Yagan, whose portrait(by Mr. George Cruikshank) forms the frontispiece, was chief of the tribe of natives inhabiting the banks of the Swan, over whom his remarkable character had acquired an unusual ascendancy. He was strong and active, perfectly fearless, and the best spearsman of his tribe — but passionate, implacable and sullen; in short, a most complete and untameable savage. He very soon made his first essay against the settlers,by decamping with a bag of flour belonging to the commandant: the robbery was discovered, and a native, who gave information, led a party upon his trail with the quickness and sagacity of an Indian, until they found the flour, but not the thief, in a thick swamp. After leading his tribe in an unsuccessful attack upon the barracks at the Canning River — in which, it is said, he performed the romantic feat of burying the head of his spear in a tree from a distance of sixty yards — he was the principal actor in two murders, and a reward was offered by Government for his apprehension. For a considerable time he evaded pursuit, but was at length, with two other natives, enticed into a board by some fishermen, who pushed off into deep water, and, after a desperate resistance, secured him. Being removed for safety to an island off the coast, he made his escape, with his companions, and soon afterwards, accompanied by his own and another tribe, entered Fremantle in the night, and plundered the stores of a merchant, but not without the loss of one killed, and several who were wounded by the inhabitants, who fired on the marauders. To revenge this death, Yagan immediately proceeded to the Canning, and, having laid an ambuscade, killed two men who were driving a cart in advance of a party of settlers, who were moving up the river. He was now outlawed, and constantly pursued from place to place for three months. At length two brothers, shepherds, one eighteen the other fourteen, met him in the woods along with Weeip, a mountain chief, and five other natives. The boys instantly armed themselves each with a gun, and the elder, engaging Yagan in conversation until his head was in a line with the muzzle of his gun, shot him. The boys did not both escape; the elder was overtaken and speared. Yagan always shewed an inveterate hostility towards the Europeans. He certainly was a dangerous character, and decided steps were necessary to be taken, nor merely on account of his past behaviour, but also of a determination which he expressed, and would have no doubt carried into effect, of taking the lives of three "white men," in revenge for the death of his father, who had been shot by order of Government, upon being tried and convicted of murder. The justice of his death appears to have been recognised by his tribe; for after have propitiated the shade of their chief by taking — not, as had been their practice when one of their number had been killed by the Europeans, a white man's life, but — the lives of two individuals of an unoffending tribe, all hostility ceased, and a friendly feeling was soon established.
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Robert Dale (1834), Descriptive account of the panoramic view, &c. of King George's Sound, and the adjacent country:15–17.Yagan
On Saturday last, Yagan taking advantage of Mr. Watsons absence from home, he entered the house, and offered such violence as occasioned Mrs. Watsons hurrying in great agitation to the house of a neighbour for protection; finding his intention defeated, he endeavoured to remove her suspicions by calling her back and exclaiming "White Woman, very good! — good bye!" — but when he found his efforts unavailing, he made off in a different direction.
The report of this occurrence reaching the ears of Capt. Ellis, the Superintendent of the native tribes, he, accompanied by Mr. Norcott and two soldiers took advantage of the first appearance of Yagan in the town of Perth, on the Monday, to conduct him with other natives to Mr. Watson's house, for the purpose of explaining to them the punishment which would attend a repetition of such an attempt as Yagan had been guilty of; however, on reaching the spot, Yagan, who had been entrapped once before, conscious of his offence, and apprehending danger, started into the bush followed by the others of his tribe. Ryan one of the privates of the 63d. misunderstanding Capt. Ellis's order hastily fired, but without injuring any of them;—Captain Ellis rode after them, but could not prevail upon them to return. Yagan and Migo (the man who was supposed to have been wounded), have since been in the town, and the whole affair which has been magnified into a desperate attack upon the natives, has thus ended as the mere idle gossip of the day.Yagan
Do you recollect my having mentioned, some time ago, the murder of an outsettler on the Canning River by the natives? One of these, called Ya-gan, identified (on oath by a boy who escaped) as the principal actor, who took the spears from his companions and deliberately drove them one by one into the deceased (who had become entangled in a hedge while trying to escape), has been taken. The Government offered a reward for the apprehension of this Ya-gan, and some days ago he and two others, almost equally concerned, were seized by two boatmen, and brought to Perth: they had been fishing, and were enticed into the boat and there secured; they have been sent to Carnac, where they are to suffer solitary confinement and be taught our language. One of them escaped by swiming and diving across the river, where it is fully a mile in breadth.
Yagan
We have been informed by Captain Ellis of an interesting fact, that Yagan the native we alluded to in a previous number as the daring chief of the tribe, hurried to him in the greatest anxiety during the time the fire was raging, and wished to know whether suspicion rested upon black man or white man; on its being intimated to him that the fire was purely accidental, he evinced by his expressions and gestures great delight. He made every exertion to procure water, and stimulated others by his cry for mocha, mocha. This we believe may be relied on, and is a striking trait in his character.
Yagan
I would take the liberty of suggesting to Capt. Ellis, if report speaks truly, the impropriety of allowing Yagan to distribute the bread. The propriety of allowing any of the natives to do this at present, is, perhaps questionable. But the conferring this honor upon Yagan is a gross insult to Yellowgonga, who is the leading Chief on this side of the water.
Yagan
The White man never guessed at what the Red man saw and heard and felt. The White man brought death and emptiness to this place. The White man cut down wise old trees with much to tell; young saplings with many lifetimes of life ahead; and the White man never asked, Will you be glad to make a lodgehouse for me and my tribe? Hack and cut and chop and burn, that was the White man’s way. Take from the forest, take from the land, take from the river, but put nothing back. The White man killed animals he didn’t need, animals that did him no harm; yet if a bear woke hungry in the winter and took so much as a single young pig, the White man hunted him down and killed him in revenge. He never felt the balance of the land at all.
Orson Scott Card
Yagan
Yalom, Irvin D.
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