By ten o’clock we found that our animals began to suffer from the heat, and as our appetites were pretty well sharpened, we called a halt beneath the shadow of some gum trees, relieved our horses of their saddles, and wet their mouths with water, and after a hearty lunch, leaned back and smoked our pipes with delicious contentment, and without a thought of danger.

We were soon unconscious of every thing around us, and did not awake until past four o’clock, when we once more resumed our journey, and by sundown we had gained a small brook within a few miles of Mount Alexander.  Here we proposed to pass the night, and after watering the animals, and stalling them in a good piece of fresh grass, we began to make provision for rest.  We had no desire to kindle a fire, for the country in which we were travelling was not entirely safe, and a light would have only attracted attention, which we were desirous of avoiding.

“For once,” said Mr. Brown, as he arranged his saddle for a pillow, “I feel as though I should rather regret meeting with bushrangers, for I have every thing to lose, and no honor to gain by a contest.  If, therefore, the gentlemen of the bush will only avoid us, I shall feel thankful.”

“Do you know this part of the country to be frequented by bushrangers?” I asked, examining my revolver for the first time since we had left Ballarat.

“I don’t vouch for their presence, but here is water, and there is food,” Mr. Brown said, pointing away to our right; “the scamps are always sure to be located when these two essentials are to be found, and, as a general thing, they show good taste in the selection of their retreats, and when idle, feed upon the choicest parts of sheep or lamb.”

“Is there a sheep station near?” I asked, not being aware of it before.

“Within two miles of us, I should judge.  It was formerly called Hawswood, in honor of the proprietor; but after the gold fever broke out, he sold it to a man whose name was Buckerly, a fine-looking fellow and bold as a lion.  I made his acquaintance when he first landed at Melbourne, accompanied by a wife and children, and advised him to trade at the mines and acquire a fortune; but he was a large-feeling person, and had occupied a good position in England, and I suppose that he considered all kinds of trafficking plebeian, and beneath his dignity.

“Buckerly thought of entering a banking house in the city, but unluckily altered his mind and concluded to raise stock.  He met with Hawswood, got an exalted idea of the profits, and without asking advice, paid five thousand pounds for the place and all that was on it.  I had serious doubts of the success of his project, especially when he told me that he should move his family to the stock-house immediately, and superintend his estate.  The poor fellow thought that it was fitted and furnished like a suburban villa, and his wife, one of the prettiest and most affable women that ever landed in Australia, looked forward, with many expressions of pleasure, to the delightful country residence that she was to occupy with her husband and children.”