DIED ALONE IN "THE BUSH."
"'Many accidents have happened, and the history of the colonies is full of melancholy stories about men who fell and were crippled away from home, and died in consequence. Many a man has disappeared, and no trace of him has ever been found; in other cases bleaching skeletons have been discovered years later, and the few who have not forgotten the missing men will connect these skeletons with their fate.
"'There was a horrible case,' said Mr. Watson, 'that is fresh in the memory of many men. A man was riding alone in the bush, when his horse threw him and injured his spine in such a way that he could not move. Close to where he fell was an enormous ants' nest, and when the man was found, three days after the accident, he was still alive and conscious, but unable to speak, his body having been half devoured by the ants. He died a few hours after, and it is awful to think of what his sufferings must have been.
"'A parallel to this terrible story is found in the fate of a woodman who was felling trees in the forest several miles from any one else. A burning tree fell on him and pinned him to the ground, but without doing him any serious injury. He was unable to extricate himself, and for the day and a half it took for the fire to smoulder slowly to him he was fully aware of his impending fate. He scratched an account of the occurrence on a tin dish that lay within his reach; when he was found his body was so charred and blackened that it would not have been recognized as the remains of a man had it not been for the tin dish that told the horrible story. The tree which fell on him was of a kind that has the peculiarity of smouldering slowly and leaving nothing but a track of white ashes on the ground.'
"Each of us had brought his dinner, tied at the back of his saddle; and after looking on a while at the drafting, we went to a spring near by and heartily enjoyed our meal. It consisted simply of beef and bread, and was eaten from the fingers in a very primitive way. Soon after dinner we rode back to the station, leaving the stockmen and their assistants to bring up the drafted animals, while the rest were let loose again.
