BY THE NATIVES. 165 
truth upon the return of the party, Mr. E. Hawson having 
accompanied them.” 
The natives immediately disappeared from the 
vicinity of the settlement, and were not heard of 
again for a long time. Such is the account of this 
melancholy affair as given to Dr. Harvey by the 
boy, who, I believe, also made depositions before a 
magistrate to the same effect. Supposing this 
account to be true, and that the natives had not 
received any previous provocation either from him 
or from any other settlers in the neighbourhood, 
this would appear to be one of the most wanton, 
cold blooded, and treacherous murders upon record, 
and a murder seemingly as unprovoked as it was 
without object. Had the case been one in which 
the European had been seen for the first time by 
the aboriginal inhabitants of the country, it would 
have been neither surprising nor at variance with 
what more civilised nations would probably have 
done under circumstances of a similar nature. 
Could we imagine an extraordinary looking being, 
whose presence and attributes were alike unknown 
to us, and of a nature to excite our apprehensions, 
suddenly appearing in any part of our own country, 
what would be the reception he would meet with 
among ourselves, and especially if by locating him- 
self in any particular part of the country he pre- 
vented us from approaching those haunts to which 
we had been accustomed from our infancy to resort, 
and which we looked upon as sacred to ourselves ? It 
