In April 1833, a report spread that a ""landing" of 200 natives" had speared the ferryman, John Weavell, and his wife at their residence near Preston Point, which "brought nearly every male inhabitant of Fremantle to my house, some with guns without locks, some with guns without ammunition, others with ammunition without guns, some with pistols, others with bludgeons". It was later reported in the "Perth Gazette" that this was entirely false, with the "Gazette" decrying the "extravagant and absurd statements that are daily "got up"".