The Boyd Massacre Period Newspaper

8/2/2019 The Boyd Massacre Period Newspaper

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The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842), Tuesday 8 May 1832, page 4

National Library of Australia http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2206419

THE BOYD.;WExtract the following intrestinw *c

Captain JW-s "-Narrative of theDtscoptry ofthe Tate a} Tia Perouse." The?B+ms9tfis} .detailing the Bubstetrt* lof Ti tonversation withal-New Zealand chief, namedMfcytwngeT-' JV^,!0* ni5orse of w conversation he I^Jn^jS^a the-that his tribe'had assisted Mr j.Ajrcjts^lhe^hip 'City of Edinburgh, to re'

eive tlie survivors of the Boyd from theeople of Wangaroa, His mentioning tins

ceiveteo[

. w .circumstance induced me to enquire of himwhat he knew of tlie fate of that ship, whichl)e readily agreed to relate io me." Before giving Moyhanger'a story, I

mut relate some circumstances anterior toit, which I am myself acquainted with, andwinch will serve as a prelude to the tragedy." The first European vessel that enteredWangaroa wa the Star, an English South

seaman, commanded hy Captain Wilkinsoh,who arrived there in 1805 or 1806. Thehead chisf of- Wangaroa at that period wasriamed " Peepee" (or Cockle), who had aSon. The chief reques'ed Captain Wilkin-son to take his son with him to Europe,where he might procure some tehees (irontoo1s)and fish-hooks for his father and tribe.The young man accordingly embarked withn attendant on the Slav, anti sailed withCaptain Wilkinson to the seal fishery at theAntipodes Islands. While on board theyoung pi ince obtained the name of George,which he retained till his death, which hap-pened in 1823. On the Captain's returnfrom the seal fishery, he touched at Wan-garoa, where George'requested to be landed,and was accordingly restored to his friends,having beert treated by the good captain withparticular kindness during the voyage." The next vessel which visited Wan-garoa was the Commerce biig, which camehere for spars in 1807.

" After her, in 1808, the Elisabeth, be-longing to Mr. Blaxcell, of Pott Jackson,


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to Mr. Blaxcell, of Pott Jackson,and Commanded by Captain Stuart!, boundfor the Fejees, touched At Wangaroa on hervoyage. It was in this vessel ^liat PrinceGeorge a second time quitted his fiiends andnative country, to try what he could gain byadventure. He performed the voyage to theejees, and from thence to Port Jackson,where he arrived in November of the sameyear. Here he met his old friend CaptainWilkinson of tlie Star, and did not requiremuch persuasion to induce him to embarkftith him upon a sealing expedition to theSouth Seas.

" It may be necessary to observe in thisplace, that the rate of payment in whalingand sealing ships entirely depends upon theSuccess which ma} attend the voyage, therebeing a certain proportion of the skins or oilallotted to each individual, according to thecapacity in which he engages, or his skill inthe fishery. Hence it is not improbable thattheadventuters may, on some voyages, makea very handsome " lay," as the Souih-seamen tel m it ; while, it is equally possible,that they may have nothing for a long andtedious voyage ; the whole depending, asbefore stated, on the success which theyhave.

The vessel in which George shipped wasem} loy .'d till late in 1809 in a fruitlesssearch after the seals, and the consequencewas, that after twelve months' labour andfatigue at seas, poor George had nothing toreceive : a circumstance which pi-eyed on hismind, being incapable of reasoning on thefairness of the system of pay in the sealingtrade. t was Sufficient for him to knowthat he had worked enough for tlie whitepeople to be entitled to some compensation,and not receiving any, he considered himselfinjured.^ On his return to Port Jackson heshipped on the Boyd, without either lokecs

or nails, to return to his native country, al-most as poor as he quilted it. The BoydWas a ship of nearly 500 tons burden,and was commanded by John Thompson :she belonged to the highly respectable firmof Boyd, Buckle and Buchanan, of London.She was chartered by the British Govern-ment early in 1809 to convey convicts andStores to New South Wales, where havingarrived, she was partly chartered by Mr. S.


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Lord, of Sydney, to proceed to Wangaroafor spars, which were to he discharged atthe Cape o Good Hope. Mr. Lord alsoput tn board a quantity of New South.Wales mahogany, seal skins, oil, and coals,for the same market, in all amounting to15,000 worth." There was an East-IndiaCaptain, namedBurnsfdes, who was a passenger in her, andwho having by industry accumulated a for-tune of 10,000, was on.his return to endhis days among his friends on the banks ofthe Liffey. This was an object poor Burnsides had always kept in view : it was thegoal of his long and arduous exertions ; asubject to which with such fondness he con-stantly adverted during the period I hadbeen intimately acquainted with him. But,alas ! he was doomed to end his days farOtherwise than among friends : he neveragain beheld tlie populous banks of the riverLiffey ; 'but was murdered on 'the savageshores of Wangaroa." Having premised thus much, I shall

now proceed with Moyhanger's narrative." A few days after the Boyd liad sailedfor Port Jackson, the cook, by accident or'neglect, threw overboard in a -bucket of wa-ter a dozen of pewter spaons belonging toave -captain's "mess.' Apprehensive of in-curring a ropeVtfntfing 'for "lils negligence,he "formed the fatal Tesrolve of exculpating'hirttselffoy a lie, which, as it in the "eventproved, "was the ause of the "destruction ofelite'ship, of the 'loss of seventy lives, Bri-tish -subjects, Who were 'killed, roasted, anddevoured, and of'the demolition of'propertyto he amtmt of nearly -40,000.

'" The co&k, to screen himself from^blame,informed the 'captain fhat George and hisattendant had Stolen 'them; and the cap-tain, without siifficient investigation into tlieaffair, ordered tlie New Zealand chief be-fore him, and directed the boatswain topunish him, who, being a powerful man,performed this office Wltli'severity. In vaindid George urge that he "was a chief, andought not to .be degraded "by punishment:Captain Thompson only replied tliat he "wasa cokey (slave), thus adding insult 'to iheinjury. George still insisted that lie was adllief, 'and'that, upon their arrival at NwZealand the Captain should see it


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seeremonstrance, however, was of mo avail,'and1he received 'a punishment rhe marks ofwhich he'bore on his badk when'he rejoined vhis friends.** Captain Thompson's behaviour in>thisaifair'cannot be too .much censured.. Savage*

are characterised by a peculiar susceptibility

of Indignity, while they are equally suscep-tible of gratitude. In fact, the extreme toWhich these opposite passions predominatein their breasts, forms one of the pfincipaltraits in the Uncivilized mind. There can-not be the lenit doubt that, from the mo-ment George's appeals were disregarded,the Boyd and those on board were markedfor destruction, as the only means of ap-peasing his thirst for if venge.The ship arrived at Wangaroa, I believe,late in December the some year, anti George,With his attendant, instantly landed, havingapparently forgotten his recent chastisement,but inwardly vowing deep revenge. Hehastened to his friends, and informed themthat he had served the White men for tworaw-malhies,* but had not received anythingin return ; that lie came back nearly as pooras when he first departed from among them ;and that, to crown all his wrongs, the Cap-tain of the Boyd had severely beaten himbut a few days before. He then uncoveredhis back and exhibited the marks, yet lividfrom the effects of the lash. This sightroused the feelings of George's subjects tothe highest pitch of indignation, and theyvowed revenge on those who had thus mal-treated their chief. The shew of friendshiptowards the devoted captain Was still keptup to the last ; and the next morning wasappointed by Captain Thompson to proceedthe forest w hei e the spars grew, which waasituated about nine or ten miles up theriver.

" George now planned the massacre,which he successfully and fatally carried intoeffect on the following day. He directedthose of his countrymen who stopped behindin tlie village to get on board the ship bydusk in the evening, and that he with thee j party who accompanied Captain Thompsonand his men would mm der and cloth-


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and his men would mm der thom, and cloth-ing themselves in the European dresses,would under this disguise join their country*men on board before any tidings of the affairarrived, and when there they would com-plete the destruction of every white sur-vivor."The captain's arrangements in the morn-ing unfortunately afforded too great a faci-lity to the execution of this murderous pro-ject, having taken three boats with their

crews up the river, and leaving very fnwhands to tal.e care of the ship, or to defendher in case of an attack." George before setting outTeminded thevillagers to obtain admittance to the shipbeTore dusk, as arranged the evening l>efaie : this they faithfully periormed. Tnthe mean time the Europeans proceeded up

the river, accompanied by George and histribe, until they arrived at the spar forests,where they debaiked, and proceoded intothe recesses of the wood in quest of treesfit for their purpose. The captain began toobject against one that it was too crooked,another as being too large, and a third astoo short, when George threw off his NewZealand cloak, and in very plain languagetold him that he should have no others, andcontinued ' Captain Thompson, see how youhave served my back' (pointing at the sametime to the marks of his punishment). Thethrowing off the cloak was the signal for ageneral massacre ; and George had scarcelyfinished the last words, When his brotherdashed out the captain's brains ; and in amoment, before the least opposition couldbe offered, every European was laid dead onthe spot.

" The bodies being then stripped, wereplaced in the canoes, to be conveyed to thevillage and de vom ed, while George and apai ty of his men corresponding to the num-ber of the murdered whites, attired them-selves in the European clothes, and embark-ing in the boats, proceeded down the riverto join the ship ; which they too success-fully effected before any tidings had reachedthose on board respecting the bloody affair.

'* Here another dreadful scene of carnageensued. The viUagets, who, faithful to theirchief's orders, had been some time in theship, immediately began an indiscriminateof all those


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slaughter of all those on board, in whichthey were instantly joined by George and !his party, yet reeking with the l)lood of thehap'ess captain and his boat's crews ! Ter-ror and dismay seized aH on board, and ofthe whole crew and -passengers only fourescaped ! These were : Mrs. MoiJey, wifeof a publican of that name at Port Jackson,with her child; Miss Bioughton, daughterof the acting deputy commissary-general atPort Jackson ; and the cabin-boy, whosename was George, and who had behavedwith much kindness to the New Zealandchief during the voyage from New SouthWales. Even these were forced to concealthemselves during the sanguinary scene, andwere spared the next morning when disco-vered, tlie fury of the savages having bythat time in a great "measure subsided.

" During tire harry of tthe laughter sixor seven seamen took refuge vin the maintop,whither the murderer did not .choose topursue them ; -and they also might havebeen spared, were st not for tthe fc)\ow'wgcircumstance. T.ippahee, m. ohief from tlieBay of Islands, who had been Mo Port Jack-son twice, and was .friendly toward Euro-peans, happened *o put into Wangaroa -dila fishing patty while the .dreadful tragedywas acting. The sailors, immediately re-cognising him, 'besought 'him to-save themby taking them on board of 'his canoes, towhich he consented, desiring hera to leapoverboard and make the best idf their wayto him. In attempting this, however, someof them were overtaken and 'destroyed by 'he Wangaroans, while those who succeededin gaining the canoee -shared the same dafcq,,Tippahee not being'powerful enough toide-ifend them from the'fury'of their enemies. ]

" But the most horrible part of thisscene was yet to be performed, a scene at,which humanity must 'shudder-namely, the


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leaf, or the fall of the leaf. 6

gunpowder waa got on deck for, partition,among the natives, .somet whom went onshore with their allotments; while other,less prudent, remained on board, broodingover and ejqicing at the complet successof their bloody operations, which put themin possession of so great a quantity of thatWhich they prized above all other things.Among the latter Waa a chief who had pos-sessed himself of a musket, and pleasedwith Ins acquisition, was carelessly snappingit, to ascertain, as may be supposed, thegoodnes of the lock ; but happening torepeat the experiment over a quantity ofloose gunpowder, it ignited, and communi-cating with some that was lying on the deck, Iexploded, destroying several of the nativesthen on board. By this means the ship tookfire, and was quickly burnt to the water'sedge.

" Mr. Berry, then lying in the Bay ofinlands, on board the City of Edinbr',hearing of the melancholy occurrence, andunderstanding that four people had survivedthe massacre, in the most philanthropicmanner succeeded in ransoming them fromthe savages, and restored them all to theirft iends ; except Mrs. Morley, who died atLima."

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The Boyd Massacre Period Newspaper