"Go in a bush and starve a deff." "There, sit down and eat your supper!" said the doctor sternly; "and no more nonsense, please." The black looked at him in a sidelong fashion, and his fingers played with the handle of his waddy, which was behind him in his waistband, and then he quailed beneath the doctor's steady gaze, and sat down humbly by the camp fire to cook and eat what was really a moderate quantity for an Australian black.
Next morning we were off at daybreak, our way lying up a narrow ravine for a short distance, and then between a couple of masses of rock, which seemed to have been split apart by some earthquake; and directly we were through here the dull humming buzz that we had heard more or less for days suddenly fell upon our ears with a deep majestic boom that rose at times, as the wind set our way, into a deafening roar.
I looked triumphantly at Jack Penny, but he only held his head higher in the air and gave a sniff, lowering his crest directly after to attend to his feet, for we were now in a complete wilderness of rocks and stones, thrown in all directions, and at times we had regularly to climb.
"It is useless to bring the men this way," the doctor said, after a couple of hours' labour; but as he spoke Ti-hi called a halt and pointed in a different direction, at right angles to that which we had so far followed, as being the one we should now take.
The sun had suddenly become unbearable, for we were hemmed in by piled-up stones, and its heat was reflected from the brightly glistening masses, some of which were too hot even to be touched without pain, while the glare was almost blinding wherever the rocks were crystalline and white.
"I say, is that a cloud ?" said Jack Penny, drawing our attention to a fleecy mass that could be seen rising between a couple of masses of rock.
"Yes!" cried the doctor eagerly, as he shaded his eyes from the sun's glare; "a cloud of spray.

The falls are there!" "Or is it the wind you can see in the trees ?" I said, with a look at Jack Penny.
"Get out!" retorted that gentleman.

"I didn't say I was sure, and doctor isn't sure now." "No, not sure, Penny," he said; "but I think I can take you to where water is coming down." We felt no temptation to go on then, and willingly followed our guides, who pointed out a huge mass of overhanging rock right in the side of the ravine, and here we gladly halted, in the comparatively cool shade, to sit and partake of some of the buffalo strips, my eyes wandering dreamily to right and left along the narrow valley so filled with stones.
I was roused from my thoughts about the strangeness of the place we were in and the absence of trees and thick bush by the doctor proposing a bit of a look round.
"We are getting up among the mountains, Joe," he said; "and this means more difficult travelling, but at the same time a healthier region and less heat." "Oh, doctor!" I said, wiping my forehead.
"Why, it couldn't be any hotter than it is out there!" said Jack.
"Come with us, then, and let's see if we can find a fresh way out.
Perhaps we may hit upon a pass to the open country beyond.

At all events let's go and see the falls." We took our guns, leaving all heavy things with the blacks, who were settling themselves for a sleep.
The sun's heat almost made me giddy for the first hundred yards, and either my eyes deceived me or Jack Penny's long body wavered and shook.
But we trudged laboriously on over and among masses of rock, that seemed to be nearly alive with lizards basking in the sun, their curious coats of green and grey and umber-brown glistening in the bright sunshine, and looking in some cases as if they were covered with frosted metal as they lay motionless upon the pieces of weatherworn stone.
Some raised their heads to look at us, and remained motionless if we stopped to watch them, others scuffled rapidly away at the faintest sound, giving us just a glimpse of a quivering tail as its owner disappeared down a crevice almost by magic.
"Don't! don't fire!" cried the doctor, as Jack suddenly levelled his piece.
"Why not ?" he said in an ill-used tone.

"I daresay they're poison and they ain't no good." The object that had been his aim was an ash-grey snake, rather short and thick of form, which lay coiled into the figure of a letter S, and held its head a few inches from the rock on which it lay.
"If you wish to kill the little vipers do it with a stick, my lad.
Every charge of powder may prove very valuable, and be wanted in an emergency." "I say," said Jack Penny, dropping the butt of his piece on the rock, leaning his arms upon it, and staring at the speaker.