lantations about
it and the garden have grown up well, and the willows, gum-trees, and
poplars shelter it perfectly, besides giving it such a snug home look.
It stands on a vast plain, without even an undulation of the ground near
it; but the mountains form a grand panoramic view. There is a large wide
verandah round two sides of the house, with French windows opening into
it; and I could not help feeling impatient to see my own creepers in
such luxuriant, beauty as these roses and honeysuckles were. It was half
amusing and half pathetic to notice the preparations which had been made
to receive a lady guest, and the great anxiety of my hosts to ensure
my being quite as comfortable as I am at home. Much had been said
beforehand about the necessity of making up my mind to rough it in
bachelor quarters, so I was surprised to find all sorts of luxuries in
my room, especially a dainty little toilette-table, draped with white
cloths (a big wooden packing-case was its foundation). Its ornaments
were all sorts of nondescript treasures, placed in boxes at the last
moment of leaving the English hall or rectory by careful loving hands of
mothers and sisters, and lying unused for years until now. There was
a little china tray, which had been slipped into some corner by a
child-sister anxious to send some possession of her "very own" out
to the other end of the world; there was a vase with flowers; a
parti-coloured pin-cushion of very gay silks, probably the parting
gift of an old nurse; and a curious old-fashioned essence bottle, with
eau-de-cologne; the surrounding country had been ransacked to procure a
piece of scented soap. The only thing to remind me that I was not in an
English cottage was the opossum rug with which the neat little bed was
covered. The sitting-room looked the picture of cosy comfort, with its
well-filled book-shelves, arm-chairs, sofa with another opossum rug
thrown over it, and the open fireplace filled with ferns and tufts
of the white feathery Tohi grass in front of the green background. We
enjoyed our luncheon, or rather early dinner, immensely after our ride;
and in the afternoon went out to see the nice large garden (such a
contrast to our wretched little beginnings), and finally strolled on
to the inevitable wool-shed, where the gentlemen had an animated "sheep
talk." I rather enjoy these discussions, though they are prefaced by
an apology for "talking shop;" but it amuses me, and I like to see the
samp