many people before they were found. Many a man has lost
his way in the scrub and never been heard of again, or perhaps years
after his bones were discovered bleaching at the foot of a tree, where
he had sat or lain down for his last rest when he could go no further."

A portion of the road from Adelaide to Sydney is called "the
ninety-mile desert," in distinction from the rest of the scrub region.
It was a great relief to any one to get out of this desert country, and
reach the region of farms, and fences, cattle or sheep pastures, and
cultivated fields. In some of the districts through which our travelers
passed they saw great numbers of rabbits, and on calling attention to
them, a gentleman who was in the railway carriage told them something
about the rabbit pest from which the Australian colonies are suffering.

"If you want to make a fortune," said the gentleman, "find some way for
destroying the rabbits in Australia. There is a standing reward of
twenty-five thousand pounds (one hundred and twenty-five thousand
dollars of your money) for any method that proves successful. The reward
is offered by the colony of New South Wales, and the other colonies will
pay as much more."

"Were there rabbits in this country when it was first discovered?" Harry
asked.

"There were no rabbits here," was the reply; "nor any animals like them.
In 1851, a gentleman living near Dunedin, New Zealand, was on a visit to
the old country, and it occurred to him that it would be a nice thing to
have rabbits in New Zealand, so that they could amuse themselves by
chasing the little creatures with dogs. On his return from England he
brought seven rabbits, and they were the progenitors of all the rabbits
in New Zealand, Australia, and Tasmania. For a few years, as fast as
rabbits were obtainable they were distributed throughout the colonies,
but it was not long before the distributors found out their mistake.

"The rabbits increased and multiplied at a terrific rate. How many
there are now in the colonies, nobody can tell, as it is impossible to
take a census of them, but they certainly amount to many millions. They
have destroyed millions of acres of sheep pasturage, so that many farms
which once supported great numbers of sheep have been deserted in
consequence of the rabbits. Let me give you an illustration that I know
about, as I was one of the sufferers by these vermin. Fifteen years ago,
I owned an interest in a sheep run on the bank