rs advanced, and contrasted
favourably with the dusty, stony, and worn-out region through which they
had passed nearer the capital.

"Horrible farming!" observed James; "if such were practised in England
universally, the whole country would become a desert in a few years."

Sometimes they passed through scenery like that of a park in England,
with open green pastures sprinkled with clumps of trees; some deserving
the names of woods, others consisting but of a few trees. The greater
number were _Eucalypti_ the evergreen gum, and stringy-bark trees; but
on the banks of streams and on the hillsides, and sometimes in rich,
alluvial valleys, such as are found in the northern hemisphere and in
less sunny climes, were to be seen flowers, of great size and beauty,
such as flourish only in greenhouses in England; while a great variety
of the orchis tribe, and geraniums, both large and small, were found in
great profusion. The trees, the names of many of which were given by
Larry, bore little or no resemblance to those of the same name at home.
Among the most common were the box, wattle, and cherry; but undoubtedly
the most prominent everywhere in the landscape were the old gum trees,
and the huge iron stringy-bark trees, which, now with shattered and
weird appearance, had braved the fierce storms of winter and the hot
blasts of summer for centuries. Many strange birds flew by overhead,
and still stranger wild animals started up from beneath some sheltering
bush, and ran off along the fresh glades, all reminding the new-comers
how far distant they were from the home of their childhood.

The old settled district had been left far behind before the animal they
most wished to see started up near them. He was a large creature, full
five feet in height as he sat upright under the scant shade of a
venerable gum tree, contemplating apparently the scene before him. His
long tail was stretched out on the ground behind him--an important
support, and his little fore-paws tucked up in front. James and Arthur
were ahead of their party, and so quietly had their horses trod over the
soft ground that he did not appear to have heard them. They possessed
guns, parting gifts from Mr Prentiss; but, not being required as a
means of defence or offence, they had been left in the dray. The
kangaroo ("an old man" Larry called him) at length, hearing a sound,
turned his mild, intelligent countenance towards them, and as he did so
instantly gave