Discuss the concept of ‘mateship’ with reference to the writers you have read.

Come, all my hearties, we’ll roam the mountains high,
Together we will plgnder, together we will die.
We’ll wander over valleys . and gallop over plains
And we’ll scorn to live in slavery, bound down with iron chains.
(Davis : 17)

Mateship is further associated with the identification with the Australian flora and
fauna, as illustrated by the first two stanzas of the ballad, ‘ The Dying Stoclcman ‘:

A strapping young stoclanm lay dying,
His saddle supporting his head ;
His two mates around him were crying,