"Of course not with the attributes the blacks give him," was the reply, "but it is quite possible that Australia possesses an amphibious animal which we have not yet been able to examine. As described by those who claim to have seen the bun-yip, he resembles a seal or large water-dog. The seal abounds in Australian waters; I presume that he is the bun-yip of the natives, and that their imaginations have supplied his wonderful powers."
[CHAPTER XVI.]
RIDING THROUGH THE BUSH.—AUSTRALIAN HOSPITALITY.—ARRIVAL AT THE STATION.—THE BUILDINGS AND THEIR SURROUNDINGS.—A SNAKE IN FRED'S BED.—SNAKES IN AUSTRALIA.—UNDERWOOD'S REMEDY FOR SNAKE-BITES, AND WHAT CAME OF IT.—CENTIPEDES AND SCORPIONS.—A VENOMOUS SPIDER.—NOCTURNAL NOISES AT A CATTLE-STATION.—HORSES AND THEIR TRAITS.—BUCK-JUMPING AND ROUGH-RIDING.—HOW A "NEW CHUM" CATCHES A HORSE.—ENDURANCE OF HORSES.—AMONG THE HERDS OF CATTLE.—RIDE TO A CATTLE-CAMP.—DAILY LIFE OF THE STOCKMEN.—CASTE IN AUSTRALIA.—SQUATTERS AND FREE SELECTORS.—HORRIBLE ACCIDENTS IN THE BUSH.—A MAN EATEN ALIVE BY ANTS.—BURNED TO DEATH UNDER A FALLEN TREE.—CHASING AN EMU.—ROUSING A FLOCK OF WILD TURKEYS.
On their arrival at Roma, Doctor Bronson and his young companions spent the night, or what remained of it, in a hotel that was anything but comfortable by comparison with the spacious caravanseries of the city, but fully as good as they had expected to find in an interior town. After an early breakfast they were taken in a light but strong wagon, drawn by two powerful horses, to the station of their host.
THE TEAM.
The road lay through an undulating country in which there was an agreeable diversity of open areas interspersed with gum forest and cut up with numerous gullies, ruts, and holes, which gave a liberal amount of exercise to the occupants of the vehicle. Mr. Watson said it was an excellent road in the dry season, but anything but agreeable after heavy rains had converted it into a long stretch of mud. "One of my neighbors used to say," he continued, "that the road between our houses was ten miles long, twenty feet wide, and two feet deep; and he was not far from the mark."