Swan River natives had a row among themselves, and speared two of their own women and one man very severely. Yet this occasion afforded me strong indication of the good feeling of these people; for I never before witnessed more genuine sensibility than was manifested by the husband of one of the women (a very young and pretty one, however); though wounded himself, he bore her in his arms to the hospital, and sat beside her all day, supporting her on his bosom. I hope that they will all recover; though some of their wounds are deep. The cause of the outrage has not been ascertained.
I was preparing to come away on Friday, when a messenger arrived to inform me that the natives had set fire to Mr. Shaw's hay, and driven away my sheep. The report I did not fully credit; and on arriving at home, found that the rumour regarding the abstraction of my sheep had originated in their having stayed away during the night, while under the care of a black man whom I now have with me; they returned like dutiful truants in the morning.
Captain Irwin, and Captain Ellis, superintendent of the native tribes, have investigated the particulars of what had occurred relative to the hay, to discover whether it had been destroyed designedly by the natives, or by accident. I rode with these gentlemen to the spot, about three miles distant; it appeared that the fire was not accidental, for three ricks, at a distance from each
