Page:The Boy Travellers in Australasia.djvu/356

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332
THE BOY TRAVELLERS IN AUSTRALASIA.

to a great depth till it reaches moisture. Above-ground there are a lot of shoots, or stalks, from a foot up to twenty feet long, each of them having a tuft of leaves at the top.

SILVER-STEM EUCALYPTI.

"No surface water can be found in the districts where it grows, and the scrub is just a little more than high enough to hide a man on horseback. To be lost in the scrub is very dangerous; you cannot see in any direction, there are no trees you can climb to find your bearings, water or food is not to be found, and the victim is very likely to lose his reason and die of thirst, starvation, and insanity. Terrible stories have been told us of the death of people lost in the scrub; men have gone there to search for missing friends, and both searchers and sought have never been heard of again."

It was after midnight when our friends reached Tenterfield, and at nine o'clock the next morning they were on the coach and dashing away towards Stanthorpe. Over the plains and hills they went at good