ducks, bustards, pheasants, dugongs, turtles, crabs, and crayfish were innumerable. The pearl oyster was plentiful, and the natives wore on strings of their own hair round their necks pearl shells, ground into an oval shape. In Breakneck Harbour he saw beds of table oysters.
Thus though this expedition was mercilessly put about by the inventive mind of a convict, its members succeeded in acquiring information important to the colony. Several prominent gentlemen in Perth and Fremantle issued on 23rd July,1864, the prospectus of a company, proposing to take up this good land in Roebuck Bay. The provisional committee were: Lieutenant-Colonel Bruce, F. P. Barlee, Major Crampton, C. Wittenoom, G. Shenton, J. G. C. Carr, and J. Farmanar, with R. J. Sholl as secretary pro tem. The name of the Roebuck Bay Pastoral and Agricultural Association Limited was taken, and the capital was set down at £20,000, in £10 shares. A revised prospectus was issued on 1st August, when the estimated cost (including the purchase of 5,000 sheep, 20 cattle, 25 horses, a vessel of 50 or 60 tons, of arms, provisions and stores) was given for the first year as £10,000; second, £2,500; third (including erection of shearing shed), £3,500—total, £16,000. The profits were somewhat prematurely estimated at 7½ per cent. on the capital for the first year, 12½ per cent. on £12,500 for the second, and 18¾ per cent. on £16,000 for the third. Shares were applied for so rapidly that by the 31st August the list was closed, and tenders were called for stock, vessel, &c.
The Flying Foam was procured, and in October set out with an advance party, including the manager of the company, Mr. Jas. R. Harding, Mr. L. C. Burges, jun., assistant, and six other men. Mr. Panter accompanied Mr. Harding as a guest and was expected to be of great assistance in choosing good pasture, and pointing out a landing place and wells. Shortly after the departure of the Flying Foam a meeting of shareholders was held (22nd October), when Messrs. F. P. Barlee, G. Glyde, C. Wittenoom, S. E. Burges, E. W. Lander, G. Shenton, and Major Crampton were elected directors. Two vessels, the Nile and Hastings, conveyed stock to the scene of operations at Roebuck Bay, and sheep and cattle were landed without difficulty. The Nile carried 700 sheep. When the Flying Foam returned, Mr. Harding's report to the directors asserted that the country chosen was excellent, and Mr. Burges went so far as to inform them that the company's station would be one of the finest in the whole colony.
But horrible disaster befel Messrs. Harding, Panter, and Goldwyer. On 9th November, 1864, they left their camp to explore the country towards Lagrange Bay to the south. They took provisions enough to last for two or three weeks, and, as they did not return within that period, Mr. Burges searched for them. He tracked them to a mangrove creek in Lagrange Bay, where all traces were lost. When the Nile left Roebuck Bay on 4th January, 1865, after conveying stock, &c., the men were still missing. The news was received with consternation in Perth, and Mr. Maitland Brown generously volunteered to take the leadership of a search party which the Government despatched. The Clarence Packet left Fremantle immediately, and Mr. Brown was instructed to thoroughly scan the country between Roebuck Bay and Mr. Padbury's station on the De Grey. Soon after entering the wilds Mr. Brown and his party, comprising Messrs. Burges, Francisco, Williams, D. Brown, and two native policemen, Toovey and Dugdale, were told that about three months previously three white men with four horses were seen by the Wugnarry tribe at a river called the Boolu Boolu. The white men slept by the river, and next day the natives attacked them; the whites shot and killed three blacks, and the rest then ran away. The following night the natives, in increased numbers, stole upon the explorers, who were again asleep, and stuck spears through them all. Then, continues the terrible tale, the natives tried to pin them to the ground, but the white men rose and killed fifteen natives and drove the rest away. Knowing their adversaries to be wounded, the natives signalled for assistance from all around, and crowds of blacks collected and in broad daylight rushed upon the wounded men with spears and clubs. The whites were overpowered and killed, and their horses shared the same fate. This story was corroborated by several other blacks.
Mr. Maitland Brown seized two natives and ordered them to conduct him to the scene of the murder. With their usual tactics they led him astray by devious paths and attempted to escape, but the native policemen shot them. One, while dying, confessed to having been implicated in the murder. Finally, Mr. Brown and his companions found the bodies at Lake Ingedana (Boolu Boolu), in Lagrange Bay. They were close together, and a tent bad been partly drawn over Messrs. Panter and Harding. Nothing had been taken from the bodies. Upon the bough of a neighbouring tree hung a compass and a tether rope; scattered around were broken spears and clubs, and the baggage of the party. The body of one horse was found a few miles away with spears protruding. The unfortunate men were killed on Sunday night, 13th November, 1864. There were no signs of a struggle, and it appeared that they had been slain while asleep. The last entry in Mr. Panter's journal was dated 13th November. It read:—"Remained in camp. Early in the morning thirty-four natives came in; they left, but in a short time returned with spears, &c., and, as they appeared to be up to some mischief, we frightened them away by firing a revolver; they kept whispering and making signs we could not understand. In another hour we saw them again, sneaking behind some bushes, but when seen they ran away." There the journal ends.
While proceeding to the coast with the bodies, Mr. Brown's party was followed by large numbers of natives. On 6th April four of the rescuing band were decoyed into a mangrove ambush and attacked. They fought their way out again without loss or damage. Six natives were killed, and about twelve seriously wounded. The remains of the explorers were conveyed to Fremantle on the Clarence Packet, and on 17th May were buried in the Perth Cemetery in the sight of a large and sorrowful concourse of clergy, military, police, and private citizens. Mr. Maitland Brown was appointed a magistrate as a mark of distinction for his services, and was the recipient of a letter of thanks from Governor Hampton.
It would be considered that the tragic fate of these men would act as a deterrent to north-west settlement. But the colonist is not so easily dismayed, and settlers now went thither in greater numbers. As yet the pioneers were so few as to be at the mercy of the blacks, but the Government soon afforded them protection. In December, 1864, Mr. Taylor sailed for Nickol Bay in the Tien-Tsin with 900 sheep, six horses, and two cows. In the same year Surveyor-General Roe, who had returned to the colony and resumed his duties, compiled a well arranged pamphlet for distribution abroad, on the resources of the colony. It contained a copy of the land regulations, Captain Grey's description of the north-west, and the reports of Mr. F. T. Gregory, Mr. Panter, and others. No doubt this pamphlet, together with news from private sources, determined many wavering minds in Victoria and South Australia to take up north-western land. Towards the end of 1864 vessels left Victoria with settlers and stock for Western Australia. Some of these were
