footsore, blanketless, and supperless, we had nothing to do but watch for the first dawn of day. Certainly we had my mate’s bottle of rum. I had, I think, two small drinks of it.
“Next morning I awoke! Yes, I found that I had slept, that the grog must have been drugged, and that my guide (?) had decamped, having robbed me of all my cash and two of the most valuable of the watches entrusted to my charge. Here was a predicament! I had had nothing to eat since the previous night. I was utterly bushed, and half stupefied with the drug that had been used. It was no use, however, crying over spilt milk. I started in what I thought was the direction of Notown, and after two days of utter misery, found myself utterly worn out on the summit of what appeared to be a dividing range. Which side should I descend? If I made a mistake I knew I was too exhausted to retrace my steps. My late friend had left me a solitary shilling.
“I tossed up—heads to the right hand, tails to the left. Fortunately it was ‘tails to the left.’ I descended the range to the left, and after about half-a-day, such as I hope never again to experience, I found myself on the banks of the Grey River.
“In about an hour more a boat came close to where I was lying. I hailed it, and on relating my story was kindly taken to Greymouth, where, by the aid of some good Samaritans, I was enabled to lie up for about a fortnight. Having recovered I got a stock of papers on credit, but it was my last run. During my absence others had taken my place, and soon after I again returned to the digging.
“I may add that the diggers whose watches had been stolen refused to accept any compensation. I, of course, informed the police, but the thief was never taken. Verily poverty makes one acquainted with strange bed fellows.”
