News Articles on the Second Wiradjuri War selected from Trove Searches

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YASS PLAINS. (1830, November 18). The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842) , p. 2. Retrieved June 9, 2025, from http://nla. gov. au/nla. news-article2196540

YASS PLAINS.
We learn from a gentleman who lately
returned from a visit to this beautiful
tract of our south-west country, in the
vicinity of the Murrumbidgie river, that
it abounds with some of the richest pastur-
age in the world for sheep and cattle.
The grass, closely swarded, is of the most
refreshing green, and thickly studded
with butter-cups. The more it is nib-
bled the closer the sward becomes. The
extent of the Plains is immense; from
Cockatoo Hill the eye can take in at
least 25, 000 or 30, 000 acres of open
country. Great numbers of cattle are
browzing in those luxuriant pastures,
amounting, on a moderate calculation,
to from 12, 000 to 15, 000 head. In the
day-time they feed and ruminate on the
Plains, and at night retire into the
neighbouring groves. Their greatest
enemies are the Blacks, who drive them
into the swamps, and then spear them.
Yass River empties itself into the Mur-
rumbidgie; it abounds with fine cod-fish,
weighing from 5 to 20 pounds each.
There had been a heavy fall of rain dur-
ing the last five months, and the weather
during the stay of our informant was ex-
tremely inclement. A servant of Mr.
O'Brian had lost his life, in attempting
to cross the Murrumbidgee, and the like
fate had nearly befallen that gentleman
himself, in endeavouring to save the un-
fortunate man.
These fertile Plains would yield a
plentiful living to the thousands of our
fellow subjects now perishing in Eng-
land.
Sale of Horses. -The sale of brood
mares, advertised by the Deputy Com-
missary General, takes place this day, at
12 o'clock, in the Sydney Cattle Market.
They are twenty in number, besides the
fine Arabian horse Satellite. It will be
an excellent opportunity for improving
either the stud or the breeding stock.
This is to be a busy day with the land
agents and auctioneers of Sydney. Se-
veral valuable eslates are to be sold by,
direction of the Sheriff. Four farms, the
property of Mr. Tawell. , are to be brought
to the hammer by Mr. Bodenham ; and'
two town allotments by Mr. Lyons. Two
of those elegant houses in Underwood's
row, nearly opposite the King's Wharf,
are also to be let to the highest bidder.
Walmsley and Webber-- These no-
torious desperadoes still continue their depreda
tions on the unwary traveller. On Tuesday last
two gentlemen were stopped on the Liverpool Road
by two armed bushrangers, supposed to be Walm
sley and Webber, and plundered :-one, Mr. Packer,
of Sydney, of all his clothes, and what else he pos
sessed ; and the other, Captain Clements, in conse
quence of a person coming up at the time, only of
his boots. Captain C. was robbed in the middle of
the day, and the other person in the evening.
DARING ROBBERY - On Monday
morning about seven o'clock, two villains entered
the house of a milkman named Gorman, residing
on the rocks, having, no doubt, previously watched
his departure to go his accustomed rounds. One
of them held a pick-axe over a little girl who was
the only person at home, threatening her most
horribly, while the other proceeded to break open
a box from which he took some money ; they also
made seizure of a bottle of rum and a pair of
trousers, with which they walked off, declaring to
the child that if she made the least outcry, they
would return and kill her. No clue has yet been
obtained, which may lead to their discovery.
We lately alluded to some pugilistic
displays which have been recently exhibited for the
amusement of a set of rabble, in a house at one
end of George-street, and regret to hear that similar
scenes have since taken place. The subject, how-
ever, has come under the notice of the police, and
it is the intention of the Chief-Constable to indict
the house, as disorderly, if the caution he has given
to the parties concerned be not attended to. It
would be as well for boxers by profession to know
that they come within the provisions of the Vagrant
Act.
Another Concert will shortly be given
at the Royal Hotel.
A robbery was prevented by the vigi-
lance of Orr and Roche, two of the Police, from
being committed a few evenings back at the house
of Captain Sloane. They espied a fellow preparing
to enter one of tho first floor windows, and in-
stantly hastened to the spot, but the fellow per
ceiving their approach, jumped off the verandah,
and aided by the darkness of the night, succeeded
in effecting his escape. They, however, took a
man into custody, who was standing near, and sup-
posed to be in connexion, but for want of direct
evidence to implicate him in the affair, the Magis-
trates were obliged to discharge him, giving direc-
tions to the constables to keep a watchful eye on his
future movements. Scarcely a night now passes,
but a robbery is committed in some part of the
town.
Scarcely a week passes without some
accident to boating parties. On Tuesday afternoon,
some gentlemen from up the country, tempted by
the agreeable alteration in the weather, took a boat
to go down to Watson's Bay ; in tacking off Garden
Island, one of the oars went overboard, and one of
the parties, anxious to regain it, reached over the
gunwale, when a sudden gust of wind catching the
sail gave her a lurch leeward. and in a trice he
found himself alongside of the oar, but no longer
in the boat which the wind and current were drifting
fast beyond him ; being a tolerable swimmer, he
soon gained the island, where he waited, till his
companions once more put the boat about, and took
him on board again.
We perceive by an advertisement that
Mrs. Fisk, the widow of the gentleman who lost
his life so suddenly a few months ago, and for whose
family the public made so liberal a subscription, is
about to open a day-school in the town for the in-
struction of young ladies.
The favourable alteration in the state
of the weather has proved particularly acceptable
The ladies have again made their appearance in our
walks and streets, and the tradesmen no longer com
plain of empty shops.
A Correspondent enquires, whether
there is no public officer, whose duty it is to inspect
the weights and measures used in the Market, ob-
serving that many may be found shamefully defi-
cient of the lawful quantity.
Publicans and other house-keepers;
are cautioned against two fellows, who are going the
rounds of the town with small casks of butter,
which they offer for sale at a low price ; the purchaser
tastes the top of it, and finding it excellent loses
no time in concluding what he considers his excel
lent bargain ; on going deeper into it, however, at
his leisure, he finds that below the first few inches
is filled with a quantity of filth and dirt. Such
cheating vagabonds deserve severe punishment.
The bushrangers who were brought
up, a few days back, fiom Hunter's River, and are
awaiting their trial at the present criminal sessions,
had formed, it would appear, a regular settlement,
and had a variety of different things in culture.
Their wheat is represented to have been, found
nearly ready for the sickle.
His Majesty has expressed his determination
to see that all the old veteran officers of the
navy whose only title to promotion was their merit,
and who therefore never obtained it, shall immedi-
ately have a step.
The sale of books, drawings, music,
and musical instruments, at the Australian Com-
pany's Stores, by Mr. Lyons, on Monday last, was
not so well attended, owing to the weather, as might
have been expected, but several respectable bidders
were present, and the auctioneer, with his usual
diligence for his employers, succeeded in obtaining
very fair prices.
Persons who have recently come from
Bathurst state, that notwithstanding the heavy
rains, the roads are in excellent order. When Ge-
neral Darling arrived in the Colony, these roads
were scarcely passable, and accidents daily oc
curred; such, 'however, is not now the case, and
travellers can come to Sydney in less than one half
the time it then occupied.
We understand that the respectable
house of Burke, and Co. , intend maintaining a re-
gular trade between this port and Rio de Janeiro.
Bacon is said to be a profitable article
of export from hence to Van Dieman's Land ; at the
present time, it may be bought here, of excellent
quality, for 41/2d. and 5d. per pound, the freight is
only 30s. per ton, and it will fetch from 1s. to 1s. 2d.
per pound, immediately on its arrival.
The Royal Admiral is laid on for Lon-
don, and likely to sail in all next mouth, as also the
Hercules, for Calcutta.
MELANCHOLY OCCURENCE. — On
Tuesday afternoon, a little girl about seven years of
age, came by her death under the following distressing
circumstances : — It appears that the child, who
belonged to a person named Merchant, a sawyer,
residing at the bottom of the Brickfield Hill, had
gone out to play, and not returning, the anxious
parents began to enquire in the neighbourhood for
their daughter ; nothing however could they learn ;
after a search of some hours, their feelings may be
more easily conceived than described, on finding the
little unfortunate lying in some water, which had
flowed, in consequence of the rains, into the cellar
of an unfinished house near the Woolpack. Every
means were resorted to, to ascertain if life still re
mained, but without avail.


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BATHURST. (1832, May 12). The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842) , p. 3. Retrieved June 9, 2025, from http://nla. gov. au/nla. news-article2206524

SURVEY OF THE ABERCROMBIE AND
MURRUMBIDGEE. RIVERS. —Mr. Surveyor Stapylton
has returned to Sydney from the vicinity of these
rivers, where he has been for some months actively
engaged in laying down a chart of the intermediate
country, the result of this officer's labours is
spoken of as being particularly favourable, inasmuch
as he has succeeded in throwing open a most delight-
ful portion of the territory. The neighbourhood of
the Murrumbidgee is represented to be of the most
fertile character ; the soil is a stiff blue saponaceous
loam, the pasturage luxuriant, wherein indigenuous
clover, equal to a second crop of English growth, is
intermixed with rich fine grasses ; the timber light,
and atmospheric temperature cool. Stations from
the Abercrombie hence are rapidly multiplying, and
already form a line of communication between the
two streams. The latent arrivals at the Murrum-
bidgee are the herds of Messrs. McArthur, Throsby
and Ellis.




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ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE (1833, March 21). The Sydney Herald (NSW : 1831 - 1842) , p. 3. Retrieved June 9, 2025, from http://nla. gov. au/nla. news-article12846463

ORIGINAL COKRESPONBENCE
War by the Blacks.
To the Editors of the Sydney Herald.
GENTLEMEN, -Last night was brought down in a
cart from my station on the Minrumbidgee below
Wondibadgerce, a man named Peter Carroll, who
had been wounded with a spear by the natives at
that place, under the following circumstances:-
About the hour of midnight of the 26th of last
month, Peter Carroll, who was the watchman of
the folds at one of my sheep stations, was . suddenly
alarmed by the violent rushing of the sheep. On
looking towards the place he saw something black
which induced him to call out to the shepherds in
the hut. He then discovered that about 30 natives
had surrounded the folds and were endeavouring
to steal a sheep, and exclaimed to them, if they did
not go away he would fire on them. (Here I must
observe, that he had no fire arms, but said so to
deter them from what they evidently intended lo
do. ) Instantly he received a jagged spear in his
belly, which, fortunately taking an oblique direction
towards the right side, did not penetrate the abdo-
men, but was withdrawn by himself, leaving how-
ever a considerable piece of the weapon in the
wound, which has not yet been entirely extracted.
Many more spears were thrown which did but little
execution. They then decamped taking with them
one sheep and scattering the whole of the rest from
the fold. This is the fifth sheep they have stolen
from me within the short space of two months ;
but they never used a spear before although they
have threatened it, and actually surrounded one of
the shepherds in the day time and were preparing
to throw their spears, when they were prevented
by the sight of a musket - on that occasion they
carried off a sheep.
For some months past, the natives all along that
River, from Warby's station to 50 miles westward
have evinced a mischievous disposition, by spearing
and killing cattle. It first commenced at Warby's
where they killed a fat cow which Mr. W. and his
men traced to the camp of the depredators where
he pounced upon them in the act of roasting and
feeding on the flesh. One of the party fired and
wounded one of the tribe, who was suspected to be
the ringleader, and the rest fled with precipitation
leaving their wounded companion on the field, who
I hear has since died in consequence. Since that
period they do not appear to have molested Mr.
Warby's station a second time ; but the practice
has been extensively increased in other herds ; and
it has been not at all uncommon for proprietors of
stock, when cutting and branding, to find large
calves and full grown cattle with the broken end
of aspear protruding from some part of the
animal not immediately mortal. This has occurred
in all the herds, with few or no exceptions, now
depasturing in that part of the Colony.
Now, however, the practice has assumed an
alarming appearance. Success has so emboldened
them, that evident destruction threatens to an-
hilihale property to a very serious extent. My
I overseer writes, "the blacks took from Bamen, or
Bammen, (native name of one of my stations) after
endeavouring to kill the calves in the pen, but
which ran off to their dams, one of the shepherd's
pea coats, Carroll's bed, blanket, shirt, trowsers, and
frock, and left us, threatening to come on us in the
night. They have done us a good deal of mischief,
and have been very troublesome ever since you left
us last shearing. They have done Mr. M-----'s
herd of cattle a great deal of injury, having killed
and eat some - some they have speared, and many
more (supposed about 60) they have driven quite
away, where they are not to be found, and they
still continue the practice. They have laid in
ambush to surprise and cut off the man who is in
charge, and he is in danger of his life. There is
now (March 1) about a thousand of the blacks
convenient to our stations ; and the shepherds are
afraid to graze their sheep, or to watch them at
night, lest the blacks should come on them by sur-
prise. " For, contrary to most other tribes, who
appear to have a superstitious dread of darkness,
these marauders commit their depredations during
the night, which makes them the more dangerous.
What can be done in this case? Will the Go-
vernment afford any protection to the people who
have ventured to those remote districts with their
properly ? Or must the men in charge of that
property be allowed, or be under the necessity, for
self preservation, to take the law into their own
hands, and avenge themselves against these savages
- one or the other should surely be done ; for is it
feasible to suppose that men will tamely submit to
wanton and unprovoked attack, where the law does
not afford them any redress? I am under the ne-
cessity of keeping fire-arms on the station for the
protection of the place, by a shew of them, for
they are almost always without ammunition. The
sending of them there has been hitherto considered
by me more as a matter of form than one of abso-
lute necessity ; as I have generally found that the
sight of a musket was quite sufficient to alarm
these people, without having recourse to its use.
But will it be. found that the continued disuse of
the musket is politic? I fear not. If the Go-
vernment would take measures to protect British
subjects and their properly without the line of colo-
nization (for I have heard it argued in Genernl
Darling's time that it would not, not being bound
to do so) from the maraudings of these people ;
then I advocate against the use of warlike imple-
ments (except in the case of immediate personal
defence, such as is justifiable by British law) by
men generally too prone to act upon the first im-
pulse of their passions, and to resent the conduct
of these poor savages, who know no better than
that they have a right to destroy all whom they
fancy stand in the way of their present gratifica-
tion ; and between whom and the lower class of
the white population in this Colony, there exists on
the part of the latter a grounded and unalienable
hatred, contempt, and disgust.
Unless some measures are adopted by the Au-
thorities, which would have for their object the
restoration of tranquillity and conciliation of the
native tribes, coupled with the dread of our power
in case of hostility eviticed on their part, it is easy
to foresee what may be the result ultimately. The
men generally employed at, and who occupy those
distant stations, are people of a very low grade,
who, if they possess the means of wrecking their
vengeance on the savage tribes, by having fire-arms
indiscriminately placed at their disposal, would not
hesitate to do so; and the slaughter might be most
sanguinary ; for I believe there are very many who
would esteem it as much sport as a day's fowling, .
to be allowed legally to destroy half the native
tribes in the Colony.
But how are proprietors of stock to act ? If
they do not afford their servants some shew of pro-
tection in the wilderness (in the absence of all other
so far removed from the seat of justice) where they
are hourly exposed to the treachery of its inhabi-
tants, it not only evinces a want of solicitude for
their safety, but implies a want of feeling also ; for
these men are too apt to consider themselves as
only secondary objects of their muster's care, not-
withstanding proofs to the contrary, and as despised
and compulsory servants ; and therefore it is the
fashion with them to become careless, and in a pro-
portionate degree, as they think, of their employer's
interest. It is besides impolitic to let servants in
the interior be under the fear or danger of attack
from the native tribes, as they will not attend to
the care of the stock they have in their charge,
while under the dread of their lives from so artful
an enemy.
Now, should the Government not be able to
extend sufficient protection to persons situated be-
yond the limits of colonization (and I scarcely
think it can) so as to awe into good order and sub-
ordination the native tribes of the remote stations,
and in consequence of such want of good order
and subordination, the same work of depredation
continues, those mon take upon them indiscrimi-
nately to deal out vengeance on the blacks. May I
it not increase the evil by causing an inveterate
spirit of hostility in them, and induce them to
destroy all the property belonging to the master's
of those men, - or, which is the same thing,
treacherously to murder them, that they may enjoy
unmolested the use of the animals as food?
These queries I merely put as reflections the
case naturally give rise to. It is for those who are
better acquainted with the nature of the subject
than I am, to answer them. I own that I feel
very much interested, as I have a considerable pro-
perty in sheep and cattle there, which is liable to
spoliation, yet I am unwilling to yield to the urgent
solicitations of my men to allow them the indis-
criminate use of fire-arms, which may be the cause
of much blood to be unnecessarily shed, and may
render the only probable loss of my property a
reality.
Having trespassed so much on your time, I must
apologise for the intrusion, and merely add, that
should you deem this letter worthy a place in your
Herald, I shall feel obliged by its insertion.
I remain, Gentlemen,
your most obedient servant,
March 17, 1833. C. T ------------

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DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE. (1833, May 13). The Sydney Herald (NSW : 1831 - 1842) , p. 2. Retrieved May 11, 2025, from http://nla. gov. au/nla. news-article12846790

'Extract of a letter from a gentleman on the
Murrumbidgee River to his father, dated 7th
May. -" When we arrived we found things in
great disorder for fear of the blacks. The night
they had attacked the hut, while Smith, one of the
shepherds, was in it. Smith, assisted by a man
belonging to H. M'Arthur, Esq. who chanced to
call in at the moment, killed one, and laid open
the head of another-the rest escaped across the
river. Smith received a few blows with the head
of a tomahawk. P. S. May 9 The blacks are
threatening us with an invasion. There was an
order in Macquarie's time that no blacks should be
allowed to enter any town or its neighbourhood
with arms. '

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DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE. (1833, August 5). The Sydney Herald (NSW : 1831 - 1842) , p. 2. Retrieved June 9, 2025, from http://nla. gov. au/nla. news-article12847404

DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE
ABSTRACT OF SALES BY AUCTION.
We insert for the information of the Public, an
Abstract of all the Public Sales which will take
place from this day's to our next publication.
THIS DAY.
MR. PAUL. —At his Spacious Auction Rooms,
George-street, at eleven o'clock, Silver Plate,
Charts, Whaling Gear, &c.
TO-MORROW.
MR. S. LYONS. —At his Stores, 75, George-
street, at 11 o'clock, Sussex Hops.
MR. S. LYONS. —At his Stores, 75, George-
street, after the sale of the Hops, Merchandise,
WEDNESDAY.
MR. S. LYONS. —At the Stores of J. B. Mon-
tefiore & Co. , at eleven o'clock, Merchandise.
Notice of the receipt of the mails per Rubicon,
the 7th of March, and the Waterloo, on the 1st of
April, at the General Post Office, London, has been
affixed outside the Post Office, Sydney.
ADVANCE OF AUSTRALIAN LITERATURE. —We
are enabled to state that printing materials
for several new offices are on the way for this
Colony, and may be looked for by the first
arrivals. We congratulate the Colonists in
this anticipated competition of knowledge, which
must tend to the moral and political advancement
of Australia. Amidst the " wreck of matter " the
Herald will make every exertion to maintain
a respectable position in the literary field ; a fount
of new types, and an additional press, is supposed
to be not far from these shores ; with these we
shall be enabled to enlarge our columns for the
accommodation of our numerous correspondents
and subscribers.
The Blacks have recently become very trouble-
some on the banks of the Murrumbidgee. Last
week rather a strong party attacked one of Mr.
Shelley's stock stations, but were repulsed with
great courage ; and we regret to say, that during
the hottest of the conflict, while the combatants
were at close quarters, Mr. Rowland Shelley met
with a serious accident. Surrounded by the Blacks,
he did all he could to defend himself with his fire-
arms, but his piece missing fire on one occasion, he
was seized by a Black, and his perilous situation
being observed by one of the stockmen, the latter
fired at the Black, as the only chance of saving the
life of his young master. The balls passed through
the body of the Black, and levelled him to the
ground ; but, unfortunately, one of them also
struck Mr. Shelley, and passed through the fleshy
part of his thigh. He was rescued from the
Blacks, and by the last accounts was doing as well
as could be hoped under such circumstances.
By a letter dated July 1, from Cloudy Bay, New
Zealand, we learn that the natives had been at war
with each other, and committed depredations on
the property of a Sydney merchant to a considera-
amount. The Harriet whaler, from this port, had
arrived in the Bay, and procured 40 tuns of oil.
The Mariner whaler, from Hobart Town, was also
there. The gangs of the Waterloo, under the su-
perintendence of Captain Guard, had procured
100 tuns of black oil, at the time the schooner
sailed ; but it was feared the party would be ob-
liged to remove on account of the hostile dispo-
sition of the natives.
It having come out in evidence in the Supreme
Court on Friday that two constables in the execu-
tion of what they called their duty, had stripped a
woman of every article of wearing apparel in the
process of searching her, Judge Dowling very
properly remarked that such an outrage of decency
could not be permitted, and in future the constables
must understand that in such cases a female must
be called in.
It appears that it was out of Mr. Busby's gang
and not out of the Hyde Park Barrack Establish-
ment, that Mr. Jilk's picked out the two men con-
cerned in the robbery of Mrs. Anslie's premises on
the Brickfields.
Parramatta was visited on Friday morning with
a heavier frost, than is within the memory of the
oldest inhabitant of that town.
On Wednesday, Cohen and his wife, and John
Campbell, were fully committed under the war-
rant of the Liverpool Coroner, to take their trials
for the wilful murder of a man named Kerr.
A gentleman picked up a large key yesterday,
the owner can have it by applying at the Office of
this Paper.
Notices of the intended Census have been posted
at the doors of all the Public Buildings in the
Colony.
Sixteen men were forwarded under Military
escort on Friday morning from Sydney gaol, to
be dealt with in the interior.
A meeting of master and journeymen curriers
took place last week, at the Waggon and Horses,
Castlereagh street, for the laudable purpose of
forming themselves into a society for the relief of
their brother craftsmen during sickness, &c. Some
liberal contributions were made there and then,
and one or two sick members relieved.
State of H. M. Goal, Sydney, Saturday, August
3, 1833. —Death 4 ; Trial 100 ; Transportation 3;
Remanded 40 ; Bail 7 ; Confines 4; Labour 10 ;
Iron-gangs ; 39 ; Interior 5 ; Examination 2 ; Fac-
tory 16 ; Debtors 26. —Total 256.
Ship News.
The following vessels are advertised in the
English Newspapers for these Colonies, viz :—the
Martha, Rubicon, Henry, Children, and Sir Joseph
Banks, for Sydney ; Eliza, Ann, Lonach, Sir John
Rae Reid, for Hobart Town and Sydney; Gem,
Launceston ; Vibilia and Wave, Hobart Town and
Launceston ; Forth, Circular Head and Launces-
ton ; Governor Stirling, and Brilliant, Swan River.
The ship Tamar will be launched from Captain
Fotheringhame's Patent Slip, at about half-past
eleven o'clock to-morrow morning.
His Majesty's Ship Imogene, the Diana, Asia,
and Strathfieldsay, sailed in company on Saturday
last, bound through Torres' Straits.
The Elizabeth, has hauled over to Messrs. Moss- ,
man's Wharf on the North Shore to take in the
Jane's oil for the London market.
Captain Cow, of the ship Waterloo, spoke no
vessels bound for these Colonies, on his passage to
Port Jackson.
The schooner Waterloo experienced some severe
gales of wind in coming from Cloudy Bay, which
carried away her bulwarks, boats, &c. She was
10 days laying to off Port Macquarie.
The William Steveld, for London direct, is ex-
pected to sail on Sunday next.
Accidents, Offences &c.
A soldier belonging to the guard, per Waterloo
was killed on the 11th of May, by the accidental
discharge of his musket while on duty on board
that vessel. An inquest was held on the body, and
a verdict of accidental death reported.
On Friday last, some parties helped themselves
to a boat from the Yard of Mr. Cunningham the
boat builder in George Street.
On Friday a child was so dreadfully burned in
Clarence Street, that it is not expected to recover.
Coroner's Inquests.
On Friday, an Inquest was convened at Mr.
Douglass's Cumberland Street, on the body of a fine
little girl named Sarah Templeton. It appeared
that the preceding day while playing with another
child she was pushed headlong into a large iron pot
filled with boiling hot water, which caused
her death in a few hours. —Verdict. — Accidentally
scalded to Death.

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Domestic Intelligence. (1833, August 7). The Sydney Monitor (NSW : 1828 - 1838) , p. 3 (AFTERNOON). Retrieved May 11, 2025, from http://nla. gov. au/nla. news-article32144292

A correspondent states, that the black
natives are again commencing hostilities
on the Murrumbidge. Mr Shelly has re-
ceived a gun-shot wound in the thigh
from ore of his own men, whose last
resort to save the life of his master was,
to fire at a huge black who was struggling
with him. The black was shot, but the
ball also wounded Mr S.

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BUSHRANGERS IN ARGYLE. (1835, March 21). The Perth Gazette and Western Australian Journal (WA : 1833 - 1847) , p. 464. Retrieved June 9, 2025, from http://nla. gov. au/nla. news-article641017

BUSHRANGERS IN ARGYLE.
(From a Correspondent to the Sydney Monitor. )
The Bushrangers have been playing great
pranks at Monoroo ; they have shot five or six
tame blacks, from a fear of being tracked, and
also a Mr Shepherd, the overseer of Mr. Cat-
terell. It appears they robbed Mr. Catterell in the
middle of the night ; made Mr. Shepherd serve
out a large quantity of rum to all the men ; made
him drink two tumblers full himself, and left
just before day-break. Whilst he was serving the
rum out, they asked him if he had not lately had
one of his men flogged, and horsewhipped another ?
He replied, he had ; but that they richly deserved
it. They then said, we will tie you up presently,
and see how you like fifty. After they had been
absent about an hour, two of them returned with
only their pistols—they came back to look for a
cap of a duelling pistol of Mr. Catterell's which
they had taken. Shepherd, supposing that they
were returning for the purpose of putting their
threat into execution, as soon as they came within
five or six paces of his tent, stepped out and shot
one dead ; the other snapped his pistol in Shep-
herd's face, but it missed fire. Shepherd imme-
diately took him prisoner, and gave him in charge
of one of his men in the hut ; he then prepared
to receive the other bushranger, who, alarmed by
the report of the firearms, came running down.
As Boon as he came within shot, Mr. Shepherd
fired, and wounded him in the neck ; unfortunate-
ly, in discharging the first barrel, nearly all the
shot rolled out of the second. The bushranger
then fired at Mr. Shepherd, and severely wounded
him in the side ; Shepherd rushed towards him,
and as he was doing so, his prisoner ran up to
him, and putting his pistol (which he had reco-
vered) to Mr. S. 's face, fired, and the ball went
through his head; "you b—r, you are down, "
said the bushranger. Not yet, said Shepherd, and
rushed on with blind desperation to grapple with
his antagonist, when he was shot by one of his
own men, who had joined the bushrangers, in the
loins; he then fell, and the bushrangers com-
menced beating him with the butt ends of their
muskets ; beat his own fowling-piece to pieces
over his head and body, and so mangled his face,
that it scarcely exhibited a vestige of humanity.
They then retired, and as they passed their com-
panion whom Shepherd had shot, he besought
them to put him out of his misery, as he was dy-
ing in great agony. They asked him where the
money was that he had taken from some one ? he
told them, and they then said, that he had lived
like a dog, he might die like one, and they went
away. Mr. Shepherd is recovering : no vital part
is affected, although a ball went through a part of
his head. The man that he left in charge of his
prisoner said, that a man (who he believes to be
him whom Shepherd accuses of having fired at
him, and who has since joined the bushrangers, )
put a musket between the slabs, and ordered him
to let the prisoner go, which, for fear of being
shot, he did. All the men, but this one, were
drunk, and after the firing was over, one of them
put up his head, and asked how many stiff un's
there were now ? Poor Shepherd lay till two o'-
clock that day, when Mr. Sherwin and Mr. Bow-
man arrived, who dressed his wounds—they were
full of maggots. How Catterell could leave him
so long, I know not ; he had his wife to attend to,
but I think he ought to have given a thought to
Shepherd. Mr. Shepherd is a respectable Scotch
emigrant.
A very gallant and courageous
capture of cattle stealers and bushrangers was
made by Riley, the chief constable of Maitland
The gang having got notice that warrants were
out against them, made off to the bush. Informa-
tion was privately brought to Riley, that the whole
could be taken at night at a certain hut in the
bush ; and without waiting to procure handcuffs,
he and two other constables started for the place
in a most tempestuous night ; about midnight
they came to where a hut was at a distance ; Riley
and a constable named Scanby then took off their
shoes, and leaving Riley's horse in charge of the
other constable, they went on quietly, and heard
the voices of several persons in the hut. Riley
got to the door of the hut, in which were seven
men, and cocking his piece, ordered all to
"stand ;" a rush was instantly made by a des-
perate character named Kuff towards the door ;
but on Riley's presenting his piece at his head, and
saying, "stand back, or I'll blow jour brains
out, " he retreated. Great confusion was in the
hut, and another desperado was there, when
Riley (the other constable having come to the
door) dashed into the midst of them and collared
him ; he then ordered every man to sit clown,
when he proceeded to procure his prisoners with
handkerchiefs and such like bandages, and in this
style he lodged the whole of his prisoners in Mait-
land lock-up, where he arrived with them before
morning. The Association for protecting Stock
on the Paterson and William's, has presented
Riley with a donation of ten pounds, for his intre-
pid conduct on this occasion. —A Correspondent to
the Sydney Monitor.
The Murrumbidgee, and thence to the
southward, begins to be thickly settled ; the
nature of the country being of that description
which is most adapted to sheep-farming. It may
not be generally known that Dr. Imlay had track-
ed out a road from the Monero to the sea-side of
Two-fold Bay, from which his establishment is
about 50 miles distant; this attracts settlers to
that quarter, for it cannot be doubted but some
speculator or other will form a shipping establish-
ment at that place, and thus be the means of
conveying to Sydney the produce of all that
quarter. The distance from Monero Plains to
Sydney, by land, is about 220 miles ; this forms
a serious obstacle to the farmers in that neigh-
bourhood. —Sydney Monitor.

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The Native Blacks. (1836, January 30). The Sydney Monitor (NSW : 1828 - 1838) , p. 2 (MORNING). Retrieved August 17, 2025, from http://nla. gov. au/nla. news-article32150640

The"Native' Blacks.
The Blacks, it is said, are again be-
coming troublesome at the upper districts
of Hunter's River; and it would appear
from the following letter, that in the coun
try to the southward, they are also com
mitting outrages. From the circumstance
of their having so many arms with them, it
is probable that some bushrangers may
have joined, and are now leading them.
LACHLAN RIVER, NENAH FARM,
18th January, 1836.
SIR-I have to inform you that this day before
sunrise, anout one hundred of the Mullinbudgee
Blacks appeared at this place in search of the
Warwick Blacks; but not finding any of them here,
they made their way to your station, where they
found Taylor, Billy, Budger, John Watterman
and two gins, who took shelter in your house.
They fired two shots, one of which wounded Tay-
lor through the back. They likewise took the sad
dle sheets off your hut and speared Taylor in the
back. I went with two of the mounted police who
arrived here at the time; but they were gone from
your place, not, however, before they committed
great depredations and left your bed and clothes
besmeared with blood. They likewise killed one
calf in the pen and four pigs. The evening before
they broke two of your ?chairs, some of your
earthenware, and, I believe, other things besides
They had ten stand of arms and ammunition, and
one sword, spears in abundance, and other instru
ments of war. The police are in search of them at
this time.

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Yass. (1839, February 13). The Sydney Monitor and Commercial Advertiser (NSW : 1838 - 1841) , p. 2 (MORNING). Retrieved June 9, 2025, from http://nla. gov. au/nla. news-article32162854

FEB. 7. —The weather continues very hot—no
rain—very little water, and strong gales of wind with
clouds of sand!
I herewith send you a copy of a letter which
reached me on the 2nd instant, together with the
original enclosure, stating how matters are at the
Murrumbidgee, &c.
Mayango, about 60 miles from the Hume River,
January 27. 1839.
I have to acquaint you that I am so far on my
way up the country, but having heard a little news, .
I wish to communicate the same forthwith to you.
In the first place, are you aware that a considerable
sum has heen subscribed for the erection of a Roman
Catholic Chapel at Jurygong? —a great deal of the
building materials are now ready for carting in, which
I have no doubt will be speedily commenced. There
is another Chapel about being built at the Tumat
River, and the necessary preparations are carrying
on with despatch. The blacks have recently done
a deal of mischief since the murder of a hut-keeper
of Mrs Jenkin's. This man's murder was very,
coolly planned and perpetrated, viz. —they lay in
ambush until the man went to milk his cows, and
then threw six spears at him, which went through
his body; they afterwards mangled his body with
tomahawks, and then plundered the hut, and set
fire to it.
A person of the name of Larkham has a station
about 40 miles below the Rev. J. J. Therry's station,
and the blacks have murdered his hut keeper. A
short time ago, ten or fifteen blacks went to Dr.
Mackay's sheep station, and ordered him to give
them some "jimbucks"—he peremptorily refused,
and they were about to despatch him, when the
arrival of a stockman and some others prevented
them, and they dispersed.
The country is very much burnt up, and water is
becoming scarce. I met the Mounted Police going
down to Yass with a number of bushrangers. By
the by, one of the Police told me that Charles Huon
and his party, who were driving over to Port Ade-
laide 1100 head of cattle, had been again attacked by
the blacks, but without injury to the Europeans.
The shearing is not yet finished up here. Mr.
Manton has six flocks to wash. but the water is so
scarce, I fear he will be obliged to remove to the
river.
The blacks on the Murrumbidgee are now very
overbearing and dangerous. Upwards of thirty
able strong bodied men, with their gins and picka-
ninies, making a total of upwards of sixty, have
taken up their residence at the station of Mr. Smith
of Kyeamba, for upwards of two weeks, where they
still remain waiting for the Hume River blacks to
meet them About eight days ago, they put six or
seven of their dogs amongst a flock of newly weaned
lambs. They destroyed several, and scattered the
flock through the bush. When the shepherd re-
quested them to call in their dogs, they laughed and
seemed to enjoy the sport. They are now threaten-
ing to kill the shepherd for reporting the circum-
stance to his master. They have since attacked the
stations there several times at night, and taken a
sheep at each time. Last night while the men were
a little way from the hurdles, just when the sheep
were put into the folds, two blacks rushed into the
fold at Mr S. 's head station, in sight of his own
door, and took out one sheep. The men ran after
the blacks, who had the sheep on their backs, until
a party of seven or eight sprang out from behind
trees, and stood alongside of the two that took the
sheep, where they made a dead stand as if to keep
their ground. As there were only two white men
present, and being unprepared with firearms, they
saw it was no use to resort to force. Mr. Smith ex-
pects something more serious will occur if they re-
main much longer at his stations. It is now very
difficult for masters to get their men to stand up
firmly in defence of their property. A Police Ma-
gistrate, and a few mounted Policemen and Con-
stables are much wanted on the Murrumbidgee
River, or between it and Kyeamba Creek; they
ought to be placed at least 80 or 90 miles beyond
Yass where both blacks and whites require to be
placed under more control.
FEB. 8. —Upwards of 500 head of fat cattle have
passed towards Sydney within the last three days;
they were In excellent order, and great size. Nearly
210 fat oxen belonging to Mrs. Lupton of Bargo,
passed yesterday (4th). And upwards of one
thousand head have passed towards the grazing
lands situate between here and Port Phillip to get
better grass and water. The cattle and sheep
speculation towards Port Adelaide is upon the
wane—former cattle speculations having almost
drained it of cash, and their paper acknowledge-
ments, not being deemed satisfactory.
The boy that I mentioned in my last communica-
tion, has been found. He was picked up by some of
Captain Turner's shepherds ; he was nine days a-tray,
and supported himself by eating the sweet succulent
reeds that abound in the lagoons. During his
wanderings, he came to an ufurnished hut in-
habited by a cat, where he slept all night, and
having kept the path leading from the hut in a
westerly direction, he fell in with Mr. Turner's
shepherds, and in a few days after was restored to
his father. Horned cattle to the amount of £3, 500
have exchanged owners within the last week; one
of the parties who have sold to the amount of
£2, 000, is a resident at Campbelltown. The cause
is steted to tbe the present rise in the price of land,
andtl the insecurity of their property in the interior
from the constatnt aggresions of the blacks.
Assigned servants have in many instances objected
to take charge of stock outside the limits; their plea
is, they consider their persons in danger from the
savages. King Charles, of the Tolwong tribe,
Argyle contry, lately vbilted his brother potentate
near the Sholhaveun river. He soon returned to his
own territory ; and after a short stay there, pre-
ceeded to the Murrumbidgee, where his son, a prince
of the blood, "' Bills Billy, " resides with a gentle-
man, King Charles states, that when he got to
Shoalhlaven he found all the blacks very sick, and a
vast number of them died ; and that the suvivors
piled the bodlies in heaps and burned them. He
therefore left, and came further into the interior,
in the hope he may escape the contagion. He
describes the complaint, viz. —murry big cough—
head murry sore—cobbra part (forehead) murry
much sore—eyes most ready to jump out—murry
much blood come from nose. , mouht—&c. I am of
opinion King Charlie has "jumped out of the frying-
pan into the fire, "—as the influenza is still raging
in the remote parts of our interior.
People here are fearIul of great scarcity. Very
little grain—indifferent beef and mutton—no pork
Continued on Page 3Scroll to previous page
or bacon—no cheese—no butter, and scarcely a drop
of miIk.
"Mr. Rutledge, the mail contractor, will not allow
any letter or newspaper being conveyed from Yass
to either the Murrumbidgee, Hume, or Goulburn,
and the stations along the road betwixt those
rivers; which is a scandaloue abuse. Mr. R.
alleges he has contracted to convey the Port Phillip
mail, and nothing else will he allow to be carried by
the postman. Please to inform Mr. Rutledge that
it is thought that he is, as a matter of right, obliged
to convey letters, &c. , from the post-office he receives
at, to where he delivers, &c. , like unto the postman
between Sydney and Liverpool, Liverpool and
Campbelltown, Camphelltown and Berrima, Berrima
and Goulburn, Goulburn and Yass, &c. &c. "





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Yass. (1839, July 24). The Sydney Monitor and Commercial Advertiser (NSW : 1838 - 1841) , p. 2 (MORNING). Retrieved June 9, 2025, from http://nla. gov. au/nla. news-article32164984

Yass.
15TH JULY 1839. -During the whole of the last
month, the rain fell copiously in this district, and
also in the more remote parts to the southward of
the Murrumbidgee. That rain should have set in
in the month of June, has been considered by some
of the oldest farmers up here, as an unusual visita
tion and they anticipate either a further fall of
rain, or that the winter season will not be severe
as it certainly has been, since its commencement.
The lower part of Argyle, towards lyung lione
and lierrimna, has al-o had an abnndautt supply of
r. din-the creeks and water holes ate uverfl- , wing,
and the n.. toral g asses are sprtining iup rapidly.
Wheat -owing was, in general terms, brought to
a cncln-ion about the 30th ultimo; and on thy
early sown land. the young plants are anese high,
p. d lok very healthy. Lean beasts and mile I ecow.
sale for the South' A d trLTDana W°rm" Au h . LdaG5
dealings for fat cattle, the price of oxen, steer- &c. ,
deemed sufficiently fat fir the conasmpti. n of
Svdneyv, is exce-irrly high; and those half fat, and
still imore iutesinr bsv. t- , are als. dear. To the
southward it Yacs and the Mnrrumhidere, stock
holders and their stockmen find it diffcult to drive
in cattle fr m off the ranges and out of the gullie.
to their cattle s1ti. tins, fr the purpose of
mus'ering or selecting out a few for slanghter, owiun
principally to the acere-. ioin= of the " black. "
The tollwine is the plan adapted by the blacks to
spe. r the cattle, !tr the truth if which, if neces
sary, I can refer you to a gentleman of the first
re-prc:uhitity in . Sylivey. In con-quence of the'
repea'ed attack rof the" blacks" on the herd- , the
animals have been wi:d, - , that it i, with much tart
and stratacem a suhite man or stockman can et
near tlerln-and even if it should so happen that
the stockmen in siaht of a herd, it will
takea grold and well-fed hirse, with an excellent
rider, to head themI-Now as the " blacks" cann ot
approat h themn withiout being di-covered, they mIsa
naged in the early part of the year to burn .. ll the
grass frim the t, vers, creerk and ltac, i, ns for
several itiles back in the hbus-the " blacks" well
knowins, that thtecattle wnrll. as well as "old man"
(KanSa: oni) antl ' Jack Wall lhy, " depatsure on the
hrehl springing gras' , and being clrse to the water. I
they naturally conicluded the cattle would " like it
cobhan drink; ' they therefore erected, down the
declivitie-s i the baniks if the- ivers. and creeks &c.
a seort of aiithuscade, where thty secreted them
selvre, until their victims appro.. cbed to d, Ink
they then let fly their spears into as mainy as they
possibly could-and patiently waited for the issue.
The auinials finding thetm-elves wounded, would
run up the bank'-some perhas would drop dead,
others plunne into the forest with from otine to three
spears sticking in them. and after running about
until they were exhausted, expire in some unfe
quented part of the scrub or bush, and the carcasses
never found except by accident; and in many in
stance' , the skeletons of beasts have been
found with whole and broken spears in them. It is
also a matter of notoriety, that of late, dead car
casses have been recently speared-some with the
fleshy part cut off; others with only the fat taken
oat-and several cut up and mangled.
Tihe ' influenza" which of late made such
havoc among-t this and and the neighbouring dis
tricts, ha- apparently disappeared--'ti true there
area few fl cks still i , ,ouriou under its effects, but
their ca-e is tnt c . -iiderel of any importance. The
loss in sheer, in this district aline, I anm informed
has been 10. 0 4O
Ho s?! for -addle or d rauceht arc scarce, and forage
ii scarcer-in tact, cannot htie had Stabling a horse "
at an ins is fr, et IN t-i i shlillings per nicht The
highest price for wheat per 100 bu. hel- , and paid for i
during thie last aeek, was fronam lis to 15-* fd per
bushel ; oeveral of the s-im. ll aericuhltni. , t demand
one pundi steiling per bulhel-iwhile I am writing
thi. , a tman ha- rsferted me 300 bastels of g. , od clean
vwheat at that price.
Poultry are aying fast, and also tame pigeons.
The convict p;opulation in the counties of Kin,
Georgitna, and Mlrra. y, appear quiet nttwihtlstand
:ing their rationm haIave been trdutc'd in -many es
tahl-tnitents to ti quartr of whe-at. 8 Its mutton or
beet, 2 , gs. tea;. It sugar, and 2 its. tnhtno"c weekly
-suite trw genettl'men i--sie to each mtan 7 quarts
of wheat, being illdy one qa, lt I'-. s of the peck, the r
n-ual allouwnce in the tm, ist plentiful times. It is
theerfere said, that the g. iodt behauiour of convict i
servants, is imputed to the liberal condnct of their
mastels. Hlow is it that there are such complaints. :
of the ronvlcts elsewhere ? A short timtte ago, some
individuals frotm the Bathurst country, drove in the
direction of'rass and 4lurrnatbidee a large dflck of
disea-ed sheep; they died daily in great numbert,
and the drovers neglected to burn or bury the car
cases. Cn being remonstrated with by several , en
tlessen, passing and re-pa-sing to their stations, the
fellows replied. *' we are otly servants ; peak to
the superintendent &c. , ' when they would point to
another fellow as their oreers-er and an reference
rn him, he would, with a grin, point out another
fellow ; and that fellow another.
The rm0via arising front the dead sheep, was
very offensive foer several miles on the toad. How
the matter was settled I do not know, w?th the ex
ception. that the drovers had the assurasce to en
ramp in the centre of a gentleman'- sheep run, and
his sheep it is said have since been infected; hlow
ever, as the conmmi-sioners of Crown -Lands have
commenced their "campaign, ," it is hoped some
benefit will be-derived from their exertions to eup
press such rMtrages.
The two constahles, from whose custody two
prisoners effected their escape (and whose te ral I
rare is mentioned in your journal of the 10th siltdr. ) ,
have been nomutltted to take their- trial- for neglect
&c. Now supposinr two dating . hat acters had
effrected their escape and committed fresh offences?
No doubt thu local government wald immediately
offer a reward for their apprehenslin. They are
taken, and the captors receive accorrdir to the re
ward offered, from £10 to £15. Now if that tnrm
had been expended in. the erection of : hnI'k nt
midway (Gunnins) betweenYass and fta:bt; n, the
puh:ie would hre been . verl 0.. mndt rt-nry. The
I. tnw-liip of Gu. nnine i- canuical, and a lhock-n-.
?. uose there, won~ d recewe prisotru. from QOnan- •
brtan, ~1urrav, Yas. &r. It i-s earnestly de. irdI I
such an aequi. i:ion may l. t speedil, erected.
I hare been informned thz ibontihrec weeks an, go I
T. A. Murray Esq. , J. P. , of Uanbt-yan, . left hii
estate to s. eek tor a new . nee?-. tr" n. and h;tvint
travelled thenugh the bu. ht, ,r t. , netime. found the
boty of a man erxended , n the grocnd in a state of
!-cr? , mpos. iinn. He aliglhed r, errti.. lne whether
the I. , odv htd anv uarks of viulmcetoiitiie, ut none
apora T- ed. l
tie ol-ervel the end of letter or note anpeat int
*. |ov tLh )n. rt of t, ? edtceartd-he took it out,
tor-tiler iil, a few -hillne- it -ivo-r. lH.. tiu tx
amuin-d the letter, it tntkt-aed ri:e d-ee-at. d was r. n
arian-d *ertant of a iUr l. tw, wh. o e-ilde n-ar
Gon. errno?r Y4. , by "rt, , r'e man had i. ern Idt.
patcted t, ta di-tant . v. atiltn i:rh ittert &c. , a, :d it
i- . u: , p-. sed, nal. ted ha wy, ari wa. star-ved to
death.
I hare heard, that unrt frw act'i, -t will bh fil-d
in the ;uanrerme Court ht d f?rent cettl.. , en Mhi. h,
hre !T, ~e - ck* and hitrd' atninhe in thi- quartet,
rxt'ndinz tow, ,d* Pi. t Phli:p. The can-c, tee-.
rassinz on their lcen?ed lantr--antJ other ca. e
d a-a-ed -leep depat'urinC nt lan W' whcte the pr,
nietr's sheep were clean al that iite, but nuw in
f c*ed.
tIum. an n. 'are cannot lot he hoAtkrd at the
wretcherd a!tpearance of (ifl may a-r the term) the
cirilized " bltc~a, '" belonAie to the the ' iri'hint
the linita ; their lanrtnrnann fo'r want of their
natural ?ts:-tn;:nc. , wtld rouse the . ymrathy of
anv m-n, n. t e of t:en. "Many huntry blaca 'el
low--ton ry c, ll-pieny black tellow now die,
baal ?nt patta-bval -nO:Zono, hal wallaby junto
bonts now, no a. ýt pt'ta-artnet tile ?et it possum, .
no plenty-lfi. h all , an . ravy out water-hole-all
black fellow soon die~ , a;d by white fellow fllow. "
&c. I believe it is tao true that there has been a
rePat mortality amonret the trbes about here; the
cold and want of food ?mnt cary them off. I wish
it to be obherved that at the Winatlands are now all
-own. it i rexpected that a tfaiciency of grain will
'en'sin to answer all purpots, with economy. Mail
just arrived.
(The just ity of the write:'or "the blacks" is vert
inrcon. istent with hi. . erert centures nt them for
io-arinn bullock' , which cesuree we hare omitted.
He calt. tlern " wanton nrares. " &c. How can
they he teantlon, when the . onfe. rea the blacks are
tperi-lhine with cold and sianzer? Erety writer
should be careful nut to How not and cold at the
atame time. -ED. )



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THE BLACKS. (1839, August 29). The Australian (Sydney, NSW : 1824 - 1848) , p. 2. Retrieved June 9, 2025, from http://nla. gov. au/nla. news-article36860110

THE BLACKS.
We have received the accompanying
extract of a letter from a correspondent
whose veracity may be relied on : —
Curomondard, August 9, 1839.
Dear R. — I arrived here this afternoon, and
found the blacks have been committing terrible
havoc with the flock of wethers, purchased from
you. They collarred the shepherd in the bush,
about one o'clock in the day, knocked him down,
and one of them, whom he states to be Bonsparte,
stood over him with a tomahawk, whilst two
others kept him down, threatening his life ; he
knows all of them well; they then took three
of the wethers, killed them, wounded more with
spears and sent them all over the place.
We have been requested to ask what
the Commissioner and Border Police
are about, to suffer these outrages to be
committed within a few miles of their
head quarters? The blacks who are
guilty of robbery, are a portion of the
tribe who visit Yass and its vicinity, are
well known to the white inhabitants,
and may be easily apprehended, if the
Commissioner and his force are prompt
in their movements. — Correspondent
[We fear that the Commissioners of
Crown Lands will, in many cases,
endeavour to make their office a com-
plete sinecure, unless they are brought
to account pretty frequently by the
Government. — Ed. Aust. ]





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Vox Popuil—Vox Dei. (1839, August 31). The Australian (Sydney, NSW : 1824 - 1848) , p. 2. Retrieved June 9, 2025, from http://nla. gov. au/nla. news-article36863077

▼osx '-Popali— Vox Iih,
THE BLACKS.
We have received. the following
letter from a respectable settler in the
southern districts, and, in order that its
authenticity mny be relied on, we give
tbe name ot the writer. Surely such a
state of tilings cannot be suffered to
exist much longer. Here are thousands
of pounds voted for the salaries of the
Protectors of the Aborigines (as they
are called): we should really like to
know what these gentlemen are doing
for their money ? We receive complaints
from all quarters of their inat
iention to their duties. The government
must interfere. We hope the
settlere will adopt the course suggested
in the accompanying letter, and, by
uniting together, endeavour with a strong
hand to protect their property and tlie
lives of their servants from the outrageous
attacks of the aborigines. We
should like to know what the Border
Police are about : why were they not
tent in pursuit of the marauders?
'Gatimg, August 24 183 9
My Dear R - , I hasten to inform you of
the alarming state in which the settlers in our
-part of the country are placed, in consequence
of the blacks ; for tbe last month they have
been killing cattle in all directions, both outside
. and within the boundaries ; the last three weeks
they hare commenced their havoc here among
the cattle of Messrs Ryan. Rdberta, Hurley, and
Tennell, and miuo to a ruinous extent- — in fact,
one-third of the increase are lost through them,
for what they do not kill . they waiter over the
'country. A few days since one of Mr Roberta's
?stock-keepers found no less than three head
. -slaughtered and in a pit roasting at once, and I
should -any, at an average, no less than two head
per day are kiled by them. Not satisfied with
'the cattle they have now commenced destroying
the sheep. On Friday the 8th instant, a tribe
?of them went to Messrs Hurley and Fennell's
sheep station, and tbre» , named, Billy the Ram, '.
Jackey Williams, and Buonaparte, followed the
shepherd until about one o'clock in the day, '
?when they collated him, threw him down, two
held him down whilst the other stood over him -
with a tomahawk threatening -his life, whilst the
? others proceeded to rush the flock : they took
?three' wethers away beside -wounding some others
With their, spears and tomahawks, dividing the
flock into three parts ; and three others,
named, John Dilla, Johnny Murphy, and Voyoe
Mickey, Mr Ryan's stock- keeper found killing,
a cow. Mr Rynn proceeded to Yass and there
obtained a warrant for them on the 14th, and
the magistrates sent the chief constable with
him — they arrived at my house on Saturday the.
17th, when we formed party of the chief:
rnimtuble, Mr Ryan, Michael- Caughlin, James
Hoolahan, and myself. We made Burrengong,
Mr James White's station, Mr White then joined
up, and on Wednesday, about four o'clock in the
afternoon, we overtook the tribe at Wamber
Turaber Gap, consisting of about thirty men,
with all their implements of war, appears, flee.
We Immediately surrounded them and drove the .
whole into a hut secured Buonaparte, Johnny
Murphy, Yoyoe Mickey, Jackey William, and
Hilly the Ram, and let the others go. We that,
right proceeded as far as Maringo, when Mr
Shelly kindly gave as up a strong stone store to
; put them in; after tying them with straps, Sec,
having no hand-cuffs, Mr Ryan and I went -to.
lied in Mr Shelly's house, leaving them in
charge of the chief constable, Oaughlin, Hools-
han and, White, all well armed; they, through'
indeed , gave them 'blankets, &c. to cover them,
and . having themselves laid dooii the blacks took
advantage of it, unloosed their hands, and laying
hold of spades and other tools that were in the
store rushed the men. Mr Ryan and I were
aroused by the report of the guns and jumped
out, when we found four of the blacks gone, and
the fifth just outside ; Buonaparte, whom we'
-.. uollnrcd and secured after a heavy struggle
-Caughlin and HooVuhun being severely wounded
by spades and several cuts of four inches in
length being on their heads, they still continue
in a dangerous state. We suppose some of the
blacks that escaped were wounded but no traces
of blood in the morning could be found. The
man we havei taken (Buonaparte) is supposed to
be the person who murdered Mrs . Jenkins's man
on the Murrumbidgee. I hope other settlers
will assist in shtutting down these fellows from the
lawless career they are carrying on among the
stock, and we are confident, if they were to lend
a hand, such ruinous work would soon he put an
end . However, we have shown an example
to other squaters and intend following it up by
every means in our power. Mr Rysn has offred
a reward of twenty pounds far the apprehension
of the four that escaped, and I enclose you the
advertisement, which -you will have inserted in
The Australian. You may rely on the correctness
of tbe particulars I send you.
Yours truly,
C. H. NICHOLS.
P. S. — I forgot to tell you, that . when the
constable told tbe blacks he would shoot them if
they ran away, they immediately told him "you
shoot me, the Governor hang you. "

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CORRESPONDENCE. (1839, September 19). The Australian (Sydney, NSW : 1824 - 1848) , p. 3. Retrieved June 9, 2025, from http://nla. gov. au/nla. news-article36861498

THE YASS BORDER POLICE.
To the Editor of The Autiraiian.
SIH, — In your number of the 29th ultimo, you in
form ilio public that you hare been requeued to a»k
' what tho ComtulMioner and tbe Border Police have
been a'K-ut. in 'uffor outrairoa to bo committed within
? lev miles ai meir ni-aa quartern ? rutuurkmt; , at tbi
wma time, tbat tb-* blacks who arc guilty of ro'iberj
-are a portion of throw who riait Vaan and it* virinitv.
Injustice to the G'onimiaainnurs for tuia diurict, it ii
?only fair to tell you, and, tlie public too, thit at tin
timr nf the outrage and robbery to which you allude
neither of tbe Commiasionera had a supply of eithei
horaea or men ; and th»t it was only lately tbot a fen
men and honea of the intended numbvr reached Mi
Coaby'e head quarters, about forty miles out of theai
plain*. VnnrroiTcsponrtent could not be aware, I pre
eame, of this circumstance, it the'time be wrote to yoi
oil tbe subject of tbe blacks and tbe outrage committee
by them.
Mr Cotnmiaaioner Bingham has been employed ainc-
his arrival here, betxron this place and the Oven'i
Rivsr. srtiliua- disputes relative to station* , bvtweer
'various stockholders, aud making hinuelf acquaiutec
with the localities of bis district. He Ik a very active
oBcer— and havitifr tevinced a delcrmination, aiuce tbi
emnmrneempnt nf hi* rtories, to hold tbe sralps of jus
«ice iu evea way between man and man, no maltn
how lowly or how high, be husicalued the esteem of al
?n his pnblic capacity, and certainly not less so in hii
private fntprrnur«e with the fami!iea here who halt
*? pleasure of his acquaintance in private life.
Mr Cummissiouer Coaiiv, who stands equally hipb
with bis brother Comniiwioner in the eatiiuatiuu
nf the people of this quarter, has already given con
Tinting proofs of bis readiness to afford protection wbrc
called on*
. Some few days spo. this neighbourhood wit thrown
info a state of alarm, by a report that five . trmed
untuthorived bushmen were romtnlttinir deprvdatioai
hi varioua slock stations. The Mugi. tr*tea were callttd
on tor protection, which fin tlie sh«cnrc of the parti
of mounted police withdrawn from this place sonw aia
uioulhs ago, and with two only of our overworked
constables at their esmtnnnd) they could not afford.
. In tbe midst of tbi. dilemma, four of Mr Conimi..
?loner Coehy*. men pawed throuub Vans on their route
tp brad quartern, distant about forty mi Irs we»i,
*»«« of the troubled state of this district. Air Cosby
«3»e his men time only, after th. ir arrival at hia
t)nirtrra. to prepare throKelvea -nr the fit-Id, lie
marched them hack to Yin, and early on the following
?WTOiUK proceeded southerly in pursuit of the bui. li
»«m. ^0n hia arrival at the scene of their ) lundvr, he
Jsund that three had been takrn-tbat the remaining
ion had diMppeared, and bad not been heard nf for
?woe days. He returned with his troops to his
station, aud T understand tbat one of hia tnwpcrs has
been for soma days in search of t' a blacks to whom
S°'r correspondent alludes in his letter to you.
This was tbe maiden trip on duty of our Border
rollee: and it is but fair to»ay that the inhabitants
''*'* with mat pleasure on their future protectors,
and frit gratified at the rrndineaa with which both o(B.
cera aud men came forward in the honr of need and
Ibreatrued danger, to protect them aeainat tbe wanton
*eti of a gang of desperate, dangerous, and reckless
men.
It U to be hoped that your correspondents will, in
future, have a little caution in their communications to
you— and not. by writing to you on mere hearsay matter,
subject ofllcvrs and men to uumeriti d cf nsure.
fc-l!!J'id^l'llho Governor has limited the price of
?orses for the Border Police to forty pounds each. His
lUcelleney cannot be aware that sorry faacki even
cannot be had under that price. No doubt, tbe Cover.
l£ii-Ln . J'*/'1'. Perhaps, low mate .. f the Border
. 1 i fu'dl h'' found it nrersaary not only to limit
in B™ '* hon— 'or that body, but to decline supply.
w5a with more than a limited number, for the
Stockholders are now railed on to pay the first half
J»ar»a assessment for the dopa. turage of their slock. A
janje fnod wa, therefore shortl/ be at Hia Eacel
E2' ? eommand for the purpn«i of fitting out the
^''?Po'**: and that alnnrl No dotiht. the restrict
' , £l? **«?*«--'--?'« will be taken «*. ?'»» 'be
PriOM oftbe day given. Tbe Border Police onco mounted
man rmsJent way , and we should l. rar no more nf out
rajr»»lnotirnne forerla -all would be peace arid ' (rood
r£r£ , 8l-t h«»'»f n« horars at all, or mounted on
Don Quisota like backs, our oolircmen would hr
J't as shadows in our wilda-as uwless, as the .. ry
?S»*wo^iht« ''' GareTnor' hHd Placed ibeg
-i*?'1* '»?« His Excellency would but din* to tbe
e^Tiit^i ?lontl» »' ?«». ''ir worse than useless
tiki. ?«iind *' lhe otheT eIriU °r hisgoTerumcnt. and
*»«allmpto oursheepwalks. pluced nn one of the
h?S lITt* , Thich ' hmTr «««=--T'bed. for aday or two. and
SLT ? Z bl-licr«- }»yond all doubt, the utter useltws
toTJl. B ^r°r ?ll!m»l' »'? ''''a afterwards lend
wfclli r i^1 . nc* '. ho d'Wn« nery stoed. to carry him.
7- a foll°win(c tbe wild yet sweet sound of our
»»««««?. orer hill land dale ana glen,
stern 17'^ 5° h, UGo«n'». »-« wnuld rend. /or. In hl-
He wn'. M i'r ! ''''ersalltilB useful informntinn
whil» - 1 ''£'1' *?»- «ha« he had oaased orer-not
and » M ° nyit-lt 'teed- klnd r'»d-T. but quietly,
'be . n!^MW( ?' tb' tro°P*''' h»'f «oro out hack
and aW ?«»««. and tfimuph the flocka and herd.
Swneii £\. ° C*'; °{ '''' »»«lll-y »««?? «nd land
Itial 1» »^~ i1^ ?io''- °' , «omniuutloiis for them ; nnd
sS??Hvwd
'-? 'tna description, for ever. His Excellency would
advise warring Bishops, and others of our clergy, to
repair to the forests, instruct the whites and blacks,
now left to the exertions— scattered as they are over
an immense space of country— of two gentlemen, the
Rev. Mr Brigstock, and the Rev. Mr Brennan, whose
labours since their arrival here, without even a hut to
cover them of their own, have been incessant. He
would advise our clergy of all denominations to join
heart and hand in the great cause. To leave feuds,
religious and private, aside— and like good shepherds, to
attend to the thousands throughout the Colony who are
in daily want of religious instruction. It is utterly
impossible for two individuals to afford spiritual com
forts to a people scattered on a country of some hun
dreds of miles. The sword of religious strife would
then be laid aside, and the emblem of peace and good
fellowship, ' the shepherd's crook, ' taken in its place.
Like good labourers in the vineyard, each would assist
the other in the good work, and a rich and abundant
harvest would be the certain remit of their labours.
Then, indeed, should we see our Bishops and other
Clergy returning to our bosoms from the field, full of
the good works they had done, as we find the Apostles
in time gone by. And how much more gratifying
would such sweet sight be, than the present state of
things: Ministers of the Gospel making laws, and conse
quently passing their hours in Council worbs, the
works of temporary laws, rather than in that of the
Laws of God!
Protectors to the aborigine* bare teen sent to na.
unsent for aud we pay them — but for what I Why, for
merely id'ing their time in feasting at their homes
Like master like man with then. Iu the Council
Chamber aud tbe pre»a, we find tbe Ministers of God
pass great pin of their time. In the Court House at
i'ort Phillip, we find the Protectors to the Halite blacks
?n the bench i betimes insockney language, venturing
an opinion on nsaiter* brought before them and other*
of Her Majesty's Justices of tbe peace. What nieana
all this! la it a dreamt No, kind reader-it U all
reality. Mure anon.
Yours obediently.



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THE POOR BLACKS!! (1839, October 2). The Sydney Herald (NSW : 1831 - 1842) , p. 2. Retrieved June 10, 2025, from http://nla. gov. au/nla. news-article12858355

THE POOR BLACKS ! !
To the Editor of the Sydney Herald.
Sir, — I beg to hand you a copy of part of a letter
received from my stockman on the Lachlan River,
and of which you are at liberty to make use should
you think fit, but without mentioning my name.
" I write this letter to let you knowt the blacks are
killing and driving the cattle all over the country.
They have killed four head of old cattle, that I know
of, and two in sight of the hut. They kill the calves
as soon as they drop, and have killed a great num-
ber. About three hundred blacks are collected
together and have driven the herds here all over the
country. They have driven all my cattle away from
the run. The cattle were mending fast, but they
cannot get fat being hunted so. I send this letter to
the post at Goulburn that you may get it quick. "
I give the letter exactly in the written words and
as written. The distance to Goulburn cannot be
less than three hundred miles, but of course, as Sir
George Gipps said in Council the other day, as the
blacks were an hungered it is nothing but natural
(which means I suppose right as well, ) that they
should eat, come by it how they may. However,
one thing is very clear, that the poor blacks have not,
at least in that part of the country, been driven to
kill our cattle from want of their usual food, as that
is abundant in a country of such extent, and I un-
derstand they generally leave the carcase after they
kill calves. C. R.
Sydney, 28th September, 1839.
[Sir George Gipps, we are sorry to say, talks too
fast on many occasions. — Ed. Syd. Hd. ]



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LINES (1839, October 16). The Colonist (Sydney, NSW : 1835 - 1840) , p. 3. Retrieved June 9, 2025, from http://nla. gov. au/nla. news-article31723865


MURRUMBIDGEE. — Otober 2, 1839, —From
the 16th August to the middle of September,
we had soft weather, since then, it has been
warm and dry. At present the air is cold, and
shows much for rain; there is now plenty of
grass, and stock of all kinds doing well, except
newborn lambs, many of which are dying from
the luxuriant young grass, and want of dry old
feed. The wheat crops are coming on well ;
several parties are on their way to Port Phillip
and South Australia, with large quantities of
stock. The blacks are still spearing many cattle
on the Hume River, and last week they com-
mitted a most barbarous murder on one of their
own cast, at Mr. Peters' station, on the Murrum-
bidgee, but of course, as the white subjects of
Her Majesty had no hand in it, we shall hear
nothing of British law on the subject ; if the
blacks, however, are considered British subjects,
it is painful to see such atrocities. Were the
blacks punished for the murders committed
amongst their own tribes, it would do more to-
wards naturalizing them than any thing else that
could be devised. These wild savages ought at
once to be treated as enemies at open war with
the whites (as they really are) , and brought into
subjection by force of arms ; otherwise, the Bri-
tish law ought to be equally dispensed towards
the blacks as the whites, that these savages might
have learned the divine command, — "Whoso shed-
dith man's blood, by man shall his blood be
shed. '' Other two inns for the accommodation
rof travellers, will soon be completed on the Mur-
rumbidgee, one at Jugiong, and the other below
Hardy's station. When these are opened, there
will be ample accommodation on the line of
land, as far as the Tarenta. — Correspondent.

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THE DIVISION OF THE COLONY INTO POLICE DISTRICTS. (1839, November 23). Commercial Journal and Advertiser (Sydney, NSW : 1835 - 1840) , p. 4. Retrieved June 9, 2025, from http://nla. gov. au/nla. news-article226454511

The division of the colony into
police districts.
Your committee now proceed to de
scribe the boundaries of the several police
districts into which they recommend the
Colony should be divided, making in
all, exclusive of Sydney and Port Phillip,
twenty-nine districts, of which it is pro
posed that twenty-five should have the
services of a police magistrate, viz. : —
1. Sydney— Consisting of the Hun
dreds of Sydney and Packenham, except
ing the parish of Concord.
2. Parramatta. — -Consisting of the
Hundreds of Parramatta and Dundas, and
the parish of Concord.
3. Liverpool. — Consisting of the Hun
dred of Liverpool and parishes of Cabra-
matta and Wattamole.
4. Campbelltown. — Consisting of the
Hundred of Sonthend and Campbelltown,
and the parishes of Cook, Heathcote, and
Bulga, in the Hundred of Warranora ;
then by the left bank or the Nepean Kiver
to the eastern boundary of Clifton ; thence
by the south boundary of the Church and
School Estate, to the head of the Werri-
berri Creek; and by that creek to the
northern boundary of the parish of Wer-
rombi ; cross the Nepean River, and by
the Bringelly Creek, the Bringelly and
Cowpasture Roads.
5. Stonequarry— Bounded by the
south boundary of Campbell-town police
district, to the head of the Cataract River,
thence by the range to the head of the
Cordeaux, and by a line to Lupton's Inn ;
from that Intffd Jellore, Colong, down the
Kowmiug, Coxe, and Warragamba Rivers,
to its junction with the Werriberri CreeK.
6. Illawarra— Bounded on the west
by the eastern boundary of Berrima and
Goulburn police districts ; on the south by
the northern boundary of Braidwood po
lice district and the range separating the
waters of Jervis Bay and St. George's
Basin, and by the north shore of the latter
to the sea; on the east by the coast to
Bulli. ,
7 . Berrima — Bounded by the police
districts of Stonequarry and Illawarra, and
by the west boundary of the county of
Camden.
8. Goulburn— Contained within the
boundary of the county of Argvle and the
south-east portion of the county of Geor-
giana, situated to the east of a line from
Kangoola Creek to the village Reserve,
on the Abercrombie River, near Bingham,
and thence by the left bank of the Aber
crombie River to its rise.
9. Braidwood — Bounded on the west
by the Courock range, including " Long
Swamp, '' to " Wolowola, " thence by the
Boro Creek and the Shoalhaven River to
the foot of the range north of Endrick Ri
ver ; on the east by the crest of the range
dividing the Shoalhaven Waters from those
of the Clyde to the junction of the Araluen
Creek with the " Dena River. '
10. Browlee— Bounded on the west
by Braidwood ; on the north by Illawarra
police districts ; on the east by the sea ; on
the south by the " Murroya River. '
11. Queanbeyan — Bounded on the east
by the Braidwood police districts ; on the
north by the south portion of Lake George
to the Gap on its west side ; thence by a
line to Bywong, and the crest of the range
at the head of the Gundaroo Waters to the
Murrumbidgee River, including the vari
ous properties on the Gininderry Creek.
12. Yass — Bounded on the east by the
Goulburn police district ; on the north by
the Crookwell to its junction with the Na-
rawa, thence by a line to the Burrowa Ri
ver, at the junction with the Pudman
Creek ; on the south by the Queanbeyan
police district.
13. Windsor — Bounded on the south
by Penrith police district ; on the east by
that of Parramatta : on the north bv the
Hawkesbury, and across it at Wiseman's ;
thence up the Valley of Webb's Creek, and
by the range to the junction of Wollim
Creek with the Colo ; on the west by the
Hartley police district. .
14. Penrith— Bounded on the west by
Jamison s Valley to the Weatherboard Hut,
and thenee by a line to Mount Hav ; on the
north by the Grose River, and by a line cros
sing the Nepean, by Richmond parish
to the crossing of Rickaby's Creek ; on
the east by the Richmond Road to Eastern
Creek, by that Creek to the old Cowpasture
Road, and by the boundaries of Cabra-
matta to the Bringelly Road ; on the south
by the Bringelly Road to the Bringelly
Creek across the Nepean, and by the
boundary of the parish of Worrondi, the
Werriberri Creek, thenee by the Warra
gamba and Coxe3 River to Jamison's
Valley.
15. Hartley — Bounded on the south
by the Goulburn and Berrima police dis
tricts ; on the east by Stonequarry and
Penrith . police districts to Mount Hay,
thence by a line to King George's Mount,
and the Valley of the Wollinganby to the
Colo ; on the north by the Valley of the
Colo River to Capertee Cook's Creek,
dividing the range to Honeysuckle Hill on
the Bathurst-road— thence by that road to
Dixon's Creek, to the Fish-river, and by
that river to its source.
16. Bathurst — Bounded on the south
by Carcoar district; on the west by the
county boundaries of Bathurst and. Rox
burgh; on the north by the south baua1
dary of the county Phillip ; on the east by
. the police district of Hartley.
17. Carcoar — Bounded on the south
by the Yass and Goulburn police districts ;
on the east by Hartley police district ; on
the north by Bathurst police district. ,
1 8. Wellington— Bounded on the east
by Mudgee and Bathurst police districts.
19. Mudgee— Bounded on the south
west by the crest of a range on the souih
side of the Mero Creek to its junction with
the Cudgegong-river ; on the west by tfoe
river to the junction of the Wildra Creek,
thence by a tracked road towards Cobra,
on the Erskine-river; on the north and
east by the boundaries of the county of
Phillip.
20. Brisbane Water — Bounded on the
east by the sea ; on the north by the New
castle police district, and the range to War-
rawolong ; on the west hy the range by
Mount Simpson to the road by Snodgrass
Valley to Wiseman's Ferry.
01 "NT-pwnACTT. ta A vr» "RiVMnvTi TKR-
race — Bounded on the north by Dungog
police district ; on the west by the Wil
liams and Hunters's rivers to Sparkes';
thence by Throsby's Creek to Sugar Loaf
and the range to the head of Dora Creek ;
on the south by Dora Creek and a line
from its mouth to Reid's Mistake; on the
east by the coast to Port Stephens.
22. Dungog — Bounded on the west by
the Paterson district ; on the north-west
undefined; on the north by the Manning ;
on the east by the sea coast; on the south
by Port Stephens and the road from Saw
yer's point to Mossman's Ferry.
23. Maitland — Bounded on the east
by Newcastle police district ; on the north
hy the Hunter to Morpeth, thence across
the river, and by the right bank of the
Paters on-river to the north boundary of
T. Nowlan's land ; on the north by the
northern boundary of Nowlan's land, and
across the Government reserve to Lamb's
Valley and to the Hunter, at the eastern
boundary of Gaggin's land, and thence by
the right bank of the Hunter to the mouth
of Black Creek ; on the west by the Black
Creek and a line to Brokenback Mountain ;
on the south by the Brokenback range to
the head of Wallis Creek.
24. WOLLOM Bt AND M ACDONALD RlVER
—Bounded on the north by the southern
boundaries of the police districts of Merton,
Patrick's Plains and Maitland ; on the east
by that of Brisbane Water ; on the south
by the Colo-river, and the northern boun
dary of Windsor police district; and on
the west by the north-eastern boundary of
the Bathurst and the south-eastern boun
dary of Mudgee districts.
25. Paterson— Bounded on the west
by Patrick's Plains district ; one the north
by Scone ; on the east by the range divid
ing the Allyn-river from the Williams to
the latter river near ClarenceTown, thence
down the right bank of the Williams
to its junction with the Hunter as far as
Morpeth, and thence by the northern
boundary of tlis Maitland pu'lC? U'STict,
26. Patrick's Plains — Boundedon the
west by the Merton police district ; on the
north by the Scone district; on the east by
the range leading from Mount Royal to
Mount Tyerman; thence by a line divid-.
ing Lamb's Valley from the Glfendon
Brook ; by the Hunter to the junction of
Black Creek, and thence — bv a line to
Brokenback Mountain, and to the head of
Werring Creek ; on the south by the range
heading Milbro Dale to the Wamba range.
27. Merton and Muswell Brook —
Bounded on the west by the Mudgee and
Cassilis police districts; on the north by a
line from the southern boundary of Hall's
land, crossing the Waybong at its junction
with the Cuenguer Creek, to the junction
of Dartbrook with the Page and Hunter,
and the range between Rouchel-river and
the head of Sandy Greek ; on the east by
the range heading Sandy Creek and Mus
well Brook, to a point where the road
crosses to the east of Mount Arthur, thence
by Creek to the western
boundery of Jerry's Plains reserve, thence
by the Wambo range ; on the south by the
Monandilla range, heading Doyle's and
Greig's Creeks to Widdin Creek.
28. Scone and Murrurundi— Bound
ed on the north by the crest of the Liver
pool range ; on the east by the crest of
the range forming the boundaries of the
counties Gloucester and, Macquarie— thence
by the range leading to the west of Mount
Royal, and heading the Rouchel-river to
the northern boundary of the Merton po
lice district; on the south by the northern
boundary of the Merton district ; on the
west by. the eastern boundary of the Cassilis
district to Mount Terell.
29. Cassilis— Bounded on the south
by the county Phillip ; on the east by the
range aiviuing tae vauies or nail s v>reeK
and those of Werrendi and Gummon
Plains; on the north by the crest of the
Liverpool range ; on the west by the boun
dary of the county Bligh.
30. Port Macquarie — Contained hy
the boundaries of the county Macquarie.




###################################



Colonial and Foreign News. (1840, August 25). The South Australian Colonist and Settlers' Weekly Record of British, Foreign and Colonial Intelligence (London, England : 1840) , p. 391. Retrieved June 10, 2025, from http://nla. gov. au/nla. news-article228133743

Colonial and Foreign News.
NEW SOUTH WALES.
Within the last six months, the price of timber has been
raised upwards of 30 per cent. ; and unless the government interfere, be-
fore six months more, the price of timber will be 30 per cent. higher
still. The Squatting Act is the cause of this. By the Squatting Act it
is provided, that no sawyer shall cut in any district without a licence ;
and that, if he run away, a new licence must not only. be taken out, but
paid for a second time. By this arrangement the tax becomes too heavy
and distresses the trade. Upwards of five hundred sawyers have left the
colony, and gone to New Zealand and South Australia, in consequence of
which the sawyers who remain have demanded a rise of pay, and de-
manded it twice, because there is a greater demand for sawn stuff than
they can supply, all which might have been avoided by the Squatting
Act enacting, that a sawyer running away, his licence being endorsed at
the Licence Office, should be transferred to his successor without ex-
pense, provided the original licence has been paid for by a master. —Syd-
ney Monitor, March 27.
The increase to the population of the colony was very small
last month. Only fifty-two persons arrived from England by the follow-
ing vessels :—Competitor, James Holmes, Globe, Acasta, Britannia, Pisca-
tor, Chalydra, and Columbia. In the previous months of this year three
thousand three hundred and ninety-three souls arrived, making a total
increase to the population, during the first quarter of 1840, amount to
three thousand four hundred and forty-five. This is exclusive of Port
Philip. —Sydney Herald, April 3.
The blacks in the vicinity of Bathurst have assembled in large
numbers, and declared their intention of exterminating all defenceless
white men at out-stations. They have already killed a shepherd of Mr.
Lee's, and have threatened Mr. R. Murphy's establishment on the Aber-
crombie River.
Information has been received in town of the discovery of a
vast tract of the finest well-watered grazing country in the north-western
part of the Colony. We understand that Patrick Leslie, Esq. , is the
gentleman who has achieved this important object, and that he intends to
locate it immediately in conjunction with a number of the most respect-
able settlers from the districts of the Upper Hunter. The country thus
opened up by an enterprising settler, is in tire vicinity of the Darling
River, and is stated to be of great extent and of easy access. —Sydney
Herald, April 27.
We regret to announce that we have received intelligence of
several fresh murders by the blacks, in the northern parts of the Colony.
The number of sheep destroyed and driven away by these marauders, is
stated to be immense, and we understand that they are appearing in regu-
larly organized bands, and bid defiance to the timid settlers—rendered
timid by the partiality shown to their black enemies, and the neglect ex-
perienced by themselves and their representations. Mr. Commissioner
McDonald is rendering important service to the district by keeping them
in check, but even a man of his deserved popularity cannot long contend
against a host of difficulties, unless he is supported by the Government
with men and horses, and more extensive powers be allowed. —Sydney
Herald, April 27.
The country on the Murrumbidgee and Hume Rivers is now
(April 11) , suffering greatly for want of rain ; we have scarcely had a
thunder shower since the 1st of December ; those who are now lambing
their flocks must feel it severely. Great quantities of live stock keep
moving towards Port Adelaide, Portland Bay, and Port Philip; the vast
numbers that have gone through this district from time to time, have
drawn an immense number of men out of the country; one party passed
not long ago for Port Adelaide, with about 6, 000 sheep and a few horses,
and not less than eighteen Highlanders in the party who were brought
out to this colony a short time ago at the expense of the colonists;—
almost every man that was worth having in this district has gone to
South Australia; there is no part in the colony so much in want of la-
bourers as the Murrumbidgee district; some are putting two flocks of
sheep into one, some are trusting the blacks to shepherd several thousand
of their sheep; as I said before, the good men are all gone; those we
have how will engage with three or four settlers, get advances from them,
and then, if they get a chance, go off to Adelaide. We have got no police,
no protection; there is no sort of order kept in this part of the colony.
Catarrh has again broken out amongst the flocks of several gentlemen in
the Yass and Murrumbidgee districts. There is plenty of wheat for this
year's supply in this part of the country ; it may be at a high price, but
we cannot have any scarcity. George Rostrine, a shepherd, in the employ
of Mr. McLeay, on the Murrumbidgee, lost himself and flock in the bush,
near Billy Bong Forest, and got into a tract of country void of water; it
is considered that he had kept by his flock for two or three days: had he
continued to do so, his life would have been saved. The sheep were found
four days after being lost; but although every possible effort was made
to find the shepherd, eleven days had elapsed before he was got. He had
travelled a long way, and when quite exhausted, he had set fire to a num-
ber of trees around him, pulled off his boots, and laid himself down on
the ground; his body was scarcely cold when it was found, but life was
extinct; he had not received a mouthful of water during the whole
period. The unfortunate man was a native of Lancashire, and arrived
in the colony a passenger per the Mountaineer, in 1832. —Correspondent
of the Sydney Colonist.





########################

POLICE DISTRICTS. (1841, September 17). New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney, NSW : 1832 - 1900) , p. 1250. Retrieved June 9, 2025, from http://nla. gov. au/nla. news-article230395269

Colonial Secretary's Office,

Sydney, 15th September, 1841.

POLICE DISTRICTS.

IN reference to the Government Notice of 12th

August, 1840, relative to the boundaries of

the Police Districts of the Colony, and to the
Notices of 17th November, 1840, 2nd March, 9th
April, and 6th August, 1841, making certain
alterations in the same ; His Excellency the
Governor has been pleased to direct, that the
whole be now re-published for more convenient

reference.

His Excellency, however, desires it to be
notified, that the present division has been
made merely to simplify and facilitate the Police
operations of the Colony, and is not intended to
supersede, or in any way interfere with the
division of the Colony into Counties, as already
published by the Proclamations of the 22nd May,
and 27th November, 1835, or with the boundaries
of any Counties which may hereafter be proclaimed.

By His Excellency's Command,

E. DEAS THOMSON.

...




9. GOULBURN.

Embracing the southern portion of Georgiana,
and the whole of the County of Argyle; bounded
on the north by Guinecor Creek, the Burrah Lake,
and the Abercrombie River, to a Village Reserve
near Bingham, at the mouth of the Isabella River,
and from thence by a line bearing south-westerly
to a source of Kangaloola Creek at the Village
Reserve, thence by that creek to its confluence with
the Crookwell; on the west by the Crookwell
River to its source, and by the dividing range to

Lake George; on the south by the northern mar-
gin of Lake George to the the Village Reserve at
Kenna's, thence by a line bearing east to Onyougia,
thence by a line bearing south-easterly to Wolo-
wolar and the source of Boro Creek, and by this
creek and the Shoalhaven River to the confluence

of the Mongarlow River; on the east by the

Shoalhaven River to the confluence of Barber's

Creek, and by this creek and a line bearing
north-easterly to the source of the Uringalla, and
then by the Uringalla and Paddy's River, and
the Wollondilly to the confluence of Guinecor
Creek, as aforesaid.



12. QUEANBEYAN.

Embracing the greater portion of the County of
Murray; bounded on the north from Wolowolar
Mountain, by a line bearing west-north-west to
Alianoyonyiga, and from thence by a line bearing
south to Kenny's grant, thence by the eastern and
western margins of Lake George, and by the crest
of the Callaria Range, to the source of the Gun-
daroo Creek, and by this creek to its junction
with the Yass River, from thence by a line
bearing south-west to the range connected with
One Tree Hill, and by this range to One Tree
Hill, thence by a line bearing westerly to the
Murrumbidgee River; on the west by the Mur-
rumbidgee River to Nickeleagle; on the south
by a creek, and a line bearing east to Tinderry
Mountains, thence by the western source, and
again by the eastern source of the Queanbeyan
River, and thence by a line bearing south-easterly
to Tumouwong ; and on the east by the Gourock
Range to Wolowolar aforesaid.

13. YASS.

Embracing the southern portion of the County
of King, and the northern portion of the County of
Murray; bounded on the north by the Crookwell,
to its confluence with the Narrawa, thence by a
line bearing south-westerly to the Burrowa River
at the confluence with Padman Creek; on the
west by Burrowa River to its source, then crossing
the dividing range to the source of Dassingallen
Creek, and by that creek to its confluence with
the Yass River ; and by this river to its confluence
with the Murrumbidgee to about four miles north
of the Village Reserve; on the south from thence
by a line bearing easterly to One Tree Hill, thence
by the crest of the range connected with One
Tree Hill for a distance of about three miles,
thence by a line bearing north-easterly to the
junction of Gundaroo Creek with Yass River;
and by this creek to its source, at the foot of the
Cullarin Range; on the east by this range to the
source of the Crookwell River aforesaid.

...

17, BATHURST.

Embracing the County of Roxburgh the northern
portion of the County of Bathurst, the northern
portion of the County of Georgiana, and the
western portion of the County of Westmoreland ;
bounded on the north by the Cndgegong River to
the Village Reserve; on the west by a creek
bearing south-westerly to the western source of
Cunningham's Creek, thence by Cunningham's
Creek, the Turin River, and Macquarie River, to
Lewis' Ponds, thence by Lewis' Ponds and
Frederick's Valley to the northern boundary of
Simeon Lord's grant; and from thence by a line
bearing south-westerly to Conoballas; on the south
by a line from Conoballas, bearing easterly to the
north-east angle of J, Sterling's grant, and to the
dividing range dividing the waters of King's Plains
and Fitzgerald's Valley, and by the crest of this
range and the dividing range of the Abercrombie
and Campbell's Waters, tothe Werong Range, at the
source of the Fish River; on the west by tbe
Fish River, to its confluence with Solitary Creek,
and by that Creek to where it intersects tbe
Bathurst Road, and by that road to Honeysuckle
Flat, the point where the county boundary meets
the road; thence by the great dividing range to
tbe source of Cook's Creek, and by this creek to
its confluence with the Colo River, and by this
river to its source and the source of the Cudge
gong River aforesaid.

18. CARCOR.

Embracing the south-western portion of the
County of Bathurst, tbe northern portion of the
County of King, and the western portion of the
County of Georgiana; bounded on the north
commencing at the source of the Isabella River,
by the crest of the dividing range of the
Abercrombie and Campbell's Rivers, and the
crest of the dividing range of Fitzgerald's
Valley and King's Plains Waters to the
eastern boundary of Sterling's grant, thence
by a line bearing westerly to Conoballas; on the
west by a line bearing southerly to Panuara
Creek, and by this creek to its confluence
with the Belubula River, tbence by the Be-
lubula, Lachlan, and Burrowa Rivers, to the con-
fluence of Pudman Creek; on the south by a
line from thence bearing north-westerly to the
confluence of the Narrawa and Crookwell, and
by the Crookwell River to the confluence of Kan-
galoola Creek, thence by Kangaloola Creek and a
line bearing north-westerly to the Village Reserve
at the confluence of the Isabella River with the
Abercrombie; on the east by the Isabella River
to its source aforesaid.

19. WELLINGTON.

Embracing the midland and southern portions
of the County of Wellington; bounded on the
north from the confluence of Wildra Creek with
the Cudgegong River by a line bearing north

westerly to the range dividing the Cudgegong and
Erskine Waters ; on the west by the crest of this
range to the confluence of the Macquarie and
Bell Rivers, thence by the Bell and Molong
Rivers and Boorenor Creek, and a line bearing

Previously on Page 1249Scroll to previous pageScroll to next page
southerly to Conoballas; on the east by a line bear-
jag north-easterly to the northern boundary of
Simeon Lord's grant, thence by Frederick's Valley
and Lewis' Ponds to the Macquarie, thence by
the Macquarie and the Turoa Rivers, and Cun-
ningham's Creek to the range dividing the Pyru-
mon River from the Mero Creek, and by the crest
of this range to the confluence of the Mero Creek
with the Cudgegong, and by the Cudgegong
River to the confluence of Wildra Creek aforesaid.

20. MUDGEE.

Embracing the whole of the County of Phillip,
and the northern portion of the County of Wel-
lington; bounded on the north from the conflu-
ence of Widdin Creek by the Goulburn River,
and Wildra Creek to its confluence with the Cud-
gegong ; on the west by the Cudgegong River to
the confluence of Mero Creek, thence on the south
by the crest of the range, dividing the Macquarie
and Pyrumon from the Mero Waters to the western
source of Cunningham's Creek, thence by a
Creek bearing north-easterly to the village reserve,
on the Cudgegong River, and by this river to its
source at Coricudgy; on the east by a line bearing
north to Widdin Creek, and by Widdin Creek to
its confluence with the Goulburn aforesaid.

...



###########

COUNCIL PAPERS. (1841, November 6). The Sydney Herald (NSW : 1831 - 1842) , p. 4. Retrieved June 10, 2025, from http://nla. gov. au/nla. news-article12872102

COUNCIL PAPERS.
IMMIGRATION. —1841.
(Concluded. )
John Peter, Esq. , YASS,
21st July, 1841.
1. I HAVE.
2. I have sometimes had as many as 20
employed at one time, and generally have
about seven ; of these there are only six
on whom I can depend ; two of them have
been employed regularly as shepherds for
the last 12 months ; another for a shorter
period ; the fourth is a boy who has been
with me for upwards of 2 years ; the
remaining two are young gins, whom my
wife has taken under her care ; one of them
has been with me upwards of 2 years, the
other not quite so long ; none of the six
show any inclination to join the tribe in
their excursions, more particularly the
gins, who, notwithstanding the frequent
threats of the tribe, testify the utmost
reluctance to join them ; I have found
them useful principally in washing sheep,
stripping bark, reaping, and shepherding ;
I may likewise mention that there are
others who would stop with me, if I could
find any occupation for them other than
shepherding, which many dislike ; in every
case, in which I have employed the blacks
I have been well satisfied with their assi-
duity.
3. I have never been in the habit of
giving them wages, or any other remunera-
tion but their rations, and a little woollen
clothing during the cold weather.
4. From the experience I have had
amongst them, I am of opinion that they
might be made useful, and attach them-
selves to stations, only for the inroads
which other tribes are constantly making,
which keep them in a constant state of
alarm, and seem to me the principal cause
of their wandering habits ; until this is
put a stop to, and so long as they are
permitted to fight their own battles, and
kill those who are domesticated—which is
a frequent occurrence—they can never be
got in any numbers as shepherds.
5. By kind treatment on the part of the
settlers, who should take care that those
they employ are kept as much as possible
separate from the European servants, who
look upon them with jealousy, and treat
them harshly ; and by teaching them to
apply to the Commissioner of the district
for redress of any depredation committed
by other tribes ; and by severely punishing
those who take the law into their own
hands, the natives would no longer have
the same inducement to wander about.
6. I have known some of them to strip
forty sheets of bark in a day, reap three
acres of wheat per week, and assist in
fencing, &c, and in all cases in which I
have employed them, I have found them
very little inferior to the assigned servants ;
and by occasionally giving them a few
articles of clothing, they will exert them-
selves to the utmost.
7. As labourers they are rather slothful,
but when employed for any length of time,
this gradually wears off, as it is only the
natural result of their previous habits ;
from the point where the Port Phillip road
crosses the Murrumbidgee, for 50 miles
down and 20 back, the Aboriginal popu-
lation does not much exceed 100, of
whom not more than 45 are males above
the age of puberty.
George Shelley, Esq. , of Tumut,
21st July, 1841.
1. Yes.
2. I have had four native youths em-
ployed at different periods ; one remained
one year, assisting among cattle, and then
deserted ; another remained for a period
of three years and then left, returning
occasionally, as best suited his own incli-
nations ; the third remained about four
years, at different employments, then
joined his tribe ; he also returned when
asked to assist in collecting cattle, or in
any light employment, but he will not
remain more than six or eight weeks at
one time ; the fourth has been in my
employment about ten years, never leaving
me during that time, except for a night or
so, when his tribe happened to be in
the neighbourhood ; he is usually em-
ployed as shepherd or stockman's assis-
tant ; the services of those spoken of,
have not been of much value to me ; there
has been a great want of diligence and acti-
vity shewn ; their services could not be
depended on for one day ; if put to labo-
rious employment, they are constantly idle,
even when most required to act.
3. The principal remuneration they
receive, is clothes and food ; with the
exception of one or two, they know not the
value of money ; and unless supplied with
clothes when applied for, they become
dissatisfied, sulky, and lazy, and will refuse
to work ; the generality of them require
more remuneration than their services are
worth.
4. I am of opinion that it is impossible
to attach them to an establishment so as
to make certain of a continuance of their
services; they will not adhere to any
agreement if it interfere with their habits
of wandering when they wish ; judging
from my experience, now sixteen years, of
their manner, habits, and customs, I should
say that they are such as preclude the
possibility of making them useful ; lads
from six to ten years are the only ones
that possibly can be persuaded to stay, but
upon arriving at the age of manhood, even
they will join their tribe ; as stockmen and
shepherds only will they answer.
5. I have offered every inducment to
the men to give up their children to me,
but they have no control over them, and
it rests with the child itself ; and in very
few instances can they be persuaded to
leave their parents ; the only suggestion I
can offer is, to get the children from their
parents, and to teach them to work from
their infancy.
6. I have not known an instance of a
black fellow performing laborious work for
even one day ; one European would do as
much laborious work in one day as four black
fellows ; nothing would induce the married
men to work at any thing but cutting bark
or sheep washing, and at the latter work,
they cannot remain in the water more than
half the time a European can, if the day
is at all cold ; food and clothing is the
only inducement for the young men to
stay.
7. They are too lazy and idle, and when
asked to perform work which requires
manual exertion, they will immediately
leave your establishment ; the number in
this district, known as the Murrumbidgee
district, I conceive to be about 400.
Thomas B. Wilson, Esq. , J. P. , Braidwood,
July 21, 1841.
1. Ever since I became a settler in the
interior (upwards of five years ago) I have
been in the habit of employing the Abo-
riginal Natives ; more so, perhaps, than
any other landed proprietor in this neigh-
bourhood.
2. I have had occasionally upwards of
50 men, women, and children, on the
farm; from 12 to 20 at work;-none of
them ever continued in constant employ-
ment, it is in vain to expect that any of
them will do so ; the Aborigines have
chiefly been employed by me in clearing
land, and in this way they have rendered
me some benefit, but I was obliged to be
constantly with them, as so soon as I left
working so did they ; they have also been
of service during sheep washing, and
very rarely, during harvest ; they are occa-
sionally very useful as stockmen.
3. All the Aborigines employed by me
have always had rations issued to them in
the same manner and proportion as issued
to my hired and assigned servants ; the
chief usually came to the stores and wit-
nessed the issuing of rations, according to
the fixed scale ; they were also supplied
with slop clothing, tea, sugar, and tobacco ;
but I never gave them any money, being
aware that they would put it to an im-
proper use.
4. I have gained some knowledge of
the disposition and capacity of the Abo-
riginal Natives of New Holland, from an
uninterrupted friendly intercourse with
them, (viz. :-on the north, west, south,
and east coasts, ) for upwards of 20 years,
as is known to several honorable Members
of Council, and the conclusion I have
come to is, that the present race of the
Aborigines will never be generally useful,
and that it is impossible to attach even the
most civilized of them regularly to any
establishment, however well regulated, in
any capacity whatsoever ; they may be, as
they have been, occasionally useful as
stockmen and messengers-but they are
totally useless as farm servants or shep-
herds ; any attempt to employ them,
especially in the latter capacity, would only
end in vexatious disappointment.
5. On this subject a fine spun theory
might easily be formed, but as no good
practical result would follow, I decline
entering on the question, which I consider
a problem, not yet, and never likely to be,
satisfactorily solved.
6. I cannot accurately answer this
question; but I may state in general terms,
that the amount of daily labour of the
Aborigines, fall far short of that of the
European; I may here observe that in
answer to Q. 2, I have stated that none
of the natives have continued in constant
employment ; I shall state one exception,
an Aboriginal Native (son of the chief of
the district) remained with me upwards of
2 years ; he was latterly employed in the
kitchen and to wait at table, in which latter
capacity he acted when his Lordship the
Bishop of Australia did me the honor of a
visit ; I certainly thought that he was civi-
lized, but after having obtained possession
of a new suit of clothes, &c, he left the
place about midnight, and the next time
I saw Mudnilly, he was (perhaps more
becomingly) dressed as a savage chief ; he
evidently preferred a precarious existence
—perfectly uncontrolled—to every comfort
in a state of thraldom.
7. An invincible antipathy to any regu-
lar and continued labour, however mode-
rate, I consider to be one of the principal
features in the character of the Aborigines ;
and that in consequence they are not, and
never will be of any real use to the settler.
In this district the Aborigines are rapidly
diminishing ; the births, from sufficiently
obvious causes, bearing a very small pro-
portion to the deaths ; and I am of
opinion that in a very few years the
aboriginal race will entirely disappear.
The present native population of this dis-
trict does not, I am certain, exceed 50,
although I believe upwards of 200 blankets
are yet supplied ; in these times of reform
and economy this is deserving of atten-
tion ; although this subject could easily
be swelled to many pages I shall conclude
by observing, that from the days of Ben-
nelong to the present time, the manners
of the aborigines have not changed, nor
are they likely to change, and that the
committee, therefore, in devising means
for obtaining colonial labour, ought to
leave the aboriginal inhabitants of New
Holland altogether out of the question.
Hugh Murray, Esq. , Lake Colac.
21st July, 1841.
1. I have.
2. I have frequently employed five or
six of the youths on my establishment, at
light work, such as driving bullocks,
planting potatoes, and shepherding ; they
do their work well, but do not generally
remain constant at it ; in a few instances
they have shepherded for me for three or
four months, without a fault, and in these
instances, I have found that they did not
leave from their own inclination, but were
compelled to do so by their tribe.
3. I have always given them food,
clothes, or tobacco, for their labour ; they
expect to be so remunerated.
4. I consider that they have sufficient
capacity to render themselves useful to the
settler, in almost every branch of a pastoral
establishment ; but so great is the attach-
ment of each to his tribe, and of the tribe
to its locality and habits, that I do not
think it possible to attach them regularly
to it in their present state; their civilization
to a great extent must first be effected.
5. I am of opinion that youth only could
be worked upon to advantage, avoiding
coercive measures ; I cannot suggest any
more feasible means for their civilization,
than that of institutions, in which industry
may be made the ground-work of it, exten-
sively spread throughout the Colony, and
conducted hy practical men, under the in-
spection of the Commissioner of the dis-
trict. I do not think it out of place to
remark here, that I consider the establish-
ment of Protectors to the Aborigines, to
be unattended with the slightest beneficial
result either to the natives, or the Colony,
and therefore, a useless and extravagant
waste of money, which has caused great
dissatisfaction in every district I am ac-
quainted with.
6. They are invariably so unsteady at
laborious work, that I cannot judge of the
amount they might perform ; at light work,
such as I have described, I have often
known them perform as much as a Euro-
pean ; a promised reward of food or clothes
is the only means I have ever used to in-
duce them to exert themselves.
7. I consider them apt to learn, and
clever at work, trustworthy when property
is put into their charge, submissive, and
easily taught obedience and respect, but
on the whole, naturally inclined to indo-
lence. I estimate the number in my im-
mediate neighbourhood, Lake Colac, to be
about thirty-five ; in a circumference of 20
miles, from that point, I consider there are
about three hundred.
Alexander F. Mollisson, Esq. , Melbourne,
Port Phillip.
24th July, 1841.
1. Occasionally.
2. I have had four lads at different
times ; they were employed only in bring-
ing in horses from the run, and on errands:
they remained a few weeks and then re-
turned to their tribes. I have frequently
employed the natives in stripping bark, in
assisting to drive sheep, and as guides ;
they were very soon tired of even this light
and desultory employment.
3. Food and tobacco while employed,
and occasionally clothes.
4. I have known only one aboriginal
native permanently employed, he was a
shepherd, and did his duty steadily and
judiciously for more than a year. I be-
lieve them to be quite capable of acting as
shepherds, bullock drivers, or assistant
stockmen, but I do not think that the
adults will ever generally become domiciled
as servants in any employment.
5. I conceive that we must first learn
their language more perfectly, or teach
them ours, before we can hope to effect
any great change in their habits ; I would
further suggest, that the orphan male chil-
dren (whom the tribes readily give up) ,
should be interchangeably removed two
hundred miles from their tribes, and ap-
prenticed to settlers ; also, any other boys,
not orphans, whom their parents would
consent to part with.
7. The tribe inhabiting the country in
which my stations are placed, are called
the Jajowrongs ; I do not know their
numbers ;" I have not seen more than fif-
teen adult males, but believe them to be
much more numerous : I do not believe
that (even with the best management) , a
sufficient number of aboriginal natives
will ever be trained as shepherds or farm
labourers, to make any sensible impression
on the demand for labour.
Alexander Thomson, Esq. , a resident of
six years amongst the Aborigines of
Australia Felix, and formerly Colonial
Surgeon of Port Phillip.
1st August, 1841.
1. Often.
2. Two or three at a time as shepherds ;
they stop sometimes a week, and some-
times a month.
3. Clothes, blankets, and food.
4. The plan of attempting to attach the
aboriginal natives to the establishments of
settlers, as labourers, without some previous
preparatory moral instruction, is fraught
with so many and serious considerations, af-
fecting the collective interests of the na-
tives, as to render any experiment of this
kind entirely unadvisable. By this plan I
know not what provision could be made for
the aged and infirm. Very few settlers, it is
presumed, could be induced to incur the
burden of supporting the women and
children, whose usefulness must be very
limited ; nor could the settlers give that
personal attention to the peculiar habits
and wants of these people, which would
be necessary to secure their orderly be-
haviour, and promote their comfort. How-
ever well inclined towards the aborigines
might be the disposition of the settlers,
their necessary intercourse with the pri-
soners and other servants employed on
large establishments would subject them
to the most dangerous moral influence,
and augment to a fearful extent the
occasion of those miseries which have
already, in so many instances, termi-
nated in loathsome diseases, conflict,
and death. Under the present state
of things, no one but a personal observer
is capable of forming au opinion of the in-
crease and increasing miseries of these
people, arising from their intercourse with
the white population ; one of these cala-
mitous results which I will mention for
the sake of illustration, is the increase of
prostitution, and the aggravated misery by
which it is followed. The motive of
avarice, or the desire of European pro-
perty, added to the dictates of depraved
passions, are inducements to the commis-
sion of this crime ; it is become a kind of
traffic, carried on at the expense of degra-
dation, suffering, and destruction of life ;
it is followed, not only by the misery and
sometimes death of the unhappy victims
of this intercourse, but its bitter effects
are suffered by their offspring, while num-
bers of half-caste infants are murdered as
soon as they are born. To this source of
evil might be added many others, which
tend to lessen their numbers, debase their
morals, lead to violence and outrage, and
create a barrier to the spread of knowledge
and civilization. Were it determined by
any coercive measure to compel the blacks
to remain at stations contrary to their in-
clinations, their condition would be aggra-
vated by the annexation of slavery. But
such a measure is wholly inapplicable to
the condition of the blacks, inasmuch as
it furnishes no motive to the Aborigine
sufficiently powerful to induce him to
forget the habits and pursuits of savage
life. To promise him a grant of land, at
the end of three years settled servitude I
with one individual, would have no in-
fluence, for he considers the land to be his
own-indeed every family has its separate
portion ; to work in order to his being fed
and clothed, is a tax much too great ; and
as his inclination is a much more powerful
principle than his judgment, the motives
for wandering are strengthened by the
price required for its relinquishment ; this
course of remark, applies not only to this
particular mode of civilizing, but to every
other which offers motives of no higher
import.
5 & 6. To suggest means for the ame-
lioration of the wretched condition of the
Aborigines of this country, at once appro-
priate and efficient, it is indispensable
that the true cause of their calamities be
ascertained ; for if the remedy proposed
be applied only to circumstances which
are obviously the effects of a cause, the
insiduous operation of which is not duly
estimated, disappointment must necessa-
rily ensue. A careful consideration of
this perplexing subject will, it is pre-
sumed, lead but to one conclusion, viz. :
That the vagrant and indolent habits ex-
isting amongst these people, as well as
the distressing privations, civil and social,
which they endure, are traceable to no
other cause than their fallen and sinful
condition ; a condition which involves no
radical distinction between them and other
communities, save that which presents the
relative changes resulting from the eleva-
ting influence of moral instruction, and
consequent Christianization. It is sub-
mitted then, that the most advisable, nay,
the only certain means of bettering their
condition, is to make them acquainted
with our holy religion, by introducing
amongst them such ministers of the gos-
pel as are influenced by the constraining
love of God, who, while they engage in
the undertaking after the apostolic exam-
ple, " counting not their own lives dear
to them, " strive to convince them in life
and manner how they ought to labour,
and thereby support themselves. In in-
troducing amongst them even this plan,
regard must be had to their relative and
civil circumstances. It must be re-
membered that the numerous tribes
are in every respect distinct, that
the country occupied by each tribe has
amongst them, well defined limits, that
there are almost endless variations in the
dialects peculiar to the several tribes, that
they are very jealous of their hereditary
interests, are often involved in fierce con-
tentions, and are little disposed to confide
in those who profess equal concern for the
welfare of every tribe ; hence the establish-
ment of missions to separate tribes, is
likely to operate most successfully in en-
suring the entire confidence, of the people,
lessening the difficulty of attaining an
adequate acquaintance with their language,
manners, and customs, as well as ascertain-
ing and obviating the causes of those
frequent collisions which occur both
amongst themselves and the colonists.
The Right Honorable Lord John Russell,
in a late Despatch to His Excellency Sir
George Gipps, on the treatment of Abo-
rigines of New Holland, states, (when
speaking of the difficulty in making re-
serves of land for the natives, ) that " there
are two sources of mischief which mar the
most benevolent designs of this nature ;
the one arising from the inaptitude of the
natives to change their desultory habits,
and learn those of settled industry; the other
from the constant inroads of Europeans, to
rob, corrupt, and destroy them. " But
these two sources of mischief are so far
from being obstacles in making reserves,
that they may be urged as very powerful
reasons why such portions of land should
be appropriated for their use. For, not-
withstanding the erratic habits of the
natives, their strong inclination to indo-
lence, and natural dislike to acquire a
knowledge of, and to engage in, arts of
civilized life, vet, the transition from their
present circumstances, to that in which
they would be placed on reserves, would
be scarcely felt, especially so, when con-
trasted with the change they must un-
dergo, if they are attached in small parties
to settlers, when they would be cut off
from their endearing attachments, and
deprived to a very considerable extent of
social intercourse. In regard to the in-
roads of Europeans, I see no means of
preventing these, unless such reserves
are made, or the natives themselves ba-
nished from the land of their birth. His
Lordship in the despatch just referred to,
states also, " it is but too clear that the
only effectual remedy for this lamentable
evil is an organised force, adequate to
keep both parties in check, and confine
each to the limits which the Government
shall assign. But this remedy is so expen-
sive, and requires so much vigilance, so
much temper in every soldier and constable,
and the territory to be traversed is so large,
that it is after all imperfect. " To remove
these difficulties, and to meet the emer-
gency of every case, I would recommend
the following simple plan, and I venture
to predict, that if fifteen per cent, of the
land fund were appropriated for the use of
the natives, (being guided in my calcula-
tions by the last year's revenue, ) that the
temporal and spiritual wants of every
native within the. territorial limits of
Australian Felix, would be amply supplied,
so far as human agency is necessary.
1st. That a reserve of land be made for
each important tribe, a part of which ought
to be hunting ground.
2nd. That a Missionary be appointed
to each station, to take the spiritual charge
of the natives, and to have the general
management.
3rd. That a respectable person be ap-
pointed to take charge of the temporal
department, who should also instruct the
natives in agricultural and other opera-
tions.
4th. That the Establishments be con-
nected with, and under the control of, one
of the Missionary Societies in England.
This would secure piety in the principal
agents ; and the whole would be conducted
on the most economical principles.
5th. That abstracts of the accounts,
and reports of the progress of the natives,
&c, be made to Government twice a year.
In pursuing the work in this manner, it
might be advisable to restrain the tribes
to the limits of their own territory, and
prohibit their resorting to the stations of
settlers without permission ; this I appre-
hend might at first be very easily accom-
plished by the extention of a vigilant and
active police, who should occasionally visit
the stations until the natives were acquainted
with the regulations. In every instance
of aggression they should be brought to
justice, and slightly punished, whether
these aggressions be perpetrated on
the persons and properties of the
Colonists, or on their own people, even
though they be in the execution of
their own barbarous and savage customs.
I perfectly agree with the opinion ex-
pressed in Captain Grey's report on this
subject, for the reasons there assigned,
and that they ought also, to be amenable
to British laws, and be allowed to give
evidence in court, both when natives are
only concerned, and when aggressions are
made upon them by Europeans. That
civilization would proceed in a ratio pro-
portionate to the moral influence of Chris-
tian instruction, is demonstrable by the
universal concurrence of all historical tes-
timony, whether reference be made to the
invariable triumphs of the Gospel, or the
universal failure of all merely civilizing
schemes. Under discreet management,
therefore, and by the blessing of Almighty
God, it might be hoped, in process of time,
that such would be the proficiency of the
natives in industrious pursuits, that proper
persons in want of labourers might be al-
lowed to hire them on just and equitable
terms.
7. Three tribes, between Geelong and
the Lakes, about 400.
The Reverend Joseph Docker, Melbourne,
3rd August, 1841.
SIR, —In reply to your letter of the
23rd ultimo, in which you request me to
communicate to you, for the information
of the Committee of the Legislative Coun-
cil, appointed to consider the subject of
Immigration generally, whether the Abo-
riginal Natives formerly employed by me
are still in my service, I have the honour
to state, that, in the month of March last,
having had occasion to visit Melbourne, I
received a letter when there, acquainting
me that the blacks where committing out-
rages, and that several heads of the sheep
under their charge had been discovered
near some water-holes; on my return to
the Ovens they had all fled, from a con-
sciousness, I suppose, of their misbehaviour
and an apprehension of my displeasure,
and I have not seen a black since. This
circumstance, however discouraging it may
be to the expectation of their being ren-
dered permanently useful, does not alter
the opinion I had formed of a great many
of them ; were a few of the worst charac-
ters weeded out, and summarily punished
on the spot when detected in the act of
committing offences, by solitary confine-
ment or otherwise, and could the great
body of the different tribes be kept at
a distance, and not permitted to mix
with the well behaved, I still think a
certain number of them might be safely
and usefully employed as shepherds ; but
to keep all right, it would be requisite that
a judicious overseer should constantly live
among, and be himself one of them. At
the time I expressed my opinion to His
Excellency the Governor, I felt justified in
describing them as good shepherds and
honest men, for, with their assistance,
under the guidance of one white man, I
had from a flock of 1200 ewes, an increase
of not less than 96 per cent; and what
induced me to believe them to be honest
was, that when I left my tent in the midst
of them at the distance of three miles from
my head station, I never found that any
thing had been stolen ; I also felt at all
times secure from danger; they were
always glad to see me ; I never carried
fire arms. There are other traits in
their character, which exhibit them in
a very favourable light, which prove
that when well treated, they have a
regard for the safety of their master's
property. I recollect on one occasion,
when alarmed by a report that on the fol-
lowing day they were to have a hostile
visit from some of their white neighbours,
they brought each man his flock (6000
and upwards) within sight of my hut,
and then went away, saying, " we will
return in two or three days, when cooler
(white man's wrath) is all gone. " This
they did, and I again employed them, al-
though I suffered much from the mixtures
of the different flocks.
You wish to know how I remunerated
them ; I gave them as much as they could
eat ; to each shepherd a ration of beef or
mutton, and that of the best quality, for
there are epicures even among the blacks,
viz. :—4lbs, per diem or 281bs per week,
also 81bs, of the best Sydney flour, ¼lb.
tea, l½lb. sugar, and three or four figs of
the best tobacco, —"baal (not) colonial"
—to several I gave blankets, but the num-
ber I do not recollect. Having replied to
the queries contained in your letter, which
I received this evening, I must defer
answering the circular to a future day, al-
though from my imperfect knowledge of
the aboriginal character and brief expe-
rience of a bush life, I fear I shall not be
able to furnish much information that will
be found to be practically useful,
I have the honour to be, Sir, your most
obedient servant,
JOSEPH DOCKER.
Win. Macpherson, Esq. ,
Clerk of Councils, &c, &c, &c.
F. Mackenzie, Esq. , King-parrot Creek,
Goulburn River, Melbourne.
4th August, 1841.
1. I am occasionally in the habit of
employing the native blacks.
2. I seldom employ more than from
five to ten, male and female ; they seldom
can be induced to remain more than from
two to six days at a time, and work irre-
gularly and only for a few hours a day ;
the men strip bark for roofing, &c, lop
the boughs of trees injurious from their
shade, bring in firewood, grind wheat,
weed cultivated ground, dig potatoes, and
look for stray horses or cattle ; the women
do the same work with the exception of
stripping bark and lopping trees. They
work quickly, but not steadily, and never
can be induced to remain long in one
place.
3. I have been accustomed to pay them
for their services in wheat, potatoes,
garden stuff, sugar, and other food, in
proportion to the work they do.
4. I do not know, how the adults can
be induced to relinquish their wandering
habits, which must be the first step to-
wards rendering them useful ; but if
seminaries were established for the purpose
of civilizing and educating the children, I
think most of their parents would be in-
duced to leave them to the care of Euro-
peans, on being convinced that they would
be fed and not ill used ; coercive measures
would probably be necessary at first,
in order to induce the children to re-
main. Those seminaries ought to have
a certain quantity of land attached
to them, for cultivation and depasturing
some sheep and a few quiet cattle ; a mas-
ter to instruct the boys, and a matron for
the females and younger children, with
assistants according to the number of
blacks kept at the establishment, would
also be necessary ; they might be taught
to read and write, and accustomed by
degrees to labour, and look after sheep
and cattle.
5. If kept in these seminaries for four
to six years, and accustomed to the use of
European food and clothing, I think they
might eventually become useful members
of society.
6. Their services are so desultory, that
it is impossible to state the amount of their
labour, or give an estimate of the propor-
tion it bears to that of Europeans. The
rewards which will induce them most
readily to work, are warm articles of
clothing, especially blankets, and food, as
flour, rice, sugar, fresh meat of any kind,
particularly mutton; they are also very
partial to the small axes, usually called
tomahawks, as well as to clasp knives,
pipes, and tobacco.
7. They work quickly but not steadily ;
there are seldom more than twenty at my
station at once, and generally not more
than half that number ; and I think not
more than 100 to 150 who visit me at
various times ; their country is the upper
part of Goulburn River and its tributaries;
they however travel down to Melbourne,
a distance of sixty miles, being on friendly
terms with the Yarra tribe.
H. Oakes, Esq. , Commissioner of Crown
Lands.
4th August, 1841.
1. Occasionally, as guides in travelling.
2. From ten to twenty; while they re-
mained with me I have been satisfied with
their conduct, but I have known them
commit robbery and murder immediately
afterwards.
3. They have always looked for pay-
ment at the end of my journey, which I
have invariably given them in food, tobac-
co, and clothes—giving to each man a
suit and a blanket.
4. When they have fallen into the hands
of Europeans at an early age, they have
frequently become good stock-keepers and
shepherds, as well as tolerable house
servants ; they have been usually well fed
and clothed by their master ; it has not
been customary to give them wages,
though I have known them highly gra-
tified by the receipt of money.
5. If such natives as I have above re-
ferred to, could be prevailed upon to go
amongst the wild tribes, which I think
they might be, by means of rewards, I am
of opinion, that numbers of all ages would
come in, which might lead to the civiliz-
ation of some few of them; I very much
desire an opportunity of making this
experiment.
6. I have had no opportunity of judging,
but if anything could induce them to work,
tomahawks, small axes, and clothes would;
by means of tomahawks, and axes, they
would be enabled to procure a living with-
out resorting to robbery.
7. I cannot yet form any correct opinion
of their numbers ; those I have seen of the
wild tribes, are lively, intelligent, and
contented, so long as they are well fed,
and encouraged in idleness, but the momentt
they are required to work, however easy of
performance the task may be, they take
their departure.



#################


NEWS FROM THE INTERIOR. (1842, June 13). The Sydney Herald (NSW : 1831 - 1842) , p. 2. Retrieved June 9, 2025, from http://nla. gov. au/nla. news-article28652823

News From The Interior.
{From our various Correspondents. ) I
MURRUMBIDGEE.
The generality of your readers, in this part
of the world, upon the receipt of your journal,
cast their eyes a once, to the paragraphs
headed, "News from the Interior ; " every
one is glad to see how his friends in the
neighbouring districts are getting on - whe-
ther they have good crops, a prosperous
lambing, and fine weather ; or, on the other
hand, if they have been robbed by bush-
rangers, speared by blacks, or drowned
by floods. I therefore trust a few lines from
this part of the country will not be unaccept-
able.
Since February, we have had a series of
very fine rains, scarcely a fortnight elapsing
without a wet day or two, in consequence of
which the feed is very luxuriant, and all
kinds of stock in most excellent condition.
A few weeks since a flock of scabby sheep,
travelling through this neighbourhood, was
so hunted by the various flock-masters, that
after being penned up on a cattle-run for
more than a week, the overseer in charge of
them was obliged to cut their throats and
burn them. I hope this will be a warning to
any parties who may be rash enough to at-
tempt to travel with diseased sheep in any
other month than the one appointed by the Act.
Our district has been pretty free from
bushrangers lately, except on the Fame
River, where there are two ruffians con-
stantly at work pillaging the stations
in that neighbourhood. Why don't they
take them? every one asks. If they mean
the Tumut corps, under the command of Mr.
Bingham, the question is easily answered;
because they are of no more use than a fiddle
without strings. I would have said a musket
without a lock, but the simile smacks too much
of the military to be applied to such a set of
undrilled crawlers. No one, however, can
find much fault with Mr. Bingham in his civil
capacity ; he is most unremitting in his atten-
tion to his duties as Commissioner of Crown
lands; nevertheless, he wants a little more
decision in his character; he is too fond of
trying to please all parties, (a thing he never
can accomplish) , and though that is a fault
which " leans to virtue's side, " I hope if this
meets his eye he will take the hint, and try to
amend it. Mr. B. is of but little use as a magis-
trate, having no one to act with him. This is
most strange, as he is surrounded by gentle-
men pf the highest respectability, who might
at once he put on the commission, if the proper
steps were taken. The want of magistrates is
severely felt in this very populous district.




################


ORIGINAL POETRY. (1844, April 23). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) , p. 4. Retrieved June 9, 2025, from http://nla. gov. au/nla. news-article12409847


ORIGINAL POETRY.
[The following song has been written out of sheer
compassion for the narrowed intellects of the blacks:
the "EAGLE CHIEF, " "ABORIGINAL MOTHER, " &c. ,
being considered of too flighty and exalted a nature to
be comprehended by the dark and benighted under-
standings of our brethren of the woods: Damnant quod
non intelligunt. ]
SONG OF THE ABORIGINES.
AIR--"TAMBOURGI. "
I.
BAIL-gammon! Bail-gammon!* The cooey +
from far,
Dark frowns on the Settler with promise of war;
Now the tribes of the mountains with shouts
take their way,
MURRUMBIDGEE, WOLLOMBI, and dark BROKEN
BAY.
II.
Oh! who is more ugly than brave Broken-bay,
With his greasy old blanket, and jacket so gay,
To the gins ° in his goonyer § he leaves all he's
got,
His boomering, waddy, || and smoky tin pot!
III.
Shall thy sons, Murrumbidgee, who never
forgive
The fault of a friend, bid an enemy live?
With gummy's ¶ unerring ne'er let thy foes
swim--
What mark is more fair than the breasts of
black-bream?
IV.
Though the Squatter** sends slugs with a
ne'er failing aim,
And hopes by his powder thy courage to tame;
On the brickfielder's ++ blast dark vengeance
shall ride
And sweep the rude plain with gaunt death by
its side.
V.
Then the White-boys °° shall whistle the note
of the lagg'd--
And teach the pale Franks what it is to be
scragg'd:
They shall leave on their wild track the blood
of their foe,
For the dark pall of night shall encourage the
blow.
VI.
I ask not the pleasures that labour can buy,
My spear strikes so deep--one blow--and you
die;
From the neighbouring tribe it shall woo me a
gin,
And her soft smiles shall lull--her caresses
shall win.
VII.
I love the black face of the gin in her pride,
I love her endearments and snubb'd nose
beside:
She shall bring from her goonyer some musical
lad,
To yell me a tale on the fall of her dad.
VIII.
Remember the moment when brave Jacky §§
died,
To the scragging-post yard arm the poor fool
was tied;
But the cry of revenge shall yet peal through
the air.
And the burst of our triumph cause phrenzied
despair.
IX.
I talk not of mercy, our ways are our own,
Old Tamara's King--and the wild bush his
throne.
We bow to his mandate and none shall dare
say--
We allow'd the pale English to scrag us away!
X.
For Tamara's son to the wilds has now sped--
Let the white man beware of his dark bushy
head!--
In wrath he returns with his brave tribe again,
And the blood of the cattle shall redden the
plain.
XI.
Bail-gammon! Throw high now old Tamara's
spear!
Bail-gammon! That cooey proclaims they are
near;
One yell of dark hate to the white man who
scraggs;
One shout for their cattle and--sweet sugar bags!
S. P. H.
* Bail-gammon. Literally--no falsehood. This is a
barbarism; and, for a barbarous expression, is certainly
full of meaning. When employed as an interrogative it
implies a good humoured suspicion; thus it might be
rendered in classical language--"you are not telling me a
crammer, are you?" The way in which it is employed
above, is, more properly speaking, an asseveration;--
and implies that what is to follow is--"a fact--and no
mistake!"
+ A shout. Produced by a tremendous exertion of the
lungs.
° Gins. Women.
§ Goonyer. Hut.
|| Boomering, --waddy. Implements of war.
¶ Gummy. Spear.
** Squatters. Friends of Sir George Gipps. (?)
++ Brickfielder. Southerly wind.
°° White- boys. Bushrangers.
§§ Jacky-Jacky, was executed for murder.

################

SYDNEY NEWS. (1844, November 30). The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser (NSW : 1843 - 1893) , p. 4. Retrieved June 9, 2025, from http://nla. gov. au/nla. news-article670567

The Blacks on the Tumut, Murrumbidgee,
&c. -Mr. Bingham, Commissioner of Crown
Lands on the Tumut River, has addressed a
letter to the government stating the great
services rendered by the aborigines on that
river and the Murrumbidgee lately when those
rivers were in flood, by which the lives of many
individuals were saved. Mr. Bingham urges
the propriety of making the aborigines some
reward as an acknowledgment for their services
and exertions.




##############################

Country News. (1850, February 9). The Goulburn Herald and County of Argyle Advertiser (NSW : 1848 - 1859) , p. 5. Retrieved June 9, 2025, from http://nla. gov. au/nla. news-article101729871

Country News.
(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT. )
YASS.
NON PAYMENT OF WAGES. —Mr. Christoplier
O'Rourke appeared on slatim ons before Dr. Blake
antd Messrs Williamus and Watson, the sitting magis
trates at the Police Office on Thursday (31st ult )
to answer the information and complaint of George
O'Brien, his free hired servant, for non payment of
wages. It appeared that complainant had been hired
by 'defentdatt ii the capacity of bullock driver, on
the 10th September last, for a peiiod of three
months, at the rate of £20 per annum ; and that a
baliace of £2 15s. was due to him ; but, in conse
quence of defendant finding one of the bullocks
left in complainant's charge hipped, and a yoke
nearly cut through with an axe on his return from
Sydney, lie had deducted £2 2s. Od. from the balance
of wages due to him. The defendant also stated,
in illustration of the character he gave compltiiati
for general negligence, that he had lost a bundle of
clothes vtlued at 10s. which had been entrusted to
him. Complainant admitted having had occasion
to cut the yoke in order to extricate the bullock
from it which had falleu down, but denied all know
ledge of the other faults alleged to have been com
mitted by him. (Here some altercation ensued
between the parties, which was feimented by one of
the " Worthy " Juslices directing the complainant
to itterrogate the defendant, who, by the bye, was
also on oath, upon certain points essential to his
owni jtstificatiou--a proceeding unprecedented, we
believe, in the annals even of Colonial jnrispru
dence, and contrary to all lawful practice, or usage
in any Courts of judicature of British constiiuitiio. )
Ultimately tl. e Bench decided that, as the. defendant
was not ina position to prove the damage to have
been done intentionilly, they were not justified in
allowing the set off to be deducted; but they would
allow teu shillings to defendant for the loss of the
bundle.
A LUSHINGTON. —The next individual who was
introdteucd to thie notice of their Worships was a
stalworth Irishman, who luxuriates in a foreign
patronymic, with which we should have been most
happy to embellish our'report had he not wrung
fromu us the promise, (in a c mpassionate mood, )
to suppress it-who, on being asked the usual
question " guilty or not guilty, "-stroked down his
sleek hiea withr penitential humility, and sighed a
fauiit admission of the truth of the several allega
tions contained in the information exhibited agaiinst
him - one of which was that lie was found
drunk in Cormar street on the previous evening, in
tile act of haranguing a disorderly mob. Being
his second offence the mob. orator was fined ten
shillings, and in default of payment, was accommo
dated with a seat near the Court-house-in the
stocks for four hours.
LANDLORD AND TENANT. —A case under the
Landllord and Tenant's Act, (11 Vic: No. 2. ) in
which Mr. James Grovenor, of Yass, was concerned
as agent for Mr. Jobbins, of Gundaroo, and Mr. J.
Thompson, of Kenilworth, on behalf of Mr. J. T.
Hughes, of Sydney, was initiated before Drs. Blake
and Campbell, at the Police Office on Tuesday, and
the further hearing postponed by mutual consent
until Thursday the 7th of March.
SMALL DEBTS' COURT. —The February sittings
of this Court has been postponed to the 5th proximo,
in consequence of the Goulburn Assizes falling
upon tLe first Monday in the month.
CATARRH. —We e are happy to record this gratify
ing fact, that this dreadful scourge, which decemi
nated the flocks in this district last year, has
scarcely made its appearance amongst them this
season.
COMFIRMATION. —The Bishop of Sydney has
appointed Wednesday the 13th proxino, to hold a
Confirmation in Yass, on his return from Albury.
ABORIGINAL MOUNTED POLICE. —Frederick
Walker, Esq. , Commandant of this anomolous
branch of the military service, passed through Yass
on Sunday last, escorted by two black troopers, on
his way to Collandoon, on the Murrumbidgee, where
he is proceeding for the purpose of enlisting thirty
sable recruits and establishing a garrison.
ACCIDENT. —On Saturday last a shlepherd in the
employ of Captain M'Cullum, of Good Hope, Mur
rumbidgee, who had his leg broken a day or two
previously, by a fall from a horse, was admitted
into the hospital.
NARROW ESCAPE. —Captain Plunkett, late Crown
Land Commissioner at thie Murrumbidgee, lost hitm
self in the bush it endeavouring to make his way
over to Mr. Taaffe's station, oil Thursday sen'night,
during which lie remained out in a drenchling rain,
without fire, sustenance of any kind or shelter, until
three o'clock on Friday morning, when his horse
by that miracnlous instinct that distinguishes bush
cattle, found its way to the Jugyong [Jugiong] Inn, where
proper restoratives were promptly administered to
the venerable gentleman, who, after a few hours
repose was enabled to resume his journey.
THe WEATHER. —The rain which fell in Goul
burn on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday last
appears to have been pretty general, as it extended
to Yass, and continued in one "even down pour"
from Wednesday tight until Friday morning, with.
out intermission.
MORE ACCIDENTS FROM INCAUTIOUS RIDING. —
On Thursday last, during tie heavy rain some over
heated bushime amused tire townsfolk by cooling
their cattle and themselves under the refreshing
showers in equestrian exercises up and down
Comar-street, but, owing to the slippery nature of
the soil, of which thie riad is formed, two of the
worthies itn question were capsized. One escaped
without injury, but the other had his frontispiece
cousiderably tamnaged in the full.
(H LOVE IS THE SOUL or A NATE IRISRMAxN.
-And so thought Misther Mickey Brian of the
Fish River, on Thursday lrst, alter having visited
the various stores and purchased a stock of articles
for country use, when he tied them up carefully in
two blue cotton bundle handkerchiefs, flung ithem
gaily across his shoulders, gracefully poised upotn
the end of a green sapling, and wended his way to
the domicile of Judy Rooney, tire ahelah that won
his heart intirely. T3it, snugly stowed in the folds
of the" soft goods" composing either bundle was
a bottle of the "rale stuff, " just to balance his load
as Mickey said. Mickey and lady had a ronring
night of it-but Mickey was mninus his tndle of
soft goods in thie mnornillg, and what is stranger still
Judy never could enlighlten him on thle subject of
the sudden and mysterious disappearance.





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GUNDAGAI. (1852, January 14). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) , p. 2. Retrieved June 9, 2025, from http://nla. gov. au/nla. news-article12933555

I GUNDAGAI.
(From the Goulburn Herald's Correspondent ,
Much hay has been saved, but by far
greatest portion has been left in the fields for
the want of hands to get it in. We have beau
tiful weather now for the wheat harvest, a
great portion of the crops are reaped and îv
ried, and all may boesaid to be busy with the
harvest-the blacks have been of much service
to many, in reaping, &c. The crop is much
larger than any previous season that all
remember, and the yield promises to be abund-
ant, and excellent as to quality.
We may say two-thirds of our little
community is off to the diggings. ^pa
gold have been found in various places about
by the town, but men have not patience to dig
to any depth. Any one who advises a more
diligent search they suppose is actuated by the
desire to keep them in the district from
selfish motive. ". M