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BLAZING THE TRAIL.
Earlv Tragedy Recalled.
(By T. F. Christie.)
Behind the brief reference in Tuesday s
issue of 'The West Australian'' to the
tragic death of Police Inspector Panter
and Constable Goldwyre, lies a poignant
story of the splendid pioneering ettorts
of two brave men. of their heroic strug
gles against the perils and dangers of the
bush, and of their final doing to death by
savage blacks lusting for the blood of the
white' men.
Towards the middle of 18(54, Perth was
thrown into a turmoil of excitement whet:
it became known that a convict imprisoned
in one of the local gaols held the secret
to unlimited hoards of gold. Serving a
term of fifteen years' imprisonment, con
vict Wild man had formerly been a ship's
officer. His story was to the effect that
whilst his ship was being repaired nei;
Camden Harbour in 1856, he had made
several trips up the river and had i -wired
n number of fine specimens of gold. What
he had found in his spare time realised no
less than £416 in Liverpool he stated. The
Government of the day made inn'iirsos r
the subject, closely questioned Wildman,
and eventually agreed to help send au ex
pedition to the North-Wes't to test the
convict's story. For his part Wildman
was confident of success, and expressed
his willingness to lead the party to the
place where gold abounded. His only
stipulation was that, should his story Ik:
confirmed, the remaining portion of his
sentence was to be remitted- Helped l-v
?i Government grant of £150, the expedi
tion was duly formed. Dr. Martin was
appointed botanist. Inspector Pantev
lender, the party including Messrs. Turner.
Stokes, Languulant, F. and II. Caporn.
Scott, Dn Boulay, and Wildman, and
several natives.
Wildman's Story haise.
The expedition was destined to find no
:old. WHdinan was either obstinate or
ltteiupled to clothe a false story in tin
ruise of truth. He did not attempt tc
:o-opcrate with the party, who could get
so satisfactory answers from the refract nrj
M'isoner. The expedition's visit to tha
North-West was not. however, without re
mit. The ship called in at Roebuck Bay.
ind Panter and others made inspections of
:he surrounding country. Panter praised
he country very highly, whilst Dr. Mar
:in referred in eulogistic terms to the
fertility of the district, its suitability fot
pastoral purposes, the abundance of peail
shells and general attractiveness. The re
mit of th.'.se laudatory descriptions waf
??een in the formation of the Roebuck
Bay Pastoral and Agricultural Company
Limited. The provisional comiuitteeinen
:)!' this concern were Lieut.-C'olonel Biueu.
I1'. P. Barlec. Major Cramptou, (i. Shii,
ton. C. Wiltenoom. J. G- C. Carr, (J.
Karmnncr. am! R. J. Sholl. who was ap
pointed secretary. The company had e
:apital of £20.000 in £10 shares. So eager
»vas tlie public to subscribe to this com
puny that all the available shares were
snapped up by August, 1S64. The Flying
Foam, a sturdy littla packet, was fittea
Diit in the following October, and nu ad
v.iiice party set out to prospect the fertile
area which had been so attractively de
scribed. Members of this party wei-p
Messrs. J. R. Harding, L.' C. Burgos, and
several otiiers, whilst inspector i/auter ? .:
veiled as a guest of the company. Tv .
other vessels, the Nile ard the Hastings
rcere chartered to convey several hundroi.
head of stock to Roebuck Bay; wl^rt
they were to be pastureu on some very f ?:
tile country.
Disaster overtook the advance party.
On November 9, Panter, Harding and Con
stable Goldwyre left camp with the object
of exploring the country in the vicinity of
La Grange Bay. They took with them arms
and ammunition and supplies of food sut
Scient to last them for three weeks. When
that period had elapsed and the three men
bad not returned to the mam camp. Burges
became anxious. Efforts to locate the miss
ing men failed and when the Nile lert
Roebuck Bay in January, 1865, on the re
turn trip to Fremantle, it carried word
that the three were still missing.
Massacred by Blacks.
When the bad news reached Perth, the
Government of the day lost no time in lil
ting up an expedition aud sending it out to
search for the missing men. Mr. Maitlaiul
Brown was placed in charge of the search
party which set out to make a thorough
investigation from Roebuck Bay to Mi.
Padbury's location on the De Grey river.
Soon after entering the bush, the search
party was informed by natives that three
white men with four horses had been seen
some months previously at the river Boola
Boola. The natives stated that the white
neu slept by the river and were attacked
jy aborigines on the following day. On that
)ccasion, they had been able to drive oil'
;heir assailants without injury to them
selves. The blacks had waited for nightfall
ind attacked again. Several of their num
ber had been killed and one or two of the
white men injured. With devilish persist
?nce, the blacks continued their attacks
until the weakened white men had fallen
victims to the savage natives and had been
viciously speared and clubbed to death.
Further inquiries made confirmed the orig
inal story that had been told. Two of the
informers were seized and told to lead the
search party to the spot. Trying a trick,
the prisoners temporarily escaped, but were
subsequently shot by the native police men
in the search party.
The culmination of the searchers' efforts
was reached when the mutilated bodies
were discovered near Lake Indegana, La
Grange Bay. Inspector Panter's diary was
found nearby, The last entry was date-1
November 12 so the tragedy happened four
days after leaving the starting point. Tut
last entry was as follows:—
'Remained in camp. Early in the morninu
thirty-four natives came in but left und
later' returned with spears, and as they
kept whispering and making signs we could
not understand, and looked up to mischief,
we frightened them away by firing a re
volver, lu another hour we saw them again
sneaking behind some bushes but when
seen they ran. away.'
Numbers of natives followed the rescue
party back to tlie coast and continued
their attacks. On one occasion with master
ly cunning, the natives led the party into
an ambush, and only by fighting mightily
did the whites emerge unharmed. The
natives were not so fortunate, and numbers
of dead and dying blacks testified to the
severity of the encounter.
The remains of the gallant pioneers were
conveyed to Fremantle and buried in the
East Perth Cemetery on May 17, 1865.
Panter and Goldwyre's efforts in the
early pioneering stages are to-day com
memorated in a neat monument erected
on the Fremantle Esplanade.
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