disgrace. Truth will out, and the truth about Western
Australia is out of the designing promoter's bag now, never to be caught
in it again. Africa suggests a comparison. In mining there is a great
difference between Africa and Australia. Take, for instance, the Rand in
Africa: it is one long reef of general excellence, divided into mines
all of solid value. Australian mines, with one or two notable
exceptions, do not run so; they are short, broken and erratic.

Each of these when struck may or may not yield the three ounces to the
ton they are boomed as having, but what is not explained to the
investing public is the fact that the mines are limited and
uncertain--they are not continuous, they are most expensive to open and
work, and consequently they are practically worthless, and the
investors' money is swamped and the land shows no return.

A man who has most exceptional experience in mining, in a conversation
with me used an expression _a propos_ of the character of the mining
lodes. He said that they were "patchy." That expresses everything
Australian. Australia is a patchy country. Look at the sheep stations: a
good season or two, property investment, rush, extravagance, no rain,
ruin, despair, exodus. So it is with land, with everything--it is
patchy. The people are patchy. One set, pleasant, refined, kindly,
lovable; the next objectionable, vulgar, low and detestable.

A friend of mine on board the steamer had the following interesting
conversation with an Irish lady moving in Australian society:

"Do you happen to know Mrs. Larry O'B. and Mrs. Mike O'C.?

"Do I know thim? Well, iv course I do. Shure, me darlin', both of their
husbands stood in the same dock wid moi husband on their thrial for
murder--for killin' a process server in Oireland years ago. Moi husband
was acquitted, worse luck!"

"Worse luck?"

"Yis. Maybe y'don't know as how the other two gintlemen got sintinced
and were sent out here as convicts, and both of thim now are
millionaires, and my poor man is still workin' hard for his livin' in
the ould counthry."

Hydrophobia is unknown in Australia. A traveller on arrival has his pet
dog taken from him and the poor animal is thrust into quarantine for six
months. These four millions of inhabitants, spread over the largest
colony in the world, consider themselves so precious they quarantine
everything and everybody but lunatics. Why not quarantine lunatics? Are
they not dangerous? Did not a w