive,  And Mother Murden Received Them In Her

Best Gown At The Front Door.  Neddy Was Lying Across The Threshold.

 

"It's Only Neddy," She Said Apologetically; "He Has Been Taking A

Little Nobbler,  And It Always Runs To His Head.  He'll Be All Right

By-And-By.  Come In My Dears,  And Take Your Things Off.  You'll Find

A Looking-Glass In The Room Behind The Bar."

 

The Gentlemen Stepped Over Neddy,  Politely Gave Their Hands To The

Ladies,  And Helped Them Over The Human Obstacle.

 

When Everything Was Ready,  Mother Murden Sat Down By The

Barrel-Organ,  Took Hold Of The Handle,  And Addressed Her Guests:

 

"Now Boys,  Choose Your Girls."

 

 

The Biggest Bully,  A "Conditional Pardon" Man Of The Year 1839,  Acted

As Master Of The Ceremonies,  And Called Out The Figures.  He Also

Appropriated The Belle Of The Ball As His Partner.

 

The Dancing Bedeal I Had Now Set Before Me. Notwithstanding

This,  I Still Remained Faithful To My Original Scheme,  And Soon Began To

Study Under An Architect With A View To Fitting Myself For My New

Profession.

 

Story 13 (Two Special Surveys.) Pg 187

My Friend,  Unceasingly Working Towards The Accomplishment Of My Views,

Introduced Me To A Friend Of His,  Herr Gruner,  The Headmaster At That

Time Of The Frankfurt Model School,[39] Which Had Not Long Been

Established. Here I Found Open-Minded Young People Who Met Me Readily

And Ingenuously,  And Our Conversation Soon Ranged Freely Over Life And

Its Many-Sided Aspects. My Own Life And Its Object Were Also Brought

Forward And Talked Over. I Spoke Openly,  Manifesting Myself Just As I

Was,  Saying What I Knew And What I Did Not Know About Myself.

 

"Oh," Said Gruner,  Turning To Me,  "Give Up Architecture; It Is Not Your

Vocation At All. Become A Teacher. We Want A Teacher In Our Own School.

Say You Agree,  And The Place Shall Be Yours."

 

My Friend Was For Accepting Gruner's Proposal,  And I Began To Hesitate.

Added To This,  An External Circumstance Now Came To My Knowledge Which

Hastened My Decision. I Received The News Namely,  That The Whole Of My

Testimonials,  And Particularly Those That I Had Received In Jena,  Which

Were Amongst Them,  Had Been Lost. They Had Been Sent To A Gentleman Who

Took A Lively Interest In My Affairs,  And I Never Found Out Through What

Mischance They Were Lost. I Now Read This To Mean That Providence Itself

Had Thus Broken Up The Bridge Behind Me,  And Cut Off All Return. I

Deliberated No Longer,  But Eagerly And Joyfully Seized The Hand Held Out

To Me,  And Quickly Became A Teacher In The Model School Of

Frankfurt-On-The-Main.[40]

 

The Watchword Of Teaching And Of Education Was At This Time The Name Of

Pestalozzi. It Soon Became Evident To Me That Pestalozzi Was To Be The

Watchword Of My Life Also; For Not Only Gruner,  But Also A Second

Teacher At The School,  Were Pupils Of Pestalozzi,  And The First-Named

Had Even Written A Book On His Method Of Teaching. The Name Had A

Magnetic Effect Upon Me,  The More So As During My Self-Development And

Self-Education It Had Seemed To Me An Aspiration--A Something Perhaps

Never To Be Familiarly Known,  Yet Distinct Enough,  And At All Events

Inspiriting. And Now I Recalled How In My Early Boyhood,  In My Father's

House,  I Had Got A Certain Piece Of News Out Of Some Newspaper Or

Another,  Or At Least That Is How The Matter Stood In My Memory. I

Gathered That In Switzerland A Man Of Forty,  Who Lived Retired From The

World,--Pestalozzi By Name,--Had Taught Himself,  Alone And Unaided,

Reading,  Writing,  And Arithmetic. Just At That Time I Was Feeling The

Slowness And Insufficiency Of My Own Development,  And This News Quieted

Me,  And Filled Me With The Hope And Trust That I,  Too,  Might,  Through My

Own Endeavour,  Repair The Deficiencies Of My Bringing-Up. As I Have

Grown Older I Have Also Found It Consolatory To Remark How The Culture

Of Vigorous,  Capable Men Has Not Seldom Been Acquired Remarkably Late In

Life. And In General I Must Acknowledge It As Part Of The Groundwork

Underlying My Life And The Evolution Of My Character,  That The

Contemplation Of The Actual Existences Of Real Men Always Wrought Upon

My Soul,  As It Were,  By A Fruitful Rain And The Genial Warmth Of

Sunshine; While The Isolated Truths These Lives Enshrined,  The

Principles Those Who Lived Them Had Thought Out And Embodied In Some

Phrase Or Another,  Fell As Precious Seed-Corn,  As It Were,  Or As Solvent

Salt Crystals Upon My Thirsty Spirit. And While On This Head I Cannot

Story 13 (Two Special Surveys.) Pg 188

Help Especially Calling To Mind How Deep And Lasting Was The Impression

Made Upon Me In My Last Year At School By The Accounts In The Holy

Scriptures Of The Lives Of Earnestly Striving Youths And Men. I Mention

It Here,  But I Shall Have To Return To The Subject Later On.[41]

 

Now To Return To The New Life Which I Had Begun. It Was Only To Be

Expected That Each Thing And All Things I Heard Of Pestalozzi Seized

Powerfully Upon Me; And This More Especially Applies To A Sketchyy,  When They Hear Of It,  But That The Service Is Going To

The Dogs?"

 

So Captain Smith Obtained His Appointment As Superintendent Of

Police,  And With A Free Sergeant And Six Convict Constables,  Taken,

As It Were,  Out Of Bond,  Was Turned Loose In The Bush.  He Had Been

For Twenty Years In The Preventive Service,  But Had Never Captured A

Prize More Valuable Than A Bottle Of Whisky.  He Knew Nothing

Whatever About Horses,  And Rode Like A Beer Barrel,  But He

Nevertheless Lectured His Troopers About Their Horses And

Accoutrements.  The Sergeant Was An Old Stockrider,  And He One Day So

Far Forgot The Rules Of Discipline As To Indulge In A Mutinous Smile,

And Say:

 

"Well,  Captain,  You May Know Something About A Ship,  But I'll Be

Blowed If You Know Anything About A Horse."

 

That Observation Was Not Entered In Any Report,  But The Sergeant Was

Fined 2 Pounds For "Insolence And Insubordination."  The Sum Of

60,899 Pounds Was Voted For Police Services In 1844,  And Captain

Smith Was Paid Out Of It.  All The Revenue Went To Sydney,  And Very

Little Of It Found Its Way To Melbourne,  So That Mr. Latrobe's

Government Was Sometimes Deprived Of The Necessaries Of Life.

 

Alberton Was Gazetted As A Place For Holding Courts Of Petty

Sessions,  And Messrs. John Reeve And John King Were Appointed

Justices Of The Peace For The New District.

 

Then Michael Shannon Met James Reading On The Port Albert Road,

Robbed Him Of Two Orders For Money And A Certificate Of Freedom,  And

Made His Way To Melbourne.  There He Was Arrested,  And Remanded By

The Bench To The New Court At Alberton.  But There Was No Court

There,  No Lock-Up,  And No Police; And Mr. Latrobe,  With Tears In His

Eyes,  Said He Had No Cash Whatever To Spend On Michael Shannon.

 

The Public Journals Denounced Gippsland,  And Said It Was Full Of

Irregularities.  Therefore,  On September 13th,  1843,  Charles J. Tyers

Was Appointed Commissioner Of Crown Lands For The District.  He

Endeavoured To Make His Way Overland To The Scene Of His Future

Labours,  But The Mountains Were Discharging The Accumulated Waters Of

The Winter And Spring Rainfall,  Every Watercourse Was Full,  And The

Marshes Were Impassable.

 

The Commissioner Waited,  And Then Made A Fresh Start With Six Men And

Four Baggage Horses.  Midway Between Dandenong And The Bunyip He

Passed The Hut Of Big Mat,  A New Settler From Melbourne,  And Obtained

Story 13 (Two Special Surveys.) Pg 189

From Him Some Information About The Best Route To Follow.  It Began

To Rain Heavily,  And It Was Difficult To Ford The Swollen Creeks

Before Arriving At The Big Hill.  At Shady Creek There Was Nothing

For The Horses To Eat,  And Beyond It The Ground Became Treacherous

And Full Of Crabholes.  At The Moe The Backwater Was Found To Be

Fully A Quarter Of A Mile Wide,  Encumbered With Dead Logs And Scrub,

And No Safe Place For Crossing The Creek Could Be Found.  During The

Night The Famishing Horses Tore Open With Their Teeth The Packages

Containing The Provisions,  And Before Morning All That Was Left Of

The Flour,  Tea,  And Sugar Was Trodden Into The Muddy Soil And

Hopelessly Lost; Not An Ounce Of Food Could Be Collected.  There Was

No Game To Be Seen; Every Bird And Beast Seemed To Have Fled From The

Desolate Ranges.  Mr. Tyers Had Been For Many Years A Naval

Instructor On Board A Man-Of-War,  Understood Navigation And

Surveying,  And,  It Is To Be Presumed,  Knew The Distance He Had

Travelled And The Course To Be Followed In Returning To Port Philip;

But There Were