§ DR. CAMERON (Glasgow, College)asked the First Lord of the Admiralty, Whether he has received any Papers regarding the operations of a Naval Expedition reported to have visited Jeannet Island, New Guinea, and burned several Native villages, to avenge some murders committed by the inhabitants in October last; and, if so, whether he will lay them upon the Table of the House?
§ THE FIRST LORD (Lord GEORGE HAMILTON) (Middlesex, Ealing)Great excitement has been caused in the Australian Colonies by the massacre of Captain Craig and the crew of the Emily while pearl-fishing off Jeannet Island. An indignation meeting has been held at Cooktown, and the matter has been the subject of excited debate in the Queensland Parliament. Captain Clayton, in Her Majesty's ship Diamond, was sent by the Commander-in-Chief on the Australian Station to inquire into the matter; but from the information we have received it appears that he has been unable to punish the murderers, as they escaped into the bush on the approach of the ship.