Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia Volume I Part 44

NATIVE INHABITANTS ON ITS BANKS.

The aboriginal inhabitants of the banks of the Bogan include several distinct tribes.

1. Near the head of the river is the tribe of Bultje, composed of many intelligent natives, who have acquired a tolerable knowledge of our language; the number of this tribe is about 120. One, or in some cases two, of the front teeth of males is extracted on arriving at the age of 14.

2. The next is the Myall tribe, who inhabit the central parts about Cudduldury, at the great bend of the Bogan to the northward. These natives can scarcely speak a word of our language, and they have several curious customs. Some of the young men are gaily dressed with feathers, are all called by one name, Talambe, and great care is taken of them. The chief and many of the tribe say they have no name, and when any others are asked the names of such persons they shake their heads, and return no answer. The tribes in various parts of the colony give the name of Myall to others less civilised than themselves, but these natives seemed to glory in the name, and had it often in their mouths. They were the only natives I ever knew who acknowledged that they were Myalls; and I can say of them, as far as our own intercourse enabled me, that they were the most civil tribe we ever met with. They do not extract the front teeth.

3. The Bungan tribe, with whom the one last mentioned made us acquainted, inhabits the Bogan between Cambelego and Mount Hopeless. They are perhaps less subtle and dissimulating than the Myalls, and if possible more ignorant than they of our language and persons. Yet the Bungans came forth from their native bush to meet us with less hesitation, observing at the same time that downcast formality which is the surest indication of the natives' respect for the stranger, and ignorance of the manners of white men, especially when accompanied, as in this instance, with an openness of countenance and a frankness of manner far beyond the arts of dissimulation.*

(*Footnote. I have since been informed by an officer who had been some time in Canada that he noticed, when on shooting excursions with the Indians, that they observed a somewhat similar silence on meeting with strangers.)

Lower down the Bogan we saw so little of the inhabitants that I cannot characterise the tribes, although there appear to be two more, the haunts of one being eastward of New Year's range, those of the other to the north of the Pink hills. Both these tribes appeared to be of rather an inoffensive and friendly disposition than otherwise, although quite ignorant of our language. They were terrified at the sight of our cattle, and even still more afraid of the sheep.

Unlike the natives on the Darling these inhabitants of the banks of the Bogan subsist more on the opossum, kangaroo, and emu than on the fish of the river.

THEIR MODE OF FISHING.

Here fishing is left entirely to the gins, but it is performed most effectually and in the simplest manner. A movable dam of long, twisted dry gra.s.s through which water only can pa.s.s is pushed from one end of the pond to the other, and all the fishes are necessarily captured. Thus when, at the holes where a tribe had recently been, if my men began to fish any natives who might be near would laugh most heartily at the hopeless attempt.

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.

The gins also gather the large freshwater mussel which abounds in the mud of these holes, lifting the sh.e.l.l out of the mud with their toes. There is a small cichoraceous plant with a yellow flower named tao by the natives, which grows in the gra.s.sy places near the river, and on its root the children chiefly subsist. As soon almost as they can walk a little wooden shovel is put into their hands, and they learn thus early to pick about the ground for those roots and a few others, or to dig out the larvae of ant-hills. The gins never carry a child in arms as our females do, but always in a skin on the back. The infant is seized by an arm and thrown with little care over the shoulders, when it soon finds its way to its warm berth, holding by the back of the mother's head while it slides down into it. These women usually carry besides their children, thus mounted, bags containing all the things which they and the men possess, consisting of nets for the hair or for catching ducks; whetstones; yellow, white, and red ochre; pins for dressing and drying opossum skins, or for net-making; small boomerangs and shovels for the children's amus.e.m.e.nt; and often many other things apparently of little use to them.

PREPARE TO QUIT THE PARTY.

On this creek the gra.s.s was excellent and today, for the first time, we saw cattle from the colony. As our own required rest and I wished to examine the state of the equipment, arms, ammunition, and stores previous to my leaving the party, as I now intended soon to do, I determined on halting here for three days previous to ascending Hervey's range. I also wished to amend that part of our traced line by returning in advance of the party and marking out a better direction for the ascent of the carts; and to find out also, if possible, some water which should be at a convenient distance for a day's journey from the present camp.

When on first advancing I overlooked this lower country the sun had nearly set, and I was anxious the expedition should reach the valley and find water before darkness set in; the descent from these heights was thus made without selection and at a point which happened to be rather too abrupt. To ascend it was a still more difficult labour now that our cattle were much weaker and would be also exhausted by the fatigue of a long journey.

September 12.

I was occupied nearly the whole of this day in examining the ration accounts and taking an inventory of the equipment, stores, etc. We had made five months' rations serve the party nearly six months by a slight alteration of the weights; this having been thought the best expedient for making our provisions last till the end of the journey, availing myself of the experience of my former travels in the interior when I found that the idea of reduced rations was disheartening to men when undergoing fatigue. The sheep which we took with us as livestock had answered the purpose remarkably well, having, as already stated, rather mended than otherwise during the journey. Their fatness however varied according to the nature of the countries pa.s.sed through. They became soon very tame, and the last remaining sheep followed the man in charge of it, and bleated after HIM when all his woolly companions had disappeared.

THE BOATS.

The two boats mounted on the carriage were still in a perfect state; and although we had not derived much advantage from them, still in no situation had they appeared a superfluous portion of our equipment.

Possessing these we crossed the low soft plains and dry lagoons of the Darling without any apprehension of being entirely cut off by floods, while we were always prepared to take advantage of navigable waters had we found any of that description.

PLAN OF ENCAMPMENT.

The carriage with the boats, mounted on high and covered with tarpaulin, when placed beside the carts according to our plan of encampment, formed a sort of field-work in which we were always ready for defence. We adhered to this which had been arranged not less with a view to general convenience than for defensive purposes. The carts were drawn up in one line with the wheels close to each other (see the woodcut); and parallel to it stood the boat carriage, room being left between them for a line of men. We had thus at all times a secure defence against spears and boomerangs in case of any general attack. The light waggons and tents were so disposed as to cover the flanks of our car-borne citadel, keeping in mind other objects also, as shown on the plan.

The two light carts (9) covered one flank, the men's tents (5, 5) the other. These light carts carried the instruments, canteens, trunks, and articles in daily use. The situations of the different fires were regulated also, and only allowed to be made in the places fixed for each.

The door of my tent (2) was usually towards the meridian (1) and in observing stars it was desirable that no such light should shine before the s.e.xtant gla.s.ses, nor any smoke impede the observations. By the accompanying plan it will be seen that no light was in the way, while, by these positions, other purposes were also answered. The cook's fire (11) was near the light carts. Mr. Larmer's fire and tent-door (3) were placed so as to be in sight of the cook. The men's fire was made opposite to the two tents (5, 5) so as to serve for the men of both. The other fire of the men (5) completed a general arrangement of firelight around the boats and carts, so that nothing could approach by night unseen by the people at their fires. One of the heavy carts (7) was sufficient for the carriage of all articles in daily use: it was called the shifting cart, being the only one in the line which required to be loaded and unloaded at each camp; the rest contained gunpowder (6) and stores which were issued in rations every Sat.u.r.day. One great convenience in having such a fixed plan of encampment was that I could choose a place free from trees and establish the whole party on the ground by merely pointing out the position for my own tent (2) and how it was to face (1).

No further orders were necessary and I could thus at once mount my horse and proceed to any distant height with the certainty of finding the whole camp established as I intended on my return. In arriving late at night on any spot and the party having to encamp in the dark, still everyone knew where to go, for by constant custom the arrangement was easily preserved.

Thus anything we wanted could be found by night or day with equal facility; and we might be said in fact to have lived always in the same camp, although our ground was changed at every halt.

A stockman came to our camp, whose station was about six miles further up the creek, in one of the valleys amongst the ranges. He had heard from the natives that they had killed a "white man, gentleman," as they said, and he added a number of horrible particulars of the alleged murder of Mr. Cunningham by the aborigines which subsequent accounts however proved to have been much exaggerated.

MOUNT JUSON.

This day I recognised Mount Juson, a conical hill where the beacon which he had erected while I was engaged at the theodolite, still stood. Mr.

Cunningham had requested that I would give to the hill the maiden name of his mother, which I accordingly did. This appeared to me at the time rather a singular request, and now it seemed still more so for, from his melancholy fate almost immediately after, it proved to be his last.

LEAVE THE PARTY AND MARK A NEW LINE OF ASCENT TO HERVEY'S RANGE.

September 13.

Taking forward with me two men to the first of the two rocky places in our line which, as already stated, I wished to alter, I found that both acclivities might be avoided, and the road also shortened at least a mile, by taking a more easterly direction up a valley which led almost entirely through fine open forest land to our old route. I completed this alteration about an hour before sunset. Water was the next desideratum, and I had the good fortune to find also enough of it in a rocky gully where there was also greener pasturage than any that I had seen during the journey, distant only a quarter of a mile to the northward of my newly marked line. This was the only link wanted to complete the route which the carts were to follow; and it may be imagined with what satisfaction I lay down for the night by that water which relieved me from all further anxiety respecting the party I had succeeded in conducting through such a country during a season of so great drought.

September 14.

Having despatched the two men back to the camp with information and written directions respecting the line to be followed, the plan of encampment and the water; I struck again into our old track by following which I hoped to reach Buree that night, this being the station whence I first led the expedition towards the Interior.

The consciousness of being able, unmolested, to visit even the remotest parts of the landscape around, was now to me a source of high gratification; but this feeling can be understood by those only who may have wandered as long in the low interior country under the necessity of being constantly vigilant, on account of the savage natives, and to travel cautiously with arms forever at hand.

GET UPON A ROAD.

At length I came upon a dusty road presenting numerous impressions of the shoes of men and horses; and after having been so long accustomed to view even a solitary, naked footmark with interest, the sight of a road marked with shoes, and the a.s.sociations these traces revived, were worth all the toil of the journey. The numerous conveniences of social life were again at hand, and my compa.s.s was no longer required for this road would lead me on without further care, to the happy abodes of civilised men.

ARRIVE AT BUREE.

On reaching Captain Raine's station at Buree, a native named Sandy informed me of the melancholy end of poor Cunningham; the particulars he described having been gathered by him from other natives who were eye-witnesses of the appalling circ.u.mstances. A report from the officer of mounted police, whom these natives afterwards guided to the remains of my unfortunate fellow-traveller will be found in the Appendix 1.2.

I hastened to Bathurst and made arrangements for sending back a cart and fresh horses to bring on the sick men of the party, as quickly as possible to the hospital. Whiting, contrary to my expectation, lived to reach it; and he and the other invalids having received every attention from Mr. Busby, the Government surgeon, were restored to health in about three weeks after their arrival.

(BAROMETRICAL JOURNAL KEPT DURING THE JOURNEY INTO THE INTERIOR OF NEW SOUTH WALES IN WINTER 1835.

RANGE OF THE THERMOMETER AND JOURNAL OF THE WEATHER.)

APPENDIX 1.1.

LETTER FROM CAPTAIN FORBES, 39TH FOOT, COMMANDANT OF THE MOUNTED POLICE.

Sydney, Sunday Night, 10 o'clock, 27th November, 1831.

My Dear Major,

Colonel Lindesay desires me to say that although there is no relief on the road he thinks it of sufficient importance to despatch a man all the way through to Pewen Bewen, to acquaint you with what we have just heard by express, that The Barber HAS ESCAPED.

I need not say how exceedingly I regret this on all accounts, but particularly as I think it is likely to add to your difficulties; and certainly does increase the necessity for very great vigilance and caution on your part and that of your men, but PARTICULARLY OF YOUR OWN.

The Barber succeeded in filing his irons through and again digging through the wall, there was no military guard over the gaol, and the constable in charge appears to have deserted his post.