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IN AND ABOUT BRISBANE

The Brisbane River, flowing gently between its green banks, is a favourite resort of picnic parties, one of the most popular forms of entertainment in Australia, where dry wood is abundant and the weather can be depended upon; and the party pride themselves on their skill in producing "billy" tea in the shortest possible space of time. One sunny afternoon we started up the river in a motor launch. On either shore were pretty suburban houses, each with its shady verandah, and palm trees in the gardens. The river does not, however, always flow softly and invite pleasure-seekers to embark upon it. Brisbane people often allude in awestruck tones to "the Flood," when the river rose and swept away the peaceful bungalows on its banks and wrought much havoc. After a pleasant little voyage we landed with some difficulty on a rickety wooden pier, on the banks of an immense meadow of coarse rough grass stretching away for many acres, with other scattered picnic