McIntyre, the Governor’s gamekeeper, is speared by Pemulwuy, a powerful warrior of the Bidgigal people. Phillip orders a revenge expedition to catch the culprits. They march to Botany Bay, with orders to bring back two men to be executed and the heads of ten more. The Botany Bay people are targeted because Bennelong has suggested that Pemulwuy comes from this area but more probably Pemulwuy’s people are the Bidgigal, the ‘woods tribe’ of the inland Georges River area. A party of fifty soldiers heads to Botany Bay but lose their way in the swamps. They find Coleby who tells them that Pemulwuy has fled long ago to the south. Following the failure of this expedition Phillip sends out another party in December. (Karskens, pp. 392-395)
