a big steamer like this.

"Flying fish seem to fly when disturbed by big fishes, or, possibly, by
the commotion that a vessel creates in going through the water. There is
a good deal of dispute as to how long the flying fish can stay out of
water, and the longest time I have heard any one give to it is thirty
seconds. Some say that the flying fish can stay in the air only while
its wings are wet, but that is a point on which I do not care to give
any opinion, for the simple reason that I don't know."

Ned and Harry had kept the nautical instruments which they carried over
the deserts of Northern Africa, and they amused themselves by taking
daily observations and calculating the ship's position. Sometimes they
were wrong, and sometimes they were right, Ned naively remarking that
"the wrongs didn't count." The first officer of the ship gave them some
assistance in their nautical observations, and, altogether, they got
along very well.

Our friends made the acquaintance of some of their fellow-passengers and
found them very agreeable. The majority were residents of Australia or
New Zealand, who had been on visits to England and were now returning
home. The youths learned a great deal concerning the country whither
they were bound, and the goodly portion of the information they received
was of practical value to them. They made copious notes of what they
heard, and some of the information that they gleaned will appear later
in these pages.

In due time they sighted the coast of Australia at its western
extremity, known as Cape Leeuwin, but the sight was not especially
picturesque, as the mountains around the cape are of no great height.
After passing Cape Leeuwin, the steamer held her course steadily to the
west, gradually leaving the shore out of sight. She was passing along
the front of what is called the Great Australian Bight, an indentation
in the land twelve hundred miles long, and bounded on the north by a
region of desolation.

"It is a desolate coast," said one of the passengers to Harry, "and is
so destitute of water that no settlements have or can be made upon it.
Mr. Eyre, who was afterwards governor of Jamaica, endeavored to explore
that coast, and had a terrible time of it. He was an entire year making
the journey of twelve hundred miles, and suffered the most terrible
hardships."

CHAPTER III.

A LAND OF CONTRADICTIONS--TRANSPORTATION TO AUSTRALIA.

"How long is it since Mr. Eyre made this