| Narrative | According to Burke at al 2016, pp.151-2, 'On 16 April 1841' an 'overlanding part[y]' to Adelaide from Sydney, 'led by Henry Inman and consisting of 11 men and 5,000 sheep, was attacked on the banks of the [Murray] river "at a place 40 miles to the eastward of Lake Bonney". According to Governor Grey in a dispatch to Lord John Russell, the Secretary of state for the Colonies, "[a] body of natives from 300-400 strong ... forcibly took possession of the sheep, drays &c, and dispersed the Europeans, severely wounding two, and nearly killing another ... and this notwithstanding a strenuous resistance was offered, and at least one of the natives killed"
(Grey to Russell, 29 May 1841, cited in Burke at al 2016, p. 152). According to Burke at al, 2016, p.152, in reprisal, 'a group of volunteers, including Henry Field, a member of Inman's original party, James Hawker and Field's brother, Lieutenant William George Field, offered to recover the sheep, setting out on 7 May.' On 13 May, according to Governor Grey, they 'fell in with the same party of natives, between 300 and 400 strong, who attacked them, wounding one of their number, at the same time killing one, and wounding two, of their horses. The Aborigines eventually compelled them to a hasty retreat, although not without suffering a loss from eight to ten men on their own part' (Grey to Russell 29 May 1841, cited in Burke et al 2016, p.152). Burke et al locate these events in 'The vicinity of the Hornet’s Nest' (Burke et al, p 157). |
