Our party consists of Sir Arthur and Lady Gordon, and two particularly nice little ones—namely, Nevil, a picturesque girl of six, with silky brown curls, and dark thoughtful eyes; and George, aged four, who is always called Jack, because from his boyhood he has worn real sailor’s clothes, made by a man-of-war’s tailor. Then comes their cousin, Arthur Gordon, who has a fine talent for drawing, and is Sir Arthur’s secretary. Captain Knollys, A.D.C., only joined us at Aden, bringing with him a very important member of the family—namely, Snip, a tiny black and tan terrier. Dr Mayo, Mr Mitchell, Mr Eyre, and Mr Le Hunte, at present complete our party, the latter being a young lawyer, and, moreover, our typical Briton,—a stalwart combination of Ireland and Yorkshire. Mr Mitchell was a tried friend in the West Indies. And Dr Mayo is a keen, clever man, a fellow of New College, Oxford, who has followed his profession in every camp in Europe, and in some in Asia, and now hopes to find an ample field for studying new forms of the ills that flesh is heir to among the various races of the Pacific. He is a good botanist and antiquarian, and is a mine of information on all topics. All these spend several hours a day learning Fijian, with the most exemplary patience and determination, by the help of vocabularies and dictionaries. Last but not least come the excellent Welsh nurse and faithful Portuguese under-nurse; and Mr and Mrs Abbey, major-domo and general heads of all departments, who have already lived with the Gordons in Trinidad and Mauritius, and there proved themselves pillars of Government House: a most comfortable and reliable couple, warranted to take good care of everything and everybody. They have two little boys—the youngest, Arky, a sunny-headed little mite. Captain and Mrs Havelock, and Dr and Mrs Macgregor, are to join us at Sydney, as are also the Judge and Attorney-General, Sir William and Lady Hackett, and Mr and Mrs de Ricci, so that the white population of Fiji will receive a large accession. I will add no more at present, except to say that, with my usual luck at this point, it was bitterly cold and very grey coming through the Suez Canal and down the Red Sea. There had been a heavy storm, which turned the sea to mud for some miles ere we reached Port Said, which was dirty and dull as usual,—heavy waves dashing over the breakwater, and Lake Menzaleh looking grey and dreary....—Ever yours. CHAPTER II. SYDNEY—CAMELLIA TREES—ORANGE GARDENS. SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES, _June 2_.