comfort. Any one pursuing the
course indicated in these pages, however, will have become pretty well
seasoned before entering upon this stage of the long journey. The famous
English man-of-war "Challenger" essayed this voyage between Sydney and
Auckland twice before she accomplished it, finally fighting her way
through the boisterous waves and adverse currents with the united power
of sails and steam.

We approached the coast of Australia in tempestuous weather and at
night, the "Zealandia" stoutly ploughing her way through a heavy
head-sea, while half a gale of wind blew in our faces, and hailstones
nearly as large as marbles cumbered the deck. The ship seemed to evince
almost human instinct, pausing for an instant now and again, and
trembling in every seam as huge waves blocked the way; then, bending
down determinedly to the work of forcing a path through the opposing
billows, she forged ahead, with the bows at one moment lifted high in
air, and the next half buried in the sea. A few days previous we were in
the burning latitudes of the Samoans, now we were on the verge of
freezing. This temperature was perhaps exceptional, and indeed after
landing we were satisfied that it was so. The storm gradually abated
during the night, and the clouds rapidly cleared away, racing madly
across the sky like retreating cavalry. While we were still fifty miles
off the shore, which was hidden in night and distance, the first officer
of the ship, knowing that we would thank him for doing so, awoke us from
sleep, and as soon as we joined him on deck he pointed out a glow on the
far-away horizon, which he said was caused by the light-house on Sydney
Heads. Having carefully watched the ship's reckoning, we knew her
position very nearly, and looking at him in surprise, we asked,--

"Is it possible to make out a light-house at sea from such a distance as
your reckoning shows you to be from land?"

"Certainly," he replied, "for there is Hornby Light."

"It seems impossible," we exclaimed.

"Perhaps I should qualify the remark," said he.

"In what way?" we asked.

"I do not mean that we actually see the light itself, but we clearly see
its reflection upon the horizon."

"Still," we rejoined, "it seems incredible."

"You must remember," said he, "that this is an electric light, placed on
the top of a very lofty cliff; and also that the light-house itself is
many feet in height."

"Seeing is believing," was all we could say.

But