suggested
that the original arrangement should be adhered to. Punctually at
half-past ten the Mayor and Corporation came on board to give us a
cordial welcome and present an address. At 11.15 we embarked in two
steam-launches and went up the harbour, which looked gay and
beautiful, the port being crowded with shipping. We were told,
however, that it is not nearly so full as it used to be a year or two
ago. They say that bad times have affected this like every other
place, and that only a quarter of the number of vessels are in harbour
now, compared to the returns of this time last year.

[Illustration: Kangaroo-foot (_Arrigozanthus_)]

Our first visit was to the hydraulic cranes, by which a ship can take
in a thousand tons of coal in ten hours. From the cranes we went a
little further up the harbour, to the landing-place, where a dense
crowd eagerly awaited us. Carriages were in readiness, but Tom rather
upset the plans by his usual wish to walk instead of going in state in
a coach. I fear he severely tried the lungs and legs of his
entertainers by taking them at a brisk pace up a steep hill to the
high-level reservoir. As soon as I got into the carriage a basket of
fragrant violets was given to me by the school children of Lampton,
one of the collier townships in the neighbourhood. We drove past the
reserve and up to the reservoir, from which there is a fine view of
the town and surrounding country. We stayed a long time at the top of
the breezy hill watching the dark blue waves turn to pale green as
they curled their white-crested heads into great rollers and dashed
against the steep cliffs of the many little headlands and promontories
of the bay. Looking in another direction, the view extends over the
rich alluvial plain which surrounds Newcastle, thickly studded with
houses and colliery townships. One new colliery has been started quite
close to the shore, and not improbably it will be carried, like the
old Botallack mine in Cornwall, right under the sea, where the richest
seam of coal runs. While we were taking in the characteristic features
of the landscape the sun became so powerful, in spite of a cold wind,
that umbrellas and sunshades were found necessary.

After leaving the reservoir we drove through another quarter of the
town. Every house had at its door a smiling group of people who
greeted us warmly. Leaving the town, we went on to Nobby Head. The
position is fortified, and garrisoned with a company of