Description
Following the wreck of the 'Maria' and the killing of eight Djiru people by Lt Sabben RN and a group of sailors at Mission Beach, Lieutenant Gowlland set sail on the steamer 'Governor Blackall' to search for survivors 'having on board thirteen relatives or friends of the castaway crew ��� [these gentlemen proffered their services on this occasion
as volunteers] ��� as well as a crew of Water Police, with a supply of arms and ammunition' (The Queenslander, 6 Apr, 1872, p 9). At Cardwell he was joined by 'Sub-lieutenant Jones, from the Basilisk... and a detachment of native police under the command of Mr. Johnstone' (The Queenslander, 6 Apr, 1872, p 9). This group set out after the voyage of the Peri on 17 March, 1872 and so was the third expedition to rescue survivors and kill Djiru people at Mission Beach.
According to Gowlland 'Each boat's crew detached an armed landing
party, who walked along the beaches, and over
the rocks, and whenever feasible, made excursions in various directions through the dense
scrub and jungle which fringed the shore of the
mainland.
A strong party of volunteers, reinforced by
the native trackers, forced their way inland
along the banks of the river which falls into the
sea at the spot marked Shoalhaven on the plan,
through an all but impassable country, and in
their passage intersected the footmarks ot blacks
in numerous directions.
Every native camp between Cardwell and
Point Cooper [north of Johnstone River], a distance of about fifty miles,
was visited and minutely searched for any traces
of white men that might permit us to hope that
some of our missing countrymen might even still
be alive, though languishing in captivity.
A second party with two boats, and accompanied by Mr. Johnstone and the native police
were sent to examine the banks of a large river,
still further to the northward [Mulgrave River], marked on the
plan as Shoal Rivulet. They were absent about
two days, but with the exception of a felt hat
found in a native encampment four miles north
of the river, no traces of the existence of living
white men in this neighborhood were discovered' (The Queenslander, 6 Apr, 1872, p 9).
Gowlland's report published in the Queenslander does not include details of any people killed. Dr Tate, a surgeon who was on board both the Peri and the Governor Blackall expeditions wrote that 'Lieutenant Gowlland, of the Governor Blackall, for reasons unknown to me, was so inconsiderate as not to send me, the only surgeon on board his vessel ashore, for the purpose of examining the different bodies found, though I had repeatedly requested him to do so' (The Queenslander, 13 Apr 1872, p 8).
According to Timothy Bottom's footnotes, a later report provides details of the people killed on this expedition. This report is cited as 'Sub-Inspector Johnstone to Captain Gowlland, Ship "Governor Blackall," 22 March 1872, Annexure No.3, p.5 of J T Gowlland RN, "New Guinea Expedition per Brig 'Maria.' (Correspondence Respecting Rescue and Arrival of Survivors of.)", NSW Legislative Assembly Votes & Proceedings (NSWV&P), 1872.' According to this report, 'On 21 March 1872, R A "Johnstone and his trackers having given a very good account of the sixteen he came across" (p.21) and the next day "Mr Johnstone's trackers [ie troopers] shot 27 of the Blacks in the Camp" (p.22)' (Bottoms, 2013, p 234). Based on this report Timothy Bottoms writes, 'A week later Johnstone confirmed to Lieutenant Gowlland the killings that had already occurred: "I have also to state that I have severely punished the guilty parties having found the property of the missing men in their possession." Johnstone and his troopers shot a total of 43 Djiru' (Bottoms, 2013, p 135).
