With Cobb & Co. in Far Inland Australia

'Come by boat to Rockport, then train to Miamia; and take Cobb & Co.'s coach as far as the first gate on Warrgeen, coming via Dingo Creek. I'd run over to Miamia with the buggy and meet you; but we're in the middle of shearing, and Union troubles are thick this year.' Thus ran a portion of a friend's letter containing an invitation to visit him on his sheep-station in the far Australian interior.

They are essentially a long-distance people, the Australians, and my friend spoke of a trip around the coast of one colony and through three parts of another, much as if he were asking me across the road to dinner. However, without seeking any more information as to my route, I started; and the farther I travelled, the more distant and elusive seemed that gate. The sea journey of eight hundred miles proved rough enough for anything; and the narrow gauge from Rockport to Miamia was so narrow that the train was more than once nearly blown bodily off the rails whilst crossing a long stretch of plain. But all this was mere play compared with what was before me.