To Cross the Great Dividing Range

We set out on a bright and sunny day. Perkins and I led the party, making great strides north. The sherpas lumbered behind us, shouldering the baggage with their good natured grumbling.

Shortly though, the terrain turned rough and boring. Brown hill after brown hill gave way only where the primitive path we followed wound into small wooded valleys.

Perkins and I were forced to spend hours shouting at the bearers as they carried our luggage across the mountain range. As the sun crept down, we were exhausted from the loud ordering around, and began to look for a convenient place to make a rude camp.

Finally deciding upon a pleasant rise facing a lake after hours of wandering in circles, we watched, drained as the carrymen set up our rude shelter.

Although Perkins and myself were exhausted, we were kept awake until all hours by the rude carousing of the baggageboys.

I woke early, with a start. As I raised my head from the hard, scratchy goosedown pillow, I suspect that the I saw the door closing, as if someone had been sneaking around. I quickly leapt up and examined my belongings. Nothing seemed to be missing, but I resolved to watch the bearers more closely. How wrong I was!

After a measly 3 course breakfast, Perkins and I reviewed our situation. Although we had far to go if we were to cross this unknown continent from south to north, we had come some distance the day before, and felt that our great lassitude deserved a further day's rest on the shore of this most beautiful lake.

On returning to my room I found that, to my horror, my belongings had been rifled through! And my gold fob watch, a gift from my lovely wife before Perkins and I left, was missing. Of course, I immediately confronted the bearers, but they just lazed around in the sun, or smiled their secret smug smiles and pretened to know nothing.

Spent the rest of the day sitting on my bed with a rifle, ready for the next blackguard who attempted burglary. Again, the roudies we had so ill-advisedly hired at the start of our journey kept me awake all night with their lewd, primitive behaviour.