Solomon Islands. Massacre. H.M.S. Sandfly in Port Jackson. c1881

by The Graphic

Antique Print of The Massacre of Lieutenant Bower and five seamen of H.M.S. Sandfly in the Solomon Islands.

The rather graphic wood-engraved images published in The Graphic on January 29, 1881 are of  H.M. Schooner Sandfly in Port Jackson. The Attack on Lieut. Bower and the Boat's Crew. Finding the Bodies of Venton, Carne, and Paterson. The Natives Discovering Lieut. Bower in a Tree. Native Weapons.
The portraits engraved above these are of Surgeon Henry Grier, Army Medical Department Awarded the Albert Medal for Saving Life. Captain Alexander Lawrence Falls, 21st Regiment Killed by the Boers at Potchefstroom, Dec.17, 1880. Colonel Bellairs, C.B. Besieged in the Fort, Potchefstroom, Transvaal.

The Graphic periodical was an illustrated weekly newspaper which began production in 1869. It became the main competitor for The Illustrated London News. The wood engraved illustrations were of the highest standard of any newspaper, but with the advent of modern technology and photography in the twentieth century they deteriorated considerably. The Graphic ceased publication in 1923.