But he was singularly favoured. A lovely
waterfall was the jewel on his estate. That was the shape of beauty that
moved away the pall from his dark spirit and gave colour to his life and
actions. Another took to collecting birds' eggs; another to the study of
botany; another to photography. Each wreathed, according to his
predilections, a flowery band to bind him to the earth, finding that even
the life of a settler may be filled with "sweet dreams, and health and
quiet." But the great majority seem to have taken to the scrap heap of
Federal politics with such ardour that they clutch but the fag ends of
the poetry of life.
Many become great readers and are knowing and knowledgeable. Those who
drift away from country life are for the most part men who hustle after
the coy damsel fortune by searching for minerals, and just as many who
have succeeded in that arduous passion settle quietly on the land. Each
may and does desire amendments to and amelioration in his lot. There is
still left to all the healthy impulse of achievement, the desire for
something better, the noble and inspiriting virtue of discontent.
Rare is a deserted home. Even the first rough dwelling of a settler
possessing the slenderest resources is invested with tender sentiments.
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