Royal Commission report day 39 page 7
The Royal Commission evidence for 22/7/1881
(see also introduction to day 39)
[[../../people/peS_T/steelePsgt.html|Sgt Arthur Loftus Maud Steele]] giving evidence
14076 It was a case of missing each other?— Yes. I never took upon myself to go away; I would not think of going away without instructions from my superior officer.
14077 By Mr. Sadleir — There was no design?— No, certainly not. Constable Johnson demurred at it.
14078 By the Commission— Did Constable Johnson assign any reason for his having said this?— Yes; he said, “Steele, you beggar, you thought you would drop on them, and have all the credit yourself”
14079 Did you expect to drop on them at any time?— I had no faith in it when the blacks seemed to make nothing of it. My impression was the outlaws had gone from there before.
Mr. Sadleir — I had a conversation with Senior-Constable Johnson, about eighteen months ago, on this very subject. He seemed to be under the impression that Mr. Nicolson and myself had favored Sergeant Steele by sending him away with this party. I assured him that Sergeant Steele went away by mistake, just as he has described this moment, and there was no favor intended and no motive in his going, and it was a pure accident; and we sat on this gully, as Johnson knew, for I suppose an hour and a half, with luncheon saved for Sergeant Steele and his party, thinking they would come up at any moment, and then, finding there was no hope of rejoining him, and as we did not know the ranges ourselves, we found it was no use in going, and we returned.
The Witness — I had men enough to take hall-a-dozen gangs—the picked men of the whole party.
Mr. Sadleir — It was one of those accidents that will happen in bush like that.
14080 By Mr. Nicolson — You remember us coming to the end of the search?— Yes. The black trackers knocked about for some time, and could not make anything of it. There were footmarks in the grass—long grass.
14081 In whose hands was this search—who was in charge of the trackers and party of men — what officer or acting sub-officer?— There was a man there, I forget his name—a man named Cameron was in charge of the blacks. He understood their language, and he worked with them up the tracks, but they found nothing—they could not make anything of them after an hour or two hours' search, and then we thought to go and search this place on the hills
14082 Was not Constable Johnson in charge of those men who were tracking in this party?— Yes, it was Johnson's party.
14083 And we went out with that party to enable them to satisfy themselves about the track?— Yes.
14084 Were they allowed to complete their work?— No person interfered with them in any way.
14085 Was there any scrub there?— No scrub at all—some of that tufty grass—little bushes of that here and there through the place.
14086 Was there any indication or any expressed feeling to convey the idea that the offenders were thereabout?— Not a bit. Of course a great many of the men were sick and tired of waiting about that, thinking it ridiculous to look in such a low flat place, with farms about, for the men.
14087 Do you remember just before going through the bush they were leading us jumping a bush fence?— I do.
14088 Do you remember our running along a fence of sawn timber just close under the hill?— Yes.
14089 And there the fence ended?— Yes, and there was a gate.
14090 Was it near there they concluded their work—how far off from that?— I should think some distance. There was the mark of a horse going some distance outside the fences, but there was a lot of traffic there between the range and the farm.
14091 Two or three days previous to that a horse had been taken in?— Yes.
14092 How long had that horse been out?— He must have been out a good time. He was very poor, with raised scabs, as if after being driven hard and allowed to remain out in a shower of rain. The horse looked wretched when he was brought in.
14093 What was your opinion as to how long the horse had been cast off?— Three or four days, perhaps more.
14094 This search was subsequent?— Yes.
Mr. Nicolson — I wish to state that this occurred on the 12th. I was at Barnawartha on the 23 rd November, on the Murray , and I was on the return back from there and had been at Benalla. I came up from Benalla to Wangaratta. I have already stated in my evidence I found this search party had come in and been humbugged, as already described. I had information at this time, I believe, and I had it in my book, that the outlaws had abandoned the horses days previous to this.
14095 By the Commission (to Mr. Nicolson)— Is this the horse that Johnson referred to?
Mr. Nicolson — Yes.....
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