THE DOUGLAS MAWSON

Grey River Argus, 24 June 1925, Page 8

THE DOUGLAS MAWSON

ALLEGED WOMEN CAPTIVES. EXPLORERS ’ INVESTIGATIONS During his voyage from the Crocodile Islands tp Groote Eylandt in the ketch M’Bride, Captain C. 11. Wilkins, who has been exploring the wilds of Arnhem Land iui search of specimens for the British Museum of Natural History, found wreckage, which evidently had come from the ill-fated Douglas Mawson. In the following article he recounts his experiences which include a meeting with the police expedition. lie adds that he obtained information from some of the natives which lent colour to the rumour of captive women survivors. Later he visited native camps in the vicinity, but owing to a lack of knowledge of ‘ the language was unable to secure proof of the story. Captaki Wilkins writes as follows:— We had arranged to walk along the coast from Melville Bay and beneath the red cliffs of Cape Arnhem we found some wreckage from a boat, and further down the coast we found other pieces that had evidently come from the Douglas Mawson. We could get no response to our signals or see any sign of people, although we walked nearly the whole length of the beach to Bradshaw's Inlet, and made frequent excursions inland, while the McBride stood off and on the shore.

At last, near Bradshaw Inlet, we found a camp beneath a cliff. Here was a considerable amount of wreckage, including a cabin bulkhead. There were some tracks of natives but the tracks had been made a week or so before. There were several rough designs of spear, wommerahs and other things drawn in the sand. A few broken bushes were spread about, and a broken spear shaft --was set toward Caledon,. Bay. The natives that were with us interpreted the signs to mean that the natives of this district had gone to some large billabongs near Caledon Bay. They also said that the message indicated that there had recently been a fight, but they could not tell with whom, and we wondered if there had been trouble at the police camp that we knew to be situated somewhere along the coast. A DANGEROUS COAST. We sailed into Bradshaw's Inlet, but could see no sign of occupation, but a few miles down the coast a smoke signal was put up in response to ours. Although Fort Bradshaw is an ideal harbour when once inside, the approaches to it, especially from the south are particularly dangerous and there is no detailed chart of this area. As we could see no sign of people in the inlet w e decided to proceed to the signal made. As we sailed southward over a smooth sea, the man at the lead getting a steady live fathoms, we brought up with a crunch, and a grind, and we knew we had struck a rock. Our vessel, the M ’Bride, heeled over with the press of the wind on the sail, but she would not budge ahead. We sounded and found five fathoms on om* side and ahead and astern, but at one point on the starboard beam there was a rock less than sft from the surface, and the keel of the boat was on a ledge. Had we stuck fast and had the tide receded to any extent the boat would have capsized. We rest owed, the ballast and, after a little effort, we slipped back ilito deeper water and proceeded on our way. THE POLICE THEORY. Judging from the ’numerous rugged granite islands in this vicinity it is likely that the sea bottom presents an equally irregular surface, and although we found only one of the unchartered pinnacles, there are doubtless many others. At the head of the north arm of Caledon Bay wo came upon the remnant of the punitive police expedition that had been sent out to investigate the rumours with regard to the Douglas Mawson. Two a nine d. policemen, an interpreter, and several blacktraekcrs maintained a fort-like area of about 200 yards square. The interpreter had gone out and brought in several natives who had denied all knowledge of the supposed captured women. The officers of the law, both of them with considerable experience in the north, were convinced that most of the stories were unreliable, and that a summary of the evidence collected did not lead them to believe that the two white women were with the blacks. INTERPRETER LOYAL TO TRIBE. Neither of the police could speak the native language and were depending entirely on their interpreter but we were inclinded to agree with their opinion until- w c heard from some of the other blacks that the interpreter belonged to the tribe who were concerned in. the murder of the Douglas Mawson survivors, and. that he was afraid of giving evidence that would incriminate his tribesmen. Among the natives of the Northern Territory loyalty to their tribe is known to be an attribute equal to their ability to give misleading statements, and an investigator without a knowledge of the language or its dialects is not likely to gain much reliable .information, and since the system of .vendetta is practised by these natives, it is only reasonable to suppose that they would be cautious as to their answers to direct, questions concerning the murder of white men. Much as I would have liked to continue the investigation of the rumour concerning the two white women, my utter ignorance of the language and

the need to carry on my work at Groote Eylandt forbade further activity on my part. VISIT TO NATIVE CAMPS On returning from Groote Eylandt several days later I found the two police officers alive and well at Caledon Bay. They had not been able to leave their camp, and although they had gathered many rumours concerning the Douglas Mawson reports, they were still confident in their own minds that there was no truth in the story of the two women captives. While the police could not leave their camp they were quite willing that I should travel about inland and visit the natives, and two “ black boys ” that had been round their camp went with me. We visited several native camps and saw a number of men, women, and children. The natives were rather shy and suspicious at first, and many of the men adopted an aggressive attitude when I approached their camps. The women shrank with fear, clasped their children, but it was explained that I was not a police officer, and not armed, and friendly relations were soon established. “WHITE MISSUS KILLED.” These people differ slightly in appearance from the Groote Eylandters, and the women have no sort of dress, but are naked as arc most of the men in their own camps. They improvise a dress when approaching the camp of the white men. Theyc live on a diet which includes more animal food than that of the Eylandters for kangaroos and wallabies are more plentiful on the mainland, and they get an occasional buffalo or wild bullock. Some of the people seen were said by my interpreter to be those who had been associated with the il white missus,” who had been killed recently, but so far as I could see there was no way of proving his statements excepts by the patient observation and inquiry by a. trained ethnologist, who must have a knowledge of the language of the people of Arnchem Land.