ng-table
in the "_h_oriel." In that tall, white, classical-shaped vase of
Minton's which you helped me to choose is the most beautiful bouquet,
made entirely of ferns; it is a constant object for my walks up the
gullies, exploring little patches of bush to search for the ferns, which
grow abundantly under their shelter by the creek. I have a small but
comfortable bedroom, and there is a little dressing-room for F---- and
the tiniest spare room you ever saw; it really is not bigger than the
cabin of a ship. I think the kitchen is the chief glory of the house,
boasting a "Leamington range" a luxury quite unknown in these parts,
where all the cooking is done on an American stove,--a very good thing
in its way, but requiring to be constantly attended to. There is a
good-sized storeroom, in which F---- has just finished putting me up
some cupboards, and a servants' room. It is not a palace is it? But it
is quite large enough to hold a great deal of happiness. Outside, the
premises are still more diminutive; a little wash-house stands near the
kitchen door, and further up the enclosure is a stable, and a small room
next it for saddles, and a fowl-house and pig-stye, and a coal-shed. Now
you know everything about my surroundings; but--there is always a
_but_ in everything--I have one great grievance, and I hope you will
appreciate its magnitude.

It was impossible for F---- to come up here when the house was first
commenced, and the wretch of a builder deliberately put the drawing-and
dining-room fireplaces in the corner, right up against the partition
wall, of course utterly destroying the comfort as well as the symmetry
of the rooms. I am convinced some economy of bricks is at the bottom of
this arrangement, especially as the house was built by contract; but the
builder pretends to be surprised that I don't admire it, and says, "Why,
it's so oncommon, mum!" I assure you, when I first saw the ridiculous
appearance of the drawing-room pier-glass in the corner, I should
liked to have screamed out at the builder (like the Queen in "Alice in
Wonderland"), "Cut off his head!"

When we were packing up the things to come here, our friends expressed
their astonishment at our taking so many of the little elegancies of
life, such as drawing-room ornaments, pictures, etc. Now it is a great
mistake not to bring such things, at all events a few of them, for they
are not to be bought here, and they give the new home a certain likeness
to