AN AUSTRALIAN SEARCH PARTY —­ V.

By Chas H. Eden.

HOW WE EXPLORED THE MACALISTER RIVER.

The reader who has been good enough to follow me so far, will see that hitherto our efforts had been unattended with the slightest success, and that the fate of the missing schooner and her living freight still remained buried in the deepest mystery.  To say that we were not disheartened by our numerous disappointments would be untrue, for we well knew that each closing day rendered our chances of affording relief to the survivors more and more difficult; so much so, in fact, that at the council assembled to discuss the matter in the large dining-room of the hotel, several voices urged the expediency of abandoning any further attempts.  Much valuable time, they remarked, had been already expended by men to whom time represented money, nay more —­ the means of living.  Their own avocations imperiously demanded their presence, and although they were the last men in the world to desert their fellow-beings in extremity, still, in a country where every man lived by the sweat of his own brow, self-interest could not be entirely sacrificed.

[Illustration —­ Australians in camp.]

Even we, who were most anxious to organise another expedition, could not but acknowledge that the searchers had much justice on their side; but when we were discussing matters in rather a despondent tone, a new ally came to the front in the person of Jack Clarke, the horse-breaker.

“Where do you propose going next?” he asked Dunmore.

“We must search the ranges at the back of the township first, and another party must go up the Macalister River,” was the reply.

“Need both parties start at the same time?”

“The chances of success would, of course, be greater if they did,” replied the officer, “but still it is not absolutely necessary.”

“Well,” said Jack, “suppose you take the pilot boat, and go up the river, which will take much longer to explore than the ranges; and, at the end of a week, we shall have got our own affairs pretty straight, and will beat all the country at the back, and join you on the Macalister.  What do you think of that, mates?” he added, turning to the company.  “Won’t that suit us all?”

“Capitally!” was echoed from every side, and after sundry drinks the party broke up; Dunmore and I hastening to make immediate preparations for our new trip.