coral-tree (erythrina), common in the warm north-eastern latitudes of Australia. The house itself had an old-world charm, and a certain exquisite freshness that caused us some anxiety as to the effect of our very travel-stained luggage on its spotless interior; but the wise Australian hostess, whom long experience has acquainted with the treatment her guests' trunks will have received at the hands of railway officials, sets an uncarpeted room apart for their reception. Here the muddy, battered things are deposited, and their owner can gingerly approach them there, for it is not usual in Australian households for the maids to unpack visitors' luggage, and, generally speaking, one may say this is fortunate for the visitor.
The front of this charming old house was no less beautiful than the back. It had been built long ago by convict labour, and was heavily barred and shuttered against their possible depredations. The bedrooms looked out over the harbour, a beautiful view of never-ending kaleidoscopic fascination. Beneath the trees under the window large steamers came, and the busy traffic of smaller craft slipped soundlessly to and fro. It was a scene of continual colour, movement, and life, with its silent background of wooded hills.
Sydney, with the exception of two days of
