FL661444

But, two or three years after, one of their
young men of the Wellington tribe was killed
near Burrendong in a clandestine manner
by one of the McQuarie Blacks, & as far as I
could ascertain the affair did not end there,
until another victim fell of the McQuarie
tribe. Thus these Blacks, whom some
Europeans have at times pronounced such
a happy race of beings are in continual
fear. I have never known them perfectly quiet
for many months together. Often they are alarmed
without any just cause, mainly by false
rumours of the movements of an unfriendly
tribe. You will understand that
these acts of retaliation assume a sort
of [indecipherable] character and involve the [indecipherable]
of a tribe, tribe against tribe, demanding
satisfaction. Should any [word crossed out] individual
kill a Black of his own, or a friendly
tribe from private spite & malice, or personally in a passion
the affair would be viewed as wilful
murder and the guilty party would have
little chance to escape with his life. Without
a regular trial after a little inquiring