Page:Some account of the wars, extirpation, habits.djvu/76

68 an attacking party on his hard head with the butt of a pistol, in rescuing one of his company from the fury of several of them who had him down, was enlarged into murder, though the man was only stunned and made prisoner of by M'Kay. The manner in which he assails his old servant, even for years after, shows that forgiveness was not amongst his virtues.

The savages of this quarter were a very pugnacious set of fellows, and had long been the objects of the miscreancy of the sealers, and hated the white race accordingly, and they gave the conciliator of their people more trouble than any others, and never was he and his party in such danger of their lives as now, for which M'Kay gets the entire credit.

Of the four tribes inhabiting the north-west districts, he, with great trouble, removed three entirely, and four adults of the other; which last he calls the Tackine or Sandy Cape natives. They were found to number 23 persons, of whom four only were children; a quarter of a century before their strength was probably 50 times greater. The remnants of the three entire tribes that he now took, laid down their spears to him between the 19th of June and the 15th July, 1832, and the four Tackines came over to him on the 4th of September.

His account of these transactions is contained in two reports, dated 29th July, and 11th September, 1832, from both of which the following extracts are taken:—

"In my communication with the 'Tackine' or Sandy Cape natives, I had to encounter one of the greatest dangers that I had ever been exposed to during the whole of my long career in the aboriginal service. … These people came with the avowed purpose of massacring my aboriginal attendants and to have seized upon the women and dogs, and to have returned again to their own country. … The first indications of these aborigines were discovered on the 31st ult., (August), between six and seven miles north of the Arthur River. From those traces it was apparent that the natives had returned to their own country. They had been on a war expedition in quest of the people I had removed. … On my arrival to within one and a half miles of the river, I halted my people and formed an encampment. Three of the recently captured aborigines, with four of my friendly natives, I sent forward to proceed with all possible celerity, and to omit no endeavour until they had effected a communication, and which they considered they could do without my being present.

"On the 3rd inst., I set out to meet the natives, having the previous evening descried a large smoke, a signal that my natives had got to them, and which had been previously agreed upon