rtaking us till we
could reach a place of safety.

We were exposed, however, to another danger, from the masses of earth
and rock which, loosened by the wind, came falling down on our left;
while branches of various sizes, wrenched off the parent stems, were
whirled through the air, and often fell close to us. Even Paddy had
great difficulty in finding the part of the cliff which was accessible.
Happily, a short distance up there was an overhanging rock. As there
was no danger of the waters rising so high, and as it seemed perfectly
secure, my father directed us all to take shelter beneath it. We were
here, at all events, safe from the branches hurtling through the air,
and from the pieces of rock which came bounding down the cliffs. My
mother, Edith, and Pierce were placed in the most sheltered part, and
the rest crept in on either side or in front of them. Here we all sat
the livelong night, anxiously waiting for day, and wishing that the
hurricane would cease.

"Such furious gales as this seldom last many hours," observed my father.
"I trust that it will prove the clearing storm, after which we may look
for fine weather. And we must make up our minds to move in the upper
downs should we remain in the neighbourhood; though, unless we hear from
Sydney, I believe that we shall act wisely by commencing our journey to
the southward. We are a sufficiently large party to resist any attack
which the natives may venture to make on us; and as we have an abundance
of ammunition, we shall be able to supply ourselves with food on the
road."

The subject my father spoke of was of interest to us all.

When we were not talking, I dozed frequently off; and thus the night
passed away with me more rapidly than I could have expected. Sometimes,
when I awoke, I heard the storm still howling and raging, and the waves
roaring on the shore; then there came a lull, and for some time I lost
all consciousness.

On starting up I saw that several of the party were on foot. The sky
overhead was blue, and the first rays of the rising sun were glancing on
the tree-tops sprinkled with moisture, which now no longer waved to and
fro in the breeze.

"Let us return to our village: and I trust that we may find that less
damage has been committed than we expected," said my father.

We all anxiously followed, looking towards the spot where we had left
our houses standing, and wondering whether they would still be there.

"I see their roo