Australian Town and Country Journal at KellyGang 22/6/1872 (2)
'Tis true I was taught a trade,
But then I'm a regular shirk ;
A white-livered cur that feigns any excuse
To shuffle away from work:
Now it's a pain in the head,
And now it's a scratch or a boil;
Anything, nothing, a truth or a lie,
To sneak out of honest toil.
Loaf, loaf, loaf,
&c, &c, &c.
Men of this class amuse themselves kicking their heels in the sun, lolling under shady trees all day, and at sundown assume the garb of wayworn travellers, and approach the station holder with "Mister, I'm very tired, can I stop to-night ? A reply in the negative will at once bring down the indignation of such men. Occasionally the owner of the station is put out of temper by the heavy demand of his hospitality, and a refusal to accommodate any more has been met with the cool rejoinder: "I would'nt wonder if your paddocks ketched fire some night" - thereby threatening dire revenge on the squatter, by setting fire to his grass and destroying his fences.
To resume the description of Mooloka and its stock and appliances: I was next shown a splendid black horse called " The Swell." His sire is Fisherman, and his dam is Coquette. The Swell stands 17 hands high, has a beautiful head and fine limbs, and is exceedingly docile. Passing through a pine forest to the right of the house we came upon the stock and killing yards, the latter filled with one of Weston's capital 30 cwt. pulleys. The stock yards are erected of pine timber, and though light they look very strong and faithfully built. The station is all fenced in, and a vast sum of money has been expended in dams, and other improvements every where visible. One dam alone, pointed out to me, cost over £600. The books of the station show that during the past ten years upwards of £20,000 has been expended in improvements. The area of the Mooloka station is twelve by seventeen miles, and it has a frontage of about twelve mile to the Billabong.
Before leaving Mooloka I will refer to one of the most extraordinary and interesting birds on the Billabong, viz., the spotted bower bird. Rambling with Mr Patterson, on a fine day, through a young plantation of pines, outside the garden fence, we came upon "a covey" of these birds. In giving a short notice of the appearance and habits of the bower-bird I cannot do better than make use of Mr Gould's graphic sketch: The spotted bower bird has the crown of the head, ear coverts, and throat of a rich brown, each feather surrounded by a narrow line of black; a beautiful band of elongated rose pink feathers cross the back of the neck, forming a broad fan-like occipital crest; all the upper surface, wings and tail are of a deep brown; every feather of the back, scapularies, and secondaries tipped with a large round spot of rich buff; the primaries are slightly tipped with white; the feathers of the flanks are marked with faint transverse zig-zag lines of light brown the bill and feet are of a dusky brown; and the bare skin at the corner of the mouth is thick, prominent, and of a deep flesh colour.
One point of no ordinary interest to the naturalist and general admirer of nature is the formation of a bower-like structure, by this bird, for the purpose of a playground, hall of assembly, or some such purpose but for what particular use these curious bowers are made is not yet fully understood; they are certainly not used as a nest, but as a place of resort for many individuals of both sexes. "When they are there assembled they run through and around the bower in a sportive and playful manner; and do this so frequently that the place is seldom entirely deserted. The one at Mr Patterson's, Mooloka, was an avenue-like structure about ton feet long among the young pines. Outwardly built of twigs, the base consisted of an extensive and rather convex platform of sticks firmly interwoven; the interior was beautifully lined with tall grasses so disposed that the heads nearly met; the decorations were very profuse, and consisted of bivalve shells, crania of small mammalia, and other bones.
| ! | The text has been retyped from a microfiche copy of the original. We have taken care to reproduce this document but areas of the original text may been damaged. |
