am not rich enough to indulge in what
folk here call 'A trip Home.' And as for finally withdrawing from my
'way out,' and returning to settle in England, how could such a step
possibly be justified upon practical grounds? The circumstances which
led me to leave England are fundamentally as they were. Mrs.
Oldcastle-- But all that was thoroughly thought out before she left
the _Oronta_ at Adelaide; and to-day I am less--less able, shall I
say, than I was then?

It is singular that these few days in bed should have stolen so much
of my strength. The mere exertion, if that it may be called, of
writing these few lines leaves me curiously exhausted; yet they have
been written extraordinarily slowly for me. My London life made me a
quick writer. I wonder if leisure and ease of mind would have made me
a good one!

I shall lay these papers aside for another day. Perhaps even for two
or three days. Blades has kindly moved my bed for me to the side of
the best window, which faces north-east; in the Antipodes, a very
pleasant aspect. I shall not actually 'go to bed' again in the day-time,
but I think I will lie on the bed beside that open window.
Sitting upright at the table here I feel, not pain, but a kind of
aching weakness which I escape when lying down.

And yet, though not worried about it, I am rather sorry still farther to
neglect this desultory task of mine, even for a day or two. The tree-tops
are tossing bravely in the westerly wind this morning, and it is well
that my banana clump has all the shelter of the gunyah, or its graceful
leaves would suffer. The big cabbage palm outside the verandah makes a
curious, dry, parchment-like crackling in the wind. But the three
silver tree-ferns have a cool, swishing note, very pleasing to the
ear; while for the bush trees beyond, theirs is the steady music of
the sea on a sandy beach. I fancy this wind must be a shade too
boisterous to be good for Blades's orange orchard. At all events it
brings a strong citrus scent this way, after bustling across the side
of Blades's hill.

There can be no doubt about it that this mine hermitage is very
beautifully situated. Any man of discernment should be well content
here to bide. The air about me is full of a nimble sweetness, and as
utterly free from impurity as the air one breathes in mid-ocean. More,
it is impregnated by the tonic perfumes of all the myriad aromatic
growths that surround my cottage. Men say the Australian bush is
si