the Sydney International Exhibition in 1879, and won a prize
of one hundred pounds offered by `The Sydney Morning Herald' for a poem
on the Exhibition. His third collection -- `Songs from the Mountains' --
was published at Sydney in 1880, and realized a substantial profit.
In 1881 Sir Henry Parkes made a position for him, an Inspectorship
of State Forests at five hundred pounds a year. Kendall's experience
in the timber business well fitted him for this, though his health
was not equal to the exposure attendant on the work. He moved
to Cundletown, on the Manning River, before receiving the appointment,
and from that centre rode out on long tours of inspection.
During one of these he caught a chill; his lungs were affected,
and rapid consumption followed. He went to Sydney for treatment
and was joined by his wife at Mr. Fagan's house in Redfern,
where he died in her arms on the 1st August, 1882.
He was buried at Waverley, overlooking the sea.

Kendall, it should be remembered, did not prepare a collected edition
of his poems, and it will be noticed that in the present volume
some lines and passages appear more than once. The student and lover
of Kendall will be interested to see how these lines and passages
were taken from his own previous work and turned to better account
in later poems, and to note the gradual improvement of his style.
In his last book, `Songs from the Mountains', there are fewer echoes;
the touch is surer, and the imaginative level at his highest.
The shining wonder is that, under the conditions of Australian life
between 1860 and 1880, he should have written so much that is so good.

As our first sweet singer of "native woodnotes wild",
Kendall has an enduring place in the regard of all Australians;
and his best work is known and admired wherever English poetry is read.