A QUEENSLAND TRAGEDY.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XI, Issue 67, 8 March 1876, Page 4

A QUEENSLAND TRAGEDY.

A correspondent in the Warrego district furnishes the Brisbane Courier with a narrative of a disgraceful and horrible affair, of which a brief notice ready appeared in our columns: — ".At Burenda township, ten miles frcta-l trie fetation, a race programme had been arranged- for the 28th Dec ; aud,, a motley group of shearers, washers, shepherds, &c, from the stations round bad gathered in anticipation of a * big druuk/ A large table was. placed. pn the verandah of KavanagbV public -house, which was crowded with drunken, blaspheming men, and the * bonce' (dice) rattled away S ; to the -accompanying chink of the coins, ,a.nd ? the click of bottles and glasses Tor hours. A move was made to^be, racecourse by those who were able to move about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and the events were run ofi amid scenes of drunkenness and bestiEtdii^j.ick<?niDg in their details. Albert Green, James Wilson, James Larkins, Louis. Schmidt and William Nolan are the names of five misguided men wbo met together at Burenda township to aelebr«te, in the usual style, the birth of the^avioiif. They were all 'good drinking ,^eu,'-i especially. Green and W"ileonl : These five men used to have a 'go in' at the public-house, and then would take bottles of grog to a China' ma&e* humpy blose : by (the came wherein Charley Ah Soo chopped up his two countrymen with a tomahawk last July 12 months). " On the morning of New Year's Day, about 8 o'clock, these men started from the' township on foot, carrying tbeir swags, and taking with them a small -canvas bag and two billies of witeY," and a bottle of grog. They had with tbem five dogs, intending to make Nive 'Downs station by an old track known as the Postman's Track. At .parting they were all ■' muddled up in drink.' After travelling about four miles, heat and thirst overcame them, and they camped for a while, drank all the water and half the bottle of brandy er rum. They then moved on three or Jour,. miles further, and again camped and finished the grog. Green and Lai kips then ' pushed oo,' leaving the) r7tT.er.hree camped. After Green and Bsfk.hti had walked sir or seven miles further, Green stopped, and complained of. toeing '.very bad,' aod said, 'Jemmy, _k*m<,*very . sorry I: drank that grog; 1 saw tobacco in it when I poured it out in the pannikin.' After travelling a Ijjtftde .farther, La'kins felt his bead ' |Rery bad,' and had to stop, and tie it Dp with Green's handkerchief. He was quite unable to proceed any further •nd-tey-down. Green * looked queer,' and went off * walking very fast,' leaving bis mate behind, and L-.1 kins never sawbtm again. At sundown Larkins made up his mind to kill one of h.s dogs, and .triwd to coax the dog to him; tfuij a'Ubough the dog had followed close to his heel* all day, never leaving hiu>, he Would nut come near his master, wbo now took out his knife to be ready. The dog ran a way about 100 yatus and commeuced howling, and soon went away altogether, aod bus not been seen since. Lai kins then cut the other —dog's— a puppy — throat, and dfairkß the blood. He then abandoned his olotbes, ; and pushed ahead along the track, and next morning reaohed water, -.reiving at Nive Downs at 10 or 11 o'clock on Sunday morning. He appears not, to have said anything about the state in which be left his mates till Tuesday} wbeh one of the search party from .Burenda station ran his tracks to Nive Downs. He gave his reason for not doing so that he 'didn't know #ptly how things stood,' as he was 'muddled up in drink 1' iot« it ;r gppenrs that Green, after leav-ing^-L'arkins, wandered off the track into 'the .scrub io quest of water, and at about tea o'clock at night heard a dog bark ; 4bd, guided by the sound, cam^e to a place where Louis Schmidt was camped, and who was also searching for water. After two hours, Nolan, also attracted by the barking of Schmidt's dog, joined them, stating that h&nadleft 'Wilson; who was unable to travel from where they had finished the grog on the track. The three men camped together till dawn. Tbey all suffered intensely from thirst. Schmidt faad.some. sugar aod tartaric aoid io his sws^.and this tbey ate (Green mixing his > with wine in a pint pot, which caused him to retch violently). At Breik of day the three men started to search for — life. After two hours' travelling Green and Nolan lay down completely ' knocked up.' Schmidt left tbem some sugar and a little tartaric acid, and went on by himself, and searched till that day (Sunday, tbe 2nd) without finding any water. During the day bis dog died. The suffering of fiehmidt on Suoday night was dreadful. He was able, however, next morning to «?t awl along, and seeing some cockatoos laying about, he made for the spot, and at 11 or 12 o'clock found water in the Warrego. On the following morning (Tuesday, the 4 b), be tound a sheep station belonging to Burenda run, six miles from tbe , wash pool, and there learned Irom the shepherd that Nolan bad come tnere the night before, quite naked,, and fearfully exhausted, stating tho t be had left Gi«ea nearly dead iv /fife scrub. Nolan bad gone into the /head station tbat moruiog. The shep- , herd jbttviug reported the nutter the .jnightnrbtiAore, patties were sent out ..searcbiug. The sufferings of Nolan „,4.nd Ureen betake faxf parted company „/aud oi Nolaojftfterwqrds till be reached W*ur, Were, as desqrided by Nolan at . iba' inquests, dreauiui, ! bey ma* &

dig holes at the roots of the most shady trees, and get up the cool sand and ground to cover their naked bodies with. At mid-day on Tuesday, the 4th -inst., the search parties from Burenda station found Wilson on the track whore be had been left on the Ist inst., alive. He was lying on his back in the scorching heat of the sun, covered with ants. He spoke quite clearly when found, saying, ' I'll give a pound for a bucket of water,' and then immediately, ' Why don't you lift me up?' As the waterbag was held to his lips, he murmured, 'It's 100 late,' his head rolled to one side, and be was dead. He bad lain there and lived f in a heat by day averaging about 130deg., without food pr water for exactly four days. The dead body of his dog was close by. Later on the flame day (the 4ih) the same search party discovered Green's dead body, quite naked, lying on his face, at the spot where Nolan had left him. He had apparently died soon after he was left, the body being quite blaok."