"On the Track" and "Over the Sliprails" were both published at Sydney in 1900,
the prefaces being dated March and June respectively -- and so,
though printed separately, a combined edition was printed the same year
(the two separate, complete works were simply put together in one binding);
hence they are sometimes referred to as "On the Track and Over the Sliprails".
The opposite occurred with "Joe Wilson and His Mates", which was later divided
into "Joe Wilson" and "Joe Wilson's Mates" (1901). All of these works
are now online, as well as one book of Lawson's verse,
"In the Days When the World was Wide" (1896).

. . . . .

An incomplete glossary of Australian terms and concepts
which may prove helpful to understanding this book:


Billy: Any container used to boil water, especially for tea;
a special container designed for this purpose.

Bunyip: [pronounced bun-yup] A large mythological creature,
said by the Aborigines to inhabit watery places. There may be
some relation to an actual creature that is now extinct.
Lawson uses an obsolete sense of the term, meaning "imposter".

Gin: An aboriginal woman; use of the term is analogous to "squaw"
in N. America. May be considered derogatory in modern usage.

Goanna: Any of various lizards of the genus Varanus (monitor lizards)
native to Australia.