colony, and beyond lay open country and fine stations for cattle and sheep. Goondi called itself the township for the Luya district, but as a matter of fact, the Luya had no especial head-centre. It is a secluded corner hemmed in by mountains, and though at no great distance from the capital of the colony and within easy reach of civilization, it is cut off by its, geographical position from the main current of life and action.
The river which waters the district has its rise in Mount Luya, the highest point of the range, then reputed inaccessible to white men. There are strange fastnesses at the foot of Mount Luya—places where, report still declares, foot of European has never trod. The Blacks have a superstitious reverence, amounting to terror, for this region, and in the aboriginal mythology, if there be indeed any such, Mount Luya with its grey desolate crags and mysterious fissures, and, on either side, twin peaked Burrum and Mount Goondi with its ribbed rampart of rock and black impenetrable scrub, might well represent the lair of Demons or the abode of Gods.
A few stray selectors had settled themselves at the head of the Luyaon the small flats and wattle ridges that offered a certain scant subsistence for stock. But these selections had, for the most part, a suspicious reputation, as affording a convenient base of operations for cattle-stealing and such nefarious practices. Certainly, one or two of these petty land-owners might be credited with strictly honourable intentions, as, for instance, that unprofitable scion of aristocracy, Lord Horace Gage, who, more romantic than practical, had been seduced by the beauty of the scenery and by a keen artistic instinct, as well as by the fascinating prospect of hunting big game in the shape of wild horses, and of starting an industry in hides and horsehair. Or a guileless new chum, such as Morres Blake, of Baròlin Gorge, with a certain ironic humour described himself, taken in by an old hand who was eager to dispose to advantage of a property no seasoned bushman would buy. It may be added that Mr. Blake had accepted his bargain with resig-
