UNKNOWN

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXII, Issue 8848, 26 June 1907, Page 4

UNKNOWN

\ Pot t Daewik, Juno 10 Eimim-er-Commandcr Sills, of !I '•* la Pvrumns, who lias been lost !u ’-he j ’ujrlo for five days, and was l*f.-ovoi nij J/rklay, was yesterday brought into Palmerston and taken to tho -hospital. He was in a weak .•u;d emaciated condition, and conTor«atioji was not allowed with him l,v the local inert ! cal attendant. . 'The story of Engineer-Commander Silk's es i science is briefly toat no loft tho shooting party on Sunday about mid-day, and walked across to tlio railway bi*o mi a north -westerly direction, looking for something to shoot. After striking-the railway ho walked along it towards Palmerston. as far as a level crossing about nine miles from the town. He then tried to make hack towards the camp, on Kmickeys’ lagoon to the north-east from where he then was. On the way back he shot a wallaby and cut oft its tail. He kept walk- } ing on carrying the.tail andLad™* i -which he had previously shot m the , li'oon. At dusk on Sunday night; I iielfound himself in some mangroves wliere he spent the night on lus feet j walking about in circles, as he was UmSlo to find his way out. On j 1 Monday he got out of the manII groves, and leached some swamps where ho got water. On Tuesday ho appears to have wandered through the thick bush near where he was found, and continued Ins wanderings to tho following day, hut no definite information can at present . bo secured as to his movements during that time. . _ . On Wednesday oven mg EngineerCommander Silk stated that rain tell which saved his life, as lie had haa no water for nearly two days. He obtained water by spreading out his clothes and squeezing the water into his mouth. He saw tho searchlight, which had been thrown from H.M.b. Pyramus every evening, wmlo he was missing on Tuesday or Wednesday evening, but he could not remember which, and tried to get to it, but came across a big river, and mangroves, probably the Howard river, near the sea. Seeing that it was useless to attempt to get across, he struck south. On Thursday night he thought he was “done,” as he bad been without food since leaving tho shooting party on Sunday, except for a few leaves and some seed of r palm tree. He los* the wallaby tax and duck while wandering in tin mangroves on Sunday night. Or Eriday morning he struck th< Howard river and started .to toliov it up. About mid-day he saw tin roof of a house, “ami,” lie con tinned, “I shouted out, Thank Goc for that!” , , 1 A black fellow named Frank am a Malay named Charlie, who are em ployed on M’Keddio’s station, know as Howard Creek station, who wer iust starting out to follow his tracks which they had loft the night be fore, heard him call ont. 1 rank wr on the same side of the river as th officer, and Charlie was on the hoim stead side. Frank having seen bill called to Charlie, and tho latter, ri gardless of alligators, swam tl stream to join Frank and the missir officer. The two men put Silk m dug-out canoe which they pnsln across the river, one swimming (

each side. n The following clay Mr M. U Skinner drove the officer to the railway, whence he was brought into town yetserday by Mr Welborn, superintendent of railways, on his railway motor-