There was a clump of them to be seen on our
right, and as a supply of wood is very necessary
for judicious camping, we selected that
clump as our lodging for the night. On reaching
it we found it to be located upon very
swampy land, and promising a bed infested
with a new kind of jumper—not with fleas,
but frogs. Frogs were hopping about there
by tens of thousands.

We had not yet been broken in to all that
sort of thing; we minded frogs, and therefore
I suggested that we should be careful to pick
out the highest and the dryest spot. We
did so, and then having thrown the knapsacks
from our aching shoulders, cut down
wood with our axes and kindled a bonfire,
which we set to roar against the trunk of a
fine tree. Thereupon we made ourselves
some tea in our tin pots, and sat down upon
our knapsacks to a hearty supper. While
munching we were accosted by three horsemen,
stock farmers, on their way home.
They cheered us with the information that
if we were bound for Bendigo we were not
on the right track, at the same time pointing
out Mount Macedon in the distance (a hint
afterwards important to us), by which they
said the road wound; then wishing us luck
they rode off.

To have gone astray in the wood like the famous
babies was no great luck, but it consoled
us that we could be savage; London savages.
We took to forest life, as boys to cricket.
First, we cut down about a cart-load of wood
and built it into a heap near the fire, for use
as fuel. Then, with the bushy ends of the
branches, we formed about ourselves a sort
of hedge to keep the wind off. Within our
enclosure we arranged that each should
watch in turn for two hours during the
night; that is to say, from eight o'clock till
daybreak. I lay down on the ground, head
on knapsack, hand to pistol, feet to fire, and
in three minutes was sound asleep. At two
o'clock I was roused to take my watch, and
found the stock of wood exhausted and the
fire low; so I took my axe, and kept myself
awake by hacking away at the trees in the
dark—a good savage amusement—splashing
about, ankle deep in water, because I could
not see to pick my steps. There is a wild
charm after all about a night bivouac, of
which a man must be a dullard if he is not
sensible. I grew to like it. But for the
scandal I should now be glad to quit my
house in Camberwell of nights, and go to
bed by a bonfire set alight under the
lamp-post. I used never to tire of watching the
fitful flame that embraced the tree, against
which it was always kindled, killing it with
kisses; of the dimly defined trunks that
formed our chamber wall, and against which
hung our havresacks; of the wild firelit
figures of the sleepers, with their arms in
readiness; and, of the silence, broken only
by the wind that moaned in the dim forest.
So we enjoyed our first night in the
bush. At daybreak I aroused our party;
and, after a refreshing wash in the next
puddle, we had breakfast, and resumed our
journey.

Noonday halt and evening camp were the
same for several days. Our route lay through
a picturesque country, with many signs of
volcanic origin. On the evening of the fourth
day we camped at the bottom of a dell, by
the side of a pleasant running stream,
among enormous fragments of volcanic stone.
Towards the middle of the night it rained
heavily. The rain awoke me, but as it
could not be turned off by any tap I knew
of, I lay still. After a short time I heard a
low conversation between two of my
companions. They were uncomfortable. Very
much so. They did not like it. Our meat
was all gone, and nothing remained but a
few biscuits. When they also were gone we
might be starved to death. Goaded by
such horrible thoughts I heard them
conspiring how they would return to Melbourne.
Day broke; and during breakfast (which
consisted of a biscuit each) they broached to me
their plot. I asked them, Did they want to
go back for umbrellas? As for provisions,
it was certain that we must soon come upon
some flocks of sheep, when we could buy one
and eat it. Finally, I declared that I meant
to go on, that I was willing to wait two hours
in our camp while they tried about for
mutton; but if they did not, by the end
of that time, return to me, I should go on
alone. I had—each of us had—three biscuits;
I would put myself upon a biscuit a
day; and there was no fear but that within
three days I should meet with something
eatable.

They consented to this plan, and off they
went. When the two hours were fully up,
I climbed on to the highest boulder for a
parting look after my comrades, and fancied
that I saw them in the distance; fired my
pistol, and was answered by another. I then
waited. They came back unsuccessful, very
sulky; moreover, they had been scurvily
used. Seeing a man at a distance they had
gone up to him to ask for food, when he
savagely presented a pistol, threatening to
shoot them if they did not keep their distance.
The stranger had no food to spare for them,
and did not know where they could get any.
Now, it happened that during the absence of
my friends I had been thinking, and had come
to the resolve, that if compelled to travel by
myself, I would abandon the tracks, which
are the marks left by the carts going to the
diggings. These tracks often wind very
circuitously to avoid the hills; and I saw no
reason why, guided by a pocket compass and
an excellent map of the colony that I had
with me, I should not try for a straight cut
across the country. Mount Macedon, a
known point, was visible in the distance, and
I calculated that if I crossed the chain of
mountains, of which Macedon forms part, in