Page:Travel letters from New Zealand, Australia and Africa (1913).djvu/153

 *bit stories I have heard, I thought the number quite modest. At another place, I saw a boy out hunting, and he had but one rabbit. Australia looks about as I expected it to look, except the rabbits At the zoölogical garden in Melbourne, there is an exhibit labeled: "American Cats." And that's exactly what they are: plain cats, such as you see around any American home At 4:15 we drove to the station, and a quarter of an hour later left for Adelaide, capital of South Australia; distance, 508 miles. The train is a better one than that running between Sydney and Melbourne, and we were told that the sleeper in which we had engaged berths would go through. The railroad is owned by the government, and the gauge is five feet three inches; eight and a half inches wider than our standard gauge. But the cars do not seem wider than ours, and certainly they were not so heavy. The rails were also light, although the train made good time. There was a dining-car attached, and at 6 o'clock we had an excellent dinner, at 96 cents each. There were only four others in the dining-car, and we had compartments to ourselves in the sleeping-car. The compartments are for two, but travel here is always light Saturday night, I am told. With a room to myself, I began almost having a good time, particularly as I have become accustomed to the pronunciations of the people, and they no longer distress me. On the dining-car bill of fare, this was printed: "Waiters are not permitted to accept tips, on pain of dismissal." But when I offered our waiter a tip, he ran the risk of dismissal, and took it The trainmen told me that they are often compelled to work sixteen hours a day, and