Tragedy Of 1901

When Two Papuan Miners Were Roasted and Eaten

By Edward Auerbach, Pioneer Prospector, now a Resident of the Trobriand Islands.

IN 1901, Tom Campion, Darkie Davis and W. MacClelland left Clunas & Clark’s store at Bogi, 60 miles up the Kumusi River, Papua, on a prospecting trip to the head-waters of the Kumusi (at the Papangi Plains).

They were in a creek which runs into the left or northern branch of the Kumusi, on the divide between the Kumusi and Mambare Rivers. The Ora kivas, the fierce, war-like natives of that region, came in with native food from Tweedie Village.

The prospectors bought the food from the natives and, as they seemed very friendly, the whites got careless. Cam pion and Davis were sitting on the bank of the creek, their rifles a few feet away from them, when about 12 natives came in with the foodstuffs. But a big party of natives had hidden in the bush, where they waited.

When the prospectors had moved away from their rifles, the Orakivas rushed them. One drove a pickaxe through Campion’s head and killed him. Others seized Davis, and tied him up.

Bill MacClelland was in the camp, nearby. One of their boys told MacClel land that the Orakivas had killed his two mates, so he dashed into the bush, and got away.

On the track MacClelland met Bill Whitten, who was on his way from Bogi to the Yodda, and the two men returned to Bogi, with the bad news.

Alec. Elliot was A.R.M. at Bogi. There were then five or six miners, including myself, at Bogi. We wanted to go, straight away, to the scene of the murder, but Elliot, being the A.R.M., and the man in charge, objected. He said he had only a few police, and he would try and get some local natives. We heard, afterwards, that the Orakivas had stolen most of his rifles, but no cartridges.

We waited there for two days, and then, as there was no sign of Elliot mak ing a move, we went off without him. We got to Tweedie Village, but we were too late. We rescued one indentured boy.

On making enquiries, we found that after the natives killed Campion and captured Davis, they brought both to their village. They tied Davis’ hands and feet together and carried him by slinging him under a pole, the same way as they carry a pig. They got him to their village and tied him to a post.

The natives roasted the body of Cam pion and ate it. They offered Davis a piece of this flesh to eat. I do not think he ate it, though he must have been starving.

Some time later, they roasted Davis while he was still alive and finally they ate him. We recovered the skulls of both Davis and Campion.

Bill Whitten went on to the Yodda.

When they learned what had happened, the miners on the Yodda formed a puni tive expedition to go out and punish the natives. J. Murphy and George Arnold (who died in Sydney a few months ago? took the lead. They found the Orakivas and they shot down everything they saw. They made a fairly good job of it.

About a couple of months after this, I brought Governor Le Hunt and his party up the Kumusi to Bogi in my launch “Balmain”. This affair came up, in the course of conversation, and the Governor told me that the miners had had no right to take the law into their own hands, in the way they had done.

He said he would see that they were punished.

I told him that if A.R.M. Elliot had gone out at once, he very likely would have saved Davis! Also reminded him that there were then about 300 miners on the Yodda; and, if he tried to punish those who had gone out on the punitive expedition, he would have to punish the lot; and I advised him to get a couple of regiments of soldiers from Sydney.

Before we got to Bogi, the Governor acknowledged that the miners had done thp rnrroct thineme corr.cb wring.

Billy MacClelland died a few years later, on the Yodda.

Mrs. Arthur Young, of Pitcairn Island, died on September 10, 1939, at the age y - SJ 16 was of Spanish descent; but her husband, Mr. Arthur Young, is a vonn? C of ntv’’^ lc ipman Edward °* B °unty fame, „ Mlss Marjorie Cooper, of Samara!, Pa P ua > recently commenced a nursing course at Ipswich General Hospital, w T ee sia “ a - .

Lance-Corporal M. Rylands, of the New Guinea contingent of the A.1.P., recently married Miss Joyes Fraser, of Croydon, N.S.W. He was formerly a member of the N.G. Lands Department.

Last year, 109 Papuan cases of T.B. were admitted to the Government Hos pital on Gemo Island, according to the annual report.