acquaintance; the mountains, however, drew slowly nearer, and by evening
were really rather beautiful. Next day we entered the valley of the
River Selwyn, or Waikitty, as it is generally called, and soon found
ourselves surrounded by the low volcanic mountains, which bear the name
of the Malvern Hills. They are very like the Banks Peninsula. We dined
at a station belonging to a son of the bishop's, and after dinner made
further progress into the interior. I have very little to record, save
that I was disappointed at not finding the wild plants more numerous and
more beautiful; they are few, and decidedly ugly. There is one beast of
a plant they call spear-grass, or spaniard, which I will tell you more
about at another time. You would have laughed to have seen me on that
day; it was the first on which I had the slightest occasion for any
horsemanship. You know how bad a horseman I am, and can imagine that I
let my companion go first in all the little swampy places and small
creeks which we came across. These were numerous, and as Doctor always
jumped them, with what appeared to me a jump about three times greater
than was necessary, I assure you I heartily wished them somewhere else.
However, I did my best to conceal my deficiency, and before night had
become comparatively expert without having betrayed myself to my
companion. I dare say he knew what was going on, well enough, but was
too good and kind to notice it.

At night, and by a lovely clear, cold moonlight, we arrived at our
destination, heartily glad to hear the dogs barking and to know that we
were at our journey's end. Here we were bona fide beyond the pale of
civilisation; no boarded floors, no chairs, nor any similar luxuries;
everything was of the very simplest description. Four men inhabited the
hut, and their life appears a kind of mixture of that of a dog and that
of an emperor, with a considerable predominance of the latter. They
have no cook, and take it turn and turn to cook and wash up, two one