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diff --git a/30607.txt b/30607.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8ab06d6 --- /dev/null +++ b/30607.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12292 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Australia, its history and present condition, by +William Pridden + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Australia, its history and present condition + containing an account both of the bush and of the colonies, + with their respective inhabitants + +Author: William Pridden + +Release Date: December 5, 2009 [EBook #30607] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AUSTRALIA--HISTORY, CONDITION *** + + + + +Produced by Nick Wall, Anne Storer, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + +Transcriber's Notes: +1) Morrumbidgee/Murrumbidgee each used on several occasions + and left as in the original. 'Morrumbidgee' is the aboriginal + name for the Murrumbidgee. +2) Used on numerous occasions, civilisation/civilization; + civilised/civilized; civilising/civilizing; uncivilised/uncivilized: + left as in the original. +3) Same with variations of colonisation/colonization, and a few other + "z" words that should be "s" words in their English form. + + + * * * * * + + + + + The + Englishman's Library. + XXVI. + + + + + AUSTRALIA, + + ITS HISTORY AND PRESENT CONDITION; + + CONTAINING + AN ACCOUNT BOTH OF THE BUSH AND OF THE COLONIES, + WITH THEIR RESPECTIVE INHABITANTS. + + BY THE + REV. W. PRIDDEN, M.A. + VICAR OF BROXTED, ESSEX. + + + "_Truth_, in her native calmness and becoming moderation, shall + be the object of our homage and pursuit; and we will aim at the + attainment of knowledge for the improvement of our reason, and not + for the gratification of a passion for disputing."--_Address of + the Bp of Australia in 1841 to the Church of England Book Society._ + + + LONDON: + JAMES BURNS, 17, PORTMAN STREET, + PORTMAN SQUARE. + 1843. + + + + + LONDON: + PRINTED BY R. CLAY, BREAD STREET HILL. + + + * * * * * + + + + +[Illustration: Map of Australia] + + + + +PREFACE. + + +A few words by way of Preface are requisite, in order that the objects +of the present Work may be stated to the reader, and that he may also +be made acquainted with the sources whence the information here +communicated is derived, and from consulting which he may still +further inform himself concerning Australia. The aim of the writer of +the following pages has been,--while furnishing a description of some +of the most flourishing and interesting settlements belonging to the +British Crown, which, at the same time, exhibit in contrast to each +other the two extremes of savage and civilised life;--to call the +attention of his countrymen, both at home and in the colonies, to +the evils which have arisen from the absence of moral restraint and +religious instruction in colonies of civilised and (nominally) +christian men. And although it must in many ways be a disadvantage +that the person professing to describe a particular country should +have gained all his knowledge of it from the report of others, without +ever having himself set foot upon its shores; yet, in one respect at +least, this may operate advantageously. He is less likely to have +party prejudices or private interests to serve in his account of the +land to which he is a total stranger. In consequence, probably, of his +being an indifferent and impartial observer, not one of our Australian +colonies wears in his eye the appearance of a perfect paradise; but +then, on the other hand, there is not one of those fine settlements +which prejudice urges him to condemn, as though it were barren and +dreary as the Great Sahara itself. And the same circumstance--his +never having breathed the close unwholesome air of colonial +party-politics--will render it less likely that his judgment +respecting persons and disputed opinions should be unduly biassed. +There will be more probability of his judging upon right _principles_, +and although his facts may (in some instances, unavoidably) be less +minutely accurate than an inhabitant of the country would have given, +yet they may be less coloured and less partially stated. Instead of +giving his own observations as an eye-witness, fraught with his own +particular views, he can calmly weigh the opposite statements of men +of different opinions, and between the two he is more likely to arrive +at the truth. With regard to the present Work, however impartial the +author has endeavoured to be, however free he may be from colonial +passions and interests, he does not wish to deceive the reader by +professing a total freedom from all prejudice. If this were desirable, +it is impossible; it is a qualification which no writer, or reader +either, possesses. But thus much may be stated, that all his +prejudices are in favour of those institutions with which it has +pleased God to bless his native land. In a volume that is intended to +form part of a series called "The Englishman's Library," it may be +permitted, surely, to acknowledge a strong and influencing attachment +to the Sovereign, the Church, and the Constitution of England. + +The object and principles of the present volume being thus plainly +set forth, it remains only to mention some of the sources whence the +information contained in it is derived. To the Travels of Captain Grey +on the western coast of New Holland, and to those of Major Mitchell in +the interior, the first portion of this Work is deeply indebted, and +every person interested in the state of the natives, or fond of +perusing travels in a wild and unknown region, may be referred to +these four volumes,[1] where they will find that the extracts here +given are but a specimen of the stores of amusement and information +which they contain. Captain Sturt's "Expeditions" and Mr. Oxley's +"Journal" are both interesting works, but they point rather to the +progress of discovery in New Holland than to the actual state of our +local knowledge of it. Dr. Lang's two volumes upon New South Wales are +full of information from one who has lived there many years, and his +faults are sufficiently obvious for any intelligent reader to guard +against. Mr. Montgomery Martin's little book is a very useful +compendium, and those that desire to know more particulars concerning +the origin of the first English colony in New Holland may be referred +to Collins's account of it. Various interesting particulars respecting +the religious state of the colonies in Australia have been derived +from the correspondence in the possession of the Society for the +Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, free access to which was +allowed through the kind introduction of the Rev. C. B. Dalton. Many +other sources of information have been consulted, among which the +Reports of the Parliamentary Committee upon Transportation, in 1837 +and 1838; and that of the Committee upon South Australia, in 1841, +must not be left unnoticed. Neither may the work of Judge Burton upon +Religion and Education in New South Wales be passed over in silence; +for, whatever imperfections may be found in his book,[2] the +facts there set forth are valuable, and, for the most part, +incontrovertible, and the principles it exhibits are excellent. From +the works just mentioned the reader may, should he feel inclined, +verify for himself the facts stated in the ensuing pages, or pursue +his inquiries further. In the meantime, he cannot do better than join +the author of the little book which he holds in his hand, in an humble +and earnest prayer to Almighty God, that, in this and in every other +instance, whatever may be the feebleness and imperfection of human +efforts, all things may be made to work together for good towards +promoting the glory of God, the extension of Christ's kingdom, and the +salvation of mankind. + + [1] Published, all of them, by T. and W. Boone, London, to whom it is + only just to acknowledge their kindness in permitting the use that has + been made of these two publications in the first portion of the present + Work. + + [2] See Dr. Ullathorne's Reply to Burton, especially at p. 5, where it + appears that the judge was not quite impartial in one of his statements. + Dr. Ullathorne himself has, in his 98 pages, contrived to crowd in at + least twice as many misrepresentations as Burton's 321 pages contain. + But that is no excuse. The Romish Church may need, or seem to need, + such support. The cause defended by Judge Burton needs it not. + + + + +#Contents.# + + +INTRODUCTION. + +[Page 1.] + + Subject of the Work--Discovery and Situation of New Holland--Its + Interior little known--Blue Mountains--Conjectures respecting the + Interior--Van Diemen's Land, or Tasmania. + + +CHAPTER I. + +[Page 8.] + + The Bush described--Remains of it near Sydney--North-western Coast + of New Holland--Sandy Columns and Fragments--Recollections of + Home--Gouty Stem Tree--Green Ants--Fine Volcanic District--Cure + for Cold--Travelling in the Rainy Season--Rich sequestered Valleys-- + Plains near the Lachlan--Falls of the Apsley--Beauties of Nature + enjoyed by Explorers--Aid afforded by Religion--Trials of Travellers + in the Bush--Thirst--A Christian's Consolations--Plains of Kolaina, + or Deceit--Bernier Island--Frederic Smith--A Commander's Cares--Dried + Streams--Return from a Journey in the Bush--Outsettlers--Islands on + the Australian Coast--Kangaroo Island--Coral Reefs and Islets. + + +CHAPTER II. + +[Page 42.] + + Forbidding aspect of coast no argument against inland beauty and + fertility--River Darling--The Murray--Other Rivers of New Holland-- + Contrasts in Australia--The Lachlan, Regent's Lake, &c.--Sturt's + Descent down the Murray--His Return--Woods--Difficulties and Dangers + of Bush travelling--Wellington Valley--Australia Felix--Conclusion. + + +CHAPTER III. + +[Page 72.] + + Comparative advantages of Europeans over Savages--Degraded condition + of Natives of New Holland--Total absence of Clothing--Love of + Ornaments--Peculiar Rites--Ceremony of knocking out a Tooth--Hardships + of Savage Life--Revengeful Spirit--Effect of Native Songs in exciting + Anger--Cruelty--Courage--Indifference to accounts of Civilized Life-- + Contempt of its ways--Treatment of Women--Family Names, and Crests-- + Language--Music. + + +CHAPTER IV. + +[Page 97.] + + Means of Subsistence--A Whale Feast--Hunting the Kangaroo--Australian + Cookery--Fish--Seal Catching--Turtles--Finding Opossums--Birds-- + Pursuit of the Emu or Cassowary--Disgusting Food of the Natives-- + Vegetables--_By-yu_ Nuts--Evils of European Settlements in cutting + off the native supply of Food--Native Property in Land--Inhabitants + of Van Diemen's Land--A word of Advice to Christian Colonists. + + +CHAPTER V. + +[Page 120.] + + First Shyness of Natives natural--Their perplexity between European + Customs and their own--Health and Longevity--Old Age--Funereal + Rites--Belief in Sorcery--The _Boyl-yas_--Various modes of + Interment--Tombs--Riches of a Native--Bodily Excellences--Secrecy-- + Quickness of Sight, &c.--Kaiber and the Watch--The _Warran_ Ground-- + Various Superstitions--Mischief of bad Example, for which the British + nation is responsible--The Church, the right Instrument, and the only + one that will be found successful, for civilising the Australian + Tribes, if they are ever to be civilised. + + +CHAPTER VI. + +[Page 149.] + + Bennillong--Barangaroo's Funeral--The Spitting Tribe--Mulligo's Death-- + The Corrobory--Peerat and his Wives--Woga's Captivity--Ballooderry + and the Convicts--Native Hospitality and Philosophy--The Widow and + her Child--Miago. + + +CHAPTER VII. + +[Page 186.] + + Infancy of New South Wales an interesting subject to Englishmen--Arrival, + in 1788, of the Sirius, and the Supply at Botany Bay--Settlement + commenced in the Harbour of Port Jackson--Character of the + Convicts--Influence of Religion--Particulars respecting the Chaplain-- + His peculiar situation and efforts--A Gold Mine pretended to be found-- + Supply of Food precarious--Farming--Failure of Provisions--Erection + of a Flag-staff at the entrance of Port Jackson--Activity of + Governor Phillip--Emigration to Norfolk Island--Loss of the Sirius-- + Departure of the Supply for Batavia--Arrivals from England--Cruel + treatment of Convicts on board--Paramatta founded--Arrival of the + Second Fleet--State of Agriculture--The Chaplain's bounty abused-- + Attendance at Divine Service--A Church built--Its subsequent fate-- + Scarcity of Provisions, and great Mortality--Profligacy of Convicts-- + Harvest of 1792--Departure of Governor Phillip--Major Grose's + government--Captain Paterson's--Various occurrences--Drunkenness--Love + of Money--Spirit of Gambling. + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +[Page 216.] + + Arrival of Governor Hunter--His efforts for reformation--Advancement + of the Colony towards supplying its own wants--Wild Cattle found--Coal + discovered--Governor's regulations--Incendiarism--Natives + troublesome--Difficulties in governing New South Wales--Crimes + common--Laxity of public opinion--The gaols at Sydney and Paramatta + purposely set on fire--Departure of Governor Hunter--Captain + King succeeds him--Norfolk Island abandoned--Sketch of Norfolk + Island--Settlement of Van Diemen's Land--Free Settlers--Philip + Schoeffer--The Presbyterian Settlers at Portland Head--Resignation + of Governor King--Captain Bligh his successor--Great Flood of + the Hawkesbury--Unpopularity of the Governor--Seizure of his + person--Rebellion--Usurpation--Arrival of a new Governor, Colonel + Macquarie--Improvements in his time--Road-making--Passage across the + Blue Mountains--Public Buildings--Patronage of Emancipists--Discoveries + in the Interior, and Extension of the Colony--Continued neglect of the + spiritual need of the Colonists--Governor Macquarie's Departure--His + own statement of the progress of the Settlement under his + administration. + + +CHAPTER IX. + +[Page 243.] + + Subject stated--Day-dreams of Colonization--Local divisions of New + South Wales--Its Counties--Cumberland--Camden--Illawarra and the + Cow Pastures--Argyle--Bathurst--Northumberland--Coal Pits--Hunter's + River--Remaining Counties--Sydney--Port Jackson--Buildings, + &c. of Sydney--Commerce--Public Press--Paramatta--Windsor--Liverpool-- + Conclusion. + + +CHAPTER X. + +[Page 266.] + + Description of Van Diemen's Land--Its local Divisions--Its general + Character and Aspect--Hobart Town--Launceston--Other Australian + Colonies--Port Phillip--South Australia--Adelaide--Western Australia-- + Its Towns--North Australia. + + +CHAPTER XI. + +[Page 286.] + + Climate of Australia--Drought--Agriculture--Flocks and Herds--Government + of the Colonies--Discontent--Means of National Improvement--Bishopric + of Australia--Tribute of Thanks justly due to the Whig Government-- + Effects of a Bishop being resident in New South Wales--Educational + provision made by George the Fourth--Dr. Lang's Account of it--Judge + Burton's--Church and School Corporation, established in 1826; suspended + in 1829; dissolved in 1833--Causes of this change of Policy-- + Conclusion. + + +CHAPTER XII. + +[Page 307.] + + Inhabitants of Australian Colonies--What seed has been there sown-- + Elements of Society in the Penal Colonies--Convicts--System of + Assignment--Public Gangs--Mr. Potter Macqueen's Establishment--Norfolk + Island and its horrors--These have been mitigated of late years--Means + of reforming Convicts--Prevalence of Vice among them--The class of + Convicts called _specials_ described. + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +[Page 325.] + + Emancipists--Their general Character--Their conduct in the Jurors' Box + no argument in favour of bestowing upon them a Representative + Government--Free Population--Ancient Nobility of Botany Bay--Prevailing + taste in New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land--Love of Gain--Land + Sharks--Squatters--Overlanders. + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +[Page 338.] + + Importance of Religion--The Lord's Day--Habits of duly observing it + nearly lost among many of the inhabitants of our Australian + Colonies--Opposition to Improvement--Religious strife prevails where + religious union is needed--Sir R. Bourke's novel system of religious + Establishments--Its practical working--Efforts of the Church coldly + seconded or else opposed, by Government--Petty Persecutions--Similar + opposition to National Religious Education as to National Church-- + Blunders respecting the Irish System of Education in 1836--Attempt + in 1840 to banish the Creed and Catechism from Protestant Schools + having Government support--Schools of a higher rank in New South + Wales--King's School, Paramatta--Sydney College--The Australian + College--The Normal Institution--Proposed College at Liverpool--Other + Schools--Population of New South Wales in 1841--Emigration--Conclusion. + + + + +#Illustrations.# + + + PAGE + Map of Australia _Frontispiece_ + Reduced Map of Van Diemen's Land 1 + Travellers in the Bush 8 + Explorers finding the Bed of a dried-up River 42 + Opossum Hunting 97 + Natives of the Murray Islands in Boats 120 + Sydney in its Infancy--View from the South 186 + North View of Sydney 243 + Hobart Town 266 + Cape Pillar, near the Entrance of the Derwent, Van Diemen's Land 286 + Conveying Cattle over the Murray, near Lake Alexandria 325 + + + * * * * * + + + + +[Illustration: VAN DIEMEN'S LAND.] + +INTRODUCTION. + + +The vast tract of country which it is the object of the present volume +to describe in its leading features, both moral and natural, may be said +to consist of two islands, besides many small islets and coral reefs, +which lie scattered around the coasts of these principal divisions. The +larger island of the two, which from its size may well deserve the +appellation of a continent, is called New Holland, or Australia; and is +supposed to be not less than three-fourths of the extent of the whole of +Europe. The smaller island, so well known by the names of Van Diemen's +Land, or Tasmania, (from those of the discoverer, Tasman, and the Dutch +governor of Batavia, Van Diemen) is not to be compared in size to the +other, being about equal in magnitude to Ireland, and, like that island, +abounding in fine and excellent harbours. Although, strictly speaking, +the name of Australia is confined to the former of these two islands, +yet it may be understood to include the smaller island also; and under +this name it is proposed to make the reader familiar with the chief +objects of curiosity in the natural world, and likewise with the state +of human society, whether savage or civilised, in the two islands of New +Holland and Van Diemen's Land, so far as both of these have been +hitherto known and explored. + +It is by no means certain what nation may justly lay claim to the honour +of the discovery of New Holland, the coasts of which were probably seen +by the Spaniards, Quiros or Torres, in 1606, and are by some supposed to +have been known to the Spanish and Portuguese yet earlier than this +date, but were not regularly discovered until the Dutch, between the +years 1616 and 1627, explored a considerable portion of the northern and +western shores of that vast island, to which they gave the name of their +own country, Holland. To the Spaniards this land was known by the names +of Terra Australis Incognita, (The Unknown Southern Land,) or Australia +del Espiritu Santo, (The Southern Land of the Holy Spirit,) the meaning +of which last name does not exactly appear, unless it arose from the +discovery of Quiros having been made a little before Whitsuntide. Since +that time the coasts of this immense island, extending, it is said, to +no less than 8000 miles, have been gradually explored, although they +still remain in some parts very imperfectly known. Indeed, it was only +in the year 1798 that Van Diemen's Land was discovered to be an island +separated from New Holland, of which before that time it had been +thought to form a large projection or promontory. + +New Holland is situated in the vast ocean extending to the south and +east of the Spice Islands, and it lies about even with the lower part of +the continent of Africa, only at an immense distance due east of it. Its +extreme points of latitude are 39 degrees and 10 1/2 degrees S., and of +longitude 112 degrees and 153 degrees 40 minutes E. from Greenwich, +so that it includes in its huge extent climates both tropical and +temperate, but none that are decidedly cold. It must be remembered, +indeed, that the countries south of the equator become colder at +the same latitude than those that extend towards the north; but, +nevertheless, the nearest point towards the South Pole, 39 degrees, +nearly answering to the situation of Naples in the northern hemisphere, +cannot be otherwise than a mild and warm climate. The shape of New +Holland is very irregular, its coast being much broken and indented by +various great bays and smaller inlets; but it has been estimated to have +a _width_ from E. to W. of 3000 miles, and a breadth from N. to S. of +2000, containing altogether not less than three millions of square +miles. Of course, it is impossible, in so large an extent of country, +that the interior parts of it should have been explored during the few +years in which any portion of it has been occupied by Europeans. +Accordingly, almost all the inland tracts are still a vast blank, +respecting which very little is known, and that little is far from +inviting. Indeed many hindrances oppose themselves to the perfect +discovery of these inland regions, besides those common obstacles, to +encounter and overcome which every traveller who desires to explore +new, wild, and savage countries, must have fully made up his mind. + +First among the peculiar difficulties which have opposed the Australian +explorer is the height and ruggedness of that chain of mountains, +called, in the colony of New South Wales, the Blue Mountains, which form +a mighty barrier of more or less elevation along most parts of the +eastern coast of New Holland, sometimes approaching as nearly as 30 +miles to the sea, and at other places falling back to a distance of 60 +or nearly 100 miles. These mountains are not so very high, the loftiest +points appearing to exceed but little the height of Snowdon in Wales, or +Ben Nevis in Scotland; but their rugged and barren nature, and the great +width to which they frequently extend, render it no very easy matter to +cross them at all. Indeed, although the settlement of New South Wales +was founded in 1788, it was not before 1813 that a route was discovered +across those vast ranges which shut in the colony to the west. +Frequently had the passage over the Blue Mountains been attempted +before, but never with any success; and the farthest point which had +been reached, called Caley's Repulse, was a spot that almost seemed +to forbid man's footsteps to advance beyond it. Nothing was to be +seen there in every direction but immense masses of weather-beaten +sandstone-rock, towering over each other in all the sublimity of +desolation; while a deep chasm, intersecting a lofty ridge covered with +blasted trees, seemed to cut off every hope of farther progress. But all +these difficulties have now long since been got over, and stage-coaches +are able to run across what were a few years ago deemed impassable +hills. Yet, when this dreary barrier of barren mountains has been +crossed, another peculiar hindrance presents itself to the exploring +traveller. In many parts of the interior of New Holland, which have +been visited, the scarcity of water is such that the most distressing +privations have been endured, and the most disagreeable substitutes +employed. And yet, strange to say, the very same country, which +sometimes affords so few springs, and of which the streams become dried +up into chains of dirty pools, and at last into dry ravines and valleys, +is, occasionally, subject to extreme floods from the overflowing of its +rivers, and then offers a new obstacle to the traveller's progress in +the shape of extensive and impassable marshes! To these difficulties +must be added the usual trials of adventurous explorers, the dangers and +perplexities of a journey through pathless forests, the want of game +of any kind in the barren sandstone districts, the perils sometimes +threatened by a visit from the native inhabitants, and, altogether, we +shall have reason rather to feel surprise at what has been done in the +way of inland discovery in New Holland, than to wonder that so much +remains yet undone. + +In consequence of the interior portions of the country remaining still +unknown, fancy has been busy in forming notions respecting them, and +one favourite supposition has been that there exists somewhere in the +central part of New Holland an immense lake or inland sea; but of this +no proof whatever can be produced, so that it can only be said that _it +may be so_. Certainly, unless some such means of communication by water, +or some very large navigable river, should exist, it is hardly possible +to imagine how the extensive tracts of inland country can ever become +civilized or inhabited by Europeans. And of that portion which has been +visited a considerable extent of country appears to be shut out by the +natural barrenness of its soil and sandstone-rocks from any prospect of +ever supplying food to the colonies of civilized man. So that, while +the whole of New Holland is an interesting country from its natural +peculiarities, and even the desolate portion of it adds, by its very +desolation, a deep interest to the adventures of those persons who have +had the courage to attempt to explore it; yet the chief prospects of +Australia's future importance seem to be confined to its line of +coast,--no narrow limits in an island so extensive. Hence the colonies +now flourishing on the eastern, southern, and western shores of New +Holland, especially on the first, will form a chief object of attention +in the present work; although, as will be seen by its contents, the +"bush," or wild country, and its savage inhabitants, will be by no +means overlooked. + +Respecting Van Diemen's Land much need not be here said, although, +however small in comparative extent, its population was in 1836 above +half of that of the whole colony of New South Wales. It is, therefore, +and always will be, an important island, though, from its mountainous +character and confined limits, it cannot, of course, be expected to keep +pace with the increasing population of the sister colony. Van Diemen's +Land was discovered in 1642, by the Dutchman, Tasman, who first sailed +round its southern point, and ascertained that the great Southern Land, +or Australia, did not extend, as it had been supposed, to the South +Pole. The island was apparently overlooked, until, in 1804, a colony +was founded there by the English, and it was taken possession of in the +name of his Britannic majesty. Since that time, with the exception of +those early hardships to which all colonies seem liable, it has been +flourishing and increasing. To many Englishmen its colder climate, +(which is yet sufficiently mild,) and its supposed resemblance in +appearance and productions to their native land, have appeared +preferable to all the advantages which the larger island possesses. +Van Diemen's Land is divided from New Holland on the north by Bass's +Straits, its extreme points of latitude are 41 deg. 20', and 43 deg. +40' S., and of longitude 144 deg. 40', and 148 deg. 20' E. Its shape is +irregular, being much broken by various inlets, but its greatest extent +from N. to S. is reckoned to be about 210 miles, and from E. to W. 150 +miles, containing a surface of about 24,000 square miles. The native +inhabitants of this smaller island have entirely disappeared before the +superior weapons and powers of _civilised_ man. + + + + +[Illustration: TRAVELLERS IN THE BUSH.] + +CHAPTER I. + +THE BUSH, ON OR NEAR THE COAST. + + +All that country, which remains in a state of nature uncultivated and +uninclosed, is known among the inhabitants of the Australian colonies +by the expressive name of _the Bush_.[3] It includes land and scenery +of every description, and, likewise, no small variety of climate, as +may be supposed from the great extent of the island of New Holland. +Accordingly, without indulging in surmises concerning the yet unknown +parts, it may be safely said, respecting those which have been more or +less frequently visited and accurately explored, that the extremes of +rural beauty and savage wildness of scenery,--smiling plains and barren +deserts, snowy mountains and marshy fens, crowded forests and bare +rocks, green pastures and sandy flats,--every possible variety, in +short, of country and of aspect may be found in that boundless region +which is all included under the general appellation of _the Bush_. To +enter into a particular or regular description of this is clearly no +less impossible than it would be tedious and unprofitable. And yet +there are many descriptions of different portions of it given by +eye-witnesses, many circumstances and natural curiosities belonging to +it, and related to us upon the best authority, which are likely to +please and interest the reader, who can see and adore God everywhere, +and is capable of taking delight in tracing out and following the +footsteps of Almighty Wisdom and Power, even in the wilderness and among +the mountain-tops. It is proposed, therefore, to select a few of the +pictures which have been drawn by the bold explorers of the Bush, so as +to give a general idea of the character, the scenery, the dangers, and +the privations of that portion of the Australian islands. And, having +first become familiar and acquainted with these, we shall be better able +to set a just value, when we turn to the state of the colonies and their +inhabitants, upon that moral courage, that British perseverance and +daring, which have, within the memory of man, changed so many square +miles of bush into fertile and enclosed farms; which have raised a +regular supply of food for many thousands of human beings out of what, +sixty years ago, was, comparatively speaking, a silent and uninhabited +waste. When the troops and convicts, who formed the first colony in New +South Wales, landed at Port Jackson, the inlet on which the town of +Sydney is now situated, "Every man stepped from the boat literally into +a wood. Parties of people were everywhere heard and seen variously +employed; some in clearing ground for the different encampments; others +in pitching tents, or bringing up such stores as were more immediately +wanted; and the spot, which had so lately been the abode of silence and +tranquillity, was now changed to that of noise, clamour, and +confusion."[4] + + [3] It is supposed that the word "Sin," applied to the wilderness + mentioned in Exodus xvi. 1, and also to the mountain of "Sinai," has + the same meaning, so that the appellation of "Bush" is no new term. + + [4] Collins' "Account of the Colony of New South Wales," p. 11. + +And still, even near to the capital town of the colony, there are +portions of wild country left pretty much in their natural and original +state. Of one of these spots, in the direction of Petersham, the +following lively description from the pen of a gentleman only recently +arrived in the colony, may be acceptable. "To the right lies a large and +open glen, covered with cattle and enclosed with _bush_, (so we call the +forest,) consisting of brushwood and gigantic trees; and, above the +trees, the broad sea of Botany Bay, and the two headlands, Solander and +Banks, with a white stone church and steeple, St. Peter's New Town, +conveying an assurance that there are Englishmen of the right sort not +far from us. And now we plunge into the thicket, with scarcely a track +to guide our steps. I have by this time made acquaintance with the +principal giants of the grove. Some are standing, some are felled; the +unmolested monarchs stand full 200 feet high, and heave their white and +spectral limbs in all directions; the fallen monsters, crushed with +their overthrow, startle you with their strange appearances; whilst +underfoot a wild variety of new plants arrest your attention. The +bush-shrubs are exquisitely beautiful. Anon a charred and blackened +trunk stops your path: if you are in spirits, you jump over all; if you +are coming home serious, weary, and warm, you plod your way round. +Well,--in twenty minutes' time you reach a solitary hut,--the first +stage of the walk: you pass the fence, the path becomes narrow,--the +bush thickens round you,--it winds, it rises, it descends: all on a +sudden it opens with a bit of cleared ground full twenty yards in +extent, and a felled tree in the midst. Here let us pause, and, +kneeling on the turf, uncovered, pour forth the voice of health, of +cheerfulness, and gratitude to Him who guides and guards us on our way. +And now, onward again. The land falls suddenly, and we cross a brook, +which a child may stride, but whose waters are a blessing both to man +and beast. And now we rise again; the country is cleared; there is a +flock of sheep, and a man looking after them; to the left, a farmhouse, +offices, &c.; before us the spire of St. James's, Sydney, perhaps three +miles distant, the metropolitan church of the new empire, and, a little +to the right, the rival building of the Roman church. Beneath us lies +Sydney, the base-born mother of this New World, covering a large extent +of ground, and, at the extreme point of land, the signal station, with +the flags displayed, betokening the arrival of a ship from England. Till +now we have met with no living creature, but here, perhaps, the chaise +with Sydney tradesman and his wife, the single horseman, and a straggler +or two on foot, begin to appear." + +The general appearance of the coast of New Holland is said to be very +barren and forbidding, much more so than the shores of Van Diemen's Land +are; and it thus often happens that strangers are agreeably disappointed +by finding extreme richness and fertility in many parts of a country, +which at their first landing afforded no such promises of excellence. +One of the most dreary and most curious descriptions of country is to +be met with on the north-western shores of New Holland, quite on the +opposite coast to that where the principal English colony is situated. +The daring explorer of this north-western coast, Captain Grey, has +given a fearful account of his dangers and adventures among the barren +sandstone hills of this district. Its appearance, upon his landing at +Hanover Bay, was that of a line of lofty cliffs, occasionally broken by +sandy beaches; on the summits of these cliffs, and behind the beaches, +rose rocky sandstone hills, very thinly wooded. Upon landing, the shore +was found to be exceedingly steep and broken; indeed the hills are +stated to have looked like the _ruins of hills_, being composed of huge +blocks of red sandstone, confusedly piled together in loose disorder, +and so overgrown with various creeping plants, that the holes between +them were completely hidden, and into these one or other of the party +was continually slipping and falling. The trees were so small and so +scantily covered with leaves that they gave no shelter from the heat of +the sun, which was reflected by the soil with intense force, so that it +was really painful to touch, or even to stand upon, the bare sandstone. +Excessive thirst soon began to be felt, and the party, unprepared for +this, had only two pints of water with them, a portion of which they +were forced to give to their dogs; all three of these, however, died of +exhaustion. After a vain search of some hours, at length the welcome cry +of "Water!" was heard from one of the party; but, alas! upon scrambling +down the deep and difficult ravine where the water ran, it was found to +be quite salty, and they were compelled to get up again as well as they +could, unrefreshed and disheartened. After following the course of the +deep valley upwards about half a mile, they looked down and saw some +birds ascending from the thick woods growing below, and, knowing these +white cockatoos to be a sure sign of water very near, the weary party +again descended, and found a pool of brackish water, which, in their +situation, appeared to afford the most delicious draughts, although they +shortly afterwards paid the penalty of yet more intolerable thirst, +arising from making too free with a beverage of such quality. + +The nature of the country near Hanover Bay, where the party belonging +to Captain Grey was exploring, is most remarkable. The summits of the +ranges of sandstone hills were generally a level sort of table-land, but +this level was frequently broken and sometimes nearly covered with lofty +detached pillars of rock, forming the most curious shapes in their +various grouping. In one place they looked like the aisle of a church +unroofed, in another there stood, upon a huge base, what appeared to be +the legs of an ancient statue, from which the body had been knocked +away; and fancy might make out many more such resemblances. Some of +these time-worn sandy columns were covered with sweet-smelling creepers, +and their bases were hidden by various plants growing thickly around +them. The tops of all were nearly on a level, and the height of those +that were measured was upwards of forty feet. The cause of this singular +appearance of the country was at length discovered by the noise of water +running under the present surface, in the hollows of the sandstone, and +gradually carrying away the soil upon which the top surface rests. +Formerly, no doubt, the level of the whole country was even with the +tops of the broken pillars, and much higher; and hereafter what is now +at the surface will give way beneath the wasting of the streams that +flow below, and no traces of its present height will be left, except in +those places where the power of the water is less felt, which will rear +up their lofty heads, and bear witness by their presence of the ruin +that will have taken place. + +In wandering through a country of this description, how natural does the +following little remark of Captain Grey appear! A plant was observed +here, which, in appearance and smell, exactly resembled the jasmine of +England; and it would be difficult to give an idea of the feeling of +pleasure derived from the sight of this simple emblem of home. But, +while the least plant or tree that could remind them of home was gladly +welcomed, there were many new and remarkable objects to engage the +attention of the travellers. Among these the large green ants, and the +gouty stem tree may be particularly noticed. The ants are, it would +seem, confined to the sandstone country, and are very troublesome. The +gouty stem tree is so named from the resemblance borne by its immense +trunk to the limb of a gouty person. It is an unsightly but very useful +tree, producing an agreeable and nourishing fruit, as well as a gum and +bark that may be prepared for food. Upon some of these trees were found +the first rude efforts of savages to gain the art of writing, being a +number of marks, supposed to denote the quantity of fruit gathered from +the tree each year, all but the last row being constantly scratched out, +thus: + +[Illustration] + +But, miserable as the general appearance of that part of the +north-western coast of New Holland undoubtedly is, yet are there many +rich and lovely spots to be found in its neighbourhood; and, further +inland, vast tracts of fertile country appear to want only civilised and +Christian men for their inhabitants. What is wanting in the ensuing +picture but civilisation and religion, in order to make it as perfect as +any earthly abode can be? "From the summit of the hills on which we +stood," (says Captain Grey) "an almost precipitous descent led into a +fertile plain below; and, from this part, away to the southward, for +thirty to forty miles, stretched a low, luxuriant country, broken by +conical peaks and rounded hills, which were richly clothed with grass +to their very summits. The plains and hills were both thinly wooded, +and curving lines of shady trees marked out the courses of numerous +streams." This beautiful prospect was over a volcanic district, and with +the sandstone which they were just leaving, they were bidding farewell +to barrenness and desolation. It was near this beautiful spot, and in a +country no less rich and delightful, that the party of adventurers was +overtaken by the violent rains, which occur in those hot climates, and +which struck the men with so great chill, that they were driven to make +trial of an odd way of getting warm. Some of them got into a stream, the +waters of which were comparatively warm, and thus saved themselves from +the painful feeling arising from the very cold rain falling on the pores +of the skin, which had previously been opened by continued perspiration. + +The rains appear during the wet season to fall very heavily and +constantly in North-Western Australia, and though a good supply of these +is an advantage to an occupied country, well provided with roads, it is +a great cause of trouble to first explorers who have to find a ford over +every stream, and a passage across every swamp, and who often run the +risk of getting into a perfectly impassable region. Of this sort, alike +differing from the barren sandstone and the volcanic fertile country, +was a third track through which Captain Grey endeavoured to pass. A +vast extent of land lying low and level near the banks of the river +Glenelg,[5] and well fitted, if properly drained, for the abundant +growth of useful and valuable produce, was found, during the rainy +season, to be in the state of a foul marsh, overgrown with vegetation, +choking up the fresh water so as to cause a flood ankle-deep; and this +marshy ground, being divided by deep muddy ditches, and occasionally +overflown by the river, offered, as may be supposed, no small hindrances +to the progress of the travellers. In some places it was quite +impossible, from the thickly-timbered character of its banks, to +approach the main stream; in others they appeared to be almost entirely +surrounded by sluggish waters, of which they knew neither the depth nor +the nature of their banks. Elsewhere, unable to cross some deep stream, +the explorers were driven miles out of their way, and sometimes even in +their tents, the water stood to the depth of two or three inches. On one +occasion, when the party was almost surrounded by swamps, their loaded +ponies sank nearly up to the shoulders in a bog, whichever way they +attempted to move, and from this spot they had two miles to travel +before they could reach the nearest rising ground. The river Glenelg was +at this time overflowing its banks, and, to the natural alarm of men +wandering in its rich valley, drift-wood, reeds, grass, &c. were seen +lodged in the trees above their heads, fifteen feet beyond the present +level of the water, affording a proof of what floods in that country +_had been_, and, of course, _might be_ again. However, this very soil in +so warm a climate, only about sixteen degrees south of the equator, +would be admirably fitted for the cultivation of rice, which needs +abundance of moisture. But little do the peaceful inhabitants of a +cultivated country, well drained, and provided with bridges and good +roads, think of the risk and hardships undergone by the first explorers +of a new land, however great its capabilities, and whatever may be its +natural advantages. + + [5] This river must not be confounded with another of the same name in + South Australia. + +But it was not in the plain country alone, that Captain Grey found spots +of great richness and fertility, as the following description of the +happy vallies frequently found among the mountain-ranges may testify: +One may be chosen as a specimen of many. At its northern end it was +about four miles wide, being bounded on all sides by rocky, wooded +ranges, with dark gullies from which numerous petty streams run down +into the main one in the centre. The valley gradually grows narrow +towards the south, and is bounded by steep cliffs betwixt which the +waters find an outlet. Sometimes a valley of this kind, most beautiful, +most productive, will contain from four to five thousand acres of nearly +level land, shut out from the rest of the world by the boundary of hills +that enclose it. How great a contrast to these lovely vallies does the +description, given by another traveller in a different district, +present! Nothing, according to Mr. Oxley's account, can be more +monotonous and wearying, than the dull, unvarying aspect of the level +and desolate region through which the Lachlan winds its sluggish course. +One tree, one soil, one water, and one description of bird, fish, or +animal, prevails alike for ten miles, and for a hundred. And, if we turn +from this to a third picture of desolation mingled with sublimity, the +contrast appears yet more heightened. Among the hills behind Port +Macquarrie on the eastern coast, Mr. Oxley came suddenly upon the spot +where a river, (the Apsley,) leaves the gently-rising and fine country +through which it had been passing, and falls into a deep glen. At this +spot the country seems cleft in twain, and divided to its very +foundation, a ledge of rocks separates the waters, which, falling over +a perpendicular rock, 235 feet in height, form a grand cascade. At a +distance of 300 yards, and an elevation of as many feet, the travellers +were wetted with the spray. After winding through the cleft rocks about +400 yards, the river again falls, in one single sheet, upwards of 100 +feet, and continues, in a succession of smaller falls, about a quarter +of a mile lower, where the cliffs are of a perpendicular height, on each +side exceeding 1,200 feet; the width of the edges being about 200 yards. +From thence it descends, as before described, until all sight of it is +lost from the vast elevation of the rocky hills, which it divides and +runs through. The different points of this deep glen, seem as if they +would fit into the opposite openings forming the smaller glens on either +side.[6] + + [6] See Oxley's Journal, p. 299. + +Amid scenery like that which has now been described, varying from +grandeur to tameness, from fertility to barrenness, from extreme beauty +to extreme ugliness, but always possessing, at least, the recommendation +of being _new_, the wanderers in the Bush are delighted to range. There +is a charm to enterprising spirits in the freedom, the stillness, and +even in the dangers and privations, of these vast wilds, which, to such +spirits, scenes of a more civilised character can never possess. If it +be true,--and who has never felt it to be so?--that + + "God made the country and man made the town," + +much more distinctly is God's power visible in the lonely wastes of +Australia, much more deeply do men feel, while passing through those +regions, that it is His hand that has planted the wilderness with trees, +and peopled the desert with living things. Under these impressions men +learn to delight in exploring the bush, and when they meet, as they +often do, with sweet spots, on which Nature has secretly lavished her +choicest gifts, most thoroughly do they enjoy, most devotedly do they +admire, their beauty. In travelling some miles to the northward of +Perth, a town on the Swan River, Captain Grey fell in with a charming +scene, which he thus describes: "Our" station, "this night, had a beauty +about it, which would have made any one, possessed with the least +enthusiasm, fall in love with a bush life. We were sitting on a +gently-rising ground, which sloped away gradually to a picturesque lake, +surrounded by wooded hills,--while the moon shone so brightly on the +lake, that the distance was perfectly clear, and we could distinctly see +the large flocks of wild fowl, as they passed over our heads, and then +splashed into the water, darkening and agitating its silvery surface; in +front of us blazed a cheerful fire, round which were the dark forms of +the natives, busily engaged in roasting ducks for us; the foreground was +covered with graceful grass-trees, and, at the moment we commenced +supper, I made the natives set fire to the dried tops of two of these, +and by the light of these splendid chandeliers, which threw a red glare +over the whole forest in our vicinity, we ate our evening meal; then, +closing round the fire, rolled ourselves up in our blankets, and laid +down to sleep." + +The very same feeling of religion, which heightens the pleasures and +gives a keener relish to the enjoyments of life in these lonely places, +can also afford comfort, and hope, and encouragement under those perils +and privations which first explorers must undergo. Religion is the sun +that brightens our summer hours, and gives us, even through the darkest +and most stormy day, light, and confidence, and certainty. And when a +small body of men are left alone, as it were, in the wilderness with +their God, whatever occurs to them, whether of a pleasing or of a trying +character, is likely to lift up their souls to their Maker, in whom +"they live and move, and have their being." When the patient traveller, +of whose adventures in Western Australia so much mention has been made, +had waited weather-bound on a lonely coast, never before trodden by the +foot of civilised man, until eight days had been consumed in watching to +no purpose the winds and the waves,--when, at a distance of thousands of +miles from their native country, and many hundreds of miles from the +nearest English colony, he and his little party were wasting strength +and provisions in a desert spot; from which their only means of escaping +was in one frail boat, which the fury of the sea forbade them to think +of launching upon the deep,--when the men, under these circumstances, +were becoming more and more gloomy and petulant, where was it that the +commander sought and found consolation? It was in religion. And the +witness of one who has successfully gone through trials of this kind, is +well deserving of the utmost attention. "I feel assured," says Captain +Grey, in his account of this trial of patience, "that, but for the +support I derived from prayer, and frequent perusal and meditation of +the Scriptures, I should never have been able to have borne myself in +such a manner as to have maintained discipline and confidence amongst +the rest of the party; nor in all my sufferings did I ever lose the +consolation derived from a firm reliance upon the goodness of +Providence. It is only those who go forth into perils and dangers, +amidst which human foresight and strength can but little avail, and who +find themselves, day after day, protected by an unseen influence, and +ever and again snatched from the very jaws of destruction, by a power +which is not of this world, who can at all estimate the knowledge of +one's own weakness and littleness, and the firm reliance and trust upon +the goodness of the Creator, which the human breast is capable of +feeling. Like all other lessons which are of great and lasting benefit +to man, this one must be learned amid much sorrowing and woe; but, +having learned it, it is but the sweeter from the pain and toil which +are undergone in the acquisition." + +The mention of these trials to which travellers in the bush are +peculiarly liable, brings naturally to mind that worst of all +privations, a want of water, to which they are so frequently exposed. +The effects of extreme thirst are stated to have been shown, not merely +in weakness and want, in a parched and burning mouth, but likewise in a +partial loss of the senses of seeing and hearing. Indeed, the powers of +the whole frame are affected, and, upon moving, after a short interval +of rest, the blood rushes up into the head with a fearful and painful +violence. A party of men reduced to this condition have very little +strength, either of mind or body, left them, and it is stated, that, in +cases of extreme privation, the worst characters have always least +control over their appetites.[7] Imagine men marching through a barren +and sandy country, a thirsty land where no water is, at the rate of +about two miles in an hour and a quarter, when, suddenly, they come upon +the edge of a dried-up swamp, and behold the footmark of a native, +imprinted on the sand,--the first beginning of hope, a sign of animal +life, which of course implies the means of supporting it. Many more +footsteps are soon seen, and some wells of the natives are next +discovered, but alas! all appear dry. Kaiber, a native companion of the +party, suddenly starts up from a bed of reeds, where he has been burying +his head in a hole of _soft mud_, with which he had completely swelled +himself out, and of which he had helped himself to pretty well half the +supply. It is so thick that it needs straining through a handkerchief, +yet so welcome, after three days and two nights of burning thirst, +under a fierce sun, that each man throws himself down beside the hole, +exclaiming "Thank God!" and then greedily swallows a few mouthfulls of +the liquid mud, declaring it to be the most delicious water, with a +peculiar flavour, better than any that had ever before been tasted by +him. Upon scraping the mud quite out of the hole, water begins slowly to +trickle in again.[8] As might be expected, game abounds here, driven by +the general dryness of the country to these springs. But the trembling +hand of a man worn down by fatigue and thirst is not equal to wield a +gun, or direct its fire to any purpose; so it seems as if thirst were +escaped for a time, in order that hunger might occupy its place. At +length, however, the native kills a cockatoo, which had been wounded +by a shot; and this bird, with a spoonful of flour to each man, and a +tolerable abundance of liquid mud, becomes the means of saving the lives +of the party. + + [7] See Mitchell's Three Expeditions in Australia, vol. i. p. 38. + + [8] An expedient used by the natives in Torres Strait, on the + northern coast of Australia, for getting water, may here be noticed, + both for its simplicity and cleverness. "Long slips of bark are tied + round the smooth stems of a tree called the _pandanus_, and the loose + ends are led into the shells of a huge sort of cockle, which are placed + beneath. By these slips the rain which runs down the branches and stem + of the tree is conducted into the shells, each of which will contain + two or three pints; thus, forty or fifty placed under different trees + will supply a good number of men."--FLINDERS' _Voyage to Terra + Australis_, vol. ii. p. 114. + + A different plan for improving the water that is hot and muddy, is thus + detailed by Major Mitchell. To obtain a cool and clean draught the + blacks scratched a hole in the soft sand beside the pool, thus making a + filter, in which the water rose cooled, but muddy. Some tufts of long + grass were then thrown in, through which they sucked the cooler water, + purified from the sand or gravel. I was glad to follow their example, + and found the sweet fragrance of the grass an agreeable addition to the + luxury of drinking. + +Such is the picture, taken from life, of some of the privations +undergone, during dry seasons, in certain portions of the bush, and we +must, at the risk of being tedious, repeat again the witness of a +military man, of one who has seen much of the world, respecting the best +source of comfort and support under these distressing trials. At such +times, upon halting, when the others of the party would lie wearily +down, and brood over their melancholy state, Captain Grey would keep his +journal, (a most useful repository of facts,) and this duty being done, +he would open a small New Testament, his companion through all his +wanderings, from which book he drank in such deep draughts of comfort, +that his spirits were always good. And on another occasion, he shared +the last remaining portion of provision with his native servant; after +which he actually felt glad that it was gone, and that he no longer had +to struggle with the pangs of hunger, and put off eating it to a future +hour. Having completed this last morsel, he occupied himself a little +with his journal, then read a few chapters in the New Testament, and, +after fulfilling these duties, he felt himself as contented and cheerful +as ever he had been in the most fortunate moments of his life. + +As in life, those objects which we have not, but of which we think we +stand in need, are ever present to our fancy, so in these thirsty soils +the mere appearance of that water, of which the reality would be so +grateful, is frequently known to mock the sight of man. A remarkable +specimen of this was seen at the plains of Kolaina (Deceit), in +North-Western Australia. From a sand hill, not very far from the +coast, was seen a splendid view of a noble lake, dotted about with many +beautiful islands. The water had a glassy and fairy-like appearance, and +it was an imposing feeling to sit down alone on the lofty eminence, and +survey the great lake on which no European eye had ever before rested, +and which was cut off from the sea by a narrow and lofty ridge of sandy +hills. It was proposed at once to launch the boats upon this water, but +a little closer survey was thought prudent, and then it proved that the +lake was not so near as it had seemed to be, and that there were +extensive plains of mud and sand lying between it and the rising ground. +It appeared to be about a mile distant, and all were still certain that +it was water they saw, for the shadows of the low hills near it, as well +as those of the trees upon them, could be distinctly traced on the +unruffled surface.[9] As they advanced, the water retreated, and at +last surrounded them. The party now saw that they were deceived by +_mirage_,[10] or vapour, which changed the sandy mud of the plains they +were crossing into the resemblance, at a distance, of a noble piece of +water. In reading the history of mankind, how often may we apply this +disappointment to moral objects! how very frequently do the mistaken +eyes of mortals eagerly gaze upon the _mirage_ raised by falsehood, as +though they were beholding the living waters of truth itself! What +appearance, indeed, does the whole world present to one who rests upon +the everlasting hill of the gospel,--the rock upon which Christ's church +has been built,--except it be that of one vast plain of Kolaina, or +deceit? It was no long time after the explorers of the north-western +coast of New Holland had been mocked by the _mirage_ or vapour which has +just been spoken of, that they had a fearful lesson of the vain and +shadowy nature of human hopes and expectations. When they had first +arrived off the coast, on that expedition, they had chosen an island, +named Bernier Island, upon which to bury, for the sake of safety, their +stores and provisions, so that they might return to them whenever it +should be necessary. Bernier Island is a barren spot, formed of +limestone, shells, and sand, and without a single tree or blade of +grass upon it, but only wretched, scrubby bushes, amidst which the light +sand and shells are drifted by the winds. Such was the remote spot, +surrounded by the ocean's waves, yet not very far from the main shore, +upon which it was resolved to conceal their store of necessaries, +secure, as it was supposed, from every enemy. In little more than three +weeks, during which the adventurers had gone through many perils, and +much stormy weather, they returned again, not without some difficulty, +to their stores. But on approaching Bernier Island with their boat they +scarcely knew it again, so vast a difference had the recent storms made +in its outward appearance, so fearful were the pranks which the +hurricane had played upon a land which was, in fact, nothing but loose +sand, heaped upon a bed of limestone. The place where their stores had +been securely left was gone, the remains of the flour-casks, salt +provisions, &c. were scattered about in various directions; and the +whole spot so entirely altered that it could hardly be ascertained, +except by the fragments that were seen near it. How to get back again to +Swan River, the nearest British settlement, without provisions, without +water, without strength, was indeed a perplexing inquiry, and to answer +this the leader of the party, having left his companions for a while, +set himself seriously to work. Sitting down upon a rock on the shore, +he felt the gale blowing fiercely in his face, and the spray of the +breakers dashing over him; nothing could be more gloomy and dreary. +Inland, no objects were to be seen but a mere bed of rock covered with +drifting sand, on which were growing stunted, scrubby bushes; and former +experience taught him, that no fresh water was to be found in the +island. Several plans of escape, all apparently alike hopeless, offered +themselves to his mind, and, more fully to compose himself, he took +forth his constant companion in the wilderness, and read a few chapters +of Holy Writ. Contentment and resignation were thus in some degree +gained, and he soon joined the rest of the party, having resolved upon +that plan, which God's providence and mercy finally enabled him to carry +out, without losing, from a party of twelve, constantly exposed during a +very long journey to most dreadful toils, hunger, and thirst, more than +one man only, who died at no great distance from the English colony. +That one person was a youth of eighteen years of age, who had come out +from England, led solely by an enterprising spirit, and not with any +view of settling. On the return of the party under Captain Grey towards +Swan River, they were so sadly pinched by want of provisions, and by +thirst, that five of them were obliged to start with their leader, in +order to reach the British colony by forced marches, and Frederick +Smith, the youthful adventurer, was one of those that remained behind. +After undergoing extreme trials, which from his age he was less able to +bear than the others, he, at last, became quite worn out, and sat down, +one evening, on a bank, declaring that he could go no further. He was +behind the rest of the party, and the man who was with him went and told +his companions that he thought Smith was dying. The next morning that +man went back for him; but, being himself very weak, he did not go far +enough, at all events he did not find him. Probably, the poor sufferer +had crawled a little out of the track, for, afterwards, when a party was +sent from Swan River in search of him, they traced, with the help of a +native, his footsteps up a bare sand hill to the height of twelve or +fourteen feet, and there, turning about to the left, they found the +object of their search stretched lifeless upon his back, in the midst of +a thick bush, where he seemed to have laid down to sleep, being half +wrapped up in his blanket.[11] All his little articles of baggage were +very near him, and, from the posture in which he was found, it appeared +that the immediate cause of his death was a rush of blood to the head, +which would occasion no great suffering in his last moments. A grave was +scraped in the sand by the searching party, and Frederic Smith was +buried in the wilderness wherein he had died, and which he had been +among the first to explore, about seventy-six miles northward of the +Swan River. The grave was made smooth, and a piece of wood found upon +the neighbouring beach was placed at its head, and then the solitary +spot was forsaken for ever by the mourning companions of the departed +youth, who left + + "Heaven's fresh gales, and the ocean's wave, + Alternate to sigh o'er the wanderer's grave."[12] + + [9] "The most singular quality of this vapour or _mirage_, as it is + termed, is its power of reflection; objects are seen as from the + surface of a lake, and their figure is sometimes changed into the + most fantastic shapes."--CRICHTON'S _Arabia_, vol. i. p. 41. + + [10] See two other curious accounts of the effects of _mirage_ + and refraction in Sturt's Expeditions in Australia, vol. ii. pp. + 56 and 171. + + [11] The artless description of this sad discovery, given by one of + the natives who accompanied the party, may be not unworthy of the + reader's notice. "Away we go, away, away, along the shore away, away, + away, a long distance we go. I see Mr. Smith's footsteps ascending a + sand-hill, onwards I go regarding his footsteps. I see Mr. Smith dead. + We commence digging the earth. Two _sleeps_ had he been dead; greatly + did I weep, and much I grieved. In his blanket folding him, we scraped + away the earth. We scrape earth into the grave, we scrape the earth + into the grave, a little wood we place in it. Much earth we heap upon + it--much earth we throw up. No dogs can dig there, so much earth we + throw up. The sun had just inclined to the westward as we laid him in + the ground."--GREY'S _Travels in Western Australia_, vol. ii. p. 350. + + [12] See a like melancholy history of the death of Mr. Cunningham, in + Mitchell's Three Expeditions, vol. i. p. 180, _et seq._ How thrilling + must have been the recollections of his fellow-travellers in the + wilderness at the simple incident thus related: "In the bed of the + river, where I went this evening to enjoy the sight of the famished + cattle drinking, I came accidentally on an old footstep of Mr. + Cunningham in the clay, now baked hard by the sun. Four months had + elapsed, and up to this time the clay bore the last records of our + late fellow-traveller." + +It was only six weeks before this untimely end of the young explorer, +that he had set out, full of hope, on the long journey by the coast, +which the party made on their return, and had been a leading character +in such beautiful pictures of life in the Australian wilderness as this +which is given by his friend Captain Grey. "We soon found ourselves at +the foot of a lofty cascade, down which a little water was slowly +dropping; and, on climbing to its summit, it appeared to be so well +fitted for a halting-place for the night, that I determined to remain +there. The men made themselves comfortable near the water-holes, and +Mr. Smith and myself crept into a little cave, which occasionally served +as a resting-place for the natives, the remains of whose fires were +scattered about. A wild woodland and rocky scenery was around us; and +when the moon rose and shed her pale light over all, I sat with Mr. +Smith on the edge of the waterfall, gazing by turns into the dim woody +abyss below, and at the red fires and picturesque groups of the men, +than which fancy could scarcely imagine a wilder scene." + +It is no uncommon mistake, with persons who ought to know better, to +magnify the toils and hardships endured by the body, while those labours +and anxieties that the mind undergoes are disregarded and forgotten. +Every man engaged in an exploring party in the bush, for instance, has +his severe trials to go through, but their trials are not to be compared +to those of the commander of the party. How often when the rest are +sleeping must he be watchful? How frequently, while others are gay, must +he feel thoughtful! These remarks may easily be applied to the following +description of the coast near Shark's Bay, in the N. W. of the island of +New Holland. There was great beauty in the scenery, both the sky and the +water had that peculiar brilliancy about them to be seen only in fine +weather, and in a very warm climate. To the west lay a boundless extent +of sea, to the eastward was a low shore fringed with trees, not only +down to the water's edge, but forming little green knots of foliage in +the ocean itself; behind these trees were low wooded hills, and in +front of them were numbers of pelicans and water-fowl. There was only +about three feet depth of clear transparent water, through which were +seen many beautiful and large shells, and various strange-looking fish, +at some of which last one or other of Captain Grey's men would sometimes +make an attack, while loud peals of laughter would rise from the rest, +when the pursuer, too anxious to gain his object, would miss his stroke +at the fish, or, stumbling, roll headlong in the water. The fineness of +the day, the novelty of the scenery, and the rapid way they were making, +made the poor fellows forget past dangers, as well as those they had yet +to undergo. But this was more than their commander was able to do. +"My own meditations," adds Captain Grey, "were of a more melancholy +character, for I feared that the days of some of the light-hearted group +were already numbered, and would soon be brought to a close. Amid such +scenes and thoughts we were swept along, while this unknown coast, which +so many had anxiously yet vainly wished to see, passed before our eyes +like a dream, and ere many more years have hurried by, it is possible +that the recollection of this day may be as such to me." + +Among the wonders of Nature to be met with in the Australian bush, the +large rivers occasionally dried up to their very lowest depth by the +extreme drought, are very remarkable. Few natural objects can equal in +beauty and utility a river in its proper state,-- + + "Though deep, yet clear; though gentle, yet not dull; + Strong without rage, without o'erflowing full;" + +but few can exceed in terror and destruction a large river in time of +flood; while nothing, surely, can surpass in horror and desolation the +same object when its stream is wasted, its waters disappeared, its +usefulness and beauty alike gone. This spectacle is, fortunately, but +rarely seen, except in Australia, and even there only after very dry +seasons. One river seen in this state consisted of several channels or +beds, divided from each other by long strips of land, which in times of +flood become islands; the main channel was about 270 yards in breadth, +and the height of its bank was about fifteen feet. After the exploring +party had passed the highest point in the channel to which the tide +flowed from the sea, this huge river bed was perfectly dry, and looked +the most mournful, deserted spot imaginable. Occasionally water-holes +were found eighteen or twenty feet in depth, and it is from these alone +that travellers have been enabled to satisfy their thirst in crossing +over the unexplored parts of the bush, where no water could elsewhere be +obtained. Still, notwithstanding the extreme drought by which they were +surrounded, the strangers could see by the remaining drift wood, which +had been washed high up into the neighbouring trees, what rapid and +overpowering currents sometimes swept along the now dry channel. + +On another occasion the same singular object is powerfully described, +and the feelings of men, who had long been in need of water, at +beholding a sight like this can scarcely be imagined. Beneath them lay +the dry bed of a large river, its depth at this point being between +forty and fifty feet, and its breadth upwards of 300 yards; it was at +times subject to terrible floods, for along its banks lay the trunks of +immense trees, giants of the forest, which had been formerly washed down +from the interior of the country; yet nothing now met their craving eyes +but a vast sandy channel, which scorched their eyeballs, as the rays of +the sun were reflected back from its white, glistening bed. Above and +below this spot, however, large pools of water were found, and even +here, when a hole of a few inches depth was scraped in the dry channel, +it soon became filled with water which oozed into it from the sand. At +another stream, which the same exploring party afterwards fell in with, +they were less successful, and found all the pools entirely dry. The sun +was intensely hot, and the poor men grew faint for want of water, while +it heightened their sufferings, that they stood upon the brink of a +river, or wandered along its banks with eager, piercing eyes, and an air +of watchfulness peculiar to those who seek for that on which their lives +depend. One while they explored a shallow, stony part of the bed, which +was parched up and blackened by the fiery sun: their steps were slow and +listless, and it was plainly to be seen how faint, weak, and weary they +were; the next minute another pool would be seen ahead, the depth of +which the eye could not at a distance reach; now they hurried on towards +it with a dreadful look of eager anxiety--the pool was reached--the +bottom seen; but, alas! no water: then they paused, and looked one at +the other with an air of utter despair. The order to march from this +distressing spot was unwillingly and slowly obeyed. So fondly does the +human soul cling to the very faintest semblance of hope, that the +adventurers would rather have wandered up and down these barren and arid +banks, in vain search after water, than tear themselves away by one bold +effort from the deceitful expectations held out to them by the empty +channel. + +It was on his return from a journey attended by perils and privations +like these, that Captain Grey relates the following simple occurrence, +which may help to make men value more highly, or rather prize more +justly, the many little comforts they may possess: The Captain had +left some of his men behind, and was hastening with all speed to the +settlement of Perth, in Western Australia, in order to get assistance +and necessaries for them. Starting an hour and a half before daylight, +he reached the hut of Williams, the farthest settler, north of Perth, in +time to find the wife and another woman at breakfast. He had known Mrs. +Williams, and, forgetting how strangely want and suffering had changed +his appearance for the worse, he expected her to remember him again. But +he was mistaken for a crazy Malay, nicknamed Magic, who used to visit +the houses of the out-settlers. Hurt at his reception, "I am not Magic," +exclaimed he. "Well then, my good man, who are you?" inquired they, +laughing. "One who is almost starved," was his solemn reply. "Will you +take this, then?" said the hostess, handing him a cup of tea she was +raising to her lips. "With all my heart and soul, and God reward you for +it," was the answer; and he swallowed the delicious draught. Who can +fail of being reminded, upon reading this anecdote, of those gracious +and beautiful words of his Redeemer--"Whosoever shall give you a cup of +water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say +unto you, he shall not lose his reward"? (Mark ix. 41.) + +The mention of the out-settler's hut, in which Captain Grey met with +this small, but most acceptable, kindness, may serve to remind us of an +object, which, although not, strictly speaking, belonging to the bush, +is, nevertheless, very frequently seen in that part of the wild country +which is most visited,--the portions of it which are adjoining to the +British settlements. In these parts of the bush the small hut of the +humble out-settler may often be espied; and, while we speak of the toils +and privations frequently undergone by this class of people at first, we +must not forget that they are thus opening to themselves a way to future +wealth and comfort. Nor, be it recollected, is the condition of an +out-settler in the Australian bush any more a fair average specimen of +that of the inhabitants of the colonies than the owner of a mud-hovel +raised on some English heath would be of the inhabitants of the parish +in which he happens to dwell. One strong difference may be seen in the +two cases. In England the cottager must, in all likelihood, live and die +a cottager, as his fathers have done before him, and his children will +after him; whereas, in the Australian colonies, with prudence and the +Divine blessing, (without which a man can do well nowhere) the humble +out-settler may gradually, yet rapidly, grow up into the wealthy and +substantial farmer and landowner. Bearing in mind these facts, the +following sketch of the premises of an out-settler on the river +Williams, at the back of the Swan River settlement, in Western +Australia, may be at once instructive, and not unsuitable to the subject +of this chapter. The house was made of a few upright poles, to which, at +the top, cross poles were fastened, and a covering of rude thatch tied +upon the whole. It was open at both ends, and exposed to the wind, +which, as the situation was high, was very unpleasant. Here, however, +were the elements of future riches, a very large flock of sheep, in fair +condition, also a well-supplied stock-yard, and cattle in beautiful +order; while upwards of twenty dogs, for hunting the kangaroo, completed +the establishment. The settlers were four in number, and, except four +soldiers quartered about sixteen miles from them, there were no other +Europeans within fifty miles of the spot. All stores and necessaries +were sent from a distance of 120 miles, through a country without roads, +and exposed to the power of the native inhabitants. In this but might +be seen a lively picture of the trials occasionally endured by _first +settlers_; they had no flour, tea, sugar, meat, or any provision +whatever, except their live stock and the milk of their cattle, their +sole dependence for any other article of food being the kangaroo dogs, +and the only thing their visitors were able to do to better their +situation was to leave them some shot. All other circumstances were on +the same scale with them, and one, supposing them to have been faithful +members of the Church of their native land, must have been the most +grievous privation of all:-- + + "The sound of the church-going bell + Those valleys and rocks never heard; + Never sighed at the sound of a knell, + Nor smiled when a sabbath appear'd." + +They had but one old clasp knife; there was but one small bed, for one +person, the others sleeping on the ground every night, with little or no +covering; they had no soap to wash themselves or their clothes, yet they +submitted cheerfully to all these privations, considering them to be +necessary consequences of their situation. Two of these out-settlers +were gentlemen, not only by birth, but also in thought and manner; nor +can it be doubted that they were really happier than many an idle young +man to be seen lounging about in England, a burden to himself and to his +friends. Idleness and vice have often in England been the means of +levelling with the dust the lordly mansion, whilst industry, in the +wilds of Australia, can rear a comfortable dwelling on the very spot +where once stood the hut of the out-settler. + +Scattered round the shores of New Holland at various distances are many +small islands and rocks, the prevailing appearance of which is that of +extreme barrenness. On many of these it would seem that no human beings +had ever set their feet before the Europeans, and especially the +English, explored those coasts. In several parts the natives were +without any means of conveyance across even a narrow arm of the sea, +and thus the brute creation were left in a long and undisturbed +possession of many of the isles which lie near the main land. In the +more barren and miserable of these the bird called the _sooty petrel_, +and the seal, are the principal animals to be found, whilst in those +that are somewhat more fruitful, kangaroos, also, and emus are to be +found; the smaller breed of kangaroos being usually met with in the +smaller islands, and the larger species on the main land or in islands +of a greater extent. The following short account, by Captain Flinders, +may serve as a specimen of the lesser isles: Great flocks of petrels +had been noticed coming in from the sea to the island, and early next +morning, a boat was sent from the ship to collect a quantity of them for +food, and to kill seals, but the birds were already moving off, and no +more than four seals, of the hair kind, were procured. Upon the men +going on shore, the island was found to be a rock of granite, but this +was covered with a crust of limestone or chalk, in some places fifty +feet thick. The soil at the top was little better than sand, but was +overspread with shrubs, mostly of one kind, a whitish velvet-like +plant, amongst which the petrels, who make their nests underground, +had burrowed everywhere, and, from the extreme heat of the sun, the +reflection of it from the sand, and frequently being sunk half way up +the leg in these holes, the sailors, little used to difficulties in +land-travelling, were scarcely able to reach the highest hill near the +middle of the island. It was in the neighbourhood of scattered sandy +spots of this description that the sailors of Captain Flinders would +often endeavour successfully to improve their ordinary fare by catching +a few fish. On one occasion they were very much hindered by three +monstrous sharks, in whose presence no other fish dared to appear. +After some attempts, and with much difficulty, they took one of these +creatures, and got it on board the ship. In length it was no more than +twelve feet three inches, but the body measured eight feet round. Among +the vast quantity of things contained in the stomach was a tolerably +large seal, bitten in two, and swallowed with half of the spear sticking +in it, with which it had probably been killed by the natives. The stench +of this ravenous monster was great, even before it was dead; and, when +the stomach was opened, it became intolerable. + +Quite contrary, in many respects, to these sandy islands, and yet but +little superior to them in fruitfulness, are some of those which were +visited by the same enterprising voyager on the eastern coast of +Australia. Their shores were very low, so much so, that frequently a +landing is impossible, and generally very difficult, on account of the +mud; and often a vast quantity of mangrove trees are found growing in +the swamps that surround the shores, and choking the soil with a rank +vegetation. On one of these islands when a landing had been effected +without a very great deal of trouble, and a rising ground was reached, +the sides of this little eminence were found to be so steep, and were so +thickly covered with trees and shrubs, bound together and interlaced +with strong plants, resembling vines in their growth, that all attempts +to reach the top of the hill were without success. It appeared to be +almost easier to have climbed up the trees, and have scrambled from one +to another upon the vines, than to have threaded a way through the +perplexing net-work formed by these plants, beneath which all was +darkness and uncertainty. + +There are, however, some few islands, which promise to become, at a +future time, inhabited and cultivated spots, being neither so entirely +naked, nor yet so choked up by a poor and hungry vegetation concealing a +thin soil, as those already described. Of these more smiling spots the +large island, off the western coast, called Kangaroo Island, may serve +for a specimen. A thick wood covered almost all that part of the island +which was seen from the ship by Captain Flinders, but the trees that +were alive were not so large as those lying on the ground, nor as the +dead trees still standing upright. Those upon the ground were so +abundant, that, in ascending the higher land, a considerable part of the +walk was upon them. No inhabitants were seen in the island, but yet it +seemed, from the appearance of the trees, as though, at the distance of +some years, the woods had been destroyed by fire. The soil, so far as it +was seen, was thought very good, and the trees bore witness of this by +their size and growth; yet so frequently do travellers, like doctors, +disagree, that another explorer, Captain Sturt, pronounces this spot to +be not by any means fertile. The quantity of kangaroos found here was +remarkable enough to give a name to the island; and so entirely were +these harmless animals strangers to the power of man, that they suffered +themselves to be approached and killed without any efforts to escape. +Captain Flinders, on the first day of landing, killed ten, and the rest +of his party made up the number to thirty-one taken on board in the +course of the day, the least weighing 69 and the largest 125 lbs. The +whole ship's company were employed that afternoon in skinning and +cleaning the kangaroos, and a delightful feast they afforded to men +who for four months had scarcely tasted any fresh provisions. Never, +perhaps, had the dominion held here by these creatures been before +disturbed; the seals, indeed, shared it with the kangaroos on the +shores, but they seemed to dwell peacefully together, each animal +occasionally wandering into the haunts of the other, so that a gun fired +at a kangaroo upon the beach would sometimes bring forth two or three +bellowing seals from underneath bushes a good deal further from the +water-side. The seal, indeed, was the most knowing creature of the +two, for its actions bespoke that it distinguished the sailors from +kangaroos, whereas the latter not uncommonly appeared to mistake them +for seals. Indeed it is curious to trace the total absence of all +knowledge of man in these distant isles of Australia. In another island +a white eagle was seen making a motion to pounce down upon the British +sailors, whom it evidently took for kangaroos, never, probably, having +seen an upright animal, (except that, when moving upon its hind legs,) +and naturally, therefore, mistaking the men for its usual prey. + +In another part of Kangaroo Island, which was afterwards visited, a +large piece of water was discovered at the head of a bay, and in this +water an immense number of pelicans were seen; upon some small islets +were found many young birds yet unable to fly, and upon the surrounding +beach a great number of old ones were seen, while the bones and +skeletons of many lay scattered about. So that it appeared to be at once +the breeding-place and death-bed of these birds, who, in the hidden +bosom of a quiet lake, in an uninhabited island, had long continued to +extend their race, generation after generation retiring to the same spot +where they were first brought to light, and there ending their days in +tranquillity. In this part of the island kangaroos were less plentiful +than in the other, but the soil appeared equally promising, and in all +likelihood, before many years have flown by, trees, seals, kangaroos, +and pelicans will all be forced to give up their old domains, and be +destroyed before the pressing wants and daring spirit of the British +emigrant. One important hindrance is noticed by Flinders,--the scarcity +of water,--but the presence of so many animals shows that there is an +abundance somewhere, though he could find but a scanty supply in one +single spot. In Kangaroo Island only one accident occurred which showed +any disposition or power on the part of its old inhabitants to wage war +with the intruders. One of the sailors having attacked a large seal +without proper caution, was so severely bitten in the leg, that he was +not merely laid up in consequence of this hurt, but was obliged to be +discharged, three months afterwards, when the ship was refitted at +Sydney. + +In addition to the numerous barren rocks and the few tolerably large +wooded islands, which encircle the shores of Australia, there is a third +description of isles or rocks, which must not be passed over altogether +without notice. The substance called _coral_ is well known in Europe, +but with us the name connects itself with very different objects from +those to which it is related in Australia. _Here_ female ornaments and +toys for infants are almost the only objects to be seen that are formed +of coral; _there_ it forms the most stupendous rocks or reefs, which +serve frequently for a foundation to islands of no mean size; indeed, in +one part of the north-eastern coast of Australia, the coral reefs are +known to extend not less than 350 miles in a straight line, without a +single opening of any magnitude occurring in them. + +Among these, surrounded by dangers, did Captain Flinders sail, during +fourteen days, for more than 500 miles before he could escape into less +perilous seas. Upon landing on one of these reefs, when the water was +clear, the view underneath, from the edge of the rocks, was extremely +beautiful. Quite a new creation, but still not unlike the old, was +offered to the view. There appeared wheat-sheaves, mushrooms, stags' +horns, cabbage-leaves, and a variety of other forms, glowing under +water with brilliant tints, of every shade betwixt green, purple, brown, +and white; equalling in beauty and surpassing in grandeur the most +favourite flower-bed of the curious florist. These appearances were, in +fact, different sorts of _coral_, and fungus, growing, as it were, out +of the solid rock, and each had its own peculiar form and shade of +colouring, but yet the spectators, who knew their ship to be hemmed in +by rocks of this material, while considering the richness of the scene, +could not long forget with what power of destruction it was gifted. + +The cause of these coral rocks and islands, which are slowly, but +certainly, increasing, is a very small marine insect, by which the +substance called coral is formed. These work under water, generation +after generation contributing its share in the construction of what, in +the course of ages, becomes a solid rock, exalting its head above the +face of the surrounding waters, and rising sometimes from the depth of +200 fathoms, and perhaps even more. To be constantly covered with water +seems necessary to these minute animals, for they do not work, except +in holes upon the reef, beyond low-water-mark; but the coral and other +broken remains thrown up by the sea lodge upon the rock and form a solid +mass with it, as high as the common tides reach. The new bank is not +long left unvisited by sea-birds; salt-plants take root upon it, and a +kind of soil begins to be formed; a cocoa-nut,[13] or the seed of some +other tree, is thrown on shore; land-birds visit it, and deposit the +seeds of fresh shrubs or trees; every high tide, and still more every +gale, adds something to the bank; the form of an island is by degrees +assumed; and, last of all, comes man to take possession. + + [13] "A cluster of these trees would be an excellent beacon to warn + mariners of their danger when near a coral reef, and at all events + their fruit would afford some wholesome nourishment to the ship-wrecked + seamen. The navigator who should distribute 10,000 cocoa-nuts amongst + the numerous sand banks of the great ocean and Indian Sea, would be + entitled to the gratitude of all maritime nations, and of every friend + of humanity."--FLINDERS' _Voyage to Terra Australis_, vol. ii. p. 332. + + + + +[Illustration: EXPLORERS FINDING THE BED OF A DRIED UP RIVER.] + +CHAPTER II. + +THE BUSH IN THE INTERIOR. + + +It needs only a single glance at the map of New Holland to see that, +like most other countries, and even more than most others, the coasts +are well known, while the interior parts are comparatively undiscovered, +and, to a great extent, totally so. And, although a much more minute +description of the shores of this immense island might easily be given, +although we might accompany Flinders or King in their navigation of its +intricate seas, and survey of its long line of coast, yet this part of +the subject must necessarily be passed over without detaining us any +further. A very considerable portion of the sea-coast of New Holland is +not much unlike that in the Gulph of Carpentaria, in the north part of +the island, where, when Captain Flinders had reached the highest spot he +could find in 175 leagues of coast,--this loftiest hill did not much +exceed the height of the ship's masthead! And where the shores are not +of this exceedingly level character, they are usually sterile, sandy, +and broken, so as to offer rather an uninviting aspect to the stranger. +It is obvious that, in either case, whether the coast be flat or barren, +there may be many beautiful and lovely districts within a day's journey +inland; and nothing is more absurd than to take exception against the +whole of a country merely because its borders and boundaries are +forbidding. In the case of New Holland, it is true, the same sort of +barrenness extends itself very much into the interior of the land; but, +if we pursue the patient footsteps and daring discoveries of those few +Europeans who have penetrated far into its inland parts, we shall find +many interesting scenes described, and much both of the sublime and +beautiful in nature brought before us. + +One of the principal scenes on which have been displayed the +perseverance and courage of the explorers of the interior is the banks +of the river Darling. This stream, which has its source on the western +side of the long range of mountains running parallel with the coast, and +called in the colony the Blue Mountains, carries off the drainage of an +immense extent of country, to the westward and north-westward of New +South Wales. In fact, except in the southern parts of that colony, where +the Lachlan and Murrumbidgee carry off the waters which do not fall +eastwards to the coast, all the streams that rise upon or beyond the +Blue Mountains, and take a westerly direction, finally meet together in +the basin of the Darling.[14] It might be imagined that a river into +which is carried the drainage of so extensive a district would be always +well supplied with water, and so it would be in other countries, but the +streams of New Holland are altogether different from those in other +parts of the world. Comparatively, indeed, the Darling does assert its +superiority over most of the other water-courses of that country; for, +at a season when their channels were, in general, absolutely without +water, or dwindled down into mere chains of muddy ponds, the Darling +still continued to wind its slow current, carrying a supply of excellent +water through the heart of a desert district. Along the weary plains +by which its course is bounded, it proceeds for not less than 660 +miles,[15] without receiving, so far as is known, a single tributary +stream; and, from its waters being occasionally salt, it is supposed to +owe its support, in its reduced state during very dry seasons, chiefly +to natural springs. Its bed is, on an average, about sixty feet below +the common surface of the country. There are no traces of water-courses +on the level plains, and it would appear that, whatever moisture +descends from the higher grounds, which (where there are any at all,) +are seldom less than twelve miles from the Darling, must be taken up by +the clayey soil, so as scarcely to find its way down to the river, +except it be by springs. The average breadth of the stream at the +surface, when low, is about fifty yards, but oftener less than this, and +seldom more. The fall of the country through which it passes, in that +part of its course through the interior, which was first explored by +Major Mitchell, is very trifling; and it is the opinion of that officer, +that the swiftness of its course never exceeds one mile per hour, but +that it is in general much less. At the time of the Major's expedition, +the water actually flowing, as seen at one or two shallow places, did +not exceed in quantity that which would be necessary to turn a mill. +But, with all this scantiness of supply during the dry season then +prevailing,[16] the marks of tremendous inundations were plain upon the +surface of the country, frequently extending two miles back from the +ordinary channel of the waters. And everywhere the banks of the river +displayed the effect of floods in parallel lines, marking on the smooth +sloping earth the various heights to which the waters had at different +periods arisen. The surface of the plains nearest the river is unlike +any part of the earth's face that the travellers had elsewhere seen. It +was clear of vegetation, like a fallow-field, but less level, and quite +full of holes, big enough to receive the whole leg, and sometimes the +body, of the unfortunate persons who might slip into them. Galloping or +trotting in such a country was out of the question, and as the surface +of this dry and cracked soil was soft and loose, it was very fatiguing +for draught. Six of the bullocks accompanying the expedition never +returned from the Darling. Yet, how much preferable was the country, +even in this state, to that in which a flood would have placed it; for, +had rainy weather, or any overflowing of the river, happened, travelling +upon the banks of the Darling would have become absolutely impossible. + + [14] Although the basin of this river extends so far towards the east, + on its westerly bank, that is, _towards the interior_, a desert country + stretches itself to an unknown distance, from which it does not appear + to receive any increase of its waters at all deserving of notice. From + two hills, seventy miles apart, extensive views were gained of this + western desert, in which no smoke was seen, indicating the presence of + natives, nor even any appearance of trees; the whole country being + covered with a thick bush or scrub. For the four winter months spent + by Mitchell near the Darling, neither rain nor yet dew fell, and the + winds from the west and north-west, hot and parching, seemed to blow + over a region in which no humidity remained. + + [15] So in Major Mitchell's work, vol. i. p. 298; but the same author + is quoted (more correctly it would seem from the map), by Montgomery + Martin, as stating that "The Darling does not, in a course of _three_ + hundred miles, receive a single river."--See MARTIN'S _New South + Wales_, p. 82. + + [16] By _dry season_, or _wet season_, in Australia, we are not to + understand, as in England, a _dry_ or _wet summer_, but a series of + _dry_ or _wet years_. At the very bottom of some of the dried-up lakes + were found sapling trees of ten years' growth, which had evidently been + killed by the return of the waters to their long-forsaken bed. + +But the river Darling itself, though it appears as a principal and +independent stream during so long a course, is, we have little reason to +doubt, no more than an important tributary to the chief of Australian +rivers, the Murray. This last channel collects eventually all the waters +flowing in a westward direction upon the eastern side of New Holland, +between the latitudes of 28 deg. S. and 36 deg. S. The Darling, the +Lachlan, and the Murrumbidgee, without mentioning streams of minor +importance, all find their way southwards into the basin of the Murray, +which is really a noble river, and does not seem subject to the same +deplorable impoverishment, which most of the others suffer in very dry +seasons. It was very earnestly anticipated that the mouth of a stream +like this would probably form a good harbour, and thus afford a reasonable +prospect of its hereafter becoming a busy navigable river, the means of +furnishing inland communication to a considerable distance. This is, of +all things, what New Holland appears most to want, but the want is not +(as we shall shortly find) adequately supplied by the entrance to the +Murray. A like failure occurs at the entrance of other Australian +rivers, as in the instance of a much smaller but very beautiful stream, +the Glenelg, which falls into a shallow basin within the sandy hills of +the southern coast, the outlet being between two rocky heads, but choked +up with the sands of the beach. We cannot, while we read of the scanty +means of inland navigation, with which it has pleased Divine Providence +to favour an island so enormous as New Holland, but feel thankful for +the abundant advantages of this kind which our own native islands +possess; but at the same time there is no reason to despair, even yet, +of a navigable river being discovered in New Holland;[17] or, at the +worst, the modern invention of rail-roads may supersede, in a great +measure, the need of other communication. + + [17] "I have myself no doubt that a large navigable river will yet be + discovered, communicating with the interior of Australia."--M. MARTIN'S + _New South Wales_, p. 99. + +It would be impossible to compress into a moderate compass the various +interesting particulars, which have been related of the rivers of New +Holland and their neighbouring districts; but for this and much other +pleasing information the reader may be referred, once for all, to the +works of those travellers, whose names have been already so frequently +mentioned. It is a curious fact that almost every stream of the least +consequence in New Holland, appears to have its peculiar features, and a +character and scenery of its own, which continue throughout its course, +so that it could often be recognised by travellers coming upon it a +second time, and at a different part of its career towards the sea. +The beautifully-timbered plains, or the limestone cliffs of the noble +Murray--the naked plains that bound on either side the strip of +forest-trees of huge dimensions, by which the Lachlan is bordered,--the +constantly full stream, the water-worn and lightly-timbered banks, the +clear open space between the river and its distant margin of reeds, +which mark the character of the Murrumbidgee,--the low grassy banks or +limestone rocks, the cascades and caverns, the beautiful festoons of +creeping plants, the curious form of the duck-billed platypus,[18] which +are to be found on the Glenelg; the sandstone wastes of the Wollondilly, +the grassy surface of the pretty Yarrayne,[19] with its trees on its +brink instead of on its bank; the peculiar grandeur of the tremendous +ravine, 1,500 feet in depth, down which the Shoalhaven flows; these and +many more remarkable features of scenery in the Australian rivers, would +afford abundance of materials for description either in poetry or prose. +But we can now notice only one more peculiarity which most of these +streams exhibit; they have, at a greater or less distance from their +proper channels, secondary banks, beyond which floods rarely or never +are known to extend. In no part of the habitable world is the force of +contrast more to be observed than in Australia. A very able scientific +writer[20] has ingeniously represented three persons travelling in +certain directions across Great Britain, and finishing their journeys +with three totally different impressions of the soil, country, and +inhabitants; one having passed through a rocky and mining district, the +second through a coal country peopled by manufacturers, and a third +having crossed a chalky region devoted entirely to agriculture. An +observation of this kind is even still more true of New Holland. And, +consequently, when, instead of _pursuing_ the course of certain similar +lines of country, the traveller _crosses_ these, the changes that take +place in the appearance and productions of the various districts are +exceedingly striking and follow sometimes in very rapid succession. A +few examples of these contrasts, which arise in Australia from the +nature of the seasons, as well as from that of the soil or climate, may +here be noticed. How great a change did the exploring party under Major +Mitchell experience, when, after tracing for forty-nine days the dry bed +of the Lachlan, they suddenly saw a magnificent stream of clear and +running water before them, and came upon the Murrumbidgee. Its banks, +unlike those of the former channel, were clothed with excellent grass; +a pleasing sight for the cattle--and it was no slight satisfaction to +their possessors to see the jaded animals, after thirsting so long among +the muddy holes of the Lachlan, drinking at this full and flowing +stream. And yet, so different are the series of seasons, at intervals, +that, down the very river of which Mitchell speaks in 1836 as a deep, +dry ravine, containing only a scanty chain of small ponds, the boats of +its first explorer, Mr. Oxley, had, in 1817, floated during a space of +fifteen days, until they had reached a country almost entirely flooded, +and the river seemed completely to lose itself among the shallow waters! +During the winter of 1835, the whale-boats were drawn by the exploring +party 1,600 miles over land,[21] without finding a river, where they +could be used; whereas, in 1817 and 1818, Mr. Oxley had twice retired +by nearly the same routes, and in the same season of the year, from +supposed inland seas![22] So that, in fact, we rise from the perusal +of two accounts of travellers of credit, both exploring the very same +country, with the impression, from one statement, that there exists an +endless succession of swamps, or an immense shallow, inland lake; where, +from the other, we are taught to believe, there is nothing but a sandy +desert to be found, or dry and cracked plains of clay, baked hard by the +heat of the sun. + + [18] This remarkable animal, called also the Ornithorynchus, is + peculiar to Australia, it has the body of a beast combined with the + mouth and feet of a duck, is to be seen frequently on the banks of the + Glenelg, and that unusually near the coast. + + [19] Water is proverbially "unstable," but what occurred to Major + Mitchell's party on the Yarrayne, may serve for a specimen of the + peculiar uncertainty of the waters of Australia. In the evening a bridge + across that stream had been completed, and everything was prepared for + crossing it, but in the morning of the following day no bridge was to be + seen, the river having risen so much during the night, although no rain + had fallen, that the bridge was four feet under water, and at noon the + water had risen fourteen feet,--a change that could only be accounted + for by the supposed melting of the snow near the sources of the stream. + + [20] See Professor Buckland's Bridgewater Treatise, vol. i. + Introduction, pp. 1, 2. + + [21] See Mitchell's Three Expeditions in Australia, vol. ii. p. 13. + + [22] See Oxley's Journal, pp. 103, 244. + +Changes of this sort in the seasons, affecting so powerfully the +appearance of whole districts, cannot but have a proportionable effect +on particular spots. Regent's Lake, the "noble lake," as its first +discoverer, Oxley, called it, was, when Mitchell visited it, for the +most part, a plain covered with luxuriant grass;[23] some good water, it +is true, lodged on the most eastern extremity, but nowhere to a greater +depth than a foot. There ducks and swans, in vast numbers, had taken +refuge, and pelicans stood high upon their legs above the remains of +Regent's Lake. On its northern margin, and within the former boundary +of the lake, stood dead trees of a full-grown size, which had been +apparently killed by too much water, plainly showing to what long +periods the extremes of drought and moisture have extended, and may +again extend, in this singular country. And some of the changes in +scenery, within a short distance, and frequently arising from the same +causes, the presence or absence of water, are very remarkable. In Major +Mitchell's journal, at the date of April 10th, may be found the +following observations: "We had passed through valleys, on first +descending from the mountains, where the yellow oat-grass resembled a +ripe crop of grain. But this resemblance to the emblem of plenty, made +the desolation of these hopeless solitudes only the more apparent, +abandoned, as they then were, alike by man, beast, and bird. No living +thing remained in these valleys, for water, that element so essential to +life, was a want too obvious in the dismal silence, (for not an insect +hummed,) and the yellow hues of withering vegetation." On the next page +of the journal, under the events of the following day, what a contrast +appears:--"The evening was beautiful; the new grass springing in places +where it had been burnt, presented a shining verdure in the rays of the +descending sun; the songs of the birds accorded here with other joyous +sounds, the very air seemed alive with the music of animated nature, so +different was the scene in this well-watered valley, from that of the +parched and silent region from which we had just descended. The natives, +whom we met here, were fine-looking men, enjoying contentment and +happiness, within the precincts of their native woods." They were very +civil, and presented a burning stick to the strangers, at the moment +when they saw that they wanted fire, in a manner expressive of welcome +and of a wish to assist them. At a distance were the native fires, and +the squalling of children might be heard, until at night the beautiful +moon came forth, and the soft notes of a flute belonging to one of the +Englishmen fell agreeably on the ear, while the eye was gratified by the +moonbeams, as they gleamed from the trees, amid the curling smoke of the +temporary encampment. The cattle were refreshing themselves in green +pastures. It was Saturday night, and next day the party was to rest. How +sweet a spot to repose from their toils and sufferings, and to lift up +their hearts towards the mercy-seat of Him,-- + + "Who, in the busy crowded town, + Regards each suppliant's cry;-- + Who, whether Nature smile or frown, + Man's wants can still supply." + + [23] Another lake, called Walljeers, at no very great distance + from this, was found, with its whole expanse of about four miles in + circumference, entirely covered with a sweet and fragrant plant, + somewhat like clover, and eaten by the natives. Exactly resembling + new-made hay in the perfume which it gives out even when in the freshest + state of verdure, it was indeed "sweet to sense and lovely to the eye" + in the heart of a desert country. + +One of the greatest victories over natural difficulties that was ever +gained by British courage and perseverance, was the exploring of the +course of the Morrumbidgee and Murray rivers by Captain Sturt and his +party, in the year 1830; and since their route was through a new +country, and their descent from the high lands south-westward of Sydney, +to the southern coast of New Holland was an amazing enterprise to +project, much more to accomplish, an abridged account of it may not be +unacceptable to the reader. And when it is remembered that the sight of +the gallant officer commanding this expedition, was sacrificed almost +entirely to "the effect of exposure and anxiety of mind in the +prosecution of geographical researches,"[24] this fact may add to the +interest which we feel in his adventures. The Murrumbidgee is a river +which runs westerly from the district called Yass Plains, situated very +nearly at the south-western extremity of New South Wales. It was for +the purpose of exploring the course of this fine stream, that Captain +Sturt was sent out at the latter end of 1829, and he had reached by +land-conveyance a swampy region exactly resembling those marshes in +which the Lachlan and Macquarie rivers had been supposed by Mr. Oxley to +lose themselves. To proceed further by land was impossible, and, since +they had brought with them a whale-boat, which had been drawn by oxen +for many a weary mile, it was resolved to launch this on the river, a +smaller boat was built in seven days only, and both boats being laden +with necessaries, and manned with six hands, arrangements were made for +forming a depot, and the rest of the party were sent back; and when the +explorers thus parted company in the marshy plains of the Morrumbidgee, +it appeared doubtful even to themselves whether they were ever likely to +meet again in this world. Of the country, whither the stream would carry +the little crew of adventurers, literally nothing was known. There +might be a vast inland sea,--and then how could they hope with their +frail barks to navigate it in safety for the very first time? Or, even +if they did so, how were they to force their way back again to the +remote dwelling-places of civilised man? The river might gradually waste +itself among the morasses; and then, with their boats become useless for +want of depth of water, how were they to walk across those endless +levels of soft mud? or, supposing that to be practicable, how were their +provisions to be conveyed, or whence, then, except from their boats, +could they hope for a supply? Questions of this nature must have offered +themselves to the minds of the daring spirits, who accompanied Captain +Sturt; nor can due justice be rendered to their courage without a +careful consideration of the dangers which they deliberately braved. + + [24] See Sturt's Expeditions in Australia, vol. i. Dedication, p. 4. + +Two oars only were used in the whale-boat, to the stern of which the +skiff was fastened by a rope; but the progress of the party down the +river was rapid. Having passed, in the midst of the marshes, the mouth +of a considerable stream (supposed to be the Lachlan, here emptying its +waters out from the midst of those swamps wherein it appeared to Mr. +Oxley to be lost,) on the second day of their journey the voyagers met +with an accident that had nearly compelled them to return. The skiff +struck upon a sunken log, and, immediately filling, went down in about +twelve feet of water. Damage was done to some of the provisions, and +many tools were thrown overboard, though these were afterwards regained +by means of diving and great labour, and the skiff was got up again. In +the very same night a robbery was committed by the natives; and a +frying-pan, three cutlasses, and five tomahawks, with the pea of the +steelyards--altogether no small loss in the Australian desert--were +carried off. The country in this part is "a waving expanse of reeds, +and as flat as possible," and the river, instead of increasing in its +downward course, seemed rather to be diminishing. After some days, +however, the party had passed through this flooded region, and reached a +boundless flat, with no object for the eye to rest upon, beyond the dark +and gloomy woods by which it was occupied. Several rapids occurred in +the river; and, during great part of two days the channel was so narrow +and so much blocked up with huge trees, that, in spite of every effort, +the adventurers were expecting their boat every moment to strike. For +two hours in the afternoon of the second of these days of anxiety, the +little vessels were hurried rapidly along the winding reaches of the +Morrumbidgee, until suddenly they found themselves borne upon the bosom +of a broad and noble river, in comparison with which that which they had +just quitted bore the appearance of an insignificant opening! The width +of the large stream thus discovered was about 350 feet, and its depth +from 12 to 20 feet, whilst its banks, although averaging 18 feet in +height, were evidently subject to floods. The breadth of rich soil +between its outer and inner banks was very inconsiderable, and the upper +levels were poor and sandy. As the party descended, the adjoining +country became somewhat higher and a little undulating, and natives +were seen, while the Murray (for such was the name given to their new +discovery) improved upon them every mile they proceeded. Four natives +of a tribe with which they had met followed them, as guides, for some +distance, and, after having nearly lost their largest boat upon a rock +in the midst of a rapid, the British travellers continued their onward +course, and a sail was hoisted for the first time, in order to save, as +much as was possible, the strength of the men. + +The country in this part of their voyage was again very low, and they +fell in with a large body of savages, with whom they were on the point +of being forced, in self-defence, to have a deadly encounter, when +suddenly the four natives who had accompanied them appeared running at +full speed, and, through their assistance, though not without some +difficulty, bloodshed was prevented. Very shortly after this adventure, +when the men had just pushed their boat off from a shoal, upon which it +had struck, they noticed a new and considerable stream coming from the +north, and uniting its waters with those of the Murray. Upon landing on +the right bank of the newly-discovered stream, the natives came swimming +over from motives of curiosity; and there were not less than 600 of +these, belonging to some of the most ferocious tribes in Australia, +surrounding eight Englishmen--Captain Sturt, his friend M'Leay, and the +crew--which last had been preserved by an almost miraculous intervention +of Providence in their favour. The boat was afterwards pulled a few +miles up the recently-discovered river, which is reasonably supposed to +have been the Darling, from whose banks, some hundreds of miles higher +up, Captain Sturt had twice been forced to retire in a former +expedition. Its sides were sloping and grassy, and overhung by +magnificent trees; in breadth it was about 100 yards, and in depth +rather more than twelve feet, and the men pleased themselves by +exclaiming, upon entering it, that they had got into an English river. A +net extending right across the stream at length checked their progress; +for they were unwilling to disappoint the numbers who were expecting +their food that day from this source. So the men rested on their oars in +the midst of the smooth current of the Darling, the Union-Jack was +hoisted, and, giving way to their feelings, all stood up in the boat, +and gave three distinct cheers. "The eye of every native along the +banks had been fixed upon that noble flag, at all times a beautiful +object," says Captain Sturt, "and to them a novel one, as it waved +over us in the heart of a desert. They had, until that moment, been +particularly loquacious, but the sight of that flag and the sound +of our voices hushed the tumult; and while they were still lost in +astonishment, the boat's head was speedily turned, the sail was sheeted +home, both wind and current were in our favour, and we vanished from +them with a rapidity that surprised even ourselves, and which precluded +every hope of the most adventurous among them to keep up with us."[25] + + [25] Sturt's Expeditions in Australia, vol. ii. pp. 109, 110. + +Cheered with the gratification of national feeling thus powerfully +described, the patient crew returned to their toils in descending the +Murray, whose banks continued unchanged for some distance; but its +channel was much encumbered with timber, some very large sand-banks +were seen, and several rapids were passed. The skiff being found more +troublesome than useful, was broken up and burned. On one occasion, +during a friendly interview with some of the savages, some clay was +piled up, as a means of inquiring whether there were any hills near; and +two or three of the blacks, catching the meaning, pointed to the N. W., +in which direction two lofty ranges were seen from the top of a tree, +and were supposed to be not less than 40 miles distant, but the country +through which the Murray passed still continued low. + +The heat was excessive and the weather very dry, while the banks of the +river appeared to be thickly peopled for Australia, and the British +strangers contrived to keep upon good terms with the natives. After +having passed one solitary cliff of some height, they met with stormy +weather for a few days, and several tributary streams of some size were +perceived mingling their waters with those of the Murray, the left bank +of which became extremely lofty, and, though formed almost wholly of +clay and sand, it bore the appearance of columns or battlements, the +sand having been washed away in many places, while the clay was left +hollowed out more like the work of art than of nature. After a continued +descent of 22 days, the party, who were pleased with the noble character +of the river upon which they were, though disappointed at the poverty of +the country through which it passed, began to grow somewhat weary; but +upon inquiries being made of the natives no tidings could be gained +respecting their approach towards the sea. The navigation of every +natural stream is rendered tedious, though beautiful, by its devious +course, but, "what with its regular turns, and its extensive sweeps, the +Murray covers treble the ground, at a moderate computation, that it +would occupy in a direct course." The current became weaker, and the +channel deeper, as they proceeded down the stream, and the cliffs of +clay and sand were succeeded by others of a very curious formation, +being composed of shells closely compacted together, but having the +softer parts so worn away, that the whole cliff bore in many places the +appearance of human skulls piled one upon the other. At first, this +remarkable formation did not rise more than a foot above the water, but +within ten miles from this spot it exceeded 150 feet in height, the +country in the vicinity became undulating, and the river itself was +confined in a glen whose extreme breadth did not exceed half a mile. An +old man, a native, was met with hereabouts, who appeared by his signs +to indicate that the explorers were at no great distance from some +remarkable change. The old man pointed to the N. W., and then placed +his hand on the side of his head, in token, it was supposed, of their +sleeping to the N. W. of the spot where they were. He then pointed due +south, describing by his action, the roaring of the sea, and the height +of the waves. A line of cliffs, from two to three hundred feet in +height, flanked the river upon alternate sides, but the rest of the +country was level, and the soil upon the table-land at the top of the +cliffs very poor and sterile. The next change of scenery brought them to +cliffs of a higher description, which continued on both sides of the +river, though not always close to it. The stream lost its sandy bed and +its current together, and became deep, still, and turbid, with a muddy +bottom; and the appearance of the water lashing against the base of the +cliffs reminded the anxious voyagers of the sea. The scenery became in +many places beautiful, and the river was never less than 400 yards in +breadth. Some sea-gulls were seen flying over the boat, and being hailed +as the messengers of good tidings, they were not permitted to be shot. +The adverse wind and the short, heavy waves rendered the labour at the +oar very laborious, but the hope of speedily gaining some noble inlet--a +harbour worthy to form the mouth of a stream like the Murray--encouraged +the crew to pull on manfully, and to disregard fatigue. The salt meat +was all spoiled, and had been given to the dogs; fish no one would eat, +and of wild fowl there was none to be seen; so that the provisions of +the party consisted of little else but flour. And already, though +hitherto they had been performing the easiest part of their task, having +had the stream in their favour, it was evident that the men were much +reduced, besides which they were complaining of sore eyes. + +These circumstances all combined to increase the natural anxiety felt +by the little band of adventurers to reach the termination of the +Murray; and as its valley opened to two, three, and four miles of +breadth, while the width of the river increased to the third of a mile, +the expectations of the men toiling at the oar became proportionably +excited. The cliffs ceased, and gave place to undulating hills; no +pleasure-ground could have been more tastefully laid out than the +country to the right, and the various groups of trees, disposed upon the +sides of the elevations that bounded the western side of the valley, +were most ornamental. On the opposite side, the country was less +inviting, and the hills were bleak and bare. At length a clear horizon +appeared to the south, the direction in which the river was flowing; +Captain Sturt landed to survey the country, and beneath him was the +great object of his search, the termination of one of Australia's +longest and largest streams. Immediately below him was a beautiful lake, +of very large extent, and greatly agitated by the wind. Ranges of hills +were observed to the westward, stretching from north to south, and +distant forty miles. Between these hills and the place where the +traveller stood, the western bank of the Murray was continued in the +form of a beautiful promontory projecting into the lake, and between +this point and the base of the ranges the vast sheet of water before him +extended in the shape of a bay. The scene was altogether a very fine +one; but disappointment was a prevailing feeling in the mind of the +explorer, for it was most likely that there would be no practicable +communication for large ships between the lake and the ocean, and thus a +check was put upon the hopes that had been entertained of having at +length discovered a large and navigable river leading into the interior +of New Holland. The lake, called Lake Alexandrina, which was fifty +miles long and forty broad,[26] was crossed with the assistance of a +favourable wind; its waters were found to be generally very shallow, and +the long, narrow, and winding channel by which it communicates with the +ocean was found, as it had been feared, almost impracticable even for +the smallest vessels. This channel unites itself with the sea on the +south-western coast of New Holland, at the bottom of a bay named +Encounter Bay, one boundary of which is Cape Jervis, by which it is +separated from St. Vincent's Gulph,--the very part of the coast where a +ship was to be despatched by the Governor of New South Wales to afford +the party assistance, in case of their being successful in penetrating +to the sea-shore. Flour and tea were the only articles remaining of +their store of provisions, and neither of these were in sufficient +quantities to last them to the place where they expected to find fresh +supplies inland. But the first view of Encounter Bay convinced them that +no vessel could ever venture into it at a season when the S. W. winds +prevailed, and to the deep bight which it formed upon the coast (at the +bottom of which they then were), it was hopeless to expect any vessel to +approach so nearly as to be seen by them. To remain there was out of the +question; to cross the ranges towards the Gulph of St. Vincent, when the +men had no strength to walk, and the natives were numerous and not +peaceably disposed, was equally impossible. The passage from the lake +to the ocean was not without interruption, from the shallowness of the +sandy channel, otherwise Captain Sturt, in his little boat, would have +coasted round to Port Jackson, or steered for Launceston, in Van +Dieman's Land; and this he declares he would rather have done, could he +have foreseen future difficulties, than follow the course which he did. +Having walked across to the entrance of the channel, and found it quite +impracticable and useless, he resolved to return along the same route by +which he had come, only with these important additional difficulties to +encounter,--diminished strength, exhausted stores, and an adverse +current. The provisions were found sufficient only for the same number +of days upon their return as they had occupied in descending the river, +and speed was no less desirable in order to avoid encounters with the +natives than for the purpose of escaping the miseries of want; into +which, however, it was felt, a single untoward accident might in an +instant plunge them. With feelings of this description the party left +Lake Alexandrina and re-entered the channel of the Murray. + + [26] The dimensions given in Captain Sturt's map. The South-Australian + Almanac states it to be sixty miles long, and varying in width from ten + to forty miles. + +It will be needless to follow the explorers through all the particulars +of their journey upwards to the depot on the Morrumbidgee. The boat +struck, the natives were troublesome, the rapids difficult to get over; +but the worst of all their toils and trials were their daily labours and +unsatisfied wants. One circumstance ought, in justice to the character +of the men, to be noticed. They positively refused to touch six pounds +of sugar that were still remaining in the cask, declaring that, if +divided, it would benefit nobody, whereas it would last during some time +for the use of Captain Sturt and Mr. M'Leay, who were less able to +submit to privations than they were. After having continued for no less +than fifty-five days upon the waters of the Murray, it was with great +joy that they quitted this stream, and turned their boat into the gloomy +and narrow channel of the Morrumbidgee. Having suffered much privation, +anxiety, and labour, and not without one or two unpleasant encounters +with the natives, at length the party reached their depot, but they +found it deserted! During seventy-seven days they could not have +pulled, according to Captain Sturt's calculation, less than 2000 miles; +and now, worn out by fatigue and want, they were compelled to proceed +yet further, and to endure, for some time longer, the most severe +privations to which man can be exposed. But, under the guidance of +Divine Providence, the lives of all were preserved, and now the reward +of their deeds of heroism is willingly bestowed upon them. Among the +boldest exploits ever performed by man, the descent of Captain Sturt and +his companions down the Murray, and their return to the same spot again, +may deserve to be justly ranked.[27] Nor, however disappointing the +result of their examination of the mouth of the Murray may have been, +was their daring adventure without its useful consequences. The lake +Alexandrina is said to be navigable across for vessels drawing six feet +of water, and the entrance to the sea, though rather difficult in heavy +weather, is safe in moderate weather for vessels of the same size. The +Murray itself is navigable for steam-vessels for many hundred miles, and +probably it will not be very long before these modern inventions are +introduced upon its waters. + + [27] For the account of this voyage, see Sturt's Expeditions in + Australia, vol. ii. pp. 72-221. + +Whoever has seen any recent map of New Holland must have been struck +with the curious appearance of a vast semicircle of water, called Lake +Torrens, near the southern coast, and extending many miles inland from +the head of Spencer's Gulph. A range of hills, named Flinders' Range, +runs to a considerable distance inland, taking its rise near the head of +the gulph just mentioned, and Lake Torrens nearly surrounds the whole of +the low country extending from this mountainous ridge. This immense lake +is supposed to resemble in shape a horse-shoe, and to extend for full +400 miles, whilst its apparent breadth is from 20 to 30. The greater +part of the vast area contained in its bed is certainly dry on the +surface, and consists of a mixture of sand and mud, of so soft and +yielding a character as to render perfectly unavailing all attempts +either to cross it, or to reach the edge of the water, which appears to +exist at a distance of some miles from the outer margin. Once only was +Mr. Eyre, the enterprising discoverer of this singular lake, able to +taste of its waters, and then he found them as salt as the sea. The low, +miserable, desert country in the neighbourhood, and Lake Torrens itself, +act as a kind of barrier against the progress of inland discovery at +the back of the colony of South Australia, since it is impossible to +penetrate very far into the interior, without making a great circle +either to the east or to the west. The portion of the bed of the lake +which is exposed is thickly coated with particles of salt; there are few +trees or shrubs of any kind to be found near, nor are grass and fresh +water by any means abundant. Altogether, the neighbourhood of Lake +Torrens would seem a very miserable region, and forms a strong contrast +to the smiling and cultivated district of which it forms the back +country.[28] + + [28] These particulars are taken from the South-Australian Almanac + for 1841, pp. 68-73. + +Although Australia, in its natural and uncultivated state, abounds in +trees, like most other wild countries, nevertheless, there are vast and +extensive tracts where the plains are entirely bare, or covered only +with a low, thick, and often prickly, bush, or else are what is termed +"open forest," that is, are dotted about with fine trees, dispersed in +various groups, and resembling the scenery of an English park. The +greatest peculiarity of the native forests appears to be, that the +whole of their trees and shrubs are evergreen,[29] although European +trees will flourish in the land of the south without acquiring this +peculiarity, or losing their deciduous character. But it is rather a +subject of complaint against the woods of New Holland, that they have +very little picturesque effect in them, which may be partly owing to +the poverty of the foliage of the prevailing tree, the _eucalyptus_, +(commonly called the _iron-bark_, or _blue gum_, according to its +species,) which seldom has anything ornamental to landscape, either in +the trunk or branches. These sombre trees are, however, very useful for +timber, and they grow to an astonishing height, often rearing up their +lofty heads to 150 feet or upwards. The woods, in general, are very +brittle, partly, it may be, owing to the number of acacias which are to +be found among them; and no experienced bushman likes to sleep under +trees, especially during high winds. We must by no means form our ideas +of the appearance of an Australian forest from that of the neat and trim +woods of our own country, where every single branch or bough, and much +more every tree, bears a certain value. Except that portion which is +required for fuel or materials by an extremely scattered population in a +very mild climate, there is nothing carried off from the forests, and, +were it not for the frequent and destructive fires which the natives +kindle in many parts, no check worth mentioning would be placed upon the +natural increase and decay of the woods of New Holland. The consequence +of this is, that trees are to be seen there in every stage of growth or +ruin; and, occasionally, in very thickly-planted spots, the surface of +the ground is not a little encumbered by the fallen branches and trunks +of the ancient ornaments of the forest. Nor is it by the hand of Time +alone that these marks of destruction are scattered about in the vast +woodlands; the breath of a tremendous storm will occasionally +accomplish, perhaps, as much in a few hours as natural decay would in +many years.[30] Altogether, the forests of Australia may be said to be +in a purely natural state, and thus do they offer to the eye of the +inquiring traveller many objects less pleasing, it may be, but +nevertheless more sublime and solemn, than those with which the woods +of more cultivated countries commonly abound. + + [29] See Wentworth's Australasia, vol. i. p. 3. + + [30] See Account of the Effects of a Storm at Mount Macedon, + (Mitchell's "Three Expeditions," vol. ii. p. 283.) + +To travel without any beaten track through a country clothed, in many +parts, very thickly, by forests like those just described, is in itself +no easy undertaking, and the operation of hewing a way for a mile or two +through the surrounding woods, during the very heat of the day, and +sometimes after a long march, is very trying. But when the exposure +to burning thirst, and to the uncertain disposition of the native +inhabitants is added, the patient endurance of successful explorers +is still more strongly displayed. Nor, although it be only a minor +annoyance, must the pain and inconvenience felt by wanderers in the +bush from the prickly grass, which is found abundantly in the sandy +districts, be forgotten. In those barren sands, where no grass grows, +there are frequently tufts of a prickly bush, which tortures the horses, +and tears to pieces the clothes of the men about their ankles, if they +are walking. This bush, called the prickly grass, and a dwarf tree, the +_Eucalyptus dumosa_, grows only where the soil appears too barren and +loose for anything else; indeed, were it not for these, the sand would +probably drift away, and cover the vegetation of neighbouring spots less +barren and miserable. Against this evil, nature seems to have provided +by the presence of two plants so singularly fitted for a soil of this +description. The root of the _Eucalyptus dumosa_ resembles that of a +large tree; but it has no trunk, and only a few branches rise above +the ground, forming an open kind of bush, often so low that a man on +horseback may look over it for miles. This dwarf tree, and the prickly +grass together, occupy the ground, and seem intended to bind down the +sands of Australia. The size of the roots prevents the bush from growing +very close together, and the stems being without leaves, except at the +top, this kind of _Eucalyptus_ is almost proof against the running fires +of the bush. The prickly grass resembles, at a distance, in colour and +form, an overgrown lavender plant, but the blades of it, consisting of +sharp spikes, occasion most cruel annoyance both to men and horses. +Another inconvenience and danger to which exploring parties are liable, +are those fires in the bush already alluded to; which, whether caused by +accident, or designedly by the natives, are not uncommon events.[31] +"The country seemed all on fire around us."--"All the country beyond the +river was in flames; one spark might have set the whole country on our +side in a blaze, and then no food would remain for the cattle, not to +mention the danger to our stores and ammunition." "Fires prevailed +extensively at great distances in the interior, and the sultry air +seemed heated by the general conflagration;" these expressions convey +rather alarming ideas of the dangers to which travellers are exposed in +the bush, and from which it is not always easy to make good an escape. + + [31] On one occasion the progress of the fire was _against the wind_. + See this stated and explained by Major Mitchell, "Three Expeditions," + vol. i. p. 19. + +It may have been observed, possibly, in what has been related of the +country and scenery of New Holland in its natural state, that the +descriptions of very beautiful or fertile spots have been comparatively +few. Now, although it is true that a very large portion of the known +surface of that island is occupied by the sandstone rock, which is in +its very nature utterly barren, nevertheless, it is by no means to +be supposed that there is any scarcity of most rich and beautiful +land--some of it fit for immediate occupation--to be found in most +parts of Australia. In attempting to draw a picture of a distant and +remarkable region, we are almost sure to mark and bring distinctly out +its most peculiar and striking features; the scenes resembling those of +our own quiet and happy land are passed over as tame and familiar, while +the dreariness of the desert, the horrors of a "barren and dry land +where no water is,"--the boundless plains, or the bare mountain-tops, +the lonely shore or the rocky isle--scenes like these, are commonly +dwelt upon and described. In short, the very spots which are least +enticing, _in reality_, for the colonist to settle in, are often most +agreeable, _in description_, for the stranger to read of. + +But, since the reader must not be left with the erroneous and unpleasant +impression that the country of which we have been treating is, for the +most part, a mere wilderness, if not a desert, we may select two +recently-discovered districts of it to serve for a favourable specimen +of the beauty and fertility of many others, which cannot now be noticed. + +The following description of Wellington Valley (now recently included in +the limits of the colony,) is from the pen of its first discoverer, Mr. +Oxley, and other travellers bear witness that it is not overcharged: "A +mile and a half brought us into the valley which we had seen on our +first descending into the glen: imagination cannot fancy anything more +beautifully picturesque than the scene which burst upon us. The breadth +of the valley, to the base of the opposite gently-rising hills, was +between three and four miles, studded with fine trees, upon a soil which +for richness can nowhere be exceeded; its extent, north and south, we +could not see: to the west, it was bounded by the lofty rocky ranges by +which we had entered it; these were covered to the summit with cypresses +and acacias in full bloom, and a few trees in bright green foliage gave +additional beauty to the scene. In the centre of this charming valley +ran a strong and beautiful stream, its bright, transparent waters +dashing over a gravelly bottom, intermingled with large stones, forming +at short intervals considerable pools, in which the rays of the sun +were reflected with a brilliancy equal to that of the most polished +mirror. The banks were low and grassy, with a margin of gravel and +pebble-stones; there were marks of flood to the height of about twelve +feet, when the river would still be confined within its secondary banks, +and not overflow the rich lands that bordered it. Its usual width is 200 +feet; in times of flood it would be from 600 to 800 feet."[32] + + [32] See Oxley's Journals, pp. 184-7. + +In Australia Felix, as it has been called by its discoverer, Major +Mitchell, which is a much larger district than that just described, +almost every earthly delight and advantage would likewise seem to have +combined to make it a perfect dwelling-place for man. The temperate and +mild climate; the neighbourhood of the sea; the variety and fertility of +its surface; the ranges of lofty and picturesque mountains by which it +is backed; the number of rivers, small and large, by which it is +watered; the comparatively open nature of the country, yet not without +an ample supply of timber close at hand; all these and other advantages +unite in rendering Australia Felix one of the most desirable spots upon +the face of the globe. And the beauties and blessings of a spot like +this, must have stood forth in bold contrast with the dreary, lifeless +plains of the Darling, or Lachlan, which the discoverers of Australia +Felix had so long been engaged in exploring. One of the first harbingers +of the better country, to which the travellers were drawing near, was a +very curious height, called Pyramid Hill, which is formed of granite, +and, being a triangular pyramid, standing quite alone, closely resembles +the monuments of ancient Egypt. It rises 300 feet above the surrounding +plain; its point consists of a single block of granite, and the view +over the neighbouring country was exceedingly beautiful. The scene was +different from anything the travellers had elsewhere witnessed. "A land +so inviting, and still without inhabitants![33] As I stood," continues +the explorer, warming with the thoughts of his discovery, "the first +European intruder on the sublime solitude of these verdant plains, as +yet untouched by flocks or herds, I felt conscious of being the +harbinger of mighty changes; and that our steps would soon be followed +by the men and animals for which it seemed to have been prepared." +Twelve days afterwards, the whole of which had been spent in traversing +a district rich and lovely in the extreme, the first view of a noble +range of mountains (the Grampians) was obtained; they rose in the south +to a stupendous height, and presented as bold and picturesque an outline +as ever painter imagined.[34] And, during a journey of many days, the +same rich and sublime scenery still appeared, mingled together in +beautiful and endless variety. Every day the party of travellers passed +over land which, for natural fertility and beauty, could scarcely be +surpassed; over streams of unfailing abundance, and plains covered with +the richest pasturage. Stately trees and majestic mountains adorned the +ever-varying landscape, the most southern region of all Australia, and +the best. On the river Glenelg, which was discovered about a month after +they had left Pyramid Hill, the land appeared everywhere alike good, +alike beautiful; whether on the finely-varied hills, or in the equally +romantic vales, which opened in endless succession on both banks of the +river. Further on in this lovely district, the British explorers came +upon fresh scenes of surpassing sweetness. A small party of them were +out upon an excursion, when they perceived before them a ridge in the +blue distance--rather an unusual object in that close country. They soon +after quitted the wood through which they had been passing, and found +that they were on a kind of table-land, approaching a deep ravine coming +from their right, which terminated on a very fine-looking open country +below, watered by a winding river. They descended by a bold projection +to the bottom of the ravine, and found there a foaming little river, +hurrying downwards over rocks. After fording this stream, they ascended +a very steep but grassy mountain-side, and, on reaching a brow of high +land, a noble prospect appeared; a river winding among meadows that were +fully a mile broad, and green as an emerald. Above them rose swelling +hills of fantastic shapes, but all smooth and thickly covered with rich +verdure. Behind these were higher hills, all having grass on their +sides, and trees on their summits, and extending east and west +throughout the landscaper as far as could be seen. After riding about +two miles along an entirely open, grassy ridge, the party again found +the Glenelg, flowing eastward towards an apparently much lower country. +The river was making for the coast, (turning southward some miles below +the hill on which they stood,) through a country far surpassing in +beauty and richness any part hitherto discovered. + + [33] Not quite so; they soon fell in with a few of the scattered + wanderers of the bush. + + [34] See the interesting account of Major Mitchell's ascent to Mount + William, the highest point of these hills.--MITCHELL'S _Three + Expeditions_, vol. ii. pp. 171-181. + +What, in fact, is there wanting to the charming and extensive region +just described, or what to hundreds of other fruitful and lovely +districts under the power of the British crown, except _civilised +inhabitants_, and the establishment of _a branch of Christ's "one +Catholic and Apostolic Church_?" The population is ready, nay, even +redundant, in England; nor are the means deficient in a land abounding +beyond all others in wealthy capitalists. But the will, the wisdom, the +understanding heart, the united counsels, are, it is to be feared, and +are likely still to be, wanting with us. May that God who maketh men to +be of one mind in a house or nation, so dispose events, that in due time +the valleys and hills of Australia Felix may be dotted with churches, +and filled with faithful members of Christ! Then will it become a +_happy_ land indeed. Then may its inhabitants feel a lively interest, +both in the _social_ and _religious_ welfare of their country; and each +one may join, from the distant shores of the once unknown Southern Land, +in the holy aspirations of the Royal Prophet: "For my brethren and +companions' sakes I will wish thee prosperity. Yea, because of the house +of the Lord our God, I will seek to do thee good."[35] + + [35] Psalm cxxii. 8,9. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +NATIVES OF THE BUSH. + + +In most instances in which a country is taken possession of, and its +original inhabitants are removed, enslaved, or exterminated, the party +thus violently seizing upon the rights of others is considered the +superior and more civilized nation of the two. The very means by which +this advantage is gained are, usually, boldness, and worldly talent, +without which a conquest or successful invasion is impossible; and +these, when prosperous, are qualities which awaken very powerfully the +admiration and attention of men. So that, while earthly prosperity and +excellence are combining to cast a splendour around the actions of the +successful nation, adversity and inferiority do usually join in +blackening the cloud which hangs over the character of that which is +unfortunate. It is not for us to defend these judgments of the world, as +though they were, in any case, altogether righteous judgments, but this +we may safely affirm, in the particular instance of Australia, that, +upon the whole, it is a gain to the cause of truth and virtue for +Christian England to possess those wilds, which lately were occupied by +miserable natives; and, while we own that it is wrong to do evil that +good may come, yet may we, likewise, confess with thankfulness the +Divine mercy and wisdom which have so often brought good out of the +evil committed by our countrymen in these distant lands. It must be +confessed, too, that, whatever may be the amount of iniquity wantonly +committed among the natives of the other portions of the globe, for +which Europe is responsible, still, the Europeans, upon the whole, +stand higher than the inhabitants of the remaining portions, and, of +course, in proportion, very much higher than the most degraded and +least-improved race of savages, the Australian natives. True, indeed, +these despised Australians may, hereafter, rise up in judgment against +Europeans to condemn them; and when that which has been given to each +race of men shall be again required of them, those that have received +the most may frequently be found to have profited the least by the gifts +of Divine Providence. Still, without pretending to pass judgment upon +any, whether nations or individual persons,--without affecting, either, +to close our eyes against the miserable vices by which the Christian +name has been disgraced, and our country's glory sullied, among distant +and barbarous nations, we may with safety speak of the inhabitants of +those heathen lands in terms that are suitable to their degraded state. +In describing their darkened and almost brutal condition, we are but +describing things as they really exist;[36] it changes not the actual +fact to prove that, in many more respects than would at first sight +appear, the behaviour of men of our own _enlightened_ nation is scarcely +less darkened or less brutal than theirs. Nay, the Australian savage, in +his natural state, may be a far higher and nobler character than the +British convict sometimes is in his degraded state; and, nevertheless, +it may be correct to class the nation of the former among barbarians, +and that of the latter among civilized people. But in forming our +judgment respecting the real character of the natives of the Bush we +must beware lest we try them by our own standard,--a standard by which +it is unjust to measure them, since they have never known it, nor ever +had the means of reaching it.[37] Every wise man will make all possible +allowance for the effect of many generations of ignorance and +degradation upon the human soul, and when this has been fairly done, the +truly wise man, the humble Christian, whilst he reads of the deplorable +condition to which the human soul may be reduced, (as it is shown in the +instance before us,) will feel disposed to ask himself, "Who made thee +to differ from others? And what hast thou that thou didst not receive?" + + [36] One crime, in which the inhabitants of the neighbouring islands of + New Zealand notoriously indulge, has been charged also upon the people + of New Holland; but, since no mention of their _cannibalism_ is made by + those British travellers who have seen most of the habits of the + natives, it is hoped that the charge is an unfounded one. See, however, + M. Martin's New South Wales, pp. 151-2, and the instance of _Gome Boak_, + in Collins' History of New South Wales, p. 285; and Sturt's Expeditions + in Australia, vol. ii. p. 222. + + [37] Nay, our fellow-countrymen in the Australian colonies, can, by no + means, endure a strict trial, even by their own rule of right. Take, + for instance, the following very common case:--The kangaroo disappears + from cattle-runs, and is also killed by stockmen, merely for the sake of + the skin; but no mercy is shown to the natives who may help themselves + to a bullock or a sheep. They do not, it is true, breed and feed the + kangaroos as our people rear and fatten cattle, but, at least, the wild + animals are bred and fed upon their land, and consequently belong to + them. + +The native population of Australia is very peculiar in many respects, +not exactly resembling any other known race of human beings in the +world. They are more nearly akin to the Africans than to any others, and +they have, accordingly, been sometimes called _the Eastern Negroes_, +having the same thick lips, high cheek-bones, sunken eyes, and legs +without calves, which distinguish the native of Africa; but, with the +exception of Van Diemen's Land, and the adjoining coasts, the woolly +hair of the negro is not to be found among them, nor is the nose usually +so flat, or the forehead so low. They are seldom very tall, but +generally well made; and their bodily activity is most surprising; nor +is their courage at all to be despised. The Australian native has always +been pointed out as being the lowest specimen of human nature, and, +since, in every scale of degrees, one must be lowest, this is probably +correct enough; yet we are by no means to give too hasty credit to the +accounts of their condition, which have been given by those whose +interest it may have been to represent them in as unfavourable a light +as possible, or whose opportunities of judging have been few and scanty, +compared with their hasty willingness to pass judgment upon them. Men, +more or less busily engaged in killing and taking possession, are not +likely to make a very favourable report of those poor creatures into +whose inheritance they have come; mere self-defence would tempt them to +try to lessen the greatness of their crimes, by asserting the victims of +these to be scarcely deserving of a better fate, and, in the present +instance, the actual condition of the native population would be very +favourable to excuses of this kind. Or, even without this evil intention +of excusing wrong by slandering those that suffer it, many men, with but +few means of understanding their character, may have spoken decidedly +respecting the Australian natives, and that, too, in language even +harsher than their degraded state would justify. Disgusting and horrid +many of their habits and customs undoubtedly are, yet they appear even +more so at first sight, and to one only imperfectly acquainted with +them; especially when (which often happens) not the slightest allowance +is made for the peculiar situation of the savage, but he is taken at +once from the midst of his naked barbarity, and tried by the rules of +refinement and civilization. Recently, indeed, public attention and pity +have been more turned towards the unhappy race of natives, and many +traits have been discovered in their character which would not dishonour +more enlightened nations. The degraded position of those who are in the +midst of the white population affords no just criterion of their merits. +Their quickness of apprehension is often surprising, and nothing, +however new and strange, seems to puzzle or astonish them; so that they +follow closely the advice of the ancient poet: + + "Wonder at nought:--the only rule I know + To make man happy, and to keep him so." + +"They are never awkward," says Major Mitchell, who was well qualified +to speak from experience; "on the contrary, in manners, and general +intelligence, they appear superior to any class of white rustics that +I have seen. Their powers of mimicry seem extraordinary, and their +shrewdness shines even through the medium of imperfect language, and +renders them, in general, very agreeable companions." We may, therefore, +if our inquiry be accompanied by humility and justice, be able to form a +fair and impartial opinion respecting these people; and the result of an +inquiry of this sort must be, in every well-regulated soul, not merely a +feeling of thankfulness (still less of self-sufficiency,) that we are +far removed from the savage state, but, likewise, a sense of shame, +that, with many of our fellow-countrymen, their superior advantages +have been productive of little or no fruit. + +One very remarkable distinction of the natives of the Bush is, the +entire absence of clothing, unless the cloak, made of opossum-skin, worn +by some tribes, can deserve to be thought an exception. Their climate +being, generally speaking, a dry one, and exposure to the air, even at +night, being much less hurtful than in most other countries, this habit +of going without clothing, after the fashion of a brute beast, is by no +means so dangerous in Australia as it would be elsewhere. But, while +they can dispense with _clothes_, like most other savages, they are +extremely fond of _ornaments_,--at least, of what they esteem to be +such: these are teeth of kangaroos, or men, jaw-bones of a fish, +feathers, tails of dogs, pieces of wood, &c., fastened on different +parts of the head, by a sort of gum; while scars, and marks of various +kinds, are made upon the breast, arms, and back; or, upon certain +occasions, as going to war, or mourning for a friend, the body is +streaked over with white and yellow paint, according to the taste of the +party concerned. In two very distant parts of Australia, namely, the +gulf of Carpentaria, and the eastern coast of St. Vincent's Gulf, the +natives practise the rite of circumcision--a remarkable agreement, when +we consider that they are about 1200 miles apart, and have no means of +communication with each other. It is no uncommon custom, either, for the +natives to pierce their noses, and to place a bone or reed through the +opening, which is reckoned a great ornament. But there is another +custom, almost peculiar to Australia, which, from its singularity, +may deserve to be noticed at some length. Among many of the native +tribes,[38] it is usual for the males to have a front tooth, or +sometimes _two_, struck out at the time of their arriving at manhood, +and this ceremony is performed in a most solemn and impressive manner. +The following account of it, from the pen of an eye-witness, may be not +unacceptable to the reader: Lieutenant Collins, the historian of the +infant colony of New South Wales, was present during the whole of this +curious operation, and thus describes the accompanying ceremonies +practised by the natives of that part of Australia:--For seven days +previous to the commencement of the solemnity, the people continued to +assemble, and the evenings were spent in dancing, for which they adorned +themselves in their best manner, namely, by painting themselves white, +and especially by drawing white circles round their eyes. When the field +was prepared, and the youths who were to be enrolled among men were all +placed together upon one side of it, the business began with a loud +shout, and a clattering of shields and spears, from the armed party, +whose office it was to seize the patients about to undergo the +extraordinary operation. This was done one by one, until the whole +number, fifteen, were brought forward, and placed in the midst of the +armed body of men; then each youth was made to sit down, holding his +head downwards, with his hands clasped, and his legs crossed under him, +in which painful posture it was said they were to remain all night, +without looking up or taking any refreshment whatever.[39] The +Carrahdis, or persons who were to perform the operation, now began some +of their strange mummeries. Each one of these, in his turn, appeared to +suffer most extreme agony, and put himself into every posture that pain +could occasion, until, at length, a bone was brought forward, which was +intended to be used in the ensuing ceremony; and the poor youths were +led to believe that the more pain these Carrahdis suffered in obtaining +the bone, the less would be theirs in losing a tooth. The following day +began with the ceremony of the fifteen operators running round upon +their hands and feet, in imitation of the dogs of that country, and +throwing upon the boys, as they passed, sand and dirt with their hands +and feet. The youths were perfectly still and silent, and it was +understood that this ceremony gave them power over the dog, and endowed +them with whatever good qualities that animal might possess. + + [38] Speaking of a tribe which he found upon the banks of the Darling, + Mitchell says, "The men retained all their front teeth, and had no + scarifications on their bodies, two most unfashionable peculiarities + among the aborigines." (MITCHELL'S _Three Expeditions_, vol. i. p. 261.) + The same intelligent traveller accounts for the custom of knocking out + the teeth, by supposing it a typical sacrifice, probably derived from + early sacrificial rites. The cutting off the last joint of the little + finger of females, (he adds,) seems a custom of the same kind. It is a + curious observation, that the more ferocious among the natives on the + Darling were those tribes that had _not_ lost their front teeth.--Vol. + ii. p. 345, and vol. i. p. 304. + + [39] This was not the fact, however, for Lieut. Collins found them in + a different place, when he went to the spot early in the next morning. + +The next part that was performed, was the offering of a sham kangaroo, +made of grass, to the fifteen lads, who were still seated as before. One +man brought the kangaroo, and a second carried some brushwood, besides +having one or two flowering shrubs stuck through his nose, and both +seemed to stagger under the weight of their burdens. Stalking and +limping, they at last reached the feet of the youthful hunters, and +placed before them the prize of the chase, after which they went away, +as though entirely wearied out. By this rite was given the power of +killing the kangaroo, and the brushwood, most likely, was meant to +represent its common haunt. In about an hour's space, the chief actors +returned from a valley to which they had retired, bringing with them +long tails of grass, which were fitted to the girdle. By the help of +this addition, they imitated a herd of kangaroos, one man beating time +to them with a club on a shield, and two others, armed, followed them +and affected to steal unnoticed upon them to spear them. As soon as +these pretended kangaroos had passed the objects of their visit, they +instantly got rid of their artificial tails, each man caught up a lad, +and, placing him upon his shoulders, carried him off in triumph to the +last scene of this strange exhibition. + +After walking a short distance, the men put down their burdens, placing +them in a cluster, each boy with his head upon his breast, and his hands +clasped together. In a few minutes, after a greater degree of mystery +and preparation than had been before observed, the youthful band was +brought forward to a place where a number of human beings were seen +lying with their faces to the ground, as if they were dead, and in front +of these was a man seated on a stump of a tree, bearing another man upon +his shoulders, both having their arms extended, while two men, in a like +attitude, were seen also behind the group of prostrate figures. These +first two men made most hideous faces for a few minutes, and then the +lads were led over the bodies lying on the ground, which moved and +writhed, as though in great agony; after which the same strange grimaces +were repeated by the two men who were placed on the further side of the +apparently dead bodies. All the information that could be gained of the +meaning of this, was, that it would make them brave men; that they would +see well and fight well. Then followed a sort of martial exercise with +spear and shield, in the presence of the future warriors, to signify to +them what was to be one great business of their lives--the use of the +spear; and, when this was finished, the preparations for striking out +the tooth commenced. The first subject of this barbarous operation was +chosen, and seated upon the shoulders of a native, who himself sat down +upon the grass; and then the bone was produced, which had cost so much +apparent pain to procure the evening before, and which was made very +sharp and fine at one end, for the purpose of lancing the gum. But for +some such precaution, it would have been impossible to have knocked out +the tooth, without breaking the jaw-bone. A stick was then cut with much +ceremony out of some hard wood, and when the gum of the patient was +properly prepared, the smallest end of the stick was applied to the top +of the tooth, while the operator stood ready with a large stone, as +though about to drive the tooth down the throat of the youth. Here a +certain attention to the number three, which had been before shown, was +again noticed, for no stroke was actually made, until three attempts to +hit the stick had taken place; and, notwithstanding repeated blows, so +firmly was the tooth of the first boy fixed in his gum, that it was full +ten minutes before it was forced out. The sufferer was then removed, his +gum was closed, and he was dressed out in a new style, with a girdle, in +which was stuck a wooden sword, and with a bandage round his head, while +his left hand was placed over his mouth, and he was not allowed to +speak, nor, during that day, to eat. In this manner were all the others +treated, except one only, who could not endure the pain of more than one +blow with the stone, and, breaking away from his tormentors, he managed +to make his escape. During the whole operation a hideous noise was kept +up around the patients, with whom, generally, it seemed to be a point of +honour to endure this pain without a single murmur. Having once gone +through this strange ceremony, they were henceforth admitted into the +company and privileges of the class of men. + +And as the commencement of manhood in this way, requires no small +exercise of courage and endurance of pain, so the remainder of the life +of an Australian savage is usually abundant in trials calling for the +like qualities, and demanding both bravery and patience. Whatever may +be the particular evils of civilized society, and however some wild +imaginations may be tempted by these to regard with regret or envy the +enjoyments of savage life, after all it must be confessed, these +enjoyments are, at best, very scanty and very uncertain, whilst the +miseries attendant upon such a state are of a nature continually to try +the patience and weary the spirit of him who has to endure them. Without +dwelling just at present upon the natural wants and sufferings to which +savage men are perpetually exposed in the wilderness of Australia, it is +deplorable to think of how many evils these thinly-scattered tribes are +the cause to each other; enormous and sad is the amount of suffering, +which, even in those lonely and unfrequented regions, human beings are +constantly bringing upon their brethren or neighbours. War, which seems +almost a necessary evil, an unavoidable scourge to man's fallen race, in +all ages and in every country, wears its most deadly aspect, and shows +its fiercest spirit among the petty tribes, and in the personal +encounters of savages like those of whom we are treating. Various causes +of misunderstanding will, of course, arise among them from time to time, +and every trifling quarrel is continued and inflamed by their amazing +and persevering efforts to revenge themselves, which appears to be with +them considered a matter of duty. The shedding of blood is always +followed by punishment, and only those who are _jee-dyte_, or +unconnected with the family of the guilty person, can consider +themselves in safety from this evil spirit of revenge. Little children +of seven or eight years old, if, while playing, they hear that some +murder has taken place, can in a moment tell whether or not they +are _jee-dyte_, and even at this tender age, take their measures +accordingly. An example of this unsparing visitation of offences +occurred not long after the settlement of New South Wales had commenced. +A native had been murdered, and his widow, being obliged to revenge his +death, chanced to meet with a little girl distantly related to the +murderer, upon whom she instantly poured forth her fury, beating her +cruelly about the head with a club and pointed stone, until at length +she caused the child's death. When this was mentioned before the other +natives, they appeared to look upon it as a right and necessary act, nor +was the woman punished by the child's relatives, possibly because it was +looked upon as a just requital. + +When a native has received any injury, whether real or fancied, he is +very apt to work himself up into a tremendous passion, and for this +purpose certain war-songs, especially if they are chanted by women, seem +amazingly powerful. Indeed, it is stated, on good authority, that four +or five mischievously-inclined old women can soon stir up forty or +fifty men to any deed of blood, by means of their chants, which are +accompanied by tears and groans, until the men are excited into a +perfect state of frenzy. The men also have their war-songs, which they +sing as they walk rapidly backwards and forwards, quivering their +spears, in order to work themselves up into a passion. The following +very common one may serve for a specimen, both of the manner and matter +of this rude, yet, to them, soul-stirring poetry:-- + + Yu-do dauna, Spear his forehead, + Nan-do dauna, Spear his breast, + Myeree dauna, Spear his liver, + Goor-doo dauna, Spear his heart, + Boon-gal-la dauna, Spear his loins, + Gonog-o dauna, Spear his shoulder, + Dow-al dauna, Spear his thigh, + Nar-ra dauna, Spear his ribs, + &c. &c. &c. &c. &c. &c. + +And thus it is that a native, when he feels afraid, sings himself into +courage, or, if he is already in a bold mood, he heaps fuel upon the +flame of his anger, and adds strength to his fury. The deadly feeling of +hatred and revenge extends itself to their public, as well as to their +private, quarrels, and sometimes shows itself in a very fierce and +unexpected manner. In the valley of the Wollombi, between Sydney and +Hunter's River, some years ago, three boys of a certain tribe had been +persuaded to reside in the families of three of the British settlers +there. These were marked out for vengeance by the natives belonging to +a tribe in a state of warfare with them, about 100 of whom travelled +between 20 and 30 miles during one night--a thing almost unheard of +among the natives--and reached the neighbourhood of the settlers on the +Wollombi very early on the ensuing morning. Two or three of them were +sent to each of the houses to entice the boys out, but these, it +appeared, somewhat suspected the intentions of their enemies. However, +they were at length persuaded to join the native dance, when suddenly a +circle was formed round them, and they were speedily beaten to death +with _waddies_ or clubs. Immediately after which deed, the troop of +natives returned back again to their own neighbourhood. A European +happened to pass by, just as the boys were dying, but being alone and +unarmed, his interference might have been dangerous to himself, without +proving of any the slightest advantage to the unfortunate sufferers. + +Another instance of that cowardly cruelty, which will take every +possible advantage of a helpless age and sex occurred many years before +this, when the colony of New South Wales was quite in its infancy. The +father and mother of a little native girl, aged about seven years, had +belonged to a party by whom many robberies had been committed on the +banks of the river Hawkesbury, but an armed troop of Europeans was sent +in pursuit of these robbers, and when a meeting took place, the child's +parents were among those that fell, while she accompanied the victorious +party to the British settlement. Here she behaved herself with +propriety, being a well-disposed child, she was a favourite at +Government-house, where she resided under the protection of the +governor. This circumstance, and the fact of her belonging to a +different tribe from their own, awakened the jealousy of some of the +natives, who belonged to the neighbourhood of Sydney, and she was +consequently put to death in the most cruel manner. Her body was found +in the woods, speared in several places, and with both the arms cut off. +The murderers of the poor child escaped. + +But, while we justly condemn and pity the cruel and cowardly acts of +this description, which, unhappily, too often figure among the deeds of +the natives of the Australian Bush, we are by no means to suppose them +wanting in all feeling of kindness and humanity, still less would it be +correct to consider them deficient in true courage. Every allowance +ought to be made for the disadvantages of savage life, for the complete +ignorance of these people, for the difficulty which they frequently have +in procuring necessary food, and for the consequent cheapness in which +life is held among them; and when these and other like arguments are +duly weighed, we may learn not to abominate less the crimes of savages, +but to pity more the unhappy beings who commit them. Indeed, if we go +somewhat further, we may take shame to ourselves and to all civilized +nations, in many of whose practices a counterpart may be found for the +worst sins of the uncultivated, uncivilized heathens. + +Within the last few years many crimes have been recorded in our +newspapers, which, though committed in those large English towns, +by some conceived to be centres of civilization, refinement, and +enlightenment, might rival in horror and atrocity the very darkest +deeds of savages. + +Many proofs that the disposition of the native Australians is naturally +brave and courageous (however cowardly some of their barbarities may +appear,) could easily be brought forward; but none can be a stronger +proof of this than the coolness and self-possession which they have so +frequently exhibited upon meeting with Europeans, and encountering their +fire-arms for the first time. An example of this occurred in Western +Australia, when Captain Grey's party were on their return home towards +the British settlement of Perth. They were winding their way along on +the summit of a limestone hill not very far from the coast, which formed +a terrace about half a mile in width, with rich grass and beautiful +clumps of trees to adorn it; and while, on the side towards the land, +another terrace arose exactly like it, on the opposite side they +overlooked a bay surrounded by verdant and extensive flats. Their +enjoyment of the lovely scenery of this spot was soon disturbed by the +appearance of a large body of the natives on the high ground to the east +of them; and, although these strangers boldly advanced to within 200 +yards of them, all endeavours to bring about an amicable meeting proved +in vain, for the savages shouted to their companions, and these again to +others yet more remote, until the calls were lost in the distance, while +fresh parties of natives came trooping in from all directions. The +question was, how to get rid of these people without bloodshed; and +when an attempt to move quietly forward had been disappointed, by the +Australians hastening on to occupy a thick piece of bush, through which +the English party must pass, at last, Captain Grey, advancing towards +them with his gun cocked and pointed, drove them a little before him, +after which, to complete their dispersion, he intended to fire over +their heads. But, to his mortification and their delight, the gun missed +fire, upon which the natives, taking fresh courage, turned round to make +faces at him and to imitate the snapping of the gun. The second barrel +was then fired over their heads, at which they were alarmed, and made a +rapid retreat, halting, however, upon a rising ground about 300 yards +off, and preparing in earnest for action, when they perceived that they +had suffered no loss. But since they had thus learned to despise the +weapons of European warfare, prompt action was needful to prevent fatal +consequences on both sides. The captain, accordingly, took his rifle +from the man who was carrying it, and directing it at a heap of +closely-matted dead bushes, about two or three yards from the main body +of the enemy, he drove the ball right through it; the dry rotten boughs +crackled and flew in all directions, and the poor savages, confounded at +this new and unfair mode of fighting, hastily dispersed, without any +loss of life having been sustained by either party.[40] + + [40] A less serious but even more effectual method of dispersing the + natives, when they became troublesome, and would not quit the settlers' + camp at night, is mentioned by Mitchell. At a given signal, one of the + Englishmen suddenly sallied forth wearing a gilt mask, and holding in + his hand a blue light with which he fired a rocket. Two men concealed + bellowed hideously through speaking-trumpets, while all the others + shouted and discharged their fire-arms into the air. The man in the + mask marched solemnly towards the astonished natives, who were seen + through the gloom but for an instant, as they made their escape and + disappeared for ever.--MITCHELL'S _Expeditions_, vol. ii. p. 290. + +On another occasion, not long after this encounter, and in the same +neighbourhood, the party of English explorers fell in with a native +carrying his spear and a handful of fish; he was lost in thought, and +they were close to him before he saw them, but, when he did so, he took +no notice of them. Without even quickening his pace, he continued in his +own course, which crossed their path, and, as he evidently wished to +avoid all communication, the men were ordered to take no notice of him, +and so they passed one another. He must have been a very brave fellow, +observes the captain, to act thus coolly, when an array so strange to +him met his eye. In like manner, when Major Mitchell was riding upon the +banks of the Gwydir, he fell in with a tall native, covered with +pipe-clay, who, although he could never have seen a horse before, +nevertheless, put himself in a posture of defiance, and did not retreat, +until the traveller galloped at him to prevent his attack. + +In a different part of New Holland, on the eastern coast, when Flinders +was exploring Pumice-stone River, near Moreton Bay, he was by no means +successful in striking the natives with awe and astonishment. A hawk +having presented itself to view, he thought this afforded a good +opportunity of showing his new friends, the inhabitants of the Bush, a +specimen of the effect and certainty of his fire-arms. He made them +understand what he intended, and they were so far alarmed as to seem to +be on the point of running into the woods, but a plan of detaining them +was discovered, for the seamen placed themselves in front of the +savages, forming a kind of defence; in which situation they anxiously +watched the British officer, while he fired at the bird. What must have +been his feelings at the moment!--the hawk, uninjured, flew away![41] + + [41] On a similar occasion, near the Darling, where the inhabitants are + remarkable for their thievish habits, when a crow was shot, in order to + scare them by its sudden death, the only result was, that, before the + bird had reached the ground, one of them rushed forward at the top of + his speed to seize it!--See MITCHELL'S _Expeditions_, vol. i. p. 265. + +It is, certainly, no easy task to awaken in the soul of the completely +savage man any great interest or concern in the ways and habits of +civilized life. The fallen nature, of which all mankind are common +partakers, renders it, unfortunately, easy to copy what is evil; +and, accordingly, the drunkenness, the deceitfulness, and general +licentiousness of depraved Europeans find many admirers and imitators +among the simple children of the Australian wilderness; but when +anything good, or decent, or even merely useful, is to be taught them, +then do they appear dull and inapt scholars indeed. Living, as they do, +in a peculiar world, as it were, of their own, they feel little or no +pleasure at hearing of what is going on elsewhere, and it has been +observed by one who had mixed very much with their various tribes, and +had gained considerable knowledge of their language, that, while they +cared not for stories respecting man in his civilized state, anything at +all bearing upon savage life was eagerly listened to and well received. +Once, having described to them some circumstances respecting England and +its inhabitants, the traveller took occasion, from the mention of the +length of days there in summer, to speak of those lands near the North +Pole, where, in summer, the sun never sets, while it never rises for +some weeks during the winter. The natives agreed that this must be +another sun, and not the one seen by them; but, when the conversation +turned upon the people of those northern regions, and the small +Laplander, clothed in skins of the seal, instead of the kangaroo, was +described to them, they were exceedingly delighted; and this picture of +half-savage life, so different from their own, threw quite into the +shade all the other stories they had heard. It is, indeed, really +laughable to find with what cool contempt some of these natives, who +have never had any intercourse with Europeans, treat our comforts, our +tastes, and pursuits. We may contemn and pity them, but they seem to +have very much the same feelings for us. We are horrified at the +greediness with which they devour grubs, and many of them are shocked at +our oyster-eating propensities! A remarkable instance of this occurred +to Captain Flinders in 1798, when he was exploring the eastern coast of +New Holland, and surveying Two-fold Bay. While measuring a base line +upon the beach, the English sailors heard the screams of three native +women, who took up their children and ran off in great alarm. Soon after +this a man made his appearance, armed only with a _waddie_, or wooden +scimetar, but approaching them apparently with careless confidence. The +explorers made much of him, and gave him some biscuit; in return for +which he presented them with a piece of gristly fat, probably of whale. +This was tasted by Captain Flinders, but he was forced to watch for an +opportunity of getting rid of it while the eyes of the donor were not +upon him. But the savage himself was, curiously enough, doing precisely +the same thing with the biscuit, the taste of which was, perhaps, no +more agreeable to him than that of the whale to the Englishman. The +commencement of the trigonometrical operations necessary for surveying +the bay was beheld by the Australian with indifference, if not with +contempt; and he quitted the strangers, apparently satisfied that from +people who could thus seriously occupy themselves there was no great +danger to be feared. + +But, whatever may be urged respecting the variety of tastes and the +want of a settled and uniform standard of appeal respecting them; +however it may be argued the rich and luscious fat of a noble whale may +intrinsically surpass the lean and mouldy flavour of dry sea-biscuit; +nevertheless, in many other matters of greater importance, it must be +confessed that the manners and habits of the natives of the Bush are +extremely wretched and evil. And the Christian European, while he dares +not _despise_ them, cannot do otherwise than _pity_ them. The fact has +been already noticed, that these miserable children of nature scarcely +ever wear anything deserving of the name of clothing; and, in many parts +of New Holland, their huts, usually constructed by the women, and +composed of little better materials than bark, or wood, and boughs,[42] +reeds, or clay, scarcely merit the title of human habitations. But it is +not so much in their outward state, as in their moral and social habits, +that this race of men are most pitiable and degraded. One subject which +has been frequently observed to mark the difference not so much between +civilized and uncivilized men, as that between Christians and heathens, +must especially be noticed. Cruel as is _the treatment of women_ in many +other parts of the globe, the inhabitants of Australia seem to go beyond +all other barbarians in this respect. From the best and wisest people of +christian Europe down to the vilest and most degraded tribes of heathen +Australia, a regular scale might be formed of the general mode of +behaviour to the weaker sex among these various nations; and, mostly, it +would be found that the general superiority or inferiority of each +nation is not untruly indicated by the kindness or cruelty with which +their females are usually treated. + + [42] See Nehemiah viii. 14, 15. + +From their earliest infancy the female children are engaged or betrothed +to a future husband, and in case of his death, they belong to his heir. +But this arrangement is frequently prevented by the horrid practice, +common among these barbarians, of stealing their wives, and taking them +away by main force. Indeed, it seems a rule for the women to follow the +conquering party, as a matter of course; so that on the return of an +expedition into the interior of New Holland, the friendly and +neighbouring natives, being informed that some of the distant and +hostile people had been shot, only observed, "Stupid white fellows! why +did you not bring away the gins?" + +Polygamy is not uncommonly practised; and an old man, especially, among +other privileges, may have as many _gins_, or wives, as he can keep, or +maintain. Indeed, the maintenance of a wife is not expensive, since they +are expected to work; and all the most laborious tasks, including that +of supplying a great part of the necessary food for the family, are +performed by them.[43] Hence, they are watched with very jealous care, +being valuable possessions; but, in spite of all precautions, they are +frequently carried off, and that in the most inhuman manner. The _lover_ +steals upon the encampment by night, and, discovering where the object +of his affection is, he frequently beats her on the head till she +becomes senseless, and then drags her off through the bushes, as a tiger +would its prey![44] This, of course, is an undertaking attended with +considerable danger; for if the intruder is caught, he will be speared +through the leg, or even killed, by the angry husband or relatives. Thus +many quarrels arise, in which brothers or friends are generally ready +enough to bear a part. But--unlike the courteous and christian customs +of our own country--the poor female, whether innocent or guilty, it +matters not, has no one to take her part; the established rule with +regard to women among these brutal creatures being, "If I beat your +mother, then you beat mine; if I beat your wife, then you beat mine," +&c. &c. The consequence of these ferocious habits is evident enough in +the appearance of most of the young women, who have any good looks or +personal comeliness to boast of. The number of violent blows upon the +head, or of rude wounds inflicted by the spear, form so many miserable +trophies of victories dearly won by these Australian beauties, and the +early life of one of these unhappy beings is generally a continued +series of captivities to different masters, of wanderings in strange +families, of rapid flights, of bad treatment from other females, amongst +whom she is brought a stranger by her captor; and rarely is a form of +unusual grace and elegance seen, but it is marked and scarred by the +furrows of old wounds; while many females thus wander several hundreds +of miles from the home of their infancy, without any corresponding ties +of affection being formed to recompense them for those so rudely torn +asunder. As may be well imagined, a marriage thus roughly commenced +is not very smooth in its continuance; and the most cruel +punishments--violent beating, throwing spears or burning brands, +&c.--are frequently inflicted upon the weaker party, without any +sufficient provocation having been given. It is evident, that treatment +of this kind, together with the immensely long journeys which they are +compelled to take, always accompanying their husbands on every +excursion, must be very injurious to the constitution and healthiness of +the weaker sex. And to these trials must be added the constant carrying +of those children that are yet unable to travel, the perpetual search +for food, and preparation of it when it is obtained, besides many other +laborious offices performed by the women, all which being reckoned up +together, will form a life of toil and misery, which we may hope is +endured by no other human beings beside the females of Australia. Nor is +such treatment without its ill effect upon the tempers and dispositions +of the female sex. The ferocity of the women, when it is excited, +exceeds that of the men; they deal dreadful blows at one another with +their long sticks, and, if ever the husband is about to spear in the +leg, or beat, one of his wives, the others are certain to set on her, +and treat her with great inhumanity. + + [43] The men frequently indulge a great degree of indolence at the + expense of the women, who are compelled to sit in their canoe, exposed + to the fervour of a mid-day sun, hour after hour, chanting their little + song, and inviting the fish beneath them to take their bait; for without + a sufficient quantity to make a meal for their tyrants, who are lying + asleep at their ease, they would meet but a rude reception on their + landing.--COLLINS' _Account of Colony of New South Wales_, p. 387. + + [44] Playing at "stealing a wife" is a common game with the Australian + children. + +One custom, which to Europeans seems extremely remarkable, is that of +the family name of the _mother_, and not of the _father_, becoming the +surname of the children of either sex. And another, connected with this, +forbids a man from marrying with a woman of his own family name. Each +family has for its crest or sign, or _kobong_, as they call it, some +animal or vegetable; and a certain mysterious connexion is supposed to +exist between a family and its _kobong_; so that a member of the family +will never kill an animal of the same species with his _kobong_, should +he find it asleep; indeed, he always kills it reluctantly, and never +without affording it a chance of escape.[45] This arises from the family +belief that some one individual of the species is their nearest friend, +to kill whom would be a great crime, and is to be carefully avoided. +And, in like manner, a native having a vegetable for a _kobong_ may not +gather it under certain circumstances, and at a particular period of +the year. It is said that they occasionally exchange surnames with +their friends, a custom which is supposed to have prevailed among the +Jews; and they have another practice resembling the same people, which +is, that when a husband dies, his brother takes the wife.[46] Among +beings who hold life so cheaply, it cannot be a matter of surprise that +the destruction of infants should be occasionally practised, more +especially in cases where the child is born with any natural deformity: +nor is it an excuse for these barbarians that the polished nations of +ancient Greece and Italy habitually committed the like atrocities, or +even greater,--considering it in their own choice to rear up their +offspring or not, exactly as it suited their convenience. In fact, +we may learn from this and many other instances, that it is not +_civilisation_ alone, but yet more than that, _Christianity_, by which +the difference between the European and the Australian is produced:-- + + "In vain are arts pursued, or taste refin'd, + Unless Religion purifies the mind." + + [45] These facts may account for the statement mentioned by Collins, of + a native throwing himself in the way of a man who was about to shoot a + crow, whence it was supposed that the bird was an object of worship, + which notion is, however, contradicted by the common practice of eating + crows, of which birds the natives are very fond.--See COLLINS' _Account + of the Colony of New South Wales_, p. 355. + + Two young natives, to whom Mr. Oxley had given a tomahawk, discovered + the _broad arrow_, with which it was marked on both sides, and + which exactly resembles the print made by the foot of an emu. Probably + the youths thought it a _kobong_, for they frequently pointed to + it and to the emu skins which the party had with them.--See OXLEY'S + _Journal_, p. 172. + + [46] The command in Deut. xxv. only extended to the case of eldest sons + dying without children. + +Respecting the languages spoken in different parts of New Holland, it is +doubtful whether they have all a common root or not, but the opinion of +Captain Grey, who was not unqualified to judge, is in favour of their +kindred origin. In so vast an extent of country, among wandering tribes, +that hold little or no communication with each other, great differences +in language were to be expected, and are found to exist. If three men +from the east, the west, and the north of England meet together, they +occasionally puzzle one another by their various dialects; what, then, +must be expected by way of variety in a country between two and three +thousand miles across, without much communication, and totally +differing, at its extreme points, in climate and in animal and vegetable +productions? For new objects new names were, of necessity, invented; but +the resemblance between words signifying objects common everywhere, as, +for instance, the parts of the human body, is said to be remarkable. The +Australian languages are stated to be soft and melodious in their sound, +and their songs, though rude and wild, have amazing power over the +feelings of the soul. _Noise_ would appear to have great charms in +savage ears, and, sometimes, from the high key in which our English +songs are occasionally pitched, it would seem to have charms also for +"ears polite." But an elegant and refined European song would only be +laughed at and mimicked by the musical blacks, some few of whom are not, +however, quite insensible to the sweets of civilised melody. Warrup, a +native servant, was once present when "God save the Queen" was sung in +chorus, and it so affected him, that he burst into tears. He certainly +could not have understood the words, much less could he have entered +into the noble and loyal spirit, of our National Anthem: it must, +therefore, have been the music, and, perhaps, the excitement prevailing +around him, which affected him. + + + + +[Illustration: OPOSSUM HUNTING.] + +CHAPTER IV. + +MEANS OF SUBSISTENCE IN THE BUSH. + + +One of the most important occupations of every man in this present state +of things, is the pursuit of food and necessary sustenance for himself +and those belonging to him. But this occupation, being in some respects +more difficult, or at least, more uncertain and engrossing, stands more +forward in savage life, and appears more important than ever; while, at +the same time, the contrast upon this subject between the rude child of +nature and the civilized inhabitants of the earth, becomes even stronger +than usual. In glancing over the condition of the native of the Bush in +Australia, with respect to his supply of needful support, and his means +of obtaining it, several truths are to be borne in remembrance, obvious +indeed when pointed out, and yet not unlikely to escape a casual +observer. First, the vast extent of country, compared with the thin and +scattered population it maintains; next, the very different sort of food +required by a savage and a European; and lastly, the various kinds of +food which are used by the inhabitants of the wilderness--are all +matters which must be recollected, if we would form a fair judgment upon +the subject, and do justice to the humble, and apparently scanty, bill +of fare which Nature has provided for those that dwell among her wildest +scenes and in her most secret, recesses. In these spots it is but +rarely, of course, from the mere absence of sufficient provisions, that +any large body of natives can assemble together; but, occasionally, a +feast is prepared for a considerable number, either when some particular +article of food abounds at a certain place and is in full season, or, +especially, when a whale (a fish very common on the coasts of New +Holland) is thrown ashore. In the latter case, it is impossible for us +entirely to enter into the feelings of the savage, for we have never, +unexpectedly, had so large a quantity of what is considered the greatest +delicacy placed at once before us. Hence, when the Australian finds a +whale thrown ashore in his own district, his heart warms and opens with +kind feelings of hospitality; he longs to see all his friends about him, +and large fires are immediately kindled to announce the fortunate and +joyful event. Notice of the feast having been thus given, and a due +invitation forwarded, he rubs himself all over with the blubber, and his +favourite wives are served in the same manner, after which, he begins to +cut his way into the flesh of the whale, the grain of which is about the +firmness of a goose-quill; of this he chooses the nicest morsels, and +either broils them on the fire, or cooks them by cutting them into small +pieces, and spitting them on a pointed stick. + +Other natives, attracted by the flaming signal of revelry, soon assemble +in gay companies from all quarters: by night they dance and sing, and by +day they eat and sleep, and the feast continues unchecked until they at +last fairly eat their way into the whale, and may be seen climbing in +and about the carcase choosing their favourite pieces. The fish, in a +few days, becomes more disagreeable than ever, but still they will not +leave it, until they have been completely gorged with it,--out of temper +from indigestion, and therefore engaged in frequent quarrels. And, even +when they are, at length, obliged to quit the feast, they carry off with +them as much as they can stagger under, to eat upon the way, and to take +as a rarity to their distant friends. Such is a true picture of a native +Australian feast, and the polished sons and daughters of Europe will +turn away from it with feelings of unmingled disgust. But, with how many +of these is life itself a perpetual series of feasting, less gross and +disgusting indeed, but not less really sensual than this! How many +inhabitants of civilised countries live continually as though the +saying, "Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die" were the whole sum +and substance of practical wisdom! Yet if it were so, who would be more +happy, who more blessed in his situation, than the savage devouring, day +after day, the food his heart delights in? + +But a whale-feast is an event of no ordinary kind in the life of an +inhabitant of the Bush, and, if we would know how the common sustenance +of life is procured by him, we must follow him through a variety of +scenes and pursuits, of which, by no means the least important or +interesting, is the chase of the kangaroo.[47] This singular and +harmless creature is now so well known to Europeans, from specimens that +have been brought over and placed in our public collections of animals, +and also from numberless pictures, that it would be waste of time to +stop to describe it. In truth, being one of the productions peculiar to +Australia, it may be said, from the figures of it to be seen upon the +back of every book relating to that country, to have become almost the +_kobong_ or crest of that southern region. In many portions of New +Holland, particularly where the country is wooded and the soil tolerably +fertile, kangaroos are very abundant; but so great havoc is made among +these defenceless creatures by their various enemies, especially by man, +that their numbers appear to be upon the decrease.[48] + + [47] The wild dog is also an object of chase, and its puppies are + considered great dainties; but they are sometimes saved, in order to + bring them up in a tame state, in which case they are taken by one of + the elder females of the family, and actually reared up by her in all + respects like one of her own children! + + [48] It is a saying among the natives, "Where white man sit down, + kangaroo go away." + +A day's hunting is often the cause of no small excitement, even in +England, among men who care nothing for the object of their chase, and +are certain of a good dinner at the end of their day's sport; but we may +suppose this to be a matter of more serious interest to the Australian, +who depends upon his skill and patience in hunting for his daily food. +His whole manner and appearance, accordingly, are changed on these +occasions; his eyes brighten up, his motion becomes quick though silent, +and every token of his eagerness and anxiety is discoverable in his +behaviour. Earth, water, trees, sky, are all in turn the subjects of his +keenest search, and his whole soul appears to be engaged in his two +senses of sight and hearing. His wives, and even his children, become +perfectly silent, until, perhaps, a suppressed whistle is given by one +of the women, denoting that she sees a kangaroo near her husband, after +which all is again quiet, and an unpractised stranger might ride within +a few yards of the group, and not perceive a living thing. The devoted +animal, meanwhile, after listening two or three times without being able +to perceive any further cause of alarm, returns to its food or other +occupation in complete security, while the watchful savage poises his +spear, and lifts up his arm ready for throwing it, and then advances +slowly and with stealth towards his prey, no part moving but his legs. +Whenever the kangaroo looks round, its enemy stands still in the same +position he is in when it first raises its head, until the animal, again +assured of safety, gives a skip or two, and goes on feeding: again the +native advances, and the same scene occurs, until the whizzing spear +penetrates the unfortunate creature, upon which the whole wood rings +with sudden shouts; women and children all join in the chase, and, at +last, the kangaroo, weakened from loss of blood and encumbered by the +spear, places its back against a tree, and appears to attack its pursuer +with the fury of despair. Though naturally a timid animal, it will, +when it is hard pressed for life, make a bold stand; and, if hunted by +Europeans, will sometimes wait for the dogs and tear them with its hind +claws, or squeeze them with its fore arms, until the blood gushes out of +the hound's nostrils; and sometimes the poor creature will take to the +water, and drown every dog that comes near it.[49] But by the natives +the poor beast is generally soon dispatched with spears thrown from a +distance, and its body is carried off by its conqueror and his wives to +some convenient resting-place where they may enjoy their meal. + + [49] Martin's New South Wales, p. 131. + +There is likewise another mode of hunting the same animal, in which many +persons join together, and which, though more lively and noisy, is not +so characteristical as the first. A herd of kangaroos are surprised +either in a thick bushy place, to which they have retired during the +heat of the day, or else in an open plain. In the first case, they are +encircled by a party, each native giving a low whistle, as he takes up +his place, and when the blockade is finished, the bushes are set on +fire, and the frightened animals fly from the flames towards the open +plains; but no sooner do they approach the outskirts of the wood, than +the bushes are fired in the direction in which they are running, while +they are driven back by loud calls and tremendous cries, which increase +their terror, and they run wildly about, until, at length, maddened by +fear, they make a rush through their enemies, who allow but few of them +to escape. When the kangaroos are surrounded upon a plain, the point +generally chosen is an open bottom encircled by wood; each native has +his place given him by some of the elder ones, and all possible means +that art, or experience, or the nature of the ground, can furnish, are +employed to ensure success in approaching as nearly as may be towards +the animals without disturbing them. Thus the circle narrows round the +unwary herd, till at last one of them becomes alarmed, and bounds away; +but its flight is speedily stopped by a savage with fearful yells; and +before the first moments of terror and surprise have passed by, the +armed natives come running upon them from every side, brandishing their +spears, and raising loud cries; nor does the slaughter, thus commenced, +commonly finish before the greater number of them have fallen. These +public hunts are conducted under certain rules; for example, the +supposed owner of the land must be present, and must have invited the +party, or a deadly fight between human beings is pretty sure to take +place. The first spear that strikes a kangaroo settles whose property +the dead animal is to be; however slight the wound, and even though +inflicted by a boy only, this rule holds good; and if the creature +killed is one which the boy may not yet lawfully eat,[50] then his right +passes on to his father, or nearest male relative. The cries of the +hunters are said to be very beautiful and expressive, and they vary at +different periods of the chase, being readily understood and answered by +all, so that they can thus explain their meaning to one another at a +very great distance. + + [50] See page 79. + +But, since the kangaroo is one of the principal articles of food in the +wilds of New Holland, there are yet other modes of taking it, which are +commonly practised. + +Sometimes they use the ordinary methods of catching it in nets or +pitfalls. Occasionally, also, in a dry district, where many animals +assemble together from a great distance to drink at some solitary piece +of water, the huntsman builds for himself a rude place of shelter, in +which for hours he remains concealed and motionless, until the thirsty +animals approach in sufficient numbers. Then kangaroos, cockatoos, +pigeons, &c. are attacked and destroyed without mercy, and the patience +of the hunter is commonly richly rewarded by the booty he obtains. + +But the mode of tracking a kangaroo until it is wearied out, is the one +which, beyond all others, commands the admiration of the Australians, +for it calls forth the exercise of every quality most highly prized +among savages, skill in following traces, endurance of hunger and +thirst, unwearied bodily exertion, and lasting perseverance. To perform +this task the hunter starts upon the track of the kangaroo, which he +follows until he catches sight of the animal, as it flies timidly before +him; again he pursues the track, and again the object of his pursuit +bounds away from him; and this is repeated until nightfall, when the +pursuer lights his fire and sleeps upon the track. With the first light +of day the hunt is renewed, and, towards the close of the second day, or +in the course of the third, the kangaroo, wearied and exhausted by the +chase, will allow the hunter to approach near enough to spear it. None +but a skilful hunter, in the pride of youth and strength can perform +this feat, and one who has frequently practised it always enjoys great +fame amongst his companions. + +When the kangaroo has been obtained in some one or other of these +various methods, the first operation is to take off the skin of the +tail, the sinews of which are carefully preserved to sew cloaks or bags, +or to make spears. The next thing to be thought of is the cooking of the +flesh; and two modes of doing this are common. One of these is to make +an oven by digging a hole in the sand, and lighting a fire in it; when +the sand is well heated, and a large heap of ashes is collected, the +hole is scraped out, and the kangaroo is placed in it, skin and all; +it is then covered over with ashes, and a slow fire is kept up above +it; when baked enough, it is taken out and laid upon its back, the +intestines are then removed, and the whole of the gravy is left in the +body of the animal, which is carefully taken out of the skin, and then +cut up and eaten. Travellers in the Bush speak very highly of the +delicious flavour of the meat thus curiously cooked. The other mode of +dressing is merely to broil different portions of the kangaroo upon the +fire, and it may be noticed that certain parts, as the blood, the +entrails, and the marrow, are reckoned great dainties. Of these the +young men are forbidden to partake. Of the blood a sort of long sausage +is made, and this is afterwards eaten by the person of most consequence +in the company. + +Another abundant source of food is supplied to the native population +of New Holland at certain seasons, in particular situations, by the +various sorts of fish which abound on its coasts, and in its bays and +inlets. From this, most probably, arises the fact observed by Captain +Flinders, that the borders of bays, and entrances of rivers, are in New +Holland always most thickly peopled. And Collins mentions a sort of +fancied superiority, which these people pretend to, above those that +dwell in the more inland parts. "The natives of the coast," he says, +"when speaking of those in the interior, constantly expressed themselves +with contempt and marks of disapprobation." So very similar are the airs +and vanity of a savage, to those in which civilised man indulges. The +three most common modes of catching fish are, by spearing them, taking +them by means of a weir constructed across places which are left nearly +dry at low water, or after a flood, and enclosing them in a net, +prepared by the women out of grassy fibres, and one of their greatest +efforts of ingenuity.[51] Nothing very remarkable is to be noticed in +these modes of fishing, except it be the speed with which they run along +the shore, and the certainty with which they aim their spears at the +inhabitants of the shallow bays and open lakes. As surely as the natives +disappear under the surface of the water, so surely will they reappear +with a fish writhing upon the point of their short spears; and even +under water their aim is always correct. One traveller, Sturt, is of +opinion that they seldom eat the finny tribes when they can get anything +else, but this idea seems scarcely to agree with the report of others. +At all events, whether from choice or not, a large proportion of their +subsistence is derived from the waters. With regard to the cookery of +their fish, the Australian barbarians are said to have a most admirable +method of dressing them, not unworthy of being copied by other nations. +If the fish are not simply broiled upon the fire, they are laid in a +piece of paper bark, which is wrapt round them, as paper is folded round +a cutlet; strings of grass are then wound tightly about the bark and +fish, which is slowly baked in heated sand, covered with hot ashes; when +it is sufficiently cooked, the bark is opened, and answers the purpose +of a dish; it is, of course, full of juice and gravy, not a drop of +which has escaped. The flavour of many sorts of fish thus dressed is +said to be delicious, and sometimes pieces of kangaroo and other meats +are cooked in the same manner. + + [51] "Among the few specimens of art manufactured by the primitive + inhabitants of these wilds, none come so near our own as the net, which, + even in its quality, as well as in the mode of knotting, can scarcely + be distinguished from those made in Europe."--MITCHELL'S _Three + Expeditions_, vol. ii. p. 153. + +The seal is exceedingly abundant on many parts of the Australian coast, +and is also useful to the natives for purposes of food, while the +pursuit of this creature is an exciting sport for the inhabitants of the +southern and western shores of New Holland. The animal must be surprised +upon the beach, or in the surf, or among the rocks that lie at no great +distance from the shore; and the natives delight in the pursuit, +clambering about the wild crags that encircle their own land; sometimes +leaping from one rock to another, spearing the fish that lie in the +quiet pools between, in the next moment dashing into the surf to fight +with a seal or turn a turtle; these are to them agreeable and joyous +occupations. And when we remember that their steps are followed by a +wife and children, as dear to them, probably, as ours are to us, who are +witnesses of their skill and activity; and who, when the game is killed, +will help to light the fire with which it is to be cooked, and to drag +it to the resting-place, where the father romps with his little ones +until the meal is made ready; when we recollect, likewise, that all +this takes place in a climate so mild and genial, that a house is not +necessary, we shall feel less surprise at the difficulty of persuading +an inhabitant of the Bush to fall into European customs, and submit to +the trammels of civilised life. + +The turtle, must by no means be forgotten, in an account of the +different articles of provision upon which an Australian has to depend +for his supply. These useful creatures are to be found chiefly on the +coast in the warmer portions of New Holland, and are in high season +about December and January, the height of summer in Australia. The green +turtles are surprised upon the beach when they come to lay their eggs; +but the fresh-water turtle is found (as its name implies,) in fresh +lakes and ponds, at the season when these are most dried up, and their +margin is overgrown with reeds and rushes. Among these the natives wade +with stealthy pace, so quietly indeed, that they even creep upon wild +fowl and spear them. The turtles swim lazily along the surface of the +water, biting and smelling the various aquatic plants they meet with, +but as soon as they are alarmed, they sink to the bottom instantly. The +pursuer puts out his foot, (the toes of which he uses to seize anything, +almost as we use our fingers,) and gropes about with it among the weeds +at the bottom of the water until he feels the turtle; and then, holding +it to the ground, he plunges his hands and arms in and seizes his prey. +In this manner two or three men have been known to take fourteen turtles +in a very short time; but these are small, weighing from one to two +or three pounds each. The fresh-water turtle is cooked, after the +Australian fashion, by being baked, shell and all, in hot ashes; and +when it is sufficiently dressed, the bottom shell is removed with ease, +and the whole animal remains in the upper shell, which serves for a +dish. They are generally very fat and delicious, so that the New +Hollanders are extremely fond of them, and the turtle season, being an +important part of the year, is looked forward to with pleasure. The +green turtles, which are a much larger animal, found only by the +sea-side, are taken when crawling on the beach. If they by accident +get upon their backs, they are unable to right themselves, and perish +miserably, so that nothing more is necessary to secure them, than to +place them in that posture, and they may be taken away and devoured +at leisure. Among Wellesley Islands, at the bottom of the Gulph of +Carpentaria, in the north of New Holland, Captain Flinders obtained in +one day, in this manner, no less than forty-six turtles, the least of +them weighing 250lbs, and the average being about 300lbs; besides which, +many that were not wanted, because there was no room to stow them away, +were turned again, and suffered to make their escape. + +Opossum hunting offers another means of supplying food to the +Australians, and as these quadrupeds usually dwell in the hollows of +decayed trees, and ascend the trees when they are at all alarmed, the +mode of pursuing them is of a new and different character. The first +thing to be done is to ascertain that the opossum has really concealed +itself somewhere in the tree. To discover this the holes made by the +nails of the animal in the bark as it climbed up, are sufficient; only, +one of these footmarks having a little sand in it is anxiously sought +for, and if this sand sticks together, when the hunter blows gently upon +it, it is a proof, since it is not dry enough yet to blow away, that the +opossum has gone up into the tree that very morning. The dextrous savage +then pulls out his hatchet,[52] a rude _stone hatchet_--unless he has +been fortunate enough to get a better one from some European, and cuts a +notch in the bark of the tree sufficiently large and deep to receive the +ball of his great toe. The first notch being thus made, about four feet +from the ground, he places the toe of his right foot in it, throws his +right arm round the tree, and with his left hand sticks the point of the +handle of his hatchet into the bark, as high up as he can reach, and +thus forms a stay to drag himself up with. This first step being made +good, he cuts another for his left foot, and so on, always clinging with +the left hand and cutting with the right, resting the whole weight of +the body upon the toe of either foot, until the hole is reached where +the opossum lies hidden, which is then compelled by smoke, or by being +poked out, to quit its hiding place; when the conqueror, catching hold +of his victim's tail, dashes it down on the ground, and quietly descends +after it. As the bite of the opossum is very painful and severe, due +care is taken, in laying hold of it, to keep clear of all danger from +its teeth. Occasionally trees of 130 feet in height have been observed, +which had been _notched_ by the natives up to at least eighty feet! and +the old notches are never again used, but new ones are cut every time. +Strange to tell, this very difficult operation of following the opossum +is not uncommonly performed by moonlight, some persons moving onwards to +detect the animal feeding, while others follow, creeping after them with +fire-sticks; and it is curious to watch the dark body of the savage, +climbing the tree, contrasted with the pale moonlight. The Australians +are fond of these expeditions, the end of which is the same as of the +others conducted in broad daylight--the poor opossum is reached, and +knocked down with a stick, or shaken off the branch to which he had fled +as a last retreat. + + [52] "Their only cutting implements are made of stone, sometimes of + jasper, fastened between a cleft stick with a hard gum."--MARTIN'S + _New South Wales_, p. 147. "The use of the 'mogo,' or stone-hatchet, + distinguishes the barbarous from the 'civil' black fellows, who all + use iron tomahawks."--MITCHELL'S _Three Expeditions in Eastern + Australia_, vol. i. p. 4. + +Birds form a considerable article of food in the wilds of New Holland, +and there are many various sorts of them, as well as many different +modes of killing and ensnaring them, which it would be tedious to dwell +upon; but the emu, or cassowary, is too important and remarkable to be +passed over. This bird is very large, and its covering resembles hair +more than feathers; it is not able to fly, but it can run more swiftly +than the fleetest dogs, and its kick is violent enough to break a man's +leg: it is however easily tamed. The instinctive dread which these +animals in their wild state have of man is very remarkable. It was +observed by Major Mitchell, on various occasions during his journeys, +that the first appearance of large quadrupeds--bullocks and horses, did +not scare the emu or kangaroo; but that, on the contrary, when they +would have fled from the first approach of their enemy man, advancing +singly, they would allow him to draw near when mounted, and even to +dismount, fire from behind a horse, and load again, without attempting +to run off. In hunting the emu, it matters not how much noise is made, +for the natives say that bird is quite deaf, although its sight is keen +in proportion. The kangaroo must be pursued as silently as possible. + +Emus are killed in the same manner as kangaroos, but they are more +prized by the natives, and the death of one of these birds awakens a +greater excitement in the spectators; shout succeeds shout, and the +distant sojourners take up the cry, until it is sometimes reechoed for +miles; yet the feast which follows is very exclusive, the flesh of the +emu, which, except in one part which tastes like beef, is very oily, +being thought by far too delicious to be made a common article of food. +Young men and unprivileged persons are forbidden to touch it, on pain of +severe penalties, which are strictly enforced. The emus are generally +found, like the kangaroos, in tolerably fertile spots, and like them, +also, are fast disappearing from the neighbourhood of the haunts of +Europeans. The destruction of cockatoos with the weapon, or throwing +stick, called a _kiley_,[53] the hunting and snaring of different sorts +of wild fowl, afford ample room for a display of that cunning, skill, +and amazing patience, which distinguish the character of uncivilized +man. One curious way of catching birds in Australia is certainly +original, if it be but correctly reported. It is said that a native +will, in the heat of the sun, lay down as if asleep, holding a bit of +fish in his hand; the bird seeing the bait, seizes on the fish, and the +native then catches it! But enough has now been stated respecting the +various ways in which game is taken in the bush. And although, perhaps, +enough has been said concerning Australian cookery, yet the mode in +which they cook the birds in that country, similar indeed to the methods +already mentioned, may briefly be noted. When the natives wish to dress +a bird very nicely, the entrails are taken out and cooked separately, +(being considered a great delicacy,) after the example of the admirers +of woodcocks in England. A triangle is then formed round the bird by +three red hot pieces of stick, against which ashes are placed, hot coals +are also stuffed into the inside of the bird, and it is thus quickly +cooked, and kept full of gravy. In the opinion of Captain Grey, wild +fowl dressed in this manner, on a clean piece of bark, was as good a +dish as he had ever eaten. + + [53] The kiley, or boomerang, is a thin curved missile, which can be + thrown by a skilful hand so as to rise upon the air, and its crooked + course may be, nevertheless, under control. It is about two feet four + inches in length, and nine and a half ounces in weight. One side, the + uppermost in throwing, is slightly convex, the lower side is flat. It + is amazing to witness the feats a native will perform with this weapon, + sometimes hurling it to astonishing heights and distances, from which, + however, it returns to fall beside him; and sometimes allowing it to + fall upon the earth, but so as to rebound, and leap, perhaps, over a + tree, or strike some object behind. + +But there are many other kinds of food which custom, and perhaps +necessity, have rendered palatable to the people of New Holland, but +which we can regard only with disgust and aversion. Among these it may +be scarcely just to reckon _frogs_, since they are an article of food in +one of the most polished nations of Europe, and those who have tasted +them properly dressed have usually no fault to find with their flavour. +The season in Australia for catching frogs and fresh-water shell-fish, +is when the swamps are nearly dried up by the heat; these animals then +bury themselves in holes in the mud, and the native women, with their +long sticks, and taper arms, which they plunge up to the shoulder in the +slime, manage to drag them out. In summer a whole troop of females may +be seen paddling about in a swamp, slapping themselves to kill the +mosquitoes and sandflies, and every now and then plunging their arms +down into the mud, and dragging forth their prey. Sometimes one of these +women may be seen with ten or twelve pounds' weight of frogs in her bag. +Frogs are cooked on a slow fire of wood-ashes, and being held in one +hand by the hind legs, a dexterous pinch with the finger and thumb of +the other at once removes the lower portion of the intestines, and the +remainder of the little animal is then taken at a mouthful. Muscles are +also abundant in the rivers, and in the north-western parts of New +Holland they form a principal article of food; but in the south-western +districts the inhabitants will not touch them, for there is a tradition +that some persons long ago ate them and died by means of sorcerers, +who considered that fish to be their peculiar property. Grubs are a +favourite food with some of the Australian natives, and, in order to +procure them, they are at the pains of breaking off the top of the trees +frequented by these grubs, since, until its top is dead, the trees do +not afford a proper abode for them. Grubs are eaten either raw, or +else roasted in much the same manner as the fish are. But taste is +proverbially a subject concerning which there is no accounting by +reason, as we must confess when we find _snakes_, _lizards_, _rats_, +_mice_, and _weasels_ among Australian dainties. The smaller quadrupeds +are not skinned before they are cooked, but are dressed with the skin, +the fur being only singed off; and hunger renders these not only +palatable but digestible. Salt is rarely or never used by the natives, +until they have been taught its use by Europeans; and even then they do +not relish it at first, any more than other sauces or condiments; +indeed, it is quite laughable to see their grimaces the first time that +they taste _mustard_ upon a piece of meat. + +Among vegetable productions there are many roots, which are eaten by the +natives. It is commonly the office of the women to dig for roots, for +which purpose they carry a long pointed stick to loosen the earth, and +that is afterwards scooped up by the fingers of the left hand. Their +withered arms and hands, covered with earth by digging and scraping +after food, resemble, as they advance in years, the limbs and claws of +a quadruped more than those of a human being. In stiff soils, this +operation of digging can only be performed when the earth is moist, but +in loose sandy soils it may be always done, and, on this account, the +visits of the natives to different spots are regulated by the season of +the year; as, for example, the roots that grow in the clay are not in +season, because not to be got at, in the parching and dry months of +summer. No plant bearing seeds is allowed to be dug up after it has +flowered, and the natives are very careful in observing this rule. A +considerable portion of the time of the women and children is occupied +in getting up the various eatable roots, which are either roasted, or +else devoured in a raw state; some resembling onions and others potatoes +in their flavour. One root, called the _mene_, has rather an acid taste, +and when eaten alone, it is said to disorder the bowels; but the natives +in the southern parts pound it between two stones, and sprinkle over it +a few pinches of a kind of _earth_, which forms, together with the +bruised root, a sort of paste, that is thought exceedingly good, and +quite free from all injurious properties. A kind of paste, which is +sometimes baked into a cake, is also formed of many other roots. All +these grow wild, and are used exactly in their natural state, unless +burning the leaves of one plant in dry seasons to improve the root, or +similar trifling pains respecting their growth, can deserve the name of +cultivation. The fungus is also greedily devoured by the unfastidious +natives of Australia, and a kind of gum, resembling what is in England +called _gum-tragacanth_, is very abundant and popular among them. One +traveller, Captain Sturt, who was among the first to notice the use of +this peculiar food, imagined that it was eaten only from dire necessity. +Indeed, it is an amusing proof of the occasional errors into which hasty +impressions will lead intelligent men, that he pities as "unfortunate +creatures reduced to the last extremity" those who were, in reality, +regaling themselves upon a favourite luxury. During summer the acacias, +growing in swampy plains, are positively loaded with this gum, and the +natives assemble in great numbers to feast upon it. On such occasions a +sort of fair is held among those that frequent these yearly meetings, +and fun, frolic, and quarrelling of every description prevail, as in +similar meetings of our own countrymen. + +The pulp of the nut of a species of palm is called _by-yu_, and it is a +curious fact, that, although in its natural state this is a rank poison, +the natives have, nevertheless, a method of depriving it of its +mischievous qualities, and it becomes an agreeable and nourishing +article of food. Europeans, ignorant of the mode of preparing this nut, +are sure to pay for their rashness, if they venture to eat it in its +unprepared state. The women collect these nuts from the palms in the +month of March, (the beginning of autumn,) and leave them to soak for +several days in some shallow pool; after the _by-yu_ has been +sufficiently soaked, they dig, in a dry sandy place, holes about one +foot across and nearly two feet in depth: these holes are lined with +rushes, and filled with nuts, over which last a little sand is +sprinkled, and then all is covered nicely up with the tops of the +grass-tree. And thus, in about a fortnight, the pulp which encloses the +nut becomes quite dry, and it is then fit for use: but if eaten before, +it produces the bad effects already mentioned. The pulp is eaten both +raw and roasted; in the latter state, the taste is said to be equal to +that of a chestnut; but this process has no effect whatever upon the +kernels, which act still as a strong emetic and purgative. This subject +of the sources whence the Australians derive their daily food from God, +who, whether in the north or the south, in the east or the west, is +still found "opening his hand," and "filling all things living with +plenteousness," might easily be extended even yet more; for in so vast a +tract of country as New Holland, the varieties of animal and vegetable +food, and the different modes of obtaining it, must evidently be very +numerous. Enough, however, has been stated to enable the reader to judge +respecting the means of subsistence possessed by the inhabitants of the +Bush; and it will be easily seen that this mode of living appears, at +the first view, more precarious and less laborious than it really is. It +is not so precarious a life as it seems to be, because the articles +needful for support, of one kind or another, are perpetually at hand to +those who can find them and use them, whilst Europeans, or even natives +from a distant part, are often, for want of this power, in danger of +starving in the midst of plenty.[54] At the same time, the savage, free +from servile toil and daily labour though he may appear to be, does in +truth earn his living quite as laboriously as others do; nor is he, of +all men, the most exempt from the general curse which sin has brought +down upon us: "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread." Enough, +likewise, has been stated respecting the supplies provided in the +wilderness for its inhabitants to qualify us to perceive how very +serious an injury is inflicted upon the original people of a district in +Australia, when Europeans _sit down_, as they term it, (i.e. _settle_,) +upon their lands. We might imagine (however Utopian may be the fancy) a +body of able agriculturists settling in a country but poorly cultivated, +and while they occupied a portion of the land belonging to the first +inhabitants, rendering what remained to these more valuable by proper +cultivation, than the whole had originally been. But nothing of the kind +is possible with people accustomed from their infancy to habits of life +and means of subsistence like those of the Australians. Occupy their +land, and the wild animals must be destroyed or driven away; the wild +plants and roots ploughed up or burnt; or, at all events, the wild +owners of that land must (however rightful, however ancient, their claim +of possession) be warned off from their own soil, and, as trespassers, +made liable to punishment according to law,--to European law. + + [54] For instance, the natives on the river Bogan used the new + tomahawks, given them by Major Mitchell, in getting wild honey--a food + very commonly eaten in Australia--from the hollow branches of the trees. + It seemed as though, in the proper season, they could find it almost + everywhere. "To such inexpert clowns as they probably thought us," + continues the Major, "the honey and the bees were inaccessible, and + indeed, invisible, save only when the natives cut the former out, and + brought it to us in little sheets of bark; thus displaying a degree of + ingenuity and skill in supplying wants, which we, with all our science, + could not hope to attain." They caught a bee, and stuck to it, with gum + or resin, some light down of a swan or owl: thus laden, the bee would + make for its nest in some lofty tree, and betray its store of + sweets.--MITCHELL'S _Three Expeditions_, vol. i. p. 173. + +We are not to suppose from the wandering character of the life usually +led by them, that these human beings have no notion of property in land. +On the contrary, it is an opinion held by men best able to judge, and +supported by sufficient proof, that, not only have the various tribes +their fixed boundaries of hunting-ground, which they cannot cross +without the risk of a quarrel with their neighbours, but that even +individual persons possess property of this nature, which is handed +down, according to certain laws, from father to son. A curious example +of this strictness about property, exceeding even the ideas of Europeans +upon the subject, was found upon the banks of the river Darling, where +different tribes occupy different portions of the stream whence all +equally derive the chief part of their subsistence. One of these tribes +desired Major Mitchell's men to pour out the water which they had taken, +as if it had belonged to them, and at the same time they dug a hole in +the ground to receive it, when poured out. Nay, so strongly are the +river chiefs possessed with a notion of the water being their own, that +they have been seen, on receiving a tomahawk, to point to the stream, +signifying that the strangers were at liberty to take water from it. +Indeed, the main difference between the property of the native and +that of the colonist, consists in the very dissimilar uses to which +the parties apply their possessions. The one holds his lands for a +cattle-run or a farm, the other employs his in feeding kangaroos or in +growing wild roots. But both agree in punishing intruders, both profess +alike to esteem the rights of property to be sacred; and yet how +questionable, how opposite to these professions must the conduct of +Europeans seem, when they fix themselves upon certain spots, without +taking any notice of the vested rights of the former inhabitants, and +then threaten, or even shoot them, if they are found lingering among +their old haunts, upon their own estates! Or, if no open violence is +offered, "the sheep and cattle," to borrow the words of a kind-hearted +traveller, "fill the green pastures, where the kangaroo was accustomed +to range until the stranger came from distant lands, and claimed the +soil." The first inhabitants, unless they remove beyond the limits of +the colony, are hemmed in by the power of the white population, and +deprived of the liberty of wandering at will through their native wilds, +and compelled to seek shelter in close thickets and rocky fastnesses; +where, however, if they can find a home, they have great difficulty in +finding a subsistence, for their chief support, the kangaroo, is either +destroyed or banished. In 1772, when the French discoverer, Monsieur +Marion, was exploring Van Dieman's Land, he found the coast well +inhabited, as the fires by day and night bore witness, and on anchoring +in Frederic Hendrick's Bay, about thirty men assembled upon the shore. +And now, only seventy years later, what has become of the grandchildren +and descendants of those unfortunate natives? Let the reply to this +inquiry be made in the very words given in evidence before a Committee +of the House of Commons, in 1838.[55]--"_There is not a native in Van +Dieman's Land._ The last portion that was secured was sent to a small +island called Gun Carriage Island, where they are maintained at the +expense of government, and I believe some attempts at civilisation have +been made.--There has been a lingering desire to come back again; but +they have no means of getting back; the island is some distance from Van +Dieman's Land; they are pining away and dying very fast.--I believe more +than one half of them have died, not from any positive disease, but from +a disease which we know in medicine under the name of _home-sickness_, a +disease which is very common to some Europeans, particularly the Swiss +soldiers and the Swiss peasantry: they are known to die from a disease +of the stomach, which comes on entirely from a desire to return to their +country." + + [55] See Evidence of J. Barnes, Esq., in minutes of evidence taken before + the Select Committee on Transportation, Quest. 417-422, pp. 48, 49. + +It may be difficult for the christian moralist to condemn altogether the +system of colonisation which has been practised; it cannot be denied +that the occupation of these vast and favoured regions by civilised and +christian nations is, in itself, a highly desirable object; yet the man +of right principles will surely hesitate before he approves, for the +sake of the good that is to follow, of the evil which has been done. In +this instance, as in many other evils to be seen under the sun, it is +more easy to perceive the mischief, than to point out the means of +avoiding or of remedying it. But, at least, it may be said, let those +who now hold the beautiful and frequently fertile lands, which once +belonged to the poor and helpless native, beware of having their hearts +lifted up with pride,--of forgetting themselves or their God. Past evils +are not to be prevented, but future events are still in their power. The +warning and reasoning of the great Apostle of the Gentiles, (Rom. xi. +17-24,) although upon quite another subject, are still not without +application here. Nor should the British colonist ever forget, while he +surveys the fruitful fields which he may now call his own, the emphatic +words of St. Paul: "If God spared not the natural branches, take heed +lest He also spare not thee." + + + + +[Illustration: NATIVES OF THE MURRAY ISLANDS IN BOATS.] + +CHAPTER V. + +MANNERS AND HABITS OF THE NATIVES. + + +The shyness which the savages of Australia frequently exhibit in their +first intercourse with Europeans is not at all surprising; indeed, it is +rather remarkable how soon they get over this feeling, if they are not +interfered with, and no unpleasant occurrences take place. As Captain +Flinders has very justly observed, "were we living in a state of nature, +frequently at war with our neighbours, and ignorant of the existence of +any other nation, on the first arrival of strangers, so different in +complexion and appearance to ourselves, having power to transport +themselves over, and even living upon an element which to us was +impassable,[56] the first sensation would probably be terror, and the +first movement flight." We should watch these extraordinary people from +our retreats, and if we found ourselves sought out or pursued by them, +their designs would be suspected; otherwise, upon seeing them quietly +engaged in their own occupations, curiosity would get the better of +fear, and, after observing them more closely, we should ourselves seek +to open a communication. This is precisely what takes place with the +native tribes in New Holland, when the discoverers conduct themselves +prudently, and no particular cause of offence or dislike occurs. But +where all appears equally strange and suspicious to them, it cannot be +wondered if they often mistake the meaning of European customs and +actions. For example, when Major Mitchell was desirous of taking the +portrait of a native in Eastern Australia, the terror and suspicion of +the poor creature, at being required to stand steadily before the artist +were such, that, notwithstanding the power of disguising fear, so +remarkable in the savage race, the stout heart of Cambo was overcome, +and beat visibly; the perspiration streamed from his breast, and he was +about to sink to the ground, when he at length suddenly darted away; but +he speedily returned, bearing in one hand his club, and in the other his +_boomerang_ or _kiley_, with which he seemed to gain just fortitude +enough to be able to stand on his legs until the sketch was finished. + + [56] This remark, which is here applied to the people on the south + coast of New Holland, does not hold good of all the natives of that + vast island. On the authority of the same able navigator, Flinders, + we learn that, in the northern part of the country, about Torres Strait, + some of the tribes are very skilful in managing their long canoes. See + an interesting account of the natives of the Murray Islands, in + Flinders' Voyage, vol. ii. pp. 108-110. + +To the observer of human nature it is, indeed, a curious spectacle to +watch the several contrary feelings and impulses by which the Australian +savage is actuated in his intercourse with the more civilised portions +of our race. Attachment, very strong attachment to his own customs, and +wild roving mode of life,--admiration of the evident superiority, the +luxury, abundance and comfort, enjoyed by Europeans,--doubt and alarm +respecting the final issue of the changes which he sees taking place +before his eyes,--an increasing taste for many of the useful or +agreeable articles which are to be procured only from the hands of the +strangers,--these and other similar feelings alternately sway the mind, +and prompt the actions, of the native of the bush in Australia, so as to +give an appearance of inconsistency, not merely to the varying conduct +of different persons, but frequently to the behaviour of the very same +person at different times. Sometimes the perplexed savage decidedly +prefers his piece of whale to all the luxuries of English fare;[57] at +another time he despises the common food of the bush--kangaroo flesh, +or fish,--and presuming upon his usefulness as a guide, nothing but +_wheaten flour_, at the rate of two pounds and a half a day, will +satisfy his desires.[58] One day, fired with a wish to emulate his +betters, the black man assumes the costume of an European, likes to be +close-shaved, wears a white neck-cloth, and means to become entirely "a +white fellow." Another day, wearied with the heat and thraldom of dress, +and tempted by the cool appearance, or stung by the severe taunts of his +brethren in the bush, off he flings his encumbrances and civilisation, +and gladly returns to a state of nature again. + + [57] See p. 99. + + [58] See Mitchell's Three Expeditions, vol. i. p. 39. + +The barber's art appears, in several cases, to have caught the attention +of these savages. The following ridiculous account of an operation of +this kind, performed upon some natives of the country a little southward +of Port Jackson, is given by Flinders. "A new employment arose up on our +hands. We had clipped the hair and beards of the two Botany Bay natives, +at Red Point; and they were showing themselves to the others, and +persuading them to follow their example. While, therefore, the powder +was drying, I began with a large pair of scissors to execute my new +office upon the eldest of four or five chins presented to me; and as +great nicety was not required, the shearing of a dozen of them did not +occupy me long. Some of the more timid were alarmed at a formidable +instrument coming so near to their noses, and would scarcely be +persuaded by their shaven friends to allow the operation to be finished. +But when their chins were held up a second time, their fear of the +instrument, the wild stare of their eyes, and the smile which they +_forced_, formed a compound upon the rough savage countenance, not +unworthy the pencil of a Hogarth. I was almost tempted to try what +effect a little snip would produce, but our situation was too critical +to admit of such experiments."[59] + + [59] Flinders' Voyage, vol. i. Introd. pp. 99, 100. + +It has been repeatedly stated, upon good authority, that the health of +the natives of the bush has suffered greatly, and that their lives have +been frequently shortened, by the habits and indulgences which they have +learned from their more civilized neighbours. In their original state, +although beyond question the average duration of life was considerably +below that of European nations, yet an advanced age was not uncommonly +attained among them. Numbers die during the period of infancy, for none +except very strong children can possibly undergo the hardships, the +privations, and the perpetual travelling, which most of the infants born +in the bush must brave and endure. Besides which, there is the chance of +a violent death in some of the frequent quarrels which arise and include +in their consequences all the relatives of the contending parties. But, +due allowance having been made for these causes by which the average +duration of life in those wild regions is shortened, it does not appear +that their inhabitants are a particularly short-lived race, although by +some persons this has been thought to be the case. It is impossible +exactly to ascertain the age of the Australian savages, who have no mode +of keeping account of this themselves; but from instances of youths, +their father, grandfather, and great uncle being alive, and in the +enjoyment of tolerably good health, or from similar cases, it may be +safely concluded that they frequently reach, or even pass beyond, the +boundary term of life, three score years and ten. To one horrible mode +of departing from life, which is strangely common in more polished +nations, these barbarians are, happily, strangers. Captain Grey says, "I +believe they have no idea that such a thing as a man's putting an end to +his own life could ever occur; whenever I have questioned them on this +point, they have invariably laughed at me, and treated my question as a +joke." The period of old age must be as happy as any other time in the +life of a savage, if not more so, since aged men are always treated with +much respect, and rarely take an active part in any fray. They are +allowed to marry young wives, and to watch them as jealously, and treat +them as cruelly, as they please; and they appear to suffer less from +weakness and disease than the aged amongst us usually endure. The old, +too, are privileged to eat certain kinds of meat forbidden to the young. +Thus Piper, a native, who accompanied Major Mitchell, would not eat the +flesh of emu, even when food was scarce; but when he had undergone the +ceremony of being rubbed over with the fat of that bird by an old man, +he had thenceforth no objection to it. The threatened penalty was, that +young men, after eating it, would be afflicted with sores all over the +body; but the fact is, that it is too rich and oily for the old men to +allow any but themselves to partake of it. So that, upon the whole, in +New Holland, as in most other uncivilised countries, old age is a +period of much dignity, and of considerable enjoyment of life. + +But, whatever may be the troubles, or whatever the enjoyments, of old +age, they are, in their very nature, even above our other troubles or +enjoyments, brief and transitory. The aged warrior of Australia can +plead no exemption from the common lot of mortality, and death draws +a veil over the chequered existence,--the faults and follies, the +talents and virtues, of every child of Adam. The various customs and +superstitions, connected with the death and burial of their friends, +are very numerous among the tribes of Australia, and some of them are +curious and peculiar. It would be impossible to give a full account of +them, but a few of the most remarkable may be selected. Throughout +all the funeral solemnities of savage and heathen nations the same +distinguishing mark is to be observed,--they are the vain devices, the +miserable inventions of men who sorrow for their departed friends as +those that have no hope. Nothing, it is asserted, can awake in the +breast more melancholy feelings than the funeral chants of the +Australians. They are sung by a whole chorus of females of all ages, and +the effect produced upon the bystanders by this wild music surpasses +belief. The following is a chant, which has been heard upon several such +occasions, and which, simple though it be, fully expresses the feelings +of a benighted heathen mourning over the grave of a friend whom he has +lost (as he thinks) for ever:-- + + _The young women sing_ My young brother, } + _The old women_ My young son, } again, + In future shall I + never see. + + My young brother, } + My young son, } again, + In future shall I + never see. + +But previously to our entering upon the subject of the funeral +rites practised in New Holland, it will be necessary to notice the +superstitions respecting sorcerers, which in that country are so +intimately connected with the very idea of death. When an individual +life is taken away by open violence, then, as we have seen, it is +avenged upon the supposed murderer, or his relatives. But when death +occurs from accidental or natural causes, it is usually attributed to +the influence of sorcery, and not unfrequently is it revenged upon some +connexion of the parties believed to have practised that art. So that, +generally speaking, the death of one human being involves that of +another, which is no small check to population. In truth, it would +almost seem that the natives have no idea of death occurring, except by +violence or sorcery;[60] and these strange notions must not be dealt +with too severely, in a country like England, where (within the last 200 +years, and in no uncivilised state of society) persons have been burnt +for witchcraft; and in which, even in the present day, every vile +imposture and godless pretence of supernatural power is sure of finding +eager listeners and astonished admirers. The _Boyl-yas_, or native +sorcerers, are objects of mysterious dread, and are thought to have the +power of becoming invisible to all eyes but those of their brethren in +the same evil craft. As our northern witches were supposed to have the +power of riding upon a broom-stick, so these southern sorcerers are said +to be able to transport themselves at pleasure through the air. If they +have a dislike to any one they can kill him, it is said, by stealing on +him at night and consuming his flesh, into which they enter like pieces +of quartz-stone, and the pain they occasion is always felt. Another +sorcerer, however, can draw them out, and the pieces of stone pretended +to be thus obtained are kept as great curiosities. Perhaps the clearest +ideas of the imaginary powers of these sorcerers, and of the dread in +which they are held, will be found from the following account, obtained +from a native with the utmost difficulty, (for the subject is never +willingly mentioned,) and reported _verbatim_ by Captain Grey. + + [60] "The natives do not allow that there is such a thing as a death + from natural causes; they believe that were it not for murderers, or the + malignity of sorcerers, they might live for ever."--GREY'S _Travels in + Western Australia_, vol. ii. p. 238. + +"'The _Boyl-yas_,' said the trembling Kaiber, 'are natives who have the +power of _boyl-ya_; they sit down to the northward, the eastward, and +southward; the _Boyl-yas_ are very bad, they walk away there' (pointing +to the east). 'I shall be very ill presently. The _Boyl-yas_ eat up a +great many natives,--they eat them up as fire would; you and I will be +very ill directly. The _Boyl-yas_ have ears: by and by they will be +greatly enraged. I'll tell you no more.' + +"'The _Boyl-yas_ move stealthily,--you sleep and they steal on +you,--very stealthily the _Boyl-yas_ move. These _Boyl-yas_ are +dreadfully revengeful; by and by we shall be very ill. I'll not talk +about them. They come moving along in the sky,--cannot you let them +alone? I've already a terrible headache; by and by you and I will be two +dead men.' + +"'The natives cannot see them. The _Boyl-yas_ do not bite, they feed +stealthily; they do not eat the bones, but consume the flesh. Just give +me what you intend to give, and I'll walk off.' + + What secrets can the human breast contain, + When tempted by thy charms, curst love of gain! + +"'The _Boyl-yas_ sit at the graves of natives in great numbers. If +natives are ill, the _Boyl-yas_ charm, charm, charm, charm, and charm, +and, by and by, the natives recover.'" + +Nothing further could be learned from this terrified and unwilling +witness. The custom spoken of in the last part of his evidence, that of +sitting at the graves of the dead, is found in nearly all the known +portions of Australia, and the object of this practice is to discover by +what person the death of the deceased individual has been caused, which +is supposed to be declared by dreams or visions. A similar custom among +the Jews is reproved by the prophet Isaiah, chap. lxv. 4, 5. + +Once, when Major Mitchell had been harassed, and two of his party killed +by the hostile natives, he reached a spot of security, where, while +admiring the calm repose of the wild landscape, and the beauteous beams +of the setting sun, he was anticipating a night free from disturbance. +He was alone, waiting the arrival of his party, but his reveries were +dissipated in the most soothing manner, by the soft sounds of a female +voice, singing in a very different tone from that generally prevailing +among the Australians. It sounded like the song of despair, and, indeed, +it was the strain of a female mourning over some deceased relative; nor +could the loud "hurra" of the men, when they came up, angry at the +recent pillage and murder of some of the party, put to flight the +melancholy songstress of the woods. On these occasions it is usual for +the relatives of the deceased to continue their lamentations, appearing +insensible of what people may be doing around them. + +The rude verses, given below, and forming the substance of a chant, sung +by an old woman to incite the men to avenge the death of a young person, +may serve at once for a specimen of the poetry and superstition of the +Australian wilderness:-- + + "The blear-eyed sorcerers of the north + Their vile enchantments sung and wove, + And in the night they sallied forth, + A fearful, man-devouring drove. + + "Feasting on our own lov'd one + With sanguinary jaws and tongue, + The wretches sat, and gnaw'd, and kept + Devouring, while their victim slept. + Yho, yang, yho yang, yang yho. + + "Yes, unconsciously he rested + In a slumber too profound; + While vile Boyl-yas sat and feasted + On the victim they had bound + In sleep:--Mooligo, dear young brother, + Where shall we find the like of thee? + Favourite of thy tender mother, + We again shall never see + Mooligo, our dear young brother. + Yho, yang yho, ho, ho. + + "Men, who ever bold have been, + Are your long spears sharpened well? + Fix anew the quartz-stone keen, + Let each shaft upon them tell. + Poise your _meer-ros_, long and sure, + Let the _kileys_ whiz and whirl + Strangely through the air so pure; + Heavy _dow-uks_ at them hurl; + Shout the yell they dread to hear. + Let the young men leap on high, + To avoid the quivering spear; + Light of limb and quick of eye, + Who sees well has nought to fear. + Let them shift, and let them leap, + While the quick spear whistling flies, + Woe to him who cannot leap! + Woe to him who has bad eyes!" + +When an old woman has commenced a chant of this kind, she will continue +it until she becomes positively exhausted; and upon her ceasing, another +takes up the song. The effect some of them have upon the assembled men +is very great; indeed, it is said that these addresses of the old women +are the cause of most of the disturbances which take place. Thus, even +amid the forests of New Holland, the _influence of woman_ will, in one +way or another, make itself felt. + +The ceremonies observed at the funeral of a native vary, as might be +expected, in so great a space, but they are wild and impressive in every +part of New Holland. According to Collins, the natives of the colony +called New South Wales were in the habit of burning the bodies of those +who had passed the middle age of life, but burial seems the more +universal method of disposing of their dead among the Australians. Some +very curious drawings and figures cut in the rock were discovered by +Captain Grey, in North-Western Australia, but whether these were +burying-places does not appear. For the account of these works of rude +art, which is extremely interesting, but too long to transcribe, the +reader is referred to the delightful work of the traveller just +mentioned. + +The shrieks and piercing cries uttered by the women over their dead +relatives, are said to be truly fearful, and agreeably to the ancient +custom of idolatrous eastern nations mentioned in 1 Kings xviii. 28, +and in Jer. xlviii. 37,[61] they tear and lacerate themselves most +frightfully, occasionally cutting off portions of their beards, and, +having singed them, throwing them upon the dead body. With respect to +their tombs, these are of various sorts in different districts. In the +gulph of Carpentaria, on the Northern coast, Flinders found several +skeletons of natives, standing upright in the hollow trunks of trees; +the skulls and bones, being smeared or painted partly red and partly +white, made a very strange appearance. On the banks of the river +Darling, in the interior of Eastern Australia, Major Mitchell fell in +with a tribe, which had evidently suffered greatly from small-pox,[62] +or some similar disease, and in the same neighbourhood he met with some +remarkable mounds or tombs, supposed to cover the remains of that +portion of the tribe which had been swept off by the same disease that +had left its marks upon the survivors. On a small hill, overlooking +the river, were three large tombs, of an oval shape, and about twelve +feet across in the longest diameter. Each stood in the centre of an +artificial hollow, the mound in the middle being about five feet high; +and on each of them were piled numerous withered branches and limbs of +trees, forming no unsuitable emblems of mortality. There were no trees +on this hill, save one quite dead, which seemed to point with its hoary +arms, like a spectre, to the tombs. A melancholy waste, where a level +country and boundless woods extended beyond the reach of vision, was in +perfect harmony with the dreary foreground of the scene. + + [61] See Deut. xiv. 1, where the very spot is mentioned,--"between + the eyes,"--which is always torn and scratched by the Australian female + mourners. + + [62] This disease made dreadful ravages among the natives about the same + time as the colony in New South Wales was settled. "The recollection of + this scourge will long survive in the traditionary songs of these simple + people. The consternation which it excited is yet as fresh in their + minds, as if it had been an occurrence of but yesterday, although the + generation that witnessed its horrors has almost passed away. The moment + one of them was seized with it, was the signal for abandoning him to his + fate. Brothers deserted their brothers, husbands their wives, wives + their husbands, children their parents, and parents their children; and + in some of the caves of the coast, heaps of decayed bones still indicate + the spots where these ignorant and helpless children of nature were left + to expire, not so much, probably, from the virulence of the disease + itself, as from the want of sustenance."--WENTWORTH'S _Australia_, + vol. i. p. 311. Third edition. See also COLLINS' _New South Wales_, + p. 383. + +Indeed, to those who have been from infancy accustomed to the quiet +consecrated burying places of our own land,--spots which, in rural +districts, are usually retired, yet not quite removed from the reach of +"the busy hum of men;" to those who have always looked upon a Christian +temple, + + "Whose taper spire points, finger-like, to heaven," + +as the almost necessary accompaniment of a burial-place, the appearance +of the native tombs in the desolate wilds of a savage and uncultivated +country, must be dreary in the extreme. Scenes of this character must +appear to the eye of a Christian almost emblematical of the spiritual +blank--the absence of any sure and certain hope--in the midst of which +the natives, whose remains are there reposing, must have lived and died. +How striking is Captain Grey's description of another tomb, which was +found in a totally different part of New Holland, near the western +coast, and at no great distance from the Swan River settlement! The +scenery, not, indeed, in the immediate vicinity, but very near to the +newly-made grave, is thus described. Even at mid-day, the forest wore a +sombre aspect, and a stillness and solitude reigned throughout it that +were very striking. Occasionally, a timid kangaroo might be seen +stealing off in the distance, or a kangaroo-rat might dart out from a +tuft beneath your feet, but these were rare circumstances. The most +usual disturbers of these wooded solitudes were the black cockatoos; +"but I have never, in any part of the world," adds the enterprising +traveller, "seen so great a want of animal life as in these mountains." +It was not far from this lonely district, in a country nearly resembling +it, only less wooded and more broken into deep valleys, that a recent +grave was found, carefully constructed, with a hut built over it, to +protect the now senseless slumberer beneath from the rains of winter. +All that friendship could do to render his future state happy had been +done. His throwing-stick was stuck in the ground at his head; his broken +spears rested against the entrance of the hut; the grave was thickly +strewed with _wilgey_, or red earth; and three trees in front of the +hut, chopped with a variety of notches and uncouth figures, bore +testimony that his death had been bloodily avenged. The native Kaiber, +who acted as guide to the travellers, gazed upon this scene with concern +and uneasiness. Being asked why the spears were broken, the trees +notched, and the red earth strewed upon the grave, his reply was, +"Neither you nor I know: our people have always done so, and we do so +now,"--quite as good a reason as many who think themselves far more +enlightened are able to give for their actions. When a proposal was +made to stop for the night at this solitary spot, poor Kaiber resisted +it; "I cannot rest here," said he, "for there are many spirits in this +place."[63] + + [63] See, however, a more pleasing picture of a native burying-place, + in Mitchell's Three Expeditions, vol. i. p. 321. + +When Mr. Montgomery Martin was in Australia, he obtained with some +difficulty the dead body of an old woman, who had long been known +about Sydney. Hearing of her death and burial in the forest, about +twenty-five miles from his residence, he went thither, and aided by some +stock-keepers, found the grave,--a slightly elevated and nearly circular +mound. The body was buried six feet deep, wrapped in several sheets of +bark, the inner one being of a fine silvery texture. Several things +which the deceased possessed in life, together with her favourite dog, +were buried with her,--all apparently for use in another world. The +skull of this poor creature was full of indentations, as if a tin vessel +had been struck by a hammer; light might be seen through these hollows, +which had been caused by blows of _whaddies_ (hard sticks) when she was +young, and some bold youths among the natives courted her after this +strange fashion. It seemed scarcely possible that marks so extraordinary +could have been made in the human skull without fracturing it.[64] + + [64] Martin's New South Wales, p. 143. + +In a society of men so simple and so little advanced in refinement or +civilisation as the inhabitants of New Holland, it is evident that their +wants must be few and easily satisfied, their stock of earthly riches +very small and humble. Indeed, these people nearly always carry the +whole of their worldly property about with them, and the Australian +hunter is thus equipped: round his middle is wound a belt spun from the +fur of the opossum, in which are stuck his hatchet, his _kiley_ or +_boomerang_, and a short heavy stick to throw at the smaller animals. +In his hand he carries his throwing-stick, and several spears, headed in +two or three different manners, so that they are equally suitable to war +or the chase. In the southern parts, a warm kangaroo-skin cloak, thrown +over his shoulders, completes the hunter's outfit; but this is seldom or +never seen northwards of 29 deg. south latitude. These, however, are not +quite all the riches of the barbarian, a portion of which is carried by +his wife, or wives, as the case may be; and each of these has a long +thick stick, with its point hardened in the fire, a child or two fixed +upon their shoulders, and in their bags, in which also they keep sundry +other articles, reckoned valuable and important for the comfort of +savage life. For example; a flat stone to pound roots with, and earth to +mix with the pounded roots;[65] quartz, for making spears and knives; +stones, for hatchets; gum, for making and mending weapons and tools; +kangaroo sinews for thread, and the shin-bones of the same animal for +needles;--these and many similar articles, together with whatever roots, +&c. they may have collected during the day, form the total of the burden +of a female Australian; and this, together with the husband's goods, +forms the sum and substance of the wealth of an inhabitant of the +southern land. In Wellesley's Islands, on the north coast of New +Holland, the catalogue of a native's riches appears somewhat different, +from his maritime position.[66] A raft, made of several straight +branches of mangrove lashed together, broader at one end than at the +other;--a bunch of grass at the broad end where the man sits to +paddle,--a short net to catch turtle, or probably a young shark,--and +their spears and paddles seem to form the whole earthly riches of these +rude fishermen.[67] But one essential thing must not be overlooked in +the enumeration of a native's possessions. Fire, of procuring which they +have not very easy means, is usually carried about with them; and the +women commonly have the charge of the lighted stick, in addition to +their other cares. + + [65] See p. 114. + + [66] "In many places a log of wood, or a wide slip of bark, tied at + either end, and stuffed with clay, is the only mode invented for + crossing a river or arm of the sea, while in other parts a large tree, + roughly hollowed by fire, forms the canoe."--M. MARTIN'S _New South + Wales_, p. 147. + + [67] Flinders' Voyage, vol. ii. p. 138. + +It is no very easy matter for civilized man to realise the perfectly +free and unencumbered way in which these natives roam from place to +place, accordingly as seasons or provisions may serve, constantly +carrying with them a home wherever they go; and (what is far more +difficult in civilised society) leaving no cares of home behind them in +the spot from which they may have recently removed. Certainly there must +be something very delightful in this wild sort of life to every one, who +has from his early infancy been accustomed to its pleasure and inured to +its hardships, neither of which are by any means to be measured by the +standard of the cold and changeable climate of England. The grand +objects of the savage, in almost every part of the globe, are to baffle +his human enemies, and to assert his dominion over the lower races of +animals. For these purposes, the activity, secrecy, acuteness, and +sagacity of man in an uncivilised state are almost incredible; nor could +we have supposed, were not the truth shown in numberless instances, that +the senses of human beings were capable of so great perfection, their +bodies and limbs of such exertion and agility, as they gain by continual +practice and early training in the forests of America or Australia. In +these bodily excellencies, the inhabitants of the last-named continent +might safely challenge the whole world to surpass them. The natives +once approached Major Mitchell's camp by night; and though nine +fire-sticks were seen in motion, no noise was heard. At length when the +lights had approached within 150 yards, every one suddenly disappeared; +the bearers preserving, all the while, the most perfect silence. It was +then thought advisable to scare these noiseless visitors away, and a +rocket was sent up, at which signal the English party rushed forward +with a shout; and this had the desired effect. It is said that the +natives regard, as an important matter, the falling of a star, which +would account for their alarm at the rocket. On another occasion, when +an English exploring party had discovered a few traces of natives near +their place of encampment, an active search after them immediately took +place; and it appeared that they had crept up within about one hundred +yards of the camp, after which they had been disturbed, and had made +off. Their mode of approach was by a stream of water, so as to conceal +their trail; after which they had turned out of the stream up its right +bank, and had carefully trod in one another's footmarks, so as to +conceal their number, although traces of six or seven different men +could be perceived as far as the spot where they had been disturbed. +From this point these children of the Bush had disappeared, as it were, +by magic: not a twig was broken, not a stone was turned, nor could it be +observed that the heavy drops of rain had been shaken from a single +blade of grass. All efforts to hit upon the direction in which they had +fled were to no purpose, except to put the explorers more constantly on +the watch against beings who were often near them when they least +dreamed of their presence. Human wisdom would enforce this lesson from +such circumstances; but how often does heavenly wisdom lift up its voice +to us in vain, teaching us by what is passing around us to be upon our +watch constantly over our own conduct, since we are never very far from +the Almighty presence of God himself! + +To the quick-sighted natives, the surface of the earth is, in fact, as +legible as a newspaper, so accustomed are they to read in any traces +left upon it the events of the day.[68] For once, Major Mitchell informs +us, he was able to hide so that these people could not find; but then +his buried treasure was only a collection of specimens of stones and +minerals, of the use of which they could know nothing, and concerning +which they were little likely to have any suspicions. The notes written +by the traveller, and concealed in trees, seldom escaped notice;[69] nor +did provisions, nor, in short, any article which they could either use +or suspect pass unobserved. + + [68] See a most remarkable instance of this in M. Martin's New South + Wales, pp. 156-158. + + [69] Latterly, however, experience suggested to him what seems + to have been a successful mode of concealment. See Mitchell's Three + Expeditions, vol. ii. p. 271. + +In Western Australia, Captain Grey, having galloped after some wild +cattle which he had met in his journey, found, upon wishing to ascertain +the hour, that his watch had fallen from his pocket during the chase. He +waited until the rest of his party came up, and then requested Kaiber, +their native guide, to walk back and find the watch. This, Kaiber +assured the traveller, was utterly impossible, nor could his assertion +be gainsaid; nevertheless, the watch was too valuable to be given up +without an effort for its recovery. "Well, Kaiber," said the captain, +"your people had told me you could see tracks well, but I find they +are mistaken; you have but one eye,--something is the matter with the +other," (this was really the case)--"no young woman will have you, for +if you cannot follow my tracks, and find a watch, how can you kill game +for her?" This speech had the desired effect, and the promise of a +shilling heightened his diligence, so they went back together in +search of the lost article. The ground that had been passed over was +badly suited for the purpose of tracking, and the scrub was thick; +nevertheless, to his delight and surprise, the captain had his watch +restored to his pocket in less than half an hour. + +Even in the simple arts and rude habits of the people of New Holland +there are different degrees of advancement and progress to be observed. +On the west coast, a few degrees to the north of the British settlement +at Swan River, a great difference was noticed by Captain Grey in the +arrangements of the native population. The country near the Hutt River +is exceedingly beautiful and fertile, and it supports a very numerous +population, comparatively with other districts. The exploring party +found a native path or road, wider, more used, and altogether better +than any before seen in that region. Along the side of this path were +seen frequent wells, some of them ten or twelve feet in depth, which +were made in a superior manner. Across the dry bed of a stream they then +came upon a light fruitful soil, which served the inhabitants as a +_warran_ ground. _Warran_ is a sort of _yam_ like the sweet potato, and +its root is a favourite article of food with some of the native tribes. +For three miles and a half the travellers passed over a fertile tract of +land full of the holes made by the natives in digging this root; indeed, +so thick were they, that it was not easy to walk, and this tract +extended east and west, as far as they could see. The district must have +been inhabited a great many years, for more had been done in it to +secure a provision from the ground by hard manual labour than it would +have appeared to be in the power of uncivilised man to accomplish. + +It can be no subject of surprise that the various tribes of Australia, +living in a wild country, and blessed with no clear nor adequate ideas +of their Maker, should be exceedingly superstitious, as well as ignorant +and simple. The strange aversion felt by some of them to a sort of +muscle or oyster, found in fresh water, has already been mentioned; and +the horror of the native population at the supposed effects of sorcery +has also been detailed. Kaiber, Captain Grey's guide, was bidden to +gather a few of these muscles to make a meal for the party of hungry +travellers in the Bush, but at first he would not move, declaring that +if he touched these shell-fish, the _Boyl-yas_ would be the death of +him. Unable to bring any instance of mischief arising from them, he +shrewdly answered, that this was because nobody had been "wooden-headed" +enough to meddle with them, and that he intended to have nothing +whatever to do with them. At last, with much difficulty he was prevailed +to go, but whilst occupied in his task, he was heard most bitterly +deploring his fate. It was his courage and strong sinews, he said, that +had hitherto kept him from dying either of hunger or thirst, but what +would these avail him against the power of sorcery? However, the muscles +were brought, and Kaiber's master made his meal upon them, but no +persuasions could prevail upon him to partake of them. The same evening, +the half-starved, half-clothed party of travellers were overtaken by a +tremendous storm, which put out their fires, and they continued during +the night in a most pitiable state from exposure to the cold and +weather. All these misfortunes were set down by the sagacious native to +the account of the muscles, nor was it till his master threatened him +with a good beating, that Kaiber left off chattering to himself, while +his mouth moved with the effect of the extreme cold:-- + + "Oh, wherefore did he eat the muscles? + Now the _Boyl-yas_ storms and thunder make; + Oh, wherefore would he eat the muscles?" + +Among the superstitions of Australia, that feeling of awe which revolts +from mentioning even the name of a deceased person is very remarkable; +and the custom of silence upon this subject is so strictly enforced, +that it renders inquiry respecting the family or ancestors of a native +extremely difficult.[70] The only circumstance enabling the inquirer to +overcome this hindrance is the fact, that, the longer a person has been +dead, the less unwilling do they appear to name him. Thus did Captain +Grey obtain some curious information respecting their pedigrees and +family customs; for he began with endeavouring to discover only the +oldest names on record, and then, as opportunity served, he would +contrive to fill up the blanks, sometimes, when they were assembled +round their fires at night, encouraging little disputes among them +concerning their forefathers, by means of which he was able to gain +much of the information he wanted. + + [70] It is even said, that persons bearing the same name with + the deceased take other names, in order to avoid the necessity of + pronouncing it at all. _See_ COLLINS' _Acc. of Col. of N. S. Wales_, + p. 392. + +One very singular notion prevailing among the native population of +Australia, and proving that the belief in a spiritual world and in a +future state, is not quite extinct even among them, is the idea which +they entertain of white people being the souls of departed blacks. This +supposition may serve to explain the reason of the disagreeable process +complained of by Sturt, who says, that every new tribe examined them, +pulling them about, measuring the hands and feet of the strangers with +their own, counting their fingers, feeling their faces, and besmearing +them all over with dirt and grease. A more powerful feeling than +curiosity even may have prompted this conduct, and they may have +sought, impelled by superstition, to recognise in the foreigners +their own kindred. But however that may have been, most travellers in +Australia mention the peculiar idea alluded to. Captain Grey was once +vehemently attacked by the caresses of an old, ugly, and dirty black +woman, who recognised him as her son's ghost, and was obliged to endure +them. His real mother, the captain says, could scarcely have expressed +more delight at his return, while his sable-coloured brothers and sister +paid their respects to him, when the vehemence of a mother's affection +had somewhat subsided. He was convinced that the old woman really +believed him to be her son, whose first thought, upon his return to +earth, had been to revisit his old mother, and bring her a present! + +The natives believe that the _night-mare_--a subject likely enough to +give birth to superstition--is caused by some evil spirit, in order to +get rid of which they jump up, seize a lighted brand from the fire, and, +after whirling it round the head with a variety of imprecations, they +throw the stick away in the direction where they suppose the evil spirit +to be. They say the demon wants a light, and that when he gets it, he +will go away. However, besides supplying this his need, they likewise +take the precautions of changing their position, and of getting as near +as they can into the middle of the group of their companions who are +sleeping round the fire. If obliged to move away from the fire after +dark, either to get water or for any other purpose, they carry a light +with them, and set fire to dry bushes as they go along. + +A profound respect, almost amounting to veneration, is paid in many +districts of Australia to shining stones or pieces of crystal, which +they call "_Teyl_." These are carried in the girdles of men, especially +of the sorcerers or _corad-jes_, and no woman is allowed to see the +contents of the round balls made of woollen cord from the fur of the +opossum in which these crystals are enclosed. They are employed as +charms in sickness, and are sometimes sent from tribe to tribe for +hundreds of miles on the sea-coast or in the interior. One of these +stones, which was examined by an Englishman, to whom it was shown +privately by a black, was of a substance like quartz, about the size +of a pigeon's egg, and transparent, like white sugar-candy. The small +particles of crystal which crumble off are swallowed in order to prevent +illness. Many other instances of the like superstitious folly might very +easily be gathered from the writings of those who have had the best +opportunities of becoming acquainted with the manners of the Australian +tribes. + +The following is from the pen of the Rev. G. King, a missionary of the +Society for Propagating the Gospel, who speaks thus of the natives near +Fremantle, in Western Australia: "The native children are intelligent +and apt to learn, but the advanced men are so far removed from +civilisation, and so thoroughly confirmed in roving habits, that all the +exertions made in their behalf have found them totally inaccessible; but +we have no reason to conclude that they have not a vague idea of a +future state. They are exceedingly superstitious; they never venture out +of their huts from sunset till sunrise, for fear of encountering goblins +and evil spirits. When any of their tribe dies they say, 'He'll soon +jump up, white man, and come back again in big ship;' and when a +stranger arrives, they examine his countenance minutely, to trace the +lineaments of some deceased friend; and when they think they have +discovered him they sometimes request him to expose his breast, that +they may see where the spear entered which caused the life to fly away +so long."[71] Altogether, experience bears witness, in their case, of +the same fact which is to be perceived in other parts of the globe, +namely, that where there is little religion, there is often a great deal +of superstition, and that those who do not "believe the truth," almost +always fall into the snares of falsehood, so as to "believe a lie." + + [71] S. P. G. Report, 1842, p. 59. + +With all the disadvantages of having two races of men (one of which is +thought inferior to the other) occupying the same territory; with the +evils, likewise, unavoidably arising from the ease with which what is +_bad_ in Europeans may be learned and copied, and the difficulty of +understanding or imitating what is _good_ in us, the natives are placed +in a very peculiar and unhappy situation. Their intercourse with the +white men has hitherto, certainly, been productive of more injury, both +moral and temporal, than benefit to them. Into the sad and disgusting +details, affording a proof of this truth, which may be found in the +evidence before the committees of the House of Commons upon the subject +of transportation it will neither be suitable nor possible to enter. The +fact is, indeed, acknowledged by men of all parties and opinions, while, +by all right-minded men, it is deeply deplored. + +Drunkenness and its attendant vices prevail to a fearful extent among +the Europeans in New Holland, the lower orders especially; and what sins +are more enticing than these to the ignorant, sensual savage? Tobacco +and spirits, which the poor natives call "_tumbledown_," are articles in +constant request; and to purchase these of Europeans, the blacks will +give almost anything they possess, even their wives.[72] Thus, a +regular traffic in what is evil is carried on, and almost all that +the heathen people of Australia learn from the so-called Christians +with whom they associate, is to practise, with tenfold aggravation, +sins which God abhors, and will not allow to go unpunished. Like +children that have been always brought up in a family of foul-tongued +transgressors, the very first words of English which the natives learn +are words of wickedness and blasphemy; the only introduction to the name +of their God and Saviour is in order that they may insult that holy +Name, and blaspheme the Divine Majesty. And these lessons are taught +them, let us remember, by men calling themselves, and perhaps even +thinking themselves, civilised, enlightened, and Christian persons;--by +men, certainly, belonging to a nation, which justly lays claim to these +honourable epithets! But enough has been stated on this painful subject +to fill every thoughtful mind with humiliation and fear, when it +contemplates the "much" that "has been given" to civilised nations, and +recalls the fixed rule of truth and justice, that so much the "more" +will be required of them. Nor is this a matter concerning the British +inhabitants of the colonies alone, and with which the nation at large +has little or no concern. For if we inquire, who corrupt the natives? +the answer is, our vile and worthless population, the very scum of +mankind, whom we have cast out as evil from the bosom of their native +land. But a further question naturally offers itself. Who were, in many +instances, the passive, if not the active, corrupters of these very +corrupters themselves? Who have neglected to provide means for their +christian instruction, and so let them grow up to be worse than +heathens, until they could be endured no longer in the land? What +nation had within a single century more than doubled its population +without having built or endowed a score of new churches? To whose +neglect is it, partly, though not entirely, owing, that when heathens +meet, in far distant countries, with our lower classes, or when their +homes are visited in our great towns and cities, the very heathens are +sometimes forced to yield the palm to them in wickedness and in sin? +Such questions very nearly concern every Englishman, and they are, even +now, only beginning to command the attention they deserve. High and low, +rich and poor, clergy and laity, we are all alike implicated in those +evils, which have arisen from national neglect and forgetfulness of God, +and which are not unlikely to lead to national confusion and ruin. But +we are still, thank God, blessed with a pure and apostolical Church in +our native country, and this is a mighty instrument for good, if we will +but support it, and render it as efficient as it ought to be. The +children of our little sea-girt isle may almost be called the salt of +the earth, so extensively is our naval and our moral power spread. If +we can bring those children up in the right way, as dutiful children of +God and faithful members of the Church of England, then, indeed, the +blessings resulting from our efforts may make themselves felt in the +very ends of the earth--in the solitary wilds of New Holland. But +otherwise, if we continue to neglect our own people, and disgrace our +profession of Christianity by encouraging tacitly the growth of +heathenism around us, then we may judge by the moral and social evils +which have already resulted from this course what the final consequences +are likely to be. "If the salt have lost its savour wherewith shall it +be salted: it is therefore good for nothing, but to be cast out and +trodden under foot of men." (Matt. v. 13.) + + [72] The half-caste children are generally put to death by the black + husband, under the idea, it is said, that if permitted to grow up, + they would be wiser than the people among whom they would live. These + helpless innocents are destroyed, as though they were no better than a + cat or dog: one farm servant of Mr. Mudie was in a great rage at the + birth of a small infant of this description, and without any ceremony, + only exclaiming, "Narang fellow," which means, "Small fellow," he took + it up at once, and dashed it against the wall, as you would any animal. + See Evidence before Transport. Com. 1837, p. 43. + +With savages resembling those that dwell in the Australian forests, +having no means of religious instruction among themselves, the only +hope of producing an improvement in their moral and social character, +must arise from their intercourse with christian people. But it must +be repeated, unhappily, the great majority of _christian_ people +(especially in that country and among those classes where the native is +most likely to have intercourse) are by no means adorning by their lives +the faith and doctrine of that Master whose name they bear. Hence arises +the deplorable condition of the natives, who are brought into contact +chiefly with the lowest and worst of the Europeans, and who, beside many +other hindrances, have the great stumbling-block of bad examples, and +evil lives, constantly before them in their intercourse with the +Christians. And, as though that were not enough, as though fresh +obstacles to the conversion of these nations to God's truth were needed +and required, our holy religion is presented to them, not as it came +from the hands of its Founder and his Apostles, inculcating "one +Lord, one faith, and one baptism," but such as man's weakness and +wickedness delight in representing it,--a strange jumble of various +"denominations." And this unworthy course has been followed by +government itself. Without any pleas arising from _conscience_, or the +principle of _toleration_ to excuse this, the British government, in +what little they have done for converting to Christianity some of the +natives, have afforded their help to bodies of Christians bearing +different names. Nor can it be said that the Church of England and +Ireland was without any zealous ministers ready to undertake this most +difficult task, trusting in God's strength for help to accomplish it, at +least in some degree. It is the confession of Dr. Lang himself, who is +no friend to the Church of England, that the only two missions[73] to +the natives existing in 1837 were, as all ought to be, episcopalian; but +one of these was stated, on the best authority, in 1841 to be "not in an +encouraging state,"[74] although a third mission, to belong to the +Presbyterians, was about to be commenced _under the auspices of +Government_, among the natives in another station. It is fearlessly +asserted that _all_ missions to the heathen supported by Government +ought to be subject to episcopal control; and the reasons for this may +be briefly added. First, there is no tenderness of conscience, nor claim +to toleration, which can stand in the way of an English government +spreading among its native subjects the doctrine and discipline of the +English Church; supposing these willing to become Christians at all, +they cannot have a prior claim upon us to be brought up as _dissenters_ +from the Church. Secondly, since the Scotch discipline, though it +prevails over a very small part of our population, is yet established by +law in one portion of the island, it may put in (as it has done) its +claim for help from Government; but, without entering into argument +respecting this, might we not safely put it to every wise and rightly +judging Presbyterian, whether it is not better to waive this claim of +theirs, than to perplex the progress of Christianity, by offering to +the heathen Australians, at the same time, and by the same temporal +authority, the Bible, which speaks of _one_ Church, and the choice +between _two_ churches? And lastly, whatever unhappy scruples and +divisions among Christians have arisen respecting episcopacy, surely, +if men had a truly christian spirit within them, they would quietly +consent to the instruction of the natives being placed in the hands of +a Church which they cannot deny to be scriptural, and of a ministry, +which for 1500 years from Christ's birth no sect of men ever thought of +denying to be the only apostolical ministry. It is indeed a strange +spectacle which our Christianity must offer to the eyes of those that +are really desirous of becoming converts. Either we "bite and devour one +another," or else we quietly set aside our Lord's commands and prayers +for our union, and contentedly agree to divide ourselves into as many +parties, sects, or denominations, as we please; and having done so, we +go and inoculate our heathen converts with our own love of separation. +St. Paul was shocked at hearing of divisions in the Church of Corinth, +but enlightened statesmen of the nineteenth century appear to be shocked +at the idea of allowing Christianity to be offered to the heathens +without its unhappy divisions! What, it may be asked with all reverence, +would have been the success of the Apostles in evangelizing the Gentile +world, if the gospel of Christ had been offered to the heathens of that +age, under the same disadvantages with which men of the present age +prefer to clog and impede their missionary efforts? Can we wonder, under +these circumstances, at the slow progress of the gospel? Is it not +rather wonderful that it should make any progress at all? If the world +is reluctant to believe in Christ's mission, would not His own words, +(John xvii. 21,) suggest to us our miserable divisions as a chief cause +of this? + + [73] Against one of these missions Dr. Lang gives a sneer, and + it may be a deserved one, though certainly expressed in unbecoming + language; but the attentive reader of Dr. Lang's amusing work on New + South Wales will soon learn not to place too much stress upon _all_ he + says. See Lang's New South Wales, vol. ii. chap. 7, p. 313. + + [74] See Bishop of Australia's Letter in S. P. G. Report for 1842, + p. 53. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +SKETCHES OF NATIVE CHARACTER. + + +BENNILLONG.--The first native who could be persuaded to live upon +friendly terms of confidence with the British settlers in New South +Wales was called Bennillong, and it was after no very long period, +(within two years after the commencement of the colony,) that this +intercourse with them began in the following manner:--In the spring of +the second year the bodies of many of the natives were found in a +lifeless or dying state upon different parts of the coast near Sydney, +in consequence of the small-pox, which had been raging among them; and +some of these having been brought up to the settlement, from motives of +pity, the disease was taken by a native who had been captured shortly +before, in hopes of opening through him a means of communication with +the others. The intended interpreter died, but the governor, Captain +Philip, still retained in his care two native children, whose lives had +been saved from the small-pox, and succeeded, within a few months, in +securing two other natives, both of them well known to the children, +through whom they were assured of perfect safety. However, instead of +remaining until they could become familiar with the English manners and +language, so as to carry on an intercourse between the colonists and +their own countrymen, these natives both made their escape, one of them +very soon after he had been taken; the other, Bennillong, in about six +months afterwards, when he had been treated with every kindness and +indulgence, and had grown somewhat accustomed to the society of the +English settlers. Bennillong made his escape in May 1790, and in the +September following he saw some of the colonists, by whom he sent a +present to the governor, namely, a piece of the whale which was then +lying on the beach, and around which the natives were assembled at a +feast. Wishing to see him again, the governor went immediately to the +spot, where he found a number of natives, and both Bennillong, and the +other one, Cole-be, who had first escaped. All went on amicably at +first, and some wearing apparel, belonging to the men in the boat, was +given to the savages, while Bennillong obtained a promise from his +excellency that more should be brought in two days, and likewise some +hatchets. The governor and his friends were retiring by degrees to their +boat, having imprudently allowed the natives very nearly to surround +them, when Bennillong, after presenting several of his friends by name, +pointed out one, whom Captain Philip stepped forward to meet, holding +out both his hands to him. The savage, not understanding this civility, +and possibly thinking that he was going to seize him, threw his spear, +and wounded the governor rather badly, but not mortally. Several other +spears were thrown, and one musket fired, but no injury was done on +either side. A few days after the accident Bennillong came with his wife +and some companions very near to the settlement, and an interview +between these and the British officers took place, in which it was +agreed that the governor, as soon as he was able, should visit the +same spot; Bennillong, meanwhile, assuring them that the man who had +inflicted the wound had been severely beaten. On the tenth day his +Excellency was so far recovered as to go to the place of the whale +feast, together with several officers, all armed. Bennillong here +repeated his assurances to the governor in person, that the offending +party had been well beaten by him and Cole-be, and added that his +throwing the spear was entirely the effect of his fears, and arose from +an impulse of self-preservation. The day before this visit nearly 4000 +fish had been taken by the colonists, and between 30 and 40 of these, +weighing on an average about 5 lbs. each, were sent to Bennillong and +his party on the north shore of Port Jackson. After this, tolerably +friendly feelings continued, with some few interruptions, between the +two nations, and Bennillong himself became very much attached to the +governor, insomuch that he and another native resolved to accompany +Captain Philip to England, when, towards the close of 1792, that +excellent officer resigned his appointment, and embarked on board of +the Atlantic transport-ship. The two Australians, fully bent upon +the voyage, which they knew would be a very distant one, withstood +resolutely, at the moment of their departure, the united distress of +their wives and the dismal lamentations of their friends. No more was +heard respecting these absentees until March 1794, when a message was +brought from them in England, requesting that their wives might be told +to expect them in the course of that year, since, though well, they had +not so completely lost their love of liberty and of their native +country, to prefer London, with its pleasures and abundance, to the +woods of New South Wales. It was not, however, until August, 1795, that +Bennillong reached his native shores, having become accustomed to the +manners of civilized life, by his long sojourn among the English people. +He declared to his old acquaintance, with an air and tone that seemed to +expect compliance, that he should no longer suffer them to fight and cut +each other's throats, but should introduce peace among them, and make +them love one another. When they visited him at Government House, he +wished they would contrive to be somewhat more cleanly in their persons +and less coarse in their manners; and he was quite offended at his +sister, who came in such haste to see him, that she positively forgot to +bring anything else upon her back, except a little nephew! Bennillong +had been an attentive observer of manners, which he was not unsuccessful +in copying; his dress was an object of no small concern to him, and +every one was of opinion that he had cast off all love for savage life. + +Upon his arrival, Bennillong made inquiries after his wife,[75] but +having heard no very good account of her conduct, he at length tempted +her by some rose-coloured clothes and a gipsy bonnet to leave her new +lover and return to her former husband. Bennillong's presents, however +pretty, were of very little practical use, and he was soon afterwards +missing, having gone into the Bush to give his rival a good beating with +_fists_ after the English method. However, all his valour was lost upon +his wife, who deserted him,--an event which did not appear to give him +great uneasiness, nor was it much to be wondered at, since she had been +stolen by him. His absence from the governor's house became now +frequent, and when he went out, his clothes were usually left behind +him, although he carefully resumed them on his return before he made his +visit to the governor. + + [75] Like most of his countrymen, Bennillong had two wives, but one of + them, Barangaroo, had died, as it appears, before his departure for + England. See page 154. + +Within a year of his arrival from England this poor creature had a +quarrel with his bosom-friend Cole-be, whose wife he had coveted, and +from whom he received some severe wounds, together with the cutting +inquiry, "Whether he meant that kind of conduct to be a specimen of +English manners?" Thus Bennillong by degrees returned again to all the +habits of savage life,--habits rendered rather worse than better by the +experience he had gained respecting those of civilized men. He could +not, however, keep on terms with his countrymen, and in 1796 he was +obliged to call in the help of the governor's soldiers to protect him +from his own people. In the following year he was accused of having been +the cause of a woman's death, who had dreamed, when dying, that he had +killed her; and by some it was said, that he actually had wounded her, +so that it was demanded of him that he should undergo the ordeal of +having some spears thrown at him. Although he denied the charge, yet it +was not thought unlikely to be true, for he was now become so fond of +drinking that he lost no opportunity of being intoxicated, and in that +state was savage and violent enough to be capable of any mischief. On +these occasions he amused himself with annoying and insulting all his +acquaintance, who were afraid to punish him lest they should offend his +white friends. But, however, his interest with the latter was fast +declining, for in an affray between the natives, Bennillong chose to +throw a spear among the soldiers, who interfered to prevent further +mischief; and one of these was dreadfully wounded by him. He was, +notwithstanding, set at liberty, but being offended at the blame his +behaviour had brought down upon him he would sometimes walk about armed, +and declare that he did so for the purpose of spearing the governor +whenever he might see him! After repeated affrays and quarrels with his +wife's lover and other natives, Bennillong, who had almost entirely +quitted the comforts and quiet of civilized life, was dangerously +wounded twice within two or three months. And although no more is +related concerning him, and it is true that he had recently recovered of +several very severe wounds, yet the probability is, that this weak and +violent savage was not long afterwards cut off in the midst of life by +an untimely and cruel death. + +_Barangaroo's Funeral._--When Barangaroo Daringha, Bennillong's elder +wife, who was above fifty at the time of her death, was to have the +funeral rites performed over her body, it was resolved by her husband +that she should be burned, and the governor, the judge-advocate, and the +surgeon of the colony were invited to the ceremony, besides whom there +were present Bennillong's relatives and a few others, mostly females. +The spot for the pile was prepared by digging out the ground with a +stick, to the depth of a few inches, and in this a heap of wood was +raised to the height of about three feet, the ends and sides being +formed of dry pieces, and the middle of it consisting of small twigs and +branches, broken off for the purpose, and thrown together. Some grass +was then spread over the pile, and the corpse covered with an old +blanket was placed upon it, with the head towards the north. A basket +with sundry articles belonging to the deceased was placed by her side, +and some large logs being laid over the body by Bennillong, the pile +was lighted by one of the party, and was quickly all in a flame. +Bennillong himself pointed out to his friends that the fire had reached +the corpse, and the spot was left long before the pile was consumed, +while the husband seemed more cheerful than had been expected, and +spoke about finding a nurse among the white women for his infant and +motherless child, Dil-boong.[76] The next day he invited the same party +of Europeans to see him rake the ashes together, and none of his own +people were present at this ceremony. He went before his companions in a +sort of solemn silence, speaking to no one until he had paid the last +duties to Barangaroo. In his hand was the spear, with which he meant to +punish the _car-rah-dy_, or conjurer, for whom he had sent to attend her +in her illness, but who either could not or would not obey the summons; +and with the end of this spear he collected the funereal ashes into a +heap. Over these he made, with a piece of bark, which served for a +spade, a small mound of earth, on each side of which was placed a log of +wood, and on the top the bark with which he had constructed it. All was +done with the utmost care and neatness, and he seemed pleased, when, in +reply to his inquiries, he was told by his friends that it was "good." +His behaviour throughout was solemn and manly, and he was perfectly +silent during the whole of the ceremony, from which nothing was suffered +to withdraw his attention. Nor did he seem desirous to get quickly +through it, but paid these last rites of affection with a care that +did honour to his feelings towards one, for whom, notwithstanding his +barbarism, he appeared to feel a sincere and strong attachment. When his +melancholy task was ended, he stood for a few moments, with his hands +folded over his bosom, and his eye fixed upon his labours, in the +attitude of a man in profound thought. What were his thoughts then it is +impossible certainly to declare, but they may have been more nearly akin +to those of the mere civilized worldling than we might at first imagine. +Death brings all men to an equality, and throws down every distinction +but one. That distinction, indeed, so far from overthrowing, death +renders more marked and conspicuous than before, clearly making manifest +the difference between the believer and the unbeliever, "between him +that serveth God, and him that serveth him not." + + [76] On a similar occasion, Cole-be placed the living child in the grave + with its mother, and having laid the child down, he threw upon it a + large stone, after which the grave was instantly filled up by the other + natives. Upon remonstrating with Cole-be, he, so far from thinking it + inhuman, justified this extraordinary act by saying, that, as no woman + could be found to nurse the child, it must have died a worse death than + that to which he put it.--COLLINS' _Account of the Colony of New South + Wales_, p. 393. + +_The Spitting Tribe._--This was the name given by Major Mitchell to one +of the most troublesome and ferocious of the native tribes, the place of +whose habitation is on the lonely banks of the Darling, in the interior +of Eastern Australia. When these disagreeable people were first met +with, the man who was taking care of the sheep belonging to the +exploring party held out a green bough; but the savage, who had before +pointed a spear at the Englishman, replied to his emblem of peace by +taking a bough, spitting upon it, and then thrusting it into the fire. +Upon Major Mitchell hastening to the spot, similar expressions of ill +will were manifested, evidently with the purpose of telling the +strangers that they must go back. The native and a boy who was with him +then threw up dust at their enemies, in a clever way, _with their toes_. +Their feelings of hostility and defiance were too plainly expressed to +be mistaken. Every effort at conciliation was useless, until, at length, +the enraged native of the Bush retired slowly along the river bank, +singing a war-song as he went, and showing by his actions that he was +going for his tribe. This happened in the morning; and during the +afternoon of the same day, a party of the tribe made their appearance, +holding out boughs indeed, but with a very different ceremonial from +what had hitherto been observed.[77] Their violent and expressive +gestures evidently were intended to drive back the intruders; and +as these last could not but feel that they were not upon their own +ground, they used every endeavour to conciliate the opposing party. The +blacksmith belonging to the expedition was at work with his bellows and +anvil near the river bank, and his labours seemed to awaken very much +the curiosity of the natives, who, however, still refused to sit down, +and continued to wave their branches in the faces of the white people, +and to spit at them repeatedly, all which conduct was patiently endured +in the hope of establishing afterwards a more agreeable and friendly +intercourse. As a peace-offering, a tomahawk was presented to the +leader, who, guessing immediately its use, turned round to a log, and +chopped it. Two other stout fellows then rudely demanded the British +officer's pistols from his belt, whereupon he drew one, and, curious to +see the effect, fired it at a tree. Immediately, as though they had +previously suspected the intruders to be evil demons, and had at length +a clear proof of it, they repeated their actions of defiance with +tenfold fury, accompanying these with demoniac looks, hideous shouts, +and a war-song,--crouching, jumping, spitting, springing with the spear, +and throwing dust at them, as they slowly retired. In short, their +hideous crouching postures, measured gestures, and low jumps, to the +tune of a wild song, with the fiendish glare of their countenances, at +times all black, but now all eyes and teeth, seemed a fitter spectacle +for Pandemonium than for the light of the bounteous sun. Thus they +retired, dancing in a circle, and leaving the strangers in expectation +of their return, and perhaps an attack in the morning. Whatever was the +cause of their hostility, any further attempt to quiet them appeared out +of the question, and it was too likely that ere long the English party +would be forced to prove their superiority by arms.[78] + + [77] The custom of holding out green boughs, which is usually a sign of + friendship among the Australians and other savage tribes, formed part of + the ceremony of suppliants among the ancient Greeks. See Potter's + Antiquities of Greece, b. ii. c. 5. + + [78] The difference in disposition between tribes not very remote from + each other was often striking. Only three days' journey behind, the + travellers had left natives as kind and civil as any whom they had seen, + and hitherto all the people on the Darling had met them with the branch + of peace. + +These troublesome visitors did not, however, make their appearance again +before the following afternoon, when their curiosity and desire to get +more presents brought them forth from their hiding-places in the woods. +By degrees, they seemed to gain a little more confidence; but signs of +defiance were still made; and as their fears diminished, their love of +pilfering appeared to increase. The blacksmith was at work this day +also; and they moved towards him, commencing at the same time a kind of +chant, and slowly waving their green boughs. There was evidently some +superstition in the ceremony, and one of the parties concerned in it +was a _coradje_, or priest, who occasionally turned his back upon the +Europeans, and touched his eye-brows, nose, and breast; then pointing +his arm to the sky, and with his hand afterwards laid upon his breast, +pouring forth a most solemn chant. The blacksmith, with whose honest +occupation all this formed a strange contrast, had been ordered not +to laugh nor stop working, which orders he obeyed as long as it was +practicable. But, gradually, the black visitors gathered round the +forge, and began to pilfer whatever they could lay hand or foot upon, +until the persecuted smith could no longer proceed with his work. The +best part of this scene was, that they did not mind being observed by +any one, except the blacksmith, supposing that they were robbing him +only. His patience, however, being severely tried, he was at last +tempted to give one of them a push, when a scene of chanting, spitting, +and throwing dust commenced on the part of the thief, who was a stout +fellow and carried a spear, which he seemed inclined to use. One or two +articles were lost in spite of all efforts, but the explorers were glad +to feel at peace with these people upon any terms, and both parties +separated that night in a tolerably civil way. + +On the following day, the travellers began to move onwards, but they did +not leave behind (as they had hoped) their troublesome neighbours. The +natives rushed forth from the woods in greater numbers than ever, _being +painted white_, and many of them carrying spears, and shouting. A horse +belonging to one of the party was so startled at this, that he galloped +away, and was with some little difficulty recovered. The threats and +defiance of the savages were again repeated; and when the party of +explorers began to proceed onwards, the whole of the woods appeared to +be in flames. Various annoyances and hindrances were experienced from +these disagreeable inhabitants of the Bush, during the next ten or +twelve days; after which an event happened, which, though sad and +unfortunate in itself, was yet calculated to fill the minds of these +impudent savages with some respect and awe for the power of the +Europeans. Joseph Jones,--the man who attended the flock of sheep, which +accompanied Major Mitchell's party in their wanderings in the interior +of New Holland,--had been sent for some water; and the tea-kettle he +carried with him was the sole cause of the quarrel that ensued. As he +was getting up the river bank with the water, another man being +stationed (as usual) at the top to protect him with his pistol, one of +the natives, with others in his company, met him half way up, and with +a smile took hold of the pot which he was carrying, together with the +kettle. This was done under pretence of helping Jones, but, on reaching +the top of the bank, the savage, in the same jocose way, held it fast, +until a woman said something to him; and then, letting the pot go, he +seized the kettle with his left hand, and at the same time struck Jones +senseless to the ground by a violent blow on the forehead, inflicted +with a club which he held in his right. On seeing this the other man, +who was stationed by way of protection, fired, and wounded the savage, +who swam across the river, and made off as well as he could; but the +rest of the tribe were now advancing. The Englishman fired twice at +them, and the second time, unfortunately, he shot the woman already +mentioned, who, with her child fastened to her back, slid down the bank, +and lay, apparently dying, in the water. At this moment three other +Englishmen arrived, who had been sent off from the camp when the noise +of fire-arms was heard, and one man among the natives was shot in the +breast, but little more mischief was done, for the tribe speedily +dispersed, having dragged away the dead body of the woman; while Joseph +Jones returned, wounded and bleeding, to the camp of the explorers. When +night arrived, "a death-like silence," says Major Mitchell, "prevailed +along the banks of the river; no far-heard voices of natives at their +fires broke, as before, the stillness of the night, while a painful +sympathy for the child bereft of its parent, and anticipations of the +probable consequences to us, cast a melancholy gloom over the scene. The +waning moon at length arose, and I was anxiously occupied with the +observations, which were most important at this point of my journey, +when a mournful song, strongly expressive of the wailing of women, came +from beyond the Darling, on the fitful breeze which still blew from the +north-west." The feelings of a brave but humane British officer, +surrounded by difficulties, with very few except convicts under his +command, annoyed by natives, yet anxious not to injure them, and just +about to turn back from the journey of discovery which he had hitherto +successfully pursued; the feelings of Major Mitchell under the +circumstances so touchingly described by him can scarcely be imagined. +The thoughts of a veteran who had served his country during many long +years of war and strife, must have wandered back to past scenes and +by-gone days, while he stood in that solitary wilderness; and when the +wild shrill cry of savage grief came floating upon his ears, he must +have felt most deeply those strange sensations which we experience + + "When, musing o'er companions gone, + We doubly feel ourselves alone." + +These savages of the Darling have the power of doing with their toes +many things most surprising to men who wear shoes, and have never been +accustomed from infancy to climb trees after the Australian fashion. +With their toes they gather the fresh-water muscles from the muddy +bottoms of rivers or lakes, and these are one of their principal +articles of food in the neighbourhood of the Darling. In the attempts of +the Spitting Tribe to steal from the English party, their feet were much +employed, and they would tread softly on any article, seize it with the +toes, pass it up the back, or between the arm and side, and so conceal +it in the arm-pit, or between the beard and throat. The hoary old priest +of the Spitting Tribe, while intent upon tricks of this kind, chanted +an extraordinary hymn to some deity or devil; the act was evidently +superstitious and connected with no good principle. Arrangements were +probably being made, and some of these strange ceremonies observed by +them, for the purpose of destroying the strangers, _intruders_ they +might be called. "And no man," observes Major Mitchell, "can witness the +quickness and intelligence of the aborigines, as displayed in their +instant comprehension of our numerous appliances, without feelings of +sympathy. They cannot be so obtuse, as not to anticipate in the advance +of such a powerful race as ours, the extirpation of their own, in a +country which barely affords to them the means of subsistence." Yet, +melancholy though the reflection may appear, it is but too true, that +scarcely any hope of improving and civilizing these barbarous people can +be at present reasonably indulged. What a picture does the same humane +traveller already quoted draw of the tribes about the lower part of the +Darling, of whose character the Spitting Tribe may serve for a specimen. +"It seldom happened," he says, "that I was particularly engaged with a +map, a drawing, or a calculation, but I was interrupted by them or +respecting them. Our gifts seemed only to awaken on their part a desire +to destroy us, and to take all we had. While sitting in the dust with +them, according to their custom, often have they examined my cap, +evidently with no other view than to ascertain whether it would +resist the blow of a _waddy_, or short stick. Then they would feel the +thickness of my dress, and whisper together, their eyes occasionally +glancing at their spears and clubs. The expression of their countenances +was sometimes so hideous, that, after such interviews, I have found +comfort in contemplating the honest faces of the horses and sheep; and +even in the scowl of 'the patient ox,' I have imagined an expression of +dignity, when he may have pricked up his ears, and turned his horns +towards these wild specimens of the 'lords of the creation.' Travellers +in Australian deserts will find that such savages cannot remain at rest +when near, but are ever anxious to strip them by all means in their +power of every thing. It was not until we proceeded as conquerors, that +we knew any thing like tranquillity on the Darling; and I am now of +opinion, that to discourage at once the approach of such natives, would +tend more to the safety of an exploring party than presenting them with +gifts." + +_Mulligo's Death._--The following curious account of the death of a +certain native of Western Australia is given by Captain Grey. Mulligo, +for such was the name of the unfortunate man, had severely hurt his +spine by a fall from a tree, and having lost the use of his lower limbs, +he gradually wasted away, until, in about two months' time, he became a +perfect skeleton, and was evidently dying. Soon after day-break, Captain +Grey came to the hut of Mulligo, and found him alive indeed, but +breathing so slightly that it was scarcely to be perceived. His head +rested on his aged mother's knees, who leaned over him in tears, while +other women were seated around, their heads all verging to a common +centre, over the wasted frame of the dying man; they were crying +bitterly, and scratching their cheeks, foreheads, and noses, with +their nails, until the blood trickled slowly from the wounds. The men, +meanwhile, were preparing their spears for the fight, which was expected +to take place respecting the two wives of Mulligo, the title of his heir +being disputed. Other native females soon began to arrive in small +parties, each one carrying her long stick in her hand, and each party +marching slowly after the eldest woman belonging to it. When they came +within about thirty or forty yards of the hut of the dying man, they +raised the most piteous cries, and hurrying their pace, moved rapidly to +the place where the other women were seated, recalling to the mind of +one acquainted with the Bible, that custom alluded to by Jeremiah (chap. +ix. 17, 18). As they came up to the bark hut, many of them struck it +violently with their sticks, producing by the blow a dull hollow sound, +and then, after joining the assembled circle, chanting mournfully the +usual songs on these occasions. Then, suddenly, one of the women in a +frenzy would start up, and standing in front of the hut, while she waved +her stick violently in the air, would chant forth curses against the +sorcerers, who, as she believed, had been the cause of Mulligo's +sufferings. It was strange to watch the effect of these wild chants upon +the savage countenances of the men; one while they sat in mournful +silence; again they grasped firmly and quivered their spears; and by and +by a general "Ee-Ee," pronounced in their throat, with the lips closed, +burst forth in token of approbation at some affecting part of the +speech. + +Time wore on; each withered beldame by turns addressed the party, +while the poor creature, whose dying moments were thus disturbed, was +gradually sinking. At last he ceased to live, and at that moment an old +woman started up, and with grief and rage, poured forth her curses upon +the _Boyl-yas_, and tore the hut in which Mulligo had been lying to +pieces, saying, "This is now no good." Her proceedings excited the +feelings of the men, and at last Moon-dee, the most violent of them, was +on the point of spearing one of the wives of the deceased, but he was +withheld by some of the women. The cause of Moon-dee's anger was +afterwards thus explained. About two or three months before this time, +a cloak belonging to Mulligo's brother had been stolen, and, it was +supposed, given to one of the sorcerers, who gained thereby some +mysterious power over either of the two brothers, which he had exercised +on Mulligo, when he caused him to fall and injure his back. Another +sorcerer was called in, who applied fire to the injured part, but +without any success; and since the poor fellow was daily wasting away, +it was imagined that the unfriendly sorcerers came every night to feast +upon the invalid during his hours of sleep. But Moon-dee chose to fancy +that if his wife had been more watchful, the _Boyl-yas_ might have been +detected, and therefore he intended to spear her in the leg, in order to +punish her supposed neglect. This outrage was, however, prevented; and +the two trembling partners of the deceased, neither of whom was above +fifteen years old, fled into Perth, to find among Europeans a refuge +from the violence of their own countrymen. After vowing vengeance +against a great many of the sorcerers, though they had no proof whatever +against any of these in particular, the men followed the widows to +Perth, to see that no one stole them away; and a few only were left with +the women to superintend the funeral. + +In about an hour's time, the body was removed to a distance of nearly +half a mile from the spot where the death had taken place, and the women +were still leaning over it, uttering the words, _yang, yang, yang_, and +occasionally chanting a few sentences. The grave was then dug, as usual, +due east and west, with no better instruments than sticks and hands; but +afterwards, when many Europeans had assembled at the spot, to the great +annoyance of the natives, these last occasionally employed a spade, +although, from the extreme narrowness of the grave, it was no easy +matter to make use of this implement. During the digging an insect had +been thrown up, whose motions were watched with the deepest interest, +and since the animal crawled off in the direction of Guildford, this was +thought an additional proof of the guilt of the sorcerers of that place, +who had before been suspected, because the cloak had been stolen by a +man living near this settlement. + +When the grave was completed, they set fire to some dried leaves and +twigs which they threw in, and old Weeban, the friendly sorcerer, knelt +at the foot of the grave, with his back to the east, and his head bowed +down to the earth in a posture of the deepest attention; his office +being a very important one, namely, to discover in what direction the +hostile _Boyl-yas_ would take their flight, when drawn out of the earth +by the heat. The fire roared for some time in the grave; and the hollow +sound of the flames arising from the narrow opening evidently aroused +the superstitious fears of the bystanders, until the old conjuror +signified by his actions that the authors of the mischief were gone off +in the direction of Guildford. The relatives of the deceased appeared +satisfied at knowing upon whom to avenge the foul witchcraft, and at +being assured of the cause of their friend's death. The body of Mulligo +was then taken from the females, his mother having, for the last time, +fervently kissed its cold lips; and the corpse was lowered into the +grave, and placed upon a bed of leaves, which had been laid there +directly the fire was extinguished; the face being, according to custom, +turned towards the east. The women continued their mournful songs, and +the grave was filled up with small green boughs and earth, until the +tomb was completed, presenting the appearance, owing to the heaps placed +at the head and foot, of three graves nearly alike in size and form, +lying in a due east and west direction. On the same evening, the old +mother was found sitting at the place where her son's remains were +interred, and crying bitterly. She had caught the _Boyl-yas_, she said, +in the very act of sitting round Mulligo's grave, for the purpose of +preying upon his miserable body, and she pointed out their tracks at the +spot from which they sprung into the air, in the direction of Guildford, +but European eyes were not keen enough to detect these mysterious traces +of mischief. + +_The Corrobory._--The natives have a dance, called corrobory, of a very +original character, and almost universally prevalent on the shores of +Australia. The dance always takes place at night; and not only in this +respect, but likewise in the preparation and excitement occasioned by +it, a resemblance may be traced between the _corrobory_ and the dances +of more civilized nations. The curious evolutions and figures performed +in these assemblies of savages, are regulated by time beaten upon +stretched skins or drums,--the only musical instrument that is commonly +seen among them; and while the light of blazing boughs is thrown upon +the scene of festivity, the rude music is accompanied by a song. +Darkness seems essential to the effect of the whole; and the painted +figures coming forward from the obscurity of the background, while the +singers and beaters of time are invisible, have a highly theatrical +effect. Each dance appears most tastefully progressive; the movement +being first slow, and introduced by two persons, displaying graceful +motions, both of arms and legs; others, one by one, join in, each +gradually warming into the truly savage attitude of the "_corrobory_" +jump; the legs then stride to the utmost, the head is turned over one +shoulder, the eyes glare, and are fixed with savage energy all in one +direction; the arms also are raised, and inclined towards the head, the +hands usually grasping some warlike weapons. The jump now keeps time +with each beat; the dancers at every movement taking six inches to one +side, all being in a connected line, led by the first, which line, +however, is sometimes _doubled_ or _tripled_, according to numbers; and +thus great effect is added; for when the front line jumps to the left, +the second jumps to the right; the third to the left again, and so on, +until the action gains due intensity, when all suddenly stop at the same +moment. The excitement which this dance produces in the savage is very +remarkable. However listless the individual may be, lying perhaps, as +usual, half asleep, set him to this, and he is fired with sudden energy, +every nerve is strung to such a degree, that he is hardly to be known as +the same person, while the _corrobory_ continues. + +_Peerat and his Wives._--A garden belonging to a soldier at King +George's Sound had been robbed by the natives of nearly a hundred weight +of potatoes. This was the first act of theft that had been committed +during the five months of Governor Grey's residence there, although +there had often been as many as two hundred natives in the settlement, +who had no means of subsistence beyond the natural productions of the +country, and what little they derived from being occasionally employed +by the colonists. And even in this theft of the potatoes, they had +purposely left the large roots, and had taken away only the smaller +ones, in the hope that by so doing they would lessen the crime. However, +the governor resolved to act promptly and vigorously upon this first +offence, and to avoid the common fault of Europeans, in confounding the +guilty and the innocent together. By the help of an intelligent native, +the tracks of three persons were found in the garden that had been +robbed, and the footsteps were pronounced to be those of Peerat's two +wives, and his son Dal-bean. These had all walked off into the Bush, +meaning, probably, to avoid suspicion, and to wait till the affair had +passed quietly over. The governor determined to pursue them, but this +required great secrecy, for Australians are no easy creatures to catch +hold of; and it was not meant to adopt the popular system of shooting +them when they ran away. Accompanied by four natives only, the governor +pressed forward, following Peerat's tracks for about nine miles in a +direction where the Bush had been set on fire by the natives, until he +met with some of these, who were solemnly informed of the theft and of +the names of the criminals, whom he had come to take prisoners; if these +were given up, it was promised that they should undergo only the regular +punishment for petty robbery; otherwise, the usual allowance of flour, +which was issued to all the natives every two months, was to be stopped; +and it was threatened that a party of soldiers should be brought out to +fire upon Peerat and his party wherever they might be found. These +threats, uttered in a very decided tone, gave occasion to a consultation +among the natives, by whom it was unanimously agreed:-- + +Imprimis. That stealing potatoes was a very heinous offence, more +particularly in women. + +Secondly. That women were notorious thieves, and altogether worse +characters than men. + +Thirdly. That beating women was an every day occurrence. + +Fourthly. That losing flour was a great bore; and, + +Fifthly. Upon these considerations, Peerat, his wives, and son, were to +be given up. + +These resolutions having been passed, the whole assembly came to the +governor to inquire whether he told the truth, when he said that he was +not personally angry with Peerat's family, and that they should not be +killed; and being satisfied upon this point, they all proceeded together +in search of the offending parties. + +Peerat waited quietly to receive them, indeed, he was not aware of the +cause of his being honoured by a visit from the governor; when, however, +he heard of this, he abused his wives, and promised to thrash them +soundly, but absolutely refused to give either them or his son up as +prisoners. The first man who might lay a finger upon him was threatened +with a spear through the heart, and the governor was obliged to proclaim +the sacredness of his own person, and to cock both barrels of his gun, +with an assurance that he would shoot poor Peerat in case of resistance. +All savage strife is noisy in the extreme; even the strife of +_civilized_ men in their _public meetings_ and _vestries_ is often +tolerably boisterous,--and a great deal of running and leaping about, +and quivering of spears accompanies the former kind of altercation. +While things were in this confusion the governor went alone to Peerat's +fire, and seized his little boy, Dal-bean, but could see nothing of the +wives, who were, most likely, busy digging roots for the family. The boy +was told that if he moved he would be shot, a threat which kept him very +quiet; but Peerat soon found out what had happened, and came running +after them. These natives are always greatly attached to their children, +and strong proofs of this were now given by the father, who first +declared that the boy had been with him, and that it was the mother only +that had stolen, producing about a dozen witnesses to prove this to be +the truth. However, the reply to this was by asking the question, How +came the child's footmarks in the garden? It was answered that Peerat's +second wife had, indeed, been there, and that she was just the size of +the boy; but that plea would not hold good, since her footsteps had been +observed likewise. + +The father now urged the tender years of the lad, and that he was under +the influence of his mother; and then fairly wept upon his child's neck, +who was calling upon his parent and the other natives by name to save +him. The governor's own feelings and those of his followers urged him +to let the little fellow go, but he wisely resolved to act with +determination, and held fast by the prisoner. Spears were now given to +Peerat--a sign of his quarrel being espoused by those who gave them, and +that he was expected to use them; and, matters having taken a serious +turn, the governor hastened away with his prisoner and two of his native +companions, but not before he had explained to the others the advantage +of an impartial inquiry and proper punishment of offenders, in +preference to their being exposed to the indiscriminating fire of +Europeans. Peerat was then threatened with a shot if he did not take +himself off, and bring his wives into the settlement to be punished; and +the matter ended, for the present, in the lodgment of the youthful +Dal-bean safe in the British gaol. In a day or two afterwards, during +which no tidings had been heard of Peerat and his wives, the little +Dal-bean made an attempt to break out of his place of confinement, by +taking up a loose stone from the floor, with which he had battered a +hole in the door. This, however, he stoutly denied, asserting that, +whilst he was asleep, sorcerers from the north, having a spite against +him, had entered through some air-holes in the wall and done this; and, +on his persisting in the story, he was told that, in future, he would +be well whipped for neglect, if he did not give the alarm when these +strange visitors came. Meanwhile, the governor was half inclined to whip +him for telling a story, but he satisfied himself with giving him a +lecture upon the crime of lying, to which the cunning little rogue +replied, by arguing upon the general usefulness and prevalence of that +vice in the world, entirely setting aside its evil nature and +sinfulness. + +The very same day Peerat made his appearance with a very pitiful +tale. He had two wives, and to govern them both was no easy task, but, +although they had been soundly beaten, they could not be induced to come +into the settlement, until he had threatened to spear them. This threat +had, at last, succeeded, and in recompense for his sufferings from the +loss of his son, and from the obstinacy and bad temper of his wives, he +begged to be allowed to beat the latter himself. They were ordered to +the spot where the robbery was committed, and there the native women +soon appeared, dreadfully cut and mangled from the beating they had +already received. One was a nice looking girl, about fourteen, but an +incorrigible thief. Peerat was going to hit her a tremendous blow upon +the head, which must have laid it open. She stood with her back to her +husband, trembling and crying bitterly. The governor caught Peerat's +arm, picked up a little switch from the ground, and told him to beat her +on the shoulders with that, instead of with his _meero_. Two slight +blows, or rather taps, were given her, in order to know where it was +that the governor meant her to be struck, but the poor girl cried so +bitterly from fear, that she was pardoned, and so likewise was the other +woman, who had already been severely beaten, and had at that moment a +little child sitting upon her shoulder, and crying piteously at the +sight of its mother's tears. Before the crowd dispersed a lecture was +given them, and they were warned not to presume upon the governor's +clemency in the present instance. + +In the afternoon, the governor, attended by Peerat, his wives, and a +crowd of natives, walked up to the gaol to release little Dal-bean. The +father and the governor alone entered the prison, and when the gaoler +was told to hand Peerat the whip, the latter took it, and said, "Yes, +yes, I will strike him; let not another beat him." The door of the cell +was then opened, and the little boy was led out: his father ran up to +him, caught him in his arms, and began kissing him; having done this, he +told him he was going to beat him. The little fellow did not answer a +word, but standing as firm and erect as possible, presented his back +to him. The father gave him one blow, and it was ended--justice was +satisfied. The criminals had surrendered to salutary laws, of which they +had but a vague and undefined knowledge; it was their first offence; the +nature of the laws they had broken was explained to them; they were +warned to be careful in their future conduct, and they were set free. +Little Dal-bean, directly they got outside the gaol, walked up to the +governor, took his hand, and squeezed it; then turning to his mother, +he just looked at her; she cried, but did not dare to kiss him, or to +show any other mark of emotion. The whole party then moved off, after +showering many thanks upon the governor, and saying, "What a good +fellow, what a good fellow," or, to give a literal translation, "one +good man, one good man!" + +_Woga's Captivity._--In Caledon Bay, upon the northern coast of New +Holland, the natives had behaved very well to the party under Captain +Flinders, which had landed on their shores, until one of those who had +been most kindly treated ran away with an axe, and from the thickness of +the forest could not be overtaken. It was indeed here, as in other parts +of Australia, no easy matter to hinder the people from stealing whatever +came within their reach; and in order to check this, two men were seized +by command of Captain Flinders, and after a little time one of these was +set free, upon his promising by signs to restore the axe, and being +made to understand that the other would be kept as a pledge of this +engagement being fulfilled. Much confusion was noticed among the +natives, and preparations were made for firing upon them in case of +necessity, but after one of the prisoners had been released, they +appeared to have less anxiety, and still no axe was forthcoming. The +prisoner, a youth of about fourteen, whose name was Woga, was taken in a +boat to a place much frequented by the savages, many of whom were seen +behind the bushes, endeavouring to entice a native who accompanied +the expedition on shore, no doubt intending to seize him by way of +retaliation. The restoration of the axe was demanded, and the prisoner +seemed to use all his powers to enforce it, but the constant answer was +that the thief, Ye-han-ge-ree, had been beaten and was gone away; and +since no axe was likely to be brought, Woga was carried on board the +ship, after a great deal of crying, entreating, threatening, and +struggling on his part. He there ate heartily, laughed, sometimes cried, +and noticed every thing; frequently expressing admiration at what he +saw, and especially at the sheep, hogs, and cats. The next morning he +was taken ashore, and attempted to make a spring out of the boat, so +that it was needful to bind him, notwithstanding his struggles; but +after a while he became quiet, and enjoyed his meal of rice and fish, +although he was made fast to a tree. A sort of attack was then made by +the other natives upon a party of gentlemen who had landed to botanize, +and who had been almost surrounded by the savages; but, however, a +couple of shots dispersed their enemies, and two of the Australians were +supposed to have been wounded. Since the prisoner was thus a cause of +mischief to his fellow-countrymen, and his being carried off would be an +act of injustice, as well as injurious to future visitors of that coast, +at length Captain Flinders, who would otherwise willingly have taken +Woga with him, resolved to release him. On that day, the third of his +captivity, Woga appeared to be a little melancholy in his bondage, but +upon the whole had not fared amiss, having been eating the greater part +of the morning and afternoon. He begged hard to be released; promising, +with tears in his eyes, to bring back the axe; and after having received +some clothing and presents he was suffered to depart. As far as two +hundred yards he walked away leisurely; but then, looking first behind +him, took to his heels with all his might, leaving his British friends +very reasonably doubtful of the fulfilment of his pathetic promises! + +_Bal-loo-der-ry and the Convicts._--In 1791, when the town of Paramatta, +about fifteen miles from Sydney, was first settled, the natives soon +began to bring in their fish and barter it for bread or salted meat; and +this proving a great convenience to the settlers, the traffic was very +much encouraged by them. There were, however, some among the convicts so +unthinking or so depraved, as wantonly to destroy a canoe belonging to a +fine young man, a native, who had left it at a little distance from the +settlement, as he thought, out of the way of observation, while he went +with some fish he had to sell. His rage at finding his canoe destroyed +was very great: he threatened to take his revenge, and in his own way, +upon all white people. Three of the offenders, however, having been seen +and described, were taken and punished, and so were the remainder of +them not very long afterwards. The instant effect of this outrage +was, that the natives discontinued the bringing up of fish; and +Bal-loo-der-ry, whose canoe had been destroyed, although he had been +taught to believe[79] that one of the six convicts had been hanged for +the offence, meeting a few days afterwards with an European who had +strayed to some distance from Paramatta, he wounded him in two places +with a spear. This act of Bal-loo-der-ry was followed by the governor's +strictly forbidding him to appear again in any of the settlements; and +the other natives, his friends, being alarmed, Paramatta was seldom +visited by any of them, and all commerce with them was (for the time) +at an end. However, in about two months afterwards, before the person +wounded by him had recovered, Bal-loo-der-ry ventured into the town with +some of his friends, and one or two armed parties were sent to seize +him. A spear having been thrown, it was said, by him, two muskets were +fired, by which one of his companions was wounded in the leg, but +Bal-loo-der-ry was not taken. On the following day it was ordered that +he was to be seized whenever an opportunity should offer, and that any +native attempting to throw a spear in his defence, (since they well knew +why he was denounced,) was, if possible, to be prevented from escaping. +Those who knew this savage regretted that it had been necessary to treat +him thus harshly, for among his countrymen they had never seen a finer +young man. We cannot finish this melancholy history with a more true +reflection than that of Lieutenant Collins: "How much greater claim to +the appellation of _savages_ had the wretches (the convicts) who were +the cause of this, than the natives who were termed so!" + + [79] Such are the words of Lieutenant Collins, from whose account of New + South Wales the narrative is taken. When will Christians learn, in their + intercourse with heathens and savages, to abstain from such falsehood + and deceitful dealing? + +_Native Hospitality and Philosophy._--After a most distressing journey +in Western Australia, Captain Grey and his party fell in with a number +of natives, at no great distance from the settlement of Perth. So great +had been the trials of the explorers that a disinclination to move +pervaded the whole party, and their courageous leader had felt much the +same desire to sink into the sleep of death, that one feels to take a +second slumber in the morning after great fatigue. However they had +aroused themselves, and had managed to walk about eight miles at the +slow rate of a mile and a quarter an hour, when they came suddenly upon +the tracks of the natives. Kaiber, their guide, announced that they were +wild natives; and, after a second survey, he declared that they had +"great bush fury" on them, _i.e._ were subject to wild untutored rage. +It was proposed, however, to fire a gun as a signal, for since the +distance from Perth was thought to be very trifling, it was hoped that +these natives would understand its meaning. Kaiber threatened to run +away, but the coward was, in fact, afraid to move five yards from the +party, so, sitting down on his haunches under cover, he kept muttering +to himself various terms of Australian scorn,--"The swan--the +big-head--the stone forehead!"--while the Captain advanced towards the +strangers, who no sooner heard the gun, and saw him approaching, than +they came running to him. Presently, Kaiber accosted one of them by +name, and at the sound of this name, Imbat, the strongest feeling was +awakened; it was well known to the travellers, and they knew that their +lives were safe, and the end of their journey at hand. Captain Grey was +in good favour with most of the natives of those parts, to whom he had +frequently made presents of _flour_, and hence his common appellation +among them was "Wokeley brudder," or Oakley's brother, that being the +name of a _baker_ residing in Perth. + +The women were soon called up, bark-baskets of frogs opened for the +exhausted travellers, _by-yu_ nuts roasted, and, for a special delicacy, +the Captain obtained a small fresh-water tortoise. He was bidden to +sleep while Imbat cooked, and though the delay which the willing +native's skill in cookery occasioned was a little trying to the +patience of hungry men, yet it was not very long before they were +all regaling on the welcome feast. In reply to the questions of the +Englishmen, the natives all told them that they would see Perth the next +morning, "while the sun was still small;" and upon finding that there +was a kangaroo hunter with a hut, and a supply of provisions only seven +miles off, Imbat and the Captain went thither together, to prepare for +the comfortable reception of the rest of the party. However, they found +the hut deserted, its owner having returned to Perth. A fire was +lighted, notwithstanding, and the Englishman laid down to rest his weary +limbs, while the Australian again began to cook, and in his chattering +mood to philosophize also. "What for do you, who have plenty to eat, and +much money, walk so far away in the Bush?" was his first inquiry. The +Captain, fatigued and rather out of humour, made no reply. "You are +thin," continued the philosopher, "your shanks are long, your belly is +small,--you had plenty to eat at home, why did you not stop there?" +"Imbat, you comprehend nothing,--you know nothing," was the traveller's +brief reply. "I know nothing!" answered the wise man of the woods, "I +know how to keep myself fat; the young women look at me and say, Imbat +is very handsome, he is fat;--they will look at you and say, He not +good,--long legs;--what do you know? where is your fat? what for do you +know so much, if you can't keep fat? I know how to stay at home, and not +walk too far in the Bush: where is your fat?" "You know how to talk, +long tongue," answered the Captain;--"And I know how to make you fat!" +rejoined Imbat, forgetting his anger, and bursting into a roar of +laughter, as he began stuffing his guest with frogs, _by-yu_ nuts, &c. +The rest of the party arrived just before nightfall, and, searching the +hut, they found a paper of tea, and an old tin pot, in which they +prepared the welcome beverage, after which, having had a good supper, +they all laid down to sleep; and in the silence of the night, fervent +thanks went up from that lonely hut in the wilderness to the Maker of +all things, whose merciful guidance had again brought them so near "the +haven where they would be." + +_The Widow and her Child._--During the journey of Major Mitchell's +party, exploring the course of the river Lachlan down to its junction +with the Murray, they had to cross several branches of the former +stream, which gave them some trouble from the steepness of their banks, +until they at length reached the main channel of the Lachlan, which +stream, together with all its tributaries, was at that time perfectly +dry. The welcome news was then heard that some ponds of water were near, +but at the same time it was reported that natives were there; so the +party approached cautiously, and having found two pools encamped beside +them. The black people had all fled, except one child, about seven or +eight years old, quite blind, who sat near a fire, and a poor little +girl still younger, who, notwithstanding the strange appearance of the +new visitors, and the terror exhibited in the flight of her own people, +still lingered about the bushes, and at length took her seat beside the +blind boy. A large supply of the _balyan_ root lay near them, and a dog +so lean that he was scarcely able to stand, drew his feeble body close +up beside the two children, as though desirous of defending them. +Afterwards an old man came up to the fire, and he directed the +travellers to some of the water-holes in their proposed route, but could +not be prevailed upon to become their guide. However, he persuaded a +widow, with the little girl just mentioned, who might be about four +years old, to accompany the party and act as guide. + +The strangers soon began to learn the value of their new guide, +Turandurey; for within a fortnight they met with a number of the +natives, approaching in a silent and submissive manner, each having a +green bough twined round his waist or in his hand; and a parley was +opened with them by means of the widow, as she was sitting on the +opposite bank of a river to that on which they made their appearance. +Some form or ceremony, it seems, always prevents the male natives, +when strangers to each other, from speaking at first sight; no such +restraint, however, is placed upon their wives or _gins_, as they are +called. These, with the privilege of their sex, are ever ready to speak; +and the strangers as readily replied to Turandurey; so conversation was +thus held across the river. This female guide, who had before scarcely +ventured to look up, now stood boldly forward to address the strange +tribe; and when her countenance was lighted up, displaying fine teeth, +and great earnestness of manner, it was gratifying to the travellers +to see what spirit their guide possessed. Being invited to swim over +the stream, the children of the woods complied but on condition that +the wild animals (the sheep and horses) should be driven away,--a +stipulation at which the widow and other natives in the British party +laughed heartily; nor was their laughter stopped when they watched the +awkward attempts of these heroes to show off before the females, while +they were unable entirely to conceal their fears of the silly sheep! + +It was no very long time afterwards that an unfortunate accident +happened to the little native child, Ballandella, who fell from a cart, +and one of the wheels passing over, broke her thigh. On riding up to the +spot, Major Mitchell found the widow, her mother, in great distress, +lying in the dust, with her head under the limb of her unfortunate +child. The doctor was ordered to set it immediately; but, from its being +broken very near the socket, it was found difficult to bandage the limb +so as to keep the bone in its place. Every possible care was taken of +the child, and she bore the pain with admirable patience, though only +four years old; while she gave a curious proof of her good sense at so +early an age, by calling for "Majy" (the Major), as soon as she had met +with the accident. Little Ballandella did very well, and was, after +about two months' time, fast recovering from her misfortune, when the +widow, having been travelling all that time, and being now far distant +from her own country, felt inclined to return; and was prepared to make +nothing of swimming the broad waters of the Murray, the largest known +river in New Holland, pushing the child before her floating upon a piece +of bark, nor of any other difficulties which might oppose her in her +journey homewards. No objections were offered to the woman's departure, +who appeared extremely attached to her daughter, and half afraid of +being deprived of her. Indeed, it was a tempting opportunity of trying +an experiment of the effect of education upon one of that race; for the +little savage, who at first would prefer a snake or lizard to a piece of +bread, had become so far civilised at length, as to prefer bread; and it +began to cry bitterly on leaving its European friends. However, its +absence from them was not to be a long one; for, on the third day, +the widow returned again, carrying her child on her back, after the +Australian fashion. She had seen, she stated, another tribe on the +opposite side of the river, and they had inquired very angrily, who made +the fires upon her side; after which, receiving no reply, (for she was +afraid and had hid herself,) they danced a _corrobory_ in a furious +style, during which she and the child crept away, and had passed two +nights without fire and in the rain.[80] The mother and her daughter +received a kindly welcome, and were as well treated as before, +notwithstanding the petty jealousy of some other natives, who, it was +thought, had persuaded Turandurey to go, hoping thus to get a greater +share of food for themselves. After this, the widow and Ballandella +continued with the exploring party during almost the whole of the +remainder of their expedition, making themselves serviceable in various +ways. Sometimes they would give notice of the approach of the Major, +upon his return from an excursion, long before he had reached the camp; +their quick ears seemed sensible of the sound of horses' feet at an +astonishing distance, for so only could it be accounted for that the +widow and her infant daughter, seated at the fire, were always the first +to give notice of the Major's approach. Sometimes Turandurey would +employ herself in a less serious, though not less useful manner; for on +such exploring expeditions the amusement of the men is a matter of the +first importance. She would exercise her skill in mimicry or imitation, +powers which the natives of New Holland possess to an amazing degree; +and she thus occasionally amused the men by acting the part of their +leader, taking angles, drawing from nature, and copying other +occupations in which Major Mitchell was frequently engaged. + + [80] This generally appears to be rather a suspicious act;--to dance + a _corrobory_ is "a proposal these savage tribes often make, and + which the traveller who knows them well will think it better to + discourage."--MITCHELL'S _Three Expeditions_, vol. ii. p. 269. + +On the return of the expedition, it was found needful, from a scarcity +of provisions, to divide into two parties, one of which was to proceed, +under the leader, by forced marches home to Sydney, while the other was +to remain behind until necessary supplies should be forwarded. The +widow was among the party to be left; but on the morning of separation +she was marked with white round the eyes,--the Australian token of +mourning,--and the face of Ballandella was whitened also. This poor +woman, who had cheerfully carried the child upon her back, when it was +offered that both might be carried in the carts, and was as careful and +affectionate as any mother could be, had at length determined to entrust +to the Major the care of her daughter. He was pleased with this proof of +confidence, and less unwilling to take the charge from the knowledge of +the wretched state of slavery to which the native females are doomed. +Besides, the poor child had suffered considerably by the accident that +befel her while with the party of Englishmen, and she seemed to prefer +their mode of living so much, that her mother at length despaired of +being ever able to instruct her thoroughly in the mysteries of killing +and eating snakes, lizards, rats, and similar food. The widow had been +long enough with Europeans to learn how much more her sex was respected +by civilised men than by savages; and it was with feelings of this +nature, probably, that she entrusted her child to them, under the +immediate care, however, of a native woman, the wife of Piper, the +guide who had accompanied them through all the journey. A match was +subsequently made between Turandurey and king Joey, one of the native +chiefs, by which the good woman gained a handsome and comfortable +settlement for an Australian. The child Ballandella was a welcome +stranger to the Major's own children, among whom she remained, +conforming most willingly to the habits of domestic life, and showing a +very promising aptness of understanding, until she was transferred, at +the removal of the family to England, to the care of a friend; and the +last mention made of Ballandella is, that she was able to read as well +as any white child of the same age. + +_Miago._--This last sketch of native character may serve to place in a +striking, yet fair light, the perplexing situation of the half-civilised +blacks, the strong inducements for them to relapse into barbarism again, +and, consequently, the difficulty that stands in the way of their being +thoroughly reclaimed. It is impossible to do this better than in the +very words of Captain Grey.[81] "The officers of the _Beagle_ took away +with them a native of the name of Miago, who remained absent with them +for several months. I saw him on the north-west coast, on board the +_Beagle_, apparently perfectly civilised; he waited at the gun-room +mess, was temperate, (never tasting spirits,) attentive, cheerful, and +remarkably clean in his person. The next time I saw him was at Swan +River, where he had been left on the return of the _Beagle_. He was then +again a savage, almost naked, painted all over, and had been concerned +in several murders. Several persons here told me,--'You see the taste +for a savage life was strong in him, and he took to the bush again +directly.' Let us pause for a moment and consider. + + [81] Grey's Western Australia, vol. ii. p. 370. + +"Miago, when he was landed, had amongst the white people none who would +be truly friends of his;--they would give him scraps from their table, +but the very outcasts of the whites would not have treated him as an +equal,--they had no sympathy with him,--he could not have married a +white woman,--he had no certain means of subsistence open to him,--he +never could have been either a husband or a father, if he had lived +apart from his own people;--where, amongst the whites, was he to find +one who would have filled for him the place of his black mother, whom he +is much attached to? What white man would have been his brother? What +white woman his sister? He had two courses left open to him,--he could +either have renounced all natural ties, and have led a hopeless, joyless +life among the whites, ever a servant, ever an inferior being; or he +could renounce civilisation, and return to the friends of his childhood, +and to the habits of his youth. He chose the latter course, and I think +that I should have done the same." + + + + +[Illustration: SYDNEY IN ITS INFANCY--VIEW FROM THE SOUTH.] + +CHAPTER VII. + +FIRST YEARS OF THE COLONY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. + + +One of the greatest efforts to which the industry and powers of man +can be directed is to change a lonely uncultivated wilderness into an +enclosed and fruitful country,--to occupy with civilised human beings +and comfortable dwellings those wilds which have hitherto been nearly +deserted, or at best but scantily and occasionally inhabited by savage +barbarians. The colonisation of New South Wales by the English has been +one of the most successful of these efforts; and certainly never before +did the change effected by industry so rapidly make itself visible in +the face of the new country. But, although the settlement of this colony +may now be most certainly pronounced to have been a very successful +experiment, it was by no means without hazard, and disappointment, and +suffering, to those who were first engaged in it. Indeed it would appear +to be the lot of infant colonies to cope with difficulties known only +to first settlers in uncultivated lands; and while the enterprising +colonist has to endure and struggle against these early trials, his +children or grandchildren, or often the stranger who has made a +favourable bargain of his property, are the persons who reap the reward +of his toils. It must assuredly be a subject of interest to every +inquiring mind to trace the feeble beginnings of an infant colony, +accompanying it through all its variations of hope and despondency, of +good or ill success, until it is at length conducted to a state of +greatness and prosperity quite unexampled, when the shortness of its +duration is considered. And since that colony is our own, since Britain +is, for several reasons, unusually concerned, both morally and +politically, in the welfare of New South Wales, it cannot but be useful +as well as interesting to inquire somewhat concerning the past history, +previously to our entering upon the present state, of that settlement. + +In the year 1770, Captain Cooke, in his first voyage, had touched upon +the eastern coast of New Holland, at a bay which, from the number of +curious flowers that were there found growing wild, received the name +of Botany Bay. About sixteen years afterwards, when the American war +had closed up the great outlet by which the mother country had been +accustomed to get rid of the worst of its population, it was resolved +to form a colony for this purpose elsewhere. The coast of Africa was +thought of, but wisely abandoned; and at length Botany Bay was the spot +selected by the English government, which despatched, in 1787, the +_Sirius_ and the _Supply_, with six transports and three store-ships, +having on board 565 men and 192 women, convicts, besides 160 marines, +with their officers, some of their wives, and the necessary crews for +working the ships. Provisions for two years were taken out, tools, +agricultural implements, and other articles deemed necessary were also +furnished, and the little fleet was placed under the command of Captain +Phillip, the future governor of the intended colony. Some live stock was +obtained at the Cape of Good Hope, and plants and seeds likely to be +useful were procured likewise at that place, (then under the Dutch +government,) and at Rio Janeiro. In eight months and a week the voyage +was, with the Divine blessing, completed; and after having sailed 5021 +leagues, and touched at both the American and African continents, they +came to an anchor on January 20th, 1788, within a few days' sail of the +antipodes of their native country, having had, upon the whole, a very +healthy and prosperous voyage. Botany Bay did not offer much that was +promising for a settlement, since it was mostly surrounded by very poor +land, and water was scarce.[82] The governor, accordingly, went in +person to examine the two neighbouring harbours of Port Jackson and +Broken Bay, and upon drawing near to the entrance of the former the +coast looked as unpromising as elsewhere, and the natives on shore +continued shouting, "Warra, warra,"--Go away, go away. Captain Cooke, +passing by the heads of Port Jackson, thought there might be found +shelter within for a boat but Captain Phillip was agreeably surprised at +finding there one of the finest harbours in the world; and since the +goodness of the soil and the supply of water appeared to be sufficient, +it was resolved to fix the new settlement in one of the coves of this +large and beautiful inlet. The spot chosen was near a run of fresh +water, which stole silently through a very thick wood, the stillness of +which was then for the first time interrupted by the rude sound of the +labourer's axe; and fifty years afterwards so great a change had taken +place here, that the lowest price of crown land was then 1,000_l._ an +acre, and in eligible situations sometimes a great deal more.[83] + + [82] It happened that the two French ships of discovery under the + unfortunate La Perouse came into the harbour of Botany Bay just as + the English were finally quitting it. The French stayed there nearly + two months, and after they left that harbour they were never again seen + by any Europeans, both vessels having been lost. + + [83] See Lang's New South Wales, vol. i. p. 23. + +The royal commission appointing the governor was read, together with the +letters patent establishing courts of justice; and the behaviour of the +convicts soon rendered it needful to act upon these, for, within a month +of their landing, three of them were tried, found guilty, and severely +punished. The ground was begun to be gradually cleared, a sort of farm +was prepared to receive the live stock, and a garden for the plants and +seeds; and, in obedience to the orders of the government at home, the +_Supply_, commanded by Lieutenant King, was sent to Norfolk Island, some +few days' sail to the northeast of Port Jackson, for the purpose of +forming a colony there in which the flax of New Zealand might be +cultivated. With respect to the first progress of the colony at Sydney, +it was very slow, in consequence both of the idleness and ignorance +of the great majority of the colonists, to say nothing of their +wickedness. In spite of all the efforts of the governor to prevent it, +misunderstanding soon began to arise between the convicts and the +natives, and it seemed impossible in an infant colony to put a +sufficient check upon some of the unruly spirits belonging to the former +class, while, at the same time, the thievish temper of the natives began +very early to show itself, and to provoke injuries from men possessed of +fire-arms. It must be owned, however, that proper regard was not always +paid to the rights of the poor savages; and even so late as in the year +1810, a person charged with shooting at a native and wounding him, was +tried simply for an assault; whilst another, who had committed a similar +offence against a European was tried on the same day for his life![84] +In the beginning of May, not four months after the arrival of the +British ships at Port Jackson, and at a time when death and disease were +making sad havoc among the settlers, it was found needful to cut short +the life of one very juvenile offender by the hand of justice. James +Bennett, a youth of only seventeen years of age, was executed for +burglary, and died confessing that the love of idleness and bad +connexions had been his ruin. Soon after this, three convicts were +killed, and a fourth dangerously wounded, by the natives; and upon +inquiry it was found that two of them had robbed these people of a +canoe, an act of injustice which was, no doubt, the cause of their +death. The celebration of King George III.'s birthday, on June the 4th, +gave an opportunity to the evil-disposed to commit several robberies, +and two of these afterwards suffered death for their offences, while +another, who had gone into the woods, was proclaimed an outlaw. For want +of any overseers or police, except those taken from their own class, the +convicts were getting beyond all discipline; and so utterly reckless and +improvident were some of them, that they would consume their weekly +allowance of provisions by the end of the third or fourth day, and trust +for their supply during the rest of the week to the chance of being able +to steal from others that were more provident.[85] One of these degraded +creatures is stated to have made up his week's allowance of flour (eight +pounds) into cakes, which having devoured at one meal, he was soon after +taken up, speechless and senseless, and died the following day. Among +a population like that of which we are treating, while crimes were +lamentably common, conviction was comparatively rare. There was so much +tenderness to each other's guilt, such an acquaintance with vice and the +different degrees of it, that, unless detected in the fact, it was next +to impossible to bring an offence home to the transgressors. And with +respect to their intercourse with the natives, though the convicts who +suffered from them generally contrived to make out themselves to be +in the right; yet, even upon their own showing, every accident that +happened was occasioned by a breach of positive orders repeatedly given. +In New South Wales, no less than in every other country, obedience to +lawful authority was proved to be the safest and best way, after all; +nor could that way be forsaken with impunity. + + [84] See Barrington's History of New South Wales, p. 171. See, too, + another instance at p. 385. + + [85] This conduct was so common, that, when provisions became scarce, + the supply was issued _twice_ in the week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. + +Amid the mass of moral corruption, which the British ships had thus +imported into the coasts of New Holland, the only hope of infusing +health and purity was from religion. But, unhappily, the age in which +that expedition left the English shores, was certainly not a religious +age; if there was less _hypocrisy_ then than there now is, certainly +there was less _real piety_. In the great towns of the mother country, +population and wealth were allowed to make rapid strides, without a +single thought being entertained of applying a portion of the increasing +wealth of the nation to the spiritual instruction of its increasing +population. If there was no room for the poorer classes of society at +the parish church, it was thought they might go to the meeting-house; +and if there was no room for them there, they might stay at home on +the Lord's day and be idle; it was doing no worse than many of their +betters, in a worldly sense, were constantly in the habit of doing.[86] +While notions and practices of this nature prevailed at home, it was +not to be expected that any very extraordinary attention would be paid +to the religious instruction of the convicts and other settlers in New +South Wales. Yet since, even then, it would have been thought shocking +to have left a large gaol, with 757 prisoners in it, altogether +destitute of the offices of religion, so it could not have been expected +that the same number of convicts would ever have been cast forth as evil +from their native land, and their souls left to perish on the other side +of the globe, without a single chance, humanly speaking, of receiving +those blessings of forgiveness and grace, which Christ died to procure +for all men. But, whatever might have been thought before hand, or +whatever may have been the immediate cause of such neglect, it +positively appears, that, "when the fleet was on the point of sailing, +in the year 1787, no clergyman had been thought of," nor was it without +a strong appeal to those in authority from one whose conduct in this +instance is worthy of all praise, WILBERFORCE, aided by the interest of +Bishop Porteus with Sir Joseph Banks, that the Rev. William Johnson was +appointed chaplain.[87] From whatever cause this oversight may have +arisen, whether it was intentional, or (what is more likely) merely the +consequence of forgetfulness and carelessness, it speaks pretty plainly +for the religious indifference of the government. However, the colony +was, happily, not permitted to be founded without any one present to +administer the sacraments and ordinances, and enforce the duties of our +holy religion among the first settlers and convicts.[88] By Divine +Providence, acting through the instrumentality of man, the British +nation was spared the sin and shame, which it had well nigh incurred, +of casting forth from its own shores a vile mass of uncleanness and +corruption, and forgetting at the same time to place amongst it the +smallest portion of that good leaven by which alone its evil might be +corrected. Accordingly, one chaplain[89] was sent out to officiate among +about 1000 souls, who were at first dispersed in eleven ships, and more +than two-thirds of them were in a state of extreme spiritual need, +inasmuch as they had been guilty of gross and flagrant offences. And +thus, thanks to the zeal and good feeling which had gained a victory +over the supineness of government, the discharge of religious duties on +the Sunday was never omitted at Sydney, Divine service being performed +in the open air whenever the state of the weather would permit. All +seems to have been done by the chaplain which could be effected under +circumstances of great discouragement.[90] When our blessed Redeemer +sent forth his disciples, he sent them by two and two, and how +encouraging, in the midst of an evil world, is the conversation or +counsel of a christian friend that is dearer than a brother! But the +chaplain of New South Wales had no such assistance to fall back upon; he +was left alone and single-handed--yet not alone, for Christ is ever with +his authorised ministers, to fight against the mighty power of evils by +which he was surrounded. He visited the sick and the convicts, going +from settlement to settlement, and from hut to hut; travelling to the +more distant stations, that were afterwards formed, as far as he could +reach, and assembling as many as he could for divine service. With what +success these efforts were attended we shall be better able to judge +hereafter; but one truth must be borne in mind, which is, that, in the +very nature of things, evil will make itself more prominent and noticed +in the world than good; so that, whilst it may almost appear from the +history of the colony, as though there was not one godly man left in it, +we shall do well to remember that there may have been, nevertheless, +many a one who was profited by the ministry of Christ's Church among +them, many a Naaman who had been taught to forsake the evil thing which +he once delighted in worshipping, many a knee which had not bowed to +Baal, and many a mouth which had not kissed his image.[91] + + [86] The blame of these lax and unworthy notions must not fall on the + laity alone; many of the clergy in those days deserve to have a full + share of it; but while we see and lament the faults of that generation, + we must not forget to look after those of our own, and to correct them. + + [87] See Judge Burton on Religion and Education in New South Wales, + p. 1. + + [88] Certainly some of the means employed for the moral improvement of + the convicts were very strange ones. For example, we are told, on one + occasion, that some of them were "ordered to _work every Sunday_ on the + highway as a punishment!" See Barrington's History of New South Wales, + p. 184. See likewise, p. 246. + + [89] In 1792, a chaplain came out with the New South Wales Corps; and + in 1794, Mr. Marsden, a second chaplain, arrived in the colony. If any + person is desirous of seeing how easily the faults and failings of + individuals may be turned into arguments against a church, he has only + to refer to Ullathorne's Reply to Burton, chap i. "The Dark Age." + + [90] See the authorities quoted by Burton on Religion and Education in + New South Wales, p. 6. According to this author, the chaplain's name was + _Johnston_, not _Johnson_, as Collins spells it. + + [91] See 2 Kings v. and 1 Kings xix. 18. See likewise, in proof of the + good conduct of some convicts, Collins' Account of New South Wales, + p. 42. + +However, it cannot be denied that the greater number of the settlers +of every description were but little disposed to listen to the words +of eternal truth, although they were ready enough to listen to any +falsehood which promised well for their worldly interests. Thus, before +the first year of the colony had expired, it was pretended and believed +that a _gold mine_ had been discovered. The specimens of this which the +impostor produced, were manufactured out of a guinea and a brass buckle; +and his object in deceiving was, that he might get clothes and other +articles in exchange for his promised gold dust, from the people +belonging to the store ships. But his cheat was soon discovered, and all +that his gold dust finally procured him, was a severe flogging, and +before the end of the year he was executed for another offence. Yet it +would not be far from the truth to state, that the British had indeed +discovered a gold mine in Sydney, by working which with industry, +ability, and perseverance, enormous riches have been obtained. When +the story of the mine was invented, the land around Port Jackson was +unproductive, and the hills wild or barren, but in little more than +fifty years from that time the imports into the Port of Sydney amounted +in 1840 to L2,462,858, while the amount of goods exported from the same +place during that year was valued at L1,951,544.[92] Where was there +ever a gold mine that was known to make a return so profitable as this +to those that worked it? + + [92] See the Australian and New Zealand Magazine, No. 2, p. 107. + +The great object, and generally the most difficult to be obtained, +in forming altogether a new colony, is to make it begin to produce a +sufficiency to supply its own necessary wants. But, although this object +was kept steadily in view from the very first in New South Wales, yet +were there many hindrances to be overcome, and much suffering to be +endured, before it was finally gained. The land near the new settlement +is none of the best for farming operations, and persons at all +acquainted with agriculture appear to have been very scarce among +the settlers and convicts; besides which, the prevailing idleness was +so great, that it seemed almost impossible to make the men exert +themselves; and, perhaps, nothing less than the want and privations, +which they subsequently endured, could have had this effect. A regular +supply of provisions had constantly been issued from the government +stores, and the convicts, with that short-sighted imprudence by which +the vicious are generally distinguished, had never given themselves the +trouble of looking forwards to the necessity of raising a supply of food +for themselves. Meanwhile, although farming operations were going on but +slowly, and not very successfully, the stores were being lessened at a +rapid rate, not only by the ordinary issue of provisions, but likewise +by rats and pilferers. Six soldiers, and an accomplice who turned king's +evidence, were discovered, after eight months of impunity, by means of a +key which was left by one of them in the lock, upon his being disturbed +by the patrol; and these men, having betrayed their trust as sentinels, +and carried on a regular system of plunder for the purpose of indulging +themselves in vice and drunkenness, were all executed. In April 1789 the +_Sirius_ returned, bringing the first cargo of provisions received by +the colony, which was, however, only equal to four months' supply at +full rations. But full rations were not to continue much longer in the +infant settlement. In November, 1789, very nearly two years after the +arrival of the colonists, it was found needful to reduce the allowance +to two-thirds of every sort of provisions, spirits alone excepted. No +alteration was made in the allowance of the women, who were already +upon two-thirds of the full ratio of a man; and it was eagerly and +confidently expected that, after having waited so long, it would be but +a short period more before an ample supply of all that was necessary +would be received from the mother country. + +In November, which is one of the summer months of the Australian +calendar, the little harvest of the colony was got in. At Rose Hill, +(or Paramatta, as it is now called,) where the best land had been found, +upwards of two hundred bushels of wheat, about thirty-five bushels of +barley, besides a small quantity of oats and Indian corn, were +harvested; and the whole of this produce was intended to be kept for +seed. At Sydney, the spot of cleared ground called the Governor's Farm +had produced about twenty-five bushels of barley. But the evil spirit of +thieving was still as rife as ever among the convicts, and the young +crops of wheat were the objects of plunder (especially after the +reduction of the allowance,) notwithstanding the immense importance of +preserving seed sufficient to crop a larger breadth of land for the +following year. In the very beginning of 1790 the provisions brought +from England wholly failed, having just about lasted during the two +years for which they had been calculated; and the colonists then became +totally dependent upon the slender stock brought for them by the +_Sirius_ from the Cape of Good Hope. Great anxiety began to be felt for +an arrival from England, and a flagstaff[93] was erected on the south +head of the entrance to the harbour of Port Jackson, so that a signal +might be there made upon the first appearance of the expected vessel. In +hope of this welcome event the eyes of the colonists were often directed +thither, and often must their hearts have grown sick from the tedious +delay of the hope in which they indulged. Certainly, it is a remarkable +instance of the hard-heartedness and corruption of man's nature, that, +even under these circumstances, with the horrors of famine daily in +view, left alone on a remote and desolate coast, and, as it appeared, +forsaken by the rest of the world, they did not profit by the lessons +thus forcibly brought before them, nor listen with any good effect to +the warnings taught them by sorrow and trouble, those great and +awakening preachers of righteousness. + + [93] The signal-colours were stolen within a year afterwards by some + of the natives, who divided them among the canoes, and used them as + coverings. + +During the anxious interval that succeeded, everything that was +possible to be done for the public advantage was done by the governor. +Occasionally, a fair supply of fish had been brought in, and accordingly +a boat was employed to fish three times in the week, and the whole +quantity that was taken was issued out in addition to the rations, which +were equally distributed to every person, no distinction being made in +favour of the governor himself, who, when he had a party at Government +House, always requested his guests to bring their bread with them, for +there was none to spare;--in February, 1790, there were not four months' +provisions in the colony, even at half allowance. These circumstances +required thoughtful and vigorous measures to be promptly taken, and +since Norfolk Island was a more fertile spot, and much better supplied +with provisions at that time, it was resolved to send some of the +convicts thither, unless the expected supplies from England should +arrive before March 3d, the day fixed for their departure. 116 male and +68 female convicts, with 27 children, were thus sent away, and the +colony wore quite a deserted appearance. Every effort was made to +prevent the destruction of live stock, which was very rapidly taking +place, and towards the end of March a yet further reduction was +necessary in the allowances, which were then to be given out daily; an +alteration at the same time was made in the hours of public labour, and +the afternoons of each day were given up to the people to work for +themselves in their own gardens. The fish that was caught was also +issued out as part of the allowance, but at a more liberal rate,--ten +pounds of fish being deemed equal to two and a half pounds of pork. In +the midst of this necessity it is gratifying to find that the witness of +the Church, though, as usual, too little heeded, was yet not silent; +"attention to religious duties," _i.e._ to Divine worship on Sundays, +"was never omitted, and service was performed on Good Friday."[94] + + [94] According to Captain Tench, who is quoted by the Roman Catholic, + Dr. Ullathorne, "Divine service was performed at Sydney only one Sunday + in the month," and "the Rev. Mr. Johnson was the best farmer in the + country." What truth there may be in these insinuations, or in the + charge against Judge Burton of enlarging upon a Romish priest's being + a convict, while he disguises the same truth when it applied to an + English clergyman, must be left to others better acquainted with the + facts to determine. See Ullathorne's Reply to Burton, p. 5. + +But the early settlers of New South Wales were taught by sad experience +the truth of that common saying that bids us to "welcome the sorrow that +comes alone." It had been arranged that the _Sirius_ should return +immediately from Norfolk Island, and then should sail direct for China +to procure a supply of provisions immediately. But Providence never +permitted the _Sirius_ again to float upon the quiet waters of Sydney +Cove. The vessel was lost upon a reef at Norfolk Island, after having +landed most of those on board, and the others escaped with their lives, +but the ship was totally destroyed. Disgraceful to relate, it was set on +fire by two convicts who had been allowed to go on board on the second +day after the wreck, in the hope of saving the live hogs, but these men +got drunk with the liquor they found, and set the ship on fire in two +places, nor was it without great difficulty that they were themselves +rescued. This sorrowful intelligence was brought by the _Supply_,--the +only remaining hope of procuring relief for the wants of the colony. +After various precautionary measures had been taken, the _Supply_ was +despatched to Batavia, under orders to procure, not only a quantity of +provisions, but also to hire a vessel, which should accompany the +English ship on its return, and should bring to New South Wales a second +cargo of necessaries. Meanwhile, the allowances were yet further +reduced, and the governor, having reserved 300 bushels of wheat for +seed, gave up 300 lbs. weight of flour, which was his own private +property, for the public use; besides which, the expedients of fishing +and shooting wild animals were tried, but with no great success. Crime +appeared rather to increase than to diminish with the increase of +temptation and opportunities; and at this awful period of trial for the +whole population, it was judged necessary to execute one criminal. A +female convict was at this time robbed of her week's provisions, and +she was left to subsist upon the bounty of others, since it was +impossible to replace them from the public store; and if it was a cruel +offence of _one_ to rob the poor woman, it reflected credit upon _many_, +that, under such circumstances, she was preserved from starvation. + +At length, after six months of indescribable anxiety and privation, +the expected signal was made, and a boat was sent off (in very rough +weather) to direct the ship how to get safely into the harbour. It was +the transport-ship, the _Lady Juliana_, which had been no less than ten +months upon the voyage, and which brought news of the almost total +destruction of another ship, the _Guardian_, which had been sent out +previously, and well supplied with every thing necessary for a rising +colony. _The Lady Juliana_ brought very little addition to the supplies, +compared with the additional number of consumers, above 200 female +convicts, which she had with her; these had been sent upon the reckoning +of the _Guardian's_ stores arriving beforehand; and if this had been +permitted, probably the colony would never more have experienced want. +It was unfortunate, at a time when a cargo of any thing but of convicts +would have been serviceable, that scarcely any thing else should arrive. +Before the end of June, however, another ship laden with provisions +arrived, after having very narrowly escaped a wreck off the heads at the +entrance of Port Jackson; and upon the welcome arrival of this supply +the immediate scarcity ceased. Three other vessels shortly followed, +and things were thus for a time restored to their former course; but +repeated trials, arising from want of provisions, were afterwards, at +intervals, the lot of the colony. In 1794, on the very day when the +doors of the provision-store were closed, and the convicts had received +their last allowance which remained, the signal for a sail was made; +and it was the third day before the two vessels then in sight could be +got into the harbour, but their arrival brought comparative abundance to +the starving population of 3,000 people, who were beginning seriously to +reckon up how far their live stock would go towards the supply of their +necessities. Several other similar seasons of famine have been recorded, +and it is curious and instructive to look back upon the day of small +things in a country abundant as New South Wales at present is in the +necessaries, comforts, and even luxuries, of life. + +The state of health in which many of the convicts reached their place +of exile, and the numbers of them which never reached it at all, were +deplorable facts, proving too truly that men may be found capable of +doing any thing for the hope of profit. A certain sum per head was paid +by the government for each convict, and thus the dead became more +profitable to the contractors than the living were; for the expenses of +the former were less, while the stipulated payments were the same in +both cases. Out of three ships 274 convicts died on the voyage,[95] +and when they had landed, there were no less than 488 persons in the +hospital. Neglect like this of the miserable creatures who had broken +their country's laws, most justly awakens our feelings of indignation; +and these are righteous feelings, but let them not be confined to the +_bodily_ neglect to which, in a comparatively few instances at first, +the convicts were exposed. Let us recollect, with sorrow rather than +indignation, how many thousands of these unhappy creatures have, down to +the present time, been left to perish, in a spiritual sense, and that, +likewise, from motives of profit, for fear of the outcry of want of +economy being excited in a wealthy nation, if sufficient means of +spiritual instruction were provided for our banished fellow-countrymen! + + [95] Things are now, happily, better ordered. "There are frequent + instances of vessels arriving from England without having had a + single death during the voyage" to Sydney.--LANG'S _New South Wales_, + vol. i. p. 58. + +Soon after the arrival of the three transports, those of the convicts +that were in tolerable health were settled at Rose Hill, and the town +now called Paramatta was laid out; and the commencement of a system of +free settlers was provided for, although the retired soldiers, those +parties for whom it was originally intended, were not usually very +persevering or successful in their attempts at farming. In September, +1790, Governor Phillip received that wound of which mention has been +made elsewhere;[96] and this season the dry weather was so excessive, +that the gardens and fields of corn were parched up for want of +moisture. Five convicts left Paramatta in a boat, and got out of the +harbour without being discovered, having provisions for a week with +them, and purposing to steer for Otaheite![97] A search was made for +them, but in vain, and beyond doubt they must have perished miserably. +At various times, the convicts, especially some of the Irish, set off +to the northwards, meaning to travel by the interior of New Holland +_overland to China_; and many were either starved to death or else +killed by the natives, while pursuing this vain hope of escape from +thraldom. + + [96] See "Bennillong," in chap. vi. p. 151. + + [97] Another instance of like folly is mentioned by Collins, Account + of New South Wales, p. 129. + +The next event of importance to the infant colony was the arrival, +towards the close of 1791, of what is called the _second_ fleet, +consisting of no less than ten ships, and having on board upwards of +2,000 convicts, with provisions and other necessaries. These ships came +dropping into the harbour at short intervals after each other, and their +arrival, together with the needful preparations for the additional +numbers brought by them, gave an air of bustle and life to the little +town of Sydney. Various public works and buildings had been carried on, +especially some tanks were cut in the rocks to serve as reservoirs in +dry seasons, and at Paramatta between forty and fifty fresh acres were +expected to be got ready for Indian corn this year. By his Majesty's +ship _Gorgon_, certain needful instruments and powers for carrying on +the government of the colony were sent, and amongst others the public +seal of New South Wales. Two or three of the vessels which had arrived +from England, were employed, after discharging their cargoes, in the +whale-fishery, and not altogether without success; so early did British +enterprise turn itself to that occupation, which has latterly become +most profitable in those regions. During this year, the governor for the +first time exercised a power which had only recently been given him, and +several convicts were, on account of their good behaviour, released from +their state of bondage, on condition of their not returning to England +before the term of their sentences had expired. Various allotments of +land were also given to those whose terms had already expired, and who +signified their willingness to become settlers in this new country. At +the close of the year 1791, nearly four years from the first landing of +the British in Port Jackson, the public live stock consisted of one aged +stallion, one mare, two young stallions, two colts, sixteen cows, two +calves, one ram, fifty ewes, six lambs, one boar, fourteen sows, and +twenty-two pigs. The cultivated ground at Paramatta amounted to three +hundred acres in maize, forty-four in wheat, six in barley, one in oats, +four in vines, eighty-six in garden-ground, and seventeen in cultivation +by the soldiers of the New South Wales Corps. Thus humble were the +beginnings, even after some time, of that wealth in flocks and herds +for which our Australian colonies are now so justly celebrated. + +Very little, meanwhile, is recorded of the chaplain, Mr. Johnson, or his +doings, but that little is to his credit. He was, it appears, in the +habit of relieving from his own private bounty the convicts who were +most in need; and some of them spread abroad a report that this was done +from funds raised by subscription in the mother country; and upon the +strength of this notion, in the spirit which the poorer classes in +England too often exhibit, they chose to claim relief as though it were +their _just right_. This false notion was publicly contradicted, and Mr. +Johnson thought it necessary that the convicts should know that it was +to his bounty alone that they were indebted for these gifts, and that, +consequently, the partakers of them were to be of his own selection. +Another instance of the kindness of Mr. Johnson, and of the evil return +it met with, has also been recorded, and though it occurred some years +afterwards, in 1797, it may be noticed here. It happened that among the +convicts there was found one who had been this gentleman's schoolfellow, +and the chaplain, feeling compassion for his fallen condition, had taken +him into his service, and treated him with the utmost confidence and +indulgence. Soon afterwards, it was rumoured that this man had taken +an impression of the key of the store-room in clay, from which he had +procured another key to fit the lock. Mr. Johnson scarcely credited the +story, but at length he consented that a constable should be concealed +in the house on a Sunday, when all the family, except this person, would +be engaged in Divine service. The plan succeeded too well. Supposing +that all was secure, the ungrateful wretch applied his key to the door +of the store-room, and began to plunder it of all the articles he chose +to take, until the constable, leaving his hiding-place, put an end to +the robbery by making the thief his prisoner. + +The attention of Mr. Johnson to his ministerial and public duties +appears to have continued in a quiet and regular way, but its fruits +were by no means so manifest as could have been wished. In 1790 he +complained to the authorities of the want of attendance at divine +service, which, it must be observed, was generally performed in the open +air, exposed alike to the wind and rain, or burning sun; and then it was +ordered that a certain portion of provisions should be taken off from +the allowance of each person who might absent himself from prayers +without giving a reasonable excuse. And thus, we may suppose, a better +congregation was secured; but, alas! from what a motive were they +induced to draw near their God. And how many are there, it is to be +feared, in our country parishes in England, whose great inducement to +attend their church is the fact that the clergyman generally has certain +gifts to distribute: how common a fault, in short, has it been in all +ages and in all countries for men to seek Christ from no higher motive +than that they may "eat of the loaves and be filled!"[98] In proof of +the single voice that was raised in the wilderness of New South Wales +being not altogether an empty and ineffectual sound, we are told that +in 1790, when the female convicts who arrived by the _Lady Juliana_ +attended divine service for the first time, Mr. Johnson, with much +propriety, in his discourse, touched upon their situation so forcibly as +to draw tears from many of them, who were not yet hardened enough to be +altogether insensible to truth. Another instance of very praiseworthy +zeal was afforded by the voluntary visit of the chaplain of New South +Wales in 1791 to Norfolk Island, which small colony had never yet been +favoured even with the temporary presence of a minister of the Church of +Christ. + + [98] Religion, of course, concerns all equally, only the guilty and the + wretched seem to be the last persons who can afford to reject its + consolations, even in this world. However, the conduct of those in + authority was pretty much on a par with that of the convicts, and it + was only when one of the earlier governors was told of but five or six + persons attending divine service, that "he determined to go to church + himself, and stated that he expected his example would be followed by + the people." See Burton on Education and Religion in New South Wales, + p. 7. + +But a yet better proof of the chaplain's earnestness was given, +after the colony had been settled for six years, in his building a +church,--the first that was raised in New Holland for the purposes of +christian worship. Even now, we often may hear and lament the ignorance +which chooses to reckon the _clergy_ as the _Church_, and which looks +upon the efforts recently made in favour of church extension, as lying +quite beyond the province of the laity; and this deplorable ignorance +was much more common in Mr. Johnson's days.[99] Accordingly, to the +disgrace of the colony and of the government at home, no church +was raised during six years, and when at last that object was +accomplished, it was by the private purse and the single efforts of +an individual,--the chaplain of the colony. The building was in a very +humble style, made of wood and thatched, and it is said to have cost Mr. +Johnson only 40_l._; but all this merely serves to show how easily the +good work might have been before done, how inexcusable it was to leave +its accomplishment to one individual. A few months before this necessary +work was undertaken the colony had been visited by two Spanish ships, +and it is possible that an observation made by the Romish priest +belonging to one of these ships may have had some effect towards raising +the first church built at Sydney. At the time when the Spanish ships +were in the harbour, the English chaplain performed divine service +wherever he could find a shady spot; and the Spanish priest observing +that, during so many years no church had been built, lifted up his eyes +with astonishment, declaring (truly), that, had the place been settled +by his nation, a house of God would have been erected before any house +for man. How disgraceful to the English nation, how injurious to our +Reformed Church, that an observation like this, coming from the lips of +one who belonged to a corrupt and idolatrous church, should be so true, +so incapable of contradiction! However, if the remark had any effect in +exciting the efforts of the Protestant chaplain, and in thus supplying +at length a want so palpable as that of a house of God in the colony, it +was by no means uttered in vain; and supposing it to be so, this is not +a solitary instance of our Church and her members having been aroused +into activity by the taunts and attacks of those that are opposed to +her. + + [99] It would appear almost as though some men _will_ not see that + churches are not built for clergymen to preach in, and live (or starve) + upon the pew-rents, but for laymen to hear God's word and join in His + solemn worship. + +Upon the opening of the humble building, which had thus tardily been +raised for the purposes of divine worship, and to consecrate which +according to the beautiful forms of our English church there was no +bishop in the colony, the chaplain preached a suitable sermon, we are +informed; but, if it may be judged from the scanty record that is +preserved of it, this discourse partook of the cold and worldly spirit +of the age in which it was delivered. Mr. Johnson began well with +impressing upon his hearers the necessity of holiness in every place, +and then lamented the urgency of public works having prevented the +erection of a church sooner. As though a building for the public worship +of Almighty God were not the most urgent of all public works in every +christian community! He next went on to declare, that his _only_ motive +in coming forward in the business was that of establishing a place +sheltered from bad weather, and from the summer-heats, where public +worship might be performed. The uncertainty of a place where they might +attend had prevented many from coming, but he hoped that now the +attendance would be regular.[100] Surely, the worthy chaplain might have +had and avowed a higher motive for building a house of God, than that of +keeping men from the wind, and the rain, and the sun; and, undoubtedly, +as the inconvenience of the former system was no good excuse for absence +from divine service, so neither could the comparative convenience of the +new arrangement be at all a proper motive for attendance upon it. + + [100] See Collins' Account of New South Wales, pp. 223-4. + +However, many allowances are to be made for Mr. Johnson, and it becomes +us, while we condemn the faults, to spare the persons, of the men of +that and of other past generations; especially when we look at our own +age, and see, notwithstanding the improvement that has unquestionably +taken place, how many conspicuous faults there are prevailing among us, +which those of future generations will justly pity and condemn. It may +be well, before the subject of the church raised by Mr. Johnson is +finally quitted, to acquaint the reader with its fate. In 1798, after +having stood only five years, it was discovered one evening to be on +fire, and, all efforts to save it proving useless, from the combustible +nature of the materials, it was consumed in an hour. "This was a great +loss," observes the historian of the colony, "for during the working +days of the week the building was used as a school, in which from 150 +to 200 children were educated, under the immediate inspection of Mr. +Johnson. As this building stood alone, and no person was suffered to +remain in it after the school hours, there was not a doubt but the +atrocious act was the effect of design, and in consequence of an order +enforcing attendance on divine service." The governor, however, with +praiseworthy zeal, would not suffer a single Sunday to be lost, but +ordered a new store-house, which was just finished, to be fitted up +for a church. One brief observation may here be added. How powerful a +witness do the enemies of Christ's Church, and of our English branch of +it, bear to the usefulness and effect of its doctrine, even in its most +helpless and lowest condition, by the ceaseless and unscrupulous pains +which they take in trying to silence its testimony! + +No apology is necessary for detaining the reader so long upon these +little details, since if the religious state and progress of an infant +colony be not an interesting feature in its history, what can we hope +to find in it that is deserving of the attention of a thoughtful and +well-regulated mind? But we return now to the temporal affairs of New +South Wales. The year 1792, which began with reduced rations of +provisions, was a time of great suffering and scarcity in the colony, +nor was it until the latter part of the year that any relief for the +wants of the settlers arrived. Meanwhile the mortality that took place +was very alarming, and notwithstanding the sickness that prevailed, +there was no abatement in wickedness and crime. At one time during this +year no less than fifty-three persons were missing, many of whom never +returned, having perished, no doubt, miserably in the woods, while +seeking for a new settlement, or endeavouring to find their way to +China! An execution for theft took place in January, and the unhappy man +declared that hunger had tempted him to commit the crime for which he +suffered. Many instances of profligacy among the convicts occurred, but +one stands forth distinguished by especial wickedness. A woman had been +trusted to carry to the bakehouse the allowance of flour belonging to +two others; and after having run in debt for flour taken up on their +account, she mixed a quantity of pounded stone, in the proportion of +two-thirds of grit to one of flour, with the meal belonging to the other +women.[101] Fortunately, the deceit was found out before the flour was +mixed with other meal at the bakehouse, and the culprit was sentenced to +wear an iron collar for six months. In April, a convict was killed by a +blow from the limb of a tree, which fell on his head as he passed under +it, and fractured his skull. He died on the spot, having earned from +those who knew him the character of being so great a reprobate, that he +was scarcely ever known to speak without an oath, or without calling on +his Maker to witness the truth of the lie he was about to utter. Are +these poor creatures, if may be again asked, to be cast out from their +own country, and left (as they too often have been,) to their own evil +devices and to Satan's temptations, without involving the nation that +has thus treated them in a load of guilt too fearful to contemplate? + + [101] A similar scheme was to have been practised by some Irish + convict women, who were to have taken their part in a proposed mutiny + on board the _Marquis Cornwallis_ during the passage out, by mixing + pulverized glass with the flour of which the seamen made their puddings! + See Collins, p. 324. + +Towards the end of the year 1792 the harvest was gathered in from +the 1540 acres of cleared ground, which were sown in the preceding +seed-time. The produce was tolerably good, and since no less than 3470 +acres of land had already been granted to settlers, it was hoped that +before very long the colony might cease to be almost entirely dependent +for its support upon the precarious supply which it received from ships. +The colonists then learned by sad experience what many Englishmen in the +present day seem unwilling to believe, that _it is one of the worst +evils to be dependent upon other countries for daily bread_. In +December, the governor, Captain Phillip, left the colony from ill +health, having acted with much prudence and vigour during his +administration, and leaving behind him a respectable character; he +returned to England, where his services were rewarded by a pension of +400_l._ a-year, and he retired to Bath, at which city he died. His +activity in exploring the neighbouring country and discovering its +capabilities, his courage and firmness on many very trying occasions, +his steady opposition to every proposal of abandoning the settlement, +together with his general character, sufficiently entitle his memory to +regard and respect from those who are now living in New South Wales, and +reaping in comparative ease the fruit of that harvest which it cost him +and others great pains and many trials to sow. + +Before the first Governor of New South Wales left that country, he had +the satisfaction of seeing its prospects of a future sufficiency of +provisions very greatly improved; and a work of charity, the hospital at +Paramatta, was completed in the month before that in which he sailed. +With the year 1793 began a new government, for as no successor had been +appointed at home to Captain Phillip, the chief power now came, +according to what had been previously provided, into the hands of +Major Grose, of the New South Wales Corps, who assumed the style of +Lieutenant-Governor. During nearly three years things continued in +this state; only Major Grose left the settlement, and was succeeded by +Captain Paterson; nor was it until 1795 that a regular successor to +the first governor arrived in the colony. In this period many things +occurred which were, no doubt, of the highest interest to the settlers +at the time, but few events which deserve our particular notice now. +A fire, which destroyed a house worth 15_l._, and thirty bushels of +new wheat;--the alternate scarcity and comparative abundance of +provisions;--the arrival or departure of ships from the harbour;--the +commission of the first murder in the colony, and other sad accounts +of human depravity and its punishment;--the gradual improvement and +extension of the colony;--the first sale by auction of a farm of +twenty-five acres for the sum of 13_l._:--these and similar subjects +occupy the history of New South Wales, not merely during the three years +that elapsed between Governor Phillip's departure and the arrival of his +successor, but also during the long period of gradual but increasing +improvement which followed the last event. + +Yet, while the improvement of the little colony was evidently steady and +increasing, when its affairs are regarded in a temporal point of view, +in morals its progress appeared to be directly contrary; and, painful +though it be to dwell upon the sins and follies of men, whose bodies +have long since passed away to their parent dust, and their souls +returned to God who gave them, nevertheless, there are many wholesome +lessons of instruction and humiliation to be gathered from the history +of human depravity in New South Wales. One of the crying sins of the +mother country,--a sin now very much confined to the lower classes of +society, but fifty years ago equally common among all classes,--is that +of _drunkenness_; and it could scarcely be expected that the outcast +daughter in Australia would be less blamable in this respect than the +mother from which she sprang.[102] Accordingly, we find that as soon as +it was possible to procure spirits, at however great a sacrifice, they +were obtained, and intoxication was indulged in,--if such brutality +deserves the name of indulgence,--to an awful extent. Whether all that a +writer very intimately acquainted with New South Wales urges against the +officers of the New South Wales Corps be true or not, so far as their +dealings in spirituous liquors are concerned, there can be no question +that these mischievous articles became almost entirely the current coin +of the settlement, and were the source of worldly gain to a few, while +they proved the moral ruin of almost all, in the colony. But, without +giving entire credit to all the assertions of Dr. Lang, who deals very +much in hasty notions and exaggerated opinions,[103] we may sorrowfully +acknowledge that, if the convicts in New South Wales gave way in a +horrible manner to drunkenness and its attendant sins, the upper +classes, in general, either set them a bad example, or made a plunder of +them by pandering to their favourite vice. The passion for liquor, it is +stated by Collins,[104] operated like a mania, there being nothing which +the people would not risk to obtain it: and while spirits were to be +had, those who did any extra labour refused to be paid in money, or in +any other article than spirits, which were then so scarce as to be sold +at six shillings a bottle. So eagerly were fermented liquors sought +after, and so little was the value of money in a place where neither the +comforts nor luxuries of life could be bought, that the purchaser has +been often known, in the early days of the colony, to name himself a +price for the article he wanted, fixing it as high again as would +otherwise have been required of him. When the few boat-builders and +shipwrights in the colony had leisure, they employed themselves in +building boats for those that would pay them their price, namely, five +or six gallons of spirits. It could be no matter of surprise that boats +made by workmen so paid should be badly put together, and scarcely +seaworthy. + + [102] Whatever may be the improvement of the middling and upper classes, + _nationally speaking_ the passion for strong liquor continues to bear + sway in the British islands to a deplorable extent. Lord Ashley has + stated in the House of Commons during the present session, 1843, that + there is good authority for estimating our annual consumption of + spirituous liquors at twenty-five millions sterling! Compare the _gross_ + amount of the revenues of the English Church, about four millions, and + those of the _poor_ Kirk of Scotland, the _plundered_ Church of Ireland, + and the "voluntary" efforts of the hundred and one sects of Dissenters, + together with those of the Romish Church:--and what is the result? + Probably, nearly three times as much is spent in these islands upon + spirituous liquors as the whole cost of religious instruction of every + kind amounts to! + + [103] Dr. Lang's opinion here is, however, confirmed by Judge Burton; + see p. 7 of his work on Education and Religion in New South Wales. + + [104] Account of Colony of New South Wales, p. 235. + +But, however commonly the standard of value might be measured by +spirituous liquors, yet it is evident that these, being themselves +procurable for money, could not altogether supersede the desire of money +itself. Hence arose those numerous acts of theft and depredation, that +improvident thirst after present gain, that total disregard of future +consequences by which many of the first inhabitants of the colony were +disgraced and ruined. The contagion of evil example forced its way into +Government House, and the steward of Governor Hunter became an awful +instance of the mischief of bad society. Against this he had been often +cautioned by his master, but to no purpose, until at length he was +discovered abusing the unlimited confidence which had been placed in +him, and making use of the governor's name in a most iniquitous manner. +At this discovery the wretched victim of evil communication retired to a +shrubbery in his master's garden, and shot himself through the head. + +From the love of money, which no mean authority has pronounced to be +"the root of all evil,"[105] arose likewise that spirit of gambling, +which ended in murder on one occasion before the settlement had existed +more than six years; and which on many occasions was the manifest cause +of misery and ruin to those in whom this evil spirit had taken up its +abode. To such excess was the pursuit of gambling carried among the +convicts, that some had been known, after losing provisions, money, and +all their spare clothing, to have staked and lost the very clothes on +their wretched backs, standing in the midst of their associates as +degraded, and as careless of their degradation, as the natives of the +country which these gamblers disgraced. Money was their principal +object, for with money they could purchase spirits, or whatever else +their passions made them covet, or the colony could furnish. These +unhappy men have been seen to play at their favourite games for six, +eight, and ten dollars each game; and those who were not expert at +these, instead of pence, tossed up for dollars![106] + + [105] 1 Tim. vi. 10. + + [106] Collins' Account of New South Wales, pp. 243, 244. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +FURTHER PROGRESS OF THE COLONY TO 1821. + + +The month of August, 1795, was marked in the annals of New South Wales +by the arrival of the second governor of the colony, Captain Hunter, who +continued five years in power, and returned to England in the year 1800, +after having seen the colony over which he was placed prospering and +thriving enough in worldly matters, though in other more important +points it continued poor and naked indeed. It was a great object with +the new governor to check and restrain that love of liquor, which he saw +working so much mischief among his people; and several private stills +were found and destroyed, to the great regret of their owners, who made +twice as large a profit from the spirit distilled by them out of wheat, +as they would have been able to have gained, had they sold their grain +for the purpose of making bread. So common was the abuse of paying +wages in liquor,[107] that it was pretended that the produce of these +stills was only to be paid away in labour, whereas it was sold for a +means of intoxication to any person who would bring ready money for it. +At the commencement of harvest, in the November immediately following +the arrival of Governor Hunter, a regulation was made by that gentleman, +which showed that the infant colony was now making rapid strides +towards that point of advancement and independence, from which +ignorant and designing men are at present labouring to thrust down the +mother country. New South Wales was, in 1795, just beginning to supply +its inhabitants with corn, and Governor Hunter wisely thought that the +increasing abundance of the produce would now bear some little decrease +in the high prices hitherto paid for new grain at the public store. +England, in 1843, is able to supply its inhabitants with food, (except +in scarce years, when corn is let in at prices varying with the degree +of scarcity,) and many Englishmen unwisely think that this advantage and +independence may be safely bartered away--for what?--for _very low +prices_, and, their constant companions, _very low wages_, and _very +great and universal distress_![108] + + [107] The crops of the first settlers were paid for by the Government + in spirits, but Captain Hunter endeavoured to put an end to this + practice, for it was not possible that a farmer who should be idle + enough to throw away the labour of twelve months, for the purchase of a + few gallons of injurious liquors, could expect to thrive, or enjoy those + comforts which sobriety and industry can alone procure. + + [108] It may not be out of place to quote in support of this opinion the + sensible words of an Australian writer. "I confess I like to hear of + high wages, and of good prices of provisions--of the productions of the + country,--for where they prevail for any length of time, the country + must be prosperous. Paradoxical as it may seem, it is no less true, that + the poorest country is always that where provisions are sold at the + cheapest rate. To the same purpose is the testimony of Sir G. Gipps, the + present Governor of New South Wales, appointed by Lord Melbourne in 1837, + who says:--'The total amount of the grain' (imported) 'even at these + prices, amounted to the fearful sum of 246,000_l._; but that, it must be + remembered, was only the prime cost in the countries where the wheat was + grown, and to that must be added the charges for freight, insurance, and + commission, probably as much more, so that in two years the colony would + expend upwards of half a million of money for foreign bread. _The + distress of the colony was owing to these immense importations._"--See + Speech of Governor Gipps in Council. Australian and New Zealand Magazine, + No. iii. p. 163. See also ROSS'S _Van Diemen's Land Almanac and Annual_, + 1836, p. 177. + +Another addition to the means, which the country was beginning to +possess of maintaining its inhabitants, was made by the regular, +though far from rapid, increase of live stock, which, in spite of all +obstacles, and notwithstanding great carelessness and ignorance on +the part of many of those that kept it, continued to thrive and +multiply.[109] But, besides the cattle to be seen upon the various farms +and allotments in the settlement, a considerable herd of wild cattle +were found, soon after Governor Hunter's arrival, on the banks of the +Nepean River, about thirty miles from Sydney, in a district still +bearing the name of the Cow Pastures. These animals were clearly +ascertained to have sprung from a few tame cattle which had strayed away +from the colony at its first foundation; and the governor, pleased at +this discovery, himself paid a visit to the Cow Pastures, where he found +a very fine herd, upwards of forty in number, grazing in a pleasant +and rich pasturage. The whole number of them was upwards of sixty, +but the governor's party were attacked by a furious bull, which, in +self-defence, they were obliged to kill. The country where these animals +were seen was remarkably pleasant to the eye; every where was thick and +luxuriant grass growing; the trees were thinly scattered, and free from +underwood, except in particular spots; in several beautiful flats large +ponds were found, covered with ducks and black swans, the margins of +which were fringed with beautiful shrubs, and the ground rose from these +levels into hills of easy ascent. The advantages of having an increasing +number of wild cattle within so short a distance of the settlement were +obvious enough, and the government resolved to protect them to the +utmost of its power. Accordingly, it was ordered that no part of the +fertile tract of which these animals were in possession should be +granted out to settlers; and at length the herds became too numerous +even for the 60,000 acres, which the district was supposed to contain. +But, in 1813 and the two following years, so severe a drought prevailed, +that vast numbers of them died; and afterwards the government consented +to grant away the land, and the remainder of the herds betook themselves +to the mountainous ranges beyond. + + [109] About the time of Captain Hunter's taking the reins of government + a cow was sold for 80_l._, a horse cost 90_l._, and a Cape sheep 7_l._ + 10_s._ Other prices were in proportion; fresh meat was very scarce, and + the various attempts to import live stock had been far from successful. + Still a _beginning_ had been made, and it is astonishing how rapidly + rural wealth began to multiply in New South Wales, after the difficulties + of the first eight or ten years had been overcome. + +Captain Hunter was rather fond of exploring the unknown country which +extended behind, or to the northward or southward of, the narrow limits +of the British colony: and during his administration its boundaries were +considerably enlarged, and some valuable discoveries were made. One of +the most important of these was a discovery which served to prove the +claim of the colony to be called New South Wales, from its resemblance +to the country whence its name was taken, in one production at least. In +1796, some persons returned from fishing in a bay considerably to the +northward of Port Jackson, and brought with them several large pieces of +_coal_, which they said that they had found at some little distance from +the beach, lying in quantities on the surface of the ground. This was +the first knowledge obtained by the settlers of the value of the +productions of the coast at the mouth of the river Hunter, and at the +place where coals were found so abundantly there now exists a township, +furnishing the whole colony with a supply of that useful article, +besides having a large trade in lime, which is made from the +oyster-shells that are found there in immense quantities. The +appropriate name of this township is Newcastle. + +Many needful and praiseworthy regulations were made by Captain Hunter, +who endeavoured to enforce attendance on Divine service, and the proper +observance of the Sunday; and who took great pains also to discover and +punish those encroachments upon the public stores which had been +continually made. The convicts whose time of punishment had expired, +but who were unable to get a passage to England, were frequently more +troublesome and ill-disposed, being less under authority than the others +were. These emancipists, as they were called, would occasionally indeed +withdraw from receiving the ration allowed by Government; but then it +was only in the hope of avoiding labour, and living by pillage. Or else +these men, together with others not less ill-disposed than themselves, +would play every possible trick to obtain their allowance from the +public stores, when they were not entitled, or to get more than their +allowances, when they had a certain claim. To put a check upon such +practices, the governor, in 1796, had a general muster of all +descriptions of people in every part of the colony at the same hour, +so that it would be no longer possible, as on former occasions, for +one person to manage to answer to his name in two different places, +and to draw provisions from both stores. Very shortly after this +general muster, the governor made a journey to the banks of the River +Hawkesbury, where there is some of the richest land in the colony, but +on his return, he had the mortification of seeing a stack of wheat +belonging to Government burnt, containing 800 bushels, and it was not +certain whether this fire was accidental, since the destruction thus +caused made room for as many bushels as were destroyed, which must be +purchased from the settlers who had wheat to sell. In reading of these +atrocious acts--for if _this_ fire was not intentional, _others_ +undoubtedly were--the inhabitants of England must not plume themselves +upon their superiority to the outcasts of their country in New South +Wales. Unhappily, the word _incendiarism_ has become familiar to English +ears, and, ever since the evil spirits of agitation and rebellion have +been dallied with, they have made their deeds of darkness visible, from +time to time, by the awful midnight fires which they have kindled in the +land. + +But it was not only in checking the outrages of the British inhabitants +of New South Wales, that the governor was actively employed; the natives +were also exceedingly troublesome, especially at the valuable farms on +the Hawkesbury. Vigorous efforts were made to prevent that disorder, and +disregard of private property, which seemed so prevailing; and certainly +Governor Hunter appears to have been an active and energetic, but, as +might be expected in a colony like that over which he was placed, not +altogether a _popular_ ruler. The vices of the lower classes were, in +too many instances, found profitable, more or less directly, to those +who are termed the upper classes in the settlement; and since both +classes became to a fearful degree sensual and covetous, the evil was +doubly aggravated by example and contagion. And when we consider, that, +at that time, the population of the colony might almost have been +divided into those who _drank_ rum, and those who _sold_ it;[110] when +we recollect the covetousness of all classes, the hardened wickedness of +many of the convicts, the idleness of the settlers or soldiers, the +peculiar character of the natives, and the infant state of the British +colony, it must be confessed, that the requisites of every good +governor,--a wise head, a stout heart, and a steady hand,--were +preeminently needful in the governor of New South Wales. + + [110] Promissory notes were given, payable in rum instead of + money.--JUDGE BURTON _on Education and Religion in New South Wales_, + p. 7, note. + +The list of crimes, which were continually occurring during the five +years of Captain Hunter's being governor, was a fearful and appalling +one; nor can we wonder at the wish expressed by the historian of the +early days of the colony, that future annalists may find a pleasanter +field to travel in, without having their steps beset every moment with +murderers, robbers, and incendiaries. Twice during Governor Hunter's +administration was a public gaol purposely destroyed by fire; once the +gaol at Sydney suffered, although there were twenty prisoners confined +there, who being mostly in irons were with difficulty saved; and the +second time, the Paramatta gaol was destroyed, and one of the prisoners +was scorched to death. Several of the settlers declined to pay anything +towards the building of a new gaol, and it was not long a matter of +doubt which article would be most likely to bear a productive tax; so a +duty of one shilling per gallon was imposed upon spirits, sixpence on +wine, and threepence upon porter or strong beer, to be applied to the +above purpose. Building gaols is, beyond question, a necessary thing, +especially in a colony chiefly formed of convicts: and perhaps a tax +upon intoxicating liquors is no bad mode of procuring the means of +erecting them, for thus the sober and industrious are not heavily taxed +to provide for the support and punishment of the profligate and wicked. +Nevertheless, if Christ's religion be true, there is a surer and better +way of checking crime, than by trusting to gaols and police alone; but, +unhappily, this more excellent way of reforming the morals of mankind, +has, in modern times, found little favour with the great ones of the +world.[111] Certainly the power of the Gospel and Church of Christ had +no scope allowed it for its blessed effects, when to a population, +consisting in 1803 of 7097 souls, and constantly on the increase, +besides being scattered over an immense tract of country, _one clergyman +only_ was allowed during seven years to wage, single-handed and alone, +the war against evil. There were, indeed, many Irish Roman Catholics +among the convicts, and one of these, named Harrold, was a Romish +priest, but his character was too little to be trusted for him to be +of any great spiritual advantage even to those of his own communion. + + [111] Thus writes the Bishop of Australia in 1840.--"Neither can I + comprehend or approve the policy which thus leaves multitudes without + moral or religious guidance, under every inducement to commit acts of + violence and rapine, which are not only the sources of infinite misery + to the unhappy perpetrators, and to their wretched victims, but + _actually bring_ upon the government itself ten times the pecuniary + charge which would be incurred by the erection of as many churches, and + providing for the support of as many clergymen, as the necessities of + every such district require." + +In the year 1800, Governor Hunter left the settlement for England, +and was succeeded in his office by Captain King, who had been +Lieutenant-governor of Norfolk Island, and had conducted with great care +and success the establishment of that smaller colony. However, Norfolk +Island was abandoned altogether during the government of Captain King +and his successor; and it is said this step was taken in compliance with +the advice of the former gentleman. It was a saying attributed to him, +that "he could not make farmers of pickpockets;"[112] and whatever truth +there might be in this maxim, certainly it appears that the progress of +agriculture was unfavourable, and that the colony continued still +subject to seasons of scarcity, approaching to famine, and obliged to +put up with coarse loaves, which were feelingly called _scrubbing +brushes_;[113] and was always in a state of dependence upon foreign +supplies for daily bread. But if there were no _corn laws_, there was +abundance of discontent and misery in the colony of New South Wales; and +during the time of Captain King's government, a rebellion broke out +among the convicts, who had been induced by some of their number, rebels +from Ireland, to _strike for their liberty_. The revolt was soon crushed +by the military, but not without the loss of life to some of the unhappy +men who had been partakers in it. + + [112] "More labour would have been performed by one hundred free people + from any part of England or Scotland, than had at any time been derived + from three hundred of these (convicts), with all the attention that + could be paid to them."--COLLINS' _Account of the Colony of New South + Wales_, p. 415. + + [113] BARRINGTON'S _History of New South Wales_, p. 376. + +The six years during which Captain King held the office of governor +of New South Wales, under the crown of Great Britain and Ireland, +were rendered remarkable, as has been already stated, by the partial +abandonment of the colony of Norfolk Island; and, it may be added, yet +more remarkable by the commencement of another settlement, the first +ever attempted in Van Diemen's Land. + +Norfolk Island, which is situated about 1000 miles from the eastern +shore of New Holland, was settled almost immediately after the first +foundations of Sydney had been laid; and although but a speck in the +ocean, and without any safe or convenient landing-place, the first-named +colony was altogether more flourishing in its early days than the other. +The natural fertility of the land, the abundance of food supplied by the +birds of providence,[114] the number of free settlers, and the wise +arrangements of Lieutenant-governor King, may all be recollected among +the reasons of the superior prosperity of Norfolk Island. However, its +career of prosperity was doomed to be but a very short one. Partly upon +the plea of its having no convenient harbour, and partly because of its +very limited extent, it was decided by the home government that it +should be abandoned, and this decision was acted upon in 1805 and 1807, +when the free settlers were compelled to leave the island, which +remained unoccupied for about twenty years, and at the end of this +time it was made a penal settlement for the punishment of refractory +convicts, which it still continues to be,--one of the finest spots upon +earth degraded into the abode of the vilest of human beings,--the scum +of the outcast population of a great and civilized nation. And, to +heighten the horror of the contrast between things natural and things +spiritual in Norfolk Island, there was not, until recently, a single +minister of Christ's Church resident within its bounds; so that where +Nature's sun was shining most beauteously, and Nature's sights and +sounds were most lovely and enchanting, there the outcast souls[115] of +a rich and _christian_ population were left to perish, without being +able to catch a ray of the Sun of Righteousness, without a chance (so to +speak) of hearing the sound of the gospel of Christ: they might there +listen in their lonely wretchedness to the rise and fall of the tide of +that ocean by which their little island is surrounded, but they were +shut out for ever, it would seem, from the voice of the great multitude +of the faithful, "as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of +mighty thunderings, saying, Hallelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent +reigneth!" + + [114] At a time of great distress, when 270 additional inhabitants had + just made good their landing at Norfolk Island, whilst the ships and + provisions sent with them from Port Jackson were almost entirely lost, + these birds of providence, as they were justly called, furnished a + supply for the necessities of the people. Mount Pitt, the highest ground + in the island, was observed to be crowded with these birds during the + night, for in the day-time they go out to sea in search of food. They + burrow in the ground, and the hill was as full of holes as a + rabbit-warren; in size they were not bigger than pigeons, but they + looked much larger in their feathers. Their eggs were well tasted + enough, and though the birds themselves had a fishy flavour, hunger + made them acceptable. They were easily taken, for when small fires were + kindled to attract their notice, they would drop down faster than the + people could seize them. For two months together, it is said, that not + less than from two to three thousand of these birds were taken every + night, so that it was with reason that the starving population of + Norfolk Island called them birds of providence. + + [115] A peculiar language prevailed in this horrid place. It is said + that a bad man was called a good man, and that one who was ready to + perform his duty was generally called a bad man; and so, in other + respects, language was adapted to the complete subversion of the human + heart there existing. See ULLATHORNE'S _Evidence before the Committee on + Transportation_, 1838, No. 271, p. 27. + +The relinquishment of the settlement at Norfolk Island, under Governor +King's administration, after the money that had been spent upon it, and +the success which was attending that expenditure, might well appear to +be a hasty and imprudent act; but, undoubtedly, in its consequences it +turned out beneficial to Great Britain. Instead of Norfolk Island, +another much larger, and far more important spot, which might otherwise +have been occupied by foreigners, was colonized by British subjects; and +Van Diemen's Land, from the extent of its present wealth and population, +besides its nearer resemblance than other Australian colonies to the +climate of the mother country, may justly be esteemed one of the most +valuable possessions of the British crown. The history of the foundation +of this new colony may here be shortly detailed. It was resolved that +a fresh settlement, which might be free from the objections brought +against Norfolk Island, should be formed; and, in 1804, Port Phillip, an +extensive harbour on the southern coast of New Holland, was the spot +chosen for this purpose. But Colonel Collins, who had the command of the +party of colonists, found the eastern side of Port Phillip very little +suited to his object; and without examining its western side, which has +been lately very rapidly and successfully settled, the colonel sailed at +once along the western coast of Van Diemen's Land, took possession of +that extensive island in the name of his Britannic Majesty, and, after +various surveys, decided upon the spot where Hobart Town now stands, +for his headquarters. The little settlement then consisted only of a few +gentlemen holding official situations, fifty marines, and four hundred +prisoners. The place selected for headquarters was well chosen, being +upon the Derwent, a beautiful and navigable river, and having a good +supply of water. In the same year, 1804, another settlement was formed +on the opposite, or northern, side of Van Diemen's Land; it was situated +at the mouth of the River Tamar, near George Town, and was called York +Town, but it was afterwards abandoned. The usual trials to which +newly-planted colonies are exposed, fell also to the lot of that settled +by Colonel Collins in Van Diemen's Land; but its struggles into life +were by no means so intense, or so prolonged, as those of its sister +colony. At one time when a disappointment occurred in the usual +supplies, the hind-quarters of kangaroos were received into His +Majesty's store, at sixpence per pound, and it is said that in six +months no less than 15,000lbs. of this meat were there tendered. After +some years of occasional scarcity, during which, once, even kangaroo +flesh was sold at one shilling and sixpence the pound, and sea-weed, or +any other eatable vegetable, was equally dear, the colony began to take +root and to increase, still continuing, however, its original character +of a penal settlement--a place of punishment for the convicted felons of +New South Wales. Cattle and live stock rapidly increased, land became +more and more cultivated, houses were built, farms enclosed, free +emigrants began to arrive, Hobart Town became a place of some trade and +importance, and at last, in 1821, or thereabouts, _only seventeen years_ +after the first establishment of the colony, St. David's Church, at +Hobart Town, was, we read, "completed and opened."[116] What attention +was paid to the spiritual welfare of the poor creatures in this new +penal colony during the long interval that elapsed before the occurrence +of that great event, it seems hard to say; but, judging from what we +have already seen, we may be quite certain of this, that _no less care_ +was taken of them, than had formerly been bestowed upon those of a +similar character in Norfolk Island. + + [116] See Montgomery Martin's New South Wales and Van Diemen's + Land, p. 257. + +While Captain King held the government of New South Wales, a subject +began to attract the notice of the colonial authorities, which +afterwards proved to be one of the highest importance, both to the +settlement and likewise to the mother country, namely, the introduction +and increase of free settlers. According to Dr. Lang, the first free +settlers who emigrated to New South Wales arrived there during Governor +Hunter's administration, which began in August, 1795; but by other +writers it is stated that five settlers and their families arrived by +the _Bellona_, in January 1798, so that these may justly be considered +the first free emigrants that removed from Europe to Australia.[117] The +conditions under which they engaged to settle were, that their passage +out should be provided by government, that an assortment of tools and +implements should be furnished them, that they should be supplied for +two years with provisions, that their lands should be granted free of +expense, and that convicts should be assigned for their service, and +provided with provisions for two years, and clothing for one. Besides +these few emigrants, many of the soldiers and officers, and some of the +released convicts, had grants of land given to them; but, generally +speaking, their agricultural efforts were not very successful, and +_military men_ seemed as little capable of becoming good farmers as +_pickpockets_ were. Yet, as if to show what _might_ have been done +by prudence and thrift, in many cases, a few instances of proper +carefulness and attendant success are recorded; and one man, to whom, in +common with many others, Governor Phillip had given an ewe for breeding, +in 1792, having withstood all temptations to part with this treasure, +found himself, in 1799, possessed of a flock of 116 sheep, and in a fair +way of becoming a man of property. + + [117] Compare Lang's History of New South Wales, vol. i. p. 71, + and Collins' Account of New South Wales, p. 197 and 201. See also + Barrington's History of New South Wales, p. 115. + +But there was an individual, whose name and history are upon record, to +whom the claim of a yet earlier settlement, as a free person, must be +assigned. His history is instructive, and may be worth repeating, since +it is, probably, a specimen of what afterwards occurred in a vast number +of instances. Philip Schoeffer was a German, who had been sent out with +the first fleet that ever sailed to New South Wales, in the capacity of +an agriculturist, and chiefly with a view to the cultivation of tobacco +(to supersede that of Virginia,) in the proposed settlement. His first +grant of land was one hundred and forty acres; but, unhappily, he fell +into habits of intemperance, and got rid of it all. Afterwards, he +obtained another grant of fifty acres, in what now forms a very valuable +situation in the town of Sydney; but this he was induced to give up to +the Colonial Government for public purposes, about the year 1807, +receiving in return twenty gallons of rum, which were then worth 60_l._ +and a grant of the same extent with his former one, but situated at Pitt +Water, one of the inlets of Broken Bay--a large harbour to the northward +of Port Jackson. Schoeffer then married a wife, a Scotch woman and a +convict, and settled on his farm at Pitt Water, where he lived many +years; but old age, poverty, and intemperance induced him to sell it by +piecemeal, and he died at last in the benevolent asylum or colonial +poor-house. This short history may serve to show upon what mere +accidents the foundation of wealth frequently depends, and especially in +a new country; for, if the German could only have kept his farm of fifty +acres in Sydney for about thirty years longer, he or his successors +might actually have sold it for 100,000_l._! + +After the landing of the few free settlers already mentioned, which took +place while Captain Hunter was governor, the next arrival deserving +of notice appears to have been about a dozen families of Scotch +Presbyterians, who established themselves under similar conditions with +the first emigrants, and whose place of abode was near Portland Head, on +the banks of the Hawkesbury. These men seem to have been a quiet and +orderly, as well as a prudent, set of people; and their industry was +rewarded by success. The zeal and devotion which were exhibited by +them in religious matters were also very praiseworthy, and not less so +because, according to Captain Bligh, it was the only case of the kind +he had ever heard of, during his government of the colony. A building +for public worship was erected by them,[118] at a cost of upwards of +400_l._, and altogether the conduct of these Scotch emigrants reflected +credit upon the country and religious body to which they belonged. But, +while we award to these persons the praise which is their due, we are by +no means entitled to place to the account of their being Presbyterians +the good order and right feeling which they exhibited. Scotchmen are +proverbially more fond of colonization than Englishmen, and hence it +naturally occurred that almost the first respectable settlers were +Scotch farmers; but there is no reason to question,--nay, experience +has since proved,--that Englishmen of similar character, and placed +in the like circumstances, can conduct themselves not less piously and +properly, and will not yield to the disciples of John Calvin or John +Knox in their reverence and devotion for a more apostolical Church than +that of Scotland. However, it must be owned with sorrow that these +instances of religious feeling and zeal were by no means common among +the first settlers; nor is this a subject of surprise, when we recollect +that, even now, Australia is frequently looked upon as a last refuge for +those who can do well nowhere else; and if it be thought so now, much +more must this impression have prevailed in the days of its earlier +settlers. But, from whatever class, or with whatever failings, they +might come, a few fresh settlers continued from year to year to find +their way to the shores of New Holland; and, in due time, the tide of +emigration was destined to set full into that quarter, carrying with it +a portion of the population and wealth of the mother country, together +with all its luxuries, its arts, its vices, and its virtues. + + [118] "The first religious edifice that was ever reared in the + great Terra Australis, by _voluntary_ and _private_ exertion." See + Lang's Narrative of the Settlement of the Scots' Church in New South + Wales, p. 8. The Doctor, in his Presbyterian zeal, had forgotten Mr. + Johnson's church. + +In August, 1806, Captain King resigned his office, and was succeeded in +the government of New South Wales by Captain Bligh, also of the royal +navy. His name is well known from the history of the mutiny of the crew +in the ship _Bounty_, which he had formerly commanded; and he was not +less unfortunate on shore, in the art of governing his fellow-creatures. +With many good qualities and excellent intentions, his manner of ruling +men was not either happy or successful. But before we proceed to the +great event in colonial history, which brought to a sudden termination +the reign of Governor Bligh, it will be well to notice a remarkable +occurrence which happened soon after he came into power. The banks of +the river Hawkesbury have already been stated to be distinguished for +their fertility; and at this time they formed the chief source from +which the supply of wheat for the colony was drawn. Many acres of land +had been cleared there, and the whole district, with smiling farms +scattered about upon the rising banks of the beautiful stream, offered +one of the most pleasing scenes in the whole settlement. But, within +the first year of the government of Captain Bligh, the farmers on the +Hawkesbury, and indeed the whole colony, were doomed to undergo a severe +trial.[119] In March 1799, the river had been known to rise suddenly to +the enormous height of fifty feet, and the destruction of property which +had been then occasioned was very great.[120] But now, without any +considerable rains having fallen upon the eastern side of the Blue +Mountains, between that range and the sea, the river rose, in one +place at least, to the enormous height of ninety-three feet, so that +buildings, stock, or corn, which were not secured upon rising ground +equal in height to that of an ordinary church-tower, must have been +overwhelmed and borne away by the flood. It is said that a settler, +whose house stood on an eminence at a beautiful bend of the Hawkesbury, +saw no less than thirty stacks of wheat at one time floating down the +stream during a flood, some of them being covered with pigs and poultry, +who had thus vainly sought safety from the rising of the waters. The +consequences of this unexpected disaster were very calamitous, and +before the ensuing harvest could be begun, wheat and Indian corn +attained an equal value, and were sold at 1_l._ 8_s._ or 1_l._ 10_s._ +per bushel. Even eleven years afterwards, when a similar overflow, +though not equal to "_the great flood_," occurred, prices were raised +enormously, and but for an importation of wheat from Van Diemen's Land, +they would have been very little short of those in the year 1806. +Governor Bligh appears to have done all that a governor could do to +lessen the distress that prevailed, by ordering a number of the cattle +belonging to government to be slaughtered and divided among the +sufferers, and by encouraging, to the utmost extent of his power, the +cultivation of a large breadth of land in wheat for the ensuing season. +By these means, under Divine Providence, the colony again became able to +supply itself with daily bread; a capability of which, like many other +blessings, nations scarcely know the value and importance, until they +are deprived, or deprive themselves of it.[121] + + [119] One of the vain attempts of the present age is that of + entirely preventing the various fluctuations to which, from accidents, + bad seasons, &c., the price of bread is subject. It did appear as though + a certain average of moderate prices was established in England; but, + recently, the system has been again altered, and time must show how it + works. Certainly the changes in the value of corn in New South Wales + have formerly been violent enough, supposing the following statement to + be correct: "I have nine years been a landholder in this colony, and + seven years have cultivated my own farm. In this time I have twice given + wheat to my pigs, because I did not know what else to do with it; twice + I have known wheat selling at fifteen shillings per bushel, and once at + twenty shillings!"--ATKINSON _on the Encouragement of Distilling and + Brewing in New South Wales_, p. 3, ed. 1829. + + [120] It is said that the natives foresaw the approach of this + calamity, and advised the colonists of it, but their warning was not + regarded.--_See Barrington's History of New South Wales_, p. 310. + + [121] For the particulars here related of the floods of the river + Hawkesbury, see Lang's New South Wales, vol. i. pp. 98-101; and also + Wentworth's Australasia, vol. i. p. 67 and 448-9. The latter writer + speaks of wheat and maize being sold at 5_l._ or 6_l._ per bushel, but + that seems to be a mistake. + +From whatever cause it might arise,--whether from his opposition to the +practice of all the chief persons in the colony making a profit by the +sale of spirits,[122]--or from his dislike of the New South Wales +Corps,--or from his own harsh and tyrannical conduct,--whether, in +short, we listen to Governor Bligh's admirers or enemies, thus much is +certain: he was excessively unpopular with a large and powerful party +of men in the settlement. Without entering into the particulars of the +extraordinary treatment to which his Majesty's representative in that +distant colony was subjected, it may be sufficient to state that, in +consequence of the imprisonment of Mr. Macarthur, an old officer, and a +rich and influential settler, great disturbance was excited, which ended +in the seizure of the governor's person, and in the occupation of his +office and authority by Major Johnston, the commanding officer of the +New South Wales Corps, who assumed the authority of lieutenant-governor +in January, 1808, and issued some proclamations ordering various changes +among those in authority. In one of these proclamations a day of +thanksgiving is appointed to be kept for the recent transactions; and in +the same precious document the Rev. Henry Fulton is suspended from +discharging his duty as chaplain to the colony,[123] because, whatever +may have been the faults of his former life,[124] like most other +clergymen of the Church of England, on most other occasions, he had at +this time stood fast to his loyalty. + + [122] Still later the following evidence was given upon a trial: "The + governor, _clergy_, officers, civil and military, all ranks and + descriptions of people bartered spirits when I left Sydney,--in May, + 1810." What a handle do such practices give to those that love to + "despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities."--_Jude_ 8. + + [123] Here is an example of the need of a bishop in every colony of any + size or importance. What right or power had a usurping military officer + to suspend from clerical duties _one_ of the _two_ or _three_ clergymen + who were then in the settlement, and that without any crime alleged, any + trial, or proof of his misdemeanour? Would not a bishop, to stand + between the mighty major and the poor chaplain on this occasion, have + been a guardian of "civil and religious liberty?" + + [124] Respecting these, see the assertions in Ullathorne's Reply to + Burton, page 6. + +The confusion resulting from the seizure of the governor was lamentable +indeed in a colony at the best of times so difficult to be managed. All +public meetings were forbidden by the party in power, and our old +friends, the Presbyterians at Portland Head, whose loyalty to the +governor on this occasion was very creditable, had well nigh got into +trouble from their meeting together on "the Sabbath" for public worship. +The object of the intruders was to get rid of Captain Bligh as well as +they could, and accordingly he was sent off to England in command of +the _Porpoise_, but he remained from March to December, 1809, off the +coast of Van Diemen's Land, daily expecting despatches from the home +government, until at last, on December 28th, his intended successor, +Colonel Macquarie, arrived at Sydney. This last gentleman was ordered to +reinstate Captain Bligh in the government of the colony for the period +of twenty-four hours after his own arrival; but in consequence of +Bligh's absence from Sydney, this was not done. However, Major Johnston +was sent home under strict arrest, and, after various delays, he was +tried for mutiny, by a court-martial, in May 1811, and found guilty, but +was only sentenced to be cashiered, the court considering the peculiar +circumstances of the case sufficient to excuse him from a more severe +punishment. Captain Bligh was, upon his return to England, immediately +promoted to the rank of rear-admiral, and employed in active service; +while the New South Wales Corps, which had certainly been long enough in +the colony from which it drew its name, was ordered home, and the 73d +regiment sent out to supply its place. + +The first acts of the new governor, Colonel Macquarie, were to declare +the king's displeasure at the late mutinous proceedings, and to render +null and void all the acts of the usurping party, most of whose measures +were, however, ratified, their bills upon the Treasury honoured, and +their grants of land confirmed. The continuance of Governor Macquarie +in power for no less than twelve years, during which peace and +tranquillity, undisturbed by any very severe trials, prevailed +throughout the settlement, offers but very few of those events which +make a figure in the history of the past:-- + + "Famine and plague, the earthquake and the storm, + Man's angry passions, war's terrific form, + The tyrant's threatenings, and the people's rage, + These are the crowded woes of History's page." + +During the period of which we are now treating, vast improvements and +extensive discoveries were made in New South Wales; and in all these, +or similar, arts of peace the governor delighted to bear an active and +leading part. Availing himself of the means at his disposal, and of the +abundance of convict-labour, he made, it is said, no less than 276 miles +of good roads during his administration; and, when the nature of the +country along which many of these were carried is taken into account, +this exploit alone reflects no small credit upon Governor Macquarie. In +the year 1813 the colony was enabled, by the courage and perseverance +of three gentlemen, to burst those bonds by which it had hitherto been +hemmed in within the limits of a narrow strip of land running along the +sea-coast. In that year a passage across the Blue Mountains, hitherto +thought insuperable, was at length made good; and the hungry sheep and +cattle which had been suffering from the prevailing drought in the +settlement, were speedily driven over the hills to enjoy the less +withered pastures and green plains of the western country. No sooner was +this district thus opened than the governor commenced making a road over +the mountains, and in this he succeeded after no very long delay, so +that a good communication was formed between Sydney and Bathurst Plains, +a distance of more than 100 miles, about 50 of which cross an extent of +country the most rugged, mountainous, and barren, that can be imagined. + +In public buildings Governor Macquarie showed no less activity than in +road-making, although his efforts in the former line have not met with +unmingled and universal approbation. Certainly, the means by which, +what was then called, "the Rum Hospital" was built were, if they are +correctly reported by Dr. Lang, disgraceful and mischievous in the +highest degree.[125] However, the improvements that were made in the +rising towns, especially in the capital, of the colony, may well demand +our admiration, even though, as usual in estimating the deeds of fallen +man, we must allow that much evil might have been avoided, and that a +large proportion of moral mischief was mingled with the improvements. + + [125] See Lang's New South Wales, vol. i. pp. 168, 169. + +The great and distinguishing feature, after all, of Colonel Macquarie's +government appears to have been the studious, and not always judicious, +patronage extended by him to the emancipated convicts, whom he generally +considered in preference to the free settlers. In consequence of this, +the last-named class were thrown into the background, a kind of check +was given to emigration, and, what was worst of all, two parties were +set on foot within the settlement, altogether opposed to each +other;--the _exclusionists_, who were free settlers, refused to +associate at all with those that had ever been convicts; and the +_emancipists_ considered that a convict, after his time of punishment +had expired, was just as good as any other man. It was absurd, indeed, +although no more than usually happens, to see men of the _humblest_, if +not of the _lowest_, classes in the mother country, suddenly aspiring to +become _exclusive_ and _grand_ in the colony. And, on the other hand, it +was a pretty sure sign that the convicts, though emancipated from their +shackles, were not well rid of their vice or impudence, when they laid +claim, even with the aid of a governor's encouragement, and often of +great wealth not very scrupulously acquired, to the highest society and +most important offices in the settlement. Undoubtedly, one great object +in a penal colony should be that of gradually purifying the population +from all disgraceful or vicious associations; but the hasty attempts of +a governor to elevate a class like that of the emancipated convicts +were sure to end rather in their depression. Time, and a succeeding +generation, would have done quietly what Colonel Macquarie, with +all his power, was unable to accomplish. If a governor cannot make +pickpockets become good _farmers_, still less likely is he to succeed in +endeavouring to make good _magistrates_ of them; but a few years, under +judicious management, might easily produce from among their children +admirable specimens of both. And nothing can be a greater hindrance to +this desirable result than hasty and ill-timed, though well-intended, +attempts to force out of their proper sphere those persons, who, if they +are really possessed of any sense, would, of all men, desire to keep +within it. + +In reckoning up the principal occurrences during the twelve years in +which Colonel Macquarie ruled the colony, the vast additions which were +made to our knowledge of the country are by no means to be overlooked. +Bathurst Plains and the pass to them through the Blue Mountains were, +as we have already seen, discovered; the district of Argyle to the +south-westward was also made known. Two rivers, named after the +governor, who was (it is reported) fond of such compliments, the Lachlan +and the Macquarie, were traced westward of the Blue Mountains, until +they were supposed to lose themselves in endless and impassable swamps. +Northwards, the River Hastings, and a large extent of country suitable +for flocks and herds, called Liverpool Plains, were discovered. Besides +which, three penal settlements for the punishment of unruly convicts +were formed, one at Emu Plains, another at Newcastle, near the mouth of +the River Hunter, and a third at Port Macquarie, at the mouth of the +Hastings. + +But the mention of new penal settlements, in which the punishment and +removal of gross offenders were the only objects, while the reformation +and salvation of those poor men were never thought of, forcibly recalls +us to a subject of which we have for some time lost sight, and which +must be once more noticed before the history of the rise and early +progress of the colony of New South Wales is completed. Where was the +Church all this time? What was the Church of England doing in the now +flourishing settlement of Australia? How far did the state follow at +once both its duty and its interest, and employ in the work of +reformation in this land of criminals those heavenly instruments, the +Bible and the Church? The reply to all these inquiries is briefly made, +but the national sin and shame involved in that short reply it might +need volumes to unfold. + +In 1821, at the end of Macquarie's government, there was scattered about +in the colony a population of 29,783, of whom 13,814 were convicts, and +among these were found ministering _seven_ clergymen of the Church of +England, with no bishop of that Church to "set things in order"[126] +nearer than the Antipodes,--the very opposite side of the habitable +globe! Nor, if we look (as unhappily now in every English colony we must +look,) beyond the pale of the English Church, shall we find either +Romish superstition or Dissenting zeal working any of their usual +wonders. Though the number of Romanists from Ireland was very great in +the colony, yet they had, in 1821, only _one_ priest residing among +them; the Presbyterians at Portland Head had a catechist only, and with +respect to the other "denominations" little or nothing is recorded:--the +_establishment_ had taken as yet so poor a hold of the soil of New +South Wales, that the _voluntary system_, which seems often to need +its support, as ivy needs the support of a tree, had scarcely been +transplanted thither. One observation, before we quit for the present +this painful subject, forces itself upon the mind. How utterly unlike +are the ways of an All-Perfect God from the ways of imperfect fallen +men! The King of kings desireth not the death of any sinner, and has +wrought miracles upon miracles of mercy to provide for his salvation; +whereas man regardeth not the spiritual life of his brethren, earthly +monarchs and nations care chiefly about the removal of the offenders out +of their sight, and, so long as this is effected, they trouble not +themselves about the future lot of those outcasts; money is more +willingly parted with for "penal settlements" than for religious +instruction, and, although the earthly wants of the criminals are +attended to, here humanity stops short;--if their _bodies_ are not cast +out to starve and to perish _their souls are_. And who cannot read in +holy Scripture the just doom of those that have acted, or are acting, +thus? "The wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I +require at thine hand."[127] + + [126] See Titus i. 3. + + [127] Ezekiel iii. 18. + +Having now brought down the history of the colony of New South Wales to +a period when it might be said to be firmly established and flourishing, +both party feeling and needless details may best be avoided by stopping +here, yet it will not form an unsuitable conclusion to this chapter to +borrow General Macquarie's account of his own doings, although this may +be somewhat tinctured with that vanity, which is said to have been his +greatest weakness:--"I found the colony," he states, in a Report to Earl +Bathurst, "barely emerging from infantile imbecility, and suffering from +various privations and disabilities; the country impenetrable beyond 40 +miles from Sydney; agriculture in a yet languishing state; commerce in +its early dawn; revenue unknown; threatened with famine; distracted by +faction; the public buildings in a state of dilapidation, and mouldering +to decay; the few roads and bridges formerly constructed rendered almost +impassable; the population in general depressed by poverty; no public +credit nor private confidence; the morals of the great mass of the +population in the lowest state of debasement, and religious worship +almost totally neglected.[128] Such was the state of New South Wales +when I took charge of its administration on the 1st of January, 1810. +I left it in February last, reaping incalculable advantages from my +extensive and important discoveries in all directions, including the +supposed insurmountable barrier called the Blue Mountains, to the +westward of which are situated the fertile plains of Bathurst; and +_in all respects_ [?] enjoying a state of private comfort and public +prosperity, which I trust will at least equal the expectations of His +Majesty's Government. On my taking the command of the colony in the year +1810, the amount of port duties collected did not exceed 8000_l._ per +annum, and there were only 50_l._ or 60_l._ of a balance in the +Treasurer's hands; but now (in 1822,) duties are collected at Port +Jackson to the amount of from 28,000_l._ to 30,000_l._ per annum. In +addition to this annual colonial revenue, there are port duties, +collected at Hobart Town and George Town in Van Diemen's Land, to +the amount of between 8000_l._ and 10,000_l._ per annum."[129] + + [128] How could public religious worship be attended to, when, in the + year after Governor Macquarie's arrival, 1810, a widely-scattered + population of 10,452 souls, mostly convicts, were left in the charge + of _four_ clergymen? And in what respect were things improved at the + time of that Governor's departure in 1821, when, to a similarly situated + population of 29,783 souls there were _seven_ clergymen assigned: + and the Romish church had _one_ priest for New South Wales and Van + Diemen's Land, while the Presbyterians at Portland Head had their + lay-catechist?--See BURTON _on Education and Religion in New South + Wales_, pp. 8, 9, 12, 16. + + We may add, by way of illustrating the regard paid to religious worship, + even in Governor Macquarie's time, that Oxley's first expedition + into the interior was permitted to set out from Bathurst on a Sunday! + See his _Journal_, p. 3. Sunday, indeed, seems to have been a favourite + starting-day with Mr. Oxley. See p. 37. + + [129] See Governor Macquarie's Report to Earl Bathurst, in Lang's New + South Wales, vol. i. _Appendix_, No. 8, p. 447. + + + + +[Illustration: NORTH VIEW OF SYDNEY.] + +CHAPTER IX. + +DESCRIPTION OF THE COLONY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. + + +The next objects that demand our notice in Australia are the British +colonies, and their present inhabitants. We have already given our +attention to the Bush and its wild inhabitants, and the lengthened yet +rapid process by which a lonely bay was converted, within the space of +little more than forty years, into the flourishing capital of a rising +country, has been fully traced. It now remains for the reader to be made +acquainted with the natural features, civil divisions, and present state +of the British Australian colonies,--especially of the oldest and most +important of them, called New South Wales. Were we not already informed +of the sad reality of things, we might be tempted to indulge in the +daydreams of an explorer, and to join in the bright and hopeful visions +of a most pleasing writer, respecting the blessings to arise out of a +change of any district from wild bush to civilized colony. But dreams of +this nature are little better than vanity, and so our explorer himself +tells us at the end of his narrative:--"Whilst I stretched my weary +length," says Captain Grey, "along, under the pleasant shade, I saw in +fancy busy crowds throng the scenes I was then amongst. I pictured to +myself the bleating sheep and lowing herds wandering over these fertile +hills; and I chose the very spot on which my house should stand, +surrounded with as fine an amphitheatre of verdant land as the eye of +man had ever gazed on. The view was backed by the Victoria Range, whilst +seaward you looked out through a romantic glen upon the great Indian +ocean. I knew that within four or five years civilization would have +followed my tracks, and that rude nature and the savage would no longer +reign supreme over so fine a territory. Mr. Smith entered eagerly into +my thoughts and views; together we built these castles in the air, +trusting we should see happy results spring from our present sufferings +and labours,--but within a few weeks from this day he died in the wilds +he was exploring."[130] So little are the brilliant hopes inspired by +discovery to be depended upon, nor less uncertain are the expectations +which the colonization of a district awakens in our hearts. We cannot +but look for good results, yet frequently are we doomed to +disappointment. + + [130] See Grey's Travels in Western Australia, vol. ii. pp. 29, 30. + For the particulars of Mr. Smith's death, see page 27. + +However, the assurance of the superintendence of Divine Providence may +check all misgivings; and under this wholesome persuasion we may proceed +to consider the present condition of that country, which has been +recently settled and civilized on the eastern coast of New Holland, +and which is known by the name of New South Wales. It is manifestly +impossible, in describing a territory like this, continually increasing +and enlarging itself, whilst at the same time much of the country +already within its bounds is barren and almost unknown, to maintain that +accuracy which we are accustomed to find in descriptions of the counties +or districts of our own well-defined and cultivated island. Yet, in +New South Wales, as in Great Britain, the territory is divided into +counties, and occasionally into parishes; and it may serve to give the +reader a general idea of the whole country, if each of these former +divisions is briefly noticed. + +The county called Cumberland is the most populous and important, +although by no means the most fertile, in the whole province. It +contains the capital, Sydney, and the thriving towns of Paramatta, +Liverpool, Windsor, Richmond, &c.; so that in population it far exceeds +all the others. It is described as an undulating plain, extending from +north to south about fifty-three miles, and in breadth from the sea to +the base of the Blue Mountains, upwards of forty miles. The coast is +generally bold and rocky, and to the distance of a few miles inland the +soil is a poor sandstone, and the country looks bleak and barren; +further from the sea its appearance improves, an undulating country +extends itself to the width of about ten miles, and this district, where +it has been left in its natural state, has the appearance of a noble +forest, but, although partially cultivated, the soil still continues +poor, for it rests upon a foundation of sandstone. Beyond this, the soil +becomes better, the trees are less numerous, the herbage more luxuriant, +the scenery beautifully varied, the hills are generally more fertile +than the valleys, and the farms and cultivated spots are very numerous. +In the valleys of the Hawkesbury and Nepean rivers, the richness of the +soil is very great, and the plains are extensive. One great evil, the +scarcity of good water, has been very much felt in this country, but it +is expected that by boring, the deficiency may be supplied. The coast +of Cumberland is broken and indented by many creeks or inlets, the most +remarkable of which is the noble harbour of Port Jackson. The county of +Cumberland is said to contain about 900,000 acres, of which not more +than one-third is fit for cultivation, and all the good land in it has +been long since granted away. Unfortunately, that part of the country +which is most fertile and preferable, is the very part where scarcely +any natural springs are to be found, for, although these are abundant +on the coast, and in the sandstone country, beyond that line they are +rarely met with; and, since the tides flow to a considerable distance +up all the rivers, the water of these is in many parts of the district +brackish and unfit for use; besides which, in the summer-time, the +smaller streams become dry, or dwindle down into mere chains of ponds, +barely sufficient to supply the wants of the cattle. + +The next county to the southward of Cumberland is named Camden, which +continues the line of coast, extending itself about sixty-six miles in +length, and being in breadth, towards the interior, about fifty-five +miles. This is a more mountainous district than Cumberland, and abounds +in lofty timber, but, nevertheless, there are several large tracts of +great fertility contained within its limits. The district called +Illawarra, or the Five Islands, and that of the Cow Pastures, are the +most remarkable; and being both of them rural districts, they may be +briefly described here. Illawarra is a very peculiar spot: it is +situated immediately between the sea and a range of high hills, so steep +that they are almost impassable, while on the remaining side, upon which +neither of these two boundaries enclose it, Illawarra is bounded by the +Shoal Haven River. The district thus separated by nature from the +adjoining country, extends about eighteen miles along the coast, and +is said to comprise 150,000 acres of most beautiful scenery and very +fertile soil. The greater part of Illawarra is heavily timbered, and it +is said to be not well fitted for the rearing of sheep; but for the +plough its deep vegetable soil is admirably suited, and whenever the +land begins to feel the effect of repeated cropping, there are means of +enriching it at hand in the large heaps of decayed shells to be found +upon the sea-shore, which would furnish an excellent manure. The +communication between this fertile spot, and the nearest market of any +consequence, Sydney, is carried on almost entirely by water; and the +Shoal Haven River being navigable for vessels of eighty or ninety tons +to the distance of twenty miles up the country, affords the ready means +of conveying produce to the capital from many parts of Illawarra. +Besides this navigable river, the southern boundary of the district, +there are many smaller streams which issue from the mountains to the +north and west, so that the country is well watered, besides which +advantage it is said to have a larger share of rain than many other +parts of the colony, and to be sheltered from the blighting winds which +occasionally have proved destructive to the crops elsewhere. The +mountain range by which Illawarra is shut in, partakes of the general +fertility of the neighbourhood below, and it is supposed, from its +eastern aspect, and mild climate, to offer spots favourable for the +cultivation of the vine. The timber of the district is very profitable, +when felled, and highly ornamental where it is left standing. Indeed, +the immense fern-trees, shooting up their rough stems, like large oars, +to the height of fifteen or twenty feet, and then suddenly putting forth +leaves in every direction, four or five feet in length, and exactly like +the leaf of the common fern,--the different kinds of palms rising to the +height of seventy or one hundred feet, and then forming large canopies +of leaves; the cedars, the undergrowth of wild vines, creeping plants +and shrubs, in rich abundance; all combine to remind the visitor of a +tropical climate, of a more _northern_, or as Englishmen would naturally +say, more _southern_, climate than that of Illawarra. + +Respecting the Cow Pastures, the rural district, which, next to +Illawarra, is most deserving of notice in the county of Camden, little +further need be added to what has been already stated in another place. +Instead of _cow pastures_, however, nearly the whole of the 60,000 acres +of good land, which form this district, have now become _sheep farms_; +and the soil appears to be very suitable to the growth and perfection of +the last-named animal. Towards the southern and eastern parts of the cow +pastures are numerous streams, which retain water even in dry weather, +and which communicate with the Nepean River. There do not appear to +be any towns deserving of mention in the county of Camden, and its +population is small and rural: it is crossed in every direction by steep +ridges of hills, which almost always tower upwards like the roof of a +house, and where the country is mountainous, meet so close as to leave +only a narrow ravine betwixt them. + +The adjoining county, which may be next noticed, is that of Argyle, an +inland district, not having any front whatever towards the ocean, and +lying to the south-westward of the county last described. Argyle is +about sixty miles in length, with an average breadth of thirty miles; it +is a lofty and broken region, and abounds in small rivulets and ponds, +containing water during the whole of the year. It is also well furnished +with timber, although there are places where the trees are scattered +sparingly, and likewise plains of considerable extent, entirely bare of +trees. Of this description are Goulburn's Plains, which consist of open +downs, affording good pasturage for sheep, and extending twenty miles +southward from the township to which they owe their name, their breadth +being about ten. There are some remarkable lakes in this county, or near +its borders, the two largest of which are called Lake George and Lake +Bathurst. Some of the old natives say that they can remember when these +lakes did not exist; and dead trees are found in the bed of Lake George, +the whole of which was, in October 1836, dried up, and like a grassy +meadow.[131] + + [131] See Major Mitchell's Three Expeditions, vol. ii. p. 317. + +Bathurst is another inland county, lying nearly due west of Cumberland, +but not adjoining it, which may deserve to be briefly described. In +looking over a map of the colony of New South Wales, it appears strange +that counties, like this, comparatively remote both from the capital and +from the sea, should be more known and flourishing than others lying +betwixt them and these important objects. But when we reflect upon the +nature of the country, and remember that the intervening counties are in +a great measure occupied by the Blue Mountains, with their tremendous +ravines and dreary sandstone wastes, all wonder will cease at finding +the green pastures and smiling country beyond the mountains occupied, +while the rugged tract is suffered to remain for the most part in its +natural state, and instead of becoming populous itself, is employed only +as a channel of communication between the consuming population on the +coast and the producing population of the more fertile interior. +Bathurst is in length seventy-two miles, and in breadth sixty-eight, +in shape somewhat approaching to an irregular square. No part of this +district was explored before 1813. It is, in general, a kind of broken +table-land, in some places forming extensive and bare downs, as, for +instance, Bathurst Plains, containing 50,000 acres. Occasional open +downs of this kind, and not unlike the South Downs in England, extend +along the banks of the Macquarie for upwards of one hundred miles. +Bathurst is reckoned one of the most flourishing and desirable +situations in the whole colony, and the view of these plains from the +high land to the eastward upon the road from Sydney is very interesting. +The prospect of an extensive district naturally destitute of timber is +rare in Australia, and therefore it surprises and pleases the eye of the +traveller. Bathurst Plains form, however, by no means a dead level, but +consist rather of a series of gentle elevations, with intervening flats +of moderate extent; the surrounding forest is rather thin, and patches +of it extend irregularly to some distance in the plains, like points of +land projecting into a lake. + +The green pastures and naturally clear state of this district, formed +the first inducements to settlers to occupy a spot, which is now distant +from Sydney by the road 121 miles, about fifty of which cross the +wildest and most barren mountains imaginable, and which then had no road +at all leading to it, except a difficult mountain-pass only recently +discovered; consequently, the district was portioned out chiefly in +large grants to persons whose means enabled them to cope with the +difficulties of approaching the new settlement; and the society at +Bathurst Plains is esteemed very good; possibly it may be all the better +for its distance from the capital. But the best proof of the goodness of +the society in this neighbourhood is the attention which the inhabitants +are stated to pay to their religious duties, and the harmony in which +they live with one another.[132] The situation of Bathurst Plains is an +exceedingly high one, being more than 2000 feet above the level of the +sea; and this elevation, rendering the climate much cooler,[133] +produces the same vegetable productions in the parallel latitude of +Sydney with those that are to be found in Van Diemen's Land, ten degrees +farther to the south. Bathurst is said to be a very healthy climate; +wonders are told of the climate of New South Wales generally, and yet we +are informed that "the cheeks of the children beyond the mountains have +a rosy tint, which is seldom observable in the lowlands of the colony." +However, notwithstanding all that may be said, disease and death can +find out their victims even in Bathurst Plains. + + "Guilt's fatal doom in vain would mortals fly, + And they that breathe the purest air must die." + + [132] See Lang's New South Wales, vol. ii. p. 119. + + [133] The difference of temperature in twelve hours' journey is + stated to be upwards of twenty degrees.--OXLEY's _Journal of his First + Expedition_, p. 4. + +The county of Northumberland is one of the most important and valuable +in the colony; it is upon the sea-coast, and adjoins Cumberland, being +bounded on the south by the river Hawkesbury, and on the north by the +Hunter. Its length is about 60 miles, and its breadth about 50: whilst +its general appearance is undulating, with high table lands dispersed +among the hills, and it is well watered by many streams and rivulets. +Within this county are two great sources of worldly wealth,--the +coal-mines near one of its principal towns, Newcastle, and the rich +productive farms in the valley of the Hunter. The last-named river is +navigable for small craft for fifty miles above Newcastle, which is a +thriving little port, and boats may ascend two of its three principal +branches for about 120 and 200 miles, but the navigation is liable to +be interrupted by sudden and tremendous floods.[134] + + [134] This account of the navigation of Hunter's River is taken from + Martin's New South Wales, p. 75. Dr. Lang, vol. ii. p. 64, gives a + somewhat different account of it. + +Coal is to be found in several parts of New South Wales, but it is most +abundant in the country to the south of Hunter's River, which forms part +of the county of Northumberland. Even at some distance from the shore, +the black lines of coal may be seen in the cliffs upon the coast, and +the coal-pits in this neighbourhood are worked with comparatively little +trouble. The Australian Agricultural Company have obtained a grant of +these from government: and, as a specimen of the demand for coals some +years ago, it may be stated, that, in 1836, there were sold at the +pit's mouth 12,646 tons for 5,747_l._, being at about the rate of nine +shillings per ton. Since that time the consumption has been very +rapidly increasing, and steam navigation has now become common in the +colony;[135] so that, besides the manufactories of Sydney, and the +supply of private families, there is an additional demand for fuel +created by the steam-boats plying constantly along that remote coast, +which only a century ago no European had yet beheld. It is also reported +that iron is to be found in New South Wales, at no great distance from +the coal which is so necessary to smelt it; and, if this be true, with +these two principal causes of the wealth of the mother country concealed +within its bosom, it is quite possible that, in the course of time, the +colony may rival, or outstrip, England itself in worldly prosperity. + + [135] It was introduced in 1831. + +But, however valuable these elements may be, the riches of a country are +based upon more important pursuits than mining or manufactures, and in +those fundamental sources of wealth,--in agriculture and its kindred +occupations,--the county of Northumberland stands foremost in New South +Wales. Not even the rich valleys of the Hawkesbury and Nepean rivers can +excel in fruitfulness or in cultivation that of Hunter's River. Wheat +and maize are among the chief productions of this fine agricultural +district, of which Maitland is the principal town. Potatoes, tobacco, +cheese, and butter are also forwarded to Sydney for sale from this +highly favoured spot. Were it not for the fearful floods to which, in +common with many other rivers in the colony, Hunter's River is liable, +altogether this valley, and the _arms_, or branch valleys, which lead +into it, might well be esteemed among the finest situations in the +world; and now that this liability is well known, and may be provided +against, the objections arising on this score are greatly diminished. +Still, a flood rising suddenly forty or sixty feet, and pouring with +headlong fury down the peaceful cultivated valleys, is a just object of +dread, and a tremendous visitation. + +We cannot leave the subject of this rich and beautiful district, +abounding in inhabitants and rural wealth, without borrowing the words +of the Bishop of Australia in describing its recent increase in those +means of grace and hopes of glory, which are, after all, the only true +riches. In 1833, when this neighbourhood was visited, "there was but one +clergyman in the entire tract of country, extending from the mouth of +the Hunter to its source, and the great and growing population on its +banks would have appeared, (if we could have forgotten the ability of +God to raise up children to himself, and to provide them with spiritual +food even from the stones of the desert,) to be abandoned to inevitable +destitution, both they and their children. But it has pleased the +Almighty to cause the prospect to brighten, and now (in 1839) there will +be seven clergymen dispensing the pure ordinances and inculcating the +salutary principles of the Church."[136] + + [136] Bishop of Australia's Letter to the Society for the Propagation + of the Gospel, dated September 12th, 1839. + +It would be at once wasting time and presuming upon the reader's +patience to attempt to describe particularly the remaining counties +of New South Wales, which are yet but imperfectly known and partially +colonized. It will be sufficient to notice the names of the others, +which, together with those described above, amount to nineteen +in number. Besides Cumberland, Camden, Argyle, Bathurst, and +Northumberland, the counties of Cook, Westmoreland, Roxburgh, +Wellington, Phillip, Bligh, Brisbane, Hunter, Gloucester, Georgiana, +King's County, Murray, Durham, and St. Vincent's, may deserve to be +mentioned by name, but nothing especially worthy of notice suggests +itself respecting them. We may turn, therefore, from the rural +districts, and take a rapid view of the principal towns of New South +Wales. Among these the capital, Sydney, claims the first place, not less +as a matter of right than of courtesy. By a happy concurrence of events, +the very first settlement made upon the eastern coast of New Holland was +formed upon one of its most eligible spots; and accordingly that town, +which ranks first in point of time, is likely always to rank first in +population, in size, in commerce, and in wealth. The harbour alone would +offer advantages enough to secure considerable importance to a town +erected upon its shores, and before Sydney itself is more minutely +described, we may borrow the account of Port Jackson, which has been +given by one well acquainted with its scenery, and himself by birth an +Australian.[137] It is navigable for fifteen miles from its entrance, +that is, seven miles beyond Sydney; and in every part there is good +anchorage and complete shelter from all winds. Its entrance is three +quarters of a mile in width, and afterwards expands into a spacious +basin, fifteen miles long, and in some places three broad, with depth of +water sufficient for vessels of the largest size. The harbour is said to +have 100 coves, and there is room within it for all the shipping in the +world. The views from its shores are varied and beautiful. Looking +towards the sea, the eye catches at a single glance the numerous bays +and islets between the town and the headlands at the entrance of the +harbour, while the bold hills by which it is bounded end abruptly on the +coast. To the north a long chain of lofty rugged cliffs mark the bearing +of the shore in that direction, and turning southwards, the spectator +beholds, seven or eight miles distant, the spacious harbour of Botany +Bay, beyond which a high bluff range of hills extends along to the south +in the direction towards Illawarra. Westward one vast forest is to be +seen, varied only by occasional openings which cultivation and the +axe have made on the tops of some of the highest hills. Beyond the +numberless undulations of this wooded country the Blue Mountains are +espied, towering behind the whole background of the scene, and forming a +stately boundary to the prospect. This description of the scenery of +Port Jackson applies to a particular spot very near to Sydney, but the +views are similar in general character, though infinitely varied in +detail, at other places in the neighbourhood; and nearer to the entrance +of the harbour a new and still grander object breaks upon the sight:-- + + "Where the mighty Pacific with soft-swelling waves + A thousand bright regions eternally laves." + + [137] See Wentworth's Australasia, vol. i. pp. 52-55. + +Upon this beautiful and convenient piece of water, which has been just +described, is the capital of the principal British colony in Australia +situated. It is chiefly built upon two hilly necks of land, enclosing +between them a small inlet, named Sydney Cove. The western of these two +projections divides Sydney Cove from another called Cockle Bay, in both +of which the water is deep enough to allow the approach of the largest +ships to the very sides of the rocks. On this western neck, (which is +occupied with houses down to the water's edge, besides many others which +extend into the country behind,) the town forms a little peninsula, +being surrounded with water everywhere, except where it adjoins the +mainland. On the eastern neck of land the increase of the town has been +stopped by the government-house, and its adjoining domains, which occupy +the whole of what is called Bennillong's Point. With the exception of +the portion of the shore thus enclosed, the water-side is occupied by +wharfs, warehouses, ship-yards, mills, and all the other buildings which +mark a naval and commercial town. Behind these marts of industry and +wealth, the houses rise one above the other, and, by their situation +on the slope of the hill, force themselves conspicuously into notice. +Indeed, the town covers a considerable extent of ground, although land +for building is so valuable, that the intervening spaces, formerly used +as gardens and pleasure-grounds, will soon disappear and be covered with +houses. The public buildings of Sydney are said to be neither numerous +nor elegant, and certainly no great beauty of architecture can be +reasonably expected in a town so recently built, and under such +circumstances, as Sydney. Nevertheless many of the buildings are very +large; and Mr. Wentworth says something (though not much) in their +favour, when he states that they would not disgrace the great metropolis +of England itself. In one melancholy feature, Sydney too nearly +resembles London, namely, in the immense number of its public houses, +of which, according to Mr. Montgomery Martin, there were about two +hundred in the whole town. The population in 1841 was 29,973 souls. Of +these, 16,505 were returned as belonging to the Church of England; 8,126 +to the Romish Church, while the rest were returned as Presbyterians, +Dissenters, Jews, Mahometans, and Pagans. Sydney is divided into four +parishes: St. Philip, St. James, St. Andrew, and St. Lawrence; in the +two first of which churches have long existed, and in St. James's church +the cathedral service is daily used, with weekly communion; and there is +a choir, organ, &c.[138] In the two last named parishes no churches have +existed until very recently, but through the indefatigable exertions of +Bishop Broughton, which have been not unworthily seconded by the Rev. +W. Horatio Walsh, and the Rev. W. West Simpson, congregations have +been assembled together, which will, it may be hoped, continue to +attend the divine service of the Church of England, long after more +suitable buildings than those originally used,--_a brewhouse and a +threshing-floor_,--shall have been provided for their accommodation. +In St. Lawrence's parish a regular church was begun in 1840, and is +probably completed before this time; and, to the credit of Sydney, it +may be stated, that no less than 571_l._ were collected from those +present at the meeting in which the erection of the church was resolved +upon. In St. Andrew's it is proposed to raise the cathedral church of +the diocese of Australia; and, therefore, it must necessarily be longer +before the building can be completed; but the importance of this +undertaking cannot be more clearly shown than by the recent statement +of Bishop Broughton, whence it would appear that of 7000 inhabitants in +St. Andrew's parish, 3500 belong to the Church of their fathers or of +their native home--the scriptural and apostolical Church of England. But +more of these, and similar matters elsewhere. It was a wise and useful +arrangement of our forefathers, by which our parishes were made at once +ecclesiastical and civil divisions; and since this practice has in some +measure been followed out in our colonies, the reader will excuse the +brief observations thus suggested by the mention of the civil division +of Sydney into four parishes. One more remark, and that a painful one, +may be added. The expenses of the police establishment, _in the town +of Sydney alone_, cost the government, in the year 1838, the sum of +12,350_l._, whereas the cost of the ecclesiastical establishment of the +Church of England, in the same town, (including the stipend of the +bishop,) amounted only to 3,025_l._ during that year.[139] Supposing +(what is most likely) that the former sum is by no means _too much_, +how far _too little_ must the latter be! + + [138] There are several other parishes in the _suburbs_ of Sydney. A + third new church is likewise mentioned, among those in progress at + Sydney, in the Bishop of Australia's Charge, delivered in 1841. See + Appendix A, p. 36. + + [139] Compare p. 115 of Judge Burton's work on Education and Religion + in New South Wales, with Appendix No. 12 of the same work. It may be + noticed, that the sum mentioned applies only to stipends and allowances + of the Clergy, and does not include sums voted for building purposes. + +Sydney has a very good market, which is tolerably well supplied with the +necessaries of life; but many of these, as for example, eggs, butter, +apples, &c., are very dear at present, compared with the prices usual +in the mother country; while tea, coffee, sugar, &c. are cheap in +proportion. The most expensive article of living in Sydney is +house-rent, which appears to be enormously high, so that 100_l._ a year +is considered only a moderate charge for an unfurnished house, with +ordinary conveniences; and out of the salary allowed by government to +the Bishop of Australia, upwards of one-seventh part is expended in rent +alone. The shops in the capital of New South Wales are said to be very +good, and the articles well and tastefully arranged; but the social +condition of the colony naturally tends to make the persons who keep +them very different, and a much less respectable class, speaking +generally, than the tradespeople of the mother country. The noble +harbour of Port Jackson, and the position of the capital of the colony, +unite in affording every possible encouragement to trade; and the +following account given by the Sydney Herald, last year (1842) is +about the most recent statement that has been received of the present +condition of that commerce, which is altering and increasing every year. +The shipping of Sydney now amounts to 224 vessels of the aggregate +burden of 25,000 tons, of which 15 are steamers, of an aggregate burden +of 1635 tons. This statement may give some idea of the rapidity with +which the ports of the Southern world are rising into an almost European +importance.[140] Since the year 1817 several large banks have been +established, and, from the high rate of interest which money has always +borne in the colony, it is not surprising that some of these concerns +have been very profitable. It is only to be hoped that the spirit of +speculation may not be carried out, till it ends, as it too frequently +does in the mother country, in fraud and dishonesty. + + [140] See the Morning Herald, July 5, 1842. + +There is a well-managed post-office in Sydney, and a twopenny post, with +delivery twice a day, in the town itself. There is, likewise, a Savings' +Bank,[141] a Mechanics' Institute, several large schools or colleges; +and, in short, so far as is possible, the usages and institutions of +England, whether good or bad, are, in most instances, transferred and +copied with amazing accuracy by the inhabitants of New South Wales. +"Nothing surprises a stranger in an English colony more than the +pertinacity with which our ways, manners, and dress are spread in these +outlandish spots. All smells of home."[142] Accordingly, in complete +agreement with the manners of the mother country, though not in harmony +with that Word of Truth which commands Christians "with one mind and one +mouth to glorify God," (Rom. xv. 6,) the capital of New South Wales is +adorned with several buildings for various parties in the _Christian +world_, as it is called, to meet in public worship. There is a large and +handsome Roman Catholic chapel, "a Scotch church, built after the _neat +and pleasing style_ (?) adopted by the disciples of John Knox; and the +Methodist chapel, an humble and lowly structure;" and, therefore, +according to Mr. Montgomery Martin's opinion, from whom this account is +borrowed, all the better fitted to lead men to admire, love, and worship +their Creator. How different are these modern notions from those of King +David, who, although he was blessed with quite as exalted ideas of God's +omnipresence as most men have, nevertheless deemed it wrong for himself +to "dwell in a house of cedar," while "the ark of God dwelt within +curtains," even the costly and beautifully-wrought curtains of the +tabernacle. And among the imitations of the customs and habits of home, +the love of newspapers, and the number of these published, deserve a +passing notice. The state of the public press in England, especially +with regard to its Sunday publications, is grievous and lamentable +enough to justify the assertion, that printing is a bane as well as a +blessing to our native country. And as for those persons who are weak +enough to talk as though newspapers were the great or sole means of +diffusing _truth_ and _knowledge_ among the people, they are not less +mistaken than others would be, who might affirm that newspapers were the +chief or only means of spreading _lies_ and _ignorance_ among them. But +if so much evil is mingled with the good produced by the public press in +Great Britain, how must the case stand with the same mighty agent of +benefit or mischief in a colony like that of New South Wales? To this +question let Dr. Lang,--himself a newspaper editor in Sydney for many +years, a man of what are called "Liberal principles," and a Presbyterian +teacher,--furnish a reply. His words are stronger than another person, a +stranger to the colony, would like to use, or could be justified in +using; and if exceptions against his authority be made in certain +quarters, care must be taken by them not to quote that same authority +too implicitly on other subjects. Dr. Lang, in the following passage, +speaks disparagingly of one of the great idols of his party; their +favourite toast has always been, "The Liberty of the Press; it is like +the air we breathe, if we have it not, we die,"--although it is true +they have occasionally forgotten that other parties want "air to +breathe," as much as themselves. Bearing these things in mind, we may +listen with a smile to the character which Dr. Lang gives of the +colonial press in New South Wales:--"It has, with only few exceptions, +been an instrument of evil instead of good; while, in many instances, it +has been a mere receptacle and propagator of downright blackguardism." +Accordingly, it is reckoned, (too justly, we may fear,) among the +_sources of colonial demoralization_ in the very paragraph from which +the above statement is borrowed. + + [141] This is flourishing, for the deposits are stated in recent + accounts from Sydney to have increased, between June 30, 1840, and the + same date in 1842, from 143,000_l._ to 178,000_l._, and the number of + accounts opened was much greater than in former years. + + [142] Extract from a private letter. + +The next town to be noticed is Paramatta, which is situated in the same +county with Sydney, and, indeed, is only eighteen miles by water, and +fifteen by land, from the capital; a circumstance that will, most +likely, prevent it from ever reaching that size and consequence to +which at a greater distance it might have attained. Paramatta is built +along a small fresh-water stream, which falls into the harbour of Port +Jackson, at the very head of which the town is seated. For the last few +miles the harbour is navigable only for boats of twelve or fifteen tons +burthen. The town consists chiefly of one long street, and being backed +by a ridge of hills, it has a pleasing appearance, especially from the +Sydney road, where it breaks suddenly upon the view. The population of +Paramatta is 10,052 souls, and the neighbouring country is tolerably +well cleared and inhabited. In this place is the country residence of +the governor, and here also is the station of one of the three regiments +upon duty in the colony. Besides these distinctions, Paramatta has been +chosen to be the site of several establishments of no small utility and +interest in New South Wales. On the banks of the river is the Female +Orphan School, where the little friendless daughters of the colony +are trained up to be members of Christ's holy Catholic Church, and +servants of Him who is "the Father of the fatherless, and the God of +the widow, even God in his holy habitation." Here, likewise, is another +establishment of a very different character, but if less successful in +its results, not less beneficial in its intentions. The Paramatta +factory, or rather penitentiary, is known throughout the settlement, and +has been the object of much abuse from portions of the colonial press. +Its objects are, first, to afford a home and place of refuge to those +female convicts that are not yet assigned to masters, or are out of +service; and, secondly, to provide an asylum for those who have +misconducted themselves, and to give them leisure for reflection and +repentance. At Paramatta, likewise, is the noble institution called the +King's School, which may, with judicious care, prove an invaluable +blessing to the rising generation of the colony. There are also in +this town barracks, and a hospital; an old gaol, and a new one lately +erected, and intended to serve for the whole county of Cumberland, with +the exception of the town of Sydney. Besides these public buildings, +there is a Roman Catholic chapel and a Wesleyan meeting-house; and two +Presbyterian congregations assemble themselves in Paramatta; nor in this +enumeration must the convent lately commenced by a few "Sisters of +Charity" be forgotten. The Romanists are rather numerous in this town, +and very active. In a private letter received from the neighbourhood of +Paramatta, after stating the hold possessed by the English Church upon +the affections of the people, the writer observes, "from the pretensions +of the dissenters I cannot affect any the slightest uneasiness. Our +danger is from Rome. I know not what to anticipate in that quarter. +Their exertions here are gigantic, and really do them credit." Why +should not the efforts of our purer and more Scriptural Church be +equally strenuous? On the south side of the river is St. John's Church, +which is quite removed from the principal increase of the population, +that having taken place chiefly on the opposite bank. The Rev. Samuel +Marsden, who was chaplain in New South Wales for more than forty years, +bequeathed 200_l._ and gave a piece of land to promote the erection of a +second church here; but for one reason or another, no progress had been +made towards this desirable end, and in a letter dated January 1842, +Bishop Broughton stated his resolution to commence the good work, even +with the scanty resources at his disposal, hoping that the sight of a +building in progress would awaken the liberality, and stir up the hearts +of those that were able to contribute. + +Windsor is the next town in the colony of New South Wales, which +appears to be deserving of a particular notice. It is in the county of +Cumberland, and stands upon a hill rising about 100 feet above the level +of the Hawkesbury, upon the banks of which river it is built, and is +thus placed beyond the reach of its occasional destructive floods. The +town is situated on a point of land lying between the Hawkesbury and a +stream called South Creek, running on the other side; and so numerous +are the windings of the former river, that although not more than +thirty-five miles in a straight line from the sea, the distance by the +Hawkesbury is 140 miles. The destructive propensity of the colonists to +root up and destroy all trees, whether in the way of agriculture or not, +would appear to have worked wonders in this neighbourhood, for among +other advantages detailed in an advertisement of property to be sold +there, it is stated that fire-wood is so scarce, as to ensure +considerable profit from the sale of the wood on the estate. Windsor is +twenty miles from Paramatta, and thirty-six from Sydney, and the country +around it is very rich and beautiful. In some places the cliffs that +overhang the Hawkesbury are not less than 600 feet in height; and the +picturesque scenery, the numerous vessels and boats upon the stream, +which is here navigable for ships of more than 100 tons, the views of +the fertile country in the neighbourhood, with its abundant crops of +wheat and Indian corn, the boundary of the western horizon, formed by +the Blue Mountains, the base of which is about twenty miles distant: all +these natural beauties combine to render Windsor a very agreeable spot. +Its population is about 2000, and it has the usual public buildings, a +gaol, barracks, hospital, &c.; there is also a church dedicated to St. +Matthew, which until lately was served together with the chapel at +Richmond, a little town about five miles distant, by the same +clergyman. There are also Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, and Wesleyan +places of worship. + +The town of Liverpool, situated, like those already mentioned, in the +county of Cumberland, still remains to be noticed. It is about twenty +miles from Sydney, and is built upon the banks of George's River, a +small navigable stream which empties itself into Botany Bay, the bleak +and unsheltered inlet upon which the proposed colony under Captain +Phillip was to have been settled. Liverpool is centrally situated, but +the soil around it is poor, and the population not very large; but since +it is the intended seat of the proposed college, founded by Mr. Moore, +it will probably hereafter become a place of some consequence. There +is nothing particularly to be remarked respecting the buildings of +Liverpool at present, with the exception of the Male Orphan Asylum, +which is a very good institution, the boys being not only educated +there, but likewise brought up to different trades, and general habits +of industry. The number of the orphan children in this school in 1839, +was 153.[143] + + [143] See Burton on Education and Religion in New South Wales, p. 174. + +Beyond the limits of the county of Cumberland there are very few towns +which are large enough to merit particular attention, and of these the +situations of the two most important and conspicuous, namely Bathurst +and Newcastle, have already been mentioned. Instead, therefore, of +wearying the reader with an attempt minutely to describe the small towns +of New South Wales, it will be better to proceed without delay to a +description of the other British colonies in Australia. + + + + +[Illustration: HOBART TOWN.] + +CHAPTER X. + +TASMANIA, AND THE OTHER AUSTRALIAN SETTLEMENTS. + + +Van Diemen's Land, or Tasmania, the next important colony, is, as we +have before stated, a separate island of considerable size, nearly +all the eastern side of which is now inhabited by the English. It +was divided into two counties only, which are called Cornwall and +Buckinghamshire, but these being inconveniently large, a fresh division +into eleven counties, all of them borrowing the names of some in England +or Wales, has since taken place.[144] But without concerning ourselves +about these smaller divisions, which it would be impossible to describe +exactly and distinctly, it may suffice to state, that the two chief +towns in the island are at its opposite extremities, Hobart Town being +at the south, and Launceston at the north, and both of these are +sea-ports; so that the colony seems naturally to divide itself into two +provinces, each of which has one of these towns for its capital, but +which are both, nevertheless, similar in their appearance, character, +and productions. + + [144] According to Mr. Montgomery Martin, (Van Diemen's Land, p. 266,) + Cornwall and Buckinghamshire continue to be its only counties, and it is + subdivided into nine police districts; but Dr. Ross's Almanac for 1836 + contains, at p. 238, the governor's proclamation for the division + mentioned above; whilst a third division of the island into the counties + of Argyle and Launceston is followed in the Report of the Society for the + Propagation of the Gospel, for 1842. The above may serve for a specimen + of the obscurity and confusion upon these trifling matters, respecting + which accuracy seems almost unattainable. + +Van Diemen's Land is a more mountainous, and yet, it would seem, a more +fruitful country than New South Wales. It is, according to the testimony +of all who have visited it, a most beautiful and pleasing land; the +mountains are tolerably high, but do not run much in ranges, and the +views among them are continually broken and cheered by delightful +valleys and fertile plains. Among these hills, limestone is very +commonly discovered, and is now in considerable use; it is supposed, +likewise, that coals, and iron ore, will be found abundantly in Van +Diemen's Land, but these resources of the colony have not yet been much +explored. In the cultivated parts of the country the soil varies +greatly; in some places it is a rich black mould, in others, sand or +flint is mingled; but its general fertility is proved by the excellent +crops which, year after year, it produces. The coast of Van Diemen's +Land abounds in bays and fine harbours; nor is this island at all +deficient in rivers and streams, imparting life to the landscape, and +fruitfulness to the soil. The Derwent, upon the banks of which stands +Hobart Town, is a very fine river, without rocks or sand banks, and +always safely navigable for ships of considerable size. Both sides of +this river abound in beautiful and romantic scenery, and although the +soil is less productive than in some other parts of the colony, yet the +neighbourhood of the capital, and the advantage of water-carriage, +combine to make amends for this inferiority. The Tamar falls into the +sea in Bass's Strait, quite on the opposite side of the island to the +mouth of the Derwent; and as Hobart Town adorns the latter river, so the +Tamar is enlivened by the trade and commerce of the port of Launceston. +The navigation of this river for large vessels is not easy, in +consequence of a bar and other hindrances. The Tamar is formed by the +union of two smaller streams, named the North Esk, and South Esk, and at +Launceston, the distance from the sea is about forty miles. Towards its +mouth, the land adjoining this stream is barren and sandy, but within a +few miles this kind of soil is succeeded by rich level marshes, and +beautiful slopes of moderately wooded and rich pasture country rising up +behind these. The other rivers of Van Diemen's Land are either, like the +Huon, situated in the uncolonized parts, or, like the Shannon, the +Jordan, and the Clyde, inconsiderable streams, so as not to merit a more +particular description. Many of the Tasmanian rivers take their rise in +lakes, which are usually found in high situations in the central parts +of the island, and abound with water-fowl. + +Hobart Town, the capital of a very beautiful and lovely island, may +boast of a situation of suitable loveliness and beauty. Behind it, on +the west, stand some gently rising hills, well wooded, beyond which +towers Mount Wellington, 4000 feet in height, and having its summit, +during more than half the year, covered with snow, but yet seldom +obscured with clouds, because of the pureness and clearness of the air. +On the other side of the town, to the eastward, is to be seen the noble +Derwent, which here better deserves to be called an arm of the sea than +a river, extending with its winding banks, forming beautiful bays and +lakes, or projecting into picturesque points, whilst its waters are +enlivened by the boats and shipping of the adjacent port. The water here +is salt, and the bay on which Hobart Town stands affords one of the best +anchorages in the world for vessels, in whatever number or of whatever +burden they may be. Indeed it is said that the Derwent surpasses even +Port Jackson, or at least it is doubtful which of the two deserves a +preference.[145] The capital of Tasmania is built upon gently rising +ground, and though within the present century its site was mere +bush-land, it has now some good streets, with large and handsome shops +and houses. According to Mr. Montgomery Martin, the average rental of +these was 50_l._ each, but then we must not lose sight of the high value +which houses bear in Australia. However, at that calculation, the annual +value of rent in Hobart Town in the year 1835, when there were 1281 +houses, would be 72,000_l._[146] The public buildings are said to be, +some of them, handsome and commodious. Court-house, barracks, hospital, +orphan-schools, jails, and government house, rank among the principal +buildings of Hobart Town; and in many respects it appears to resemble a +provincial sea-port in the mother country. It has some excellent inns, +good wharfs and warehouses, and public banks, besides a few considerable +manufacturing establishments. A small stream runs nearly through the +centre of the town, which, besides turning some mills, affords at +certain seasons a good supply of water. But the town is chiefly supplied +by means of pipes, which convey water to private houses and likewise to +the public pumps, and occasionally, it would appear, some scarcity of +this needful article prevails.[147] The church of St. David's, in the +capital of Van Diemen's Land, is a large building, and so it ought to +be, since it was until lately the only church for a population +(including the suburbs) of 13,000 souls.[148] Besides the church, sundry +other buildings rear up their heads, here as elsewhere; and if any thing +could justify separation and divisions among those for whom their Divine +Master prayed "that they might be one," if in any case it were "lawful +to do evil that good may come," then dissent of every kind might find +its excuse in a place like Hobart Town, where so many thousand souls, +the majority of them in a very unhealthy state, have been formerly left +in the charge of one pastor. But instead of praying the Lord of the +vineyard for more labourers, and endeavouring themselves to furnish the +means of supplying these, men have rushed, self-sent, or sent only by +others having no more authority than themselves, into the field of +pastoral labour. And while we lament the confusion that has ensued, +while we rejoice in whatever good may have resulted from unauthorized +preachers, we members of the Church of England are compelled by truth to +acknowledge, that, if other men have been led astray by their eagerness +and ignorance, we have been not less culpably misled by our slothfulness +and apathy. Accordingly the marks of our needless divisions are every +where manifest; and like the noxious weeds which sometimes hang about +the roots of a noble tree, so are these transplanted together with our +best institutions into our colonies. In the chief town of Tasmania are +to be found separate places of worship for Roman Catholics, +Presbyterians, Wesleyans, and Independents. + + [145] See Wentworth's Australasia, vol. i. p. 51. + + [146] See Mr. M. Martin's Van Diemen's Land, p. 274. + + [147] The following specimen of the evil art of stirring up the + discontent of those that are suffering under the dispensations of + Providence, is taken from an old newspaper, published in Hobart Town in + 1835. It may be stated, that in the very same paper we are informed that + the drought had recently been so great that scarcely a cabbage, or any + other vegetable but potato, was to be obtained in the town. Of course + water was scarce, and precautions had been taken by the Governor to + preserve some at a place whence the shipping were supplied; but this + careful conduct of their ruler is thus held up to the abhorrence of + the people. "Why," it is asked, "do not the people drink the ditchwater + and be poisoned quietly; it is quite enough that their betters should + enjoy such a luxury as pure water." And how often in England do we see + this sort of trash printed by those _dealers in knowledge_, the + newspaper-writers, who sometimes argue as though all the credit of + prosperous occurrences belonged to the _people_ of a country, and all + the disgrace and responsibility of misfortunes and trials were to be put + off upon its _rulers_! How often are we reminded of the Israelites + murmuring against Moses on account of the miseries of that wilderness + in which their own sins condemned them to wander! + + [148] From a letter dated March 4, 1841, and written by the late + lamented Archdeacon Hutchins, it would appear that two new churches, + St. Giles's and Trinity, are likely to be erected in Hobart Town. See + Report of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, for 1841, + p. 61. + +With respect to Launceston, which continues still to be the principal +town on the northern side of Van Diemen's Land, there is not much to be +related. It stands at the junction of the North and South Esk, and +consequently at the head of the navigation of the Tamar, which is formed +by these two streams. The town is pleasantly situated at the foot of a +hill upon a small plain of about 200 acres of land. There are a few good +houses in Launceston, but its improvement has not kept pace with that of +Hobart Town; nor is it ever likely to increase very greatly, since a +government establishment has been formed at George Town, a place about +thirty miles lower down, and consequently much nearer to Port Dalrymple +at the entrance of the Tamar, and more convenient in its access for +large ships. George Town is well situated for every purpose of +trade, but for agriculture it offers no advantages, the soil in the +neighbourhood being very poor, and accordingly most of the settlers +prefer remaining at Launceston. The population of the latter place may +be nearly 1000, but no return of this has been met with apart from the +population of the district to which the town gives its name. Launceston +has a chaplain and a church, of which no particular account is given. +There is also a Presbyterian teacher resident in the town. At Longford, +near Launceston, may be found an example of "patient continuance in +well-doing," which deserves to be recorded for the encouragement of +others. About the year 1830 the first clergyman stationed there, the +Rev. R. P. Davis, began with a congregation of five, which appeared for +some time stationary. A church had been built which it was thought would +never be filled; but in eight years afterwards, the walls could not +contain those who were anxious to hear the word of God in them. The +grain of mustard-seed had literally grown into a spreading tree; the +congregation had multiplied a hundredfold, and a large church was about +to be built, to which the inhabitants had contributed 1500_l._[149] +Other small places might be mentioned, as Elizabeth Town, Perth, +Brighton, &c., which are very pleasant and thriving little settlements; +and the penal settlements of Port Macquarie and on Tasman's Peninsula +might be described. Port Arthur, one of these, is on the last-named +Peninsula, a sterile spot of about 100,000 acres, surrounded by sea, +except where a narrow neck of land connects it with the main island; and +this isthmus is guarded, night and day, by soldiers, and by a line of +fierce dogs. Nothing particularly deserving of further notice presents +itself, and therefore we may conclude our brief sketch of Van Diemen's +Land, wishing it and all the other British colonies in Australia a +progress no less rapid in religion and morals, than their recent +progress in commerce, agriculture, riches, and luxuries has been. What +condition of a country can be more truly deplorable than that which in +holy Scripture is so powerfully set forth, when the boast, "I am rich +and increased with goods, and have need of nothing," is heard proceeding +from a land which in the sight of God is "wretched, and miserable, and +poor, and blind, and naked?"[150] + + [149] Bishop of Australia's letter to the Society for the Propagation + of the Gospel, dated May 22, 1838. + + [150] See Rev. iii. 17. + +The Australian colonies may be said to form a family group of British +origin; and although the two elder sisters are undoubtedly the most +advanced and interesting, yet some of the younger branches of the same +family may justly deserve to be noticed. We may begin with the very +recent colony called Port Phillip, which lies between New South Wales +and Van Diemen's Land, and which, as we have already seen, had well +nigh taken the place of the latter country in the honours of early +colonization. The country in the neighbourhood of the inlet named Port +Phillip is in many parts exceedingly rich and fine; the scenery is +varied by hills, woods, and water; and besides much excellent pasture +and sheep walks, there are thousands of acres ready for the plough, and +capable of growing any European grain. The situation of the principal +town here, called Melbourne, is on the Yarra Yarra river, just where its +stream flows over a fall and mingles with the salt water from Port +Phillip, from the head of which bay Melbourne is distant about six miles +by the course of the river, but across the land not more than one and a +half. The vessels generally lie at Hobson's Bay, distant by land four or +five miles, by water ten or twelve. There is a bar at the entrance of +the river which prevents large ships from coming up close to Melbourne. +The town appears to be rapidly increasing; the commerce of Port Phillip +is yearly extending; its central position, the goodness of much of the +surrounding soil, and the fact of its being less encumbered than is +usually the case with wood, all these circumstances unite in rendering +this outpost, as we may term it, of New South Wales, an important and +interesting spot. Respecting its prospects of religious improvement +and pastoral care, it is gratifying to be able to quote the following +statement from a letter of the Bishop of Australia, of whose unwieldy +diocese Port Phillip forms a part. "At Melbourne the zeal of the +inhabitants has led them to undertake the erection of a church, the +estimated cost of which is nearly 7000_l._ Although the certain and +rapid increase of the town be such as will, at no distant period, call +for a church of that importance, I greatly fear that resources may be +wanting for its immediate erection." Meanwhile the Bishop expresses his +anxiety that temporary accommodation, at the least, should be provided +for the great numbers collected at Melbourne, who are desirous of +attending the church. "It is evident," continues he, "that within a +short interval there will be in the colony few stations, with the +exception, perhaps, of Sydney itself, which will demand more assiduous +care and attention on behalf of its spiritual interests, than the town +whose streets extend over a spot where, not more than three years ago, +the Yarra Yarra flowed through an almost uninterrupted solitude."[151] +The population of Melbourne is stated in a recent periodical to be 4479, +while that of the whole settlement of Port Phillip is 11,758. By the +same authority the numbers of the members of the Church of England in +this English colony are said to be 6194; that of the Presbyterians, +2045; of the Wesleyan Methodists, 651; of other dissenters, 1353; of +Roman Catholics, 1441; of Jews, 59; Mahommedans and Pagans, 10. The +mention of Jews, who are to be met with in almost all these remote +colonies of the southern ocean, can scarcely fail to recall to mind +God's threatenings to his chosen people (see Deut. xxviii. 64). We +shall conclude this notice of Port Phillip with mentioning two +important items in the estimates of its expenditure for 1842:--Police +and jails, 17,526_l._ 8_s._; clergy and schools, 5350_l._;[152] and, +as a commentary upon these disproportionate estimates, which are by +no means peculiar to Port Phillip, the words of Sir George Arthur may be +added:--"Penitentiaries, treadwheels, flogging, chain-gangs, and penal +settlements," says the late governor of Tasmania, "will all prove +ineffectual either to prevent or to punish crime, _without religious +and moral instruction_." + + [151] See Bishop of Australia's Letter, dated June 1840, in the Report + of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, for + 1841, pp. 148-9. + + [152] For the particulars here stated see the Australian and New Zealand + Magazine, No. 1, p. 51, and No. 2, pp. 111, 112. + +The next of the infant colonies of Great Britain in New Holland, which +offers itself to our attention, as the eye ranges over the map of that +huge island, is the very recently formed settlement of Southern +Australia. This is situated upon the southern coast likewise, and +consists of a large block of country, the inland parts of which have not +yet been explored, forming three sides of a square, with the fourth side +broken and jagged by the inclination and indentations of the coast, +which are here very considerable. The area of South Australia thus +marked out is supposed to be about 310,000 square miles, containing +upwards of 98,000,000 of acres; that is to say, it is double the size of +the three British kingdoms, and not much less than that of France.[153] +The mode of colonizing this extensive tract of country is proposed to be +upon different principles from those elsewhere followed in Australia. No +transported convicts are ever to be sent there. No free grants of land +are to be made, but land can become private property by purchase alone, +and the whole of the purchase-money is proposed to be spent in the +encouragement of emigration. The emigrants to be conveyed by means of +this fund, without expense to the colony, were to be of both sexes in +equal numbers, and the preference is to be given to young married +persons not having children. The prospect of having a representative +assembly was held out to the colony, but the population was to exceed +50,000 before it could be lawful for the Crown to grant this. + + [153] See Report of Committee on South Australia, p. 78. Evidence of + T. F. Elliot, Esq. Answer 733. From the same source, the report of this + Parliamentary Committee in 1841, much of the information respecting + Southern Australia is derived. + +To attempt to state accurately what the soil and capabilities of so +vast an extent of country may be, would evidently be to attempt an +impossibility. Of that small part of it which is already occupied, much +is barren, hilly land, especially upon the coast. Nevertheless, it would +appear that South Australia has, so far as we can at present judge, its +full proportion of good and available soil, both for the purposes of +farming and for pasture.[154] The situation of that part of the colony, +where the principal settlements have been commenced, is very well +chosen, for it lies upon the Gulf of St. Vincent, a very deep inlet of +the sea, and is well backed with a range of hills to the eastward, +beyond which the country yet unexplored extends to the banks of the +river Murray; so that, in fact, the Murray and the Gulf of St. Vincent, +form natural boundaries to those settlements which are already begun, +and within these limits it is said that there are the means of +supporting comfortably from one hundred to two hundred thousand +inhabitants. This statement agrees with Captain Sturt's report of the +existence of several millions of acres of very beautiful and fertile +land in the same district. The climate of South Australia is healthy, +though very warm;[155] and the usual disorders of Australia, complaints +of the eye and relaxation of the bowels, were the ailments least +uncommon among the new settlers. In March 1841, the population of the +colony was estimated at about 14,000, and the amount of land under +tillage about 2000 acres. But since that time there has been a +considerable increase in both items. The quantity of provisions in +proportion to the inhabitants was considerably greater than in England. +A small commerce is springing up, and slate, which abounds in South +Australia, and oil, the produce of the adjacent seas, together with wool +from the flocks fed upon the neighbouring hills, begin to form materials +of traffic.[156] + + [154] In these matters it is impossible to get at truth. Each man judges + upon certain data, but though the conclusion of each may be correct, yet + because the data were partial and imperfect, so likewise will the + conclusions be. Mr. Mann, who was examined by the Committee upon South + Australia, gives it as his opinion that about four-fifths of the land in + that colony were bad. However, he had never been more than three weeks + in it nor above fourteen miles from its chief town, so his judgment was + formed principally upon hearsay. Others, probably, have gone into the + contrary extreme of praising the soil too highly, and truth may, as + usual, lie between the two extremes. + + [155] It is noticed as a matter of surprise, that on August 6th, 1841, + Mount Lofty, a hill 2400 feet in height, was covered with snow, and that + the small river, called the Torrens, had been partly frozen. + + [156] During the first six months of 1841, seventy vessels, comprising + a burden of 11,139 tons, arrived at Port Adelaide. See Australian and + New Zealand Magazine, No. 2, p. 114. + +The capital of the province of South Australia bears the honoured name +of Adelaide, and is placed upon the eastern side of the Gulf of St. +Vincent. The country around it is hilly and well timbered, but not too +thickly encumbered with wood, and the soil is generally good, with +abundance of water. The British settlers removed to this spot from +Kangaroo Island, which is at the entrance of Gulf St. Vincent, but which +they found less desirable for a colony from the difficulty and expense +of clearing away the timber there. Adelaide is supposed to be well and +centrally placed for the capital of a province, and it now has a good +port,[157] to which vessels of four or five hundred tons may come and +discharge their cargoes. + + [157] Here again reports differ. See Mr. T. Driver's Evidence before the + Committee on South Australia, p. 221, Answer, 2498, and _following ones_. + +The town stands on gently rising banks, between which flows a pretty +stream, named the Torrens, and commands a view of an extensive plain, +reaching down to the sea, over which the fresh breezes generally blow +from the south-west. Behind Adelaide is a fine wooded country, and six +miles distant is a range of hills, with the wooded summit of Mount Lofty +forming their highest point. The population of the capital of South +Australia and its immediate neighbourhood, is supposed to be about eight +thousand. The town has not yet many buildings or establishments of any +importance, but there is a hospital, and also a savings' bank, in which +last, during six months of 1841, the deposits had increased from 130_l._ +0_s._ 2_d._ to 520_l._ 2_s._ 10_d._ It had _four_ newspapers and _one_ +colonial chaplain in 1842, and the estimates for that year contained the +following items:--Police, 9112_l._ 19_s._ 4_d._; jail, 1034_l._ 8_s._; +colonial chaplain, 370_l._ But we must do the colony of South Australia +the justice to state that this is not the whole sum which is there spent +on religious instruction. The voluntary system, as it is called, has +been brought into action there, and hitherto, it would appear, +successfully enough, so far as pounds, shillings, and pence are +concerned, if it be true that in four years,--the four first years of +the colony,--upwards of 11,500_l._ had been voluntarily contributed for +religious and educational purposes, and "the clergy," (as all teachers +are now denominated,) supported at an annual charge of 1200_l._ But, of +course, the voluntary principle, as its name implies, is a little apt +to be _wilful_; and, accordingly, in Adelaide alone, with a population +of eight thousand souls, it is stated that there are ten or twelve +public "places of worship," and a corresponding number of "zealous, +highly-educated, and efficient clergymen." Every settler apportions his +mite to Paul, to Apollos or to Cephas, according as it seems right in +his own eyes; and occasionally it may happen, when any little offence is +taken, that the popular saying is actually realized, and Peter is robbed +that Paul may be paid. And to some persons, who cannot, one would think, +have read their Bible with much attention, this system appears actually +to be the very height of perfection. The following brief quotation from +a letter of the Congregational teacher at Adelaide is said to be "most +satisfactory:"-- + +"_Religion._--The whole circle of denominations is filled up with their +appropriate pastors, churches, and places of worship. Adelaide is well +supplied. The country is not altogether neglected; but, as it fills up, +will be better attended to. I do not think the religious prospects bad. +Truth and piety, I expect, will flourish in South Australia. The clergy +of the Churches of England and Scotland are evangelical; the Wesleyans +have been very active and useful. Of us, you read in the Report of the +Colonial Missionary Society. The other bodies are also making their +way."[158] Would this report of religion in South Australia be "most +satisfactory" to that apostle, who teaches that "there is _one_ body, +and _one_ Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling?" + + [158] See "South Australia in 1842," p. 19, published by Hailes, London. + +Still let us not judge harshly of the infant colony, nor reproach it for +a leprosy, with which it has been inoculated by the mother country. +While we hail with gladness the good spirit which has been shown in +raising so much money for religious objects in the very infancy of the +settlement, let us hope, that the "places of worship" may diminish in +number, while the churches increase, and that the country districts may +have a larger share of assistance than they can now receive out of what +remains of 1200_l._ a year, after Adelaide and its _ten_ or _twelve +clergymen_ have been supplied.[159] Undoubtedly, in this province of +Australia there is much zeal and good feeling awakened, and the efforts +of the South Australian Church Building Society are deserving of every +success. To the members of this Society it must be indeed a cause of +thankfulness and joy, that they can call to mind during the lapse of +only four years, the quick succession of an open spot, a tent, a reed +hut, a wooden shed, and lastly, a church capable of holding six hundred +persons, being respectively used for places of divine worship. And now, +not only do they see one church finished, but two others are, ere this +time, no doubt completed.[160] + + [159] For the facts here noticed, see the Australian and New Zealand + Magazine, No. 1. p. 53. + + [160] See Report of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel for + 1842, p. 57. + +The British colony in the great southern land to which the attention of +the reader may next be directed, is that of Western Australia; or, +as it was called in its earlier days, during its first struggles into +existence, the Swan River Settlement. This is situated upon the coast of +New Holland, opposite to the colony of New South Wales, lying in nearly +the same latitude, but thirty-four or thirty-six degrees of longitude to +the west of it. The first discovery of this spot was made by a Dutchman, +Vlaming, in 1697, who named the stream Black Swan River, from the black +swans, which were then seen for the first time by Europeans, and two of +which were taken alive to Batavia.[161] The banks of the Swan River were +first colonized in 1830, and the mode in which this was effected is +peculiar and different from the usual course. A few gentlemen of large +property undertook to found the colony, at little or no expense to the +mother country, receiving immense grants of land in return for the +expenses incurred by them in this attempt; which grants, however, were +to revert to government, unless they were cultivated and improved under +certain conditions and in a given time. Great difficulties and many +privations were endured by the first settlers, but these appear to have +been overcome, and so soon as the stream of emigration shall have set +steadily into Western Australia, (which is, perhaps, all things +considered, the most desirable of our Australasian colonies for a +respectable Englishman to fix himself in,) there can be little doubt +that its progress will be not less rapid than that of the sister +settlements. Along the sea coast, the country is hilly and barren; nor +is it much better in the immediate neighbourhood of the principal +settlements, Perth and Fremantle; but beyond these there is plenty of +good grass country, and near the inland town of Guildford, the arable +land in the valley of the Swan River is surpassingly rich and +productive, so that it has been known to bear eleven successive crops of +wheat in as many years, without any manure, and the last year's crop +averaging twenty-five bushels to the acre. In some parts this good land +approaches more nearly to the coast; but still a large proportion of the +soil is poor and sandy, although even of this a great deal is capable of +cultivation, and is thought to be especially fitted for the growth of +the vine.[162] The climate is exceedingly healthy and delightful; +indeed, it is even superior to other parts of Australia, and rain is +more abundant here than elsewhere. Plenty of fish is likewise to be +found in the neighbouring bays and inlets, which are very numerous; and +the whales are so plentiful, only a few hours' sail from the shore, that +oil is a principal article of export, but the Americans are allowed to +occupy this fishery almost entirely, and it is stated that from two to +three hundred of their ships have been engaged in the whale fishery off +this coast during a single year. The population of Western Australia is +small, not being computed at more than 2700 souls in the beginning of +the year 1842. The number of acres cultivated in 1840 were, according +to the returns of the local Agricultural Society, 1650 in wheat, and +3296 in every kind of culture. This settlement is, more than others, +in want of that article of which England especially needs to be +relieved--population; and if a man is frugal, sober, and industrious, if +he will bear in mind that "on no part of the face of the globe will the +earth yield her increase, but as it is moistened by sweat from man's +brow,"[163] Western Australia is, possibly, the best and most agreeable +country where he can find a happy home. Although this large district is +yet so thinly peopled, it is, nevertheless, in a state of colonization +and civilization surpassing what might have been fairly expected. And +the absence of convicts, though it renders labour scarce and expensive, +brings with it counterbalancing advantages, and prevents the double +danger of immediate taint to society from the unhappy criminals, and of +future schism arising between the emancipated convicts, or their +children, and the free settlers. + + [161] See Flinders' Voyage, Introduction, vol. i. p. 60. + + [162] There is a vine in the government garden (at Perth) which, planted + as a cutting, sent out shoots 16 1/2 feet long in the second year, and + yielded more than 4 cwt. of grapes. Another, belonging to Mr. C. Brown + of the same place, had a stem, which, in only five years' growth, was + 14 1/2 feet in circumference. See "A Short Account of the Settlement in + Swan River," p. 15, published by Cross, Holborn, 1842. + + [163] See "A Short Account of the Settlement of Swan River," p. 33. + +Fremantle is at the mouth of the Swan River, and contains some +tolerable houses, with a jetty and various other conveniences for +trade, especially for the whale fishery; from the ships engaged in which +pursuit, (chiefly American vessels,) a great portion of its commerce is +derived. One cause of its trade and population not having increased more +rapidly may be the bar across the mouth of the Swan River, having only +a depth of six feet at low water, and preventing the approach of ships +of large burden. The soil around is sandy, and produces little or no +grass; but when well cultivated, it yields excellent vegetables. Two +miles from Fremantle, up the river, there is a ferry across to Perth, +the seat of government and capital of the colony, which is well +situated, the river extending into a broad sheet, named Melville Waters, +in front of the town. Here is good brick-earth and garden-ground, and +near the town there are some tolerable farms. But at Guildford, seven +miles further up the river, commences the rich corn-land of the colony, +and the town itself contains six or seven hundred inhabitants. York is +forty-eight miles eastward of Guildford; and King George's Sound, on the +coast, where there is another settlement, is about one hundred and fifty +miles from York. + +There are several other little stations scattered about in various +directions, especially upon the coast. In 1840 there were five clergymen +in Western Australia, and on the 1st of January, 1841, the foundation +stone of a church at Perth to contain 600 persons was laid by the +governor; its estimated cost was 4000_l._ There are churches also at +Guildford, at the Middle Swan, the Upper Swan, and at York, and a new +church erecting at Albany, near King George's Sound. Some humble little +churches have also been built of mud, and thatched with rushes, in this +colony. And although, where it can be done, we think that noble churches +are most becoming to the service of the King of kings, yet we doubt not, +in the cases where these lowly buildings are unavoidable, that since +"the chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels," so +these ministering spirits are sent forth into the wilderness to minister +unto them that are heirs of salvation: we confidently trust that "the +Lord is among them," even "as in the holy place of Sinai." Wesleyan +meeting-houses are to be found at Perth and Fremantle. The governor +and executive council were authorized to "grant aid towards ministers' +stipends, and towards buildings, _without any distinction of +sect_."[164] This precious system, which would make no "distinction of +sect," between the doctrine of the beloved apostle St. John, and that of +the Nicolaitans, "which God hates,"[165] is almost a dead letter in +Western Australia, owing to the scattered state of the population, and +the great majority of them being members of the Church of England. The +duty of government to _tolerate_ separatists, (while they continue +obedient to the laws of the country,) is now denied by no one; and +toleration, one might have supposed, would have been all that those who +dislike a state church would have accepted; but the duty of government +to _encourage_ and _foster_ separation in places where it does not at +present exist, is inculcated neither by reason, policy, nor Scripture; +neither can dissenters consistently accept of aid from the state in +Australia, and exclaim against it in England. + + [164] See Australian and New Zealand Magazine, No. 1, p. 28. + + [165] See Rev. ii. 15. + +One more commencement of colonization in the island of New Holland must +be mentioned in order to complete the circle. An attempt to form a +settlement on the northern coast was made as early as 1824, at Melville +Island, rather more than five degrees to the west of the Gulph of +Carpentaria; but this establishment was moved in 1827 to Raffles Bay, +an adjacent inlet of the main land. The new station was in its turn +abandoned in the year 1829, and a fresh settlement, at the distance of +a few miles, was planted at Port Essington, by Sir Gordon Bremer, who +sailed thither with His Majesty's ships _Alligator_ and _Britomarte_, +in 1838. The colony is still quite in an infant state. No clergyman +accompanied the expedition, although the commander was desirous +of securing the blessings of Church communion for his little +settlement.[166] In the immediate neighbourhood some native Christians +(Australians) were found, who had many years ago been converted by the +Dutch; they had churches, and appeared to behave well. Upon application +to the Bishop of Australia, 300_l._ was obtained towards a church at +Port Essington, and his endeavours to get a chaplain appointed there +were promised. It may be observed that Port Essington is situated 2000 +miles, in a direct line, from Hobart Town, and both places were until +very recently within the same diocese, that of Australia! In like +manner, when the five clergymen stationed in Western Australia had +memorialized the Bishop to visit them, that he might consecrate their +churches, confirm their children, and "set in order things that were +wanting," one great obstacle to his compliance was the necessity of +having his life insured in the interim, for Western Australia, though +within his diocese, was not within the limits of his policy of life +assurance! + + [166] Thus, as recently as the year 1838, two ships were sent from + _Christian_ England to found a colony; having on board upwards of + 500 souls, but unprovided with any minister of religion! How strange a + method, _if we really believe God's word_, of gaining a blessing from + Heaven, either for ourselves or our colonies! + + + + +[Illustration: CAPE PILLAR NEAR THE ENTRANCE OF RIVER DERWENT, VAN +DIEMAN'S LAND.] + +CHAPTER XI. + +GENERAL OBSERVATIONS UPON THE AUSTRALIAN COLONIES. + + +Having now rapidly surveyed the various British settlements in +Australia, taking them separately, a few observations may be added +respecting their general condition. And, first, of the _climate_ of +these countries, it must have evidently appeared from what has been +already stated that this is extremely healthy and beautiful. Every one +who has been in Australia appears to be surprised at the spring and +elasticity which the climate imparts to the human frame; and although it +does not seem that the average of life is at all more prolonged there +than in England, still it would really seem, that the enjoyment of life +was greater. Such declarations as these.--"To say we are all well is +really nothing;" "the full enjoyment of health is quite a marvel;" +occur in the letters of those who are settled in the great Southern +Land; and the descriptions with which we meet in books of its +exhilarating climate, completely justify and bear out the pleasing +accounts of it given us by its inhabitants. In so vast a territory, and +in so many different situations as the British colonies now occupy, +there must needs be great variety of climate; and the warmth of Sydney +and its neighbourhood forms a strong contrast to the cool bracing air +of Bathurst, which is only 121 miles distant; the heat of the new +settlements at Moreton Bay, which is nearly tropical, is strongly +opposed to the English climate, beautifully softened and free from +damp, which is enjoyed in Van Diemen's Land. In Australia, it has been +remarked, every thing regarding climate is the opposite of England; for +example, the north is the hot wind, and the south the cool; the westerly +the most unhealthy, and the east the most salubrious; it is summer with +the colonists when it is winter at home, and their midnight coincides +with our noonday. Near the coast, the sea breezes, which set in daily +from the great expanse of waters, are very refreshing; whilst in the +interior, except in Van Diemen's Land, or in very high situations, the +hot winds are extremely disagreeable. Especially in the colony of New +South Wales, during the summer season, the westerly wind, which blows +probably over immense deserts of sandstone, or over miles of country set +on fire by the natives, is scarcely endurable at certain times, but +feels like the heated air at the mouth of a furnace, and is then far +from wholesome or pleasant. However, this blast of hot wind is said +never to endure very long, and it is less oppressive than the same heat +would be elsewhere, because in New Holland the air is dry, and in other +countries, India for instance, when the heat is exactly the same, it is +felt much more intensely from the quantity of moisture with which the +burning atmosphere is surcharged. Still we may form an idea of the +occasional violence of the heat in the interior of New Holland, from +Captain Sturt's account of his expedition across the parched-up marshes +of the Macquarie River, where the sugar which his men carried in their +canisters was melted, and all their dogs destroyed. + +The scourge of Australia is _drought_; and when a native of the British +Islands has lived a few years in that part of the world, he begins +to understand and feel better than he ever before did, the frequent +allusions in the holy Scriptures to water as an emblem and sign of the +greatest blessings. The Englishman in Australia soon learns what is +meant by the blessings of Christ's kingdom being compared to "rivers of +water in a dry place," or to "the shadow of a great rock in a weary +land,"[167] when that rock promises a spring of living water, a comfort +which in New Holland is occasionally found upon the bare top of a +mountain, where no other supply is to be had within thirty miles +round.[168] And the thankfulness of the inhabitants of our own green +islands may be awakened, the undue expectations of the English emigrant +may be checked, by reading complaints like the following, which are, at +intervals, only too well founded in many parts of the Australian +colonies. "We have now for upwards of four months been watching with +anxious interest the progress of every cloudy sky; but, overcast as the +heavens most usually are towards evening, the clouds have appeared to +consist more of smoky exhalations than moist vapours; and even when at +times they have seemed to break darkly over us, their liquid contents +have apparently evaporated in the middle air. The various arrivals in +our port (Port Macquarie) have brought us accounts of genial showers and +refreshing dews, which have visited the neighbouring districts; and even +the silence of our own parched coast has been broken by the sound of +distant thunderstorms, exhausting themselves on the eastern waves while +the sun has been setting in scorching splendour upon the horizon of our +western hills. Since the 30th of June last to the present date, October +28th, there have been but thirteen days with rain, and then the showers +were but trifling. In consequence, the surface of the ground, in large +tracts of the district, is so parched and withered, that all minor +vegetation has nearly ceased, and the wheat-crops that were sown in +June, are, we fear, doomed to perish."[169] + + [167] See Isaiah xxxii. 2. The following proverbial saying in India may + serve to show how natural such comparisons are in the mouths of the + inhabitants of hot climates: "Ah, that benevolent man, he has long been + my shelter from the wind; he is a river to the dry country." See Roberts' + Oriental Illustrations of Scripture, _ad. loc._ p. 429. How different an + idea do the words "shelter from the _wind_" convey to the inhabitant of + England's bleak shores, and Asia's parching deserts! + + [168] See an interesting passage in Major Mitchell's Three Expeditions, + vol. ii. p. 28. See likewise Oxley's First Journal, p. 75. + + [169] See Australian and New Zealand Magazine, No. iv. p. 234. + +How expressive, after reading descriptions like this, do those +complaints of one of the inspired writers appear: "The seed is rotten +under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken +down; for the corn is withered. How do the beasts groan! the herds of +cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of +sheep are made desolate. O Lord, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath +devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all +the trees of the field. The beasts of the field cry also unto Thee, for +the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the +pastures of the wilderness." (Joel i. 17-20.) + +Most of the productions of the soil which are to be found in the +mother country are raised likewise in the Australian settlements. The +wheat-harvest commences in New South Wales in the middle of November, +and is generally over by Christmas, so that to this festive season a +fresh cause of rejoicing is added, and men are called upon to be +thankful at once for the greatest temporal and spiritual blessings; +the same time of year supplies them with the meat that perisheth, and +reminds them of the coming down from heaven of Him who is the bread of +life. But, besides the ordinary produce of our English fields, many +productions of the soil are raised in Australia which will not grow in +the northern climate of Britain. The fruits of Italy and Spain, the +tobacco of Virginia, and the Indian corn of the southern states of +America, are all produced in the Australian colonies. And one fruit may +be particularly noticed, which is in England justly reckoned a delicacy, +but which in New South Wales is so abundant, that the very swine are +feasted upon it: _peaches_ are to be had in full perfection for full +four months in the year, the later varieties regularly succeeding to +those that are earlier. This fruit grows everywhere, it matters not +whether the soil be rich or poor; and if a peach-stone is planted it +will in three years afterwards bear an abundant crop of fruit. So +plentifully do they grow, that they are commonly used to fatten hogs, +for which purpose they answer very well, after having been laid in +heaps, and allowed to ferment a little; cider also of a pleasant and +wholesome quality is made from the same fruit. + +The chief wealth of Australia consists in its flocks and herds, and +nothing in the progress of our settlements there is more astonishing +than the rapidity with which these primitive riches have increased. +Sixty years ago there was not a single sheep in the vast island of New +Holland; and now, from a few narrow strips of land upon some of its +coasts, millions of pounds of wool are annually exported to England. The +fine climate of Australia is especially suited for sheep, and it would +appear to have an improving effect upon the quality of that animal's +fleece, which nowhere reaches greater perfection than in New South +Wales. Cattle also thrive and increase very much in the Australian +settlements, and animals of all kinds in New South Wales are exceedingly +dainty: if shut up in a field of good grass they will starve themselves +with fretting rather than eat it, they are so anxious to get out upon +the sweet natural pastures. Although it is to be hoped and expected +that, under judicious management, these colonies will always be able to +supply their inhabitants with bread, still it is confessed on all sides +that pastoral riches form their natural source of wealth, and that it is +to these chiefly, together with their mineral productions and commerce, +that they must look for a foundation of permanent and continued worldly +prosperity. + +The form of government is the same in all the British Australasian +colonies, and while the governor's authority is supreme, by virtue +of his being the representative of the British crown, his power is +restrained by an executive council and by a legislative council. The +former body, whose office is to assist the governor in carrying the laws +into execution, is composed of the colonial secretary and treasurer, +the bishop and lieutenant-governor, (if the last-named office is not +abolished,) under the presidency of the governor himself. The +legislative council consists of the same persons, with the addition +of the chief justice, the attorney-general, the chief officer of the +customs, the auditor-general, and seven private gentlemen of the colony, +who are appointed by the crown for life, and for whom, in case of death +or removal, the governor may choose a substitute, until the Queen's +pleasure be known. The office of this legislative council is, as its +name implies, that of making laws, in which, however, at least +two-thirds of the members must agree, and which must not be contrary +to the charter, or letters patent, or orders in council, or laws of +England. The proposal of new laws always belongs to the governor, who +must, however, give eight clear days' notice in the public papers, +stating the general objects of the intended enactments; nor can this +rule be dispensed with, except in cases of very great emergency. Such is +briefly the outline of the constitution at present established in the +Australian settlements, and under this form of government they have, +most of them, already run a race of prosperity, which, allowing for the +recent dates of their foundation, can scarcely be matched in the annals +of any nation. Nevertheless, the present form of government is a very +great subject of discontent among many of the colonists, and the _want_ +of a representative house of assembly in New South Wales and Van +Diemen's Land appears to give as little satisfaction to many persons +_there_, as the _presence_ of such an assembly does _here_ in +England.[170] It may easily be imagined what a fine subject for oratory +is thus furnished among a mass of people, who, whatever elements of good +may exist among them, may, generally speaking, be too truly said to have +derived their birth and education from criminals and outcasts. In the +midst of a people thus constituted, a press "unshackled by stamps, +paper-excise, advertisement duty, or censorship," is doing its daily or +weekly work of _enlightening_ the minds of the people respecting their +_grievances_; and where, as in Van Diemen's Land, there is said to be a +newspaper for every 1666 free persons,[171] the people must indeed bask +in the sunshine of political illumination. "The press," it is asserted +on good authority respecting Van Diemen's Land, and it is not less true +of New South Wales, "The press, with few exceptions, finds ample support +in holding up to derision the authorities of the land, and even in the +invasion of the sanctity of domestic privacy."[172] The result, however, +of this state of things is that, actually, in the colonies of Australia +the grievances appear worse, the "wrongs" more galling, and the "rights" +less regarded, than even in England itself; and judging from the crabbed +tone of discontent prevailing in most of the colonial newspapers, the +people who live in a land almost free from taxes, and quite exempt from +tithes and poor-rates, can without much difficulty conjure up complaints +of taxation and oppression not less piercing than those which are to be +heard in a kingdom where taxgatherers, tithe-proctors, and aristocrats, +still exist. Perhaps, there is nothing more calculated to make an +Englishman tolerably satisfied with the state of things in his own +country than the occasional perusal of the newspapers of lands so +"highly favoured" in the way of "taxation" or "liberal institutions," as +the Australian colonies and the United States of America. The christian +patriot looks down with pity upon the strife of tongues and the turmoil +of party-spirit which Satan contrives to raise in almost every country +under the sun; and while the believer can always bless God's providence +for many good things, he expects not perfection in the institutions of +mortal men; it is true that + + "Worldly reformers, while they chafe and curse, + Themselves and others change from bad to worse; + While christian souls for blessings past can praise, + And mend their own and others' future ways." + + [170] A glance over the two ponderous volumes of the evidence before the + Transportation Committee in 1837 and 1838 will satisfy every unprejudiced + person that our penal colonies are not yet ripe for a representative + government. It is curious enough to compare the fearful picture of these + settlements drawn by one section of the so-called Liberal party, which + wages war against transportation, with the more pleasing and flattering + description of their social condition which is given by that other + section of the same party which claims for the colonists "constitutional + rights." + + [171] See Mr. Montgomery Martin's New South Wales, p. 353. + + [172] See Report of Transportation Committee in 1838, p. 32. + +The great instruments by which the christian statesman will aim at +reforming mankind, and making them happy, while at the same time he +will be gaining the highest of all glory to himself, both in time and +eternity, are christian instruction and religious education. A corrupted +press and incessant agitation are instruments suitable enough to +accomplish the works of darkness for which they are usually employed; +nor are churches and schools less fit means of success in the better +and more honourable task of bringing a nation to righteousness, +respectability, and contentment. A short account of the establishment of +the Bishopric of Australia, and a statement of the means of religious +and sound education in that part of the world, will not be out of place +here; and if, as before, we are driven to speak of the neglect of "the +powers that be" upon these essential points, it is hoped that, since +this is done unwillingly,--more in shame and sorrow than in anger and +party-spirit,--it will not be done with a feeling at all contrary to the +Divine precept: "Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy +people."[173] + + [173] Acts xxiii. 5. + +"It is evident unto all men diligently reading holy Scripture and +ancient authors, that from the Apostles' time there have been these +orders of ministers in Christ's Church,--Bishops, Priests, and +Deacons;"[174] and the Church of England has never yet made bold to +dispense with what the Church of Christ did for 1500 years, without a +single exception, deem it necessary everywhere to retain. Never _in +theory_, indeed, has our Church made bold to work without the three +orders of an apostolical ministry, but, alas! frequently has she done +this in practice, and in no instance more openly or less successfully +than in Australia. For upwards of thirty years, no superintendent +at all was placed over the clergy and laity of our communion in New +South Wales, and when a step was taken, it was not made in the right +direction; an archdeacon was appointed, who, whatever might be his civil +authority, was, respecting spiritual authority, exactly upon a level +with his other brethren in the ministry; nor could he assume more than +this without assuming to himself that to which he was not entitled,--the +office of a bishop in the Church. Under these strange and irregular +circumstances was the infant Church, brought from the British isles and +planted in the wilderness of Australia, allowed to continue for about +twelve years. The witness of a layman concerning this state of things +may be here repeated: "I myself then saw a church without a bishop, and +I trust in God I may never see it again."[175] In 1824, the Rev. T. H. +Scott was appointed Archdeacon of New South Wales, and there were then +eight chaplains in the colony, which covered a vast expanse of country, +and contained, in 1821, (three years earlier,) 29,783 souls, of whom +13,814 were convicts. Thus was New South Wales provided with "a very +liberal ecclesiastical establishment," according to the liberal views of +one of its leading historians;[176] and as its population increased, so, +in some degree, if not in an equal proportion, did the number of its +clergy, so that, in September, 1833, the number of souls in the colony +was 60,794,[177] (of whom 16,151 were convicts, and 17,238 Roman +Catholics,) and the number of clergymen was fifteen, besides the +archdeacon and four catechists. Archdeacon Scott was succeeded, in 1829, +by the Rev. W. G. Broughton, whose zeal and activity reflect honour +alike upon himself and upon the discernment of the noble patron, the +Duke of Wellington, who, it is believed, first recommended him to that +office. After enduring labour, and toil, and anxiety, such as those only +know who have to bear the heat and burden of the day in the Lord's +vineyard, at length the archdeacon was made, by permission of the +English government under Lord Melbourne, in 1836, Bishop of Australia; +and the foundation of an Apostolical and Scriptural Church in the Great +Southern Land was at length duly laid, by the consecration of that +prelate, at Lambeth, on February 14th, 1836. The old stipend assigned to +the archdeacon was to be continued without any increase to the Bishop +of Australia; and since 2000_l._ a-year was undoubtedly a very ample +provision for the former, it was thought that it might be found +sufficient for the latter; and so it would be, if the British government +were willing to provide properly for the spiritual wants of the new +diocese, and thus preserve the provision made for the bishop from being +almost entirely swallowed up in endeavouring to satisfy the spiritual +need of his people. This observation, however, justice compels us to +make before we quit the present subject, namely, that, whatever opinion +may be entertained of the dispositions of the British government, during +the ten years following the passing of the Reform Bill, towards the +English Church, for one fact every member of that church must feel +deeply indebted to them. During the time of Lord Grey's and Lord +Melbourne's holding office, no less than _six_ new bishoprics were +erected in the British colonies, and the first impulse was encouraged +of that good spirit which has since sent forth into foreign parts five +bishops in one day to "preach the word, to be instant in season, out of +season, to reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and +doctrine."[178] + + [174] See the Preface to the Form of Ordaining and Consecrating + Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, in the Book of Common Prayer. + + [175] The subjection of New South Wales to the Bishopric of Calcutta + was a mere absurdity; it might just as well have been under Canterbury + at once. + + [176] See Wentworth's Australasia, vol. i. p. 366. + + [177] Elsewhere stated to be 60,861. Perfect accuracy in these matters + appears almost unattainable. + + [178] See St. Paul's charge to Timothy, the first Bishop of Ephesus, + 2 Tim. iv. 2. + +Among the five new sees thus recently established, the pressing +necessities of Australia have not been overlooked; and Tasmania, or Van +Diemen's Land, an island equal in size to Ireland, has been thought to +claim justly a separate bishop for itself. The capital of this island is +not less than 600 miles distant from Sydney, the seat of the bishopric +of Australia; and with a population of 50,000, rapidly increasing, a +large majority of whom are churchmen, its claims to have a bishop of its +own are undeniable. And to these just claims the British government have +listened so far as to devote the 800_l._ per annum formerly assigned to +an archdeacon of Van Diemen's Land towards the endowment of a bishop +there, in addition to which sum 5000_l._ have been set apart from the +Colonial Bishoprics Fund, and the remainder of what is necessary to +provide the occupant of the new see with a decent maintenance is now +being raised among those that feel interested in that particular colony, +or in the general good work whereof this endowment forms only a part. +Nor is it the intention of the promoters of this noble design of +founding in our Australian and other colonies the complete framework of +a Christian Church to stop short here. South Australia, a province even +more thoroughly separated from Sydney than Tasmania is, has appeared +well deserving of the attention of those that have the direction of +this important work; and the zeal of some of the landed proprietors +of the colony has already prepared the way for the establishment of a +bishopric in South Australia. The following extract is from the letter +of a layman residing in the last-mentioned colony:--"At present, we are +pronounced to be in a diocese, whilst the head of that diocese is living +nearly 1200 miles away, and has never been here, and, in all probability +never will be." One person has offered to build, at his own cost, with +the tenth part of his property in Australia, a church at Adelaide, to +endow the see with land to the amount of 270_l._ per annum, and to +furnish plans, &c. for a bishop's residence; other gifts of land have +likewise been contributed to the amount of 100_l._ per annum more. A +grant of 5000_l._ has been obtained from the Colonial Bishoprics Fund, +and it is hoped that, by the efforts of the friends of sound religion, +an endowment of 1000_l._ per annum may speedily be completed for the +intended bishopric.[179] And since the experience of the past forms a +stable foundation of hope for the future, we may form a judgment of +what _will be done_, under the Divine blessing, in Tasmania and South +Australia, by what _has been done_ in the diocese of Australia. In the +charge of the bishop of the last-named see, delivered by him to his +clergy in 1841, it is stated, that, before 1836, the date of his +consecration, there were in the colony of New South Wales nine churches, +eight chapels, or school-houses used as such, and five parsonage-houses; +whereas, in 1841, _nine_ new churches had been completed, _four_ had +been opened by licence, _fifteen_ more were in course of erection; and +twelve new parsonages had been completed, while eight others were also +in progress![180] So great a stimulus, during only five years, had the +presence of the full and effective staff of an apostolical ministry +added to the growth and increase of the Church in one single colony! + + [179] See the Report of the Fund for providing Additional Colonial + Bishoprics, dated June 25th, 1842. Should the particulars stated above + induce any person to desire to lend a helping hand to so good, so + glorious a work, any donations for that purpose, small or large, will be + thankfully received at the office of the Committee, 79, Pall Mall, + London; and a post-office order supplies a sure and easy means of + conveyance for sums not exceeding five pounds. + + [180] See Report of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in + Foreign Parts, for 1842. + +The history of education in the colony of New South Wales is an +important and deeply interesting subject;--indeed, in what country is it +not so?--but the struggles and disappointments of the friends of sound +religious education,--of that education which an Englishman may be +thankful to be permitted to call National,--have been very severe and +trying. To borrow the language of an able statesman and eloquent writer, +"not contented with excluding religion from the province of government, +the spirit of the age struggles with not less zeal to introduce, as its +substitute, education; that is to say, the cultivation of the intellect +of the natural man instead of the heart and affections of the spiritual +man--the abiding in the life of Adam, instead of passing into the life +of Christ."[181] This is precisely what has taken place in Australia. +Only two years after the foundations of the colony had been laid, +George III. was pleased to provide for the Church and for schools, by +ordering the governor to allot in every township 400 acres of land for +the maintenance of a minister, and 200 acres for the support of a +schoolmaster. This provision continued to be assigned, and in many cases +the portion of allotted glebe became of considerable value; but, in +1826, a yet more extensive and promising support was afforded by the +British government to the cause of religious instruction in New South +Wales. The nature of this assistance may be detailed first in the words +of a violent and not very sensible or consistent enemy of the Church of +England, and then the reader may turn to the account given by one of its +ablest and best friends. "I was utterly astounded," says Dr. Lang, "in +common with most of the colonists, at the promulgation of a royal +charter appointing a Church and School Corporation for the religious +instruction, and for the general education of the youth of the colony, +_on the principles of the Church of England, exclusively_, and allotting +a seventh of the whole territory, for that purpose, to the Episcopalian +clergy, with free access, in the meantime, to the colonial +treasury-chest. It will scarcely be believed that so wanton an insult as +this precious document implied, could have been offered to the common +sense of a whole community, even by the late tory administration; or +that men could have been found in the nineteenth century to perpetrate +so gross an outrage on the best feelings of a numerous body of reputable +men." During the ensuing four or five years, we are told by the same +authority that it was completely in the power of the archdeacon and +clergy "to have formed a noble institution for the general education +of the youth of Australia with the very crumbs that fell from their +corporation-table."[182] They might, "if they had only been possessed +of the smallest modicum of common sense, have secured the exclusive +predominance of episcopacy in the management of the education of the +whole colony, _for all time coming_." And yet, adds the sagacious +Scotchman, in the very next paragraph, "the yoke must have proved +intolerable in the end, and would sooner or later have been violently +broken asunder during some general burst of public indignation." After a +grievous misrepresentation of the expenses incurred by the Church and +School Corporation,[183] and a sneer at the want of education which is +said to prevail among its members,[184] Dr. Lang contrives at last to +land himself, if not his readers, at the desired conclusion, namely, +that "ignorance is the mother of devotion" to colonial episcopacy! + + [181] Gladstone's "The State in its Relations with the Church," + chap. viii. p. 315. + + [182] Lang's New South Wales, vol. ii. p. 317, &c. See also, at 265-6, + a series of similar statements. A good specimen of Dr. Lang's veracity + occurs at p. 267, where the Church and School Corporation is said to + have consisted chiefly of _clergymen_, whereas the majority were + _laymen_. See Burton on Religion and Education in New South Wales, + p. 21, and Appendix, No. 1. + + [183] They are accused of spending 20,000_l._ a-year of public money, + under pretence of providing for religious instruction and education, + while nothing was really done; whereas, out of this sum, nearly + 17,000_l._ were already appropriated for the existing ecclesiastical + establishment; and, during the continuance of the Corporation, the + schools increased from 16 to 40, and the number of children educated + in them from 1,037 to 2,426. See Burton on Religion and Education in + New South Wales, pp. 24 and 32. + + [184] See the book just quoted for a list of the members of the Church + and School Corporation, p. 21. Whatever might be the education of these + gentlemen, it is evident that better educated men were not very likely + to be found in the colony than the great law officers of the crown, the + members of the legislative council, and the nine senior chaplains. + +But it is time to turn away from the pitiable spectacle of a man calling +himself a minister of God's word, but far better qualified for his other +occupation, that of editing a party newspaper in a penal colony, and +taking our leave of Dr. Lang with feelings of regret that he has not +made a better use of those talents which have been given him: let us +turn to the statement given by Judge Burton, of the Church and School +Corporation in New South Wales. It is correct that one-seventh part in +extent and value of the land in New South Wales, was intended to be set +apart for the supply of religious instruction and education to the whole +colony. It is true, likewise, that the English government, in 1826, +entrusted this endowment for these good purposes entirely to the Church +of England; and to what other body could a thoroughly English government +have entrusted it? What course could be more suitable to the principles +of the English constitution? Or who in those days suspected the very +dissenters, who in England regard the help of the state as an +abomination, of being anxious themselves to partake freely of that help +in Australia? However, the arrangements were completed, and the charter +of the Church and School Corporation was signed in 1826; and at the same +time the burden of defraying the regular expenses of the existing clergy +and schools, was immediately transferred from the parliamentary grants +and the colonial revenue to the newly formed corporation. But, whatever +might have been the future value of the endowment thus bestowed upon the +Australian Church, its immediate produce was little or nothing; the +reserves are stated to have not been fairly portioned out, many of them +were allotted in inconvenient or distant situations and unprofitable +soils; private interest was allowed to take the first place in the +division of land, and persons who would have scorned to defraud men, +were happy to be allowed to rob God of his rights and the poor of the +means of having the gospel preached to them. Nor, even although these +hindrances had not arisen, would there have been any sufficient income +arising during the first years from the property of the corporation, +unless they had sold this with utter recklessness of the means of +securing a future permanent endowment. That portion of their lands +which was most improved, was either judiciously sold, or else let; and +other parts of it were gradually being brought under cultivation, and +improved in value; but meanwhile the increasing yearly expenses of the +ecclesiastical establishment were to be met. For this purpose, some +money was borrowed on debentures, and an advance was made to the +corporation from the colonial treasury; and thus, during three years, +were the exertions of the corporation crippled and restrained. When +they were beginning to get somewhat clear of these first difficulties, +when their estates were becoming profitable, and their flocks and herds +increasing, they were directed to suspend any further proceedings, no +more lands were granted them, and they were informed that their charter +was to be revoked. This notification was made in 1829, though the +revocation did not actually take place till 1833. + +In reply to the inquiry, why the Church and School Corporation in New +South Wales should have been thus suddenly dissolved, and that, too, at +the very time when its means were beginning to be available for the +fulfilment of the intentions of its foundation, no other answer can be +found besides that suggested by Judge Burton. It was done, no doubt, by +way of yielding to the clamour of the secret and open enemies of the +Church of England; and the very opposition of Infidels, Romanists, and +Dissenters, combined, in jarring harmony, together, bears a strong +witness of the value of the object of attack. The sop that was thus +thrown to the greedy demon of religious strife, was by no means +successful in satisfying or appeasing him; like most other similar +concessions, it served only to whet the appetite for more; and it is to +God's undeserved mercies, not to her own efforts, or to the wisdom of +her rulers, that England herself owes the preservation at that time of +her national Church. And now that the Church and School Corporation in +Australia has been abolished these ten years, what are the results; who +is the better for its destruction? If this establishment had been +permitted to remain, "certainly, at this day its funds would have been +sufficient to relieve the government altogether of the charge of +maintaining the clergy and schools of the colony."[185] The estimated +expenses of "Church establishments," and "school establishments," for +New South Wales in 1842, were respectively, 35,981_l._ 10_s._, and +16,322_l._ 10_s._,[186] so that by this time the saving to government, +arising from the continuance of the corporation, would have amounted to +no trifling annual sum. But, what is of far more importance, and what +was foreseen by the enemies of the Church of England when they compassed +the ruin of the corporation, the means of "lengthening its cords and +strengthening its stakes," would have been placed within the power of +the Australian Church. And since, under every disadvantage, during the +short time in which the charter continued to be in force, "the churches +were increased in number and better provided, the schools were +considerably more than doubled in number, and their effectiveness +increased, while their expenses were lessened,"[187] what might have +been expected from the same instrument in a longer period of time, and +after the first difficulties had been overcome? However, for wise and +good purposes, no doubt, it was not permitted that the experiment should +be tried; and while we regret that the Church in Australia is not more +efficient and better supported than it is, we may yet feel thankful +that, by the grace of God, it is as it is. + + [185] See Burton on Religion and Education in New South Wales, p. 31. + + [186] See Australian and New Zealand Magazine, No. i. p. 45. The sums + mentioned above include all the expense of grants to other bodies of + Christians besides churchmen, but the greater portion of the money is + expended upon the great majority of the population who are members of + the Church of England. + + [187] See Burton, p. 37. + +It affords a sad proof of the continued enmity of the world against +Christ, to turn from the noisy outcries of the children of Mammon about +economy and ecclesiastical expenses, and to fix our eyes upon the plain +matter of fact. When it was confidently asserted, by the highest +colonial authority, that the wants of the Australian Church were fairly +supplied, the Bishop, in 1837, mentioned by name no less than fifteen +places where clergymen were immediately needed. And it is no uncommon +occurrence, as in the church at Mudgee, (quite in the wilderness,) for +a consecration to take place, the church to be filled, the inhabitants +around delighted, their children baptized, and then the building is +closed for an indefinite period, until some clergyman be found to +officiate! Some persons may hold that to _save money_ is better than to +_save souls_, but let not these men aspire to the name of Christians. + +But, in spite of such enemies, whether endowed or not, whether supported +or spurned by the state authorities, the Church is likely to prove a +blessing and a safeguard to our Australian colonies. The absence of +endowment, the want of worldly means of extension, these are losses not +to the Church, but to the state. And while each individual member is +bound to spare of his abundance, or even of his poverty, for a work +so good and holy as that of propagating the gospel in foreign parts, +especially in our colonies;[188] while every lawful effort is to be made +to do what we can to resist the progress of evil, we may be satisfied to +wait quietly the result. Nor, among other acts of christian charity, +will a faithful member of Christ's visible Church ever forget to pray +for those unhappy men whose extraordinary professions of religion are +too often found to end in fruits like these,--in opposing all extension +of what they deny not to be, in the main, a scriptural Church, in +straining at the smallest particle of endowment, or public assistance +for religious objects at home, whilst abroad they can swallow a whole +camel's load of public money or church plunder, when it serves their +occasion! May God, in his wisdom, overrule the mischief, and in his +mercy forgive the evils of which men of this description have recently +been the occasion, both in England and in its colonies! + + [188] The following striking testimony in favour of the _system_ of the + Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts comes from a + quarter by no means unduly biassed in its favour. "How have thousands + and tens of thousands been raised in Scotland, for the last forty years, + to fit out and to maintain beyond seas whomsoever the dissenting + ministers of London chose to ordain as missionaries to the heathen? God + forbid, that I should ever whisper a syllable against missions to the + heathen! But I have seen too many missionaries, not to have seen more + than I choose to mention, whom men possessed of the least discernment + would never have presumed to send forth on such an errand! _The colonies, + however, were the first field to be occupied; and if that field had been + properly occupied, it would have afforded much assistance to missions + to the heathen._"--LANG'S _New South Wales_, vol. ii. p. 260. + + If any reader of this passage should feel disposed in his heart to help + in a good work, which greatly needs his assistance, let him take at + once his humble mite, or his large offering, as the case may be, to the + clergyman of his parish, or to the office, 79, Pall Mall, London, for + the use of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +CONVICT POPULATION. + + +Whatever may be the natural charms or advantages of any region, these +are nothing without inhabitants; and however abundantly the means of +riches, the comforts, luxuries, or necessaries of life may be scattered +around, these are comparatively lost without man to enjoy and to use +them. The garden of Eden itself was not perfected until beings were +placed in it capable of admiring its beauties and rejoicing in its +blessings. And in every country, especially in a civilised country, when +we have gone through the length and breadth of the land, examining its +natural features and speculating upon its capabilities and future +destiny, there is still left a most interesting and important subject of +consideration, nor can our knowledge of any region be reckoned complete, +until we are acquainted with the present condition of its inhabitants. +In the preceding pages it has been found impossible, indeed, to avoid +frequently touching upon a topic, which is so closely interwoven with +the whole subject; but there still remains abundance of miscellaneous +information concerning the present state of the inhabitants of the +Australian colonies to be detailed, without which, indeed, the task we +have undertaken would be left altogether incomplete. + +Though intellectual man is the principal object in God's creation upon +earth, yet it is not the mere "march of intellect," but it is the +advancement of truth and righteousness,--the gradual outpouring of that +knowledge of God which shall cover the earth as the waters cover the +seas,--that can cause "the desert to rejoice and blossom as the rose." +The recollection, therefore, of the sort of men with whom Great Britain +has partly peopled the lonely shores of Australia,--the remembrance that +these men, too morally diseased to be allowed to remain among ourselves, +have been cast forth to die, with little or no thought about bringing +them to the Great Physician of souls to be made whole,--these +reflections have before been offered, and must here be repeated again. +We read with pleasure and interest of benevolent travellers, anxious to +benefit the countries which they are exploring, scattering around them +in favourable spots the seeds of useful plants and noble trees, in the +hope that these may hereafter prove beneficial to generations yet +unborn. And in like manner may the mother country be said to scatter +abroad in her colonies the seeds not only of good, but of evil also. +Many admirable institutions, not a few excellent individuals and +christian families, have been planted in Australian lands; a branch of +Christ's Church has been placed there, and has taken firm hold of the +soil, and numberless other promises of future excellence may be traced +by the thankful and inquiring mind. But then, on the contrary, we must +not lose sight of the tares that are so abundantly springing up together +with the wheat; it is impossible to deny that rank and poisonous weeds +have there been scattered along with the good seed, nay, instead of it. +What might have been the present state of Australia, if all, or almost +all, its free inhabitants had been faithful Christians, steadfast "in +the Apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread and in +prayers?" How great an effect might the "salt," thus placed in those +remote parts of the earth, have had in rescuing from corruption that +mass of uncleanness, which has been removed thither from our own shores! +Now, alas! nowhere more than in some of the Australian settlements "are +the works of the flesh manifest, which are these, adultery, fornication, +uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, +emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, +drunkenness, revellings, and such like."[189] + + [189] Gal. v. 19-21. + +One cause, unquestionably, of the peculiar prevalence of many of these +evil works is the strange elements of which society in Australia is +composed. In its lowest rank is found the unhappy criminal, whose +liberty has been forfeited, and who is, for a time at least, reduced +to a state of servitude in punishment of his offences. Next to this +last-named class come the _emancipists_, as they are called, who have +once been in bondage, but by working out their time, or by good conduct, +have become free; these and their descendants constitute a distinct and +very wealthy class in New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land. The third +and highest class is formed of men who have settled as free persons in +the colonies, and of their descendants; and between this last class and +the two first a considerable distinction is kept up, from which, (it +has already been noticed,) miserable dissensions, jealousies, and +heartburnings, have frequently arisen. To an impartial person, beholding +these petty discords from the contrary side of the globe, it is pretty +plain that both classes are in fault. + +It is well known that the system of assigning convicts to various +masters has been practised ever since the colony at Port Jackson was +first established, and thus the expense of maintaining so many thousands +of people has been thrown upon the settlers, who were amply repaid by +the value of their labour; by means of which, likewise, the land was +brought into cultivation, and the produce of the soil increased. One +great argument against the system of transportation, as a punishment, +is drawn from this practice of assignment, which, it is asserted, makes +the penalty "as uncertain as the diversity of temper, character, and +occupation amongst human beings can render it." Certain rules and +conditions were laid down for the treatment of convict servants, and if +these behave themselves well, they are allowed "a ticket of leave," +extending over a certain district, within which the holder of the ticket +becomes, in fact, a free person; subject, however, to the loss of this +privilege in case of his committing any offence. After a certain number +of years, the holder of the ticket of leave is allowed to receive a +"conditional pardon," which extends only to the limits of the colony, +but is no longer liable to be withdrawn at the will of government. The +"absolute pardon," of course, extends everywhere, and restores the party +receiving it to all the rights and privileges of a British subject.[190] +The custom of assigning male convicts has, however, been discontinued +lately in the elder colony, although women are still assigned to the +settlers by government, or at least were so until very recently. But +besides the employment of the convicts by private persons, a vast number +of these are constantly engaged in public works, and to the facility of +obtaining labour thus afforded does New South Wales owe some of its +greatest improvements, especially in roads, bridges, public buildings, +and the like undertakings. It is scarcely to be supposed that employment +of this kind, when the men must necessarily work in gangs, is so +favourable for their moral improvement and reformation as residence in a +private family and occupation in rural pursuits is generally likely to +prove; though the contrary notion is supported in the recent Report of +the Transportation Committee, since, in the former case, they are under +stricter discipline. However, it has always been customary to make the +public works a sort of punishment, and private service a reward for +convicts; and those that have been returned from the latter with +complaints, are usually put upon the roads for at least six months; +so that, if this system really stands in the way of the improvement +of offenders, it keeps those that conduct themselves well from the +beginning quite clear of the bad example of less hopeful characters. It +is a sad truth, however, in Australia, as it often is found to be in +England, that "the most skilful mechanics are generally the worst +behaved and most drunken," and, consequently, most liable to punishment +in the public gangs. + + [190] See Mr. Montgomery Martin's New South Wales for further + particulars on this subject, pp. 168-177. + +By way of introducing the reader to the kind of life led by those +unhappy beings who labour in Australia at the public roads, and to give +him also some idea of the spiritual work which the ministers of Christ's +Church in a penal colony may be called upon to perform, the following +sketch from a private letter will be not unacceptable:--"In a few +minutes I am at the stockade where more than 60 men are immediately +mustered; the [Roman] 'Catholics'[191] are sent back to their boxes, the +'Protestants' assemble under a shed, open on two sides, and filled with +a few coarse boards for tables and forms, where the men get their meals. +Their boxes are wooden buildings of uniform structure, in which the +prisoners are locked up from _sundown_ to sunrise. The roof is shingled, +the sides are weather-board, the door in the middle is secured by a +padlock, and above the door is a grating to admit the light and air, +a similar grating being placed exactly opposite to it. The internal +arrangements are simple in the extreme, where you see a gangway in the +middle, and two tiers of hard planks or dressers for the men to lie +upon; their bedding being, I believe, only a blanket. As there is no +division to form separate bed-places, the four-and-twenty or thirty men +who share these boxes lie like the pigs, and make the best of it they +can. When a prisoner has served his time in irons, he is removed to a +probationary gang; that which I am describing is an ironed gang. These +men are dressed in a motley suit of grey and yellow alternately, each +seam being of a different colour; and the irons being secured to each +ancle, and, for the relief of the wearer, made fast from the legs to the +waist. The whole stockade is sometimes enclosed with high palings, and +sometimes open. The service of the Church is performed under the shed +where the men assemble for meals. The men behave well or ill as the +sergeant in charge takes an interest in it or not. Here the sergeant +and a dozen young soldiers are constant at prayers. The responses are +given by all that can read, our blessed societies having furnished +Bibles and Prayer-books for all. Every change of position is attended +with the clank of chains, which at first harrows your soul: but time +does wonders, you know; you forget the irons after a while. A full +service and a sermon. You hear an application or two from prisoners +about their worldly matters,--chiefly from the craftiest, oldest hands; +wish them good morning, and away. + + [191] "Catholic," a most honoured term in ancient times, has in + modern days been very unfortunate. Even now the Romanists misuse it + for "Papistical," the Dissenters occasionally use it to signify + "Latitudinarian," and the members of the Church of England are either + afraid to use it at all, or else are perpetually harping upon it, as + though it were a mere party-word. + +"It is now half-past ten: there lies the hot and dusty road before you, +without shelter of any kind, and the sun pours down his fiery beams; no +cloud, no intermission. If a breeze blows, it may be hotter than from +the mouth of a furnace. Well, courage; step out, it is five miles to +the other stockade. A flock of sheep,--the dog baying, the driver +blaspheming; a dray or two of hay; a few carts loaded with oranges. Up +the hill, down the hill, and so on, till, a little after twelve, you +arrive at the other stockade. This is a probationary gang, that is to +say, it is composed of those against whom complaints have been made +by their respective masters, and who are not assignable to other +individuals for six months. In this gang are six-and-twenty persons, of +whom two are [Roman] 'Catholics.' No motley dress, but all in dark grey; +no irons. A corporal and one private for a guard, and both of them +exemplary at prayers. Here I have the afternoon service. Generally about +this time the wind is up; and here, in a state of perspiration, the +breeze gives me a thorough chilling under the open shed; and often +clouds of dust come rushing through upon us, as bad as the worst days +in March along one of the great roads in England. But the service is +attended in a gratifying manner, insomuch that it would shame many home +congregations. The corporal here teaches the poor fellows who require it +to _read and write_, so that even here we find instances of christian +charity, without sinister or vain motives, which may well stimulate us +and provoke our exertions." + +From this picture of the condition of some of those convicts that are +undergoing punishment, we may turn to the more pleasing view, which a +gentleman of large property in Australia, Mr. Potter Macqueen, has drawn +of the condition of his own assigned servants. Of course, much of the +chance of the servant's improvement must depend, humanly speaking, upon +the sort of master into whose hands he is thrown, and Mr. Macqueen would +appear to have behaved kindly and judiciously to those entrusted to his +care. Occasionally a severe example of punishment was made, and extra +labour or stoppage of indulgences, as milk, tea, sugar, or tobacco, were +found effectual correction for most faults, whilst additional industry +was rewarded by fresh indulgences. Of some deserving men Mr. Macqueen +had even brought over the wives and families at his own expense. And +what, in this world, could be a greater instance of the luxury of doing +good than to behold the family and partner of one who has, though a +convict, conducted himself well, restored once more to their long-lost +parent and husband, and settled in his new country as pledges of his +future continuance in well-doing? Marriage, altogether, was encouraged +on the estate of the gentleman already mentioned, as a means of +recalling the convicts from bad habits, and urging them to industry and +good behaviour; and this wise course has been generally rewarded by +witnessing their happiness, and receiving their gratitude. During +five years of residence in Australia about two hundred convicts and +ticket-of-leave men passed through Mr. Macqueen's establishment, and +the following account is interesting, since it serves to show what _may +be done_, even with a convict population:-- + + Free, or enjoying their ticket, married and thoroughly + reclaimed 14 + Ditto, ditto, single men 49 + Free from expiration of sentence, but worthless 7 + Returned home to England after becoming free 1 + Well-conducted men, as yet under sentence 62 + Indifferent, not trustworthy 29 + Depraved characters, irreclaimable 7 + Sent to iron gangs and penal settlements 11 + Escaped 1 + Died 3 + Given up at request of Government 2 + Returned to Government hospital from ill health 4 + ____ + 190 + ____ + +To encourage reformation, and check that spirit of idleness which is the +mother of mischief, alike in convicts and free people, it is strongly +recommended to allow the well-disposed men to profit by their own +industry. It is forbidden to pay money to prisoners, at least before +they obtain their ticket, but they may be rewarded by tea, sugar, +tobacco, Cape wine, extra clothing, &c. Mr. Macqueen had one Scotchman, +who, under this system, actually sheared 101 sheep in the day, being +allowed at the rate of 2_s._ 6_d._ per score upon all above 25, which is +the quantity fixed by the government rule for a man to do in a single +day. And in the same establishment, acting upon like inducements, might +be seen sawyers and fencers working by moonlight; and others making tin +vessels for utensils, bows for bullocks, &c., in their huts at night. +From this method of management a very great degree of comfort arises, of +which Mr. Macqueen gives the following instance in a convict's feast, +which he once witnessed. At Christmas, 1837, one of his assigned +servants, (who had a narrow escape from capital conviction at home,) +requested leave to draw the amount of some extra labour from the +stores, since he wished to give an entertainment to a few of his +colleagues, all of whom were named and were well conducted men. The +party making this application had been industrious and well-behaved, +being besides very cleanly in his hut, and attentive to his garden and +poultry, so the request was granted, and his master had the curiosity to +observe the style of the festival. The supper consisted of good soup, +a dish of fine mullet out of the adjoining river, two large fowls, a +piece of bacon, roast beef, a couple of wild ducks and a plum-pudding, +accompanied by cauliflower, French beans, and various productions of his +garden, together with the delicious water-melon of the country; they had +a reasonable quantity of Cape wine with their meal, and closed their +evening with punch and smoking.[192] + + [192] See a pamphlet entitled "Australia as she is and as she may be," + by T. Potter Macqueen, Esq., published by Cross, Holborn, pp. 12-14. + +But the picture of the peculiar class by which a penal colony is +distinguished from all others will not be complete without a darker +shade of colouring than those upon which we have been gazing. It is a +painful feeling to contemplate the past condition of one portion of the +convict population, but it is a wholesome exercise of the mind, and has +already produced an improvement in that wretched state. Besides, it +surely is only fitting that a great, a free, and enlightened nation +should know what is the ultimate fate of a part of its outcast +population; nor need Englishmen shrink from hearing the _history_, +whilst England herself shrinks not from inflicting the _reality_ of +those horrors which have defiled the beautiful shores of Norfolk +Island.[193] In 1834 Judge Burton visited this spot, the penal +settlement of a penal settlement, for the purpose of trying 130 +prisoners, who had very nearly succeeded in overpowering and murdering +the military, after which they intended to make their escape. Eight +years before this time, Norfolk Island had been first made a penal +settlement; and never during all that period had its wretched +inhabitants received any such reproof, consolation, or instruction as +the Church gives to its members. The picture presented before the mind +of the judge was an appalling one, and he can speak of Norfolk Island +only in general terms, as being "a cage full of unclean birds, full +of crimes against God and man, murders and blasphemies, and all +uncleanness." We know well what bad men are in England. Take some of the +worst of these, let them be sent to New South Wales, and then let some +of the very worst of these worst men be again removed to another spot, +where they may herd together, and where there are no pains taken about +their moral or religious improvement, where, literally speaking, no man +careth for their souls:--such was Norfolk Island. And what right had +England to cast these souls, as it were, beyond the reach of salvation? +Where was the vaunted christian feeling of our proud nation when she +delivered these poor creatures over to the hands of Satan, in the hope +that her worldly peace, and comfort, and property might be no longer +disturbed by their crimes? Had she ordered her fleet to put these men +ashore on some desolate island to starve and to die, the whole world +would have rung with her cruelty. But now, when it is merely their souls +that are left to starve, when it is only the means of eternal life that +they are defrauded of, how few notice it, nay, how few have ever heard +of the sin in which the whole nation is thus involved! + + [193] It is right to state here that the cause of a supply of religious + instruction having been so long delayed in Norfolk Island is said, by + a Roman Catholic writer, to have been the impossibility of finding a + clergyman to undertake the charge. See Ullathorne's Reply to Burton, + pp. 39, 40. Supposing this account to be correct then, undoubtedly, the + English Church must share the blame of neglecting Norfolk Island along + with the government, and it is not the wish of the writer of these pages + to deny the applicability of the prophet's confession to ourselves: + "O God, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, + and to our fathers, because we have sinned against Thee." (Dan. ix. 8.) + Still, even according to Dr. Ullathorne, the penal settlement was + established six years before its religious instruction was thought of + by the government. + +One of the prisoners tried in 1834 was a man of singular ability and +great presence of mind, and by him Norfolk Island was represented to be +a "hell upon earth;" and so it was as far as the company of evil spirits +glorying in evil deeds could make it. "Let a man's heart," he added, "be +what it will, when he comes here, his man's heart is taken from him, and +there is given to him the heart of a beast." Another said, "It was no +mercy to send us to this place; I do not ask life, I do not want to be +spared, on condition of remaining here; life is not worth having on +such terms." Another unhappy being was sentenced to die, and began +passionately to exclaim and entreat that he might not die without +confession. "Oh, your honour," he said, "as you hope to be saved +yourself, do not let me die without seeing my priest. I have been a very +wicked man indeed, I have committed many other crimes for which I ought +to die, but do not send me out of the world without seeing my priest!" +This poor man was a Roman Catholic; he seems not to have known that he +might go at once to his Heavenly Father with a heartfelt acknowledgment +of his faults, and so he obtained a rude figure of the cross, and +in miserable agony pronounced before that, as he embraced it, his +brief exclamations for mercy. Others mentioned in moving terms the +hopelessness of their lot, and another of them spoke also of what +rendered the state they were in one of utter despair; and the statement +which he made was perfectly true: he said, addressing the judge, "What +is done, your honour, to make us better? once a week we are drawn up in +the square opposite the military barrack, and the military are drawn up +in front of us with loaded muskets and fixed bayonets, and a young +officer then comes to the fence, and reads part of the prayers, and that +takes, may be, about a quarter of an hour, and _that is all the religion +that we see_."[194] + + [194] Burton on Education and Religion in New South Wales, p. 260. + +Urged by appeals like these, which no heart could well resist, Judge +Burton reprieved the convicted prisoners, until the whole case should +be laid before the government, and at least religious consolation and +assistance might be obtained for those who were to suffer capital +punishment. Eleven of the prisoners were afterwards executed, but not +without having been visited by ministers of religion, who were sent for +that express purpose from Sydney. The kind and christian judge exerted +himself in behalf of the outcast population of Norfolk Island, "that +modern Gomorrah," as it has been called; and, as usual, improvement in +bodily comforts or morals was much more willingly undertaken by those +in authority than spiritual reformation. His advice respecting the +propriety of diminishing the number of prisoners confined together +was speedily attended to. His efforts to procure religious reproof, +instruction, and consolation were not so soon successful; they were, +however, nobly continued, and at length both Protestant and Roman +Catholic chaplains were appointed to the island. But this great object +was not gained without _giving offence_. Strange that any party could +take offence at efforts of this description, and stranger still that +men professing a general regard for religion, and avowedly possessed +of consciences exquisitely tender, and of charity unbounded, should, +notwithstanding, object to the conscientious and charitable efforts in +the cause of religion of which we have just been speaking! However, +these impotent struggles have signally failed, and now there are clergy +both of the English and Roman Church in Norfolk Island, while the moral +condition of the prisoners there is stated to have improved greatly. In +1837 the Rev. Mr. Sharpe was removed thither, at his own request, from +Pitt Town in New South Wales, and his labours and ministrations are said +to have been useful and effectual. But even here, in this effort to save +some of Christ's lost sheep, the unhappy circumstances of our penal +colonies were manifested. When Mr. Sharpe was removed to Norfolk Island, +a larger and more important sphere of usefulness, his little parish +on the Hawkesbury, was for a time left without a pastor. And this +distressing trial is frequently occurring; when illness, or death, or +removal, deprives a parish of its spiritual shepherd, for a time at +least his place is liable to be left vacant, and his people likely +to become as sheep going astray. It appears likewise, from the Report +of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, that an +assistant-chaplain for Norfolk Island was appointed in 1841. There have +been two clergymen of the Church of Rome in the island ever since 1838, +an arrangement which was alleged to be necessary, in order that the +chaplain himself might not be deprived of private confession and +absolution.[195] There was no church in the island a few years ago, but +a room in one settlement and a barn in the other were the places where +divine service was regularly attended. Besides the Morning and Evening +Prayers on Sunday, divine service takes place five times during the +week, twice in the gaol, twice in the hospital, and once a week for +those men who are exempt from work, their sentences having expired. +There may, as has been stated, be much hypocrisy in Norfolk +Island,[196] but surely the spirit which was offended at efforts that +have wrought even these changes in a spot of extreme moral and religious +desolation, may, without breach of charity, be pronounced to have been +an unclean and evil spirit. Can this language be justly deemed too +strong, when the facts already stated are borne in mind; when, (to sum +up the whole case in a single example,) it is remembered that in one +year, 1838, the colonial government of New South Wales paid 57,740_l._ +11_s._ 3_d._ for its police establishment and gaols, while the very +utmost that was spent in providing religious instruction for _all the +prisoners_ within the limits of the colony amounted, during the same +period, to less than 1000_l._?[197] + + [195] The reason given by the Roman Catholic, Dr. Ullathorne, is that + the two priests divide the salary, and receive together no more than the + one chaplain.--ULLATHORNE'S _Reply to Burton_, p. 76. The reader must + bear in mind the different scale of expenses required by a person who + _must_ be single, and that of a person who may be, and generally is, + a married man. + + [196] See Committee on Transportation, 1838, pp. 137, 138. + + [197] See Burton on Education and Religion in New South Wales, + pp. 287-289. The actual sum there stated is either 725_l._ or 855_l._, + according as certain expenses connected with the establishment are + included or not. + +It is stated on good authority,--that of Sir George Arthur, who was +formerly governor of Van Diemen's Land,--that not more than _two_ +convicts in every _hundred_ quit the colony and return to England.[198] +The expense and difficulty of procuring a passage home operates as a +sufficient check to prevent this being frequently obtained; nor, +supposing that the English people would act in a kind and christian +spirit towards the most deserving men of this class, would either +they or the nation be losers. If the wives and families of the most +meritorious men could be brought out to them at the public cost, what +reasonable cause of regret would an emancipated convict feel for his +home,--the scene of his crimes and of his disgrace,--in the mother +country? And with respect to the great objection,--the _cost_ of such a +system,--what would that be compared with the advantage which the rapid +increase of an English population in Australia is sure to bring, by +creating fresh demands for our goods and manufactures? If ours were a +wise and understanding nation, if we would spend a portion of our riches +in promoting the morals, the comfort, and the religious instruction of +our outcast population, we might, in numberless instances, turn the very +dregs of our people into means of increasing our prosperity; we might +frequently render those that are now the mere refuse of the earth, +happy, contented, loyal subjects; and the blessings of them that were +ready to perish spiritually would be continually resounding from the far +distant shores of Australia upon that Divine Mercy which would have all +men to be saved, and upon that nation which would thus have offered +itself to be a willing agent and instrument for the furtherance of this +gracious design. + + [198] "I think the longer the sentence, the better will be the conduct + of the individual," because his only chance of obtaining any degree of + liberty is from good conduct. See Evidence of J. MacArthur, Esq., + before the Committee on Transportation in 1837. No. 3350-3, p. 218. + Dr. Ullathorne expresses a contrary opinion. + +In the present condition of New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, with +so large a proportion of their population in bondage, and such slender +means of moral improvement and religious instruction provided for them +by the mother country, it would be unreasonable to hope that the convict +population can be otherwise than very bad. There may be many exceptions; +and at the end of all things here below, it may be found that some of +those poor outcasts, and some of the men who have cast them forth to +perish, and now despise them, may fill, respectively, the places of the +Publican and Pharisee in our Lord's parable; the convict may leave the +throne of judgment justified rather than his master; the poor repentant +criminal may be pardoned, while the proud one,--the self-sufficiency +of the nation, by which he was transported, and left without further +care,--may be condemned. Still, however, the general character of +the convicts is undoubtedly bad; and the various modes of deceit and +dishonesty practised upon their masters, the love of gambling, of strong +liquors, and of every kind of licentiousness prevailing in the penal +colonies, would fill a volume of equal size and interest with that +which is said to be a favourite book in New South Wales,--the Newgate +Calendar. Those that are curious upon these subjects may be referred to +the thick volume in blue cover, which contains an account of the labours +of the Committee upon Transportation, 1837; but when the evidence +therein contained is read, it must be with some grains of allowance; +the avowed object of Sir W. Molesworth's motion for the committee, was +enmity against the whole system of transportation; and a large majority +of those that sat in the committee were, it is believed, of his opinion; +at all events, they belonged to his party in politics. So that, before +justice can be done to the real state of the convicts, we want to have +evidence of an opposite tendency, like that of Mr. Potter Macqueen, +already quoted; and before the question, whether transportation is a +desirable mode of punishing, or a likely means of reforming criminals, +can be fairly decided, inquiry must be made, not respecting what _has +been done_, but respecting what _might have been done_, or _may even yet +be done_, in our penal colonies. + +Before the subject of the convict population is dismissed, it may be +well to notice those called _specials_; that is, men of education, and +of a somewhat higher rank in life than the generality of exiles in New +South Wales. These were formerly treated with great consideration; for, +after having passed a short period of probation, they were employed as +clerks to auctioneers or attornies; nay, the instruction of youth was +too often, in default of better teachers, committed into their hands. +Nor was this all. In former times, persons of this description have +been very much connected with the public press; and the enlightened +people of New South Wales have sometimes, it may be feared, been blindly +led by an unprincipled convict, when they imagined that they were wisely +judging for themselves. The reformation of these _specials_ is said to +be more hopeless than that of other prisoners; and very commonly they +are confirmed drunkards. Strange materials these from which to form +instructors for youth, trustworthy agents of private property, or +leaders of public opinion! However, by the progress of emigration, the +influence of these men is now superseded; besides which, they have been +gradually removed from the government offices, and those that now arrive +are employed in hard labour. + + + + +[Illustration: CONVEYING CATTLE OVER THE MURRAY, NEAR LAKE ALEXANDRIA.] + +CHAPTER XIII. + +EMANCIPISTS AND FREE POPULATION. + + +Respecting the next class of which the population consists in our +penal colonies,--that of emancipists, or persons formerly in bondage as +convicts, they appear to be pretty nearly what might be expected of a +body of men under such circumstances. Although there are many honourable +exceptions to the general rule, yet it would seem to be a general rule +that roguery and industry are usually connected among them; and that +where an emancipist is less inclined to be dishonest, he is more +inclined to be idle and improvident; while it often occurs that both +faults are found together in one person. Of course, it would be vain to +hope that _all_ convicts, or even the majority, perhaps, should become +completely reformed; but it is sickening to the heart that has any +christian feeling, to find descriptions like the following, given by one +amply qualified to judge, of the deplorable moral and social state of +many of those unhappy men after their time of service has expired. "The +newly-arrived convict" (Mr. MacArthur states) "sees examples immediately +before him of men, formerly in the same condition with himself, +wallowing in licentiousness, and possessed of wealth, amassed generally +by dishonest means, which they continue, in many instances, still to +augment, by keeping grog-shops and gambling-houses, by receiving stolen +goods, and by other nefarious practices. This is the general conduct of +the class of emancipated convicts who acquire property, as well as of +some unprincipled adventurers in the class of free emigrants. There are, +however, among the emancipated convicts of property exceptions from this +prevalent depravity; rare, indeed, and on that account the more +honourable."[199] And numberless, in the earlier history of New South +Wales, are the evil consequences which are recorded to have arisen from +the necessity which then existed of employing either convicts, or else +men recently emancipated, in places of the highest trust and importance. +One striking example may suffice; and it is believed that no injustice +is done to the class of men now alluded to, when it is stated that the +guilty parties were persons belonging to that body. Soon after the +departure of Governor Hunter, in 1800, it was discovered that the clerks +who were admitted to the registers of the terms of the transportation of +the convicts, had altered the sentences of nearly 200 prisoners, on +receiving from each a sum equal in value to ten or twelve pounds.[200] +Of these examples the early history of the colony is full; but, in later +years, it may be hoped, that time, and public opinion, and the tide of +emigration, have combined to render the conduct of persons belonging +to this class less generally objectionable than it formerly was. The +greater portion of the shop-keepers, and what may be called the middling +classes in Sydney, were emancipists; and their wealth and influence were +so great, that, during the years 1834, 1835, and 1836, one-fourth of the +jurors who served in the civil and criminal courts belonged to that +body. These persons are often very little educated; and young men +possessed of from 1000_l._ to 2000_l._ a-year in stock, can sometimes +neither read nor write. Cock-fighting, driving, and badger-baiting, are +pursuits that occupy youths of this class very frequently; and a showy, +tawdry style of dress, engages the attention of the young women. +Certainly, it is not of materials of this kind, that the English +constitution would have juries composed; and it is not surprising that +so large a proportion of jurors, who have themselves once stood at the +bar of justice, should be the means of carrying undue partiality for the +guilty into the jurors' box, and also of keeping out of that responsible +station all those who can in any way escape its duties.[201] Respectable +men will not, if they can avoid it, sit in the same box with men who go +in with their minds entirely made up to acquit the guilty, whatever may +be the tenor of the evidence to which they have just been listening, +whatever the sacredness of the oath they have recently taken. If +practical experience is of any real value, then it may safely be +pronounced that men, who are scarcely fit to enjoy the privilege of +sitting upon juries, are certainly at present unprepared for the +introduction of a representative form of legislation and government. +The civil juries of New South Wales have held the scales of justice +uncommonly even, for they have managed to acquit about 50 per cent. of +the persons tried; whereas in Great Britain, and even in Ireland, the +acquittals are 19 per cent., and the convictions 81 per cent. A strange, +but not unaccountable difference, which, so long as it may continue, +will furnish a strong argument of the unfitness of the colony for a +representative assembly. Men that have not the principle to put good +laws into execution, are very ill qualified to make good laws, or to +elect good legislators. And when, to suit party purposes, a clamour is +raised about the injustice of denying fresh "constitutional rights" +to our fellow-subjects in Australia, we may quietly dispose of this +(hitherto absurd and mischievous) claim by referring the very parties +raising it to the accounts published, under the sanction chiefly of men +of their own opinions, respecting the use made of those rights with +which the inhabitants of the penal colonies are already invested. When +the evils of the system of transportation are to be exposed, the truth +may be told respecting the state of the Australian juries;[202] but +why should it not be still declared,--why should not truth _always_ be +told,--even at the hazard of checking "liberal principles," and delaying +representative houses of assembly for the Australian colonies, until the +time when they may know how to use them, so that these may prove a +benefit instead of an evil to them? + + [199] Evidence of J. MacArthur, Esq., before the Committee on + Transportation, in 1837, No. 3371-2, p. 220. The richest man in the + colony, an emancipist, was said, in 1837, to be worth 40,000_l._ or + 45,000_l._ a year. For an account of the shameless roguery, and drunken + folly, by means of which so vast an income was amassed, see Report of + Transp. Com. 1837, p. 14 and 104. + + [200] Barrington's History of New South Wales, p. 421. + + [201] For the mode in which the law admitting emancipists into the + jurors' box was passed, see Lang's New South Wales, vol. i. p. 317-320. + "Two absent members of the Legislative Council were known to be opposed + to it. Of those present, the governor (Bourke) and five others were in + favour of it, while six were against it. The governor gave a second and + casting vote." + + [202] See Report of Transportation Committee, 1838, p. 31. "A large + proportion of the persons who have appeared and served," as jurors, + "are publicans," to whose houses prosecutors, parties on bail, or + witnesses, resort, for the purpose of drinking, while in attendance + upon the court. Once, when a jury was locked up all night, much foul + and disgusting language was used; and to gain a release from this + association, the disputed point was yielded; "no greater punishment can + be inflicted upon a respectable person than to be shut up with such + people for a few hours, or for the night." + + See Burton's Letter, Appendix to Transportation Committee's Report, + 1837, p. 301-2. Dr. Lang's book on New South Wales abounds in wretched + puns, but one rather favourable specimen may be given, when, in + allusion to the Englishman's right of being tried by his peers, the + Doctor styles the jurors above described "_the Colonial Peerage!_" + +Respecting the last and highest class of society in our penal colonies, +the _free population_, no great deal need be said in particular, since, +except from peculiar circumstances, they are pretty much the same in +character with the bulk of the population in any other country. But +their peculiar circumstances must, in fairness to the class last +mentioned, be briefly noticed. Undoubtedly, without any disrespect to +emigrants, it may be laid down as an acknowledged fact, that hitherto +this class, though it has comprised many excellent, clever, and good +men, has not usually been composed of the flower of the English nation. +Supposing that things are now altered for the better, time was--and that +not many years ago--when "every one that was in distress, and every one +that was in debt, and every one that was discontented," was apt to swell +the tide of emigration to our British colonies in Australia. Upon +arriving there they found a regular system of _caste_ established; and +since as members of the _free_ population they were at once exalted to +the highest places, this was a system which in most cases flattered the +pride of the settlers. Possibly many of the faults of the emancipist +class might be traced to the treatment they have received at the hands +of the free, and these faults react again as causes and excuses for +keeping them at still greater distance than ever. And however natural, +however necessary, a distinction of ranks is and must be in every +society of men, yet nothing can be more unnatural or mischievous than a +system of dividing men into _castes_. Unhappily, this division, the +fruitful source of all kinds of evil feeling, has to a great extent +prevailed in our penal colonies; and nothing, it may be boldly asserted, +except religion will ever root it out. Attempt to continue the exclusive +privilege of _caste_ to the free population, and you sow the seeds of a +servile rebellion. Open your hands to give concessions and privileges to +the emancipists, and you scatter good seed upon the stony rock, you +vainly endeavour to satisfy the daughters of the horse-leech. But infuse +a christian feeling into all classes, get them to meet in the same +church, to kneel at the same table, to partake in the same spiritual +blessings, and then you may hope that all, whether free or emancipists, +will feel themselves to be members of one another, portions of the same +body, held in union of heart and soul by means of the same head; "for by +One Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or +Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have been all made to drink +into One Spirit."[203] + + [203] 1 Cor. xii. 13. + +After all that has been stated respecting the three great classes into +which society in Australia is divided, it need scarcely be added that +the taste displayed by many of the inhabitants of the metropolis of +New South Wales is none of the purest or best. Gay equipages, dashing +horses, tandems, and racers, are among the favourite exhibitions of +the wealth of the emancipist. For music or paintings but little taste +prevails in Sydney, and for books, except those of a very low and +worthless character, there is no great demand. A fine house, a fine +carriage, fine horses, plenty of spirits to drink, appear to be thought +the chief goods of human life; and among persons in every class, the +acquisition of money is the one great object. Indeed this last passion, +the love of gain, can scarcely be mentioned among the perverted habits +by which the Australian colonies are infested, since it seems scarcely +possible that the worship of Mammon can be practised more openly or +carried much further than it is in the mother country. Yet the +temptations to prefer gain to every thing else are unusually strong +in these settlements. Professions have been abandoned because they +are laborious and unprofitable, while clergymen, medical gentlemen, +soldiers, government officers, in short, all classes of men, have made +haste to get rich by holding land and stock. An estate, which originally +cost little or nothing, grows yearly in value, without a penny being +spent upon it; stock speedily increases at very small cost, for there is +abundance of pasture for it; and when the settler finds these means of +gaining wealth opened to him, he is too apt to devote all his thoughts +and energies to this one object. "I have known," says Captain Grey, "an +honourable member of council, and leading magistrate in a colony, take +out a retail licence, and add to his already vast wealth from the +profits of a gin-shop."[204] + + [204] Grey's Travels in Western Australia, vol. ii. pp. 192-3. + +The evil spirit of covetousness assumes to itself various shapes and +appearances according to varying circumstances; and among the characters +which it calls into life in Australia, that of a _land shark_ is one of +the most remarkable and hateful. When an emigrant arrives at Sydney, he +is able, perhaps after considerable delay, to give notice to Government +of his wish to purchase some desirable spot of land, which is then +selected to be put up to auction; and when it has been duly surveyed, +the sale at last takes place. But to the poor emigrant's astonishment +and disappointment the land, which he has chosen so as not to interfere +with other property, which is unoccupied, and entirely useless both in +a public and private sense,--is bid for, and finally knocked down +to another at an unreasonable price.[205] This other person is a +"land shark," who has gained, perchance, a fortune by regularly attending +sales and buying up land that is known to be desired by another. The +"shark," true to his name, wishes either to get his opposition bought +off by a bribe, or else hopes to sell his bargain at a profit from the +unwillingness of his victim to lose any more time or money in gaining +a settlement, with the risk of meeting, after all, with a second +disappointment. In case of the "shark's" scheme proving unsuccessful, +there is only the small trifle required as earnest of the purchase to be +paid; of course he never completes the engagement, and in due time, in a +year possibly, the land is declared forfeited to the crown again. Such +is the occupation of a "land shark," and it would be well if these and +similar pests of society were confined, like their namesakes of the +ocean, to the more sultry latitudes, but unfortunately they are not +altogether without their antitypes and imitators in Great Britain. + + [205] The system of starting from a certain fixed sum per acre, named + "the upset price," and selling land at whatever it will fetch beyond + this, is established in most of the Australian colonies. The fund thus + produced is spent in encouraging emigration and providing labourers. + +There is another character, which, if not peculiar to Australia, is +called into being only in those colonies where a large extent of land +in its natural state remains unappropriated to any individuals. The +_squatters_, as they are called, are men who occupy with their cattle, +or their habitations, those spots on the confines of a colony or estate, +which have not as yet become any person's private property. By the +natural increase of their flocks and herds, many of these squatters have +enriched themselves; and having been allowed to enjoy the advantages of +as much pasture as they wanted in the bush, without paying any rent +for it to the government, they have removed elsewhere when the spot was +sold, and have not unfrequently gained enough to purchase that or some +other property. Thus the loneliness, the privations, and the perils of a +pastoral life in the bush, have often gained at length their recompense, +and the squatter has been converted into a respectable settler. But this +is too bright a picture to form an average specimen of the class which +we are describing. Unfortunately, many of these squatters have been +persons originally of depraved and lawless habits, and they have made +their residence at the very outskirts of civilization a means of +carrying on all manner of mischief. Or sometimes they choose spots of +waste land near a high road, where the drays halt to get water for the +night, and there the squatters knock up what is called "a hut." In such +places stolen goods are easily disposed of, spirits and tobacco are +procured in return for these at "the sly grog shops," as they are +called; and in short they combine the evils of a gypsy encampment and a +lonely beer-shop in England, only from the scattered population, the +absence of influential inhabitants, and the deplorably bad characters of +the men keeping them, these spirit shops are worse places than would be +tolerated in this country. It is stated that almost all the men by whom +these resorts of iniquity are kept, are either ticket-of-leave men or +emancipists. It is no easy thing to suppress these people, for the +squatters, like the black natives, can find a home wherever they betake +themselves. And it must be owned, that considerable good has resulted in +many instances from these forerunners of civilization having penetrated +into a district, and learned some of its peculiarities and capabilities +before a settlement in it has been regularly formed. Indeed, it would +have been unjust to have been severe with the poor squatter, and his two +or three sheep and cattle, when it had long been the practice of the +most wealthy landowners in the colony, to send their stock-man with +their hundreds of heads of cattle into the bush, to find support exactly +in the same way, and without paying anything to government. The rich +proprietors have a great aversion to the class of squatters, and not +unreasonably, yet they are thus, many of them, squatters themselves, +only on a much larger scale; nor are they more inclined, in many +instances, to pay rent for their privileges than their more humble +brethren. It would appear to be the fairest and best way of dealing with +these various descriptions of squatters, to endeavour to cut up, root +and branch, the "sly grog shops," and road-side gentry, while the owner +of one sheep, or he that possesses 10,000, should be equally compelled +to pay a trifle to government, in proportion to the number of his stock +grazing in the bush, and should likewise have his location registered. +Some regulations of this kind are, it is believed, proposed, if they +have not by this time been brought into operation; and thus we may hope, +that whatever benefits the system of _squatting_ may have produced, +either as an outlet for restless spirits, or as a means of extending +colonization, may still be retained, while the numerous evils that have +sprung up along with it may be checked or got rid of. Respecting one +thing connected with this subject,--the religious knowledge and +spiritual condition of these inhabitants of the wilderness and their +children, the christian inquirer cannot but feel anxious. The result of +christian anxiety upon this matter cannot be better stated than in the +words of one deeply interested about it, and well qualified to weigh the +subject with all its bearings. After expressing his thanks to that +Divine Providence, which had enabled him, quite alone, to travel through +many miles of country almost without cultivation or visible dwellings, +the Bishop of Australia finishes his account of his visitation westward, +in the year 1841, with the following reflections:--"It would be +impossible for any one, without personal observation, to comprehend from +mere description what a field for future labour is now opening in these +as yet uncultivated, unpeopled tracts which I am continually traversing. +But the time is not far distant when many portions of them will be +thronged with multitudes; and in what manner those multitudes are to +be provided with means of instruction sufficient to retain them in the +christian faith, I am not able to foresee; as yet, no such provision is +made or promised. But when, in passing through these scenes, reflections +such as these have crowded upon me, and I am unable to return a +satisfactory answer to the question, 'How shall this be accomplished?' +I can find no better resource than to silence myself with '_Deus +providebit_;'[206] my trust shall be in the tender mercy of God for ever +and ever." + + [206] Jehovah Jireh, that is, "the Lord will see or provide." See + translation in margin of Gen. xxii. 14. + +Among the beings which, although not natives of the bush, appear to be +peculiar to the wilds of Australia, the class of men called Overlanders +must not be omitted. Their occupation is to convey stock from market to +market, and from one colony to another. They require, of course, a +certain capital to commence business with, and the courage and skill +that are needful in these enterprises must be very great, so that many +of the overlanders are said to be really men of a superior class. The +love of a roving life, the excitement of overcoming dangers both from +natural causes and from the fierce attacks of the natives, and the +romantic and novel situations in which they are frequently placed, +all combine to render some men exceedingly fond of this occupation, +which has also another strong recommendation, that it is often very +profitable. The magnitude of the adventures thus undertaken would +scarcely be credited, and often a whole fortune is risked in the shape +of cattle driven across the wilderness. One very important route pursued +by the overlanders recently has been in the same direction with Captain +Sturt's daring voyage, namely, from New South Wales to South Australia +by the course of the Murray. An instance is mentioned by Captain Grey of +an overlander who arrived at Adelaide in March 1840 from Illawarra, and +his stock at the end of his journey is reckoned up, and found at a +moderate computation to be worth no less than 13,845_l._[207] And during +fifteen months, including the whole of 1839 and part of 1840, there were +brought by the overlanders from New South Wales into South Australia +11,200 head of horned cattle, 230 horses, and 60,000 sheep, the value of +the whole of which amounted to about 230,800_l._ Importations of stock +immediately add a value to land, for what is the use of pasture without +animals to feed upon it? And indeed so large an introduction of those +primitive riches, flocks and herds, is almost sure to give a spur to +industry, and to assist the increasing prosperity of a rising colony. +Under the influence of this cause it is related that land in Western +Australia, which was bought for 23_l._ an acre in December, 1839, was +sold for 60_l._ an acre in February, 1840. And in other colonies where +overland communication takes place, instead of the cattle being brought +by sea, as in Western Australia, the effect is yet more astonishing. +There is much that is noble to admire in the character of the +overlanders, and their efforts have been productive of great advantage +to our recent colonies; indeed, it is perhaps in a great measure to +their exertions that the very rapid progress of Port Phillip and South +Australia may be ascribed. But there appears to be a certain wildness +about their character, which, while it fits them admirably for the +pursuit which they have chosen, renders them restless and uneasy in more +quiet and domestic spheres. The love of gain, too, is rather more of a +ruling passion with them than it ought to be, but that is a fault by no +means peculiar to the overlanders. Yet it affords a curious comparison +and a fresh proof of our nature being a fallen one, when we come +quietly to contrast the pains taken, the toils endured, and the risks +encountered, in order to supply a colony with "the meat that perisheth," +against the indifference, feebleness, and apathy, which are exhibited +about the spiritual necessities of its inhabitants. Erect the standard +of worldly profit, and thousands will flock to it, unscared by danger, +unwearied by labour. But, meanwhile, how slow is the banner of the +Church in being unfurled, how few rally around it, when it is displayed; +in short, how much wiser in their generation are the children of this +world than the children of light! + + [207] See Grey's Travels in Western Australia, vol. ii. p. 188. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +STATE OF RELIGION AND EDUCATION IN AUSTRALIA. + + +The religious state of the inhabitants of the Australian colonies, +especially of the two oldest and most populous settlements, has been so +frequently the subject of allusion in this work, that the reader must +already have become acquainted with its general aspect. Nevertheless, +there are many interesting particulars which have not yet been detailed; +and no subject, surely, can concern more nearly the _mother country_ +than the religious condition of her children and offspring. Upon the +mere surface of things, judging from appearances only, the religious +habits of England would seem perhaps to be transferred to the Australian +colonies no less perfectly than its social customs; but, although the +resemblance to our spiritual pride and spiritual ignorance, our needless +divisions and contempt of lawful authority, is perfect enough, except +when it occasionally degenerates into caricature, yet, in points more +deserving of imitation, the likeness between the mother country and her +daughters is not always so striking. Probably it would be difficult to +sum up the matter better than in the words of Bishop Broughton, who +says, "My own opportunities of observation have been very numerous, +and I do not hesitate to say, that, in either colony, surrounded, it +cannot be dissembled, by much that is base and disgusting, there is, +nevertheless, an extensive, and in point of actual influence, a +preponderating proportion of integrity and worth, which, if suitably +encouraged and supported now, there may hereafter spring up a wise and +understanding people to occupy this land."[208] + + [208] Letter of the Bishop of Australia to the Society for the + Propagation of the Gospel, dated May 22, 1838. + +The way in which the Lord's Day is observed in New South Wales, or Van +Diemen's Land, may serve for an index of the general amount of religious +feeling among many of its inhabitants. Sunday desecration,--despising +the day of rest which the Lord has appointed, is notoriously one of the +first steps which a man is tempted to take in that downward course of +sin which leads him to the penal colonies; and accordingly, it must be +expected that a large quantity of the old leaven should remain working +in the convict population. And especially was this to be anticipated, +when so little pains were taken to teach them better things, for the +absence of religious instruction immediately furnishes an excuse for +disregard of the day of rest, and renders that neglect which was before +inexcusable, in some measure unavoidable. According to Dr. Lang, +religion is but seldom taken into account by the majority of the +colonists in their dealings with their convict-servants. In at least as +many as four cases out of five, he says, that no attention to the day +is paid, but frequently it is spent in weighing out rations, settling +accounts, or paying and receiving visits; while the men, whom it is +contrary to law to set to work on a Sunday, are often allowed to +cultivate ground for themselves, upon the plea that, if they were not so +occupied, they would be doing worse. In the opinion of Judge Burton, the +want of occupation on the Sunday was a cause of many robberies being +committed, and some of the worst crimes that had been brought under his +notice had taken place upon that day. Mr. Barnes says, speaking of the +men at the penal settlement of Macquarie Harbour, "I believe more crime +or wickedness was committed on Sunday, when they were ringing the bell +for church-service, than on any other day of the week." These opinions +are confirmed and strengthened by men of various parties, and different +plans have been proposed. That of increasing the number of churches and +of the clergy is obviously one of the most likely to succeed, but its +success must, in the nature of things, not be very speedy. It was stated +by one witness before the Committee upon Transportation, that, when the +means of public worship have been provided, the convicts should be +regularly mustered and taken to church, which, he thinks, would have a +good effect; but what is really wanted is that they should _come_ to +church, and not merely be _taken_ thither. One member of the Committee +inquired whether all the present churches were filled, and the witness +replied that they were not; but this is rather a proof of the need of +additional religious instruction than an argument against furnishing it. +If among so many souls the few existing places of divine worship are not +all fully occupied, is not this a proof of the desolate state of the +Lord's vineyard in that country? Is not this a sufficient reason for +earnestly endeavouring to increase the number of the labourers in the +vineyard? The heathenism of a considerable portion of a population +nominally christian, manifestly tends to thin the congregations even of +existing churches. But the want of church extension, and the dearth of +ministers, tends to produce and increase this heathenism, and therefore +it indirectly tends to diminish the numbers of the present attendants +upon divine service. And what a mockery, in some instances, has the +so-called divine service hitherto been! The director-general of roads in +Van Diemen's Land, some years ago, chose to place catechists and clergy +under a ban, though there was no great risk of his gangs being much +troubled by them, when they had so many other duties to fulfil. And what +was the system which this wise manager of roads chose to substitute for +the teaching of Christ's ministers? At every road-station, daily, +morning and evening, readings of the sacred Scriptures were established, +and "devotional exercises" were added on the sabbath. Well, but who +officiated? Let Archdeacon Hutchins reply in the very words used by him, +when the matter was brought before the notice of the government in 1837. +"These readings of the Scriptures were performed generally, if not +always, by _some of the very worst of the convicts themselves_, +selected, no doubt, for the purpose, not on account of their wickedness, +but of their abilities. They are the best readers, or the cleverest +fellows; and therefore, amongst rogues, generally the greatest. These +are men by whom, as far as the director is concerned, the seed of +religious knowledge is scattered among the road parties. How far +there may be a rational hope of the Divine blessing accompanying such +endeavours, I leave to be declared by any one possessed of common sense +and some little acquaintance with Scripture."[209] Even Jeroboam, the +son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, only "made priests of the _lowest_ +of the people;" he did not, that we read of, appoint the _vilest_ +characters he could find to that office. + + [209] See Speech of the Bishop of Tasmania at Leeds, Nov. 28, + 1842, p. 16. + +The greater part of the settlers in New South Wales and Tasmania have +been derived from those classes, who, in England, except in the rural +districts, have, until recently, been well nigh shut out from their +parish churches; and, in many instances, their mode of life here was +little likely to lead them to a regular attendance upon the public +worship of God, even where there was room for them. But nothing more +surely produces distaste and carelessness in this matter than the total +absence of all regularity respecting it. The truly religious soul, +indeed, when banished by circumstances from the temple of the Lord, is +always inquiring with the royal Psalmist, "When shall I come to appear +before the presence of God?" But the careless man, the worldly-minded +man, indeed the greater part of mankind, it is to be feared, feel no +longing desires of this kind. The further they are removed from the +courts of the Lord's house, the less they think about its blessings, the +less concern they take about religion; so that when an opportunity is +offered them of joining in public worship, it actually is viewed as a +trouble instead of a privilege, and no small pains are taken to escape +from it. For example, it is stated by Mr. Mudie, that when a clergyman +had been able to attend, and divine service was about to commence, upon +his estate, he noticed but few of the convicts there, the rest declining +to come, upon the plea of their being Roman Catholics. But this trick +was of no avail, for their master, being satisfied that they merely +wanted to escape attendance, and to employ the opportunity thus afforded +them of prowling about and thieving, insisted upon all these Romanists +coming up and sitting outside the building in which the others were +assembled. The next time the clergyman came, they were all Protestants. +But in what a wretched state of depravity must men be who can thus +deliberately tell a lie, in order to avoid joining in the worship of +the Lord their Maker! + +To provide for the spiritual wants of our penal colonies would be, under +the most favourable circumstances, no easy matter; and in the actual +condition of affairs, it is a most difficult and discouraging task. For +not only are the ordinary obstacles arising from man's fallen nature to +be surmounted, but the effect of unusually evil influence and bad +example is to be counteracted in a convict population. And far from +opposing this mischievous spirit by "endeavouring to keep the unity of +the spirit in the bond of peace," professing believers are nowhere more +at variance than in Australia; so that the work of turning the hearts of +the disobedient to the wisdom of the Just is perpetually being disturbed +by strife and jealousies among those who ought to be one, even as Christ +and the Father are One. There, as it has been well observed, "the Church +stands upon her own merits, her own divine right; there all the attested +grievances of the Dissenters, secular and political, are removed; no +tithes, no church-rates, no exclusive state support." And yet there, it +may be added, the fierce contentious spirit which rages in England is +unchanged in character, and the way of the Church is just as evil spoken +of in New South Wales as in the mother country. The only grievance the +dissenters can complain of now in Australia is that assistance is +afforded to the Church to a larger amount than they would like. But +this is grievance enough for them to raise an outcry about. And hence +arise fresh hindrances to the progress of true religion in these +settlements. There are other spirits besides the unclean spirits of +infidelity and iniquity which the Church has here to contend against. + +The language of a very zealous and active clergyman of Australia is +this:--"Give us clergy and churches, and I will ensure congregations and +a vast spread of the gospel in the Church of Christ by means of the +Church of England."[210] But, so pitiable is the effect of religious +strife, that rather than allow the necessary means to be given for +this purpose, many would be content to leave things in their present +miserable state; and although, as in the mother country, the majority of +the population belong to the Church of England, yet the minority, in all +its little sections, unite in grudging every effort that is permitted, +every single pound that is spent, by the government in aid of the +Church. There is no communion that can pretend to lay claim to the +religious instruction of the people; it would be too absurd to propose +that the English nation should entrust the religious training of a +colony, like that of New South Wales,[211] containing upwards of 70,000 +persons belonging to the national Church, into the hands of the +Presbyterians, with their 13,153 souls, or into those of the Methodists +and other dissenters, with their 5,093 souls, or even to the Romanists, +with their 35,690 souls! And accordingly, since it was hopeless to get +this important and responsible office exclusively for themselves, all +parties really would seem to have conspired together to keep it, at all +events, from falling into the possession of that body to which it of +right belongs,--the national Church of England and Ireland,--a Church +which the Presbyterians do not generally deny to be scriptural, and +which the Romanists, by their peculiar hostility, proclaim to be, in +the best and oldest meaning of the word, essentially Protestant. Under +feelings of this description, the Roman Catholics, and their +"Presbyterian brethren," (as they can condescend to call them when it +answers their purpose,)[212] have been acting in Australia for some +years past; and, aided by the potent force of agitation upon a +government which "cared for none of these things," except how it might +"please the people," they have been successful. Spurning the very name +of toleration, and despairing of exclusive establishments for their +own communion, they have succeeded in giving birth to a system of +joint-establishment for three communions of Christians, and +encouragement and assistance for as many more as the government may see +fit to patronise. In 1836, the system which now continues in operation +was commenced by Sir R. Bourke, then Governor of New South Wales, who, +in proposing this plan, expressed a confident hope, (which has never yet +been fulfilled,) that thus people of different persuasions "would be +united together in one _bond of peace_." It is pitiable to see a +fellow-creature, and him, too, a man in authority, borrowing an +expression from a passage of Holy Scripture, (Eph. iv. 3,) while he is +at the very time forgetting the duty there enforced. The eye that +glances upon the words "bond of peace," must be very careless or very +wilful, if those other words, "unity of Spirit," or the words below, in +the following verses of the same chapter, altogether escape its notice. +The principal features of the new system are these. It affords +assistance in money towards building a church or chapel, and a +dwelling-house for the minister, in all cases where not less than +300_l._ have been raised by private subscriptions. It provides a stipend +for the support of _ministers of religion_, upon certain conditions, at +the rate of 100_l._ per annum, where there is a population, of 100 adult +persons, (including convicts,) who shall subscribe a declaration stating +their desire to attend his place of worship, and shall be living +within a reasonable distance of the same. If 200 adults in similar +circumstances sign the declaration, a stipend of 150_l._ is granted; and +if 500 persons sign it, the stipend is 200_l._--the highest amount ever +granted towards the support of any one officiating teacher of religion. +In places where there are less than 100 adults ready to subscribe, or +where there is no church or chapel yet erected, the governor may +contribute a stipend not exceeding 100_l._ per annum, but in the latter +case 50_l._ must be promised also from private sources. A certain +proportion of free sittings, (one-fourth, according to Lang, at least +one-sixth part, according to Burton,) is to be reserved in each +building. Such are the principal points of the system, and, according +to the governor's regulations, the assistance thus offered is limited +chiefly to the Church of England, the Church of Rome, and the Scottish +Kirk, which "three grand divisions of Christians"[213] are thus made, in +fact, the three established communions of New South Wales. + + [210] Letter of Rev. W. H. Walsh to S. P. G., dated October 6th, 1840. + + [211] In Van Diemen's Land, in 1838, it was stated that sixteen out of + every twenty-three persons, nearly two-thirds, belonged to the Church + of England. Bishop of Australia's Letter to S. P. G., dated August 18, + 1838. + + [212] See the Memorial of the (Roman) Catholic Inhabitants of New + South Wales to Lord Normanby. Burton on Education and Religion. + Appendix, p. 117. + + [213] Sir Richard Bourke's Letter to the Right Hon. E. G. Stanley, + September 30th, 1833. Sir Richard, in his haste or his ignorance, has + overlooked the Greek Church. + +Undoubtedly good has resulted from the enactment of this law in 1836, +for before that there were scarcely any means open of obtaining help +towards religious instruction, whereas certain means are open now, and +have been very much used. Yet because some good has resulted in this +way, the evil spirit and wretched tendency of the measure must not be +overlooked. All the good that has resulted might have been obtained +without any of its accompanying evil, if a perfect toleration had been +established, the National Church properly endowed, and a sufficient +supply of Roman Catholic priests or Presbyterian teachers for the +convict population of those persuasions liberally supported by +government, as in the gaols in Ireland. In this case, the poor convict, +who is not permitted to possess money, would have had the consolations +of religion, however imperfect, offered to him in his own way, while the +free settler would have had the doors of the national Church opened to +him, or the liberty, in case of his dissenting from that, of providing +for himself a separate conventicle. Where would have been the hardship +of this arrangement? Or why should the _voluntary system_, which is, in +the northern hemisphere, so highly extolled by many Irish Romanists and +not a few Presbyterians, in the southern, be thought a punishment and +degradation? Thus, "not only has equal protection,--for God forbid that +we should ever repine at equal protection,--but equal encouragement been +given by government to every description of religious faith, and every +denomination of professing Christians, in some of the most important +dependencies of the British crown."[214] Is not this, it may be asked, +the very course which a mild and tolerant _heathen_ government would +pursue? And is the same policy, which would probably be followed by +heathen rulers, either right or expedient in rulers professing +themselves to be Christians? + + [214] Bishop of Exeter's Charge in 1837. + +Certainly, whatever other arrangements might have been adopted, those +that have been made are faulty in principle; and this is true, although +it be confessed that some good has arisen from them, since through them +an increased supply of religious teaching has been afforded to the +colonists, however reluctantly wrung from the government in behalf of +the Church of England. The faultiness of principle in these arrangements +is thus stated by the present Bishop of Australia, a man well fitted to +the responsible station which he fills in Christ's Church. "By the +government plan of aid," he observes, "encouragement is given to the +lax and dangerous opinion, that there is in religion nothing that is +either certain or true. The government virtually admits that there is no +divinely-instituted form of church-membership, or of doctrine, otherwise +that one would in preference receive its support. The consequence is +that the most awful truths of Christianity, which have been acknowledged +and preserved in the Church from the beginning, are now frequently +spoken of as merely sectarian opinions, to which no peculiar respect is +due."[215] The Roman Catholics hailed this measure with delight, for +what to them can be a greater triumph or a more gratifying spectacle +than to behold a great Protestant nation, inquiring, as Pilate did, +"What is truth?" The Presbyterians, likewise, and Protestant Dissenters, +were not behind their brethren of Rome (though there were fewer voices +to join the shout) in greeting so exquisitely liberal a measure, which +is actually founded upon some of their favourite notions respecting the +harmlessness of divisions, the total invisibility of the Church, and the +hatefulness of "a dominant episcopacy." The rejoicings which were to be +heard in quarters apparently so opposite boded no good from the measure +to the Church of England; and, certainly, from the strange way in which +this law has been carried into operation, so far as that communion is +concerned, the Government are not to be thanked for any favourable +results that have followed. Through the activity of the members of our +Church, both at home and in Australia, an increased supply of churches +and of clergy has indeed been obtained; but this has, in most instances, +literally been wrung from the ruling powers; while the only boon +that was freely given,--a most valuable boon, it is willingly +acknowledged,--was the appointment of a bishop instead of an archdeacon. +However, the value of the boon thus obtained was lessened by the +disregard shown by Government to the wants of the Church in Australia. +The Bishop returned from England, after his consecration in 1836, +_alone, without being accompanied by a single clergyman_, because, while +Roman Catholic priests and Presbyterian teachers were still eligible to +receive, and did receive, the aid of government, the Church of England +was to remain as it was, notwithstanding its pressing wants and +increasing numbers. All allowances towards the expense of the passage, +or residence, or means of support for any additional clergymen, were +refused. During five years, from 1832 to 1836, the number of chaplains +continued to be the same, except in 1833, when there were only fifteen +instead of sixteen in the estimates; and this was not because no +increase was needful,--for when an outfit of 150_l._, and a yearly +salary of 50_l._ were generously furnished to twenty clergymen by the +Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, in consequence of the extreme +necessity of the case, every one of these were instantly employed. A +subscription, amounting to 3,000_l._ was at this time raised in England +in behalf of the Church in Australia, and when the Government perceived +that public opinion was awakened in its favour, and that they had +succeeded in giving their friends and supporters a tolerably good start, +they at length agreed, with the tact peculiar to them, to place the +Church of England (at least nominally) upon the same footing with the +two other "grand divisions of Christians." + + [215] Bishop of Australia's Letter to the Society for the Propagation + of the Gospel, August 18, 1838. + +Now, therefore, the same assistance in outfit, and the same amount of +salary proportioned to the numbers of the congregation, are awarded, +according to the Act, to the teachers of each of these three divisions. +And thus, as Sir R. Bourke informs Lord Glenelg, in 1837, ministers +of the Church of England have been forthcoming to "answer (in many +instances) the calls of congregations of their communion;" while, as a +matter of course, where no call is heard, no answer is attempted to be +given. How very opposite is this modern idea of _the sheep calling the +shepherd to them_, from that pattern set before us by the good Shepherd, +who "came to seek and to save that which was lost!" But still, though +nominally upon an equality with the others, it is distressing to find +how hard a measure has been dealt to the Church in New South Wales; how +studiously every petty advantage that could be taken has been taken of +it by a Government calling itself liberal and impartial. A few instances +of this shall be given, which may serve to show how our brethren in the +colonies have been treated, and how we should ourselves be treated, if +dissent and Romanism could get the upper-hand in our native country; for +then, at the very best, the clergy would be placed, as they now are in +Australia, "in a state of dependence upon two unstable supports;--the +will of Government, and the disposition of the people."[216] At present, +the latter is favourable enough in Australia; but the good-will of the +Government towards the Church has been indeed strangely shown within the +last few years. When the other communions and persuasions in the colony +had nearly, if not altogether, provided themselves with the number of +ministers that the law would allow them, while the wants of the Church +remained, to a great extent, unsupplied, advantage was taken of an +expression in a letter of the governor, Sir George Gipps,[217] and a +limitation was imposed upon the government assistance by Lord Normanby, +which operated exclusively to the hurt of the Church of England. In a +like spirit it was that the governor of New South Wales refused to +consider as private contributions for schools either sums granted by the +societies in England, or by their diocesan committee in New South Wales; +although, in both instances, the money was raised entirely by private +subscription. The inconvenience, delay, and disappointment which this +one arbitrary rule occasioned were astonishing; and to those who took +delight in balking the efforts and thwarting the good works of our +Church, it must have been very gratifying. So, too, must the refusal, in +1841, of a piece of land for a site of a church and parsonage in the +wild district on the banks of the Morrumbidgee, containing 1,200 souls, +dispersed about over a very extensive range of country. + + [216] See Bishop of Australia's Charge in 1841, p. 10. + + [217] On November 9th, 1838, Sir G. Gipps wrote to Lord Glenelg, stating + that "he was happy to say there was no want in the colony of clergy of + _any denomination_!" It was only in December 1837 that the Bishop of + Australia had requested eighteen or nineteen _presbyters of the Church + of England_ for as many places as had actually complied with the + government rules, and not more than half the number had, in the interim, + been supplied. + +Another example of similar conduct has occurred since the change of +ministry at home, which would, it might have been hoped, have infused a +better feeling into the colonial authorities. At the end of 1841, the +Bishop proposed to erect, in certain spots, small wooden churches, as +the only means of obtaining churches at all; trusting, that after these +had stood forty or fifty years, they might be replaced by buildings of +a higher and more lasting character. The average cost of these humble +little buildings was to be from 100_l._ to 120_l._; and they were +intended for very poor districts; but since the outlay did not amount +to 300_l._, the Government would give nothing, and no effort was made +to introduce a modification of the law (supposing that to have been +needful) in order to meet such cases. Instances to the same effect might +easily be multiplied. In New South Wales land is comparatively cheap, +and a horse is an indispensable necessary for a clergyman; but no part +of the government grant is allowed to be spent in purchasing more than +an acre for the site of a church, and half an acre for a house and +garden. "To extend the latter allowance to any quantity of land from +which an income might be derived, would increase the emoluments of the +minister, at the public expense, beyond what the Act contemplates;" so +the Bishop of Australia was assured by official authority in 1836. But +enough of these miserable instances of state-peddling in ecclesiastical +establishments. "There is no semblance," to use Mr. Gladstone's words, +"in any part of these arrangements, of a true and sound conception of +the conscientious functions of government in matters of religion."[218] +May we venture to hope that the present ministry, of which the writer of +the above is a distinguished member, may exhibit in their conduct and +arrangements, both in the colonies and at home, a more sound and true +conception of their duty than was ever shown by their predecessors? Such +hopes, undoubtedly, are entertained by a portion of the British public, +not unimportant either in numbers or in moral and political influence. +Nevertheless, the zealously attached members of the Church of England +need not to be reminded of a truth which is frequently brought before +them in the circle of its daily service. They know that "it is better to +trust in the Lord than to put any confidence in princes." They are sure +that, if theirs is a living branch of Christ's Holy Catholic Church, +many a weapon will be formed against it, but yet "no weapon that is +formed against it shall prosper." + + [218] Gladstone's State in its Relations with the Church, chap. + vii. p. 272. + +It would be wearying to the reader to attempt to enter into the same +details respecting schools as have been stated with regard to churches. +The fate of the Church and School Corporation has elsewhere been +related.[219] Suffice it to say, then, that the same spirit of hostility +or indifference has been equally exhibited in both cases; indeed, it +would be strange if the bitter enemies, and feeble or false friends of +that system of religious instruction which is carried on among the adult +population by our national Church, were not alike vigorous in their +opposition, or impotent in their friendship, to the system of religious +training among the infant population which is wrought out by our +national schools. However, in mentioning the subject of schools, the +unsuccessful attempt of the Government, in 1836, to saddle the colony of +New South Wales with schools conducted upon the modern Irish system, +must not be left unnoticed. On this occasion, it may be observed, the +Presbyterian, Independent, Baptist, and Wesleyan "denominations of +Christians," were actually forced to leave, for a while, their liberal +friends and allies of the Church of Rome, and to seek the assistance, +and rejoice in the strength of the "exclusive" and "dominant" Church of +England. It is really curious to observe these various sects seeking out +the Bishop of Australia, and requesting him to preside at their meeting +in opposition to the proposed measure; and since, although he disagreed +with them in a matter not then at issue, namely, the need of creeds and +catechisms in imparting religious instruction, nevertheless, as he +agreed entirely with them in the matter which was at issue,--the +propriety and necessity of using the Holy Scriptures in religious +teaching,--he complied with their request, presided at their meeting, +and signed their petition. He also presented a petition from himself on +the same subject; for the Government had so contrived to shuffle between +the Archdeacon and the Bishop, that Dr. Broughton, who had very recently +been consecrated, could, just at the time when the education scheme +was to have passed, claim a seat in the legislative council in neither +capacity. It so happened, that by an official neglect at the +Colonial-office in London, no patent, including the Bishop as a member, +had been forwarded to New South Wales; so when he reached Sydney, he +found himself excluded from his seat in the council during the whole +time in which this matter was under discussion there. The plan appeared +to be successful; 3,000_l._ was devoted towards establishing the new +scheme, and an honoured name, that of "National Schools," was pilfered, +and bestowed upon those that were projected in Sydney. But, in this +instance, high principle and popular feeling were united against the +Irish scheme; and as it began with a blunder at the Colonial-office, so +it proved to be little better than a blunder throughout. The schools +proposed were never established; and since that time the Roman Catholics +have made a different sort of attempt to gain educational power, by +obtaining separate sums for their own schools, and swamping the members +of the Church of England, under the honourable but much abused +appellation of Protestants, in the general quagmire of heresy and +schism. However, this second effort, which was made with the sanction +of the Government, was defeated chiefly (under Providence) by the zeal +and ability of the Bishop; and whoever is desirous of seeing a noble +specimen of clear reasoning and manly eloquence, will be gratified and +improved by reading the Bishop of Australia's speech upon the occasion +of this scheme having been proposed by Sir George Gipps in the +legislative council. Certainly, when we consider how admirably +Bishop Broughton demolished Sir George Gipps's scheme, we must own +that the tact was very acute,--or at least the _mistake_ rather +_suspicious_,--which shut him out of the legislative council when +Governor Bourke's plan was in agitation. + + [219] See the latter part of Chapter XI. + +Besides the schools assisted by Government for the education of the +lower orders, there are, of course, many private schools in the +Australian colonies; and it is believed that these important +establishments are no longer so commonly under the direction of men +that have been convicts as they formerly were. Undoubtedly, one who +has been transported _may_, perchance, turn out afterwards to be a good +instructor of youth, but what christian parent would willingly risk his +child's religious and moral progress upon a chance, a possibility, of +this kind? The King's School at Paramatta is an excellent establishment, +founded and conducted upon the principles of the Church of England. +Sydney College is another well-conducted school, but its principles are +more open to objection. "It is to be believed," as has been remarked, +"that a desire to gain the support of men of all religious principles, +led to the Sydney College being founded on none;" and it was scarcely +possible to fall into a greater error than that of passing almost +unnoticed the one thing needful. It is true, that prayers are used daily +in this school, and there seems, from Judge Burton's account of it, to +be much that is good and praiseworthy in its management and details. But +a school where the children of Protestants, Roman Catholics, and Jews, +meet together, must be, at best, an odd jumble; and the religious +tendency of such an education must be very questionable. + +The Australian College is said by Dr. Lang, its founder, to be the +most promising establishment in New South Wales, being more likely to +resemble in course of time a small university or college in Europe than +the others are. It is chiefly in the hands of the Presbyterians, and +appears to be a thriving and well-conducted school of general learning. +Religious instruction is not neglected, but all this department of +education is arranged in a vague and general way, so as to avoid as much +as possible disputed points; and if parents or guardians object to +children receiving this kind of instruction at all, these pupils are +allowed to withdraw at the times when it is given. If no essential +points of Christianity had ever been brought into dispute, it might +have been wise to avoid those unessential points that had been; or if +religion were a matter of indifference or secondary consequence, then it +might be well to provide for pupils withdrawing beyond the reach of its +voice. But since neither of these suppositions are true, the system of +the Australian College cannot be recommended. It may be very _liberal_. +It is not very _wise_. But it is hard to say when we have reached the +extremity of any opinions. The plan of the Australian College is far too +narrow and confined for some choice spirits of New South Wales; and +accordingly the Normal Institution, as it is pompously designated, has +been formed by a seceder from the first-named establishment. It is said +to be tolerably flourishing, and no wonder, for it offers a very fair +_secular_ education, and this is sufficient for the children of this +world,--unhappily, no insignificant or small class either in New South +Wales or elsewhere. But the christian reader will be satisfied of the +sandy foundation on which the Normal Institution is raised, when he +glances over the following extracts from its original prospectus. The +pupils are to be afforded "every facility and abundant materials for +forming opinions of their own,"--young children, instead of being +brought to Christ, are to be allowed (if they can) to find their way to +Him. The prospectus says, "Till the mind has formed religious opinions +of its own, grounded on a wide range of religious knowledge, the +profession of religion is meaningless, if not incalculably pernicious." +Our Lord's words are, "Except ye be converted and become as little +children, ye cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven." But it is vain to +quote the words of Scripture to men who will make professions like this: +"To inculcate any given set of religious tenets, or to teach any given +set of religious text-books, would be to lend my labours to a party +whilst I profess to labour for mankind." As though, forsooth, we could +ever labour more advantageously for mankind than when we try to persuade +them, from their very tenderest years, to believe in the Bible and to +belong to the church of God! + +It is the expressed opinion of the highest authority in the church of +Australia, that New South Wales, which is certainly the farthest +advanced of all our colonies there, is not yet ripe for the +establishment of a regular college, resembling our ancient and venerated +English universities. But this most important object has not been lost +sight of; and while a grammar-school has recently been opened in St. +James's parish in Sydney, and another is projected at Newcastle, both of +which are intended to form a nursery for the future college, the means +of providing this last are beginning to accumulate. Mr. Thomas Moore, of +Liverpool, in New South Wales, who died in 1840, has left the site of +his house in Liverpool, with ground adjoining, together with 700 acres +of land, in trust towards the establishment of a college in immediate +and exclusive connexion with the Church of England and Ireland. This +bequest, in itself insufficient for the proposed purpose, will yet serve +for a foundation to begin upon; 3,000_l._ were voted in January, 1840, +by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge to advance the same +good object, and it is expected that the fund will increase and gather +strength before the time shall have arrived when it will be thought +advisable to commence the college. A new school, attached to the Church +of England, is also about to be begun in Van Diemen's Land. It is to be +called Archdeacon Hutchins's school, being intended by its promoters for +a lasting and useful memorial of their respect for the late lamented +Archdeacon of Van Diemen's Land. In the last published account of this +undertaking, it is stated that about 850_l._ was subscribed for this +purpose, but at least 2,000_l._ will be wanted. Our noble Society for +Promoting Christian Knowledge, ever active in advancing the glorious +purpose for which it was formed, has contributed 100_l._ towards this +school, which is to be built at Hobart Town. And it may be observed, +that henceforth Van Diemen's Land will demand even more spiritual care +and assistance than the elder colony; for by recent arrangements, the +transportation of criminals to New South Wales has altogether ceased, +and Van Diemen's Land is now the only colony to which convicts are +conveyed.[220] + + [220] For the particulars here stated, see the Report of the Society + for Promoting Christian Knowledge, for 1842, pp. 56-64. + +A census of the population of New South Wales was taken on the 2d of +March, in the year 1841, and the general result of this is here added +for the satisfaction of the reader. In the whole colony, including its +various dependencies, but exclusive of Van Diemen's Land,[221] the +total of inhabitants was 130,856, of which number 43,558 were females, +and 87,298 males, being as nearly as possible two to one in favour of +the latter. The number of houses, mostly built of wood, was 16,776, +nearly in the proportion of eight inhabitants to each house. The return +of the various religious persuasions was as follows:--Church of England, +73,727, forming a clear majority upon the whole population. Scotch Kirk, +13,153, forming about a tenth of the whole amount of the inhabitants of +New South Wales. Members of the Church of Rome, 35,690, being rather +more than one-fourth of the population. Protestant Dissenters, including +Wesleyans, 5,093, making about one-twenty-sixth of the whole. Jews, 856, +Mahometans and Pagans, 207. Of the inhabitants of New South Wales in +1841, 101,749 were returned as free, while 26,977 were in bondage.[222] +In 1836, there was about one and three-quarters free to one bond, while +in 1841, there were four free to one bond, the proportion of free to the +whole population having gained sixteen per cent. in the five years. +Henceforth, from the natural increase by births, from the influx of +emigrants, and the stoppage of transportation, the advance will be much +more rapid. The population of Sydney was, in 1841, no less than 29,973 +souls; of these, 16,505 were returned as members of the Church of +England; 8,126 belonged to the Romish Church; 3,111 were members of the +Scotch Kirk; 1,707 were Protestant Dissenters; 462 were Jews; and 62 +Mahometans and Pagans. It will be seen, that in the population of the +metropolis of the colony, the proportions of the various religious +opinions are not very materially different from those in the whole +of New South Wales, except that the number of Roman Catholics and +Dissenters are greater, as they usually are in large towns, and that in +Sydney the Romanists have increased, whilst in the colony generally they +have diminished since the last census. + + [221] "It has been found impossible to state accurately the present + population of Tasmania. No information could be obtained at the + well-known colonial publisher's (Cross's) in Holborn." + + [222] These numbers are copied from a Sydney newspaper, but from some + difference in the elements of calculation, possibly from not including + the population of Norfolk Island, they do not quite tally with those + given above. + +A few words may not be out of place, in a work descriptive of the +Australian colonies, upon the subject of emigration, but so much has +been written upon this matter, that a very few words may suffice to give +the opinions of those who are practically acquainted with the subject. +Undoubtedly, active, industrious, and prudent persons, are likely to +prosper in Australia to a degree which is impossible, and scarcely +credible, in Great Britain. No doubt, Providence has in these, and in +our other colonies, given England a means of letting its surplus +population escape in a way that shall not be merely safe, but even +profitable, to the mother country, as well as to the emigrants +themselves. The average consumption of English manufactures by the +Australian colonists, has recently been stated to amount to ten guineas +a-head, while that of the inhabitants of the European countries is only +two shillings.[223] And what true-born Englishman would refuse to +rejoice in the increased demand thus likely to be opened for our +manufactures, and in the increased prosperity of our fellow-subjects on +the other side of the globe, who are thus enabled to supply their own +wants, by purchasing English goods? The objections which we hear +occasionally urged against emigration amount, with one important +exception, to little or nothing. The distance and long voyage, the risk +of not succeeding, the impossibility now of pig-drivers and convicts +becoming masters of many thousands a-year,[224] the paramount necessity +of patient industry and prudent forecast in Australia, no less than in +the rest of the world,--all these circumstances offer no reasonable +hindrance to the emigrant's attempt, either to better his condition, or +else to get that daily bread which in England he finds difficult to be +obtained. And, whatever obstacles of this kind may at first deter him, +the careful settler will soon find himself victorious over these, and +more comfortably situated, in a worldly sense, than he ever before was. + + [223] See the speech of Mr. C. Buller in the House of Commons, on + Thursday, April 6th, 1843, upon the subject of colonization. + + [224] See Evidence before Committee on Transportation in 1837, p. 41. + +_In a worldly sense_, it is said, because, unhappily, there is one great +objection to all emigration, belonging to it of necessity, which, in the +English colonies, and not least so in Australia, has been fearfully +increased and needlessly aggravated. The want of religious instruction +in newly-peopled countries, and among a widely-scattered and pastoral +population, must needs be grievous, even under the most favourable +circumstances. And if these countries are used as penal settlements, the +want is likely to be still more deplorable. But the evil is inflamed to +the utmost degree, when, as in Australia during the earlier years of its +colonial history, little provision of any kind is made for the spiritual +need of the people, or when, as in the same country in later years, "a +system is pursued which would seem to indicate an utter indifference on +the part of those who dispense the national treasure, whether truth +or falsehood shall characterise the religious creeds of any of the +colonists."[225] And thus, while the sum total of religious provision +is very insufficient, that little is divided in a kind of scramble among +various parties, so that Irish Roman Catholics, who cry up the voluntary +system at home, are tempted to glory in being one of "the three +established communions" in New South Wales; and Scotch Presbyterians, +who profess extreme ardour for the American system of "leaving every +religious denomination to support its own ministers," find in Australia +assistance from Government (or even from a clergyman of the Church of +England)[226] very convenient, and "a' vera weel," as the cannie Scots +say. With so much irreligion, so small and so miserably divided a power +to oppose it, as we behold in Australia, the great question with every +one proposing to emigrate is, whether he can take that step without +probable spiritual loss; and at this price he would find all worldly +gain too dearly bought. There are many places in our colonies, it is +true, where a person may use (or, if he pleases, neglect) the means of +grace, exactly as at home; and against these spots the objection now +urged would not at all weigh. But before any one removes himself into +the wilderness, or far away from any place of worship, except the chapel +of the Roman Catholic or the meeting of the separatist, he should be +well rooted and grounded in the faith of his fathers. And supposing him +to be so, what real patriot could wish a man of this kind to emigrate! +How ill can England spare out of any rank of life such persons as these! +Before emigration can become as general and respectable as it ought +to be, _religion_ must be made its groundwork; and religion, to be +successful in doing the work of Christ in the hearts of men, must not +consist in that modern jumble of denominations, which pretends to the +name, but must teach its doctrines by means of the ministrations of the +"Church of the Living God," which is the pillar and ground of the truth. +When this foundation has been laid, then can the conscientious churchman +zealously promote emigration, and not before. And if it should never be +laid, still, whatever may be his fears for weak brethren, or his value +for more steadfast fellow-members of Christ, influencing him to avoid +the responsibility of advising them to quit the home of their fathers, +the faithful churchman will be under no alarm whatever, respecting the +stability of the branch planted by his mother-church in Australia. Nor +yet will he grudge all other denominations (unless they be blasphemous +or immoral,) the most complete toleration. Nay, were it not for the +mischief that would arise to Christianity and to the souls of men, they +might be welcome to all the support and patronage of the State; and if +they obtain it all, even then we fear them not; indeed it is our duty +to pity them, to love them, to pray for them as brethren. Whatever +may be the fate either of Australia or England, the lot of Christ's +Church--that visible Church of His which was founded upon the first +preaching of Peter both to the Jews and to the Gentiles--is fixed and +determined:--it is firmly built upon a rock, and "the gates of hell +shall not prevail against it." + + [225] See the Bishop of Exeter's Charge in 1837. + + [226] Compare Dr. Lang's New South Wales, vol. ii. pp. 375, 288; + and Burton on Education and Religion in New South Wales, p. 13. + + +R. 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