CUT IN THE DESERT.

Colonist, Volume LIV, Issue 13507, 29 August 1912, Page 6

CUT IN THE DESERT.

The- anxiety reported a few days av.o as to tho whereabouts of a tracking .pjia-iy'.-in -North-West Victoria draws: "attention to some of the dangers of sheep-farming and of police work hi that part of Australia. A few weeks ago, two graziers, named Macniiliattj | who hold a statipn in tho WimraeraI country, twenty .miles north of thp Melbourne-Adelaide line,' missed 500(j sheep when mustering, and-found traces of sheep having .been yarded in tho. scrub and driven away. Detectives, and black trackers were supplied by the Police Department, and a party followed up some tracks into tho desert. That was at tho end of July, and last ! week anxiety was felt in Melbourne ■ because no -word had been received of the party's doings. The men had only sufficient provisions to last them a few days, and tho-country they were working in is dangerous oAving to tho want of water. The desert is parched, ;i.nd tho drifting sand of th lonely country only contains malice.scrub at intervals, with water-holes some 30 or 40 miles apart. Some- of these are believed- to be! dry now. Practically -no vegetation exists thefre, except an occasional tree of wild cherries, which would not sustain tho men if their provisions ran 'short. One of the Macmillcns is said ■to know tho country, and one- of the constables was a bushman, while the black trackers are regarded as being able- to " find their way out. of most places. A detective- who-'knows the country took a gloomy view of tho cusp when, interviewed in Melbourne. He said there was not a blade-'-of grass to be .seen anywhere, and the only life on ths-'I■vast* sand plaia was an occasional crow or ■& kangaroo. Water was so scarce that he had been for days.without any, and to procure sufficient to quench his thirst he had caught a quantity of dew and frost on a police^ man's macintosh overcoat, which he drained into a billycan. The- cold was frequently a strong, icy wind blew across the desert, polluting the air .with blinding sand. Wo "were'informed by cable last week that it was. feared the party had been lost, but nothing further has been sent to let us 1 know whether they are safe of whether hops has h&sn given up.