166 AUSTRALIA AND THE AUSTRALIANS. 



the other, and as he recognized me he threw up his 

 hat and gave a lusty hurrah ! 



It was now arranged that he should ride to our 

 station, Oakey Creek, about thirty miles distant, and 

 get horses for us, as we hoped to cross in a day or 

 two. This he did, and returned next day with the 

 station manager, and several men with axes, for the 

 purpose of making a canoe out of a gum tree, to ferry 

 us across. They set to work with a will, and two 

 days were occupied in felling a large tree, and hollow- 

 ing a canoe from its trunk. This tedious work proved 

 a failure, as the tree being green, was not suffi- 

 ciently buoyant; empty kegs were resorted to to make 

 the craft more seaworthy, and after weary watching 

 we saw my brother and the manager steer for our 

 side, but, alas for all things human ! the middle of the 

 stream was not reached when a sunken snag was 

 struck, and over went the boat and occupants, both of 

 whom were seen floundering in the water. A few 

 minutes of suspense and they were seen nearing the 

 bank they left, and were soon safely landed. Our 

 friends, the bullock drivers, now ferried us across in a 

 bark canoe. 



We were rather shy of so frail a craft after our 

 recent experience, but the river was now compara- 

 tively small, and no alternative offered. We now 



