IN WILD AUSTRALIA.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17433, 19 April 1922, Page 4

IN WILD AUSTRALIA.

EXPEDITION PARTY'S EXPERIENCES.

KINDNESS OF NATIVES.

(HKBT OTTO OWX CORRESPONDENT.) SYDNEY, April 12. A thrilling story of the experiences of the survivors of the lugger Daisy, which was wrecked off Point Pearce, in the Northern Territory, while carrying an oil-prospecting party, has been told by Mr Sands, one of the survivors. The survivor* were hi an exhausted condition when they reached tho shore. Two of the party, Mr Fernie (drilling expert) and Mr Crampton (owner of the lugger) were drowned. '•lt was 5 p.m.," says Mr Sands. ••"We were on a desolate shore without food or clothe.';, or hoots, and at least 150 miles from Millar Bros.' station on the Fitsmaurice River. We decided to trv and find a native to guide us there. Several miles along tho beach we found two wild, naked men. They had just killed a kangaroo. Their spears stood bv and thev looked fierce and forbidding, but they wcro good, kind-hearted fellows. As soon as they saw that Mr Best wick was suffering through the want of water, one rushed into the bush and twisted up a piece ot paperbark which ho brought back brimmmg with good, fresh water. They woud not go to the Intsjmaunce, as they told Paddy they were afraid of a hostile tribe, hut they offered to take us to their king, who, they said, would send someone. Off we all started across the bush, an extraordinary looking company of white, tinted, and black men, all nude. We were two and a-half hours walking, and our feet were cut and bleeding, but wo whites were surprised how well we stood it, The reaction tuned us up later. "When we arrived at the king s camp we found that his Majesty and tho suite had gone into the bush. It was now dark, and, to make matters worse, it started to rain. We made a shelter out of bark, and the natives lit fires with friction sticks. They cookedJA© kangaroo and gave U3 the tail, which was accentablo. Bestwick and I camped under a" sheet of baric on the sand, with mosquitoes attacking us by the million. In our naked state the torture was awful. Smoke only stimulated them and choked us. We longed for tho davlight, and with the morning star wo started back to the scene of tho wreck, to see if any trace could be found of Mr Fernie .and Mr Crampton (the two members of the party who were drowned). We walked 12 miles and reached the beach at 10 o clock. Mr Bestwick walked one way and I the other, but wo saw no sign of them. Ten miles from the wreck I found a bag of flour which had been washed up There was a little winch was eatable in the centre. It seemed to Lav© been sent to us, for it saved our lives. '• T n the afternoon I rejoined Mr Be3twii who was with some natives. The latter would not go to Fitsmaunce station, and began to get restless. They said that'if we stayed there bad natives might kill us. They advised us to go ! to Port Keats, and swim across to the mainland, and go to Anson Bay. Kut as Anson Bay was over 200 miles off by 'land we were not responsive. Wo walked to Port Keats in three days, and arrived there done up, and Bunburnt and raw-footed. Here we stayed six dave, living on shell-fish, when a native'who was on his way to Point Pearco arrived. Mr Bestwick wrote a message with a sharp shell on j a piece of wood to Ah Mat, who we had left there, asking him to send us a. boat it he should, seo one. The steam launch Darwin went »in there for mangrove wood and Ah Mat told those on board of our plight. Tho Malay skipper of the Darwin sent us clothes and food, and a message that we were to come to Point Pearce, as he was in a hurry, but that two luggers would call at Point Pearco in a few days. "As Mr Bestwick could not proceed further, owing to sunburn, I went back the 50 miles to ,Point Pearce, leaving at 9 a.m., and reaching there at 8.30 p.m./ I induced the skipper to go back to Mr Bestwick, and we went with the boat back to the depot on the Victoria lliver. The skipper could not take us straight to Darwin, as his was the first trip after the wet season, and he thought tho people at the depot and stations would be right out of food. Our treatment on the little launch Darwin was excellent, and also, on'the lugger Venture, to which we transferred, and on which we came on to Darwin. "In my opinion, Mr Bestwick's feat at his age in swimming through that terribb sea, and walking nude over the awful country for days and days, was really wonderful. He had a very bad time indeed, but is now quite safe and well. One cheering circumstance was the ability of the wild natives to see the humorous side of the trouble. To them the spectacle of white men wandering about no better equipped than themselves was laughable, and j they were able in the circumstances to appreciate the value of a hide that I would not burn and soles that could walk over anything. To us the greatest torture was at night, when the mosquitoes attacked us in clouds, rendering sleep or any rest impossible. Some people profess to see nothing good in Australian aboriginals. But we shall always have the kindliest feelings for them, for they saved our lives. They _ are still patrolling the coast, searching for signs of the missing men."