II A TROPICAL SHOWER 21 
one with purple spots on his body, I lost by a 
bit of sentimentalism. The fact is, I thought I had 
chloroformed him out of existence, and I p^ged his 
wings down and fastened him in an air-tight box. 
But next morning I heard a scraping, and on open- 
ing the lid my prisoner turned his head round and 
looked at me so pathetically with his great eyes 
that I felt conscience-stricken at my cruelty and gave 
him his liberty. After all, my compunctions were 
misplaced, for the Mantis is a terrible fellow. He does 
not, as I had imagined, live on grass, but devours his 
own species, and I think if I had known this I should 
have added him to my collection. 
I had my first experience here of a regular tropical 
shower, a veritable waterspout, and such thunder! it 
rained an inch and three-quarters in one hour, the 
hailstones being larger than a pigeon's egg. Mr. R., 
who was out in it all, hid himself under the sheaf 
of a palm tree, and the horses and cows rushed in 
wild confusion round the paddocks with their tails 
straight in the air, wondering who was pelting them. 
We went to spend two days with the Ks. down 
the river, where we had a large boating party next day. 
We started in three different boats early in the morning 
with the tide ; we had our lunch some miles up the 
river, and, while the men fished, we boiled potatoes, 
fried the chops, and made " billy" tea. We came home 
in the cool of the evening, with a boat-load of fish, and 
after high tea finished up the evening with a dance. 
They are most hospitable people, and the whole of their 
guests stayed for several days, riding, fishing, driving, 
and playing tennis by turns. 
It was beginning to get much warmer, and in the 
few days that we were away from " The Rocks " the 
trailing plants in the verandah had all burst into 
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