BUSHED. 
T. J. CUNNINGHAM. 
Six of the niggers had been to the 
camp that afternoon, headed by their chief, 
‘Paddy, and with many grimaces and ges- 
tures had made known the fact that “plenty 
fellah turkey set down long a’ libber” near 
their camp. Hugh Smith was not sur- 
prised, therefore, when about 4 o'clock his 
mate, Charlie Ficld, tossed his pick on the 
bank and remarked that he would try to 
pick up a few turkeys, as their supply of 
meat was low. The camp was pitched a 
short stone’s throw from their claim, and 
securing his gun and a few cartridges, Field 
was soon picking his way through the dense 
bush toward the river. 
Hugh continued working about an hour; 
then, filling the billy can with water he put 
it over the fire to boil for tea. 
Hugh had given Field’s absence scarcely 
a thought, but when supper was ready his 
mate had not returned and he became anx- 
ious. The sun had gone down, and this, 
in Australia, is of great moment to the 
traveler, for with the setting of the sun 
complete darkness reigns. There is no twi- 
light in this most peculiar of countries. 
Placing his hands to his mouth to form a 
megaphone, Hugh sent the Australian 
coo-ee ringing through the bush. Several 
times he repeated it, but received no an- 
swering call. He therefore ate his lonely 
meal, and when bedtime arrived, rcceiving 
no answer to his repeated calls, went to 
sleep. 
The sun had already filtered through the 
thick bush the next morning when Hugh 
started in search of his partner, climbing 
the track which led up from the creek over 
steep and dangerous pinches to the main 
diggings 7 miles away. 
After leaving camp, Field had followed 
the track which led to the river. Numerous 
cockatoos and parrots clattered along the 
way, but always remained out of gunshot. 
In about an hour he thought he must 
be near the river, and was preparing to de- 
scend an unusually steep slope, when, right 
below him, he saw a turkey dart across the 
track. Another, and several more followed 
and disappeared in a thick growth of sting- 
ing tree. To get down the slope quietly 
required care, but Field accomplished it, 
although several times he narrowly escaped 
dislodging loose stones which only needed 
the slightest touch to send them rolling 
among the game below. 
The turkeys, ignorant of danger, were 
feeding on lawyer berries, which were 
plentiful at that season. A plump hen had 
just hopped on the trunk of a fallen tree 
and offered a tempting target. The first 
345 
shot brought her to the ground, and as the 
other turkeys rose with a great fluttering 
of wings to the trees overhead, Field shot 
an immense gobbler, slightly wounding him. 
Disregarding the other turkeys, he lined the 
gobbler until he saw him alight in a large 
gum tree some distance in the bush. Quick- 
ly reloading both barrels, Field followed on 
the trail of the wounded bird, taking the 
dead hen with him. 
The bush was particularly dense in that 
locality, and while it completely screened 
him from the game, he had great difficulty 
in getting through it. He finally reached a 
point favorable for a shot, and cautiously 
raised his gun to take aim, but his foot 
caught in a creeping vine, throwing him to 
the ground and discharging his gun. He 
regained his feet in time to see the turkey 
fluttering into another tree several hundred 
feet away. The remaining shell in his gun 
was his last, and not wishing to lose the 
bird, which he knew he had already wound- 
ed, he continued the chase. 
When he next got within range he was at 
a disadvantage, as the tree grew on the 
side of a steep spur and the turkey had 
perched in the topmost branches. Taking 
careful aim, Field fired, bringing the bird 
to the ground badly wounded but still able 
to hop away into the bush. Had the un- 
dergrowth been only moderately dense, the 
chase would have quickly ended, but fa- 
vored by the tangled mass of vines, the 
turkey led Field a long chase before it 
finally became exhausted and allowed him 
to catch and kill it. 
Field then started to retrace his steps. 
So engrossed had he been in the chase that 
he had not heeded the lateness of the hour, 
and night was rapidly coming on. Before 
he had gone far it had become so dark that 
he could not discern objects a few feet 
away. Realizing that he could not return 
to camp until daylight, he set about hunting 
a spot where he could lie down for the 
night. At the moment he was standing in 
a thick patch of swordbush, prickly lawyer 
and stinging tree, which precluded lying 
down. Advancing cautiously in search of a 
clearing, he had gone but a few steps, when 
the ground crumbled away suddenly and 
Field plunged headlong into space. 
When Hugh arrived at the main diggings, 
he had no difficulty in getting a party of the 
miners to join him in a search for his lost 
mate. Taking with them a native, known 
as a “black-tracker,” they started back over 
the trail to Hugh’s camp. There, “Sunday,” 
the native, was given the lead. Taking the 
trail where Field left the camp, he was off 
