Another accident!  At one o’clock ‘Snatcher,’ one of the three ponies laying the depot, arrived with single trace and dangling sledge in a welter of sweat.  Forty minutes after P.O.  Evans, his driver, came in almost as hot; simultaneously Wilson arrived with Nobby and a tale of events not complete.  He said that after the loads were removed Bowers had been holding the three ponies, who appeared to be quiet; suddenly one had tossed his head and all three had stampeded—­Snatcher making for home, Nobby for the Western Mountains, Victor, with Bowers still hanging to him, in an indefinite direction.  Running for two miles, he eventually rounded up Nobby west of Tent Island and brought him in._20_ Half an hour after Wilson’s return, Bowers came in with Victor distressed, bleeding at the nose, from which a considerable fragment hung semi-detached.  Bowers himself was covered with blood and supplied the missing link—­the cause of the incident.  It appears that the ponies were fairly quiet when Victor tossed his head and caught his nostril in the trace hook on the hame of Snatcher’s harness.  The hook tore skin and flesh and of course the animal got out of hand.  Bowers hung to him, but couldn’t possibly keep hold of the other two as well.  Victor had bled a good deal, and the blood congealing on the detached skin not only gave the wound a dismal appearance but greatly increased its irritation.  I don’t know how Bowers managed to hang on to the frightened animal; I don’t believe anyone else would have done so.  On the way back the dangling weight on the poor creature’s nose would get on the swing and make him increasingly restive; it was necessary to stop him repeatedly.  Since his return the piece of skin has been snipped off and proves the wound not so serious as it looked.  The animal is still trembling, but quite on his feed, which is a good sign.  I don’t know why our Sundays should always bring these excitements.

Two lessons arise.  Firstly, however quiet the animals appear, they must not be left by their drivers; no chance must be taken; secondly, the hooks on the hames of the harness must be altered in shape.

I suppose such incidents as this were to be expected, one cannot have ponies very fresh and vigorous and expect them to behave like lambs, but I shall be glad when we are off and can know more definitely what resources we can count on.

Another trying incident has occurred.  We have avoided football this season especially to keep clear of accidents, but on Friday afternoon a match was got up for the cinematograph and Debenham developed a football knee (an old hurt, I have since learnt, or he should not have played).  Wilson thinks it will be a week before he is fit to travel, so here we have the Western Party on our hands and wasting the precious hours for that period.  The only single compensation is that it gives Forde’s hand a better chance.  If this waiting were to continue it looks as though we should become a regular party of ‘crocks.’  Clissold was out of the hut for the first time to-day; he is better but still suffers in his back.