Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1890-02-07
Strange Features Of Australia.


elsewhere, and where civilization must
adapt tell to SURF oundings which it
finds novel and strange. 1t is coun-
try full Of absurdities in animal, vege-
table aud human life. Its native race,
in point Of intelligence and develop
ment Of resources, is far below even
the cave-dwelltrs and the people of
The stone age OF Europe. lis animals
perpetuate types which disappeared
fr,m every other part of the globe
some millions Of years ago. Its trees
and plants aro representative of spe-
cies found elswhere only in chalk and
coal measures.
Hardly anything here has the charac-
Ter and quality of IFS relations in other
lands. Although the trees and flowers
are chiefly those Of the temperate zone,
the birds are, for the most part, of the
tropics, and flash the gorgeous c)lor,
of the parrot and the cockatoo through
the dul foliage of the sad-toned euca-
lyptus. The birds have no song, and
such notes as they possess seem like
weird echoes from peri iod when rep
tiles we're assuming wings and fill
ing the tree tops with
strange jargon, before heard
only in the swamps aud fens. The
flowers have no scent, while the leaves
on every tree are full Of color. The
trees cast no shade, since every leaf is
set at edge against the sun, and shed,
not their leaves, but their bark, which,
stripping off in long scales, exposes the
max ed wood beneath, and adds to the
ghostly effect which the forest already
holds in the pallid hues of its foliage.
The contour of the country is of one
that is but newly risen from the waves.
| lis thousands and thousands of square
miles, level as table and set with no
other growth than the gray eucalyptus,
look like the uplifted bed of some great
sea, and is as monotonous as the unre-
lieyed expanse of ocean itse'f. Here
and there are low hills, which show in
their sides and In the country about
them the evidences of ancient lava
flows. Elsewhere are piled up masses
of bowlders, which show the long ago
courses of glaciers over the face Of the
land. Every thing. seems prehistoric,
hoary with age and forgotten. To the
traveller from other lands an impression
comes that - is visiting a country
min ass No. strrs Il sszfISR3sRss sBSEs e
English basement. The front door is
painted olive green and the lower story
contains the Office of the Senator and
his reception-room. The parlors are on
the second floor, and the house is nicely |
furnished. In this house have been en-
tertained all Of the Presidents since the
days of Andrew jackson, and Winfield
Scott and Martin Van Buren, have often
put their legs under the mahogany in
its dining room. One day when General
Scott was Lining here a violent hail
storm occurred, smas hing the windows
and bringing down Jumps of icc tho
size of hickory nuts. These hailstones
were brought to the table, and Scott,
as he dropped one of them into his
wineglass, said:
Ladies, we will cool our champagne
with celestial ice"
Just below this house of Cameron's is
the ilosae. ag Saa.ssa.z 2.sias sssu
the house, but he has refurnished and
repainted it. You enter the ground
floor from the street through an olive
green doorway and you fad the parlors
on the second floor. The drawing
room is furnished in salmon tint and
the woodwork and mantels are of pearl
white. The dining room is on the
ground floor anl its walls are hung
with crimson tapestry and the chairs
are upholstere in red leather. The
sideboard is of old oak and the whole
house is adorned with the picture aud
bric-a- brac which Secretary Blaine
picked up in ErJpe. This house and
lot is worth now at least $100, 900 and
the lot would bring $50, 600 under tho
hammer. Still it was once sold for a
jackass and it was Henry Clay who sold
it. It. is just across the street from the
White house and Clay had often re-
fused to sell it. Ole day, however, old
Commodore Rogers came home from
he Mediterranean with his naval vessel
iulI of live stock which he had pickel
up abroad. One of Clay's hobbies was
tock farming, and Rogcrs's cargo in
GUIDED one fac Andalusian jackass.
Clay saw it and wanted it. The Com
noaore refused to sell, but at last said
aughingly:
''You can have him for your lot op-
,osite the White house."
sDone, said Clay, and the animal
was shipped off to Kentucky. COmmo-
lore Rogers built big four-story brick
IN the ground, and this brick has been
he-scene of many Washington festiv-
ty. In it Blaine will entertain this
winter, and in it Seward dined the di-
,lomats when he was secretary of
tate.
The Cars Precautions.
When the Gar travels, little van
,uard is sent in advance, consisting of