LOST IN THE BUSH.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 6, Issue 1657, 10 April 1884, Page 3

LOST IN THE BUSH.

The Lyttclton Times has been furnished with a lengthy account of tho experience of Alexander Whitehead, a Bruce Bay miner, who was lost in tho bush on the West Coast. During tho sixteen days he was in tho bush he ate nothing but half a pound of sugar, some raspberries, and tho pith of a nativo plant, He was on the tramp the whole of the lime, and swam stream after stream in his endeavors to strike the trail. Whitehead thus describes his efforts to find tho track, after he had managed to strike a hut near tho Big Wanganui river: " Camped bore, and next morning, through dense bush and with great labor, got up tho latter river about a mile and a half, spending all day accomplishing tho distance, At this stage I got so weak and so exhausted that I had to lift my legs with my bawls ever tho fallen trees and logs, my toenails being blackened with the efforts I made. In all this, I kept as close to the river as tho country would allow, as I knew it was a guide to me, and though often I could not see it, I never let it out of my heaving. That night 1 camped in tho bush, and on the next morning, having ccmo to an old crossing, 1 afterwards struck an old bush track. I stuck to this, in the hope that it would lead me to some habitation, bet, my dear sir, you can imagine my disappointment when at between four and live in the evening I found it brought me back to the Little Wanganui, I then followed up the river for about a mile till the darkness compelled me to camp for the night. While here I pondered deeply what the track I had followed could be, and after deep thought I came to the conclusion that this track must be the one for the old crossing over the big Wanganui, and that if I followed the track right up I should yet be saved, Acting upon this resolution, about noon on the day following I reached an empty house abandoned by its owner, and belonging, I believe, to Mr P. Heiuly. Here to my great comfort, I found raspberries in the garden, somewhat spoilt by the rough weather, it is true, but still like manna to me. I then continued on up tho river for about four miles, and there camped till morning; then on again; till towards afternoon I came across an old rushgrown track leading to the range. This I followed, till, by God's providence, it brought me on to the proper mail track, by following which I reached a house of Mr Diedrich's, and there was supplied carefully, and sparingly at first, with food, and received kind attention and sympathy. You can conceive what my feelings were when I first saw tho men near the house. From here I subsequently arranged with the mailman to pack me to PiOSS.

Dining all lliis long time I fully preserved my reason, and I never failed, night and morning, to offer up fervent prayers to God for deliverance. Strange as it may appear to you for me to say so, I can truly say that I never doubted that I should bo restored through His providence; nay, when I reached Dicdrich's house, and saw the men, I was nearly as cool and collected as I am now,