An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales Volume II Part 6

On enquiry it appeared, that this party was composed of several who were present when the magistrate addressed them by order of the governor; and that others had a.s.sembled from different farms, which were situated at a considerable distance from each other. The trouble taken to collect and mislead these people proved to him that it was the work of some wicked incendiary, who designed by this means to embarra.s.s the public concerns of the colony, and thereby throw obstacles in the way of his government.

Being, on further consideration of the necessity of checking this spirit of emigration, determined to convince them, by their own experience, of the danger and difficulties which attended it, the governor caused four of the strongest and hardiest among them to be chosen by themselves, and properly prepared for a journey of discovery. They were to be accompanied by three men, upon whom the governor knew he could depend, and who were to lead them back, when fatigued and exhausted with their journey, over the very worst and most dangerous part of the country. This plan was no sooner settled, than the governor received information on which he could rely, that a party of these miscreants had concerted with the four deputies to meet them at a certain place, where they were to murder the persons intended to be their guides, possess themselves of their arms and provisions, and then pursue their own route. This diabolical scheme was counter-acted by the addition of four soldiers to the guides; and on the 14th they set off from Parramatta.

On the 24th the soldiers returned with three of the deputies, who, having gained the foot of the first mountains, were so completely sick of their journey, and of the prospect before them, that they requested to return with the soldiers, whose mission here terminated, being ordered to leave them at this place in the direction of the guides; one man only expressed a resolution to persevere, and penetrate further into the country, and was left with them for that purpose.

The history of these people might well be supposed to end here; but their restless dispositions were not calculated to remain long in peace.

It will be seen, on recurring to the transactions of the month of October last, that a boat belonging to a settler had been carried off in the night, by some people who were supposed to have taken her out to sea, where, from the weakness of the boat, they must soon have perished: but they were now heard of again. Owen Cavanagh, a free man, had a boat which he employed in transporting grain from the Hawkesbury to Sydney. On the 10th of this month, he informed the governor, that, a short time before, his boat had been boarded in the night, off Mullett Island, by the very people who had stolen the one from the settler, and carried her off, with another containing fifty bushels of grain which some other person was bringing to Sydney. One man, who had, against his wish, been concerned in the first seizure, now left them, and returned with Cavanagh; and from him the following account of their proceedings was obtained. Having effected the capture, they proceeded to the southward, with the intention of reaching the wreck of the ship _Sydney Cove_. For their guide, they had a pocket compa.s.s, of which scarcely one man of the fourteen who composed the party knew the use. In this boat they were twice thrown on sh.o.r.e, and at last reached an island, where, had they not fortunately found many birds and seals, they must inevitably have perished. From the inconceivable hardships they underwent, they would to a man have gladly returned, could they have hoped that their punishment would have been any thing short of death. Finding it impossible for such a number of discontented beings to continue of one mind, or to be able to furnish food in their miserable situation for so many, they judged it necessary, from a motive of self-preservation, that one half should deceive the other half; and while these were asleep, those who were prepared took away the boat, leaving their seven wretched and unsuspecting companions upon the desolate island, the situation of which this man could not describe so as to enable the governor at any time to find it. Their number now being reduced to seven, and thinking themselves in danger near this port, they had been lurking for some time about Broken Bay, with a view of capturing a better boat loaded with grain from the Hawkesbury; which they effected, first by taking the boat of Owen Cavanagh, the support of whose wife and children it had long been. After securing him, they took possession of a smaller boat, containing upwards of fifty bushels of wheat; and, finding Cavanagh's the largest and best of the two, they ran out about three or four leagues from the land, when they shifted their prisoners into the smaller boat, and stood off to the Northward; where it was very probable they would lose their boat, she being of such a size, that if they should get her on sh.o.r.e by any accident, they would not be able to launch her again, and must finally perish.

Here we find extreme ignorance, accompanied by great cunning, producing cruelty; for nothing less can be said of their abandoning the miserable uninformed companions of their crime. Self-preservation was their plea; but was there not a method left within their reach, which might have preserved the whole? Might they not have returned to Sydney, and thrown themselves upon that mercy which they had so often seen exercised in the settlement. Could it be imagined, that at this day there was existing in a polished civilised kingdom a race of beings (for they do not deserve the appellation of men) so extremely ignorant, and so little humanised as these were, compared with whom the naked savages of the mountains were an enlightened people?

Occasional desertions of one or two people at a time had occurred since the establishment of the settlement; but the first convicts who arrived from Ireland in the _Queen_ in the year 1791 went off in numerous bodies, few of whom ever returned. They too were prepossessed with the possibility of penetrating through the woods to China, and imparted the same idea to all of their countrymen who came after them, engaging them in the same act of folly and madness. It was not then to be wondered at, that Wilson, who lately came in from the woods, should, among other articles of information, mention his finding more than fifty skeletons, which the natives a.s.sured him had been white men, who had lost their way and perished. This account was corroborated by different European articles which were scattered about, such as knives, old shoes, and other things which were known not to belong to the natives.

On the 20th the _Francis_ returned with Captain Hamilton from the southward. Previous to his departure for the wreck of his ship, he had informed the governor that she had on board nearly 7000 gallons of spirits, and solicited permission to bring back a part with him in the schooner. The governor, ever averse to the introduction of spirituous liquors, would certainly have resisted the application; but, it being generally known in the colony that a considerable quant.i.ty of this article had been saved from the wreck, and that the island abounded with kangaroos and birds, he conceived these circ.u.mstances not only to have conduced to those desertions and captures of boats which had been effected, but as likely to prove farther temptations to similar practices. He therefore determined to purchase the rum of Captain Hamilton; and, as there was none in store for the public service, to take it on account of government. An agreement was accordingly entered into by the commissary, and 3500 gallons were brought round in the _Francis_.

Captain Hamilton stated, that of all the other articles which had been taken on sh.o.r.e from the wreck, a small quant.i.ty of coa.r.s.e cloth alone had been saved, the remainder having been destroyed by gales of wind and bad weather. The wreck of the ship was entirely washed away. Of the six Lascars who had been left with the property, one had died; the other five were in health, and had lived tolerably well, killing upon a neighbouring island as many kangaroos and birds as they could use. These poor fellows had erected a smoke-house, and had salted and smoke-dried as much meat as would serve them during the ensuing winter.

These people, though provided only with one small boat, had made some excursions; and it appeared by their accounts, that this part of the coast of New South Wales was formed entirely by a group of islands, extending as far as they had seen to the westward of them, and interspersed with many shoals. Hence, and indeed from observations which he had made when on that part of the coast himself, the governor thought it highly probable that there were many pa.s.sages or straits quite through to the ocean westward, making Van Diemen's land, the southernmost part of New Holland, an island.

Captain Hamilton had left a cow with his people, but she had died; a mare that he had been more fortunate with was brought away in the _Francis_.

Notwithstanding the severe trial which Cole-be had been put to for the death of Ye-ra-ni-be, the friends of that young man had not thought it sufficient to atone for his loss. One of them, Mo-roo-bra, in company with some other natives, meeting with Cole-be, made an attack upon him, with a determination to put an end to the business and his life together.

Cole-be, not yet recovered of the wounds that he had received in the last affair, was unable to make much resistance; and, after receiving several blows on the head, was supposed to have been dispatched; but Mo-roo-bra, as they were quitting him, seeing him revive, and attempting to rise, returned to finish this savage business; which so exasperated another native, that he s.n.a.t.c.hed up a spear, and in a rage threw it with all his force at Mo-roo-bra. The spear entered his right side, just over the hip bone, and went inclining downwards quite through the body, penetrating the bladder in its pa.s.sage. Of this wound he died in about an hour. On the same evening this generous fellow was attacked by the friends of the deceased in the usual way; and, as might be expected, defended himself with great gallantry. He was, however, speared twice through the thigh, once through the leg, and received a bad wound in the right hand. The spear entered at the side of the hand, rather on the back part of it, came out in the palm, entered again under the ball of the thumb, and came out on the back of the hand, near the tendon of the forefinger. The very little inflammation that attended these painful wounds was remarkable.

Both the officiating magistrates at Sydney being at this time much indisposed, so great an inconvenience was felt, that the governor found it necessary, through the want of other magistrates, to take upon himself the execution of some part of their troublesome office. It must be observed, that the governor for the time being is a justice of the peace, by virtue of his Majesty's letters patent.

Towards the latter end of the month, he went up to Parramatta, attended by his aid-de-camp, to examine the progress of the works carrying on there.

While on this service, an Irish convict, who had escaped from his work, and had been for some time missing, was brought in. He had wandered about for several days in search of a road which he expected to have found, and which was to have conducted him to China, or the new colony; but, his strength failing with his provisions, he grew faint, and, despairing of meeting with any relief, he had just sense enough to reverse the written instructions which had been calculated solely to carry him out, directing him to keep the sun on a particular part of his body, varying according to the time of the day. By this method he travelled eastward, and in a direction that led him nearly to the head of George's river, where a few people were settled; and, having one morning heard the report of a gun at a distance, he endeavoured to walk towards it, but was unable to make himself heard by hallooing, when night overtook him. Being faint and wearied, he took a little flour, which he still had in his pocket, and sprinkling it on some fresh water, drank it, and laid himself down to rest. In the morning, being somewhat refreshed, he again exerted himself to get forward in the direction whence the report of the gun had revived him, and soon after heard a man's voice, upon which he hallooed again, and to his infinite joy was answered. The man, who was one of the settlers, took him to his house, recruited his spirits, and brought him into the town. On being questioned how he found his way back, he said, 'that a paper compa.s.s which had been given him was of no utility; he therefore kept his face toward the place where the sun came from; but if the hord (sic) had not been on his side, he should have been lost, for he had been two whole days without any food, except a little flour and water.'

Among the public works that were carrying on during this month must be reckoned the laying another floor in the granary at Parramatta; repairing the military barracks, store-houses, and every brick building belonging to government, which were so far decayed as to be scarcely able to support their own weight. These repairs, which they had long been in want of, and which if sooner attended to would have preserved them from the ruin they were fast approaching, with the various other buildings that were so essentially requisite, completely stood in the way of making any exertions in clearing and cultivating land, and considerably added to the expenses of the colony. At Sydney the tower of the second wind-mill was begun; and on the 31st, the building being completed for its reception, the public clock was set up, and, for the first time, announced the hour to the inhabitants at Sydney. The shipwrights were employed in constructing a flat-bottomed vessel for the carriage of planks, posts, etc.

Some heavy rain fell in this month, which for the time r.e.t.a.r.ded all out-door work; but it came very opportunely for the maize, the growth of which had been rather obstructed by the dry weather which preceded.

CHAPTER IX

The _Francis_ again sails for the wreck Bennillong and his wife Report respecting the wild cattle An anonymous writing found Account of a journey to the westward Description of a new bird A general muster Mr Ba.s.s returns from an excursion in an open boat to the southward Particulars of it Three Irishmen picked up Public works Weather in February

February.] On the 1st of this month the _Francis_ was again dispatched to the wreck of the _Sydney Cove_.

When Bennillong accompanied Governor Phillip to England in the year 1792, he left a young wife to deplore his absence. The manners of savages, in this instance, were found somewhat to resemble those of civilised life.

The lady surrendered to the importunities of a youthful lover, who, to say the truth, had in some material points the advantage over Bennillong; and of him she became so enamoured, that neither the entreaties, the menaces, nor the presents* of her husband at his return, could induce her to leave him. From that time, she was considered by every one, Bennillong excepted, as the wife of Ca-ru-ay. He, finding himself neglected by other females whose smiles he courted (after the fashion of his country indeed), sometimes sought to balance the mortification by the forced embraces of his wife; but, her screams generally bringing her lover or a friend to her a.s.sistance, he was not often successful. In one of these attempts, at this time, he came off with a severe wound in the head, the lady and her lover laughing at the rage which it occasioned.

[* Vide Vol I Ch. XXIX p 367, viz: 'His inquiries were directed, immediately on his arrival, after his wife Go-roo-bar-roo-bool-lo; and her he found with Caruey. On producing a very fashionable rose-coloured petticoat and jacket made of a coa.r.s.e stuff, accompanied with a gypsy bonnet of the same colour, she deserted her lover, and followed her former husband. In a few days however, to the surprise of every one, we saw the lady walking unenc.u.mbered with clothing of any kind, and Bennillong was missing. Caruey was sought for, and we heard that he had been severely beaten by Bennillong at Rose Bay, who retained so much of our customs, that he made use of his fists instead of the weapons of his country, to the great annoyance of Caruey, who would have preferred meeting his rival fairly in the field armed with the spear and the club. Caruey being much the younger man, the lady, every inch a woman, followed her inclination, and Bennillong was compelled to yield her without any further opposition. He seemed to have been satisfied with the beating he had given Caruey, and hinted, that resting for the present without a wife, he should look about him, and at some future period make a better choice.']

The man who killed Mo-roo-bra had undergone a second attack from his friends; and, though yet suffering from the wounds which he received in the first affair, made a most excellent defence.

The governor having been informed, by some of the natives who dwelt in the neighbourhood of the cow pasture plains, that several of the wild cattle had been killed, and imagining this mischief to have been done by some of the Irish convicts (who were nearly as wild themselves as the cattle), a party of the military, with Hacking, a man well acquainted with that part of the country, was sent out with orders to surprise, and if possible to secure them. After being absent some days, they returned and reported, that, having searched the country round, no traces were seen of the cattle in any of the places where they had been accustomed to range, nor did they meet with any white people; but the natives persisted in a.s.serting their having seen some of them among them, and added that some of the calves had been run down by them. This was not impossible; and the idea was somewhat strengthened, by their finding some short spears pointed with the leg bone of the kangaroo, which were supposed to be designed for stabbing the calves when caught. Although it was the opinion of these people, that the cattle had quitted the part of the country in which they had been so long known to graze, there was yet much reason to believe that this was not the case; for, on visiting them, they were not always to be found in one spot.

It will be sufficient to state the following circ.u.mstance, to show the unpleasant and distressing situation of the princ.i.p.al officer of the settlement, by the construction that was put on his endeavours to rectify every abuse that the inhabitants might labour under.

An infamous and seditious anonymous paper was dropped in the streets, in which the governor and every officer in the colony were most scurrilously abused and libelled, and accused of practising extortions in the way of trade. This would not have been misplaced, had the abuse been confined to the description of persons who really deserved it, and truth had been attended to, which would have afforded them ample materials. But, although it must have been evident to every one who had sense to see it, that the governor, from the hour of his arrival, had used his utmost endeavours to put an end to the practice of so much imposition; yet this libeller inferred, from his not succeeding, that he was become one in the number of retail traders who disgraced the settlement.

A reward was immediately offered for the discovery of the offender; but, as might have been expected, without success.

The three persons who had been sent out with the Irishmen, that were so desirous of discovering a country wherein they might live more at their ease, returned on the 9th, so much exhausted with fatigue that two of them were scarcely able to move when they arrived. Wilson, who was the third, having been longer in the habit of travelling through the woods, kept up their spirits, and thereby enabled them to reach Prospect Hill about sunset; where, from long abstinence, having had nothing to support them for several days, except two or three small birds, the refreshment which they procured had nearly overcome them. Such were the difficulties attending excursions in the interior of this country. With Wilson, who knew much of the country, and was well qualified to conduct the party, the governor sent a lad, a free servant of his, who was capable of giving an account of the occurrences of the journey; and from him the following particulars were collected:

From Mount Hunter (which was the highest land then known in that part of the country, and distant from the township of Parramatta from about 30 to 34 miles in a SW direction) they took their departure on the 24th of last month, travelling in a SSW course for 18 miles, 12 of which laid through a fine open country. There they fell in with the river Nepean, which was found winding to the southward and westward, close behind the cow pasture plains. The banks of the river being at this place exceedingly steep and rocky, they had some difficulty in getting across. On the other side the ground wore a barren, unpromising appearance; and during the day they saw only a few kangaroos of a particular kind, having long, black, and brushy tails; with a few birds, which from the length of the tail feathers, they denominated pheasants.

On the 25th they continued in their course, SSW for six miles, through a country in general open, and apparently of a good black soil. In the course of the day they saw many kangaroos and several emus; and fell in with a party of natives, one of whom engaged to accompany them, on condition of their halting for that night where they then were.

Consenting to this, they had leisure to examine a hill in that neighbourhood, the face of which appeared white, and proved to be an immense cliff of salt, a specimen of which they brought in.

On the 26th, they determined to incline more to the westward, and travelled 16 miles in a direction WSW over a rocky country, covered with brush wood, and a p.r.i.c.kly kind of vine. They did not meet with any natives; and that animals existed there, they only saw by their faeces.

They continued on the 27th travelling in the same direction about 16 miles; the first six of which were like those of the preceding day. From thence they got into an open but mountainous country, where they crossed a small river, and discovered a quant.i.ty of coal and limestone. Here every mile they went the scene improved. The rocky and barren ground was exchanged for a flat country and beautiful meadows, furnishing pasture for the kangaroos and emus, several of which they saw. The timber was observed to run small, and to be thinly scattered about, there being scarcely ten trees upon an acre of ground. The quality of them was known in the settlement, where a similar timber was called the Black Wattle.

On the 28th their course was still WSW and their distance increased 20 miles in that direction. The land and the timber on it were much the same as they had seen the preceding day. In one part they ascended a hill, from which they obtained a view of the country for some distance round.

To the northward it seemed to be open, and thinly clad with timber: to the north-westward they saw some high mountains, and an appearance of much good land in that direction: to the westward they observed a deep break in the land; this they conjectured to be formed by a river, which, if one, laid in a SE and NW direction. To the southward the land seemed high, but still open. In the course of this day's journey they met with a party of the natives, who appeared much terrified, and instantly ran away from them. One of the party, however, pursued and came up with a woman and child, whom he detained, from an opinion that the men might be thereby induced to return; but, although she remained with them the whole of the night, which she pa.s.sed in tears and lamentations, not knowing what fate might await her, the men did not appear. They, therefore, made her a present of a small hatchet, and in the morning sent her back to her friends. Wilson, understanding something of the language of these mountain natives, hoped to have gained some information of the country from this woman; but she could not comprehend him.

These natives were all clothed with garments of skins of different animals, which reached from their shoulders down to their heels.

On the 29th, they again travelled 24 miles in the same direction. During the first four miles the country was not good, the ground being rocky and covered with low shrubs, and here and there intersected with creeks, which appeared all to run toward some river, probably to that which from the top of the hill they supposed to be one. At the head of those creeks they saw several falls of water, one of which fell at the least 40 feet, and two others not less than 20 feet each. They now walked to the northward for 12 miles, thinking to get round the heads of the creeks; but unfortunately they fell in with more. They then determined to keep their former course of WSW, but found the country rocky and barren. Here they observed a tree which they had not before noticed, about the size of an apple-tree; the leaves of which were of a lighter blue than the powder blue used in washing, and the bark resembling that of the mahogany tree.

They also pa.s.sed the dung of an animal to appearance as large as that of a horse.

The party were now much exhausted, having had nothing to eat for two days, except one rat, about the size of a kitten. Wilson was able to go forward; but his companions were very unwell, and began to wish themselves back.

On the 30th, they continued for 16 miles in the same direction of WSW. In the course of the day they fell in with the head of a river, very nearly as large as the Hawkesbury, appearing to run from SE to NW. Its banks were so rocky and steep that they would have found infinite difficulty in descending them; to which they were strongly invited by the appearance of a level open country on the other side; and Wilson proposed making a canoe to cross over with; but both the others were so faint and tired, having had nothing to eat, in addition to the rat, but two small birds each, that they were afraid to venture. Their shoes being worn out, and their feet cut and bruised by walking so long, they proposed returning.

This being agreed to, on the 1st of this month they steered back in a direction SE by E in which having walked about nine miles, they fell in with many s.p.a.cious meadows thinly chequered with trees, extending for at least some hundred acres. The hills which they met with were as slightly covered with timber; and what there was, was light. The ground was of a good quality, except on the tops of the hills, where it was stony. Here, for want of food, they were much exhausted, and observed many birds which they had not before seen, but could not approach near enough to shoot.

On the 2nd, their course was ENE through a delightful country, full of capacious meadows, extending for some thousands of acres, with only a single tree here and there. Some of these meadows were watered by ponds of great length, but they did not perceive any wild fowl on them. From thence, to the SW the country looked well. In the latter part of the day, having pa.s.sed the first ridge of mountains, they fell in with a vast number of kangaroos, one of which they had the good fortune to kill, and were much refreshed by it.

On the morning of the 3rd, they thought they heard the report of two guns in the SE which they answered; but they were not returned. They were now in that part of the country which Wilson was acquainted with; but it was an unfruitful spot, and badly calculated for travellers in their situation, producing nothing but a few roots and grub worms. They must even here have perished, had it not been for the great exertions made by Wilson, who kept up their spirits by a.s.surances of being near Prospect Hill; which place, after much toil and difficulty, they at length reached, when despairing of living to see it.

This is the sum of the information given by these people. With respect to the direction in which they travelled, that might not be very correct, nor can much reliance be placed on their judgment of the distances which they went in each day. Of the face of the country their account may be more just. Of its inability to support the traveller, their appearance was a most convincing argument: and this narrative of their journey has been detailed so much at length, not only because these people had penetrated farther than any European had ever been before; but to show the labour, danger, and difficulties, which attended the exploring the interior of this extensive country.

On arranging their courses and distances on paper, they appeared to have travelled in a direction SW three-fourths W about 140 miles from Parramatta. They brought in with them one of the birds which they had named pheasants, but which on examination appeared to be a variety of the Bird of Paradise.

The size of this curious and handsome bird was that of a common hen; the colour a reddish black, the bill long, the legs black and very strong.

The tail, about two feet in length, was formed of several feathers, two of which were the princ.i.p.al, having the interior sides scalloped alternately of a deeper or lighter reddish brown inclining to orange, shading gently into a white or silver colour next the stem, crossing each other, and at the very extremity terminating in a broad black round finishing. The difference of colour in the scallops did not proceed from any precise change in the colour itself, but from the texture of the feather, which was alternately thicker and thinner. The fibres of the outer side of the stem were narrow and of a lead colour. Two other feathers of equal length, and of a blueish or lead colour, lay within those; very narrow, and having fibres only on one side of the stem. Many other feathers of the same length lay within those again, which were of a pale greyish colour, and of the most delicate texture, resembling more the skeleton of a feather than a perfect one. The annexed engraving, from the pencil of a capital artist, will give a better idea of this beautiful bird than can be formed from any description.

A general muster took place on the 14th in every district of the colony, at which every labouring man, whether free or convict, was obliged to appear. On the following morning the settlers were called over, previous to which, the governor, who was present, informed them, that he had heard of much discontent prevailing among them in consequence of certain heavy grievances which they said they laboured under. For these, as he was unacquainted with the nature of them, he was unable to suggest any remedy; he therefore desired that they might be represented to him in writing; and, to spare them as much trouble as possible, he would direct two gentlemen on whom he had much dependance to visit the different districts, and collect from the respective settlers such of their distresses and grievances as they were desirous of making known. Before they were dismissed, he gave them much good advice; and a.s.sured them, that he had already, from his own ideas, offered a plan to the secretary of state for their benefit, which he hoped would in due time be attended to.