BY HONe A. NORTON, M.L.C. 93 
received by the Hon. Francis Bigge, M.L.C. Mr. and Mrs. 
Bigge were living in their new cedar house, Mr. and Mrs. 
Bowman in the cottage close by, which had, until the erection 
of the cedar house, done duty as the chief house of the Station. 
This homestead was pleasantly situated near the bank of 
Reidy Creek, where was a patch of good drift soil that 
had been converted into a garden, in which, in addition 
to the usual ornamental flowers and vegetables, were a number 
of peach and other fruit trees. It was evident that someone 
connected with the establishment had a thoughtful regard 
for the orchard; a hollow tree had been cut into lengths 
of 18 inches or 2 feet, and beside each tree, one of these 
natura! wooden pipes had been let into the ground in an up- 
right position, so that the roots of the trees could be thoroughly 
watered by filling the hollow stumps with water drawn 
from the creek ; an excellent, and I believe a very effective 
arrangement. In the garden I noticed a number of salt- 
bushes, which Mr. Bigge told me had been raised from seed 
gathered from plants which grew on the Dawson River ; 
they were planted as an experiment, and appeared to be in a 
healthy condition. For a number of years, specimens of the 
same plant could be seen in the Brisbane Botanical Gardens. 
My host had very kindly suggested that I should rest on 
Sunday, and, anxious as I was to get on, it was difficult to set 
aside so tempting an offer. But in the morning I had an 
unpleasant experience ; when the horses were brought up 
from the paddock, the animal which carried my pack was lame. 
Mr. Bowman joined me in an inspection of the injured hoof, 
from which I had removed the shoe, and the hurt was too 
serious to be made light of. Under these circumstances, I 
thought it advisable to move on quietly as far as Cressbrook, 
so after lunch I saddled up. But Mr. Bigge was one of those 
kindly men who would not allow anyone to pursue his journey 
under such a disadvantage. I must leave him my lame horse, 
and take in exchange, a very good young “Sailor” mare, 
which was then in the yard close by! So the exchange was 
there and then effected, and I left Mount Brisbane with a 
grateful heart. Many years afterwards, when I again met 
Mr. Bigge, I reminded him of the incident, which he had 
altogether forgotten. The exchange was one in which I 
was in every respect the gainer ; but I was doomed to another 
