e largest gathering of the kind ever held in the colony, took
place in the Exhibition building. Twenty thousand children must have
been there; and as they each wore a rosette and carried a little flag,
the scene looked gay as a summer garden. Of course there were the
usual loyal anthems; and besides the cheers in the programme the
children did a good deal of happy shouting on their own account. The
Bishop of Melbourne gave them an excellent address, and all the
arrangements were admirably and carefully carried out.

_Saturday, June 25th._--Awoke early after a fairly good night, and
set to work at once on my correspondence, which accumulates terribly
in spite of my efforts to answer every letter as it arrives. I made
many futile attempts to write up my journal, but was interrupted by
numerous interviewers, especially by secretaries of charitable
societies, anxious to get some share of the proceeds derived from
showing the 'Sunbeam.'

[Illustration: Selectors]

Precisely at twelve o'clock we started for the races at Caulfield. The
road lay for several miles through prosperous-looking suburbs
consisting of villas and a multitude of small wooden houses with
corrugated iron verandahs and roofs. However convenient this material
may be for such purposes, it does not add to the beauty of the
landscape. Bungalows in India, and indeed all over the East, look
picturesque and pretty, with their deep wooden verandahs, which must
surely be much cooler than these corrugated iron houses, said to be
hot in summer and cold in winter.

We arrived at the racecourse at about a quarter to one. The heavy rain
of last night had swamped the place, and though luckily the course was
not flooded, it was very heavy going, and a great deal of the ground
close to the course seemed quite under water. I heard a story of a
lady having to _swim_ her horse over a field during this morning's
run! It was bitterly cold, and we all felt glad of the excitement
caused by the appearance of the jockeys, mounted on nice-looking
horses. I fixed my mind on horse number twelve on the card, and
thought he looked extremely well as he cantered past the stand. The
poor animal kept up bravely till near the end, when he caught his foot
in a hurdle, while going at a fearful pace, and fell, breaking his
off-leg so badly that he had to be shot on the spot. His jockey
escaped with only a severe shaking. I had no idea until I came here
what steeplechase riding was like in