QUEENSLAND.
AT Warrangarra Station we left the train and stepped through the rail fence which divides New South Wales from Queensland. A walk of about two hundred yards brought us to the Queensland train, where we found a comfortable carriage prepared for our reception. The Chinese Commissioners were in another carriage, and we proceeded as far as Stanthorpe, where they were met by a great many of their fellow-countrymen and carried off to see the extensive tin mines close to the township, where 600 Chinamen are employed. From Stanthorpe we went on climbing up till we reached Thulunbah, upwards of 3,000 feet above the level of the sea. Thence we went on to Warwick, which was reached about 12.40. Here a dear little boy appeared at the station and handed me a large and beautiful bunch of violets. It is very pleasant to receive flowers from people whom I have never before seen, and who only know my books.
After leaving Warwick we entered on the tract of country known as the Darling Downs, and a splendid stretch of land it is, covered with magnificent stock, both sheep and cattle looking well even now after the long summer drought. How much better they will look in a few weeks' time when the new grass has had time to grow can scarcely be imagined. The first station we passed through was one of the largest private stations on the downs; the next was called the Clifton Station, and belongs to a company. Edenvale Station could be seen in the distance; and on the opposite side stretched a large station belonging to Mr. Tyssen, whose landed estates are valued at five millions. This extensive table-land looks something like the prairies of South America, only with more trees and fewer undulations. The occasional fires we met with on our way heightened the resemblance. On reaching Tawoomba, one of the largest and pleasantest towns in this neighbourhood, a lady came to the carriage door and gave me another bunch of violets. The violets of Australia have more perfume than any we grow in England; certainly they are more fragrant than those one gets on the Riviera.
From Tawoomba the railway rapidly descends, dropping as much as 1,300 feet in ten miles. The scenery somewhat resembles that of the Blue Mountains, and is even more beautiful. The exquisite effects produced by the waning daylight lent a peculiar charm to this landscape. The forest close to us looked dark and sombre, whilst the valley further off was bathed in sunlight, and in the dim distance the mountains over which we had passed early in the day faded into a delicious pale blue chiaroscuro. The banks beneath or above us were cleft by little gullies, with struggling rivulets, edged by delicate ferns and strange plants. The railway stations even seemed prettier and more homelike than any we have yet seen in Australia. They were surrounded by gardens, and quite overgrown with creepers. The line must have been expensive to make, and evidently required great engineering ability. A more direct line could perhaps have been constructed which would have saved heavy gradients and much rock-cutting.
Fern Forest
At Helidon Mr. Laidby joined the train. He had been late for the train at Tawoomba and had ridden down to Helidon, the train taking one hour and a quarter to do the twelve miles. I was sorry to hear that he and his mother had been summoned from Brisbane to see a brother who was some 400 miles off in the bush suffering terribly from rheumatic fever. The sick man had been carried to a civilised place by some bushmen, who were nursing him day and night. I am happy to say he is now in a fair way to recovery. Mrs. Laidby is already a great supporter of the St. John Ambulance Association, and declares herself more than ever convinced of its utility.
I caught a severe cold on my arrival at Brisbane, and have been in bed for three days. I have therefore nothing to chronicle, and shall accordingly make use of Tom's diary for that time:—
'July 20th.—Returned on board the "Sunbeam," and cast off from the buoy, making sail for Brisbane with a fresh breeze from the north-west.