II ON THE HERBERT RIVER 23 
I took a trip to Charters Towers, the principal gold- 
field of Queensland, where is a ceaseless din of many 
hundreds of stampers, pounding away day and night. 
The journey on to Hughenden was a most monotonous 
one, and I was glad to get out of the dusty train. 
After three days' rest, I went back to Townsville, 
and to the Queen's Hotel, where I had telegraphed for 
rooms. The town looked hot and parched, but in the 
wide verandah overlooking the sea, we had the bene- 
fit of what air there was. Mrs. C. had filled my 
room with flowers, and gave me tea and real Scotch 
scones afterwards in her own cool little sitting-room ; 
she had added a great many new birds to her already 
large aviary, and the rest of the evening I spent in 
sketching some of them. 
From Townsville I went on to the Herbert River in 
the well-known little s.s. PcJmer, the larger steamers 
not being able to accomplish this inside route. I was 
introduced to the Bishop of Northern Queensland, who 
was going up to Croyden, one of the gold-fields, where 
no one seems to have a " past," or if they have, it is 
one which is best forgotten. He was most amusing^ 
and told us Irish stories, and the doctor who was with 
him talked snakes and flowers. 
The heat in the small cabin was so suffocating that 
I went on deck and sat on a bench until broad day- 
light. Sleep was out of the question, for we had 
anchored in the night at the mouth of the Herbert 
River, and the mosquitoes were unbearable (they played 
with me for sleep and won). I say nothing of the 
cockroaches and other insects ! The night seemed 
horribly long, and even the glorious tropical sunrise 
did not compensate me for its discomfort. Steaming 
along, under the shadow of Hinchinbrooke Island, the 
coast scenery cannot be equalled in Australia. We 
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