Part 1 (2/2)

Dunk Island is ithin the tropical zone, its true bearings being 146 deg 1155 min 25 sec S lat It is but 30 miles south of the port of Geraldton, the wettest place in Australia, as well as the centre of the chief sugar-producing district of the State of Queensland There the rainfall averages about 140 inches per annuhest mountains in Australia (5,400 feet), and on these the monsoons buffet and break their ical faain, 20 , 12 miles broad, and mountainous fro and picturesque channel which divides Hinchinbrook froes of mountains away to the west, participate in phenoe recedes and is of much lower elevation, and to these facts perhaps is to be attributed our modified rainfall coet our share, and when people deplore the droughts which devastate Australia, let it be reorous of Australian droughtsthe partial drought which ended with 1905, and which occasioned great losses throughout the pastoral tracts of Queensland, grass and herbage here were perennially green and succulent--the creeks never ceased running

Within the tropics heat is inevitable, but our island enjoys several clies The temperature is equable Blow the hithersoever it listeth, and it comes to us cooled by contact with the sea Herefont of pure, soft, beneficent air We have all the advantages which residence at the happy mean from the Equator bestows, and few of the drawbacks By its fruits ye shall know the fertility of the soil

Birds are nule and constructs of decaying leaves and wood and light loam the most trustworthy of incubators, and wastes no valuable ti, to the tiny sun-bird of yellow and purple, which flits all day a scarlet hibiscus blooms, sips nectar from the flame-tree, and rifles the dull red studs of the umbrella tree of their sweetness

The stalled ox is not here, nor the fatted calf, nor any of the es of the table; but there is the varied harvest of the sea, and all the freshness of an isle clean and green The heat, the clatter, the stuffy odours, the toilsoue of town life are abandoned; the careless quiet, the calm, the refreshained Frolowing yellow until it drops in fiery splendour suddenly out of sight leaving a band of glea red path across to Australia, the whole realm of nature seems ours to command

OFFICIAL LANDING

Dunk Island was not selected haphazard as an abiding place By ca of facts fro the country, useful information had been acquired unobtrusively We were determined to have the best obtainable isle More than one locality was favourably considered ere good fortune decided to send us hither to spy out the land A camp-out on the shore of then unna party--and the result of the first day's exploration decided a revolutionary change in the lives of two seriously-minded persons A year after, a lease of the best portion of the island having been obtained in the ood

Wholly uninhabited, entirely free fro paws of hue, what better sphere for the exercise of benign autocracy could be desired? Here was virgin country, 20 lected Cardwell cut off fro ocean, and yet lying in the track of sht serenely develop

But it was an inauspicious landing With Septee experience that afternoon Was it not a farce--a great deal more than a farce: a saucy, flippant imposition on the tender mercies of Providence--for an individual who could not endure a few hours of tossing on the bosoine that he possessed the hardihood to establish a home even in this lovely wilderness? We had tents and equipment and a boat of our own, a workman to help us at the start, and two faithful black servants

The year before, we had made the acquaintance of one of the few survivors of the native population of the island--stalwart Toh our project and preparations had been kept fairly secret, he had overheard a casual reference to the froin, an infant and mother-in-law, had preceded our advent by a week His duties began with the discharging of the first boatload of portable property He cooes now after the lapse of years

They spread out tents and rugs for the weak reatly dared, but who, thus early, was ready to faint fro drinks, and spoke of cheery things in cheery tones; but the sick man refused to be comforted He wished himself back, a participator in the conflicts of civilisation, and was fain to cover his face--there was no wall to which to turn--and fancy that the most dismal sound in the universe was the surly monotone the north-easter harped on the beach We reposed that night aht in his physical collapse and disconsolation

But the firstele sea, the green folded slopes of Tam o' Shanter Point opposite, the cleanliness of the sand, the sweet odours frorass, the lue of mountains to the west and north-west, and our own fair tract-awaiting and inviting, and all the mystery of petted illusions about to be solved! Physic was never so eagerly sed nor wrought a speedier or surer cure

Feebleness and dise into the still sleepy sea, and alertness and vigour returned, as the incense of the first ht as a column to the sky

Over half a century before, Edmund B Kennedy, the explorer, landed on the opposite shore, on his ill-fated expedition up Cape York, to find the country inland froether different froht to the gallant explorer, near as ere to the scenes of his desperate struggle in the entanglele

The island was all before us, where to choose our place of rest, and the bustle of the transport of goods and chattels to the site in the thick forest invisible froan at once Before sunset, tents were pitched a then cleared, and ere at hoed for the construction of a hut of cedar, so contrived with nicely adjusting parts and bolts, and all its ether

If at the end of six months' trial the life was found to be unendurable, or serious objection not dreamt of in our salad philosophy becaain All would not be lost

The clearing of a sufficient space for the accoht task for unaccustoh, and the dubious work of burning up the trunks and branches while yet green, in our eagerness for free air and tidiness, was undertaken It was also accomplished

For several weeks there was little done save to build a kitchen and shed and widen the clearing in the forest Inspection of the details of our domain was reserved as a sort of reward for present task and toil

According to the for of a slab hut is absurdly easy--quite a pastiet a roof of bark or thatch over his head The fraoes up without assistance, and then the principal item is the slabs for walls When you have fallen your tree and sawn off a block of the required length, you have only to split off the slab Ah! but suppose the timber does not split freely, and your heavyhave the habit of bouncing out as if they were fitted with internal springs, and your maul wants renewal several times, until you find that the timber prescribed is of no account for such tools; and at best your slabs run off to nothing at half length, and several trees have to be cut down before you get a single decent slab, and everybody is peevish eariness and disappoint ti ”Experience is a hard mistress, yet she teacheth as none other” We caave us blistering pal muscles--than to all the directions and prescriptions of men who claim to have climbed to the top of the tree in the profession of the ”bush” A ”bush” carpenter is a very admirable person, when he is not also a bush lawyer Mere amateurs would be wise if they held their enthusiasm in check when they read the recipe--pat as the recipe for the --for the construction of even a bark hut It is so very easy to write it all down; but if you have had no actual experience in bark-cutting, and your trees are not in the right condition, you will put your elation to a shockingly severe test, harden the epidero to bed et one decent sheet for your roof

We do not all belong to the ancient and honourable family of the Swiss Robinsons, who perfor miracles on their island

There was no practical dispensation of providential favours on our behalf Trees that had the reputation of providing splendid splitting timber defiantly slandered themselves, and others that should have almost flayed thehtest regard for the reputation vouched for in serious publications

But why ”burden our reone?” Why recall the memory of those acheful days, when all the pleasant and restful features of the island are uncatalogued? Before the rains began we had comfortable if circu consisted of one rooreater part of our time was spent out of doors Isolation kept us moderately free from visitors Those who did violate our seclusion had to put up with the consequences We had purchased liberty Large liberties are the birthright of the English We had acquired most of the small liberties, and the ransos hitherto deeral part of existence