As the natives frequently caught more fish than was necessary for their own immediate use, and such of them as had lived amongst the colonists, were very fond of bread, rice, and vegetables; some pains had been taken to make them carry the surplus of what fish they caught near the head of the harbour, to Parramatta, and exchange it for bread, etc.  Several of them had carried on this traffic lately, and Governor Phillip had reason to hope that a pretty good fish-market would be established the ensuing summer.  Amongst those who thus bartered their fish, was a young man that had lived some months with the governor, but had left him from time to time in order to go a fishing:  his canoe was a new one, and the first he had ever been master of, so that it may be supposed he set no small value on it.

Strict orders had been given, that the natives’ canoes should never be touched, and the interest which both the soldiers and the convict had in inducing them to bring their fish, which they exchanged for a very small quantity of bread or rice, would, it might have been supposed, have secured them from insult; but this barter had not been carried on many days, when the young man just mentioned, came to Governor Phillip’s hut at Parramatta in a violent rage, said the white men had broke his canoe, and he would kill them:  he had his throwing-stick and several spears, and his hair, face, arms, and breast were painted red, which is a sign of great anger:  it was with some difficulty that he was made to promise not to kill a white man; which he at length did, on the governor’s telling him, that he would kill those who destroyed his canoe.  A short time afterwards, the villains were discovered and punished:  they were convicts, and the young native saw the punishment inflicted, yet it was thought necessary to tell him that one of the offenders had been hanged, with which he appeared to be satisfied; but, whilst these men were under examination, his behaviour showed, that he thought it belonged to him to punish the injury he had received; and three weeks after the loss of his canoe, when every one thought he was sufficiently repaid for his misfortune by several little articles, which Governor Phillip had given him, by his seeing the aggressor punished, and by his supposing one of them had been put to death, he took his revenge; which confirmed the general opinion, that these people do not readily forgive an injury until they have punished the aggressor.

A convict, who strayed some distance from the settlement, was met by two young native men, a woman, and two children, who passed by him, but immediately afterwards he was wounded in the back with a spear; several spears were thrown at him, and he received a second wound in the side; however, he got away; and as it did not appear that the natives followed him to get his cloaths, or attempted to take any thing from him, there was no doubt but the canoe being destroyed was the cause of this attack; especially as the same evening, when Governor Phillip was returning from Parramatta to Sydney, he saw some natives assembled round a fire, and asking them who it was that wounded the white man, he was immediately answered, Ballederry; (the owner of the canoe which had been destroyed) he was also told the name of the young man who was with him, and of the women and children.