THE SAND was heavy on our feet,
A Christmas sky was o-er us,
And half a mile through dust and heat
Lake -Liza lay before us.
-You-ll have a long and heavy tramp--
So said the last adviser-
-You can-t do better than to camp
To-night at Lake Eliza.-

We quite forgot our aching shanks,
A cheerful spirit caught us;
We thought of green and shady banks,
We thought of pleasant waters.
-Neath sky as niggard of its rain
As of his gold the miser,
By mulga scrub and lignum plain
We-d tramp-d to Lake Eliza.

A patch to grey discoloured sand,
A fringe of tufty grasses,
A lonely pub in mulga scrub
Is all the stranger passes.
He-d pass the Lake a dozen times
And yet be none the wiser;
I hope that I shall never be
As dry as Lake Eliza.

No patch of green or water seen
To cheer the weary plodder;
The grass is tough as fencing-wire,
And just as good for fodder.
And when I see it mentioned in
Some local ADVERTISER,
-Twill make me laugh, or make me grin-
The name of -Lake Eliza.-