Hearing Wakefield's early cries to ceasefire and surrender, some constables, including surveyor Cotterell, threw down their weapons and stood motionless. The pursuing warriors, incensed at the brutal and unprovoked attack on them, killed the constables without thought.

The first constables to cross the stream were all cut down, their blood tinting the water red. Devoid of life, other bodies littered the banks. Like red ribbons their blood trickled between the rocks, a tributary of ...