these
leaned on the hill-side, and were encased in a setting of wild shrubs
and creeping plants of extraordinary beauty. A stream of purest spring
water perpetually flowed through a wide cleft in these rocks, and
afforded a deliciously cool supply, which never failed in the hottest
summer. The house was surrounded by a wide verandah, which, like the
building itself, was roofed with shingles, and up the posts and along
the edge of which there climbed a profusion of the multiflora rose. The
garden sloped away from the house, and contained an abundance of both
flowers and fruits. There was the aloe, and more than one kind of
cactus, growing freely in the open air, with many other plants which
would need the hothouse or greenhouse in a colder climate. Fig-trees,
vines, standard peach, and nectarine trees were in great abundance,
while a fence of the sharp Kangaroo Island acacia effectually kept all
inquisitive cattle at a respectful distance. The inside of the house
was tastefully but not unduly furnished, ancient and modern articles
being ranged side by side in happy fraternity; for a thorough colonist
suits his own taste, and is tolerably independent of fashion.

"Welcome once more to Australia!" exclaimed Mr Oliphant to his young
companions; "and more especially welcome to `the Rocks.' Come in: here,
let me introduce you to my eldest daughter and youngest son--Jane and
Thomas, here's your cousin Hubert; and here's his friend, Mr Frank
Oldfield; you must give them a hearty welcome."

All parties were soon at their ease together. A sumptuous dinner-tea
was soon spread on the table of the dining-room--the windows of which
apartment commanded a view, across the valley, of the city and distant
sea.

Mr Oliphant was a widower, with two daughters and four sons. Jane had
taken her mother's place; the two eldest sons were married, and settled
in other parts of the colony; the third son lived with his younger
sister at a sheep-station about twenty-five miles up the country; the
youngest son, Thomas, a boy about fifteen years old, was still at home,
and rode in daily to the collegiate school, returning in the evening.

"You'll meet your other cousins before long, I hope," said his uncle to
Hubert. "They know, of course, that you are coming; and when I send
them word that you are actually come, we shall have them riding in at an
early day. I suppose you're used to riding yourself? Ah, that's right;
then you're pretty