AustLit

A moving and lyrical piece in which the narrator relates a story told by an old gum tree about the events in his life, from living freely as a sapling, to providing shelter for 'those black men', to seeing the arrival of 'the first white man', to whom the trees became 'timber'. The old tree takes pride in the use of native timbers for useful purpose, but denounces wanton destruction as a 'crime against the trees'.