Dr. Whitney would entertain
their proposal to do so, but finally concluded that the hardships would
be too great, and they would say nothing about their aspirations.

[Illustration: "HARRY HAD OBTAINED A MAP OF AUSTRALIA."]

In due time the steamer came to anchor at Port Adelaide. The harbor of
the capital city is not on the sea, but seven miles away from it, on the
banks of the small river Torrens. The railway connects the port with the
city, and shortly after getting ashore our friends were seated in a
train, which carried them quickly to the capital. One of the passengers
told Ned that the port was formerly quite shallow and difficult to
enter. The entrance at present is between two large shoals of sand,
which are marked by lighthouses. A great deal of money has been expended
in deepening and widening the harbor, so that it is now accessible for
large ships.

A long pier extends into St. Vincent's Gulf, the body of water on which
the port stands, and this pier is quite popular as a promenade for the
people living at the port, and also for those who come down from the
city.

Harry observed that the dock and pier accommodations were excellent.
There were immense sheds, and warehouses for the storage of grain, wool,
and other products of the country while awaiting shipment, and equally
extensive shelters for merchandise arriving at the port on its way to
the city and to other parts of the colony. There were dry docks and
repairing yards, and there were hospitals for sick sailors and others,
together with the usual public buildings of a prosperous seaport.
Immense quantities of wool and frozen meat are shipped from this port
to England, and the trade of the colony with the mother country is said
to be increasing every year.

It was about the middle of the afternoon when our friends landed, and in
less than half an hour after landing they were in the city. One of their
steamer acquaintances had directed them to a hotel, and, in fact,
accompanied them to it, so that they had the advantage of his personal
guidance and introduction. Harry made a memorandum in his notebook that
they found the hotel quite a good one, certainly much better than the
hotel where they stopped at Cape Town.

After settling themselves in the hotel the party went out for a stroll,
but, in consequence of the heat, they were not long in turning their
stroll into a drive. Here is what Ned says of their first day in
Adelaide:--

"This city reca