diff options
Diffstat (limited to '15337-0.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 15337-0.txt | 9335 |
1 files changed, 9335 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/15337-0.txt b/15337-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2edf75d --- /dev/null +++ b/15337-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9335 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Source Book Of Australian History +by Compiled by Gwendolen H. Swinburne + +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: A Source Book Of Australian History + +Author: Compiled by Gwendolen H. Swinburne + +Release Date: March 12, 2005 [EBook #15337] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AUSTRALIAN HISTORY *** + + + + +Produced by Robert Cicconetti, Martin Pettit and the PG Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + + +A SOURCE BOOK OF +AUSTRALIAN HISTORY + + +COMPILED BY + +GWENDOLEN H. SWINBURNE, M.A. + +DIP. ED., MELB. UNIV. + + +LONDON + +G. BELL AND SONS, LTD. + +1919 + +CHISWICK PRESS: CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO. + +TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON. + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +I submit this volume to the public in the hope that it may increase the +amount of interest usually shown in Australian History by deepening the +general knowledge of the subject, and illustrating it by those vivid +details which arrest the attention and enable the student to visualize +past events. + +The number of events described in a Source Book must necessarily be +smaller than that in histories of another type; but the aim is to place +the student in contact with the evidence of history in order that he may +become his own historian by drawing his own deductions from the +contemporary records. The greatest historian can find no materials +ulterior to such as are here presented, for there is nothing ulterior to +them but the deeds themselves. They are the records written by the men +who gave their life and health to lay the foundation of Australia's +greatness--by Phillip, weakening under the racking cares of the infant +state; by Sturt in the scorching desert, as the last duty of an +exhausting day. They are aglow with the heat of action; they are +inspiring in their quiet modesty and strength. + +In order to give greater continuity to the volume, short introductions +have been placed at the head of each selection. It has been impossible +to quote in full all the documents of which use has been made, but +fuller information may be obtained by reference to the "source" +mentioned at the head of each selection. The editor or author of the +source and its date of publication are shown in order to facilitate +further research. + +The Source Book has been compiled with attention to the requirements of +schools, and it is hoped that teachers in Australia will avail +themselves of the opportunity to introduce the study of history from +contemporary documents, and thus in this respect bring Australia into +line with the other countries where source books are already familiar. +The section on discovery and exploration may with advantage be used in +the study of geography. + +My thanks are due to the proprietors of the "Times" for permission to +quote certain pages from "The Times History of the War in South Africa," +and "The Times History of the War and Encyclopaedia," and also for the +"Dispatch from a Special Correspondent at the Dardanelles," printed in +the "Times," 7 May 1915. + +It is with great pleasure that I acknowledge my indebtedness to +Professor Scott, of Melbourne University (at whose suggestion the work +was undertaken), for his interest and advice; and to Arthur Wadsworth, +Esq., Chief Librarian for the Parliament of the Commonwealth, for his +courteous assistance. + +GWENDOLEN H. SWINBURNE. + +HAWTHORN, +MELBOURNE. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +PART I + +DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION + + +DISCOVERY OF TASMANIA + +DESCRIPTION OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA + +THE FIRST VISIT TO THE EASTERN COAST + +BASS STRAIT + +THE _INVESTIGATOR_ + +ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS + +AUSTRALIA FELIX (VICTORIA) + +THE INTERIOR OF THE CONTINENT. I + +EXPLORATION OF THE EASTERN RIVER SYSTEM + +THE INTERIOR. II + +ACROSS THE CONTINENT. SOUTH TO NORTH. I + +ACROSS THE CONTINENT. SOUTH TO NORTH. II + +FROM WEST TO EAST. I. ALONG THE BIGHT + +FROM WEST TO EAST. II. THE INTERIOR + + +PART II + +GENERAL HISTORY + + +THE FIRST SETTLEMENT + +EARLY DIFFICULTIES + +PHILLIP'S RESIGNATION + +NEW SOUTH WALES CORPS + +THE IRISH POLITICAL PRISONERS + +THE BLIGH MUTINY + +THE BEGINNING OF THE WOOL INDUSTRY + +EMANCIPIST CONTROVERSY + +WESTERN AUSTRALIA + +WAKEFIELD'S SCHEME OF COLONIZATION + +FOUNDATION OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA + +FOUNDATION OF VICTORIA + +TRANSPORTATION + +INDEPENDENCE OF VICTORIA + +GOLD + +EFFECTS OF THE GOLD DISCOVERY + +THE GOLD MINES + +VICTORIA IN 1854 + +THE BUSHRANGERS + +ANTI-TRANSPORTATION MOVEMENT + +THE LAND QUESTION + +THE LAND QUESTION IN NEW SOUTH WALES + +QUEENSLAND + +PAYMENT OF MEMBERS CRISIS + +NEW GUINEA + +THE NATIONAL AUSTRALASIAN CONVENTION, 1891 + +THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA + +THE BOER WAR + +THE GREAT WAR + +LANDING ON GALLIPOLI + +WHAT ANZAC MEANS + +[Illustration: MAP OF AUSTRALIA] + + + + +A SOURCE BOOK OF +AUSTRALIAN HISTORY + + +PART I + +DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION + + + + +DISCOVERY OF TASMANIA + ++Source.+--Tasman's Journal (edited by Heeres), pp. 1, 11-16 + + The Spaniard Torres was probably the first European to sight + Australia (Cape Yorke); but Tasman was the first who consciously + discovered the Great South Land. In his search for fresh fields for + trade, he came upon Tasmania and New Zealand. + +Journal or description drawn up by me, ABEL JAN TASMAN, of a Voyage made +from the town of Batavia in E. India for the discovery of the unknown +Southland, in the year of our Lord 1642, the 14th of August. May God +Almighty vouchsafe his Blessing on this work. AMEN. + +_Note_.--Days reckoned from midnight to midnight. Longitude calculated +from meridian of Peak of Teneriffe. + +_Item the 23rd Nov._--Good weather with a south-easterly wind and a +steady breeze; in the morning, we found our rudder broken at top in the +tiller hole; we therefore hauled to windward under reduced sail and +fitted a cross beam to either side. By estimation the west side of Nova +Guinea must be North of us. + +_Item the 24th do._ Good weather and a clear sky. In the afternoon about +4 o'clock we saw land bearing East by North of us; at about 10 miles +distance by estimation. The land we sighted was very high. Towards +evening we also saw S.S.E. of us three high mountains, and to the N.E. +two more mountains, but less high than those to southward. This land +being the first we have met with in the South sea and not known to any +European nation, we have conferred on it the name of Anthoony Van +Diemenslandt, in honor of the Hon. Governor-General, our illustrious +master, who sent us to make this discovery; the islands circumjacent so +far as known to us, we have named after the Hon. Councillors of India. + +_Item 28th do._ In the evening we came under the shore. There are under +the shore some small islands one of which looks like a lion. + +_Item 29th do._ In the morning were still near the rock which looks like +a lion's head. Towards noon passed two rocks; the most westerly looks +like Pedra Branca, which lies on the coast of China, the most easterly, +looking like a high rugged tower, lies about 16 miles out from the +mainland. Ran through between these rocks and the land. We came before a +way which seemed likely to afford a good anchorage upon which we +resolved to run into it. We again made for the shore, the wind and +current having driven us so far out to sea that we could barely see the +land. + +_Item 1st Dec._ We resolved that it would be best and most expedient to +touch at the land, the sooner the better; both to get better acquainted +with the land and secure refreshment for our own behoof. About one hour +after sunset we dropped anchorage in a good harbour, for all of which it +behooves us to thank God Almighty with grateful hearts. + +_Item 2nd do._ Early in the morning we sent our own pilot Major Francoys +Jacobz in command of our pinnace manned with 4 musketeers and 6 rowers, +all of them furnished with pikes and side arms together with the +cockboat of the _Zeehaen_, with one of her second mates and six +musketeers in it, to a bay situated N.W. of us at upwards of a mile's +distance in order to ascertain what facilities (as regards fresh water, +refreshments, timber and the like) may be available there. About three +hours before nightfall the boats came back, bringing various samples of +vegetables, which they had seen growing there in great abundance, some +of them in appearance not unlike a certain plant growing at the Cabo de +Bona Esperance, and fit to be used as pot-herbs; and another species +with long leaves and brackish taste strongly resembling persil de mer or +samphou. The pilot Major and second mate of the _Zeehaen_ made the +following report, to wit: + +That they had rowed the space of upwards of a mile round the said point +where they had found high but level land, covered with vegetation and +not cultivated but growing naturally (by the will of God) abundance of +excellent timber and a gently sloping watercourse in a barren valley; +the said water though of good quality being difficult to procure, +because the watercourse is so shallow that the water could be dipped +with bowls only. + +That they had heard certain human sounds, and also sounds resembling the +music of a small trump or a small gong not far from them though they had +seen no one. + +That they had seen two trees about 2 or 2-1/2 fathoms in thickness +measuring from 60-65 feet from the ground to the lowermost branches, +which trees bore notches made with flint implements, the bark having +been removed for the purpose; these notches forming a kind of steps to +enable persons to get up the trees and rob birds' nests in their tops +were fully five feet apart; so that our men concluded that the natives +here must be of very tall stature or must be in possession of some sort +of artifice for getting up the said trees. In one of the trees these +notched steps were so fresh and new that they seemed to have been cut +less than four days ago. + +That on the ground they discovered the footprints of animals, not unlike +those of a tiger's claws. They also brought on board a small quantity of +gum, of a seemingly very fine quality, which had exuded from trees, and +bore some resemblance to gum-lac. + +That at one extremity on the point of the way they had seen large +numbers of gulls, wild ducks, and geese, but had perceived none further +inward though they had heard their cries, and had found no fish except +different kinds of mussels forming small clusters in various places. + +That the land is pretty generally covered with trees, standing so far +apart that they allow a passage everywhere and a look-out to a great +distance, so that when landing, our men could always get sight of +natives or wild beasts unhindered by dense shrubbery or underwood, which +would prove a great advantage in exploring the country. + +That in the interior they had in several places observed numerous trees +which had deep holes burnt into them at the upper end of the foot while +the earth had here and there been dug out with the fist so as to form a +fireplace; the surrounding soil having become as hard as flint through +the action of fire. + +A short time before we got sight of our boats returning to the ships, we +now and then saw clouds of dense smoke rising up from the land (it was +nearly always north of us) and surmised this must be a signal given by +our men because they were so long coming back. + +When our men came on board again, we inquired of them whether they had +been there and made a fire, to which they returned a negative answer; +adding, however, that at various times and points in the wood they had +also seen clouds of smoke ascending. So there can be no doubt there must +be men here of extraordinary stature. + +_Item 3rd Dec._ In the afternoon we went to the S.E. side of this bay, +in the boats, having with us pilot Major Francoys Jacobz, Skipper Gerrit +Janz, Isack Gilseman, supercargo on board the _Zeehaen_, subcargo +Abraham Cooman and our master carpenter Pieter Jacobz; we carried with +us a pole with the Company's mark carved into it, and a Prince flag to +be set up there that those who shall come after us may become aware we +have been here, and have taken possession of the said land as our lawful +property. When we had rowed about half-way with our boats it began to +blow very stiffly, and the sea ran so high that the cockboat of the +_Zeehaen_ was compelled to pull back to the ships, while we ran on with +our pinnace. + +When we had come close inshore in a small inlet the surf ran so high +that we could not get near the shore without running the risk of having +our pinnace dashed to pieces. We then ordered the carpenter aforesaid to +swim to the shore alone with the pole and the flag. + +We made him plant the said pole with the flag at the top, into the +earth, about the centre of the bay near four tall trees easily +recognizable and standing in the form of a crescent, exactly before the +one standing lowest. This tree is burnt in just above ground and is in +reality taller than the other three, but it seems to be shorter because +it stands lower on the sloping ground. Our master carpenter, having in +the sight of myself Abel Janz Tasman, skipper Gerrit Janz and subcargo +Abraham Cooman performed the work entrusted to him, we pulled with our +pinnace as near the shore as we ventured to do; the carpenter aforesaid +thereupon swam back to the pinnace through the surf. This work having +been duly executed, we pulled back to the ships, leaving the +above-mentioned as a memorial for those who shall come after us, and for +the natives of this country who did not show themselves though we +suspect some of them were at no great distance and closely watching our +proceedings. + +_Item 4th Dec._ In the evening we saw a round mountain bearing N.N.W. +of us at about 8 miles' distance. + +_Item 5th do._ The high round mountain which we had seen the day before +bore now due W. of us at 6 miles' distance. At this point the land fell +off to the N.W. so that we could no longer steer near the coast here, +seeing that the wind was almost ahead. We therefore convened the Council +and the second mates, with whom after due deliberation we resolved, and +subsequently called out to the officer of the _Zeehaen_ that pursuant to +the resolution of the 11th ultimo, we should direct our course due east, +and on the said course run to the full longitude of 195°, or the +Salamonis Islands. Set our course due east in order to make further +discoveries. + +[This course brought them to New Zealand.] + + + + +DESCRIPTION OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA + ++Source.+--The Voyages and Adventures of Captain William Dampier +(published 1776). Vol. II, pp. 134-40 + + Dampier was an Englishman who had joined a company of American + buccaneers. They arrived in May 1698 on the Western coast of + Australia, which was by this time fairly well known to the Dutch + under the name of New Holland. + +New Holland is a very large tract of land. It is not yet determined +whether it is an island or a main continent; but I am certain that it +joins neither to Asia, Africa nor America. This part of it that we saw +is all low even land, with sandy banks against the sea, only the points +are rocky, and so are some of the islands in this bay. + +The land is of a dry sandy soil, destitute of water, except you make +wells; yet producing divers sorts of trees, but the woods are not thick, +nor the trees very big. Most of the trees that we saw are dragon-trees +as we supposed, and these too are the largest trees of any there. + +They are about the bigness of our large apple-trees, and about the same +height, and the rind is blackish and somewhat rough. The leaves are of a +dark colour; the gum distils out of the knots or cracks that are in the +bodies of the trees. We compared it with some gum dragon, or dragon's +blood, that was on board, and it was of the same colour and taste. The +other sorts of trees were not known by any of us. There was pretty long +grass growing under the trees, but it was very thin. We saw no trees +that bore fruit or berries. + +We saw no sort of animal, nor any track of beast, but once, and that +seemed to be the tread of a beast as big as a mastiff dog. Here are a +few small land-birds, but none bigger than a black-bird and but few sea +fowls. + +Neither is the sea very plentifully stored with fish, unless you reckon +the manatee and turtle as such. Of these creatures there is plenty, but +they are extraordinary shy, though the inhabitants cannot trouble them +much, having neither boats nor iron. + +The inhabitants of this country are the miserablest people in the world. +The Hodmadods of Monomatapa, though a nasty people yet for wealth are +gentlemen to these, who have no houses and skin garments, sheep, +poultry, and fruits of the earth, ostrich eggs etc. as the Hodmadods +have; and setting aside their human shape, they differ but little from +brutes. They are tall, straight-bodied and thin, with small long limbs. +They have great heads, round foreheads and great brows. Their eyelids +are always half closed to keep the flies out of their eyes, being so +troublesome here, that no fanning will keep them from coming to one's +face, and without the assistance of both hands to keep them off, will +creep into one's nostrils and mouth too, if the lips are not shut very +close. So that from their infancy being thus annoyed with these insects, +they never open their eyes as other people; and therefore they cannot +see far, unless they hold up their heads, as if they were looking at +somewhat over them. + +They have great bottle noses, pretty full lips, and wide mouths. The two +fore-teeth of their upper jaw are wanting in all of them, men and women, +old and young; whether they draw them out, I know not, neither have they +any beards. They are long-visaged, and of a very unpleasing aspect, +having no one graceful feature in their faces. Their hair is black, +short and curled, like that of the negroes, and not long and lank like +the common Indian. The colour of the skin, both of their faces and the +rest of their body, is coal black, like that of the negroes of Guinea. + +They have no sort of clothes, but a piece of the rind of a tree tied +like a girdle about their waists, and a handful of long grass or three +or four small green boughs, full of leaves, thrust under their girdle to +cover their nakedness. + +They have no houses, but lie in the open air, without any covering, the +earth their bed, and the heaven their canopy. Their only food is a small +sort of fish, which they get by making wares of stone, across little +coves, or branches of the sea; every tide bringing in the small fish, +and there leaving them for a prey to these people, who constantly attend +there to search for them at low water. This small fry I take to be the +top of their fishery; they have no instruments to catch great fish, +should they come; and such seldom stay to be left behind at low water; +nor could we catch any fish with our hooks and lines all the while we +lay there. + +In other places at low water they seek for cockles, mussels, and +periwinkles; of these shell-fish there are fewer still, so that their +chief dependence is on what the sea leaves in their wares, which, be it +much or little, they gather up, and march to the place of their abode. +There the old people, that are not able to stir abroad, by reason of +their age, and the tender infants, wait their return: and what +providence has bestowed upon them, they presently broil on the coals, +and eat in common. Sometimes they get as many fish as make them a +splendid banquet; and at other times they scarce get every one a taste; +but be it little or much that they get, every one has his part, as well +the young and tender, and the old and feeble who are not able to go +abroad, as the strong and lusty. + +How they get their fire I know not; but probably, as Indians do out of +wood. I have seen the Indians of Bon-Airy do it, and have myself tried +the experiment. They take a flat piece of wood that is pretty soft, and +make a small dent in one side of it, then they take another hard round +stick, about the bigness of one's little finger, and sharpening it at +one end like a pencil, they put the sharp end in the hole or dent of the +soft flat piece, and then rubbing or twirling the hard piece between the +palms of their hands, they drill the soft piece till it smokes, and at +last takes fire. + +These people speak somewhat through the throat, but we could not +understand one word that they said. We anchored, as I said before, +January 5th, and seeing men walking on the shore, we presently sent a +canoe to get some acquaintance with them, for we were in hopes to get +some provisions among them. But the inhabitants, seeing our boat coming, +ran away and hid themselves. We searched afterwards three days in hopes +to find the houses, but found none, yet we saw many places where they +had made fires. At last being out of hopes to find their habitations, we +searched no further but left a great many toys ashore, in such places +that we thought that they would come. In all our search we found no +water, but old wells on the sandy bays. + +At last we went over to the islands, and there we found a great many of +the natives; I do believe there were forty on one island, men women and +children. The men at our first coming ashore, threatened us with their +lances and swords, but they were frightened, by firing one gun, which we +fired purposely to scare them. The island was so small that they could +not hide themselves; but they were much disordered at our landing, +especially the women and children, for we went directly to their camp. +The lustiest of the women, snatching up their infants, ran away howling, +and the little children ran after, squeaking and bawling, but the men +stood still. Some of the women and such of the people as could not go +from us, lay still by a fire making a doleful noise, as if we had been +coming to devour them; but when they saw we did not intend to harm them, +they were pretty quiet, and the rest that fled from us at our first +coming, returned again. This, their place of dwelling, was only a fire, +with a few boughs before it, set up on that side the wind was of. + +After we had been here a little while, the men began to be familiar, and +we cloathed some of them, designing to have some service of them for it; +for we found some wells of water here, and intended to carry two or +three barrels of it on board. But being somewhat troublesome to carry on +the canoes, we thought to have made these men carry it for us and +therefore we gave them some cloathes; to one an old pair of breeches; to +another a ragged shirt; to the third a jacket that was scarce worth +owning; which yet would have been very acceptable at some places where +we had been, and so we thought they might have with these people. We put +them on them, thinking that this finery would have brought them to work +heartily for us; and our water being filled in small long barrels, about +six gallons each, which were made purposely to carry water in, we +brought these, our new servants, to the wells and put a barrel on each +of their shoulders for them to carry to the canoe. But all the signs we +could make were to no purpose, for they stood like statues, without +motion, but grinned like so many monkeys, staring one upon another, for +these poor creatures seem not accustomed to carry burdens; and I believe +that one of our ships-boys of ten years old, would carry as much as one +of them; so we were forced to carry our water ourselves, and they very +fairly put the cloathes off again, and laid them down as if cloathes +were only to work in. I did not perceive that they had any great liking +to them at first, neither did they seem to admire anything that we had. + +At our first coming, before we were acquainted with them, or they with +us, a company of them who lived on the main, came just against our ship, +and standing on a pretty bank, threatened us with their swords and +lances, by shaking them at us; at last the captain ordered the drum to +be beaten, which was done of a sudden with much vigour, purposely to +scare the poor creatures. They, hearing the noise ran away as fast as +they could drive, and when they ran away in haste, they would cry, +gurry, gurry, speaking deep in the throat. Those inhabitants also that +live on the main, would always run away from us; yet we took several of +them. For, as I have already observed, they had such bad eyes, that they +could not see us till we came close to them. We always gave them +victuals, and let them go again but the islanders, after our first time +of being among them, did not stir for us. + + + + +THE FIRST VISIT TO THE EASTERN COAST + ++Source.+--Cook's Journal (edited by Wharton, 1893), pp. 237-249, +311-312 + + Captain Cook was the first Englishman to search for the Great South + Land. After observing the transit of Venus, he made extensive + explorations in New Zealand, and then sailed West, to seek the East + Coast of New Holland. + + +_April 1770. Thursday 19th._ At 5, set the topsails close reef'd and 6, +saw land, extending from N.E. to W., distance 5 or 6 leagues, having 80 +fathoms, fine sandy bottom. The Southernmost land we had in sight, which +bore from us W 3/4 S., I judged to lay in the latitude of 38° 0' S., and +in the Long. of 211° 7' W. from the Meridian of Greenwich. I have named +it Point Hicks, because Lieutenant Hicks was the first who discovered +this land. To the Southward of this Point we could see no land, and yet +it was clear in that quarter and by our Long. compared with that of +Tasman's, the body of Van Diemen's Land ought to have bore due South +from us. The Northernmost land in sight bore N. by E. 1/2 E., and a +small island lying close to a Point on the main bore W., distant 2 +Leagues. This Point I have named Cape Howe; it may be known by the +trending of the Coast, which is N. on the one side, and S.W. on the +other. + +_Saturday, 28th._ At daylight in the morning we discovered a Bay which +appeared to be tolerably well sheltered from all winds, into which I +resolved to go with the ship, and with this view sent the Master in the +Pinnace to sound the entrance. + +_Sunday, 29th._ Saw as we came in, on both points of the Bay, several of +the natives and a few huts; men, women, and children, on the S. shore +abreast of the ship, to which place I went in the boats in hopes of +speaking with them, accompanied by Mr. Banks, Dr. Solander, and Tupia. +As we approached the shore they all made off, except two men, who seemed +resolved to oppose our landing. As soon as I saw this I ordered the +boats to lay upon their oars, in order to speak to them; but this was to +little purpose, for neither us nor Tupia could understand one word they +said. We then threw them some nails, beads, etc., ashore, which they +took up, and seemed not ill-pleased with, in so much that I thought that +they beckoned us to come ashore, but in this we were mistaken, for as +soon as we put the boat in they again came to oppose us, upon which I +fired a musket between the two, which had no other effect than to make +them retire back, where bundles of their darts lay, and one of them took +up a stone and threw it at us, which caused my firing a second musket, +load with small shot; and although some of the shot struck the man yet +it had no other effect than making him lay hold on a target. Immediately +after this we landed, which we had no sooner done than they throw'd two +darts at us; this obliged me to fire a third shot, soon after which, +they both made off, but not in such haste but what we might have taken +one; but Mr. Banks being of opinion that the darts were poisoned, made +me cautious how I advanced into the woods. We found here a few small +huts made of the bark of trees, in one of which were four or five small +children with whom we left some strings of beads, etc. A quantity of +darts lay about the huts; these we took away with us. Three canoes lay +upon the beach, the worst, I think, I ever saw; they were about 12 or 14 +feet long, made of one piece of the bark of a tree, drawn or tied up at +each end, and the middle kept open by means of stick by way of thwarts. +After searching for fresh water without success, except a little in a +small hole dug in the sand, we embarked and went over to the N. point of +the Bay, where in coming in we saw several people; but when we landed +now there was nobody to be seen. We found here some fresh water, which +came trinkling down and stood in pools among the rocks; but as this was +troublesome to come at I sent a party of men ashore in the morning to +the place where we first landed, to dig holes in the sand, by which +means and a small stream they found fresh water sufficient to water the +ship. The string of beads, etc., we had left with the children last +night were found lying in the huts this morning; probably the natives +were afraid to take them away. + +_Tuesday, May 1st._ This morning a party of us went ashore to some huts +not far from the watering-place, where some of the natives are daily +seen; here we left several articles, such as cloth, looking glasses, +combs, beads, nails, etc.; after this we made an excursion into the +Country, which we found diversified with woods, lawns, and marshes. The +woods are free from underwood of every kind, and the trees are at such a +distance from one another, that the whole country, or at least a great +part of it, might be cultivated without having to cut down a single +tree. We found the soil everywhere, except in the marshes, to be a light +white sand, and produceth a quantity of good grass, which grows in +little tufts about as big as one can hold in one's hands, and pretty +close to one another; in this manner the surface of the ground is +coated. In the woods between the trees, Dr. Solander had a bare sight of +a small animal something like a rabbit, and we found the dung of an +animal which must feed upon grass, and which, we judge, could not be +less than a deer; we also saw the track of a dog, or some such like +animal. We met with some huts and places where the natives had been, and +at our first setting out one of them was seen; the others had, I +suppose, fled upon our approach. I saw some trees that had been cut down +by the natives with some sort of a blunt instrument, and several trees +that were barked, the bark of which had been cut by the same instrument; +in many of the trees, especially the Palms, were cut steps of about 3 or +4 feet asunder for the conveniency of climbing them. We found 2 sorts of +gum, one sort of which is like gum-dragon, and is the same, I suppose, +Tasman took for gum-lac; it is extracted from the largest tree in the +woods. + +_Thursday, 3rd._ After this we took water, and went almost to the head +of the Inlet, where we landed and travelled some distance inland. We +found the face of the country much the same as I have before described, +but the land much richer, for instead of sand, I found in many places a +deep black soil, which we thought was capable of producing any kind of +grain. At present it produceth besides timber, as fine meadow as ever +was seen; however, we found it not all like this, some few places were +very rocky, but this, I believe to be uncommon. + +_Sunday, 6th._ The great quantity of plants Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander +found in this place, occasioned my giving it the name of Botany Bay. +During our stay in this harbour I caused the English colours to be +displayed ashore every day, and an inscription to be cut out upon one of +the trees near the watering-place, setting forth the ship's name, date, +etc. Having seen everything the place afforded, we at daylight in the +morning, weighed with a light breeze at N.W. and put to sea, and the +wind soon after coming to the Southward, we steered along shore N.N.E., +and at noon were about 2 or 3 miles from the land, and abreast of a bay, +wherein there appeared to be a safe anchorage, which I called Port +Jackson. It lies 3 leagues to the Northward of Botany Bay. + + +CAPE YORK. POSSESSION ISLAND + +_Wednesday, 22nd Aug._ Gentle breezes at E. by S. and clear weather. We +had not steered above 3 or 4 miles along shore to the Westward before we +discovered the land ahead to be Islands detached by several Channels +from the main land; upon this we brought to, to wait for the Yawl, and +called the other boats on board, and after giving them proper +instructions sent them away again to lead us through the channel next +the main, and as soon as the yawl was on board, made sail after them +with the ship. Before and after we anchored we saw a number of people +upon this Island, armed in the same manner as all the others we have +seen, except one man, who had a bow, and a bundle of arrows, the first +we have seen upon this coast. From the appearance of the people we +expected they would have opposed our landing; but as we approached the +shore they all made off, and left us in peaceable possession of as much +of the island as served our purpose. After landing, I went upon the +highest hill, which, however, was of no great height, yet no less than +twice or thrice the height of the ship's mastheads; but I could see from +it no land between S.W. and W.S.W. so I did not doubt but there was a +passage. I could see plainly that the lands laying to the N.W. of this +passage were composed of a number of islands of various extent, both for +height and circuit, ranged one behind another as far to the Northward +and Westward as I could see, which could not be less than 12 or 14 +leagues. + +Having satisfied myself of the great probability of a passage thro' +which I intend going with the ship, and therefore may land no more upon +this Eastern Coast of New Holland, and on the Western side I can make no +new discovery, the honor of which belongs to the Dutch Navigators, but +the Eastern Coast from the Lat. of 38° S. down to this place, I am +confident, was never seen or visited by any European before us; and +notwithstanding I had in the name of His Majesty taken possession of +several places upon this coast, I now once more hoisted English colours, +and in the name of His Majesty King George the Third, took possession of +the whole Eastern Coast from the above Lat. down to this place by the +name of New Wales, together with all the Bays, Harbours, Rivers, and +Islands, situated upon the said coast; after which we fired three +volleys of small arms, which were answered by the like number from the +ship. + +This done, we set out for the ship, but were some time in getting on +board on account of a very rapid ebb tide, which set N.E. out of the +passage. + + + + +BASS STRAIT + ++Source.+--Voyage to Terra Australis (Matthew Flinders, 1814), +Introduction, pp. xcvi-xcvii, cxix-cxliii + + The first coastal explorations after the establishment of Sydney + were conducted by Bass and Flinders. Together they discovered the + Hunter River; Bass in a second voyage discovered Western Port; and + again together they sailed through Bass Strait, proving Tasmania to + be an island. + + +1795. On arriving at Port Jackson, in September it appeared that the +investigation of the coast had not been greatly extended beyond the +three harbours; and even in these some of the rivers were not altogether +explored. + +In Mr. George Bass, surgeon of the _Reliance_, I had the happiness to +find a man whose ardour for discovery was not to be repressed by any +obstacle, nor deterred by danger; and with this friend a determination +was formed of completing the examination of the East Coast of New South +Wales, by all such opportunities as the duty of the ship and procurable +means could admit. + +Projects of this nature, when originating in the minds of young men, are +usually termed romantic; and so far from any good being anticipated, +even prudence and friendship join in discouraging, if not in opposing +them. Thus it was in the present case; so that a little boat of eight +feet long, called _Tom Thumb_, with a crew composed of ourselves and a +boy, was the best equipment to be procured for the first outset. In the +month following the arrival of the ships, we proceeded round in this +boat, to Botany Bay; and ascending George's River, one of two which +falls into the Bay, explored its winding course about twenty miles +beyond where Governor Hunter's survey had been carried. + +The sketch made of this river and presented to the Governor with the +favourable report of the land on its borders, induced His Excellency to +examine them himself shortly afterward; and was followed by establishing +there a new branch of the colony, under the name of Banks' Town. + +1796. We sailed out of Port Jackson early in the morning of March 25, +and stood a little off to sea to be ready for the sea breeze. + +The sea breeze, on the 27th, opposed our return; and learning from two +Indians that no water could be procured at Red Point, we accepted their +offer of piloting us to a river which, they said, lay a few miles +further southward, and where not only fresh water was abundant, but also +fish and wild ducks. These men were natives of Botany Bay, whence it was +that we understood a little of their language, whilst that of some +others was altogether unintelligible. Their river proved to be nothing +more than a small stream, which descended from a lagoon under Hat Hill, +and forced a passage for itself through the beach; so that we entered it +with difficulty even in _Tom Thumb_. Our two conductors then quitted the +boat to walk along the sandy shore abreast, with eight or ten strange +natives in company. + +After rowing a mile up the stream, and finding it to become more +shallow, we began to entertain doubts of securing a retreat from these +people, should they be hostilely inclined; and they had the reputation +at Port Jackson of being exceedingly ferocious, if not cannibals. Our +muskets were not yet freed from rust and sand, and there was a pressing +necessity to procure fresh water before attempting to return northward. +Under these embarrassments we agreed upon a plan of action, and went on +shore directly to the natives. Mr. Bass employed some of them to assist +in repairing an oar which had been broken in our disaster, whilst I +spread the wet powder out in the sun. This met with no opposition, for +they knew not what the powder was; but when we proceeded to clean the +muskets, it excited so much alarm that it was necessary to desist. + +On inquiring of the two friendly natives for water, they pointed upwards +to the lagoon; but after many evasions our barica was filled at a hole +not many yards distant. + +The number of people had increased to near twenty, and others were still +coming, so that it was necessary to use all possible expedition in +getting out of their reach. But a new employment arose upon 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. Whilst, 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. + +Everything being prepared for a retreat, the natives became vociferous +for the boat to go up to the lagoon; and it was not without stratagem +that we succeeded in getting down to the entrance of the stream, where +the depth of water placed us out of their reach. + +In 1798 Mr. Bass sailed (in a whaleboat) with only six weeks' +provisions; but with the assistance of occasional supplies of petrels, +fish, seal's flesh, and a few geese and black swans, and by abstinence +he had been enabled to prolong his voyage beyond _eleven_ weeks. His +ardour and perseverance were crowned, in despite of the foul winds which +so much opposed him, with a degree of success not to have been +anticipated from such feeble means. In three hundred miles of coast from +Fort Jackson to the Ram Head he added a number of particulars which had +escaped Captain Cook; and will always escape any navigator in a first +discovery, unless he have the time and means of joining a close +examination by boats, to what may be seen from the ship. + +Our previous knowledge of the coast scarcely extended beyond the Ram +Head; and there began the harvest in which Mr. Bass was ambitious to +place the first reaping-hook. The new coast was traced three hundred +miles; and instead of trending southwards to join itself to Van Diemen's +Land, as Captain Furneaux had supposed, he found it, beyond a certain +point, to take a direction nearly opposite, and to assume the appearance +of being exposed to the buffetings of an open sea. Mr. Bass, himself, +entertained no doubt of the existence of a wide strait, separating Van +Diemen's Land from New South Wales; and he yielded with the greatest +reluctance to the necessity of returning, before it was so fully +ascertained as to admit of no doubt in the minds of others. But he had +the satisfaction of placing at the end of his new coast, an extensive +and useful harbour, surrounded with a country superior to any other +known in the southern parts of New South Wales. + +A voyage expressly undertaken for discovery in an open boat, and in +which six hundred miles of coast, mostly in a boisterous climate, was +explored, has not, perhaps, its equal in the annals of maritime history. +The public will award to its high-spirited and able conductor, alas! now +no more, an honorable place in the list of those whose ardour stands +most conspicuous for the promotion of useful knowledge. + +1798. Mr. Bass had been returned a fortnight from his expedition in the +whaleboat; and he communicated all his notes and observations to be +added to my chart. There seemed to want no other proof of the existence +of a passage between New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, than that of +sailing positively through it; but however anxious I was to obtain this +proof, the gratification of my desire was required to be suspended by a +voyage to Norfolk Island in the _Reliance_. + +In September following, His Excellency, Governor Hunter, had the +goodness to give me the _Norfolk_, a colonial sloop of twenty-five tons +with authority to penetrate behind Furneaux's Islands; and should a +strait be found, to pass through it, and return by the south end of Van +Diemen's Land. Twelve weeks were allowed for the performance of this +service, and provisions for that time were put on board; the rest of the +equipment was completed by the friendly care of Captain Waterhouse of +the _Reliance_. + +I had the happiness to associate my friend Bass in this new expedition, +and to form an excellent crew of eight volunteers from the King's ships. + +THE WEST END OF THE STRAIT + +The south-west wind died away in the night; and at six next morning, +Dec. 9, we got under way with a light air at south-east. After rounding +the north-east point of the three-hummock land, our course westward was +pursued along its north side. + +A large flock of gannets was observed at daylight, to issue out of the +Great Bight to the southward; and they were followed by such a number of +the sooty petrels as we had never seen equalled. There was a stream of +from fifty to eighty yards in depth, and of three hundred yards or more +in breadth; the birds were not scattered, but flying as compactly as a +free movement of their wings seemed to allow; and during a full hour and +a half, this stream of petrels continued to pass without interruption, +at a rate little inferior to the swiftness of the pigeon. On the lowest +computation, I think the number could not have been less than a hundred +millions; and we were thence led to believe that there must be, in the +large bight, one or more uninhabited islands of considerable size. + +From the north-east point of the three-hummock land, the shore trended +W. 1° N. three miles; then S. 39° W. four miles, to a rocky point +forming the south-west extremity of what was then ascertained to be +Three-hummock Island. The channel which separates it from the land to +the west is, at least, two miles in width, and is deep; so that it was +difficult to conjecture how the Indians were able to get over to the +island. It was almost certain that they had no canoes at Port Dalrymple, +nor any means of reaching islands lying not more than two cable lengths +from the shore; and it therefore seemed improbable that they should +possess canoes here. The small size of Three-hummock Island rendered +the idea of fixed inhabitants inadmissible; and whichever way it was +considered, the presence of men there was a problem difficult to be +resolved. + +The coast on the west side of the channel lies nearly south, and rises +in height as it advances towards the cliffy head, set on the 6th p.m. +The north end of this island is a sloping rocky point; and the first +projection which opened round it, was at S. 32´ W., five or six miles. +Beyond this there was nothing like mainland to be seen; indeed, this +western land itself had very little the appearance of being such, either +in its form, or in its poor starved vegetation. So soon as we had passed +the north sloping point, a long swell was perceived to come from the +South-west, such as we had not been accustomed to for some time. It +broke heavily upon a small reef, lying a mile and a half from the point, +and upon all the western shores; but although it was likely to prove +troublesome, and perhaps dangerous, Mr. Bass and myself hailed it with +joy and mutual congratulation, as announcing the completion of our +long-wished-for discovery of a passage into the Southern Indian Ocean. + +We had a fine breeze at east; and our course was directed for a small, +rocky island, which lies W. 1/2 N. 6 miles from the north point of the +barren land. This land appeared to be almost white with birds; and so +much excited our curiosity and hope of procuring a supply of food, that +Mr. Bass went on shore in the boat whilst I stood off and on, waiting +his return. No land could be seen to the northward, and the furthest +clearly distinguishable in the opposite direction was a steep island at +the distance of four leagues. + +Mr. Bass returned at half past two, with a boat-load of seals and +albatrosses. He had been obliged to fight his way up the cliffs of the +islands with the seals, and when arrived at the top, to make a road with +his clubs amongst the albatrosses. These birds were sitting upon their +nests, and almost covered the surface of the ground, nor did they any +otherwise derange themselves for the new visitors, than to peck at their +legs as they passed by. This species of albatross is white on the neck +and breast, partly brown on the back and wings, and its size is less +than many others met with in that sea, particularly in the high southern +latitudes. The seals were of the usual size, and bore a reddish fur, +much inferior in quality to that of the seals at Furneaux's Islands. + +Albatross Island, for so it was named, is near two miles in length, and +sufficiently high to be seen five or six leagues from a ship's deck: its +shores are mostly steep cliffs. + +The north-west cape of Van Diemen's Land, or island as it might now be +termed, is a steep black head, which, from its appearance, I call Cape +Grim. It lies nearly due south, four miles from the centre of Trefoil, +in latitude 40° 44´; the longtitude will be 144° 43´ East, according to +the position of Albatross Island made in the _Investigator_. There are +two rocks close to Cape Grim, of the same description with itself. On +the north side of the Cape the shore is a low sandy beach, and trends +north-eastward three or four miles; but whether there be sufficient +depth for ships to pass between it and Barren Island, has not, I +believe, been yet ascertained. To the south of the Cape the black cliffs +extend seven or eight miles, when the shore falls back eastward to a +sandy bay of which little could be perceived. + +1799. To the strait which had been the great object of research, and +whose discovery was now completed, Governor Hunter gave, at my +recommendation, the name of Bass Strait. This was no more than a just +tribute to my worthy friend and companion, for the extreme dangers and +fatigues he had undergone in first entering it in the whale-boat, and to +the correct judgment he had formed from various indications, of the +existence of a wide opening between Van Diemen's Land and New South +Wales. + + + + +THE _INVESTIGATOR_ + ++Source.+--Voyage to Terra Australis (Matthew Flinders, 1814), pp. +36-37, 60-61, 211-220, 229-231 + + In recognition of his services Captain Flinders was given command + of the _Investigator_ in which to prosecute the exploration of + Terra Australis. He sailed along the South coast and up the East, + to Port Jackson: subsequently, he circumnavigated the continent and + suggested its present name. + + +_October 16th_, 1801. At daybreak we expected to see the highland of the +Cape (of Good Hope), but the weather being hazy, it could not be +distinguished until eight o'clock. + +At this time we had not a single person on the sick list, both officers +and men being fully in as good health as when we sailed from Spithead. I +had begun very early to put in execution the beneficial plan first +practised and made known by the great Captain Cook. It was in the +standing orders of the ship, that on every fine day the deck below and +the cockpits should be cleared, washed, aired with stoves, and sprinkled +with vinegar. On wet and dull days they were cleaned and aired without +washing. Care was taken to prevent the people from sleeping upon deck, +or lying down in their wet clothes; and once in every fortnight or three +weeks, as circumstances permitted, their beds, and the contents of their +lockers, chests, and bags, were exposed to the sun and air. On the +Thursday and Sunday mornings the ship's company was mustered, and every +man appeared clean shaved and dressed; and when the evenings were fine, +the drum and fife announced the forecastle to be the scene of dancing; +nor did I discourage other playful amusements which might occasionally +be more to the taste of the sailors, and were not unseasonable. + +Within the tropics, lime juice and sugar were made to suffice as +antiscorbutics; on reaching a higher latitude, sour krout and vinegar +were substituted; the essence of malt was reserved for the passage to +New Holland, and for future occasions. On consulting with the surgeon, I +had thought it expedient to make some slight changes in the issuing of +the provisions. Oatmeal was boiled for breakfast four days in the week +instead of three; and when rice was issued after the expenditure of the +cheese, it was boiled on the other three days. Pease soup was prepared +for dinner four days a week as usual; and at other times two ounces of +portable broth, in cakes, to each man, with such additions of onions, +pepper, etc., as the different messes possessed, made a comfortable +addition to their salt meat. And neither in this passage, nor, I may +add, in any subsequent part of the voyage, were the officers or people +restricted to any allowance of fresh water. They drank freely at the +scuttled cask, and took away, under the inspection of the officer of the +watch, all that was requisite for culinary purposes; and very frequently +two casks of water in the week were given for washing their clothes. +With these regulations, joined to a due enforcement of discipline, I had +the satisfaction to see my people orderly and full of zeal for the +service in which we were engaged; and in such a state of health, that no +delay at the Cape was required beyond the necessary refitment of the +ship, and I still hoped to save a good part of the summer season upon +the south coast of Terra Australis. + +KING GEORGE'S SOUND + +On Dec. 30th our wooding and the watering of the ship were completed, +the rigging was refitted, the sails repaired and bent, and the ship +unmoored. Our friends, the natives, continued to visit us; and the old +man with several others being at the tents this morning, I ordered a +party of marines on shore to be exercised in their presence. The red +coats and white crossed belts were greatly admired, having some +resemblance to their own manner of ornamenting themselves; and the drum, +but particularly the fife, excited their astonishment, but when they saw +these beautiful red and white men with their bright muskets, drawn up in +a line, they absolutely screamed with delight; nor were their wild +gestures and vociferation to be silenced but by commencing the exercise, +to which they paid the most earnest and silent attention. Several of +them moved their hands involuntarily in accordance with the motions; and +the old man placed himself at the end of the rank, with a short staff in +his hand, which he shouldered, presented, grounded, as did the marines +their muskets, without, I believe, knowing what he did. Before firing, +the Indians were made acquainted with what was going to take place; so +that the volleys did not excite much terror. + +PORT PHILLIP + +_Monday, April 26th_, 1802. On coming within five miles of the shore at +eleven o'clock, we found it to be low and mostly sandy; and that the +bluff head, which had been taken for the north end of an island, was +part of a ridge of hills rising at Cape Schanck. We then bore away +westward, in order to trace the land round the head of the deep bight. + +On the west side of the rocky point there was a small opening with +breaking water across it; however, on advancing a little more westward +the opening assumed a more interesting aspect, and I bore away to have a +nearer view. A large extent of water presently became visible within +side; and although the entrance seemed to be very narrow, and there were +in it strong ripplings like breakers, I was induced to steer in at +half-past one; the ship being close upon the wind, and every man ready +for tacking at a moment's warning; the soundings were irregular between +6 and 12 fathoms, until we got four miles within the entrance, when they +shoaled quick to 2-3/4. + +The extensive harbour we had thus unexpectedly found I supposed must be +Western Port, although the narrowness of the entrance did by no means +correspond with the width given to it by Mr. Bass. It was the +information of Captain Baudin, who had coasted along from thence with +fine weather, and had found no inlet of any kind, which had induced this +supposition; and the very great extent of the place, agreeing with that +of Western Port, was in confirmation of it. This however was not Western +Port, as we found next morning; and I congratulated myself on having +made a new and useful discovery, but here again I was in error. This +place, as I afterwards learnt at Port Jackson, had been discovered ten +weeks before by Lieutenant John Murray, who had succeeded Captain Grant +in command of the _Lady Nelson_. He had given it the name of Port +Phillip, and to the rocky point on the east side of the entrance, that +of Point Nepean. + +Before proceeding any higher with the ship, I wished to gain some +knowledge of the form and extent of this great piece of water; and +Arthur's seat being more than a thousand feet high and near the water +side, presented a favourable station for the purpose. After breakfast I +went away in a boat, accompanied by Mr. Brown and some other gentlemen, +for the Seat. I ascended the hill and to my surprise found the Port so +extensive, that even at this elevation its boundary to the northward +could not be distinguished. The western shore extended from the entrance +ten or eleven miles in a northern direction, to the extremity of what +from its appearance I called Indented Head; beyond it was a wide branch +of the port leading to the westward, and I suspected might have a +communication with the sea; for it was almost incredible that such a +vast piece of water should not have a larger outlet than that through +which we had come. + +Another considerable piece of water was seen, at the distance of three +or four leagues; as it appeared to have a communication with the sea to +the south, I had no doubt of its being Mr. Bass' Western Port. + +_Saturday, May 1st._ At day-dawn I set off with three of the boat's +crew, for the highest part of the back hills called Station Peak. One or +two miles before arriving at the feet of the hills, we entered a wood +where an emu and a kangaroo were seen at a distance; and the top of the +Peak was reached at ten o'clock. I saw the water of the Port as far as +N.75 E., so that the whole extent of the Port, north and south, is at +least thirty miles. + +I left the ship's name on a scroll of paper, deposited in a small pile +of stones upon the top of the peak; and at three in the afternoon, +reached the tent, much fatigued, having walked more than twenty miles +without finding a drop of water. + +_Sunday, 2nd May._ I find it very difficult to speak in general terms of +Port Phillip. On the one hand it is capable of receiving and sheltering +a larger fleet of ships than ever yet went to sea; whilst on the other, +the entrance on its whole width is scarcely two miles, and nearly half +of it is occupied by rocks lying off Point Nepean, and by shoals on the +opposite side. The depth in the remaining part varies from 6 to 12 +fathoms; and this irregularity causes the strong tides, especially when +running against the wind, to make breakers, in which small vessels +should be careful of engaging themselves; and when a ship has passed the +entrance, the shoals are a great obstacle to a free passage up the Port. + +No runs of fresh water were seen in my excursions; but Mr. Grimes, +Surveyor-General of New South Wales, afterwards found several, and in +particular a small river falling into the Northern head of the Port. The +country surrounding Port Phillip has a pleasing and in many parts a +fertile appearance; and the sides of some of the hills and several of +the valleys are fit for agricultural purposes. It is in great measure +country capable of supporting cattle, though better calculated for +sheep. + +Were a settlement to be made at Port Phillip, as doubtless there will be +sometime hereafter, the entrance could be easily defended; and it would +not be difficult to establish a friendly intercourse with the natives, +for they are acquainted with the effect of firearms, and desirous of +possessing many of our conveniences. + +In the woods are the kangaroo, the emu or cassowary, paroquets, and a +variety of small birds; the mud banks are frequented by ducks and some +black swans, and the shores by the usual sea fowl common to New South +Wales. The range of the thermometer was between 61 and 67 and the +climate appeared to be as good and agreeable as could well be desired in +the month corresponding to November. In 1803, Colonel C. Collins of the +Marines was sent out from England to make a new settlement in this +country, but he quitted Port Phillip for the South end of Van Diemen's +Land, probably from not finding fresh water for a colony sufficiently +near to the entrance. + +PORT JACKSON + +On the 4th of June the ship was dressed with colours, a royal salute +fired, and I went with the principal officers of the _Investigator_ to +pay my respects to His Excellency the Governor and Captain-General in +honour of His Majesty's birthday. On this occasion a splendid dinner was +given to the colony; and the number of ladies and civil, military, and +naval officers, was not less than forty, who met to celebrate the birth +of their beloved Sovereign in this distant part of the earth. + +Captain Baudin arrived in the _Geographe_ on the 20th, and a boat was +sent from the _Investigator_ to assist in towing the ship up to the +cove, it was grievous to see the miserable condition to which both +officers and crew were reduced by scurvy; there being not more out of +170, according to the Commander's account, than twelve men capable of +doing their duty. The sick were received into the Colonial Hospital; and +both French ships furnished with everything in the power of the Colony +to supply. Before their arrival the necessity of augmenting the number +of cattle in the country had prevented the Governor from allowing us any +fresh meat; but some oxen belonging to Government were now killed for +the distressed strangers; and by returning an equal quantity of salt +meat, which was exceedingly scarce at this time, I obtained a quarter of +beef for my people. The distress of the French navigators had indeed +been great, but every means were used by the Governor and the principal +inhabitants of the colony, to make them forget both their sufferings and +the war which existed between the two nations. + +_July._ His Excellency Governor King, had done me the honour to visit +the _Investigator_, and to accept of a dinner on board; on which +occasion he had been received with the marks of respect due to his rank +of Captain-General; and shortly afterwards, the Captains Baudin and +Hamelin, with Monsieur Peron and some other French officers, as also +Colonel Paterson, the Lieutenant-Governor, did me the same favour; when +they were received under a salute of 11 guns. The intelligence of peace +which had just been received contributed to enliven the party; and +rendered our meeting more particularly agreeable. I showed to Captain +Baudin my charts of the South Coast, containing the part first explored +by him, and distinctly marked as his discovery. He made no objection to +the justice of the limits therein pointed out; but found his portion to +be smaller than he had supposed, not having before been aware of the +extent of the discoveries previously made by Captain Grant. + +After examining the Chart, he said, apparently as a reason for not +producing any of his own, that his charts were not constructed on board +the ship; but that he transmitted to Paris all his bearings and +observations, with a regular series of views of the land and from them +the charts were to be made at a future time. + + + + +NAMING THE CONTINENT + +Had I permitted myself any innovation upon the original term (Terra +Australis), it would have been to convert it into Australia, as being +more agreeable to the ear, and an assimilation to the names of the other +great portions of the earth. + + + + +ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS + ++Source.+--A Journal of a Tour of Discovery across the Blue Mountains, +N.S.W. (Blaxland, 1823), Introduction and pp. 1, 22, 29-34 + + For many years the settlement in N.S.W. was confined to the coastal + plains, owing to the impassability of the Blue Mountains. In 1813 + Gregory Blaxland, accompanied by Wentworth and Lawson, accomplished + the passage, and opened vast plains for settlement. + + +TO JOHN OXLEY PARKER, ESQ., OF CHELMSFORD, ESSEX + +_London, Feb. 10th 1823._ + +Dear Sir, + +Feelings of gratitude for your kind attention to me in the early part of +life, have induced me to dedicate to you the following short Journal of +my passage over the Blue Mountains, in the colony of New South Wales, +under the persuasion that it will afford you pleasure at all times to +hear that any of your family have been instrumental in promoting the +prosperity of any country in which they may reside, however distant that +country may be from the immediate seat of our Government. + +Devoid as it is of any higher pretensions than belong to it as a plain +unvarnished statement, it may not be deemed wholly uninteresting, when +it is considered what important alterations the result of the expedition +has produced in the immediate interests and prosperity of the Colony. +This appears in nothing more decidedly than the unlimited pasturage +already afforded to the very fine flocks of Merino Sheep, as well as the +extensive field opened for the exertions of the present, as well as +future generations. It has changed the aspect of the Colony, from a +confined insulated tract of land, to a rich and extensive continent. + +This expedition, which has proved so completely successful, resulted +from two previous attempts. One of these was made by water, by His +Excellency the Governor, in person, whom I accompanied. + +The other expedition was undertaken by myself, attended by three +European servants and two natives, with a horse to carry provisions and +other necessities. We returned sooner than I intended, owing to one man +being taken ill. This journey confirmed me in the opinion, that it was +practicable to find a passage over the mountains, and I resolved at some +future period to attempt it. + +Soon after, I mentioned the circumstance to His Excellency the Governor, +who thought it reasonable, and expressed a wish that I should make the +attempt. Having made every requisite preparation, I applied to the two +gentlemen who accompanied me, to join in the expedition, and was +fortunate in obtaining their consent. + +To these gentlemen I have to express my thanks for their company and to +acknowledge that without their assistance I should have had but little +chance of success. + +The road which has since been made deviates but a few rods in some +places from the line cleared of the small trees and bushes, and marked +by us. Nor does it appear likely that any other line of road will ever +be discovered than at the difficult and narrow passes that we were +fortunate to discover, by improving which a good carriage road has now +been made across the mountains. Mount York is the Western summit of the +mountains, the vale Clwyd, the first valley at their feet from which a +mountain (afterwards named Mount Blaxland by His Excellency Governor +Macquarie) is about eight miles; which terminated our journey. + +I remain, dear sir, most respectfully, +Your affectionate nephew, +G. BLAXLAND. + +On Tuesday, May 11, 1813, Mr. Gregory Blaxland, Mr. William Wentworth, +and Lieutenant Lawson, attended by four servants, with five dogs and +four horses, laden with provisions, ammunition, and other necessaries, +left Mr. Blaxland's farm at the South Creek, for the purpose of +endeavouring to effect a passage over the Blue Mountains, between the +Western River, and the River Grose. + +On the following morning (May the 12th) as soon as the heavy dew was +off, which was about nine a.m., they proceeded to ascend the ridge at +the foot of which they had camped the preceding evening. After +travelling about a mile on the third day in a west and north-west +direction, they arrived at a large tract of forest land, rather hilly, +the grass and timber tolerably good. They computed it as two thousand +acres. Here they found a track marked by a European, by cutting the bark +of the trees. They had not proceeded above two miles, when they found +themselves stopped by a brushwood, much thicker than they had hitherto +met with. This induced them to alter their course, and to endeavour to +find another passage to the westward, but every ridge which they +explored proved to terminate in a deep rocky precipice, and they had no +alternative but to return to the thick brushwood, which appeared to be +the main ridge, with the determination to cut a way through for the +horses the next day. + +On the next morning, leaving two men to take care of the horses and +provisions, they proceeded to cut a path through the thick brushwood, on +what they considered as the main ridge of the mountains, between the +Western River, and the River Grose. They now began to mark their track +by cutting the bark of the trees on two sides. Having cut their way for +about five miles, they returned in the evening to the spot on which they +had encamped the night before. The fifth day was spent in prosecuting +the same tedious operation, but, as much time was necessarily lost in +walking twice over the track cleared the day before, they were unable to +cut away more than two miles further. They found no food for the horses +the whole way. + +On Sunday, they rested and arranged their future plans. They had reason, +however, to regret this suspension of their proceedings, as it gave the +men leisure to ruminate on their danger, and it was for some time +doubtful whether, on the next day, they could be persuaded to venture +farther. + +On Wednesday, the 19th, the party moved forward, bearing chiefly west, +and west-south-east. They now began to ascend the second ridge of the +mountains, and from this elevation they obtained for the first time an +extensive view of the settlements below. + +At a little distance from the spot at which they began the ascent, they +found a pyramidical heap of stones, the work, evidently, of some +European, one side of which the natives had opened, probably in the +expectation of finding some treasure deposited in it. This pile they +concluded to be the one erected by Mr. Bass, to mark the end of his +journey. That gentleman attempted some time ago to pass the Mountains, +and to penetrate into the interior, but having got thus far, he gave up +the undertaking as impracticable, reporting, on his return, that it was +impossible to find a passage even for a person on foot. Here, therefore, +the party had the satisfaction of believing that they had penetrated as +far as any European had been before them. + +[This, however, proved to be Caley's Cairn.] + +_May 21st._--Their progress the next day was nearly four miles. They +encamped in the middle of the day at the head of a well-watered swamp, +about five acres in extent; pursuing, as before, their operations in the +afternoon. In the beginning of the night the dogs ran off and barked +violently. At the same time something was distinctly heard to run +through the brushwood, which they supposed to be one of the horses got +loose; but they had reason to believe afterwards that they had been in +great danger--that the natives had followed their tracks, and advanced +on them in the night, intending to have speared them by the light of +their fire, but that the dogs drove them off. + +On the top of this ridge they found about two acres of land clear of +trees, covered with loose stones and short coarse grass, such as grows +on some of the commons of England. Over this heath they proceeded about +a mile and a half, and encamped by the side of a fine stream of water, +with just wood enough on the banks to serve for firewood. From the +summit they had a fine view of all the settlements and country +eastwards, and of a great extent of country to the westward and +south-west. But their progress in both the latter directions was stopped +by an impassable barrier of rock, which appeared to divide the interior +from the coast as with a stone wall, rising perpendicularly out of the +side of the mountain. In the afternoon they left their little camp in +the charge of three of the men, and made an attempt to descend the +precipice by following some of the streams of water, or by getting down +at some of the projecting points where the rocks had fallen in; but they +were baffled in every instance. In some places the perpendicular height +of the rocks above the earth below could not be less than four hundred +feet. + +On the 28th they proceeded about five miles and three-quarters. Not +being able to find water, they did not halt till five o'clock, when they +took up their station on the edge of the precipice. To their great +satisfaction they discovered, that what they had supposed to be sandy, +barren land below the mountain, was forest land, covered with good +grass, and with timber of an inferior quality. In the evening they +contrived to get their horses down the mountain by cutting a small +trench with a hoe, which kept them from slipping, where they again +tasted grass for the first time since they left the forest land on the +other side of the mountain. They were getting into miserable condition. +Water was found about two miles below the foot of the mountain. In this +day's route little timber was observed fit for building. + +On the 29th, having got up the horses and laden them, they began to +descend the mountain at seven o'clock, through a pass in the rock about +thirty feet wide, which they had discovered the day before, when the +want of water put them on the alert. Part of the descent was so steep +that the horses could but just keep their footing, without a load, so +that, for some way the party were obliged to carry the packages +themselves. A cart-road might, however, easily be made by cutting a +slanting trench along the side of the mountain, which is here covered +with earth. + +They reached the foot at nine o'clock a.m., and proceeded two miles, +mostly through open meadow land, clear of trees, the grass from two to +three feet high. They encamped on the bank of a fine stream of water. +The natives, as observed by the smoke of their fires, moved before them, +as yesterday. The dogs killed a kangaroo, which was very acceptable, as +the party had lived on salt meat since they caught the last. The timber +seen this day appeared rotten and unfit for building. + +The climate here was found very much colder than that of the mountain or +of the settlements on the east side, where no signs of frost had made +its appearance when the party set out. During the night the ground was +covered with a thick frost, and a leg of the kangaroo was quite frozen. + +They now conceived that they had sufficiently accomplished the design of +their undertaking, having surmounted all the difficulties which had +hitherto prevented the interior of the country from being explored, and +the Colony from being extended. They had partly cleared, or, at least, +marked out a road by which the passage of the mountain might easily be +effected. Their provisions were nearly exhausted, their clothes and +shoes were in very bad condition, and the whole party were ill with +bowel complaints. These considerations determined them, therefore, to +return home by the track they came. On Tuesday, the 1st of June, they +arrived at the foot of the mountain which they had descended, where they +encamped for the night. + +The following day they began to ascend the mountain at seven o'clock, +and reached the summit at ten; they were obliged to carry the packages +themselves part of the ascent. + +They encamped in the evening at one of their old stations. On the 3rd, +they reached another of their old stations. Here, during the night, they +heard a confused noise arising from the eastern settlements below, +which, after having been so long accustomed to the death-like stillness +of the interior, had a very striking effect. On the 4th, they arrived at +the end of their marked track, and encamped in the forest land where +they had cut the grass for their horses. One of the horses fell this day +with his load, quite exhausted, and was with difficulty got on, after +having his load put on the other horses. The next day, the 5th, was the +most unpleasant and fatiguing they had experienced. The track not being +marked, they had great difficulty in finding their way back to the +river, which they did not reach till four p.m. o'clock. They then once +more encamped for the night to refresh themselves and the horses. They +had no provisions now left except a little flour, but procured some from +the settlement on the other side of the river. On Sunday, the 6th of +June, they crossed the river after breakfast, and reached their homes +all in good health. The winter had not set in on this side of the +mountain, nor had there been any frost. + + + + +AUSTRALIA FELIX (VICTORIA) + ++Source.+--Hovell's Journal, 1837, pp. 25-27, 39-42, 72-73 + + The country between Botany Bay and Bass Strait was unexplored until + 1824, when Messrs. Hume and Hovell set out to discover if it were + suitable for settlement. They encountered difficulties among the + Australian Alps, discovered the Hume (Murray) River and reached + Port Phillip. Oct. 2nd, 1824--Jan. 16th, 1825. + + +_Sat., Nov. 6th._ They had now (it was noon) unexpectedly reached the +S.W. extremity of the ridge or spine, which here terminates in an abrupt +and very steep descent: the view from this spot consists of a valley +(immediately in their front, S.) extending in the direction S.W., and +varying from one to two miles in breadth. Along the centre of this +valley runs a small stream, and near by the stream is a broken +mountainous country: the view is closed by mountains, both of a +different form (peaked) and of an infinitely greater height than any +which they had yet seen. They now descended the table range, pursuing +the zig-zag course of one of the tributaries of the stream which they +had observed in the valley, taking its rise in these mountains, not far +below the spot at which they commence making their descent. + +At six o'clock in the evening they arrive in the valley. At seven, +having still pursued their course along the same branch, they come to +the main stream. In effecting the descent from these mountains, they had +nearly lost one of the party, as well as a bullock; the animal had +fallen when it had reached about two-thirds down the mountain in +consequence of a stone slipping under its feet, and in its fall it had +forced down with it the man who was leading it. But their fall was +intercepted by a large tree, and the man as well as the animal was thus +prevented from being dashed to pieces. The man, however, unfortunately +was much hurt. + +Never was the great superiority of bullocks to horses (in some respects) +for journeys of this description more observable than in the passage of +this difficult and dangerous ascent. The horses it had become +indispensable to unload, and to conduct each separately with great care; +but if one of the bullocks be led the rest follow; the horse is timid +and hurried in its action in places where there is danger; the bullock +is steady and cautious. If the latter slip in its ascent, or if the +acclivity be too steep for its usual mode of progression, the animal +kneels down, and scrambles up in this posture. If it be descending, and +it become placed in a similar predicament, it sits down, and turns its +head round towards the ascent, as if to balance its body. For the +crossing of unsound or boggy ground, the structure of its hoof is +particularly adapted, while the foot of the horse, on the contrary, is +ill suited for this purpose, and for which the fears and consequent +agitation of the animal renders it unfit. + +(Bullocks ought, when used for these journeys, to be shod; their feet, +otherwise, are very liable to become disabled.) + +_Tuesday, Nov. 16th._ Soon after sunrise they recommence their journey, +having proceeded three and a half miles S. (the land gradually sloping +as they advanced), arrive suddenly on the banks of a fine river. This +was named "The Hume." + +This beautiful stream is found to be not less than 80 yards in breadth, +apparently of considerable depth; the current at three miles an hour; +the water, for so considerable a stream, clear. + +The river itself is serpentine, the banks clothed with verdure to the +water's edge, their general height various, but seldom either more or +less than eight or nine feet, inclined or precipitous, as they happen by +the bending of the stream to be more or less exposed to the action of +the current. On each side of the river is a perpetual succession of +lagoons extending generally in length from one to two miles, and about a +quarter of a mile in breadth. These, which are situate alternately on +each side of the river, within those elbows and projections which are +formed by its windings, often for miles together, preclude any approach +to its banks. Each of these lagoons was furnished with an inlet from the +river and an outlet into it. + +In general, the spaces between the lagoons and the river are thickly +wooded (the trees consisting principally of the blue gum of a large +growth), and are overgrown with vines of various descriptions, and the +fern, the peppermint, flax plant, and currajong. The fern, currajong, +and the flax flourish here in abundance, and the peppermint plant (which +they had not seen in any other part of the country) seems to surpass, +both in odour and taste the species that is generally produced in our +gardens. + +From the flax-plant the natives, as they afterwards discover, make +their fishing-lines and nets for carrying their travelling gear and +provisions. + +Unable to devise any means of crossing the river, and in hope of +discovering some practicable ford, they now commence their progress down +the stream, proceed three miles and a half, and then halt. At half-past +two they resume their route, but are soon compelled from the continual +succession of lagoon and swamp to return to some higher land, about two +miles from the river. + +[Crossing the river with difficulty, they travelled southwards for four +weeks.] + +_Thursday, Dec. 16th._--This morning they cross the river or creek +without difficulty, the water not taking the cattle more than chest +high. They now proceed S.W. by S. through the plains about six miles, +when they are struck with an appearance respecting which they cannot +decide whether it is that of burning grass or of distant water. + +They now therefore, having altered their course to the south, at four +o'clock, have the gratification satisfactorily to determine, that the +appearance which had just created so much doubt is that of the latter +object, and which leaving the river a short distance, and directing +their march from S.W. to SS.W. they soon ascertain to be part of the +sea--the so long and ardently desired bourn of their labours. They now +again alter their course to south-west and travel six miles in that +direction along the shore, over excellent land, but clear of timber. On +the downs, or plains to-day they had seen several flocks of emus and +wild turkeys. The water near the shore was covered with waterfowl of +various descriptions, some of which were new to them, and by the time +they had halted for the night, they had procured an ample supply of +black swans and ducks. They stopped for the night at seven o'clock in a +small wood, at a mile from the beach, but where there was no fresh +water, having travelled to-day, they supposed, upwards of twenty miles. + +_Friday, Dec. 17th._ They proceed this morning from the beach in a +direction about N.N.W. three or four miles in quest of water, when they +arrive on the banks of a creek, where they have the good fortune to find +abundance of good water and of grass. Here they remain the day, in order +to refresh the cattle, who are not a little in want of this timely +relief, more particularly as it is proposed to commence their return +to-morrow. This determination of so soon retracing their steps, though +it cost them much regret, had become indispensable, not only from the +extreme scantiness of their remaining supplies, and the certainty of the +many difficulties they would have to encounter, but still more so from +consideration that the mere circumstance of a fall of rain by swelling +the streams, might, in the weak and ill-provided state to which the +whole party were reduced, render their return altogether impracticable. +(Four weeks' flour at reduced allowance and a small quantity of tea and +sugar, but no animal food; independently of which, the ropes and other +material employed for crossing streams were now almost utterly unfit for +use.) + + + + +THE INTERIOR OF THE CONTINENT. + ++Source.+--Expeditions in Australia (Sturt, 1833), Vol. I pp. 1-2, 29, +45, 73, 85-87. + + The reedy marshes in which the Lachlan and the Macquarie appeared + to end blocked Western exploration until the protracted drought of + the twenties convinced Sturt and Hume that they would be passable. + Accordingly an expedition was formed which was to solve the long + debated problem of the character of the interior. + + +The year 1826 was remarkable for the commencement of one of those +fearful droughts to which we have reason to believe the climate of New +South Wales is periodically subject. It continued the two following +years with unabated severity. The surface of the earth became so parched +up that minor vegetation ceased upon it. Culinary herbs were raised with +difficulty, and crops failed even in the most favourable situations. +Settlers drove their flocks and herds to distant tracts for pasture and +water, neither remaining for them in the located districts. The interior +suffered equally with the coast, and men at length began to despond +under so alarming a visitation. It almost appeared as if the Australian +sky were never again to be traversed by a cloud. + +But, however severe for the colony the seasons had proved, or were +likely to prove, it was borne in mind at this critical moment that the +wet and swampy state of the interior had alone prevented Mr. Oxley from +penetrating further into it in 1818. + +The immediate fitting out of an expedition was therefore decided upon, +for the express purpose of ascertaining the nature and extent of that +basin into which the Macquarie was supposed to fall, and whether +connection existed between it and the streams falling westerly. As I had +early taken a great interest in the geography of New South Wales, the +Governor was pleased to appoint me to the command of this expedition. + +_Dec. 3._ The first part of our journey was over rich flats, timbered +sufficiently to afford a shade, on which the grass was luxuriant; but we +were obliged to seek open ground, in consequence of the frequent +stumbling of the cattle. + +We issued, at length, upon a plain, the view across which was as dreary +as can be imagined; in many places without a tree, save a few old stumps +left by the natives when they fired the timber, some of which were still +smoking in different parts of it. Observing some lofty trees at the +extremity of the plain, we moved towards them, under an impression that +they indicated the river line. But on this exposed spot the sun's rays +fell with intense power upon us, and the dust was so minute and +penetrating, that I soon regretted having left the shady banks of the +river. + +_Dec. 31._ I had no inducement to proceed further into the interior. I +had been sufficiently disappointed in the termination of this excursion, +and the track before me was still less inviting. Nothing but a dense +forest, and a level country, existed between me and a distant hill. I +had learnt, by experience, that it was impossible to form any opinion of +the probable features of so singular a region as that in which I was +wandering, from previous appearances, or to expect the same result, as +in other countries, from similar causes. In a geographical point of +view, my journey had been more successful, and had enabled me to put to +rest for ever a question of much previous doubt. I had gained a +knowledge of more than 100 miles of the western interior, and had +ascertained that no sea, indeed, that little water existed on its +surface; and that, although it is flat generally, it still has +elevations of considerable magnitude upon it. + +Although I had passed over much barren ground, I had likewise noticed +soil that was far from poor, and the vegetation upon which in ordinary +seasons would, I am convinced, have borne a very different aspect. + +Yet, upon the whole, the space I traversed is unlikely to become the +haunts of civilized man, or will only become so in isolated spots, as a +chain of connection to a more fertile country; if such a country exist +to the westward. + +[A report of better country to the North induced Sturt to turn in that +direction.] + +_Jan. 14._ Nothing could exceed in dreariness the appearance of the +tracks through which we journeyed on this and the two following days. +The creek on which we depended for a supply of water, gave such alarming +indications of a total failure that I at one time had serious thoughts +of abandoning my pursuit of it. We passed hollow after hollow that had +successively dried up, although originally of considerable depth; and, +when we at length found water, it was doubtful how far we could make use +of it. Sometimes in boiling, it left a sediment nearly equal to half its +body; at other times it was so bitter as to be quite unpalatable. That +on which we subsisted was scraped up from small puddles, heated by the +sun's rays; and so uncertain were we of finding water at the end of the +day's journey, that we were obliged to carry a supply on one of the +bullocks. There was scarcely a living creature, even of the feathered +race, to be seen to break the stillness of the forest. The native dogs +alone wandered about, though they had scarcely strength to avoid us; and +their melancholy howl, breaking in upon the ear at the dead of night, +only served to impress more fully on the mind the absolute loneliness of +the desert. + +_Jan. 31._ We came upon a creek, but could not decide whether it was the +one for which we had been searching, or another. It had flooded-gum +growing upon its banks, and, on places apparently subject to flood, a +number of tall straight saplings were observed by us. We returned to the +camp, after a vain search for water, and were really at a loss what +direction next to pursue. The men kept the cattle pretty well together, +and, as we were not delayed by any preparations for breakfast, they were +saddled and loaded at an early hour. The circumstance of there having +been natives in the neighbourhood, of whom we had seen so few traces of +late, assured me that water was at hand, but in what direction it was +impossible to guess. As the path we had observed was leading northerly, +we took up that course, and had not proceeded more than a mile upon it, +when we suddenly found ourselves on the bank of a noble river. Such it +might in truth be called, where water was scarcely to be found. The +party drew up upon a bank that was from forty to forty-five feet above +the level of the stream. The channel of the river was from seventy to +eighty yards broad, and enclosed an unbroken sheet of water, evidently +very deep, and literally covered with pelicans and other wild fowl. Our +surprise and delight maybe better imagined than described. Our +difficulties seemed to be at an end, for here was a river that promised +to reward all our exertions, and which appeared every moment to increase +in importance, to our imagination. Coming from the N.E., and flowing to +the S.W., it had a capacity of channel that proved that we were as far +from its source as from its termination. The paths of the natives on +either side of it were like well-trodden roads; and the trees that +overhung it were of beautiful and gigantic growth. + +Its banks were too precipitous to allow of our watering the cattle, but +the men eagerly descended to quench their thirst, which a powerful sun +had contributed to increase, nor shall I ever forget the looks of terror +and disappointment with which they called out to inform me that the +water was so salt as to be unfit to drink! This was, indeed, too true; +on tasting it, I found it extremely nauseous, and strongly impregnated +with salt, being apparently a mixture of sea and fresh water. Whence +this arose, whether from local causes, or from a communication with some +inland sea, I know not, but the discovery was certainly a blow for which +I was not prepared. Our hopes were annihilated at the moment of their +apparent realization. The cup of joy was dashed out of our hands before +we had time to raise it to our lips. Notwithstanding this +disappointment, we proceeded down the river, and halted at about five +miles, being influenced by the goodness of the feed to provide for the +cattle as well as circumstances would permit. They would not drink of +the river water, but stood covered in it for many hours, having their +noses alone exposed above the stream. Their condition gave me great +uneasiness. It was evident they could not long hold out under the +excessive thirst, and unless we should procure some fresh water, it +would be impossible for us to continue our journey. + +Mr. Hume, with his usual perseverance, walked out when the camp was +formed; and at a little distance from it, ascended a ridge of pure sand, +crowned with cypresses. From this he descended to the westward, and, at +length, struck upon the river, where a reef of rocks crossed its channel +and formed a dry passage from one side to the other; but the bend which +the river must have taken appeared to him so singular, that he doubted +whether it was the same beside which we had been travelling during the +day. Curiosity led him to cross it, when he found a small pond of fresh +water on a tongue of land, and immediately afterwards, returned to +acquaint me with the welcome tidings. It was too late to move, but we +had the prospect of a comfortable breakfast in the morning. + +On the 6th February we journeyed again through a barren scrub, although +on firmer ground, and passed numerous groups of huts. At about eight +miles from our last encampment, we came upon the river where its banks +were of considerable height. In riding along them Mr. Hume thought he +observed a current running, and he called to inform me of the +circumstance. On a closer examination we discovered some springs in the +very bed of the river, from which a considerable stream was gushing, and +from the incrustation around them, we had no difficulty in guessing at +their nature; in fact, they were brine springs, and I collected a +quantity of salt from the brink of them. + +After such a discovery we could not hope to keep our position. No doubt +the current we had observed on first reaching the river was caused by +springs that had either escaped our notice, or were under water. Here +was at length a local cause for its saltness that destroyed at once the +anticipation and hope of our being near its termination, and, +consequently, the ardour with which we should have pressed on to decide +so interesting a point. + +We calculated that we were forty miles from the camp, in a S.W. +direction, a fearful distance under our circumstances, since we could +not hope to obtain relief for two days. Independently, however, of the +state of the animals, our spirits were damped by the nature of the +country, and the change which had taken place in the soil, upon which it +was impossible that water could rest; while the general appearance of +the interior showed how much it suffered from drought. On the other +hand, although the waters of the river had become worse to the taste, +the river itself had increased in size and stretched away to the +westward, with all the uniformity of a magnificent canal, and gave every +promise of increasing importance; while the pelicans were in such +numbers upon it as to be quite dazzling to the eye. Considering, +however, that perseverance would only involve us in extricable +difficulties, and that it would also be useless to risk the horses, +since we had gained a distance to which the bullocks could not have been +brought I intimated my intention of giving up the further pursuit of the +river, though it was with extreme reluctance that I did so. + +As soon as we had bathed and finished our scanty meal, I took the +bearings of D'Urban's Group, and found them to be S.58 E. about +thirty-three miles distant; and as we mounted our horses, I named the +river the "Darling," as a lasting memorial of the respect I bear the +Governor. + +I should be doing injustice to Mr. Hume and my men if I did not express +my conviction that they were extremely unwilling to yield to +circumstances, and that, had I determined on continuing the journey, +they would have followed me with cheerfulness, whatever the consequences +might have been. + + + + +EXPLORATION OF THE EASTERN RIVER SYSTEM + ++Source.+--Expeditions in Australia (Sturt, 1833), Vol. II, pp. 6, 8-69, +85-86, 111, 151-187, 204-217, 219. + + On his first expedition Sturt had proved that the interior was dry. + He then attempted to find the destination of the Morumbidgee and + the Darling. Travelling down the Morumbidgee he discovered the + Murray and followed it to its termination, 1829. + + +_Dec. 27th._ M'Leay and I started at an early hour on an excursion of +deeper interest than any we had as yet undertaken; to examine the reeds, +not only for the purpose of ascertaining their extent, if possible, but +also to guide us in our future measures. We rode some miles along the +river side, but observed in it no signs either of increase or of +exhaustion. Everything tended to strengthen my conviction that we were +still far from the termination of the river. I was aware that my +resolves must be instant, decisive, and immediately acted upon, as on +firmness and promptitude at this crisis the success of the expedition +depended. About noon I checked my horse, and rather to the surprise of +my companion, intimated to him my intention of returning to the camp. He +naturally asked what I purposed doing. I told him that it appeared to me +more than probable that the Morumbidgee would hold its course good to +some fixed point, now that it had reached a meridian beyond the known +rivers of the interior. It was certain, from the denseness of the reeds, +and the breadth of the belts, that the teams could not be brought any +further, and that, taking everything into consideration, I had resolved +on a bold and desperate measure, that of building the whaleboat, and +sending home the drays. + +Our appearance in camp so suddenly surprised the men not more than the +orders I gave. They all thought I had struck on some remarkable change +of country, and were anxious to know my ultimate views. It was not my +intention, however, immediately to satisfy their curiosity. I had to +study their characters as long as I could in order to select those best +qualified to accompany me on the desperate adventure for which I was +preparing. + +[Sturt accordingly built the whaleboat and embarked on the river.] + +_Jan. 14th._ The men looked anxiously out ahead, for the singular change +in the river had impressed on them an idea that we were approaching its +termination, or near some adventure. On a sudden, the river took a +general southern direction, but, in its tortuous course, swept round to +every point of the compass with the greatest irregularity. We were +carried at a fearful rate down its gloomy and contracted banks, and, in +such a moment of excitement, had little time to pay attention to the +country through which we were passing. It was, however, observed that +chalybeate springs were numerous close to the water's edge. At 3 p.m. +Hopkinson called out that we were approaching a junction, and in less +than a minute afterwards we were hurried into a broad and noble river. + +It is impossible for me to describe the effect of so instantaneous a +change upon us. The boats were allowed to drift along at pleasure, and +such was the force with which we had been shot out of the Morumbidgee +that we were carried nearly to the bank opposite its _embouchure_, +whilst we continued to gaze in silent astonishment at the capacious +channel we had entered; and when we looked for that by which we had been +led into it, we could hardly believe that the insignificant gap that +presented itself to us was, indeed, the termination of the beautiful and +noble stream whose course we had thus successfully followed. I can only +compare the relief we experienced to that which the seaman feels on +weathering the rock upon which he expected his vessel to have struck, to +the calm which succeeds moments of feverish anxiety, when the dread of +danger is succeeded by certainty of escape. + +_Jan. 23rd._ Not having as yet given a name to our first discovery, I +laid it down as the Murray River in compliment to the distinguished +officer Sir George Murray, who then presided over the Colonial +Department, not only in compliance with the known wishes of His +Excellency, General Darling, but also in accordance with my own feelings +as a soldier. + +[They continued their course down the Murray till Feb. 9.] + +After pulling a mile or two we found a clear horizon before us to the +south. The hills still continued upon our left, but we could not see any +elevation over the expanse of reeds to our right. The river inclined to +the left, and swept the base of the hills that still continued on that +side. I consequently landed once more to survey the country. + +I still retained a strong impression on my mind that some change was at +hand, and on this occasion I was not disappointed, but the view was one +for which I was not altogether prepared. We had at length arrived at the +termination of the Murray. Immediately below me was a beautiful lake, +which appeared to be a fitting reservoir for the noble stream that led +us to it; and which was now ruffled by the breeze that swept over it. +The ranges were more distinctly visible, stretching from south to north, +and were certainly distant forty miles. They had a regular unbroken +outline; declining gradually to the south, but terminating abruptly at a +lofty mountain northerly. I had no doubt on my mind of this being the +Mount Lofty of Captain Flinders; or that the range was that immediately +to the eastward of St. Vincent's Gulf. Between us and the ranges a +beautiful promontory shot into the lake, being a continuation of the +right bank of the Murray. Over this promontory the waters stretched to +the base of the ranges, and formed an extensive bay. To the S.W. a bold +headland showed itself; beyond which, to the westward, there was a clear +and open sea visible, through a strait formed by this headland and a +point projecting from the opposite shore. Even while gazing on this fine +scene, I could not but regret that the Murray had thus terminated; for I +immediately foresaw that, in all probability, we should be disappointed +in finding any practicable communication between the lake and the ocean, +as it was evident that the former was not much influenced by tides. We +pitched our tents on a low track of land that stretched away seemingly +for many miles directly behind us to the eastward. It was of the +richest soil, being of a black vegetable deposit, and although high +above the influence the lake had, it was evident, once formed a part of +its bed. Thirty-three days had now passed over our heads since we left +the depot upon the Morumbidgee, twenty-six of which had been passed upon +the Murray. We had, at length, arrived at the grand reservoir of those +waters whose course and fate had previously been involved in such +obscurity. + +I took Fraser with me, and, accompanied by M'Leay, crossed the +sand-hummocks behind us, and descended to the sea-shore. I found that we +had struck the south coast deep in the bight of Encounter Bay. We had no +time for examination, but returned immediately to the camp, as I +intended to give the men an opportunity to go to the beach. They +accordingly went and bathed, and returned not only highly delighted at +this little act of good nature on my part, but loaded with cockles, a +bed of which they had managed to find among the sand. Clayton had tied +one end of his shirt up, and brought a bag full, and amused himself with +boiling cockles all night long. + +I would fain have lingered on my way to examine, as far as circumstances +would permit, the beautiful country between the lake and the ranges; and +it was with heartfelt sorrow that I yielded to necessity. My men were, +indeed, very weak from poverty of diet and from great bodily fatigue. +Hopkinson, Mulholland, and Macnamee were miserably reduced. + +It will be borne in mind that our difficulties were just about to +commence, when those of most other travellers have ceased; and that +instead of being assisted by the stream whose course we had followed, we +had now to contend against the united waters of the eastern ranges, with +diminished strength, and in some measure with disappointed feelings. + +Under the most favourable circumstances, it was improbable that the men +would be enabled to pull for many days longer in succession since they +had not rested upon their oars for a single day, if I except our passage +across the lake, from the moment when we started from the depot; nor was +it possible for me to buoy them up with the hope even of a momentary +cessation of labour. We had calculated the time to which our supply of +provisions would last under the most favourable circumstances, and it +was only in the event of our pulling up against the current, day after +day, the same distance we had compassed with the current in our favour, +that we could hope they would last as long as we continued in the +Murray. But in the event of floods or any unforeseen delay, it was +impossible to calculate at what moment we might be driven to extremity. + +On the other hand, it was sufficiently evident to me that the men were +too much exhausted to perform the task that was before them without +assistance, and that it would be necessary both for M'Leay and myself to +take our share of labour at the oars. The cheerfulness and satisfaction +that my young friend evinced at the opportunity that was thus afforded +him of making himself useful, and of relieving those under him from some +portion of their toil, at the same time that they increased my sincere +esteem for him, were nothing more than what I expected from one who had +endeavoured by every means in his power to contribute to the success of +that enterprise upon which he had embarked. But although I have said +thus much of the exhausted condition of the men, I would by no means be +understood to say that they flagged for a moment, or that a single +murmur escaped them. No reluctance was visible, no complaint was heard, +but there was that in their aspect and appearance which they could not +hide, and which I could not mistake. We re-entered the river on the 13th +under as fair prospects as we could have desired. The gale which had +blown with such violence in the morning gradually abated, and a steady +breeze enabled us to pass our first encampment, by availing ourselves of +it as long as daylight continued. + +_Feb. 18th._ The breezes that had so much assisted us from the lake +upwards, had now lost their influence, or failed to reach to the +distance we had gained. Calms succeeded them, and obliged us to labour +continually at the oars. We lost ground fast, and it was astonishing to +remark how soon the men's spirits drooped again under their first +efforts. They fancied the boat pulled heavily and that her bottom was +foul, but such was not the case. The current was not so strong as when +we passed down, since the river had evidently fallen more than a foot, +and was so shallow in several places that we were obliged to haul the +boat over them. On these occasions we were necessarily obliged to get +out of her into the water, and had afterwards to sit still and to allow +the sun to dry our clothes upon us. The unemployed consequently envied +those at the oars, as they sat shivering in their dripping clothes. + +I have omitted to mention one remarkable trait of the good disposition +of all the men while on the coast. Our sugar had held out to that point; +but it appeared when we examined the stores that six pounds alone +remained in the cask. This the men positively refused to touch. They +said that, divided, it would benefit nobody; that they hoped M'Leay and +I would use it, that it would last us for some time, and that they were +better able to submit to privations than we were. The feeling did them +infinite credit, and the circumstance is not forgotten by me. The little +supply the kindness of our men left to us was, however, soon exhausted, +and poor M'Leay preferred pure water to the bitter draught that +remained. I have been sometimes unable to refrain from smiling as I +watched the distorted countenances of my humble companions while +drinking their tea and eating their damper. + +_March 17th._ We had been drawing nearer the Morumbidgee every day; and +the following afternoon, to our great joy, we turned our boat into the +gloomy and narrow channel of the tributary. Our feelings were almost as +strong when we re-entered it as they had been when we were launched from +it into that river, on whose waters we had continued for upwards of +fifty-five days; during which period, including the sweeps and bends it +made, we could not have travelled less than 1,500 miles. + +Our daily journeys were short, and the head we made against the stream +but trifling. The men lost the proper and muscular jerk with which they +once made the waters foam and the oars bend. Their whole bodies swung +with an awkward and laboured motion. Their arms appeared to be +nerveless; their faces became haggard, their persons emaciated, their +spirits wholly sunk; nature was so completely overcome, that from mere +exhaustion they frequently fell asleep during their painful and almost +ceaseless exertions. It grieved me to the heart to see them in such a +state at the close of so perilous a service, and I began to reproach +Robert Harris that he did not move down the river to meet us; but, in +fact, he was not to blame. I became captious, and found fault where +there was no occasion, and lost the equilibrium of my temper in +contemplating the condition of my companions. No murmur, however, +escaped them, nor did a complaint reach me that was intended to +indicate that they had done all they could do. I frequently heard them +in their tent, when they thought I had dropped asleep, complaining of +severe pains, and of great exhaustion. "I must tell the Captain, +to-morrow," some of them would say, "that I can pull no longer." +To-morrow came, and they pulled on, as if reluctant to yield to +circumstances. Macnamee at length lost his senses. We first observed +this from his incoherent conversation, but eventually from his manner. +He related the most extraordinary tales and fidgetted about eternally +while in the boat. I felt it necessary, therefore, to relieve him from +the oars. + +_April 12th._ I determined on sending Hopkinson and Mulholland, whose +devotion, intelligence and indefatigable spirits I well knew, forward to +the plain. + +The joy this intimation spread was universal. Both Hopkinson and +Mulholland readily undertook the journey, and I, accordingly, prepared +orders for them to start by the earliest dawn. + +Six days had passed since their departure; we remaining encamped. I had +calculated on seeing Hopkinson again in eight days, but as the morrow +would see us without food, I thought, as the men had had a little rest, +it would be better to advance towards relief than to await its arrival. + +On the evening of the 18th, therefore, we buried our specimens and other +stores, intending to break up the camp in the morning. A singular bird, +which invariably passed it at an hour after sunset, and which, from the +heavy flight, appeared to be of unusual size, had so attracted my +notice, that in the evening M'Leay and I crossed the river in hope to +get a shot at it. We had, however, hardly landed on the other side, when +a loud shout called us back to witness the return of our comrades. + +They were both of them in a state that beggars description. Their knees +and ankles were dreadfully swollen and their limbs so painful that as +soon as they arrived in the camp they sunk under their efforts, but they +met us with a smiling countenance and expressed their satisfaction at +having come so seasonably to our relief. They had, as I had foreseen, +found Robert Harris on the plain, which they reached on the evening of +the third day. They had started early the next morning on their return +with such supplies as they thought we might immediately want. Poor +Macnamee had in a great measure recovered, but for some days he was +sullen and silent; the sight of the drays gave him uncommon +satisfaction. Clayton gorged himself; but M'Leay, myself, and Fraser +could not at first relish the meat that was placed before us. + + + + +THE INTERIOR. II + ++Source.+--Life of Charles Sturt (Mrs. N.G. Sturt), pp. 230-232, +264-267, 279-280 + + Observations of the migrations of birds convinced Sturt that there + was good land in the interior of New South Wales, and in 1844 he + set out to find it. His expedition failed because the season was + exceptionally dry, and he was obliged to turn back before he had + accomplished his object. + + +"If a line be drawn from Lat. 29° 30´ and Long. 140° N.W., and another +from Mount Arden due north, they will meet a little to the northward of +the tropic, and there I will be bound to say a fine country will be +discovered." On what date Sturt pledges himself to the discovery of this +fine country is not stated, but when later regretting his failure to +reach the tropic and to set at rest his hypothesis of the better country +to be found there, he briefly tells his reason for the supposition. + +"Birds observed east of the Darling in the summer of 1828 in about lat. +29° 30´ S. and long. 144° had invariably migrated to the W.N.W. +Cockatoos and parrots, known while in the colony to frequent the richest +and best-watered valleys of the higher lands, would pass in countless +flights to that point of the compass. In South Australia, in lat. 35° +and long. 138°, I had also observed that several birds of the same kind +annually visited that Province from the north. I had seen the Psittacus +Novae Hollandiae and the shell paroquet following the shoreline of St. +Vincent's Gulf like flights of starlings in England. The different +flights at intervals of more than a quarter of an hour, all came from +the north, and followed in one and the same direction. + +"Now although the casual appearance of a few strange birds should not +influence the judgement, yet from the regular migrations of the +feathered race, a reasonable inference may be drawn. Seeing then that +these two lines (viz., from Fort Bourke about lat. 30° and long. 144° to +the W.N.W., and from Mount Arden in lat. 35° long. 138° to the north) +if prolonged would meet a little to the northward of the tropic, I +formed the following conclusions: + +"First, that the birds migrating on those lines would rest for a time at +a point where those lines met. + +"Secondly, that the country to which they went would resemble that which +they had left, that birds which frequented rich valleys or high hills +would not settle down in deserts and flat country. + +"Thirdly, that the intervening country, whether owing to deserts or +large sheets of water, was not such as these birds could inhabit. +Indeed, such large migrations from different parts to one particular, +argued no less strongly the existence of deserts or of sea to a certain +distance, than the probable richness of the country, to which as to a +common goal these migrations tended. + +"On the late expedition, at the Depot in lat. 29-1/2° and long. 142°, I +found myself in the direct line of migration to the north-west; and to +that point of the compass, birds whom I knew to visit Van Diemen's Land +would, after watering, pass on. Cockatoos, after a few hours' rest, +would wing their way to the north-west, as also would various +water-birds, as well as pigeons, parrots, and paroquets, pursued by +birds of the Accipitrine class. From these indications I was led to look +still more for the realization of my hopes, if I could but force my way +to the necessary distance. + +"I ran 170 miles without crossing a single water-course. I travelled +over salsolaceous plains, crossed sand-ridges, was turned from my +westward course by salt-water lakes; and at last, on October 19th, at +about 80 miles to the east of my former track, I found myself on the +brink of the Stony Desert. Coming suddenly on it I almost lost my +breath. If anything, it looked more forbidding than before. Herbless and +treeless, it filled more than half of the horizon. Not an object was +visible on which to steer, yet we held on our course by compass like a +ship at sea. + +"Poor Browne was in excruciating pain from scurvy. Every day I expected +to find him unable to stir. My men were ill from exposure, scanty food, +and muddy water; my horses leg-weary and reduced to skeletons. I alone +stood unscathed, but I could not bear to leave my companion in that +heartless desert. + +"Finding myself baffled to the north and to the west, seeing no hope of +rain, realizing that my retreat was too probably already cut off, I +reluctantly turned back to the depot, 443 miles distant, and only +through the help of Providence did we at length reach it." + +Sturt, as he mounted to begin his retreat, was nearly induced to turn +again by "a flock of paroquets that flew shrieking from the north +towards Eyre's Creek. They proved that to the last we had followed with +unerring precision the line of migration." + + + +SCOPE AND RESULTS OF CENTRAL EXPEDITION AS SUMMED UP BY STURT + +My instructions directed me to gain the meridian of Mount Arden or that +of 138°, with a view to determine whether there were any chain of +mountains connected with the high lands seen by Mr. Eyre to the westward +of Lake Torrens, and running into the interior from south-west to +north-east. I was ordered to push to the westward and to make the south +the constant base of my operations. I was prohibited from descending to +the north-coast, but it was left optional with me to fall back on +Moreton Bay if I should be forced to the eastward. Whether I performed +the task thus assigned to me or wavered in the accomplishment of it; +whether I fell short of my duty, or yielded only to insuperable +difficulties, the world will be enabled to judge. That I found no fine +country is to be regretted; however, I was not sent to find a fine +country, but to solve a geographical problem. I trust I am not +presumptuous in saying that, from a geographical point of view, the +results of this expedition have been complete. If I did not gain the +heart of the continent, no one will refuse me the credit of having taken +a direct course for it. My distance from that hitherto mysterious spot +was less than 150 miles. In ten days I should have reached the goal; and +that task would have been accomplished had rain fallen when I was at my +farthest north. Had I found such a river as the Victoria, I would have +clung to it to the last; but those alone will really know the nature of +the country who shall follow me into it When I determined on turning +homewards, with mind depressed and strength weakened, it appeared to me +that I had done all that man could do. Now, under the influence of +restored health, I feel that I did far too little. I can only say that I +would not hesitate again to plunge into those dreary regions, that I +might be the first to place my foot in the centre of this vast +territory, and finally to raise the veil which still shrouds its +features, even though, like those of the veiled prophet, they should +wither the beholder. + + + + +ACROSS THE CONTINENT. SOUTH TO NORTH. I + ++Source.+--Papers relating to the Burke and Wills Exploring Expedition, +1861. Published in the _Argus_, pp. 2-5, 19-20 + + In the year 1860 an expedition was planned to travel from Melbourne + to the Gulf of Carpentaria. The leader was Robert Burke, and though + with Wills, Gray, and King he reached the Gulf, the return was + fatal owing to the desertion of the Cooper's Creek Depot by the + other members of the expedition. + + +In the course of his evidence before the Commission of Inquiry Mr. King, +the sole survivor, said: + +The day before we arrived at Cooper's Creek we were allowed to consume +as much provisions as we chose, in expectations of finding supplies so +soon. We had only one pound of dry meat when we got there. If we had +found no provisions there, we should all have died. It was as much as +any of us could do to travel along the side of the creek. We had been so +weak, that for ten days before, we had scarcely been able to make much +distance, or to walk about. I seemed to be worse than either Mr. Burke +or Mr. Wills, but after we arrived at the Depot I improved much more +than they did. We had no difficulty in finding the provisions there. We +arrived in the moonlight at half-past seven o'clock at night, after +having pushed on thirty miles that day. Mr. Burke rode on one of the +camels, and I and Mr. Wills on the other. We had our revolvers with us, +and had been continually shooting at the crows and hawks. When we got to +the Depot Mr. Burke was a little ahead of Mr. Wills and myself. He had +often before said, "I think I can see their tents ahead," and made +several remarks like that until we arrived there. When we got near, he +said, "I suppose they have shifted to some other part of the creek." It +was Mr. Wills who first saw the tree-mark, and saw the things scattered +about the stockade. He saw the words, "Dig three feet to the +north-east," or north-west; I am not certain which. When he saw the date +at which they came to the camp, and the date at which they left, he said +at once, "They have left here to-day. If they had shifted to any other +part of the creek, they would not have marked this." We set to work +digging up the plant. We did not know where they had gone to, but +thought they had left some instructions. Mr. Burke was too much excited +to do anything, and Mr. Wills and myself dug up the plant. I got the +bottle there and Mr. Burke said: "Whatever instructions they have left +are in this bottle." I then opened it and handed it to him. When he had +read it, he informed us that the other party, except Paton, and that the +animals were in good working order, and that on account of no person +coming up to them, they had made a start for Camp 60, taking a course +S.E. for Bulloo. Mr. Burke then said it was madness to attempt to follow +them, as their men were in good order, and their camel too. He said we +could not expect to make forced marches, and catch them up. Had the +latter said they were in a weak state, as it appeared they were, we +should have tried at any rate to overtake them. We remained at the creek +a few days, and Mr. Burke and Mr. Wills had a consultation as to what +was best to be done. + +We left no provisions behind us, but took everything with us. When we +had consumed all the sugar but 12 lb. we gave some balls of it to the +camel. For a few days our principal food was porridge, which we +preferred to anything else. We boiled it with water and sugar. In going +down towards Mount Hopeless, we found we could not carry all the things +we brought with us. We had to leave the camel-pads and such things. We +made two attempts to get to Mount Hopeless. After losing one camel we +remained at the creek some short time, till we recovered strength to +start for Cooper's Creek again. We had only the clothes we stood in, and +no bed-clothing but the camels' pads and two oilcloths. We had boots and +trousers, such as they were. + + +BURKE'S LAST LETTER + +The following is the despatch of Mr. Burke, left at the Depot at +Cooper's Creek: + +Depot No. 2, Cooper's Creek, Camp No. 65.--The return party from +Carpentaria, consisting of myself, Wills and King (Gray dead) arrived +here last night, and found that the depot party had only started on the +same day. We proceed on to-morrow slowly down the creek towards Adelaide +by Mount Hopeless, and shall endeavour to follow Gregory's track; but we +are very weak. The two camels are done up, and we shall not be able +travel faster than four or five miles a day. Gray died on the road from +exhaustion and fatigue. We have all suffered much from hunger. The +provisions left here will, I think, restore our strength. We have +discovered a practicable route to Carpentaria, the chief portion of +which lies on the 140th decree of east longitude. There is some good +country between this and the Stony Desert. From there to the tropic the +country is dry and stony. Between the tropic and Carpentaria a +considerable portion is rangy, but it is well watered and richly +grassed. We reached the shores of Carpentaria on 11th February, 1861. +Greatly disappointed at finding the party here gone. + +(Signed) ROBERT O'HARA BURKE, Leader. + +April 22nd, 1861. + +P.S.--The camels cannot travel, and we cannot walk, or we should follow +the other party. We shall move very slowly down the creek. + + +KING'S NARRATIVE + +Mr. Burke requested Mr. Wills to go up the creek as far as the Depot, +and to place a note in the plant there, stating that we were then living +on the creek, the former note having stated that we were on our road to +South Australia. He also was to bury there the field-books of the +journey to the Gulf. + +Mr. Wills being returned, it was decided to go up the creek and live +with the natives, if possible, as Mr. Wills thought we should have but +little difficulty in obtaining provisions from them if we camped on the +opposite side of the creek to them. He said he knew where they had gone, +so we packed up and started. Coming to the gunyahs where we expected to +have found them, we were disappointed, and seeing a nardoo field close +by, halted, intending to make it our camp. For some time we were +employed gathering nardoo, and laying up a supply. + +Mr. Wills and I used to collect and carry home a bag each day, and Mr. +Burke generally pounded sufficient for our dinner during our absence, +but Mr. Wills found himself getting very weak, and was shortly unable to +go out to gather nardoo as before, nor even strong enough to pound it, +so that in a few days he became almost helpless. Mr. Burke now proposed +that I should gather as much nardoo as possible in three days, and that +with this supply we should go in search of the natives--a plan which had +been urged upon us by Mr. Wills as the only chance of saving him and +ourselves as well, as he clearly saw that I was no longer able to +collect sufficient for our wants. Having collected the seed, as +proposed, and having pounded sufficient to last Mr. Wills for eight +days, and two days for ourselves, we placed water and firewood within +his reach and started. Before leaving him, however, Mr. Burke asked him +whether he still wished it, as under no other circumstances would he +leave him; and Mr. Wills again said that he looked on it as our only +chance. He then gave Mr. Burke a letter and his watch for his father, +and we buried the remainder of the field-books near the gunyah. + +In travelling the first day, Mr. Burke seemed very weak and complained +of great pain in his legs and back. On the second day he seemed to be +better, and said that he thought he was getting stronger, but, on +starting, did not go two miles before he said he could go no further. I +persisted in his trying to go on, and managed to get him along several +times, until I saw that he was almost knocked up, when he said he could +not carry his swag, and threw all he had away. I also reduced mine, +taking nothing but a gun and some powder and shot and a small pouch and +some matches. On starting again we did not go far before Mr. Burke said +we should halt for the night, but, as the place was close to a large +sheet of water, and exposed to the wind, I prevailed to go a little +further, to the next reach of water where we camped. + +We searched about and found a few small patches of nardoo, which I +collected and pounded, and with a crow, which I shot, made a good +evening's meal. From the time we halted, Mr. Burke seemed to be getting +worse, although he ate his supper. He said he felt convinced he could +not last many hours, and gave me his watch, which, he said, belonged to +the Committee; and a pocket-book, to give to Sir William Stawell, and in +which he wrote some notes. He then said to me: "I hope you will remain +with me here till I am quite dead--it is a comfort to know that some one +is by; but when I am dying, it is my wish that you should place the +pistol in my right hand, and that you leave me unburied as I lie." That +night he spoke very little, and the following morning I found him +speechless, or nearly so; and about eight o'clock he expired. I remained +a few hours there, but as I saw there was no use in remaining longer, I +went up the creek in search of the natives. I felt very lonely, and at +night usually slept in deserted wurleys, belonging to the natives. Two +days after leaving the spot where Mr. Burke died, I found some gunyahs, +where the natives had deposited a bag of nardoo, sufficient to last me a +fortnight, and three bundles containing various articles. I also shot a +crow that evening, but was in great dread that the natives would come +and deprive me of the nardoo. + +I remained there two days to recover my strength, and then returned to +Mr. Wills. I took back three crows; but found him lying dead in his +gunyah, and the natives had been there and had taken away some of his +clothes. I buried the corpse with sand, and remained some days; but +finding that my stock of nardoo was running short, and being unable to +gather it, I tracked the natives who had been to the camp by their +foot-prints in the sand, and went some distance down the creek, shooting +crows and hawks on the road. The natives hearing the report of the gun, +came to meet me, and took me with them to their camp, giving me nardoo +and fish. They took the birds I had shot and cooked them for me, and +afterwards showed me a gunyah, where I was to sleep with three of the +single men. + +They appeared to feel great compassion for me when they understood that +I was alone on the creek, and gave me plenty to eat. After being four +days with them, I saw that they were becoming tired of me, and they made +signs that they were going up the creek, and that I had better go +downwards; but I pretended not to understand them. The same day they +shifted camp, and I followed them; and on reaching their camp, I shot +some crows, which pleased them so much that they made me a breakwind in +the centre of their camp, and came and sat round me until such time as +the crows were cooked, when they assisted me to eat them. The same day +one of the women to whom I had given part of a crow, came and gave me a +ball of nardoo, saying that she would give me more only she had such a +sore arm that she was unable to pound. She showed me a sore on her arm, +and the thought struck me that I would boil some water in the billy and +wash her arm with a sponge. During the operation the whole tribe sat +round and were muttering one to another. Her husband sat down by her +side and she was crying all the time. After I had washed it, I touched +it with some nitrate of silver, when she began to yell and ran off, +crying out, "Mokow! Mokow!" ("Fire! fire!"). From this time, she and her +husband used to give me a small quantity of nardoo both night and +morning, and whenever the tribe were about going on a fishing excursion, +he used to give me notice to go with them. They also used to assist me +in making a wurley, or breakwind, whenever they shifted camp. I +generally shot a crow or a hawk, and gave it to them in return for these +little services. + +From this time to when the relief party arrived--a period of about a +month--they treated me with uniform kindness, and looked upon me as one +of themselves. The day on which I was released, one of the tribe who had +been fishing came and told me that the white fellows were coming, and +the whole of the tribe who were then in camp sallied out in every +direction to meet the party, while the man who had brought the news took +me over the creek, where I shortly saw the party coming down. + + + + +ACROSS THE CONTINENT. SOUTH TO NORTH. II + ++Source.+--Explorations in Australia (J.M. Stuart. Hardman, 1865). pp. +164-165, 406-411 + + Stuart accompanied Sturt in 1844-5, and subsequently became an + enthusiastic explorer. Three times he set out to travel from + Adelaide to the Indian Ocean; the first time passing through the + centre, and finally attaining his object in 1862. The Overland + Telegraph line is laid along his track. + + +THE CENTRE + +_Sunday, 22nd April._ Small Gum Creek, under Mount Stuart, Centre of +Australia. To-day I find from my observations of the sun, 111° 00' 30", +that I am now camped in the centre of Australia. I have marked a tree +and planted the British Flag there. There is a high mount about two +miles and a half to the N.N.E. I wish it had been in the centre; but on +it to-morrow, I will raise a cone of stones, and plant the flag there, +and name it "Central Mount Stuart." We have been in search of permanent +water to-day, but cannot find any. I hope from the top of Central Mount +Stuart to find something good to the N.W. Examined a large creek; can +find no surface water, but got some by scratching in the sand. It is a +large creek divided into many channels, but they are all filled with +sand; splendid grass all round this camp. + +_Monday, 23rd April._ Centre. Took Kekwick and the flag, and went to the +top of the Mount, but found it to be much higher and more difficult of +ascent than I anticipated. After a deal of labour, slips and knocks, we +at last arrived on the top. The view to the north is over a large plain +of gums, mulga, and spinifex, with watercourses running through it. The +large gum creek that we crossed winds round this hill in a N.E. +direction; at about ten miles it is joined by another. After joining +they take a course more north, and I lost sight of them in the far +distant plain. To the N.N.E. is the termination of the hills; to the +N.E., E. and S.E. are broken ranges, and to the N.N.W. the ranges on the +west side of the plain terminate. To the N.W. are broken ranges; and to +the W. is a very high peak, between which, and this place to the S.W. +are a number of isolated hills. Built a large cone of stones, in the +centre of which I placed a pole with the British flag nailed to it. Near +the top of the cone I placed a small bottle, in which there is a slip of +paper, with our signatures to it, stating by whom it was raised. We then +gave three hearty cheers for the flag, the emblem of civil and religious +liberty, and may it be a sign to the natives that the dawn of liberty, +civilization, and Christianity is about to break upon them. We can see +no water from the top. Descended, but did not reach the camp till after +dark. This water still continues which makes me think there must +certainly be more higher up. I have named the range "John Range," after +my friend and well-wisher, John Chambers, Esq., brother to James +Chambers, Esq., one of the promoters of this expedition. + +ACROSS AT LAST + +_Thursday, 24th July._ Thring Creek, entering the Marsh. Started at +7.40, course north. I have taken this course in order to make the +sea-coast, which I suppose to be distant about eight miles and a half, +as soon as possible; by this I hope to avoid the marsh. I shall travel +along the beach to the north of the Adelaide. I did not inform any of +the party except Thring and Auld, that I was so near to the sea, as I +wished to give them a surprise on reaching it. Proceeded through a light +soil, slightly elevated with a little ironstone on the surface, the +volcanic rock cropping out occasionally; also some flats of black +alluvial soil. The timber much smaller and more like scrub, showing that +we are nearing the sea. + +At eight miles and a half came upon a broad valley of black alluvial +soil, covered with long grass; from this I can hear the wash of the sea. +On the other side of the valley, which is rather more than a quarter of +a mile wide, is growing a line of thick heavy bushes, very dense, +showing that to be the boundary of the beach. Crossed the valley and +entered the scrub, which was a complete network of vines. Stopped the +horses to clear a way, whilst I advanced a few yards on to the beach, +and was gratified and delighted to behold the water of the Indian Ocean +in Van Diemen's Gulf, before the party with the horses knew anything of +its proximity. Thring, who rode in advance of me, called out "The Sea!" +which so took them all by surprise, and they were so astonished that he +had to repeat the call before they fully understood what was meant. Then +they immediately gave three long and hearty cheers. The beach is covered +with a soft blue mud. It being ebb tide, I could see some distance; +found it would be impossible for me to take the horses along it; I +therefore kept them where I had halted them, and allowed half the party +to come on to the beach and gratify themselves by a sight of the sea, +while the other half remained to watch the horses until their return. I +dipped my feet, and washed my face and hands in the sea, as I promised +the late Governor, Sir Richard McDonnell, I would do if I reached it. +The mud has nearly covered all the shells; we got a few, however. I +could see no seaweed. There is a point of land some distance off, +bearing 70°. After all the party had had some time on the beach, at +which they were much pleased and gratified, they collected a few shells; +I returned to the valley, where I had my initials (J.M.D.S.) cut on a +large tree, as I did not intend, until I arrived at the mouth of the +Adelaide, to put up my flag. Proceeded along the valley; at one mile and +a half coming upon a small creek, with running water, and the valley +being covered with beautiful green grass, I have camped to give the +horses the benefit of it. Thus have I, through the instrumentality of +Divine Providence, been led to accomplish the great object of the +expedition, and take the whole party safely as witnesses to the fact, +and through one of the finest countries man could wish to behold, good +to the coast and with a stream of water within half a mile of the sea. +From Newcastle water to the sea-beach, the main body of the horses have +been only one night without water and then got it within the next day. +If this country is settled, it will be one of the finest colonies under +the Crown, suitable for the growth of any and everything--what a +splendid country for producing cotton! Judging from the number of the +pathways from the water to the beach, across the valley, the natives +must be very numerous; we have not seen any, although we have passed +many of their recent tracks and encampments. The cabbage and fan +palm-trees have been very plentiful during to-day's journey down to this +valley. This creek I named "Charles Creek," after the eldest son of John +Chambers, Esq.; it is one by which some large bodies of springs +discharge their surplus water into Van Diemen's Gulf; its banks are of +soft mud, and boggy. Wind, south. Latitude, 12° 13´ 30". + +_Friday, 25th July._ Charles Creek, Van Diemen's Gulf. I have sent +Thring to the south-west to see if he can get round the marsh. If it is +firm ground I shall endeavour to make the mouth of the river by that +way. After a long search he has returned, and informs me that it is +impracticable, being too boggy for the horses. As the great object of +this expedition is now attained, and the mouth of the river already well +known, I do not think it advisable to waste the strength of my horses in +forcing them through, neither do I see what object I should gain by +doing so; they have still a very long and fatiguing journey in +recrossing the continent to Adelaide, and my health is so bad that I am +unable to bear a long day's ride. I shall, therefore, cross this creek +and see if I can get along by the sea-beach, or close to it. Started and +had great difficulty in getting the horses over, though we cut a large +quantity of grass, putting it on the banks and on logs of wood which +were put into it. We had a number bogged, and I was nearly losing one of +my best horses, and was obliged to have him pulled out with ropes; after +the loss of some time we succeeded in getting them all over safely. At +two miles came upon an open part of the beach, went on to it, and again +found the mud quite impassable for horses. Stopped the party, as this +travelling is too much for the horses, and, taking Thring with me, rode +two miles to see if the ground was any firmer in places; found it very +soft where the salt water had covered it, in others not so bad. Judging +from the number of the shells banked up in different places, the sea +must occasionally come over this. I saw at once that this would not do +for the weak state in which my horses were, and I therefore returned to +where I left the party, resolving to re-cross the continent to the City +of Adelaide. I now had an open place cleared, and selecting one of the +tallest trees, stripped it of its lower branches, and on its highest +branch fixed my flag, the Union Jack, with my name sewn in the centre of +it. When this was completed, the party gave three cheers, and Mr. +Kekwick then addressed me, congratulating me on having completed this +great and important undertaking, to which I replied. Mr. Waterhouse also +spoke a few words on the same subject, and concluded with three cheers +for the Queen, and three for the Prince of Wales. At one foot south from +the foot of the tree is buried, about eight inches below the ground, an +air-tight tin case, in which is a paper with the following notice: + +"South Australian Great Northern Exploring Expedition. The exploring +party, under the command of John McDouall Stuart arrived at this spot on +the 25th day of July, 1862, having crossed the entire continent of +Australia from the Southern to the Indian Ocean, passing through the +centre. They left the City of Adelaide on the 26th day of October 1861, +and the most northern station of the colony on 21st day of January, +1862. To commemorate this happy event, they have raised this flag +bearing his name. All well. God Save the Queen!" + +(Here follow the signatures of myself and party.) + +As this bay has not been named, I have taken this opportunity of naming +it "Chambers Bay," in honour of Miss Chambers, who kindly presented me +with the flag which I have planted this day, and I hope this may be the +first sign of the dawn of approaching civilization. + +Exactly this day nine months the party left North Adelaide. Before +leaving, between the hours of eleven and twelve o'clock, they had lunch +at Mr. Chambers' house; John Bentham Neals, Esq., being present, +proposed success to me, and wished I might plant the flag on the +north-west coast. At the same hour of the day, nine months after, the +nag was raised on the shores of Chambers Bay, Van Diemen Gulf. (On the +bark of the tree on which the flag is placed is cut--DIG ONE FOOT, S.) +We then bade farewell to the Indian Ocean, and returned to Charles +Creek, where we had again great difficulty in getting the horses +across, but it was at last accomplished without accident. We have passed +numerous and recent tracks of natives to-day; they are still burning the +country at some distance from the coast. + +[_Note._ The memorandum left by Stuart on top of the Central Mountain +runs as follows:] + +John McDouall Stuart and party consisting of two men and himself arrived +from Adelaide in the Centre of Australia on Saturday evening the twenty +first day of April 1860, and have built this cone of stones and raised +this flag to commemorate the event, on top of Mount Sturt; the centre is +about two miles South South West at a small gum creek where there is a +tree marked facing the south. + +(Signed) JOHN MCDOUALL STUART (Leader) +WILLIAM DARTON KEKWICK +BENJAMIN HEAD. + +_21st April 1860,_ + +_Centre of Australia._ + +The name of the Central Mountain appears in the published journal as +_Stuart_. This is probably due to a mistake of the publisher's, which +remained uncorrected, as Stuart was very ill when his journal was +printed. + + + + +FROM WEST TO EAST. I. ALONG THE BIGHT + ++Source.+--Explorations in Australia (John Forrest, 1875), pp. 83-94, +107-114, 121-135. + + In 1870 Forrest set out to explore the country along the Bight. It + had previously been considered desert land, but the expedition + discovered valuable country behind the cliffs. + + +We started from Perth on the afternoon of Wednesday, the 30th of March +1870. His Excellency the Governor accompanied us for about three miles +on the Albany Road. We had fifteen horses, and provisions sufficient for +the journey to Esperance Bay, a distance of about 450 miles, where it +was arranged further supplies would await us. + +_May 18th._ Esperance Bay. After starting the party went in advance with +Billy to prepare camp at Israelite Bay. When we reached it, were +delighted to find the _Adur_ lying safely at anchor there; proceeding on +board found all well. Procured abundance of water by digging one foot +deep in the sand-hills, and good feed a short distance from camp. + +Our friends on the _Adur_ were looking anxiously for us. We were two +days behind the appointed time, and they feared some evil had befallen +us, not taking into consideration the many delays incidental to such a +journey through strange and difficult country as we had made. + +On the 24th of May we determined to celebrate the Queen's birthday. All +hands from the _Adur_ came ashore, and I drew them up in line under the +Union Jack, which was duly hoisted near the camp. We presented arms; +sang "God Save the Queen" vigorously, and fired a salute of twenty-one +guns, finishing with three cheers. I venture to record that our vocal +efforts were as sincerely and heartily made in the Australian wilderness +as any which rang that day in any part of Her Majesty's wide dominions. +We were all highly delighted--not only feeling that we had done our duty +as loyal subjects, but other celebrations in more civilized places were +forcibly recalled to memory. + +_June 22nd._ Saddled up at dawn, and steering southerly over clear, open +grassy plains for twenty-eight miles, we reached the cliffs, and rested +an hour; after which we continued our journey and reached camp a little +after dark, finding all well. + +_June 23rd._ Made preparations for a start for Eucla to-morrow, and put +everything in travelling order. During my absence, Osborn had got the +horses' feet in order, and the pack-saddles had been overhauled and +repairs generally made. In looking round the camp, Tommy Windich found +shoulder-blade of a horse and two small pieces of leather. They no doubt +belonged to Mr. Eyre's equipment, and, on reference to his journal, I +find he was here obliged to kill a horse for food. + +I cut off part of the shoulder-blade, and have since given it, together +with the pieces of leather, to His Excellency Governor Weld. + +_June 24th._ Started at 8.30 a.m. _en route_ for Eucla. Steering in a +N.N.E. direction for fifteen miles, reached the cliffs, and after +following along them two miles, found a large rock water-hole, but in an +almost inaccessible spot. While I was examining the cliffs near, to find +a place where we could get the horses up, Tommy heard a coo-ey, and +after answering it a good many times, we were surprised to see two +natives walking up towards us, unarmed. I approached and met them; they +did not appear at all frightened and at once began to eat the damper I +gave them. We could not understand anything they said. I beckoned them +to come along with us, which they at once did, and followed so closely +after as to tramp on my spurs. They pointed to water further ahead. +After walking about a mile, four more natives were seen running after +us, who, on joining, made a great noise, singing and appearing very +pleased. Shortly afterwards two more followed, making seven in all; all +entirely naked. We found the water alluded to, on the top of the cliffs, +but it being too late to get the horses up, we turned off to the +southward half a mile, and camped on a small grassy flat, without water +for the horses. The seven natives slept at our fire. We gave them as +much damper as they could eat. They had not the least particle of +clothing, and made pillows of each other's bodies, and resembled pigs +more than human beings. + +_July 1st._ Descending the cliffs with difficulty, we followed along the +foot of them, which was beautifully grassed, and, after travelling +twelve miles, beheld the Eucla sand-hills. On my pointing them out, +every heart was full of joy, and, being away some distance, I heard the +long and continued hurrahs from the party! Eucla was all the +conversation! I never before remember witnessing such joy as was evinced +on this occasion by all the party. After travelling five miles further, +we camped close to the cliffs at a small water-hole. We might have +reached Eucla this evening, but I preferred doing so to-morrow, when we +could have the day before us to choose camp. We are now again in safety, +Eucla being only seven miles distant; after having travelled 166 miles +without finding permanent water--in fact, over 300 miles with only one +place where we procured permanent water. I trust we all recognized with +sincerity and thankfulness the guiding and protecting Father who had +brought us through in safety. + +_July 2nd._ Made an early start and steered straight for the anchorage, +distant about five miles, having first ascended the range to have a view +of the country, which was very extensive. Far as the eye could reach to +the westward, the Roe Plains and Hampton Range were visible; while to +the eastward lay Wilson's Bluff and the Delissier sand-hills; and three +miles west of them we were delighted to behold the good schooner _Adur_, +riding safely at anchor in Eucla harbour, which formed by no means the +least pleasing feature of the scene to our little band of weary +travellers. Made at once for the vessel, and on reaching her, found all +well and glad to see us. She was anchored between the Red and Black +Beacons. The latter had been blown down, but shall be re-erected. There +being no water at the anchorage, moved on to the Delissier sand-hills, +where we found water by digging two and a half feet from the surface. +Camped on the west side of the sand-hills. + +Landed barley, etc., from the boat. There was a good feed for the horses +under the Hampton Range, about a mile and a half distant. + +_July 11th._ Osborn busy with the shoeing. Went with Billy to Wilson's +Bluff, and saw the boundary-post between South and Western Australia, +placed by Lieutenant Douglas. + +_July 12th._ Erected the flagstaff with the Union Jack flying, and +nailed a copperplate to the staff, with the following engraved on it: + +WESTERN AUSTRALIA. ERECTED BY J. FORREST, +JULY 12TH, 1870. + +_July 17th._ Was obliged to get up twice to bring back the horses, and +at 4 o'clock made a start. The horses were in a very exhausted state; +some having difficulty to keep up. About noon I could descry the land +turning to the southward, and saw, with great pleasure, we were fast +approaching the Head of the Great Australian Bight. Reached the +sand-patches at the extreme head of the Bight just as the sun was +setting, and found abundance of water by digging two feet deep in the +sand. Gave the horses as much as I considered safe for them to have at +one time. I have never seen horses in such a state before and hope never +to do so again. The horses, which four days ago were strong and in good +condition, now appeared only skeletons, eyes sunk, nostrils dilated, and +thoroughly exhausted. Since leaving Eucla to getting water at this spot, +a period of nearly ninety hours, they had only been allowed one gallon +of water each, which was given them from our water-drums. It is +wonderful how well they performed this journey; had they not started in +good condition they never could have done it. We all felt very tired. +During the last sixty hours I have only had about five hours' sleep, and +have been continually in a state of anxiety--besides which, all have had +to walk a great deal. + +_July 18th._ This is a great day in my journal and journey. After +collecting the horses we followed along the beach half a mile, when I +struck N. for Peelunabie Well, and at half a mile struck a cart track +from Fowler's Bay to Peelunabie. After following it one mile and a +quarter, came to the well, and old sheep yards, and camped. Found better +water in the sand-hills than in the well. There is a board nailed on a +pole directing to the best water, with the following engraved on it: "G. +Mackie, April 5th, 1865, water--120 yards." Upon sighting the road this +morning, which I had told them we should do, a loud and continued +hurrahing came from all the party, who were overjoyed to find signs of +civilization again; while Billy, who was in advance with me, and whom I +had told to look out, as he would see a road directly, which he +immediately did, began giving me great praise for bringing them safely +through a long journey. I certainly felt very pleased and relieved from +anxiety, and, on reviewing the long line of march we had performed +through an uncivilized country, was very sensible of that protecting +Providence which had guided us safely through the undertaking. + +Before I conclude I have the pleasing duty to record my entire +appreciation of every member of the party. I need not particularize as +one and all had the interest and welfare of the expedition at heart, and +on no occasion uttered a single murmur. Finally, sir, my best and most +sincere thanks are due to His Excellency Governor Weld for the very +efficient manner in which the expedition was equipped. It is chiefly +owing to the great zeal and desire of His Excellency that I should have +everything necessary, that the success of the enterprise is +attributable. + +I have, etc. + +JOHN FORREST, Leader of Expedition. + +The Hon. F.P. Barlee, Esq., Colonial Secretary, W.A. + + + + +FROM WEST TO EAST. II. THE INTERIOR + ++Source.+--Explorations in Australia (John Forrest, 1875), pp. 149-162, +188, 201, 257, 261 + + Four years after his successful journey along the Bight, Forrest + determined to explore the interior of Western Australia, and in so + doing added greatly to the knowledge of that somewhat neglected + State. + + +The success which had attended my previous expeditions, and the great +encouragement received from the Government and public of each colony, +made me wish to undertake another journey for the purpose of +ascertaining whether a route from Western Australia to the advanced +settlements of the Southern colony was practicable. I also hoped to +contribute, if possible, towards the solution of the problem, What is +the nature of the Interior? My first journey, when I succeeded in +penetrating for about 600 miles into the unknown desert of Central +Australia, had convinced me that, although there might, and doubtless +would, be considerable difficulties to be encountered, there were no +insuperable obstacles, except a probable failure in the supply of water. +That certainly was the most formidable of all the difficulties that +would no doubt have to be encountered; but on the previous journey the +scarcity of water had been endured, not without privation and suffering, +but without any very serious result. + +Stuart's great feat of crossing the continent from south to north had +been followed by other successful efforts in the same direction. Another +result was the establishing a line of telegraph from Adelaide to Port +Darwin. This might, therefore, be considered the eastern boundary of the +unknown districts, and, moreover, was the point of departure for the +South Australian expeditions in a westerly direction. It was also the +limit I desired to reach, and reaching it, I should achieve the object I +had so much at heart. + +On the 18th of March, 1874, the expedition quitted Perth. The 19th was +Sunday, and, according to practice, we rested. Every Sunday throughout +the journey I read Divine Service, and, except making the daily +observations, only work absolutely necessary was done. Whenever +possible, we rested on Sunday, taking, if we could, a pigeon, a parrot, +or other such game as might come in our way as special fare. Sunday's +dinner was an institution for which, even in those inhospitable wilds, +we had a great respect. + +_June 13th._ About one o'clock Pierre saw a flock of emus coming to +water, and went off to get a shot. Kennedy followed with the rifle. I +climbed up on a small tree to watch them. I was surprised to hear +natives' voices, and, looking towards the hills, I saw from forty to +sixty natives running towards the camp, all plumed up and armed with +spears and shields. I was cool, and told Sweeny to bring out the +revolvers; descended from the tree and got my gun, and coo-ed to Pierre +and Kennedy, who came running. By this time they were within sixty +yards, and halted. One advanced to meet me, and stood twenty yards off: +I made friendly signs; he did not appear very hostile. All at once, one +from behind (probably a chief) came rushing forward, and made many +feints to throw spears. He went through many manoeuvres, and gave a +signal, when the whole number made a rush towards us, yelling and +shouting, with their spears shipped. When within thirty yards, I gave +the word to fire; we all fired as one man, only one report being heard. +I think the natives got a few shots, but they all ran up the hill and +there stood talking and haranguing and appearing very angry. We +re-loaded our guns, and got everything ready for a second attack, which +I was sure they would make. We were not long left in suspense. They all +descended from the hill and came on slowly towards us. When they were +about 150 yards off I fired my rifle, and we saw one of them fall, but +he got up again and was assisted away. On examining the spot we found +the ball had cut in two the two spears he was carrying; he also dropped +his wommera, which was covered with blood. We could follow the +blood-drops a long way over the stones. I am afraid he got a severe +wound. My brother and Windich being away we were short-handed. The +natives seem determined to take our lives and, therefore, I shall not +hesitate to fire on them should they attack us again. I thus decide, and +write in all humility, considering it a necessity, as the only way of +saving our lives. I write this at 4 p.m., just after the occurrence, so +that, should anything happen to us, my brother will know how and when it +occurred. 5 p.m.--The natives appear to have made off. We intend +sleeping in the thicket close to camp, and keeping a strict watch, so as +to be ready for them should they return to the attack this evening. At +7.30 my brother and Windich returned, and were surprised to hear of our +adventure. They had been over fifty miles from camp E.S.E., and had +passed over some good feeding country, but had not found a drop of +water. They and their horses had been over thirty hours without water. + +_June 14th, Sunday._ The natives did not return to the attack last +night. In looking round camp we found the traces of blood where one of +the natives had been lying down. This must have been the foremost man, +who was in the act of throwing his spear, and who urged the others on. +Two therefore, at least, are wounded, and will have cause to remember +the time they made their murderous attack upon us. We worked all day +putting up a stone hut, ten by nine feet, and seven feet high, thatched +with boughs. We finished it; it will make us safe at night. Being a very +fair hut, it will be a great source of defence. Barometer 28.09; +thermometer 68° at 5 p.m. Hope to have rain, as without it we cannot +proceed. + +_July 3rd._ Soon after starting, found a little water in a gully and +gave our horses a drink. Ascended a spur of the range and had a good +view ahead, and was very pleased with the prospect. Steering N.E. +towards a large range about fifteen miles off, we found a great deal of +spinnifex, although the country generally was thickly wooded. I rode +Mission, who went along pretty well for about twelve miles, when +Williams gave in again, and Mission soon did the same. For the next six +miles to the range we had awful work, but managed with leading and +driving to reach the range; spinnifex all the way and also on the top of +it. I was very nearly knocked up myself, but ascended the range and had +a very extensive view. Far to the N. and E. the horizon was as level and +uniform as that of the sea; apparently spinnifex everywhere; no hills or +ranges could be seen for a distance of quite thirty miles. + +The prospect was very cheerless and disheartening. Windich went on the +only horse not knocked up in order to find water for the horses. I +followed after his tracks, leading the two poor done-up horses. With +difficulty I could get them to walk. Over, and through the rough range I +managed to pull them along and found sufficient water to give them a +good drink, and camped on a small patch of rough grass in one of the +gorges. Spinnifex everywhere; it is a most fearful country. We cannot +proceed farther in this direction, and must return and meet the party, +which I hope to do to-morrow night. We can only crawl along having to +walk and lead the horses, or at least drag them. The party have been +following us, only getting a little water from gullies, and there is +very little to fall back on for over fifty miles. I will leave what I +intend doing until I meet them. I am nearly knocked up again to-night; +my boots have hurt my feet, but I am not yet disheartened. + +[Forrest stayed in the Interior for nearly three more months.] + +_Sept. 26th._ Got off early and followed the river (Hamilton) about two +miles when it took a bend to the north, and as it was rather boggy near +it, we left it, and steered about east and E.N.E. for about twenty miles +over most miserable country without any grass. We camped on a small +gully with a little water in it, and some old dry grass in a flat. The +horses were very tired, not having had anything to eat for the last two +or three days; and some showed signs of giving in; in fact, all weak and +knocked up, and we had to handle them very carefully. For the first +thirteen miles we passed many clay-pans full of water--water nearly +everywhere--after which there was very little; and the rain does not +appear to have been heavy to the east. The river is about a mile and a +half north of us, and we have not seen it for some miles. Latitude 27° +9' south. Hope to reach the telegraph line to-morrow. + +_Sept. 27th, Sunday._ Continuing E.N.E. for two miles, came to the +Alberga, and following along its right bank, over many clay-pans with +water, about east for twelve miles, and then E.N.E. for three miles, and +reached the telegraph line, between Adelaide and Port Darwin, and +camped. Long and continued cheers came from our little band as they +beheld at last the goal to which we have been travelling for so long. I +felt rejoiced and relieved from anxiety; and on reflecting on the long +line of travel we had performed through an unknown country, almost a +wilderness, felt very thankful to that good Providence that had guarded +and guided us so safely through it. The telegraph line is most +substantially put up and well wired, and is very creditable at this +spot; large poles of bush timber, often rather crooked, and iron ones +here and there. I now gave up keeping watch, having kept it regularly +for the last six months. Marked a tree F. 104, being 104th camp from +Geraldton. + + + + +PART II + +GENERAL HISTORY + + + + + +THE FIRST SETTLEMENT + ++Source.+--Historical Records of Australia. Vol. I, pp. 9-32, 373 + + In 1783 England recognized the Independence of her American + Colonies, and thus lost the settlements to which she usually + transported her criminals. By 1786 her gaols had become woefully + overcrowded, and consequently it was decided to establish a penal + colony at Botany Bay. Captain Phillip was selected as commanding + officer of the expedition. + + +GOVERNOR PHILLIP'S FIRST COMMISSION + +GEORGE R. + +George the Third, etc., to our trusty and well-beloved Captain Arthur +Phillip, greeting: + +We, reposing especial trust and confidence in your loyalty, courage and +experience in military affairs, do, by these presents, constitute and +appoint you to be Governor of our territory called New South Wales, +extending from the northern cape or extremity of the coast called Cape +York, in the latitude of 10° 37' south, to the southern extremity of the +said territory of New South Wales or South Cape, in the latitude of 43° +39' south, and of all the country inland to the westward as far as the +one hundred and thirty-fifth degree of longitude reckoning from the +meridian of Greenwich, including all the islands adjacent in the Pacific +Ocean, within the latitude aforesaid of 10° 37' south and 43° 39' south, +and of all towns, garrisons, castles, forts, and all other +fortifications or other military works which now are or may be hereafter +erected upon this said territory. You are therefore carefully and +diligently to discharge the duties of Governor in and over our said +territory by doing and performing all and all manner of things thereunto +belonging, and we do hereby strictly charge and command all our officers +and soldiers who shall be employed within our said territory, and all +others whom it may concern, to obey you as Governor thereof; and you +are to observe and follow such orders and directions from time to time +as you shall receive from us, or any other your superior officer +according to the rules and discipline of war, and likewise such orders +and directions as we shall send you under our signet or sign manual, or +by our High Treasurer or Commissioners of our Treasury for the time +being, or one of our principal Secretaries of State, in pursuance of the +trust we hereby repose in you. + +Given at our Court at St. James's the twelfth day of October, 1786, in +the twenty-sixth year of our reign. + +By His Majesty's command. +SYDNEY. + + +GOVERNOR PHILLIP'S INSTRUCTIONS + +G.R. + +Instructions for our trusty and well-beloved Arthur Phillip, Esq., our +Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief in and over our territory of New +South Wales and its dependencies or to the Lieutenant Governor or +Commander-in-Chief of the said territory for the time being. Given at +our Court at St. James's the 25th day of April 1787 in the +twenty-seventh year of our reign. + +You are to fit yourself with all convenient speed, and to hold yourself +in readiness to repair to your said command, and being arrived, to take +upon you the execution of the trust we have reposed in you, as soon as +conveniently may be, with all due solemnity to cause our said Commission +under our Great Seal of Great Britain constituting you our Governor and +Commander-in-Chief as aforesaid to be read and published. + +And whereas we have ordered that about 600 male and 180 female convicts +now under sentence or order of transportation whose names are contained +in the list hereunto annexed should be removed out of the gaols and +other places of confinement in this our kingdom, and be put on board of +the several transport ships which have been taken up for their +reception, it is our Royal will and pleasure that as soon as the said +convicts, the several persons composing the civil establishments, and +the stores, provisions, etc., provided for their use, shall be put on +board the _Supply_, tender, and the transport ships named in the margin, +and be in readiness to depart, that you do take them under your +protection and proceed in the _Sirius_ with the said tender and +transports to the Port on the coast of New South Wales, situated in the +latitude of 33° 41' called by the name of Botany Bay, agreeably to the +instructions with which you will be furnished by the Commissioners of +our Admiralty, in pursuance of our Royal commands already signified to +them. + +According to the best information which we have obtained, Botany Bay +appears to be the most eligible situation upon the said coast for the +first establishment, possessing a commodious harbour and other +advantages which no part of the coast hitherto discovered affords. It is +therefore our will and pleasure that you do immediately upon your +landing, after taking measures for securing yourself and the people who +accompany you as much as possible from any attacks or interruptions of +the natives of that country, as well as for the preservation and safety +of the public stores, proceed to the cultivation of the land, +distributing the convicts for that purpose in such manner, and under +such Inspectors and Overseers, and under such regulations as may appear +to you to be necessary and best calculated for procuring supplies of +grain and ground provisions. + +The assortment of tools and utensils which have been provided for the +use of the convicts and other persons who are to compose the intended +settlement are to be distributed according to your discretion, and +according to the employment assigned to the several persons. In the +distribution, however, you will use every proper degree of economy, and +be careful that the Commissary so transmit an account of the issues from +time to time to the Commissioners of our Treasury to enable them to +judge of the propriety or expediency of granting further supplies. The +clothing of the convicts and the provisions issued to them, and the +several civil and military establishments, must be accounted for in the +same manner. + +The increase of the stock of animals must depend entirely upon the +measures you may adopt on the outset for their preservation; and as the +Settlement will be amply supplied with vegetable productions, and most +likely with fish, fresh provisions, excepting for the sick and +convalescents, may in a great degree be dispensed with. For these +reasons it will become you to be extremely cautious in permitting any +cattle, sheep, hogs, etc., intended for propagating the breed of such +animals to be slaughtered until a competent stock maybe acquired, to +admit of your supplying the settlement from it with animal food without +having further recourse to the places from whence such stock may have +originally been obtained. + +It is our will and pleasure that the productions of all descriptions +acquired by the labour of the convicts should be considered as a public +stock, which we so far leave to your disposal that such parts thereof as +may be requisite for the subsistence of the said convicts and their +families, or the subsistence of the civil and military establishments of +the settlement may be applied by you to that use. The remainder of such +productions you will reserve as a provision for a further number of +convicts, which you may expect will shortly follow you from hence, to be +employed under your direction in the manner pointed out in these our +instructions to you. + +From the natural increase of corn and other vegetable food from a common +industry, after the ground has once been cultivated, as well as of +animals, it cannot be expedient that all the convicts which accompany +you should be employed in attending only to the object of provisions. +And as it has been humbly represented to us that advantages may be +derived from the flax-plant which is found in the islands not far +distant from the intended settlement, not only as a means of acquiring +clothing for the convicts and other persons who may become settlers, but +from its superior excellence for a variety of maritime purposes, and as +it may ultimately become an article of export, it is, therefore, our +will and pleasure that you do particularly attend to its cultivation, +and that you do send home by every opportunity which may offer, samples +of this article, in order that a judgment may be formed whether it may +not be necessary to instruct you further upon this subject. + +And whereas we are desirous that some further information should be +obtained of the several ports or harbours upon the coast, and the +islands contiguous thereto, within the limits of your government, you +are, whenever the _Sirius_ or the _Supply_ tender, can conveniently be +spared, to send one, or both of them, upon that service. + +Norfolk Island, situated in the lat.----, and long.----[blanks in +manuscript] east from Greenwich about----, being represented as a spot +which may hereafter become useful, you are, as soon as circumstances +will admit of it, to send a small establishment thither to secure the +same to us, and prevent it being occupied by the subjects of any other +European power; and you will cause any remarks or observations which +you may obtain in consequence of this instruction to be transmitted to +our Principal Secretary of State for Plantation Affairs for our +information. + +You are to endeavour by every possible means to open an intercourse with +the natives and to conciliate their affections, enjoining all our +subjects to live in amity and kindness with them. And if any of our +subjects shall wantonly destroy them, or give them any unnecessary +interruption in the exercise of their several occupations, it is our +will and pleasure that you do cause such offenders to be brought to +punishment according to the degree of the offence. You will endeavour to +procure an account of the numbers inhabiting the neighbourhood of the +intended settlement, and report your opinion to one of our Secretaries +of State in what manner our intercourse with these people may be turned +to the advantage of this colony. + +And it is further our royal will and pleasure that you do by all proper +methods enforce a due observance of religion and good order among the +inhabitants of the new settlement, and that you do take such steps for +the due celebration of public worship as circumstances will permit. + +And whereas many of our subjects employed upon military service at the +said settlement and others who may resort thither upon their private +occupations, may hereafter be desirous of proceeding to the cultivation +and improvement of the land, and as we are disposed to afford them every +reasonable encouragement in such an undertaking: It is our will and +pleasure that you do, with all convenient speed, transmit a report of +the actual state and quality of the soil at and near the said intended +settlement, the probable and most effectual means of improving and +cultivating the same, and of the mode, and upon what terms and +conditions, according to the best of your judgment, the said lands +should be granted, that proper instructions and authorities may be given +to you for that purpose. + +[Having fairly established the first settlement of white men on the +continent of Australia, Governor Phillip wrote an account of his work to +the Colonial Secretary.] + +GOVERNOR PHILLIP TO LORD SYDNEY + +Sydney Cove, New South Wales, _May 15th, 1788._ + +My Lord, + +I had the honour of informing your Lordship, by Captain Cox, who was +returning to Europe from Madras that I was ready to sail from the Cape +of Good Hope, and which I did, with the ships under my command, the 12th +of November. The 25th, being eighty leagues to the eastward of the Cape, +I left the _Sirius_, and went on board the _Supply_ tender, in hopes, by +leaving the convoy, to gain sufficient time to examine the country round +Botany Bay and fix on the most eligible situation for the colony before +the transports arrived. + +The _Supply_, sailing very badly, had not permitted my gaining the +advantage hoped for, but I began to examine the bay as soon as we +anchored, and found that tho' extensive, it did not afford shelter to +ships from the easterly winds; the greater part of the Bay being so +shoal that ships of even a moderate draught of water are obliged to +anchor with the entrance of the bay open, and are exposed to a heavy sea +that rolls in when it blows hard from the eastward. + +Several small runs of fresh water were found in different parts of the +bay, but I did not see any situation to which there was not some very +strong objection. The small creek that is in the northern part of the +bay runs a considerable way into the country, but it had only water for +a boat. The sides of this creek are frequently overflowed, and the +lowlands a swamp. The western branch runs up for a considerable +distance, but the officers I sent to examine it could not find any +water, except in very small drains. + +The best situation that offered was near Point Sutherland, where there +was a small run of good water; but the ground near it, as well as a +considerable part of the higher ground, was spongy, and the ships could +not approach this part of the bay. + +Several good situations offered for a small number of people, but none +that appeared calculated for our numbers, and where the stores and +provisions could be landed without a great loss of time. When I +considered the bay's being so very open, and the probability of the +swamps rendering the most eligible situation unhealthy, I judged it +advisable to examine Port Jackson; but that no time might be lost if I +did not succeed in finding a better harbour, and a proper situation for +the settlement, the ground near Point Sutherland was in the meantime to +be cleared and preparations made for landing under the direction of the +Lieutenant-Governor. + +As the time in which I might be absent, if I went in the _Supply_, must +have been very uncertain, I went round with three boats, taking with me +Captain Hunter, and several officers, that by examining different parts +of the port at the same time less time might be lost. + +We got into Port Jackson early in the afternoon, and had the +satisfaction of finding the finest harbour in the world, in which a +thousand sail of the line may ride in the most perfect security, and of +which a rough survey, made by Captain Hunter and the officers of the +_Sirius_ after the ships came round, may give your Lordship some idea. + +The different coves were examined with all possible expedition. I fixed +on the one that had the best spring of water, and in which the ships can +anchor so close to the shore that at a very small expense quays may be +made at which the largest ships may unload. + +This cove, which I honoured with the name of Sydney, is about a quarter +of a mile across at the entrance and half-a-mile in length. + +We returned to Botany Bay the third day, where I received a very +unfavourable account of the ground that was clearing. + +The ships immediately prepared to go round, and the 25th--seven days +after I arrived in the _Supply_--I sailed in her for Port Jackson, +leaving Captain Hunter to follow with the transports, it then blowing +too strong for them to work out of the bay. They joined me the next +evening, and all the transports were moored in the cove. + +Two sail had appeared off Botany Bay the 24th, under French colours, and +anchored there before the _Sirius_ left it--the _Boussole_ and the +_Astrolabe_. These ships were commanded by Monsieur La Perouse, who +having expressed a desire of sending letters to Europe, I sent an +officer over, it being only eight miles, to tell him in what time it was +probable the ships might sail. + +The clearing the ground for the people and for erecting storehouses was +begun as soon as the ships got round, a labour of which it will be +hardly possible to give your Lordship a just idea. + +The necks of land that form the different coves, and near the water for +some distance, are in general so rocky that it is surprising that such +large trees should find sufficient nourishment, but the soil between the +rocks is good, and the summits of the rocks, as well as the whole +country round us, with few exceptions, are covered with trees, most of +which are so large that the removing them off the ground after they are +cut down is the greatest part of the labour; and the convicts, naturally +indolent, having none to attend them but overseers drawn from amongst +themselves, and who fear to exert any authority, makes this work go on +very slowly. + +As there are only twelve convicts who are carpenters, as many as could +be procured from the ships have been hired to work on the hospital and +storehouses. The people were healthy when landed, but the scurvy has for +some time appeared amongst them, and now rages in a most extraordinary +manner. Only sixteen carpenters could be hired from the ships, and +several of the convict carpenters were sick. It was now the middle of +February; the rains began to fall very heavy, and pointed the necessity +of hutting the people; convicts were therefore appointed to assist the +detachment in this work. + +The great labour in clearing the ground will not permit more than eight +acres to be sown this year with wheat and barley. At the same time the +immense number of ants and field mice will render our crops very +uncertain. + +Part of the live stock brought from the Cape, small as it was, has been +lost, and our resource in fish is also uncertain. Some days great +quantities are caught, but never sufficient to save any part of the +provisions; and at times fish are scarce. + +Your Lordship will, I presume, see the necessity of a regular supply of +provisions for four or five years, and of clothing, shoes and frocks in +the greatest proportion. The necessary implements for husbandry and for +clearing the ground brought out will, with difficulty, be made to serve +the time that is necessary for sending out a fresh supply. + +The labour of the convicts shall be as is directed, for the public +stock, but it is necessary to permit a part of the convicts to work for +the officers, who, in our present situation, would otherwise find it +impossible to clear a sufficient quantity of ground to raise what is +absolutely necessary to support the little stock they have; and I am to +request that your Lordship will be pleased to direct me to what extent +that indulgence may be granted the officers of the garrison. + +The _Sirius_ shall be sent to the northward to barter for stock, and +which shall be employed solely for the purposes of increasing the breed +of such cattle as she may procure. The _Supply_ is in no ways calculated +for this service, as in the least sea her decks are full of water. + +The beginning of May the rainy season was once more supposed to be set +in, but after a week we had fine weather. + +The three transports for China sailed the 5th, 6th, and 8th of May; and +the _Supply_ having been caulked sailed the 6th to Lord Howe Island, to +endeavour to procure turtle, in hopes of checking the scurvy with which +most of the people are affected, and near two hundred rendered incapable +of doing any work. It is not possible to send the _Sirius_ to the +northward, for she must then have her carpenters, and only three of +those hired from the transports now remain; and tho' the detachment +began to build barracks for the use of the men and huts for the officers +the 14th of February, and near a hundred convicts were given to assist +in this work, they are not yet finished, nor is the hospital or the +storehouse that is to receive the provisions still remaining on board +three transports, and on these works the carpenters of the _Sirius_ are +employed. I have before pointed out the great labour in clearing the +ground as one cause of our slow progress. + +Your Lordship will, I hope, excuse the confused manner in which I have +in this letter given an account of what has passed since I left the Cape +of Good Hope. It has been written at different times, and my situation +at present does not permit me to begin so long a letter again, the +canvas house I am under being neither wind nor waterproof. + +I have, etc., +A. PHILLIP. + + + + +EARLY DIFFICULTIES + ++Source.+--Historical Records of Australia. Vol. I, pp. 45-51 + + The young colony was threatened by many dangers, but Governor + Phillip with untiring energy and skill averted them, and with + unusual foresight prophesied the future greatness of the country. + + +GOVERNOR PHILLIP TO UNDER-SECRETARY NEPEAN + + +Sydney Cove, _July 9th, 1788._ + +My Dear Sir, + +You will see by my letters to Lord Sydney that this colony must for some +years depend on supplies from England. + +The _Sirius_ will be sent to the northward for live stock as soon as we +can spare her carpenters; and from what Monsieur la Perouse said to +Captain Hunter, one of the Isles des Navigateurs is the most likely to +furnish us with what we want. But though these Islands supply two or +three ships very abundantly, they will afford but very little towards +the support of this colony, the situation of which I have particularly +pointed out in my letter to Lord Sydney, and which I shall recapitulate +in this, as the ship by which I now write may arrive before either of +those that have my despatches on board. + +The Lieutenant-Governor has about four acres of land in cultivation. I +have from eight to ten in wheat and barley. The officers will be able to +raise sufficient to support the little live stock they have, and which +is all that can be expected from them. All the corn raised this year and +the next will be saved for seed, and if necessity should oblige us to +use it, it would be only a few days' support for the colony; and from +the rats and other vermin the crops are very uncertain. + +This country is subject to very heavy storms of thunder and lightning, +several trees having been set on fire, and some sheep and dogs killed in +the camp since we landed. + +All the provisions we have to depend on until supplies arrive from +England are in two wooden buildings which are thatched. I am sensible of +the risk but have no remedy. + +The greatest part of the stock brought from the Cape is dead, and from +the inattention of the men who had the care of the cattle, those +belonging to Government and two cows belonging to myself are lost. As +they have been missing three weeks, it is probable they are killed by +the natives. All my sheep are dead and a few only remain of those +purchased for Government. The loss of two cows and four bulls falls very +heavy. The horses do very well. + +With respect to any resources that the Cape of Good Hope might afford, I +have only to observe that the strong westerly winds that prevailed all +the year between the Cape and the southern extremity of this country +would render a passage to the Cape very tedious if attempted to the +southward, and little less so if ships go to the northward. Batavia and +our own settlements are at a great distance; and when the transports are +sailed I shall have only the _Sirius_ to employ on a service of this +kind; and as I should not think myself at liberty to send either to the +Cape or the East Indies unless in a case of the greatest necessity, it +would in all probability then be too late. I mention these circumstances +just to show the real situation of the colony, and I make no doubt but +that supplies will arrive in time, and on which alone I depend. The +provisions sent to support this colony for two years being put on board +three ships, was running a very great risk, for had they separated and +afterwards been lost the consequence is obvious, for this country at +present does not furnish the smallest resource except in fish, and which +has lately been so scarce that the natives find great difficulty in +supporting themselves. Any accident of this kind will be guarded +against, of course; and soldiers or convicts when sent out will be put +on board the ships with provisions to serve them for two years after +they land; and in our present situation I hope few convicts will be sent +out for one year at least, except carpenters, masons, and bricklayers, +or farmers, who can support themselves and assist in supporting others. +Numbers of those now here are a burthen and incapable of any kind of +hard labour, and, unfortunately, we have not proper people to keep those +to their labour who are capable of being made useful. + +Officers decline the least interference with the convicts, unless when +they are immediately employed for their (the officers) own conveniency +or when they are called out at the head of their men; the saying of a +few words to encourage the diligent when they saw them at work, and the +pointing out the idle when they could do it without going out of their +way, was all that was desired. The convicts were then employed in +clearing the ground on which the officers were encamped, and this they +refused; they did not suppose they were sent out to do more than +garrison duty, and these gentlemen (that is, the majority of the +officers) think the being obliged to sit as members of the Criminal +Court an hardship, and for which they are not paid, and likely think +themselves hardly dealt by, in that Government had not determined what +lands were to be given to them. But I presume an additional force will +be sent out when the necessity of making detachments in order to +cultivate lands in the more open country is known, and from four to six +hundred men, will, I think, be absolutely necessary. + +If fifty farmers were sent out with their families they would do more in +one year in rendering this colony independent of the mother country _as +to provisions_ than a thousand convicts. There is some clear land which +is intended to be cultivated, at some distance from the camp, and I +intended to send out convicts for that purpose, under the direction of a +person that was going to India in the _Charlotte_, transport, but who +remained to settle in this country, and has been brought up a farmer, +but several of the convicts (three) have been lately killed by the +natives, and I have been obliged to defer it until a detachment can be +made. + +The natives are far more numerous than they were supposed to be. I think +they cannot be less than fifteen hundred in Botany Bay, Port Jackson, +and Broken Bay, including the intermediate coast. I have traced thirty +miles inland, and the having lately seen smoke on Lansdown Hills, which +are fifty miles inland, I think leaves no doubt but there are +inhabitants in the interior parts of the country. + +Lists of what articles are most wanted will be sent by the Commissary, +and I am very sorry to say that not only a great part of the clothing, +particularly the women's, is very bad, but most of the axes, spades, and +shovels the worst that ever were seen. The provision is as good. Of the +seeds and corn sent from England part has been destroyed by the weevil; +the rest is in very good order. + +The person I have appointed Provost-Marshal is likewise very useful in +superintending the carpentry; the person sent out by the contractor, who +assists the Commissary in the delivery of provisions, one that was clerk +of the _Sirius_, a master smith, and two farmers, are very useful +people, and I beg leave to recommend them to Government. The granting +them lands would draw their attention from their present occupations. + +A convict who fled to the woods after committing a robbery returned +after being absent eighteen days, forced in by hunger; he had got some +small support from the people, and the few fish left by accident on the +beach after hauling the seine, and had endeavoured to live amongst the +natives, but they could but give him but little assistance; he says they +are now greatly distressed for food, and that he saw several dying with +hunger. It is possible that some of the natives at this time of year +might find it easier to support themselves on birds and such animals as +shelter themselves in the hollow trees, than on fish; but then, I think, +they would not go to the top of the mountains, where at present it must +be very cold. I intend going to Lansdown or Carmarthen Hills as soon as +the weather permits, if it is possible, and which will explain what is +at present a mystery to me--how people who have not the least idea of +cultivation can maintain themselves in the interior part of this +country. When I went to the westward, in hopes of being able to reach +the mountains, we carried six days' provisions, and proceeded five days +to the westward; returning we were very short of provisions, and our +guns only procured us two scanty meals. + +I shall conclude with saying that I have no doubt but that the country +will hereafter prove a most valuable acquisition to Great Britain, +though at present no country can afford less support to the first +settlers, or be more disadvantageously placed for receiving support from +the mother country, on which it must for a time depend. It will require +patience and perseverance, neither of which will, I hope, be wanting on +the part of + +Dear Sir, +Yours, etc. +A. PHILLIP. + + +PHILLIP'S RESIGNATION + +After four years of strenuous labour Phillip was forced to leave the +work he had so well begun. + + +GOVERNOR PHILLIP TO LORD GRENVILLE + +Sydney, _21st November, 1791._ +My Lord, + +I am honoured with your Lordship's letter of the 19th of February in +answer to mine to Lord Sydney, and beg leave to assure your Lordship +that I should not hesitate a moment in giving up my private affairs to +the public service; but from a complaint which so very frequently puts +it out of my power to use that exercise which my situation requires and +the present state of this colony, in which I believe every doubt +respecting its future independency as to the necessaries of life is +fully done away, I am induced to request permission to resign the +Government, that I may return to England in hopes of finding that relief +which this country does not afford. + +I have, etc. +A. PHILLIP. + + + + +NEW SOUTH WALES CORPS + ++Source.+--Historical Records of Australia. Vol. I, p. 122; Vol. II, pp. +573-576 + + The New South Wales Corps was a body of soldiers forcibly recruited + to guard the convicts at Port Jackson. The soldiers quickly passed + from bullying the convicts to bullying the free population, and + assumed a high-handed attitude towards the Governor himself. + + +THE RIGHT HON. W.W. GRENVILLE TO GOVERNOR PHILLIP +Whitehall, _19th June 1789._ +Sir, + +The discontents which have prevailed in the marine detachment, and the +desire expressed by most of the officers and men to return home as soon +as they shall have performed the tour of duty they had undertaken, have +led to the making arrangements for relieving them. With that view His +Majesty has ordered a corps to be raised for that particular service, +consisting of three hundred rank and file and a suitable number of +officers under a Major-Commandant. This corps is ordered to be in +readiness for embarkation on the 1st of October next, and will, it is +expected, soon after that time proceed upon the voyage. + + +GRENVILLE TO PHILLIP + +_Dec. 24th, 1789._ + +The corps which I before informed you was to be raised to serve within +your Government, instead of the marines now doing duty there, has been +complete for some time past. A detachment from it, consisting of about +100 officers and men, has been put on board the convict ships for their +greater security against attempts which the convicts might meditate, +and the remainder, under the command of Major Grose, amounting as you +will see by the enclosed establishment to upwards of 200 more, will, I +expect, embark at Portsmouth on board His Majesty's ship the _Gorgon_, +in the course of a few days. + +GOVERNOR HUNTER TO THE DUKE OF PORTLAND + +Sydney, New South Wales, +_10th Aug., 1796._ + +My Lord, + +Having occasion in my letter, No. 9. by the ship _Marquis Cornwallis_, +to notice very particularly a paragraph in your Grace's letter of the +10th of June, 1795, which related to the conduct of the military serving +upon Norfolk Island in 1794, and which gave me occasion to mention +similar outrage having been committed by the soldiers here since my +arrival, I signified in that letter that I thought it might be improper +in me to suppress or keep from your Grace's knowledge that outrage, and +that it should be communicated at a future opportunity. I therefore +enclose for your Grace's information a paper, No. 1, containing the +particulars, stated in as brief a manner as possible. I forbear, my +Lord, to make any observations upon this violent and extraordinary +conduct on the part of the soldiers. I transmit only a statement of the +facts, leaving your Grace wholly uninfluenced by anything I might have +occasion to remark upon so daring a violation of the peace and order of +the settlement, as well as in defiance of those laws by which that peace +is to be preserved. + +But as an alteration in the ration had at that time been ordered, I +think it necessary to observe that their temper at the moment was so +violent that they positively refused to take it unless they were served +all flour, instead of part flour and part corn, a desire which could not +be complied with without manifest injustice to others, and also insisted +upon being paid short-allowance money for the time they were on short +ration, which they say Governor Phillip had promised them. This last +demand I must request your Grace's instructions upon. + +The paper No. 2 is the Public Order which I gave out immediately after +the outrage; No. 3 is a copy of my letter to the commanding officer of +the corps upon that occasion; and No. 4 is a paper which was intended +to quiet the minds of the inhabitants of the settlement, who might +naturally (if no steps were taken to punish the offenders in this case, +nor any particular notice be taken of the offence committed by them) +conceive themselves subject to such violence and oppression from the +military whenever any soldier might think fit to take offence at them. +These papers are all which I think it necessary to trouble your Grace +with upon this occasion, as the facts will best speak for themselves, +and prevent the possibility of a conjecture that any unfair +representation could have been intended. + +I should feel myself deficient in that duty which I owe to His Majesty's +service in this part of the world were I not to take a liberty which I +have no reason to believe your Grace will be offended at--I mean, in +remarking that the manner in which this corps has, since employed upon +this service, been recruited, does in a great measure weaken the effect +or service which we would expect to derive from the assistance of the +military. Soldiers from the Savoy, and other characters who have been +considered as disgraceful to every other regiment in His Majesty's +service, have been thought fit and proper recruits for the New South +Wales Corps, which, in my humble opinion, my Lord, should have been +composed of the very best and most orderly dispositions. They are sent +here to guard and keep in obedience to the laws when force may be +requisite, a set of the worst, the most atrocious characters that ever +disgraced human nature; and yet we find amongst those safeguards men +capable of corrupting the heart of the best disposed, and often superior +in every species of infamy to the most expert in wickedness amongst the +convicts. Our stores, provisions, and granaries must be intrusted to the +care of these men; what security can we have in the hands of such +people? None, my Lord. Your Grace will see the impropriety of such +recruits being sent to this country, and mixed with a corps who have the +care of our most valuable concerns. Not to detain your Grace, I will beg +permission to observe that a corps of military to be permanently +established for the service of this colony, to which the dregs and +refuse of our native country are directed by its laws to be sent as a +punishment, cannot be attended with that advantage which may have been +expected from it. + +This, I confess, my Lord, to be my opinion, and for this reason, that +they will make connections with infamous characters here, whatever +attention may be paid by their officers to prevent it; by this means +they will in time be corrupted and rendered unfit people for the trust +which we must repose in them. It might probably be thought expensive to +relieve them as other garrisons, once in three, four, or five years; but +I cannot help believing, my Lord, that the service would be much +benefited by such a measure; and two forty-four-gun ships armed _en +flute_ sailing at a proper season would complete the relief, and return +in from twelve to fourteen months, frequently less. The expense +attending this measure will probably be an objection; but, my Lord, +although the saving to be made by it may appear too remote to merit +immediate notice, yet I am convinced it would ultimately prove a saving, +and no inconsiderable one. + +I have, etc., +JNO. HUNTER. + +(Enclosure No. 1) + +STATEMENT OF THE CASE OF JOHN BAUGHAN + +John Baughan who officiates as foreman of the carpenters working at +Sydney, and a private soldier of the New South Wales Corps, of the same +profession, had some dispute when formerly working together on an +occasion when Baughan had the direction. This dispute, it appeared, had +not subsided in the mind of the soldier, and probably was not wholly +forgot by the other. It, however, was more conspicuous in the soldier, +from the following circumstance:--One day when sentinel over a +storehouse, knowing that Baughan was at work in a house some distance +from his post, he set his arms down against the wall of the store, and +seeing a man whom he knew, standing on the outside of the building in +which Baughan was at work, entered into a conversation with him, of +which Baughan was the subject, and in which much abuse was bestowed +which it was meant that he, Baughan, should hear. Baughan went out at +the back door unperceived, and seeing the soldier without his arms, went +to his post, where he found the musquet, which he took up and carried to +the guardhouse and delivered to the sergeant of the guard. The soldier +was, of course, taken notice of and relieved, being without his arms. +The next day, 5th February, at half-past nine o'clock in the forenoon +the whole of the corps off duty at this place assembled, and in the +most public and tumultuous manner proceeded to the dwelling of John +Baughan, broke open his gates, doors and windows, entered his house, +chopped the corner-posts of it, broke his bedsteads and bedding, chairs, +window-frames, drawers, chests, and, in short, completely demolished +everything within his possession to a considerable amount, for the man +had by great labour and industry built himself a neat house and had it +well furnished. + +Upon their first approach, having had a few minutes' notice, he armed +himself with a loaded gun and defended himself by threats for some time, +but their numbers were so many that they surrounded his paling which +enclosed the house, which some tore down, and entered on the opposite +side to that which he endeavoured to defend, came behind him, secured +and threw him down with his face to the ground, whilst one held an axe +over his neck, and swore if he offered to stir, he would chop the head +from his body. During the time he remained in this situation they +completed the ruin of his whole property, to the very great terror of +the man's wife, after which they went off cheering, as if something +meritorious had been effected, and marched in a body across the parade +before their commanding officer's house. + +After so daring an attack in the open day, upon the dwelling-house of an +inhabitant, and in direct defiance of all law, civil or military, they +could only be considered as in a state of mutiny. I immediately issued +in Public Orders the papers No. 2. + + +(Enclosure No. 2) + +GOVERNMENT AND GENERAL ORDER + +_5th Feb., 1796._ +Parole--Milbrook. +Countersign--Cawsand. + +The very riotous manner in which the soldiers have conducted themselves +this morning, and the very unwarrantable liberty they have thought +proper to take in destroying the dwelling-house of John Baughan, is so +flagrant a crime against the laws established in this colony that +nothing but the want of proof to substantiate who the principal actors +in this disgraceful business were, could possibly prevent their being +immediately tried for so glaring an offence against the peace of the +colony. + +The Governor thinks it necessary to assure the soldiers that he +considers their conduct upon this occasion to have been disgraceful to +the character of a British soldier, and that he did hope to have found +men amongst them who would have had pride enough to have stood forward +and have pointed out the ringleaders of so mutinous a conduct, for in no +other light can it be considered than that of mutiny when the military +assemble in such numbers unknown to their officers, who are at all times +ready to listen to any complaints they may have to make, and to see that +agreeable to common justice they are redressed. If the soldiers expect +that the Governor or any of the officers in this settlement can +hereafter consider them as hereafter meriting the honourable appellation +of British troops, it must be by their bringing forward the ringleaders +or advisers of this disgraceful conduct, in order that the stigma may be +wiped away by such worthless characters being brought to trial for this +shameful conduct. + + +(Enclosure No. 3) + +GOVERNOR HUNTER TO CAPTAIN PATERSON + +Sydney, _7th Feb. 1796._ + +Sir, + +Since I saw you this morning I have turned in my mind the subject of our +conversation, and I have in consequence changed my intention of speaking +to the soldiers myself. I see that it would be a condescension on my +part which their violent and unsoldierlike conduct does not entitle them +to from me. I stand in this colony as the Chief Magistrate, and the +representative of our Sovereign; anything, therefore, that could lessen +me in the eye of the public would be degrading the King's authority, +which shall never suffer in my person whilst I am capable of giving it +its full power and consequence. I never can or will listen to the +complaints of any set of men who feel themselves above preferring them +with moderation, and a decent submission to the laws and regulations of +the colony; they must not--they shall not--dictate laws and rules for +the government of this settlement; they were sent here by His Majesty to +support the civil power in the execution of its functions, but they seem +disposed to take all law into their own hands, and to direct it in +whatever way best may suit their own views. + +Their violence upon the late occasion shall be laid before the King, +and the principal actors in it shall be pointedly marked, in order that +justice the most perfect be done to everyone concerned in it. I must +declare to you, sir, that the conduct of this part of the New South +Wales Corps has been, in my opinion the most violent and outrageous that +was ever heard of by any British regiment whatever, and I shall consider +every step they may go farther in aggravation as rebellion against His +Majesty's Government and authority, of which the most early notice shall +be taken, and those concerned be in due time obliged to answer for it +most probably with their lives. This is all I think it necessary to +trouble you with. Their conduct will be pointedly marked thro' all its +stages, and I will be firm and resolved in such steps as it may be +necessary for me to pursue, and of this you, as their commanding +Officer, will be pleas'd to inform them. + +I am, etc., +JNO. HUNTER. + + + + +THE IRISH POLITICAL PRISONERS + ++Source.+--Historical Records of Australia. Vol. II, p. 128 + + In 1795, while Great Britain was at war with France, a great + rebellion broke out in Ireland. During its suppression many of the + Irish were transported to Port Jackson, and caused much trouble and + disaffection among the convicts there. + + +GOVERNOR HUNTER TO THE DUKE OF PORTLAND + +Sydney, New South Wales, _15 Feb. 1798._ + +My Lord Duke, + +I have for some time been in doubt whether the representation I am about +to make to your Grace should be private or public, but on considering +that it might occasion the adoption of some measure interesting to the +concerns of this colony, I have preferred the latter mode. + +In order that your Grace should have the earliest opportunity of taking +into consideration the subject I am about to introduce, I could have +wished to have been enabled to communicate it immediately. + +To come without further preface to the point in question, I have to +inform your Grace that the Irish convicts are become so turbulent, so +dissatisfied with their situation here, so extremely insolent, +refractory, and troublesome, that, without the most rigid and severe +treatment it is impossible for us to receive any labour whatever from +them. Your Grace will see the inconvenience which so large a proportion +of that ignorant, obstinate, and depraved set of transports occasion in +this country by what I now state, and which has taken place since I +wrote my letter No. 30, herewith forwarded. + +In addition to their natural vicious propensities they have conceived an +opinion that there is a colony of white people in some part of this +country in which they will receive all the comforts of life without the +necessity of labour. They have lately taken away two of our breeding +mares to carry them towards that part of the country and have made +several attempts to possess themselves of others. This, my Lord, is a +serious inconvenience to the colony. The loss of any part of our small +stock of these useful animals is a matter of peculiar concern. + +A correspondence, it seems, has been carried on by these people from one +district to another, and plans have been projected for their escaping +from the colony, and a few have attempted by land, as well as by water, +and for the want of our having earlier information they have succeeded. +I have found it necessary to divide them as much as possible, to prevent +such schemes being formed; but by this separation they have a better +opportunity of irritating and inflaming the minds of those convicts who +before such acquaintance have been found of better disposition. + +Having already mentioned in my letter, No. 30, the escape of those who +had taken away two of our boats, and the disappointment of another gang, +and similar attempt, I have now to inform your Grace of a far more +numerous gang, who had provided what they thought necessary for their +expedition, had fixed upon the place of general rendezvous, and were +furnished with a paper of written instructions how they were to travel +in point of direction from hence to this fancied paradise, or to China. +This paper of directions will warrant my suspicion that some wicked and +disaffected person or persons lurk somewhere in this colony, and I have +done all in my power to discover them, but hitherto without success. +Having received early information of the intention of this party, who +were said to have increased to about sixty, I planted a party of armed +constables, on whose vigilance I could depend, and they secured a gang +of these Defenders of about twenty and brought them to prison. The next +day I spoke to them, but observing a considerable degree of obstinacy +and ignorance about them, I conceived there could be no better argument +used to convince them of their misconduct than a severe corporal +punishment, which was inflicted, and they have since been strictly +looked after at their work. Some of those fellows had been provided with +a figure of a compass drawn upon paper which, with written instructions, +was to have assisted them as their guide. The ignorance of these deluded +people, my Lord, would scarcely be credited if such positive proof of it +were not before us, and yet (which seems to imply a kind of +contradiction) it is extraordinary with what art and cunning they form +their horrible plans of wickedness and villainy. + +In their schemes of desertion from the colony, their own death, if they +succeed in getting away, is inevitable; but their minds have been worked +up to such a pitch of folly, rashness, and absurdity, that nothing but +experience will convince them; if we suffer them to escape into the +country they are lost, not only to us but to the world, for perish they +must. + +For the sake, therefore, of humanity, and a strong desire to save these +men, worthless as they are, from impending death, I ordered four of the +strongest and hardiest of their numbers to be selected by the people +themselves, and to prepare for a journey of discovery for the +satisfaction of their associates, in order that they might have an +opportunity of relating upon their return whatever they saw and met +with. I had, farther, for the safety and preservation of those four, +directed three people, long accustomed to the woods, and acquainted with +some of the mountain savages, to accompany them; these men had also a +little knowledge of the language of the savages, from having lived some +months amongst them, and they were instructed to lead them back when, +fatigued and exhausted with their journey over steep and rocky +mountains, through thick and extensive woods, and fording deep and rapid +rivers, they should feel disposed to abandon their journey. This plan +was no sooner settled than I received information that a party of these +miscreants had agreed with the four above-mentioned to meet them at a +certain place absolutely to murder the very persons intended to be their +guides, and to possess themselves of their arms and munitions and +provisions, in addition to what each was supplied with, and to take +their own route. These circumstances will, no doubt, appear to your +Grace wild and extravagant; but after having mentioned their ignorance +in the manner I have it may serve to convince your Grace that there are +improper persons in this colony who work upon that ignorance to a +dangerous degree. In consequence of the information of this design +against their guides, I ordered four soldiers to attend them to the foot +of the first mountain with orders how to act if any others attempted to +join them; none appeared, and the whole of them returned with the +soldiers, most completely sick of their journey. + +Our flocks and our crops, my Lord, are all I feel any concern about; +strict, rigid, and just punishment shall constantly hang over these +delinquents, and this, I trust, they are already convinced of. I hope +the return of the above three, and the story they can tell, will serve +to make them more contented with their present lot, and open their eyes +to the comforts which in this country they may derive and enjoy, and +which are certainly superior to any they ever possessed in their own. + +Strange as such instances of human ignorance and depravity are, I have +to inform your Grace that a small party of those very people, some short +time after, actually contrived to make their escape, and after +travelling for many weeks through the country, made shift to reach the +sea-coast, near Botany Bay, but in a part where no boat has ever been +seen. Providentially, however, a boat had lost her way in going to +George's River and found those unhappy deluded wretches, on a place +where they had been nine days, and where they must soon have perished +but for this miraculous event. They were brought back almost exhausted +from want of food, and from sad and powerful conviction have promised to +warn their countrymen against such wild excursions in future. + +I will here take an opportunity of mentioning that those men who had +left a part of their crew upon an island to the southward, and had +returned and taken a larger boat at Broken Bay, and had been wrecked +upon the coast to the northward, built out of the ruins of their vessel +a small boat in which they reached the above Bay; but not being able to +possess themselves of another, fit for their purpose, were, for want of +food, driven to the necessity of travelling across the country; they +wrote to me, but it was impossible to listen to their feigned story; +they were armed and carried some appearance of an intention to defend +themselves; they, however, surrendered themselves up, and were tried and +severally pleaded guilty of the robberies wherewith they were charged, +and two out of the six suffered death--an awful example, which, I hope, +will have a proper effect and prevent such attempts in future. Several +of them assured me that they had seen the wreck of the first boat--which +I mentioned in my letter No. 30--and it is very probable the crew have +perished. + +I have, etc., + +JNO. HUNTER. + + + + +THE BLIGH MUTINY + ++Source.+--Historical Records of Australia. Vol. VI, pp. 208-213, +240-242 + + As the free settlers became numerous and prosperous they became + self-assertive, and the most energetic naturally fell foul of a + tactless autocrat like Governor Bligh, who governed New South Wales + as if all were of the same status. + + +MAJOR JOHNSTON TO VISCOUNT CASTLEREAGH + +Headquarters, Sydney, N.S.W. + +_11th April, 1808._ + +My Lord, + +A series of almost incredible circumstances have imposed upon me the +distressing task and responsibility of superseding the authority vested +in Governor Bligh by His Majesty's Commission, and of assuming the +Government of this colony until His Majesty's pleasure shall be +signified, or until the arrival of an officer authorized to relieve me +in the Command. + +Whenever the facts that have influenced me throughout so solemn a +transaction shall be laid before my Gracious Sovereign, I humbly trust +His Majesty will approve of my conduct, and that it will be apparent I +had no alternative but to put Governor Bligh in arrest to prevent an +insurrection of the inhabitants, and to secure him and the persons he +confided in from being massacred by the incensed multitude, or, if the +Governor had escaped so dreadful an end, and retained his authority, to +see His Majesty's benevolent and paternal Government dishonour'd by +cruelties and merciless execution. + +The event that I have the honour to report to your Lordship took place +on the 26th of last January, and although such a space of time has since +elapsed, I have found it impossible to prepare that arranged detail, and +that connected chain of evidence which so uncommon a subject has made it +my indispensable duty to transmit to your Lordship. + +Why I have been unable to perform this task, I shall, as I proceed, +endeavour to explain, and I respectfully hope that the information and +the evidence which I now propose to forward will prove to your Lordship +that Governor Bligh has betrayed the high trust and Confidence reposed +in him by his Sovereign, and acted upon a predetermined plan to subvert +the Laws of his country, to terrify and influence the Courts of Justice, +and to bereave those persons who had the misfortune to be obnoxious to +him, of their fortunes, their liberty, and their lives. + +In the accomplishment of this plan, one act of oppression was succeeded +in a progressive course by a greater, until a general sensation of alarm +and terror prevailed throughout the settlement. Several inhabitants were +dispossessed of their houses, and many others of respectable characters, +or who had become opulent by trade, were threatened with the Governor's +resentment if they presumed to build upon or alienate their own lands. + +These measures and various other acts of violence were projected and +supported by the Governor and a junto of unprincipled men, amongst whom +it was well known and has since been proved, the notorious George +Crossley, sent to this colony for perjury, was the principal person, and +the one most confided in by the Governor. + +Your Lordship will not be surprised that a Government conducted by the +aid of such a Minister should be hated and detested as well as feared. + +All the inhabitants who were a little advanced in their circumstances +beyond the common mass dreaded the approach of the moment when their +turn would come to be sacrificed to the avarice, the resentment, or the +fury of the Governor and his friends. + +But whilst they were trembling with apprehension for their own safety, +the eyes of the whole were suddenly turned from the contemplation of the +general danger to that of Mr. Macarthur, a gentleman who was many years +an officer in the New South Wales Corps, and who now possesses a large +property in this Country. + +The extent of Mr. Macarthur's estate, the number of his flocks and +herds, it had been long seen, had made him extremely obnoxious to Gov'r +Bligh. Mr. Macarthur, sensible how much he had to dread from the +ill-will of an officer of the Gov'r's well-known character, endeavoured +to provide for his security by the most scrupulous circumspection and +prudence of conduct. Secluded in a profound retirement on his estate, +and unceasingly engaged in its management and the care and education of +his children, his name was never heard of in any public business; but +neither caution nor prudence could long shield him from the hostile +spirit of the Governor. The attack was first commenced upon his +reputation, and terminated in the imprisonment of his person in the +Common Gaol. + +After a variety of introductory measures, which your Lordship will find +detailed in the copy of the proceedings of a Court of Criminal +Judicature, to which I shall hereafter refer, Mr. Macarthur surrendered +as a prisoner at its bar on the 25th of last January, charged with two +separate misdemeanours. When the members of the Court had been sworn in, +and they were proceeding to swear in Richard Atkins, Esq., the +Judge-Advocate, Mr. Macarthur presented a protest, in which he urged a +variety of objections against that officer's presiding at his trial. Mr. +Atkins endeavoured to prevail upon the Court not to receive or hear the +protest read; but the members being of opinion it ought to be heard, +directed Mr. Macarthur to proceed. The Judge-Advocate then retired from +his chair and waited until Mr. Macarthur had read the protest. When that +was done he advanced again, and declared Mr. Macarthur should be +immediately committed to Gaol. + +The Court then interfered on behalf of Mr. Macarthur, and after a long +altercation the Judge-Advocate retired from the Court-House, leaving +behind him his papers. + +These were immediately taken possession of and examined by the Members, +and those papers led to a discovery that the whole plan of the trial had +been arranged, and every question prepared that was to be asked the +evidence of the prosecution by the infamous Crossley. + +A very awful impression was made upon the minds of the inhabitants, as I +have been informed, when they saw Mr. Macarthur taken to the gaol; many +respectable persons hastened to him; and when the Court assembled at 10 +o'clock his two bonds men presented a copy of the Warrant for his +apprehension and a deposition from themselves. + +The Court directly wrote to the Governor a letter expressive of their +concern and praying Mr. Macarthur might be restored to his bail. To this +letter no answer was given, and the Court having waited till 3 o'clock +adjourned. + +When it was known that the Court had broken up without having procured +Mr. Macarthur's enlargement, the agitation of the town became greatly +increased, and information was brought to me at four o'clock by Mr. +Harris, Surgeon of the New South Wales Corps, that an insurrection of +the Inhabitants was to be feared. In a few minutes after I had received +this intelligence a Dragoon arrived with a letter from the Governor, in +which I was informed that six of the officers of the New South Wales +Corps had been charged with treasonable practices, and were summoned to +appear before the Governor and the Magistrates at nine o'clock the next +morning. I immediately set off in a carriage to the Town. + +On my arrival at the Barracks I saw all the Civil and Military Officers +collected, and the most respectable inhabitants in conversation with +them. The common people were also to be seen in various groups in every +street murmuring and loudly complaining, whilst others were watching the +movements of Crossley and the Magistrates who frequently passed from the +Judge Advocate's to the Government House. At this moment it was also +known that the Governor was shut up in Council with the depraved and +desperate Crossley, Mr. Palmer, the Commissary, Mr. Campbell, a +Merchant, and Mr. Arndell (the latter three, Magistrates) and that Mr. +Gore (the Provost-Marshal) and Mr. Fulton (the Chaplain) were also at +Government House, all ready to sanction whatever Crossley proposed or +the Governor ordered. + +The gentlemen who had assembled on my arrival earnestly entreated me to +adopt decisive measures for the safety of the inhabitants and to dispel +the great alarm, as it was understood throughout the town that the +Members of the Court of Criminal Judicature would be thrown into Gaol; +and it was expected after such a measure nothing could limit the excess +of the Governor's cruelties; the gentlemen also warmly urged me to bail +Mr. Macarthur, so that he might consult with them on the measures most +proper to recommend at so extraordinary a crisis. + +As I had no doubt of the illegality of Mr. Macarthur's confinement, I +felt no difficulty in acceding to the request, and Mr. Macarthur being +released from the Gaol directly joined the Assembly of Officers and +inhabitants who were then at the Barracks. + +In a short time after, a letter was presented to me imploring me +instantly to put Governor Bligh in arrest, and to assume the Command of +the Colony. This letter was also approved of by all the Officers of the +Corps present at Head-Quarters; and as the events I had myself witnessed +left me no cause to doubt the propriety and necessity of complying with +this requisition, I immediately ordered the Corps under Arms, and +directed four Officers to proceed to Government House and summon +Governor Bligh to resign his authority. The Corps quickly followed, +attended by the Civil Officers and a considerable number of respectable +inhabitants. + +The four officers who had carried the summons met me at the Governor's +door and reported that he was nowhere to be found, nor any information +to be obtained of him, although the strongest assurances had been given +that his person should be strictly guarded from insult or violence. + +After a rigid search the Governor, however, was at last discovered, in a +situation too disgraceful to be mentioned, and which I solemnly declare +to your Lordship would have been most gratifying to my feelings had it +been possible to have concealed from the public. As soon as Governor +Bligh made his appearance, I assured him of his personal safety and of +every attention in my power to offer him. + +Whilst the search was making for Governor Bligh I was entreated by the +Civil Officers and the Inhabitants to proclaim Martial Law, and this +request meeting my approbation, Martial Law was instantly proclaimed and +continued in force until the next day. As not a single act of disorder +or irregularity was committed during the interesting scene that I have +had the honour to describe to your Lordship, and as the most perfect +peace and tranquillity were restored throughout the whole settlement I +published a Proclamation the next morning, revoking the order of the +preceding evening and restoring the Civil Government. + +I ordered the Court of Criminal Judicature to assemble that Mr. +Macarthur might be arraigned on the Indictment that was found amongst +the Judge-Advocate's papers, and that the trial might proceed on the +plan Crossley had suggested to secure his conviction. The evidences were +examined in the order Crossley had prescribed, and every question asked +that he had previously dictated. Your Lordship will discover from the +copy of the Trial that Mr. Macarthur was acquitted without being put on +his defence, and that a complete disclosure was made of the plans which +had been deliberately formed for the ruin and destruction of that +gentleman. + +I respectfully trust this trial and the confessions of the Magistrates +and other confidential persons will convince your Lordship of the guilty +intentions of Governor Bligh, and how little he regarded the sacred +personage whom he represented by suffering himself to be guided by a +wretch like that man Crossley to persecute and oppress His Majesty's +subjects. + +I am now, my Lord, arrived at the most painful part of my task--an +explanation of the causes that have prevented me from preparing a better +arranged Statement of the transactions in which I have been engaged; and +it is with deep concern I find myself obliged to report to your Lordship +that the opposition from those persons from whom I had most reason to +expect support has been one of the principal obstacles I have had to +encounter. + +When the officers and inhabitants found themselves relieved from the +oppressions of Governor Bligh, the general joy that was felt displayed +itself in rejoicings, bonfires, illuminations, and in a manifestation of +the most perfect unanimity. Even the lowest class of the prisoners were +influenced by the same sentiments, and for a short time abandoned their +habits of plundering. The contemplation of this happy scene more than +repaid me for the increase of care, fatigue, and responsibility to which +I had submitted for the public benefit; but the unanimity in which I +felt so much pleasure I quickly discovered was not to be preserved +without a sacrifice of His Majesty's interests, and a departure from the +regulations that have been made to check the importation of Spirituous +Liquors into the Colony. + +I shall no longer obtrude upon your Lordship on this occasion than to +solicit that whenever the representation of what has taken place here +shall be communicated to my Gracious Sovereign, your Lordship will have +the goodness to offer my humble assurances that I have sacrificed +comparative ease, and have taken upon myself so great a responsibility +rather than submit to be a witness of His Majesty's sacred name being +profaned and dishonoured by deeds of injustice and violence. + +I have, etc., + +GEO. JOHNSTON. + + +PROCLAMATION + +GEORGE JOHNSTON + +The Public Peace being happily and, I trust in Almighty God, permanently +established I hereby proclaim the Cessation of Martial Law. I have this +day appointed Magistrates and other Public Functionaries from amongst +the most respectable officers and inhabitants, which will, I hope, +secure the impartial Administration of Justice, according to the laws of +England, as secured to us by the Patent of Our Most Gracious Sovereign. + +Words cannot too strongly convey my approbation of the behaviour of the +whole body of the People on the late memorable Event. By their manly, +firm and orderly conduct they have shown themselves deserving of that +Protection which I have felt it was my duty to give them, And which I +doubt not they will continue to merit. + +In future no man shall have just cause to complain of Violence, +Injustice or Oppression; No free Man shall be taken, imprisoned, or +deprived of his Home, Land or Liberty, but by the Law; Justice shall be +impartially administered without regard to or respect of persons; and +every man shall enjoy the fruits of his industry in Security. + + +SOLDIERS! + +Your conduct has endeared you to every well-disposed inhabitant in this +Settlement, Persevere in the same honourable path And you will establish +the credit of the New South Wales Corps on a basis not to be shaken. + +God Save the King. + +By Command of His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor. + +(Signed) NICHOLAS BAYLY, + +Secretary. + +Head-Quarters, Sydney, 27th January, 1808. + +MR. NICHOLAS BAYLY TO GOVERNOR BLIGH + +Sydney, _28th January, 1808._ + +I am directed by His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor to acquaint you that +the late Magistrates and other persons (who it is proved you were in the +habit of consulting) have been examined on Oath before Committees +constituted under the Lieutenant-Governor's authority; that from the +confessions of those Persons it appears that you have been acting upon a +settled plan to subvert the Laws, to terrify and influence the Courts of +Justice, and to deprive every person who had the misfortune to be +obnoxious to you of their Property, Liberty, and Lives. The +Lieutenant-Governor feeling that an offence of such magnitude must be +productive of the most serious consequences, is impelled by sentiments +of Humanity to give you this early notice that you may consider and +seriously reflect on the measures which may be necessary for your +Justification. + +His Honour has further directed me to assure you that as soon as the +examinations are complete, you shall be furnished with a Copy, and that, +if you think proper, all the Evidences shall be re-examined in your +presence, and be directed to answer any questions you like to propose to +them. His Honour has also desired me to assure you that it will give him +the greatest satisfaction to contribute by every means in his power to +the Alleviation of the distress of your present situation, and to the +comfort and accommodation of you and your family. + +NICHOLAS BAYLY, + +Secretary. + + +The British Government called the chief actors in the mutiny before a +commission of inquiry. Johnston was dismissed from the army; MacArthur +was forbidden to return to New South Wales for eight years; and Bligh +was made a vice-admiral. + + + + +THE BEGINNING OF THE WOOL INDUSTRY + ++Source.+--Historical Records of Australia. Vol. V, pp. 510 and 566 + + The wool industry in Australia was founded by John MacArthur. Once + established, the flocks increased rapidly in numbers and quality, + and as it became possible to export wool, its manufacture was + stimulated in the older countries. The annual value of Australia's + wool export is now over £26,000,000. + + +GOVERNOR KING TO EARL CAMDEN + +Sydney, N.S.W., _20th July, 1805._ + +My Lord, + +By Mr. MacArthur, who arrived the 9th Ult'o, I had the honour of +receiving your Lordship's Letters dated as per margin. + +It will be my Duty and Interest to pay the strictest attention to His +Majesty's Commands and your Lordship's wishes in every point that can +advance the increase and improvement of the breed of sheep for which a +better foundation could not be laid, or the Success more ensured, than +the progressive increase of the Stock throughout the Colony. Mr. +MacArthur possesses at least a third of the Numbers, a considerable part +of which were reported at the last muster to bear Wool of the finest +kind, and the rest, as well as the other flocks, are continually +improving from the hairy Coverings of the original breed to wool of +different qualities, principally owing to the introduction of a few +Spanish Rams some years ago. + +Soon after Mr. MacArthur's arrival we conversed together respecting the +Objects of his laudable and, I hope, successful pursuits for the general +benefit of the Colony, as well as for that of his Family, which he now +regards as attached to the soil. His having bought a Ship to be employed +in the Whale Fishery, I consider an object equally laudable and +beneficial, exclusive of his being able to export the Wool of his +increasing breed to England once in Eighteen Months or Two Years, and +returning with Articles of use and Comfort to sell the Inhabitants. Nor +ought I to doubt from his assurances, that every expected benefit may be +derived from his exertions, as he is certainly very equal to conduct and +promote the Object he has so earnestly and, I hope, successfully +embarked in. To attain which he does and will possess every local +advantage that a good Stock to begin with, a good Climate, and fine +natural pastorage can offer. + +Taking your Lordship's Letter No. 18 as a data, respecting the Land to +be located to Mr. MacArthur, wherein you do me the honour to signify His +Majesty's Commands that "I will have a proper grant of Lands, fit for +the pasture of sheep, conveyed to the said John MacArthur Esquire, in +perpetuity, with the usual reserve of Quit-Rents to the Crown, +containing not less than Five Thousand Acres," and Your Lordship having +noticed that "It will be impossible for Mr. MacArthur to pursue this +plan unless he shall be indulged with a reasonable number of Convicts +(which he states to be not less than thirty) for the purpose of +attending his sheep, and that as Mr. MacArthur will take upon himself +the Charges of maintaining these Convicts, a saving will accrue to +Government; and that you doubt not I will provide him with such as shall +appear as most suitable to his Objects." + +In order to expedite Mr. MacArthur's Object of exporting fine Wool to +England, I have directed One hundred of the finest woolled Ewes from +Government Stock to be chosen for this gentleman to add to his own, for +which he is to pay Grain into the Stores at the rate of Two Pounds +sterling for each Ewe. As I do not consider it an Object for Government +to interfere in this pursuit, Seeing that the greatest exertions will be +made by Mr. MacArthur, And notwithstanding every attention has been paid +to improve the Fleeces of Government Sheep, Yet that Stock will always +be a reserve for supplying present and future Settlers with proportions +thereof, which will at once save the Necessity of purchasing to Supply +New Settlers who have Claims, and preserve a residue for those deserving +characters who may be allowed the advantage of exchanging Grain for +Ewes, agreeable to my Lord Hobart's Acquiescence with my proposal on +that Subject. + +The number of Male Convicts assigned to Mr. MacArthur for the Care of +his Stock, etc., previous to his return, was Sixteen; Since then they +have been increased to Thirty, exclusive of those hired and retained in +his service who have served their terms. Should Mr. MacArthur wish for +an increase, they shall be assigned him when more arrive from England; +but your Lordship will observe by the number and employment Return that +the Public Labour absolutely necessary to be carried on, and in which +Agriculture on the part of the Crown is nearly given up, will not allow +of more Men being assigned at present until more arrive. + +I have, etc., + +PHILLIP GIDLEY KING. + + +MACARTHUR'S OBSERVATIONS ON SHEEP-FARMING + +A Report of the State of Mr. MacArthur's Flocks of Sheep, with some +observations on the Advantages which may be expected from the Growth of +fine Wool in New South Wales. + +Paramatta, N.S.W., _2nd Oct., 1805._ + +The fine Woolled Sheep imported here from the Cape of Good Hope in the +Year 1797 were said to be of the Spanish Breed. The excellence of the +fleece of these Sheep combined with the consideration of their peculiar +form, bears strong evidence in favour of the Correctness of this Report, +tho' it is impossible to say whether they originally sprung from the +best kind of Sheep that is bred in Spain. Be this as it may nothing is +better established than that the Wool of this Breed of Sheep has +considerably improved in this Climate, and as Mr. MacArthur has had the +good fortune to bring out from England Four Rams and one Ewe, purchased +from His Majesty's Flock of Spanish Sheep, It is to be hoped that these +valuable animals will be the cause of a still further Melioration in the +Quality of our Wool. Indeed there appears no reason to fear but that the +Wool of this Country may by care and judicious Management be placed on +an equality with the very best that is grown in Spain. It has been Mr. +MacArthur's invariable practice to keep the Spanish Breed apart from all +others, and as fast as Spanish Rams have been reared they have been put +among the coarse-woolled Ewes. The result of this system has proved +extremely satisfactory, his Flocks now consist of more than Five +Thousand, of these Sixty are of the pure Spanish kind, and the whole are +much improved in the quality of the Wool; he is of Opinion the best +judge will be unable to discover any material difference between the +perfect and the mixed Breed in Seven years. + +With respect to Constitution, Size, and Aptitude to fatten, he has tried +all the Breeds he could obtain in the Colony, and he has found the +Spanish surpass them all in every one of these qualities. In the +representations that Mr. MacArthur had the honour to make in England to +His Majesty's Ministers, he stated that he thought a Flock of Sheep +would double itself in Two Years and a half, longer experience induces +him to think it may be done in rather less time; but in the Estimate he +now proposes to make, he will govern himself by the same data on which +his original Calculations were made, for he is desirous rather to +repress too sanguine Expectations than to encourage such as may prove +fallacious. + +Estimating the Sheep in New South Wales at Twenty Thousand, a plain +Arithmetical progression will prove that the present Stock may increase +in Twenty Years to Five Millions, and calculating two pounds and a half +of clear washed Wool to each Sheep, they would produce almost twice as +much Wool as England now purchases from Spain at an Annual expense of +One Million Eight Hundred Thousand pounds. + +Should Great Britain still require a much larger supply, Sheep can be +easily multiplied to any Extent in the immeasurable Forest which +Surrounds us. + +It is difficult for the Mind to embrace all the Advantages which must +flow from the Successful Progression of this great National Object; for +if we contemplate the progress of the Cotton Manufactory we shall see +that at the commencement of the Eighteenth Century the quantities of raw +cotton imported into England did not exceed Two Millions of Pounds +weight. At this period it amounts to more than Twenty Millions; and +altho' its price has considerably advanced, yet Manufactured Cotton +Goods have fallen full Two Hundred per cent. This prodigious diminution +in price is attributable to no other cause than the introduction of +Machinery, by which the expense of Manual Labour is comparatively +reduced to nothing. + +Now, repeated experiments have demonstrated that the same Machinery is +equally applicable to every Branch of the Woollen Manufactory, and in +truth it would long since have been adopted, but for the popular Clamour +that thousands of Labourers would be thrown out of employment. "It +cannot be denied," say its Opponents, "that Machinery would reduce the +price of Woollen, as it has done that of Cotton Cloths, but the two +Cases bear no Analogy, for when Machinery was applied in the Manufacture +of Cotton the increased Quantity of the raw material furnished +abundance of Employment in some other branch to those whose Labour the +Machine superseded. Make but the same experiment in the Woollen +Manufactory, and its fatal effects upon the poor will soon be felt; for +as you cannot increase the quantity of Animal Wool now being brought +into the Market, any Invention that has a tendency to diminish Manual +Labour is, and must be, pernicious." + +This reasoning has had great weight on the Minds of best informed Men; +but if we can by our united Efforts (as assuredly we can) raise in this +Colony any Quantity of fine Wool, all its force would be at once +demolished. Whatever the demands of Great Britain may be for that +Commodity, we certainly may supply it. The universal use of Machinery +might then be safely sanctioned, and the British Manufacturers would be +enabled so to reduce the price of Woollen Cloths, as would assure +throughout the world the most Monopoly that any people ever possessed. +We also should largely participate in the profits of this gainful Trade +and should enjoy the pleasing Consolation that our Labours were +contributing to the Support and Prosperity of that parent Country to +whom our debt of Gratitude can never be paid. + +JOHN MACARTHUR. + + + + +EMANCIPIST CONTROVERSY + ++Source.+--Historical Records of Australia. Vol. VII, pp. 245, 580-617 + + A storm of protest was aroused among the free settlers by the + action of Governor Macquarie in recognizing convicts as ordinary + members of society directly their terms of imprisonment had + expired. The free community became sharply divided into emancipists + and anti-emancipists. + + +GOVERNOR MACQUARIE TO VISCOUNT CASTLEREAGH + +Sydney, N.S.W., _30 April, 1810._ + +My Lord, + +I had the honour to address Your Lordship by Lieutenant-Colonel Foveaux +in a brief Despatch, under dates the eighth and twelfth of last Month; +but lest that Despatch may not get safe to Hand I shall in my present +one recapitulate the substance of my last, and furnish your Lordship +with a more detailed Account of my Proceedings. + +I was very much surprised and concerned on my arrival here, at the +extraordinary and illiberal Policy I found had been adopted by all the +Persons who had preceded me in Office respecting those men who had been +originally sent out to this Country as Convicts, but who, by long habits +of Industry and total Reformation of Manners, had not only become +respectable, but by many degrees the most Useful Members of the +Community. Those persons have never been countenanced or received into +society. I have, nevertheless, taken upon Myself to adopt a new line of +conduct, Conceiving that Emancipation, when united with Rectitude and +long-tried good Conduct, should land a man back to that Rank in Society +which he had forfeited, and do away, in as far as the Case will admit, +all Retrospect of former bad Conduct. This appears to me to be the +greatest Inducement that can be held out towards the Reformation of the +Manners of the Inhabitants, and I think it is consistent with the +gracious and Humane Intentions of His Majesty and His Ministers in +favour of this class of people. I am aware it is a measure which must be +resorted to with great Caution and Delicacy; but I am hopeful that in +time it may be extended beyond the line within which I must restrict +myself for the present. The Number of Persons of this Description whom I +have yet admitted to my Table consist of only four. Namely: Mr. D'Arcy +Wentworth, Principal Surgeon; Mr. William Redfern, Assistant Surgeon; +Mr. Andrew Thompson, an opulent Farmer and Proprietor of Land; and Mr. +Simeon Lord, an opulent Merchant. Three of these Persons have acquired +Property to a large amount; they have long conducted themselves with the +greatest Propriety, and I find them at all times ready to come forward +in the most liberal manner to the assistance of the Government. In order +to mark my sense of the merits of Mr. Andrew Thompson, I have already +appointed him a Justice of the Peace and Magistrate of the Hawkesbury, +where he has a large property, and I intend to confer the same Marks of +Distinction on Mr. Wentworth and Mr. Simeon Lord when Vacancies in the +Magistracy at Sydney, where they both reside, may occur. + +Before I conclude this Despatch, permit me to express my grateful +acknowledgements to your Lordship for the Appointment I have now the +Honour to Hold, and to assure your Lordship that, as far as my +judgement and Abilities extend, I shall exert them in the faithful +discharge of the Trust reposed in me, with the Hope that in the wide +field for improvement here, my Services may not be unimportant, and that +they will ultimately meet with the Approbation of my Sovereign and His +Majesty's Ministers, and thereby Confirm the Opinion you did me the +Honour to form in my Favour. + +I have, etc., + +L. MACQUARIE. + + +GOVERNOR MACQUARIE TO EARL OF LIVERPOOL + +Sydney, N.S.W., _17th Nov., 1812._ + +My Lord, + +Since my last Public Despatch under Date 28th Oct. 1811, Transmitted per +ship Friends, via Rio-de-Janeiro, I have been honoured with Your +Lordship's Several Despatches, under Dates 26th July 1811, and 4th, 5th +and 19th May, 1812; and also the several other Letters with their +respective Enclosures and Accompanying Documents from Your Lordship or +the Under-Secretary of State, as noted in the margin. + +In the first Despatch I had the Honour of addressing to Lord Castlereagh +(Your Lordship's immediate Predecessor in Office) under date the 30th of +April, 1810, I stated my Reasons for restoring those Persons _who had +been Convicts_, to that Rank in Society, which they had lost, but which, +by long habits of Rectitude and Meritorious Conduct in this Colony they +were fully entitled to be restored to. I have found the greatest benefit +to result from the adoption of this System of Policy. Some Men who had +been Convicts have been appointed Magistrates by me; Some of the same +Description of Men have been honoured with His Majesty's Commission, +which in my Mind is alone a sufficient proof of the eligibility of these +persons for any Society. On all occasions I have found and experienced +very great assistance from those Persons in the Habitual and Zealous +discharge of the Several Duties attached to their respective Situations; +and they act at all times as if they conceived it to be their +indispensable and first Duty to assist the Government of the Country. +Altho' the principal Leaders, who headed the Faction which occasioned +so much mischief and Anarchy in this Country (previous to my arrival), +have left it, Yet the Seeds of it were so deeply sown that a +considerable part of that factious spirit still exists among some +discontented and disaffected Persons in this Colony, whose restless and +Vicious Minds cannot endure any Control or legitimate form of +Government. The only measure of mine which to my knowledge they have +dared to attempt to counteract, is this extension of just and humane +Indulgence to those Persons (who had formerly been Convicts), whom I +have brought forward and patronised by admitting them to my Society, but +whom the factious Persons herein alluded to found it advantageous to +their Interests and illiberal Prejudices to consider as Outcasts, +beneath their notice and for ever doomed to oblivion and Neglect. + +It would therefore be highly gratifying and Satisfactory to Me, if Your +Lordship would have the goodness to honour me with a Communication of +His Royal Highness the Prince Regent's Sentiments on this Subject which +I consider as one of the greatest possible Interest and Importance to +the Welfare, Prosperity and Happiness of this rising Colony; which, as +it was originally settled for the Reception, Punishment, and eventual +Improvement of Convicts, appears to Me to require that their +Improvement, Welfare and Happiness should form the first and chief +Object of Attention in the important Duties entrusted to the Governor of +it. + +This Despatch will be delivered to your Lordship by Lieutenant Richard +Lundin of the 73rd Regiment, to whom I take the liberty of referring +Your Lordship for any particulars relative to the Colony that may have +escaped my recollection in my Public Despatches; and I further beg leave +to recommend him to your Lordship's Favour and Protection. + +I have, etc., + +L. MACQUARIE. + + + + +WESTERN AUSTRALIA + ++Source.+--The State and Position of Western Australia, by Captain +Frederick Chidley Irwin of H.M. 63rd Regiment; late Commandant of the +Troops, and Acting Governor of the Colony, 1835, pp. 32-37, 42-46. + + The settlement of Western Australia was undertaken in 1825, with + the purely philanthropic idea of relieving the overcrowded + population of Great Britain. The early difficulties were due to the + ignorance of conditions in the country, and the unsuitability of + the emigrants. Mr. Peel was chief promoter of the scheme. + + +The reader's attention will now be drawn to some of the mis-statements +with respect to the colony, which have appeared in recent publications. +Under this head he would especially notice a work entitled "England and +America." At page 33, Vol. 2 of the work in question, there is said to +be, in Western Australia "abundance of good land and of land, too, +cleared and drained by nature." After adverting to the amount of capital +and live stock, and the number of labourers introduced by the first +settlers, it is asked, what has become of all that capital, and all +those labourers? Then comes the following passage: "Why this failure +with all the elements of success--plenty of good land, plenty of +capital, and enough labour? The explanation is easy: In this colony +there never has been a class of labourers. Those who went out as +labourers no sooner reached the colony than they were tempted by the +superabundance of good land to become landowners." + +The writer proceeds to state, that Mr. Peel (who, as he had been +informed, had brought out a capital of £50,000 and 300 persons of the +labouring class) had been thus left without a servant to make his bed, +or to fetch him water from the river; and that, in the absence of his +people, his capital had perished. "The same thing," he adds, "happened +in many cases." Further on, it is stated that some of the labourers, who +had become independent landowners, died of hunger, at a period when a +large supply of food had reached the colony, and that they were starved +because where they had settled was not known to the Governor, nor even +to themselves--"such," says this writer, "was the dispersion of these +colonists, in consequence of superabundance of good land." It is added, +that the settlers who remained had petitioned for convicts, though one +of the chief inducements to settling in the colony was an undertaking, +on the part of the English Government, that none should be sent thither. + +If this writer's statement be correct, that labourers on their arrival, +tempted by the superabundance of good land, did with impunity desert +their masters, leaving their property to perish, and did themselves +become landowners, it will be apparent, either that there were then no +laws in the colony, or that they were not in force. The reverse, +however, is the fact--there were laws, and they were enforced. + +The following is No. 8 of the land regulations: "No grant of land will +be made to servants under indenture; nor shall persons receive grants +who shall appear to have come to the settlement at the expense of other +individuals without sufficient assurance of their having fulfilled the +condition of any agreement under which they may have come." The author +does not remember an instance of this regulation being relaxed; and it +is manifest that destruction of property and the ruin of the capitalist +must have been inevitable, had the Government not enforced it. + +Equally without foundation is the statement that the indentured servant +could desert his master with impunity. The indenture was binding equally +on master and servant, and was strictly enforced by the colonial law. If +the master failed to give the wages, food, or whatever else might have +been stipulated for in the indenture, the servant, on establishing his +complaint before a magistrate, obtained his discharge. On the other +hand, if the master proved a breach of the indenture by the servant +unduly absenting himself, refusing to work, etc., the magistrate was +under obligation to imprison the servant. Also any person employing an +indentured servant, without permission of the master, was subject to a +very heavy fine. + +Mr. Peel and his people were in this manner circumstanced. The author +has read many of their indentures; in all of these Mr. Peel was bound to +pay them daily wages (generally three shillings) out of which their food +and clothing were to be deducted. The capital imported by Mr. Peel, +though very considerable, was understood to consist chiefly of stores +and live-stock. However this may have been, he found it convenient after +a time, to grant most of his people permission to work for other +settlers, reserving a right to recall them when he chose; but allowing +them the alternative of their discharge, on their reimbursing him the +expense of their passage out. As his people could get higher wages when +working for others, they gladly accepted the permission. Occasional +misunderstandings took place between him and some of them, and it was +not till after the Governor, accompanied by the Law-Adviser of +Government, had more than once repaired in person to Mr. Peel's +location, that an adjustment of those differences was effected. The +author has known several servants of Mr. Peel to be imprisoned for +breaches of indenture. A number of them, however, were excellent men, +who would have conscientiously adhered to him, had he not given them the +option of working for others. + +It is but justice here to acknowledge the great benefit conferred on the +settlement by Mr. Peel, in the introduction of men who were not only of +good conduct, but well acquainted with farming pursuits or with trades. +For himself, the author feels happy in having this opportunity to +express his sense of it, having had upwards of four years in his +service, a family brought out by Mr. Peel. The father of this family is +a man of intelligence and observation. Besides his own trade of brick +and tile-making, he has a complete knowledge of farming, gardening, +bricklaying, lime-burning, and brewing, in which various occupations he +employs himself. Such is his industry that he has been seen working for +hours in the garden by moonlight, after spending a long day at labour in +the field. His wife is a regular dairywoman. One of the sons is a +carpenter, and another a ploughman, besides having each a knowledge of +their father's trade; and the rest of the family, down to the youngest, +are training up habits of industry and labour. + +Although, as has been shown, the conditions of the indentures were by +the colonial laws enforced, it will nevertheless be manifest, that no +law, in any country, can prevent an artful and unprincipled servant +(anxious to be rid of his engagement) from acting in so vexatious a +manner, that some masters, in preference to keeping such a one, would +forgo any benefit the indenture might offer. Such a course has been +adopted in the colony by some masters thus circumstanced. Those, +however, who had been careful to bring out men of good character, and to +whom they allowed an equitable compensation for their services, have +rarely had cause for complaint; and, on the contrary, have generally +been rewarded by the cheerful obedience of their servants. + +The author is the more desirous of disproving the alleged lawless state +of society in the colony, as the implied reproach is totally unmerited +by the Governor, Sir James Stirling, who has been most indefatigable and +self-denying in his exertions for the public welfare; and it is equally +so by the magistracy, who have, from the outset, administered the laws +with vigour and impartiality. + +With reference to the assertion that some individuals had perished with +hunger from not having been able to inform the Governor as to where they +had settled, the author can only say, that he did not hear of any such +circumstance while in the colony, and that he considers it very +improbable; as, with the exception of the people connected with Mr. +Peel, the settlers at the period alluded to were located on the Swan and +the Canning, by following down which rivers they could have reached in +the course of a single day the towns of Perth or Freemantle. + +He has also to confess his ignorance of the colonists having, as stated, +petitioned for convicts--he knows that such a wish was not expressed in +their memorial drawn up in 1832, and laid before His Majesty's +Government by Sir James Stirling in person. The colonists having had +before their eyes, in the neighbouring penal settlements, the serious +evils inflicted on society by the employment of convicts (especially as +indoor servants) have firmly resisted the temptation to seek such a +remedy for their wants. The extreme difficulty, which it is notorious +respectable families there experience, to sufficiently guard the morals +of their offspring, and to secure their being brought up in the +necessary principles of virtue and integrity, is alone a consideration +which, it is believed, will keep the colonists in Western Australia +stedfast on that point. No mere worldly prosperity whatsoever can +compensate for the tremendous risk to which children in a penal +settlement are exposed, as many a heart-broken parent can testify. + +It now remains for the author to offer a few observations + +1. On the failures that occurred among the early settlers. + +2. On the origin of the reports so widely circulated to the prejudice of +the country. + +3. On the tardy progress of the colony, compared with what had been +expected. + +The following extract from one of the earliest despatches of the +Governor (written in January 1830, and addressed to the Secretary of +State) will serve to preface these remarks, as it bears immediately on +the first point. Adverting to the circumstances under which the first +settlers came out, he thus proceeds: "There could not be a great number +with minds and bodies suited to encounter the struggle and distresses of +a new settlement. Many, if not all, have accordingly been more or less +disappointed on arrival, with either the state of things here, or their +own want of power to surmount the difficulties pressing round them. This +has been experienced, in the beginning, by every new colony; and might +have been expected to occur here, as well as elsewhere. The greater +part, incapable of succeeding in England, are not likely to prosper here +to the extent of their groundless and inconsiderate expectations. Many +of the settlers who have come should never have left in England a safe +and tranquil state of life; and, if it be possible to discourage one set +of people, and to encourage another, I would earnestly request that for +a few years, the helpless and inefficient may be kept from the +settlement; whilst, as to the active, industrious, and intelligent they +may be assured with confidence of a fair reward for their labours." + +If, after what has been said, it be granted that Western Australia, as +far as natural advantages go, is well suited for the purpose of +colonization, still it will be apparent, from the principle on which the +colony was founded, that its success must be greatly dependent on the +capital and exertions of the settlers. The charge of maintaining a +military and a civil establishment being all His Majesty's Government +was pledged to, every other expense was to be borne by the emigrant; +such as his outfit, voyage, and settlement in the colony. + +No arrangement prior to leaving England having been made by the +emigrants to ensure the advantages of co-operation on the part of their +friends at home, and among themselves in the colony, each depended on +his own energy and resources for his success; and the foregoing +description of many of the original settlers will account for the +disappointments that ensued in various instances. + +Few who abandoned the settlement under such circumstances, were willing +to admit their failure was the result of their own want of exertion, or +their unfitness for the enterprise in which they had embarked; +accordingly, wherever they went, and in their letters home, the blame +was laid on the country. Thus many of the evil reports respecting it, +which were current at home and in the neighbouring colonies, may be +traced to this source. + +A prevalent cause of distress among the early settlers arose from their +having generally brought out with them little ready money, compared with +their other property. This was chiefly owing to the Government +regulations admitting of land being assigned to those only who +introduced labourers, and various kinds of property required by farmers. +Many of the settlers, therefore, to the extent of their means, were in +this way amply provided; but having understood in England that money +would be of little use in a new country, numbers, without questioning +what they wished to be true, incautiously expended most of their means +in the property that would entitle them to obtain land in the colony. +However, when they had been some time in the settlement, they discovered +that there, as in other places, money was needful; and on wishing to +procure some by the sale of part of their property, they found it +difficult to do so without loss, in consequence of most other settlers +having brought out similar investments. + +Another cause of depression, which has borne seriously on the settlers, +has been the occasional high price of the necessaries of life. With a +view of remedying this evil, cargoes of provisions have been repeatedly +imported by the Local Government--the actual cost alone being charged to +the settler. Even a shipload of bullocks and pigs was introduced from +Java. But, numbers of the bullocks and pigs getting loose, soon became +as wild and difficult to recapture as if they had been natives of the +woods, whither they had betaken themselves. + +Experience has shown that the system of free grants, which was the first +adopted in Western Australia, is decidedly injurious to the prosperity +of a settlement, from the facility it affords to persons possessed of +comparatively little capital to acquire extensive tracts of land, the +greater part of which, for want of means, they cannot use for +agricultural or pastoral purposes. It also occasions the too wide +dispersion of the settlers; thus necessarily increasing the expense of +Government, and, at the same time, producing serious inconvenience to +the farmer. + + + + +WAKEFIELD'S SCHEME OF COLONIZATION + ++Source.+--A Letter from Sydney. E.G. Wakefield (Gouger, 1829), Appendix + + The failure of the first attempt to settle Western Australia gave + rise to much thought upon the theory of colonization. The ideas + most generally accepted were those of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who + summarized his theory as follows: + + +OUTLINE OF A SYSTEM OF COLONIZATION + +It is suggested: + +Article I. + +THAT a payment in money of---- per acre, be required for all future +grants of land without exception. + +Article II. + +THAT all land now granted, and to be granted, throughout the colony, be +declared liable to a tax of---- per cent. upon the actual rent. + +Article III. + +THAT the proceeds of the tax upon rent, and of sales, form an EMIGRATION +FUND, to be employed in the conveyance of British labourers to the +colony free of cost. + +Article IV. + +THAT those to whom the administration of the Fund shall be entrusted, be +empowered to raise money on that security, as money is raised on the +security of parish and county rates in England. + +Article V. + +THAT the supply of labourers be as nearly as possible proportioned to +the demand for Labour at each Settlement; so that Capitalists shall +never suffer from an urgent want of Labourers, and that Labourers shall +never want well-paid employment. + +Article VI. + +THAT in the selection of Emigrants, an absolute preference be given to +young persons, but that no excess of males be conveyed to the colony +free of cost. + +Article VII. + +THAT Colonists providing a passage for emigrant Labourers, being young +persons, and equal numbers of both sexes, be entitled to a payment in +money from the Emigration Fund, equal to the actual contract price of a +passage for so many labouring persons. + +Article VIII. + +THAT Grants be absolute in fee, without any condition whatever, and +obtainable by deputy. + +Article IX. + +THAT any surplus of the proceeds of the tax upon rent and of sales, over +what is required for Emigration, be employed in relief of other taxes, +and for the general purposes of Colonial Government. + + + + +FOUNDATION OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA + ++Source.+--Six Months in the new Colony of South Australia (J. Horton +James, 1839), pp. 1, 28-37 + + The settlement of South Australia was undertaken to test + Wakefield's theory; but instead of turning their land to good + account the colonists left it idle, hoping to sell at a high price. + The result was disastrous. + + +SITUATION AND EXTENT + +The New Province, called South Australia, which, by an Act of the +Imperial Parliament, was erected into a free British colony on 15th +August, 1834, is situate on the South Coast of the Great Island +Continent of New Holland, in the Southern or Indian Ocean, extending +from 132° to 141° E. longitude, and from 38° to 26° S. latitude, and +contains nearly two hundred millions of acres. It is twelve thousand +miles distant from Great Britain. + +This distance of twelve thousand miles ought to be performed by a fast +sailing ship in twelve weeks, at the rate of a thousand miles per week, +which is the fair average running of a good ship on distant voyages; but +it is better to allow something for light winds and calms near the +Equator, and to say in round numbers one hundred days in all, which is +rather more than fourteen weeks. + +This is Port Adelaide! Port Misery would be a better name; for nothing +in any other part of the world can surpass it in everything that is +wretched and inconvenient, packages of goods and heaps of merchandise +are lying about in every direction as if they had cost nothing. Stacks +of what were once beautiful London bricks crumbling away like +gingerbread, and evidently at each returning tide half covered with the +flood; trusses of hay, now rotten, and Norway deals, scattered about as +if they had no owner--iron ploughs and rusty harrows--cases of +door-frames and windows that had once been glazed--heaps of the best +slates half tumbling down--winnowing-machines broken to pieces--blocks +of Roman cement, now hard as stone, wanting nothing but the staves and +hoops--Sydney cedar, and laths and shingles from Van Diemen's Land in +every direction; whilst on the high ground are to be seen pigs eating +through the flour-sacks, and kegs of raisins with not only the head out, +but half the contents; onions and potatoes apparently to be had for +picking up. The sight is disheartening. What with the sun and the +rain--the sand and the floods--the thieves with four legs and the +thieves with two--the passengers hug themselves at the recollection that +_they_ have brought no merchandise for sale, glad enough to be able to +take care of themselves. The sooner they get out of this horrid hole the +better, so they enquire if there is any coach to the town--they are +answered by a careless shake of the head, and so, like good settlers, +they determine to set off and walk, carrying their light parcels with +them, and leaving the heavy things with a friend who refuses to go any +further. They ask for a drink of water before starting--there is not +such a thing to be had; but the bullock carts are expected down every +minute with the usual supply! "What, no water?" exclaims our passenger. +"No, sir, but the Commissioners are sinking a well, though they have not +yet found any but salt water; but they are going to dig in another +place, shortly, we understand." + +Away they start for the City of Adelaide, and after ten minutes of rough +walking through the loose sand, which is fatiguing enough, they gain the +firm and beaten road, with the cheerful hills before them, glad enough +to have overcome their morning troubles. Though very warm the walk is +agreeable, and out of a cloud of dust before them, they soon descry a +dray or two, each drawn by a long line of bullocks. They perceive by the +splashing of the water from the open bungs that the casks contain the +daily supply for the port, and the drivers very cheerfully give them +all a drink; this enables them to walk on with renewed spirits, over the +naked plain, and, tired and dusty, in about seven miles more they reach +another iron store, the property of the Commissioners, where they now +begin to see a few marquees and huts, and people walking about. They +step across the "Torrens," without knowing it, and enquire for the inn. +They are directed to the Southern Cross Hotel, then kept by a German Jew +of the name of Levy, considered the best house in this settlement, and +here we will leave them for the present, hungry, thirsty, and +fatigued--covered with dust and perspiration--and with feelings of shame +and disappointment at being so taken in! + + +CITY OF ADELAIDE. + + +"When things are at the worst, they mend," is a common saying, and a +true one; and so it was with our passengers. Though rough, dirty and +uncomfortable, they enjoyed the Jew's dinner or table d'hôte, though it +consisted merely of a baked leg of mutton at the top, with a baked +shoulder at bottom and a dish of small potatoes in the middle--nothing +else whatever--neither pie, pudding, or cheese; but they had given +themselves a good wash, and a change of linen, and a bottle of Barclay +and Perkins at dinner had now restored them to good humour. + +They found that the company at the table was much better than the +dishes, and that they had all gone through the same miserable landing at +the Fort, and some of them had even suffered considerably by falling +down in the mud; so, as we draw comfort out of other men's misfortunes, +and it is better to laugh than weep, our newly-arrived emigrants began +to think the place was not so bad after all. They were, at any rate, +great travellers, and were determined to make light of troubles and +inconveniences, as all travellers do. They saw that the gentlemen at +table were a very nice set of fellows, and as they had evidently had to +rough it, much more formerly, than was necessary at the present day, +they should make up their minds to think well of everything--to look +only at the advantages of the Colony--and in their letters to any London +friends, they were resolved decidedly to recommend the place--but not a +word about the mud. + +The Town of Adelaide, as depicted on the maps, is the very beau ideal of +all possible cities--there is an elegance and vastness of design about +it, that almost makes one blush for the comparative insignificance of +London and Stromboul; of Paris and Canton;--but on going to the spot, +like many other works of art and imagination, it resembles the picture +very slightly--it is altogether on too large a scale; and of all the +follies committed by the inexperience of the surveyor-general, who is, +nevertheless, in every other respect a most gentlemanlike, entertaining, +and intelligent person, next to its inland situation, this monstrous +extent of Adelaide will turn out to be the most fruitful of complaints. +You may lean against any tree in the City and exclaim, "This shadowy +desert, unfrequented woods, I better brook than flourishing peopled +towns." + +And yet there are sprinkled up and down the place a few substantial +buildings; one belonging to the Company, on an enormous scale--another +good brick house to Mr. Hack--another to the enterprising Mr. +Gilles--one to Mr. Thomas, and a couple of new taverns. The rest of the +dwellings are made of very slight materials, and the number of canvas +tents and marquees give some parts of the settlement the appearance of a +camp. Most of the new-comers settle down on what is called the Park +Lands, where they are handy to the little rivulet, and they run up a +Robinson Crusoe sort of hut, with twigs and branches from the adjoining +forest, and the climate being fine and dry, they answer well enough as +temporary residences. The principal streets have been laid out in the +survey of the town 132 feet wide, which is nearly twice as wide as +Portland Place, and the squares are all on such a scale of magnitude, +that if there were any inhabitants in them, a cab would almost be +required to get across them. + +Before any person has been ashore at Adelaide twenty-four hours, even +the greenest and most inexperienced put these two very natural +questions; First--Why did you make the plan of the future town so large? +Answer--Because the land was of no value, and it was a pity to be +crowded when there was so much room! And the Second question is--Why did +you select the town eight miles from the landing-place? Answer--Because +we preferred being away from the nasty sailors, and thought it better +not to be annoyed with the demoralizing influence of a Sea Port! + +Unless this is promptly remedied, the "Wisdom of our ancestors" will not +become such a favourite saying in South Australia, as it is in the Old +Country, for the town, including the park lands, is already eight miles +round, with 3,000 inhabitants only. This, from persons who are all for +concentration, seems strange; and the consequence is as might have been +expected, that in the daytime persons are constantly losing themselves +in the midst of the city. Whilst at night it is impossible to move out +of the house without company, unless you have any desire to sleep under +a tree. This has happened to the oldest inhabitants, about whom many +droll stories have been told. Some of the highest officers in the +colony, after wandering about for hours in the dark, either running +against trees, or falling over logs, or into holes, have chosen rather +to give it up in despair, content to take a night's lodging beneath a +tree, than run the risk any longer of breaking their necks although in +the midst of the township, and when day-light appeared, not perhaps more +than a pistol-shot from their own hut. It is hardly possible that such a +blunder as this is, this Adelaide and Port Adelaide, can much longer be +tolerated by the respectable parties about proceeding to the Colony, and +there is not the remotest chance that the unnatural abortion can ever +come to good. Another town of more modest and moderate pretensions will +rise up in the land-locked basin of Port Lincoln, along the margin of +the deep water, consisting of 640 acres, divided into building lots of +one rood each, which will be enough for a population of 50,000 persons, +which is as many as the most sanguine friend of the Colony can +anticipate for a century to come. There, under the shelter of Boston +Island, or in Spalding Cove, the merchant may leave his office and walk +across a plank into the last ship that arrived from England, and all the +hundreds of bullocks now employed dragging up waggon loads of rubbish +and merchandise from Adelaide Swamp to Adelaide Township, may then be +dispensed with and go a-ploughing, as they ought to have done long +since, which will save £20,000 a year to the settlers in the item of +land carriage alone, and by being employed on the farms instead of on +the road the Colony will not require such frequent importations of farm +produce from Van Diemen's Land, to the great impoverishment of the +community. What, abandon Adelaide! I think I hear the carriers exclaim. +Oh no, let Adelaide remain as before, it will always answer well enough +for a country village, and stand a monument to the folly of the +projectors, but let the Governor and Civil Establishment move their +head-quarters without loss of time, to Port Lincoln, before more money +is thrown away. Every month that this measure is delayed it is made +more difficult and therefore should not be postponed at all. The buyers +of the 1,200 town acres would feel much disappointment at the measure, +as the market would be spoiled for the sale of their building lots, but +they would be rightly served for asking a monopoly price to respectable +new-comers, who ought to be enabled to obtain a town allotment for a +trifle of the Government. + +In New South Wales they are sold by auction as applied for, and put up +at 20_s._ each, at which price they are generally knocked down; but with +a view to prevent any monopolizer buying them up, to the injury of the +_bona fide_ settler, every purchaser must sign a bond to the Government +in a penalty of £20, that he will build a house on the allotment, of a +certain value, within three years, or otherwise the land reverts +absolutely to the Crown, and the penalty is enforced too. This is as it +should be, and the evil working of the old system ought to have been +forseen, but at South Australia the Commissioners and Survey Department +disdained to copy anything from such a colony as Sydney and made the old +saying good about advice, that those who want it most like it least. Now +the late Governor, Captain Hindmarsh, was quite the opposite of this, +and was most diligent in seeking out the best way of doing everything, +and was not above learning even from those ignorant neighbours, New +South Wales and Van Diemen's Land. Here is a proof. + +(Copy) + +"Government House, _25th April, 1838._ + +"The Council being about to meet this morning to discuss a subject with +which Mr. Horton James is particularly well acquainted; the Governor +will thank Mr. James, if he would do him the favour to attend the +Council this morning about half-past nine o'clock, to give the Council +his opinion on the subject. + +"T.H. JAMES, ESQ., Adelaide." + +The character of the late Governor, Capt. Hindmarsh, pleased me +exceedingly, not only for the frankness of his manner towards strangers, +and the easy terms on which he admitted every respectable resident to +his table, but by his constant, steady, and unremitting attention to +business. Many difficulties of a new and serious nature would sometimes +suddenly involve him, during my residence in the colony, especially in +reference to the native blacks, who had been committing some violences +in the camp. The settlers were very violent and rash, calling loudly for +immediate and strong measures of retaliation, and going up in mobs to +Government House, thirsting for revenge against the natives. But the +Governor on all occasions acted with a praiseworthy and becoming +firmness, and would listen to nothing like reprisals on an unarmed and +naked population; and while he took the most upright, they turned out to +be the wisest and most successful measures he could have adopted for the +pacification of the place, which in a day or two became as quiet as +ever, and the danger so much talked of was disregarded and forgotten, +entirely owing to His Excellency's pacific treatment. Notwithstanding +his severe and inflexible adherence to these measures, in accordance to +his instructions, and in opposition to the murderous wishes of some of +the settlers, Captain Hindmarsh, after the hours of business, surrounded +by his amiable and accomplished family, was just the same as ever, +zealous, enthusiastic and humane, when speaking of the colony and its +black population; and gentle and sincere in his intercourse with his +friends; never exhibiting the slightest degree of reserve, parade or +affectation, but winning all hearts by his attention to his guests. It +is hard to say why such a suitable person was recalled. He seems to have +been sacrificed to clamour; but to accuse, and prove, are very +different, and in any enquiry that may be hereafter instituted, Captain +Hindmarsh will, I am sure, come off without reproach. + + + + +FOUNDATION OF VICTORIA + ++Source.+--Batman's Journal, Victorian Pamphlets, Vol. cxxvii, pp. +10-13, 16-22 + + Convictism in Tasmania caused great dissatisfaction among the free + settlers; in 1835 John Batman crossed the Strait in search of fresh + pastures. Melbourne stands on the site he selected for "the future + village." + + +_May 29th._ Daylight had no sooner broke this morning--and never had its +cheerful return been so ardently longed for--than we were again greeted +by the sight of Port Phillip Heads, at a distance not apparently +exceeding eight miles. By 9 a.m. we were between the Heads, with the +tide running out, and nearly at low water; a heavy surf and the wind +light and baffling. We effected an entrance with difficulty at a part of +the bay where the width was about a mile and a quarter. We succeeded, +however, in entering one of the finest bays, or basins of water, well +sheltered, that we remember to have seen. Within the Bay the water was, +compared to our late tossing in the boiling and foaming waters outside, +as smooth as a mill-pond, and our little bark floated gently along like +a sleeping gull. I shall, however, take this opportunity to remark that +it will be desirable to enter its mouth only at the times of the tide +running in. We continued our course down the bay, and found the country +everywhere of the same richly-grassed character. + +_May 30th._ Robinson Crusoe was never better pleased with the appearance +of the first ship which arrived, and rescued him _from_ his desolate +island, than I was with the vessel which proved the means of thus +opening to view a country capable of supporting a future nation, and +which, we trust, will be the means of relieving the Hobart Town country +of its over-stocked cattle, and the Mother Country of her surplus and +half-starved peasantry. Futurity must develop this prophecy! Further +travelling and examination only added to my pre-conceived estimate of +this extremely interesting and extensive territory; consisting of plains +or downs at least twenty miles long by a width of 10 miles, and the +distance may have been greater, but for the interruption of hills more +than ordinarily high, which broke the horizon in different directions. +One of these vistas, which I have at present in view, cannot form a less +area than 100,000 acres. Its general character presents that of +cultivated pasture for centuries past; the few trees appear as though +they owed their plantation to the hand of man. All the high hills are +covered with grass to their summits. + +I discovered the fires of the natives or aboriginal inhabitants of this +marvellously fertile country, and felt delighted beyond expression that +the task of its discovery should have devolved upon myself. + +_June 2nd._ My Sydney natives came on board this morning for the purpose +of assisting in packing up, and otherwise making preparations for our +contemplated expedition into the interior. As it continued to rain +heavily and a heavy bank of fog prevailed, and prevented our seeing any +distance, I proposed, rather than lose time to go with the vessel to the +river (Saltwater), and from thence take my departure for the bush. We +made the river by 3 p.m., and observed that the whole of the coast at +the head of the bay was clear of timber, and a constant plain covered +with grass. + +Near the head of the river, on the point, was a plantation of she-oak. +We endeavoured to sail up the river, but found the water not more than a +fathom deep.... To-morrow, weather permitting, I intend taking my +departure up the river. + +_June 3rd._ Everything being in readiness, we left the vessel about 9 +a.m., and proceeded in a boat up the river for about five miles.... In +travelling further up we passed over several rich flats, about a mile +wide, by two or three miles long, destitute of trees, and covered +knee-deep with grass, from which hundreds of tons of good hay might be +made. The land was of the best description, equal to anything in the +world, nor does it appear subject to being flooded. For twenty-six miles +we continued following the course of this river, and found on both sides +of it, as far as the eye could stretch, fine open plains, with a few +trees of the oak species; one striking object was the absence of fresh +water all throughout this distance. Just before sundown as we were +preparing to camp on the bank of the river, I caught sight of a damp +place, and, on sending one of my men, Gumm, to make a hole with a stick +to the depth of two feet, we had in the course of an hour a plentiful +supply of good water.... I have named this place Gumm's Well. + +_June 4th._ Recommenced our journey up the river at 8 a.m.; after +travelling four or five miles, I turned off to obtain a view of Mounts +Collicott, Cottrill, and Solomon.... We continued travelling over the +plains, and in eight miles again made the river. Having crossed the +river, we travelled over the richest land I had ever seen in my life; +marsh mallows with leaves as large as those of the cabbage tribe, and as +high as my head. We recrossed at a native ford, and we observed on a +wattle tree, which they had been stripping of the bark, scratches or +marks of figures, representing blacks in the act of fighting. These +figures I copied as near as I was able. + +_June 6th._ We made an early breakfast and resumed our journey in order +to reach the camp of the blacks, the smoke of whose fires we had seen +yesterday. We travelled over land equal to any that we had seen, a deep +black diluvium with grass three or four feet high, and thinly-timbered. +After travelling eight miles we struck the trail of the natives which in +a short time led us to a branch of the tribe, consisting of one chief, +his wife, and three children--fine, plump, chubby, healthy-looking +urchins they were. To this distinguished royal chieftain of the prairies +I gave one pair of blankets, handkerchiefs, beads, and three +pocket-knives; upon the receipt of these presents, he undertook the part +of guide. We crossed a fresh water creek with good land on either bank. +Our new guide informed us that he would take us to his tribe, at the +same time naming many of their chiefs. After travelling about eight +miles, we were surprised to hear a number of voices calling after us, +and on looking round encountered six men, armed with spears fixed in +their wommeras. We stopped; and they at once threw aside their spears, +and came up to us in a most friendly manner possible. We all shook hands +and I gave them knives, tomahawks, etc., whereupon they took the lead, +and brought us back about a mile, to where we found huts, or gunyahs, +and a number of women and children. We sat down in the midst of these +sooty and sable aboriginal children of Australia; amongst whom we +ascertained were eight chiefs belonging to the country near Port +Phillip, over which we had travelled, and with which we had so much +reason to be pleased. The three principal chiefs were brothers. Two of +them were fully six feet high and tolerably good-looking; the third was +not so tall but much stouter than the others. The other five chiefs were +equally fine men. And a question, to myself, here arises, and the answer +as speedily follows, viz., now is the time for entering into and +effecting a purchase of their land. A full explanation, that my object +in visiting their shores was to purchase their land, they appeared to +understand; and the following negotiation or agreement was immediately +entered into. I purchased two large blocks or tracts of land, about +600,000 acres, more or less, and, in consideration therefor, I gave them +blankets, knives, looking-glasses, tomahawks, beads, scissors, flour, +etc. I also further agreed to pay them a tribute or rent yearly. The +parchment, or deed was signed this afternoon by the eight chiefs, each +of them, at the same time, handing me a portion of the soil; thus giving +me full possession of the tracts of land I had purchased. + +This most extraordinary sale and purchase took place by the side of a +lovely stream of water, from whence my land commenced. A tree was here +marked in four different ways, to define the corner boundaries. Good +land, to any extent, either for stock or tillage, with good water was +here in abundance, ready for sheep, cattle, or the plough. Our +negotiation was terminated by my Sydney natives giving our +newly-acquired friends a grand corroborree at night, much to their +delight. The group consisted, altogether, of forty-five men, women, and +children. + +Sunday, _June 7th._ I awoke this morning with the agreeable +consciousness of my being able, like Alexander Selkirk, of school-boy +memory, to say: "I am monarch of all I survey; my right there is none to +dispute." With a view, however, of securing this right more permanently, +I busied myself with drawing up triplicates of the deeds of the land I +had purchased, and in delivering over to the natives more property. This +was done on the banks of the lovely little creek which I have named +Batman's Creek, as a memento of the novel and interesting transaction +occurring on its banks. After the purchase and payment at the conclusion +of the preliminaries, I had made preparation for departing, when two of +the principal chiefs approached, and laid their royal mantles at my +feet, begging my acceptance of them. Upon my acquiescing, the gifts were +placed around my neck and over my shoulders by the noble donors, who +seemed much pleased at their share in the transaction, and begged of me +to walk a pace or two in their (now my) princely vestments. I asked them +to accompany me to the vessel, to which request I received a rather +feeling reply, by their pointing, first to their children, and next to +their own naked feet, importing that they could not walk so fast as +ourselves, but would come down in a few day. In the course of the late +transaction, I had no difficulty in discovering their sacred and private +mark, so important in all their transactions, and universally respected. +I obtained a knowledge of this mark by means of one of my Sydney +natives, Bungit, who, going behind a tree, out of sight of the females +made the Sydney aboriginal mark. I afterwards took two others of my +natives, and the principal chief of Port Phillip to whom I showed the +mark on the tree, which he instantly recognized, and pointed, also, to +the knocking out of the front tooth. This mark is always made +simultaneously with the loss or extraction of the tooth. I requested +the chief through the interpretation of my Sydney natives, to give the +imprint of his mark. After a few minutes hesitation, he took a tomahawk +and did as he was desired, on the bark of a tree. A copy of this mark is +attached to the deed, as the signature and seal of their country. + +About 10 a.m. I took my departure from these interesting people. The +principal chief could not be less than six feet four inches high, and +his proportions gigantic; his brother six feet two inches, also a fine +man. I recrossed Batman's Creek, and travelled over thinly-timbered +country of box, gum, wattle, and she-oak, with grass three of four feet +high. Travelling twelve miles down we came, subsequently, upon a +thinly-timbered forest of gum, wattle and oak. Here, for the first time, +the land became sandy, with a little gravel. The grass was ten inches +high, and resembled a field of wheat. We have not seen the slightest +appearance of frost. After leaving this forest, we came upon the river I +had gone up a few days before. Intending to come down on the opposite +side and hail the vessel, I crossed on the banks of the river, a large +marsh, one mile and a half broad by three or four long, of the richest +diluvium; not a tree was to be seen. Having crossed this marsh we passed +through a dense tea-tree scrub, very high, expecting to make the vessel +in the course of an hour or two, but, to our great surprise, when we got +through, we found ourselves on the banks of a much larger river than the +one we had originally gone up. + +As it was now near sundown, and at least two days would be required to +head the river, I decided upon allowing two of my Sydney natives to swim +across it, and go to the vessel, distant about seven miles, to fetch the +boat. Bullet and Bungit started on this enterprise, and returned in +about three hours from the time of their departure. Their return with +the boat was most opportune as we had got on the point of junction of +the two rivers, where the tide had set in, and was already up to my +ankles. I first despatched the party with the dogs in the boat to the +opposite bank, and, on the return of the boat, myself and old Bull, who +had cut his foot, went in first-rate style, to the vessel. I hope my +travelling on foot will terminate, at least for some time. I had now +accomplished a most arduous undertaking, and, in order to secure the +fruits of my exertions I intend leaving Gumm, Dodds, Thomson, and three +of my Sydney natives--Bungit, Bullet, and old Bull--as overseers and +bailiffs of my newly acquired territory, and of the possession of which +nothing short of a premature disclosure of my discovery on the part of +my companions, can possibly deprive me. These people I intend leaving at +Indented Heads, as my head depot, with a supply of necessaries for at +least three months. The chiefs of the Port Phillip tribe made me a +present of three stone tomahawks, some spears, wommeras, boomerangs, and +other weapons of warfare. + +_June 8th._ This morning the winds set in foul for Indented Heads, and, +having made several attempts to get out of the river, we gave it up as +hopeless. We went in the boat, up the large river coming from the east, +and after examination six miles up, I was pleased to find the water +quite fresh and very deep. This will be the place for the future +village. + + + + +TRANSPORTATION + ++Source.+--Report from the Select Committee of the House of Commons on +Transportation (Molesworth, 1838), pp. 8-10, 31-33, 43 + + As Australia was shown to offer greater and greater attractions to + free settlers the agitation against transportation increased. In + 1838 the British Government appointed a Select Committee to inquire + into and report upon the whole system. Their verdict is given + below. + + +To plant a colony, and to form a new society, has ever been an arduous +task. In addition to the natural difficulties arising from ignorance of +the nature of the soil, and of the climate of a new country, the first +settlers have generally had to contend with innumerable obstacles, which +only undaunted patience, firmness of mind, and constancy of purpose, +could overcome. But, whatever the amount of difficulties attendant on +the foundations of colonies, those difficulties were greatly augmented, +in New South Wales, by the character of the first settlers. The +offenders who were transported in the past century to America, were sent +to communities the bulk of whose population were men of thrift and +probity; the children of improvidence were dropped in by driblets +amongst the mass of a population already formed, and were absorbed and +assimilated as they were dropped in. They were scattered and separated +from each other; some acquired habits of honest industry, and all, if +not reformed by their punishment, were not certain to be demoralized by +it. In New South Wales, on the contrary, the community was composed of +the very dregs of society; of men, proved by experience to be unfit to +be at large in any society, and who were sent from the British gaols, +and turned loose to mix with one another in the desert, together with a +few task-masters, who were to set them to work in the open wilderness; +and with the military, who were to keep them from revolt. The +consequences of this strange assemblage were vice, immorality, frightful +disease, hunger, dreadful mortality among the settlers; the convicts +were decimated by pestilence on the voyage, and again decimated by +famine on their arrival; and the most hideous cruelty was practised +towards the unfortunate natives. Such is the early history of New South +Wales. + +After sentence of transportation has been passed, convicts are sent to +the hulks or gaols, where they remain till the period of their departure +arrives. On board convict vessels the convicts are under the sole +control of the surgeon-superintendent, who is furnished with +instructions, as to his conduct, from the Admiralty. The precautions +which have been taken against disease, and the better discipline now +preserved in these ships, have applied an effectual remedy to the +physical evils of the long voyage to Australia, and prevented the +mortality amongst the prisoners which prevailed to a fearful extent +during the earlier periods of transportation. Little diminution, +however, has taken place in those moral evils, which seem to be the +necessary consequences of the close contact and communication between so +many criminals, both during the period of confinement previous to +embarkation, and during the weariness of a long voyage. + +As soon as a convict vessel reaches its place of destination, a report +is made by the surgeon-superintendent to the governor. A day is then +appointed for the colonial secretary or for his deputy to go on board to +muster the convicts, and to hear their complaints, if they have any to +make. The male convicts are subsequently removed to the convict +barracks; the females to the penitentiaries. In New South Wales, +however, regulations have lately been established, by which, in most +cases, female convicts are enabled to proceed at once from the ship to +private service. It is the duty of an officer, called the principal +superintendent of convicts, to classify the newly-arrived convicts, the +greater portion of whom are distributed amongst the settlers as +assigned servants; the remainder are either retained in the employment +of the government, or some few of them are sent to the penal +settlements. + +On the whole, your Committee may assert that, in the families of +well-conducted and respectable settlers, the condition of assigned +convicts is much the same as the condition of similar descriptions of +servants in this country; but this is by no means the case in the +establishment of all settlers. As the lot of a slave depends upon the +character of his master, so the condition of a convict depends upon the +temper and disposition of the settler to whom he is assigned. On this +account Sir George Arthur, late Governor of Van Diemen's Land, likened +the convict to a slave, and described him "as deprived of liberty, +exposed to all the caprice of the family to whose service he may happen +to be assigned, and subject to the most summary laws; his condition" +(said Sir George) "in no respect differs from that of the slave, except +that his master cannot apply corporal punishment by his own hands or +those of his overseer, and has a property in him for a limited period. +Idleness and insolence of expression, or of looks, anything betraying +the insurgent spirit, subject him to the chain-gang or the triangle, or +hard labour on the roads." + +On the other hand, a convict, if ill-treated, may complain of his +master; and if he substantiate his charge the master is deprived of his +services; but for this purpose the convict must go before a bench, +sometimes a hundred miles distant, composed of magistrates, most of whom +are owners of convict labour. Legal redress is therefore rarely sought +for, and still more rarely obtained by the injured convict. + +With regard to the general conduct of assigned agricultural labourers, +there was a considerable diversity of opinion. The evidence, however, of +Sir G. Arthur, appears to your Committee to be conclusive on this point, +with regard to which he wrote to the Secretary of State for the Colonies +in the following terms: + +"You cannot, my Lord, have an idea of the vexations which accompany the +employment of convicts or of the vicissitudes attendant upon their +assignment. Their crimes and misconduct involve the settlers in daily +trouble, expense, and disappointment. The discipline and control of the +convicts in Van Diemen's Land is carried, perhaps, to a higher degree +than could have ever been contemplated. Many of the convicts have been +greatly reformed when in the service of considerate and judicious +masters; but, with all this abatement, there is so much peculation, so +much insubordination, insolence, disobedience of lawful orders, and so +much drunkenness, that reference to the magisterial authority is +constant, and always attended with loss of time and expense to the +settlers. There can be no doubt things appear better in the colony than +they really are; for, in numberless instances, masters are known to +submit to peculation rather than incur the additional expense of +prosecuting their servants. Two hundred felons, after having been for a +longtime under confinement in the gaols or hulks of England, and +subsequently pent up on board a transport, are placed in charge of the +masters or their agents to whom they have been assigned. The master has +then to take the convict to his home (either to the other extremity of +the island, a distance of 140 miles, or nearer, as the case may be), and +well would it be if he could get him quietly there, but the contrary is +of too frequent occurrence. Either with some money the convict has +secreted, or from the bounty of some old acquaintance, the assigned +servant, now relieved for the first time for some months from personal +restraint, eludes the vigilance of his new master, finds his way into a +public-house, and the first notice the settler has of his servant, for +whom he has travelled to Hobart Town, for whose clothing he has paid the +Government, for whose comfort he has, perhaps, made other little +advances, is, that he is lodged in the watch-house with loss of half his +clothing, or committed to gaol for felony." + +The members of the anti-emancipist party in New South Wales attribute +the increase of crime in that colony partly to alleged relaxation of +convict discipline under Sir Richard Bourke; partly to the action of the +Jury Laws, which permit persons who have been convicts to become jurors; +and lastly, to the increasing number of emancipists. + +The first-mentioned cause of the increase of crime in New South Wales +refers to the Quarter Session Act, passed in 1833; by that Act, the +summary jurisdiction of single magistrates over convicts, was somewhat +diminished, and a magistrate was prevented from inflicting more than 50 +lashes for a single offence, instead of 150 which he might have given +before at three separate inflictions. These complaints do not seem to +your Committee to have the slightest foundation in fact, and Sir Richard +Bourke appears to have acted with wisdom, justice, and humanity in his +treatment of the convict population. + +With regard to the second alleged cause of the increase of crime, +namely, the jury laws, your Committee need hardly repeat, that the +well-proven effect of transportation is to demoralize, not to reform an +offender; therefore, in a community like New South Wales, wherein so +large a proportion of the population are persons who have been convicts, +to permit such persons generally to sit upon juries must evidently have +an injurious effect. Your Committee, however, must observe, that under a +good system of punishment, an offender should, at the expiration of his +sentence, be considered to have atoned for his crimes, and he should be +permitted to commence a new career without any reference to his past +one. + +With regard to the last alleged cause of the increase of crime, namely, +the increasing number of emancipists; little doubt, your Committee +think, can be entertained of the pernicious consequences of annually +turning loose a number of unreclaimed offenders on so small a community +as that of New South Wales. + +One of the supposed advantages of transportation is, that it prevents +this country from being burthened with criminal offenders, after the +expiration of their sentences. It is now, however, evident that +transportation does not tend to diminish the sum total of offences +committed in the British Dominions; it may, perhaps, relieve Great +Britain and Ireland from a portion of their burthen of crime; though, +from the little apprehension which transportation produces, that fact +may be reasonably doubted. On the other hand, it only transfers and +aggravates the burthen upon portions of the British Dominions, which, +like New South Wales, and Van Diemen's Land, are least able to bear it. + +In 1836, the free population of New South Wales amounted to 49,255, of +whom about 17,000 had been convicts. In 1834, the free population of Van +Diemen's Land did not exceed 23,315, of whom about 3,000 were expirees. + +Of the state of society in the towns of these colonies, a general idea +may be formed from a description of Sydney, according to the accounts +given of it, by the Chief Police Magistrate and by Mr. Justice Burton. +In 1836 Sydney covered an area of about 2,000 acres and contained about +20,000 inhabitants; of this number 3,500 were convicts, most of them in +assigned service, and about 7,000 had probably been prisoners of the +Crown. These, together with their associates amongst the free +population, were persons of violent and uncontrollable passions, which +most of them possessed no lawful means of gratifying; incorrigibly bad +characters, preferring a life of idleness and debauchery by means of +plunder to one of honest industry. Burglaries and robberies were +frequently perpetrated by convict servants in the town and its vicinity, +sometimes even in the middle of the day. No town offered so many +facilities for eluding the vigilance of the police as Sydney did. The +unoccupied bush near and within it afforded shelter to the offender and +hid him from pursuit. He might steal or hire a boat and in a few minutes +place an arm of the sea between himself and his pursuers. The want of +continuity in the buildings afforded great facilities for lying in wait +for opportunities of committing crime, for instant concealment on the +approach of the police, and for obtaining access to the backs of houses +and shops; and the drunkenness, idleness, and carelessness of a great +proportion of the inhabitants afforded innumerable opportunities and +temptations, both by day and night, for those who chose to live by +plunder. The greater portion of the shopkeepers and the middling class +had been convicts, for the tradesmen connected with the criminal +population have an advantage over free emigrants. + +Those of the emancipists who were possessed of property had generally +acquired it by dishonest means, by keeping grog-shops, gambling-houses, +by receiving stolen goods, and by other nefarious practices; they led a +life of gross licentiousness; but their wealth and influence were such +that one-fourth of the jurors who served in the civil and criminal +courts during the years 1834, 1835, and 1836, belonged to their number. +More immorality prevailed in Sydney than in any other town of the same +size in the British Dominions; there, the vice of drunkenness had +attained its highest pitch; the quantity of spirits consumed in Sydney +was enormous; even throughout the whole of New South Wales the annual +average, for every human being in the colony had reached four gallons a +head. Such, according to the authorities already quoted, are the towns +to which transportation has given birth; and such are the inmates +furnished to them by the criminal tribunals of this country. + +Your Committee having, in the preceding pages of their Report, discussed +the nature and effects of transportation, and what alterations can be +made in the existing system, now consider that they have submitted the +most unquestionable proofs that the two main characteristics of +transportation, as a punishment, are inefficiency in deterring from +crimes, and remarkable efficiency, not in reforming, but in still +further corrupting those who undergo the punishment; that these +qualities of inefficiency for good, and efficiency for evil, are +inherent in the system, which, therefore, is not susceptible of any +satisfactory improvement; and lastly, that there belongs to the system, +extrinsically from its strange character as a punishment, the yet more +curious and monstrous evil of calling into existence, and continually +extending, societies, or the germs of nations most thoroughly depraved, +as respects both the character and degree of their vicious propensities. +Your Committee, therefore, are of the opinion that the present system of +transportation should be abolished, and will now proceed to offer a few +observations as to the description of punishment which, in their +opinion, ought to be substituted in the stead of transportation. + + + + +INDEPENDENCE OF VICTORIA + ++Source.+--Port Phillip Gazette + + In 1844 New South Wales (including the Port Phillip and Moreton Bay + districts) was granted representative government, but the distance + between Sydney and Melbourne and the disproportion of + representatives made it a farce as far as Port Phillip was + concerned. Melbourne proceeded to demonstrate to the British + Government the necessity for Separation. Victoria was established + as a separate colony in 1851. + + +_Jan. 3rd, 1848._ The Separation Despatch.--To such writers as cannot +comprehend the policy of the Russell administration, it is common to +decry everything which they have attempted, as stupid and impracticable; +but we, who deem ourselves wiser in our generation, view their conduct +in a very different light, and give them credit for no ordinary talent; +great energy, and more perseverance in our affairs, than can be, under +existing circumstances, ascribed to any Ministry in our day. They took +office at a period of great political excitement, and still they have +devoted much attention to Colonial interests; and they have +extraordinary claims upon our beloved Victoria, having granted us that +boon we long demanded in vain from former Ministers. + +The Despatch officially announces that Earl Grey is to bring in a Bill +for the Separation of this, from the Middle District at last, and that +we will form a Colony of our own, under the new name of Victoria. The +Constitution of this Colony will to some extent be identified with those +of the other Australian Colonies. + +At present, Earl Grey has put forth simply the general principles; the +details, he says, will form matter for serious consideration and anxious +deliberation. + +We anticipate some of the Sydney papers will be coming out with a +cart-load of nonsense; running down Earl Grey's plan, but we will defend +it from their senseless and ignorant declamation. + +Monday, _July 10th, 1848._ Political Gazette. The Elections. + +Our readers must be aware that the writs for the election of members to +serve in the new Legislative Council of the Colony of New South Wales, +have been issued, and that his Worship the Mayor of Melbourne will hold +a meeting of the electors of the City of Melbourne, in front of the +Supreme Court House, La Trobe St. on Tuesday, 25th day of July, for the +nomination of a member to serve in said Council for the Electoral +District of Melbourne. + +Wednesday, _July 19th, 1848._ The Elections. + +The outrageous attempt to thrust Mr. Adam Bogue upon the District, as +one of our members for the Legislative Council, has displayed that we +are looked upon as a refuge for the destitute; and that the opinion of +Port Phillip in Sydney is, that any beardless boy without name, +character, or property may be raised upon our shoulders into an office +of great influence, and almost supreme importance. + +We have the welfare of the district sincerely at heart, and we advise +the electors to return no members from Sydney. Let them nominate Port +Phillip men and Port Phillip residents whether they can go to Sydney or +not. We entreat the electors not to be made the instrument of +destruction to themselves; let them not elect Sydney members to plunder +Port Phillip. + +Electors, place five Port Phillip men in nomination, and one half of +them may go up to Sydney, who would be worth a thousand Sydney Adam +Bogues. + +Remember that the nomination will take place to-morrow, opposite the +Court House at noon. We have no wish to treat the pretensions of any +person who comes forward as a candidate for a public office with +disrespect; but we cannot regard the attempt of a young man of neither +standing nor capital to thrust himself into the Legislative Council on +Port Phillip influence, other than a piece of impertinence. We should, +however, have passed it unnoticed, had not this very same person +insulted every man in this Province so recently, by endeavouring to +throw Port Phillip out of the line of steam communication with +England--when Port Phillip wanted a friend he gave her a kick, and this +should have been the last district for Mr. Bogue to make an offer of his +services to. + +Wednesday, _July 26th, 1848._ To-day's Election. + +We approved of the principle of returning no members for the Legislative +Council (so far as the District was concerned) and we regret that an +attempt is about to be made to overthrow these proceedings, by returning +a Member for Melbourne in the person of J.F.L. Foster, Esq. + +This is a question upon which, we are aware, some difference of opinion +exists; but, having commenced the principle, so far as the District is +concerned, we ought to carry it out; if we act otherwise it will be +thrown in the teeth of the citizens of Melbourne that they disfranchised +the District and then returned a Member on their own account to +represent their city. + +There required, however, to be unanimity to accomplish this, and some of +the electors having proposed Mr. Foster as a fit and proper person to +represent the City; those who were in favour of carrying out the +principle already adopted at the District Meeting, had nothing left but +to bring forward an opponent to Mr. Foster, and in the person of the +Right Hon. Earl Grey has this opponent been found. + +True, did the City wish to send a practical man, we are willing to +accede that Earl Grey is not in a position to sit and work for us in the +Council, but we wish, by electing a man who cannot act, at any rate for +eighteen months, to carry out the principle which the Electors of the +District have already agreed to be correct; we deem it then the duty of +every honest man in this community to give his vote to Earl Grey, not so +much out of respect for His Lordship, as to carry out a principle; a +principle to which we consider the honour of Melbourne to be pledged. + +Mr. Foster is, no doubt, a very excellent kind of man, but having been +withdrawn by his friends, on the morning of the District Election, we +must look upon him as shelved for the present. Let us then return Earl +Grey as one member, and it may do us more good than we can well conceive +at present, as it will give His Lordship a practical illustration of our +helplessness, and thus hasten on Separation. + +Hasten then, electors to the poll! and record your vote in favour of +Earl Grey and SEPARATION!! + +The Poll commences at Nine o'clock this morning. + +Saturday, _July 29th._ Domestic Gazette. Election of a Representative +for the City of Melbourne.--On Wednesday last, no little commotion was +created by the election of a member (nominally) to represent the +interests of the Citizens of Melbourne in the Legislative Council, but +the thinking portion of the community having arrived at the conclusion +that representation in the Legislative Council at Sydney, under existing +circumstances, was a farce, had determined, virtually, upon adopting a +similar course to that pursued at the nomination of Candidates for the +District, and the Right Hon. Earl Grey was consequently proposed as a +fit and proper person to represent our interests in the Legislative +Council, and this proposition, with two or three exceptions, met with +unanimous approval at the meeting. After the first hour's polling, it +was clear that Mr. Foster had no chance, and as this became more and +more apparent as the day advanced, some hundreds of voters who had +intended to support the favourite were deterred from doing so under a +conviction that their votes would not be required, and the unfavourable +state of the weather counteracted the desire to be present at the scene +of action. It was understood that the Mayor would, on the following day, +declare on whom the election had fallen, and at noon, many hundred +persons and, notwithstanding the still unfavourable state of the +weather, assembled outside the supreme Court House, and a few minutes +afterwards the excellent Band of the Total Abstinence Society, might be +seen wending their way to the spot, headed by Mr. J.P. Fawkner. + +The Mayor addressed the Meeting as follows:--"Gentlemen, I have called +you together again for the purpose of declaring on whom the late +election has fallen, but previously to doing so I will read two +protests, one of which has been sent to a deputy returning officer, and +the other to myself." His worship then read the protests, which are as +follows:--"I, the undersigned burgher of Bourke Ward, do hereby protest +against the Returning Officer receiving any votes for the Right Hon. +Earl Grey, on the following grounds:-- + +"First, that Earl Grey as a Peer of the British Parliament cannot hold a +seat in a Colonial House of Legislative Representation. + +"Second, That he cannot move Her Majesty in two distinct Legislatures. + +"Third, That he is not qualified according to the Act. + +"Fourth, That he is an absentee, and there is no one present to +represent him--to state that he will sit if elected. + +(Signed) "Sidney Stephen, Barrister-at-law." + +The Mayor remarked that these protests were very respectably signed, and +were deserving of attention, but although they were signed by numerous +lawyers he believed he was relieved of all difficulty on the subject by +being guided by the 96th clause of the Constitutional Act which rendered +it imperative that all complaints of this nature must be addressed in +the form of a petition to the Governor and must be addressed by one of +the candidates, or one-tenth of the whole of the electors. Several other +authorities were then referred to by His Worship, who expressed himself +thoroughly satisfied as to the course he ought to pursue, and announced +the following as the final state of the Poll in the Respective Wards. + + WARDS GREY FOSTER + Gipps Ward . . 50 . . 17 + La Trobe Ward . . 102 . . 15 + Bourke Ward . . 43 . . 32 + Lonsdale Ward . . 100 . . 28 + ___ ___ + 295 92 + +leaving a majority for Earl Grey of 203, who was declared amidst +enthusiastic cheering, to be duly elected as a member of the Legislative +Council for the Electoral District of the City of Melbourne. + + + + +GOLD + ++Source.+--A Lady's Visit to the Gold Diggings of Australia in 1852-53 +(Mrs. Charles Clacy), pp. 19-29, 82-85 + + Gold was discovered in Australia at a time when the people of every + nation in Europe were demanding a greater share in their respective + governments. Many who immigrated in search of gold took a leading + part in making the Australian Governments democratic. + + +Melbourne, 1852.--The non-arrival of the Mail-steamer left us now no +other care save the all-important one of procuring food and shelter. +Scouts were accordingly despatched to the best hotels; they returned +with long faces--"full." The second-rate, and in fact every respectable +inn and boarding or lodging-house were tried, but with no better +success. Here and there, a solitary bed could be obtained, but for our +digging-party entire, which consisted of my brother, four shipmates, and +myself, no accommodation could be procured, and we wished, if possible, +to keep together. "It's a case," ejaculated one. At this moment the two +last searchers approached, their countenances not quite so woebegone as +before. "Well?" exclaimed we all in chorus, as we surrounded them, too +impatient to interrogate at greater length. Thank Heavens! they had been +successful! The housekeeper of a surgeon, who with his wife had just +gone up to Forest Creek, would receive us to board and lodge for thirty +shillings a week each: but as the accommodation was of the indifferent +order, it was not yet as _une affaire arrangée_. On farther inquiry, we +found the indifferent accommodation consisted in there being but one +small sleeping-room for the gentlemen, and myself to share the bed and +apartment of the temporary mistress. This was vastly superior to +gipsying in the dirty streets, so we lost no time in securing our new +berths; and ere very long, with appetites undiminished by these petty +anxieties, we did ample justice to the dinner which our really kindly +hostess quickly placed before us. + +The first night on shore after so long a voyage could scarcely seem +otherwise than strange, one missed the eternal rocking at which so many +grumble on board ship. Dogs (Melbourne is full of them) kept up an +incessant barking; revolvers were cracking in all directions till +daybreak, giving one a pleasant idea of the state of society. The next +few days were busy ones for all, though rather dismal to me, as I was +confined almost entirely indoors, owing to the awful state of the +streets; for in the colonies, at this season of the year, one may go out +prepared for fine weather, with blue sky above, and dry underfoot, and +in less than an hour, should a _colonial_ shower come on, be unable to +cross some of the streets without a plank being placed from the middle +of the road to the pathway, or the alternative of walking in water up to +the knees. + +Our party, on returning to the ship the day after our arrival, witnessed +the French-leave-taking of all her crew, who, during the absence of the +Captain, jumped overboard, and were quickly picked up and landed by the +various boats about. This desertion of the ships by the sailors is an +every-day occurrence; the diggings themselves, or the large amount they +could obtain for the run home from another master, offer too many +temptations. Consequently, our passengers had the amusement of hauling +up from the hold their different goods and chattels; and so great was +the confusion, that fully a week elapsed before they were all got to +shore. Meanwhile, we were getting initiated into colonial prices--money +did, indeed, take to itself wings and fly away. Fire-arms were at a +premium; one instance will suffice--my brother sold a six-barrelled +revolver for which he had given sixty shillings at Baker's, in Fleet +Street, for sixteen pounds, and the parting with it at that price was +looked upon as a great favour. Imagine boots, and they were very +second-rate ones, at four pounds a pair. One of our between-deck +passengers who had speculated with a small capital of forty pounds in +boots and cutlery, told me afterwards that he had disposed of them the +same evening he landed at a net profit of ninety pounds--no trifling +addition to a poor man's purse. Labour was at a very high price, +carpenters, boot and shoe makers, tailors, wheelwrights, joiners, +smiths, glaziers, and, in fact, all useful trades, were earning from +twenty to thirty shillings a day--the very men working on the roads +could get eleven shillings per diem, and many a gentleman in this +disarranged state of affairs, was glad to fling old habits aside and +turn his hand to whatever came readiest. I knew one in particular, whose +brother is at this moment serving as a Colonel in the army in India, a +man more fitted for a gay London life than a residence in the Colonies. +The diggings were too dirty and uncivilized for his taste, his capital +was quickly dwindling away beneath the expenses of the comfortable life +he led at one of the best hotels in town, so he turned to what as a boy +he had learnt as an amusement, and obtained an addition to his income, +of more than four hundred pounds a year as house carpenter. In the +morning you might see him trudging off to his work, and before night +might meet him at some ball or soirée among the elite of Melbourne. + +I shall not attempt an elaborate description of the town of Melbourne, +or its neighbouring villages. The town is very well laid out; the +streets (which are all straight, running parallel with and across one +another) are very wide, but are incomplete, not lighted, and many are +unpaved. Owing to the want of lamps, few, except when full moon, dare +stir out after dark. Some of the shops are very fair; but the goods all +partake too largely of the flash order, for the purpose of suiting the +tastes of successful diggers, their wives, and families; it is ludicrous +to see them in the shops--men who before the gold-mines were discovered +toiled hard for their daily bread taking off half-a-dozen thick gold +rings from their fingers, and trying to pull on to their rough, +well-hardened hands the best white kids, to be worn at some wedding +party, whilst the wife, proud of the novel ornament, descants on the +folly of hiding them beneath such useless articles as gloves. + +The walking inhabitants are of themselves a study; glance into the +streets--all nations, classes, and costumes are represented there. +Chinamen, with pigtails and loose trousers; aborigines, with a solitary +blanket flung over them; Vandemonian pick-pockets, with cunning eyes and +light fingers--all, in fact, from the successful digger in his blue +serge shirt, and with green veil still hanging round his wideawake, to +the fashionably attired, newly-arrived "gent" from London, who stares +round him in amazement and disgust. You may see, and hear too, some +thoroughly colonial scenes in the streets. Once, in the middle of the +day, when passing up Elizabeth Street, I heard the unmistakable sound of +a mob behind, and as it was gaining upon me, I turned into the enclosed +ground in front of the Roman Catholic Cathedral to keep out of the way +of the crowd. A man had been taken up for horse-stealing, and a rare +ruffianly set of both sexes were following the prisoner and the two +policemen who had him in charge. "If but six of ye were of my mind," +shouted one, "it's this moment you'd release him." The crowd took the +hint, and to it they set with right good will, yelling, swearing, and +pushing with awful violence. The owner of the stolen horse got up a +counter demonstration, and every few yards the procession was delayed by +a trial of strength between the two parties. Ultimately, the police +conquered; but this is not always the case, and often lives are lost and +limbs broken in the struggle, so weak is the force maintained by the +colonial government for the preservation of order. + + +THE DIGGINGS + +Of the history of the discovery of gold in Australia I believe few are +ignorant. The first supposed discovery took place some sixty years ago +at Port Jackson. A convict made known to Governor Phillip the existence +of an auriferous region near Sydney, and on the locality being examined +particles of real gold-dust were found. Every one was astonished, and +several other spots were tried without success. Suspicion was now +excited, and the affair underwent a thorough examination, which elicited +the following facts: The convict, in the hope of obtaining his pardon as +a reward, had filed a guinea and some brass buttons, which, judicially +mixed, made a tolerable pile of gold-dust, and this he carefully +distributed over a small tract of sandy land. In lieu of the expected +freedom, his ingenuity was rewarded with close confinement and other +punishments. Thus ended the first idea of a gold-field in these +colonies. + +Suddenly, in 1851, at the time that the approaching opening of the +Crystal Palace was the principal subject of attention in England, the +colonies of Australia were in a state of far greater excitement; as the +news spread like wildfire, far and wide, that gold was really there. To +Edward Hammon Hargreaves be given the honour of this discovery. This +gentleman was an old Australian settler, just returned from a trip to +California, where he had been struck by the similarity of the geological +formation of the mountain ranges in his adopted country to that of the +Sacramento district. On his return he immediately searched for the +precious metal; Ophir, the Turon, and Bathurst well repaid his labour. +Thus commenced the gold-diggings of New South Wales. + +The good people of Victoria were rather jealous of the importance given +by these events to the other colony. Committees were formed and rewards +were offered for the discovery of a gold-field in Victoria. The +announcement of the Clunes diggings in July 1851 was the result; they +were situated on a tributary of the Lodden. On 8 September those of +Ballarat, and on the 10th those of Mount Alexander completely satisfied +the most sceptical as to the vast mineral wealth of the colony. Bendigo +soon was heard of, and gully after gully successfully attracted the +attention of the public by the display of their golden treasures. + + + + +EFFECTS OF THE GOLD DISCOVERY + ++Source.+--The Gold Digger (Rev. David Mackenzie, M.A.), pp. 28-31 + + +The excitement produced throughout the colonies, but especially in +Sydney and Melbourne, by the publication of the gold discovery, may be +inferred from the following facts: In one week upwards of 2,000 persons +were counted on the road to the Bathurst diggings, and only eleven +coming down. Hundreds of men, of all classes and conditions, threw up +their situations, and leaving their wives and families behind them, +started for the diggings. Whole crews ran away from their ships, which +were left to rot in our harbours, the men having willingly forfeited all +their wages, clothes, etc. Within one week the prices of the following +goods rose twenty-five per cent. in Sydney: flour, tea, sugar, rice, +tobacco, warm clothing, and boots. Throughout all the towns nothing was +saleable but provisions and diggers' tools and clothing. Every man who +could handle a pick or spade was off, or preparing to be off, for the +gold-fields. The roads were crowded with travellers, carriages, gigs, +drays, carts, and wheelbarrows; mixed up in one confused assemblage +might be seen magistrates, lawyers, physicians, clerks, tradesmen, and +labourers. + +The building of houses, bridges, etc., was suspended for want of +tradesmen, nearly all of them having gone to the diggings. Many houses +might be seen half-finished for want of men to proceed with the work, +though the owners or contractors were offering enormously high wages to +any that would complete the work. The fields were left unsown, flocks of +sheep were deserted by their shepherds. With one stockholder who has +twenty thousand sheep, there remained only two men. Masters were seen +driving their own drays; and ladies of respectability and ample means +were obliged to cook the family dinner. Servants and apprentices were +off in a body; and even the very "devils" bolted from the newspaper +offices; in short, the yellow fever seized on all classes of society. In +twenty-four hours prices of provisions doubled at Bathurst and the +neighbouring places. In all our steamers and trading vessels the rate of +passage was raised, in consequence of the necessary increase in the +wages of seamen. All the trades held their meetings, at which a new +tariff of charges was agreed upon; and even the publicans raised at +least twenty-five per cent. the prices of their wines, beer, and +spirits. + +Van Diemen's Land and New Zealand poured upon our shores shiploads of +adventurers, attracted by the golden news; and South Australia is now +almost drained of its labouring population, one of the consequences of +which is that the shares in the famous Burra Burra copper mines there +have fallen from £230 to £45, a fall which has entailed ruin on +hundreds. + +In walking along the streets of Sydney or Melbourne you hear nothing +talked about but gold; you see nothing exhibited in shop windows but +specimens of gold, or some article of equipment for the gold-digger. In +every society gold is the interminable topic of conversation; and +throughout the colonies the only newspapers now read are those which +contain intelligence from our golden fields. + +Soon after the discovery the Government of New South Wales, seeing that +it could not prevent the community from digging for gold on Crown lands, +quietly made virtue of necessity, and merely sought to legalize and +regulate the diggings by the following announcement, published in the +"Official Gazette": + + +THE GOLD MINES + +Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, _23rd May, 1851._ + +Licenses to Dig and Search for Gold. + +With reference to the Proclamation issued on the 22nd May instant, +declaring the rights of the Crown in respect to Gold found in its +natural place of deposit within the territory of New South Wales, His +Excellency the Governor, with the advice of the Executive Council, has +been pleased to establish the following Provisional Regulations, under +which Licenses may be obtained, to search for, and remove the same: + +1. From and after the first day of June next, no person will be +permitted to dig, search for, or remove gold on or from any land, +whether public or private, without first taking out and paying for a +License in the form annexed. + +2. For the present, and pending further proof of the extent of the +Gold-field, the License fee has been fixed at £1 10_s._ per month, to be +paid in advance; but it is to be understood that the rate is subject to +future adjustment, as circumstances may render expedient. + +3. The Licenses can be obtained on the spot, from the Commissioner who +has been appointed by His Excellency the Governor, to carry these +regulations into effect, and who is authorized to receive the fee +payable thereon. + +4. No person will be eligible to obtain a License, or the renewal of a +License, unless he shall produce a certificate of discharge from his +last service, or prove to the satisfaction of the Commissioner that he +is not a person improperly absent from hired service. + +5. Rules, adjusting the extent and position of land to be covered by +each License and for the prevention of confusion, and the interference +of one License with another will be the subject of early regulation. + +6. With reference to lands alienated by the Crown, in fee simple, the +Commissioner will not be authorized for the present to issue Licenses +under the regulations to any persons but the proprietors, or persons +authorized by them in writing to apply for the same. + +By his Excellency's command, + +E. FEAS THOMSON. + + + + +VICTORIA IN 1854 + ++Source.+--The Golden Colony (G.H. Wathen, 1855), pp. 49-53, 78-81 + + +Even on the spot it is often very difficult to learn when, by whom, and +in what manner, a new gold district is first discovered. When the yield +of an old working begins to fail, the diggers throw out small +"prospecting" parties of twos and threes, to explore promising +localities. These "prospectors" may occasionally make important +discoveries; but far more frequently they are the result of chance, or +of the desultory efforts of shepherds and other servants of the settlers +resident in the particular locality. It sometimes happens that a digging +party, travelling from one district to another, camp for a night in a +valley which they may think looks very promising. Being delayed here, +perhaps, by the loss of their horse, or some other accident, they sink a +pit or "hole" in a "likely spot." At length some one strikes a rich +deposit. If so, it cannot long remain a secret. A few dozens or scores +are shortly at work on the adjacent ground; and if these too are +successful the news spreads like wild-fire, and within a week all the +roads and tracks leading to the spot are covered with diggers and their +carts, on the way to the new Dorado--the _newest_ being always by report +the _best_ and richest. In a few days the hills around the new working +are dotted over with white tents, the forest around them quickly +disappears, being felled for firewood. Government, on hearing of the +discovery, sends down a Commissioner with a body of horse and foot +police. These establish a camp on some central elevated position, and an +irregular wide street of tents springs up like magic in the valley +below. There are stores, large and small; butchers' shops; doctors' +little tents; and innumerable refreshment booths, where, under the guise +of selling lemonade and home-made beer, an extensive illicit trade is +carried on in vile, adulterated, and often poisonous spirits. The +blacksmith is always one of the first on the ground, and presently +extemporises a forge out of a few loose stones or turf-sods. Flags are +flying from the stores and shops, and give gaiety to the scene. The +Union Jack floats proudly above the Government camp on the hill, and +military sentinels are on duty before the gold-tent. + +As the diggers reach the spot they pitch their tents on the lower slopes +of the hills or in the green flats. At night their watch-fires gleam far +and wide, and from a neighbouring height the place has the appearance of +a large town illuminated. A new goldfield is the favourite resort of +horse stealers, thieves, and miscreants of all kinds, who, lost in the +crowd and confusion, here find ample opportunities for carrying on their +nefarious practices. Their common haunts are the "sly grog-shops" which +spring up like weeds on all sides. Here they rendezvous, and concoct +those deeds of darkness which have given the colony such an unenviable +fame. + +Horses are stolen and ridden off to Melbourne, Geelong, or to the +nearest goldfield and sold by auction. The roads leading to the new +diggings become infested with bushrangers; stories of being "stuck up" +(or robbed) are more and more frequent; till at length a cartload of +ruffians, heavily handcuffed, is seen moving towards the Government Camp +well guarded by mounted troopers. These are the bushrangers who have +been hunted down and just captured by the troopers. And now for a time +the roads are safe. + +No life can be more independent and free than that of the Australian +digger; no travelling more agreeable than summer travelling in the Bush; +carrying about with you in your cart your tent, your larder, and all +your domestic appointments. In choosing a halting place for the night +you have the whole country open to you--no walls or hedges to shut you +in to a dusty turnpike road. You drink from the clear running creek; the +soft green turf is your carpet; your tent your bedroom. Your horse duly +hobbled, enjoys the fresh pasturage around. The nearest fallen tree +supplies you with fuel for your evening fire. + +One of the most fruitful sources of discontent was the method of +collecting the gold revenue. When the first discoveries were made at +Ballarat, the Melbourne Government, following the example of that at +Sydney, issued regulations by which all miners were required to procure +a monthly license to dig for gold, and to pay 30_s._ for the same. But +how was this tax to be enforced among a migratory population, living in +tents scattered through a forest? The mode adopted was, to send out +armed bands of police, who, coming down suddenly on a gully or flat, +spread themselves over it demanding of everyone his license. A few +mounted troopers formed part of the force to cut off defaulters who +might attempt to fly. All who could not produce their license were +captured and marched off, probably some miles, to the nearest +magistrates, and, after some detention, were either fined £5, or +imprisoned for a month. Such a system naturally led to great discontent +and irritation. At some of the goldfields a curious plan was hit upon +for evading these inquisitorial visits. No sooner was a party of police +seen approaching than the diggers raised the cry of "Joe! Joe!" The cry +was taken up, and presently the whole length of the gully rang with the +shouts "Joe! Joe! Joe!" and of course all defaulters instantly made off +for the depths of the forest. + +The dissatisfaction was exasperated by the method of collecting the +license fee. The collector did not call on the tax payer, but the latter +had to seek the collector. The digger was compelled to walk from his own +gully to the Commissioner's Camp--distant, perhaps, several miles--and +then often wait for hours under a fierce sun while a crowd of others, +who had arrived before him, were paying their 30_s._, or weighing their +half ounce of gold. Greater facilities were indeed subsequently offered +for the payment of the fee, but the mode of enforcing it continued the +same. The diggers complained loudly and unceasingly of these harsh and +un-English measures. "First you tax our labour," said they, "and then +you collect your tax at the point of the bayonet." The dislike of the +system was universal; disputes were frequent, and collisions between the +police and diggers sometimes occurred. + +Another of the diggers' grievances was the extreme insecurity of life +and property on the mines. While the police force were snugly housed at +headquarters, in a peaceable and orderly neighbourhood, the populous and +remote gullies were the nightly scenes of deeds of robbery and violence. +Every evening men were knocked down and brutally treated or "stuck up" +and robbed. Every night horses were stolen, tents broken into, and +"holes" plundered of gold by the "night fossickers"--miscreants who +watched for the richest "holes" during the day, marked them, and +plundered them at night. In October 1852 at a place called Moonlight +Flat (near Forest Creek), these desperadoes had become so numerous and +shameless, and their outrages so frequent, that the miners rose _en +masse_ against them. A public meeting was convened; blue-shirted diggers +made stirring appeals to their auditory; a deputation was appointed to +proceed instantly to Melbourne to remonstrate with the Government, and +to implore it to adopt energetic measures for extirpating the "hordes of +ruffians" that infested their neighbourhood, and the persons of many of +whom were well known there. + + + + +THE BUSHRANGERS + ++Source.+--The Golden Colony (G.H. Wathen, 1855), pp. 138, 143-150 + + The combination of convictism in Tasmania and gold in Victoria and + New South Wales produced bushranging on a large scale. Convicts now + had a chance of living well if they escaped, and many took + advantage of the opportunity. + + +If the Australian roads in winter may be well likened to those English +roads of 200 years ago, out of which the King's Coach had to be dug by +the rustics, so may the Australian Bushranger be regarded as the +legitimate representative of the traditionary highwayman who levied toll +at Highgate, or stopped the post-boy and captured the mailbags in Epping +Forest. The real, living bushranger is, however, more of a ruffian and +less of a hero than our ideal highwayman; for time, like distance, +softens down the harsh and the coarse, and gives dignity to the ignoble. + +Never, perhaps, did a country offer so tempting a field to the public +robber as Victoria did during the first year or two after the gold +discovery. The interior was wild and uninhabited, abounding with lonely +forests. Travellers were numerous, and mostly carried money or gold; for +none were poor. The roadside public-houses were daily the scenes of +drunken revelry. The police were few and untrained; and the mixed and +scattered population at the several diggings offered a ready asylum in +case of pursuit. Add to all this that, separated from Victoria by a mere +strait, was the depot for the most accomplished villains of Great +Britain, and it needed no prophet to foresee that the roads of the new +gold country would very soon be swarming with thieves and desperadoes. + +It is no uncommon occurrence in the Australian Colonies for a large +number of shearers or others collected in the hut in the country to be +"stuck up," that is, subdued and bound, by two or three determined +bushrangers. Fifteen or sixteen strong active men may be thus treated, +and have been, frequently. At first, one is ready to conclude either +that they must have a private understanding with the robbers or else be +the veriest poltroons. I thought so myself till I had an account of one +of these affairs from a man who had been one of a large party thus +"stuck up" by two very notorious bushrangers, the life and death of +whom, would furnish materials for a romance. Their names were Dalton +and Kelly, and they will long be famous in the annals of daring and +outrage in Van Diemen's Land. + +Dalton was a stout, powerful man, and about thirty years of age at the +time of the rencontre I am about to describe. His accomplice Kelly, was +about twenty-three years old. They were both prisoners of the Crown in +Van Diemen's Land. Dalton was transported at an early age, and had for a +time been confined in the "Ocean Hell" of Norfolk Island, the gaol of +the double-damned convict; but was afterwards taken back to Van Diemen's +Land. From the same informant I learned some particulars of their +escape. They were confined in a penal establishment on a strait or an +arm of the sea, wide enough, it was thought, to preclude the possibility +of flight. Dalton, Kelly, and five or six other prisoners, however, +weary of a wretched life, determined to risk that life for liberty; and +having one day eluded the vigilance of their guards, attempted, though +their legs were weighed down with fetters, to swim to the opposite +shore. One after another their strength failed them; they sank and +disappeared till at length only Kelly and Dalton survived. Kelly's +strength was rapidly waning, when Dalton called out to him "Catch hold +of me, Kelly! I can swim another hour yet." + +When at last they both got safe to land, Dalton exclaimed, "Well, thank +God, I shall have one comrade at any rate." + +They now quickly freed themselves from their irons, procured arms, and, +knowing that they would certainly be hotly pursued they at once started +on a marauding expedition, visiting the neighbouring stations in +succession, and pillaging each; intending eventually, to make their way +across Bass's Straits to Victoria. Dalton was a very formidable fellow; +strong, active, and resolute, reckless of human life, and now rendered +desperate by despair. He was, too, a first-rate marksman, and could +"stick up a glass bottle." + +What follows is an account given me by my informant. Kelly came up to +the hut, which was full of men. I was standing at the door at the time, +but did not know who the man was. When he came close he asked me if I +had heard that the bushrangers were out. I answered "Yes, I had." Then +he pointed his gun at me, and said "I'm one of them. Go into the hut." I +went in, but on turning round I saw one of my mates standing against the +hut in a corner, with another man standing over him, covering him with +his gun. The other was Dalton, Kelly's mate. After I had gone into the +hut, Kelly stood at the open doorway, with his gun pointed at those +inside, swearing he would murder the first man who moved an inch. There +were about fourteen men in the hut. Then he asked if there were any +prisoners among them. One man said that he was. Kelly then ordered him +to tie their arms together, one by one. + +While doing so, one man complained that he was being tied too tight; but +this only drew forth another volley of oaths and threats from Kelly. +When all were secured, Kelly went out to assist Dalton who still stood +over the man whom he had pinned to the wall of the hut, threatening to +shoot him if he stirred. Kelly then tied up his hands while Dalton +continued covering him with the gun. He was then marched into the hut to +join the others. And now Dalton began walking up and down the hut +haranguing his prisoners. "He'd no doubt" he said "that some of them +might be good and honest men, and some scoundrels. That for his part, he +wouldn't hurt a hair of any good man's head, if he could help it. But he +had been forced to take to this sort of life. It wasn't his fault. He +had been lagged (transported) when only twelve years of age; had since +then over and over again tried to obtain his freedom by good conduct; +but they wouldn't give it him, and it was useless to try any more by +fair means. And he had now sworn to gain his freedom, or lose his life +in the attempt. He didn't want to hurt anyone. What he wanted was money; +and money he would have, come what, come might. He'd show them presently +whether he was game or not. He'd go into the master's house and bring +out, single-handed the man he wanted, no matter how many he might find +there. But let them beware. If any man dared to move or tried to escape +he swore he'd scatter his brains about the yard, and blow the roof off +his head." + +Dalton now left the hut, and went to the house of the settler, their +master, which was close at hand. All this time the household knew +nothing of what had been passing in the hut. He entered, and went +straight up to the sitting-room, where several gentlemen and ladies +happened to be collected. He opened the door, and deliberately advanced +with his gun pointed at those within. But a lady, who chanced to be +behind the door, on seeing the levelled gun, slammed the door in the +robber's face. This was a timely diversion, and the signal for a +general scattering of those present. + +The men in the hut were subsequently tried for collusion with the +bushrangers; but when asked how they could suffer two men to "stick up" +so many, one replied to the magistrate, that, with their permission, he +would himself "stick up" the whole Bench. + +The free servants were acquitted; those of the party who were prisoners +of the Crown were sentenced to imprisonment; but on Government being +petitioned by their free mates, who protested the innocence of all, they +were liberated. + +After this the two bushrangers boldly carried on their depredations, +roaming about from station to station, "sticking up" the men, and +robbing the masters; while a large party of the police were following on +their track. One day they came to a hut full of men, and, opening the +door, tried the old plan of intimidation by standing with loaded +double-barrelled pieces in the doorway, and threatening with deep oaths +to "drop" the first man of them, who moved hand or foot. But it happened +that several of the pursuing constables were within the hut. One of +them, named Buckmaster, rushed towards Dalton. The robber fired and the +constable fell dead. Dalton still stood unmoved in the doorway, with his +levelled gun, and calmly said "Ah, how d'ye like that? Now, then, I'm +ready for another!" This coolness saved them both and for a time they +escaped capture. But such an outrage on one of their officers roused the +Government. A large reward was offered for the capture of the two +bushrangers, and they were hunted through the island more hotly than +ever. + +Driven to desperation, they seized upon a whaleboat; by threats pressed +four boatmen into their service, and actually compelled them to work the +boat across Bass's Straits to the opposite shores of Victoria. Here they +safely landed on the solitary coast of Western Port and made their way +up to Melbourne. News of the escape of these formidable and +blood-stained freebooters had been immediately transmitted to the +authorities of Victoria. As they had left Van Diemen's Land in an open +whaleboat, there was no doubt but that they would make for the Western +Port shores; and the Victoria police, stimulated by the hope of a large +reward, were keenly looking out for two persons answering to the +published description of the robbers. The boatmen who had conveyed them +across the Strait were seen and arrested at Dandenong, between Western +Port and the Capital; but no further trace of the bushrangers could be +obtained. The Melbourne newspapers furnish us with the conclusion of the +tragedy. + +The following account of the capture of the chief of these desperadoes, +from the Melbourne "Argus" is more like a page from a romance than a +passage in real life. It is one more instance of what appears like a +special Providence laying its resistless hand on a murderer at the very +moment when he seemed to have secured his escape, and dragging him forth +to public justice. Within four hours after his capture, Dalton would +have been on board a ship bound for England. + +"Between eleven and twelve o'clock on Friday night, Dalton entered a +coffee-shop in Bourke Street, in company with a man who had engaged to +put him on board the _Northumberland_ at daylight the next morning from +Sandridge, and for which he was to pay £4. This man, we understand, was +quite ignorant of the person he was bargaining with. Dalton asked the +proprietors of the shop, if they could change him some Van Diemen's Land +Notes for gold, as he was about to embark for England. They could not do +it, but a gentleman named Brice, formerly a cadet in the police force, +suspecting all was not right, said that he could, as he was a +gold-broker, if Dalton would only accompany him to his office. To this +Dalton consented, and placed three £20 and one £10 notes of the +Launcestoun Bank in his hands. They then left the shop together; the +night was extremely dark; the stranger, however, led the way, Dalton and +the boatman following close behind. After proceeding some little way, +they turned into Little Collins St. and by the back entrance, into the +yard of the Police Court. Here it was so dark that the outline of the +building could not be distinguished. The guide then showed them the door +of his alleged office which was no other then the clerk's room of the +Swanston St. watch-house. The man at the door was in plain clothes, and +within were several of the detective officers, and two +watch-housekeepers at the books, all, however, in private costume. Once +in, Mr. Brice stated that he had brought these men to the station on +suspicion of having come by the notes wrongfully. + +"Dalton at this time must have known where he was, but made no +observation beyond affirming that they were his, and making some +remarks relative to his being brought there on so paltry an accusation. +During this he was smoking a cigar, and behaving himself in a careless +nonchalant manner. Meanwhile, the detectives were making use of their +eyes, and seeing if the descriptions they possessed corresponded with +the figures before them. The watch-house keeper finding that Mr. Brice +had no charge to prefer against him, returned Dalton his notes, who was +about to leave the office, when Detectives Williams, Murray, and Eason +pounced upon him, and fixed him in a corner. Dalton endeavoured to draw +a pistol from his belt, but was prevented and overpowered. Finding +himself mastered, he said, 'You have got the reward of £500. My name is +Dalton!' He then said if he had only seen the bars of the station-house +window, as he was entering, he would have sent a ball through his +conductor. He further said that he had been in the Police Court that +morning, and had recollected going up a flight of steps which he did not +see that night, as he had been led in the back way, and had he but seen +these steps, his guide would have been a dead man. He was then +handcuffed and searched, and two large horse-pistols heavily loaded and +capped, besides a small one, were taken from his belt; he was then +locked up." + +Kelly, the other accomplice, was arrested the next day, and both were +sent back to Van Diemen's Land, tried, and executed. + + + + +ANTI-TRANSPORTATION MOVEMENT + ++Source.+--Port Phillip Gazette, 21st January 1851 + + The uselessness of protests against Transportation from the various + states, proved the necessity for the whole of Australia to act + together in external affairs. Thus the inauguration of the + Anti-Transportation League was the first step towards Federation. + + +BREAKFAST TO THE TASMANIAN DELEGATES + +On Monday, the members and promotors of the Launceston Association for +securing the cessation of transportation, entertained at Public +breakfast the gentlemen delegated to represent the interests of the +Colony at the Australian Conference, which is about to be held in +Melbourne. A cold collation was prepared at the Cornwall, and about 100 +gentlemen sat down, amongst whom were many magistrates and gentlemen +representing the most influential and respectable portions of the +northern and midland districts. Breakfast being concluded, the Chairman +rose, and said, it was a matter of pleasure to him to meet so large and +respectable a body of gentlemen, some of whom he had known for a quarter +of a century. They had not assembled to petition; it was a truth +deplorable and sad that petitions had hitherto been unavailing and they +were now met to force from Her Majesty's Government, relief from an evil +of which history presented no parallel. (Hear, hear.) Petition after +petition had been transmitted home, but the prayers of the Community had +been constantly rejected. It now remained to try other means. + +The Rev. J. West rose and said he felt some embarrassment in addressing +that meeting. He, however, felt grateful for their recognition of his +appointment, and should rely on their indulgence during the few moments +he might address them. The colonists had been led up to a position from +which it was impossible to recede. Van Diemen's Land must obtain a share +in the general freedom, or for ever sink. They had petitioned for a +cessation of transportation; whilst there was a possibility of the other +colonies receiving a portion of the convicts annually sent from Britain, +they expected by the more general distribution to experience some +relief. But the resistance of the other colonies had removed the faint +anticipation, and shut up to us this last hope--to our union with them. +When it was proposed to solicit the co-operation of the adjacent +colonies, some persons prophesied a failure; it was thought by some, +improbable that the colonies would feel any interest in our fate. But +the heart of an Englishman is ever susceptible of pity; and when we +spoke of our wrongs they listened; and when we exposed the enormous +danger, they consulted their own safety, and came forward to our help. +Let us look well to our position. We have to change the policy and +contend against the power of a mighty Empire. In the effervescence and +excitement of public speaking it was not at all surprising that a threat +should sometimes be uttered; but many years must elapse before an appeal +to physical force would bear even the semblance of reason. We have, then +a mighty Empire to contend against--one which can laugh our threatening +to scorn. And what are the weapons we must employ? What, but the weapons +of truth? We must diffuse right information; we must expose our +wrongs--and we must appeal to the justice of the British Nation. Let +the evils and injuries under which this fair domain of the Crown now +suffers, be laid before the English people, and a cry will be heard from +Land's End to the opposite shore, "transportation shall cease because it +degrades the British name." (Cheers.) The injuries resulting from +transportation to the colony are various. A gentleman, however eminent +his station and virtues, going to a distant part of the world must +cautiously suppress the fact, that he came from Van Diemen's Land, or +even this quarter of the globe. (Hear, hear.) Yes, Sir, our sons, who +have quitted this colony in search of a home denied them in the land of +their birth, have been compelled to conceal the place from which they +came, and to drop into the box, by stealth, those letters which were to +relieve parental anxiety, and express their filial affection. And is +this to be for ever endured? Shall our own children never know the +pleasure and pride of patriotism? Shall we not ask all the colonies of +the Australian empire to aid us in our struggle? Shall we not confide in +the justice of Australasia? + +When it is said that England cannot support 4,000 or 5,000 offenders the +question naturally occurs: What has she not done? Did not England for +her Continental wars incur a debt of £800,000,000: did she not give +£20,000,000 to free her West India slaves; did she not expend £7,000,000 +to combat the famine of Ireland? Is not the proposed expenditure for the +National Executive of the present year an evidence of her boundless +opulence? And yet to save a trifling outlay compared with the injustice +now done, the representative of Her Majesty is compelled to carry about +under his skirts a parcel of convictism; to deposit these tokens of +imperial interest he is driven to have recourse to artifice, trickery +and falsehood. (Hear, hear.) As England glories in her past history, and +has found means to keep afloat that flag which has never been lowered; +so she must find means to carry on a nobler struggle with her own +poverty and crime. Hitherto, Van Diemen's Land has not been heard at +home; but if by the united voices of the other colonies, a sort of +telegraphic communication can be opened with Britain, if a speaking +trumpet be formed, we shall be heard. When he (Mr. West) heard that +Ministers had departed from their promise that transportation should +cease, he was astonished and desponding--he thought that if a promise so +solemnly given could be so recklessly broken, hope was delusion. But as +in the moral, so it is in the political world. The Divine Being +frequently ordains that good shall arise out of apparent evils; that a +tedious delay shall make the remedy more perfect. Had we been relieved +when Ministers promised; then, transportation to the other colonies +would have been continued, and its evils accumulate there. (Hear, hear.) +When it was proposed that all the colonies should receive a share of +convicts, all things considered, he, (the speaker) for one could not +have then objected to Van Diemen's Land being joined in the co-partnery. +Had such been the case a century might have elapsed before the reproach +of convictism had been removed from this hemisphere. But the refusal of +the other colonies occasioned by the injuries inflicted on this, has +roused us all into action, and now all declare that not a man, no, not +one--in fetters shall be landed in Australia. (Tremendous cheering.) + +If an unfortunate offender becomes as a penitent desirous of amending +his life, and disposed to conform to the usages, and claims of honest +society, he will find no man here spitefully to remind him of his former +errors. But if he is brought wearing the badge of disgrace we will not +have him. We will say to the British Government "Until you can with +safety discharge him into your community, he shall not enter ours." +(Loud Cheers.) This is the righteous principle upon which we have taken +our stand. Whilst we were disputing among ourselves who should bear the +load, we were likely to be sacrificed by our ungenerous divisions. But +we have now a new principle; and a principle is a wedge--if sufficient +force is applied, every obstacle will be riven into shivers. We now say +that no man should be an involuntary gaoler, much less shall the +inhabitants of these colonies be the penal slaves and gaolers of the +British Empire. (Cheers.) We assert that a community should deal with +its own crime, at least so deal with it that in its disposal it shall +not injure those who never offended--so at least that the honest and +industrious labourer should not be brought into unfavourable comparison +and competition with the hardened criminal, so that, at all events our +sons shall not be driven from their homes to seek employment in distant +lands--to meet there suspicion and contempt. These are the wrongs of +which we complain--wrongs which could never have been perpetrated but in +oblivion of that first great Law, alike the basis of private and public +virtue: "do unto others as ye would that they should do unto you." The +Rev. gentleman resumed his seat amidst loud and prolonged cheering. + +W.P. WESTON, ESQ.--It was with mingled feelings that he rose to address +that meeting; but when he ascertained that Mr. West was to accompany +him, he lost all fear, and at once accepted the invitation. + +It had not been considered necessary to furnish them with written +instructions how to act; it was left entirely to their own judgement; +they had, as it were, a _carte blanche_; but he thought it advisable to +mention one or two points towards which he and his colleague would +direct public attention on the other side of the Straits. The first was, +that transportation as hitherto conducted, was altogether and entirely +rotten. He anticipated no very great difficulty in establishing that +point. The next was, that no country had a right to force its crime upon +a distant and unoffending one; it was a moral wrong. He was much struck +at a remark which appeared in the Public journals in Melbourne. It seems +to have been the custom of some persons to collect all the filth and +rubbish from their persons and during the night to force it upon the +premises of their neighbours. Now, these persons were designed +miscreants, the paragraph commenced "the miscreants have been at work +again." But he considered that the Government who would force a mass of +moral filth upon a small and helpless colony were miscreants in the very +worst sense of the term. (Hear, hear.) However severely the evils of +convictism may have been felt in this community, they will be felt at +Melbourne in a greater degree. Any evil may be counter-balanced and +perhaps removed, if it can only be seen. The convicts come to this land +under restraint and are completely at the disposal of the Government, +but after completing their education in a chain-gang, and filling up, as +it were, the measure of their iniquity they go over there where they are +unknown to the police and consequently their crimes escape detection. +The very worst characters amongst us proceed to the neighbouring +colonies as soon as an opportunity offers. This fact accounts for the +insecurity of property at Melbourne. A short time ago he was there and +not more than two or three days after his arrival the linen which had +been put out for washing, was stolen. Shortly after whilst the family +were sitting at tea, information was given that the bedroom window was +open and upon proceeding to ascertain the cause it was discovered that +a thief had effected an entrance and carried off whatever he could lay +his hands upon. + +A letter lately received mentions that six gentlemen's horses in one +locality had been robbed and that Melbourne was full of thieves. (A +laugh.) No opportunity had previously offered of talking to the +Melbourne people upon the subject, they were so occupied in endeavours +to obtain separation from Sydney that every question was lost sight of; +but now the matter was settled he did not apprehend any difficultly in +establishing this point also. + +We are a loyal people, and have given abundant proof of our loyalty; but +it is not an unalterable principle. There is an old Spanish +proverb--"The sweetest wine makes the sourest vinegar," and so it will +be with us. + +But the British Government must, and will yield, for they will find it +will be to their interest, as well as their duty to grant the reasonable +request of the Australian Colonies. (Cheers.) + +Three cheers were then given for the Chairman, and three more for the +Queen, and the meeting terminated. + + + + +THE LAND QUESTION + +The adjustment of the English land laws to Australian requirements was a +difficult task. The question was discussed in New South Wales in 1855, +but South Australia, under the leadership of Torrens, was the first to +effect reform (1859). + + + + +LAND QUESTION IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA + ++Source.+--Speeches on the Reform of the Law of Real Property (Torrens, +1858), pp. 5-6, 8-11 + + Extract from an address to the Electors of the City of Adelaide + delivered in the Theatre on 31st January, 1857. (From the South + Australian Register of February 2nd, 1857). + + +The next topic which I have put down to address you upon, is one with +respect to which I should have wished to have had time to arrange my +thoughts--it is the cheapening of the law of Conveyancing of real +property. (Applause.) Next to affording fair facilities for obtaining +possession of the waste lands of the Crown, and converting them into +cornfields and homesteads of independent yeomanry, it is the duty of +the State to afford a cheap and at the same time a secure mode of +conveying that property from man to man. (Hear, hear.) I have for years +felt that the law of England in that respect, which we brought with us, +required amendment. In looking also to the laws of other countries with +respect to the transfer, mortgage, or encumbrance of real property, I +have come to the conclusion that the law of England is inferior to most +of them with regard to cost and security of title. The old Conservative +feeling of England adheres with a sort of veneration to laws and usages +respecting title which originated under the feudal system, and is loath +to abandon them for a system adapted to the requirements of modern +civilization. I would illustrate my views by observing that, in ancient +times, before the Wars of the Roses, a baron, or even a yeoman, would +surround his residence with a moat to be crossed only by a drawbridge, +and instead of the convenient door of modern times, he would have a +portcullis, which he would raise or let fall to admit a friend, or +exclude a foe. A visitor, too, would have instead of gaining immediate +access, to sound a horn at an outer gate, and hold parley with a warder +upon a lofty tower, before he could gain admission. There could be no +doubt that all these ceremonies and parleyings were necessary in those +days, but it does not follow that we should carry them out in our times. +Were any person now, to surround his residence with a deep and broad +ditch, and observe those ceremonies when a visitor called upon him, we +would call him insane; yet, that is precisely what we do with regard to +the transfer of real estate, observing still the tortuous roundabout +methods of conveying, resorted to in those days for the purpose of +evading the oppressions of feudalism. Nay, the analogy is so strong, +that in our Law Courts, and Deeds we still use the same barbarous Norman +French jargon in which the parley was in those ancient days held at the +gate of the baronial residence. (Hear, and applause.) It is perhaps +presumptuous of a person who has not received a legal education, to +address his mind to this question; seeing, however, that the persons +who, by ability, and education, are best fit to cope with the subject, +are not willing, or, at least have not done so, I have taken the task +upon myself. (Hear, hear). With your permission, I will give you an +outline of the plan. The purchaser of land from the Crown shall receive +a title deed, a land grant, as at present to be executed in duplicate, +and one copy filed in the Registrar-General's office. When an original +purchaser sells the land to another, he shall transfer it by a simple +memorandum, which being brought to the office of the Registrar-General +the original land grant must be surrendered, and then the Registrar will +issue a new title to the second purchaser direct from the Crown. (Hear, +hear.) This will get over the difficulty of tracing title through all +manner of intricate transactions between purchasers, and instead of a +man having to carry about an immense bale of papers, he would have one +simple document, which would, nevertheless, be a title valid and +indisputable, because it would be an original land grant. (Great +applause.) + + Speech delivered on 4th June, 1857, in the Legislative Assembly by + the Hon. the Treasurer, Mr. Torrens, on the introduction of his + Bill for amending the law relating to the Transfer of Real + Property. + +Mr. Speaker, I do not attempt to remedy the evils complained of, by +amendment of the existing law; that I believe to be impossible: I +propose to abolish a system irremediably wrong in principle, and to +substitute a method which I believe will, when explained, commend itself +to the House as consistent with common sense, perfectly feasible, and +effectual for all purposes required. + +The first and leading principle of the measure which I introduce, is +designed to cut off the very source of all costliness, insecurity, +litigation, by abolishing altogether the system of retrospective titles +and ordaining that as often as the fee simple is transferred, the +existing title must be surrendered to the Crown, and a fresh grant from +the Crown issued to the new proprietor. + +The principle next in importance prescribes that registration _per se_ +and alone shall give validity to transactions affecting land. Deposit of +duplicate of the instrument, together with the record of the transaction +by memorandum entered in the book of registration and endorsed on the +grant by the Registrar-General, to constitute registration. This method +is designed to give confidence and security to purchasers and +mortgagees, through the certainty that nothing affecting the title can +have existence beyond the transactions of which they have notice in the +memoranda endorsed on the grant. + +My third principle aims at simplicity and economy by prescribing certain +stereotyped forms of instruments available to each occasion to be +supplied at the Registry Office, so that any man of ordinary sense and +education may transact his own business, without the necessity of +applying to a solicitor, except in complicated cases of settlements or +entails, which are unusual in this colony. + +Many will admit that the system which I recommend might have been +introduced at the first founding of this colony, with facility and very +great advantage, but doubt its practicability now that titles have +become complicated. Admitting a difficulty, I deny that it is +insurmountable, or such as should cause us to hesitate in securing the +advantage of transfer by registration. I do not propose a scheme +involving violent or arbitrary interference with existing titles, but +would leave it optional with proprietors to avail themselves of it or +not. It will thus be gradual in its operation, yet will put titles in +such a train that the desired result will eventually be obtained. + +Mr. Speaker, I cannot conclude without expressing my grateful sense of +the compliment which the House has paid me, in listening with such +marked attention to an address extended to an unusual length upon a +subject admitted to be dry and unexciting. + +I propose, it is true, a sweeping measure of reform, yet not more +thorough than the nature of the case imperatively demands. In this view, +I am again borne out by the high authority of Lord Brougham, who, in a +speech which I have before quoted, thus expresses himself: "The present +system has grown out of ingenious devices to evade the oppressions of +feudal tyrants, but under it we are subject to the tyranny of the legal +profession, and burdens little less grievous. The reform, to be +effectual, must be thorough. _Delenda est Carthaga_ must be our motto." + + + + +THE LAND QUESTION IN NEW SOUTH WALES + ++Source.+--Fifty Years in the Making of Australian History (Sir Henry +Parkes, 1892), pp. 70-71, 81-90, 148, 153 + + +On July 3, 1855, I, (Sir Henry Parkes) moved for the "appointment of a +Select Committee to enquire into the state of agriculture, with special +reference to the raising of wheaten grain, and to the causes of +hindrance or failure in that pursuit, whether arising from the habits of +the people, the policy of the Government, or the physical character of +the country." To understand the interest that fairly attached to my +motion, we must review, or rather glance at, the state of the colony. +The colony still included the whole of Queensland, and embraced an area +of 978,315 square miles. Men of leading positions with seats in the +Legislature, described it for the most part, as incapable of tillage, +and only fit for grazing sheep and cattle, and for "nomadic tribes." A +population not numbering more than 277,579 souls imported largely its +breadstuffs from South America and other foreign countries. It is now +well known that in all divisions of the colony--north, south, or +west--there are as rich wheat lands as in any part of the world; but +then the mass of the population were densely ignorant of the true +character of the country, and those who knew better, were in too many +instances personally interested in keeping them ignorant. The stories +that were told of the fruitless endeavours of industrious men to obtain +patches of land for a freehold home under the Order-in-Council seem, to +the present generation, like cruel bits of romance. + + + + +APPENDIX TO EVIDENCE OF MR. J. ROBERTSON (before Select Committee.) + + +On entering upon the subject under enquiry by the Committee, it is my +purpose to assume that the state of agriculture in general, and of wheat +culture in particular in the colony, is exceedingly unsatisfactory, and, +if not absolutely declining instead of progressing, is at least so with +reference to population. The causes of hindrance or failure of +agriculture generally, and of the raising of wheat, in particular, I +take to be the first and greatest, that for many years the policy of the +Government of the colony, whatever may have been its object, has +unquestionably tended not only to check the formation of new agriculture +establishments, but to depress existing ones. + +While the agriculturist has been absolutely excluded from leasing any +portion of the public land, and thwarted, harassed and dispirited at +every turn in his efforts to obtain the submittal of such lands to sale, +and subjected to public competition at auction before suffered even then +to purchase, the grazier has been allowed to use them under a system of +leases, affording him the greatest possible facility of possession, and +at the lowest imaginable rental, namely, at the rate of 10_s._ per annum +for 640 acres, with the right, in an overwhelming majority of cases, to +purchase choice spots therefrom, without the slightest delay or trouble +and at the lowest legal price, namely, 20_s._ per acre, and absolutely +without competition. + +Some of the difficulties above alluded to, as attending the purchase of +a farm from the Crown, by any other than the favoured pastoral class, +may be stated thus: The person seeking to do so must first make his +selection--a matter not very easy of attainment, for persons holding +land in a neighbourhood, instead of helping with information, almost +invariably place every possible obstacle in the way of the newcomer. The +selection made, the next step to be taken is to apply by letter to the +Surveyor-General to have it measured. Shortly thereafter, that officer +will reply and inform the writer that his application has been received +and submitted to the District Surveyor for his report as to whether the +land is fit for agriculture, etc., etc. and that when it is received the +Surveyor-General will communicate the result, intimating at the same +time that, should the District-Surveyor consider the land suitable for +agriculture, and should there be no other difficulty, such as its being +held under a squatting lease, or any of several others, it will be +submitted to sale by auction. + +The applicant may now expect to hear no more of the land for three or +four months, when, if all goes on favourably, he will be informed that +the District-Surveyor, having reported satisfactorily, has received from +the Surveyor-General instructions to measure it. Now another wearying +delay of several months' duration will in all probability occur, before +the expiration of which, if the applicant is not a person possessed of +considerable determination of character, he will abandon, in despair, +all hope of ever becoming an Australian farmer, and help to swell one or +other of our overgrown towns, by accepting employment there. If, +however, he possess sufficient perseverance, he may visit the +District-Surveyor, and probably learn from him that the land cannot then +be measured, because the district under that officer is so very large, +that it would be highly inconvenient for him to move from one portion of +it to another to measure a single farm; that when several are applied +for in the same vicinity, he will proceed there; in the meantime he has +several months' work where he is, or the District-Surveyor may, after +expressing sympathy with the applicant's loss from delay, candidly +assure him that, in consequence of the great delay in receiving pay for +his public work, he is absolutely necessitated to accept private +employment in order to obtain sufficient cash to keep himself and party +of four men on, until the Government make him his remittance, now three +or four months due. + +These and other preliminary difficulties the applicant must prepare to +encounter; but even when all are surmounted and the land measured there +will be two or three months' delay--in all probability eighteen months +or two years from the date of his first application--before it is +offered for sale. Then, at last, the applicant will obtain his land, if +he be fortunate enough to escape the determined opposition of some +wealthy person in the neighbourhood, or has money enough, and +determination enough to purchase it, that opposition notwithstanding. + +If it is a fact that the agricultural interests of the country are +subjected to more climatic difficulties than are the pastoral interests, +I take it that that circumstance cannot, properly, be brought forward as +a reason why the agricultural interest should not, under our laws, have +a fair field and no favour, as compared with the pastoral interest, in +entering the market to borrow money in time of doubt and general want of +confidence in monetary matters. If the agriculturist, in borrowing money +to secure his crop, has to encounter a higher rate of interest than the +grazier has to encounter, in consequence of the risk of damage to his +crops from an unfavourable season being greater than the same in the +case of the produce of the grazier, surely there is no reason why he +should be compelled to submit to a still greater increase of interest, +to compensate the capitalist for the additional risk of the borrower's +insolvency before the crops are realised, especially when the grazier +is, through the aid of "The lien on Wool Act" exempted from paying for +such risk. + +The effects of the policy of the Government, which I have described, may +be found, on the one hand, in the fact that the number of persons who +have been bred to agricultural pursuits, at present residing in the +towns of the colony, is, beyond example, excessive, showing our social +conditions in that regard to be in a most unsatisfactory state; and, on +the other hand, in the other fact, that the wholesale price of flour in +the colony is three times higher, per pound, than the wholesale price of +animal food, of the very best description--a state of things not to be +found in any other civilized country. + +I am aware that the deficiency of agriculture, which is so remarkable +in this country, is attributed to the aridity of the climate by many +gentlemen whose experience entitles their opinions to respect; but, as I +have during the eighteen years last past annually cultivated and sown +with wheat a large quantity of land, in various parts of the Upper +Hunter District--a district generally considered to be unfavourable for +the purpose--and have, in that long period, only failed twice in +obtaining crops, and have reaped two self-sown, which in a great measure +compensated for even their loss. I can come to no other conclusion than +that, whatever may be the disadvantages of the climate they are not +sufficient to cause such neglect of agriculture as has occurred. + +On the whole, I am confident that the difficulties placed in the way of +agriculture by the climate are as nothing compared with the overwhelming +obstacles furnished by the policy of the Legislature and Government of +the Colony. + +Before concluding this communication, I cannot resist the opportunity it +affords to place on record my opinion, that even should all other means +fail of providing the country with an ample supply of agricultural +produce, a remedy may be found by allowing any person to enter upon and +occupy 80 acres of waste land, without competition or delay, and pay for +it at the upset price, four years thereafter; provided that he clears +and cultivates 10 acres the first year, and 10 additional acres in each +of the three succeeding years, and is at the end of the time residing on +the spot. + +JOHN ROBERTSON. + +Yarrundi, Aug. 6th, 1855. + +I also gave my general support to the Robertson Land Bill, which passed +through a determined opposition, and became law eventually, after the +violent expedient of "swamping the Upper House," which swamping, +however, had no practical or immediate effect, as the old members, +including the President, retired in a body when the new members +attempted to take their seats. By the Constitution, the first Council +was appointed for five years only, and the term was near its expiration +when this historical incident occurred. So nothing could be done with +the Bill, or anything else, until the next Council was appointed, whose +term was for life. + +Sir John Robertson's Act did immense good. Its broad scope was to +enable men to select land for themselves in blocks from 40 to 320 acres, +at £1 per acre, without waiting for any surveyor or other Government +official, but subject to the conditions of a deposit of 5_s._ an acre, +actual residence and improvements to the value of £1 per acre in value. +The balance of the purchase-money was to remain for a time, not limited +by date, at 5% interest. It is no figure of speech to say that this law +unlocked the lands to the industrious settler, and notwithstanding the +abuses which too widely grew up, it was the means of bringing into +existence hundreds of comfortable homes in all parts of the colony where +the name of its author is held in grateful remembrance. It will have +been seen in a previous chapter what a network of difficulties +surrounded the man of small means who tried to obtain a rural home in +former years; and perhaps the highest tribute to the memory of Sir John +Robertson is that, after all the amendments which have been carried, the +chief principles of his Act are still imbedded in the law of the +country. + + + + +QUEENSLAND + ++Source.+--Sessional Papers of the House of Lords, 1861, Vol. XI + + The Moreton Bay district was first colonised from Sydney as a penal + settlement for doubly convicted criminals. But so soon as + transportation to New South Wales ceased, remarkable progress was + made in exploiting the vast natural resources of the colony of + Queensland. + + +COPY OF A DESPATCH FROM GOVERNOR SIR W. DENISON, K.C.B., TO HIS GRACE +THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE. + + +Government House, Sydney. _Dec. 5, 1859._ (Received _Feb. 9, 1860._) + + +My Lord Duke, + +I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Grace's Despatch, +No. 11, dated 18th August last, enclosing copies of the warrant +establishing Queensland as a colony separate from New South Wales, and +appointing Sir George Ferguson Bowen, K.C.M.G., Governor of the same; +also of the instructions issued to Sir George Bowen, and of the +Order-in-Council empowering him to make laws and to provide for the +administration of justice in the said colony. + +Sir George Bowen arrived here by the mail steamer on the 15th ult.; he +remained with me at Sydney, making arrangements for the establishment of +the various departments of his Government, in which I gave him every +assistance in my power, and he sailed for Moreton Bay in Her Majesty's +ship "Cordelia" on the 3rd instant. + +I enclose copies of the proclamation issued by me notifying the +separation of the two colonies. The Proclamation Sir George has taken +with him to Brisbane, and by its publication there the fact of its +separation will be made known to the inhabitants of Queensland, which +will from the date of that Proclamation, that is, 1st December, be in +every respect freed from the interference of the Government or +Legislature of New South Wales.... + +I have, etc., + +(Signed) W. Denison. + +His Grace the Duke of Newcastle, etc., etc., etc. + + +COPY OF A DESPATCH FROM GOVERNOR SIR G.F. BOWEN TO HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF +NEWCASTLE. + +Government House, Brisbane, Queensland. + +_Jan. 6th, 1860._ + +(Received _March 12, 1860._) + +My Lord Duke, + +In my Despatch, No. 3, of the 28th November ultimo, I mentioned that +extensive districts within the colony of Queensland are well adapted for +the growth of the sugar cane among a variety of other produce. + +2. Since I wrote the above Despatch, I have seen three specimens of the +sugar cane, which have been grown near the town of Maryborough. These +specimens, which were finer than any that were shown me at Mauritius, +were forwarded to Sir William Macarthur, a gentleman of large property, +well-known ability, and great experience in scientific and agricultural +pursuits; and who was Commissioner for New South Wales at the Paris +Exhibition of 1855. I have received permission to transmit to your Grace +the following extract from a letter containing Sir William Macarthur's +opinion of the samples submitted to him:--"I yesterday made several +trials of the juice of the sugar cane forwarded by Mr. Aldridge, of +Maryborough. + +"As I had to extract the juice by pounding the cane in a mortar, I only +experimented upon the largest and the smallest of the three forwarded. +As they appear to have excited some attention, I may mention that they +were quite ripe, of a bright, yellowish-brown colour, with the joints +from two to five inches apart, the largest being about ten feet long, +not quite eight inches in circumference, and weighing just eighteen +pounds. About three feet of the upper end, however, was too +short-jointed to yield abundantly, and hardly ripe. + +"The walls of this cane were exceedingly thick, giving it great +stiffness, and solidity to resist storms of wind. It proved to be hardly +so juicy as I expected. + +"I understood you to say that these canes had been produced in eight or +nine months from being planted, and without any particular care. + +"Taking this for granted, there can be no question, I think, that with +sufficient capital, and under efficient management, the cultivation of +the cane for sugar ought to prove one of the most profitable +arrangements which offer themselves in Australia, I mean at Maryborough, +or other places equally well situated on the North-eastern coast. I have +for many years thought that sugar plantations to the northward of +Moreton Bay ought to be highly remunerative. The climate is favourable; +there is no lack of good land, and unlike the Mauritius, we never hear +of the ravages of hurricanes." + +3. The opinion of so high an authority as Sir William Macarthur coupled +with a number of facts within my knowledge, leave no doubt in my mind +that, when Capital and Labour shall have been introduced, the +cultivation of sugar may be carried on in this colony, with at least +equal success as at Mauritius, and on a vastly more extensive scale than +in that island. + +4. I beg to subjoin a short description of the district of Wide Bay, or +Maryborough (referred to above) condensed from a recent publication by a +writer of local knowledge and competent authority. + +The back country is extensive, its capabilities are so well known we +need not dwell upon them. The soil on the branches of the River Mary and +its tributary creeks, and within easy approach to the same is excellent +and in large quantities. Its producing capabilities may be illustrated +by the following facts: In one piece of ground may be seen growing in +perfection the sugar cane, cotton plant, grasscloth plant, arrowroot, +tascan wheat, yams, sweet potatoes, cassava, custard apples, pine +apples, banana, guava, and many other tropical productions; alongside of +which may be seen turnips, wheat, barley, mangel-wurzel, English +potatoes, artichokes (Jerusalem), broad beans, maize, etc. At the same +place a crop of maize (which was estimated to yield from 80 to 100 +bushels to the acre) is in a forward state of ripening, and from the +same piece of ground, three crops of maize have been gathered within the +twelve months. Where is there another river in Australia with +capabilities for the growth of such varied productions, each perfect of +its kind, and such facilities for shipping, by vessels of the largest +tonnage, the produce direct to any part of the world? Wheat has been +only grown in small patches--each time, however, with success. Cotton +was here produced in the same way from a few plants, and pronounced by +competent judges to be of the finest quality both in staple and texture. +Equally favourable results have been obtained with the other products +named above. The particulars of climate I give from a resident of the +township of Maryborough for a period of twelve years before the place +was surveyed, who declares his own health and the health of his wife and +children to have been excellent, and better than he or they ever had +before, that he has never experienced a hot wind in the place and that +the sudden changes of temperature as felt in Sydney are never felt in +this favoured locality: that the rain showers are regular and abundant, +more so than in any other place he has been in, in this colony; hence +the extraordinary growth of vegetables, etc. Eight months in the year, +not a finer climate can be found in the world, and the remaining four +summer months are not so oppressive in their effects as in the other +warm countries, from the temperature being more uniform, and the purity +of the atmosphere so great. The same gentleman declares that he has, +upon his occasional visits, experienced the heat in Sydney much more +oppressive. Great natural capabilities exist in the township of +Maryborough for the formation of dams at a trifling expense, which would +collect large bodies of water. Minerals consisting of gold, copper, +iron, and coal have been procured in several places in the district. +Timber exists of cedar, cowrie, and hoop pine, a white hardwood known as +fluidoza, gums, dye woods, and other most useful and valuable cabinet +woods, are to be found in great abundance. The dugong is found in large +numbers in Hervey's Bay, from which the famed oil is manufactured, also +the pearl oyster. + +All these are sources from which wealth will be derived, and which will +afford employment to a large population. As to the aborigines of this +district it may be placed to their credit, that they are willing at +times to work, and even well. The steamer which trades to the place +every fortnight always takes from Frazer's Island a number of them to +discharge and load the vessel. They are also largely used in the town +for cutting wood, drawing water, bullock driving, horse riding, and +breaking up the ground in the gardens. + +The population and trade of the town of Maryborough are rapidly +increasing. The source from which the business is at present entirely +derived is the pastoral or squatting interest, leaving all other +valuable and important interests to be yet developed, such as +agriculture, mining, fisheries, and the timber trade. A large +agricultural population may be expected to settle themselves down on the +river. Maryborough has been recently proclaimed as one of the great +towns wherein District Courts are to be held. The exports are wool, +tallow, etc., with great power of expansion. + +6. I beg to suggest that a copy of this Despatch, together with a copy +of my Despatch of even date herewith, respecting the cultivation of +cotton in this colony, should be transmitted to the Royal Geographical +Society. + +I have, etc., + +(Signed) G.F. BOWEN. +His Grace the Duke of Newcastle, +etc., etc., etc. + + +No. 10. + +COPY OF A DESPATCH FROM GOVERNOR SIR G.F. BOWEN TO HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF +NEWCASTLE + +Government House, Brisbane, +Queensland, _April 7, 1860._ + +(Received _June 18, 1860._) (Answered, No. 22, +_July 19, 1860_, p. 84.) + +My Lord Duke, + +In continuation of my former Despatches No. 5 of the 19th and No. 8 of +the 23rd Dec., 1859, and No. 18 of the 4th February, ult., I have the +honour to enclose copies of the Addresses presented to me at the three +towns of Warwick, Drayton, and Toowoomba, which I visited during an +official tour of inspection, from which I have lately returned. + +2. It will be satisfactory to the Queen and to Her Majesty's Government, +to receive these further proofs of the affectionate loyalty of the +people of this colony towards Her Majesty's throne and person and (I +may, perhaps, be permitted to add) of their confidence in the +arrangement made, under Her Majesty's favour, for their Government. + +3. My recent journey extended through those districts of Queensland, +which have been longest settled and are mostly thickly inhabited. I was +everywhere received with cordial hospitality by the principal settlers, +and with loyal enthusiasm by all classes of the community. The numerous +cavalcades of hundreds of well-mounted horsemen, which came forth to +meet and escort the first representative of their Sovereign, presented +spectacles such as can be exhibited in only two countries in the +world--in England and in Australia. + +4. As it was during your Grace's first administration of the Colonial +Department that the wishes of the Australian Colonists were crowned by +the concession of responsible Government, I will take leave to draw your +attention to a paragraph in one of the enclosures, which explains a +sentiment generally entertained by this people. + +After stating that "the journey of his Excellency has been one continued +ovation from beginning to end"; that "all classes have vied in doing +honour to the representative of the Queen"; and that "all little +sectarian differences, petty jealousies, and presumed rival interests +have been merged in the laudable wish to give our first Governor a +hearty welcome"; the "Darling Downs Gazette" proceeds as follows: "Not +the least pleasing reflection that suggests itself when reviewing these +demonstrations of general joy is the confirmation of the fact, now so +long and in so many lands established, that those descended from the old +stock at home, to whom self-government has been a timely concession, not +a charter wrung from the Mother country by the force of arms, still +recognize and revere the grand old institutions, which have made England +the greatest power on earth." + +14. I have described in a former Despatch, that rich pastoral District +of the tableland which is known as the "Darling Downs." The droughts +and the epidemic diseases which are frequently fatal to sheep and cattle +in other parts of Australia seem alike unknown in this favoured region. +Many large fortunes have been amassed there during the last 15 years. + +15. While the impression created on my mind by the journey across the +Darling Downs was still fresh, I stated in my reply to the Drayton +address, that it had "filled me with surprise and admiration". Even +before I left England I knew by report the rich natural resources and +the picturesque beauty of this district, the scenery of which vividly +recalls to my mind the classic plains of Thessaly. But I confess that I +was not fully prepared for so wonderfully rapid an advance in all that +can promote and adorn civilization, an advance which has taken place +during the fourth part of an average lifetime. Not only have I seen vast +herds of horses and cattle, and countless flocks of sheep overspreading +the valleys and forests, which, within the memory of persons who have +yet scarcely attained to the age of manhood, were tenanted only by wild +animals, and by a few wandering tribes of savages; not only have I +travelled over roads beyond all comparison superior to the means of +communication which existed less than a century ago in many parts of the +United Kingdom; not only have I beheld flourishing towns arising in +spots where hardly 20 years back the foot of a white man had never yet +trodden the primeval wilderness; not only have I admired these and other +proofs of material progress, but I have also found in the houses of the +long chain of settlers who have entertained me with such cordial +hospitality, all the comforts, and most of the luxuries and refinements +of the houses of country gentlemen in England. The wonderful advance of +this portion of the colony during the last 10 years, is due to no sudden +and fortuitous discovery of the precious metals; it is derived wholly +from the blessing of Providence on the skill and energy of its +inhabitants, in subduing and replenishing the earth. Assuredly, I have +observed during the past week very remarkable illustrations of the +proverbial genius of the Anglo-Saxon race for the noble and truly +imperial art of colonization. + +I have, etc., + +(Signed) G.F. BOWEN. + +His Grace the Duke of Newcastle, etc., etc., etc. + + + + +PAYMENT OF MEMBERS CRISIS + ++Source.+--Victorian Sessional Papers, 1877-8 Thirty Years of Colonial +Government (Bowen), Vol. II, pp. 80-83, 114-119 + + Owing to the lack of the political traditions of the English + Parliament friction was bound to rise between the Houses of the + colonial Legislatures. A bill to provide temporarily for the + payment of members had been passed several times by the Victorian + Parliament, but the Council was opposed to making a permanent + provision for the purpose. In 1877 Sir Graham Berry tacked the + measure to the annual appropriation bill, which was consequently + rejected by the Council. + + +Memorandum to His Excellency the Governor. + +The Premier on behalf of himself and his colleagues, respectfully +advises the Governor to sign the message required by the 25th Clause of +the Constitution Act transmitting for the consideration of the +Legislative Assembly the accompanying additional estimates for the +service of the year 1877-8. + +His Excellency will observe that it has been thought right by his +Responsible Advisers to include in these Additional Estimates provision +for reimbursing members of the Legislative Council and the Legislative +Assembly their expenses in relation to their attendance in Parliament at +the rate of £300 per annum each, from and after the present session of +Parliament. + +(Signed) Graham Berry, Treasurer. + +21st Nov. 1877. + + +The Governor acknowledges the receipt of the Memorandum submitted to him +by the Hon. the Premier on this day. + +The Governor has in conformity with the advice of his Responsible +Ministers signed the message submitted to him by them, transmitting for +the consideration of the Legislative Assembly additional or further +estimates for the service of the year 1877-8. + +(Signed) G.F. Bowen. + +Government Offices, Melbourne. + +_21st November 1877._ + +_January 12, 1878._ + +Address from the Legislative Council to His Excellency +the Governor. + +TO HIS EXCELLENCY SIR GEORGE FERGUSON BOWEN, +KNIGHT GRAND CROSS OF THE MOST DISTINGUISHED +ORDER OF ST. MICHAEL AND ST. GEORGE, and Commander-in-Chief +in and over the Colony of Victoria and its Dependencies and Vice-Admiral +of the same, etc. + +May it please your Excellency, + +We her Most Gracious Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the +members of the Legislative Council of Victoria, in Parliament assembled +beg leave to approach Your Excellency with renewed assurances of +unabated loyalty to Her Majesty's Throne and Person. + +We desire to draw Your Excellency's attention to the answer given by the +Hon. the Post-Master General during the sitting of the Council on the +1st instant to the question put by one of our members, viz.:--Whether it +is the intention of the Ministry to afford this House the opportunity of +considering the propriety of renewing or discontinuing the payment of +members of Parliament by submitting the measure by Bill as heretofore. + +The answer was as follows:--In reply to the Hon. Member the Cabinet +desire me to state that it is unusual and inexpedient to state the +intention of the Government otherwise than by the due presentation of +business to Parliament; but in this instance there is an additional +serious objection to the question of the hon. member. It deals with the +appropriation of revenue which is the exclusive privilege of the +Legislative Assembly, and it is highly undesirable that the Legislative +Council should interfere even by a question with appropriation, the +initiation of which is by message from the Crown, on the advice of the +responsible Ministers and is further controlled by the exclusive +privileges of the Assembly. + +This being the opinion of Your Excellency's advisers, were we to +continue silent it might with some show of reason be inferred that we +were satisfied with the answer of the Government, and would accept their +dictum as representing the true position of the matter as between the +two Chambers. + +We have thought it incumbent upon us to lay before Your Excellency the +following circumstances connected with the question of payment of +members:--In the session of 1860-1, a separate Bill for payment of +members was introduced into the Assembly, but was lost in the Council. +In the session 1861, Sir Henry Barkly, who was then Governor, was warned +by the Legislative Council of the inevitable consequences of a sum being +included in the annual Estimates of Expenditure for the compensation of +members of Parliament, and the objectionable item was not included in +the Estimates for the year when laid before the Assembly that session. + +On five subsequent occasions separate Bills for the same object have +been sent up from the Legislative Assembly, three of which were +rejected, and the two last were passed by the Legislative Council, but +on both these occasions the principal supporters of the Bills distinctly +stated that their votes were given on the understanding that the +measures were to be tentative only, and limited in their duration. + +The question at the present time is in exactly the same position as it +was when originated in 1861, and is still in the region of experimental +legislation. It is not a mere question of the appropriation of the +public revenue, but of public policy upon which an uniform usage has +been adopted in the colony, with the concurrence of both Houses, with +the marked co-operation of Her Majesty's Representative in 1861. + +The usage, moreover, is in strict conformity with the Royal Instructions +which direct that "in the passing of all laws each different matter must +be provided for by a different law without intermixing such things as +have no proper relation to each other, and that no clause or clauses be +inserted in, or annexed to any Act which shall be foreign to what the +title of that Act imports." + +We desire to inform Your Excellency that we claim the right to exercise +the same free and deliberate vote on any Bill which may be submitted to +us for providing compensation to members of Parliament as we have +exercised on all previous occasions and we submit that the inclusion of +a sum for that purpose in the Annual Appropriation Bill might make such +procedure the instrument of enabling one branch of the Legislature to +coerce the other. + +GOVERNOR SIR G.F. BOWEN, G.C.M.G., TO THE EARL OF CARNARVON, RECEIVED +23RD JAN. 1878. Telegraphic. + +_23rd Jan. 1878._ + +In consequence of the rejection of the annual Appropriation Bill by the +Legislative Council, ministers have made large temporary reductions in +the public expenditure to economise funds for Police Gaols, and +protection of life and property to the latest possible moment, and that +is about until next May. A number of civil servants and minor officers +of the judicial department have necessarily been dispensed with +temporarily, but sufficient provision has been made for the +administration of Justice and maintenance of law and order. The +Government will do nothing contrary to law or Imperial interests. + +Full Reports by Mail. + + +TELEGRAMS FROM MELBOURNE + +Melb. _14th Jan._ + +Appropriation Bill was rejected by Legislative Council consequent upon +clause for payment of members being inserted. Government in Council +dismissed at a moment's notice all County Court Judges, Police +Magistrates, Wardens, Coroners, many Heads of Departments. Further +sweeping changes announced. Great Alarm and Indignation. Trade +disorganised. + + +_25th Jan._ + +No political change. Many more dismissals. + + +_30th Jan._ + +Eminent Counsel declare Acts of Sir George Bowen in closing Courts +illegal. The country alarmed. Secretary of State urged to await letters +by mail and not act on exparte statements. + + +To the Right Hon. Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, Bart, M.P. + +Government House, Melb. _April 12th, 1878._ + +Sir, + +On the 29th ultimo I forwarded to you a telegram announcing the happy +termination, through a fair compromise honourable to both sides, of the +protracted crisis and "deadlock" between the two Houses of Parliament, +which had caused so much excitement and agitation, and so much +suffering and loss in this community, and which was straining the +constitution of this Colony to a degree which it could not have endured +for long. + +Ever since December constant efforts have been made to induce the +conflicting Houses to agree to an honourable compromise of their +differences. Personally I omitted no proper opportunity of recommending +mutual forbearance and mutual concessions. It was proposed on behalf of +the Ministry and the Assembly that the Council should agree to pass the +separate Bill sent up to them in December, and that the assembly should +simultaneously, or as nearly so as might be, appoint a Committee to +search for the Appropriation Bill which had been "laid aside" and should +then reenact that Bill without the item objected to by the Upper House. +The Ministers, a strong minority of the Councillors, the Assembly, and +the general public--all united in pressing the Council to accept this +arrangement, but there were many disappointing delays and failures in +the negotiations. + +Finally, however, all difficulties were overcome, and both the separate +Bill continuing the reimbursement of the expense of members and the +annual Appropriation Act have become law. + +General satisfaction has been felt and everywhere expressed at this +termination of the late dangerous and disastrous parliamentary +"deadlock," and the political and social animosities caused by it are +already fast subsiding. The country is tranquil and generally +prosperous. Before the commencement of the political crisis there had +been a partial depression in trade and depreciation in the value of +certain kinds of property, in consequence of a long drought succeeded by +very heavy floods, and from other temporary causes. These evils had been +aggravated by the sense of uncertainty rather than of insecurity +produced by the fierce and protracted political and social agitation and +antagonism of the last four months. But a young and strong community +like that of Victoria, full of life and energy, and of that general good +humour which flows from the habitual prosperity of all classes, rapidly +recovers from depression and discontent, however caused. + +It has been very satisfactory to me to receive the assurances that +throughout the late financial deadlock, no public money has been +expended except in due form of law, and in strict accordance with +parliamentary usage. Those public works which had been legally provided +for by Railway and Loan Acts, or otherwise, have been carried on +without interruption; while by dint of strict economy and of the large +retrenchments in the civil service effected by the Ministry, the +administration of justice and of the several departments of the +Government has proceeded regularly and without intermission. + +In a speech delivered in last October before the actual beginning of the +recent crisis, but in anticipation of its near approach, I recommended +the members of both Houses of Parliament and of both political parties +to lay to heart the subjoined passage in one of Mr. J.S. Mill's works: + +"One of the most indispensable requisites in the practical conduct of +politics, especially in the management of free institutions, is +conciliation, a readiness to compromise, a willingness to concede +something to opponents, and to shape good measures so as to be as little +offensive as possible to persons of opposite views, and of this salutary +habit the mutual 'give and take' (as it has been called) between two +Houses is a perpetual school; useful as such even now, and its utility +would probably be more felt in a more democratic constitution of the +Legislature." Nor have I ever ceased to urge the adoption of such +principles as those laid down by Mr. Merivale when he wrote "Moderation +in success, self-denial in the exercise of power, habitual consideration +for the opinions and feelings of others, readiness to compromise +differences, love of justice and fair play, reluctance to push +principles to extremes, the moral courage which will dare to stand up +against a majority, the habit of constantly, and, as it were +instinctively postponing self to the public interest, and this whether +arising from moral choice or from the constraint imposed by public +opinion; these are the balancing qualities which prevent the misuse of +political freedom." + +With regard to the opinions which I have formed concerning the proper +position and mutual relations of the two Houses of the Victorian +Parliament, it will be remembered that my opinions are identical with +those placed on record on that subject by the late Lord Canterbury, my +able and experienced predecessor in my present office. It will also be +recollected that I have steadily followed, during the crisis of 1877-8, +the precedents made, and the constitutional course pursued by Lord +Canterbury during the previous crisis of 1867-8. In acknowledging Lord +Canterbury's despatch of 18th July, 1868, reporting the termination of +the crisis of 1867-8, the then Secretary of State for the Colonies (the +Duke of Buckingham) wrote as follows: + +"I have to express my approval of your firm adherence to your +constitutional position through these trying discussions; and I learn +with satisfaction the cessation of a state of affairs which has been +productive of so much inconvenience in the Colony." + +Having pursued exactly the same course and acted on exactly the same +principles with my predecessor, I am confident that I shall receive +similar personal support. Moreover, I submit that it is of supreme +importance, on public grounds, that the people of the Australasian +Colonies should know that the actions and conduct of successive +Governors are not prompted by the personal views or idiosyncrasies of +individuals, but that they are guided by a consistent and uniform +policy, sanctioned by the authority of the Imperial Government. + + + + +NEW GUINEA + ++Source.+--New Guinea. By Charles Lyne (special representative of the +"Sydney Morning Herald"), pp. 1-28 + + In 1882, the Queensland Government took alarm at certain rumours of + the intention of Germany to annex New Guinea, but for a time the + British Government refused to move. When the establishment of a + protectorate was authorized, only the southeastern portion of the + island was available, Germany having, in the meantime, annexed the + northern part and the group of Islands known as New Britain. + + +Commodore Erskine in H.M.S. _Nelson_ arrived at Port Moresby on Sunday, +the 2nd of November, 1884, and the Union Jack now flies from the +flagstaff at the mission station, the Proclamation of a British +Protectorate having been made with much ceremony on Thursday Nov. 6. + +On the Wednesday afternoon, the chiefs and a number of other natives +were brought on board the H.M.S. _Nelson_, and a grand assembly took +place, with a feast for the chiefs and an address from the Commodore, a +presentation of gifts attractive to the native eye, and the firing of +some of the ships' guns. The flags of various nations were hung over the +quarter-deck in the form of an awning, and the officers wore frock-coats +and swords. Most of the chiefs were destitute of clothing, the mop-like +hair and foreheads of some of them being bound round with bands of +small shells and the hair ornamented with tufts of feathers. Two or +three wore old shirts, and one, Boe Vagi, the chief of the Port Moresby +natives, who was appointed by the Commodore to be the head chief of the +Motu tribe, was dressed in a shirt, with a handkerchief round his loins, +a red felt hat on his head, and some green leaves through the lobe of +his left ear. Evidently he had been attired specially for the occasion, +as his usual dress is as scanty as that of his fellows. There were in +all about fifty of the chiefs, most of them being representatives of the +Motu tribe; and after having been permitted to look round the ship, they +were directed by the missionaries, Messrs. Lawes and Chalmers, to seat +themselves upon the deck. Then a great tub of boiled rice, sweetened +with brown sugar, was brought on deck, and basins of this mixture were +handed round to the chiefs who received them, and devoured the rice with +evident satisfaction. Ships' biscuits were also served out, and the +scene presented by the feasting savages, and by the grouping of the +_Nelson's_ officers and the parading of the bluejackets on the opposite +side of the deck--so that a photograph might be taken of the whole +assembly--was exceedingly interesting and picturesque. + +When the feasting was over, Commodore Erskine came upon deck, and the +chief, Boe Vagi, having been invited by Mr. Lawes to come forward, the +Commodore addressed him, and his fellow chiefs, and said: + +"I have asked you to come on board to-day in order that I may explain to +you about the ceremony which will take place to-morrow on shore. I have +been sent to this place to notify and proclaim that Her Majesty the +Queen has established a Protectorate over the southern shores of New +Guinea, and in token of that event I am directed to hoist the British +flag at Port Moresby, and at other places along the coast and islands. +To-morrow, then, I intend to hoist the English flag here, and to read a +Proclamation which will be duly translated to you. I desire, on behalf +of Her Majesty the Queen, to explain to you the meaning of the +ceremonial which you are about to witness. It is a proclamation that +from this time forth you are placed under the protection of Her +Majesty's Government; that evil-disposed men will not be able to occupy +your country, to seize your lands, or to take you away from your own +homes. I have been instructed to say to you that what you have seen +done here to-day on board Her Majesty's ship of war, and which will be +done again to-morrow on shore, is to give you the strongest assurance of +Her Majesty's gracious protection of you, and to warn bad and +evil-disposed men that if they attempt to do you harm, they will be +promptly punished by the officers of the Queen. Your lands will be +secured to you; your wives and children will be protected. Should any +injury be done to you, you will immediately inform Her Majesty's +officers, who will reside amongst you, and they will hear your +complaints, and do you justice. You will look upon all white persons +whom the Queen permits to reside amongst you as your friends, and Her +Majesty's subjects. The Queen will permit nobody to reside here who does +you injury. You will under no circumstances inflict punishment upon any +white person; but if such person has done you wrong you will tell Her +Majesty's officers of that wrong in order that the case may be fairly +inquired into. You must know that it is for your security, and to +prevent bloodshed, that the Queen sends me here to you, and will send +her officers to live amongst you. And now I hope that you clearly +understand that we are here amongst you as your friends. You will all +keep peace amongst yourselves, and if you have disputes with each other, +you will bring them before the Queen's officers who will settle them for +you without bloodshed. Should bad men come amongst you, bringing +firearms and gunpowder, and intoxicating liquors, you are not to buy +them, and are to give notice at once to the Queen's officers, so that +such men may be punished. Always keep in your minds that the Queen +guards and watches over you, looks upon you as her children, and will +not allow anyone to harm you, and will soon send her trusted officers to +carry out her gracious intentions in the establishment of this +Protectorate." + +At the Commodore's request Mr. Lawes read a translation of this address +in the Motu language, the chiefs listening attentively: then calling the +chief, Boe Vagi, forward, Commodore Erskine shook hands with him, and +introduced him to Mr. Romilly; and the Commodore's intimation of the +appointment of a High Commissioner for New Guinea and his explanation of +Mr. Romilly's position, were interpreted to the chiefs by Mr. Lawes. +This was followed by the appointment of Boe Vagi as head chief of the +Motu tribe. To make his appointment more distinct, he was presented +with an emblem of authority in the form of an ebony stick with a florin +let in at the top, the Queen's head being uppermost, and encircled by a +band of silver. Handing to Boe Vagi this stick, the Commodore said: "I +present him with this stick, which is to be an emblem to him of his +authority; and all the tribes who are represented by the chiefs here are +to look to the holder of this stick, Boe Vagi. This stick represents the +Queen's head, the Queen of England; and if at any time any of the people +of these tribes have any grievance or anything to say, they are, through +this man, the holder of this stick, Boe Vagi, to make it known to the +Queen's officers, in order that it may be inquired into. This stick is +to be the symbol of his authority, and all the tribes are to have +communication through him with the Queen's officer." + +Directed then to descend to the main deck the chiefs walked one after +another into the Commodore's cabin, where each received a present +consisting of a tomahawk, a butcher's knife, a coloured shirt, or a +piece of coloured cloth, and some figs of twist tobacco. It was a +curious sight to see these chiefs, some of them very old men, but others +young, erect and muscular, filing in at one door, and after shaking +hands with the Commodore and receiving a present, leaving by the other; +and it was very amusing to notice how startled some of them were at +suddenly discovering themselves in a large pier-glass, which they had to +pass before leaving the cabin. The Commodore did not fail to point out +through Mr. Lawes to the chief who had burnt the village of another, +that for the future he would not be allowed to commit such an act, and +must through the Queen's officers seek redress for any grievance he +might have; and the man was evidently impressed by what was said to him. + +At half-past six next morning the landing of officers and men of the +squadron for the purpose of publicly proclaiming the establishment of +the Protectorate, and hoisting the British flag, commenced. The general +order issued by the Commodore directed that the dress for officers +should be cocked hat, undress coat, and epaulettes; the dress for seamen +white frocks and hats, and that for marines white tunics and helmets. +There was, consequently, a very attractive display of uniforms, and +altogether it was an exceedingly interesting spectacle. The early hour +appointed for the landing permitted of the ceremony being performed at +a time when the heat, which was intense while the _Nelson_ was on the +coast, was not likely to be very trying to the men. The water of the +harbour lay placid as a lake, with the ships of war far out from the +shore, and here and there native canoes moving slowly along or resting +idly on the surface; and the hills and valleys were green and shaded +from the sun, and wore that refreshing appearance which is notable when +the trees and the grass have been bathed in dew, and when the sun's rays +are strong enough only to make the dewdrops sparkle, and to deepen the +shadows in the recesses where the sunlight has not yet penetrated. + +The boats conveying the officers and men to the shore, each flying the +white ensign, imparted life and colour to the scene upon the water, and +nothing could be more picturesque and beautiful than the view on shore, +where the houses of the native villages bordering the beach, with their +brown occupants gazing in amazement on what was taking place before +them, were shaded by a grove of cocoanut palms, the refreshing dark +green fronds being rivalled only by the lighter green of the plantations +of the banana trees on the sides of the hills, which, rising high above +the village, were, notwithstanding the evidence of cultivation by the +natives, and the existence of the little mission settlement, dressed in +almost all their native loveliness, and robed in delicately-tinted +morning mists. + +Inside the enclosed ground stood the mission house, and on a spot +commanding a view of almost the entire harbour was the flagstaff which +was now to display the flag hoisted with the authority of the Queen by +Commodore Erskine; and it was around this flagstaff that the troops were +drawn up in a hollow square, the men facing inwards, with the officers +to the front, and the Commodore and his suite standing with the +missionaries and Mr. Chester on the verandah of the mission house. The +native chiefs who had been on board the _Nelson_ were seated in a +picturesque group on the ground immediately in front of the Commodore; +and other natives and a few white spectators stood in a crowd at the +rear of the blue-jackets. The only representative of English women +present was Mrs. Lawes, wife of the Rev. W.G. Lawes, who was +accommodated with a chair, and sat near the Commodore and the officers +on either side of him. + +Immediately the blue-jackets had landed they were marched up the hill +to the mission compound, but the marines remained upon the beach until +the Commodore landed, when they presented arms, and afterwards, with +bayonets fixed, marched with the band to join the bluejackets in front +of the mission house. + +On the Commodore appearing before the troops they presented arms, and he +then read the following proclamation: + + "PROCLAMATION. + + "Proclamation on behalf of her Most Gracious Majesty Victoria, by + the grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and + Ireland Queen, Defender of the Faith, Empress of India, + establishing a Protectorate of Her Most Gracious Majesty over a + portion of New Guinea, and the Islands adjacent thereto. + +"To all to whom these presents shall come, greeting: + +"Whereas it has become essential, for the protection of the lives and +properties of the native inhabitants of New Guinea, and for the purpose +of preventing the occupation of portions of that country by persons +whose proceedings unsanctioned by any lawful authority might tend to +injustice, strife and bloodshed, and who, under the pretence of +legitimate trade and intercourse, might endanger the liberties, and +possess themselves of the lands of such native inhabitants, that a +British Protectorate should be established over a certain portion of +such country and the islands adjacent thereto. + +"And whereas Her Majesty, having taken into her gracious consideration +the urgent necessity of her protection to such inhabitants has directed +me to proclaim such protection in a formal manner at this place: Now, I, +James Elphinstone Erskine, Captain in the Royal Navy, and Commodore of +the Australian Station, one of Her Majesty's naval aides-de-camp, do +hereby, in the name of Her Most Gracious Majesty, declare and proclaim +the establishment of such Protectorate over such portions of the coast +and the adjacent islands as is more particularly described in the +schedule hereunto annexed. + +"And I hereby proclaim and declare that no acquisition of land +whensoever or howsoever acquired, within the limits of the Protectorate +hereby established, will be recognized by Her Majesty; And I do hereby, +on behalf of Her Majesty, command and enjoin all persons whom it may +concern to take notice of this Proclamation." + +"SCHEDULE. + +"All that portion of the southern shores of New Guinea commencing from +the boundary of that portion of the country claimed by the Government of +the Netherlands on the 141st meridian of east longitude to East Cape, +with all islands adjacent thereto south of East Cape to Kosman Island +inclusive, together with the islands in the Goschen Straits. + +"Given on board Her Majesty's ship _Nelson_, at the harbour of Port +Moresby, on the 6th day of November 1884. + +"(Signed) JAMES ELPHINSTONE ERSKINE. + +"Commodore. + +"God Save the Queen." + +This was interpreted to the natives by the Rev. W.G. Lawes, who, at the +request of Commodore Erskine, had translated it into the Motu language, +and then, by direction of the Commodore, the Union Jack was slowly +raised to the truck of the flagstaff. + +All this not a little astonished the natives, though some of those whose +homes were at Port Moresby had witnessed the firing of a _feu-de-joie_ +before; but though the firing startled some of them it had, with the +general display, the effect of impressing them all with some sense of +the solemn importance of the ceremony that was being performed. The +firing party were then ordered to shoulder arms, and the Commodore, +addressing all present at the ceremony but the natives, said: + +"Officers and men, Mr. Romilly and Gentlemen, This interesting and +important ceremony now formally concluded, it only remains for me, in +Her Majesty's name to express the fervent hope that under the blessing +of Almighty God the establishment of this Protectorate may conduce to +the peace, happiness and welfare of the people of this vast territory. +May the British flag which we have this day planted on these shores be +to the people of this portion of New Guinea the symbol of their freedom +and their liberty, and the Proclamation which I have just read, the +charter of their rights and privileges. May it be to them a Protectorate +in deed, as well as in name, protecting them alike from the encroachment +of foreigners and the aggressive or unlawful actions of any other +nationality; may the blessings of civilization and Christianity, the +seeds of which have been already sown by English hands in the persons of +the brave and good men present on this occasion, increase and multiply +exceedingly amongst them; and lastly, as the Union Jack which has on +several former occasions been hoisted on the shores of New Guinea and +the adjacent islands is on this day for the first time displayed and +hoisted on New Guinea under the authority and by the command of her Most +Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria, I most fervently pray that the +establishment of a British Protectorate on these shores may tend to +insure the integrity and inviolability of the great Australian Colonies, +and promote the best interests of their people; and I trust that this +important step may be attended with the happiest results, and redound to +the honour of Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen, for whom I now invite +you to give three hearty cheers." + +The call was right loyally responded to, and with Captain Bridge +leading, three British cheers rang out and echoed among the hills; and +then, with a royal salute, the troops once more presenting arms, the +ceremony was brought to a close. + + + + +THE NATIONAL AUSTRALASIAN CONVENTION 1891 + ++Source.+--National Australasian Convention Debates, pp. 3-5, 23-28, 322 + + After self-government had been granted to the Australian colonies, + the need for united action in certain matters became apparent. + Under the leadership of Sir Henry Parkes a strong movement for + federation was organized. His labour bore fruit in the meeting of + the National Australasian Convention in 1891. At this assembly were + passed the resolutions which form the foundation of the Federation + Act. + + +_March 3rd._ Mr. Munro rose to move: + +That, the Honourable Sir Henry Parkes, G.C.M.G., Premier of New South +Wales, do take the chair as President of this National Australasian +Convention. + +He said: I think this is a fitting honour to confer upon the author of +the movement on the part of these Australian colonies, which resulted in +the Conference held in Melbourne last year. The hon. gentleman has +taken a deep interest in the subject of federation for a great number of +years, and we, moreover, meet in the colony of which he has the honour +to be Premier. I have no doubt that in the position of president he will +aid us with his council and advice, and that his occupancy of the chair +will reflect credit upon our proceedings. + +Mr. Dibbs: We look to Sir Henry Parkes as, to some extent, the architect +of the structure we are about to build, and we, like the other gentlemen +present, look to our Premier for advice and explanation, and hope that +he will in due time place before us such a programme as will enable us +to proceed with the great work before us; I can assure the honourable +gentleman that we appreciate the compliment paid to the Colony through +our Premier, and personally I have great pleasure in supporting the +proposition which has been made. + +Question resolved in the affirmative. + +The President elect, being conducted to the chair by the Hon. James +Munro, and the Hon. Sir Samuel Griffith, said: + +Mr. Munro, Sir Samuel Griffith, and honourable gentlemen, I could not, +under any circumstances, do other than yield to your unanimous choice. I +am very conscious indeed of my disqualifications for the office of +President. It is hardly in my nature to observe that studied decorum +which is so shining a quality in the Chair. I have not been fitted for +that situation in life. I therefore feel how great the honour is to be +placed in that position on this great occasion and by this great body. I +shall trust to that generous unanimity which has prevailed in carrying +this motion to support me in discharging duties in the Chair, duties +which may become onerous; and I am quite sure I shall not trust in vain. +It becomes my duty to give this assurance, that so far as I know myself, +I will command myself to do the duties of this Chair so that there shall +be no cause of complaint. I will try to conduct the business as to +offend none, and, if possible, secure the good opinion which appears to +have been formed to-day. I thank the honourable gentlemen for the great +distinction you have conferred upon me, and I trust none of you will see +cause to regret the vote you have given. + +_March 4th._ Sir Henry Parkes: I have the honor to move, + +That in order to establish and secure an enduring foundation for the +structure of a federal government, the principles embodied in the +following resolutions be agreed to:-- + +1. That the powers and privileges and territorial rights of the several +existing colonies shall remain intact, except in respect to such +surrenders as may be agreed upon as necessary, and incidental to the +power and authority of the National Federal Government. + +2. That the trade and intercourse between the federated colonies whether +by means of land carriage or coastal navigation shall be absolutely +free. + +3. That the power and authority to impose customs duties shall be +exclusively lodged in the Federal Government and Parliament, subject to +such disposal of the revenues thence derived as shall be agreed upon. + +4. That the military and naval defence of Australia shall be intrusted +to Federal forces under one command. + +I submit these resolutions as a groundwork on which a debate may be +raised on the whole question with which we have to deal. They certainly +give a fair expression of the outline of the constitution which we want, +as it exists in my own mind, and to that extent I at once acknowledge +the paternity of the motion I make. I venture to appeal to every colony, +and to every delegate representing every colony, to meet the work on +which we are about to begin, in a broad federal spirit. We cannot hope +for any just conclusion--we cannot hope reasonably for any amount of +valid success--unless we lose sight to a large extent of the local +interests which we represent at the same time that we represent the +great cause. + +There can be no federation if we should happen, any of us, to insist +upon conditions which stand in the way of federation; there can be no +complete union of these governments, of these communities, of these +separate colonies, unless we can so far clear the way as to approach the +great question of creating a federal power as if the boundaries now +existing had no existence whatever. I cannot too fervently impress upon +my co-representatives from all parts of Australia the necessity of +keeping in view the one object of the better government of Australia, +the whole Australian people. + +By my second condition I seek to define what seems to me an absolutely +necessary condition of anything like perfect federation, that is, that +Australia, as Australia, shall be free--free on the borders, free +everywhere, in its trade and intercourse between its own people; and +that there shall be no impediment of any kind--that there shall be no +barrier of any kind between one section of the Australian people and +another; but, that the trade and general communication of these people +shall flow on from one end of the continent to the other, with no one to +stay its progress or to call it to account; in other words, if this is +carried, it must necessarily take with it the shifting of the power of +legislation on all fiscal questions from the local or provincial +parliaments, to the great National Parliament sought to be created. Now +our country is fashioned by nature in a remarkable manner--in a manner +which distinguishes it from all other countries in the world for +unification for family life--if I may use that term in a national sense. +We are separated from the rest of the world by many leagues of sea--from +all the old countries of the world and from the greatest of the new +countries; but we are separated from all countries by a wide expanse of +sea, which leaves us with an immense territory, a fruitful territory, a +territory capable of sustaining its countless millions--leaves us +compact within ourselves; so that if a perfectly free people can arise +anywhere, it surely may arise in this favoured land of Australia. + +Whatever our views may be on other points, I think we shall all be +agreed upon this; that for the defence of Australia to be economical, to +be efficient, to be equal to any emergency that may arise at any time, +it must be of a federal character, and must be under one command. I do +not mean that the naval and land forces shall be under one +commander-in-chief, but that they should be under one kindred +command--that the naval officer in command equally with the military +officer shall be a federal officer, and amenable to the national +government of Australia. + +As to the wisdom of the great step we have now taken, for so many +eminent men from different parts of Australia meeting in this Chamber as +delegates from their colonies is in itself a great step--as to the +wisdom of that step we have the warning of every country in the world +which has used government by a confederation. + +Here we find a people I suppose about 4,000,000 strong. They have +afforded in the great cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane +and Hobart abundant proof of their power of founding an empire. Go +beyond the cities; they have accomplished under responsible government +what appear to me, and what must appear to any stranger who knew the +country thirty-five years ago, marvels in the way of internal +improvements. Not only the railways, but the telegraphs, and everything +that conduces to the best ends of a civilized community, has been +achieved by this scattered people in a marvellous manner. But all +through this great, this noble, this successful effort, we have had +different sources of irritation, of bad neighbourhood, of turmoil, of +aggression, which, if they were to go on, must make these co-terminous +communities instead of being one people of one blood, one faith, one +jurisprudence, one in the very principles of civilization +themselves--instead of that must make us cavilling, disputatious, +foreign countries. The only way to stop that is for the whole +people--and remember that the whole people in the final result must be +the arbiters--to join in creating one great union government which shall +act for the whole. That government must, of course, be sufficiently +strong to act with effect, to act successfully, and it must be +sufficiently strong to carry the name and the fame of Australia with +unspotted beauty, and with uncrippled power throughout the world. One +great end, to my mind, of a federated Australia is, that it must of +necessity secure for Australia a place in the family of nations, which +it never can attain while it is split up into separate colonies with +antagonistic laws and with hardly anything in common. + +I regret to say, Mr. President, that my strength is not such as will +enable me to keep on my feet many minutes longer. I have submitted these +resolutions--perhaps it is all the better--without any great effort in +their support. I trust I have indicated with a clearness sufficient what +the great object we aim at must be, and the means by which alone we can +hope to accomplish it. I do not doubt that the gentlemen present will +each of them address themselves to the subject, which, I think, the +resolutions have the merit of fairly launching, in a spirit of +patriotism, always keeping in view the welfare, the prosperity, the +united strength, and the ultimate glory of our common country. + +_March 13th._ I am aware that outside these walls, at any rate, there is +a feeling that we ought to wait; that the time has not yet come. I can +only repeat what I have said in other places. If we miss this particular +opportunity, every year that rolls over us will make the difficulties +greater; these difficulties which our separate existence have imposed +will go on increasing. They can only have one crop of fruit; they can +only produce antipathy, disunion, aggression, reprisal, wide-spread +discontent, and, if they are suffered to go on, civil war. That is a +prospect which no man of just mind can contemplate--that these colonies, +sprung from the same stock, possessing the same great inheritance of +equal laws and all the riches of science which have been achieved and +stored up for us in the mother country--that we, side by side, instead +of living in brotherhood and amity, should live in constant irritation +and hostility. Either we must join hands, or we must hold out our hands +in defiance of each other. In the very nature of things we cannot be +divided and be one. In the very nature of things we cannot submit to +causes of irritation, causes of infliction, causes of dissatisfaction, +causes of exasperation, and still live in brotherhood. It is only by +joining hands in good faith as the people of one kindred; it is only by +giving and taking--by entertaining compromise as far as compromise can +be entertained without deadly injury to principle--it is only by doing +that, we can hope to found this union. If we unfortunately miss this +great occasion, and leave the work undone, it will be done in a few +years hence, and it will be done by younger hands, who will gain the +credit of having effected this bond of union, which will be in itself, +if rightly effected, of more value than any other achievement in the +history of this continent. + +This is no time for glowing periods; it is no time for rhetorical +flights; but it is a time for hard and steady work in trying to do what +we are called here to do, and I would ask the honourable members to do +their utmost by a calm self-suppression, by a close attention to the +object which has brought us here, by mutual respect, mutual forbearance, +and disposition to compromise where compromise is possible, to assist +each other in bringing about this great work; and I would say that if we +do seize the occasion and succeed in doing the work, we shall have, not +now so vividly as hereafter, the blessing of this and succeeding +generations in what we have accomplished. + + + + +THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA + ++Source.+--The Melbourne Argus, 10 May 1901 + + OPENING OF THE FIRST PARLIAMENT + + Ten years after the great conference of 1891, the work of Sir Henry + Parkes and his fellow federationists reached its culmination. The + first truly Australian Parliament was opened by the Duke of + Cornwall and York (King George V). + + +By the hand of royalty, in the presence of the greatest concourse of +people that Australia has seen in one building, and with splendid pomp +and ceremonial, the legislative machinery of the Commonwealth was +yesterday set in motion. The day was full of smiles and tears, the +smiles predominating. Rising gloomily, the dispersing clouds allowed the +bright sun to peep through, and when the great ceremony was in progress +in the Exhibition-building, the atmosphere was radiant, and illuminated +the vast spaces of the building and the great sea of faces with a bright +Australian glow. + +A sight never to be forgotten was the assemblage which, in perfect +order, but with exalted feeling, awaited the arrival of the Duke and +Duchess in the great avenues which branch out from beneath the vast Dome +of the Exhibition-building. We have not in Australia any sense of the +historical prestige which attaches itself to a royal opening of the +British Parliament. There the stately function is magnificent in its +setting and pregnant in its associations, but it is in scarcely any +sense of the word a people's function. + +Here, by a happy inspiration, the function was made, to the fullest +extent, a popular one. Twelve thousand seated in a vast +amphitheatre--free people, hopeful people, courageous people--entrusted +with the working out of their own destiny, and rejoicing in their +liberty, must be impressive by reason of their numbers alone. + +But there was not wanting splendour of accessories. The mighty arches of +the dome, the spread of the great transepts, the grace of the +decorations, were in themselves inspiring; nor was even the sombre shade +of the mourning dressing, softened by splashes of purple here and there, +out of keeping with the event, typifying, as it did, our reverential +regard for the memory of a great Constitutional Ruler, the mightiest +Sovereign of the people the world has known. + +Broadly speaking, what was represented in the noble assemblage was +worth. The worthiest of Australia were there--the men who hold their +distinguished positions because they have won them, and because they +deserve them. All that is best in politics, in commerce, in industry, in +the arts, in the Church, in the school, in the public service of +Australia was represented there, and every heart beat high with pride +and with hope. + +Faint and far off, just about noon there came the sound of the National +Anthem, and there was a multitudinous murmur and stir, for here was the +actual event coming at last. Then near at hand came the blare of a +trumpet heralding the approach of the Imperial envoys, and a moment or +two after, with royal punctuality, the Duke and Duchess were on the +dais, and the strains of the National Anthem came pealing through the +building. + +The religious feelings of the occasion were stirred by the singing of +the grand "Old Hundredth" to the words of the metrical psalm, commencing +"All people that on earth do dwell." This was taken up by thousands of +the audience, and its swelling harmonies rose grandly to the dome. Lord +Hopetoun, setting aside all complicated questions of religious +precedence, himself read several prayers, in his clear, penetrating +voice, so pleasantly familiar in Victoria. + +When the Duke stepped forward to deliver his speech to the two Houses, a +"Hush" ran round the assembly, and everyone listened intently, but the +sound of the ever-moving feet on the boarded floors went on. His Royal +Highness spoke deliberately, in a clear, strong voice, and the speech he +read was distinctly heard by thousands of those present. It was a +dignified, a graceful, a kindly, and a congratulatory speech, and it +expressed a confident belief that the new powers granted to Australia +will only strengthen the affection of the people for the throne and +empire. + +At the final words, "I now declare the Parliament of the Commonwealth of +Australia open," the Duchess touched an electric button which gave the +signal outside for the hoisting of the Union Jack on all the State +schools of the Colony, and for the sending of a message to England +declaring the object of the journey of the Royal envoys accomplished. +Trumpets rang out the signal, and outside was heard the booming of +cannon in royal salute. + +After a brief pause the Duke of Cornwall and York stepped forward once +more and read a special cable message of congratulation from His Majesty +the King. And now Australia asserted herself. She had been suppressing +her feelings to show that she knew how to behave with old-world decorum +in the presence of Royalty, but this message, direct from the King +himself, was too much--they simply had to cheer. And cheer they did. It +was done without order or without concert. It was taken up time after +time by sections of the audience; it ran round the aisles, and surged +through the galleries; a hearty, spontaneous, irrepressible Australian +cheer. It was not down in the programme, but it formed a most effective +part of it. + +The final part of the ceremony, which altogether occupied about +three-quarters of an hour, was the swearing-in of members by the +Governor-General. He stood on the dais and read out the oath, whilst the +members, Bible in hand, followed him in sections. Then Lord Hopetoun +stepped to the front of the dais, and directing the audience by the +waving of his hat, called for three cheers for His Royal Highness the +Duke, which were given with splendid heartiness, and followed by another +round for the Duchess, after which the Duke and Duchess retired and the +great ceremony was over. + + +TELEGRAM FROM THE KING + +His Royal Highness read the following telegram from His Majesty the +King: + +"My thoughts are with you on the day of the important ceremony. Most +fervently do I wish Australia prosperity and great happiness." + + +REPLY TO THE KING + +The following telegram was despatched by His Royal Highness the Duke of +Cornwall and York to His Majesty the King immediately after the opening +ceremony: + +"I have just delivered your message, and, in your name, declared open +the first Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia. I also read your +kind telegram of good wishes, which is deeply appreciated by your loving +Australian subjects, and was received with great enthusiasm. Splendid +and impressive ceremony, over 12,000 people in Exhibition-building." + + +MESSAGE FROM THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT + +When the newly-elected President of the Federal Senate and Speaker of +the House of Representatives were presented to His Excellency the +Governor-General at the Old Treasury buildings yesterday afternoon, Lord +Hopetoun intimated to them and to the members of the Commonwealth +Legislature who were present that he had received the subjoined message +from the Secretary of State for the Colonies: + +"His Majesty's Government welcomes the new Parliament that to-day takes +its place among the great legislative bodies of the British Empire and +they feel confident that it will be a faithful interpreter of the +aspirations of a free and loyal people, and they trust that its +deliberations will promote the happiness, prosperity, and unity of the +whole continent of Australia." + +The message was subsequently read in both Houses of the Federal +Parliament, and received with cheers. + + + + +THE BOER WAR + ++Source.+--The Times History of the War in South Africa, 1899-1902, Vol. +III, pp. 30-31, 34-35; Vol. IV, p. 428 + + The clash of interests in South Africa between settlers of Dutch + and of British origin gave rise to much ill-feeling, and in 1899 + Great Britain decided to annex the South African Colonies in order + to protect the interests of her subjects. In the ensuing struggle + the Colonies freely offered support, both moral and physical. + + +Of all the colonies the Australian ones were the most directly +interested in the South African controversy. In view of the vast and +increasing trade between Australia and the mother-country, the safety of +the Cape route must always be a question of the very highest importance +in the eyes of Australian statesmen. And apart from such considerations +of contingent self-interest, Australians had strong personal feelings +over the issue between Kruger and the Uitlanders. Australian miners +formed no small section of the population of the Rand. Australians were +under no illusions as to the idyllic character of the peasant-owners of +the Transvaal. As soon as the crisis became acute, public meetings were +held all over the Australian colonies to express sympathy with the +Uitlanders and to support the attitude of the Imperial Government. The +question of sending Australian contingents to join the Imperial forces +in the event of a war was discussed at an early stage. The idea of +active participation in the wars of the Empire was not altogether a new +one. As far back as 1867 Tasmania had sent a contingent to assist the +Imperial forces in the Maori war. More recently a body of New South +Wales troops took part in the Sudan campaign of 1885. A little active +service and much tedious waiting at Suakim was all they saw, and one +might have imagined that in Australia the result had been to damp any +inclination to repeat the performance. But the partial disappointment of +1885 made the Australians all the more eager to try again. + +Between October 28 and November 5 the first Australian contingents +sailed amidst the most enthusiastic popular demonstrations. They were +officered and manned almost entirely by members of the various colonial +volunteer forces, and thus possessed the advantage of a certain amount +of initial training which was destined to stand them in good stead in +the field. It should never be forgotten that their success was mainly +due to the persistent effort of those officers, whether Imperial or +colonial, who during the past twenty years had given their services to +the development and organization of the colonial forces. It was the +existence of these forces that kept up the military spirit in the +colonies. + +Small as was the force contributed by the Empire (nearly 80,000 men) it +was none the less a material assistance, whose value can hardly be +overrated. It practically doubled the mounted force, and thus made +possible those sweeping movements by which Lord Roberts reached +Pretoria. Above all, it gave the Imperial Government a moral support +which enabled it to face with equanimity the almost universal hostility +of the European powers or the fanatical outcries of a few +anti-Imperialist partisans at home. Never, probably, in modern times has +there been a greater consensus of honest opinion in support of a great +national movement than that which backed up Britain's effort to maintain +her position in South Africa. It was simply that the free citizens of +free countries asked to be allowed to venture their lives for the sake +of a political ideal which was personally and intimately dear to each +one of them, and that, in spite of the paralysing absence of either +precedent or preparation, many thousands actually achieved their desire. +The war has not shown what the Empire can do, but it has revealed to +those who perhaps doubted before, what an Empire we can make if we but +choose. + + +ELANDS RIVER + +Amongst varying fortunes and many indecisive actions, the defence of the +position at Elands River stands out as an achievement only made possible +by courage and grim determination. + +For several weeks Colonel Hore, with a small garrison at Brakfontein on +the Elands River, had been keeping up the connection between Mafeking +and Zeerust, policing the district and forwarding on convoys to +Rustenburg. At the beginning of August the force which he had for this +purpose, as well as to guard a large store of supplies, consisted of 500 +men, nearly all Imperial bushmen or Rhodesians, an old muzzle-loading +seven-pounder, and two maxims. By this time Lord Roberts had determined +that several isolated posts in the Western Transvaal, such as this one, +which were in constant danger of attack, must be evacuated, and on +August 1 ordered General Carrington to march to Elands River to cover +Hore's retirement. But De la Rey, with three detachments of his troops +under himself, Lemmer, and Steenekemp, each numbering about 300 men, and +each with a gun and a pom-pom, and a maxim, had arrived there before +him, and on the morning of August 4 had aroused Hore's camp by shell and +rifle fire from the north-west, east, and south-east. The camp was on a +small boulder-strewn kopje, in the centre of an amphitheatre about five +acres in extent, and half a mile east of the river. Most of the men were +on this central kopje, but two small hills on the bank of the river were +held by detachments under Captain Butters and Lieutenant Zouch. Luckily, +an attack had been expected, and stone sangars and shelters of ox-wagons +had been made and further protected by biscuit boxes and bags of flour +and sugar from the stores the men were guarding. Nevertheless the Boer +attack seemed to have every chance in its favour; their guns were in +safe positions 2,400 yards from the camp, and along the river banks they +could creep close up to the defenders. Hore's old seven-pounder, though +it succeeded in silencing a Boer gun, and killed a German gunner, was +very capricious in its working, and was obviously no match for the Boer +guns. The thousands of horses and oxen which were in the camp under no +sort of cover were nearly all killed on the first day by the Boer +shells; and the stench arising from these dead animals in the narrow +camp makes it almost marvellous that the men who escaped the Boer shells +were not killed by pestilence. Moreover, the only chance of getting +water was to take the water carts down to the river at night, and then +the drivers and escort were not always safe. To make matters worse, on +the second day of the siege Carrington's advance scouts, after appearing +on the rise to the west, were soon seen retiring again, so that rescue +from this side seemed now out of the question. When starting, Carrington +did not know that Hore was invested, so he carried very few rations. He +no doubt had a small force with him and was badly off for supplies; but +he had gained a ridge from which he commanded the way to Elands River, +and under the circumstances of Hore's pressing danger he was too quickly +discouraged from a more determined effort to bring out the garrison. +From the east another attempt was made to relieve Hore which proved +equally abortive. + +On August 5 firing had been heard in the direction of Elands River, so +next day Baden-Powell marched with his own and Mahon's mounted troops +about half-way to Brakfontein. Here he heard guns firing in a westerly +direction, but as the sound seemed to grow fainter and fainter, he +assumed, without, however, waiting for the reports of his scouts, that +Carrington had succeeded in withdrawing Hore towards Mafeking. + +After Carrington's retreat to Zeerust on August 5 and Baden-Powell's to +Rustenburg on the 6th, Lord Roberts had given up all hope of saving this +garrison. But on the 13th a runner from Colonel Hore had arrived at +Crocodile Pools, announcing that he had not surrendered. On hearing this +the Field Marshal ordered Kitchener to take part of his force to relieve +him. Kitchener started on the 16th. from Quaggafontein with Little's, +Broadwood's, and Smith-Dorrien's brigades. After Carrington had come up +and gone away again on August 5, the garrison, though apparently left to +their fate, would hear nothing of surrender, but made up their minds to +fight as long as they had ammunition and strength to use it. Luckily +they were well provided with food, and the Boers, as usual in their +sieges, were content to sit round and fire at them without seriously +attempting to rush the place as they should have done. The garrison also +kept up their spirits by sudden raids at night on adventurous Boers or +guns that came too near. Thus, as at Wepener, it became a game of +patience for the garrison, dissimilar only in this, that at Elands River +there was no promise of support to buoy up the garrison with hope. + +However, on August 16, after eleven days' siege, De la Rey moved away on +the news of the approaching relief columns, and Lord Kitchener rode in +to set free the garrison. + +This siege, like that of Wepener, was especially a Colonial triumph; +there the garrison had been chiefly Cape Colonials, here the majority +were Australians of Carrington's first Brigade, the rest being +Rhodesians, and it would be difficult to praise overmuch the +determination and fine spirit shown by these Colonials in their first +opportunity of distinguishing themselves as a corps. Every soldier who +saw the place afterwards expressed surprise that they could have held +out so long, and it is therefore the more creditable to them to have +done so when every hope of relief seemed entirely cut off; while, at a +time when surrenders and retreats were not sufficiently rare, the +example shown by these splendid men was even more important than the +position they held. + + + + +THE GREAT WAR + ++Source.+--The Times History of the War and Encyclopaedia, Vol. I, p. +161; Vol. II, p. 31; Vol. III, p. 126 + + The aggressive policy of Germany led to the outbreak in 1914 of the + greatest war in history; for nearly every country in the world + ultimately became involved in the struggle. + + Germany advised Austria to demand most humiliating concessions from + Servia, and the resistance of Servia supported by Russia resulted + in war between Germany and Austria on one side, and Servia, Russia, + and her ally France on the other. + + For strategical reasons Germany determined to attack France through + Belgium, declaring that the international treaty which bound her to + respect Belgian neutrality was but a "Scrap of Paper." Great + Britain, as one of the signatories to the treaty, protested + against such a violation of good faith, but finding protestation + vain declared war upon Germany on 4 August 1914. + + The whole Empire solidly supported the Mother Country and shared + valiantly in all her achievements. + + +THE RALLY OF THE EMPIRE + +Important as were the offers of help, both of men and provisions, which +the self-governing Dominions and the Indian Empire made to the Mother +Country almost immediately after the outbreak of the war, the knowledge +that these great daughter-nations were morally convinced of the justice +of the British cause, was a factor of even more far-reaching importance. +Great as was the necessity of organizing and expanding the Imperial +forces, and thus creating an extra army or armies to reinforce the +British Expeditionary Force in France, urgent as was the need of taking +advantage of the prompt offers of help which came from all parts of the +Empire, the necessity of convincing the self-governing Dominions and the +Empire at large of the righteousness of the cause for which Great +Britain was fighting was more imperative still. For in the long run the +consciousness of the justice of the principles for which a people is +fighting, alone can ensure the massing of material force sufficient to +secure material victory. + +Evidence that the case for Great Britain was fully understood and +thoroughly approved, not only by our own peoples, but by the bulk of the +neutral States of the world, was not long in presenting itself. The +Dominions as a whole had satisfied themselves that the British cause was +just, before Sir Edward Grey had made it plain by his speech of August +3rd that the British Government had done everything short of sacrificing +the honour of the country to avoid war. In the words of Sir Richard +McBride, the Premier of British Columbia, "Should it unfortunately +develop that Great Britain is compelled to engage in hostilities, Canada +will automatically be at war also"; while in Australia, Mr. Fisher, the +ex-Prime Minister, declared, "Should honour demand the Mother Country to +take part in hostilities, Australians will stand beside her to the last +man and the last shilling." These sentiments found expression in the +offers of help of men and material, which have been described in the +preceding chapter. To those offers the King replied by a message to the +Overseas Dominions: + +"I desire to express to my people of the Overseas Dominions with what +appreciation and pride I have received the messages from their +respective Governments during the last few days. + +"These spontaneous assurances of their fullest support recall to me the +generous, self-sacrificing help given by them in the past to the Mother +Country. + +"I shall be strengthened in the discharge of the great responsibility +which rests upon me by the confident belief that in this time of trial +my Empire will stand united, calm, resolute, trusting in God. + +"GEORGE R.I." + + +THE SINKING OF THE _EMDEN_ (German cruiser) + +Against us there were known to be some eight or nine German cruisers +abroad, all efficient for commerce-destroying purposes, and several with +very high speed, which it was recognized would require a great deal of +catching.... + +The _Emden_ was a small vessel of some 3,500 tons, with a speed of about +25 knots--quite fast enough to overhaul any British steamer she was +likely to encounter, and fast enough also to run away, if necessary. The +_Emden_ was generally heard of where she was least expected, and after +reaping her harvest of merchantmen, as unaccountably disappeared. In +something under six weeks she had captured nearly twenty steamers, +always contriving to pick up a collier among them, so that she was able +to keep her bunkers replenished.... + +As a variety of adventure, the _Emden_ steamed one evening into Madras +Roads, and threw shell into the outskirts of the town for the space of +half an hour or so--some oil tanks were set ablaze, and two or three +natives killed; Fort George returned the fire--probably without +effect--and the _Emden_ retired. + +It may be assumed that the German captain received information by +wireless of the probable approach of colliers or other vessels, as he +was so very much on the spot; in any case, he was a courageous and +enterprising man, and a good sportsman; but we wanted very badly to +catch him. There are so many holes and corners in that part of the +world, where a vessel may lie for a time with little chance of +detection, and the _Emden's_ speed would have enabled her to reach some +such refuge very quickly. + +The last act in the drama of the _Emden_ took place off the +Cocos-Keeling Islands in the Indian Ocean.... + +It was to this desolate spot in the Indian Ocean that Captain Von Muller +brought his ship, in the early days of November; with him was one of his +captures, the _Buresk_, which was full of coal. The object of this visit +of the _Emden_ was the destruction of the important wireless station +that is established on the islands, and on the morning of November 9th, +the officials were unpleasantly surprised by the landing of an armed +boat's crew from a cruiser, which had come to an anchor, and which they +first imagined to be H.M.S. _Minotaur_. They were quickly undeceived by +the German officer in charge of the party, who informed them that their +operations from the wireless station had greatly hampered the movements +of the cruiser. One detachment of the Germans then rounded up all the +officials and their servants, placing them under a strict guard, while a +second party prepared to blow up the wireless installation and to smash +the instrument rooms of the cable office. This they did most thoroughly, +but the officials seem to have kept their heads in the most praiseworthy +manner, as, just as soon as they discovered that the enemy was upon +them, they sent out distress signals by wireless, and warned adjacent +stations by cable that they were about to be smashed up. + +The landing party now blew up the wireless mast and the store in which +spare cable and cable gear was kept; a third explosion wrecked the +wireless hut, and completed the destruction of the installation. The +dynamo rooms and workshops were destroyed with flogging hammers and +axes, everything breakable, including clocks, being smashed to atoms. +Their next proceeding was to cut the shore ends of the submarine cables, +and this was done in full view of the prisoners. There are three cables +from the Cocos--to Perth, to Batavia, and to Rodriguez--and the pleasure +of the prisoners can be imagined when they saw the Germans spend much +hard labour in destroying a dummy cable. Eventually the Perth cable and +the dummy were cut, the others being left, presumably because the +Germans did not know that they existed. + +The party from the _Emden_ had landed at 7.30 a.m., and by 9.20 their +mission of destruction was accomplished. At this time a signal was blown +on the siren from the ship; the officer in command collected his men, +marched them down to the beach, and re-embarked. The telegraphists +report that they were fairly and courteously treated. On arrival the +_Emden_ was still using her now famous fourth funnel, a dummy, and this +it was that caused the telegraphists to mistake her in the first +instance for the _Minotaur_, which is a four-funnelled armoured cruiser. +As she steamed away in the bright light of the tropic morning for what +was so shortly to prove her last cruise, the _Emden_ hauled down, and +stowed away, her dummy. + +The action that ensued between the _Sydney_ and the _Emden_ is here +given in the official despatch of Captain Glossop, dated from Colombo on +November 15th: + +I have the honour to report that whilst on escort duty with the convoy +under the charge of Captain Silver, H.M.A.S. _Melbourne_, at 6.30 a.m. +on Monday, Nov. 9th, a wireless message from Cocos was heard reporting +that a foreign warship was off the entrance. I was ordered to raise +steam for full speed at 7.0 a.m. and proceeded thither. I worked up to +twenty knots, and at 9.15 a.m. sighted land ahead and almost immediately +the smoke of a ship, which proved to be the H.I.G.M.S. _Emden_ coming +out towards me at a great rate. At 9.40 a.m. fire was opened, she firing +the first shot. I kept my distance as much as possible to obtain the +advantage of my guns. Her fire was very accurate and rapid to begin +with, but seemed to slacken very quickly, all casualties occurring in +this ship almost immediately. First, the foremost funnel of her went, +secondly the foremast, and she was badly on fire aft, then the second +funnel went, and lastly the third funnel, and I saw she was making for +the beach on North Keeling Island, where she grounded at 11.20 a.m. I +gave her two more broadsides and left her, to pursue a merchant ship +which had come up during the action. + +2. Although I had guns on this merchant ship at odd times during the +action, I had not fired, and as she was making off fast, I pursued and +overtook her at 12.10, firing a gun across her bows and hoisting +International Code Signal to stop, which she did. I sent an armed boat, +and found her to be the ss. _Buresk_, a captured British collier, with +18 Chinese crew, 1 English steward, 1 Norwegian cook, and a German prize +crew of 3 officers, 1 warrant officer, and 12 men. The ship +unfortunately was sinking, so I took all on board, fired four shells +into her, and returned to _Emden_, passing men swimming in the water, +for whom I left two boats I was towing from _Buresk_. + +3. On arriving again off _Emden_, she still had her colours up at +mainmast head. I inquired by signal, International Code, "Will you +surrender?" and received a reply in Morse, "What signal? No signal +books." I then made in Morse, "Do you surrender?" and subsequently, +"Have you received my signal?" to neither of which did I get an answer. +The German officers on board gave me to understand that the captain +would never surrender, and therefore, though very reluctantly, I again +fired at her at 4.30 p.m., ceasing at 4.35, as she showed white flags +and hauled down her ensign by sending a man aloft. + +4. I then left Emden and returned and picked up the _Buresk's_ two +boats, rescuing two sailors (5.0 p.m.) who had been in the water all +day. I returned and sent in one boat to _Emden_, manned by her own prize +crew from _Buresk_ and one officer, and stating I would return to their +assistance next morning. + +5. I lay on and off all night, and communicated with Direction Island at +8.0 a.m., November 10th, to find that the _Emden's_ party, consisting of +three officers and forty men, one launch and two cutters, had seized and +provisioned a 70-ton schooner (the _Ayesha_), having four Maxims with +two belts to each. They left the previous night at six o'clock. The +wireless station was entirely destroyed, one cable cut, one damaged, and +one intact. I borrowed a doctor and two assistants, and proceeded as +fast as possible to _Emden's_ assistance. + +6. I sent an officer on board to see the captain, and in view of the +large number of prisoners and wounded, and lack of accommodation, etc., +in this ship, and the absolute impossibility of leaving them there, he +agreed that if I received his officers and men and all wounded, "then as +for such time as they remained in _Sydney_ they would cause no +interference with ship or fittings, and would be amenable to the ship's +discipline." I therefore set to work at once to tranship them--a most +difficult operation, the ship being on weather side of island, and the +send alongside very heavy. The conditions in the _Emden_ were +indescribable. I received the last from her at 5.0 p.m., then had to go +round to the lee side to pick up 20 more men who had managed to get +ashore from the ship. + +7. Darkness came on before this could be accomplished, and the ship +again stood off and on all night, resuming operations at 5.0 a.m., on +November 11th, a cutter's crew having to land with stretchers to bring +wounded round to embarking point. A German officer, a doctor, died +ashore the previous day. The ship in the meantime ran over to Direction +Island to return their doctor and assistants, send cables, and was back +again at 10 a.m., embarked the remainder of wounded, and proceeded for +Colombo by 10.35 a.m., Wednesday, November 11th. + +8. Total casualties in _Sydney_: killed, 3; severely wounded (since +dead), 1; severely wounded, 4; wounded, 4; slightly wounded, 4. In the +_Emden_ I can only approximately state the killed at 7 officers and 108 +men from captain's statement. I had on board 11 officers, 9 warrant +officers and 191 men, of whom 3 officers and 53 men were wounded, and of +this number 1 officer and 3 men have since died of wounds. + +9. The damage to Sydney's hull and fittings was surprisingly small; in +all about ten hits seem to have been made. The engine and boiler rooms +and funnels escaped entirely. + +10. I have great pleasure in stating that the behaviour of the ship's +company was excellent in every way, and with such a large number of +young hands and people under training it is all the more gratifying. + +It will be seen from Captain Glossop's despatch that he was on escort +duty with the convoy under the charge of Captain Silver of H.M.A.S. +_Melbourne_. This convoy was carrying Australian and New Zealand troops +to the scene of the great conflict in Europe. The act of self-denial on +the part of Captain Silver in sending the _Sydney_ to engage the +_Emden_, instead of taking that duty upon himself, certainly deserves to +be noted. This officer denied to himself and to the officers and men +under his command, the privilege of dealing with the notorious raider, +and in so doing he was actuated solely by his high sense of duty and the +responsibility that he owed to his country. In his judgment the _Sydney_ +was the more suitable ship, so she was sent, and the _Melbourne_ +remained with her convoy until the affair was concluded. + + + + +LANDING ON GALLIPOLI + ++Source.+-—Dispatch from a special Correspondent at the Dardanelles +printed in The Times, 7 May 1915 + + Soon after the commencement of the war Turkey joined the Central + Powers, and consequently the Australian Imperial Forces, having + experienced a rigorous training in Egypt, were used to assist the + Navy and other Allied troops in an attempt to force the Dardanelles. + + +VIEWED FROM A BATTLESHIP + +Slowly through the night of April 24th our squadron, which was to land +the covering forces of the Australian contingent just north of Gaba +Tepe, steamed towards its destination.... + +At 1 a.m. the ships arrived off their appointed rendezvous, five miles +from the landing-place, and stopped. The soldiers were aroused from +their slumbers, and were served with a last hot meal. A visit to the +mess decks showed these Australians, the majority of whom were about to +go into action for the first time under the most trying circumstances, +possessed at 1 o'clock in the morning courage to be cheerful, quiet, and +confident.... + +At 1.20 a.m. the signal was given from the flagship to lower the boats, +which had been left swinging from the davits throughout the night. Our +steam pinnaces were also lowered to take them in tow.... + +On the quarter-deck, backed by the great 12 in. guns, this splendid body +of colonial troops were drawn up in serried ranks, fully equipped, and +receiving their last instructions from their officers, who, six months +ago, like their men, were leading a peaceful civilian life in Australia +and New Zealand, 5,000 miles away.... + +At 2.5 a.m. the signal was given for the troops to embark in the boats +which were lying alongside, and this was carried out with great +rapidity, in absolute silence, and without a hitch or an accident of any +kind.... + +The whole operation had been timed to allow the pinnaces and boats to +reach the beach just before daylight, so that the Turks, if they had +been forewarned, would not be able to see to fire before the Australians +had obtained a firm footing and, it was hoped, good cover on the +foreshore.... + +At 4.53 a.m. there suddenly came a very sharp burst of rifle fire from +the beach, and we knew our men were at last at grips with the enemy. +This fire lasted only for a few minutes, and then was drowned by a faint +British cheer wafted to us over the waters.... + +The first authentic news we received came with the return of our boats. +A steam pinnace came alongside with two recumbent forms on her deck and +a small figure, pale, but cheerful, and waving his hand astern. They +were one of our midshipmen, just sixteen years of age, shot through the +stomach, but regarding his injury more as a fitting consummation to a +glorious holiday ashore than a wound; and a chief stoker, and petty +officer, all three wounded by that first burst of musketry, which caused +many casualties in the boats just as they reached the beach. + +From them we learned what had happened in those first wild moments. All +the tows had almost reached the beach, when a party of Turks, entrenched +almost on the shore, opened up a terrible fusillade from rifles and also +from a Maxim. Fortunately most of the bullets went high, but, +nevertheless, many men were hit as they sat huddled together forty or +fifty in a boat. + +It was a trying moment, but the Australian volunteers rose as a man to +the occasion. They waited neither for orders, nor for the boats to reach +the beach, but, springing out into the sea, they waded ashore, and, +forming some sort of a rough line, rushed straight on the flashes of the +enemy's rifles. Their magazines were not charged, so they just went in +with cold steel, and I believe I am right in saying that the first +Ottoman Turk since the last Crusade received an Anglo-Saxon bayonet in +him at 5 minutes after 5 a.m. on April 25th. It was over in a minute. +The Turks in this first trench were bayoneted or ran away, and a Maxim +gun was captured. + +Then the Australians found themselves facing an almost perpendicular +cliff of loose sandstone, covered with thick shrubbery, and somewhere +half-way up the enemy had a second trench strongly held, from which they +poured a terrible fire on the troops below, and the boats pulling back +to the destroyers for the second landing party. + +Here was a tough proposition to tackle in the darkness, but these +Colonials are practical above all else, and they went about it in a +practical way. They stopped a few moments to pull themselves together, +and to get rid of their packs which no troops could carry in an attack, +and then charged their magazines. Then this race of athletes proceeded +to scale the cliffs without responding to the enemy's fire. They lost +some men but did not worry, and in less than a quarter of an hour the +Turks were out of their second position, either bayoneted or in full +flight. + +This ridge under which the landing was made, stretches due north from +Gaba Tepe, and culminates in the height of Coja Chemen, which rises 950 +feet above the sea level. The whole forms part of a confused triangle of +hills, valleys, ridges, and bluffs which stretches right across the +Gallipoli Peninsula to the Bay of Bassi Liman, above the Narrows. The +triangle is cut in two by the valley through which flows the stream +known as Bokali Deresi.... + +In the early part of the day very heavy casualties were suffered in the +boats which conveyed the troops from the destroyers, tugs, and +transports to the beach. As soon as it became light, the enemy's +sharpshooters, hidden everywhere, simply concentrated their fire on the +boats.... + +Throughout the whole of April 25th the landing of troops, stores, and +munitions had to be carried out under these conditions, but the gallant +sailors never failed their equally gallant comrades ashore. Every one, +from the youngest midshipman straight from Dartmouth and under fire for +the first time, to the senior officers in charge, did their duty +nobly.... + +When the sun was fully risen and the haze had disappeared, we could see +that the Australians had actually established themselves on the top of +the ridge, and were evidently trying to work their way northwards along +it.... + +The fighting was so confused, and took place amongst such broken ground +that it is extremely difficult to follow exactly what did happen +throughout the morning and afternoon of April the 25th. The role +assigned to the covering force was splendidly carried out up to a +certain point, and a firm footing was obtained on the crest of the ridge +which allowed the disembarkation of the remainder of the force to go on +uninterruptedly except for the never-ceasing sniping. + +But then the Australians, whose blood was up, instead of entrenching +themselves and waiting developments, pushed northward and eastward +inland, in search of fresh enemies to tackle with the bayonet. The +ground is so broken and ill-defined that it was very difficult to select +a position to entrench, especially as after the troops imagined they had +cleared a section, they were continually being sniped from all sides. +Therefore they preferred to continue the advance.... The Turks only had +a comparatively weak force actually holding the beach, and they seemed +to have relied on the difficult nature of the ground, and their +scattered snipers, to delay the advance until they could bring up +reinforcements from the interior. + +Some of the Australians who had pushed inland were counter-attacked and +almost outflanked by these oncoming reserves, and had to fall back after +suffering very heavy casualties. + +It was then the turn of the Turks to counter-attack, and this they +continued to do throughout the afternoon, but the Australians never +yielded a foot of ground on the main ridge, and reinforcements were +continually poured up from the beach as fresh troops were disembarked +from the transports. The enemy's artillery fire, however, presented a +very difficult problem. As soon as the light became good, the Turks +enfiladed the beach with two field guns from Gaba Tepe, and with two +others from the north.... In vain did the warships endeavour to put them +out of action with their secondary armament. For some hours they could +not be accurately located, or else were so well protected that our +shells failed to do them any harm.... + +Later in the day the two guns to the north were silenced ... and a +cruiser moving in close to the shore, so plastered Gaba Tepe with a hail +of shell that the guns there were also silenced and have not attempted +to reply since. + +As the enemy brought up reinforcements, towards dusk his attacks became +more and more vigorous, and he was supported by a powerful artillery +inland, which the ships' guns were powerless to deal with. The pressure +on the Australians and New Zealanders became heavier, and the line they +were occupying had to be contracted for the night. General Birdwood and +his staff went ashore in the afternoon, and devoted all their energies +to securing the position, so as to hold firmly to it until the following +morning, when it was hoped to get some field guns in position to deal +with the enemy's artillery. + +Some idea of the difficulty to be faced may be gathered when it is +remembered that every round of ammunition, all water, and all supplies +had to be landed on a narrow beach and then carried up pathless hills, +valleys, and bluffs, several hundred feet high, to the firing line. The +whole of this mass of troops, concentrated on a very small area, and +unable to reply, were exposed to a relentless and incessant shrapnel +fire, which swept every yard of the ground, although, fortunately, a +great deal of it was badly aimed or burst too high. The reserves were +engaged in road-making and carrying supplies to the crest, and in +answering the calls for more ammunition. + +A serious problem was getting away the wounded from the shore, where it +was impossible to keep them. All those who were unable to hobble to the +beach had to be carried down to the hills on stretchers, then hastily +dressed and carried to the boats. The boat and beach parties never +stopped working throughout the entire day and night. + +The courage displayed by these wounded Australians will never be +forgotten. Hastily dressed and placed in trawlers, lighters, and ships' +boats they were towed to the ships.... I have, in fact, never seen the +like of those wounded Australians in war before, for as they were towed +amongst the ships, whilst accommodation was being found for them, +although many were shot to bits, and without hope of recovery, their +cheers resounded through the night, and you could just see, amidst a +mass of suffering humanity, arms being waved in greeting to the crews of +the warships. They were happy because they had been tried for the first +time in the war and had not been found wanting. They had been told to +occupy the heights and hold on, and this they had done for fifteen +mortal hours, under an incessant shell fire, without the moral and +material support of a single gun ashore, and subjected the whole time to +the violent counter-attacks of a brave enemy, led by skilled leaders, +whilst his snipers, hidden in caves and thickets and amongst the dense +scrub, made a deliberate practice of picking off every officer who +endeavoured to give a word of command or lead his men forward. + +No finer feat of arms has been performed during the war than this sudden +landing in the dark, the storming of the heights, and above all, the +holding on to the position thus won whilst reinforcements were being +poured from the transports. These raw Colonial troops in those desperate +hours proved themselves worthy to fight side by side with the heroes of +Mons and the Aisne, Ypres, and Neuve Chapelle. + + + + +WHAT ANZAC MEANS + +By Senator Pearce (Minister of State for Defence) + ++Source.+--The Melbourne Argus, 25 April 1916 + + +In an army a knowledge of its past achievements is a mighty factor in +its future success. Before this war Australia had practically no army +traditions, and it is to the meaning of the Gallipoli campaign in this +connection that I would direct attention to-day, twelve months after the +historic landing. + +To the peoples of Europe the thought of war was ever present in the +popular mind; but to the Australian, born and bred in an atmosphere +untainted by war, living amid peaceful surroundings and desirous of +remaining on terms of friendship with the rest of mankind the word +itself has a jarring sound. Yet the German challenge to the Mother +Country finds 233,720 of her Australian sons who have voluntarily +wrenched themselves from their parents, wives, and friends, and from +comfortable and cheerful homes, to answer the call of their country to +fight the Empire's battles on distant shores. + +Nor has the thunder of the cannon been necessary to inspire Australians +with a conception of their duty; and the explanation of it all is that +we have inherited to the full that spirit of our forebears which enabled +them, not so long ago, to tear themselves from homeland firesides to +shape careers in this great island continent, and to overcome with +indomitable pluck the awful hardships of a pioneering life. + +For generations to come the story of the entry of the Australian troops +to the European battlefield will ring in the ears of English-speaking +nations. The chronicler of the future will provide many thrilling pages +of history, magnificent material for the moulding of the youthful +Australian character. + +A distinguished military officer told us before the war that Australians +would require to be in the majority of two to one in meeting a foreign +foe on our own shores; but the furious onslaught that accompanied the +landing at Gallipoli, the bitter fighting and terrible trials of the +occupation, and the wonderful skill that made possible the bloodless +evacuation have shown us that the Australians carried out a feat of arms +not excelled by the most highly-trained regulars of any nation of the +world. The following messages are eloquent in their tribute to +Australian bravery: + +"I heartily congratulate you upon the splendid conduct and bravery +displayed by the Australian troops in the operations at the Dardanelles, +who have indeed proved themselves worthy sons of the Empire."--His +Majesty the King, _April 1915_. + +"The capture of the positions we hold will go down to history as a +magnificent feat of the Australians and New Zealanders."--General Sir +William Birdwood, _November 1915_. + +"Happen what may, the Australians who have fought at Gallipoli will +bequeath a heritage of honour to their children's children."--General +Sir Ian Hamilton, _November 1915_. + +These are examples of the praise which that feat of arms has won, and +such is the standing of military bearing which the improvised army of +Australian citizens has set up for the citizen army of Australia--a +standard which, we may rest assured, has not failed to impress our +enemies in computing the military value of our forces. + +Every unit of the citizen army will now have its tradition. Every +soldier of the Australian army will have that inspiring example of the +Anzac heroes to live up to in his military work, and we can regard the +future with a calm confidence in the military prowess of our soldiers. + + The Allied troops evacuated the Gallipoli Peninsula in December + 1915, and the majority of the Australian Imperial Force was then + transferred to the Western Front in France, where on fiercely + fought fields such as Pozières, Messines, Cambrai, Amiens, and + others too numerous to detail here, they won imperishable fame. + + +THE END + + + + +CHISWICK PRESS, + +CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO. +BOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, +LONDON + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Source Book Of Australian History +by Compiled by Gwendolen H. Swinburne + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AUSTRALIAN HISTORY *** + +***** This file should be named 15337-0.txt or 15337-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/5/3/3/15337/ + +Produced by Robert Cicconetti, Martin Pettit and the PG Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |