the ghost story—benighted in the snow.
two young men—we will call them jones and smith, for convenience—emigrated to new south wales. they each possessed sufficient money to start them, as they hoped, as young squatters, and in due time they obtained what they sought.
jones became the owner of a small cattle ranch fifty miles from melbourne, while smith commenced sheep farming in partnership with an experienced runholder, forty miles further inland.
the friends occasionally visited each other, but in those days the settlers were few and months often passed without the cattle rancher seeing his friend or anybody to speak to beside the one man he retained on the station as hutkeeper, stockman, and general factotum.
it was about two years after jones had settled on his ranch that his friend smith, requiring to visit melbourne, decided to take jones on his way and stop a night with him.
he left his homestead early and arrived at the ranch late in the afternoon. as he rode near he saw jones sitting on the stockyard toprail, apparently enjoying an evening pipe. on calling to him jones jumped down, but instead of coming to meet his friend he ran into the bush (wood) close to the stockyard. smith, supposing he was playing a joke, dismounted and followed him; but neither hunting nor calling had any effect—jones was not to be found. smith, thinking he might be taking some short cut to the hut, which was a little way off, mounted and proceeded thither. here, again, he was disappointed, and on enquiry from the hutkeeper learned from him that his master had left for melbourne and england a month previously, and that he—the hutkeeper—was in charge till his return. smith, not liking the man or his manner, pretended to accept his statement, and said nothing about having just seen his master. after taking some refreshment and a slight rest he proceeded on his way to melbourne, where on enquiry at hotels and shipping offices he learnt that his[pg 100] friend had not been seen in melbourne for a long time, and had not taken his passage for england.
he then told his story to a mutual acquaintance, who agreed to return with him and endeavour to discover what was wrong before taking steps. together they journeyed back, and on coming within sight of the stock yard there was jones sitting on the rail in his previous position, and, as before, jumped down and ran into the bush.
smith and his companion now made an extensive examination of the locality, but were unable to discover anything to assist them. they then proceeded to the hut as if they had just arrived from melbourne, and without mentioning that they had seen his master, got into general conversation with the hutkeeper, but failed to elicit anything beyond what he had previously stated, adding only that he did not expect his employer's return for five or six months.
they remained at the station that night and left early in the morning, apparently for smith's homestead, but when they had ridden out of sight of the hut they wheeled and returned to melbourne by another route.
the idea that occupied their minds at this point was that jones was insane, probably led thereto by his lonely life; that he was wandering about in the bush in the neighbourhood of the hut, which he continued to visit, as they had seen, and that he had, with a madman's acuteness, purposely misled the hutkeeper about his going to england. smith and his companion feared to mention their suspicions to the hutkeeper, believing that he would not remain alone on the station if he thought that a maniac was about. seeing jones a second time, apparently in his usual health, had divested their minds of any suspicion that the hutkeeper had deceived them, or was in any way responsible, and the real facts as they subsequently turned out had not presented themselves to their minds.
they decided now to place the matter in the hands of the police. there were at that time (and no doubt still are) retained under the australian police force a number of native trackers, called the "black police." these men were a species of human bloodhounds, and could follow a trail by scent or marks indistinguishable by the white man.
on representing the case to the chief of the police, that officer deputed a detective and a couple of constables, with a number of the "black police" to accompany smith and his friend to jones's ranch. they took a circuitous[pg 101] route, arriving as before at the stockyard without giving information to the hutkeeper, but at the same time directing two men to approach the hut unseen and watch it till further directions.
when the party on this occasion approached the stockyard jones was not occupying his usual seat on the rails. the black trackers, on being shown the place and their work explained to them, they at once commenced the hunt. one of them presently picked up a rail which was lying near by on which he pointed out certain marks, calling them "white man's hair" and "white man's blood." then after examining the ground around the stockyard they took up the trail leading into the bush at a point where jones was seen to go. working up this for some two hundred yards and pointing out various signs as they proceeded, they arrived at a small slimy lagoon or pond, on the edge of which they picked up something they called "white man's fat." some of them now dived into the pond, where they discovered the body of jones, or what remained of it.
the hutkeeper was immediately arrested, but denied any knowledge of the matter. after consigning the body of the unfortunate rancher to a hurried grave, the prisoner was taken to melbourne, where he was tried for the murder of his master, and when he was convicted and sentenced, he confessed that he had crept up behind jones when he sat smoking on the stockyard rail and killed him by a blow on the head with the rail picked up by the black trackers, that he then dragged the body to the bush, and threw it into the lagoon. i do not recollect whether butler told us if the real object of the murder transpired, but the murderer turned out to be a ticket-of-leave convict well known to the police. the peculiarity of the story lay in the fact that the apparition of jones twice appearing to his friend, and on one occasion to a stranger also, was sworn to in court during the trial.
i was obliged, owing to business, to leave mesopotamia in midwinter, and to save a very circuitous journey i decided to travel down the gorge of the rangitata some twenty-five miles, to the station i referred to once before belonging to mr. b. moorehouse. the route lay partly along the mountain slopes overhanging the river, and then diverged across a pass as i had been carefully instructed, but there was no roadway, only a bridle path now pretty sure to be covered with snow, and there was no shelter of any kind over the[pg 102] whole distance. although i had never made the journey, my former experiences gave me every confidence that i would be able to find my way without much trouble, and taking with me only a scrap of bread and meat and a blanket i started as soon as it was light enough to see, certain in my mind that i would reach moorehouse's early in the afternoon. the first few miles through the run i knew so well i got along without trouble, but further on the difficulties began. it was impossible, owing to the slushy and slippery as well as uneven nature of the ground, to get out of a slow walk, and frequently i had to double on my tracks to negotiate a swampy nullah, and often to dismount and lead my animal over nasty places which he funked as much as i did.
by midday i had got over about half the distance, when i made the serious mistake of continuing down the gorge instead of turning over the saddle or pass to which i had been specially directed; but i was misled by sheep walks leading on towards the gorge, while the footpath over the pass was entirely obliterated by snow. i did not discover my mistake until i could go no further; the sheep walks led only to the shelter of some huge precipices, which here approached close to the river on either side, narrowing the stream to a fourth of its usual volume, and confining it in a rocky channel through which it thundered furiously.
the noise was deafening, and the position one of the grandest and wildest i had ever beheld, but i could not afford the time just then for sentiment. it was already getting dark, and i had scarcely a foot to stand on. it seemed indeed, for a moment, that i would not be able to turn my horse, which i was leading, on the narrow path we had now got on to, and if i succeeded in doing that i would have a considerable distance to retrace before reaching safe ground, a false step would send us headlong a couple of hundred feet into a rushing torrent, if we escaped being smashed on the rocks before we got there. i do not think i ever felt so lonely or alarmed, but i had to act, and that quickly. fortunately my horse was a steady one, well accustomed to climbing over bad places, and no doubt the coming darkness and weird surroundings did not affect him as they did me, and my anxiety after all was then more on his account than my own, for without him i knew i could feel my way back alone.
as i moved to turn, the horse twisted round as if on a pivot and followed me like a cat, indeed he could see[pg 103] the track better than i could, and exhibited little nervousness as he crept along with his nose near the ground, and testing every step before he trusted the weight of his body on it. i was very thankful when we at length emerged from that frowning and dark chasm as it now appeared, with the foaming water away in its black depths and an icy wind blowing directly from it.
but what were we to do now? in the darkness it would be impossible to either go onward or return the way i had come, and the fact that i was benighted, and in a very nasty position too, now struck me clearly; but there was nothing for it but to make the best of a bad job.
outside the narrow gorge it was considerably lighter, and i had no difficulty in finding my way a bit up towards the pass, where i fortunately discovered a patch of tall snow grass between the tussocks of which the ground had been partly sheltered from the snow, and near this i stumbled on a quantity of "irishman" scrub which had recently been burnt and was easily broken down. so far this was lucky, for it secured me the means of making a fire, without which it would have been impossible, i believe, to live till the morning, which was still some sixteen hours distant.
i tethered my horse to a tussock, and selecting a couple of large ones, knotted their tops together, forming thereby a little room about four feet long by two wide. in this i cut and spread some more snow grass and pushed my saddle and blanket to one end. this did not occupy many minutes, and now i had to break down and collect firewood to last me during the night. when all was done i felt terribly hungry, the little bit of food i had brought with me i had eaten early in the day, and the fact that i had not a morsel left increased my longing for it. fortunately i had a supply of tobacco and a box of wax vestas, and i smoked continuously. i dared not attempt to lie down to sleep, for i had not covering enough to keep me warm, and indeed i felt no desire for sleep. i was too much concerned about the night; if heavy snow fell i would find it very difficult to move, even when daylight appeared, and it was now falling in a half-hearted sort of way. my poor horse stood as near the fire as he could, without any food, and shivering, and i was constantly standing up and clapping my arms and stamping my feet if the fire got low, then, when a bit warmed, i would crouch inside my den and[pg 104] sometimes i dozed, only to waken up from sheer cold and resume my exercise. after some hours i had the satisfaction to notice that the snow had ceased falling, and a brighter night, with frost, had set in. this was pleasant, as the probability of being snowed up was no longer to be apprehended, but the biting cold was terrible, and i knew that if i succumbed to sleep, i would be frost-bitten.
i scarcely know how i got through the night; one never does. i must have had periods of unconsciousness, and the heat emanating from the hot ashes, and what fire i was able to keep going, saved me. had it not been for that, i could not have survived, and it was a piece of extraordinary luck my lighting on a patch of snow grass and scrub in that wild and desolate pass.
how i longed for daylight may be imagined, and the first tinge of light i noticed on the horizon was a welcome sight indeed. my firewood was long since burnt away, but the ashes were yet warm, and i thrust in my hands till i revived some life into them, and was able to collect more brushwood which i carried over, and had a rousing fire, and was enabled to get the saddle on to my horse. i was now undecided whether to retrace my steps to mesopotamia or endeavour to find my way to moorehouse's; on the latter, however, i decided, as i judged i was midway between the two, and started to explore the pass, leading my horse. the exercise revived us both, and i succeeded in finding the trail i needed. the journey was simple after what i had experienced on the other side, and i had the satisfaction of meeting one of moorehouse's shepherds before the day was much older, who accompanied me to the station, and who would scarcely believe that i had passed the night where i did.
i found mr. and mrs. ben moorehouse at home, and was, as always, most hospitably received, and soon found myself with a change of kit, seated before an excellent meal, to which after thirty hours fasting i did ample justice. after that i slept till morning.
on my arrival at christchurch an offer was made to me to join an expedition to the fiji islands, just then creating some interest as a possible place for colonists. the previous year some explorer had brought from thence a ship load of curiosities, including war clubs and spears of hard polished and carved wood, mats and numerous other articles in use among the cannibal tribes, and an exhibition of them was held in the town hall. i now learnt that an acquaintance[pg 105] of mine, a mr. gibson, had chartered a small vessel called the "ocean queen," 40 tons burthen, and intended to sail in her, with his young wife, for the fiji islands. also that four other men had joined him in the enterprise. i knew gibson to be a plucky fellow, but when it transpired that neither he nor the others possessed money beyond what the voyage would cost them, and that what they intended to do when they arrived at the fiji islands was to be left to chance, the proposed expedition assumed a different complexion. the judge denounced it as sheer madness, specially for a man to take his wife to such a place. it was true that some missionaries had settlements there, but these are generally safe, as the savages, as a rule, fear and respect the missionaries of the great spirit, be it that of the white man or the black, and they know that the missionaries mean no harm to them or their possessions, but it would be very different in the case of a number of white men arriving unprotected in a small boat with the intention of settling on their land. however, nothing would dissuade gibson and his party. whether the "ocean queen" arrived at the fiji islands was never known. certainly she and the party who sailed in her were never again heard of.
