trucks, behind an engine and
tender. We commenced our journey by slowly passing the enclosures,
gardens, and courts adjoining the houses of the town. About
three-quarters of a mile out of Albany we stopped to water the engine
at a primitive trough in a cutting about twelve feet deep--the deepest
on the whole line, which in the main is laid over a surface as flat
as a pancake.

The morning was simply perfect--one of those days which make mere
existence a pleasure; the air felt light and invigorating, the sun was
bright and warm; all seemed so different from the damp muggy air or
fierce burning sunshine of which we have had so much experience
lately.

Our route lay over a sort of moorland, sprinkled with rare ericas such
as we carefully preserve in greenhouses at home. Other flowers there
were, too, in abundance, and of many kinds, including scarlet
bottle-brushes, large white epacris, and mimosa covered with yellow
balls of blossom. The trees seemed to consist chiefly of white gum,
peppermint, and banksias, and all looked rather ragged and untidy. One
great feature of the vegetation was what are called the 'black-boys'
(_Xanthorrhea_), somewhat resembling tree-ferns, with a huge black
pineapple stem, at the top of which grows a bushy tuft of grass-like
foliage.

About nine miles out we came to a broad stretch of water known by the
very prosaic name of 'Nine-mile Lake.' It looked lovely this bright
morning, with the opposite hills and a fine group of blue gum-trees
sharply mirrored in its glassy surface. The train stopped for a few
minutes to enable us to admire the view and to take some photographs.
In the course of another mile or so we quitted the main line to Perth,
and proceeded along a branch line leading into the heart of the
forest. The undergrowth was nowhere very thick, and where it had been
cleared by burning, fine grass had sprung up in its place. As we left
the moorland and got into the real forest of grand gum-trees the scene
became most striking. The massive stems of many of the eucalypti were
between thirty and forty feet in circumference and over a hundred feet
in height. The glimpses which we caught between these tall trees of
Torbay, with the waves breaking in huge rollers on the shore or in
angry surf against the steep cliffs of Eclipse Island, were quite
fascinating.

We steamed slowly along the lightly ballasted line--only laid
yesterday, and over which no engine has yet travelled--two men run