Affray of Aboriginal Tribes, three miles from Brisbane, New South Wales.

Colonial engraving of aboriginal tribes fighting 3 miles from Brisbane, Queensland which was at that time part of New South Wales.

A contemporary account of the Affray;
That on December 22nd 1853 one of those barbarous and disgraceful scenes was enacted among some of the aborigines, which are usually termed a war or fight, but which should rather be looked upon as the superstitious ceremonies of a religion of which very little is known.
The scene of the conflict was a fine green flat, above a mile beyond Burnett’s Swamp: and here, on the afternoon of the above day, were assembled a number of blacks of the Amity Point, Logan, Bribie’s Island, and Ningy-Nigny tribes-the former being opposed to the two latter:
in all they amounted to about one hundred and fifty-men, women, and children. The cause of the quarrel was, a Logan black, called Harry having a stolen a gin or female of one of the opposite tribes. The battle commenced by her father running at Harry with a sharp knife, about
half foot in length. The latter was armed with a similar instrument and, locked in each other’s arm, a most sanguinary conflict ensued, in the course of which both parties received some very severe stabs in the back and about the ribs. A partial encounter with the waddy and coontan
then took place along the hostile lines, ending with a great melee, in which the spears and boomerangs flew about with great rapidly: and in the course of which the blacks displayed great tact in the use of their small shields. At last the Amity Point and Logan Blacks were routed
(they were much less in number than the others),  and it was then discovered that one of the Bribie Islanders was killed. The poor fellow had received a spear through the right breast: it entered near the arm pit, and must have penetrated the right lung, for he died within ten
minutes of receiving the wound. 

From the original edition of The Illustrated London News.