equal, I am sure, to that which Sir Walter Raleigh displayed in spreading out that celebrated cloak for his queen, fell upon one knee, at the same time holding up the other to form a step by which we might mount. The wife of one of the men, happening to be on the spot, was placed in the waggon to take care of us. The other digger drove us over the rough road with so much care that we scarcely felt any motion at all. Whilst doing so he turned round, and in phrase of gentlest courtesy, though in broad dialect, said to us, "I could drive you home quicker, only that I fear it would shake you too much." A third digger, possessing as much active benevolence as the other two, but with less tact, had answered, when I asked him if I presented a very terrible appearance, "Oh! yes, maʼam, terrible; you are cut all to bits!" A nice cheerful little piece of intelligence for me to ponder over as I reclined in the waggon! However, we all felt that we had

reason to be deeply thankful that our lives. had been spared.

I was talking over the accident with the wife of a squatter, and she assured me that she was so accustomed to being thrown out of her carriage that she thought nothing of it. Possibly an accident may be quite a lively little episode in the monotony of Bush-life to persons who always fall upon their feet; but to be thrown recklessly upon the most important feature of the face is, to say the least, unpleasant.

CHAPTER XIII.

Castlemaine Pretty Rides-A Memorable Journey -Studying Life-A Murder and its Discovery -Sandhurst -Kyneton - Piper Street-The Houses-Salubrity of Kyneton-A Model Clergyman-Grand Bazaar-Energetic and Accomplished Bachelors-An Heroic Young LadySchools in Kyneton-A Model Lady's SchoolBeauty of the Neighbourhood-Mount Macedon -Grand Picnic on St. Andrew's Day-Dryden's Rock-Chivalry par excellence-A Cavalcade at Sunset-Good Horsemanship-A Few Days in the Forest-The Laughing Jackass-Musical Magpies-Delights of Forest Life-Sad Recollections of leaving Piper Street.

THE two most important" diggings"" towns I saw were Castlemaine (the population of which is about fifteen thousand) and Sandhurst which contains about twenty-five thousand inhabitants. Castlemaine is a

very picturesque town. The friend with whom I was staying said that it bore a slight resemblance to Tunbridge Wells. There are some very pretty rides around the town through Bush scenery. One ride which I took to the Eureka and Fryer's Creek particularly charmed me, and reminded me of the scenery in Cornwall (only that the foliage is so much more sombre). Strange to say, when I made this remark to my host, with whom I was riding, he told me that nearly all the men working about this spot were Cornish. There is a large colony of Chinamen in Castlemaine; they all live in one vicinity of the town, and this presents quite a Chinese aspect, the houses being bedizened with strange devices, and with coloured lamps hanging outside of them. The gentleman at whose house I was staying told me that it was quite worth while to take a walk at night through that part of the town, as, with a little stretch of imagination, one might fancy oneself in

the Celestial Empire. So one soft balmy evening we started off on an exploring expedition. The coloured lamps being lighted, looked very gay down each side of the street, and the rooms also being lighted, we could see the Chinamen at their different occupations - some eating, and some engraving most ingeniously on wood, without any pattern before them. Broad good humour was depicted on every countenance. I thought what a pity it was that such intelligent-looking people were not Christ

ians.

The most memorable of all my journeys in Cobb's coaches was on a "hot-wind' day, in the month of November, from Castlemaine to Sandhurst. The coach was one of the handsomest and roomiest of its kind-imposing to look at, but terrible to travel in. I had, however, screwed up my courage, and was resigned-and ought even to have been pleased-for, amongst the various studies, in the shape of passen