THE NORTHERN EXPEDITION.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1321, 22 November 1864, Page 2

THE NORTHERN EXPEDITION.

(From the South Australian Register, Oct. 13.) The reports from North Australia are satisfactory in : some respects, but unsatisfactory in others. The expedition arrived safely at its destination, and the country in the neighbourhood of the Adelaide River was found to be all that had been expected. ~ The Commissioner, writing from the depot at a spot near that river, says:—"My mind is strongly determined in favour of making this the capital, with Adam Bay for an outer and the mouth of the river for an inner harbour. It appears to me that we have everything sought for, and certainly more than the Ministry expected." From other letters it appears that the climate, as .experienced in August, was very pleasant, and that an abundance of good water had been found in the country around Adam Bay. "Our great difficulties," says the Commissioner " are alreadyvanquished in establishing a position as we have done, and acquiring the statistical knowledge which I possess." So far the dispatches are satisfactory; but the progress of settlement, we are sorry to say, has been interfered with by one or two difficulties of a serious, though, as we believe, temporary nature. In the first place, the aborigines have been found more troublesome than the experience of former visitors to North Australia could have led us to suppose would be the case; and in the next place, it appears from the dispatches of the Commissioner that he is very ill at ease with some of his subordinates. He complains specially of his clerk and accountant (E. Ward), and gives particulars of what certainly looks like a singular proceeding on the part of many members of the expedition. They acted as jurors, it appears, at an inquest which was held on a native killed during an affray with the settlers, and they adopted as a rider to their verdict a resolution censuring the Commissioner for having selected a bad site for one of the camps. This, they alleged, was the sole cause of the affray, and of the loss of life which ensued. But the Commissioner, it will be seen, denies this. He states that the camp was not " surrouuded" by mangrove scrubs —as alleged in the resolution; that even on the sides where there really was scrub it consisted of nothing more than fringes of timber; and, further, that the , chief cause of the unfortunate encounter with the natives was inattention and carelessness on the part of the men themselves. He therefore calls upon them in fresh instructions, issued before the dispatch of his letter, to use their utmost vigilance in protecting life and property, and to unite in the support of authority and the maintenance of order. These statements, together with remarks in portions of the-correspondence which has come to hand, shew that a very bad feeling prevails between the head of the expedition and some of his subordinates. This is a matter which, as the Chief Secretary stated yesterday demands instant attention on the part of the Government, who will investigate all the particulars now in their hands, and act accordingly. They will remove any of the subordinates whose conduct appears to call for such a step, and they will do all that seems necessary to strengthen the hands of the Commissioner, whose position, we need hardly say, must be a most unfortunate one, with hostile natives outside the camp andf insubordinate officers within it. " My difficulties," he says, "are really .hidden from view in these reports, both as to risk and exposure, and anxiety and annoyance." But whatever the Government may do as to the matter of insubordination, it is clear that they must not hesitate a moment in preparing to dispatch an additional body of men for the protection of the settlement. Mr. Finniss states quite plainly that he is not strong enough to cope with the natives, who from their numbers are able to commit theft with impunity. It is absolutely necessary, then, that a force possessing military organization should be sent to the country; and since there are no soldiers available for the service, perhaps the best plan would be to call for qualified men as volunteers to be enrolled under a strict engagement for one or two years. Not much is said in Mr. Finniss's dispatches ns to the general character of the natives; but we find in one of the letters which have been handed to us from members of the expedition the following particulars, which will be read with interest, especially those which relate to the affray in which Pearson was wounded:—"The natives have been in the habit of visiting our camps every two or three days, as many as 500 or 600 different ones having already been seen. They come in numbers, sometimes of more than 100. They were allowed too much liberty about the camp, having been permitted to prowl about its precincts, much to our loss, as they walked off every article they could get a hold of. They are 1 the most expert thieves I ever saw; they will look you in the face while they are picking your pockets, 1 and so adroitly will they do it that if no other person ' was watching them, you yourself would never be i aware of what they were about. Having been allowed i too much liberty, they have become very impudent J

var9 oTinnvinir News reached us on Thursday by the Beatrice's boat, which went up the river for the mail, of a scrimmage that took place on Tuesday morning last, the 15th inst. It seemsthat on Monday about forty natives visited the campval armed with barbed and stone-headed JSg lpft the camp in the afternoon, but xt was suspecrea taV hc? tad n,,t gone far, 00 a gu«rd «u ordered St ,S tank., .bout . quarter of a milcfrom tL rnrrm where most of the stores were lying. The &3J3 The natives meddling with the Stores Jnd fired at them. On Tuesday morning, at daybreak it was found that the natives had cut open fifteen bags of flour, and had spilled it in the river for the sake of the bags, also lots of bran and oats; they had also cut up the sonre sails of the Yatala which were lying there, and had carried them away, as well as kegs of paint and nails, and many other articles This being discovered, Mr. Pearson w.th tlttee others on horseback left the camp to try and recover some of the stolen goods. After they had progressed about 300 yards from the camp they came upon the natives, who opened the attack by throwing dozens of spears. Litchfield was wounded in the arm first by a stone-pointed spear, and immediately after Pearson, who had been thrown from from his horse, received three spears into him—one through his side, one in his arm, and the third in his neck- a fourth struck him on the foot, but did not enter his flesh. Mr. Pearson is a good deal hurt, and it may be some time before he recovers. A party at the camp, on hearing the firing, went to the rescue, and succeeded in driving the natives away. Only one native was killed, fcut many are supposed to be wounded. As friendly relations with the natives cease hereafter, we anticipate some trouble, the country being apparently overrun with them, from the fact of their being a very strong and stalwart race of men, with very ugly weapons into the bargain. More than one-half of those we have seen were over six feet in height; one we saw was six feet four inches, and many six feet three inches and six feet two inches. We look quite puny beside them. They are much stronger made than those of South Australia. They have given some unmistakable signs of cannibalism, and I'm afraid, and pretty well sure, that the unfortunate white man who gets into their clutches will want no burying-ground." The writer's fears as to the cannibalism of the natives may be unfounded; but his statements as to their troublesome qualities in other respects are no doubt quite correct. It is therefore evident that a strong and well organised force will be necessary to protect the settlers until such times as the tribes around the Adelaide have learnt to respect their new neighbours. With regard to the value of the country which Mr. Finnis and his party have occupied, there appears to be no difference of opinion. On this point all accounts seem to agree. The Adelaide is described as a magnificent river, and the soil on its banks is spoken of as being most excellent in character.