Author.-Mary Grant Bruce, a living Australian writer, has writtenmany charming stories for children, including Dick, From Billabong to London, Glen Eyre, Gray"s Hollow, Jim and Wally, A Little Bush Maid, Mates at Billabong, Norah of Billabong, Possum, The Stone Axe of Burka-mukk, and Timothy in Bushland.
General.-Note the poetical prose; one could almost sing it. Which phrase do you like best? Has the Bush ever talked to you? What did it say? "Nature . . . to read her aright. " Why "her "? What is said to be "the best time of all " in the Bush? What do you think?
Lesson 13
THE LOSS OF THE BIRKENHEAD
Right on our flank the crimson sun went down,The deep sea rolled around in dark repose,
When, like the wild shriek from some captured town, A cry of women rose.
The stout ship Birkenhead lay hard and fast,
Caught, without hope, upon a hidden rock;
Her timbers thrilled as nerves, when through them passed The spirit of that shock.
And ever, like base cowards who leave their ranks In danger"s hour, before the rush of steel,Drifted away, disorderly, the planks From underneath her keel.
Confusion spread; for, though the coast seemed near, Sharks hovered thick along that white sea-brink.
The boats could hold-not all, and it was clear She was about to sink.
" Out with those boats, and let us haste away, " Cried one, "ere yet yon sea the bark devours ! "The man thus clamouring was, I scarce need say,No officer of ours.
We knew our duty better than to care
For such loose babblers, and made no reply; Till our good colonel gave the word, and thereFormed us in line-to die.
There rose no murmur from the ranks, no thought By shameful strength unhonoured life to seek;Our post to quit we were not trained, nor taught To trample down the weak.
So we made women with their children go.
The oars ply back again, and yet again;
Whilst, inch by inch, the drowning ship sank low, Still under steadfast men.
What followed, why recall? The brave who died,Died without flinching in the bloody surf.
They sleep as well beneath that purple tide, As others under turf.
Sir Francis Hastings Doyle
Author.-Sir Francis Hastings Doyle (1810-1888) was an English poet who was for 10 years professor of Poetry at Oxford University. His poems are chiefly about English heroism. Some readers may know " The Private of the Buffs, " "The Red Thread of Honour, " " The Saving of the Colours,"or "Gordon. "
General.-The Birkenhead (named after a town near Liverpool, in Eng- land), a large troop-ship, with 632 souls on board, struck a rock off Cape Danger, west of South Africa, on a clear night in February, 1852. Colonel Seton, of the 74th Highlanders, paraded his men on deck and gave orders that women and children must be saved first. Again and again boatloads of women and children were taken to the shore, till all, or nearly all, had been saved, the men helping, or looking on, without a murmur. The ship was fast sinking. At last the end came : officers and men, still shoulder to shoulder and calmly awaiting death, went down with the ship. The lines quoted are put into the mouth of a soldier who is supposed to have survived. What similar examples of heroism can you recall? Have you heard of the stokehold of the Southland?
Lesson 14
HOW SHEEP CAME TO AUSTRALIA
The Australian sheep (there are about a hundred millions of him) was originally bought by the King of England for his royal farm from the King of Spain-or, some say, from the wife of the Spanish Ambassador in London-at the price of two creamy coach-horses. At least, that is the pedigree people speak about. There were some rather less noble ancestors, who came through a mere republic; they were given by the King of Spain to the Dutch Republic, and sent by the Dutch Republic to the Cape of Good Hope. Then, during the short spell when the English held Cape Colony before giving it back to the Dutch, they were imported from the Cape to Australia by Captain John Macarthur. There were also a few skinny, hairy, Bengalesesheep, which came first of all-but they were not referred to in polite circles. Some of the original Australian sheep, at any rate, were undoubtedly bought by the King of England for two creamy coach-horses. An old Australian journal, The New South Wales Magazine of 1833 and 1834, tells why the coach-horses were given.
George the Third was a keen experimental farmer, and hedearly wanted some Spanish merino sheep. But Spain was doing so well with merino wool that it was a crime in Spain to export Spanish rams.
However, the King got some ewes all right. A British fleet happened to pass a Spanish fleet, and, by way of complimentary gifts, the Spanish admiral gave the British admiral some sheep for sea-stock. They were not eaten on board; and, when the fleet arrived in England, Sir Joseph Banks (the scientist) happened to see them; and, as he knew what they were, he had them presented to the King.
But the King could not get any rams. The Spanish Ambassador was asked, but he dare not promise them. Then the Lady Ambassadress was approached. She was closely watched; and it was discovered at last-on the occasion of the King"s going to open Parliament-that she had a weakness for the cream-coloured horses that drew his state-coaches. The Ambassadress was at once asked if she would like a pair. They were just what she wanted. So two creamy coach-horses were ordered from Hanover and brought over to England for her. It cost nearly ?8,000 to get them to England. But, when they did get them, the Lady Ambassadress had what no other lord or lady could boast of.
What could she do in return? The donors would accept a few Spanish sheep by way of compliment.
It was useless for the Spanish Ambassadress to ask the Spanish Government for the sheep; so the Spanish Ambassadress applied to the Spanish smugglers to select a few. They "selected " a few from various flocks by their own well- known methods of selection, drove them through Spain and France, and shipped them at Hamburg.