164 TATE OF Kennedy's 



On November 13th Kennedy started^ leaving 

 eight men at the camp at Weymouth Bay. Near 

 Shelbume Bay one of the party accidentally shot 

 himself, and another was too ill to proceed ; conse- 

 quently^ it was determined to leave them behind in 

 charge of the third man, Tsdth a horse for food, 

 while Kenned}' and the black pushed on for Port 

 Albanj'. At length near Escape Biver, within 

 twent}' miles of Cape York, a tribe of natives with 

 whom they had had some apparently friendly 

 intercourse, tempted by their forlorn condition and 

 a savage thirst for plunder, attacked them in a scrub 

 and with too fatal success, as the gallant leader of 

 this unfortunate expedition breathed his last after 

 receiving- no less than three spear wounds. The 

 affecting narrative of what passed during his last 

 moments as related by his faithfiil companion, is 

 simply as follows. — " Mr. Kennedy, are you going 

 to leave me ?" " Yes, my boy, I am going to leave 

 5'ou," was the reply of the dying man, " I am very 

 bad, Jackey ; 30U take the books, Jackey, to the 

 Captain, but not the big ones, the Governor will 

 give anything for them." " I then tied up the 

 papers ;" he then said, " Jackey, give me paper and 

 I "nill write." " I gave him paper and pencil, and 

 he tried to Avrite ; and he then fell back and died, 

 and I caug-ht him as he fell back and held him, and 

 I then turned round myself and cried; I was 

 cr3Tng* . a g-ood while until I got well ; that was 

 about an hour, and then I buried him ; I dug up 



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