A bush home in Australia in 1895

The first settlers endured the inclement climate and the harshness of the bush as they went forth into the forest with the manly determination to reclaim the wilderness and to make themselves a home in its previously unbroken solitudes. To do this, has involved no small amount of courage, of patient endurance, of steadfast hope, of physical strength and of pertinacious toil.  Picturesque Atlas of Australasia: published in 1886.

It's hard to tell from this photo, due to the fence, whether it is a fully wooden construction called a bark hut or a slab hut or a wattle and daub home.

Bark Hut
A hut almost entirely made from the stringy bark tree which was chosen because of its straight grain. The bark was stripped and cured before being used to create the walls.

Slab Hut
A hut made from slabs of split or sawn timber, often in a vertical construction. Timber was split along the grain and used green not seasoned.

Wattle and daub
The wattle is the horizontal weaving of thin branches between vertical stakes.
Daub is the binding ingredient usually made of clay in Australia mixed with wet soil, or sand, animal dung and straw.

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