Chapter 10 of Mates at Billabong is here in full — 243 sentences across 49 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter X
Chapter 10 of Mates at Billabong is here in full — 243 sentences across 49 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"LO, THE POOR INDIAN!" I mind the time when first I came A stranger to the land. HENRY LAWSON. The house was unusually quiet. It was New Year's Day, and every man on the place, and most of the maids, had gone off to a bush race meeting, ten miles away.
Chapter 10 of Mates at Billabong is here in full — 243 sentences across 49 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/48 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
a low woody perennial plant usually having several major stems
From this reading “It was New Year's Day, and every man on the place, and most of the maids, had gone off to a bush race meeting, ten miles away.”
a unit of inductance in which an induced electromotive force of one volt is produced when the current is varied at the rate of one ampere per second
From this reading “HENRY LAWSON.”
of or relating to or characteristic of India or the East Indies or their peoples or languages or cultures
From this reading “"LO, THE POOR INDIAN!"”
plural of “maid” — a female domestic
From this reading “It was New Year's Day, and every man on the place, and most of the maids, had gone off to a bush race meeting, ten miles away.”
a formally arranged gathering
From this reading “It was New Year's Day, and every man on the place, and most of the maids, had gone off to a bush race meeting, ten miles away.”
any competition
From this reading “It was New Year's Day, and every man on the place, and most of the maids, had gone off to a bush race meeting, ten miles away.”
to a remarkable degree or extent
From this reading “The house was unusually quiet.”
possessive form of “year” — a period of time containing 365 (or 366) days
From this reading “It was New Year's Day, and every man on the place, and most of the maids, had gone off to a bush race meeting, ten miles away.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading I mind the time when first I came A stranger to the land.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading It was New Year's Day, and every man on the place, and most of the maids, had gone off to a bush race meeting, ten miles away.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading It was New Year's Day, and every man on the place, and most of the maids, had gone off to a bush race meeting, ten miles away.
a low woody perennial plant usually having several major stems
From this reading It was New Year's Day, and every man on the place, and most of the maids, had gone off to a bush race meeting, ten miles away.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading I mind the time when first I came A stranger to the land.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading It was New Year's Day, and every man on the place, and most of the maids, had gone off to a bush race meeting, ten miles away.
all the members of a group, with none left out
From this reading It was New Year's Day, and every man on the place, and most of the maids, had gone off to a bush race meeting, ten miles away.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading I mind the time when first I came A stranger to the land.
destroyed or killed
From this reading It was New Year's Day, and every man on the place, and most of the maids, had gone off to a bush race meeting, ten miles away.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading It was New Year's Day, and every man on the place, and most of the maids, had gone off to a bush race meeting, ten miles away.
a unit of inductance in which an induced electromotive force of one volt is produced when the current is varied at the rate of one ampere per second
From this reading HENRY LAWSON.
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading The house was unusually quiet.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I mind the time when first I came A stranger to the land.
of or relating to or characteristic of India or the East Indies or their peoples or languages or cultures
From this reading "LO, THE POOR INDIAN!"
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was New Year's Day, and every man on the place, and most of the maids, had gone off to a bush race meeting, ten miles away.
the land on which real estate is located
From this reading I mind the time when first I came A stranger to the land.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading HENRY LAWSON.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "LO, THE POOR INDIAN!"
plural of “maid” — a female domestic
From this reading It was New Year's Day, and every man on the place, and most of the maids, had gone off to a bush race meeting, ten miles away.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading It was New Year's Day, and every man on the place, and most of the maids, had gone off to a bush race meeting, ten miles away.
a formally arranged gathering
From this reading It was New Year's Day, and every man on the place, and most of the maids, had gone off to a bush race meeting, ten miles away.
plural of “mile” — a unit of length equal to 1,760 yards or 5,280 feet; exactly 1609.344 meters
From this reading It was New Year's Day, and every man on the place, and most of the maids, had gone off to a bush race meeting, ten miles away.
The element of a person that enables awareness and thought.
From this reading I mind the time when first I came A stranger to the land.
used to form the superlative
From this reading It was New Year's Day, and every man on the place, and most of the maids, had gone off to a bush race meeting, ten miles away.
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading It was New Year's Day, and every man on the place, and most of the maids, had gone off to a bush race meeting, ten miles away.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading It was New Year's Day, and every man on the place, and most of the maids, had gone off to a bush race meeting, ten miles away.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading It was New Year's Day, and every man on the place, and most of the maids, had gone off to a bush race meeting, ten miles away.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading It was New Year's Day, and every man on the place, and most of the maids, had gone off to a bush race meeting, ten miles away.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading It was New Year's Day, and every man on the place, and most of the maids, had gone off to a bush race meeting, ten miles away.
deserving or inciting pity
From this reading "LO, THE POOR INDIAN!"
characterized by an absence or near absence of agitation or activity
From this reading The house was unusually quiet.
any competition
From this reading It was New Year's Day, and every man on the place, and most of the maids, had gone off to a bush race meeting, ten miles away.
anyone who does not belong in the environment in which they are found
From this reading I mind the time when first I came A stranger to the land.
the cardinal number that is the sum of nine and one; the base of the decimal system
From this reading It was New Year's Day, and every man on the place, and most of the maids, had gone off to a bush race meeting, ten miles away.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "LO, THE POOR INDIAN!"
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading I mind the time when first I came A stranger to the land.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading I mind the time when first I came A stranger to the land.
to a remarkable degree or extent
From this reading The house was unusually quiet.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The house was unusually quiet.
at the time that
From this reading I mind the time when first I came A stranger to the land.
possessive form of “year” — a period of time containing 365 (or 366) days
From this reading It was New Year's Day, and every man on the place, and most of the maids, had gone off to a bush race meeting, ten miles away.
Chapter 10 of Mates at Billabong by Mary Grant Bruce holds 243 sentences, grouped into 49 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 10 holds 243 sentences of Mates at Billabong, unabridged, divided into 49 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 10 of Mates at Billabong by Mary Grant Bruce exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 243 sentences, grouped into 49 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 49 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 49 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 10 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading Mates at Billabong by Mary Grant Bruce on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4194 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #4050 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #4050, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 349 minutes of reading across 839 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Mates at Billabong section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 19 chapters of Mates at Billabong to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in Mates at Billabong, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
