shades there might be lurking, not only the deaf adder, but the bush-ranger to boot.

The first thing that struck me was, "How far is it over these mountains?"- especially when I glanced into the forest, and thought even of the probability of being robbed. I then saw that I had rather imprudently undertaken a thing which ought to have been duly considered prior to my departure, and felt anxious to know the breadth of the mountain-range, of which, as I said before, I had not the slightest knowledge, but had conjectured in my own mind, that a mile, or a mile and a-half, would take me into a similar plain to that which I had just quitted. Charming Cockney notions, as the sequel will show.

I kept on glancing into the dark recesses of the forest, thinking what an excellent covert it was for robbers, when suddenly I heard a dray returning from the diggings. The mountain-road appeared quite the contrary of what I had previously conceived, for, instead of sloping down into a valley, I found it to be a great table-land, which possibly might continue for several miles, and was, therefore, getting anxious to know how much of this delightful wood I should have to encounter on my road to the diggings.

At last, meeting the dray, I put the important question to the driver, as to how far it was down into the valley, conceiving that it could not be more than two or three miles at the most. The man

eyed me from top to bottom, and I can well imagine something similar to the following to have passed through his head, as he eagerly gazed

at me

"You have got on a green hat, your shirt and every other part of your dress ought to have matched it, and then it could only have been an outward and visible sign, and by no means a com

plete representation, of the intense greenness of that soul that sits in the deep, or rather shallow, recesses of thy heart and brain. We have all heard

of the green man, and still this must be the prince of that ancient and thinly-scattered race of men, on his way to the diggings. Of all the sucking ducks I ever heard of, thou art one of the sweetest kind. I wonder if his mother knows that he is out. What a kind woman she must have been in giving him in early life the best of milk, and plenty of it, which he took in such quantities as produced what is called, a fat-headed boy, whose comfortable brain was in such perfect unison with his happy feeding disposition, that it gave him no time for reflection. I have heard of the land of green ginger. This must be the king of the inhabitants of that land. He is the greenest man I ever beheld, an American prairie is nothing to him."

I then said (bearing the gaze of his knowing eye), for I can imagine that the man stood gazing at me in the same way as a staunch old pointerdog at his game,-" How far is it down into the valley?"

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Valley?" said the man, who could then scarcely believe that I was in earnest with him. The man, no doubt, from seeing me dressed like a digger, and all alone, thought at first, I dare say, that I was joking with him, and naturally concluded that every man who went to the diggings of course knew all about the road.

At last he answered me, and said, "It is a hundred miles."

I was as much surprised at the man's answer as he was, a few minutes before, at my exceedingly green question. I then made up my mind to walk the whole of the way, and take my chance for the remainder of the journey. I found houses every ten miles, where I could refresh myself. I tra

velled about twenty miles a-day, sometimes more, in one of the hottest countries in the world, with perfect ease and comfort. This was partly owing to the decrease of temperature of the mountain district.

I was constantly passing people returning from the diggings, in groups of threes and fours, and more. I met, however, with no single pedestrians, either going or coming, fully proving that I was running a considerable risk by travelling alone.

When I got to the halfway-house, I fell in with a capital inn, where I found, in the room, one of the best fiddles I ever came across, and instantly began fiddling, to the great delight of the landlord, who informed me that I was the best fiddler he had ever heard, and that he would give a hundred pounds, if his son, to whom the fiddle belonged, could fiddle as well as I could.

I said, "You are very complimentary, but I am sure you have never heard a good fiddler:" to which he replied, "Yes, I have, for I have heard Wallace, the composer, on that very fiddle you are now playing on.

I replied, that he must be a very bad judge, or else that Wallace was not a good fiddler; and so ended

the affair.

A very well-dressed London-looking girl came into the room to wait upon me. It struck me, as soon as she made her appearance, both from her style and manner, for the girl had a fine figure with a beautifully fitting gown on, that she was from London.

I said, "Are you a native of the country?" "No," she replied.

"How long have you been out here?"

Only a few months, and I should be very glad to get home again.

"What part of London do

you come from?"

She answered, "Shaftesbury Crescent, Pimlico." I said, I visited a Mrs. R-――ss, who lived there.

"Dear-a-me," said the girl, "why, I lived next door to her."

After this we were well acquainted, and enjoyed a long chat about London.

CHAPTER X.

The Road to the Diggings-An Unpleasant EncounterCockatoos and King Parrots-Bathurst-The most Beautiful Country in the World-Lesson to Travellers in New South Wales-A Bully Cowed by Bullying-Incidents at Bathurst-Universal Brotherhood of Friends of Truth-A Voyage to New Zealand-Awful Gales of Wind-Horrible Swell of the Atlantic-Long Passage to the Cape-A Topheavy Wave, and its Result.

I FELL in with no companion throughout my whole six days' journey in the mountains. I frequently met groups of people returning to Sydney. I invariably marched up to them, gave them all a penetrating fearless look in order to let them see that I was not afraid of them, chatted about all the topics of interest, and wished them good bye, always listening to ascertain if they were following me, without turning my head to give a suspicious look.

I had no life-preserver, pistol, or any other weapon of defence. Robberies had been committed two or three days before I arrived, at a certain part of the road. Every man going to the diggings is supposed to have nothing upon his person. This will account for my not being robbed. My watch and chain, and money besides, were worth

from £30 to £40, a sum quite sufficient to pay any bushranger for the trouble of shooting and plundering me.

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I was much amused upon one occasion, and equally annoyed at the same time, by being overtaken by an old Scotchman, who wished me good morning and began chatting very agreeably. The old fellow, after some little conversation, said, "You are not going to dig. You don't look like a digger." I replied by telling him the truth; that I was an English physician on my travels, returning from New Zealand to England, and that I was going to the diggings merely for my amusement. This, however, was a dangerous confession. Had he been an old bushranger he might have subsequently waylaid me. I, however, did not suspect him. I felt annoyed, nevertheless, at the idea of my not looking like a digger, as my life depended upon being well-disguised.

Upon one occasion I came across a group of fellows whom I met returning to Sydney. The group was so numerous that I was nearly surrounded by them, first talking to one, then asking a question to another, and cursorily glancing at the whole of them to see what sort of looking fellows they were, when all of a sudden, to my great terror, there stood quite near to me a man whom I had not previously noticed, with a countenance which pourtrayed the most perfect diabolical cut-throat aspect of visage I ever beheld, sufficiently near me to lay hold of me.

I retired from this brigandlike fellow after the same fashion as visitors to Her Majesty leave her presence after a presentation. I turned no back to him until I was free from his grasp, and at a distance of several yards. When standing near to the fellow I felt somewhat similar, probably, to that which the poor bird experiences from the eye