which the sheep live, and horses also do very well on it, keeping in
good working condition, quite unlike their puffy, fat state on
English pasture.

We drove through the plantation and another gate, and drew up at the
door of a very large, handsome, brick house, with projecting gables
and a verandah. The older I grow the more convinced I am that
contrast is everything in this world; and nothing I can write can
give you any idea of the delightful change from the bleak country we
had been slowly travelling through in pouring rain, to the warmth
and brightness of this charming house. There were blazing fires
ready to welcome us, and I feel sure you will sufficiently
appreciate this fact when I tell you that by the time the coal
reaches this, it costs nine pounds per ton. It is possible to get
Australian coal at about half the price, but it is not nearly as
good.

We were so tired that we were only fit for the lowest phase of human
enjoyment--warmth, food, and sleep; but the next morning was bright
and lovely, and I was up and out in the verandah as early as
possible. I found myself saying constantly, in a sort of ecstasy,
"How I wish they could see this in England!" and not only see but
feel it, for the very breath one draws on such a morning is a
happiness; the air is so light and yet balmy, it seems to heal the
lungs as you inhale it. The verandah is covered with honeysuckles
and other creepers, and the gable end of the house where the
bow-window of the drawing-room projects, is one mass of yellow
Banksia roses in full blossom. A stream runs through the grounds,
fringed with weeping willows, which are in their greatest beauty at
this time of year, with their soft, feathery foliage of the