An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales Volume II Part 9

Great complaints were now made of the profligacy of the women; who, probably from having met with more indulgence on account of their s.e.x than their general conduct ent.i.tled them to, were grown so idle and insolent, that they were unwilling to do any thing but nurse their children; an excuse from labour which very few were without. Were their value to be estimated by the fine children with which they had increased and multiplied the numbers in the settlement, they certainly would have been found to deserve every care and attention as useful members of society; but their vices were too conspicuous and prominent to admit of much palliation.

The heavy rains which had fallen in part of this and the preceding month having very much damaged the public road between Sydney and Parramatta, two gangs were employed in repairing them. The weather was much colder than common at this season, and in the interior part of the country there was a sharp frost during the night.

August.] An order having been given in the beginning of the month for a.s.sembling the court of civil judicature, a recommendation to the inhabitants was added, that when any bargain, contract, or agreement, was made, between any party or parties, on any subject whatsoever, the same should be reduced to writing, specifying in direct and clear terms what the nature of such bargain or contract might be, and causing the same to be properly witnessed, and subscribed by the parties concerned. This measure was calculated to prevent disputes, litigation, and misunderstandings, among the inhabitants, as well as to do away the great inconvenience which the members of the court experienced every time they were convened, from the loose and careless manner in which business was brought before them.

On the 1st day of this month the regulation directed by government, relative to the number of public servants which the officers were allowed to retain, was put in force.

The abandoned and dissipated disposition of most of those who were or had been convicts, so much to be regretted and so often mentioned, was particularly manifest in a shameful abuse of the Sabbath, and a profane ridicule with which every thing sacred was treated. A conduct so derogatory to every Christian principle had from time to time been severely reprobated; but it had now arrived at a height that called for the exertion of every advocate for morality to subdue. Observing, that, instead of employing the Sunday in the performance of those duties for which that day was set apart, it was pa.s.sed in the indulgence of every abominable act of dissipation, the overseers of the different gangs were strictly ordered to see their men mustered every Sunday morning, and to attend with them at church. The superintendants and constables were to see this order complied with, and that the women (who, to their disgrace, were far worse than the men) were strictly looked after and made to attend divine service regularly. And, as example might do something, the officers were not only to send a certain number of their servants, but they were also called upon, civil and military, to a.s.sist in the execution of this order; to the meaning of which, the magistrates were required in a particular degree to pay their attention, in compelling a due obedience thereto, by preventing the opening of the licensed public houses during the hours of divine service as well as any irregularity on the day appropriated to the performance thereof.

In the evening of the 20th, the _Pomona_ and _Diana_, whalers belonging to the southern fishery, anch.o.r.ed in the Cove. They brought an account of much disturbance and disaffection in Ireland. Too much of the same evil spirit seemed to prevail here among the late importations from that kingdom.

Wishing to have that part of the coast examined in which a strait was supposed to exist (between the lat.i.tude of 39 degrees 00 minutes S and the land hitherto deemed the southern Promontory of New Holland, and called Van Diemen's land), the governor resolved on sending Lieutenant Flinders and Mr. Ba.s.s of the _Reliance_ on that service, in the _Norfolk_, the small decked boat which had lately arrived from Norfolk Island, and began fitting her properly for the voyage.

The battery on Point Maskelyne was nearly completed in this month. A few carpenters were employed in laying a floor in Government House, and other repairs; but several of the public works were nearly at a stand, many of the sawyers being in the hospital. The powder magazine having been found upon examination to be in a very insecure and dangerous state, the powder was taken out and sent on board the _Supply_. This removal was the more necessary, as an attempt had been made to open the door of the magazine in the night. The weather was bad; and it was supposed that the sentinel, whose box was thrown down and broken, had endeavoured to shelter himself in the magazine.

The agricultural hands were employed in breaking up ground for maize in the vicinity of Parramatta, and others were endeavouring to prepare materials for a water-mill there.

The natives about this time excited a great deal of interest.

A young woman (nearly related to Bennillong), who had resided from her infancy in the settlement, was most inhumanly murdered; and a native of the Botany Bay district had driven a spear through the body of the lad Nanbarrey. The name of the good-tempered girl (for such she was) was War-re-weer; but, to distinguish her from others of the same name, an addition was given to her in the settlement from a personal defect that she had. Being blind of one eye, she was called, War-re-weer Wo-gul Mi, the latter words signifying one eye. The circ.u.mstance of this girl's being killed, and Nanbarrey wounded, occasioned much violence on the part of their friends and relations, of which number were Cole-be and Bennillong; the former of whom, falling in with the man who had wounded the boy, revenged his treatment of him so fully that he died of his wounds the following morning. Bennillong, in consequence of this, was attacked, when alone, by two men; when he defended himself with much address, and would have defied and foiled them both, had they kept fairly and openly in his front; but one of them, with the treachery common to those savage people, contrived to skulk behind, and throw a spear into his side, the weapon penetrating seven inches into the cavity of his body, and, from its direction, being supposed to have wounded the intestines. He was taken on board the _Reliance_, where at first the wound was attended with some unfavourable symptoms, nothing remaining upon his stomach.

Gaining every day some further knowledge of the inhuman habits and customs of these people, their being so thinly scattered through the country ceased to be a matter of surprise. It was almost daily seen, that from some trifling cause or other they were continually living in a state of warfare; to this must be added their brutal treatment of their women, who are themselves equally destructive to the measure of population, by the horrid and cruel custom of endeavouring to cause a miscarriage, which their female acquaintance effect by pressing the body in such a way, as to destroy the infant in the womb; which violence not infrequently occasions the death of the unnatural mother also. To this they have recourse, to avoid the trouble of carrying the infant about when born, which, when it is very young, or at the breast, is the duty of the woman.

The operation for this destructive purpose is termed Mee-bra. The burying an infant (when at the breast) with the mother*, if she should die, is another shocking cause of the thinness of population among them. The fact that such an operation as the Mee-bra was practised by these wretched people was communicated by one of the natives to the princ.i.p.al surgeon of the settlement.

[* See Vol. I Appendix XI, viz: 'When the body was placed in the grave, the bye-standers were amazed to see the father himself place the living child in it with the mother. Having laid the child down, he threw upon it a large stone, and the grave was instantly filled in by the other natives. The whole business was so momentary, that our people had not time or presence of mind sufficient to prevent it; and on speaking about it to Cole-be, be, so far from thinking it inhuman, justified the extraordinary act by a.s.suring us that as no woman could be found to nurse the child it must die a much worse death than that to which he had put it. As a similar circ.u.mstance occurred a short time after, we have every reason to suppose the custom always prevails among them; and this may in some degree account for the thinness of population which has been observed among the natives of the country.']

The death of the young man who was slain by Cole-be was to be revenged, and a body of the southern or Tag-a-ry natives gave battle to those of Sydney for that purpose several days after. The contest was carried on with much desperation on both sides; three natives were killed, and several others wounded, among whom was Bennillong, who, having perfectly recovered of his late dangerous wound, appeared and fought on this occasion as the friend of Cole-be.

The weather in the last month was remarked to be uncommonly cold. In the latter part of this it was excessively sultry, and the wind high, which set many parts of the country on fire, and destroyed some property. The surveyor-general's house, and every article in it, was consumed by one of these conflagrations.

September.] The _Barwell_ being ready for sea, she dropped down the harbour on the 12th, and sailed the 17th of this month for China. Captain Cameron, her commander, was allowed to receive on board about 50 persons who had completed their period of transportation, and politely offered to touch at Norfolk Island, for the purpose of landing any people whom the governor might have occasion to send thither. In this ship Mr. Robert Campbell, who arrived here in the _Hunter_ from Bengal, took his pa.s.sage to China. By this gentleman the governor addressed a letter to the governor-general of India, informing his lordship, that having transmitted to the Secretary of State copies of the letters upon the subject of raising recruits in this country for the army in India, which had been received in the year 1796*, by the officers who were sent from Calcutta in the _Britannia_, it was the opinion of his Majesty's ministers, that the inconveniences attending such a measure would more than counter-balance the advantages of it, and that permission for that purpose could not therefore be granted.

[* See Vol I Ch. x.x.xI, viz 'On board of this ship arrived two officers of the Bengal army, Lieutenant Campbell and Mr. Phillips, a surgeon of the military establishment for the purpose of raising two hundred recruits from among those people who had served their respective terms of transportation. They were to be regularly enlisted and attested, and were to receive bounty-money; and a provisional engagement was made with Mr. Raven, to convey them to India, if no other service should offer for his ship.']

Indeed, had it been adopted, the army in India could not have been much benefited; since, if the recruiting officers were nice as to the point of character, small would be the number of their recruits, and, if not overnice in this particular, small would be the portion of morality that they would introduce.

In order to encourage as far as possible the rearing of swine in the colony, as well as of every other kind of live stock, a circ.u.mstance that must not only prove a great benefit to the public, but be also highly to the advantage of those who devoted a part of their time to this useful purpose, and which, from the advanced state of the private farms, might now be done with far less trouble and expense than formerly, the settlers and others were informed, that when any individual should have prepared a number of such animals fit for the public store, they might make the same known to the commissary, who, in order to prevent any unnecessary expense to the feeder, would give immediate notice of the day and place when and where he would receive them. He was also at liberty to enter into an agreement or contract for a certain length of time, and on such conditions as should be agreed, with any person who would engage to furnish the public store either at Sydney, Parramatta, or the Hawkesbury, with any certain quant.i.ty at stated periods.

The commander of the _Hunter_ snow, Mr. Fern, having found, like most of those who had preceded him, that a voyage to New South Wales was not a bad speculation, resolved on deriving some profit from his return.

It was understood at his departure, which was on the 20th, that he was bound for New Zealand, for the purpose of cutting spars to load with back to Bengal.*

[* Mr. Robert Campbell, who returned some time after to Port Jackson, mentioned, that Captain Fern proceeded to the river Thames in New Zealand, where his people cut down a quant.i.ty of very fine spars, sufficient to load his vessel; but, being rather short of hands, he could not have shipped them, had not the natives with much alacrity and good humour a.s.sisted his people in getting them to the water's side. See Vol I Ch. XXVIII, viz: 'In the course of that time they cut down upwards of two hundred very fine trees, from sixty to one hundred and forty feet in length, fit for any use that the East India Company's ships might require. The longest of these trees measured three feet and a half in the b.u.t.t, and differed from the Norfolk Island pines in having the turpentine in the centre of the tree instead of between the bark and the wood... .']

Two men, who had been exploring the country to the northwest of Richmond Hill and of the river Hawkesbury, fell in with the bones of two mares which had been stolen some time since from Parramatta. It was very probable, that the people who stole them had, after some time and experience, found that travelling was not quite so practicable in this country as they had imagined, and that, not being able to procure a supply of food, they had been compelled by hunger to the necessity of destroying their cattle, and living upon them as long as they could possibly cat of them; after which they, no doubt, followed such route as their judgment was capable of pointing out; but, unfortunately for them, they could not have known which way they went. The bones of the mares, the heads of which the men brought in to prevent any doubt of their story, were found at not more than a good day's journey from the Hawkesbury, which river they had no doubt crossed at one of its branches higher up, where there are many fordable places.

Some of the whalers that were in the harbour, proceeding on their fishery, the town was freed from the nuisance of their seamen, who could not resist the two temptations, spirits and women, so peculiarly calculated every where to lead them astray. The masters of the ships made many complaints that they could not keep their people on board.

At Sydney the walls of the granary were completed, and part of the roof got up. The battery also was finished.

The weather during the month had been so very sultry and dry, that there was every appearance of being completely disappointed in the sanguine expectations which had been entertained of a most abundant wheat harvest.

The pasture and garden grounds also were suffering exceedingly through want of rain.

CHAPTER XIII

The _Semiramis_ arrives from Rhode Island The church at Sydney burnt Reflections Some vessels sail; the _Norfolk_ for Van Dieman's Land; The _Francis_ for Norfolk Island Another fire in the town A ship arrives from the Cape with cattle Works in hand Bennillong The governor's steward destroys himself An order respecting the women A battery erected Weather State of the harvest Irish The _Francis_ returns; and the _Nautilus_ The _Eliza_ from Sea Information Three deaths One good character recorded Disorders Public works Great heat Returns of stock, and land in cultivation

October.] Another adventurer entered the port on the 1st of this month, viz the _Semiramis_ from Rhode Island, bound to China. She made her pa.s.sage in three months and nine days. The master reported, that when he left the States, they were thought to be on the eve of a rupture with France.

Between seven and eight o'clock in the evening of this day, the church on the east side of the cove was discovered to be on fire. Every a.s.sistance, as far as numbers could be useful, was given, but ineffectually; for the building being covered with thatch, which was at this time exceedingly dry and combustible, it was completely consumed in an hour.

This was a great loss, 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, the clergyman.

As it stood entirely alone, and no person was suffered to remain in it after the school hours, there was not any doubt that this atrocious act was the effect of design, and the consequence of the late order which had been given out and had been rigidly executed, enforcing attendance on divine service; and in the view of rendering, by the destruction of the building, the Sabbath a day of as little decency and sobriety as any other in the week. The perpetrators of this mischief were, however, disappointed in their expectation; for the governor, justly deeming this to have been the motive, and highly irritated at such a shameful act, resolved, if no convenient place could immediately be found for the performance of public worship, that, instead of Sunday being employed as each should propose to himself, the whole of the labouring gangs should be employed on that day in erecting another building for the purpose; it happened, however, that a large storehouse was just at that time finished; and, not being immediately wanted, it was fitted up as a church; and thus not a single Sunday was lost by this wicked design.

For the discovery of the offender a reward of 30 was offered, together with absolute emanc.i.p.ation to the informer if a convict, and a recommendation to the master of any ship to take him or her from the colony. But it was seen with concern, that rewards and punishments alike failed in their effect.

This circ.u.mstance must impress upon the mind of every one who may read this account, to what a dreadful state of profligacy the colony had arrived, which, alarming as it was, must have been still worse, had it not been for the civil police which fortunately had been established; for a more wicked, abandoned, and irreligious set of people had never been brought together before in any part of the colony. The hope of their amendment seemed every day to lessen. The spirit of trade (not that liberal spirit which characterises the British trader, but a mean, selfish, avaricious pa.s.sion, that hesitated not at any means to be gratified) proved the source of every evil under which the settlers laboured.

Notwithstanding this picture of their vices, the colony was at this time, generally speaking, in perfect health. For want of slop clothing and bedding, indeed, they were much distressed; but on this or any other account they were little deserving of any commiseration.

Since the last failure of those ill-considered attempts of the Irish to escape from the colony, no further schemes of that nature had been planned; but, as a matter of common justice to them, it was much wished that regular accounts of the dates of their conviction, and their several terms of transportation, might be sent out. They had been informed, that a promise to this effect had been made by government.

On the 7th, the two Americans, the _Semiramis_, and _Argo_ schooner, sailed for China. At the same time the _Nautilus_ brig, and _Norfolk_ long-boat, sailed for Van Diemen's land. The _Nautilus_, which had been in extreme distress for every kind of repair, was completely put in order here; and, as the two young men who had the care and direction of the speculation on which she was fitted out from India, had been very unfortunate through the infirmities of their vessel, and other causes, they were determined to try, during this season, what the seal-fishing among the islands to the southward might produce.

On the day following, the _Francis_ sailed for Norfolk Island, with a few women and some stores for that settlement. As it was intended, that on her return she should examine the shoal said to have been discovered to the northward of Lord Howe Island, and make, if possible, and ascertain the situation of, the island discovered in 1788 by Lieutenant Shortland in the _Alexander_ transport, and named by him Sir Charles Middleton island, Lieutenant John Shortland, of the _Reliance_, a son of the above officer, was sent in the _Francis_, and was charged with the sole direction of the vessel upon that service.

In the _Norfolk_ were Lieutenant Flinders and Mr. Ba.s.s, who were instructed to examine the existence of the strait supposed to divide Van Diemen's land from the continent.

The rage for trade already spoken of, which prevailed so universally in the colony, occasioned such a continued scene of contention and litigation among the people, that much public inconvenience was experienced in the liberties which were taken of imprisoning the public servants of the crown for debts contracted with many of the petty dealers; notwithstanding an order which was given out in the year 1788, by the late Governor Phillip, in which the colony was informed, that the convicts (by whom were meant the public servants of the crown) had no property of their own, their clothing, their time, and their labour, being the property of government, and not at their own disposal. This order having worn out of their recollection, it became necessary to renew it, to prevent that loss of labour on the public works which imprisoning their persons so improperly must occasion. Notice was therefore given, that the public servants of the crown were not to be detained from their duty by imprisoning their persons in this way; and if any person should be desirous of accommodating them with credit, it must be wholly and absolutely upon the strength of their own good faith in the integrity of such people, and not under the idea that they could arrest and imprison them according to the forms of law; and it was to be generally understood, that government would by no means dispense with the labour of its servants for the partial accommodation of any private dealings whatever.

On the evening of the 11th, another fire happened in the town of Sydney, which, but for a great deal of care and activity, might have burnt all the houses on the east side. A row of buildings which had been lately erected for the nurses and other persons employed about the hospital, was set on fire, and totally consumed. The flames very nearly reached the boat-yard, in which were many concerns of value.

On the 20th, an American ship, the _Ann and Hope_, anch.o.r.ed in Botany Bay, unfavourable winds having prevented her getting up so far as Port Jackson. As the master only wanted a little wood and water, three days were sufficient to procure them; and at the end of that period he sailed for China. He certainly was either pressed for time, or had nothing on board that he could part with, as the ships of his country had always found it worth their while to refresh at Port Jackson.

Toward the latter end of the month the governor visited the settlers at the Hawkesbury; and while he was there made some useful regulations among the sawyers, who had fixed their own portion of public labour. He gave notice, that a session should be held quarterly for settling all civil concerns; and made some other local arrangements, which, if attended to, would have conduced essentially to the welfare of the settlers, whose farms he found promising plenty, but whose houses and persons wore the appearance of poverty and beggary, they converting all the produce of their farms to the unworthy purpose of purchasing a pernicious spirit that must ever keep them poor.

In the evening of the 27th, the ship _Marquis Cornwallis_ arrived from the Cape of Good Hope, with a cargo of cattle on government account, consisting of 158 cows and 20 bulls, exclusive of a few on private account. When they were landed, a few appeared weakly; but, in general, they were in as good health as any that had been before landed, after a voyage of such extent; and would certainly prove a vast acquisition to the colony; part of the cows being a mixed breed between the Cape and English cattle, and the whole appearing to be under the age of two years and a half.

With the _Marquis Cornwallis_ arrived the _Indispensable_, a southern whaler, commanded by Mr. Wilkinson, who had twice before visited the settlement; but he sailed again immediately.

In this month the foundation of a stone building intended for a church was laid at Sydney. It was to be 150 feet in length, and 52 in breadth.

Preparations were making for a similar building at Parramatta, which was to be of smaller dimensions than this at Sydney.