THE LAST CRUISE OF THE MIRANDA. 23 



the bucket with the other. We were rigged out in oilskin 

 suits before descending, in order to preserve our clothes from 

 contact with the slimy sides of the tunnels, and resembled a 

 religious procession as we slowly walked on a narrow rail along 

 the winding slippery tunnels, holding the lighted tapers before 

 us. When we had been carefully hoisted to the welcome day- 

 light again, and after we had removed our oilskins and 

 washed the oozy copper slime from our hands, we adjourned to 

 the country residence of the genial host of the Sydney Hotel, 

 who was giving a lunch that day to a party of mining en- 

 gineers and the lady members of their families. We had 

 a delightful lunch, and were most agreeably and hospitably 

 entertained. As we were seated on the broad veranda enjoy- 

 ing some of Colonel Granger's choice cigars, a Scotch bag- 

 piper chanced along, with a company of two young men, an 

 elderly woman, and a very venerable and silver-haired dame. 

 It was a veritable pied piper who had appeared among us, and 

 he soon had his little company dancing a unique and vigor- 

 ous Scotch breakdown. The very old dame in particular 

 danced with remarkable vigor, and displayed unlooked-for 

 agility and friskiness. 



" And the gray grand-sire skilled in gestic lore 

 Hath skipped beneath the burden of four score." 



It was wonderful to behold this venerable girl skipping with 

 graceful agility beneath her burden of fourscore. I am some- 

 what her junior, but I should not have liked to have en- 

 gaged to dance her down. She was apparently as fresh after 

 the dance as at the beginning of it, though she must have 

 tramped a good distance that day, for we were many miles 

 from town. We took a picture of the scene ; but this, together 

 with by far the greater number of photographs that were 

 taken on the expedition, is with the Miranda at the bottom 

 of the sea. 



