HEAD OF JARDINE TO FALSE ORFORD NESS 593 



or less ILL. Two of them they thought certain to die. They had 

 had heavy rains, heavy scrub cutting, creeks to bridge, and no 

 feed for the horses. Their route has been charted from Mr. Crosbie's 

 notes. 



Crosbie dressed and poulticed my wound, and he and his party 

 overwhelmed me with kindness. For some days the wound was 

 so painful that I had to be hoisted into the saddle and lifted out of it. 



March n. Spelling horses and myself. A STEAMER passed 

 south about 8 p.m. 



March 12. Spelling horses. Crosbie shot the mare which 

 had given so much trouble at the outset of our journey from the 

 exuberance of her spirits. She had blundered down to the seaside 

 at low water, and, as she was unable to rise, would have been drowned 

 when the tide rose. 



Three SHIPS appeared off Orford Ness about two o'clock, 

 going south. In case they should come near enough to be hailed, 

 I wrote letters, but the ships (which turned out to be beche de mer 

 craft) anchored off Cairncross Island at sunset, and in the morning 

 were seen outside of Halfway Island. 



FALSE ORFORD NESS is a low promontory of horizontally bedded 

 red sandstone coming down in a cliff to the sea. The Ness is 

 covered (lightly near the sea) with BLOWN SAND, which accumulates 

 inland into high sand-hills. These extend inland for 2 or 3 miles 

 till they abut on a range of heath-clad sandstone hills. 



