3-052 (Raw)

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General good order may be said to have prevailed up to a recent date, notwithstanding the hold which the agents of political agitation have recently acquired, under the peculiar circumstances of the times, over a large number of the miners, apparently, in all quarters; and, until latterly, the gold districts were equally distinguished, as heretofore, by a general conformity to the law and absence of crime. [17] One marked act of violence occurred during the month of July, which naturally has attracted general attention. This was the attack and robbery, on the 20th of the month, at a point about ten miles south-west from the camp at McIvor, of a private escort, composed of six men, conveying 2,323 ounces of gold, and 700£ in cash, towards Melbourne. The attacking party, consisting, it is believed, of eleven men, lay in ambush, and evidently attempted, by a general discharge of fire-arms, to kill or disable the whole guard. Their object was so far successful, that, although none Were killed, several were severely wounded, and the whole of the property carried off. Immediate steps were taken both by the police at McIvor and Bendigo, and by the authorities generally, to trace and secure the perpetrators of this daring act of violence, which had evidently been planned by practised hands, and I am glad to be able to report that the prompt measures taken, and the amount and character of the recompense held out, have resulted in the apprehension of the greater number of the persons supposed to be implicated; some of them having been secured on shipboard, on the point of sailing for England. A considerable amount of the plunder has been recovered, and as one of the number has turned approver, it is believed that there will be but little difficulty in bringing the crime home to them. When all the circumstances of the Colony, the real character of no inconsiderable portion of the population which has flocked to it since the gold discoveries, and the facilities which the broken, forested country, over which the long lines of road to be traversed by the gold escorts, offer to the perpetration of sudden acts of violence, are all taken into account, it would appear extraordinary that this outrage forms, so far, an isolated instance.
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