pened in this wise, then:-a large well-proportioned room had been
added to the house lately; it was intended for a drawing-room, but
for some reason has only been used as a spare bed-room, but as it
may possibly return to its original destination, very little bed-room
furniture has been put in it, and many of its belongings are appropriate
to a sitting-room. We called in the servants, the light cane bedstead
was soon deposited under the shade of a tree in the garden, the
washing-stand was similarly disposed of, and an hour's work with hammer
and nails and a ball of string turned the room into a perfect bower of
ferns and flowers: great ingenuity was displayed in the arrangement of
lights, and the result was a very pretty ball-room.

We are always eating in this country, so you will not be surprised
to hear that there was yet another meal to be disposed of before we
separated to dress in all sorts of nooks and corners. White muslin was
the universal costume, as it can be packed flat and smooth. My gown
had been carried over by F---- in front of his saddle in a very small
parcel: I covered it almost entirely with sprays of the light-green
stag's-head, moss, and made a wreath of it also for my hair. I think
that with the other ladies roses were the most popular decoration, and
they looked very fresh and nice. I was the universal _coiffeuse_, and I
dressed all the girls' heads with flowers, as I was supposed to be best
up in the latest fashions. In the meantime, the piano had been moved to
the bay-window of the ball-room, and at ten o'clock dancing commenced,
and may be truly said to have been kept up with great spirit until four
o'clock: it only ceased then on account of the state of exhaustion of
the unfortunate five ladies, who had been nearly killed with incessant
dancing. I threw a shawl over my head, and sauntered alone up one of the
many paths close to the house which led into the Bush. Tired as I was,
I shall never forget the beauty and romance of that hour,--the delicious
crisp _new_ feeling of the morning air; the very roses, growing like a
red fringe on the skirts of the great Bush, seemed awaking to fresh life
and perfume; the numbers of gay lizards and flies coming out for their
morning meal, and, above all, the first awakening of the myriads of
Bush-birds; every conceivable twitter and chatter and chirrup; the last
cry of a very pretty little owl, called, from its distinctly uttered
words, the "More-pork," as i