I could not quit my present position and occupy a more favourable one, for, in the event of Mr. Walker and Corporal Auger being pressed by the natives and retreating on us, it was our duty to be at that spot where they would calculate on finding us and an effectual assistance.  I made therefore the best disposition of my little force I could, and, occupying the centre of the party, I had the satisfaction of seeing our wild friends on Mount Fairfax, blowing strongly at us and capering more furiously than ever when they beheld our unaccountable manoeuvres.

Their manoeuvres.

It was fortunate that poor Kaiber was absent, for so fearful an exhibition of sorcery would have altogether upset his nerves; but the British soldiers and sailors I had with me remained surprisingly calm; whilst the natives, having exhibited their antics for a few minutes more, suddenly withdrew in a hurried manner.  I therefore made up my mind for a surprise, and we anxiously waited to see from what quarter the attack would come.

Continuation of search for the missing man.  Return of party from search.

The cause of their disappearance was however soon explained.  Mr. Walker, Corporal Auger, and Kaiber came winding down the hills under Mount Fairfax, and gave the following account of their proceedings:  On ascending the cliffs opposite to us they had found Stiles’s tracks, and had followed them until they reached the sea beach; on passing the stream on their way there they found a place where he had halted and made up all his flour into dampers; but on coming out on the shore they saw a large party of natives seated on the sandhills in front, whilst others were fishing in the sea at this point; and the tracks of Stiles turned off into the interior:  this hero, who wished to encounter all the natives of the island single-handed, had evidently fled from them.  Mr. Walker had been unable to follow his tracks any further and had therefore thought it most prudent to return to the main party.

From the circumstances of Stiles having thrown away part of his clothes, and having made such a large quantity of dough to bake into dampers at the first convenient opportunity, together with various expressions he had dropped in the presence of the men, there could be no doubt but that he had purposely quitted the party; yet to abandon him to his fate amongst natives, who were by no means friendly in their gestures and appearance, required a degree of resolution I was unprepared at that moment to exercise.  To leave him without a search was to sacrifice one life, to allow one man to perish, whilst occupying one or two days in looking for him would merely increase the temporary sufferings of the rest; whilst the loss of time would probably occasion no other bad result than a little more personal privation; and this, in order to try to save the life of a fellow-creature, I conceived it to be my own duty and that of the rest of the party to undergo.  Influenced by these reasons I desired all hands to prepare to start in search of Stiles.