On the Wallaby

k - Albany Pass - Light Sh

hood of success. It began to grow upon us that the pleasant expectations we had formed regarding Thursday Island and the pearl fishery were not going to be realised. We waited and waited, like Mr. Micawber, 'for someth

Gaol. It was my good fortune, one morning, to see two prisoners engaged whitewashing the Post-office fence, and I am prepared to assert that never since have I seen anything so lazy and comfortable, as their method of carrying out that particular occ

shed fence, a fascinating brush, a bucket of mixture, and nothing in the world to do but to lay it gently on. All this with the certainty of meal times, an expansive conscience, no prying warders, and unlimited opportunities of obtaining liquor. I would rather, and I a

ides, for the most part, under the house, where he is popularly supposed by the youth of the neighbourhood to represent the devil. The spaniel puppy is bumptious and irreverent, while the pelican combines the dignity of a bank manager with the sustained confidence of a newly - appointed policeman. When the monkey uses the puppy's woolly coat as a game preserve

zy, and he spent the money his sorely tried parent had given him to start afresh with, in riotous living. As his capital departed, so his state deserted him, and before he had been two months in the colony he had m

ep an appointment, when I felt my shoulder touched; turning, I confronted a thin,

d, softly, 'and I'll impart to

see that the sole of his boot was almost entirely gone. In its place appeared some dis

ke'em home, cut'em up, and use'em as you see here! Some almanacs last me two days - some only an hour or two! And - hush - (in a whisper) - 'my boy, you may take it from me that the difference in the stability of the cardboard is a sure guarantee of the stability of the office, Sound cardboar

xtraneous refreshments of any kind whatsoever. Yet the money seemed positively to melt away. One dreadful morning we found ourselves reduced to a shilling and two pence halfpenny, the whole

en one glorious morning a letter arrived from Adelaide, and, enormous relief, it contained funds. It was only just in time; another day would have

perate air about it that consorted well with our position, and it would have gone hard with I any cripple, or confirmed paralytic, who might have laughed at our resolve. With this in view, we decided to sail at once for Normanton, but for sufficiently good reasons were eventually persuaded to try the other route down the

ertificated pilot. Our pilot, besides proving himself as hale and hearty an old seadog as ever drank a glass of grog at any one else's expense, was a mo

sland Leper Station, where hopelessness must reign, if it reigns anywhere on earth; sighted the Ado

girt with saffron sands upon which tiny wavelets ripple with ceaseless music. On the other hand, across the ribbon of blue sea, rise high forest-clad hills, which again seem to soften off almost imperceptibly into the azure sky. On an eminence overlooking the pass, stands the lonely but picturesque resi

et, lighting up the rugged cliffs ashore, and lending an air of g

inland, in such a cloud as almost to obscure the heavens. And so close to the shore

I am not slow to accept. The sea is as smooth as a millpond, rising and falling like the breast of a sleeping child; but only a few miles

dangerous coast. Inside, the water is usually smooth, but outside, the great Pacific gales break upon the rocks with murderous violence, and woe betide t

t on the bridge, in order to see all that is to be seen of the int

The sea is flecked with the most delicate salmon and pink streaks, which again gra

s a long way out; but never for a moment i

remarking that it is necessary for him to have all his wits about him. Occasionally he draws up alongside me to point out something of interest in the great barren cliff line along which we are steering. But. these conversations become fewer and farther betwe

one of the loneliest situations along this lonely coast. And what a dramatic picture it presents: a dark night, thick driving clouds, an angry sea, frowning cliffs, a straining, pitching light-ship, and a lamp-studded mail-boat. A sailing-boat puts off to us, and our whistle advises her to be quick. She belongs to a beche-de-mer boat in the vicinity, and is manned by black Gins. T

rrier Reef. It must be strange to have no interest in life save the passing of the mail-boats, and no knowledge of what is happening in the world save what can be gleaned from letters and we

Bay, famous as the scene of a sad incident i

a touch of orange, then purple and gold, until slowly and with infinite gradations, the whole sky is suffused with colour. Nor is the colour limited to the sky alone, for the sea, once more perfectly calm, has taken to itself a new glory. A strange weird hush holds everything, and it is as though the ship, looking twice her real size in the uncanny dawn, is ploughing her way through a floor of dark green jade,

f which, huge rollers smashed in surges of white foam. During the day we sighted and slowed down towards another light-ship, the 'Claremont' ; and here again a bo

n. There was a homely air about it all. From my port-hole I could see two small boys fighting on the wharf-head, a man quarrelling with his wife in a garden on t

rrounded by bold granite hills. The river received its name from Captain Cook's ship, the 'Endeavour,' which wa

lent swim, unscared even by the talk of alligators, which are numerous hereabout. The baths are alligator-proof, and it is just

canoes alongside, and clamouring, like Aden and Malay boys, for diving silver. They are equally expert divers, and, if tricked into di

he monument, erected in the main street, to the memory

he bay may be obtained. The outline of the country is bold, except at the point where the riv

met with on every hand. We counted twenty-six on one side of the main street, and had it not been for a sudde

to be wondering how he could best induce the landlord to stretch his credit to the extent of one more nobbier. We could not help seeing that whatever else he took would only be for show; for he was already in

o and fro; then, taking his bearings by a grease spot on the wa

back! welcome back! even if it does make my old heart bleed to see you. Though you're only just in time, you're not too late, for I got news today of the biggest thing on earth - the biggest crushings to the ton mortal man ever heard of, and you shall have a quarter-share apiece. No, no ; don't thank me - don't thank me; I can't bear it. I'm poor old Uncle Bill, and if he

hands, and, finally, stating that he must go and tell Aunt Tabitha the joyful tidings, opened the swing door and sta

not many miles inland. The history of this marvellous spot reads like a fairy tale. The value of the gold obtained from it up to the present time equals something like 5,000,000l. But this is not the onl

fields have sprung up to take its place, its loss need hardly be taken into cons

while mangoes, bananas, pineapples, guavas, lichees, and granadillas flourish almost too luxuriantly. Besides all these advantages, Cooktow

esting to state that the value of the imports for 1891 amounted to no l

ith its name; indeed, the whole appearance of the coast, as far as the eye can reach, is stern and forbidding. One can quite fancy intrepid Captain Cook's feelings as, day after day, badly equipped, under-manned, scurvy-ridden, his ship ploughed her way through the

am launch put off to meet us, pitching and tossing in a most unpleasant manner, and into her we discharged what car