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| ‘We now picked up our game and proceeded to the foot of the tree... you will judge of our suprise when we found the skeleton of an unlucky Digger, who, like ourselves, had lost his way in the woods, and had evidently perished from weariness and want. The position in which he lay was revoltingly natural. His fleshless skull reclined upon the bleached bone of his arm, as if he had just lain down to repose... His cabbage-tree hat had rolled from his head, whilst his skeleton-hand still guarded the gun which he had, no doubt, looked to be the source of his preservation. He lay upon his blanket... His clothes had been nearly all torn away by the eagerness of the birds of prey to devour his flesh; and his boots, which still encased the bony shafts of his legs, were the only articles of his dress in a tolerable state of preservation. "Poor mortal sufferer," cried Raikes with deep emotion, "what have you gone through!"' |
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