The experience at sea was a perilous one, and those in the boats suffered terribly from exposure. At one time it was thought that the second largest boat and its occupants were lost. A huge wave swept over her, and for a short time she seemed swallowed up, but a few seconds later she reappeared on the crest of another wave, the occupants being engaged in bailing water for their lives. A box of gold valued at £30,000 was put into the largest boat on leaving the ship, but when the first gale was encountered it had to be jettisoned, as well as all the passengers' clothes, with the exception of what they wore, in order to lighten the boat. There was only a limited supply of food in the boats, too, and a small quantity of this, together with a cup of water, was served out to each person every day, because they did not know how long it would be before land was sighted. So that besides losing the gold, the food supply in the boats was none too large. CHAPTER XVII. ESCAPE OF PRISONERS. "Liberty's in every blow! Let us do or die." --BURNS. After the convicts left Port Macquarie, the gaol was made a kind of relieving place for other gaols in the colony which became overcrowded, and at times there were a good many prisoners within its walls. About the year 1866, six prisoners who were evidently full of being shut up in the large brick structure overlooking the Pacific ocean, were successful in making their escape. This they accomplished by digging a hole in the wall with a piece of an old knife, the work extending over a period of several weeks. The floor of the gaol was not right on the ground, but built up somewhat, and therefore an aperture existed between it and the ground. A flooring board used to be removed underneath one of the beds, and only one man worked at a time, being relieved by another when he had done his quota. It was one morning about daylight that these six men made their escape, and proceeded along the Old Lake road (which leads from Port Macquarie to Lake Innes), removing the leg irons which they wore as soon as the bush was reached. They walked along the road one behind the other, leaving a track which appeared as though only one man had traversed the road. Arriving at Lake Innes they secured breakfast, and sought firearms, but the residents at the Lake at that time (not Major Innes) told the prisoners that they possessed no guns. The six men were afterwards seated on a log eating their breakfast when a Port Macquarie citizen, who had heard of their escape, galloped to Lake Innes and fired a gun over the runaways' heads. This naturally had the effect of scattering them, and they proceeded further south to the Green Hills, near the Camden Haven river, and hid in ambush.