Corporal Larnach’s Report 30 January 1833

 To Sgt. Brickley,

This morning my resolve that the local natives have had a hand in the disappearance of the work troupe has been strengthened. An ill mood had descended on our camp once night was upon us, a feeling of being watched. I tasked Private Stubbs with the first watch. The sounds of the bush can play tricks of the mind, and at first I dismissed the disturbances, but their severity was such that it soon became apparent that we were being harassed. They tested our nerves and reserve, never coming close enough for us to glimpse them; they stayed just outside the light of the campfire. They snapped sticks that must have been as thick as my arm; they clapped stones together, loud enough for the sound to be heard for miles. Poor Private MacDougall was struck with a rock the size of a man’s fist. Was this how it started for Mr. Bigge and his men? Flynn said they are trying to frighten us away, and that if we were another group of natives it might have worked. They imitate a spirit of the bush and its warnings to stay away.

I might have ordered a perimeter search, but the exercise would have no doubt been fruitless, our ability to see in the night ruined by the fire light. After a lull in activity another rock landed in camp. I ordered Private MacDougall to return fire. Our own warning seemed to have made the correct impression, and their activity ceased.

They are a primitive lot these local natives. They left us a rather unpleasant gift of mattered hair in a shape like that of a birds nest, and inside the nest a handful of bones. The hair seemed to be part human and part animal. I have collected the specimen as evidence. Private Stubbs is a good lad and carries the parcel despite its stink.

We set off north east to where the river meets the mountains.

Corp. H Larnach.