The Government Gardens here

may not be quite so gorgeous as the ones

in Sydney, not as rich in glowing oranges,

scarlet pomegranates, golden loquats,

but, well, they are more homely and, to use

my favourite and much-travelled term of praise,

so English-looking: roses, roses everywhere

and pleasant drives among groves

of native trees. Naturally, we

were present at the ceremony, the laying of

the first stone of the new Government House

overlooking the Derwent. The Lieutenant

Governor and his cultivated wife arranged

a collation in the charming rustic lodge;

and when the band struck up there were at once

quadrilles upon the lawn — although

to be honest, rather in the dust, since there

the turf was something of the scantiest.