Page:The Boy Travellers in Australasia.djvu/385

Rh The principal house, where the owner and his family lived, was in an enclosure perhaps two hundred feet square. There were several trees in the enclosure, and a perfect wilderness of vines and creepers of many kinds. The vine most abundant was the scarlet geranium, which is supposed to keep away snakes; but if half the stories we heard are true, its virtue is not absolute in this respect.

"The house was a two-story building of wood, about fifty feet by thirty, and stood upon posts, or piles, seven feet high, each post having a geranium vine growing around it. There was a wide veranda all around the house; the space on the ground was occupied with diningroom, pantry, store-room, office, and bath-room, and was easily accessible on all sides. There was a huge fireplace in the dining-room, and also one in the large sitting-room directly above it. On the same floor with the sitting-room there were four good bedrooms. One of these was given to Doctor Bronson; the others being occupied by the family, Fred and I were shown to a small house just outside the yard, where were two very good rooms, plainly but comfortably furnished. After arranging our toilets we returned to the big house, and were ready for dinner, which was shortly announced.

"We dined substantially on roast mutton, preceded by a soup of kangaroo tail, and followed by a plum-pudding which had been put up in London and sent to Australia in a tin can. We spent an hour or two in the sitting-room listening to tales of Australian bush life, and then started for bed; and thereby hangs a tale.