CARPENTARIA.

Southland Times, Issue 983, 10 July 1868, Page 3

CARPENTARIA.

MASSACRE OF THE NATIVES. The natives of Carpentaria are summarily dealt with, if the following account be true, written by a correspondent of the " Brisbane Courier," from Burketown, under date 16th of April : — " Fever has again broken out in the Grulf country, a great many cases of illness having come under my notice. All up the Flinders complain, and I understand that at Fioraville station, on the Leichhardt, every man was ill at one time last week. There have, however, been no deaths reported since Christmas. I much regret to state that the blacks have become very troublesome about here lately. Within ten miles of this place they speared and cut steaks from the rumps of several horses. As soon as it was known, the native police, under Sub-Inspector Uhr, went out and, I am informed, succeeded in shooting upwards of thirty blacks. No sooner was this done than a report came in that Mr Cannon had been murdered by blacks, at Liddle and Hetzer's station, near the Norman. Mr. Uhr went off immediately in that direction, and his success, I hear, was complete. One mob of fourteen he rounded up : another mob of nine, and a last mob of eight he succeeded with his troopers in shooting. In the latter lot there was one black who would not die after receiving eighteen or twenty bullets, but a trooper speedily put an end to his existence by smashing his skull. In the camp of the last lot of blacks, Mr Uhr found a compass belonging to a Mr Manson of the Norman, and a revolver belonging to a Chinaman. He then followed the tracks of the sheep I Manson and the Chinaman had a short time before passed with, and in a waterhole found the bodies of poor Manson and the Chinaman cut about and mutilated in a most frightful manner. Cameron's body has also been found. In this expedition, I am informed, Mr Uhr was accompanied by Mr Hetzer, who has been very kind and obliging to the myalls for a long time, but now sees his folly. Everybody in the district is delighted with the wholeatle slaughter dealt out by the native police, and thank Mr Uhr for his energy in ridding the district of fiftynine (59) myalls. Cassidy's station on the Upper Lierhhardt, has also been attacked, and one man speared. Albert | Downs station, on the Gregory, was also attacked by blacks a short time back, and all the firearms, axes, and chisels taken off. The brig Anna Bloomfield arrived at Sweer's Island in the middle of last month, with miners (20) for Sheaft's copper mine. I have not heard whether they have commenced work yet. I was almost omitting to state that the Norman township is fast becoming the centre of attraction in the Grulf ; nearly everybody is leaving Burketown, and in a short time I don't expect there will be ten people here. The Norman is the nearest to the settled districts of the Flinders and Cloncurry, and the distance for carriage is short."