G'day again,

Looking at those words, I decided a few might need translation for those who don't live around here, in Aus.

Paddy-melon (strictly pademelon): This is, in fact, a wallaby thylogale spp, a native name assimilated to familiar (but meaningless) English words.

Depot: The Women's Convict Prison at Parramatta. Women convicts arriving in the colony on minor charges (eg, theft of a blanket to care for their family) would be housed at Parramatta until assigned to a colonist as servant. Any free settler could apply for a female servant and, in a colony short of women, something more intimate would often be the result. Marriages could be held on the spot, if necessary.

Barramundies: Our bullocky obviously ranged well north, the Barramundi is an excellent fish of the northern inland rivers.

Damper: Rough bread, cooked in a camp oven if you have one ... or just buried in the coals, if not.

Stringybark: Common local eucalypt, good tough timber for makeshift farm buildings.

Greenhide: Local, untanned leather. A mainstay of primitive building, repairs and development. (~Rawhide)

Jack Robertson: New South Wales politician who opened up small holdings for "Free Selectors", who could "select" Government land and pay for it in instalments while carrying out specified clearing and improvements. His vision was the development of a "sturdy yeomanry" in the colony. Our bullocky seems to think he can quickly render the whole programme redundant!

Regards,

Bob Bolton