or that purpose; I found it, however, together with
several loose cartridges, lying about near the place where the boys had
slept, so that it was evident they had deliberately loaded the fire-arms
before they tried to move away with the things they had stolen; one
barrel only of my gun had been previously loaded, and I believe neither
barrels in that of the overseer.

After obtaining possession of all the remaining arms, useless as they
were at the moment, with some ammunition, I made no further examination
then, but hurried away from the fearful scene, accompanied by the King
George's Sound native, to search for the horses, knowing that if they got
away now, no chance whatever would remain of saving our lives. Already
the wretched animals had wandered to a considerable distance; and
although the night was moonlight, yet the belts of scrub, intersecting
the plains, were so numerous and dense, that for a long time we could not
find them; having succeeded in doing so at last, Wylie and I remained
with them, watching them during the remainder of the night; but they were
very restless, and gave us a great deal of trouble. With an aching heart,
and in most painful reflections, I passed this dreadful night. Every
moment appeared to be protracted to an hour, and it seemed as if the
daylight would never appear. About midnight the wind ceased, and the
weather became bitterly cold and frosty. I had nothing on but a shirt and
a pair of trowsers, and suffered most acutely from the cold; to mental
anguish was now added intense bodily pain. Suffering and distress had
well nigh overwhelmed me, and life seemed hardly worth the effort
necessary to prolong it. Ages can never efface the horrors of this single
night, nor would the wealth of the world ever tempt me to go through
similar ones again.

April 30.--At last, by God's blessing, daylight dawned once more, but sad
and heart-rending was the scene it presented to my view, upon driving the
horses to what had been our last night's camp. The corpse of my poor
companion lay extended on the ground, with the eyes open, but cold and
glazed in death. The same stern resolution, and fearless open look, which
had characterized him when living, stamped the expression of his
countenance even now. He had fallen upon his breast four or five yards
from where he had been sleeping, and was dressed only in his shirt. In
all probability, the noise made by the natives, in plundering the camp,
had awoke h