AustLit

This, the fifth article in 'Epics of the Bush', tells of a young English engineer who came to Australia to run a gold mine on the Katherine River in the Northern Territory. The company went broke and the young man was held responsible for its debts and detained by his debtors. He escaped but would have died on his attempt to reach Darwin if not discovered by the Aboriginal trackers. His wife, who had travelled up from Melbourne, organised the trackers through government officials. The writer of this column professes to be related to the man who made this remarkable flight from the mine.

A young man has become a swaggie and goes from town to town looking for work, hitching rides on trains. He no longer feels embarrassed by his state, only angry and is ashamed when a woman gives him a cup of tea and a cake because she feels she despises him. Unable to find any work, he eventually resorts to stealing food.