4 
NIGHT OF HORRORS. 
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, accom- 
panied 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 pain- 
ful 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 
