Well at Macquarie Harbour
It was in the pouring rain
None of us quite sure if we would see Inwood(?) again
Some fool muttered, "d**h or liberty"
There were six of us together
A jolly hungry crew
And as the days went by, you know
Our hunger quickly grew
Some fool muttered "d**h or liberty"
So that night
We made fires out of twigs and out of bark
And our stomachs, they were grumbling
All through the night so dark
We were only tryin'
To keep ourselves alive
But when the sun came up next morning
The six had turned to five
And I said
Right, there's another one, don't you frown
Chew the meat and hold it down
It's a tale they won't believe
When I get down to Hobart town
All five of us were nervous
And I'll tell ya, that's a fact
We just should have seen the ba*tard
Who was carrying the axe
He was a sick man, he had murder in his heart
And we reached the Franklin River
And it took two days to cross
We were wet and almost starving
And for food were at a loss
We were hungry men with murder on our minds
So that night
We made fires out of twigs and out of bark
And our stomachs, they were rumbling
All through the night so dark
And they were makin' noises
The dead could not ignore
And when sun came up next morning
The five had turned to four
And I said
Right, there's another one, don't you frown
Chew the meat and hold it down
It's a tale they won't believe
When I get down to Hobart town
Well the four of us kept marchin'
To the place called Western Tears
Country full of tasty game
For us it held no chew
We had no guns, we were travelin' without hope
The axe, it loomed so ominous
And God fearin' was at play
A sick man is the type of game
That cannot run away
So stay easy, my poor man, your time's at hand
So that night
We made fires out of twigs and out of bark
And our stomachs, they were grumbling
All through the night so dark
Can't say that I felt guilty
After all, it wasn't me
But when the sun came up next morning
The four had turned to three
And I said
Right, there's another one, don't you frown
Chew the meat and hold it down
It's a tale they won't believe
When I get down to Hobart town
The three of us kept movin'
But one was fading fast
He'd been bitten by a snake
And you could see he would not last
Said "Easy, my good man, your time's at hand"
He could last no longer
His days were fading fast
Far too weak to carry him
Subsistence, he(it) comes first
Said "Easy, my good man, your time's at hand"
So that night
We made fires out of twigs and out of bark
And our stomachs, they were grumbling
All through the night so dark
It was a messy job
But it was one we had to do
When the sun came up next day, guess what?
The three had turned to two
And I said
Right, there's another one, don't you frown
Chew the meat and hold it down
It's a tale they won't believe
When I get down to Hobart town
He'd been lookin' at me funny
Been eyeing me for days
And I wouldn't need to be too bright
To know that ba*tard's ways
He was a sick man; he had murder in his heart
But even ba*tards have to rest
And even ba*tards have to sleep
And when he was in the land of nods
Straight over I did creep
And the axe that he once wielded now was mine
So that night
I made the fire out of twigs and out of bark
And my stomach, it kept grumbling
All through the night so dark
Can't say that I enjoyed it
It wasn't exactly fun
But when the sun came up next morning
The two had turned to one
And I said
Right, there's another one, don't you frown
Chew the meat and hold it down
It's a tale they won't believe
When I get down to Hobart town
Now history is a pack of lies
As any fool can tell
So when I got down to Hobart town
I told my story well
But do you think they would believe one word I said?
They thought I was coverin'
For my mate still at large
So they'd be roamin' in the bush
So I went free
And back to old Macquarie Harbor they sent me
But I remember
Fires made of twigs and made of bark
My stomach it was grumbling
All through the night so dark
And this young fool, he just said to me
"It's literally your d**h"
And he looked a right and tasty one
I just could not help it, saying
Right, there's another one, don't you frown
Chew the meat and hold it down
It's a tale they won't believe
When I get down
When I get down
When I get down to Hobart town