Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842), Sunday 15 October 1809, page 2


SYDNEY.

Sitting Magistrate—Major Abbott.

Assize of Bread One Shilling, the loaf, to weigh

2lbs. when cold, or 2lbs. 1 ounce new.

Average Prices of Articles at yesterday's Market :

Mutton & Beef 1s. 3d. to 1s. 6d. Pork 1s. 2d. to

1s. 6d. per lb. Veal 2s. to 2s. 6d. per ditto

Wheat 32s.—Maize 13s. 6d. per bushel ; Wheat

Meal 9d. per lb. Potatoes 25s. per cwt.

Fowls 3s. 0d. each.—Eggs 2s. 3d. per dozen.

Yesterday William Bennett (who had formerly been a prisoner under sentence of transportation) was again brought before a Bench of Magistrates

charged with having written a paper of a libellous and infamous tendency ; when it having been

clearly proved to the satisfaction of the Bench, by the evidence exhibited on Saturday the 7th instant, that he was guilty of having written scur-

rilous and libellous papers, tending to injure and

defame the characters of respectable individuals, and also tending to bring the Government of the Colony into disrepute, and to lessen the respect that is due to the Executive Authority, the Bench

thought proper to recommend to His Honor the Lieutenant Governor that the said William

Bennett should be sent out of the Colony by the first opportunity that may offer ; and that in the interim he may be worked in the gaol gang

and not permitted to sleep out of the county gaol. The Bench were at the same time decidedly

of opinion that the prisoner had in concert with other suspected persons, been heretofore employed in writing papers of a like improper kind.

William Mellon was also brought before the Bench, charged on suspicion with having stolen a quantity of meal out of a mill the property of John Palmer, Esq. and was remanded for further exami-nation.

On Sunday last Mr. Davis, on his return from Parramatta was near the Half-way House surprised by the entreaties of a woman in distress to come to her assistance. - He accordingly stopped his horse, at the time observing two armed natives at hand, one of whom immediately advanced upon him, and directed him to alight; but shewing a determina-tion to resist the command, they rushed upon him, and he in order to intimidate them discharged a pistol; whereupon three others who had not before shewn themselves joined the assailants, and in plain English abused and threatened him, one of them seizing him by the right foot, and getting a fast hold of his stirrup; which fortunately snapped short, whereupon he gallopped off, several spears being thrown at him which fortunately missed. By Mr. Davis's prompt information and personal assis-tance the poor woman was shortly after rescued from their hands, but not before she had been robbed of a bundle containing tea, sugar, and other articles of comfort or necessity, with which they made off. Mr. Davis afterwards being joined by two other horse travellers, saw the same banditti several times, but could not approach near enough to distinguish who they actually were.

On Tuesday last three foot passengers were pur-sued a considerable distance on the Parramatta road by a gang of natives, who frequently called to them, and by alternate threats and promises en-deavoured to prevail on them to stop ; but their eloquence failed of its proposed end, and the tra-

vellers got safe away.

The same day a numerous banditti fell upon a flock of sheep the property of Mr. Edward Powell,

between his house on the Parramatta road and

Canterbury, and drove off 43 head, 9 of which afterwards got away from them, and rejoined the flock. - They were soon after pursued, and traced as far as Cook's River, which is about two miles and a half from the place where the sheep were driven from, but a heavy rain setting in, the pursuers lost their track. On Wednesday forenoon Mr. Powell attended by four other persons, discovered a fire at which two of his sheep were roasting; several natives attending, who immediately ran towards their encampment, as it afterwards proved, to give

the alarm. This was about half a mile distant, whereat 23 carcases more were found, with the wool singed off, but all in a putrid state. Eleven others the robbers got clear away, so that the loss sustained by Mr. Powell amounts to 34 fine

sheep.

In addition to the above heavy loss, three large pigs, belonging to Mr. Powell, were on Friday killed by a native-dog, which was shot with his

head in the belly of the last he killed; and in

so mangled a condition were the carcases as to be wholly unfit for use.

The mode in which the cookery of the sheep was performed was as follows: - A large hole was dug in the ground, in which a fire was kindled, and when the wood was reduced to charcoal, the carca-

ses were quartered and laid upon it, then covered over with the bark of the tea tree, and the whole earthed over to confine the smoke as much as possible, in order to avoid discovery; and all reports agree, that Tedbury, the son of Pemulvoy, is the chief di-

rector of the mischiefs.

The above atrocities are for the most part con-fined to the hordes about George's River. They have several muskets, and what is no less to be dreaded, several desperate offenders who from a preference to idleness have deserted to the woods are suspected to have joined them.

On the evening of Thursday last George Pad-hill, a settler at Kissing Point, put an end to his own existence by strangling himself with a hand-kerchief, one end of which he tied fast about his neck, and the other to a branch of a tree not of sufficient height to prevent his knees from almost touching the ground.—A Coroner's Inquest, sum-moned from Parramatta, sat on the body on Friday, who returned a Verdict—Suicide !—— The deceased was an old man, supposed to be in tolerable circumstances ; but is conjectured to have been tempted to commit the rash act by a temporary embarrassment of a pecuniary nature.