‘There were various signals by which the gang communicated with their friends. Sometimes a couple of stones placed in a peculiar position would be the signal, and sometimes an eccentric horse track. Thus, one of the gang would ride in a circle near a sympathiser’s hut, and then jump a fence, and again ride circuitously, and finally strike off in the direction where the outlaws were hid. The sympathiser, on seeing this track, would carry provisions in the direction indicated. When carrying provisions for the gang, the sympathisers would adopt all sorts of devices to avoid discovery. Occasionally they would pretend to be drunk, and make night hideous with their cries. Hearing the wild fellows about, honest residents of the district would retire into their homes : but the gang would also hear them and answer with a peculiar signal. All of a sudden, when time and place suited, a member of the gang would appear, take the provisions, and hurry off out of sight in a moment.’
The Australasian Sketcher, 17 July 1880.
An Outlaw’s Journal 