Page 24 - eMuse Vol.9 No.10_Neat

Bill’s dinner to him likewise when he is splitting or fencing two or
three miles from the house.
Nowadays the desideratum is a horse and trap, and there is
more driving than riding, except among the young folk in the back-
blocks. The incursion of town-bred people into the closer-settled
areas has wrought many changes, including, with the concomitant
Bella Bush shortening of distances, the decadence of the equestrienne. The
town person regards the wild nature-moods of Bella Bush as im-
proper; but Bella is more broad-minded, and though she may be as
From “Life in the Australian free in her speech as in her actions, she is likely to be a better girl
than many of those who are shocked by her wanton wiles.
Backblocks” I was one morning waiting at a station store with some stock-
By Edward S. Sorenson men when a slip of a girl in a tweed cap and satin shoes, and some
diaphanous material between, came out of the house with a dou-
* A Project Gutenberg ble-barrelled breech-loader in her hands. A hundred hawks were
of Australia eBook * circling overhead. Standing in the garden, she put the gun to her
shoulder and brought down two in quick succession. I had seen
many a smart girl behind a gun; one was a governess in the north-
A vision in satin Shoes west, who used to go rabbit-shooting with me among the rocks,
Woman’s sphere in the bush is defined according to the size of carrying her own artillery; and in many homes there is a special
the old man’s purse. On squattages, and on the better-class selec- light gun hanging on the wall for Bella’s use when hawks, crows, or
tions, she has time to bang the piano into a tuneless horror, to play goannas make a raid on the poultry and eggs; but the vision in satin
tennis—with a rabbit-proof fence across the centre of the “lawn”— shoes surprised me.
to spin into town behind a pair of good trotters to get the mail, to With the poorer classes life in the bush is generally a compound
attend the flower show, the hospital ball, or the grass-fed races, of hard work and isolation. Here Bella has to perform many tasks
to discuss the latest books and the prevailing fashions. Among her that a city woman would rebel against. Yet they are always cheer-
less fortunate sisters the change of fashion means remodelling the ful, always ready for a joke. After a long day’s work, in and out of
old dress. The cream decoration that was a feature of last year’s doors, they will walk or ride miles to a dance at night, returning
ball will be resurrected for this year’s whirl as a beautiful blush- about daylight to set to work again. In places when Bella Bush has
pink, or some delicate shade of blue, subsequently turning saffron to walk to the dance she goes rough-shod, carrying her dancing
for the races. Whatever her station, Bella is an adept at “making a shoes in a handkerchief, but she changes when near the place of
do of things.” entertainment, and leaves the rough footgear tucked under a log.
It is no novelty to come upon her in the deep forests and track- Once, in a drought-time, I saw a woman and two girls lopping
less hills of big runs at mustering times, well mounted, and her trees to keep a few sheep alive, climbing aloft and straddling the
pretty sun-kissed face glowing through the tunnel of a plain bon- limbs like men; while another was drawing water with slide and
net or a big straw hat tied down over her ears with a pink ribbon. cask from a lagoon three miles away. Hard, wiry, sun-browned
She slides down into steep gorges and leaps over gullies and logs women are these, with the hearts of gold that surmount the barri-
with easy seat and graceful movement; and she shoots round the ers of lonely lands.
wings of half-wild cattle with stock-whip in full blast. Her whip is a
pearl, being mostly presented by some admiring Greenhide Jack; Many carry water for domestic use in buckets, sometimes us-
and when Jack makes anything for the pet creation, you can bet ing a yoke or an iron hoop to keep the buckets clear of their skirts.
your bottom Cobar he will put all his ingenuity into it. A part of their laundry is a small bench on the bank of the creek,
whither the clothes are carried on washing day. They seldom have
At many backblock stations the mustering troupe, riding off in a washing-board, never a wringer; and they stand, barefooted, for
the early morning, is delightfully picturesque, being composed of hours on a sloppy bank. An ordinary boiler, or a kerosene tin, takes
white men and black men, of black girls and white girls. On some the place of the usual copper, and fuel is collected in the favour-
Bulloo River runs I have seen black girls wearing trousers and riding ite haunt of snakes, scorpions, centipedes, and other inimical live-
astraddle on men’s saddles; but Bella Bush, though she may use a stock. Most of the wardrobe is spread out on the grass and bushes,
man’s saddle, sits in conventional fashion when the opposite sex is on logs, and along the fence. There is no mangling, there is no man-
present. Otherwise she is capable of throwing her leg over, and rid- gle, but Bella can tell you precisely the merits of different woods for
ing with the gay abandonment of her black sisters. If you meet her heating flat-irons, and which is the best for baking; also the most
on the run, she will probably pass you in frigid silence, but with the suitable to burn a white ash for whitewashing the fireplace, the
steady scrutiny of a tracker. When the cattle are in the yards, Bella hearthstone, and the front doorstep. Likewise she is familiar with
loves to perch on a cap and handle a drafting gate. the composition of tea-trees, the soft-leaf one providing the gigan-
At one time in the bush it was the ambition of every girl and tic broom with which she sweeps the bare patches round the domi-
woman to have a horse and side-saddle. When Jim went to see the cile and assaults the poultry when they hang around.
girl she expected to be taken for a ride, and if she didn’t possess the
means herself he had to bring it with him. He is still met on many
tracks on Sunday, leading a saddled horse for the girl; and when She is doctor and nurse when sickness comes and accidents
they are engaged the riding outfit is one of the most cherished happen; many a long night journey she has ridden for the doctor;
presents. They ride to the races, to the show, and to the dance; many a flooded stream she has swum to save the stock; and when
and occasionally one is reminded of old days by seeing mother on the bush fire is threatening home and crops and fences you will
a horse, with baby on her knee. She goes shopping on horseback find her, with skirts tied up behind, and not infrequently wearing
then, with a white pillow-slip strapped in front of her, and she takes pants for safety, half blinded with smoke, scorched and blackened,

24 eMuse October 2020