were
very thick and solid, the creaking and swaying of the shingled roof kept
me in perpetual alarm. The verandah was a great protection; and yet
the small river-pebbles, of which the garden-walk was made, were dashed
against the windows like hailstones by each gust. We amused ourselves
indoors by the study and composition of acrostics, and so got through an
imprisonment of two days, without a moment's cessation of the wind;
but towards sunset on Saturday there were signs of a lull, and about
midnight the gale dropped; and we heard the grateful, refreshing sound
of soft and continuous rain, and when we came out to breakfast on
Sunday morning everything looked revived again. It is a most fortunate
meteorological fact that these very high winds are generally succeeded
by heavy rain; everything is so parched and shrivelled up by them that
I do not know what would become of the vegetation otherwise. We held a
council, to determine what had better be done about returning home, and
finally decided to risk a wet ride sooner than disappoint the little
congregation; for should it prove a fine afternoon, those who lived near
would certainly come; so we mounted after breakfast.

I was wrapped in one of the gentlemen's macintoshes, and found the ride
far from disagreeable. As we neared our own station we began to look out
for signs of disaster; and about half a mile from the house saw some of
the vanes from the chimneys on the track; a little nearer home, across
the path lay a large zinc chimney-pot; then another; and when we came
close enough to see the house distinctly, it looked very much dwarfed
without its chimneys. There had been a large pile of empty boxes at
the back of the stable; these were all blown away in the gale. One huge
packing-case was sailing tranquilly about on the pond, and planks and
fragments of zinc were strewn over the paddock. The moment we reached
the house, Mr. U----, the gentleman-cadet of whom I have told you, came
out, with a melancholy face, to tell me that a large wooden cage, full
of the canaries which I had brought from England with me, had been blown
out of the verandah, though it was on the most sheltered side of the
house. It really seemed incredible at first, but the cage was lying
in ruins in the middle of the paddock, and all my birds except one
had disappeared. It happened in the middle of the night, and Mr.
U----described, very amusingly, that when he was awakened by the noise
which the c