THE MAGIC WELL
In the centre of Australia there’s a large and lovely lake,
And its waters gleaming golden, from the sun their glory take;
In the middle of the waters there’s an Island, wondrous fair,
And the perfume of its fruit and flowers, like incense fills the air!
In the heart of this fair Island there’s a wonder-working well,
By the fairy-folk enchanted; for ’tis there the Fairies dwell!
Most people seem to think that the heart of Australia is nothing but a sandy desert. Well, that’s not quite correct. As a matter of fact, though not a great number know it, the very, very centre is inhabited by Fairies. They live there on a beautiful island in the middle of a great lake; and all they have, including their wonderful city, is all due to the “Magic Well”!
On their splendid Island there are hills covered with trees—forest trees! And there are great valleys where wild-flowers grow; and springs and streams and waterfalls; and caves with stalactites in them; those funny things that look something like sheep’s tails frozen! These stalactites hang down from the cave-roofs, and even they are due to the Magic Well! That may seem strange; but the way it happens is this:—Little drops of water, very slowly oozing down from the top of the cave, carry with them the tiniest bits of sand or limestone. The first pieces of sand or limestone just stick to the roof; and then, every other little piece, after it gets through, just clings to the piece that got there before it, so that, by-and-by, thousands and thousands of them, all joined together, make a stalactite. [[14]]