Page:Rambles in Australia (IA ramblesinaustral00grewiala).pdf/30

10 It was quite dark when we went ashore, and it is the oddest sensation to land in an unknown country after dark. We had been told on the boat that the station was at a distance of ten minutes' walk, but in the absence of cabs and porters its whereabouts was problematical. We therefore deposited our bags and awaited events.

Then out of the obscurity a man came up with some hesitation and asked us our names. It was our host, who had been guided to us in the dark by some occult sense, for we were unknown to each other except by name. He greeted us heartily with the kindly solicitude of an old friend, took possession of us and the larger share of our hand baggage, and carried us off to the station.

It was our first experience of an Australian welcome and Australian hospitality; that hospitality, which for unaffected kindness and generosity, can surely have no counterpart on any other continent. The hospitality that makes a guest free of all his host's possessions, that grudges no time or trouble in his guests' interest, and that is bestowed in the spirit not of a giver, but the receiver of a benefit. As we walked towards the train the ground seemed curiously soft, as if we were walking ankle-deep in dust.