Herald (Fremantle, WA : 1867 - 1886), Saturday 22 February 1873, page 3


ROEBOURNE. PRIESUMPTIVE MURDER OF TWO WHITE MEN BY NATIVES £TO THE EASTWARD, AND OTHER IIPOR: TANT INTELLIGENCE: The Clarence Paicket, Captak i -Mjiles, brings us the following news. "r. Robert Shea, pearler, one of the'owners of the Sca Spray schooner, accompanied by a young man named Miller, started about the ~niddle of November last on an expeditiLn from :- the Degray River into the interior of the coimn try. The object of this expeditiodn was, ac cording to some reports, to recover the ser vices of some native divers who had deserted Mr. Shea;s service, according to others, to procure more native labor.. Shea and Miller started taking with them only eight dayys provisions, and on the 10th of Jaiuary, the date of our latest advices from Roebourne, no certain intelligence of the fate of tlie two young men had been received;but little doubt is entertained tihat they have both .fallen victims to the revenge or treachery of the savages of the interior. Immediately on the intelligence being ieceived at RoeK bourne the Resident Magistrate despatched Police Constable Glover, William George of Fremantle, and a Swan River native to the Degrey to institute a search for the absentees; and this party had not yet returned when the mail left. Persons who have the best right to know the country"andthe aborigi nes of the North West Coast assure us that no reasonable doubt can be entertained as to the fate of Shea and his friend. They are unanimous in the opinion that they have met their deaths from the spears of natives, and ai enot backward in ascribing in part or in whole the calamity to the policy of the present Government. A small boa hlamed the Minnie, having on board several natives and the owners, G. Foskett and "Liberty Joe," has been wrecked onan island off the Fortescue some seven or eight miles distant from the mainland. They are described as being left in an utter state of helpless' ness and. destitution on the island. At length they were rescued through sending one of their natives to the mainland. This aboriginal performed the feat of swimming quite eight miles, and we are informed that some of the north west coast natives can swim, when put to it, double that distance and more. This native arrived at the station of Messrs. Simpson & McIntosh, which gentlemen fortunately happened to be at home, and to have a dingy anchored close at hand. They at once went to the rescae of the shipwrecked islanders and brought them to the mainland, where the almost lifeless sufferers, under the kind treatment they re ceived, soon recovered sufficiently to resume their occupation. Heavy rains have fallen inland and the rivers to the eastward have been running, with such masses of water as to overflow their banks and cause extensive floods, but as yet we hear of no casualties therefrom. The mail which brings us this

intelligence also conveys a universally signed petition from the residents at Roebourne and the north west settlements. This petition is addressed to the Imperial Government, which it prays to take into favorable consideration the case of MIr. L. C. Burges. Our friends at the north west will see by the iispatch from Lord Kimberley which we publish in another column that the case has already been de cided upon at home, and that Mr. Burges' sentence has been commuted to one of twelve months' imprisonment, and that the Secre tary at State considers even this punishment one of exemplary severity. All the pearling boats are making a good thing of it. In the earlypartof the season it was feared that the yield of pearls and shells would not be a goodone; as many of the old banks were either exhausted or had been covered with sand and seaweed. However in the deep water in the Flying Foam Passage, the nor'-westers have found a mine of wealth in the shape of some unexplored reefs; and Malay and native divers are vieing with each other in exploits of deep diving and bringing to daylight the treasures of the ocean. The aborigines are found, when rendered expert by practice, to be as good as or better divers than the Malays both in point of time and endur ance. The various vessels in Flying Foam passage had collected at the time of latest advices, together about 50 tons of shells. Mr. L. A.. Manning's schoones Azelia was supposed to have made the largest haul of any. The Black Hawk. and. Sea Spray's. take is estimated at about five tons of shels each.- The Pilot, belonging to Mr. Sh6ll,' is saidi;to, have: takeni four tons and the GoQvernpr Weld and Adur three or four tons; each. The value of the pearls as,yet1 taken lihas not been jestimnated; but, considering, that fifty tonsi'if pearl shills alone repre sent wihen delivered in Europe some'. ten thiousiand pounds, and that that haul had bleen ·made by o.r pearleis intithree months. the im.portance of att ?ching permanently this importait trade and industry to the general commerce of the colony cannot be too highly estimated. Strong gales are said to have prevailed at the eastward. During 'the three days froim the 16th till the 19th of Decimber inclusive the barometer ranged vely low~, reading'2934". The cutter Cygnet be'ongrn to- Franciico Brothers has been chartered by the Government, and has been conveying .Sub-Inspector Piesse, a police constable and: native assistait. on a cruise among the pearling boats, aimost,all of which have been v.:-isited. The ?niission of Mr. Piesse is ·to see' that the natiVes ediployed on board the pearl boats areir t:freated :properly' a very necessary proceeding,.for the natives,' work is hard,.their life is one .of:privaitioh they earn rii:lies for niasters? :.ivhnse treats ment of. theni, to say the :l?ast; :if riot alway, the most benevolehti' 'AA corrsspondent who has visited most-of the -boats iv'cites thus :--"I Sfound all the natives lirokiing mvcell, brit.vhen' I asked them wliere'their clothes -were they trild me that 'thie- rmaster gai e them none till the enhd6of the lseasoni. ''he' bnly thidg: theiy get is some flour.I haoe seen them on board the large boats, after coming up Pfrom diving. -They would swarm rpund-the galley fifre like bees round a hive-;-: We hear thati the G'dverinment is likely to put4 a police c'uttdre to 'cruise o. the pearling~: grounds. ISuch a mheas'nre is necessary:for othei-tkings besid s '.ile protection of the iiatives: >Boats are either imperfcctly or ini~prOperly manned.: Hr-re is air i'ns'tnce: :One e-at in particular, whs "found employed" pearling, contain;ing thirty eight natives, and.not one, white man on bhoard whoi- hnderstobod anytling -aiaboit navigationh:.! Her Erropean crew consisted of one white boy, one laudsma.n anid one ordinary seaman. Great comuplart reach ius of tire. amorilt:of 'dl~unkenlness arid anit of or:; l der priev"iliig at Port- Walceott: . A m:?nby rl,.ii Jackson,: was found recentiiy un the beach. nearly .'dea d fromi tihe effects of excessive.e driiining. He was conveyed to a shamty' at. handd whiere e expilred in ac few minurtes K Tin the Port Wdilcotlians Sunday anid week: day are alike. :They a ppear tob drink :indis, crrninatet!y, aand ore letter :describes then as." breraking the peace .from, morning- tifl" ni'hft." The ea me letter sa~ys, ::('there: is' .neither. a pace :officer. nior. alockip i.n this purt,: so a personr livin'g hre hi to pot up iith:all sorts of insults from the:: Bacchainalians:" .'Th:"here?h'ins of: 'a white., imin andl: i spar 'ifa bo.tt have been ifouiud by, a ortiv l to 'the east: frirm 'Port Walcott' above: higl wijter' mark.- The ieinoinsi'iare: supposed to be thbse-of'one of t~io iv'hi? rmien who were wrecked iin the .pearl b6ot 'called tlle N:a7utilus about/ four years ago when cominn. from thie eastward. -The schooner Claiice whichli was disp-tcred with news of thde seizuire of the Gift'cy her Malay crew to Biutvia: anhliored in Danka at the south west end bf; Rott;ie Island 'on the 7th December. The master of the Clsrice Mr. Embleton was infor~imed by the Rajah that eleven days previrouslyT, ori about the 26th November, a schooner auswvering to-the description given' of the Gift'iwas seen in the straits making for Alor Island which is situated about 120 miles from: Coepang. : Great expectations i are forined' of the? possible future value of the copper mines; 4t present the ore is only taken from the suarface where it is found in large qiuantities.. A gentleman at Roebourne has taken up six hundred acres of mineral land on behalf of Mr. Bratn, who lately left this colony, Abundant and refreshing. rains have fallen, and thie lambing season has been a most favorable one.