The south-western. [volume] (Shreveport, La.) 1852-1870, 1866-10-31
A Phase of Life in New Zealand.

Phase OF Life In New Zealand.
If any reader should be under the impress
sion that heinouS crimes were the incidents of
an artificial society, and would be unknown in
regions characterised by the simplicity and
abundance of primitive life, he will find
enough to dispel such an idea in the jsz2rma-
ton just received from New Zealand. The
scene is laid near Nelson, our thriving settle
ment on the north coast Of the middle island
On Tuesday, the 18th of last June, four
men, named Matthew, Kempthorne, Dudley
and Pontins, started for Nelson from place
called Deep Creek, carrying with them, as
was known, considerable amount of gold.
Their road lay through wild, half cleared
country, not by any means impossible, or, ex-
cept from human enemies, dangerous; but
still beset with natural difficulties and impedi-
ments. At one point this track was carried
by cutting up the side of steep mountain
thickly wooded. A long this track the four
travellers bound for Nelson had to proceed,
and when they did not make their appearance
at the settlement, where they were expected,
the alarm was Immediately taken, and an ex-
petition organised in colonial fashion for the
discovery of the truth. The first step was a
public meeting to invite subscriptions and en-
list volunteers, nor were either men or money
long wanting. In few hours forty volunteers
were prepared to start in search of the missing
travellers, and, the aid of some native scouts
having been obtained, the party set out They
soon came upon traces of a fearful deed. The
horse belonging to the travellers was found
shot through the head and tumbled into a gully
by the side Of the road; their bags and packs
were found cut open and rifed, nor could
there be much doubt about the fate of the
victims. In the meantime, however, and
before the search could be concluded, the
whole of the dark story had been unraveled
in another manner.
AS soon as the travellers were missed suspi-
cion had fallen upon four men, strangers to
the place, who had been hanging about for
some days, and they were arrested and put in
jail at Nelson. Their names proved to be
Levy, Sullivan, Burgess and Kelly, and as the
first was Jew, and it was thought that a
priest of his own faith might induce him
to confess, he was removed to separate place
OF confinement This proceeding, however,
reached the ears of Sullivan, AMI to have
alarmed him for his own safety, and so, wish
ing to be beforehand with his accompce, he
sent for an officer and volunteered full dis
closure of the deeds and practices of the gang.
The revelation proved to be far more shocking
than was expected, and opened up such a
view of things as Mortified the whole colony.
The four prisoners were in truth the murder
ers of the four travellers, but the crime was
not an accident or an exceptional event; it
was committed in the deliberate exercise of a
systematic profession. The prisoners formed
gang not only of robbers, but of assassins
Their regular practice was to put their victims
to death, if only for security's sake, OF in ODE
dience to rule. Being well armed, and taking
care always to be we'll posted, they were usu-
ally more than match for any party of tray
elers, but they were prepared also for the
chance of being outnumbered, and in this
case their resort was to poison. They had
provided themselves with supply of strych-
nine, and had proposed to join any party too
strong for them in the guise of friends, and
then destroy them by putting this poison in
their food. In this particular case, however,
they had not been compelled to adopt such
measures. They had gone to the cutting in
the wood, and had stationed themselves, two
in the road and one in the bush on each side.
When the travellers came up they were brought
to stop by the highwaymen in front, and
then, turning round, found all escape cut off
by the other two, who had sprang up in their
rear. Then followed the butchery. Kemp
thorne was shot through the head and died
nstantaneously. Pontins was killed in the
same manner but his body was horribly
bruised and mangled by heavy stones, which
the murderers had thrown upon him either to
complete their work or to conceal the corpse.
Matthew had no such easy death. The first
shot fred at him had struck one of his ribs
and glanced aside. Then his coat was opened
and knife plunged into his breast, but the
blade missed a vital part also, and he lived
still. At last another shot was fired, which
proved fatal, but all this time the unfortunate
victim was struggling with his hands, for
when his body was found, in a sitting posture
against the trunk of tree, his staring eyes,
open mouth and swollen muscles gave evidence
of most desperate commissions 1t seems that
by this time the ammunition of the gang was
running short, for no powder was expended
upon the murder of Dudley, who was slran-
ged with scarf
The particulars of these d,aadful disclosures
were Immediately forwarded to the volunteers
of the expedition, and the confession was yeri-
fed by the discovery Of the bodies at the ex-
act spot which had been specified. The scene
which ensued was strange and characteristic
AS each corpse was found. the bugles of the
party sounded, and the volunteers collected to
raise the body and carry it out to the road
A kind CT canvass hammock was slung to
couple of poles, in paanquin fashion, and in
this the corpse was placed till at length the
four bodies lay side by side on the bank, under
dreary sky and drizzling rain. Either the
climate or the bush had been favorable to
their preservation, for, though they had lain
l6 days on the wild hillside, they were in no
way decomposed nor had they been touched
by beasts. They were beached little by
rain and wind, but that was all and the
searching party, when nothing more was to be
learnt, returned to Nelson with the remains.
The great object now was to secure the
prisoners, so that the ends of justice might
not be defeated. Nelson is not large, nor is |
the colonial Jail exactly Newgate, but special
measures of precaution were at once adopted
Four cells were Immediately prepared and
lined with iron from top to bottom. In each