Excerpt from the Diary of
Lieutenant Bradley
. . . "the Governor with a party went to the place
where the 2 men had been killed by the natives: the boat returned, leaving
them in a natives path which they meant to follow until they met with the
natives. The officer who was in the boat called at the Lieutenant-Governor's
farm as he returned & was there informed that a convict had killed 1 of the
natives some days before by cutting him across the belly with his knife. I
have no doubt but this native having been murdered occasioned their seeking
revenge & which proved fatal to those who were not concerned. They have
attacked our people when they have met them unarmed, but that did not happen
until they had been very ill treated by us in the lower part of the Harbour
& fired upon at Botany Bay by the French."
William Bradley (1758-1833), First Lieutenant of HMS Sirius, was a
solitary man who returned to England in 1791. He surveyed Port Jackson and
coastal waters, and illustrated his informative journal with many water
colour drawings.
