An Australian Bush Firs.

Cromwell Argus, Volume III, Issue 119, 20 February 1872, Page 7

An Australian Bush Firs.

A STRUGGLE FOR LIFE. 'The following account of a narrow escape i from death in a bush lire is front the Xcic- ! cattle Chronicle : 1 Atr Sub-Inspector Harrison was, on a recent Saturday night, returning from Stroud to ; Dnngog in company with the A. A. Company’s Gloucester Superintendent (Mr Keys) and ' one of the police, and whilst in the vicinity of flic Ram Station, having occasion to dismount from his hofse, the animal jerked the bridle | out of his hand and made off up the range. ' Air Harrison followed, and after about halfi an-hour’s chase secured him ; his companions - having meanwhile ridden onwards. On tryI ing to recover the road, the horse tool: a wrong track through the darkness of the night caused by the bush fires, and carried his rider j into a gully, out of which ho was driven by a | bush fire, which was approaching along both j ridges. For three miles he was driven up j into the ranges, and finally surrounded by a ; complete circle of fire. Twice he was on the I point of giving in, but again trusting to his horse, relying oh his surefootedness, and in i sheer desperation, with handkerchief bound : over his mouth—for the fire was scorching ! him terribly, and the smoko was suffocating : —he made a dash through the burning scrub I down into another gully. There he remained ' from about one to five a.m., surrounded bv a | complete cordon of flames, his face to the ground, and the smoke curling over him in j dense black volumes. He was torn and scratched from head to foot, and his clothes I Were in ribbons, consequent upon the reckless manner in which he was compelled to gallop ■ through the burning scrub to avoid being roasted alive. As soon as davl ght permitted, and he could once move see Ins wav, he again started, and after several hours’ ride made an old station of the company's called the Flack Camp, which had been many years deserted. Here, after searching for some time, he found j an overgrown track which ultimately led him : to the Koruya river, in the immediate neigh- : bonrhood of the township of Stroud, where ihe arrived about mid-day, having been sixteen hours and a half in the burning ranges. ■ In the meantime, the alarm having been i given, parties were organised in Dnngog and 'Stroud for the purpose of seeking him, but with faint hopes of ever finding him ! alive.