nd fruit gardens. The Mongers' house was quite
after the English style, so also was their hospitality. From York I rode
along the old track to Southern Cross, and a lonely ride I had, for the
train had superseded the old methods of travel, much to the disgust of
some of the "cockies," or small farmers, who expressed the opinion that
the country was going to the dogs, "them blooming railways were spoiling
everything"; the reason for their complaint being, that formerly, all the
carrying had been in the teamsters' hands, as well as a considerable
amount of passenger traffic.

I had one or two "sells" on the road, for former stopping-places were now
deserted, and wells had been neglected, making it impossible, from their
depth, for me to get any water. I was fortunate in falling in with a
teamster and his waggon--a typical one of his class; on first sight they
are the most uncouth and foul-tongued men that it is possible to imagine.
But on further acquaintance one finds that the language is as superficial
as the dirt with which they cannot fail to be covered, since they are
always walking in a cloud of dust. My friend on this occasion was
apostrophising his horses with oaths that made my flesh creep, to help
them up a steep hill. The top reached, he petted and soothed his team in
most quaint language. At the bottom of the slope he was a demon of
cruelty, at its summit a kind-hearted human being! I lunched with him,
sitting under his waggon for shade, and found him most entertaining--nor
was the old pony neglected, for he was given a fine feed of chaff and
oats.

In due time I reached Coolgardie, where Lord Douglas and our new partner,
Mr. Driffield (since drowned in a boating accident on the Swan River),
joined me. They had engaged the services of one Luck and his camels, and
had ridden up from the Cross. The rush to Kurnalpi had just broken out,
so Driffield, Luck, and I joined the crowd of fortune-hunters; and a
queer-looking crowd they were too, for every third or fourth swagman
carried on his shoulder a small portable condenser, the boiler hanging
behind him and the cooler in front; every party, whether with horses,
carts, or camels, carried condensers of one shape or another; for the
month was January, no surface water existed on the track, and only salt
water could be obtained, by digging in the salt lakes which the road
passed. The nearest water to the scene of the rush was a salt lake seven
miles distant, and this