ust follow whithersoever fortune and Miss Lizzie
thought fit to lead us.

At least an hour before dawn we were astir, and swallowing the scalding
tea that the man on watch had prepared: this done, and a snack of
damper and cold meat eaten, we got quietly into the boat and were
pulled ashore. Until daylight, we were unable to make our way, for
paths there were none, and the ground was dangerous from the quantity
of stones, etc., so we were compelled to sit down quietly and smoke our
pipes until we could see to pick our way. In the tropics there is but
little dawn; the sun springs up without heralding his approach by a
lengthened gradation from darkness to night, as obtains in more
temperate climes, and but little patience was requisite to enable us to
commence our search. As many of our readers are doubtless aware that
in Australia no journey is ever undertaken on foot; that the real
bushman would think himself sunk to the depths of abject poverty, if he
had not at least 'one' horse of his own; and that a man will wander
about for a couple of hours looking for a horse to carry him half a
mile, when he might have gone to his destination and back half a dozen
times, in the interval wasted in searching for his steed. Knowing
this, they will doubtless wonder why we did not bring our mounts with
us, and perform the journey comfortably, in place of the tedious method
we now adopted. It must not for a moment be imagined that the great
assistance horses would have afforded us had not been duly weighted and
considered, and our reasons for leaving them behind were as
follows:--From the little we knew of Hinchinbrook, and from the
description Lizzie gave of the country, they would have been rather in
our way than otherwise. The whole island is a mass of lofty volcanic
mountains; and the passes through the gorges so strewn with huge
boulders, debris, and shale, that we should have been compelled to lead
our nags, and thus they would have only proved an encumbrance. This
was one reason, and apparently a very good one, but I doubt if it would
have had much effect upon our party, who could hardly contemplate any
undertaking without the agency of horseflesh, had not a more cogent
argument been forthcoming, to which they were compelled to give in
their adherence.

"The 'Daylight' is quite big enough to carry them all, for such a short
distance, if they're properly stowed," said Jack Clark, the roughrider,
who was a zealous advoc