A NOTORIOUS ABORIGINAL CRIMINAL.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 85, 12 April 1877, Page 4

A NOTORIOUS ABORIGINAL CRIMINAL.

The Brisbane Courier gives the. following account of an aboriginal ■criminal. It will be remembered that 'J'Peter, the aboriginal, charged witq the murder of Mr Wilkinson, at Wanga- . walleo Creek, Upper Coomera, died in Brisbane gaol on the 52nd ult. Aftec the commission of his crime, he betook :. himself to a mountainous and almost inaccessible region at the < head of Nerang, the head-quarters of his tribe; A gentleman who recently. visited the locality, gives us some particulars in connection with this notorious crimii nal. It seems that sinoe his departure from Nerang, no news has been rer ceived by his; kinsfolk of Peter's fate^ it was natural therefore that, the be*reaved darkies should come flocking around Our informant, eagerly asking for news cbncerpipg bim,. y?\}6 sayd, " When told of his death in prison, the intelligence was received with anything but di__ai.i_f_ctio_i. ? Xiierie. ; : , W^a np, denying the fact that the assurance of ' Peter's veritable and eternal absence from.thj? hunting grounds of his sable 'OTeflhreii "waa i to them a cause of rijo|p|bgj for he tad been a terror alike td friend 'and foe, and tbe possibility elfhis escaping the clutches of the whitafellow aud returning, haunted therii a nightmare. Peter is -credi!e|_ . with the murder of three gins — done to "death, one* after another, as he wearied of them. The way in which > .- lie got : rid of his father-in-law reads -> like a , chapter from a yarn by Fenimore ■■Cooper^ the romancist of that unsavory '' humbug, the Red Indian. The old . man was blind and was a burden, so Peter invited.. him one fine day (o take t...: ; a i. walk... The walk happened to conduct thera to a preoipice, but the perceptions of the blind are naturally, acute. The blind man declined td walk over the e<|ge, and was pushed oyer biy : his affectionate relative. So great was 'the terror that the powerful Peter in- : ,, Spired, that when his capture was resolved on, nearly, the whole tribe assembled to do the deed. The course ' of action adopted was to rush: him in his Ysleep~to attack him in broad daylight was too hazardous. On a given """signal a dosen blackfellows, tomahawk ( in ha^nd rushed in on tbe prostrate- and unarmed map. The struggle, for a f^W moments was desperate, but ii; was soon oyer. Peter lost one of his feet andj a thumb, and received other severe - ; wounds. He was soon a prisoner in the hands of the troopers j and: thus ended the career of one of tlie' most determined scoundrels tbat utter savagery, tainted by the. worst vices |of _. oiviiizatipn, could produce. But he was not all bad— who is ? With all his cruelty and lust Peter had one soft place in his heart. He loved his old father, and when he was flying from justice, aided by a friend, he actually 'carried the old man something like twenty miles rather than part with -! him." !