d so alike in everything but
colour--and yet both are disagreeable: that of the white variety from
its piercing harshness, and that of the black from an indefinable
sensation of the approach of coming evil it carries with it--at least,
such is the effect it always has upon me. On strolling to the paling
and looking into the clearing--for although my gun is in my hand, it is
loaded with ball cartridge, and I do not fire--the nimble little
bandicoot scuttled away towards his hollow log, looking so uncommonly
like a well-fattened rat, that I mentally wonder how I could ever have
had the courage to eat one, and a flight of rainbow-hued Blue Mountain
parrots, who have held their ground to the last, whirr up with a
prodigious flapping of wings, and, alighting on a gum-tree, can be seen
hanging about the blossoms, head downwards, sucking out the honey with
their uncouth beaks and awkward little tongues, which seem but badly
adapted to such a delicate task. But I find I am digressing terribly,
and the gloomy winter days of England, which make the recollection of a
bright tropical morning so agreeable a task to contemplate, must be my
excuse.

After breakfast, I hurried down to the beach to see if Tom Frewin, the
skipper of the little cutter, 'Daylight', would be likely to keep his
promise, and have the vessel ready to start by noon. I found him
busily engaged with his not over-numerous crew--for it consisted only
of a man and a boy, besides himself, though Mrs. Tom, who also lived in
the tiny craft, ought to be counted as no inconsiderable addition to
the vessel's complement, for she did the cooking, and on occasions
could take the tiller and steer as cunningly as the gallant Tom
himself. I found him hard at work hurrying the cargo over the side,
assisted by the townspeople, who all showed the greatest anxiety that
no time should be lost in setting out for the relief of the shipwrecked
men. Everything thus pointing to the probability of our getting away
that afternoon, the provision question had to be next considered, for
the party would be numerous, and the exact time our expedition would
take could scarcely be correctly estimated. We knew Government would
refund us for any reasonable outlay, and so determined our search
should not be cut short by any scarcity of food, and our fears of
overshooting the mark and laying in more than we could consume, were
allayed by Mr. McB--, the store-keeper who generously offered to su