Attack on Wiradyuri men
‘A few days after this’, [20th September] the two stockmen went out again and came upon ‘a Black native Camp where there was a fire’, and although they ‘saw no natives’ they found ‘a quantity of Beef roasting’. Booth, Alsop and Scrammy then ‘came upon the natives, finding in their possession a quantity of beef’. As Booth was ‘armed with a Musket, the natives ran away’. Alsop said that ‘they saw a number of natives a little distance off’ who ran off and ‘shouted out “murra gerund white fellows”’. Booth set out again to search for the cattle. When he came upon ‘5 Natives’, one of them ‘in the act of skinning a Steer the property of the Judge Advocate’, Booth had no hesitation in believing it was his role to sneak up and shoot the men. He ‘approached very near to them unperceived, and fired at them, and wounded one that was in the act of chopping open the hinder quarters’. Booth then saw ‘two of the natives leading him off’. It is not clear whether Scrammy was with him, but by this time Booth may well have understood what the Wiradyjuri shouted as they left with the wounded man. As Booth later reported it, they once more said, ‘they wanted [to] tumble white man down’. Booth said he did not recognise ‘any of the natives’ but had ‘every reason to believe ‘Gingler [Jingler]’ was ‘one of them’. Booth also later reported that ‘the Cattle being so driven by the natives, that the cows have slipt and lost ten Calves’.
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Sources
- ‘Re cattle killed by natives’, SRNSW, NRS 897, 4/1798, 6065, pp. 340–42
Event mentions
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Attack on Wiradyuri men20 Sep 1823 – 30 Sep 1823 — Kings Plains‘A few days after this’, [20th September] the two stockmen went out again and came upon ‘a Black native Camp where there was a fire’, and although they ‘saw no natives’ they found ‘a quantity of Beef roasting’. Booth, Alsop and Scrammy then ‘came upon the natives, finding in their possession a quantity of beef’. As Booth was ‘armed with a Musket, the natives ran away’. Alsop said that ‘they saw a number of natives a little distance off’ who ran off and ‘shouted out “murra gerund white fellows”’. Booth set out again to search for the cattle. When he came upon ‘5 Natives’, one of them ‘in the act of skinning a Steer the property of the Judge Advocate’, Booth had no hesitation in believing it was his role to sneak up and shoot the men. He ‘approached very near to them unperceived, and fired at them, and wounded one that was in the act of chopping open the hinder quarters’. Booth then saw ‘two of the natives leading him off’. It is not clear whether Scrammy was with him, but by this time Booth may well have understood what the Wiradyjuri shouted as they left with the wounded man. As Booth later reported it, they once more said, ‘they wanted [to] tumble white man down’. Booth said he did not recognise ‘any of the natives’ but had ‘every reason to believe ‘Gingler [Jingler]’ was ‘one of them’. Booth also later reported that ‘the Cattle being so driven by the natives, that the cows have slipt and lost ten Calves’.Source: ‘Re cattle killed by natives’, SRNSW, NRS 897, 4/1798, 6065, pp. 340–42