Bega Pioneers' Museum has countless files on people and places. This one is about a mystery at Twofold Bay in 1853.
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ON A walk along Twofold Bay a young man has seen swarthy sailors hide a wooden box in the sand.
My curiosity being now fully aroused, I hastened to the spot, and, with the assistance of a small piece of board which the men had left, soon had the top of the case bare.
It was about four feet long and one foot broad. The lid appeared to be of cedar, and was nailed down. With my jack knife I managed to prise it slightly open, and then, with the piece of board thrust in, I soon had the top off.
A sight of the contents of the box for a moment horrified me. Indeed, had I not in a measure been inured to such things, having for a short time walked the hospitals at home, I would have fled from the spot.
My horror gave way to curiosity.
A female adult had been cut in two just below the ribs. The upper portion of the body and half of the lower were absent. The lower half had been sawn down the backbone, the abdomen divided down the centre. To this was attached a leg complete. All the viscera had been removed, and not a drop of blood appeared in the remains, intimating without doubt that she had bled to death.
Most probably her throat had been cut. No lingering death had been hers. The remains were too round and plump for that. They were those of a finely formed woman in her prime.
One glance at the foot gave sufficient evidence that the owner in life had been no common person.
Not a scrap of cloth or paper could I find in the case, and I was about to replace the lid when the skin of the abdomen attracted my attention by a lump as if of something underneath.
I lifted the skin, and, to my surprise, in the cavity caused by the removal of the viscera lay a packet about the size of a small book. This I put in my pocket for future examination.
I replaced the lid, covered all up, and hurried from the spot, my heart beating furiously.
I did not take long returning to Eden, where I at once went to my bedroom in the hotel and, locking the door, proceeded to examine the packet.
It was sown in a silk waterproof wrapper.
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