LOST IN THE FAR WEST.
The following is (writ-ss the Arrilalah correspondent, of the Brisbane Courier, under date 20: h December) one of the most roma kable instances upon record of endurance under oircums'ancaa of aim s unparalleled hardship and suffering. Constablo F. Morau, having been transferred to Isiaf >rd left Arrilalah for tha* place at 11 o'clock a.m on the 2nd instant. Nothing wsb heard of him until the evening of the 12th instant, when news waß brought to arrilalah by a Ofsual traveller that Moran had n<t been heard of at hisford. The officer m charge of the polioe here at once desp&tobed Trooper Quiii and a black boy to find out what had become of him. On the 14'h instant Mr Clark, overseer at Westlands, was informed by a boundary rider thai he hid observed the tracks of a man m one of the Westlands paddocks, and from the aidless manner m which the tracVs seemed to go round and about, the boundary rider oonoluded the man was lost. Mr Clark, with praiseworthy promptitude, immediately started out to search foe the unfortunate, whoever he might be. Taking up the tracks where the boundary rider had left them, Mr Clark, after a patient aea-ch, found a saddle, bridle, and pack saddle, all having the Government brand. Mr Clark immediately went into Arrll&lah, reported having found the things, which were at once known by Senior Constable Ooneidine to have been m the possession of Moran, At three o'olock on the miming of the 16. h inst:, thirteen days a<ter Mora a bad left Arrilalab, a searob party started to find his remains, for not one vr » **nguine enough to think of find •_• .... a ahvb. Led by Mr Clark, the patty huon found the camp where Moran's saddles, bridles, etc, were, and picking up the tracks, fallowed them peraeverinply determined, if it were possible, to find him, alive or dead. About three o'clook p.m. they found written m large letters, on a bare patch of o'aypai, '* A man lost m this paddock." The wring waa not more than a day or so old, and with strong hope of fiuding poor Moran still alive the party eagerly continued their aearoh. Farther on they found freshlypulled 'grass and bought Finally, aboa*; half-past three p.m., the object of their serrch was discovered Bitting resignedly on the ground, alive, It is true, but alas ! what a piteous objeofc to gsze upon — emaciated and worn by his terrible fa*t having been 14 days without tasting food ; naked, bleeding. And swollen from exposure and bites of nvsqnUoes and eandflie*. The wonder and admiration of the refiners was excited at the indomitable j>luck which alone could have enabled the pmr fellow before them to have survived Bach a terrible ordeil as he bad undergone. A messenger was at once despatched to Arrilalah for a buggy. Meantime Messrs Clark and Considine having improvised a rude stretcher, oarried M >ran about two miles, the nearest print to which the buggy could he brought. Having accomplished this difliu't task they were fortunate enough tc find the baggy awaiting them supplied with everything that kindness and forethought deemed likely to alleviate the patient's suffering*. Next, morning the party returned to Arrilalah with the man who oould truly say that faw indeed have undergone bo much and lived to tell it It is now three days since he was brought m, Bnd considering the terrible < na'ure of his late experience, is progress- « ing as well as can be expected. Hia account of how he got lost is as follows : ] — Bis packhorse, a wild brute, got away, , and it took him all day to recover him. He oimped the first night after leaving < Arrilalah at the place where his saddles < and clothes were found. The night being 1 cloae and sultry, he had taken off every- ! thing except his shirt. Hearing the : horses going by him, ho started away without losing a moment to head them and turn them back. It was a more ] difficult task than he hai expected, and ] before he had accomplished it a terri6o storm came on. The rain poured down m torrents. Intense darkness, only broken by vivid flushes of lightning, which, when past, made the darkness felt the more, completely bewildered him, presently the creeks and watercourses became flooded, and the sortnd of the rushing waters added new horrors to the night All nJght the storm continued. Next morning the water had entirely obliterated all landmarks, end his desperate situation burst upon him m all its terrible reality. Naked, without food ; lost m a place which no one, no matter how good a hushmen he may be, could possible recognise m its present flooded state ; and to this tbe not remote prospect of being drowned by the ever-rising waters; and you have a state of things which might well make the stoutest heart qua.ll. For ten days the rain pontlnued, and tb» nnfortunate man, whenever he attempted to strike where he thought the road lay, wan driven out of his course by some creek too wlce and swollen to be orcssed. He fliya, and we may well believe, that neither tongue oould tell nor pen describe his Buffaringa during those ten days and nights of agony. After the tenth day his sensations became less acute, as he does not retain each distinct recollection of the latjt four days of misery. Yet he was perfectly coherent and rational when found- He recognised each member of the patty, and said he had never given up hope. The only thought, he said, which made him don't hia eventual rescue was the knowledge that, there was no telegraphic cottimunicJon between Arrilalah and Isisford, his non-arrival at the latter place would not be known.
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AG18870122.2.24
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1463, 22 January 1887, Page 3
Word count
Tapeke kupu
962LOST IN THE FAR WEST. Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1463, 22 January 1887, Page 3
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
No known copyright (New Zealand)
To the best of the National Library of New Zealand’s knowledge, under New Zealand law, there is no copyright in this item in New Zealand.
You can copy this item, share it, and post it on a blog or website. It can be modified, remixed and built upon. It can be used commercially. If reproducing this item, it is helpful to include the source.
For further information please refer to the Copyright guide.