G'day Sam (Sorry for misnomer in my earlier PM!),

The Outside Track was 1896 - The newly-married Lawsons had just returned from an unsuccessful attempt to settle in Western Australia .. and make something of a life there ... the new gold-rush had pushed up housing prices and they were forced to live in a tent.

I believe Lawson wrote this after seeing off yet another Australian writer going off "to make a name for himself in "the Old Country" ... England" - and Henry was off on the same quest shortly after ... this is what he refers to in saying:

But I'll try my luck for a cheque Out Back,
Then a last goodbye to the bush;
For my heart's away on the Outside Track,
On the track of the steerage push.

(He had made a quick trip to Enzed earlier in 1896.)

Regards,

Bob Bolton