THE BLACK POLICE.

NZ Truth, Issue 84, 26 January 1907, Page 7

THE BLACK POLICE.

DESTRUCTIVE DEVILS' DOINGS. A Sustained, Sanguinary Struggle, A Desperate Fight for Life. Tlires Colored Criminals from Cardwell. 1 no. n.

" The author of the latep book on the Black Police of Queensland does not believe m permitting the reputation, of the Queensland aborigines to pass without comment. jAJlthoujh he believes m clothing with Joblivicn the atrocities of the Black police, he is not at all reticent about the murders committed by sojjne o£ the aborigines who do not belong to the Native Mounted Police. 1$ must be " admitted, too, that some of the stories toe has to tell as to> the savagery of the blacks do not make them look anything but savages, hut Kennedy does not prove W his narrative of horrors, that there was a sufficient justification, or, any justification for the crimes of the Black Police, atout which primes he is most singularly Teticentvr What : he has to ia^ of s&me of the >cfimes of the aborigines is, however, 'deserving of reproduction, if only as a matter •■■ of justice to the Black Police and their eniplovers'. Certainly -these OFFENCES WERE HEINOUS, as may be seen from the ; following narrative given by Kennedy :— Strolling one day into the hotel to hear the \ews, I made the acquaintance of \a grey-haired, Imilitarylooking manj* who proved to be an officer of the ; . N.M.P. Introductions were not wanted m Queensland m those days ; you simply gave your name. Upon my tellijng him that I was looking for "a job, he informed me that he was on the point of starting into the new country with his "boys," for the purpose of escorting a surveyor and his men, and that if I liked to come along and give a hand I could. The escort was to consist of some seven or eight single "boys." Following up on a fow questions I put to him as to the simple outfit I should require, he -frent on to tell me that we should without dtaibt get . AMONGST COAST BLACKS, who constituted the finest race of the aborigines, partly owing to the profusion of fish which formed their chief diet, hut that though they were fine-grown, upstanding men, they were the same as those m other parts of the colony— treacherous, jealous, and cunning. "Here is a late proof of their diabolical ways," he continued, as he drew a copy of the "Brisbane Courier" from his pocket. "Read that." I. kept the paper and this is what I read. ,'",•• "A STRUGGLE FOR LIFE. "A schooner was about to proceed from Cardwell, on the mainland, to an island some 200 miles east to > procure guano. Before she left, ; three blacks came <" off ; and pleaded I that they might help the crew of I three white men. All went well for a time and the vessel at length brought up at the island, when two white men, accompanied by two of the blacks, went ashore and camped »- these two sailors were eventually found, the attitude of their bodies Indicating -.that they had been MURDERED IN THEIR SLEEP. "No one oh the schooner suspected aaything, for the white men slept ; probably the one black on board was waiting for his comrades. Sotfcly they stole about their murderous ..work. Two white men were asleep A on the dock, andi both /were struck so that they made no sound. OneShaw — says that he knew nothing, till he came to his senses two hours afterwards, waking m a sort of dream, finding himself m one mass of clotted blood, and chopped all over the head and arm. What saved him was that he had wrapped a mg and thick flour bag over his shoulders as he lay down, and the bag wasDENTED WITH THE BLOWS ol the bluitt ax<es. Gradually the situation dawned upon Mm. Thanks to the darkness of the night ihe managed to crawl into the forecastle, although a black, spying him just as he went, aimed a blow at him which miissed. Thinking he was too far wounded to be worth troubling about the murderers left him, and he managed to crawi aft through the hold, and got into the cabin. But I must go back. "After the blacks had left the two men, Troy and Shaw, for dead on ' the deck, they wont down' into the hold, where anoi/ber sailor was sleeping, and attacked him. He was fearfully ' CHOPPED ON THE FACE, head, and arm ; one finger was cut off, and a huge gaping gash made m his back. Him they left for dead,, but he subsequently crawled through the hold ait into the cabin. Mean while the acting second mate, who was asleep m the forecastle, heard him ory out, and rushed on deck. In a moment he saw a Mackfellow by his fside with an uplifted axe over his head. He dodged the, blow, and sang out 'Captain; the blacks ARE MURDERING US.' Then all three rushed on him. How he escaped is a miracle. He- had numerous small flesh wounds and a severe chop' on the arm ; only the most wonderful agility and presence of mind saved him Once the murderers had him down oh his back on "the deck, and two paused to let the third pet a good chop at him. Even this he managed to dudgc by shilling his leg, escaping with a flesh wound on the inside of the thigh. ••'While this was going on, the mate, awakened by the noise, rushed past and got into the fore Tig<yng, where another man had escaped. v Defusy struggled out of the \l GRASP OF THE FIENDS ■ ?W&nd ran for the forecastle,' one black following him. Getting out his lanfe, which up to that moment, he \?/l not been able to draw,- he struck ' t his assailant, - but. missed the ■ troi'e, and. striking on the ?.>:?, lost is ifuif?. Then pinking up a small

grindstone lying there, he struck the black and staggered him, thus managing to get into the forecastle. A hurried search snowed him there was no weapon to be found, and he came out again to make a rush for the rigging. "In his haste and m the darkness he rushed for the port side, where one of the blacks was part of the way up and another on the bulwark PREPARING TO ASCEND, with the intention of attacking the mate and another man on the foreyard. Deasy sprang past the blacks on the bulwark and grappled the one on the riggin°\ but before he could wrest the axe out of his hand the second mate wounded him m the ■ heel. Fearing' that the next moment he would be killed, he scrambled out and reached the foreyard, where he cut blocks with the mate's knife, and the men used them as weapons to keep back the blacks, " who after a . while made no attempt to ascend. "During this struggle the captain, awakened. by' the noise, came up, and as he laid his hand on the top of the companion IT WAS CHOPPED by a blow from an axe. He retreated into the cabin, where he remained with his son, and was subsequently found by the two sorely . -wounded men, Shaw and Puro&ll. They vainly endeavored to load a pistol, striking matches, but not daring to light a lamp. But the flowinc blood clogged the pistol and damped the powder, and they could \lo nothing. The steward had shut himself up m the galley : three men were on the foreyard—Deasy, almost fainting, and lashed to prevent falling, and POOR TROY LAY < on the deck near the galley. There was a sort of lull. "The men on the foreyard thought that all hands, except themselves, the captain and his boy, were dead, and the blacks, compelled to pause m their active . attack, began to look for the' bodies of their victims. Shaw, had , by this time crawled away, and, on searching the hold they found only Troy lying motionless near. the galley. How long he had recovered his senses no one could tell, but he . was not dead. The murderers camV to where he lay, and with one blow of an axe . CHOPPED OFF HIS FOOT. The steward trembling m his galley heard the poor fellow groan ''o God, 1 1 ' on finished now.' They then chopped his body and clove his" head till all life— all semblance even ' to humanity—was battered out of him. "At last day began to dawn, the three - -blood-stained -demons . holding the deck— the steward hidden m his galley— the three men on the yard— the captain and his boy in^the cabin, with the two wounded men weltering m their blood beside him. The grey light of morning made objects visible, and the blacks thought to finish their work. Picking up stones and pieces of coal from the hold, they began to pelt the men 'on the yard, who dode?ed the missiles as best they could. Then TWO BLACKS ASCENDED the rigging with their axes, while. j the third remained on deck pelting the whites. These, compelled to disregard the stones, confined themselves to keeping the axes at bay with their sling blocks. Then theblacks found that the steward was m the galley. One went to guard the companion, while the other 1 burst the galley door. The steward jumped through the other door, rushed to the companion, dodged the blow aimed at him by the guard, and tumbled below. "Now there was hope for the, whites. Daylight was brightening, and an unwounded man had reached the cabin where there was a revolver and ammunition. But deliveranoe was not for some time. For nearly an hour the men on the foreyard had to keep at bay -two of the blacks who WE&E ASSAILING THEM, while the third kept guard over the companion, cunningly shielding himself from the loaded revolver of the steward. At last an inoautious movement of the guard exposed his head, and the next second a bullet crashed through his brain. The two blacks exchanged a hurried sentence m their own lanmage and one went to pick up his fallen comrade. The sarilors m the foreyard dropped down the rigging. The mate, first on deck, picked up a handspike and staggered the . third :man with a BLOW ON THE HEAD, and the others closed round him. The one who had gone to the dead guard left him, saw that the game was up, and jumped overboard; Two of the blacks were now dead, and the steward emptied/his revolver at the third whiie he swam, but did not succeed m hitting him. He was never seen again. '"'Than the survivors went to the island, found the bodies of their comrades m fche hut, and made sail for Cairns with the wounded. On arrival there an inquiry was held, and the three most, wounded were sent to tihe hospital. "I have only to add that the tribe to which THE MURDERERS BELONGED were of well-known ferocity, having murdered several white men before this. .No doubt also the same ferocious savages had a shu,re m the murder of Conn and his wife near Cardwell. But I think that such an onslaught by three blacks on 10 whites, at a place divided by some hundreds of miles of sea „ from the country of their triae, is "quite un- ! exampled m the history of Austra- i lia." - j It came out upon enquiry' that all ; the firearms, exceptine: the O7ie re- ; . volver, had been handed over to a j ; sister ship, and the blacks had wit- I

nessed this transfer before the schooner, started on her ill-fated voyage. These three . SELF-INVITED ABORIGINES, it was also proved, had been most kindly treated from the beginning, and the .^"rave-hearted sailors simply suspected nothing, a? was proved m their carelessness m going to sleep without guard of any sort, and yet it will hardly be credited that there were certain individuals leading . a snug life m some of the Queensland towns, who, both before and after this most fiendish and diabolical onslaught, vowed they would endeavor to " g«t any mrm hfinsed who shot a Mack fallow, even m self-defence, ar I heard, -v (To be Continued.} 1