The inspector left us for his quarters, and the rest of us retired for the night, with the intention of rising early and riding out to meet Smith, who could not be more than ten miles distant, according to Murden’s report.

We were on horseback about sunrise, and rode slowly out of Ballarat, leaving Steel Spring to look after the store and its effects.  The miners were cooking their breakfasts as we passed along, and the fumes of fried pork and boiling coffee greeted our nostrils at every turn.

Stretched out as far as the eye could reach were tents of every color and hue, from the new comer of yesterday to the old stager blackened by the dust and rains of nearly twelve months.  We met parties of Chinese, who had been on a hunt for lizards and other insects, and to judge from their jargon, they had been eminently successful.

Two of them were staggering under the weight of an enormous snake, that they had found dead a short distance from the town, and they strung it on a pole, and were congratulating themselves on the many stews that it would make.  They regarded it in the light of a present from their gods, and danced with joy.

We left the main road, and followed an almost imperceptible trail that led us in a parallel course, and within sight of the road that we expected Smith would choose for reaching the town.  By doing so we were enabled to avoid the dust and confusion, and ride more at our leisure; and before we were five miles from Ballarat we were repaid for our precaution, for just as we were passing a small clump of half-stunted vegetation we heard a fluttering of wings, and on looking up, we saw one of the largest birds that Australia can boast.  It was a full-grown cassiowary, and stood nearly eight feet high, we judged, with long, stout legs, black and muscular, and a foot that would cover a peck measure.

The bird’s beak was like an ostrich’s, stout and sharp, and its head and body greatly resembled one.  The cassiowary’s wings were also small, and seemed as though intended to help its progress when running; for it was impossible to lift its huge body into the air with such puny ones.

The bird did not seem much alarmed at our presence, and by keeping Rover at our sides, we were enabled to examine it at leisure.  After first stretching out its long neck, and uttering a peculiar whistle, the bird, after a second glance at us, continued to feed, and seemed disposed to let us continue our journey without further attention.

“It’s a cassiowary,” Murden said, in a low tone, “and I’ll give five pounds for its skin.  I never saw a live one before, although I have frequently seen the stuffed one at the government house, which is valued so highly by Sir Charles Latrobe.  What a prize it would be, if we only had our rifles?”

The lieutenant was right; if we had only have taken our rifles with us, we could have killed the bird from where we stood; but the distance was too great to expect a fatal result with a revolver, and we knew that if we advanced nearer it would take to flight.  If we went back to Ballarat after a rifle, it was not likely that the bird would stay there until we returned, and under these circumstances we looked towards Fred for his advice.