Dave, Jim, and Andy held a consultation in camp over their pipes after tea,

as a result of which Andy next morning rolled up his swag,

sorrowfully but firmly shook hands with Dave and Jim,

and started to tramp Out-Back to look for work on a sheep-station.

This was Dave's theory -- drawn from a little experience and many long yarns

He had bottomed on a slope to an old original water-course,

covered with clay and gravel from the hills by centuries of rains

to the depth of from nine or ten to twenty feet; he had bottomed on a gutter