Border Watch 3 April 1863 HER MAJESTY’S MAIL HELD UP AND ROBBED
“I regret to report the stoppage and robbery of the mails from Adelaide to Mount Gambier this evening (March 17) at five o’clock, midway between Mr John Stewart’s and Narracoorte. The following particulars I have just received from Robert Arthur, the mailman :-
“I was stopped to-night by two men near Stewart’s fence. They jumped up, one on each side of the road, one presenting at me a short barrel gun, and the other a pistol, the first caught hold of my horse and fired his piece off in the air close to my horse’s neck, at the same time telling me to get off, which I did. They marched me in front of them a distance of about 😯 yards into the bush. They then tied my hands behind my back, and told me to lie down with my face to the ground. They took the mails from the horse, went beside a tree, cut the bags open, and were about half an hour engaged in rifling their contents, which I did not see them do from the position I was in. One of the men was short, the other about 5 feet 10 inches. Both wore moleskin trousers one had on a blue shirt, the other a regatta. Their faces I never saw, being covered all the time with brown handkerchiefs and holes cut for them to see through. They took the horse I was riding, and rode him away, leaving the other. As soon as it got dark, I got up and walked to the township, with my hands still tied behind me, and reported the matter to Mr. Carter, who unloosed me, and gave information to the police.” Arthur it appears was sorely frightened at the threatening language used towards him, but he suffered no personal violence at the hands of these bushrangers. The police here will at once be on their trail, and from their known efficiency, we hope speedily to hear they have been successful in the capture of these marauders.
