IV 
A MIDNIGHT RIDE 
4i 
were. Would I say no to a trip to the moon if I 
thought I could get there ? So off I started at seven 
in the evening with one of the overseers from the 
plantation, to ride eight miles to an hotel where we 
were to pick up the rest of our party. 
It did not look an inviting evening for an excursion, 
for it was drizzling with rain the whole way, and now 
and then a muffled rumble of thunder came to our ears, 
as if it had not quite made up its mind to approve of 
our proceedings. My host and hostess, who were to 
have come with us, changed their minds at the last 
moment, and wisely too, for the expected corroboree 
was no novelty to them ; neither would it have been 
to them, as it was to me, a new sensation to get wet 
through ; so away we went with an escort of three 
gentlemen and two blacks, Sammy and Jacky. Pre- 
sently the moon came out through the clouds, and we 
were able to enjoy, even by that light, the beauty of 
the tropical bush. 
We crossed a very swift river by none the smoothest 
of crossings, and it was no easy matter to make our 
way by the light of the moon round and over huge 
stones hurled one on top of the other in terrific con- 
fusion from the perpendicular cliffs above, and then on 
we went through an old sugar plantation at the foot of 
the Pyramid Hill ; such a splendid mill there was, all 
going to ruin, and the cane that we rode through, high 
above our horses’ heads, was being trodden down and 
eaten by hundreds of cattle. Some of these were very 
wild, and seemed to object to our encroaching on their 
quarters. It seemed cruel that so much enterprise and 
money (over ^200,000) should be wasted and lost 
because of the doing away with black labour. This 
is now my second visit to Queensland, and the more 
I see of this Northern coast climate, the more im- 
