in height, and stouter in proportion. Therefore,
in this tremendously hot weather, he likes to
take a good many spells under the shadiest of
the trees, at which times he gives us accounts
of his adventures during the thirty years that
he has spent in surveying and exploring
different parts of Australia—some ludicrous, some
horrible, some incredible.

We are camped on the banks of the Murray,
on a paddock of ten thousand acres, most of
which will be cut up into lots, varying from a
quarter of an acre to eighty acres. Government
is now doing something on the principle
of " better late than never," by throwing plenty
of land into the market, giving the small
capitalists a chance, and thus making other
openings for a man, besides placing his capital
in a public-house or a store. Next week we
shall mark out lots on a plain of eleven thousand
acres. Mr. Sumwun, hearing me say that I
should like to have one of the allotments that we
are now laying out, told me I should have any
one of them I liked: he buying it, and I paying
him as I could. I do not know what sort of a
speculation it would be here doubtful. At Beechworth
there are several quarter-acre lots which,
bought at the government sales two and three
years back for twenty-five and thirty-five pounds
each, are now let for from one hundred to three
hundred and fifty pounds a year.

From all I have heard, I believe the western
districts of this colony to be best for farming
purposes, both on account of soil and climate.
An insuperable drawback to the land here, is
that it is not well supplied with water. We have
always had to carry some with us whenever we
have gone any distance from the river or lagoons.
On the plain that we have just finished laying
out, there is not a drop to be had, except
by sinking thirty or forty feet for it. There
does not seem to me to be enough rain to make
this a great agricultural district. I suppose it
is drawn off towards the high ranges.

We have had some heavy storms lately, but
they do not often last long, and the heaviest
generally follow a narrow course, which may be
traced for years in the bush by the smashed and
up-torn trees all lying in one direction. I have
seen but one of those storms in full blow, and
that was much too near to be pleasant for I saw
a great many trees shivered by the lightning;
there were splinters, from the size of a lucifer-
match to the size of posts and rails, covering the
ground all round, some being thrown full a
hundred yards.

I was down on the Murray the other day,
when I saw two platypusses. Their fur does
not seem sleek in the water, like a water-rat's
when swimming, but loose and open. I often
see them with their backs and the tops of their
heads just above the water in the river; they
remain in one spot in the strongest current for a
minute or so, and then dive, and come up again,
generally, however, lower down the stream. I
noticed many mussel-shells on the banks, which
I think must have been left there by them;
for if they had been left there by the blacks,
they would have been roasted, which they were
not. I have sometimes seen layers and patches
of cooked shells some feet under the surface of
the earth, at the edge of a high bank which
the river was washing away, but which, from
the appearance of the flat, had once been
deposited there by the action of the water. I
see more to interest me on the river, in one
day, than I do in the dried-up forest in a month.
'Tis a great pity that this country is not better
watered.

Yesterday afternoon I was out shooting for
an hour or two with a companion, in a little
boat on a lagoon. We killed a black swan each;
they are noble-looking birds on the water, and
quite equal to their cousins at home.

Snakes are very numerous in this part of the
country, but they are seldom seen very far from
the river, or from some swamp or lagoon; for in
the summer they spend a good part of the day
in the water. The warm weather brings them
out: black, brown, whip, diamond, and carpet
snakes, all venomous, and some as much as
six, or even eight feet long. The insects also
come out with alarming strength on these days,
when a thermometer in the sun rises to one
hundred and thirty.

Almost the only time I have for writing is on
a Sunday, and then one has to wash and mend,
&c., and I generally ride out for a few hours—
more to keep my mare under control than
anything else, for she is very gay. The Christmas
holidays I spent in going after her to Wodonga
(forty-three miles from hence), where she was
bred. She had strayed away from our camp. I
walked there, but did not find her till after
another day's walk; then I rode her home, and
enjoyed my holiday as much as if I had been
hard at work.

From all I have seen, I am convinced that
there is much more drunkenness in the country
townships, in proportion to the number of the
inhabitants, than there is on the diggings. 'One
reason for this is the universal custom of paying
by checks. A man works for months at splitting,
sawing, fencing, or anything else; then
draws all his money in one check; goes to the
public-house to change it and get a nobbler; and
ends by coming out without a penny in his
pocket. I have known two men knock down
an eighty pound check each, in a day or two at
the public-house. On the diggings it is very
different; a man gets his cash whenever he
likes to sell his gold, and generally knows what
to do with it.

Mr. Sumwun, our boss, is dead. I have been
superintendent for some time, but now I suppose
I shall again be thrown on my own resources.
I do not' dread the fall. Digging is too much
of a lottery; indeed, I half believe there are
great discoveries yet to be made in animal
magnetism, and the attracting and repelling powers
between gold and diggers. I know some men
who always get a golden hole on any new rush,
and others who never do; and yet the two sets
may be equal in energy, intelligence, and practical
experience. There ought to be some way