visit. Quarantine was then in force, and, with my
fellow-passengers, I was forbidden to land. All I then saw of the people
of Western Australia was limited to a few hours watching the
coal-lumpers at work trucking coal along a plank from an ancient hulk
moored by the side of the P. and O. steamship _Victoria_. After the
animated scenes of coaling at Malta and Aden, and particularly the wild,
indescribable scene at Port Said, coaling at Albany fell decidedly
flat. The only diversion that varied the monotony of the proceedings was
when a truck would capsize in its Blondin-like trip and pitch the coals
into the sea.

[Illustration]

The most interesting personage in Albany is Captain B----, the harbour
master. I call him the Receiver-General of Australia, for he is the
first inhabitant of Australia to receive and welcome the new comer, and
he is also the last to take farewell of the parting guest. Captain B----
has held the post of harbour master at King George's Sound, Albany, for
over thirty years, and, though over seventy years of age, he seems equal
to many years of service yet. Certainly a stranger gets a good
impression of the country if he takes Captain B---- as a sample
Australian, and one wonders, when one sees this fine old salt run up the
gangway with the agility of a youth of seventeen, whether all
Australians are equally active. Chatting with Captain B----, I
complimented him on his youthful physique. "Why, sir," said he, "I can
climb up anything. I can board the ship hand-over-hand on a rope and
never touch the side with my feet." This seemed pretty good for a man of
over seventy, but I did not regard it as an exaggeration. Captain B----
remembered his father and uncle, both naval men, going to the funeral of
King George IV. His reminiscences included the experiences of singing in
a choir at the coronation of the Queen, and also when Her Majesty was
married. When the Captain ran down the gangway shouting orders to his
men, the strength of his lungs was as evident as the agility of his
body. Anyone who took this worthy official as a typical Australian would
be greatly deceived. Diminutive in stature and voluble in speech, he is
in every way the reverse to the average-born Australian. The Australian
is generally tall, not to say lanky, and by no means communicative.

An American walked into the smoking-room of a P. and O. ship outward
bound, as it was leaving St. George's Sound, threw himself down on a
sofa