In 1848 a report in the Geelong Advertiser , commenting on a tribal fight that took place near Port Fairy , said that one of the two blacks killed , describing him as '' a man who belonged to the Cape Otway tribe , the last of his race . '' The full details of this tragic report offer an indication as to how inter-tribal warfare , often the result of perceived sorcery and revenge , between the Aboriginals , accelerated the demise of many clans during the early colonial period : " Intelligence has reached town of a massacre which took place a few days ago , at Mr Allan 's Station , near Port Fairy . There has been an enmity of long standing between the Port Fairy and the Porrambeet tribes , commonly known as Allan 's and Manifold 's blacks . Several of the Port Fairy tribe were camped close to Mr Allen 's hut , where they deemed themselves in perfect safety . In the middle of the night , however , a party of the adverse tribe came upon them , and a sanguinary conflict ensued . The contest , however , was an unequal one , for the sleepers had not time to get their weapons , and the attacking party fell upon them with the fury of a pack of wolves . The whites in the adjoining hut were awakened by the yells and groans of the belligerents , but before they could interfere , the fight had become a flying one . The attacking party effected their retreat in safety ; one of the Port Fairy blacks was seen to drop down dead , and two others died in two days afterwards . The bodies of the sufferers were dreadfully mangled , there being from fifteen to thirty spear-wounds on each . Among the deceased is a man who belonged to the Cape Otway ( Gadubanud ) tribe , the last man of his race ... . The murderers are well known , but it is not likely that the government will take any steps for their apprehension , or even offer a reward for the discovery of the perpetrators " . " In the Port Phillip District there was constant inter-tribal conflict because Aborigines believed that all deaths were caused by sorcery practiced by hostile tribes , and that all deaths had to be revenged " By this time , the Otways were open to settlement . William Roadknight , who had formerly mustered a posse to help Smythe in hunting the Gadubanud , cut out a track through the valley of Wild Dog Creek to set up the first cattle station in the Otway peninsula . The destruction of the Gadubanud , who had practiced burn-offs to clear trails through the forests and bushland , restored the Otways to a state of wild regrowth that made travelling arduous , until the great January 1851 bushfire ravaged much of the Otway forests
great January 1851 bushfire
Black Thursday bushfires
Gadubanud