My ship was in the port of Bluff south island New Zealand stocking up for its perilous journey around Cape Horn to Dakar on the west coast of Africa and finally back home to England
During the afternoon one Sunday, I decided to take a walk along the coast road for two or three miles before getting an early night. The sun was shining but it was cold, and walking briskly to keep warm, I looked across the Straits, between the mainland and Stewart Island, for signs of ships. The sound of running footsteps interrupted my thoughts, and sensing danger turned quickly in the direction of the sounds.
I had nothing to fear, it was Terry Palmer the cadet officer. He was about my age, but his stature and haggard look always suggested the need for a good square meal.
“Is it okay if I walk with you Will? I’m at a loose end for something to do.”
“Sure, but I only intend to be away for about two hours - three at the most.” Terry moved alongside and they walked on together engaged in conversation.
I glanced up at the sky, the sun was now showing early signs of setting. Making my thoughts known I suggested that they now retrace their steps, not wanting to be walking in the dark. Terry pointed to a large boulder on the side of the road about 6 to 8 feet in diameter with weather worn white writing on its surface. Moving closer he read the inscription “short cut to Bluff” and painted directly underneath was an arrow, pointing to a footpath which disappeared into the trees. “Let’s go this way, we’ll probably be back in half the time.”
I hesitated, glancing once again at the sky which by now was taking on a greyish look. “Do you think it’s wise Terry, it could be dusk in about an hour or so.”
“We’ll be back on the ship by then,” and as he proceeded to follow the footpath, I shrugged my shoulders in acceptance, and followed him. Walking proved relatively easy, and they seemed to be making good headway but the footpath, to me, seemed to be getting less distinct, and the trees and brush denser. Eventually, the footpath seemed to split away in several directions and , living all my life in the country, suddenly recognized the signs.
They were animal tracks, probably made by rabbits. I stopped and turned to look back and panicked at what I saw. The footpath had been gradually disappearing, and they had been following animal tracks - but for how long? I wondered.
“What have you stopped for?”
“We’ve lost the footpath.”
“No, we haven’t,” Terry argued, “it’s there, look,” pointing at one of the animal tracks.
“That’s not the footpath, it’s an animal track.”
“Rubbish,” Terry responded, and joking. “Who do you think you are, an Indian tracker?” I began to lose my temper.
“Terry, you’ve lived in London all your damned life and the only way you know of finding your way around is to catch a bloody double-decker bus!” Terry stopped and looked intently at Will. “All the danger signs are going right over the top of your head, aren’t they? If you want to carry on following these tracks you do so on your own. I’ll find my own way.”
Terry hesitated and I could see the different expression on his face, as he was trying to come to terms with the changing situation. “You think we’re lost, don’t you" His voice had now diminished to a level of concern.
“No not yet, but we could be if we don’t take stock “I’m certain that we have been following animal tracks for some time now and the sun has gone down so we don’t know which is north, south, east or west.”
The look of concern deepened on Terry’s face, and realized that he was struggling to find some answers that his background could not furnish.
“What are we going to do Will, it’s starting to get dark?”
“I’m going to have a go at finding the footpath before darkness sets in, but we mustn’t lose our position here. You stay on this spot, and don’t move. I’ll make a 360-degree search and we’ll probably find it. When I call out, answer me.”
I traversed the area completely circling the spot where they had stopped, without success. The trees towering above had taken away practically all of the remaining light by the time I returned to where Terry was standing, a light rain had started to fall, finding its way through the trees and he had placed his coat over his head for protection. Peering at me through the jacket he was about to ask me the obvious, but I just shook my head, and Terry’s hunched shoulders fell an inch or so, showing mild despair.
“We have to get settled for the night,” I suggested, and before Terry could respond, “we’ll find the footpath when it gets light in the morning.” Finding some dry leaves nearby, I scooped them up to form a blanket for protection from the cold, and got down underneath them.
Terry looked down at me. “If you think I’m going to lie in the dirt like that, you’re mistaken.” I didn’t answer, all I knew was that I had to try and get some rest to cope with whatever tomorrow would bring. I could hear the constant movement of Terry’s feet trying to keep warm and after about fifteen minutes the rustling of leaves alongside, indicated that he had succumbed.
It was over ten hours before a modicum of daylight appeared. Light rain had persisted all night but was now letting up. The night had been traumatic to say the least, and the cold, damp air seemed to have penetrated right to the bone. Time to get mobile I calculated, to take advantage of all the daylight hours, as I painfully maneuvered my stiff limbs over to an evergreen bush and licked the water droplets off the shiny leaves. Thank God for the rain! I was thinking. We can do without food, but not water.
During the morning hours they had no luck in finding the footpath, and any hopes of a clear, bright day were dashed, as the light level never got above the grey resemblance of dawn. I knew that once I could pinpoint north west, I would be able to walk directly to Bluff. If only the sun would appear through the trees, just for a minute or two. That’s all I needed.
Terry was starting to get depressed, and I knew that he had to keep him active. “I’ve been looking at the sky through the tree tops Terry, if we can get the sun behind us at this time of day, we should be heading north towards Bluff, do you agree that the sky seems slightly brighter over there?” I pointed behind them, Terry nodded his head but did not appear very enthusiastic, and I led the way in what I thought would be the right direction.
Their progress during the remainder of the day was hampered at every turn. The undergrowth grew thicker, and so dense in some parts, it sometimes became impassable, making it necessary to change direction. This only added to Terry’s despair, and as they prepared for their second night out he began to impart every negative thought he had in his head, finding a dozen reasons why they were not going to get out and why the ship hadn’t reported them missing, and why they were in this predicament. I let him rant on, there was nothing much I could do and eventually, Terry lapsed into one of his sullen moods that were now increasing in frequency.
I felt my stomach starting to cry out for food. I had lived off the land at various times of the year in England but this was different, or perhaps not? South Island, New Zealand, resembled England in many ways, he’d keep his eyes open tomorrow. As he lay there waiting for the night to pass, he could hear Terry’s muffled sobbing coming from under the leaves, and realized that he had one more problem to contend with, which would intensify as time went by.
“Terry.”
“Yes Will.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll find a way out I can assure you, no matter what it takes.” There was no answer, but the sobbing ceased.
The morning was much the same as the previous day, dark and dismal, and to make matters worse it had started to rain again. Terry failed to speak at all, not responding to my prompting. My excursions, looking for signs of a way out were now getting limited, and I was getting worried that Terry would wander off. I did however, find some fleshy berries that seemed edible, so I filled my pockets picking a few at a time, and on my return passed some over to Terry, but they were forcefully knocked from my hand.
“You don’t expect me to eat that rubbish, do you?” he shouted, and his eyes took on a wild look as he turned away. Terry’s mental condition was deteriorating as I had expected.
The day was full of frustrations again. Discovering small clearings boosted their expectations, only to be dashed by finding more forest on all sides. Breaking through dense undergrowth had shredded their clothes and I had lost the sole from one of my shoes. Supplementing it, by tearing my jacket sleeve off at the elbow, and threading it over my foot for protection, had slowed down my progress dramatically.
Terry had got to the stage where he was refusing to go on, sometimes stubbornly sitting for an hour or more at a time. As I got ready for a third night in the bush, I was fast running out of ideas, regarding what to do next. Terry had become a burden but I couldn’t leave him to find a way out, for two reasons. His condition warranted constant attention and I would have no way of knowing where he was, should he succeed in bringing someone back. There was no other choice but to carry on as before, and hope for the best.
Each successive night had been progressively worse and this night was no exception. It seemed an eternity before dawn came. Terry would be awake for long periods of time, without moving or speaking, it was as though his mind and body had been taken over. When he should have been complaining or cursing, he would just lie there.
It was an uneasy time for me, feeling frustrated at not being able to break the spell. I reluctantly got up and started to move around looking for droplets of water again, hoping that my activity would galvanize Terry into action, but it was hopeless. He refused to get up, and I was beginning to worry that Terry would eventually just lie down and never get up again.
The thought that he could die out here was now prominent in my mind. Sensing the onset of failure I started my usual routine, searching the immediate area. Terry wasn’t going anywhere.
My efforts were only a fraction of those on the first day, and I was aware of it.
Breaking into a small clearing, with a leafy mound in the center, I walked over to it and sat on its round top. The day was brighter than before and my eyes scanned the tree tops, looking for the faintest sign of the sun, but there was none. I sat there my eyes fixed in one direction, trying with all my might to conjure up positive images to lift himself from the downward spiral into which he was descending, but his mind began playing tricks, the vision appearing to shut on and off, as though dictated by a source other that his brain.
Through the confusion I could see a thin, green, horizontal line amongst the trees. Just another hill to climb, I thought. Very slowly, I looked between each tree independently, my eyes following the thin green line, when suddenly a small cross appeared in view. In sheer disbelief, I lowered my head for a few minutes, and then frantically looking up, and panicking, when I did not see it again at first glance. But it was still there!
Feeling sick at the thought that this may turn out to be another false hope, I made his way in its general direction, trying to keep the cross in sight at all times. Within minutes, the forest terminated into a grassy field and I could see the cross clearly now, protruding above the crest of the hill. I walked painfully up the rise and looked down.
It was the cemetery at Bluff and the town was laid out before me, down below, in the distance. Turning away momentarily, I lay down on the wet grass, every tense muscle in my body becoming flaccid. I suddenly thought of Terry, and the excitement started to build up, galvanizing me into action.
Standing up, I once again looked down at the scene to verify its existence and feeling the energy that I thought had escaped me, and ran as fast as I could to get Terry. It seemed an age before I found the spot, but he was not there.
I panicked at first before realizing that I was looking in the wrong place, but was soon brushing away the leaves to give him the news. His eyes were staring, his mouth open, and I had to shake him, shouting to get his attention.
“We’ve found a way out!” Terry’s eyes blinked, and I continued shouting and shaking until I got him motivated. Both men staggered through the trees, and up the grassy rise, and as the sight of Bluff unfolded before him Terry sank to his knees, the tears of relief streaming down his face. I walked away, giving him the time to get over the shock.
It was around mid-day and they sat discussing each other's pathetic physical condition as ironically, the sun broke through the clouds. “We’ll go down after dusk,” I suggested, and Terry agreed.
A few more hours were not significant, and they would be able to get to the ship, hopefully, without being seen. They lay back to relax and wait, but the warmth of the sun on their bodies lulled them into sleep.
Miraculously, they managed to get aboard without being seen by the locals, but Ted was in his cabin when I entered. He gasped at the sight of my condition.
“We got lost in the forest.”
“Is Terry with you?”
“Yes, he’s okay.”
“After a couple of days, the police were told, and they’ve been looking for you. I’ll go up to the bridge and let them know you’re back, and they can inform them.”
Terry came down to see me later. He looked decidedly better after a shower and a change of clothes, but his head was bowed in an attitude of humiliation. “I feel ashamed of the way I acted out there, letting myself become just a bloody nuisance. Instead of helping I let you down pretty badly, didn’t I?”
“It’s not your fault, we are human beings not machines. It's impossible to know how anyone would react under similar circumstances. Just regard it as an experience. The important thing is that we survived the ordeal, so let’s put it behind us, nothing further need be said.”
It seemed only minutes after Terry left the cabin that I fell into a deep sleep.
.