The Book Of The Bush by George Dunderdale (books to read to improve english .TXT) 📕

Every Morning Spiller Pointed Out The Course To Be Taken And Led The

Way.  From Time To Time,  With A Look Of Extreme Wisdom,  He Took

Observations Of The Position Of The Sun,  And Studied The Direction Of

His Own Shadow On The Ground.  For Five Days The Men Followed Him

With Great Confidence,  And Then They Found That Their Rations Were

All Consumed,  And There Was No Sign Of Western Port Or Any

Settlement.  They Began To Grumble,  And To Mistrust Their Captain;

They Said He Must Have Been Leading Them Astray,  Otherwise They Would

Have Seen Some Sign Of The Country Being Inhabited,  And They Formed A

Plan For Putting Spiller's Knowledge Of Inland Navigation To The Test.

A Start Was Made Next Morning,  The Cockney As Usual,  Taking The Lead.

One Man Followed Him,  But Kept Losing Ground Purposely,  Merely

Keeping The Leader In Sight; The Others Did The Same.  Before The

Last Man Had Lost Sight Of The Camp,  He Could See Spiller In The

Distance Walking Towards It.  He Then Uttered A Long Coo-Ee,  Which

Was Answered By Every Man Of The Party.  They Thought Some Valuable

Discovery Had Been Made.  One By One They Followed The Call And Were

Soon Assembled At The Still Burning Embers They Had Lately Left.

"A Nice Navigator You Are,  Ain't You,  Spiller?  Do You Know Where You

Are Now?" Asked Brown.

"Well,  I Must Say There Seems To Be Some Mistake," Said Spiller.  "I

Came Along When I Heard The Coo-Ee,  And Found Myself Here.  It Is

Most Unaccountable.  Here Is Where We Camped Last Night,  Sure Enough.

It Is Most Surprising."

"Yes,  It Is Surprising," Said Smith.  "You Know The Compass,  Don't

You,  You Conceited Little Beggar.  You Can Box It And Make A Bee-Line

For Western Port,  Can't You?  Here You Have Been Circussing Us Round

The Country,  Nobody Knows Where,  Until We Have Not A Morsel Of Food

Left; But If I Am To Be Starved To Death Through You,  You Miserable

Little Hound,  I Am Not Going To Leave You Alive.  What Do You Say,

Mates?  Let Us Kill Him And Eat Him.  I'll Do The Job Myself If

Nobody Else Likes It.  I Say Nothing Could Be Fairer."

Sparrow,  One Of The Irishmen,  Spoke.  He Was A Spare Man,  Six Feet

High,  Had A Long Thin Face,  A Prominent Nose,  Sloping Shoulders,  Mild

Blue Eyes,  And A Most Gentle Voice.  I Knew Him After He Returned To

Gippsland And Settled There.  He Was Averse To Quarrelling And

Fighting; And,  To Enable Him To Lead A Peaceable Life,  He Carried A

Short Riding Whip With A Hammer Handle,  And Kept The Lash Twisted

Round His Hand.  He Was A Conscientious Man Too,  And Had A Strong

Moral Objection To The Proposal Of Killing And Eating Spiller; But He

Did Not Want To Offend The Company,  And He Made His Refusal As Mild

As Possible.

"It's A Think I Wouldn't Like To Quarrel About With No Man," He Said,

"And The Lord Knows I Am As Hungry As Any Of You; And If We Die

Through This Misleading Little Chap I Couldn't Say But He Would Be

Guilty Of Murdering Us,  And We Might Be Justified In Making Use Of

What Little There Is Of Him.  But For My Part I Couldn't Take Myeachers And Pupils Between Them,  And Then Each Pupil Had To

Do It By Himself As An Exercise. These Representations Of The Earth's

Surface Of Ours Had A Round Contour,  Resembling The Circular Outline Of

The Visible Horizon.

At The Next Public Examination Of The School,  I Was Fortunate Enough,

Although This First Attempt Was Full Of Imperfections,  To Win The

Unanimous Approval Of The Parents Present; And Not Only That,  But The

Especial Commendation Of My Superiors. Every One Said,  "That Is How

Physiography[54] Should Be Taught. A Boy Must First Learn All About His

Home Before He Goes Further Afield." My Boys Were As Well Acquainted

With The Surroundings Of The Town As With Their Own Rooms At Home; And

Gave Rapid And Striking Answers As To All The Natural Peculiarities Of

The Neighbourhood. This Course Was The Fountain-Head Of The Teaching

Method Which I Afterwards Thoroughly Worked Out,  And Which Has Now Been

In Use For Many Years.

In Arithmetic I Did Not Take The Lower,  But The Middle Classes; And Here

Also My Teaching Received Cheering Encomiums.

In Drawing I Also Taught The Middle Classes. My Method In This Subject

Was To Work At The Thorough Comprehension And The Representation Of

Planes And Solids In Outline,  Rising From The Simplest Forms To Complex

Combinations. I Not Only Had The Gratification Of Obtaining Good

Results,  Which Thoroughly Satisfied Those Who Tested Them,  But Also Of

Seeing My Pupils Work With Pleasure,  With Ardour,  And With

Individuality. In The Girls' School I Had To Teach Orthography[55] In

One Of The Elementary Classes. This Lesson,  Ordinarily Standing By

Itself,  Disconnected With Anything,  I Based Upon Correct

Pronunciation.[56] The Teaching Was Imperfect,  Certainly; But It

Nevertheless Gained An Unmistakable Charm For Both Teacher And Pupils;

And,  Finally,  Its Results Were Very Satisfactory.

In One Of The Other Classes Of The Girls' School I Taught Preparatory

Drawing. I Took This By Combinations Of Single Lines; But The Method Was

Wanting In A Logically Necessary Connection,  So That It Did Not Satisfy

Me. I Cannot Remember Whether The Results Of This Teaching Were Brought

To The Test Or Not.

Such Was The Outcome Of My First Attempts As A Teacher. The Kind

Indulgence And Approval Granted To Me,  More Because Of My Good

Intentions And The Fire Of My Zeal Than For My Actual Performance,

Spurred Me On To Plunge Deeper Into The Inquiry As To The Nature Of True

Teaching. But The Whole System Of A Large School Must Have Its Settled

Form,  With Its Previously-Appointed Teaching-Course Arranged As To Times

And Subjects; And Everything Must Fit In Like A Piece Of Clockwork. My

System,  On The Other Hand,  Called Only For Ready Senses And Awakened

Intellect. Set Forms Could Only Tolerate This View Of Education So Far

As It Served To Enliven And Quicken Them. But I Have Unfortunately Again

And Again Observed During My Career,  That Even The Most Active Life,  If

Its Activity And Its Vitality Be Not Properly Understood And Urged Ever

Onward,  Easily Stiffens Into Bony Rigidity. Enough,  My Mind,  Now Fully

Awakened,  Could Not Suffer These Set Forms,  Necessary Though They Were;

And I Felt That I Must Seek Out Some Position In Which My Nature Could

Unfold Itself Freely According To The Needs Of The Development Of My

Life And Of My Mind.

This Longing Endeavour Of Life And Mind,  Which Could Not Submit To The

Fetters Of External Limitations,  May Have Been The More Exaggerated At

The Time By My Becoming Acquainted With Arndt's "Fragments On Human

Culture,"[57] Which I Had Purchased. This Book Satisfied At Once My

Character,  My Resolves,  And My Aspirations; And What Hitherto Lay

Isolated Within Me Was Brought Into Ordered Connection Through Its

Pages,  While Ideas Which Possessed Me Without My Perceiving Them Took

Definite Form And Expression As The Book Brought Them To Light. Indeed,

I Thought Then That Arndt's Book Was The Bible Of Education.

In Those Days I Spoke Of My Life And My Aims In The Following Words: "I

Desire To Educate Men Whose Feice Had Arrived From Sydney By

The 'Shamrock',  And Some Of Them Were Intended As A Reinforcement For

Gippsland,  "To Strengthen The Hands Of The Commissioner In Putting

Down Irregularities That At Present Exist There."

Dr. Holmes Was Sending A Mob Of Cattle Over The Mountains,  And Mr.

Tyers Ordered His Troopers To Travel With Them,  Arranging To Meet

Them At The Head Of The Glengarry River.  He Avoided This Time All

The Obstacles He Had Formerly Encountered By Making A Sea Voyage,  And

He Landed At Port Albert On The 13th Day Of January,  1844.

As Soon As It Was Known At The Old Port That A Commissioner Of Crown

Lands Had Arrived,  Davy,  The Pilot,  Hoisted A Flag On His Signal

Staff,  And Welcomed The Representative Of Law And Order With One

Discharge From The Nine-Pounder.  He Wanted To Be Patriotic,  As

Became A Free-Born Briton.  But He Was Very Sorry Afterwards; He Said

He Had Made A Mistake.  The Proper Course Would Have Been To Hoist

The Flag At Half-Mast,  And To Fire Minute Guns,  In Token Of The Grief

Of The Pioneers For The Death Of Freedom.

Mr. Tyers Rode Away With A Guide,  Found His Troopers At The Head Of

The Glengarry,  And Returned With Them Over Tom's Cap.  He Camped On

The Tarra,  Near The Present Brewery Bridge,  And His Black Men At

Night Caught A Number Of Blackfish,  Which Were Found To Be Most

Excellent.

Next Day The Commissioner Entered On His Official Duties,  And Began

To Put Down Irregularities.  He Rode To The Old Port,  And Halted His

Men In Front Of The Company's Store.  All The Inhabitants Soon

Gathered Around Him.  He Said To The Storekeeper:

"My Name Is Tyers.  I Am The Commissioner Of Crown Lands.  I Want To

See Your License For This Store."

"This Store Belongs To The Port Albert Company," Replied John

Campbell.  "We Have No License,  And Never Knew One Was Required In

Such A Place As This."

"You Are,  Then,  In Illegal Occupation Of Crown Lands,  And Unless You

Pay Me Twenty Pounds For A License I Am Sorry To Say It Will Be My

Duty To Destroy Your Store," Said Mr. Tyers.

There Were Two Other