lodious, whistling notes arose once more, sounding
somewhat as if a person were running the notes of a chord up and down
with different variations.

"It's very sweet," said Nic.

"Yes. The colonists call it the magpie, but it is the piping crow of
Australia. It is one of the earliest singers, and if we'd been here at
daybreak I dare say we should have heard quite a long solo."

Farther on Nic had a good look at one of the piping crows in the
black-and-white jacket which had obtained for it the familiar name of
magpie; but it was far from being like that handsome bird the British
magpie, with its long tail glossed with metallic reflexions of golden
green and purple, and with wing feathers to match.

Two or three times over, out in the open country, the horses startled
Nic by their disposition to go off at a canter, but after being checked
they calmly settled down to their walking pace, which was fast enough to
leave the bullock team behind; consequently Dr Braydon drew rein from
time to time at the summit of some hill or ridge, so that his son might
have a good view of the new land which was henceforth to be his home.
Here he pointed out the peculiar features of the landscape and its
resemblance to an English park, save that, instead of the grassy land
being dotted with oak, beech, elm, or fir, the trees were always what
the doctor called "gum," with their smooth bark and knotted limbs, but
gum trees of several varieties. Here and there a farmstead could be
seen, but they were few and far between; still, where they did show,
with the roughly built houses and their bark or shingle roofs, flocks of
sheep and droves of cattle could be seen scattered widely over the
plain.

"Did you say we should be about a week getting home?" said Nic, after
one of these halts.

"Perhaps longer," said the doctor. "Everything depends on those
crawling gentlemen behind. They have a heavy load: you see there is no
road, and if rain comes, as it is sure to before long, the load will
seem twice as heavy to the patient beasts, and I can't afford to hurry
them and get them out of condition. Rain falls very seldom here, Nic;
but when it does come there's no nonsense about it. There's a river on
ahead which we shall have to cross."

"Then you have bridges," said Nic naively, "if you have no regular
roads?"

"Bridges? No; we shall have to ford it if we were going across to-day,
it would be a few inches deep; if one of our big rain s