Our Little Australian Cousin
THE
Little Cousin Series
(TRADE MARK)
Each volume illustrated with six or more full-page plates in
tint. Cloth, 12mo, with decorative cover,
per volume, 60 cents
LIST OF TITLES
BY MARY HAZELTON WADE
(unless otherwise indicated)
=Our Little African Cousin=
=Our Little Alaskan Cousin=
By Mary F. Nixon-Roulet
=Our Little Arabian Cousin=
By Blanche McManus
=Our Little Armenian Cousin=
=Our Little Australian Cousin=
By Mary F. Nixon-Roulet
=Our Little Brazilian Cousin=
By Mary F. Nixon-Roulet
=Our Little Brown Cousin=
=Our Little Canadian Cousin=
By Elizabeth R. MacDonald
=Our Little Chinese Cousin=
By Isaac Taylor Headland
=Our Little Cuban Cousin=
=Our Little Dutch Cousin=
By Blanche McManus
=Our Little Egyptian Cousin=
By Blanche McManus
=Our Little English Cousin=
By Blanche McManus
=Our Little Eskimo Cousin=
=Our Little French Cousin=
By Blanche McManus
=Our Little German Cousin=
=Our Little Greek Cousin=
By Mary F. Nixon-Roulet
=Our Little Hawaiian Cousin=
=Our Little Hindu Cousin=
By Blanche McManus
=Our Little Hungarian Cousin=
By Mary F. Nixon-Roulet
=Our Little Indian Cousin=
=Our Little Irish Cousin=
=Our Little Italian Cousin=
=Our Little Japanese Cousin=
=Our Little Jewish Cousin=
=Our Little Korean Cousin=
By H. Lee M. Pike
=Our Little Mexican Cousin=
By Edward C. Butler
=Our Little Norwegian Cousin=
=Our Little Panama Cousin=
By H. Lee M. Pike
=Our Little Persian Cousin=
By E. C. Shedd
=Our Little Philippine Cousin=
=Our Little Porto Rican Cousin=
=Our Little Russian Cousin=
=Our Little Scotch Cousin=
By Blanche McManus
=Our Little Siamese Cousin=
=Our Little Spanish Cousin=
By Mary F. Nixon-Roulet
=Our Little Swedish Cousin=
By Claire M. Coburn
=Our Little Swiss Cousin=
=Our Little Turkish Cousin=
L. C. PAGE & COMPANY
New England Building,
Boston, Mass.
[Illustration: JEAN.]
JEAN
Our Little Australian Cousin
By
Mary F. Nixon-Roulet
_Author of "God, the King, My Brother," "Our
Little Spanish Cousin," "Our Little Alaskan
Cousin," "Our Little Grecian Cousin,"
"Our Little Brazilian Cousin," etc._
_Illustrated by_
Diantha W. Horne
[Illustration]
Boston
L. C. Page & Company
Publishers
_Copyright, 1908_
BY L. C. PAGE & COMPANY
(INCORPORATED)
Entered at Stationers' Hall, London
_All rights reserved_
First Impression, September, 1908
Second Impression, October, 1909
TO
Kirby McDonough
_A Little Texas Friend_
Preface
Australia, though a continent, is a part of the Empire of Great Britain.
A few years ago it was a wild country, where no white people lived,
filled with Blacks, who were man-eating savages. These are fast dying
out, but in this story you will learn something about them, and of the
lives of your Australian Cousins.
Contents
CHAPTER PAGE
I. "LAND!" 1
II. SAILING TO SYDNEY 8
III. A DRIVE 20
IV. ON THE WAY TO THE "RUN" 32
V. LIFE AT DJERINALLUM 47
VI. "LOST!" 60
VII. JEAN FINDS A FRIEND 76
VIII. IN THE BUSH 90
IX. HOUSEKEEPING IN A CAVE 101
X. DANDY SAVES THE DAY 117
List of Illustrations
PAGE
JEAN _Frontispiece_
"'I THOUGHT PACIFIC MEANT PEACEFUL,' SAID FERGUS" 11
"'THAT IS THE LYRE BIRD, ISN'T HE A HANDSOME FELLOW?'" 58
"'THAT WAS A PLATYPUS, OR WATER MOLE,' SAID MR.
MCDONALD" 66
"THE LEAVES PARTED AND A BLACK FACE PEERED THROUGH
THE BUSHES" 99
"THE BLACK BOY ON A PONY LED BY A WHITE CHILD" 128
Our Little Australian Cousin
CHAPTER I
"LAND"
FERGUS and Jean were very tired of the long voyage. They stood at the
taffrail looking over the dancing waves, longing for the sight of land.
"It seems as if we would never get there, Father," said Fergus. "How
long it is since we left home!"
"And how far away Scotland seems," sighed his mother, as she took little
Jean on her lap and stroked her fair hair.
"But Australia is to be our home now," said Mr. Hume cheerfully. "See,
there is the very first glimpse of it," and he pointed across the water
to a dim line, as the look-out called "Land!"
"We are passing Port Phillip's Head," he said presently. "See the
lighthouse! Soon we shall land and you will see a beautiful city."
"Beautiful!" Fergus said in surprise. "Why, I thought Melbourne was a
wild sort of a place. You have told us about the time you were here long
ago, before you married my mother, and you had floods in the streets and
had to climb up on top of some one's porch for fear of being drowned."
"That was fifteen years ago, my son," said Mr. Hume with a smile.
"Melbourne is very different now from what it was then, and then it was
not at all like it was when its first settlers saw it.
"It was in 1836 that Robert Russell came here to survey the shore near
Port Phillip and find out whether boats could go up the River Yana. He
felt this to be just the place for a city, planned Melbourne and laid
out the streets. It seems strange to think that then the blacks owned
all this land and the Wawoorong, Boonoorong, and Wautourong tribes
roamed these shores, and that when Russell laid out his city there were
native huts standing. The place was called Bear Grass, and in 1837 there
were thirteen buildings, eight of which were turf huts. Now Melbourne is
seven miles square and the principal street is a mile long. You will
soon see how handsome the buildings are, for we are now making ready to
land after our long journey."
Fergus and Jean Hume had come from Scotland to live in Australia. Their
father had been a farmer, but he had lost all his little fortune through
the rascality of a friend, and had determined to try again in the
colony.
Australia is a colony of Great Britain just as Canada is, and though it
is at the other side of the world, still it is British.
Mrs. Hume had a sister in Sydney and they were to visit her before going
to the Gold Country, where Mr. Hume intended to try his fortune.
Fergus was a fine boy of twelve and Jean was eight, and both were much
excited at the trip, while Mrs. Hume's sadness at leaving her old home
was mixed with joy at the idea of seeing again the sister from whom she
had been separated for years.
The landing on the Melbourne quay proved interesting for the children,
and they were very much impressed with their first glimpse of the city.
"Why, Father," exclaimed Fergus, as they drove in a cab up Flinders
Street, "Melbourne streets seem as busy as those of Glasgow!"
"Indeed they are, my son," said his father, smiling. "Perhaps they are
busier. You see Victoria is the busiest part of this country, although
the people of New South Wales will tell you that their district is far
superior and Sydney a much handsomer city than Melbourne."
"If the wares one sees in the streets are any sign, Victoria must have a
great variety of products," said Mrs. Hume. "The shops have all manner
of things in the windows, and besides there are great drays of wood,
coal and timber."
"Victoria is called the Garden of Australia," said Mr. Hume. "You will
see considerable of it if we go up to Sydney by rail instead of by sea."
"Oh, Father!" cried Fergus, who loved the water, "are we going to do
that?"
"I haven't decided yet which would be the better plan," Mr. Hume
answered. "I had thought of going by steamer and stopping at Hobart in
Tasmania, but it will take a great deal longer and you will miss the
trip through Victoria, which is said to be the prettiest part of this
great continent."
"I think the sooner we reach Aunt Mildred the better for all of us,"
said Mrs. Hume. "The children are tired with the long voyage and winter
will soon be here."
"Winter!" exclaimed Jean.
"Winter, why, Mother!" cried Fergus. "This is June!"
"Yes, I know that," said his mother. "But don't you know that in the
Southern Hemisphere, winter and summer change places? In Victoria,
midwinter comes in July."
"Will it be cold?" asked Jean.
"No, dear, winter here is not like our nipping Scotch frost. It is not
very cold here, and it rains in winter instead of snowing."
"I don't think that is nice at all," said Fergus. "We'll have no
sleighing."
"There are many things we will miss here," said his mother sadly, but
his father said cheerfully,
"There are many things here we can't have at home, also. When I get to
the Gold Fields you shall have all the gold you want, and that is
something you never had in Scotland. Now, our fine drive is over and
here we are at the hotel, where we shall have some luncheon. How have
you enjoyed your first drive in an Australian city?"
"Very much," cried both of the children.
"It will be some time before you take another one, for I believe after
all that we shall go by boat to Sydney. I understand that the sea trip
is very pleasant and it is less expensive."
"I am glad," said Fergus.
"A boat sails this afternoon and there is nothing for us to do but have
our luggage transferred from one boat to the other," said Mr. Hume, as
they all went in to luncheon.