Page:Victoria, with a description of its principal cities, Melbourne and Geelong.djvu/111

 of the scene before me. The moon was shining in all her brightness, and as the effulgence of her rays beamed on the piled arms of the sleeping soldiers, who lay scattered on the ground snugly ensconced in a blanket rug or loose coat, formed a picture alike grand and imposing; the night was clear and serene, and the surrounding country appeared for miles illumined with her silvery rays; indeed, it might have been said, with Shakspeare—

I stood for a moment admiring the sublimity of the scene before me, when I was startled with a loud, crackling noise. I turned my head in the direction from whence it proceeded, when I saw that one of the fires used by the men in preparing their evening meal had ascended to the hollowness of the tree, and the flames were rising, as it were, from the very top. I had but time to alarm and rouse the soldiers sleeping around it, when again the crackling noise was repeated—a slight totter—a noise still louder—a tremendous crash, and this aged monarch of the Australian forest lay scattered on the earth in a thousand blazing embers, fortunately without injuring the sleepers.

"We commenced our march at 2 o'clock the next morning, which was somewhat hazy. We passed through a thickly-wooded district many miles in extent, but it was too early and dark to notice