BACK PROM THE BUSH.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 183, 20 December 1912, Page 8

BACK PROM THE BUSH.

KAIPARA MYSTERY SOLVED. A STRANGE. STORY. December 18. After search parties- had scoured the country and dragged the river, Dufaur, the bank clerk who disappeared from the time the county clerk, Mr.. Sayers, was found dead on the road, as the result of a fall from a horse, appeared at the Na-, tional Bank, Paparoa, last' night. He had undergone much hardship in the brief period, and was in a thoroughly exhausted condition, bordering on collapse. No coherent account can be yet obtained as to his strange actions, but probably more light will Be thrown on the matter at the adjourned! enquiry on Monday into the circumstances- surrounding the death of Mr. Sayers*. Dufaur is still in bed, and will have- to remain quiet for a few days. Although the details are meagre, it can be gathered from the few scraps of conversation uttered by the patient lliat he experienced great hardships during the sojourn in the bush. His memory appears to be almost a blank at present in regard to recent happenings. It appears that he must have come back to the Pahi Hotel soon after the fatal accident, but owing to the great shock he had received' he was apparently unable to indicate to anyone what had happened. After- speaking to one or two people near tile hotel on Saturday night, it can be gathered that he went to Pahi wharf, which is only a few hundred yards from the hotel. When Dufar got to the wharf he placed his set of keys just above the steps, realising that they would be required at the bank. Then he states his hat blew in to/the water. Thinking that if Mshat was found floating it' might be taken as evidence that he was drowned, Dufaur, who n a very powerful swimmer,' jumped, fully clothed as he was, from the wharf, with the object of recovering his headgear. The hat eluded him, and he swam to the wharf again, and during most of the night kept wandering about in the vicinity of the hotel. Before dawn on Sunday morning broke he made for the bush:

From this point no particulars can as yet be gleaned, fie must have hidden in the bush, which is very dense, throughout Sunday, and either thatnight or on Monday evening made his way to Paparoa. No food passed' the unfortunate man's lips during the period of his absence, and not finding any fresh water, he drank salt water. Ail this, together with the fact that he slept on the ground in his damp clothes, combined to bring about the pitiable pnght' in which he was found-

Young Defaur was hiding in the bush last evening when he saw a light shining from the bank window. It dawned on him that he could not pass anotlier night of exposure without dire consequences, and he made up his mind to seek assistance, with the resiilt already related.