But this attention so exasperated his wife, and put her in such a rage, that those who were present at the time could not, without some difficulty, prevent her from knocking the girl on the head with a club which she had taken from one of the men for that purpose; nor did her husband seem inclined to prevent her till he was spoke to, when he gave her a pretty smart slap on the face; on this, his wife left them crying with passion, and came over to the governor's house, where the girl was now brought for greater security, and was followed by several men.
Governor Phillip had ordered the girl to be put into his maid servant's room, with which Bannelong seemed pleased, and desired him to let the young man who had remained with her at the surgeon's, stay there likewise; in the mean time, his wife was very noisy, and used many threats; she had got her husband's spears, which she sat down upon, and would not give them up to a soldier, whom the governor had ordered to take them from her, until force was used; and when the soldier had them, Bannelong wanted to take them from him, saying he would give them to the governor: they were then delivered to him, and he immediately gave them to Governor Phillip, making signs for them to be put into the house: this, at a time when there was a guard of soldiers drawn up in the yard, and when he was telling his companions, that the soldiers would fire, showed that he placed some confidence in the governor; though at the same time, he was very violent, and appeared very much inclined to use his club against those who prevented his going into the house; and one of the natives who was generally his companion, seemed ready to support him in any attempt he might be disposed to make.
On this they were given to understand, that if any of the soldiers were struck, they would be put to death, and Governor Phillip immediately ordered them all to be turned out of the yard, except Bannelong and the young man he had desired might remain with the girl: Bannelong's wife was turned away amongst the rest, but this did not prevent his staying to dinner, and behaving with the same indifference as if nothing had passed; and, in the evening when he was going away, a scene took place which was little expected: the young man who had been so desirous of remaining with the girl, would now go away, and the girl cried, and forced her way out of the room to go with Bannelong: she was brought in again, and told if she went away she would be beat, but Bannelong said he would not beat her, neither was his wife angry with her now; and the young man pressed Governor Phillip very much to let her go, saying Barangaroo would not beat the girl, as her passion was over, and she was now very good.
As the information of Barangaroo's anger having so entirely subsided, could only have been brought by a boy, who had returned to the house in the afternoon, the governor was not the least inclined to let the girl go away; but there was no possibility of detaining her unless she was confined, and there appeared so much sincerity in Bannelong's countenance, when he said she should not be beat, that leave was given, and the moment the girl was without the gate, she ran towards Bannelong's hut, without waiting for those who were going along with her.
Governor Phillip himself was fully persuaded that Bannelong would keep his word, but the general opinion was, that the girl would be sacrificed; and in the evening, a considerable number of natives being seen about the hut, gave rise to various stories; but the next day, Bannelong came to dinner, and said, he had sent the girl to her father, which was afterwards confirmed by others.
How Bannelong got this girl into his possession could not be learnt; but it appeared she was the same girl whom he went to look after when he ran away from the settlement: she appeared to be about fifteen years of age, and when she went away, her wounds were in a fair way of doing well: fortunately for her, the weapon which had first presented itself when Bannelong beat her, was a boy's wooden sword, and made of very light wood; but these people pay little attention to wounds, and even those which by the faculty are deemed dangerous, do not seem to require the common attention of closing the lips of the wound and keeping it clean; this shows that they must be of a most excellent habit of body.
Governor Phillip having occasion to go to Rose-Hill, Bannelong said he would accompany him: accordingly they set out, and stopped at the point, in order to take Barangaroo into the boat; but she refused, and persuaded her husband not to go. On the governor's return to Sydney, he was informed that this party had been lamenting the loss of a brother, who had been killed by one of the Cammeragals: the women were crying in the usual manner, but their grief was not of long duration, and Bannelong went to breakfast with some officers, who, hearing the womens' cries, had gone to the hut to learn the cause; and as they were going down the harbour to look after a small boat belonging to the hospital, which had been lost, with five convicts, he desired them to land him on the north shore, in order, it was supposed, to collect all his friends, and revenge his brother's death.
However, he was seen soon afterwards with some of the Cammeragals, who were collecting the wild fruits which were now in season; so that he must have been misunderstood as to his intention of fighting with the Cammeragals; nor can we account for his being frequently with a tribe whom he always spoke of as bad, and desired Governor Phillip to kill; and what was equally mysterious, a man belonging to the Botany-Bay tribe had for more than a fortnight slept at his hut, though he said the man was bad, and spoke of him as his enemy.
The party who went in search of the boat found the wreck of her, and one of the bodies; as the boat had been seen under sail when it blew hard, it should seem that the men sent in her did not know how to manage her, and were driven on the rocks. Several natives assisted in saving the oars and other articles that were driven ashore; and Colebe, who was on the spot, exerted himself greatly on this occasion, and saved the seine, which was entangled amongst the rocks: for these services, they were all rewarded with blankets and some cloathing.
But, however well you may cloath these people, they generally return naked the next day. Of all the cloaths and the multiplicity of other articles which had been given to Bannelong, very little now remained in his possession; his shield, and most of his cloaths, were, by his own account, sent a great distance off; but whether he had lost them, or given them away, was uncertain.