170 AUSTRALIA AND THE AUSTRALIANS. 



the canoe in the morning to rescue me, I thought I 

 would make myself as comfortable as circumstances 

 permitted for the night, so having selected the tree on 

 the highest ground, and strapping the portmanteau on 

 my back, I climbed up, and on reaching a pair of 

 forked branches about fifteen feet up, pressed the 

 portmanteau tightly down and sat on it. Having 

 attained this comfortable position, a thunderstorm 

 broke overhead and the rain came down in torrents, 

 making me considerably damp. 



However, it did not last long, for by nine o'clock 

 the stars shone out, and I rejoiced to hear my brother 

 and sister-in-law singing hymns. I was very glad of 

 this and thought they could not be so badly off, and 

 that now I was pretty sure of being rescued in the 

 morning, so I coo-eed (called) a good many times, but 

 it did not seem to have much effect, as they still went 

 on singing. 



I didn't have a very lively time of it, and was afraid 

 to go to sleep for fear of falling off the roost, so was glad 

 when the morning began to dawn. When daylight 

 appeared, however, my island was gone clean disap- 

 peared, and a strong current was running at the foot of 

 my tree. Not a sign of grass or anything remained to 

 show that an island existed overnight. The bank of 

 the river that I wanted to gain was in sight, but at a 



