BY HON. A. NORTON, M.L.C. 95 
hungry, also,” I replied suggestively. By the time I had 
dragged off my sodden garments, and replaced them with 
others which a waterproof covering had _ protected, an 
abundant supper awaited me. A scrub turkey, young and 
tender, and cooked to a nicety, invited immediate attention, 
and received it. I had never eaten so nice a bird until then, 
and I left nothing but the bones. I was far too hungry to 
feel ashamed of being thought greedy ; and the bread and 
butter were delicious. 
I stopped two days at Nanango ; not that I wanted to, 
but because the creeks were .gain in flood. The little town- 
ship had one hotel], and six or seven other buildings, but there 
was plenty of good land in the neighbourhood, which has since 
proved tempting to the selector. Everywhere I looked, 
on the morning I resumed my journey—ahead, and on either 
side of me, the level country was as sloppy as rain could make 
it, and the little watercourses, which led to the gully which 
I was following, were half full of dirty water, which hid its 
own depth. There was a plain track, however ; not a dray 
road indeed, but a well-marked bridle track, and here and 
there the old scars on trees beside it showed that there was 
at one time a blazed line to guide those who were not 
acquainted with the locality. My new mare, unfortunately, 
had gone lame, and she became more so as we proceeded on 
our journey. Then those little watercourses were in some 
instances still and almost pool-like where the track crossed 
them. I dodged round some of them, as I had no desire 
to get soaked in deep dirty water, now that all my clothes 
and kit were dry. But looking for better crossings becomes 
tedious and wastes time, so I began to take them on chance, 
and did so in several instances with success ; but I chanced 
it once too often. The gully I was approaching had not a 
suspicious appearance, and I faced it with confidence. As 
I had no companion, there was nobody to laugh at my mis- 
fortune, and just then I felt no disposition to laugh at any- 
thing. My pack mare took a step forward, and down she went. 
As she sank, the water rose steadily up her sides and over her 
back ; then my pack began to disappear, and at last was 
completely submerged. Oh! the wretchedness of it; all 
my dry clothes must be saturated, all that were clean must 
be discoloured by the muddy water. Happily, the good old 
