hasDescriptionOfEventrosie-reynolds-massacre-connection/nmp-events-export-20260508193632/row-0583-eid-20026
‘Sometimes also the myalls use their females as a decoy, as in the following case. A friend of mine asked me to accompany him to the McIvor River settlement, which is about 30-miles north of the Endeavour River. I was not then able to accept his invitation, but I promised to do so at no distant period; and he then related what had occurred to him and some others at the time of his first visit. He was accompanied by four men, and they were all armed with Snider rifles. They landed at the river mouth without molestation, and had ample opportunity for the examination of the beautiful land, of which there is such a large quantity awaiting the settler. After a stay of a couple of days they returned to the mouth of the river. They had never seen any natives, but the many signal-fires caused them to keep a constant watch. As they passed by the sandspit which leads to the bar, they noticed two native women on the beach, who made every sign to invite them to land. Of itself the circumstance was so suspicious that they merely waited, keeping the boat off the shore and watching with their glasses. By-and-by other women came down, and then subsequently some men, all unarmed, and all making the most inviting gestures to land. Carefully scanning all the sand hills in the vicinity, the explorers soon descried a great number of myalls, all fully armed and painted. They were hiding behind bushes and trees, and had evidently planted spears and clubs within reach of the unarmed men. landing that all inducements to land were in vain, they threw off all disguise and came down to the beach, shouting and brandishing their weapons. The whites kept out of reach, and amused themselves watching them, and even exasperating them by jeering cries. Had they stopped there, the demonstration would have been harmless to both sides; but a consultation was held, when it was agreed that to let the blacks go unpunished would be to sacrifice/perhaps, the next party that visited the river. So they stood up in their boat and fired a volley, when two men and one woman fell. The others took to flight; but seeing the boat putting out to sea, they returned and carried off their wounded. My informant could not take the same view of the matter as myself. To my mind, it seemed quite an unnecessary shedding of blood. A few shots over their heads would have been enough to scatter and terrify them; or, at most, a charge of small shot would have done. To this there were two objections. One was that it was necessary to give them a severe lesson; and another that it does no good to spare them, for the sooner they are got rid of the better.‘ (Sydney Morning Herald 18 September 1880, p7)