I 
A BEAUTIFUL GARDEN 
13 
of birds from the aviary, and a magpie struts along the 
verandah and calls for Rover, the dog. Outside, on a 
stand, there is a young eagle who likes fresh food every 
day, and requires a hunter to himself to keep his 
appetite satisfied. Several other tame birds run loose 
about the garden. Six months ago a pet curlew dis- 
appeared. At the commencement of the spring he 
suddenly appeared again, accompanied by a wife, and 
came as usual into the verandah to be fed ; his little 
mate at first kept at a safe distance, but by degrees 
she too gained confidence and became even tamer than 
the other ; as the summer advanced, they both dis- 
appeared again, probably to return in the spring. 
At the foot of the garden a beautiful umbrella tree, 
with its large leaves and crimson-brown flowers, hangs 
over the rocky cliff, and beyond it is a group of palm 
leaves with long tassels of red berries, and the Pandanus, 
with its crimson fruit, all in sections and as large as a 
cocoa-nut ; and last, but not least, in the bend of the 
river spreads a bed of blue water-lilies, each open 
flower as large as a cheese -plate, and of the most 
delicate shades of pale blue and purple, with a bright 
centre of yellow stamens and large floating leaves lined 
with pink, double the size of those of our English 
lilies. 
My first walk in the wild tropical jungle next morn- 
ing I cannot forget. I entered, sketch-book in hand, 
by a narrow little pathway, probably made by an 
alligator. I kicked, as I thought, a grey stick aside 
— it was a snake, and quick as lightning it darted off, 
while I grew hot and cold by turns. There was such 
a death-like silence about me that I felt an intruder 
there, and the thick and tangled mass of rank vege- 
tation completely hid the sun from sight. A few steps 
farther on I came to an opening, and below me lay a 
