In an early number I have given an account of the arrival of Foley and Stone. I have since been informed by Mr. Alford that I had omitted to mention that they had a comrade of the name of Stanley, who arrived with them. In this number I propose continuing their histories, in which will be produced a few more instances of the exciting work which such visitors created for the police as well as for the settlers. Foley's career will be a much more extended one than I have to give of the other two.

In the confession obtained from Foley and Stone after they were confined in the Adelaide Gaol as to the line of country they had passed over in coming to this settlement, they explained that they followed the coast between the Coorong and the sea, and on arriving at the mouth of the Murray found no trouble in crossing the channel, and then reached the whaling stations at Encounter Bay.

Here Foley separated from his travelling companions and went into business on his own account ; the others made their way to Adelaide, and there cut the throat of one of the horses, as previously related by me in No. 1 of these papers. It was afterwards proved that Foley rode his own horse — at any rate that horse was not successfully claimed ; the other two men stole the horses they rode from Mr. Henty, of Portland Bay.

Foley continued in the neighborhood of the fisheries, and obtained rations and other supplies in exchange for kangaroos and game. He was not in the habit of making his visits there except fully armed with a double barrelled gun, and two brace of pistols.

On this and other accounts he was looked upon with suspicion and some dread, and there was a desire on the part of the officers at the fishery to get rid of him, and a communication was forwarded to the authorities in Adelaide that he would be certain to arrive on a certain day.

The horse he was riding was suspected to be a stolen one. To entrap him and induce him to carry a despatch to Adelaide, he was offered a good reward on his delivering a packet to the Manager of the South Australian Bank, Mr. E. Stephens.

He started without hesitation and in good faith, and arrived late in the evening of the day appointed. He was fully armed as usual. On entering the Bank yard gate, he dismounted, and unslung his gun from his back, in which manner he was accustomed to carry it, and fastened his horse to the fence, unconscious of the arrangements which had been made for his reception and capture.

On knocking at the back door of the Manager's residence ''a servant appeared of whom he asked if Mr. Stephens was at home, and on being answered, Yes,'' he delivered his missive. He was asked in to take tea ; the invitation was accepted ; he was shown into a room and took a seat, placing his gun near him. In a short time his suspicions were aroused on hearing several persons whispering, and he at once rose, slung his gun, walked out into the yard, and, seizing the bridle of his horse, prepared to mount.

At the same time the reins were grasped by a policeman on the opposite side of the horse, but he threw himself into the saddle, drew a pistol, and presenting it at the man who was detaining him, threatened to shoot him. The pistol was seized by his assailant, and in the struggle it did not explode, but the hammer flew off, and before he could draw a second pistol he received a blow from a weapon on the back of his head which felled him to the ground. Inspector Inman, who was in the house expecting Foley's arrival, on hearing cries of murder rushed out and struck the blow.

Foley was taken to prison ; and his wound was dressed. Mr. J. B. Hack was also present in the yard, as he had come by appointment to examine the horse, suspected to be one he had lost. Foley was detained in prison on a remand on the charge of horse-stealing, and suspected to be a runaway convict from Sydney.

His conduct, however, in prison was so good that he was engaged by the Government to assist the police in seeking for two men who were suspected to have stolen horses from Mr. Hack, and to have broken into a store, and supplied themselves with rations, and were heard of near the Lake.

The men who were supposed to have committed these crimes were Stone and Stanley, who had done so to escape from the province, as they were aware they were enquired after on account of the horses they had stolen to reach this colony, and so now wanted similar conveniences to take their departure.

I may mention that the man who had the struggle with Foley was an ex-prisoner, and had been appointed acting gaoler, and now, with Foley, consented to assist to take his former associates ; but then it was explained that Foley had a private down on them, as having stolen from him a favorite kangaroo dog. So it is seen there had been a breach of ''honor among thieves,'' and to assist the police ''a thief was set to catch a thief,'' carrying out the old proverb.

To take these horse-stealers a strong party was formed, consisting of Superintendent Inman, Sergeant Alford, Mr. Stephen Hack, and three policemen, all well mounted and armed, also Foley on horse-back as tracker. Mr. S. Hack was with the party to identify and claim the horses if found in the possession of the suspected parties.

The country they were going to scour was that (then a densely thick scrubby country) skirting Lake Alexandrina, where the police would frequently by necessity be separated, and so a strong muster was called for. It was also known that the men they were after were fully armed.

They were led by Foley to a creek which from the time of their visit was named the Inman, after the commander of the party. Arrived at this place, Foley gave the information that they were in the neighborhood of the camping grounds he frequented before he was taken, and that his tent was within a mile or so from them. He made a request to Mr. Inman to be allowed to go with one man to the place to procure his blankets and other things, to which request Mr. Inman replied, ''If Sergeant Alford chooses to go with you I will allow him to do so.'' Mr. Alford did not hesitate.

But Foley was told by the Superintendent that he would instruct the Sergeant to shoot him if he attempted to escape, and handed to Mr. Alford an additional brace of pistols. They accordingly started, the remainder of the party waiting till they returned. On their way Foley said to Mr. Alford, ''Now I will show you how I foiled those who sought to find out my retreat.''

On their arriving at a patch of close growing dwarf teatree scrub, such as was often in that day found in rich bottoms and at the mouth of gullies, Foley pulled up and said, ''There in the middle of that clump is my small tent ;'' but though they were still in the saddle Mr. Alford could see nothing but the deep green of the close growing teatree, with no opening or passage visible ; and so addressed Foley — ''Now understand, if you attempt any game on me to escape, I shall obey orders and shoot you. Are there any of your companions here — Stanley, or any other man ; for if anyone appears I shall shoot you first.'' 'No, Sergeant,'' was the reply, ''I am acting honest, as I have promised the Superintendent. Never fear. We must dismount, and I will show you how to reach my tent.''

On this he was ordered to dismount and show the tent. This he did by spreading the teatree, as it is called (which reached in height to their shoulders), with each hand, as in swimming, and then stepped forward on one foot, and advanced in the same manner on the other foot in an exact line, calling on Mr. A. to follow, and act in the same manner, the plants rising unruffled behind them, not being trodden down, and showing no track. In about 100 yards so passed over, they reached a round place where the plant had been cut and cleared away; and now appeared a small tent, constructed in the gipsy fashion — a piece of canvas stretched over bent sticks, large enough to allow one man to lie down in, and to hold his necessary traps, which were found safe, having escaped the eyes of his previous mates.

Before these things were rolled up in his blankets, he gave to Mr. Alford a Jew's harp, with which, he said, he amused himself during his lonely nights. Foley explained that he never entered or left over the same ground, and, laughing at the Sergeant, said — ''You policemen would never have discovered my hiding place, for I could have shot any one approaching.''

On their return Mr. Inman continued the search for the horse-stealers, and after some time they found wurlies, which had been recently used, and other traces which led them to be wary. From the life he had led for so many years, Foley's vision and hearing had become so active and strong that he was able to hear sounds and distinguish objects at almost fabulous distances, as exemplified by what follows.

He shortly after rejoining Mr. Inman called the attention of the party to sounds of dogs yelping, but which none of them but himself could hear. He soon, however, led in such a direction as brought them to some kangaroo dogs tied up in a thick part of the scrub, and from that spot pointed out footprints leading away, from the appearances of which he felt confident, he said, that those they sought were not far off, and proposed that Sergeant Alford and he should hasten on foot to a sudden rise of ground near, being the commencement of a spur leading to the ranges, and there to look out over the scrub, the others to wait for signals from them. They had no sooner gained the elevation than Foley pointed out the men at a great distance skirting the scrub ; but Mr. A. could not for some time see them. They then returned as fast as possible to the waiting party, who had, during their absence, relieved their horses of all the swags to be ready for a gallop, as they supposed the men were off to mount the stolen horses.

On Mr. Inman receiving the Sergeant's report he ordered him to mount instantly, and, with one man, to ride in the direction where he had seen the men, first letting loose the dogs. Mr. Alford followed by choice a young dog, which, after sniffing about, at last took a line which ultimately led them into a thick scrub, and then made a pause, and after creeping into it for a short distance, was seen to stop and wag his tail, and so betrayed the hiding place of his master, who was found lying down under the thick bushes.

The Sergeant instantly dismounted, and presenting a pistol at Stone's head, called on him to surrender, and rise without touching his gun, on which he was lying. Stone complied, and submitted quietly to be hand-cuffed. On the Sergeant returning with his prisoner to the officer in command he was ordered to return with him and one of the policemen to town.

Stone was then attached by a chain to his guard's stirrup-iron, the other end locked to his handcuffs, and so he was marched to town and placed in gaol. The Superintendent of Police with the rest of the party remained to follow up the pursuit of the other man, but were not successful, after several days' search.

Stone subsequently made his escape from gaol. Not long after their return to town information was brought to the police that Stanley had been bold enough to pay a visit to Adelaide, where, in a low public house he was captured by Sergeant Alford and safely lodged in the first Adelaide in-secure gaol, where Mr. Alford did not leave him until he saw him shackled to the iron bar in what was called by the prisoners the ''stone-jug,'' being a small stone cell or room, the only substantial building on that in-secure establishment.

The prisoner thus secured, the Sergeant left to make his report to the Superintendent, who, highly pleased at the capture of such a troublesome customer, returned with the Sergeant to pay a visit to the prison and see all safe, but on arriving there they found the bird flown. He had, with some assistance from his fellow-prisoners, managed to break the lock, which enabled him to clear himself from the bar, and had escaped by jumping the low paling fence ; and although every effort was made to re-cover him, he was not again taken, and the colony was relieved of his presence.

The Acting-Gaoler for his neglect was dismissed, and his office was permanently filled by Mr. Ashton, who had been in the police force in London, and a better appointment was never made.

I now return to Foley. The Messrs. J. B. and Stephen Hack were so pleased with the action of Foley in the successful expedition in capturing Stone, that they obtained from the Governor his discharge, on a verbal pledge they gave as to his future good behavior. He was first employed by them to accompany a party to Portland Bay, which they dispatched to bring a herd of cattle from thence, and on that occasion was so useful, and conducted himself so much to the satisfaction of the gentlemen in charge of the party, that they engaged him as their stockkeeper on their special survey of the Three Brothers.

In this employ he continued about two years, and until Mr. Stephen Hack paid a visit to England, and took Foley with him as his servant in the year 1840. As connected with his residence in the Australian colonies, it will be in place here to relate some of the accounts that he gave of himself, and which I received from the party to whom in a confiding moment he unbosomed himself, and which I have reasons to believe to be generally true.

He said his proper name was Lovet ; that he had been brought up as a gipsy ; that he was transported to Sydney for horse-stealing (he was always fond of a horse) ; that he escaped, and after he had procured a mount, he spent seven years as a solitary bush-ranger in a small way, occasionally assisting settlers in recovering stock. He then led a lonely life, and only lifted necessaries for his daily necessities until he joined Stone and Stanley in their journey to this colony ; but he soon separated from these men, and was at deadly enmity with them, and kept a sharp look out, that they might not come upon him unawares and shoot him. He had no intention, he said, of doing any thing wrong in this colony. So far as to his own account of himself, which is certainly rendered probable in its main features by his conduct here. I obtained from Mr. J. B. Hack the following character of him — ''Foley was a good and efficient hand.''

Then as to his habits. He had a decided objection to sleep in a hut, but preferred to lie under a few palings or boards, placed against the end of the hut provided for him. He did not much associate with men of the prison class, but seemed to have a dread of them, especially after it became notorious that he had assisted the police in making captures of men of his own class, and in doing so had acted on the principle of ''dog eat dog.''

I have now to follow on with his career in the old country. We first heard of him exhibiting himself in the costume and character of an Australian stockman, in the horse market in the town of Chichester, in the presence and to the astonishment of the Duke of Richmond, and a large number of county gentlemen and townsmen. Mounted on a suitable horse, he turned and stopped suddenly, as he galloped about, with yells and with the swinging and cracking of an exaggerated long stockwhip, the sounds of which, to English hearers, more resembled the reports of a pistol than the cracks of a whip. He would at one time be galloping as if to head a mob of cattle, then suddenly turning, and with his whip alternately used in the right and left hands, successfully force, as it were, a refractory bullock into an imaginary stock yard ; all this to the great amusement of the noble and other spectators, many of whom would probably consider him out of his senses.

The information received of this remarkable man, after Mr. Stephen Hack's return to South Australia, was at first, and for some time, of a favorable character. He was left at home (as I cannot help calling the dear old country) by his Australian employer in respectable employment, but probably under police inspection. In the colony it was some time before anything further was heard of him, and then a rumor reached us that he had been hung ; but on enquiry it was ascertained, that in a brawl he had drawn a knife and had stabbed a man, for which he had been tried, found guilty, and sentenced to penal servitude in the mother country ; in which state of durance he probably will end, or has ended, his days, as his fondness for freedom and the open air was so predominant that I think confinement within walls would be more than he could long exist under.

From the known actions of Foley, it must appear, that in his character there were many good points, such as under moral and religious training in his youth might have produced a useful and superior member of society. We must now look upon him as a social waif, to be pitied, and yet to be classed as superior to too many of his fellow-creatures more favored as to the advantages which had been afforded them. He exhibited fidelity when trusted, and showed gratitude for kindnesses conferred upon him.

I have recounted some of the difficult and trying expeditions on which our police were engaged in capturing bushrangers and other depredators, and I will now relate Super-intendent Inman's experience, in following erroneous information which he received as to the whereabouts of three bushrangers whom he was most anxious to capture, which might have terminated in a tragical, but ended in a ludicrous manner. I am able to do this by giving the substance of extracts from a diary kept by Mr. Jno. Carruthers, who landed at Port Adelaide on the 19th of December, 1839, and with his authority.

His first impressions, from the appearance of the City of Adelaide, and from the depressed state of business in general to which he found the colony reduced by the first crisis, were very discouraging. At the time he and his friends were beating about to look for a residence a hot wind was blowing, and the dust was so great as almost to obscure the vision, the houses — such as they were — being dotted about, with wide gaps between them, and of no imposing appearance, most being weather-board or pizé. Having got the use of a three-roomed, wooden hut they found the heat within hard to bear, the thermometer outside standing at 120°. Under all these discouragements, however, when they were able to get a view of the beautiful hills they felt much cheered.

On seeking for information and guidance as to what to be about, they found so little confidence expressed in the place as to business matters, and that all the land near the city had been taken up, and no encouragement for them to embark a small capital in business without the almost certainty of losing it, as they heard so many had done, that they decided to make a tour and spend a little time in exploring the gullies and hills immediately to the east of the city, and to wait for better times.

To carry out this plan they followed up the course of the River Torrens, and after entering the Gorge, proceeded a few miles upwards, until they came to a shelving rock forming an open cave, situated on one side and above the bank of the river, with a rich bottom, in a bend opposite. After a rest it was proposed to make a temporary residence there by facing the front of the cave with a wall of wattled teatree and thin poles, all growing contiguous, and so occupy such a cool and retired place until some openings in business for them turned up, one advantage in the meantime being they would be husbanding their resources, standing rent free, with abundance of wood and water. I now continue in his own words —

''For the present instead of going in to purchase surveyed land at a distance, we decided to squat for a time in the cave we had discovered, and to make it habitable. We cleaned out the place, and put up three rough bunks, and having walled in the front, considered ourselves snug and safe ; but we soon found we had made a mistake, for after the police had in vain had more than one party out to capture three bush-rangers who had been committing depredations on settlers, some busy person gave information to the police that three men were living in a cave above the Torrens Gorge, and we were at once supposed to be the parties they were in search of.

In consequence, a native of the Adelaide tribe was secured to accompany Superintendent Inman and three troopers, who arrived in front of our cave, which was about 14 feet above the bank of the river, and some yards back from it. Between the bank and our front was a patch of fern and scrub, and also the same on the opposite side of the stream. After we had re-tired to rest we heard a rustling noise as of cattle. One of the party said he heard the footsteps of men, and it was proposed to fire one barrel of a gun over the door, when if the noise was from cattle they would make off.

The gun was fired and the challenge given, ''Who's there ?'' No answer, and the noise in the scrub ceased, so it was concluded that the visit was from bush-rangers, and four guns were at once loaded, and we remained on the watch all night, but no attack was made. On the first streak of light appearing, one of the party went to the door and looked out, and discovered four men under trees on the opposite side of the gully, with guns in their hands, who were hailed with, ''Who are you, and what do you want ?''

The Superintendent and policemen replied, ''If you are honest men turn out and show yourselves.'' This order was immediately complied with. The next order was, ''our names, and by what ship did you arrive ?'' Our immediate answer produced on their disappointed countenances a most ludicrous effect. Then a friendly junction took place, and Mr. Inman explained that, when the gun was fired, he decided at once that he had the bushrangers at bay, and waited to make a rush at early dawn, and, when discovered, were drawing nigh to rush upon us.

We showed him our four loaded guns, and assured him if he had made the attack the previous night we should have resisted, as we took them for the bushrangers and had determined to defend our lives and property. Our reconciled enemies partook of coffee or rum and departed on their return to the barracks, somewhat contented with the barren result of their night-watch, as they had not suffered much in remaining in the bush during an Australian summer night. And so ended the inglorious ''Watch on the Torrens.'' (To be continued)