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MESSRS. GELLIBRAND AND HESSE.
The Port Phillip Herald of the 12th July contains
further particulars of the melancholy deaths of those
two gentlemen. If the report be true, and there
appears no reason to discredit the statement, no doubt
remains as to the cruel murder of Mr. Gellibrand.
Mr. Hesse perished from starvation and bodily fatigue.
The particulars will be perused with painful interest.
" The following interesting narrative of the death of
these unfortunate travellers has been furnished us by
Mr. John Allan, brother to the actual discoverer of the
skeleton of Mr. Gellibrand. Mr. John Allan's state-
ment is not only strongly corroborative of that of his
brother, as it appeared in recent numbers of this jour-
nal, but contains many additional particulars not yet
published, which cannot fail to prove highly interesting
to our readers. We give the narrative almost in Mr.
Allan's words :-' About two years and a half ago, the
Messrs. Allan took possession of a station at the mouth
of the River Hopkins, which is about twenty miles to
the eastward of Port Fairy. They had not been long
in possession before they were informed by the blacks,
that about three years from that time there had been a
white man killed at a place called Barratt (a river about
fifteen miles to the westward of Cape Otway, which
comes from the interior in a north-north-easterly
direction,) and that another white man had been found
dead about fifteen miles further up the river, both being
described as "gentlemen." From this statement
although but imperfectly understood at the time
the Messrs. Allan suspected that the bodies alluded
to must have been the remains of Messrs. Gellibrand
and Hesse, who were last heard of somewhere about the
locality pointed out by the natives; they accordingly
lost no time in mentioning the circumstance to the
settlers in the surrounding country. The matter, how-
ever, owing to a want of confidence in the natives, and
other causes, ceased to be considered of any particular
moment, and was eventually dropped. About three
months ago Mr. John Allan accidentally fell into con-
versation with one of the Bethengall tribe residing near
his own station, who had married a gin from the Barratt
country ; from him he learnt that his gin had been
present at the murder of Mr. Gellibrand, when suck-
ling an infant now about seven years old, and that
she had seen the body of the second white man (Mr.
Hesse) up the river about fifteen miles distant, as
before described, lying with its face uppermost, un-
touched by either dogs or birds of prey. Mr. Allan
lost no time in finding out the black woman, and from
herself learnt that, at the time before stated, a white
man's (Mr. Gellibrand's) "cooey" attracted their
attention and caused them great alarm, never having
heard anything of the kind before. After considerable
difficulty and persuasion her tribe were induced to go
up to him, when he made signs to show his urgent
want of food, and at the same time gave them to under-
stand that another white man (Mr. Hesse) was in ex-
treme distress from the same cause further up the river.
Having administered to his wants, a party proceeded
in search of his comrade ; but the proffered aid came
too late-he was found dead. The tribe did all in their
power to make Mr. Gellibrand comfortable; but as he
refused to sleep in their " Miam Mias," they built him
one expressly for his own use. He lived with this
tribe on terms of perfect friendship for about "two
moons," when their privacy was invaded by a large
body of natives from the river Panyork, distant
about seven miles eastward of Cape Otway. The
Panyork tribe did all in their power to persuade
Mr. Gellibrand to join them ; but finding opposition
not only from him but the Barratt people, the stronger
party, in a fit of jealousy, sought an opportunity to
murder Mr. Gellibrand. Accordingly, on one fine
sunny morning, the Barratt tribe being out seeking
food, and Mr. Gellibrand at the camp alone mending
his trousers with kangaroo sinews, three of the Panyork
men went and talked to Mr. Gellibrand, and thus
taking him off his guard, one seized him from behind
by the throat, whilst another put two fingers up his
nostrils, the third jumping on his chest till life was
extinct; the murderers then decamped, taking with
them only the coat of their victim. When the Barratt
tribe returned and found what had been done, they
expressed great regret for the loss of their white
companion, and went into mourning after the known
native fashion-painting themselves white, and cutting
their foreheads, &c., but did not attempt to retaliate on
the Panyork tribe, as they were too strong for them.
They then buried the body, and threw his pistols and
(gold ) watch into a creek adjoining the spot. From
the foregoing statement of the black gin, Mr. Allan
made further enquiries, and being fully persuaded of
the truth of the woman's story, he sent his brother
Henry with two lads belonging to the Barratt tribe to
search for the skeleton. His report is as follows:-
After travelling about thirty miles along the coast, they
fell in with the Barratt tribe, a very small one, only
seven in all ; one of the number was the very man
under whose care Mr. Gellibrand had placed himself
and who had buried him and mourned over his grave.
Mr. Henry Allan immediately pressed him into his
service, and travelled about twenty miles further along
the coast, the whole distance being one mass of scrub.
They at length arrived at a spot which the old man
pointed out as Mr. Gellibrand's grave, describing at the
same time how he had placed the body, his hat and
trousers under its head, &c. Mr. Allan then began to
remove the sand very carefully, and, at the depth of
about fourteen inches, came upon the skeleton exactly
as described by the black ; under the skull he found
part of a black beaver hat, part of a pair of trousers
lined with leather, several buttons, and under the wrist
bone of one arm a pearl button. The skeleton was
perfect, with the exception of one knee, which was
a little burnt ; for this we have previously accounted.
Mr. Allan having taken possession of the skull, went
in search of the pistols and watch ; but the weather
being particularly stormy, and the rain falling in
torrents, the blacks refused to pursue the search any
further. They then, however, pointed out the place
where the body of Mr. Hesse was last seen by them
and promised, when the weather would admit of it, to
go another time. They stated the white man had died
from fatigue or hunger, and that he had dark hair.
The remains of Mr. Hesse, they said, were about
fifteen miles distant up the river in a direct line from
Lake Colac. The skull, which is in Mr. Allan's
possession, shows the loss of one of the front and three
of the back teeth; the rest are very fine, rather large,
and regularly set, with the exception of one in the
lower jaw, which is a little overlocked. The murderers,
Mr. Allan tells us, are well known, and have recently
been seen by him ; one of them is a most ferocious
looking character, with a cut lip.'"
From the circumstances already detailed in this
journal, there can exist no doubt but that the skeleton
found by Mr. John Allan was Mr. Gellibrand's.
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