88 MYOLA CHAP. 
hallooing of stockmen rang out, while in and out 
through the trees came the mottled reds, whites, and 
blacks of the cattle, and we had quickly to rein in as 
the herd scattered in front of us, jostling each other, 
breaking the bounds and dodging the riders. Now 
one unruly beast goes off with a scamper, tail stuck 
straight in the air, but the cattle dogs round him up 
again. They snort and sniff, as they pass unpleasantly 
near us. The drivers stop for a moment to give us a 
word in passing ; then all is silence again. The cattle, 
poor things, looked lean enough at this time of the year, 
and are probably on their way to some boiling-down 
works. 
Now we were out of the forest again, and across a 
burnt- up-looking plain with a long stretch of rank 
grass, both yellow and dry, and we made our way very 
slowly, dodging the hidden black stumps that told 
their own tale, and with the sun overhead, through 
the hot misty haze, we saw the sparkle of light in the 
still waters of a miniature lake with deep shadows and 
reflections of trees and g^reen sedges round its banks. 
Close to the shore they seemed to break in one long 
ripple of transparent wave, cheating our visions with 
an illusory supply of what we longed to have. As 
we came nearer, it all seemed to recede and take new 
forms, then slowly faded under the glow of the hot 
horizon. It was the first mirage that I had seen in 
Queensland. Towards evening we saw another; the 
film of heat giving it gigantic proportions. 
We passed some magnificent bushes of yellow 
hibiscus, and on the edge of a low scrub a white 
bauhinia in full blossom. I was amply rewarded for 
what I had been through by these treasures. There 
was not a trickle of water at any spot where we could 
make our camping ground, and it was night before we 
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