155 ON AN'D OFF THE TURF. 



I met Mr. Holmes the morning after as we were 

 rowing across South Brisbane river in a ferry boat. He 

 assured me he gave the word to go, and was very sorry 

 such a start had taken place. I told him two jockeys 

 who remained at the post said he did not say " Go/' 

 and that they heard him call out " Come back.'' To 

 this the starter replied they made a mistake. It 

 was a lucky race for the ringmen, as Honest Ned got 

 them out of most of their double difficulties. 



Brisbane is a pleasant place to live in, except 

 during the very hot months. The whole Colony of 

 Queensland has, however, suffered from great de- 

 pression, and Brisbane itself has been fearfully 

 damaged by floods. Nearly the whole of South 

 Brisbane was washed away, and the huge bridge 

 connecting the north with the south side was 

 swept away. Thousands of pounds' damage has been 

 done and many people ruined. I experienced one 

 very severe flood there, when the rain came down in 

 torrents for a week, and it was useless to try and keep 

 dry. One hailstorm there I recollect well. The hail- 

 stones smashed hundreds of windows, and the galvan- 

 ized iron roofs were riddled with holes. I saw, myself, 

 the tops of buses perforated with these hailstones, 

 and in my own garden we picked up stones twelve 

 hours after the storm. The majority of these stones 

 were the size of a cherry, and as hard as bullets, some 

 were much largrer. 



