A VOYAGE THROUGH A FOREST.

Press, Volume XLVIII, Issue 7780, 6 February 1891, Page 6

A VOYAGE THROUGH A FOREST.

BT THB Waßb,^

-«tetfsasßßasiK» so the s. s. Ellen waS msr t<3 *aS partly submerged trSJ £f?* tfei The windshrieked and Cf the trees that overhunßth*!, e *W&!l rain came in heavy alternate half-hour, pattered in irregular drSa S.'rf? drowsy tune on the roofs of SI Men with vivid imaffiatewC experiences can lie in a m Melbourne or elsmvh«»« "*«« _of listening to a night stJmSjtf »S the dark streets below-canlTf^g£_! ' in the wUds of a > men (perhaps themselves}, ' ing camp lirea sheltered fW 1 only by a tent fly or a bUniff over a breakwind. They 1 f rough log-huts and stretched out on sheep-skinV? a fe'f ing by the light of theflK thorough plank table pISWI sticks of tobacco. They «_ Wl comfortable station homesL P J e H home luxuries ; the men's ft? unadorned necessaries, andi V*M picture those strange nomads. lh J 1 travellers on the calmly through the storm ii, **% wind whirls long strips blanket-covering, aud the «S_*_B| on their faces. w^»fii2 Men who have travelled *,t roughed it in up-country a\iSSS imagine these things; and wl <N comfortably housed as the d*2l ¥1 town, were iv the midst ol!___■* powerful shaft of Hftht from lamp had shown us station log hut, it had even shown and woodcutters' camps. it did not show us was the LS "? genuiue swagger, and there people on board who this sight, lv dry weatherthe&S are the great camping Rrouni Jf> swaggers, und it would Z *fc to see a score of a short night's journey iS* % winter floods "drive J their favorrito bends and low |X? r* to higher ground where they without fear of being overwhelmed by water. s »*«,g We inauaged to exist through th*»u although we did miss the _S genuises of tho forest, and wbenH« d a o rn?hVriv": ncemore^aßi^ By daylight the inland voyage (*__ of its romance, but gained in EX. passengers gathered on tho d»* , chatted about irrigation and Iffi and two ladies, chatted about tS" else which causedconsiderabKffl One represented Victoria aadilfi New South Wales, and o* » the river lay their respective SJJ Bach side was so much aUfcTffJ stream wound in such a of loops, that it was difficult ftSRS was a side, yet those two womeaS fun than patriotism began to jS bank wnich they thought wufey, of their country and abuse £58 They worked themselves up totft*. ingenuity iv discoveringdcfectsuaSfe found out tbat each had been _■_? their own country for they faadnbfi the sides of the river from theiint The Murray swarmed with gut,* mvnads ol ducks rise before the *t»a Wood ducks, grey ducks, browa tai7, commercial traveller came oa d«k fli his gun and a box of cartridge, pi commenced to blaze away at e?»&te that seemed wild. He shot iato ii%i young ducks sitting on the hank,«|s ducks sitting on trees.cranes, cormeitti crows, parrots, paroquets, bat fertsstift was so bad a shot that he Mcd tig anything for the first 150 rounds. Hhis managed to ahoot a beautiful pSti crane, which fell into the rlrer snf&Hj flapped one wing as the steamer alfeMlj and soou afterwards he got within te twenty yards of a mob of flappers; %f huddled together lv their few c? te steamer, and just at that moraeet & sporting bagman fired into their raS&j and was able to boast tbat h& klltei fes and wounded five. He wasted to km why the birds did not get uptswiilFiwf from the steamer, and eooitbodv » mured dryly: "They wero probaMjes much surprised at you shooting thta* the water;" and. the young mm Mi ?s see any sarcasm ia the reply. " The steamer moored to a imnlc a imU above flood level, to take in wood fcrte boilers, and immediately live guns $t produced, and Aye sportsmen Jaia^ ashore to kill and slay. The Bogl„'« who had ceased to growl as lawafu I the moment he saw the wild fowl sate river, led the way,with a splendid m& I loader. A big cockatoo flew overhlsta —he dropped that, and brought a mm naroouet from the upper brmsmai tree, with his left barrel. At that nasal two rabbits got up. The fngiifff swore, and six shots went oil w&M was cramming cartridge;} home. W rabbits disappered in blue smoke. &m of ducks whizzed past, m* man brought one of them down tapf; style. It dropped out on a W& sheet of water, and the shooter torn*; his trousers to wade In for it. *&•*#. ing bagman trjed to ottßfsWW "There may be snakes laths*** he said, "or leeches, or any fi^ sort of vermin." Further, tM «*j miaht be deeper, and there t&W ;j .nag. The Englishman did not «| mind about snakea, or leega, ,jr H water, but he carefully emoted jWffl the nature of a snag, and Undfag ttj j was only a submerged tret ijw P» wood, he marched Into the pod! o»*g ankles-up to nls knees-up W b« «* and was just about to put his bid** apparently dead duck when It ft startling quack, and flow ewtt » wader, who had carried hU>«#| hesitated for a moment, then tm& weapon and flred^, bringing: thsJWrtJJ dead this time. He proceed tojgg to it, and the water «ot deeiwsgjg StiUlt Is almost certain that he WjgJ got the duck even If he had h^tos^ ft. But being handicappedl wltt WJ a bag of cartridges, antf a wjerttg'j, made clothes, he retreated anil ww had not shot the bird. . AmmM ss® When the steamer started mwJSJ^ the river again, three of t£ 9 S?X BUrtld a f usllade and kilted £#%% out of every twenty they fired [f J" ft could imagine the quantity a«djji^ game life we saw on the .Wg 0 txlst ou a river open to navlgsttiM^ rabbits seemed thicker tbw iag£ 1 rabbit infected place in New %**r& Is no exaggeration to **T*»*8 nt parts the steamer seemeu. w » m aTmy of rabbits before her. W that no single m^ , than a few yards betow-» ™ earth, and that tbe ronww-j-, was Recruited by the cons^Mggj, rabbits on the way. c * "Jgge* were no doubt massed ■ %Swoi localities by tbe rarroaudlugfi^S In fact In one place wn« rß firewood there was only a sfflau w country unsubmerged, fl f ( L fl rf|ib« rabbits were sotolck «* J«S,t« close that we killed nearly® «^ short sticks.