Return of the Men Lost in the Bush.

Thames Star, Volume XIV, Issue 4436, 24 March 1883, Page 2 (Supplement)

Return of the Men Lost in the Bush.

About seven o'clock a.m. on Thursday the 22nd February, George Weston, Edward Short, and John darken left Gumtown to walk to the Thames. Only one of them, Weston,. was supposed to know the way. All went well until the Forks was reached, and then one of the branches was followed; after going about six miles the party turned off the creek and entered the bush. Instead of going to the left they turned to the right, and travelled all day till dark, then they rested at the foot of a tree, in the rain. In the morning they wrung their clothes and blankets, and started on into the bush farther, hoping to find an opening or get on to the surveyor's track. They took 31bs of biscuits from Gumtown, but most of them got wet and broken in crossing the creeks. Started eating the nikau on the first afternoon. This was obtained by one of the party standing on another's shoulders, and cutting it down with a penknife. Ou the second night they found that they could not get out of the bush, so they resolved to try back for the creek, and eventually found it. Beached the main creek on Saturday evening, and had to wait on the bank until Tuesday morning, when they followed it for about 10 miles until they reached a bush whare on Tuesday afternoon. They stayed at the whare from Tuesday until Saturday morning, the the creeks being swollen with tbe constant rain prevented them going back or coming on. The bushmen at the whare behaved very well to them. On Saturday the 3rd inst.,about six o'clock, one of the bushmen named George Hodge started with them to come to the Thames, which was reached about 8 o'clock on Saturday ni^ht. They were five days and nights in the bush subsisting on nikau. Weston and Short are single men under twenty years of age, and darken is over 30 years old, and married.