THE DOUGLAS MAWSON.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19505, 13 June 1925, Page 8

THE DOUGLAS MAWSON.

ALLEGED WOMEN CAPTIVES EXPLORERS’ INVESTIGATIONS. COLOUR LENT TO STORY. During his voyage from the Crocodile Islands to Groote Eylandt in the ketch M’Bride, Captain C. H. Wilkins, who has been exploring the wilds of Arnhem Land in search of specimens for 1.. C British Museum of Natural History, found wreckage, which evidently had come from the ill-fated Douglas Mavvson. In the following article he recounts his experiences, which include a meeting with the police expedition. He 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 tho vicinity, but owing to a lack of knowledge of the language was unable to secure proof of the story. Captain 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 ot people, although we walked nearly the whole length of the beach to Bradshaw's Inlet, and made frequent excursions inland, while tho M'Bride 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 cab-in bulkhead. There were some tracks of natives, but the tracks had been made a week or so before. There wore several rough designs ot spears, wommeraha, 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 witn us interpreted the signs to mean that the natives of this district had gone to some large billabongs near Caledon nay. 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. Wo sailed into Bradshaw’s Inlet, but could see no sign of occupation, but a few miles down the coast a smoko 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 wo decided to proceed to the signal made. As we sailed southward over a smooth sea, the man at the lead getting a steady five fathoms, wo 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. Wo sounded and found five fathoms on one side and ahead and astern, but at one point on the starboard beam there was a rocic less than sft from the surface, and the keel of the boat was on a ledge. Had wo stuck fast and had tho tide receded, to any extent the boat would have capsized. We rostowed the ballast, and, after a little effort, we slipped back into 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 on equally irregular surface, and although we. found only one ot the uncharted pinnacles, there are doubtless many others. At the head of the north arm of Caledon Bay we 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 armed policemen, an interpreter, and several blaektrackers maintained a tort-like area of about 200yds 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 ot thorn with considerable experience in the north, were convinced that most of the stories woio unreliable, and that a summary of the evidence collected did not lead them to believe that tho two white women were with the blacks. INTERPRETER LOYAL TO TRIBE. Neither of tho police could speak the native language, and were depending entirely on their interpreter, but we were inclined to agree with their opinion until we heard liotu some of tho other blacks ihat the interpreter belonged to tho tribe who were concerned in the murder of the Douglas Mawson survivors, and that he was afraid of giving evidence ihat would incriminate his tribesmen. Among the natives of the Northern Territory loyalty to their tribe is known to oo 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 vendelta is practised by these natives, it is only reasonable to suppose that they would be cautious as to their answers to direct question - concerning tho murder of white men. , Much as I would have liked to continue tire investigation of the rumour concerning the two white women, my utter ignorance of tho 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 1 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 Mtiwson reports, they were still confident in their own minds that there was no truth in the story of the two women captives, I\ liile 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. Wo 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, hut 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 are most of the men in their own camps. They improvise a dress when approaching the camp of tho white men. They 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 ‘‘while missus,” who had been killed recently, but so far as I could see there was no way of proving his statements except by the patient observation and inquiry by a trained ethnologist, who must have a knowledge of the language of tho people of Arnhem Land.