Threlkeld reports - groups of Aborigines are joining together in plundering expeditions

Threlkeld reports that groups of Aborigines are joining together in plundering expeditions, and are uniting with bushrangers: “Two young [Aboriginal] men who for months past have been supported at this establishment…were attacked by a party of Blacks consisting of about 30 males collected from Sydney, Brisbane Water, and the neighboring parts; The two with a female the wife of one…came up to our dwelling house, when the tribe immediately plundered our huts, threw their spears…After challenging my Son to fire they succeeded in carrying off provisions, blankets, and clothing, to a considerable amount…there exists a great probability of the coalition of the Bushrangers with the Blacks, being informed that there are…Squatters, in the vicinity of this Lake who receive the produce and have encouraged the Aborigines in their several predatory expeditions during the present year…” (Threlkeld’s 4th report, 7 Nov 1834, from Ebenezer on Lake Macquarie, in Blair, 2003, 29).