Obituary. 211 



spot where my poor brother was last heard of, with a view of ascertaining his 

 fate. A copy of the report (now before me) has been enclosed me by order of 

 Lord Glenelg, (Colonial Secretary ;) and from it, it appears that after leaving 

 Boree, on the present western verge of the colony, beyond Bathurst, Lieut. 

 Zouch and party of troopers, accompanied by one of Major Mitchell's men, and 

 a friendly native-black, named Sandy, proceeded to the N. w., towards the Bo- 

 gan. On the third day of their advance (viz. the 2d of November last,) they 

 fortunately met with two blacks, who knew all the particulars of a white man 

 having been murdered on the Bogan : also the names and persons of the perpe- 

 trators of the deed ; and, as they offered to accompany the party to the country 

 where the murderers were encamped with their tribe, Lieut. Zouch most gladly 

 accepted their services as guides ; and, on the evening of the 6th, the party, 

 by their directions, came upon a tribe consisting of upwards of forty men, wo- 

 men, and children, who were bivouacing on the banks of a lake fed by the Mac- 

 quarie, and called the Budda. As no resistance was offered by these savages, 

 they were immediately invested, and taken prisoners. A few questions produced 

 an acknowledgment from them, that a white man had been killed by four of the 

 tribe, on the Bogan, three of whom they delivered up ; and the fourth they stat- 

 ed, was absent on the Big River ; that is the Darling. On searching the bags 

 of the tribe, the party found a knife, a glove, &c, which the three blacks ac- 

 knowledged they had taken from the white man, and which the man who had 

 been with Major Mitchell on his expedition, and now accompanied the police, 

 said he was sure had belonged to my brother. The details of the closing scene 

 of my poor relative's life are dreadful in the extreme, and, to those of his friends 

 who had known his great benevolence of mind, his last moments can be more 

 readily conceived than described ! 



" The officer goes on to report, that the three murderers, on being taken pri- 

 soners, admitted that, about six moons ago, they met a white man on the Bo- 

 gan, who came up to them, and made signs that he was hungry ; that they gave 

 him food ; and that he encamped with them that night. The white man re- 

 peatedly getting up during the night, excited their suspicion ; and, under the 

 apprehension that he would betray them into the hands of some enemies in the 

 neighbourhood, they consulted together, and soon came to the determination 

 to destroy him ; which they effected the following morning, by one of the sa- 

 vages approaching him unperceived, and striking him on the back part of the 

 head, and the others rushing upon him with their spears. This must have oc- 

 curred about the latter end of April of the last year. 



" The officer adds : ' I then determined to proceed to the spot where the 

 murder was committed, which, I was informed by the blacks, was distant three 

 days' journey ; but learning from them that there was a great scarcity of water, 

 I deemed it advisable to take only a small party, consisting of three troopers, the 

 man of Major Mitchell, and one of the prisoners (Bureemall) as a guide across 

 to the Bogan ; leaving the remainder of the party, having the other two prison- 

 ers in charge, under the command of Corporal Moore, to proceed to a station 

 about thirty miles distant from Wellington, there to await my return." Lieut. 

 Zouch and his reduced party were now conducted to a place named Currindine, 

 where the black showed him some bones, which, he said, were those of the 

 white man they had killed ; and pointed out a small portion of a coat, and also 

 part of a Manilla hat. Being thus convinced that they had reached the spot 

 where the very melancholy event had occurred, the officer and his little party, 



