to our hints, and gave his orders for getting
ready regardless of them.

A hasty supper of roast lamb and hot coffee was awaiting us when we
returned from the water, and while we were eating, a number of the
policemen were despatched along the banks of the river to drive in
Smith's cattle, while others stored his goods, which they had collected
during our absence, in the hut, and returned to the stockman a correct
schedule of the same.

About sundown, the oxen were yoked together and attached to the cart.
The horses were saddled, and awaited their riders, and the only thing
that detained us was the transfer of the bushrangers from the trees to
the cart in which they were to be transported to Melbourne. The wounded
men were too seriously hurt to endure the journey, and, indeed, it was
doubtful whether the poor wretches would survive many days, removed, as
they were, hundreds of miles from a physician's reach, and with no fit
nourishment to sustain them.

Murden, when we remonstrated against the wounded men being disturbed,
and given an opinion of the fatality of the act, received the news with
the utmost sang froid, and expressed no particular desire that the men
should live, under any circumstances; and finding that he could do
nothing with them, and that they would never survive the journey to
grace his triumphant entry into Melbourne, he wisely turned them over to
the care of the aged convict and his daughter, both of whom promised to
take care of them to the best of their ability, and in case they
recovered, to hold them close prisoners until the lieutenant sent an
order for their delivery.

One by one the prisoners were transferred from the trees to the cart.
Desperate was their resistance, and loud were the curses which were
heaped upon our heads. Manacled as they were, with heavy handcuffs
around their wrists, in some instances four men were required to lift
one of the villains to his place in the team, and it was no easy task at
that.

The police worked with patience, and never once lost their temper,
although I expected every moment that they would resort to extreme
measures. To keep the robbers quiet, and prevent their committing any
violence on those who rode in the team, a stout, spare chain was passed
from the forward end of the cart to the back part, and fastened
underneath. To this the feet of the men were secured, so that it was
impossible for them to move, or commit any sudden act of violence. The