ward in the firm belief that at last we had reached the
coast. Yamba explained that it was only a mirage, but I would not stay
to listen, and must have gone miles before I gave up in disgust and
returned to my patient wife. This brings me to another and perhaps still
more extraordinary illusion. One day whilst Yamba and I were passing
through one of those eternal regions of sand-hills and spinifex which are
the despair of the Australian explorer, I suddenly saw in the distance
what I was certain was _a flock of sheep_. There they were
apparently--scores of them, browsing calmly in a depression in a fertile
patch where most probably water existed.

In an instant the old desire to return to civilisation, which I had
thought buried long ago, reasserted itself, and I dashed forward at full
speed yelling back to Yamba, "Sheep, sheep--where sheep are, men are.
Civilisation at last!" When at length I had got near enough for the
creatures to notice me, you may imagine my disgust and disappointment
when quite a little forest of tall heads went high into the air, and _a
flock of emus_ raced off across the country at full speed. These huge
birds had had their heads down feeding, and not unnaturally, in the
distance, I had mistaken them for sheep.

I think every one is aware that prolonged droughts are of very common
occurrence in Central Australia, and are mainly responsible for the
migratory habits of the aborigines--particularly those of the remote
deserts in the interior. The most terrible drought I myself experienced
whilst in my mountain home was one that extended over three years, when
even the lagoon in front of my dwelling, which I had thought practically
inexhaustible, dried up, with the most appalling results. Just
think--never a drop of rain falling for over three long years, with a
scorching sun darting down its rays almost every day! During this
terrible period the only moisture the parched earth received was in the
form of the heavy dews that descended in the night. Even these, however,
only benefited the vegetation where any continued to exist, and did not
contribute in the slightest degree to the natural water supply so
necessary for the sustenance of human and animal life. The results were
terrible to witness. Kangaroos and snakes; emus and cockatoos; lizards
and rats--all lay about either dead or dying; and in the case of animals
who had survived, they seemed no longer to fear their natural enemy, man