FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163  
164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   172   173   174   175   176   177   178   179   180   181   182   183   184   185   186   187   188   >>   >|  
prudent in men who had been for so long a time compelled to subsist upon very scanty fare, and in consequence had been nearly all affected with violent sickness; and, as six of the party, including Mr. Lushington and myself, were now ill, we did not start very early; the remaining ponies were also so weak that they could scarcely carry themselves, and we therefore were only able to place very light loads upon them. I have already described the very difficult nature of the country we had to traverse; but the roads we had previously constructed through it proved extremely serviceable. So little had they been injured that they formed a very fair and passable line of communication. Early in the evening we crossed the Lushington and halted at the summit of the cliffs which formed its northern bank. April 14. I sent the most efficient of the party back with the horses for the remaining stores whilst with four men I remained in charge of the tents. ANXIETY ON APPROACHING HANOVER BAY. Sunday April 15. Our anxiety to ascertain if any accident had happened to the schooner now became very great: since such a circumstance was of course by no means impossible. As our position would then have been very precarious, and our only chance of ultimate safety have rested on the most exact discipline and cautious rules of conduct being observed from the very first, I thought it would be most prudent not to allow such a calamity (had it occurred) to burst too suddenly upon the men when they were quite unprepared for it. Two of them were therefore selected and, accompanied by these, I started before daylight for the sandy beach in Hanover Bay; leaving the party to make the best of their way to the heights above the valley where we had first encamped, and where plenty of food and water could be found for the ponies; these, in the event of anything having happened to the schooner, would become the mainstay of our hopes. These arrangements having been made we moved off through the rocky difficult country we had first encountered: every step we took was over well-known ground, in which no change had taken place save that there were evident marks of bodies of natives having been in the neighbourhood since our departure. As I proceeded nearly in a direct line to Hanover Bay we encountered some difficulty from the broken character of the ground, but about eleven o'clock had gained the hilly country at the back of the beach, from
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163  
164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   172   173   174   175   176   177   178   179   180   181   182   183   184   185   186   187   188   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
country
 

difficult

 

encountered

 
formed
 
Hanover
 
Lushington
 

ground

 

schooner

 

remaining

 

prudent


happened
 
ponies
 

discipline

 

daylight

 

conduct

 

cautious

 

leaving

 

selected

 

suddenly

 

occurred


calamity
 

thought

 

observed

 
started
 

accompanied

 
unprepared
 
arrangements
 

bodies

 

natives

 

neighbourhood


departure

 

evident

 
change
 
proceeded
 

direct

 
gained
 

eleven

 

difficulty

 

broken

 

character


plenty

 

heights

 
valley
 

encamped

 
mainstay
 
rested
 

nature

 

scarcely

 
traverse
 

injured