Page:The Boy Travellers in Australasia.djvu/522

498, reached Deloraine, forty-five miles, at a quarter past ten, had an hour and three-quarters in and around the place, and started at noon on our return. They urged us to stay longer, and see more; and some of the acquaintances we had made seemed much disappointed that we declined to do so. The Tasmanians are as hospitable as their Australian neighbors, and do their utmost to make the stranger feel at home.

"They specially wished us to visit the Chudleigh Caves, which are about twenty miles from Deloraine, and are considered, by the Tasmanians at least, among the wonders of the world. We were told that we could walk five miles underground, and see the entire caves in about four hours; that the mud and water would nowhere be more than three feet deep, and there were many places in the caves where there was no mud at all. No doubt the caves are remarkable; but as we had seen the Mammoth and Luray Caves, we did not specially care for those of Chudleigh, much to the disappointment of the gentleman who urged us to see them.

"The railway between Launceston and Deloraine passes through a fertile country in which there are many fine farms, and a goodly number of pastoral stations devoted to the rearing of high-class sheep which are exported to Australia to improve the flocks of that country. The train rolled through glades and over plains, along the sides of mountains and across rippling streams, and as we approached Deloraine the conductor called our attention to a bold spur of a mountain called Quamby Bluff, which is the end of a long range that filled the horizon.

"On our return to Launceston we were just in time to catch the