PERILS OF PIONEERING. 175 



of cattle. As T called loudly to them, they soon saw 

 me, and one of them came over to me, thinking that I 

 must be a wandering madman, as he thought no sane 

 traveller could be in that neighborhood, owing to the 

 state of the rivers. 



In a few hurried words I explained how it was 

 that I came to be there, and he advised me to follow 

 him and his companion who were going to Columbra 

 with the cattle, one of which they were going to kill 

 for beef. Being within two miles of the station, I was 

 soon there, and was most kindly received by the 

 manager's wife, Mrs. McLennan, who speedily set some 

 food before me. As night closed in, the rain came 

 down again in torrents, and as I lay awake hearing it 

 pattering on the roof, I thought of my brother and 

 his wife, and wondered whether they had found shelter 

 or not. 



I knew that Joss's station was down the river from 

 where we crossed, and believed they might have gone 

 there, but the enormous body of water in the river 

 made it next to impossible for us to find out for a 

 certainty. 



On the fourth day of my stay at Columbra a man 

 came from a public-house situated on the bank of 

 the Mackenzie, about three miles further up than 

 Columbra (which was away back, and not in sight of 



