THE NOGOA TRAGEDY. SLAUGHTER OF UPWARDS OP SIXTY OF THE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 38, 28 December 1861, Page 5

THE NOGOA TRAGEDY. SLAUGHTER OF UPWARDS OP SIXTY OF THE

SUPPOSED MURDEIIERS. (From the JRockhampton {Queensland) Bulletin, November 30. ) We have received the following letter, for publication, from Mr. P. F. M'Donald, being a report upon the proceedings of the party sent from this place under his guidance, to succour the survivors on Mr. Will's station on the Nogoa, and to protect the property there. Though Mr. M'Donald used all haste in reaching. Cullinla-ringo, lie was too late to be of more service than to leave men to to assist in taking charge of the stock, and to inspire confidence (by no means a small consideration) in Mr. Wills and his men. He informs us that, owing to the kind and active care of Mr. Gregson and other settlers in the neighbourhood, the sheep have been recovered to within about 300, which, considering their large number, 10,000, and all the circumstances ■attending- the affair, must be considered fortunate. Yaaraba, November 23, 1861. Dear Sir, —We have just returned from our expedition to the' Nogoa, after an absence of twent3 r-eight days. We left Mariborough on the 29th October, and arrived on the eastern part of Cullin-la-ringo on Thursday, the 4th November. On the following day we travelled south-west and came upon the tracks of sheep, which we followed for a short distance till we came up to where about thirty had been slaughtered and roasted by the blacks ; we then encamped in order to examine the ground more minutely, and about 300 yards distant we found some pieces of a tent which had been partly erebted ; we also found some articles of clothing, and three large blood-stained patches of grass, which marked where three victims had evidently fallen. Upon further examination, and about one and a quarter-miles in a north-easterly direction, we discovered where the main camp had been situated. The ground was strewn with broken boomerangs, nulla-nullas and spears, and here to the blood-stained grass in several places indicated many sickening marks of savage atrocity. The bodies had been already buried close by, and a good deal of property lay scattered around, but otherwise the place seemed quite deserted. • I have been informed by tl e survivors of Mr. Will's party, that although the men never felt the necessity of carrying firearms for their protection, though requested by Mr. Wills to do so, yet the poor women from 'their arrival on the station seemed each to entertain a presentiment that they would never leave it alive. One of them, when her brother was leaving the place a few days before the massacre, expressed herself in the following words:—"Come back quick, Jamie, this is such a wild looking place, that I am afraid something will happen to us." As our chief object was to lend assistance to the survivors of the party, we started early next morning, the 6th instant, and followed the tracks of the drays and' the stock, which had retired from the station, till we found them encamped about fifteen miles distant on a part of the Rainsworth Station. Mr. Thomas Wills and his men were very much gratified at the kind sympathy evinced towards them by the people of Rockhampton ; but he informed me that, owing to the prompt assistance rendered by Mr. Gregson and other gentlemen in the neighbourhood, most of the sheep had been recovered, and that his men had very creditably expressed their willingness to remain with him. He was, however, still very much in wont of men, and gladly availed himself of the services of two of my party, Mr. H. Low, a volunteer, and Mr. Cox. It is Mr. Wills' intention to return to the station, and put up improvements as soon as the sheep are shorn, and I think he expected to have them finished in a month from that time. As it had been fully ascertained that the "Teat portion of blacks implicated in the murders belonged to the Comet and Dawson Eivers, and had made off'in that direction, we started on the morning of the 7th in search of them, but as they had so many days in advance of us and their foottracks nearly obliterated by recent thundarstorms, our chances of finding them were very much diminished, We spent eight days searching the scrubs-in. the neighbourhood, but with little success. In one place we saw the tracks of a party of horsemen which I belive to be those of Leiutenant Cave's detatchment. I wish some of those misinformed gentlemen who think that the native police are of so little service had been there—if they had felt any sympathy for Cullin-la-ringo victims, they would have seen sufficient reason to entertain a different opinion, and I think their gratification would have compelled them to acknowledge their error, For my own part I trust that the government instead ofdecresing the force, will endeavour to strengthen it. At present there are many owners of runs who will soon \vj cjik^ullcl clihoi-io forfolt ihsm by non-occupation, or stock them at some risk of '< life and property. i I did not meet Lieutenant Genitas,. but I saw ] tracks, about twenty-six miles south of Cullin-la- ■ ringo, which I think must have been his. ' _ In conclusion I may state, that owing to the ' liberal assistance which you offered me on behalf ( of the Government, together with that of Messrs. l Archer, Henning, Burdin, and Co., and other \ gentlemen who assisted me with horses, —the ex- i penses of the late expedition will not, I think, 1 amount to more than twenty-five per. cent, of the ! money subscribed. The balance can be returned to the subscribers in proportion to the amount i of their subscriptions, when the horses and sun- ; dries have been sold. ] I am, Sir, respectfully yours, ' P. F. M'Donald. John Jardine, Esq., P.M., &c, Eockhampton. , [We are informed, that on the- 26th or 27th ' ultimo, the native police overtook the tribe of 1 natives- who committed the late outrage at Nogoa, ' and succeeded in driving them into a place from f whence escape was impossible. They then shot ( down sixty or seventy, and they only ceased firing ' upon them when their ammunition was expended. 1 One of the blacks who was shot, cried out, "Me no kill white fellow !" showing plainly they well comprehended the proceeding. Some firearms ' and other property in their possession were recovered.—Ed. i?. JB.l i