ment House, and stand in beautiful grounds which run down to the river.
The Botanical Gardens, which flank the drive, are also washed by the broad, swiftly flowing river. They are enchanting to linger in more so even than the world-famous tropical gardens of Buitenzorg in Java. Perhaps it was the moisture and greenness after the arid look of most of the rest of Australia at the end of the dry season, that seemed to us so refreshing and delightful. At any rate, we never tired of wandering in these gardens, where hedges of sweet peas and stocks alternated with every kind of gorgeous tropical flowering shrub, now just coming into bloom. Here were palms and sloping lawns; by the river grew the curious bunya bunya trees, with their bare arms and mop-like ends; here were greenery and quiet; and, most blessed of all, freedom from dust. Above the river two large kingfishers often glanced to and fro; they must have had a nest close at hand.
