the Permanent
force. From this point the town is better seen than from the
reservoir, and there is a good prospect of the entrance to the
harbour. Though it was comparatively calm to-day, the waves rolled in
with great force; and it is said that in bad weather the sea is
perfectly frightful. Just inside the Heads, not thirty yards from the
shore, a small black buoy marks the spot where a steamer went down
with every soul on board, not only in sight of land, but actually in
port. While Tom was inspecting we rested in the signal-station and
talked to the signalman.

On leaving the fort we drove to Mr. Black's wool-shed, where the
various processes of dumping and preparing the wool for shipment were
explained to us. It is wonderful to see how the bulk of a bale can be
reduced by hydraulic pressure. The shed is perfectly empty at this
moment, but in a few weeks it will be at its fullest, for the shearing
season has already commenced. To-day its ample space was utilised to
hold a large luncheon-party, at which a number of ladies and gentlemen
were present. The speeches at this banquet, though short, were good.
Having partaken of their hospitable entertainment, we were conducted
by our kind hosts into a train which was waiting, literally, at the
door of the shed, and were taken off, more or less through the streets
of the town, to the Newcastle Colliery Company's Works.

As soon as we cleared the suburbs the country became very pretty, and
the place where we left the train, to descend the coal-mine, was
really quite romantic, and entirely different to what one sees in the
Black Country at home. There were several charmingly designed
triumphal arches for us to pass under, all made of semi-tropical
flowers and palms. The contrast between these flowers and plants and
the brisk keen mountain air, blowing cold and fresh in spite of the
hot sun, was remarkable. After admiring the beauty of the various
specimens of flowers, and inspecting the works at the pit's
mouth--where men were hard at work filling skips and emptying them
into trucks waiting for their loads--some of the party got into the
cage and descended 400 or 500 feet into the bowels of the earth. A few
of the ladies declared they felt nervous; but there was really nothing
to make them so except the total darkness. Arrived at the bottom, we
found many miners with candles stuck in the front of their hats, and
carrying lamps of the simplest construction, a piece of waste s