Disappearance of Dutton and Party 2

It was on February 22, 1843, that the Rev. Mr. Schumann reported to the Government Resident at Port Lincoln that during the previous week he had received reports about Dutton's party from friendly natives, who had received the information from other natives, who likewise had received it from some others who had seen the site of the catastrophe. That is, to reach Mr. Schurmann the tale was repeated three times.

The report said that Ngayalta and other natives saw Dutton and advised the party to go no further as there was no water on ahead, only to receive the reply, "No, no, Adelaide, Adelaide."

These blacks carried water to the party, receiving bread in exchange. Some time afterwards the natives found the dray, fast in a rocky creek and the camp close by. The tarpaulin was tied to some trees. For some reason the whites had abandoned the shelter of the tarpaulin, and taken shelter under some shady bushes, where they were found dead. They had dug, unsuccessfully, for water. The natives helped themselves to the clothing that was lying about, but did not lake any clothes off the bodies, nor did they take any of the flour, but they did later on when they had been told how to use it. The cattle had all gone back. It could not be said whether the party had killed any of the cattle, to get the blood to drink. The friendly natives could not say where the end happened, but to the "north of 'Pe-pu-nga' or Mount Young." Mr. Schurman pointed out to them that north of this, cattle tracks only were seen, but no dray tracks. The blacks replied that the dray went more inland and the cattle followed along the coast, and subsequently the two sections joined again. He also suggested that Ngayalta and his comrades murdered the white party, but they denied this very positively. The Government Resident did not make any comment when forwarding Mr. Schurmann's letter for the information of the Governor.

ANOTHER NATIVE REPORT

Two years lapsed, and the Government Resident, under date April 1, 1845, in forwarding his quarterly report on the natives, stated that Mr. Schurmann had advised him that two natives had brought in a report respecting the death of Mr. Dutton. The Resident stated, "On this subject the natives have uniformly stated that the whole party perished, but until now they have as uniformly assigned want of water as the cause of their death. Two years previously Utulta and another native described the relative positions of bodies, and in the case of Mr. Dutton even the position of the deceased. That account, like the present, was avowedly given on hearsay only, and the scene of the catastrophe was then laid about one hundred miles nearer to Port Lincoln than the spot indicated in Mr. Schurmann's letter."

The context of this letter is that two Port Lincoln natives, Mulgilti and Munarabidni, who had returned from a trip to the north, gave a fresh and to the missionary's idea a more probable account of the death of Dutton, than the former statement of the natives. The new account was that the parly was about to cross the head of Spencer's Gulf, when it was attacked by a tribe called Nukunnu, whose dialect, manners and implements differed from those of the tribe about Port Lincoln. The natives related that the scouting portion of the white party came upon some native women, whom they took hold of by the wrists, on which the women cried and shouted, bringing the men "all on the run" flinging away their spears and skins. On reaching the scene they despatched the whites with their waddies, without any losses on the blacks' side, the guns of the white men being broken. On the main body coming up with the dray they were killed in the same manner as their companions.

SCENE OF MURDER

The natives possessed themselves of the clothing of the party, but the flour was spilt on the ground, the natives not understanding its use. Some of the bullocks are said to have perished in their yokes, fast to the dray, which agrees with a similar and former statement of the natives. The narrators had not been at the scene of the murders, but others of their tribe who were there afterwards had told them of it. But even these could not find the bodies or boxes of the murdered party, but saw only the dray and heard about the above particulars from the tribe who perpetrated it. Mr. Schurmann wrote, "As well as I can make out from the description of the natives, the scene of the murder is somewhere on the creek or swamp to the north of the termination of the Gulf where the party were endeavouring to find a crossing place."

Carnegie, the Western Australian explorer, in 1896, in his lecture to the Geographical Society (England) on his explorations in Western Australia, gives his experience of catching natives to learn from them where water holes could be found. He said, "A young gin or small boy would always show us their camp and wells without much hesitation, a buck sometimes, but an old lady never ; they are the hardest to manage, and are quite untameble, yelling and screaming, kicking and scratching and biting and possibly cursing until one is by no means sorry to be quit of them."

If Mulgilti's tale was true, we can with the aid of Carnegie's description picture Dutton's dilemma, parched for water, coming across the black "ladies" who could tell them where water could be got ; the struggle with them until the males came to their rescue of their wives and despatched Dutton.

CONFLICTING VERSIONS

Hailes's version of the native tale contains some additional information. Unfortunately it is difficult to reconcile the versions of Schurmann and Hailes, unless we come to the conclusion that Hailes has incorporated the two native reports (1843 and 1845) and made them appear as one. Before Hailes left Port Lincoln (he resigned his official position on January 31, 1846) he said Dutton's horse and several head of cattle made their way back to Pillaworta. "Shortly after, a native of a neighbouring tribe communicated such information respecting the fate of the party is convinced me of its accuracy," he said. "Having accompanied them for three days, I had sufficient knowledge of their mode of proceeding to test genuineness of his narrative."

The native described the five individuals of the party. Dutton's height was indicated by holding the hand in a relative position, also pointing out peculiarities of his countenance. Cox's relative shortness was described, and by touching the face here and there, indicating the pitting, a result of smallpox. The native described the others equally well. He was taken to the settlement and his statement was recorded in the court-house. Hailes refers to only one native while Schurmann speaks of two. Hailes's account states that Dutton and Cox came upon a party of women preparing to camp. One woman was captured, the others making off shrieking, which brought back the men, who killed the two with waddies; Haldane coming up with the dray shared the same fate, and the tragedy was completed on the arrival of Graham and Brown with the cattle, the fatal waddies being inflicted also on them."

CAPTURE OF WOMEN

G. French Angas in his "Savage Life etc.", gives an account substantial to the above. Shortly, he states, two women were caught, probably to detain them in order to elicit information respecting water holes. He tells us that the "natives possessed themselves of the clothing, but the flour they scattered on the ground, being totally unacquainted with its use. Mr. Dutton's horse and several of the bullocks returned to their accustomed pastures at Port Lincoln." Angas's account would probably be written in 1843, when he was at Port Lincoln.

J. C. Hawker, in his "Early Ex-periences" wrote, "After many years the natives acknowledged that the whole party was murdered. It was noticed at the time of Mr. Dutton's departure that the aborigines cleared out from Port Lincoln district very suddenly. Their object, they said, was to avenge themselves on Mr. Dutton for his having made prisoners of natives, and had them punished for various delinquencies on his station."

This is another of those flights of fancy and leads the reader astray unless checked with other reports. The natives, no doubt, had left the district, but that was on account of being chased by the military and police, after the murders of Brown, Biddle and their employes. If any credence can be placed on the tale told by the blacks to Mr. Schumann, it was not local blacks that murdered Dutton, but members of a tribe further north.

McLean in his "Reminiscences" gives the following information (I have not seen the account referred to elsewhere) : — "One day I saw Henry and Bob, two of the natives, who accompanied me on the Port Lincoln expedition ; they brought me a letter which informed me that Mr. Tennant and Mr. Anderson had arrived in Port Lincoln country with sheep from Adelaide, and that they had come on Dutton's dray, and underneath were the bodies of the whole of the unfortunate party, but it was impossible to tell how they came by their death. The place where the dray was found was but a short distance from where Messrs. Eyre, Rose, McCulloch and I quitted the track. Had Mr. Eyre followed up we should have known more of their fate, though they must have been dead then. So ended the days of my old friend Sandy McDonald."

ANOTHER SITE SUGGESTED

Rodney Cockburn gives quite a different version of the site of Dutton's death, in his "Pastoral Pioneers." After recounting Dutton's activities and his disappearance, he said, "But he was not heard of again until twenty years later, when his bones and riding whip were found not many miles from the south end of Lake Torrens and close to what is now known as Dutton's Bluff." Cockburn was so careful and conscientious in gathering information for his lives of the pastoralists that one scarcely dares to question this account of his. However, I have not been able to get any confirmation as to the accuracy of this version.

Mrs. Roy Bruce, previously mentioned, stated that she remembers one of her parents saying that Dutton's gold watch was found, but she cannot give any particulars, neither can she recollect hearing that the bodies or dray were ever found.

Dutton's Bluff and Lake Dutton were named by Babbage in 1857 after Mr. F. S. Dutton, the Commissioner of Crown Lands. It is regretted that the present search has not definitely revealed the fate of the party. Mr. Driver found that the blacks brought him many tales of other alleged events, which he distrusted, but this particular one (1845) regarding Dutton he seemed to place reliance upon. To me the verdict must still be the "Mysterious disappearance of Dutton and his party."