Catherine complains nonstop about little flies buzzing around her face, and Betsy wakes up each morning clawing at the red welts on her arms and legs where mosquitoes feasted on her while she slept. Sophia mopes about the hens she left on Norfolk Island and drags her feet when I ask her to help. It’s taken four days for James and Robert Bishop to clear enough land to erect the two tents and set up a permanent camp. James stepped out ten acres within walking distance of the river’s edge, and he and Robert pegged out the land claim. He said pegging out the other thirty acres of land was a priority. We’ll be living in tents for quite some time.
I haven’t looked at myself in a mirror since we got off the Porpoise in Hobart Town two weeks ago. My Mammy’s voice rings in my ears when I try to pu
