, 1900-11-06
AUSTRALIAN ADVENTURE.

. AUSTRALIAN ADVENTURE.
mr. Row..'s Awfal Expsrss.cs witA
o TtAs . Aquatic Monster. W.
Mrs. Rowan, in her book, "A Flow
er-Hunter In Queensland and New Zea-
describes an adventure which
befell her on the Bloomfield river In
northern Queensland. She had been
put on shore ear the mouth of the
river, at q poor and lonely hut. was
getting 30 hungry that l determined I
would At any rate make an effort to
cross the river and get a message sent
to MI. HIS station. Some trees fall
ing across the river had made a partial
bridge. and on these l tried my luck.
I climbed on the big root. and with the
aid Of an overhanging tree balanced
myself on the log. and found the first
few yards easy walking; but in mid
stream there was a fork In the tree
to get round. Here I lost my hold of
the branches overhead, and had to 90
very gtngerly on my hands and knees.
The log was horribly slippery. and the
water looked very black. l turned my
self round and slid so quickly down the
other side that I saved taking a head
er into the river only by catching at q
small twig. which. however. broke
away In my hand: but l managed to
balance myself sufaciently to get on
the next log. After having gone q
short distance. l discovered that the
tide was fast coming in, not going out.
as I had thought. Between me and
the bank the water. instead of being
~wadeable. was high enough to be over
my head. and the sloping banks were
of soft mud. 1t was not q, pleasant out
look. and l began to wonder how long
q time I should take in drowning In
this position. 1t was impossible to
turn. SO I began a backward move
ment. but my skirt got in the way.
The branch behind me sloped upward.
and there was that fork Of q tree to
pass again. There was NO creeping
backward up that. The water had now
reached the top Of the log. II I
dropped my feet I knew that the cur
rent would suck me under, and in
desperation I drew myself up and
threw my body backward against the
log. and twisted round on my face.
could never have performed this feat
at any other time. but life At that mo-
snentr seemed very sweet. When once
I had my arms round the fork, !
pulled myself up on the main branch.
Between the root of the tree and the
bank there was 10 q great gap.
which the tide was rushing through
with trsmsndous forcs, and close alons
side Of me there rose something that,
for the moment. 1 thought was another
half-sunken tree. Then It fell a gray,
ioaahsomei creature that almost par
alyzed me with fear. as l marked the
long line Of its xreedy-lookins jaws
I knew that the river tsemed with
crocodiles. but somehow or other, ]
had never given them q thought. The
creatures back was not mora than
foot below me. and I hardly dared to
breathe, much less to move. 1t slid
along under the log. and l felt the vi
bration of Its body rubbing - 1t cama
up on the other side. Thea It turned
with its head up-sttSan again, til
snout Just above watsr, q II it smell
game. Uncertain h III novsments. Il
Eslugsishly played round and round
NJ syss were rtvstsa O II. for
got ms river. e-an6 everything elJU
a.. with the rising water. It came *
close again that my feet almost
touched 1t a. 1t stirred the Shiny oos,
aAasnad feon the Senkt With It's tail
For . few seconds the voracious mon
ster lay apparently insensible to every
thing. but with its earn open to tn,
slightest sound. I hardly dared X
draw breath. Now, a. II waiting 70,
the supreme moment. IT. ~opportunit.
to spring. II rose the full length Of 1T
body and n~snaeinsiy ciaAhsdcit1 Jaws
then. with snout down-strsam. It wen
under. laaving nothind IN III walks fty!
= long ripple on the surface. III,
tide had reached my tsst whea ~
caught sight Of . native girl in tha
Instance. asd . ioudl cooss hrpaoAt -
to my hslp.-Youths' Companies.