A VAGABOND’S ODYSSEY
Portrait of the Author
FOREWORD
Looking reflectively over this second instalment of myautobiography, I perceive that I am such a genuinevagabond that I have even travelled along in my reminiscenceswithout caring for the material niceties of recognisedliterary method; so I have gone back over the whole trackand tried earnestly to polish my efforts.
It seems quite unnecessary for vagabonds to wear(metaphorically speaking) old trousers with fringed ends tothe legs, penniless pockets, dusty boots, an unshaven face anddirty collar, or to give vent to the devil-may-care utterancesand all the ungrammatical “politeness” of the phraseologyof the grog shanty and bush hotels, when they attempt tolive over again on paper the tale of their wandering life. Icannot reform the world into a population of convivial beachcombers,nor would I if I could, out of consideration forfuture vagabonds, who naturally want the outer spaces ofthe world for their special province. Neither can I makeyou believe I could have done better in a literary sense if Ihad taken more trouble with my book. But I can to someextent reform myself, and at least strive to compete withthe literary aristocrats on the slopes of their own cultivatedground. I am sure they will make good company ifI succeed, and they will have been my best friends. Yes, Ihalf believe in jumping out of bed on a cold night to hold acandle to the d