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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: The Book of the Bush + Containing Many Truthful Sketches Of The Early Colonial + Life Of Squatters, Whalers, Convicts, Diggers, And Others + Who Left Their Native Land And Never Returned + +Author: George Dunderdale + +Illustrator: J. Macfarlane + +Release Date: July 24, 2005 [EBook #16349] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOOK OF THE BUSH *** + + + + +Produced by Amy Zellmer + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h3>THE</h3> + +<h2>BOOK OF THE BUSH</h2> + +<h4>CONTAINING</h4> + +<h3><i>MANY TRUTHFUL SKETCHES OF THE EARLY COLONIAL LIFE OF +SQUATTERS, WHALERS, CONVICTS, DIGGERS, AND OTHERS WHO LEFT THEIR +NATIVE LAND AND NEVER RETURNED.</i></h3> + +<h4>By</h4> + +<h2>GEORGE DUNDERDALE.</h2> + +<h4><i>ILLUSTRATED BY J. MACFARLANE.</i></h4> + +<h4>LONDON:<br> +WARD, LOCK & CO., LIMITED,<br> +WARWICK HOUSE, SALISBURY SQUARE, E.C.<br> +NEW YORK AND MELBOURNE.</h4> + +<hr align="center" width="50%"> +<center> +<p><a name="bookbush-01"></a><img alt="" src="images/bookbush-01.jpg"></p> + +<p><b>"Joey's out"</b></p> +</center> + +<hr align="center" width="50%"> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<p><a href="#ch-01">PURGING OUT THE OLD LEAVEN.</a><br> +<a href="#ch-02">FIRST SETTLERS.</a><br> +<a href="#ch-03">WRECK OF THE CONVICT SHIP "NEVA" ON KING'S +ISLAND.</a><br> +<a href="#ch-04">DISCOVERY OF THE RIVER HOPKINS.</a><br> +<a href="#ch-05">WHALING.</a><br> +<a href="#ch-06">OUT WEST IN 1849.</a><br> +<a href="#ch-07">AMONG THE DIGGERS IN 1853.</a><br> +<a href="#ch-08">A BUSH HERMIT.</a><br> +<a href="#ch-09">THE TWO SHEPHERDS.</a><br> +<a href="#ch-10">A VALIANT POLICE-SERGEANT.</a><br> +<a href="#ch-11">WHITE SLAVERS.</a><br> +<a href="#ch-12">THE GOVERNMENT STROKE.</a><br> +<a href="#ch-13">ON THE NINETY-MILE.</a><br> +<a href="#ch-14">GIPPSLAND PIONEERS.</a><br> +<a href="#ch-15">THE ISLE OF BLASTED HOPES.</a><br> +<a href="#ch-16">GLENGARRY IN GIPPSLAND.</a><br> +<a href="#ch-17">WANTED, A CATTLE MARKET.</a><br> +<a href="#ch-18">TWO SPECIAL SURVEYS.</a><br> +<a href="#ch-19">HOW GOVERNMENT CAME TO GIPPSLAND.</a><br> +<a href="#ch-20">GIPPSLAND UNDER THE LAW.</a><br> +<a href="#ch-21">UNTIL THE GOLDEN DAWN.</a><br> +<a href="#ch-22">A NEW RUSH.</a><br> +<a href="#ch-23">GIPPSLAND AFTER THIRTY YEARS.</a><br> +<a href="#ch-24">GOVERNMENT OFFICERS IN THE BUSH.</a><br> +<a href="#ch-25">SEAL ISLANDS AND SEALERS.</a><br> +<a href="#ch-26">A HAPPY CONVICT.</a></p> + +<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.</h2> + +<p><a href="#bookbush-01">ILLUSTRATION 1. "Joey's out."</a><br> +<a href="#bookbush-02">ILLUSTRATION 2. "I'll show you who is +master aboard this ship."</a><br> +<a href="#bookbush-03">ILLUSTRATION 3. "You stockman, Frank, come +off that horse."</a><br> +<a href="#bookbush-04">ILLUSTRATION 4. "The biggest bully +apropriated the belle of the ball."</a></p> + +<hr align="center" width="25%"> +<p>"The best article in the March (1893) number of the 'Austral +Light' is a pen picture by Mr. George Dunderdale of the famous +Ninety-Mile Beach, the vast stretch of white and lonely +sea-sands, which forms the sea-barrier of Gippsland."--'Review of +Reviews', March, 1893.</p> + +<hr align="center" width="25%"> +<p>"The most interesting article in 'Austral Light' is one on +Gippsland pioneers, by George Dunderdale."--'Review of Reviews', +March, 1895.</p> + +<hr align="center" width="25%"> +<p>"In 'Austral Light' for September Mr. George Dunderdale +contributes, under the title of 'Gippsland under the Law,' one of +those realistic sketches of early colonial life which only he can +write."--'Review of Reviews', September, 1895.</p> + +<hr align="center" width="25%"> +<h2><u>THE BOOK OF THE BUSH.</u></h2> + +<p><a name="ch-01"></a></p> + +<h3>PURGING OUT THE OLD LEAVEN.</h3> + +<p>While the world was young, nations could be founded peaceably. +There was plenty of unoccupied country, and when two neighbouring +patriarchs found their flocks were becoming too numerous for the +pasture, one said to the other: "Let there be no quarrel, I pray, +between thee and me; the whole earth is between us, and the land +is watered as the garden of Paradise. If thou wilt go to the +east, I will go to the west; or if thou wilt go to the west, I +will go to the east." So they parted in peace.</p> + +<p>But when the human flood covered the whole earth, the surplus +population was disposed of by war, famine, or pestilence. Death +is the effectual remedy for over-population. Heroes arose who had +no conscientious scruples. They skinned their natives alive, or +crucified them. They were then adored as demi-gods, and placed +among the stars.</p> + +<p>Pious Aeneas was the pattern of a good emigrant in the early +times, but with all his piety he did some things that ought to +have made his favouring deities blush, if possible.</p> + +<p>America, when discovered for the last of many times, was +assigned by the Pope to the Spaniards and Portuguese. The natives +were not consulted; but they were not exterminated; their +descendants occupy the land to the present day.</p> + +<p>England claimed a share in the new continent, and it was +parcelled out to merchant adventurers by royal charter. The +adventures of these merchants were various, but they held on to +the land.</p> + +<p>New England was given to the Puritans by no earthly potentate, +their title came direct from heaven. Increase Mather said: "The +Lord God has given us for a rightful possession the land of the +Heathen People amongst whom we dwell;" and where are the Heathen +People now?</p> + +<p>Australia was not given to us either by the Pope or by the +Lord. We took this land, as we have taken many other lands, for +our own benefit, without asking leave of either heaven or earth. +A continent, with its adjacent islands, was practically vacant, +inhabited only by that unearthly animal the kangaroo, and by +black savages, who had not even invented the bow and arrow, never +built a hut or cultivated a yard of land. Such people could show +no valid claim to land or life, so we confiscated both. The +British Islands were infested with criminals from the earliest +times. Our ancestors were all pirates, and we have inherited from +them a lurking taint in our blood, which is continually impelling +us to steal something or kill somebody. How to get rid of this +taint was a problem which our statesmen found it difficult to +solve. In times of war they mitigated the evil by filling the +ranks of our armies from the gaols, and manning our navies by the +help of the press-gang, but in times of peace the scum of society +was always increasing.</p> + +<p>At last a great idea arose in the mind of England. Little was +known of New Holland, except that it was large enough to harbour +all the criminals of Great Britain and the rest of the population +if necessary. Why not transport all convicts, separate the chaff +from the wheat, and purge out the old leaven? By expelling all +the wicked, England would become the model of virtue to all +nations.</p> + +<p>So the system was established. Old ships were chartered and +filled with the contents of the gaols. If the ships were not +quite seaworthy it did not matter much. The voyage was sure to be +a success; the passengers might never reach land, but in any case +they would never return. On the vessels conveying male convicts, +some soldiers and officers were embarked to keep order and put +down mutiny. Order was kept with the lash, and mutiny was put +down with the musket. On the ships conveying women there were no +soldiers, but an extra half-crew was engaged. These men were +called "Shilling-a-month" men, because they had agreed to work +for one shilling a month for the privilege of being allowed to +remain in Sydney. If the voyage lasted twelve months they would +thus have the sum of twelve shillings with which to commence +making their fortunes in the Southern Hemisphere. But the +"Shilling-a-month" man, as a matter of fact, was not worth one +cent the day after he landed, and he had to begin life once more +barefoot, like a new-born babe.</p> + +<p>The seamen's food on board these transports was bad and +scanty, consisting of live biscuit, salt horse, Yankee pork, and +Scotch coffee. The Scotch coffee was made by steeping burnt +biscuit in boiling water to make it strong. The convicts' +breakfast consisted of oatmeal porridge, and the hungry seamen +used to crowd round the galley every morning to steal some of it. +It would be impossible for a nation ever to become virtuous and +rich if its seamen and convicts were reared in luxury and +encouraged in habits of extravagance.</p> + +<p>When the transport cast anchor in the beautiful harbour of +Port Jackson, the ship's blacksmith was called out of his bunk at +midnight. It was his duty to rivet chains on the legs of the +second-sentence men--the twice convicted. They had been told on +the voyage that they would have an island all to themselves, +where they would not be annoyed by the contemptuous looks and +bitter jibes of better men. All night long the blacksmith plied +his hammer and made the ship resound with the rattling chains and +ringing manacles, as he fastened them well on the legs of the +prisoners. At dawn of day, chained together in pairs, they were +landed on Goat Island; that was the bright little isle--their +promised land. Every morning they were taken over in boats to the +town of Sydney, where they had to work as scavengers and +road-makers until four o'clock in the afternoon. They turned out +their toes, and shuffled their feet along the ground, dragging +their chains after them. The police could always identify a man +who had been a chain-gang prisoner during the rest of his life by +the way he dragged his feet after him.</p> + +<p>In their leisure hours these convicts were allowed to make +cabbage-tree hats. They sold them for about a shilling each, and +the shop-keepers resold them for a dollar. They were the best +hats ever worn in the Sunny South, and were nearly +indestructible; one hat would last a lifetime, but for that +reason they were bad for trade, and became unfashionable.</p> + +<p>The rest of the transported were assigned as servants to those +willing to give them food and clothing without wages. The free +men were thus enabled to grow rich by the labours of the +bondmen--vice was punished and virtue rewarded.</p> + +<p>Until all the passengers had been disposed of, sentinels were +posted on the deck of the transport with orders to shoot anyone +who attempted to escape. But when all the convicts were gone, +Jack was sorely tempted to follow the shilling-a-month men. He +quietly slipped ashore, hurried off to Botany Bay, and lived in +retirement until his ship had left Port Jackson. He then returned +to Sydney, penniless and barefoot, and began to look for a berth. +At the Rum Puncheon wharf he found a shilling-a-month man already +installed as cook on a colonial schooner. He was invited to +breakfast, and was astonished and delighted with the luxuries +lavished on the colonial seaman. He had fresh beef, fresh bread, +good biscuit, tea, coffee, and vegetables, and three pounds a +month wages. There was a vacancy on the schooner for an able +seaman, and Jack filled it. He then registered a solemn oath that +he would "never go back to England no more," and kept it.</p> + +<p>Some kind of Government was necessary, and, as the first +inhabitants were criminals, the colony was ruled like a gaol, the +Governor being head gaoler. His officers were mostly men who had +been trained in the army and navy. They were all poor and needy, +for no gentleman of wealth and position would ever have taken +office in such a community. They came to make a living, and when +free immigrants arrived and trade began to flourish, it was found +that the one really valuable commodity was rum, and by rum the +officers grew rich. In course of time the country was divided +into districts, about thirty or thirty-five in number, over each +of which an officer presided as police magistrate, with a clerk +and staff of constables, one of whom was official flogger, always +a convict promoted to the billet for merit and good +behaviour.</p> + +<p>New Holland soon became an organised pandemonium, such as the +world had never known since Sodom and Gomorrah disappeared in the +Dead Sea, and the details of its history cannot be written. To +mitigate its horrors the worst of the criminals were transported +to Norfolk Island. The Governor there had not the power to +inflict capital punishment, and the convicts began to murder one +another in order to obtain a brief change of misery, and the +pleasure of a sea voyage before they could be tried and hanged in +Sydney. A branch pandemonium was also established in Van Diemen's +Land. This system was upheld by England for about fifty +years.</p> + +<p>The 'Britannia', a convict ship, the property of Messrs. +Enderby & Sons, arrived at Sydney on October 14th, 1791, and +reported that vast numbers of sperm whales were seen after +doubling the south-west cape of Van Diemen's Land. Whaling +vessels were fitted out in Sydney, and it was found that money +could be made by oil and whalebone as well as by rum. Sealing was +also pursued in small vessels, which were often lost, and sealers +lie buried in all the islands of the southern seas, many of them +having a story to tell, but no story-teller.</p> + +<p>Whalers, runaway seamen, shilling-a-month men, and escaped +convicts were the earliest settlers in New Zealand, and were the +first to make peaceful intercourse with the Maoris possible. They +built themselves houses with wooden frames, covered with reeds +and rushes, learned to converse in the native language, and +became family men. They were most of them English and Americans, +with a few Frenchmen. They loved freedom, and preferred Maori +customs, and the risk of being eaten, to the odious supervision +of the English Government. The individual white man in those days +was always welcome, especially if he brought with him guns, +ammunition, tomahawks, and hoes. It was by these articles that he +first won the respect and admiration of the native. If the +visitor was a "pakeha tutua," a poor European, he might receive +hospitality for a time, in the hope that some profit might be +made out of him. But the Maori was a poor man also, with a great +appetite, and when it became evident that the guest was no better +than a pauper, and could not otherwise pay for his board, the +Maori sat on the ground, meditating and watching, until his teeth +watered, and at last he attached the body and baked it.</p> + +<p>In 1814 the Church Missionary Society sent labourers to the +distant vineyard to introduce Christianity, and to instruct the +natives in the rights of property. The first native protector of +Christianity and letters was Hongi Hika, a great warrior of the +Ngapuhi nation, in the North Island. He was born in 1777, and +voyaging to Sydney in 1814, he became the guest of the Rev. Mr. +Marsden. In 1819 the rev. gentleman bought his settlement at +Kerikeri from Hongi Hika, the price being forty-eight axes. The +area of the settlement was thirteen thousand acres. The land was +excellent, well watered, in a fine situation, and near a good +harbour. Hongi next went to England with the Rev. Mr. Kendall to +see King George, who was at that time in matrimonial trouble. +Hongi was surprised to hear that the King had to ask permission +of anyone to dispose of his wife Caroline. He said he had five +wives at home, and he could clear off the whole of them if he +liked without troubling anybody. He received valuable presents in +London, which he brought back to Sydney, and sold for three +hundred muskets and ammunition. The year 1822 was the most +glorious time of his life. He raised an army of one thousand men, +three hundred of whom had been taught the use of his muskets. The +neighbouring tribes had no guns. He went up the Tamar, and at +Totara slew five hundred men, and baked and ate three hundred of +them. On the Waipa he killed fourteen hundred warriors out of a +garrison of four thousand, and then returned home with crowds of +slaves. The other tribes began to buy guns from the traders as +fast as they were able to pay for them with flax; and in 1827, at +Wangaroa, a bullet went through Hongi's lungs, leaving a hole in +his back through which he used to whistle to entertain his +friends; but he died of the wound fifteen months afterwards.</p> + +<p>Other men, both clerical and lay, followed the lead of the +Rev. Mr. Marsden. In 1821 Mr. Fairbairn bought four hundred acres +for ten pounds worth of trade. Baron de Thierry bought forty +thousand acres on the Hokianga River for thirty-six axes. From +1825 to 1829 one million acres were bought by settlers and +merchants. Twenty-five thousand acres were bought at the Bay of +Islands and Hokianga in five years, seventeen thousand of which +belonged to the missionaries. In 1835 the Rev. Henry Williams +made a bold offer for the unsold country. He forwarded a deed of +trust to the governor of New South Wales, requesting that the +missionaries should be appointed trustees for the natives for the +remainder of their lands, "to preserve them from the intrigues of +designing men." Before the year 1839, twenty millions of acres +had been purchased by the clergy and laity for a few guns, axes, +and other trifles, and the Maoris were fast wasting their +inheritance. But the titles were often imperfect. When a man had +bought a few hundreds of acres for six axes and a gun, and had +paid the price agreed on to the owner, another owner would come +and claim the land because his grandfather had been killed on it. +He sat down before the settler's house and waited for payment, +and whether he got any or not he came at regular intervals during +the rest of his life and sat down before the door with his spear +and mere* by his side waiting for more purchase money.</p> + +<blockquote>[*Footnote Axe made of greenstone.]</blockquote> + +<p>Some honest people in England heard of the good things to be +had in New Zealand, formed a company, and landed near the mouth +of the Hokianga River to form a settlement. The natives happened +to be at war, and were performing a war dance. The new company +looked on while the natives danced, and then all desire for land +in New Zealand faded from their hearts. They returned on board +their ship and sailed away, having wasted twenty thousand pounds. +Such people should remain in their native country. Your true +rover, lay or clerical, comes for something or other, and stays +to get it, or dies.</p> + +<p>After twenty years of labour, and an expenditure of two +hundred thousand pounds, the missionaries claimed only two +thousand converts, and these were Christians merely in name. In +1825 the Rev. Henry Williams said the natives were as insensible +to redemption as brutes, and in 1829 the Methodists in England +contemplated withdrawing their establishment for want of +success.</p> + +<p>The Catholic Bishop Pompallier, with two priests, landed at +Hokianga on January 10th, 1838, and took up his residence at the +house of an Irish Catholic named Poynton, who was engaged in the +timber trade. Poynton was a truly religious man, who had been +living for some time among the Maoris. He was desirous of +marrying the daughter of a chief, but he wished that she should +be a Christian, and, as there was no Catholic priest nearer than +Sydney, he sailed to that port with the chief and his daughter, +called on Bishop Polding, and informed him of the object of his +visit. A course of instruction was given to the father and +daughter, Poynton acting as interpreter; they were baptised, and +the marriage took place. After the lapse of sixty years their +descendents were found to have retained the faith, and were +living as good practical Catholics.</p> + +<p>Bishop Pompallier celebrated his first Mass on January 13th, +1838, and the news of his arrival was soon noised abroad and +discussed. The Methodist missionaries considered the action of +the bishop as an unwarrantable intrusion on their domain, and, +being Protestants, they resolved to protest. This they did +through the medium of thirty native warriors, who appeared before +Poynton's house early in the morning of January 22nd, when the +bishop was preparing to say Mass. The chief made a speech. He +said the bishop and his priests were enemies to the Maoris. They +were not traders, for they had brought no guns, no axes. They had +been sent by a foreign chief (the Pope) to deprive the Maoris of +their land, and make them change their old customs. Therefore he +and his warriors had come to break the crucifix, and the +ornaments of the altar, and to take the bishop and his priests to +the river.</p> + +<p>The bishop replied that, although he was not a trader, he had +come as a friend, and did not wish to deprive them of their +country or anything belonging to them. He asked them to wait a +while, and if they could find him doing the least injury to +anyone they could take him to the river. The warriors agreed to +wait, and went away.</p> + +<p>Next day the bishop went further up the river to Wherinaki, +where Laming, a pakeha Maori, resided. Laming was an +Irish-Protestant who had great influence with his tribe, which +was numerous and warlike. He was admired by the natives for his +strength and courage. He was six feet three inches in height, as +nimble and spry as a cat, and as long-winded as a coyote. His +father-in-law was a famous warrior named Lizard Skin. His +religion was that of the Church of England, and he persuaded his +tribe to profess it. He told them that the Protestant God was +stronger than the Catholic God worshipped by his fellow +countryman, Poynton. In after years, when his converts made +cartridges of their Bibles and rejected Christianity, he was +forced to confess that their religion was of this world only. +They prayed that they might be brave in battle, and that their +enemies might be filled with fear.</p> + +<p>Laming's Christian zeal did not induce him to forget the +duties of hospitality. He received the bishop as a friend, and +the Europeans round Tatura and other places came regularly to +Mass. During the first six years of the mission, twenty thousand +Maoris either had been baptised or were being prepared for +baptism.</p> + +<p>Previous to the year 1828 some flax had been brought to Sydney +from New Zealand, and manufactured into every species of cordage +except cables, and it was found to be stronger than Baltic hemp. +On account of the ferocious character of the Maoris, the Sydney +Government sent several vessels to open communication with the +tribes before permitting private individuals to embark in the +trade. The ferocity attributed to the natives was not so much a +part of their personal character as the result of their habits +and beliefs. They were remarkable for great energy of mind and +body, foresight, and self-denial. Their average height was about +five feet six inches, but men from six feet to six feet six +inches were not uncommon. Their point of honour was revenge, and +a man who remained quiet while the manes of his friend or +relation were unappeased by the blood of the enemy, would be +dishonoured among his tribe.</p> + +<p>The Maoris were in reality loath to fight, and war was never +begun until after long talk. Their object was to exterminate or +enslave their enemies, and they ate the slain.</p> + +<p>Before commencing hostilities, the warriors endeavoured to put +fear into the hearts of their opponents by enumerating the names +of the fathers, uncles, or brothers of those in the hostile tribe +whom they had slain and eaten in former battles. When a fight was +progressing the women looked on from the rear. They were naked to +the waist, and wore skirts of matting made from flax. As soon as +a head was cut off they ran forward, and brought it away, leaving +the body on the ground. If many were slain it was sometimes +difficult to discover to what body each head had belonged, +whether it was that of a friend or a foe, and it was lawful to +bake the bodies of enemies only.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding their peculiar customs, one who knew the +Maoris well described them as the most patient, equable, +forgiving people in the world, but full of superstitious ideas, +which foreigners could not understand.</p> + +<p>They believed that everything found on their coast was sent to +them by the sea god, Taniwa, and they therefore endeavoured to +take possession of the blessings conferred on them by seizing the +first ships that anchored in their rivers and harbours. This led +to misunderstandings and fights with their officers and crews, +who had no knowledge of the sea god, Taniwa. It was found +necessary to put netting all round the vessels as high as the +tops to prevent surprise, and when trade began it was the rule to +admit no more than five Maoris on board at once.</p> + +<p>The flax was found growing spontaneously in fields of +inexhaustible extent along the more southerly shores of the +islands. The fibre was separated by the females, who held the top +of the leaf between their toes, and drew a shell through the +whole length of the leaf. It took a good cleaner to scrape +fifteen pounds weight of it in a day; the average was about ten +pounds, for which the traders gave a fig of tobacco and a pipe, +two sheets of cartridge paper, or one pound of lead. The price at +which the flax was sold in Sydney varied from 20 pounds to 45 +pounds per ton, according to quality, so there was a large margin +of profit to the trader. In 1828 sixty tons of flax valued at +2,600 pounds, were exported from Sydney to England.</p> + +<p>The results of trading with the foreigners were fatal to the +natives. At first the trade was in axes, knives, and other +edge-tools, beads, and ornaments, but in 1832 the Maoris would +scarcely take anything but arms and ammunition, red woollen +shirts, and tobacco. Every man in a native hapu had to procure a +musket, or die. If the warriors of the hapu had no guns they +would soon be all killed by some tribe that had them. The price +of one gun, together with the requisite powder, was one ton of +cleaned flax, prepared by the women and slaves in the sickly +swamps. In the meantime the food crops were neglected, hunger and +hard labour killed many, some fell victims to diseases introduced +by the white men, and the children nearly all died.</p> + +<p>And the Maoris are still dying out of the land, blighted by +our civilization. They were willing to learn and to be taught, +and they began to work with the white men. In 1853 I saw nearly +one hundred of them, naked to the waist, sinking shafts for gold +on Bendigo, and no Cousin Jacks worked harder. We could not, of +course, make them Englishmen--the true Briton is born, not made; +but could we not have kept them alive if we had used reasonable +means to do so? Or is it true that in our inmost souls we wanted +them to die, that we might possess their land in peace?</p> + +<p>Besides flax, it was found that New Zealand produced most +excellent timber--the kauri pine. The first visitors saw +sea-going canoes beautifully carved by rude tools of stone, which +had been hollowed out, each from a single tree, and so large that +they were manned by one hundred warriors. The gum trees of New +Holland are extremely hard, and their wood is so heavy that it +sinks in water like iron. But the kauri, with a leaf like that of +the gum tree, is the toughest of pines, though soft and easily +worked--suitable for shipbuilding, and for masts and spars. In +1830 twenty-eight vessels made fifty-six voyages from Sydney to +New Zealand, chiefly for flax; but they also left parties of men +to prosecute the whale and seal fisheries, and to cut kauri pine +logs. Two vessels were built by English mechanics, one of 140 +tons, and the other of 370 tons burden, and the natives began to +assist the new-comers in all their labours.</p> + +<p>At this time most of the villages had at least one European +resident called a Pakeha Maori, under the protection of a chief +of rank and influence, and married to a relative of his, either +legally or by native custom. It was through the resident that all +the trading of the tribe was carried on. He bought and paid for +the flax, and employed men to cut the pine logs and float them +down the rivers to the ships.</p> + +<p>Every whaling and trading vessel that returned to Sydney or +Van Diemen's Land brought back accounts of the wonderful +prospects which the islands afforded to men of enterprise, and +New Zealand became the favourite refuge for criminals, runaway +prisoners, and other lovers of freedom. When, therefore the crew +of the schooner 'Industry' threw Captain Blogg overboard, it was +a great comfort to them to know that they were going to an island +in which there was no Government.</p> + +<p>Captain Blogg had arrived from England with a bad character. +He had been tried for murder. He had been ordered to pay five +hundred pounds as damages to his mate, whom he had imprisoned at +sea in a hencoop, and left to pick up his food with the fowls. He +had been out-lawed, and forbidden to sail as officer in any +British ship. These were facts made known to, and discussed by, +all the whalers who entered the Tamar, when the whaling season +was over in the year 1835. And yet the notorious Blogg found no +difficulty in buying the schooner 'Industry', taking in a cargo, +and obtaining a clearance for Hokianga, in New Zealand. He had +shipped a crew consisting of a mate, four seamen, and a cook.</p> + +<p>Black Ned Tomlins, Jim Parrish, and a few other friends +interviewed the crew when the 'Industry' was getting ready for +sea. Black Ned was a half-breed native of Kangaroo Island, and +was looked upon as the best whaler in the colonies, and the +smartest man ever seen in a boat. He was the principal speaker. +He put the case to the crew in a friendly way, and asked them if +they did not feel themselves to be a set of fools, to think of +going to sea with a murdering villain like Blogg?</p> + +<p>Dick Secker replied mildly but firmly. He reckoned the crew +were, in a general way, able to take care of themselves. They +could do their duty, whatever it was; and they were not afraid of +sailing with any man that ever trod a deck.</p> + +<p>After a few days at sea they were able to form a correct +estimate of their master mariner. He never came on deck +absolutely drunk, but he was saturated with rum to the very +marrow of his bones. A devil of cruelty, hate, and murder glared +from his eyes, and his blasphemies could come from no other place +but the lowest depths of the bottomless pit. The mate was +comparatively a gentle and inoffensive lamb. He did not curse and +swear more than was considered decent and proper on board ship, +did his duty, and avoided quarrels.</p> + +<p>One day Blogg was rating the cook in his usual style when the +latter made some reply, and the captain knocked him down. He then +called the mate, and with his help stripped the cook to the waist +and triced him up to the mast on the weather side. This gave the +captain the advantage of a position in which he could deliver his +blows downward with full effect. Then he selected a rope's end +and began to flog the cook. At every blow he made a spring on his +feet, swung the rope over his head, and brought it down on the +bare back with the utmost force. It was evident that he was no +'prentice hand at the business, but a good master flogger. The +cook writhed and screamed, as every stroke raised bloody ridges +on his back; but Blogg enjoyed it. He was in no hurry. He was +like a boy who had found a sweet morsel, and was turning it over +in his mouth to enjoy it the longer. After each blow he looked at +the three seamen standing near, and at the man at the helm, and +made little speeches at them. "I'll show you who is master aboard +this ship." Whack! "That's what every man Jack of you will get if +you give me any of your jaw." Whack! "Maybe you'd like to mutiny, +wouldn't you?" Whack! The blows came down with deliberate +regularity; the cook's back was blue, black, and bleeding, but +the captain showed no sign of any intention to stay his hand. The +suffering victim's cries seemed to inflame his cruelty. He was a +wild beast in the semblance of a man. At last, in his extreme +agony, the cook made a piteous appeal to the seamen:</p> + +<center> +<p><a name="bookbush-02"></a><img alt="" src="images/bookbush-02.jpg"></p> + +<p><b>"I'll show you who is master aboard this ship."</b></p> +</center> + +<p>"Mates, are you men? Are you going to stand there all day, and +watch me being flogged to death for nothing?"</p> + +<p>Before the next stroke fell the three men had seized the +captain; but he fought with so much strength and fury that they +found it difficult to hold him. The helmsman steadied the tiller +with two turns of the rope and ran forward to assist them. They +laid Blogg flat on the deck, but he kept struggling, cursing, +threatening, and calling on the mate to help him; but that +officer took fright, ran to his cabin in the deckhouse, and began +to barricade the door.</p> + +<p>Then a difficulty arose. What was to be done with the +prisoner? He was like a raving maniac. If they allowed him his +liberty, he was sure to kill one or more of them. If they bound +him he would get loose in some way--probably through the +mate--and after what had occurred, it would be safer to turn +loose a Bengal tiger on deck then the infuriated captain. There +was but one way out of the trouble, and they all knew it. They +looked at one another; nothing was wanting but the word, and it +soon came. Secker had sailed from the Cove of Cork, and being an +Irishman, he was by nature eloquent, first in speech, and first +in action. He reflected afterwards, when he had leisure to do +so.</p> + +<p>"Short work is the best," he said, "over he goes; lift the +devil." Each man seized an arm or leg, and Blogg was carried +round the mast to the lee side. The men worked together from +training and habit. They swung the body athwart the deck like a +pendulum, and with a "one! two! three!" it cleared the bulwark, +and the devil went head foremost into the deep sea. The cook, +looking on from behind the mast, gave a deep sigh of relief.</p> + +<p>Thus it was that a great breach of the peace was committed on +the Pacific Ocean; and it was done, too, on a beautiful summer's +evening, when the sun was low, a gentle breeze barely filled the +sails, and everybody should have been happy and comfortable.</p> + +<p>Captain Blogg rose to the surface directly and swam after his +schooner. The fury of his soul did not abate all at once. He +roared to the mate to bring the schooner to, but there was no +responsive "Aye, aye, sir." He was now outside of his +jurisdiction, and his power was gone. He swam with all his +strength, and his bloated face still looked red as the foam +passed by it. The helmsman had resumed his place, and steadied +the tiller, keeping her full, while the other men looked over the +stern. Secker said: "The old man will have a long swim."</p> + +<p>But the "old man" swam a losing race. His vessel was gliding +away from him: his face grew pale, and in an agony of fear and +despair, he called to the men for God's sake to take him on board +and he would forgive everything.</p> + +<p>But his call came too late; he could find no sureties for his +good behaviour in the future; he had never in his life shown any +love for God or pity for man, and he found in his utmost need +neither mercy nor pity now. He strained his eyes in vain over the +crests of the restless billows, calling for the help that did not +come. The receding sails never shivered; no land was near, no +vessel in sight. The sun went down, and the hopeless sinner was +left struggling alone on the black waste of waters.</p> + +<p>The men released the cook and held a consultation about a +troublesome point of law. Had they committed mutiny and murder, +or only justifiable homicide? They felt that the point was a very +important one to them--a matter of life and death--and they stood +in a group near the tiller to discuss the difficulty, speaking +low, while the cook was shivering in the forecastle, trying to +ease the pain.</p> + +<p>The conclusion of the seamen was, that they had done what was +right, both in law and conscience. They had thrown Blogg +overboard to prevent him from murdering the cook, and also for +their own safety. After they had done their duty by seizing him, +he would have killed them if he could. He was a drunken sweep. He +was an outlaw, and the law would not protect him. Anybody could +kill an outlaw without fear of consequences, so they had heard. +But still there was some doubt about it, and there was nobody +there to put the case for the captain. The law was, at that time, +a terrible thing, especially in Van Diemen's Land, under Colonel +Arthur. He governed by the gallows, to make everything orderly +and peaceable, and men were peaceable enough after they were +hanged.</p> + +<p>So Secker and his mates decided that, although they had done +nothing but what was right in throwing Blogg over the side, it +would be extremely imprudent to trust their innocence to the +uncertainty of the law and to the impartiality of Colonel +Arthur.</p> + +<p>Their first idea was to take the vessel to South America, but +after some further discussion, they decided to continue the +voyage to Hokianga, and to settle among the Maoris. Nobody had +actually seen them throw Blogg overboard except the cook, and him +they looked upon as a friend, because they had saved him from +being flogged to death. They had some doubts about the best +course to take with the mate, but as he was the only man on board +who was able to take the schooner to port, they were obliged to +make use of his services for the present, and at the end of the +voyage they could deal with him in any way prudence might +require, and they did not mean to run any unnecessary risks.</p> + +<p>They went to the house on deck, and Secker called the mate, +informing him that the captain had lost his balance, and had +fallen overboard, and that it was his duty to take charge of the +'Industry', and navigate her to Hokianga. But the mate had been +thoroughly frightened, and was loth to leave his entrenchment. He +could not tell what might happen if he opened his cabin door: he +might find himself in the sea in another minute. The men who had +thrown the master overboard would not have much scruple about +sending an inferior officer after him. If the mate resolved to +show fight, it would be necessary for him to kill every man on +board, even the cook, before he could feel safe; and then he +would be left alone in mid-ocean with nobody to help him to +navigate the vessel--a master and crew under one hat, at the +mercy of the winds and the waves, with six murdered men on his +conscience; and he had a conscience, too, as was soon to be +proved.</p> + +<p>The seamen swore most solemnly that they did not intend to do +him the least harm, and at last the mate opened his door. While +in his cabin, he had been spending what he believed to be the +last minutes of his life in preparing for death; he did his best +to make peace with heaven, and tried to pray. But his mouth was +dry with fear, his tongue clave to the roof of his mouth, his +memory of sacred things failed him, and he could not pray for +want of practice. He could remember only one short prayer, and he +was unable to utter even that audibly. And how could a prayer +ever reach heaven in time to be of any use to him, when he could +not make it heard outside the deck-house? In his desperate +straits he took a piece of chalk and began to write it; so when +at last he opened the door of his cabin, the four seamen observed +that he had nearly covered the boards with writing. It looked +like a litany, but it was a litany of only three words--"Lord, +have mercy"--which were repeated in lines one above the +other.</p> + +<p>That litany was never erased or touched by any man who +subsequently sailed on board the 'Industry'. She was the first +vessel that was piloted up the channel to Port Albert in +Gippsland, to take in a cargo of fat cattle, and when she arrived +there on August 3rd, 1842, the litany of the mate was still +distinctly legible.</p> + +<p>Nothing exalts a man so quickly in the estimation of his +fellow creatures as killing them. Emperors and kings court the +alliance of the conquering hero returning from fields of +slaughter. Ladies in Melbourne forgot for a time the demands of +fashion in their struggles to obtain an ecstatic glimpse of our +modern Bluebeard, Deeming; and no one was prouder than the belle +of the ball when she danced down the middle with the man who shot +Sandy M'Gee.</p> + +<p>And the reverence of the mate for his murdering crew was +unfathomable. Their lightest word was a law to him. He wrote up +the log in their presence, stating that Captain Blogg had been +washed into the sea in a sudden squall on a dark night; vessel +hove to, boat lowered, searched for captain all night, could see +nothing of him; mate took charge, and bore away for Hokianga next +morning. When these untruthful particulars had been entered and +read over to the four seamen, they were satisfied for the +present. They would settle among the Maoris, and lead a free and +happy life. They could do what they liked with the schooner and +her cargo, having disposed of the master and owner; and as for +the mate, they would dispose of him, too, if he made himself in +any way troublesome. What a wonderful piece of good luck it was +that they were going to a new country in which there was no +government!</p> + +<p>The 'Industry' arrived off the bar at Hokianga on November +30th, 1835, and was boarded by a Captain Young, who had settled +seven miles up the estuary, at One Tree Point, and acted as pilot +of the nascent port. He inquired how much water the schooner +drew, noted the state of the tide, and said he would remain on +board all night, and go over the bar next morning with the first +flood.</p> + +<p>The mate had a secret and wanted to get rid of it. While +looking round at the shore, and apparently talking about +indifferent subjects, he said to the pilot: "Don't look at the +men, and don't take any notice of them. They threw Blogg, the +master, overboard, when he was flogging the cook, and they would +murder me, too, if they knew I told you; so you must pretend not +to take any notice of them. What their plans may be, I don't +know; but you may be sure they won't go back to the Tamar, if +they can help it."</p> + +<p>If the pilot felt any surprise, he did not show it. After a +short pause he said: "You go about your business, and don't speak +to me again, except when the men can hear you. I will think about +what is best to be done."</p> + +<p>During the night Captain Young thought about it to some +purpose. Being a master mariner himself he could imagine no +circumstances which would justify a crew in throwing a master +mariner overboard. It was the one crime which could not be +pardoned either afloat or ashore. Next day he took the vessel up +the estuary, and anchored her within two hundred yards of the +shore, opposite the residence of Captain McDonnell.</p> + +<p>It is true there was no government at that time at Hokianga, +nor anywhere else in New Zealand; there were no judges, no +magistrates, no courts, and no police. But the British Angel of +Annexation was already hovering over the land, although she had +not as yet alighted on it.</p> + +<p>At this time the shores of New Zealand were infested with +captains. There was a Captain Busby, who was called British +Resident, and, unfortunately for our seamen, Captain McDonnell +had been appointed Additional British Resident at Hokianga a few +weeks previously. So far he had been officially idle; there was +no business to do, no chance of his displaying his zeal and +patriotism. Moreover, he had no pay, and apparently no power and +no duties. He was neither a Governor nor a Government, but a kind +of forerunner of approaching empire--one of those harmless and +far-reaching tentacles which the British octopus extends into the +recesses of ocean, searching for prey to satisfy the demands of +her imperial appetite.</p> + +<p>McDonnell was a naval lieutenant; had served under the East +India Company; had smuggled opium to China; had explored the +coasts of New Zealand; and on March 31st, 1831, had arrived at +Hokianga from Sydney in the 'Sir George Murray', a vessel which +he had purchased for 1,300 pounds. He brought with him his wife, +two children, and a servant, but took them back on the return +voyage. He was now engaged in the flax and kauri pine trade.</p> + +<p>The 'Industry' had scarcely dropped her anchor before the +Additional Resident boarded her. The pilot spoke to him and in a +few words informed him that Blogg, the master, had been pitched +into the sea, and explained in what manner he proposed to arrest +the four seamen. McDonnell understood, and agreed to the plan at +once. He called to the mate in a loud voice, and said: "I am +sorry to hear that you have lost the master of this vessel. I +live at that house you see on the rising ground, and I keep a +list in a book of all vessels that come into the river, and the +names of the crews. It is a mere formality, and won't take more +than five minutes. So you will oblige me, mate, by coming ashore +with your men at once, as I am in a hurry, and have other +business to attend to." He then went ashore in his boat. The mate +and seamen followed in the ship's boat, and waited in front of +the Additional Resident's house. He had a visitor that morning, +the Pakeha Maori, Laming.</p> + +<p>The men had not to wait long, as it was not advisable to give +them much time to think and grow suspicious. McDonnell came to +the front door and called the mate, who went inside, signed his +name, re-appeared directly, called Secker, and entered the house +with him. The Additional Resident was sitting at a table with the +signature book before him. He rose from the chair, told Secker to +sit down, gave him a pen, and pointed out the place where his +name was to be signed. Laming was sitting near the table. While +Secker was signing his name McDonnell suddenly put a twisted +handkerchief under his chin and tightened it round his neck. +Laming presented a horse-pistol and said he would blow his brains +out if he uttered a word, and the mate slipped a pair of +handcuffs on his wrists. He was then bundled out at the back door +and put into a bullet-proof building at the rear. The other three +seamen were then called in one after the other, garrotted, +handcuffed, and imprisoned in the same way. The little formality +of signing names was finished in a few minutes, according to +promise.</p> + +<p>If such things could be done in New Zealand, where there was +neither law nor government, what might happen in Van Diemen's +Land, where one man was both law and government, and that man was +Colonel Arthur? The prisoners had plenty of time to make a +forecast of their fate, while the mate engaged a fresh crew and +took in a cargo of flax and timber. When he was ready to sail, he +reshipped his old crew in irons, returned with them to the Tamar, +and delivered them to the police to be dealt with according to +law. For a long time the law was in a state of chaos. Major +Abbott was sent from England in 1814 as the first judge. The +proceedings in his court were conducted in the style of a +drum-head court martial, the accusation, sentences, and execution +following one another with military precision and rapidity.</p> + +<p>He adjudicated in petty sessions as a magistrate, and dealt in +a summary manner with capital offences, which were very numerous. +To imprison a man who was already a prisoner for life was no +punishment; the major's powers were, therefore, limited to the +cat and the gallows. And as the first gallows had been built to +carry only eight passengers, his daily death sentences were also +limited to that number. For twenty years torture was used to +extort confession-- even women were flogged if they refused to +give evidence, and an order of the Governor was held to be equal +to law. Major Abbott died in 1832.</p> + +<p>In 1835 the court consisted of the judge-advocate and two of +the inhabitants selected by the Governor, Colonel Arthur, who +came out in the year 1824, and had been for eleven years a terror +to evil-doers. His rule was as despotic as he could possibly make +it. If any officer appointed by the Home Government disagreed +with his policy he suspended him from his office, and left him to +seek redress from his friends in England--a tedious process, +which lasted for years. Disagreeable common people he suspended +also--by the neck. If a farmer, squatter, or merchant was +insubordinate, he stopped his supply of convict labour, and +cruelly left him to do his own work. He brooked no discussion of +his measures by any pestilent editor. He filled all places of +profit with his friends, relatives, and dependents. Everything +was referred to his royal will and pleasure. His manners were +stiff and formal, his tastes moral, his habits on Sundays +religious, and his temper vindictive. Next to the articles of +war, the thirty-nine Articles claimed his obedience. When his +term of office was drawing to a close he went to church on a +certain Sunday to receive the Lord's Supper. While studying his +prayer book he observed that it was his duty if his brother had +anything against him to seek a reconciliation before offering his +gift. The ex-Attorney-General, Gellibrand, was present, a brother +Christian who had had many things against him for many years. He +had other enemies, some living and some dead, but they were +absent. To be reconciled to all of them was an impossibility. He +could not ask the minister to suspend the service while he went +round Hobart Town looking for his enemies, and shaking hands with +them. But he did what was possible. He rose from his knees, +marched over to Gellibrand, and held out his hand. Gellibrand was +puzzled; he looked at the hand and could see nothing in it. By +way of explanation Colonel Arthur pointed out the passage in the +prayer-book which had troubled his sensitive conscience. +Gellibrand read it, and then shook hands. With a soul washed +whiter than snow, the colonel approached the table.</p> + +<p>Amongst the convicts every grade of society was represented, +from King Jorgensen to the beggar. One Governor had a convict +private secretary. Officers of the army and navy, merchants, +doctors, and clergymen consorted with costermongers, poachers, +and pickpockets. The law, it is sad to relate, had even sent out +lawyers, who practised their profession under a cloud, and +sometimes pleaded by permission of the court. But their ancient +pride had been trodden in the dust; the aureole which once +encircled their wigs was gone, and they were often snubbed and +silenced by ignorant justices. The punishment for being found out +is life-long and terrible. Their clients paid the fees partly in +small change and partly in rum.</p> + +<p>The defence of the seamen accused of murdering Captain Blogg +was undertaken by Mr. Nicholas. He had formerly been employed by +the firm of eminent solicitors in London who conducted the +defence of Queen Caroline, when the "first gentleman in Europe" +tried to get rid of her, and he told me that his misfortunes +(forgeries) had deprived him of the honour of sharing with Lord +Brougham the credit of her acquittal.</p> + +<p>Many years had passed since that celebrated trial when I made +the acquaintance of Nicholas. He had by this time lost all social +distinction. He had grown old and very shabby, and was so mean +that even his old friends, the convicts who had crossed the +straits, looked down on him with contempt. He came to me for an +elector's right, as a vote in our electorate--the Four +Counties--was sometimes worth as much as forty shillings, besides +unlimited grog. We were Conservatives then, true patriots, and we +imitated--feebly, it is true, but earnestly--the time-honoured +customs of old England.</p> + +<p>Mr. Nicholas had been a man of many employments, and of many +religions. He was never troubled with scruples of conscience, but +guided his conduct wholly by enlightened self-interest. He was a +Broad Churchman, very broad. As tutor in various families, he had +instructed his pupils in the tenets of the Church of England, of +the Catholics, of the Presbyterians, and of the Baptists. He +always professed the religion of his employer for the time being, +and he found that four religions were sufficient for his +spiritual and temporal wants. There were many other sects, but +the labour of learning all their peculiar views would not pay, so +he neglected them. The Wesleyans were at one time all-powerful in +our road district, and Nicholas, foreseeing a chance of filling +an office of profit under the Board, threw away all his sins, and +obtained grace and a billet as toll-collector or pikeman. In +England the pike-man was always a surly brute, who collected his +fees with the help of a bludgeon and a bulldog, but Nicholas +performed his duties in the disguise of a saint. He waited for +passengers in his little wooden office, sitting at a table, with +a huge Bible before him, absorbed in spiritual reading. He wore +spectacles on his Roman nose, had a long grey beard, quoted +Scripture to chance passengers, and was very earnest for their +salvation. He was atoning for the sins of his youth by leading +the life of a hermit by praying and cheating. He has had many +followers. He made mistakes in his cash, which for a while were +overlooked in so good a man, but they became at length so serious +that he lost his billet. He had for some time been spoken of by +his friends and admirers as "Mr. Nicholas," but after his last +mistakes had been discovered, he began to be known merely as "Old +Nick the Lawyer," or "Old Nick the Liar," which some ignorant +people look upon as convertible terms. I think Lizard Skin, the +cannibal, was a better Christian than old Nick the lawyer, as he +was brave and honest, and scorned to tell a lie.</p> + +<p>The convict counsel for the four seamen defended them at a +great expenditure of learning and lies. He argued at great +length:-- "That there was no evidence that a master mariner named +Blogg ever existed; that he was an outlaw, and, as such, every +British subject had an inchoate right to kill him at sight, and, +therefore, that the seamen, supposing for the sake of argument +that they did kill him, acted strictly within their legal rights; +that Blogg drowned himself in a fit of delirium tremens, after +being drunk on rum three days and nights consecutively; that he +fell overboard accidentally and was drowned; that the cook and +mate threw him overboard, and then laid the blame on the innocent +seamen; that Blogg swam ashore, and was now living on an +unchartered island; that if he was murdered, his body had not +been found: there could be no murder without a corpse; and +finally, he would respectfully submit to that honourable court, +that the case bristled with ineradicable difficulties."</p> + +<p>The seamen would have been sent to the gallows in any case, +but Nicholas' speech made their fate inevitable. The court +brushed aside the legal bristles, and hanged the four seamen on +the evidence of the mate and the cook.</p> + +<p>The tragedy of the gallows was followed by a short afterpiece. +Jim Parrish, Ned Tomlins, and every whaler and foremast man in +Hobart Town and on the Tamar, discussed the evidence both drunk +and sober, and the opinion was universal that the cook ought to +have sworn an oath strong enough to go through a three-inch slab +of hardwood that he had seen Captain Blogg carried up to heaven +by angels, instead of swearing away the lives of men who had +taken his part when he was triced up to the mast. The cook was in +this manner tried by his peers and condemned to die, and he knew +it. He tried to escape by shipping on board a schooner bound to +Portland Bay with whalers. The captain took on board a keg of +rum, holding fifteen gallons, usually called a "Big Pup," and +invited the mate to share the liquor with him. The result was +that the two officers soon became incapable of rational +navigation. Off King's Island the schooner was hove to in a gale +of wind, and for fourteen days stood off and on--five or six +hours one way, and five or six hours the other--while the master +and mate were down below, "nursing the Big Pup." The seamen were +all strangers to the coast, and did not know any cove into which +they could run for refuge. The cook was pitched overboard one +dark night during that gale off King's Island, and his loss was a +piece of ancient history by the time the master and mate had +consumed the rum, and were able to enter up the log.</p> + +<p>Ex-Attorney-General Gellibrand sailed to Port Philip to look +for country in Australia Felix, and he found it. He was last seen +on a rounded hill, gazing over the rich and beautiful land which +borders Lake Colac; land which he was not fated to occupy, for he +wandered away and was lost, and his bones lay unburied by the +stream which now bears his name.</p> + +<p>When Colonel Arthur's term of office expired he departed with +the utmost ceremony. The 21st Fusiliers escorted him to the +wharf. As he entered his barge his friends cheered, and his +enemies groaned, and then went home and illuminated the town, to +testify their joy at getting rid of a tyrant. He was the model +Governor of a Crown colony, and the Crown rewarded him for his +services. He was made a baronet, appointed Governor of Canada and +of Bombay, was a member of Her Majesty's Privy Council, a colonel +of the Queen's Own regiment, and he died on September 19th, 1854, +full of years and honours, and worth 70,000 pounds.</p> + +<p>Laming was left an orphan by the death of Lizard Skin. The +chief had grown old and sick, and he sat every day for two years +on a fallen puriri near the white man's pah, but he never entered +it. His spear was always sticking up beside him. He had a gun, +but was never known to use it. He was often humming some ditty +about old times before the white man brought guns and powder, but +he spoke to no one. He was pondering over the future of his +tribe, but the problem was too much for him. The white men were +strong and were overrunning his land. His last injunction to his +warriors was, that they should listen to the words of his Pakeha, +and that they should be brave that they might live.</p> + +<p>When the British Government took possession of New Zealand +without paying for it, they established a Land Court to +investigate the titles to lands formerly bought from the natives, +and it was decided in most cases that a few axes and hoes were an +insufficient price to pay for the pick of the country; the +purchases were swindles. Laming had possession of three or four +hundred acres, and to the surprise of the Court it was found that +he had paid a fair price for them, and his title was allowed. +Moreover, his knowledge of the language and customs of the Maoris +was found to be so useful that he was appointed a Judge of the +Land Court.</p> + +<p>The men who laid the foundations of empire in the Great South +Land were men of action. They did not stand idle in the shade, +waiting for someone to come and hire them. They dug a vineyard +and planted it. The vines now bring forth fruit, the winepress is +full, the must is fermenting. When the wine has been drawn off +from the lees, and time has matured it, of what kind will it be? +And will the Lord of the Vineyard commend it?</p> + +<p><a name="ch-02"></a></p> + +<h3>FIRST SETTLERS.</h3> + +<p>The first white settler in Victoria was the escaped convict +Buckley; but he did not cultivate the country, nor civilise the +natives. The natives, on the contrary, uncivilised him. When +white men saw him again, he had forgotten even his mother tongue, +and could give them little information. For more than thirty +years he had managed to live--to live like a savage; but for any +good he had ever done he might as well have died with the other +convicts who ran away with him. He never gave any clear account +of his companions, and many people were of opinion that he kept +himself alive by eating them, until he was found and fed by the +blacks, who thought he was one of their dead friends, and had +"jumped up a white fellow."</p> + +<p>While Buckley was still living with the blacks about Corio +Bay, in 1827, Gellibrand and Batman applied for a grant of land +at Western Port, where the whalers used to strip wattle bark when +whales were out of season; but they did not get it.</p> + +<p>Englishmen have no business to live anywhere without being +governed, and Colonel Arthur had no money to spend in governing a +settlement at Western Port. So Australia Felix was unsettled for +eight years longer.</p> + +<p>Griffiths & Co., of Launceston, were trading with Sydney +in 1833. Their cargo outward was principally wheat, the price of +which varied very much; sometimes it was 2s. 6d. a bushel in +Launceston, and 18s. in Sydney. The return cargo from Port +Jackson was principally coal, freestone, and cedar.</p> + +<p>Griffiths & Co. were engaged in whaling in Portland Bay. +They sent there two schooners, the 'Henry' and the 'Elizabeth', +in June, 1834. They erected huts on shore for the whalers. The +'Henry' was wrecked; but the whales were plentiful, and yielded +more oil than the casks would hold, so the men dug clay pits on +shore, and poured the oil into them. The oil from forty-five +whales was put into the pits, but the clay absorbed every +spoonful of it, and nothing but bones was gained from so much +slaughter. Before the 'Elizabeth' left Portland Bay, the Hentys, +the first permanent settlers in Victoria, arrived in the schooner +'Thistle', on November 4th, 1834.</p> + +<p>When the whalers of the 'Elizabeth' had been paid off, and had +spent their money, they were engaged to strip wattle bark at +Western Port, and were taken across in the schooner, with +provisions, tools, six bullocks and a dray. During that season +they stripped three hundred tons of bark and chopped it ready for +bagging. John Toms went over to weigh and ship the bark, and +brought it back, together with the men, in the barque 'Andrew +Mack'.</p> + +<p><a name="ch-03"></a></p> + +<h3>WRECK OF THE CONVICT SHIP "NEVA," ON KING'S ISLAND.</h3> + +<p>She sailed from Cork on January 8th, 1835, B. H. Peck, master; +Dr. Stevenson, R.N., surgeon. She had on board 150 female +prisoners and thirty-three of their children, nine free women and +their twenty-two children, and a crew of twenty-six. Several +ships had been wrecked on King's Island, and when a vessel +approached it the mate of the watch warned his men to keep a +bright look out. He said, "King's Island is inhabited by +anthropophagi, the bloodiest man eaters ever known; and, if you +don't want to go to pot, you had better keep your eyes skinned." +So the look-out man did not go to sleep.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, the 'Neva' went ashore on the Harbinger reef, on +May 13th unshipped her rudder and parted into four pieces. Only +nine men and thirteen women reached the island; they were nearly +naked and had nothing to eat, and they wandered along the beach +during the night, searching amongst the wreckage. At last they +found a puncheon of rum, upended it, stove in the head, and +drank. The thirteen women then lay down on the sand close +together, and slept. The night was very cold, and Robinson, an +apprentice, covered the women as well as he could with some +pieces of sail and blankets soaked with salt water. The men +walked about the beach all night to keep themselves warm, being +afraid to go inland for fear of the cannibal blackfellows. In the +morning they went to rouse the women, and found that seven of the +thirteen were dead.</p> + +<p>The surviving men were the master, B. H. Peck, Joseph Bennet, +Thomas Sharp, John Watson, Edward Calthorp, Thomas Hines, Robert +Ballard, John Robinson, and William Kinderey. The women were +Ellen Galvin, Mary Stating, Ann Cullen, Rosa Heland, Rose Dunn, +and Margaret Drury.</p> + +<p>For three weeks these people lived almost entirely on +shellfish. They threw up a barricade on the shore, above high +water mark, to protect themselves against the cannibals. The only +chest that came ashore unbroken was that of Robinson the +apprentice, and in it there was a canister of powder. A flint +musket was also found among the wreckage, and with the flint and +steel they struck a light and made a fire. When they went down to +the beach in search of shellfish, one man kept guard at the +barricade, and looked out for the blackfellows; his musket was +loaded with powder and pebbles.</p> + +<p>Three weeks passed away before any of the natives appeared, +but at last they were seen approaching along the shore from the +south. At the first alarm all the ship-wrecked people ran to the +barricade for shelter, and the men armed themselves with anything +in the shape of weapons they could find. But their main hope of +victory was the musket. They could not expect to kill many +cannibals with one shot, but the flash and report would be sure +to strike them with terror, and put them to flight.</p> + +<p>By this time their diet of shellfish had left them all weak +and emaciated, skeletons only just alive; the anthropophagi would +have nothing but bones to pick; still, the little life left in +them was precious, and they resolved to sell it as dear as they +could. They watched the savages approaching; at length they could +count their number. They were only eleven all told, and were +advancing slowly. Now they saw that seven of the eleven were +small, only picaninnies. When they came nearer three out of the +other four were seen to be lubras, and the eleventh individual +then resolved himself into a white savage, who roared out, "Mates +ahoy!"</p> + +<p>The white man was Scott, the sealer, who had taken up is abode +on the island with his harem, three Tasmanian gins and seven +children.</p> + +<p>They were the only permanent inhabitants; the cannibal blacks +had disappeared, and continued to exist only in the fancies of +the mariners. Scott's residence was opposite New Year's Island +not far from the shore; there he had built a hut and planted a +garden with potatoes and other vegetables. Flesh meat he obtained +from the kangaroos and seals. Their skins he took to Launceston +in his boat, and in it he brought back supplies of flour and +groceries. He had observed dead bodies of women and men, and +pieces of a wrecked vessel cast up by the sea, and had travelled +along the shore with his family, looking for anything useful or +valuable which the wreck might yield. After hearing the story, +and seeing the miserable plight of the castaways, he invited them +to his home. On arriving at the hut Scott and his lubras prepared +for their guests a beautiful meal of kangaroo and potatoes. This +was their only food as long as they remained on King's Island, +for Scott's only boat had got adrift, and his flour, tea, and +sugar had been all consumed. But kangaroo beef and potatoes +seemed a most luxurious diet to the men and women who had been +kept alive for three weeks on nothing but shellfish.</p> + +<p>Scott and his hounds hunted the kangaroo, and supplied the +colony with meat. The liver of the kangaroo when boiled and left +to grow cold is a dry substance, which, with the help of hunger +and a little imagination, is said to be as good as bread.</p> + +<p>In the month of July, 1835, heavy gales were blowing over +King's Island. For fourteen days the schooner 'Elizabeth', with +whalers for Port Fairy, was hove to off the coast, standing off +and on, six hours one way and six hours the other. Akers, the +captain, and his mate got drunk on rum and water daily. The cook +of the 'Industry' was on board the 'Elizabeth', the man whom +Captain Blogg was flogging when his crew seized him and threw him +overboard. The cook also was now pitched overboard for having +given evidence against the four men who had saved him from +further flogging.</p> + +<p>At this time also Captain Friend, of the whaling cutter 'Sarah +Ann', took shelter under the lee of New Year's Island, and he +pulled ashore to visit Scott the sealer. There he found the +shipwrecked men and women whom he took on board his cutter, and +conveyed to Launceston, except one woman and two men. It was then +too late in the season to take the whalers to Port Fairy. Captain +Friend was appointed chief District Constable at Launceston; all +the constables under him were prisoners of the Crown, receiving +half a dollar a day. He was afterwards Collector of Customs at +the Mersey.</p> + +<p>In November, 1835 the schooner 'Elizabeth' returned to +Launceston with 270 tuns of oil. The share of the crew of a +whaling vessel was one-fiftieth of the value of the oil and bone. +The boat-steerer received one-thirtieth, and of the headmen some +had one-twenty-fifth, others one-fifteenth. In this same year, +1835, Batman went to Port Phillip with a few friends and seven +Sydney blackfellows. On June 14th he returned to Van Diemen's +Land, and by the 25th of the same month he had compiled a report +of his expedition, which he sent to Governor Arthur, together +with a copy of the grant of land executed by the black chiefs. He +had obtained three copies of the grant signed by three brothers +Jagga-Jagga, by Bungaree, Yan-Yan, Moorwhip, and Marmarallar. The +area of the land bought by Batman was not surveyed with +precision, but it was of great extent, like infinite space, whose +centre is everywhere, and circumference nowhere. And in addition +he took up a small patch of one hundred thousand acres between +the bay and the Barwon, including the insignificant site of +Geelong, a place of small account even to this day. Batman was a +long-limbed Sydney native, and he bestrode his real estate like a +Colossus, but King William was a bigger Colossus than Batman--he +claimed both the land and the blacks, and ignored the Crown +grant.</p> + +<p>Next, John Fawkner and his friends chartered the schooner +'Enterprise' for a voyage across the Straits to Australia Felix. +He afterwards claimed to be the founder of Melbourne. He could +write and talk everlastingly, but he had not the 'robur' and 'as +triplex' suitable for a sea-robber. Sea-sickness nearly killed +him, so he stayed behind while the other adventurers went and +laid the foundation. They first examined the shores of Western +Port, then went to Port Philip Bay and entered the River Yarra. +They disembarked on its banks, ploughed some land, sowed maize +and wheat, and planted two thousand fruit trees. They were not so +grasping as Batman, and each man pegged out a farm of only one +hundred acres. These farms were very valuable in the days of the +late boom, and are called the city of Melbourne. Batman wanted to +oust the newcomers; he claimed the farms under his grant from the +Jagga-Jaggas. He squatted on Batman's Hill, and looked down with +evil eyes on the rival immigrants. He saw them clearing away the +scrub along Flinders Street, and splitting posts and rails all +over the city from Spencer Street to Spring Street, regardless of +the fact that the ground under their feet would be, in the days +of their grandchildren, worth 3,000 pounds per foot. Their +bullock-drays were often bogged in Elizabeth Street, and they +made a corduroy crossing over it with red gum logs. Some of these +logs were dislodged quite sound fifty years afterwards by the +Tramway Company's workmen.</p> + +<p><a name="ch-04"></a></p> + +<h3>DISCOVERY OF THE RIVER HOPKINS.</h3> + +<blockquote>"Know ye not that lovely river?<br> +Know ye not that smiling river?<br> +Whose gentle flood, by cliff and wood,<br> +With 'wildering sound goes winding ever."</blockquote> + +<p>In January, 1836, Captain Smith, who was in charge of the +whaling station at Port Fairy, went with two men, named Wilson +and Gibbs, in a whale boat to the islands near Warrnambool, to +look for seal. They could find no seal, and then they went across +the bay, and found the mouth of the river Hopkins. In trying to +land there, their boat capsized in the surf, and Smith was +drowned. The other two men succeeded in reaching the shore naked, +and they travelled back along the coast to Port Fairy, carrying +sticks on their shoulders to look like guns, in order to frighten +away the natives, who were very numerous on that part of the +coast. On this journey they found the wreck of a vessel, supposed +to be a Spanish one, which has since been covered by the drifting +sand. When Captain Mills was afterwards harbour master at +Belfast, he took the bearings of it, and reported them to the +Harbour Department in Melbourne. Vain search was made for it many +years afterwards in the hope that it was a Spanish galleon laden +with doubloons.</p> + +<p>Davy was in the Sydney trade in the 'Elizabeth' until March, +1836; he then left her and joined the cutter 'Sarah Ann', under +J. B. Mills, to go whaling at Port Fairy. In the month of May, +Captain Mills was short of boats, and went to the Hopkins to look +for the boat lost by Smith. He took with him two boats with all +their whaling gear, in case he should see a whale. David Fermaner +was in one of the boats, which carried a supply of provisions for +the two crews; in the other boat there was only what was styled a +nosebag, or snack--a mouthful for each man.</p> + +<p>On arriving off the Hopkins, they found a nasty sea on, and +Captain Mills said it would be dangerous to attempt to land; but +his brother Charles said he would try, and in doing so his boat +capsized in the breakers. All the men clung to the boat, but the +off-sea prevented them from getting on shore. When Captain Mills +saw what had happened, he at once pushed on his boat through the +surf and succeeded in reaching the shore inside the point on the +eastern side of the entrance. He then walked round towards the +other boat with a lance warp, waded out in the water as far as he +could, and then threw the warp to the men, who hauled on it until +their boat came ashore, and they were able to land.</p> + +<p>All the provisions were lost. The water was baled out of the +boat that had been capsized, and she was taken over to the west +head. All the food for twelve men was in the nosebag, and it was +very little; each man had a mere nibble for supper. In those days +wombats were plentiful near the river, but the men could not +catch or kill one of them. Captain Mills had a gun in his boat +which happened to be loaded, and he gave it to Davy to try if he +could shoot anything for breakfast next morning. There was only +one charge, all the rest of the ammunition having been lost in +the breakers. Davy walked up the banks of the river early in the +morning, and saw plenty of ducks, but they were so wild he could +not get near them. At last he was so fortunate as to shoot a musk +duck, which he brought back to the camp, stuck up before the +fire, and roasted. He then divided it into twelve portions, and +gave one portion to each of the twelve men for breakfast; but it +was a mockery of a meal, as unsubstantial as an echo--smell, and +nothing else.</p> + +<p>The two boats were launched, and an attempt was made to pass +out to sea through the surf, but the wind was far down south, and +the men had to return and beach the boats. The sails were taken +ashore and used as tents. In the evening they again endeavoured +to catch a wombat, but failed.</p> + +<p>On the next day they tried again to get out of the river, but +the surf half filled the boats with water, and they were glad to +reach the camp again.</p> + +<p>Captain Mills was a native of Australia, and a good bushman; +he told the men that sow thistles were good to eat, so they went +about looking for them, and having found a quantity ate them. On +the third day they tried once more to get out of the river, but +without success.</p> + +<p>On the fourth day Mills decided to carry the boats and whaling +gear overland to a bight in the bay to the west. The gear was +divided into lots among the men, and consisted of ten oars, two +steer-oars, two tubs of whale line each 120 fathoms in length, +two fifty-pound anchors, four harpoons, six lances, six lance +warps, two tomahawks, two water kegs, two piggins for balers, two +sheath knives, and two oil-stones for touching up the lances when +they became dull. These were carried for about a quarter of a +mile, and then put down for a rest, and the men went back to the +camp. The boats were much lighter than the gear, being made of +only half-inch plank. One boat was capsized bottom up, and the +men took it on their shoulders, six on each side, the tallest men +being placed in the middle on account of the shear of the boat, +and it was carried about half a mile past the gear. They then +returned for the other boat, and in this way brought everything +to the bight close to the spot where the bathing house at +Warrnambool has since been erected. There they launched the +boats, and got out to sea, pulling against a strong westerly +breeze.</p> + +<p>The men were very weak, having had nothing to eat for four +days but some sow thistles and a musk duck, and the pull to Port +Fairy was hard and long. They landed about four o'clock in the +afternoon, and Captain Mills told them not to eat anything, +saying he would give them something better. At that time there +was a liquor called "black strap," brought out in the convict +ships for the use of the prisoners, and it was sold with the +ships' surplus stores in Sydney and Hobarton. Mills had some of +it at Port Fairy. He now put a kettle full of it on the fire, and +when it was warmed gave each man a half a pint to begin with. He +then told them to go and get supper, and afterwards he gave each +of them another half pint.</p> + +<p>Rum was in those days a very profitable article of commerce, +and the trade in it was monopolised by the Government officers, +civil and military. Like flour in the back settlements of the +United States, it was reckoned "ekal to cash," and was made to do +the office of the pagoda tree in India, which rained dollars at +every shake.</p> + +<p>The boat that was lost by Smith at the Hopkins was found in +good condition, half filled with sand. Joe Wilson went for it +afterwards, and brought it back to Port Fairy. He was a native of +Sydney, and nephew of Raibey of Launceston, and was murdered not +long afterwards at the White Hills. He was sent by Raibey on +horseback to Hobarton to buy the revenue cutter 'Charlotte', +which had been advertised for sale. He was shot by a man who was +waiting for him behind a tree. He fell from his horse, and +although he begged hard for his life, the man beat out his brains +with the gun. The murderer took all the money Wilson had, which +was only one five-pound note, the number of which Raibey knew. A +woman tried to pass it in Launceston, and her statements led to +the discovery and conviction of the murderer, who was hanged in +chains at the White Hills, and the gibbet remained there for many +years.</p> + +<p><a name="ch-05"></a></p> + +<h3>WHALING.</h3> + +<blockquote>"I wish I were in Portland Bay,<br> +Oh, yes, Oh!<br> +Harpooning whales on a thirtieth lay,<br> +A hundred years ago."</blockquote> + +<p>In the year 1837, J. B. Mills had charge of the Portland +Fishery, and Davy went with him in the 'Thistle' schooner as mate +and navigator, and they were over a month on the passage. Charles +Mills was second in command at the station at Portland, and Peter +Coakley, an Irishman, was third; the remainder of the crew +required for whaling was on board the 'Thistle'. Among them was +one named McCann, a Sydney native, a stonemason by trade, and +father of the McCann who was afterwards member of Parliament for +Geelong. During a westerly gale the schooner ran to Western Port +for shelter. In sailing through the Rip, McCann, who was acting +as steward, while going aft to the cabin, had to cross over a +colonial sofa which was lashed on deck. Instead of stepping over +it gently, he made a jump, and the vessel lurching at the same +time, he went clean overboard. Davy, who was standing by the man +at the helm, told him to put the helm down and let the vessel +come to. He then ran forward and got a steer-oar from underneath +the boots, and threw it overboard. McCann, being an expert +swimmer, swam to the oar, a boat was launched, four men got into +it, picked him up, and brought him aboard again none the worse. +There was too much sea on to hoist in the boat, as there were no +davits, and while she was being towed in she ran ahead of the +vessel, which went over her and filled her with water. On +arriving in Western Port the boat was found to have been not much +damaged. There was on board the 'Thistle' an apprentice whom Davy +had stolen in Sydney after he had served four years of his time +to a boat-builder named Green. This apprentice repaired the boat, +which afterwards proved to be the fastest out of forty-one boats +that went out whaling in Portland Bay every morning.</p> + +<p>There were in 1837 eight parties of whalers in Portland Bay, +and so many whales were killed that the business from that year +declined and became unprofitable. Mills' party in the 'Thistle' +schooner, of which Davy was mate and navigator, or nurse to +Mills, who was not a trained seaman, had their station at Single +Corner; Kelly's party was stationed at the neck of land where the +breakwater has been constructed. Then there were Dutton's party, +with the barque 'African'; Nicholson's, with the barque +'Cheviot', from Hobarton; Chamberlain's, with the barque 'William +the Fourth', of Hobarton; the 'Hope' barque, and a brig, both +from Sydney. The Hentys also had a whaling station at Double +Corner, and by offering to supply their men with fresh meat three +times a week, obtained the pick of the whalers. Their head men +were Johnny Brennan, John Moles, and Jim Long, natives of Sydney +or Tasmania, and all three good whalers.</p> + +<p>When the 'Thistle' arrived at Portland Bay every other party +had got nearly one hundred tuns of oil each, and Mills' party had +none. He started out next morning, choosing the boat which had +picked up McCann at Western Port, and killed one whale, which +turned out six tuns of oil. He did not get any more for three +weeks, being very unlucky. After getting the schooner ready for +cutting in, Davy went to steer the boat for Charles Mills, and +always got in a mess among the whales, being either capsized or +stove in among so many boats. At the end of three weeks Captain +Mills got a whale off the second river, halfway round towards +Port Fairy. She was taken in tow with the three boats, and after +two days' towing, she was anchored within half-a-mile of the +schooner in Portland Bay, and the men went ashore. During the +night a gale of wind came on from the south-west, and the whale, +being a bit stale and high out of the water, drove ashore at the +Bluff, a little way past Henty's house.</p> + +<p>In the morning Mills said he would go and see what he could +get from her on the beach, and ordered his brother, Charles +Mills, and Coakley to go out looking for whales. All the boats +used to go out before daylight, and dodge one another round the +Bay for miles. It was cold work sitting in the boats. The men +stayed out until ten or eleven o'clock, and went ashore that day +on the Convincing Ground, which was so-called because the whalers +used to go down there to fight, and convince one another who was +the best man.</p> + +<p>In the afternoon, about two o'clock, it was Davy's turn to go +up a tree to look for whales. In looking round the Bay towards +the Bluff, he saw a boat with a whiff on. He jumped down, and +told Charles Mills, who said: "Come on." there was a great rush +of all the boats, but Mills' boat kept well forward of the lot. +When they arrived off the Bluff they found Captain Mills had +fastened to a whale, two other loose whales being near. They +pulled up alongside him, and he pointed out a loose whale, to +which they fastened. Mansfield, of the Hobarton party, fastened +to the third whale. Davy came aft to the steer-oar, and Charles +Mills went forward to kill his whale. He had hardly got the lance +in his hand when the whale threw herself right athwart the nose +of the boat. He then sent the lance right into her and killed her +stone dead. Mansfield, in hauling up his whale got on top of +Captain Mills' whale, which stove in Mansfield's boat, and sent +all his men flying in the air. There was a rush then to pick up +the men. Charles Mills, finding his whale dead, struck a whiff in +the lance-hole he had made when he killed her, cut the line that +was fast to her, and bent it on to another spare iron. +Mansfield's whale then milled round and came right on to Charles +Mills' boat, and he fastened to her. This gave him a claim of one +half of her, so that Mills and his men got two and a half out of +the three whales. The men were all picked up. Mills' whales were +anchored about half-a-mile from the schooner, and the boats went +out next morning and took them in tow.</p> + +<p>The whales tow very easily when fresh killed, but if they are +allowed to get stiff their fins stand out and hinder the towing. +When the two whales were brought alongside the schooner, the +boats of Kelly's party were seen fast to a whale off Black Nose +Point. Charles Mills pulled over, and when he arrived he found a +loose whale, Mansfield and Chase being fast to two other whales. +Mills fastened to the loose whale, and then the three whales +fouled the three lines, and rolled them all together like a warp, +which made it difficult to kill them. After the men had pulled up +on them for some time with the oars, two of them began spouting +blood and sickened, and Chase's boat got on to them and capsized. +Then the whales took to running, and Mansfield cut his line to +pick up Chase and his crew. Mansfield's whale being sick, went in +a flurry and died. Mills' whale and Chase's worked together until +Mills killed his whale; he then whiffed her and fastened to +Chase's whale, which gave him a claim for half, and he killed +her; so that his party got one and a-half out of the three +whales. Chase and his crew were all picked up.</p> + +<p>From that day the luck of Mills and his party turned, and they +could not try out fast enough. In four months from the time the +'Thistle' left Launceston she had on board two hundred and forty +tuns of oil.</p> + +<p>In the year 1836, the Hentys had a few cattle running behind +the Bluff when Major Mitchell arrived overland from Sydney, and +reported good country to the north. They then brought over more +cattle from Launceston, and stocked a station.</p> + +<p>The first beast killed by the Hentys for their whalers was a +heifer, and the carcase, divided into two parts, was suspended +from the flagstaff at their house. It could be seen from afar by +the men who were pulling across the bay in their boats, and they +knew that Henty's men were going to feed on fresh meat, while all +the rest were eating such awful stuff as Yankee pork and salt +horse. The very sight of the two sides of the heifer suspended at +the flagstaff was an unendurable insult and mockery to the +carnivorous whalers, and an incitement to larceny. Davy Fermaner +was steering one of the boats, and he exclaimed: "There, they are +flashing the fresh meat to us. They would look foolish if they +lost it to-night."</p> + +<p>There was feasting and revelry that night at Single Corner. +Hungry men were sharpening their sheath-knives with steel, and +cutting up a side of beef. A large fire was burning, and on the +glowing coals, and in every frying-pan rich steaks were fizzing +and hissing. It was like a feast of heroes, and lasted long +through the night. They sang responsively, like gentle +shepherds--shepherds of the ocean fields whose flocks were mighty +whales:</p> + +<blockquote>"Mother, the butcher's brought the meat,<br> +What shall I do with it?<br> +Fry the flesh, and broil the bones,<br> +And make a pudding of the su-et."</blockquote> + +<p>Next morning the Hentys looked for the missing beef up the +flagstaff, and along the shore of the ever-sounding ocean, but +their search was vain. They suspected that the men of Kelly's +party were the thieves, but these all looked as stupid, ignorant, +and innocent as the adverse circumstances would permit. There was +no evidence against them to be found; the beef was eaten and the +bones were burned and buried. Mills' men were the beef lifters, +and some of Kelly's men helped them to eat it.</p> + +<p>The whales killed at the Portland fishery were of two kinds, +the right or black whale, and the sperm whale. The right whale +has an immense tongue, and lives by suction, the food being a +kind of small shrimp. When in a flurry--that is, when she has +received her death-stroke with the lance--she goes round in a +circle, working with her head and flukes. The sperm whales feed +on squid, which they bite, and when in a flurry they work with +the head and flukes, and with the mouth open, and often crush the +boats.</p> + +<p>After the crew of the 'Thistle' had spent their money, they +were taken back to Port Fairy for the purpose of stripping bark, +a large quantity of wattle trees having been found in the +neighbouring country. Sheep were also taken there in charge of +Mr. J. Murphy, who intended to form a station. John Griffiths +also sent over his father, Jonathan, who had been a carpenter on +board the first man-of-war that had arrived at Port Jackson, +three old men who had been prisoners, four bullocks, a plough, +and some seed potatoes. A cargo of the previous season's bark was +put into the 'Thistle', and on her return to Launceston, was +transferred to the 'Rhoda' brig, Captain Rolls, bound for London. +More sheep and provisions were then taken in the 'Thistle', and +after they were landed at Port Fairy, another cargo of bark was +put on board. For three days there was no wind, and a tremendous +sea setting in from the south-east, the schooner could not leave +the bay. On the night of December 24th a gale of wind came on +from the south-east; one chain parted, and after riding until +three o'clock in the morning of Christmas Day, the other chain +also parted. The vessel drew eight feet, and was lying in between +three and four fathoms of water. As soon as the second chain +broke, Davy went up on the fore-yard and cut the gaskets of the +foresail. The schooner grounded in the trough of sea, but when +she rose the foresail was down, and she paid off before the wind. +The shore was about a mile, or a mile and a half distant, and she +took the beach right abreast of a sheep yard, where her wreck now +lies. The men got ashore in safety, but all the cargo was +lost.</p> + +<p>A tent was pitched on shore near the wreck, but as there was +no vessel in the bay by which they could return to Launceston, +the four men, Captain Mills, D. Fermaner, Charles Ferris, and +Richard Jennings, on December 31st, 1837, set sail in a whaleboat +for Port Philip. Davy had stolen Jennings from the 'Rhoda' brig +at Launceston, when seamen were scarce. He was afterwards a pilot +at Port Philip, and was buried at Williamstown.</p> + +<p>The whaleboat reached Port Philip on January 3rd, 1838, having +got through the Rip on the night of the 2nd. Ferris was the only +man of the crew who had been in before, he having gone in with +Batman, in the 'Rebecca' cutter, Captain Baldwin. Baldwin was +afterwards before the mast in the 'Elizabeth' schooner; he was a +clever man, but fond of drink.</p> + +<p>The whaleboat anchored off Portsea, but the men did not land +for fear of the blacks.</p> + +<p>At daylight Davy landed to look for water, but could not find +any; and there were only three pints in the water-bag. The wind +being from the north, the boat was pulled over to Mud Island, and +the men went ashore to make tea with the three pints of water. +Davy walked about the island, and found a rookery of small +mackerel-gulls and a great quantity of their eggs in the sand. He +broke a number of them, and found that the light-coloured eggs +were good, and that the dark ones had birds in them. He took off +his shirt, tied the sleeves together, bagged a lot of the eggs, +and carried them back to the camp. Mills broke the best of them +into the great pot, and the eggs and water mixed together and +boiled made about a quart for each man.</p> + +<p>After breakfast the wind shifted to the southward, and the +'Henry' brig, from Launceston, Captain Whiting, ran in, bound to +Point Henry with sheep; but before Mills and his men could get +away from Mud Island the brig had passed. They pulled and sailed +after her, but did not overtake her until she arrived off the +point where Batman first settled, now called Port Arlington; at +that time they called the place Indented Heads.</p> + +<p>When the whaleboat came near the brig to ask for water, two or +three muskets were levelled at the men over the bulwarks, and +they were told to keep off, or they would be shot. At that time a +boat's crew of prisoners had escaped from Melbourne in a whale +boat, and the ship-wrecked men were suspected as the runaways. +But one of the crew of the 'Henry', named Jack Macdonald, looked +over the side, and seeing Davy in the boat, asked him what they +had done with the schooner 'Thistle', and they told him they had +lost her at Port Fairy.</p> + +<p>Captain Whiting asked Macdonald if he knew them, and on being +informed that they were the captain and crew of the schooner +'Thistle', he invited them on board and supplied them with a good +dinner. They went on to Point Henry in the brig, and assisted in +landing the sheep.</p> + +<p>Batman was at that time in Melbourne. Davy had seen him before +in Launceston. After discharging the sheep the brig proceeded to +Gellibrand's Point, and as Captain Whiting wanted to go up to +Melbourne, the men pulled him up the Yarra in their whaleboat. +Fawkner's Hotel at that time was above the site of the present +customs House, and was built with broad paling. Mills and Whiting +stayed there that night, Davy and the other two men being invited +to a small public-house kept by a man named Burke, a little way +down Little Flinders Street, where they were made very +comfortable.</p> + +<p>Next day they went back to the brig 'Henry', and started for +Launceston.</p> + +<p>In May, 1838, Davy was made master of the schooner +'Elizabeth', and took in her a cargo of sheep, and landed them at +Port Fairy. The three old convicts whom Griffiths had sent there +along with his father Jonathan, had planted four or five acres of +potatoes at a place called Goose Lagoon, about two miles behind +the township. The crop was a very large one, from fifteen to +twenty tons to the acre, and Davy had received orders to take in +fifty tons of the potatoes, and to sell them in South Australia. +He did so, and after four days' passage went ashore at the port, +offered the potatoes for sale, and sold twenty tons at 22 pounds +10 shillings per ton. On going ashore again next morning, he was +offered 20 pounds per ton for the remainder, and he sold them at +that price.</p> + +<p>On the same day the 'Nelson' brig, from Hobarton, arrived with +one hundred tons of potatoes, but she could not sell them, as +Davy had fully stocked the market. He was paid for the potatoes +in gold by the two men who bought them.</p> + +<p>He went up to the new city of Adelaide. All the buildings were +of the earliest style of architecture, and were made of tea-tree +and sods, or of reeds dabbed together with mud. The hotels had no +signboards, but it was easy to find them by the heaps of bottles +outside. Kangaroo flesh was 1s. 6d. a pound, but grog was cheap. +Davy was looking for a shipmate named Richard Ralph, who was then +the principal architect and builder in the city. He found him +erecting homes for the immigrants out of reeds and mud. He was +paid 10 pounds or 12 pounds for each building. He was also +hunting kangaroo and selling meat. He was married to a lady +immigrant, and on the whole appeared to be very comfortable and +prosperous. Davy gave the lady a five-shilling piece to go and +fetch a bottle of gin, and was surprised when she came back +bringing two bottles of gin and 3s. change. In the settlement the +necessaries of life were dear, but the luxuries were cheap. If a +man could not afford to buy kangaroo beef and potatoes, he could +live sumptuously on gin. Davy walked back to the port the same +evening, and next day took in ballast, which was mud dug out +among the mangroves.</p> + +<p>He arrived at Launceston in four days, and then went as +coasting pilot of the barque 'Belinda', bound to Port Fairy to +take in oil for London. The barque took in 100 head of cattle, +the first that were landed at Port Fairy. He then went to Port +Philip, and was employed in lightering cargo up the Yarra, and in +ferrying between Williamstown and the beach now called Port +Melbourne. He took out the first boatman's licence issued, and +has the brass badge, No. 1, still. Vessels at that time had to be +warped up the Yarra from below Humbug Reach, as no wind could get +at the topsails, on account of the high tea-tree on the +banks.</p> + +<p><a name="ch-06"></a></p> + +<h3>OUT WEST IN 1849.</h3> + +<p>I did not travel as a capitalist, far from it. I went up the +Mississippi as a deck passenger, sleeping at night sometimes on +planks, at other times on bags of oats piled on the deck about +six feet high. The mate of a Mississippi boat is always a bully +and every now and then he came along with a deck-hand carrying a +lamp, and requested us to come down. He said it was "agen the +rules of the boat to sleep on oats"; but we kept on breaking the +rules as much as possible.</p> + +<p>Above the mouth of the Ohio the river bank on the Missouri +side is high, rocky, and picturesque. I longed to be the owner of +a farm up there, and of a modest cottage overlooking the Father +of Waters. I said, "If there's peace and plenty to be had in this +world, the heart that is humble might hope for it here," and then +the very first village visible was called "Vide Poche." It is now +a suburb of St. Louis.</p> + +<p>I took a passage on another boat up the Illinois river. There +was a very lordly man on the lower deck who was frequently +"trailing his coat." He had, in fact, no coat at all, only a grey +flannel shirt and nankeen trousers, but he was remarkably in want +of a fight, and anxious to find a man willing to be licked. He +was a desperado of the great river. We had heard and read of such +men, of their reckless daring and deadly fights; but we were +peaceful people; we had come out west to make a living, and +therefore did not want to be killed. When the desperado came near +we looked the other way.</p> + +<p>There was a party of five immigrant Englishmen sitting on +their luggage. One of them was very strongly built, a likely +match for the bully, and a deck-hand pointing to him said:</p> + +<p>"Jack, do you know what that Englishman says about you?"</p> + +<p>"No, what does he say?"</p> + +<p>"He says he don't think you are of much account with all your +brag. Reckons he could lick you in a couple of minutes."</p> + +<p>Uttering imprecations, Jack approached the Englishman, and +dancing about the deck, cleared the ring for the coming +combat.</p> + +<p>"Come on, you green-horn, and take your gruel. Here's the best +man on the river for you. You'll find him real grit."</p> + +<p>The stranger sat still, said he was not a fighting man, and +did not want to quarrel with anybody.</p> + +<p>Jack grew more ferocious than ever, and aimed a blow at the +peaceful man to persuade him to come on. He came on suddenly. The +two men were soon writhing together on the guard deck, and I was +pleased to observe the desperado was undermost. The Englishman +was full of fear, and was fighting for his life. He was doing it +with great earnestness. He was grasping the throat of his enemy +tightly with both hands, and pressing his thumbs on the +wind-pipe. We could see he was going to win in his own simple +way, without any recourse to science, and he would have done so +very soon had he not been interrupted. But as Jack was growing +black in the face, the other Englishmen began to pull at their +mate, and tried to unlock his grip on Jack's throat. It was not +easy to do so. He held on to his man to the very last, crying +out: "Leave me alone till I do for him. Man alive, don't you know +the villain wants to murder me?"</p> + +<p>The desperado lay for a while gulping and gasping on his bed +of glory, unable to rise. I observed patches of bloody skin +hanging loose on both sides of his neck when he staggered along +the deck towards the starboard sponson.</p> + +<p>There was peace for a quarter of an hour. Then Jack's voice +was heard again. He had lost prestige, and was coming to recover +it with a bowie knife. He said:</p> + +<p>"Where's that Britisher? I am going to cut his liver out."</p> + +<p>The Englishman heard the threat, and said to him mates:</p> + +<p>"I told you so! He means to murder me. Why didn't you leave me +alone when I had the fine holt of him?"</p> + +<p>He then hurried away and ran upstairs to the saloon.</p> + +<p>Jack followed to the foot of the ladder, and one wild-eyed +young lady said:</p> + +<p>"Look at the Englishman [he was sitting on a chair a few feet +distance]. Ain't he pale? Oh! the coward!"</p> + +<p>She wanted to witness a real lively fight, and was +disappointed. The smell of blood seems grateful to the nostrils +of both ladies and gentlemen in the States. A butcher from St. +Louis explained it thus:</p> + +<p>"It's in the liver. Nine out of ten of the beasts I kill have +liver complaint. I am morally sartin I'd find the human livers +just the same if I examined them in any considerable +quantity."</p> + +<p>The captain came to the head of the stairs and descended to +the deck. He was tall and lanky and mild of speech. He said:</p> + +<p>"Now, Jack, what are you going to do with that knife?"</p> + +<p>"I am waiting to cut the liver out of that Englishman. Send +him down, Captain, till I finish the job."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I see. He has been peeling your neck pretty bad, ain't +he? Powerful claws, I reckon. Jack, you'll be getting into +trouble some day with your weepons." He took a small knife out of +his pocket. "Look here, Jack. I've been going up and down the +river more'n twenty years, and never carried a weepon bigg'n +that, and never had a muss with nobody. A man who draws his bowie +sometimes gets shot. Let's look at your knife."</p> + +<p>He examined it closely, deciphered the brand, drew his thumb +over the edge, and observed:</p> + +<p>"Why, blame me, if it ain't one of them British bowies--a +Free-trade Brummagen. I reckon you can't carve anyone with a +thing like this." He made a dig at the hand-rail with the point, +and it actually curled up like the ring in a hog's snout. "You +see, Jack, a knife like that is mean, unbecoming a gentleman, and +a disgrace to a respectable boat." He pitched the British article +into the river and went up into the saloon.</p> + +<p>As Jack had not yet recovered his prestige, he went away, and +returned with a dinner knife in one hand and a shingling hammer +in the other. He waited for his adversary until the sun was low +and the deck passengers were preparing their evening meal. Two of +the Englishmen came along towards the stairs and ascended to the +saloon. Presently they began to descend with their mate in the +middle. Jack looked at them, and for some reason or other he did +not want any more prestige. He sauntered away along the guard +deck, and remained in retirement during the rest of the voyage. +He was not, after all, a very desperate desperado.</p> + +<p>During the next night our boat was racing with a rival craft, +and one of her engines was damaged. She had then to hop on one +leg, as it were, as far as Peoria. The Illinois river had here +spread out into a broad lake; the bank was low, there were no +buildings of any kind near the water; some of the passengers +landed, and nobody came to offer them welcome.</p> + +<p>I stood near an English immigrant who had just brought his +luggage ashore, and was sitting on it with his wife and three +children. They looked around at the low land and wide water, and +became full of misery. The wife said:</p> + +<p>"What are we boun' to do now, Samiul? Wheer are me and the +childer to go in this miserable lookin' place?"</p> + +<p>Samiul: "I'm sure, Betsy, I don't know. I've nobbut hafe a +dollar left of o' my money. They said Peoria was a good place for +us to stop at, but I don't see any signs o' farmin' about here, +and if I go away to look for a job, where am I to put thee and +the childer, and the luggage and the bedding?"</p> + +<p>"Oh!" said Betsy, beginning to cry; "I'm sorry we ever left +owd England. But thou would come, Samiul, thou knows, and this is +the end on it. Here we are in this wild country without house or +home, and wi' nothin' to eat. I allus thowt tha wor a fool, +Samiul, and now I'm sure and sartin on it."</p> + +<p>Samiul could not deny it. His spirit was completely broken; he +hung down his head, and tears began to trickle down his eyes. The +three children--two sturdy little boys and a fair-haired little +girl-- seeing their dad and ma shedding tears, thought the whole +world must be coming to an end, and they began howling out aloud +without any reserve. It was the best thing they could have done, +as it called public attention to their misery, and drew a crowd +around them. A tall stranger came near looked at the group, and +said:</p> + +<p>"My good man, what in thunder are you crying for?"</p> + +<p>"I was told Peoria was a good place for farmin'," Samuel said, +"and now I don't know where to go, and I have got no money."</p> + +<p>"Well, you are a soft 'un," replied the stranger. "Just dry up +and wait here till I come back."</p> + +<p>He walked away with long strides. Peoria was then a +dreary-looking city, of which we could see nothing but the end of +a broad road, a few frame buildings, two or three waggons, and +some horses hitched to the posts of the piazzas.</p> + +<p>The stranger soon returned with a farmer in a waggon drawn by +two fine upstanding horses, fit for a royal carriage. The farmer +at once hired the immigrant at ten dollars a month with board for +himself and family. He put the luggage into his waggon, patted +the boys on the head and told them to be men; kissed the little +girl as he lifted her into the waggon, and said:</p> + +<p>"Now, Sissy, you are a nice little lady, and you are to come +along with me, and we'll be good friends."</p> + +<p>Never was sorrow so quickly turned into joy. The man, his +wife, and children, actually began smiling before the tears on +their cheeks were dry.</p> + +<p>Men on every western prairie were preparing their waggons for +the great rush to California; new hands were wanted on the lands, +and the immigrants who were then arriving in thousands, took the +place of the other thousands who went westward across the plains. +There was employment for everybody, and during my three years' +residence on the prairies I only saw one beggar. He was an +Italian patriot, who said he had fought for Italy; he was now +begging for it in English, badly-broken, so I said:</p> + +<p>"You are a strong, healthy man; why don't you go to work? You +could earn eight or ten dollars a month, with board, anywhere in +these parts."</p> + +<p>But the Italian patriot was a high-class beggar; he was +collecting funds, and had no idea of wasting his time in hard +work. He gave me to understand that I had insulted him.</p> + +<p>Besides this patriot, there were a few horse-thieves and hog +duffers on the prairies, but these, when identified, were either +stretched under a tree or sent to Texas.</p> + +<p>In those days the prairie farmers were all gentlemen, +high-minded, truthful, honourable, and hospitable. There were no +poor houses, no asylums. All orphans were adopted and treated as +members of some family in the neighbourhood.</p> + +<p>I am informed that things are quite different now. The march +of empire has been rapid; many men have grown rich, to use a +novel expression, beyond the dreams of avarice, and ten times as +many have grown poor and discontented.</p> + +<p>The great question for statesmen now is, "What is to be done +for the relief of the masses?" and the answer to it is as +difficult to find as ever.</p> + +<p>But I have to proceed up the Illinois river.</p> + +<p>The steamboat stopped at Lasalle, the head of navigation, and +we had then to travel on the Illinois and Michigan canal. We went +on board a narrow passenger boat towed by two horses, and +followed by two freight barges. We did not go at a breakneck +pace, and had plenty of time for conversation, and to look at the +scenery, which consisted of prairies, sloughs, woods, and rivers. +The picture lacked background, as there is nothing in Illinois +deserving the name of hill. But we passed an ancient monument, a +tall pillar, rising out of the bed of the Illinois river. It is +called "Starved Rock." Once a number of Indian warriors, pursued +by white men, climbed up the almost perpendicular sides of the +pillar. They had no food, and though the stream was flowing +beneath them, they could not obtain a drink of water without +danger of death from rifle bullets. The white men instituted a +blockade of the pillar, and the red men all perished of +starvation on the top of it.</p> + +<p>The conversation was conducted by the captain of the canal +boat, as he walked on the deck to and fro. He was full of +information. He said he was a native of Kentucky; had come down +the Ohio river from Louisville; was taking freight to Chicago; +reckoned he was bound to rake in the dollars on the canal; was no +dog-gonned Abolitionist; niggers were made to work for white +folks; they had no souls any more than a horse; he'd like to see +the man who would argue the point.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Beecher Stowe was then writing "Uncle Tom's Cabin," at +too great a distance to hear the challenge, but a greenhorn +ventured to argue the point.</p> + +<p>"What about the mulatto? Half black, half white. His father +being a white man had a whole soul; his mother being black had no +soul. Has the mulatto a whole soul, half a soul, or no soul at +all?"</p> + +<p>The captain paused in his walk, with both hands in his +pockets, gazed at the argumentative greenhorn, turned his quid, +spat across the canal, went away whistling "Old Dan Tucker," and +left the question of the mulatto's soul unsolved.</p> + +<p>When I arrived at Joliet there was a land boom at Chicago. The +canal company had cut up their alternate sections, and were +offering them at the usual alarming sacrifice. A land boom is a +dream of celestial bliss. While it lasts, the wisest men and the +greatest fools walk with ecstatic steps through the golden +streets of a New Jerusalem. I have been there three times. It is +dreadful to wake up and to find that all the gold in the street +is nothing but moonshine.</p> + +<p>I proceeded to the Lake City to lay the foundation of my +fortune by buying town lots. I laid the foundation on a five-acre +block in West Joliet, but had to borrow seven dollars from my +nearest friend to pay the first deposit. Chicago was then a small +but busy wooden town, with slushy streets, plank sidewalks, +verandahs full of rats, and bedrooms humming with mosquitoes. I +left it penniless but proud, an owner of real estate.</p> + +<p>While returning to Joliet on the canal boat my nearest friend, +from whom I had borrowed the seven dollars, kindly gave me his +views on the subject of "greenhorns." (The Australian equivalent +of "greenhorn" is "new chum." I had the advantage of serving my +time in both capacities). "No greenhorn," he observed, "ever +begins to get along in the States until he has parted with his +bottom dollar. That puts a keen edge on his mind, and he grows +smart in business. A smart man don't strain his back with hard +work for any considerable time. He takes out a patent for +something--a mowing machine, or one for sowing corn and pumpkins, +a new churn or wash-tub, pills for the shakes, or, best of all, a +new religion--anything, in fact, that will catch on and fetch the +public."</p> + +<p>I had parted with my bottom dollar, was also in debt, and +therefore in the best position for getting along; but I could not +all at once think of anything to patent, and had to earn my daily +bread some way or other. I began to do it by hammering sheets of +iron into the proper curves for an undershot water-wheel. After I +had worked two days my boss suggested that I should seek other +employment--in a school, for instance; a new teacher was wanted +in the common school of West Joliet.</p> + +<p>I said I should prefer something higher; a teacher was of no +more earthly account than a tailor.</p> + +<p>The boss said: "That might be so in benighted Britain, but in +the Great United States our prominent citizens begin life as +teachers in the common schools, and gradually rise to the highest +positions in the Republic."</p> + +<p>I concluded to rise, but a certificate of competency was +required, and I presented myself for examination to the proper +official, the editor and proprietor of 'The True Democrat' whose +office was across the bridge, nearly opposite Matheson's woollen +factory. I found the editor and his compositor labouring over the +next edition of the paper.</p> + +<p>The editor began the examination with the alphabet. I said in +England we used twenty-six letters, and I named all of them +correctly except the last. I called it "zed," but the editor said +it was "zee," and I did not argue the point.</p> + +<p>He then asked me to pick out the vowels, the consonants, the +flats, the sharps, the aspirates, the labials, the palatals, the +dentals, and the mutes. I was struck dumb; I could feel the very +foundation of all learning sinking beneath me, and had to confess +that I did not know my letters.</p> + +<p>Then he went on to spelling and writing. My writing was barely +passable, and my spelling was quite out of date. I used +superfluous letters which had been very properly abolished by +Webster's dictionary.</p> + +<p>At last the editor remarked, with becoming modesty, that he +was himself of no account at figures, but Mr. Sims would put me +through the arithmetic. Mr. Sims was the compositor, and an +Englishman; he put me through tenderly.</p> + +<p>When the examination was finished, I felt like a convicted +impostor, and was prepared to resume work on the undershot +water-wheel, but the two professors took pity on me, and +certified in writing that I was qualified to keep school.</p> + +<p>Then the editor remarked that the retiring teacher, Mr. +Randal, had advertised in the 'True Democrat' his ability to +teach the Latin language; but, unfortunately, Father Ingoldsby +had offered himself as a first pupil; Mr. Randal never got +another, and all his Latin oozed out. On this timely hint I +advertised my ability to teach the citizens of Joliet not only +Latin, but Greek, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. My +advertisement will be found among the files of the 'True +Democrat' of the year 1849 by anyone taking the trouble to look +for it. I had carelessly omitted to mention the English language, +but we sometimes get what we don't ask for, and no less than +sixteen Germans came to night school to study our tongue. They +were all masons and quarrymen engaged in exporting steps and +window sills to the rising city of Chicago.</p> + +<p>When Goldsmith tried to earn his bread by teaching English in +Holland, he overlooked the fact that it was first necessary for +him to learn Low Dutch. I overlooked the same fact, but it gave +me no trouble whatever. There was no united Germany then, and my +pupils disagreed continually about the pronunciation of their own +language, which seemed, like that of Babel, intelligible to +nobody. I composed their quarrels by confining their minds to +English solely, and harmony was restored each night by song.</p> + +<p>The school-house was a one-storey frame building on the second +plateau in West Joliet, and was attended by about one hundred +scholars. In the rear was a shallow lagoon, fenced on one side by +a wall of loose rocks, infested with snakes. The track to the +cemetery was near, and it soon began to be in very frequent use. +One day during recess the boys had a snake hunt, and they tied +their game in one bunch by the heads with string, and suspended +them by the wayside. I counted them, and there were twenty-seven +snakes in the bunch.</p> + +<p>The year '49 was the 'annus mirabilis' of the great rush for +gold across the plains, and it was also an 'annus miserabilis' on +account of the cholera. In three weeks fourteen hundred waggons +bound for California crossed one of the bridges over the canal. I +was desirous of joining the rush, but was, as usual, short of +cash, and I had to stay at Joliet to earn my salary. I met the +editor of the 'True Democrat' nearly every day carrying home a +bucket of water from the Aux Plaines river. He did his own +chores. He sent two young men who wished to become teachers to my +school to graduate. One was named O'Reilly, lately from Ireland; +I gave him his degree in a few weeks, and he kept school +somewhere out on the prairie. The other did not graduate before +the cholera came. He was a native of Vermont, and he played the +clarionet in our church choir. The instrumental music came from +the clarionet, from a violin, and a flute. The choir came from +France and Germany, Old England and New England, Ireland, Alsace, +and Belgium. It was divided into two hostile camps, and the party +which first took possession of the gallery took precedence in the +music for that day only. There was a want of harmony. One morning +when the priest was chanting the first words of the Gloria, the +head of a little French bugler appeared at the top of the gallery +stairs, and at once started a plaint chant, Gloria, we had never +rehearsed or heard before. He sang his solo to the end. He was +thirsting for glory, and he took a full draught.</p> + +<p>I don't think there was ever a choir like ours but one, and +that was conducted by a butcher from Dolphinholm in the Anglican +Church at Garstang. One Sunday he started a hymn with a new tune. +Three times his men broke down, and three times they were heard +by the whole congregation whispering ferociously at one another. +At length the parson tried to proceed with the service, and said: +"Let us pray." But the bold butcher retorted: "Pray be hanged. +Let us try again, lads; I know we can do it." He then started the +hymn for the fourth time, and they did it. After the service the +parson demanded satisfaction of the butcher, and got it in a +neighbouring pasture.</p> + +<p>The cholera came, and we soon grew very serious. The young man +from Vermont walked with me after school hours, and we tried to +be cheerful, but it was of no use. Our talk always reverted to +the plague, and the best way to cure it or to avoid it. The +doctors disagreed. Every theory was soon contradicted by facts; +all kinds of people were attacked and died; the young and the +old, the weak and the strong, the drunken and the sober. Every +man adopted a special diet or a favourite liquor--brandy, +whiskey, bitters, cherry-bounce, sarsaparilla. My own particular +preventive was hot tea, sweetened with molasses and seasoned with +cayenne pepper. I survived, but that does not prove anything in +particular.</p> + +<p>The two papers, the 'Joliet Signal' and the 'True Democrat', +scarcely ever mentioned the cholera. It would have been bad +policy, tending to scare away the citizens and to injure +trade.</p> + +<p>Many men suddenly found that they had urgent business to look +after elsewhere, and sneaked away, leaving their wives and +families behind them.</p> + +<p>On Sunday Father Ingoldsby advised his people to prepare their +souls for the visit of the Angel of Death, who was every night +knocking at their doors. There were many, he said, whose faces he +had never seen at the rails since he came to Joliet; and what +answer would they give to the summons which called them to appear +without delay before the judgment seat of God? What doom could +they expect but that of damnation and eternal death?</p> + +<p>The sermon needed no translation for the men of many nations +who were present. Irishmen and Englishmen, Highlanders and +Belgians, French and Germans, Mexicans and Canadians, could +interpret the meaning of the flashing eye which roamed to every +corner of the church, singling out each miserable sinner; the +fierce frown, the threatening gesture, the finger first pointing +to the heaven above, and then down to the depths of hell.</p> + +<p>Some stayed to pray and to confess their sins; others hardened +their hearts and went home unrepentant. Michael Mangan went to +Belz's grocery near the canal. He said he felt pains in his +interior, and drank a jigger of whisky. Then he bought +half-a-gallon of the same remedy to take home with him. It was a +cheap prescription, costing only twelve and a half cents, but it +proved very effective. Old Belz put the stuff into an earthenware +bottle, which he corked with a corncob. Michael started for home +by the zigzag path which led up the steep limestone bluff, but +his steps were slow and unsteady; he sat down on a rock, and took +another dose out of his bottle. He never went any further of his +own motion, and we buried him next day. We were of different +opinions about the cause of his death; some thought it was the +cholera, others the pangs of conscience, some the whisky, and +others a mixture of all three; at any rate, he died without +speaking to the priest.</p> + +<p>Next day another neighbour died, Mr. Harrigan. He had lost one +arm, but with the other he wrote a good hand, and registered +deeds in the County Court. I called to see him. He was in bed +lying on his back, his one arm outside the coverlet, his heaving +chest was bare, and his face was ghastly pale. There were six men +in the room, one of whom said:</p> + +<p>"Do you know me, Mr. Harrigan?"</p> + +<p>"Sure, divil a dog in Lockport but knows you, Barney," said +the dying man.</p> + +<p>Barney lived in Lockport, and in an audible whisper said to +us: "Ain't he getting on finely? He'll be all right again +to-morrow, please God."</p> + +<p>"And didn't the doctor say I'd be dead before twelve this +day?" asked Harrigan.</p> + +<p>I looked at the clock on the mantelshelf. It was past ten. He +died an hour later.</p> + +<p>One day the young man from Vermont rose from his seat and +looked at me across the schoolroom. I thought he was going to say +something. He took down his hat, went to the door, turned and +looked at me again, but he did not speak or make any sign. Next +morning his place was vacant, and I asked one of the boys if he +had seen the young man. The boy said:</p> + +<p>"He ain't a-coming to school no more, I calkilate. He was +buried this morning before school hours."</p> + +<p>That year, '49 was a dismal year in Joliet.</p> + +<p>Mr. Rogers, one of the school managers, came and sat on a +bench near the door. He was a New Englander, a carpenter, +round-shouldered, tall and bony. He said:</p> + +<p>"I called in to tell you that I can't vote for appinting you +to this school next term. Fact is the ladies are dead against +you; don't see you at meeting on the Sabbath; say you go to the +Catholic Church with the Irish and Dutch. I a'n't a word to say +agen you myself. This is a free country; every man can go, for +aught I care, whichever way he darn chooses--to heaven, or hell, +or any other place. But I want to be peaceable, and I can't get +no peace about voting for you next term, so I thought I'd let you +know, that you mightn't be disappointed."</p> + +<p>In that way Mr. Rogers washed his hands of me. I said I was +sorry I did not please the ladies, but I liked to hear a man who +spoke his mind freely.</p> + +<p>Soon afterwards the Germans brought me word that the Yankees +were calling a meeting about me. I was aware by this time that +when a special gathering of citizens takes place to discuss the +demerits of any individual, it is advisable for that individual +to be absent if possible; but curiosity was strong within me; +hitherto I had never been honoured with any public notice +whatever, and I attended the meeting uninvited.</p> + +<p>The Yankees are excellent orators; they are born without +bashfulness; they are taught to speak pieces in school from their +childhood; they pronounce each word distinctly; they use +correctly the rising inflection and the falling inflection. +Moreover, they are always in deadly earnest; there is another +miserable world awaiting their arrival. Their humorists are the +most unhappy of men. You may smile when you read their jokes, but +when you see the jokers you are more inclined to weep. With pain +and sorrow they grind, like Samson, at the jokers' mill all the +days of their lives.</p> + +<p>The meeting was held in the new two-storey school-house.</p> + +<p>Deacon Beaumont took the chair--my chair--and Mr Curtis was +appointed secretary. I began to hate Deacon Beaumont, as also Mr. +Curtis, who was the only other teacher present; it was evident +they were going to put him in my place.</p> + +<p>Each speaker on rising put his left hand in the side pocket of +his pants. I was not mentioned by name, but nevertheless I was +given clearly to understand that I had been reared in a land +whose people are under the dominion of a tyrannical monarch and a +bloated aristocracy; that therefore I had never breathed the pure +air of freedom, and was unfitted to teach the children of the +Great Republic.</p> + +<p>Mr. Tucker, an influential citizen, moved finally that the +school managers be instructed to engage a Mr. Sellars, of +Dresden, as teacher at the West Joliet School. He said Mr. +Sellars was a young man from New England who had been teaching +for a term at Dresden, and had given great satisfaction. He had +the best testimony to the character and ability of the young man +from his own daughter, Miss Priscilla Tucker, who had been school +marm in the same school, and was now home on a visit. She could +give, from her own personal knowledge, any information the +managers might require.</p> + +<p>Mr. Tucker's motion was seconded. There was no amendment +proposed, and all in favour of the motion were requested by +Deacon Beaumont to stand up. The Yankees all rose to their feet, +the others sat still, all but old Gorges, a Prussian, who, with +his two sons, had come to vote for me. But the old man did not +understand English. His son John pulled him down, but Deacon +Beaumont had counted his vote, and the motion was carried by a +majority of one. So I was, in fact, put out of the school by my +best friend, old Gorges.</p> + +<p>I went away in a dudgeon and marked off a cellar on my real +estate, 30 feet by 18 feet, on the top of the bluff, near the +edge of the western prairie. The ground was a mixture of stiff +clay and limestone rock, and I dug at it all through the month of +September. Curious people came along and made various remarks; +some said nothing, but went away whistling. One day Mr. Jackson +and Paul Duffendorff were passing by, and I wanted them to pass, +but they stopped like the rest. Mr. Jackson was reckoned one of +the smartest men in Will county. He had a large farm, well +stocked, but he was never known to do any work except with his +brains. He was one of those men who increased the income of the +State of Illinois by ability. Duffendorf was a huge Dutchman, +nearly seven feet in height. He was a great friend of mine, great +every way, but very stupid; he had no sense of refinement. He +said:</p> + +<p>"Ve gates, schoolmeister? Py golly! Here, Mr. Shackson, is our +schoolmeister a vurkin mit spade and bick. How vas you like dat +kind of vurk, Mr. Shackson?"</p> + +<p>"Never could be such a darned fool; sooner steal," answered +Jackson.</p> + +<p>Duffendorf laughed until he nearly fell into the cellar. Now +this talk was very offensive. I knew Mr. Jackson was defendant in +a case then pending. He had been charged with conspiring to +defraud; with having stolen three horses; with illegally +detaining seventy-five dollars; and on other counts which I +cannot remember just now. The thing was originally very simple, +even Duffendorff could understand it.</p> + +<p>Mr. Jackson was in want of some ready money, so he directed +his hired man to steal three of his horses in the dead of night, +take them to Chicago, sell them to the highest bidder, find out +where the highest bidder lived, and then return with the cash to +Joliet. The hired man did his part of the business faithfully, +returned and reported to his employer. Then Mr. Jackson set out +in search of his stolen horses, found them, and brought them +home. The man expected to receive half the profits of the +enterprise. The boss demurred, and only offered one-third, and +said if that was not satisfactory he would bring a charge of +horse-stealing. The case went into court, and under the treatment +of learned counsel grew very complicated. It was remarkable as +being the only one on record in Will county in which a man had +made money by stealing his own horses. It is, I fancy, still 'sub +judice'.</p> + +<p>Both the old school and the new school remained closed even +after the cholera ceased to thin out the citizens, but I felt no +further interest in the education of youth. When winter came I +tramped three miles into the forest, and began to fell trees and +split rails in order to fence in my suburban estate. For some +time I carried a rifle, and besides various small game I shot two +deer, but neither of them would wait for me to come up with them +even after I had shot them; they took my two bullets away with +them, and left me only a few drops of blood on the snow; then I +left the rifle at home. For about four months the ground was +covered with snow, and the cold was intense, but I continued +splitting until the snakes came out to bask in the sun and warm +themselves. I saw near a dead log eight coiled together, and I +killed them all. The juice of the sugar maples began to run. I +cut notches in the bark in the shape of a broad arrow, bored a +hole at the point, inserted a short spout of bark, and on sunny +mornings the juice flowed in a regular stream, clear and +sparkling; on cloudy days it only dropped.</p> + +<p>One evening as I was plodding my weary way homeward, I looked +up and saw in the distance a man inspecting my cellar. I said, +"Here's another disgusting fool who ain't seen it before." It +certainly was a peculiar cellar, but not worth looking at so +much. I hated the sight of it. It had no building over it, never +was roofed in, and was sometimes full of snow.</p> + +<p>The other fool proved to be Mr. Curtis, the teacher who had +written the resolution of the meeting which voted me out of the +school. He held out his hand, and I took it, but reluctantly, and +under secret protest. I thought to myself, "This mine enemy has +an axe to grind, or he would not be here. I'll be on my +guard."</p> + +<p>"I have been waiting for you some time," said Mr. Curtis. "I +was told you were splitting rails in the forest, and would be +home about sundown. I wanted to see you about opening school +again. Mr. Rogers won't have anything to say to it, but the other +two managers, Mr. Strong and Mr. Demmond, want to engage you and +me, one to teach in the upper storey of the school, the other +down below, and I came up to ask you to see them about it."</p> + +<p>"How does it happen that Mr. Sellars has not come over from +Dresden?" I said.</p> + +<p>"Joliet is about the last place on this earth that Mr. Sellars +will come to. Didn't you hear about him and Priscilla?" asked Mr. +Curtis.</p> + +<p>"No, I heard nothing since that meeting; only saw the school +doors were closed every time I passed that way."</p> + +<p>"Well, I am surprised. I thought everybody knew by this time, +though we did not like to say much about it."</p> + +<p>I began to feel interested. Mr. Curtis had something pleasant +to tell me about the misfortunes of my enemies, so I listened +attentively.</p> + +<p>It was a tale of western love, and its course was no smoother +in Illinois than in any less enlightened country of old Europe. +Miss Priscilla reckoned she could hoe her own row. She and Mr. +Sellars conducted the Common School at Dresden with great success +and harmony. All went merry as a marriage bell, and the marriage +was to come off by-and-by--so hoped Miss Priscilla. During the +recess she took the teacher's arm, and they walked to and fro +lovingly. All Dresden said it was to be a match, but at the end +of the term Miss Priscilla returned to Joliet--the match was not +yet made.</p> + +<p>It was at this time that the dissatisfaction with the new +British teacher became extreme; Miss Priscilla fanned the flame +of discontent. She did not "let concealment like a worm i' th' +bud feed on her damask cheek," but boldly proposed that Mr. +Sellars--a true-born native of New England, a good young man, +always seen at meetings on the Sabbath--should be requested to +take charge of the West Joliet school. So the meeting was held: I +was voted out, Mr. Sellars was voted in, and the daughters of the +Puritans triumphed.</p> + +<p>Miss Priscilla wrote to Dresden, announcing to her beloved the +success of her diplomacy, requesting him to come to Joliet +without delay, and assume direction of the new school. This +letter fell into the hands of another lady who had just arrived +at Dresden from New England in search of her husband, who +happened to be Mr. Sellars. The letter which that other lady +wrote to Miss Priscilla I did not see, but it was said to be a +masterpiece of composition, and it emptied two schools. Mr. +Tucker went over to Dresden and looked around for Mr. Sellars, +but that gentleman had gone out west, and was never heard of +again. The west was a very wide unfenced space, without +railways.</p> + +<p>"The fact is," said Mr. Curtis, "we were all kinder shamed the +way things turned out, and we just let 'em rip. But people are +now stirring about the school being closed so long, so Mr. Strong +and Mr. Demmond have concluded to engage you and me to conduct +the school."</p> + +<p>We were engaged that night, and I went rail-splitting no more. +But I fenced my estate; and while running the line on the western +boundary I found the grave of Highland Mary. It was in the middle +of a grove of oak and hickory saplings, and was nearly hidden by +hazel bushes. The tombstone was a slab about two feet high, +roughly hewn. Her epitaph was, "Mary Campbell, aged 7. 1827." +That was all. Poor little Mary.</p> + +<p>The Common Schools of Illinois were maintained principally +from the revenue derived from grants of land. When the country +was first surveyed, one section of 640 acres in each township of +six miles square was reserved for school purposes. There was a +State law on education, but the management was entirely local, +and was in the hands of a treasurer and three directors, elected +biennally by the citizens of each school district. The revenue +derived from the school section was sometimes not sufficient to +defray the salary of the teacher, and then the deficiency was +supplied by the parents of the children who had attended at the +school; those citizens whose children did not attend were not +taxed by the State for the Common Schools; they did not pay for +that which they did not receive. In some instances only one +school was maintained by the revenue of two school sections. When +the attendance in the school was numerous, a young lady, called +the "school-marm," assisted in the teaching. Sometimes, as in the +case of Miss Priscilla, she fell into trouble.</p> + +<p>The books were provided by the enterprise of private citizens, +and an occasional change of "Readers" was agreeable both to +teachers and scholars. The best of old stories grow tiresome when +repeated too often. One day a traveller from Cincinnati brought +me samples of a new series of "Readers," offering on my approval, +to substitute next day a new volume for every old one produced. I +approved, and he presented each scholar with copies of the new +series for nothing.</p> + +<p>The teaching was secular, but certain virtues were inculcated +either directly or indirectly. Truth and patriotism were +recommended by the example of George Washington, who never told a +lie, and who won with his sword the freedom of his country. There +were lessons on history, in which the tyranny of the English +Government was denounced; Kings, Lords and Bishops, especially +Bishop Laud, were held up to eternal abhorrence; as was also +England's greed of gain, her intolerance, bigotry, taxation; her +penal and navigation laws. The glorious War of Independence was +related at length. The children of the Puritans, of the Irish and +the Germans, did not in those days imbibe much prejudice in +favour of England or her institutions, and the English teacher +desirous of arriving at the truth, had the advantage of having +heard both sides of many historical questions; of listening, as +it were, to the scream of the American eagle, as well as to the +roar of the British lion.</p> + +<p>Mr. Curtis was a good teacher, systematic, patient, +persevering, and ingenious. I ceased to hate him; Miss +Priscilla's downfall cemented our friendship. We kept order in +the school by moral suasion, but the task was sometimes +difficult. My private feelings were in favour of the occasional +use of the hickory stick, the American substitute for the rod of +Solomon, and the birch of England.</p> + +<p>The geography we taught was principally that of the United +States and her territories, spacious maps of which were suspended +round the school, continually reminding the scholars of their +glorious inheritance. It was then full of vacant lots, over which +roamed the Indian and the buffalo, species of animals now nearly +extinct. We did not pay much attention to the rest of the +world.</p> + +<p>Elocution was inculcated assiduously, and at regular intervals +each boy and girl had to come forth and "speak a piece" in the +presence of the scholars, teachers, and visitors.</p> + +<p>Mental arithmetic and the use of fractions were taught daily. +The use of the decimal in the American coinage is of great +advantage; it is easier and more intelligible to children than +the clumsy old system of pounds, shillings, pence, and farthings. +It is a system which would no doubt have been long ago adopted by +England, if it had not been humiliating to our national pride to +take even a good thing from rebellious Yankees, and inferior +Latin races. We cling fondly to absurdities because they are our +own. In Australia wild rabbits are vermin, in England they are +private property; and if one of the three millions of her +miserable paupers is found with a rabbit in each of his coat +pockets, he is fined 10s. or sent to gaol. Pope Gregory XIII. +demonstrated the error of the calendar then in use, and all +Catholic nations adopted his correction. But when the adoption of +the calendar was proposed in Parliament, John Bull put his big +foot down at once; he would receive no truth, not even a +mathematical one, from the Pope of Rome, and it was only after +the lapse of nearly 200 years, when the memory of Gregory and his +calendar had almost faded away from the sensitive mind of +Protestantism, that an Act was passed, "equalising the style in +Great Britain and Ireland with that used in other countries of +Europe."</p> + +<p>A fugitive slave with his wife and daughter came to Joliet. +One day he was seized by three slave-hunters, who took him +towards the canal. A number of abolitionists assembled to rescue +the slave, but the three men drew their revolvers, and no +abolitionist had the courage to fire the first shot. The slave +was put in a canal boat and went south; his wife remained in +Joliet and earned her bread by weaving drugget; the daughter came +to my school; she was of pure negro blood, but was taught with +the white girls.</p> + +<p>The abolitionists were increasing in number, and during the +war with the South the slaves were freed. They are now like +Israel in Egypt, they increase too rapidly. If father Abraham had +sent them back to Africa when they were only four millions, he +would have earned the gratitude of his country. Now they number +more than eight millions; the Sunny South agrees with their +constitution; they work as little and steal as much as possible. +In the days of their bondage they were addicted to petty larceny; +now they have votes, and when they achieve place and power they +are addicted to grand larceny, and they loot the public treasury +as unblushingly as the white politicians.</p> + +<p>The nigger question has doubled in magnitude during the last +thirty years, and there will have to be another abolition +campaign of some kind. The blacks are incapable of ruling the +whites; no time was given to educate them for their new duties, +if teaching them was possible; the Declaration of Independence +was in their case a mockery from the beginning. When all the old +abolitionists and slave-holders are dead, another generation of +men grown wiser by the failure of the policy of their forefathers +may solve the black problem.</p> + +<p>Complaint is made that the American education of to-day is in +a chaotic condition, due to the want of any definite idea of what +education is aiming at. There is evidence that the ancients of +New England used to birch their boys, but after independence had +been fought for and won, higher aims prevailed. The Puritan then +believed that his children were born to a destiny far grander +than that of any other children on the face of the earth; the +treatment accorded to them was therefore to be different. The +fundamental idea of American life was to be "Freedom," and the +definition of "Freedom" by a learned American is, "The power +which necessarily belongs to the self-conscious being of +determining his actions in view of the highest, the universal +good, and thereby of gradually realising in himself the eternal +divine perfection." The definition seems a little hazy, but the +workings of great minds are often unintelligible to common +people. "The American citizen must be morally autonomous, +regarding all institutions as servants, not as masters. So far +man has been for the most part a thrall. The true American must +worship the inner God recognised as his own deepest and eternal +self, not an outer God regarded as something different from +himself."</p> + +<p>Lucifer is said to have entertained a similar idea. He would +not be a thrall, and the result as described by the republican +Milton was truly disastrous:</p> + +<blockquote>"Him the Almighty Power<br> +Hurl'd headlong<br> +down<br> +to bottomless perdition<br> +Region of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace<br> +And rest can never dwell."</blockquote> + +<p>The manner in which the American citizen is to be made +"morally autonomous, and placed beyond the control of current +opinion," will require much money; his parents must therefore be +rich; they must already have inherited wealth, or have obtained +it by ability or labour. The course of training to be given to +youth includes travelling for six years in foreign countries +under private tutors, studying human history, ethnic, social, +political, industrial, æsthetic, religious; gems of poetry; +the elements of geometry; mechanics; art, plastic, and graphic; +reading Confucius, Sakya-muni, Themistocles, Socrates, Julius +Caesar, Paul, Mahommed, Charlemagne, Alfred, Gregory VII., St. +Bernard, St. Francis, Savonarola, Luther, Queen Elizabeth, +Columbus, Washington, Lincoln, Homer, Virgil, Dante, Tennyson, +and Lowell.</p> + +<p>The boys on the prairies had to earn their bread; they could +not spend six years travelling around and studying all the +writers above mentioned, making themselves morally autonomous, +and worshipping their own deepest and eternal selves. The best +men America has produced were reared at home, and did chores out +of school hours.</p> + +<p>When I was expelled from school by the Yankees, Mr. McEvoy, +the leading Irish politician, called me aside and said: "Whisper, +you just hang round until next election, and we'll turn out the +Yankee managers, and put you in the school again." The Germans +were slow in acquiring political knowledge as well as in learning +the English language; but language, politics, and law itself are +the birthright of the Irish. By force of circumstances, and +through the otherwise deplorable failure of Miss Priscilla, I +resumed work in the school before the election, but Mr. McEvoy, +true to his promise, organised the opposition--it is always the +opposition--and ejected the Yankee managers, but in the fall of +1850 I resigned, and went a long way south.</p> + +<p>When I returned, Joliet was a city, and Mr. Rendel, one of my +German night scholars, was city marshal. I met him walking the +streets, and carrying his staff of office with great dignity. I +took up my abode in an upper apartment of the gaol, then in +charge of Sheriff Cunningham, who had a farm in West Joliet, near +a plank road, leading on to the prairie. I had known the Sheriff +two years before, but did not see much of him at this time, +though I was in daily communication with his son, Silas, the +Deputy Sheriff. It was under these favourable circumstancesthat I +was enabled to witness a General Gaol Delivery of all the +prisoners in Joliet. One, charged with killing his third man, was +out on bail. I saw him in Matheson's boarding-house making love +to one of the hired girls, and she seemed quite pleased with his +polite attentions. Matheson was elected Governor of the State of +Illinois, and became a millionaire by dealing in railways. He was +a native of Missouri, and a man of ability; In '49 I saw him at +work in a machine shop.</p> + +<p>The prisoners did not regain their freedom all at once, but in +the space of three weeks they trickled out one by one. The Deputy +Sheriff, Silas, had been one of my pupils; he was now about +seventeen years of age, and a model son of the prairies. His +features were exceedingly thin, his eyes keen, his speech and +movements slow, his mind cool and calculating. He never injured +his constitution by any violent exertion; in fact, he seemed to +have taken leave of active life and all its worries, and to have +settled down to an existence of ease and contemplation. If he had +any anxiety about the safe custody of his prisoners he never +showed it. He had finished his education, so I did not attempt to +control him by moral suasion, or by anything else, but by degrees +I succeeded in eliciting from him all the particulars he could +impart about the criminals under his care. There was no fence +around the gaol, and Silas kept two of them always locked in. He +"calkilated they wer kinder unsafe." They belonged to a society +of horse thieves whose members were distributed at regular +intervals along the prairies, and who forwarded their stolen +animals by night to Chicago. The two gentlemen in gaol were of an +untrustworthy character, and would be likely to slip away. About +a week after my arrival I met Silas coming out of the gaol, and +he said:</p> + +<p>"They're gone, be gosh." Silas never wasted words.</p> + +<p>"Who is gone?" I inquired.</p> + +<p>"Why, them two horse thieves. Just look here."</p> + +<p>We went round to the east side of the gaol, and there was a +hole about two feet deep, and just wide enough to let a man +through. The ground underneath the wall was rocky, but the two +prisoners had been industrious, had picked a hole under the wall +and had gone through.</p> + +<p>"Where's the Sheriff?" I asked. "Won't Mr. Cunningham go after +the men?"</p> + +<p>"He's away at Bourbonnais' Grove, about suthin' or other, +among the Bluenoses; can't say when he'll be back; it don't +matter anyhow. He might just as well try to go to hell backwards +as catch them two horse thieves now."</p> + +<p>Silas had still two other prisoners under his care, and he let +them go outside as usual to enjoy the fresh air. They had both +been committed for murder, but their crime was reckoned a +respectable one compared to the mean one of horse stealing, so +Silas gave them honourable treatment.</p> + +<p>One of the prisoners was a widow lady who had killed another +lady with an axe, at a hut near the canal on the road to +Lockport. She seemed crazy, and when outside the gaol walked here +and there in a helpless kind of way, muttering to herself; but +sometimes an idea seemed to strike her that she had something to +do Lockport way, and she started in that direction, forgetting +very likely that she had done it already; but whenever Silas +called her back, she returned without giving any trouble. One +day, however, when Silas was asleep she went clean out of sight, +and I did not see her any more. The Sheriff was still absent +among the Bluenoses.</p> + +<p>The fourth prisoner was an Englishman named Wilkins who owned +a farm on the prairie, in the direction of Bourbonnais' Grove. A +few weeks before, returning home from Joliet with his waggon and +team of horses, he halted for a short time at a distillery, +situated at the foot of the low bluff which bounded the bottom, +through which ran the Aux Plaines River. It was a place at which +the farmers often called to discuss politics, the prices of +produce, and other matters, and also, if so disposed, to take in +a supply of liquor. The corn whisky of Illinois was an article of +commerce which found its way to many markets. Although it was +sold at a low price at home, it became much more valuable after +it had been exported to England or France, and had undergone +scientific treatment by men of ability. The corn used in its +manufacture was exceedingly cheap, as may be imagined when +corn-fed pork was, in the winter of '49, offered for sale in +Joliet at one cent per pound. After the poison of the prairies +had been exported to Europe, a new flavour was imparted to it, +and it became Cognac, or the best Irish or Scotch whisky.</p> + +<p>Wilkins halted his team and went into the whisky-mill, where +the owner, Robinson, was throwing charcoal into the furnace under +his boiler with a long-handled shovel. He was an enterprising +Englishman who was wooing the smiles of fortune with better +prospects of success than the slow, hard-working farmer. I had +seen him first in West Joliet in '49, when he was travelling +around buying corn for his distillery. He was a handsome man, +about thirty years of age, five feet ten inches in height, had +been well educated, was quite able to hold his own among the men +of the West, and accommodated himself to their manners and +habits.</p> + +<p>There were three other farmers present, and their talk drifted +from one thing to another until it at last settled on the +question of the relative advantages of life in England and the +States. Robinson took the part of England, Wilkins stuck to the +States; he said:</p> + +<p>"A poor man has no chance at home; he is kept down by +landlords, and can never get a farm of his own. In Illinois I am +a free man, and have no one to lord it over me. If I had lived +and slaved in England for a hundred years I should never have +been any better off, and now I have a farm as good as any in Will +County, and am just as good a man as e'er another in it."</p> + +<p>Now Wilkins was only a small man, shorter by four inches than +Robinson, who towered above him, and at once resented the claim +to equality. He said:</p> + +<p>"You as good as any other man, are you? Why there ain't a more +miserable little skunk within twenty miles round Joliet."</p> + +<p>Robinson was forgetting the etiquette of the West. No +man--except, perhaps, in speaking to a nigger--ever assumed a +tone of insolent superiority to any other man; if he did so, it +was at the risk of sudden death; even a hired man was habitually +treated with civility. The titles of colonel, judge, major, +captain, and squire were in constant use both in public and +private; there was plenty of humorous "chaff," but not insult. +Colonels, judges, majors, captains, and squires were civil, both +to each other and to the rest of the citizens. Robinson, in +speaking to his fellow countryman, forgot for a moment that he +was not in dear old England, where he could settle a little +difference with his fists. But little Wilkins did not forget, and +he was not the kind of man to be pounded with impunity. He had in +his pocket a hunting knife, with which he could kill a hog--or a +man. When Robinson called him a skunk he felt in his pocket for +the knife, and put his thumb on the spring at the back of the +buckhorn handle, playing with it gently. It was not a British +Brummagem article, made for the foreign or colonial market, but a +genuine weapon that could be relied on at a pinch.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I dare say you were a great man at home, weren't you?" he +said. "A lord maybe, or a landlord. But we don't have sich great +men here, and I am as good a man as you any day, skunk though I +be."</p> + +<p>Robinson had just thrown another shovelful of charcoal into +the furnace under his boiler, and he held up his shovel as if +ready to strike Williams, but it was never known whether he +really intended to strike or not.</p> + +<p>The three other men standing near were quite amused with the +dispute of the two Englishmen, and were smiling pleasantly at +their foolishness. But little Wilkins did not smile, nor did he +wait for the shovel to come down on his head; he darted under it +with his open knife in the same manner as the Roman soldier went +underneath the dense spears of the Pyrrhic phalanx, and set to +work. Robinson tried to parry the blows with the handle of the +shovel, but he made only a poor fight; the knife was driven to +the hilt into his body seven times, then he threw down his +shovel, and tried to save himself behind the boiler, but it was +too late; the dispute about England and the States was +settled.</p> + +<p>Wilkins took his team home, then returned to Joliet and gave +himself into the custody of the squire, Hoosier Smith. At the +inquest he was committed to take his trial for murder, and did +not get bail. His wife left the farm, and with her two little +boys lived in an old log hut near the gaol. She brought with her +two cows, which Wilkins milked each morning as soon as Silas let +him out of prison. I could see him every day from the window of +my room, and I often passed by the hut when he was doing chores, +chopping wood, or fetching water, but I never spoke to him. He +did not look happy or sociable, and I could not think of anything +pleasant to say by way of making his acquaintance. After much +observation and thought I came to the conclusion that Sheriff +Cunningham wanted his prisoner to go away; he would not like to +hang the man; the citizens would not take Wilkins off his hands; +if two fools chose to get up a little difficulty and one was +killed, it was their own look-out; and anyway they were only +foreigners. The fact was Wilkins was waiting for someone to +purchase his farm.</p> + +<p>The court-house for Will County was within view of the gaol, +at the other side of the street, and one day I went over to look +at it. The judge was hearing a civil case, and I sat down to +listen to the proceedings. A learned counsel was addressing the +jury. He talked at great length in a nasal tone, slowly and +deliberately; he had one foot on a form, one hand in a pocket of +his pants, and the other hand rested gracefully on a volume of +the statutes of the State of Illinois. He had much to say about +various horses running on the prairie, and particularly about one +animal which he called the "Skemelhorne horse." I tried to follow +his argument, but the "Skemelhorne horse" was so mixed up with +the other horses that I could not spot him.</p> + +<p>Semicircular seats of unpainted pine for the accommodation of +the public rose tier above tier, but most of them were empty. +There were present several gentlemen of the legal profession, but +they kept silence, and never interrupted the counsel's address. +Nor did the judge utter a word; he sat at his desk sideways, with +his boots resting on a chair. He wore neither wig nor gown, and +had not even put on his Sunday go-to-meeting clothes. Neither had +the lawyers. If there was a court crier or constable present he +was indistinguishable from the rest of the audience.</p> + +<p>Near the judge's desk there was a bucket of water and three +tumblers on a small table. It was a hot day. The counsel paused +in his speech, went to the table, and took a drink; a juryman +left the box and drank. The judge also came down from his seat, +dipped a tumbler in the bucket and quenched his thirst; one +spectator after another went to the bucket. There was equality +and fraternity in the court of law; the speech about the +Skemelhorne horse went on with the utmost gravity and decorum, +until the nasal drawl of the learned counsel put me to sleep.</p> + +<p>On awakening, I went into another hall, in which dealings in +real estate were registered. Shelves fixed against the walls held +huge volumes lettered on the back. One of these volumes was on a +table in the centre of the hall, and in it the registrar was +copying a deed. Before him lay a pile of deeds with a lead weight +on the top. A farmer came in with a paper, on which the registrar +endorsed a number and placed at the bottom of the pile. There was +no parchment used; each document was a half-sheet foolscap size, +party printed and partly written. Another farmer came in, took up +the pile and examined the numbers to see how soon his deed was +likely to be copied, and if it was in its proper place according +to the number endorsed. The registrar was not fenced off from the +public by a wide counter; he was the servant of the citizens, and +had to satisfy those who paid him for his labours. His pay was a +fixed number of cents per folio, not dollars, nor pounds.</p> + +<p>When I went back to gaol I found it deserted. Wilkins had sold +his farm and disappeared. His wife remained in the hut. Sheriff +Cunningham was still away among the Bluenoses, and Silas was +'functus officio', having accomplished a general gaol delivery. +He did not pine away on account of the loss of his prisoners, nor +grow any thinner--that was impossible. I remained four days +longer, expecting something would happen; but nothing did happen, +then I left the gaol.</p> + +<p>I wrote out two notices informing the public that I was +willing to sell my real estate; one of these I pasted up at the +Post Office, the other on the bridge over the Aux Plaines River. +Next day a German from Chicago agreed to pay the price asked, and +we called on Colonel Smith, the Squire. The Colonel filled in a +brief form of transfer, witnessed the payment of the money--which +was in twenty-dollar gold pieces, and he charged one dollar as +his fee. The German would have to pay about 35 cents for its +registration. If the deed was lost or stolen, he would insert in +a local journal a notice of his intention to apply for a copy, +which would make the original of as little value to anybody as a +Provincial and Suburban bank note.</p> + +<p>In Illinois, transfers of land were registered in each county +town. To buy or sell a farm was as easy as horse-stealing, and +safer. Usually, no legal help was necessary for either +transaction.</p> + +<p>By this time California had a rival; gold had been found in +Australia. I was fond of gold; I jingled the twenty dollar gold +pieces in my pocket, and resolved to look for more at the +fountainhead, by way of my native land. A railway from Chicago +had just reached Joliet, and had been opened three days before. +It was an invitation to start, and I accepted it.</p> + +<p>Nobody ever loved his native land better than I do when I am +away from it. I can call to mind its innumerable beauties, and in +fancy saunter once more through the summer woods, among the +bracken, the bluebells, and the foxglove. I can wander by the +banks of the Brock, where the sullen trout hide in the clear +depths of the pools. I can walk along the path--the path to +Paradise--still lined with the blue-eyed speedwell and red +campion; I know where the copse is carpeted with the bluebell and +ragged robin, where grow the alders, and the hazels rich with +brown nuts, the beeches and the oaks; where the flower of the +yellow broom blazes like gold in the noontide sun; where the +stockdove coos overhead in the ivy; where the kingfisher darts +past like a shaft of sapphire, and the water ouzel flies up +stream; where the pheasant glides out from his home in the wood +to feed on the headland of the wheat field; where the partridge +broods in the dust with her young; where the green lane is +bordered by the guelder-rose or wayfaring tree, the raspberry, +strawberry, and cherry, the wild garlic of starlike flowers, the +woodruff, fragrant as new-mown hay; the yellow pimpernel on the +hedge side. I see in the fields and meadows the bird's foot +trefoil, the oxeye daisy, the lady smocks, sweet hemlock, +butterbur, the stitchwort, and the orchis, the "long purpled" of +Shakespeare. By the margin of the pond the yellow iris hangs out +its golden banners over which the dragon fly skims. The hedgerows +are gay with the full-blown dog-roses, the bells of the +bilberries droop down along the wood-side, and the red-hipped +bumble bees hum over them. Out of the woodland and up Snaperake +Lane I rise to the moorland, and then the sea coast comes in +sight, and the longing to know what lies beyond it.</p> + +<p>I have been twice to see what lies beyond it, and when I +return once more my own land does not know me. There is another +sea coast in sight now, and when I sail away from it I hope to +land on some one of the Isles of the Blest.</p> + +<p>I called on my oldest living love; she looked, I thought, even +younger than when we last parted. She was sitting before the fire +alone, pale and calm, but she gave me no greeting; she had +forgotten me. I took a chair, sat down beside her, and waited. A +strange lass with a fair face and strong bare arms came in and +stared at me steadily for a minute or two, but went away without +saying a word. I looked around the old house room that I knew so +well, with its floor of flags from Buckley Delph, scoured white +with sandstone. There stood, large and solid, the mealark of +black oak, with the date, 1644, carved just below the heavy lid, +more than 200 years old, and as sound as ever. The sloping mirror +over the chest of drawers was still supported by the four +seasons, one at each corner. Above it was Queen Caroline, with +the crown on her head, and the sceptre in her hand, seated in a +magnificent Roman chariot, drawn by the lion and the unicorn. +That team had tortured my young soul for years. I could never +understand why that savage lion had not long ago devoured both +the Queen and the unicorn.</p> + +<p>My old love was looking at me, and at last she put one hand on +my knee, and said:</p> + +<p>"It's George."</p> + +<p>"Yes," I said, "it's George."</p> + +<p>She gazed a while into the fire and said:</p> + +<p>"Alice is dead."</p> + +<p>"Yes, Alice is dead."</p> + +<p>"And Jenny is dead."</p> + +<p>"Yes, and Jenny. They are at the bottom of the sea."</p> + +<p>In that way she counted a long list of the dead, which she +closed by saying:</p> + +<p>"They are all gone but Joe."</p> + +<p>She had been a widow more than twenty-five years. She was a +young woman, tall and strong, before Bonaparte, Wellington, the +United States, or Australia, had ever been heard of in +Lancashire, and from the top of a stile she had counted every +windmill and chimney in Preston before it was covered with the +black pall of smoke from the cotton-mills.</p> + +<p><a name="ch-07"></a></p> + +<h3>AMONG THE DIGGERS IN 1853.</h3> + +<p><b>I.</b></p> + +<p>I lost a summer in 1853, and had two winters instead, one in +England, the other in Australia.</p> + +<p>It was cold in the month of May as we neared Bendigo. We were +a mixed party of English, Irish, and Scotch, twelve in number, +and accompanied by three horse-teams, carrying tubs, tents, and +provisions. We also had plenty of arms wherewith to fight the +bush-rangers, but I did not carry any myself; I left the fighting +department to my mate, Philip, and to the others who were fond of +war. Philip was by nature and training as gentle and amiable as a +lamb, but he was a Young Irelander, and therefore a fighter on +principle. O'Connell had tried moral suasion on the English +Government long enough, and to no purpose, so Philip and his +fiery young friends were prepared to have recourse to arms. The +arms he was now carrying consisted of a gleaming bowie knife, and +two pistols stuck in his belt. The pistols were good ones; Philip +had tried them on a friend in the Phoenix Park the morning after +a ball at the Rotunda, and had pinked his man--shot him in the +arm. It is needless to say that there was a young lady in the +case; I don't know what became of her, but during the rest of her +life she could boast of having been the fair demoiselle on whose +account the very last duel was fought in Ireland. Then the age of +chivalry went out. The bowie knife was the British article bought +in Liverpool. It would neither kill a man nor cut a beef-steak, +as was proved by experience.</p> + +<p>We met parties of men from Bendigo--unlucky diggers, who +offered to sell their thirty-shilling licenses. By this time my +cash was low; my twenty-dollar gold pieces were all consumed. +While voyaging to the new Ophir, where gold was growing +underfoot, I could not see any sound sense in being niggardly. +But when I saw a regular stream of disappointed men with empty +pockets offering their monthly licenses for five shillings each +within sight of the goldfield, I had misgivings, and I bought a +license that had three weeks to run from William Matthews. Ten +other men bought licenses, but William Patterson, a canny +Scotchman, said he would chance it.</p> + +<p>It was about midday when we halted near Bendigo Creek, +opposite a refreshment tent. Standing in front of it was a man +who had passed us on the road, and lit his pipe at our fire. When +he stooped to pick up a firestick I saw the barrel of a revolver +under his coat. He was accompanied by a lady on horseback, +wearing a black riding habit. Our teamsters called him Captain +Sullivan. He was even then a man well known to the convicts and +the police, and was supposed to be doing a thriving business as +keeper of a sly grog shop, but in course of time it was +discovered that his main source of profit was murder and robbery. +He was afterwards known as "The New Zealand Murderer," who turned +Queen's evidence, sent his mates to the gallows, but himself died +unhanged.</p> + +<p>While we stood in the track, gazing hopelessly over the +endless heaps of clay and gravel covering the flat, a little man +came up and spoke to Philip, in whom he recognised a fellow +countryman. He said:</p> + +<p>"You want a place to camp on, don't you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied Philip, "we have only just come up from +Melbourne."</p> + +<p>"Well, come along with me," said the stranger.</p> + +<p>He was a civil fellow, and said his name was Jack Moore. We +went with him in the direction of the first White Hill, but +before reaching it we turned to the left up a low bluff, and +halted in a gully where many men were at work puddling clay in +tubs.</p> + +<p>After we had put up our tent, Philip went down the gully to +study the art of gold digging. He watched the men at work; some +were digging holes, some were dissolving clay in tubs of water by +stirring it rapidly with spades, and a few were stooping at the +edge of water-holes, washing off the sand mixed with the gold in +milk pans.</p> + +<p>Philip tried to enter into conversation with the diggers. He +stopped near one man, and said:</p> + +<p>"Good day, mate. How are you getting along?"</p> + +<p>The man gazed at him steadily, and replied "Go you to hell," +so Philip moved on. The next man he addressed sent him in the +same direction, adding a few blessings; the third man was panning +off, and there was a little gold visible in his pan. He was gray, +grim, and hairy. Philip said:</p> + +<p>"Not very lucky to-day, mate?"</p> + +<p>The hairy man stood up, straightened his back, and looked at +Philip from head to foot.</p> + +<p>"Lucky be blowed. I wish I'd never seen this blasted place. +Here have I been sinking holes and puddling for five months, and +hav'n't made enough to pay my tucker and the Government license, +thirty bob a month. I am a mason, and I threw up twenty-eight bob +a day to come to this miserable hole. Wherever you come from, +young man, I advise you to go back there again. There's twenty +thousand men on Bendigo, and I don't believe nineteen thousand of +'em are earning their grub."</p> + +<p>"I can't well go back fifteen thousand miles, even if I had +money to take me back," answered Philip.</p> + +<p>"Well, you might walk as far as Melbourne," said the hairy +man, "and then you could get fourteen bob a day as a hodman; or +you might take a job at stone breaking; the Government are giving +7s. 6d. a yard for road metal. Ain't you got any trade to work +at?"</p> + +<p>"No, I never learned a trade, I am only a gentleman." He felt +mean enough to cry.</p> + +<p>"Well, that's bad. If you are a scholar, you might keep +school, but I don't believe there's half-a-dozen kids on the +diggin's. They'd be of no mortal use except to tumble down +shafts. Fact is, if you are really hard up, you can be a peeler. +Up at the camp they'll take on any useless loafer wot's able to +carry a carbine, and they'll give you tucker, and you can keep +your shirt clean. But, mind, if you do join the Joeys, I hope +you'll be shot. I'd shoot the hull blessed lot of 'em if I had my +way. They are nothin' but a pack of robbers." The hairy man knew +something of current history and statistics, but he had not a +pleasant way of imparting his knowledge.</p> + +<p>Picaninny Gully ended in a flat, thinly timbered, where there +were only a few diggers. Turning to the left, Philip found two +men near a waterhole hard at work puddling. When he bade them +good-day, they did not swear at him, which was some comfort. They +were brothers, and were willing to talk, but they did not stop +work for a minute. They had a large pile of dirt, and were making +hay while the sun shone--that is, washing their dirt as fast as +they could while the water lasted. During the preceding summer +they had carted their wash-dirt from the gully until rain came +and filled the waterhole. They said they had not found any rich +ground, but they could now make at least a pound a day each by +constant work. Philip thought they were making more, as they +seemed inclined to sing small; in those days to brag of your good +luck might be the death of you.</p> + +<p>While Philip was away interviewing the diggers, Jack showed me +where he had worked his first claim, and had made 400 pounds in a +few days. "You might mark off a claim here and try it," he said. +"I think I took out the best gold, but there may be a little left +still hereabout." I pegged off two claims, one for Philip, and +one for myself, and stuck a pick in the centre of each. Then we +sat down on a log. Six men came up the gully carrying their +swags, one of them was unusually tall. Jack said: "Do you see +that big fellow there? His name is McKean. He comes from my part +of Ireland. He is a lawyer; the last time I saw him he was in a +court defending a prisoner, and now the whole six feet seven of +him is nothing but a dirty digger."</p> + +<p>"What made you leave Ireland, Jack?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"I left it, I guess, same as you did, because I couldn't live +in it. My father was a fisherman, and he was drowned. Mother was +left with eight children, and we were as poor as church mice. I +was the oldest, so I went to Belfast and got a billet on board +ship as cabin boy. I made three voyages from Liverpool to +America, and was boxed about pretty badly, but I learned to +handle the ropes. My last port there was Boston, and I ran away +and lived with a Yankee farmer named Small. He was a nigger +driver, he was, working the soul out of him early and late. He +had a boat, and I used to take farm produce in it across the bay +to Boston, where the old man's eldest son kept a boarding-house. +There was a daughter at home, a regular high-flier. She used to +talk to me as if I was a nigger. One day when we were having +dinner, she was asking me questions about Ireland, and about my +mother, sisters, and brothers. Then I got mad, thinking how poor +they were, and I could not help them. 'Miss Small,' I said, 'my +mother is forty years old, and she has eight children, and she +looks younger than you do, and has not lost a tooth.'</p> + +<p>"Miss Small, although quite young, was nearly toothless, so +she was mad enough to kill me; but her brother Jonathan was at +table, and he took my part, saying, 'Sarves you right, Sue;' why +can't you leave Jack alone?'</p> + +<p>"But Sue made things most unpleasant, and I told Jonathan I +couldn't stay on the farm, and would rather go to sea again. +Jonathan said he, too, was tired of farming, and he would go with +me. He could manage a boat across Boston Harbour, but he had +never been to sea. Next time there was farm stuff to go to Boston +he went with me; we left the boat with his brother, and shipped +in a whaler bound for the South Seas. I used to show him how to +handle the ropes, to knot and splice, and he soon became a pretty +good hand, though he was not smart aloft when reefing. His name +was Small, but he was not a small man; he was six feet two, and +the strongest man on board, and he didn't allow any man to thrash +me, because I was little. After eighteen months' whaling he +persuaded me to run away from the ship at Hobarton; he said he +was tired of the greasy old tub; so one night we bundled up our +swags, dropped into a boat, and took the road to Launceston, +where we expected to find a vessel going to Melbourne. When we +were half-way across the island, we called just before sundown at +a farmhouse to see if we could get something to eat, and lodging +for the night. We found two women cooking supper in the kitchen, +and Jonathan said to the younger one, 'Is the old man at home?' +She replied quite pertly:</p> + +<p>"'Captain Massey is at home, if that's what you mean by 'old +man.'</p> + +<p>"'Well, my dear,' said Jonathan, 'will you just tell him that +we are two seamen on our way to Launceston, and we'd like to have +a word with him.'</p> + +<p>"'I am not your dear,' she replied, tossing her head, and went +out. After a while she returned, and said: 'Captain Massey wanted +to speak to the little man first.' That was me.</p> + +<p>"I went into the house, and was shown into the parlour, where +the captain was standing behind a table. There was a gun close to +his hand in a corner, two horse pistols on a shelf, and a sword +hanging over them. He said: 'Who are you, where from, and whither +bound?' to which I replied:</p> + +<p>"'My name is John Moore; me and my mate have left our ship, a +whaler, at Hobarton, and we are bound for Launceston.'</p> + +<p>"'Oh, you are a runaway foremast hand are you? Then you know +something about work on board ship.' He then put questions to me +about the work of a seaman, making sail, and reefing, about +masts, yards, and rigging, and finished by telling me to box a +compass. I passed my examination pretty well, and he told me to +send in the other fellow. He put Jonathan through his +sea-catechism in the same way, and then said we could have supper +and a shake-down for the night.</p> + +<p>"After supper the young lady sat near the kitchen fire sewing, +and Jonathan took a chair near her and began a conversation. He +said:</p> + +<p>"I must beg pardon for having ventured to address you as 'my +dear,' on so short an acquaintance, but I hope you will forgive +my boldness. Fact is, I felt quite attached to you at first +sight.' And so on. If there was one thing that Jonathan could do +better than another it was talking. The lady was at first very +prim and reserved; but she soon began to listen, smiled, and even +tittered. A little boy about two years old came in and stood near +the fire. Having nothing else to do, I took him on my knee, and +set him prattling until we were very good friends. Then an idea +came into my head. I said:</p> + +<p>"'I guess, Jonathan, this little kid is about the same age as +your youngest boy in Boston, ain't he?'</p> + +<p>"Of course, Jonathan had no boy and was not married, but the +sudden change that came over that young lady was remarkable. She +gave Jonathan a look of fury, jumped up from her seat, snatched +up her sewing, and bounced out of the kitchen. The old man came +in, and told us to come along, and he would show us our bunks. We +thought he was a little queer, but he seemed uncommonly kind and +anxious to make us comfortable for the night. He took us to a hut +very strongly built with heavy slabs, left us a lighted candle, +and bade us good-night. After he closed the door we heard him put +a padlock on it; he was a kindly old chap, and did not want +anybody to disturb us during the night, and we soon fell fast +asleep. Next morning he came early and called us to breakfast. He +stayed with us all the time, and when we had eaten, said:</p> + +<p>"'Well, have you had a good breakfast?'</p> + +<p>"Jonathan spoke:</p> + +<p>"'Yes, old man, we have. You are a gentleman; you have done +yourself proud, and we are thankful, ain't we, Jack? You are the +best and kindest old man we've met since we sailed from Boston. +And now I think it's time we made tracks for Launceston. By-bye, +Captain. Come along, Jack.'</p> + +<p>"'No you won't, my fine coves,' replied the captain. 'You'll +go back to Hobarton, and join your ship if you have one, which I +don't believe. You can't humbug an old salt like me. You are a +pair of runaway convicts, and I'll give you in charge as sich. +Here, constables, put the darbies on 'em, and take 'em back to +Hobarton.'</p> + +<p>"Two men who had been awaiting orders outside the door now +entered, armed with carbines, produced each a pair of handcuffs, +and came towards us. But Jonathan drew back a step or two, +clenched his big fists, and said:</p> + +<p>"'No, you don't. If this is your little game, captain, all I +have to say is, you are the darndest double-faced old cuss on +this side of perdition. You can shoot me if you like, but neither +you nor the four best men in Van Diemen's Land can put them irons +on me. I am a free citizen of the Great United States, and a free +man I'll be or die. I'll walk back to Hobarton, if you like, with +these men, for I guess that greasy old whaler has gone to sea +again by this time, and we'll get another ship there as well as +at Launceston.'</p> + +<p>"Captain Massey did not like to venture on shooting us +off-hand, so at last he told the constables to put up their +handcuffs and start with us for Hobarton.</p> + +<p>"After we had travelled awhile Jonathan cooled down and began +to talk to the constables. He asked them how they liked the +island, how long they had been in it, if it was a good country +for farming, how they were getting along, and what pay they got +for being constables. One of them said: 'The island is pretty +good in parts, but it's too mountaynyus; we ain't getting along +at all, and we won't have much chance to do any good until our +time is out.'</p> + +<p>"'What on airth do you mean by saying "until you time is out?" +Ain't your time your own?' asked Jonathan.</p> + +<p>"'No, indeed. I see you don't understand. We are Government +men, and we ain't done our time. We were sent out from +England.'</p> + +<p>"'Oh! you were sent out, were you? Now, I see, that means you +are penitentiary men, and ought to be in gaol. Jack, look here. +This kind of thing will never do. You and me are two honest +citizens of the United States, and here we are, piloted through +Van Diemen's Land by two convicts, and Britishers at that. This +team has got to be changed right away.'</p> + +<p>"He seized both carbines and handed them to me; then he +handcuffed the constables, who were so taken aback they never +said a word. Then Jonathan said, 'This is training day. Now, +march.'</p> + +<p>"The constables walked in front, me and Jonathan behind, +shouldering the guns. In this way we marched until we sighted +Hobarton, but the two convicts were terribly afraid to enter the +city as prisoners; they said they were sure to be punished, would +most likely be sent into a chain gang, and would soon be +strangled in the barracks at night for having been policemen. We +could see they were really afraid, so we took off the handcuffs +and gave them back the carbines.</p> + +<p>"Before entering the city we found that the whaler had left +the harbour, and felt sure we would not be detained long, as +nothing could be proved against us. When we were brought before +the beak Jonathan told our story, and showed several letters he +had received from Boston, so he was discharged. But I had nothing +to show; they knew I was an Irishman, and the police asked for a +remand to prove that I was a runaway convict. I was kept three +weeks in gaol, and every time I was brought to court Jonathan was +there. He said he would not go away without me. The police could +find out nothing against me, so, at last, they let me go. We went +aboard the first vessel bound for Melbourne, and, when sail was +made, I went up to the cross-trees and cursed Van Diemen's Land +as long as I could see it. Jonathan took ship for the States, but +I went shepherding, and grew so lazy that if my stick dropped to +the ground I wouldn't bend my back to pick it up. But when I +heard of the diggings, I woke up, humped my swag, and ran away--I +was always man enough for that-- and I don't intend to shepherd +again."</p> + +<p>When Philip returned from his excursion down the gully, he +gave me a detailed report of the results and said, "Gold mining +is remarkable for two things, one certain, the other uncertain. +The certain thing is labour, the uncertain thing is gold." This +information staggered me, so I replied, "Those two things will +have to wait till morning. Let us boil the billy." Our spirits +were not very high when we began work next day.</p> + +<p>We slept under our small calico tent, and our cooking had to +be done outside. Sometimes it rained, and then we had to kindle a +fire with stringy bark under an umbrella The umbrella was +mine--the only one I ever saw on the diggings. Some men who +thought they were witty made observations about it, but I stuck +to it all the same. No man could ever laugh me out of a valuable +property.</p> + +<p>We lived principally on beef steak, tea, and damper. Philip +cut his bread and beef with his bowie knife as long as it lasted. +Every man passing by could see that we were formidable, and ready +to defend our gold to the death--when we got it. But the bowie +was soon useless; it got a kink in the middle, and a curl at the +point, and had no edge anywhere. It was good for nothing but +trade.</p> + +<p>A number of our shipmates had put up tents in the +neighbourhood, and at night we all gathered round the camp fire +to talk and smoke away our misery. One, whose name I forget, was +a journalist, correspondent for the 'Nonconformist'. Scott was an +artist, Harrison a mechanical engineer. Doran a commercial +traveller, Moran an ex-policeman, Beswick a tailor, Bernie a +clogger. The first lucky digger we saw, after Picaninny Jack, +came among us one dark night; he came suddenly, head foremost, +into our fire, and plunged his hands into the embers. We pulled +him out, and then two other men came up. They apologised for the +abrupt entry of their mate. They said he was a lucky digger, and +they were his friends and fellow-countrymen. A lucky digger could +find friends anywhere, from any country, without looking for +them, especially if he was drunk, as was this stranger. They said +he had travelled from Melbourne with a pack horse, and, near +Mount Alexander, he saw a woman picking up something or other on +the side of a hill. She might be gathering flowers, but he could +not see any. He stopped and watched her for a while and then went +nearer. She did not take any notice of him, so he thought the +poor thing had been lost in the bush, and had gone cranky. He +pitied her, and said:</p> + +<p>"My good woman, have you lost anything? Could I help you to +look for it?"</p> + +<p>"I am not your good woman, and I have not lost anything; so I +don't want anybody to help me to look for it."</p> + +<p>He was now quite sure she was cranky. She stooped and picked +up something, but he could not see what it was. He began to look +on the ground, and presently he found a bright little nugget of +gold. Then he knew what kind of flowers the woman was gathering. +Without a word he took his horse to the foot of the hill, hobbled +it, and took off his swag. He went up the hill again, filled his +pan with earth, and washed it off at the nearest waterhole. He +had struck it rich; the hill-side was sprinkled with gold, either +on the surface or just below it. For two weeks there were only +two parties at work on that hill, parties of one, but they did +not form a partnership. The woman came every day, picking and +scratching like an old hen, and went away at sundown.</p> + +<p>When the man went away he took with him more than a +hundredweight of gold. He was worth looking at, so we put more +wood on the fire, and made a good blaze. Yes, he was a lucky +digger, and he was enjoying his luck. He was blazing drunk, was +in evening dress, wore a black bell-topper, and kid gloves. The +gloves had saved his hands from being burned when he thrust them +into the fire. There could be no doubt that he was enjoying +himself. He came suddenly out of the black night, and staggered +away into it again with his two friends.</p> + +<p>One forenoon, about ten o'clock, while we were busy, +peacefully digging and puddling, we heard a sound like the +rumbling of distant thunder from the direction of Bendigo flat. +The thunder grew louder until it became like the bellowing of ten +thousand bulls. It was the welcome accorded by the diggers to our +"trusty and well-beloved" Government when it came forth on a +digger hunt. It was swelled by the roars, and cooeys, and curses +of every man above ground and below, in the shafts and drives on +the flats, and in the tunnels of the White Hills, from Golden +Gully and Sheep's Head, to Job's Gully and Eaglehawk, until the +warning that "Joey's out" had reached to the utmost bounds of the +goldfield. <a href="#bookbush-01">(go to illustration)</a></p> + +<p>There was a strong feeling amongst the diggers that the +license fee of thirty shillings per month was excessive, and this +feeling was intensified by the report that it was the intention +of the Government to double the amount. As a matter of fact, by +far the larger number of claims yielded no gold at all, or not +enough to pay the fee. The hatred of the hunted diggers made it +quite unsafe to send out a small number of police and soldiers, +so there came forth at irregular intervals a formidable body of +horse and foot, armed with carbines, swords, and pistols.</p> + +<p>This morning they marched rapidly along the track towards the +White Hills, but wheeling to the left up the bluff they suddenly +appeared at the head of Picaninny Gully. Mounted men rode down +each side of the gully as fast as the nature of the ground would +permit, for it was then honeycombed with holes, and encumbered +with the trunks and stumps of trees, especially on the eastern +side. They thus managed to hem us in like prisoners of war, and +they also overtook some stragglers hurrying away to right and +left. Some of these had licenses in their pockets, and refused to +stop or show them until they were actually arrested. It was a +ruse of war. They ran away as far as possible among the holes and +logs, in order to draw off the cavalry, make them break their +ranks, and thus to give a chance to the unlicensed to escape or +to hide themselves. The police on foot, armed with carbines and +accompanied by officers, next came down the centre of the gully, +and every digger was asked to show his license. I showed that of +William Matthews.</p> + +<p>It was not that the policy of William Patterson was tried and +found wanting. He was at work on his claim a little below mine, +and knowing he had no license, I looked at him to see how he +would behave in the face of the enemy. He had stopped working, +and was walking in the direction of his tent, with head bowed +down as ifin search of something he had lost. He disappeared in +his tent, which was a large one, and had, near the opening, a +chimney built up with ironstone boulders and clay. But the police +had seen him; he was followed, found hiding in the corner of his +chimney, arrested, and placed among the prisoners who were then +halted near my tub. Immediately behind Patterson, and carrying a +carbine on his shoulder, stood a well-known shipmate named Joynt, +whom poverty had compelled to join the enemy. He would willingly +have allowed his friend and prisoner to escape, but no chance of +doing so occurred, and long after dark Patterson approached our +camp fire, a free man, but hungry, tired, and full of bitterness. +He had been forced to march along the whole day like a convicted +felon, with an ever-increasing crowd of prisoners, had been taken +to the camp at nightfall and made to pay 6 pounds 10s.--viz., a +fine of 5 pounds and 1 pound 10s. for a license.</p> + +<p>The feelings of William Patterson, and of thousands of other +diggers, were outraged, and they burned for revenge. A roll-up +was called, and three public meetings were held on three +successive Saturday afternoons, on a slight eminence near the +Government camp. The speakers addressed the diggers from a wagon. +Some advocated armed resistance. It was well known that many men, +French, German, and even English, were on the diggings who had +taken part in the revolutionary outbreak of '48, and that they +were eager to have recourse to arms once more in the cause of +liberty. But the majority advocated the trial of a policy of +peace, at least to begin with. A final resolution was passed by +acclamation that a fee of ten shillings a month should be +offered, and if not accepted, no fee whatever was to be paid.</p> + +<p>It was argued that if the diggers stood firm, it would be +impossible for the few hundreds of soldiers and police to arrest +and keep in custody nearly twenty thousand men. If an attempt was +made to take us all to gaol, digger-hunting would have to be +suspended, the revenue would dwindle to nothing, and Government +would be starved out. It was, in fact, no Government at all; it +was a mere assemblage of armed men sent to rob us, not to protect +us; each digger had to do that for himself.</p> + +<p>Next day, Sunday, I walked through the diggings, and observed +the words "No License Here" pinned or pasted outside every tent, +and during the next month only about three hundred licenses were +taken out, instead of the fourteen or fifteen thousand previously +issued, the digger-hunting was stopped, and a license-fee of +forty shillings for three months was substituted for that of +thirty shillings per month.</p> + +<p><b>II.</b></p> + +<p>As no man who had a good claim would be willing to run the +risk of losing it, the number of licenses taken out after the +last meeting would probably represent the number of really lucky +diggers then at work on Bendigo, viz., three hundred more or +less, and of the three hundred I don't think our gully could +boast of one. All were finding a little gold, but even the most +fortunate were not making more than "tucker." By puddling eight +tubs of washdirt I found that we could obtain about one pound's +worth of gold each per day; but this was hardly enough to keep +hope alive. The golden hours flew over us, but they did not send +down any golden showers. I put the little that fell to my share +into a wooden match-box, which I carried in my pocket. I knew it +would hold twelve ounces--if I could get so much --and looked +into it daily and shook the gold about to see if I were growing +rich.</p> + +<p>It was impossible to feel jolly, and I could see that Philip +was discontented. He had never been accustomed to manual labour; +he did not like being exposed to the cold winds, to the frost or +rain, with no shelter except that afforded by our small tent. +While at work we were always dirty, and often wet; and after we +had passed a miserable night, daylight found us shivering, until +warmth came with hard work. One morning Philip lost his temper; +his only hat was soaked with rain, and his trousers, shirt, and +boots were stiff with clay. He put a woollen comforter on his +head in lieu of the hat. The comforter was of gaudy colours, and +soon attracted public attention. A man down the gully said:</p> + +<p>"I obsarved yesterday we had young Ireland puddling up here, +and I persave this morning we have an Italian bandit or a Sallee +rover at work among us."</p> + +<p>Every digger looked at Philip, and he fell into a sudden fury; +you might have heard him at the first White Hill.</p> + +<p>"Yesterday I heard a donkey braying down the gully, and this +morning he is braying again."</p> + +<p>"Oh! I see," replied the Donkey. "We are in a bad temper this +morning."</p> + +<p>Father Backhaus was often seen walking with long strides among +the holes and hillocks on Bendigo Flat or up and down the +gullies, on a visit to some dying digger, for Death would not +wait until we had all made our pile. His messengers were going +around all the time; dysentery, scurvy, or fever; and the priest +hurried after them. Sometimes he was too late; Death had entered +the tent before him.</p> + +<p>He celebrated Mass every Sunday in a tent made of drugget, and +covered with a calico fly. His presbytery, sacristy, +confessional, and school were all of similar materials, and of +small dimensions. There was not room in the church for more than +thirty or forty persons; there were no pews, benches, or chairs. +Part of the congregation consisted of soldiers from the camp, who +had come up from Melbourne to shoot us if occasion required. Six +days of the week we hated them and called "Joey" after them, but +on the seventh day we merely glared at them, and let them pass in +silence. They were sleek and clean, and we were gaunt as wolves, +with scarcely a clean shirt among us. Philip, especially hated +them as enemies of his country, and the more so because they were +his countrymen, all but one, who was a black man.</p> + +<p>The people in and around the church were not all Catholics. I +saw a man kneeling near me reading the Book of Common Prayer of +the Church of England; there was also a strict Presbyterian, to +whom I spoke after Mass. He said the priest did not preach with +as much energy as the ministers in Scotland. And yet I thought +Father Backhaus' sermon had that day been "powerful," as the +Yankees would say. He preached from the top of a packing case in +front of the tent. The audience was very numerous, standing in +close order to the distance of twenty-five or thirty yards under +a large gum tree.</p> + +<p>The preacher spoke with a German accent, but his meaning was +plain.</p> + +<p>He said:</p> + +<p>"My dear brethren' 'Beatus ille qui post aurum non abiit'. +Blessed is the man who has not gone after gold, nor put his trust +in money or treasures. You will never earn that blessing, my dear +brethren. Why are you here? You have come from every corner of +the world to look for gold. You think it is a blessing, but when +you get it, it is often a curse. You go what you call 'on the +spree'; you find the 'sly grog'; you get drunk and are robbed of +your gold; sometimes you are murdered; or you fall into a hole +and are killed, and you go to hell dead drunk. Patrick Doyle was +here at Mass last Sunday; he was then a poor digger. Next day he +found gold, 'struck it rich,' as you say; then he found the grog +also and brought it to his tent. Yesterday he was found dead at +the bottom of his golden shaft, and he was buried in the +graveyard over there near the Government camp."</p> + +<p>My conscience was quite easy when the sermon was finished. It +would be time enough for me to take warning from the fate of +Paddy Doyle when I had made my pile. Let the lucky diggers +beware! I was not one of them.</p> + +<p>After we had been at work a few weeks, Father Backhaus, before +stepping down from the packing-case, said:</p> + +<p>"I want someone to teach in a school; if there is anyone here +willing to do so, I should like to see him after Mass."</p> + +<p>I was looking round for Philip among the crowd when he came +up, eager and excited.</p> + +<p>"I am thinking of going in to speak to the priest about that +school," he said. "Would you have any objection? You know we are +doing no good in the gully, but I won't leave itif you think I +had better not."</p> + +<p>Philip was honourable; he would not dissolve our short +partnership, and leave me alone unless I was quite willing to let +him go.</p> + +<p>"Have you ever kept school before?"</p> + +<p>"No, never. But I don't think the teaching will give me much +trouble. There can't be many children around here, and I can +surely teach them A B C and the Catechism."</p> + +<p>Although I thought he had not given fortune a fair chance to +bless us, he looked so wistful and anxious that I had not the +heart to say no. Philip went into the tent, spoke to the priest, +and became a schoolmaster. I was then a solitary "hatter."</p> + +<p>Next day a man came up the gully with a sack on his back with +something in it which he had found in a shaft. He thought the +shaft had not been dug down to the bedrock, and he would bottom +it. He bottomed on a corpse. The claim had been worked during the +previous summer by two men. One morning there was only one man on +it; he said his mate had gone to Melbourne, but he had in fact +killed him during the night, and dropped him down the hole. The +police never hunted out that murderer; they were too busy hunting +us.</p> + +<p>I was not long alone. A beggarly looking young man came a few +days later, and said:</p> + +<p>"I hear you have lost your mate Philip, and my mates have all +gone away and taken the tent with them; so I want to ask you to +let me stay in your tent until I can look round a bit."</p> + +<p>This young man's name was David Beswick, but he was known +simply as "Bez." He was a harmonious tailor from Manchester; he +played the violoncello, also the violin; had a good tenor voice, +and a talent for the drama. He, and a man named Santley from +Liverpool, had taken leading parts in our plays and concerts on +shipboard. Scott, the artist, admired Bez; he said he had the +head, the features, and the talent of a Shakespeare. He had a +sketch of Bez in his portfolio, which he was filling with crooked +trees, common diggers, and ugly blackamoors. I could see no +Shakespeare in Bez; he was nothing but a dissipated tailor who +had come out in the steerage, while I had voyaged in the house on +deck. I was, therefore, a superior person, and looked down on the +young man, who was seated on a log near the fire, one leg crossed +over the other, and slowly stroking his Elizabethan beard. I +said:</p> + +<p>"Yes, Philip has left me, but I don't want any partner. I +understand you are a tailor by trade, and I don't think much of a +tailor."</p> + +<p>"Well," replied Bez, "I don't think much of him myself, so I +have dropped the business. I am now a sailor. You know yourself I +sailed from Liverpool to Melbourne, and, anyhow, there's only the +difference of a letter between a tailor and a sailor."</p> + +<p>There was a flaw somewhere in the argument, but I only said, +"'Valeat quantum valere potest.'" Bez looked solemn; a little +Latin goes a long way with some people. He was an object of +charity, and I made him feel it.</p> + +<p>"In the first place this tent is teetotal. No grog is to come +inside it. There is to be no mining partnership. You can keep all +the gold you get, and I shall do the same. You must keep all +trade secrets, and never confess you are a tailor. I could never +hold up my head among the diggers if they should discover that my +mate was only the ninth part of a man. You must carry to the tent +a quantity of clay and rocks sufficient to build a chimney, of +which I shall be the architect. You will also pay for your own +tucker, chop wood, make the fire, fetch water, and boil the +billy." Bez promised solemnly to abide by these conditions, and +then I allowed him to deposit his swag in the tent.</p> + +<p>The chimney was built in three days, and we could then defy +the weather, and dispense with the umbrella. Bez performed his +part of the contract well. He adopted a rolling gait and the +frown of a pirate; he swore naval oaths strong enough to still a +hurricane. Among his digging outfit was a huge pick; it was a +two-man pick, and he carried it on his shoulder to suggest his +enormous strength. He threw tailordom to the winds; when a rent +appeared in his trousers he closed it with pins, disdaining the +use of the needle, until he became so ragged that I ordered him +into dock for repairs.</p> + +<p>One day in passing Philip's school I peeped in at the flap of +the tent. He had already acquired the awe-inspiring look of the +schoolmaster. He was teaching a class of little boys, whose +wandering eyes were soon fixed on my face, and then Philip saw +me. He smiled and blushed, and came outside. He said he was +getting along capitally, and did not want to try digging any +more. He had obtained a small treatise called "The Twelve Virtues +of a Good Master," and he was studying it daily in order to +qualify himself for his new calling. He had undertaken to +demonstrate one of Euclid's propositions every night by way of +exercising his reasoning faculties. He was also making new +acquaintances amongst men who were not diggers--doctors, +storekeepers, and the useful blacksmiths who pointed our picks +with steel. He had also two or three friends at the Governmnt +camp, and I felt inclined to look upon him as a traitor to the +diggers' cause but although he had been a member of the party of +Young Irelanders, he was the most innocent traitor and the +poorest conspirator I ever heard of. He could keep nothing from +me. If he had been a member of some secret society, he would have +burst up the secret, or the secret would have burst him.</p> + +<p>He had some friends among the diggers. The big gum tree in +front of the church tent soon became a kind of trysting place on +Sundays, at which men could meet with old acquaintances and +shipmates, and convicts could find old pals. Amongst the crowd +one Sunday were five men belonging to a party of six from +Nyalong; the sixth man was at home guarding the tent. Four of the +six were Irish Catholics, and they came regularly to Mass every +Sunday; the other two were Englishmen, both convicts, of no +particular religion, but they had married Catholic immigrants, +and sometimes went to church, but more out of pastime than piety. +One of these men, known as John Barton-- he had another name in +the indents--stood under the gum tree, but not praying; I don't +think he ever thought of praying except the need of it was +extreme. He was of medium height, had a broad face, snub nose, +stood erect like a soldier, and was strongly built. His small +ferrety eyes were glancing quickly among the faces around him +until they were arrested by another pair of eyes at a short +distance. The owner of the second pair of eyes nudged two other +men standing by, and then three pairs of eyes were fixed on +Barton. He was not a coward, but something in the expression of +the three men cowed him completely. He turned his head and +lowered it, and began to push his way among the crowd to hide +himself. After Mass, Philip found him in his tent, and suspecting +that he was a thief put his hand on a medium-sized Colt's +revolver, which he had exchanged for his duelling pistols, and +said:</p> + +<p>"Well, my friend, and what are you doing here?"</p> + +<p>"For God's sake speak low," whispered Barton. "I came in here +to hide. There are three men outside who want to kill me."</p> + +<p>"Three men who want to kill you, eh? Do you expect me to +believe that anybody among the crowd there would murder you in +broad daylight? My impression is, my friend, that you are a +sneaking thief, and that you came here to look for gold. I'll +send a man to the police to come and fetch you, and if you stir a +step I'll shoot you."</p> + +<p>"For goodness' sake, mate, keep quiet. I am not a burglar, not +now at any rate. I'll tell you the truth. I was a Government +flagellator, a flogger, you know, on the Sydney side, and I +flogged those three men. Couldn't help it, it was my business to +do it. I know they are looking for me, and they will follow me +and take the first chance to murder me. They are most desperate +characters. One of them was insubordinate when he was assigned +servant to a squatter, and the squatter, who was on horseback, +gave him a cut with his stockwhip. Then this man jumped at his +master, pulled him off his horse, dragged him to the wood-heap, +held his head on the block, seized the axe, and was just going to +chop his master's head off, when another man stopped him. That is +what I had to flog him for, and then he was sent back to Sydney. +So you can just think what a man like that would do. When my time +was up I went as a trooper to the Nyalong district under Captain +Foster, the Commissioner, and after a while I settled down and +married an immigrant woman from Tipperary, a Catholic. That's the +way I happened to be here at Mass with my mates, who are +Catholics; but I'll never do it again; it's as much as my life is +worth. I daresay there are lots of men about Bendigo whom I +flogged while I was in the business, and every single man-jack of +them would kill me if he got the chance. And so for goodness' +sake let me stay here till dark. I suppose you are an honest man; +you look like it anyway, and you would not want to see me +murdered, now, would you?"</p> + +<p>Barton was, in fact, as great a liar and rogue as you would +meet with anywhere, but in extreme cases he would tell the truth, +and the present case was an extreme one. Philip was merciful; he +allowed Barton to remain in his tent all day, and gave him his +dinner. When darkness came he escorted him to the tent of the men +from Nyalong, and was introduced to them by his new friend. Their +names were Gleeson, Poynton, Lyons, and two brothers McCarthy. +One of these men was brother-in-law to Barton, and had been a +fellow-trooper with him under Captain Foster. Barton had entered +into family relations as an honest man; he could give himself any +character he chose until he was found out. He was too frightened +to stay another night on Bendigo, and he began at once to bundle +up his swag. Gleeson and Poynton accompanied him for some +distance beyond the pillar of white quartz on Specimen Hill, and +then he left the track and struck into the bush. Fear winged his +feet' he arrived safely at Nyalong, and never went to another +rush. The other five then stayed on Bendigo for several weeks +longer, and when they returned home their gold was sufficient for +a dividend of 700 pounds for each man. Four of them bought farms, +one kept a store, and Barton rented some land. Philip met them +again when he was promoted to the school at Nyalong, and they +were his firm friends as long as he lived there.</p> + +<p>I went to various rushes to improve my circumstances. Once I +was nearly shot. A bullet whizzed past my head, and lodged in the +trunk of a stringy bark a little further on. That was the only +time in my life I was under fire, and I got from under it as +quickly as possible. Once I went to a rush of Maoris, near Job's +Gully, and Scott came along with his portfolio, a small pick, +pan, and shovel. He did not dig any, but got the ugliest Maori he +could find to sit on a pile of dirt while he took his portrait +and sketched the tattoos. That spoiled the rush; every man, black +and white, crowded around Scott while he was at work with his +pencil, and then every single savage shook hands with him, and +made signs to have his tattoos taken, they were so proud of their +ugliness. They were all naked to the waist.</p> + +<p>Near the head of Sheep's Head Gully, Jack Moore and I found +the cap of a quartz reef with visible gold in it. We broke up +some of it, but could not make it pay, having no quartz-crushing +machinery. Golden Gully was already nearly worked out, but I got +a little gold in it which was flaky, and sticking on edge in the +pipeclay bottom. I found some gold also in Sheep's Head, and then +we heard of a rush on the Goulburn River. Next day we offered our +spare mining plant for sale on the roadside opposite Specimen +Hill, placing the tubs, cradles, picks and spades all in a row. +Bez was the auctioneer. He called out aloud, and soon gathered a +crowd, which he fascinated by his eloquence. The bidding was +spirited, and every article was sold, even Bez's own two-man +pick, which would break the heart of a Samson to wield it.</p> + +<p>When we left Bendigo, Bez, Birnie, Dan, Scott, and Moses were +of the party, and a one-horse cart carried our baggage. When we +came to a swamp we carried the baggage over it on our backs, and +then helped the horse to draw the empty cart along. Our party +increased in number by the way, especially after we met with a +dray carrying kegs of rum.</p> + +<p>Before reaching the new rush, afterwards known as Waranga, we +prospected some country about twenty miles from the Goulburn +river. Here Scott left us. Before starting he called me aside, +and told me he was going to the Melbourne Hospital to undergo an +operation. He had a tumour on one leg above the knee, for which +he had been treated in Dublin, and had been advised to come to +Australia, in the hope that a change of climate and occupation +might be of benefit, but he had already walked once from Bendigo +to Melbourne, and now he was obliged to go again. He did not like +to start without letting someone know his reason for leaving us. +I felt full of pity for Scott, for I thought he was going to his +death alone in the bush, and I asked him if he felt sure that he +could find his way. He showed me his pocket compass and a map, +and said he could make a straight course for Melbourne. He had +always lived and worked alone, but whenever we moved he +accompanied us not wishing to be quite lost amongst strangers. He +arrived at the hospital, but he never came out of it alive.</p> + +<p>Dan gave me his money to take care of while he and Bez were +living on rum from the dray, and I gave out as little cash as +possible in order to promote peace and sobriety. One night Dan +set fire to my tent in order to rouse his banker. I dragged Bez +outside the tent and extinguished the fire. There was bloodshed +afterwards--from Dan's nose--and his account was closed. After a +while some policemen in plain clothes came along and examined the +dray. They found fourteen kegs of rum in it, which they seized, +together with four horses and the dray.</p> + +<p>I worked for seven months in various parts of the Ovens +district until I had acquired the value in gold of my vanished +twenty-dollar pieces; that was all my luck. During this time some +of us paid the £2 license fee for three months. We were not +hunted by the military. Four or five troopers and officials rode +slowly about the diggings and the cry of "Joey" was never raised, +while a single unarmed constable on foot went amongst the claims +to inspect licenses. He stayed with us awhile, talking about +digging matters. He said the police were not allowed to carry +carbines now, because a digger had been accidentally shot. He was +a very civil fellow, and his price, if I remember rightly was +half-a-crown. Yet the digger hunting was continued at Ballarat +until it ended in the massacre of December 3rd 1854.</p> + +<p>At that time I was at Colac, and while Dr. Ignatius was +absent, I had the charge of his household, which consisted of one +old convict known as "Specs," who acted in the capacity of +generally useless, received orders most respectfully, but forgot +them as much as possible. He was a man of education who had gone +astray in London, and had fallen on evil days in Queensland and +Sydney. When alone in the kitchen he consoled himself with +curses. I could hear his voice from the other side of the slabs. +He cursed me, he cursed the Doctor, he cursed the horses, the +cat, the dog, and the whole world and everything in it. It was +impossible to feel anything but pity for the man, for his life +was ruined, and he had ruined it himself. I had also under my +care a vegetable garden, a paddock of Cape barley, two horses, +some guinea fowls, and a potato patch. One night the potatoes had +been bandicooted. To all the early settlers in the bush the +bandicoot is well known. It is a marsupial quadruped which lives +on bulbs, and ravages potato patches. It is about eighteen inches +in length from the origin of its tail to the point of its nose. +It has the habits of a pickpocket. It inserts its delicate fore +paws under the stalks of the potato, and pulls out the tubers. +That morning I had endeavoured to dig some potatoes; the stalks +were there, but the potatoes were gone. I stopped to think, and +examined the ground. I soon discovered tracks of the bandicoot, +but they had taken the shape of a small human foot. We had no +small human feet about our premises, but at the other side of the +fence there was a bark hut full of them. I turned toward the hut +suspiciously, and saw the bandicoot sitting on a top-rail, +watching me, and dangling her feet to and fro. She wore towzled +red hair, a short print frock, and a look of defiance. I went +nearer to inspect her bandicoot feet. Then she openly defied me, +and said:</p> + +<p>"You need not look so fierce, mister. I have as much right to +sit on this rail as you have."</p> + +<p>"Lilias," I replied, "you won't sit there long. You +bandicooted my potatoes last night, and you've left the marks of +your dirty feet on the ground. The police are coming to measure +your feet, and then they will take you to the lock-up."</p> + +<p>I gazed across the barley paddock for the police, and Lilias +looked as well. There was a strange man approaching rapidly, and +the bandicoot's courage collapsed. She slid from the fence, took +to flight, and disappeared among the tussocks near the creek.</p> + +<p>The stranger did not go to the garden gate, but stood looking +over the fence. He said: "Is Dr. Ignatius at home?"</p> + +<p>"No, he is away somewhere about Fiery Creek, and I don't think +he'll return until Saturday."</p> + +<p>The stranger hung down his head and was silent. He was a young +man of small frame, well dressed for those days, but he had o +luggage. He looked so miserable that I pitied him. He was like a +hunted animal. I said:</p> + +<p>"Are you a friend of Dr. Ignatius?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, he knows me well. My name is Carr; I have come from +Ballarat."</p> + +<p>"I knew various men had left Ballarat. One had arrived in +Geelong on December 4th, and had consulted Dr. Walshe about a +bullet between his knuckles, another was hiding in a house at +Chilwell.* He had lost one arm, and the Government were offering +400 pounds for him, so he took outdoor exercise only by night, +disguised in an Inverness cape.</p> + +<p>"There was a chance for me to hear exciting news from the lips +of a warrior fresh from the field of battle, so I said:</p> + +<p>"If you would like to stay here until the doctor returns you +will be welcome."</p> + +<blockquote>[*Footnote Peter Lalor.]</blockquote> + +<p>He was my guest for four days. He said that he went out with +the military on the morning of December 3rd, and was the first +surgeon who entered the Eureka Stockade after the fight was over. +He found twelve men dead in it, and twelve more mortally wounded. +This was about all the information he vouchsafed to give me. I +was anxious for particulars. I wanted to know what arms he +carried to the fray, whether he touched up his sword on the +grind-stone before sallying forth, how many men or women he had +called upon to stand in the name of her gracious Majesty Queen +Victoria, how many skulls he had cloven, how many diggers he had +"slewed," and how many peaceful prisoners he had brought back to +the Government camp. On all these points he was silent, and +during his stay with me he spoke as little as possible, neither +reading, writing, nor walking about. But there was something to +be learned from the papers. He had been a witness at the inquest +on Scobie, killed by Bentley and two others, and principally on +his evidence Bentley was discharged, but was afterwards +re-arrested and condemned to three years' imprisonment. Dr. Carr +was regarded as a "colluding associate" with Bentley and Dewes, +the magistrate, and the official condemnation of Dewes confirmed +the popular denunciation of them. At a dinner given to Mr. +Tarleton, the American Consul, Dr. Otway, the Chairman said:</p> + +<p>"While I and my fellow-colonists are thoroughly loyal to our +Sovereign Lady, the Queen, we do not, and will not, respect her +men servants, her maid servants, her oxen, or her asses."</p> + +<p>A Commission was coming to Ballarat to report on wrong doings +there, and they were looking for witnesses. On Friday, December +8th, the camp surgeon and Dr. Carr had a narrow escape from being +shot. While the former gentleman was entering the hospital he was +fired at by one of the sentries. The ball passed close to the +shoulder of Dr. Carr, who was reading inside, went through the +lid of the open medicine chest, and some splinters struck him on +the side. There were in the hospital at that time seven diggers +seriously wounded and six soldiers, including the drummer boy. +Troubles were coming in crowds, and the bullet, the splinters, +and the Commission put the little doctor to flight. He left the +seven diggers, the five soldiers, and the drummer boy in the +hospital, and made straight for Colac. Fear dogged his footsteps +wherever he went, and the mere sight of him had sent the impudent +thief Lilias to hide behind the tussocks.</p> + +<p>I always hate a man who won't talk to me and tell me things, +and the doctor was so silent and unsociable, that, by way of +revenge, I left him to the care and curses of old "Specs."</p> + +<p>After four days he departed, and he appeared again at Ballarat +on January 15th, giving evidence at an inquest on one Hardy, +killed by a gunshot wound. In the meantime a total change had +taken place among the occupants of the Government camp. +Commissioner Rede had retired, Dr. Williams, the coroner, and the +district surgeons had received notice to quit in twenty-four +hours, and they left behind them twenty-four patients in and +around the camp hospital.</p> + +<p>Dr. Carr left the colony, and the next report about him was +from Manchester, where he made a wild and incoherent speech to +the crowd at the Exchange. His last public appearance was in a +police-court on a charge of lunacy. He was taken away by his +friends, and what became of him afterwards is not recorded.</p> + +<p>Doctors, when there is a dearth of patients, sometimes take to +war, and thus succeed in creating a "practice." Occasionally they +meet with disaster, of which we can easily call to mind +instances, both ancient and modern.</p> + +<p><b>III.</b></p> + +<p>Diggers do not often turn their eyes heavenwards; their +treasure does not lie in that direction. But one night I saw Bez +star-gazing.</p> + +<p>"Do you know the names of any of the stars in this part of the +roof?" I asked.</p> + +<p>"I can't make out many of the Manchester stars," he replied. +"I knew a few when I was a boy, but there was a good deal of fog +and smoke, and latterly I have not looked up that way much; but I +can spot a few of them yet, I think."</p> + +<p>Bez was a rather prosy poet, and his eye was not in a fine +frenzy rolling.</p> + +<p>"Let me see," he said; "that's the north; Charles' Wain and +the North Pole ought to be there, but they have gone down +somewhere. There are the Seven Stars--I never could make 'em +seven; if there ever were that number one of 'em has dropped out. +And there's Orion; he has somehow slipped up to the north, and is +standing on his head, heels uppermost. There are the two stars in +his heels, two on his shoulders, three in his belt, and three in +his sword. There is the Southern Cross; we could never see that +in our part of England, nor those two silvery clouds, nor the two +black holes. They look curious, don't they? I suppose the two +clouds are the Gates of Heaven, and the two black spots the Gates +of Hell, the doors of eternity. Which way shall we go? That's the +question."</p> + +<p>The old adage is still quite true--'coelum non animum mutant +qui trans mare currunt'. When a young gentleman in England takes +to idleness and grog, and disgraces his family, he is provided +with a passage to Australia, in order that he may become a +reformed prodigal; but the change of climate does not effect a +reform; it requires something else.</p> + +<p>Dan in Glasgow and Bez in Manchester had both been given to +drink too much. They came to Victoria to acquire the virtue of +temperance, and they were sober enough when they had no +money.</p> + +<p>Dan told me that when he awoke after his first week at sea, he +sat every day on the topgallant forecastle thinking over his past +wickedness, watching the foam go by, and continually tempted to +plunge into it.</p> + +<p>After the rum, the dray, and the four horses were seized by +the police. Dan and Bez grew sober, and went to Reid's Creek, +passing me at work on Spring Creek. They came back as separate +items. Dan called at my tent, and I gave him a meal of damper, +tea, and jam. He ate the whole of the jam, which cost me 2s. 6d. +per pound. He then humped his swag and started for Melbourne. On +his way through the township, since named Beechworth, he took a +drink of liquor which disabled him, and he lay down by the +roadside using an ant-hill for a pillow. He awoke at daylight +covered with ants, which were stinging and eating him alive.</p> + +<p>Some days later Bez came along, passed my tent for a mile, and +then came back. He said he was ashamed of himself. I gave him +also a feed of damper, tea, and jam limited. Dan had made me +cautious in the matter of lavish hospitality. The Earl of +Lonsdale lately spent fifty thousand pounds in entertaining the +Emperor of Germany, but it was money thrown away. The next time +the Kaiser comes to Westmoreland he will have to pay for his +board and buy his preserves. Bez made a start for Melbourne, met +an old convict, and with him took a job at foot-rotting sheep on +a station owned by a widow lady. Here he passed as an engraver in +reduced circumstances. He told lies so well, that the convict was +filled with admiration, and said, "I'm sure, mate, you're a flash +covey wot's done his time in the island."</p> + +<p>The two chums foot-rotted until they had earned thirty +shillings each, then they went away and got drunk at a roadside +shanty; at least, Bez did, and when the convict picked his +pockets, he kindly put back three shillings and sixpence, saying, +"That will give him another start on the wallaby track."</p> + +<p>Bez at last arrived at Flagstaff Hill, which was then bare, +with a sand-hole on one side of it. He had had nothing to eat for +twenty-four hours, and had only one shilling and sixpence in his +pocket, which he was loath to spend for fear of arriving in +Melbourne a complete beggar. He lay down famishing and weary on +the top of the hill near Flagstaff, and surveyed the city, the +bay, and the shipping. He had hoped by this time to have been +ready to take a passage in one of those ships to Liverpool, and +to return home a lucky digger. But he had only eighteen pence, so +he said, "I am afraid, Bez, you will never see Manchester +again."</p> + +<p>There was at that time a small frame building at the west end +of Flinders Street, with a hill behind it, on which goats were +browsing; the railway viaduct runs now over the exact spot. Many +parties of hopeful diggers from England and California had slept +there on the floor the night before they started for Ballarat, +Mount Alexander, or Bendigo. We called it a house of refuge, and +Bez now looked for refuge in it. There he met Dan and Moran, who +had both found employment in the city, and they fed the hungry +Bez. Dan was labouring at his trade in the building business, and +he set Bez to work roofing houses with corrugated iron. They soon +earned more money than they had ever earned by digging for gold, +but on Saturday nights and Sundays they took their pleasure in +the old style, and so they went to the dogs. I don't know how +Dan's life ended (his real name was Donald Fraser), but Bez died +suddenly in the bar of a public-house, and he was honoured with +an inquest and a short paragraph in the papers.</p> + +<p>Moran had saved a hundred pounds by digging in Picaninny +Gully, and he was soon afterwards admitted to serve Her Majesty +again in the police department. On the Sunday after Price was +murdered by the convicts at Williamstown I met Moran after Mass +in the middle of Lonsdale Street. I reproached him for his +baseness in deserting to the enemy--Her Majesty, no less--and in +self-defence he nearly argued my head off. At last I threatened +to denounce him as a "Joey" --he was in plain clothes--and have +him killed by the crowd in the street. Nothing but death could +silence Moran. The rest of his history is engraved on a monument +in the Melbourne Cemetery; he, his wife, and all his children +died many years ago.--R.I.P. He was really a good man, with only +one defect--most of us have many--he was always trying to divide +a hair 'twixt West and South-West side.</p> + +<p>I met Santley after thirty years, sitting on a bench in front +of the "Travellers' Rest" at Alberton, in Gippsland. He had a +wrinkled old face, and did not recognise my beautiful countenance +until he heard my name. He had half-a-dozen little boys and girls +around him--his grandchildren, I believe--and was as happy as a +king teaching them to sing hymns. I don't think Santley had grown +rich, but he always carried a fortune about with him wherever he +went, viz., a kind heart and a cheerful disposition. Nobody could +ever think of quarrelling with Santlay any more than with George +Coppin, or with that benevolent bandmaster, Herr Plock. He told +me that he was now related to the highest family in the world, +his daughter having married the Chinese giant, whose brothers and +sisters were all of the race of Anak.</p> + +<p>My mate, Philip, was so successful with his little school in +the tent that he was promoted to another at the Rocky Waterholes, +and then he went to the township at Lake Nyalong. Philip had +never travelled as far as Lake Nyalong, but Picaninny Jack told +him that he had once been there, and that it was a beautiful +country. He tried to find it at another time, but got bushed on +the wrong side of the lake; now he believed there was a regular +track that way if Philip could only find it. The settlers and +other inhabitants ought to be well off; if not, it was their own +fault, for they had the best land in the whole of Australia.</p> + +<p>Philip felt sure that he would find at least one friend at +Nyalong-- viz., Mr. Barton, whom he had harboured in his tent at +Bendigo, and had sheltered from the pursuit of the three +bloodthirsty convicts. Some people might be too proud to look +forward to the friendship of a flagellator, but in those days we +could not pick and choose our chums; Barton might not be +clubable, but he might be useful, and the social ladder requires +a first step.</p> + +<p>Thanks to such men as Dan and Bez, in Melbourne, and to other +enterprising builders in various places, habitable dwellings of +wood, brick, and bluestone began to be used, instead of the handy +but uncomfortable tent, and, at the Rocky Waterholes, Philip had +for some time been lodging in a weatherboard house with the +respectable Mrs. Martin. Before going to look for Nyalong he +introduced his successor to her, and also to the scholars. Her +name was Miss Edgeworth.</p> + +<p>The first virtue of a good master is gravity, and Philip had +begun at the beginning. He was now graver even than usual while +he briefly addressed his youthful auditors.</p> + +<p>"My dear children," he said, "I am going away, and have to +leave you in the care of this young lady, Miss Edgeworth. I am +sure you will find her to be a better teacher than myself, +because she has been trained in the schools of the great city of +Dublin, and I, unfortunately, had no training at all; she is +highly educated, and will be, I doubt not, a perfect blessing to +the rising generation of the Rocky Waterholes. I hope you will be +diligent, obedient, and respectful to her. Good-bye, and God +bless you all."</p> + +<p>These words were spoken in the tone of a judge passing +sentence of death on a criminal, and Miss Edgeworth was in doubt +whether it would be becoming under the circumstances to laugh or +to cry, so she made no speech in reply. She said afterwards to +Mrs. Martin, "Mr. Philip must have been a most severe master; I +can see sternness on his brow." Moreover, she was secretly aware +that she did not deserve his compliments, and that her learning +was limited, especially in arithmetic; she had often to blame the +figures for not adding up correctly. For this reason she had a +horror of examinations, and every time the inspector came round +she was in a state of mortal fear. His name was Bonwick. He was a +little man, but he was so learned that the teachers looked +forward to his visits with awe. A happy idea came into Miss +Edgeworth's mind. She was, it is true, not very learned, nor was +she perfect in the practice of the twelve virtues, but she had +some instinctive knowledge of the weakness of the male man. Mr. +Bonwick was an author, a learned author who had written +books--among others a school treatise on geography. Miss +Edgeworth bought two copies of this work, and took care to place +them on her table in the school every morning with the name of +the author in full view. On his next visit Mr. Bonwick's +searching eyes soon detected the presence of his little treatise, +and he took it up with a pleased smile. This was Miss Edgeworth's +opportunity; she said, in her opinion, the work was a must +excellent one, and extremely well adapted for the use of +schools.</p> + +<p>The inspector was more than satisfied; a young lady of so much +judgment and discrimination was a peerless teacher, and Miss +Edgeworth's work was henceforward beyond all question.</p> + +<p>There were no coaches running to Nyalong, and, as Philip's +poverty did not permit him to purchase a horse, and he had +scruples about stealing one, he packed up his swag and set out on +foot. It may be mentioned as bearing on nothing in particular +that, after Philip had taken leave of Miss Edgeworth, she stood +at a window, flattened her little nose against one of the panes, +and watched him trudging away as long as he was in sight. Then +she said to Mrs. Martin:</p> + +<p>"Ain't it a pity that so respectable a young man should be +tramping through the bush like a pedlar with a pack?"</p> + +<p>"No, indeed, miss, not a bit of it," replied Mrs. Martin; +"nearly every man in the country has had to travel with his swag +one time or another. We are all used to it; and it ain't no use +of your looking after him that way, for most likely you'll never +see him again." But she did.</p> + +<p>About two miles from the Waterholes Philip overtook another +swagman, a man of middle age, who was going to Nyalong to look +for work. He had tried the diggings, and left them for want of +luck, and Philip, having himself been an unlucky digger, had a +fellow feeling for the stranger. He was an old soldier named +Summers.</p> + +<p>"I am three and fifty years old," he said, "and I 'listed when +I was twenty. I was in all the wars in India for nineteen years, +and never was hit but once, and that was on the top of my head. +Look here," he took off his hat and pointed to a ridge made by +the track of a bullet, "if I had been an inch taller I shouldn't +be here now. And maybe it would have been all the better. I have +been too long at the fighting to learn another trade now. When I +'listed I was told my pay would be a shilling a day and +everything found. A shilling a day is seven shillings a week, and +I thought I should live like a fighting cock, plenty to eat and a +shilling a day for drink or sport. But I found out the difference +when it was too late. They kept a strict account against every +man; it was full of what they called deductions, and we had to +pay for so many things out of that shilling that sometimes for +months together I hadn't the price of a pint o' threepenny with a +trop o' porter through it."</p> + +<p>"What was the biggest battle you ever were in?" enquired +Philip.</p> + +<p>"Well, I had some close shaves, but the worst was when we took +a stockade from the Burmans. My regiment was the 47th, and one +company of ours, sixty-five, rank and file, and two companies +from other regiments were ordered to attack it. Our officers were +all shot down before we reached the stockade, but we got in, and +went at the Burmans with the bayonet. But such a crowd came at us +from the rear of the stockade that we had to go out again, and we +ran down the hill. Our ranks were broken, and we had no time to +rally before a lot of horsemen were among us. My bayonet was +broken, and I had nothing but my empty musket to fight with. I +warded off the sabre cuts with it right and left, so, dodging +among the horses, and I was not once wounded. It was all over in +a hot minute or two, but, when the supports came up, and we were +afterwards mustered, only five men of our company answered the +roll-call. Of course I was one of them, and the barrel of my +musket was notched like a saw by all the strokes I had parried +with it." The last time Philip saw Summers he was hammering +bluestone by the roadside. The pomp and circumstance of glorious +war had left him in hisold age little better than a beggar.</p> + +<p>Philip found Nyalong without much trouble, and renewed the +acquaintance begun at Bendigo with Mr. Barton and the other +diggers. To all appearance his promotion was not worth much; he +might as well have stayed at the Waterholes. Mr. McCarthy acted +as school director --an honorary office--and he showed Philip the +school. He said:</p> + +<p>"It is not of much account, I must acknowledge; we were short +of funds, and had to put it up cheap. Most of the wall, you see, +is only half a brick thick, and, during the sudden gusts that +come across the lake, the north side bulges inward a good deal; +so, when you hear the wind coming you had better send the +children outside until the gale is over. That is what Mr. Foy, +the last teacher did. And, I must tell you also this school has +gone to the dogs; there are some very bad boys here--the Boyles +and the Blakes. When they saw Mr. Foy was going to use his cane +on them they would dart out of the school, the master after them. +Then there was a regular steeplechase across the paddocks, and +every boy and girl came outside to watch it, screaming and +yelling. It was great fun, but it was not school-teaching. I am +afraid you will never manage the Boyles and the Blakes. Mr. +McLaggan, the minister, once found six of them sitting at the +foot of a gum tree, drinking a bottle of rum. He spoke to them, +told them that they were young reprobates, and were going +straight to hell. Hugh Boyle held out the bottle, and said, +'Here, Mr. McLaggan, wouldn't you like a nip yourself?' The +minister was on horseback, and always carried a whip with a heavy +lash, and it was a beautiful sight the way he laid the lash on +those Boyles and Blakes. I really think you had better turn them +out of the school, Mr. Philip, or else they will turn you +out."</p> + +<p>Mr. Philip's lips closed with a snap. He said, "It is my duty +to educate them; turning them out of school is not education. We +will see what can be done."</p> + +<p>As everyone knows, the twelve virtues of a good master are +Gravity, Silence, Humility, Prudence, Wisdom, Patience, +Discretion, Meekness, Zeal, Vigilance, Piety, and Generosity. I +don't suppose any teacher was ever quite perfect in the practice +of them, but a sincere endeavour is often useful. On reflection, +Philip thought it best to add two other virtues to the +catalogue--viz., Firmness, and a Strap of Sole-Leather.</p> + +<p>There was a full attendance of scholars the first morning, and +when all the names had been entered on the roll, Philip observed +that the Boyles and the Blakes were all there; they were +expecting some new kind of fun with the new master. In order that +the fun might be inside the school and not all over the paddocks, +Philip placed his chair near the door, and locked it. Then +education began; the scholars were all repeating their lessons, +talking to one another aloud and quarrelling.</p> + +<p>"Please, sir, Josh Blake's a-pinching me." "Please, sir, Hugh +Boyle is a-scroodgin." "Please, sir, Nancy Toomey is making faces +at me."</p> + +<p>It was a pandemonium of little devils, to be changed, if +possible, into little angels. The master rose from the chair, put +up one hand, and said: "Silence!"</p> + +<p>Every eye was on him, every tongue was silent, and every ear +was listening, "Joseph Blake and Hugh Boyle, come this way." They +did so.</p> + +<p>"No one here is to shout or talk, or read in a loud voice. If +any of you want to speak to me you must hold up your hand, so. +When I nod you can come to me. If you don't do everything I tell +you, you will be slapped on the hand, or somewhere else, with +this strap."</p> + +<p>He held it up to view. It was eighteen inches long, three +inches broad, heavy, and pliant. The sight of it made Tommy +Traddles and many other little boys and girls good all at once; +but Joseph and Hugh went back to their seats grinning at one +another. Mr. Foy had often talked that way, but it always came to +nothing.</p> + +<p>Hugh was the hero of the school, or rather the leading +villain. In about two minutes he called out, "Please, sir, Josh +Blake is a-shoving me with his elbow."</p> + +<p>"Hugh Boyle, come this way." He came.</p> + +<p>"Now, Hugh, I told you that there must be no speaking or +reading aloud. Of course you forgot what I said; you should have +put up your hand."</p> + +<p>In the course of the day Hugh received two slaps, then three, +then four. He began to fear the strap as well as to feel it. That +was the beginning of wisdom.</p> + +<p>Nancy Toomey was naughty, and was sent into a corner. She was +sulky and rebellious when told to return to her seat. She said, +in the hearing of Tommy Traddles, "The master is a carroty-headed +crawler."</p> + +<p>It is as well to remark that Philip's hair was red; a man with +red hair is apt to be of a hasty temper, and, as a matter of +fact, I had seen Philip's fist fly out very rapidly on several +occasions before he began to practise the twelve virtues.</p> + +<p>Tommy put up his hand, and, at a nod, went up to the +master.</p> + +<p>"Well, Tommy, what is the matter?"</p> + +<p>"Please, sir, Nancy Toomey has been calling you a +carroty-headed crawler."</p> + +<p>Tommy's eyebrows were raised, his eyes and mouth wide open. +Philip looked over his head at Nancy, whose face was on fire. He +slowly repeated:</p> + +<p>"Nancy Toomey has been calling me a carroty-headed crawler, +has she?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir. That's what she called you. I heard her."</p> + +<p>"Well, Tommy, go to your seat like a good boy. Nancy won't +call names any more."</p> + +<p>In a little more than a week perfect discipline and good order +prevailed in the school.</p> + +<p><a name="ch-08"></a></p> + +<h3>A BUSH HERMIT.</h3> + +<p>It is not good for man to be alone, but Philip became a +hermit. Half a mile from the school and the main road there was +an empty slab hut roofed with shingles. It was on the top of a +long sloping hill, which afforded a beautiful view over the lake +and the distant hills. Half an acre of garden ground was fenced +in with the hut, and it was part of the farm of a man from +Hampshire, England, who lived with his wife near the main road. A +man from Hampshire is an Englishman, and should speak English; +but, when Philip tried to make a bargain about the hut, he could +not understand the Hampshire language, and the farmer's wife had +to interpret. And that farmer lived to the age of eighty years, +and never learned to speak English. He was not a fool by any +means; knew all about farming; worked twelve or fourteen hours a +day all the year round, having never heard of the eight hours +system; but he talked, and prayed, and swore all his life in the +Hampshire dialect. Whenever he spoke to the neighbours a look of +pain and misery came over them. Sometimes he went to meetings, +and made a speech, but he was told to go and fetch a Chinaman to +interpret.</p> + +<p>Philip entered into possession of the hut. It had two rooms, +and the furniture did not cost much. At Adams' store he bought a +camp oven, an earthenware stew-pot, a milk pan, a billy, two +pannikins, two spoons, a whittle, and a fork. The extra pannikin +and spoon were for the use of visitors, for Philip's idea was +that a hermit, if not holy, should be at least hospitable. With +an axe and saw he made his own furniture--viz., two hardwood +stools, one of which would seat two men; for a table he sawed off +the butt end of a messmate, rolled it inside the hut, and nailed +on the top of it a piece of a pine packing case. His bedstead was +a frame of saplings, with strong canvas nailed over it, and his +mattress was a sheet of stringy bark, which soon curled up at the +sides and fitted him like a coffin. His pillow was a linen bag +filled with spare shirts and socks, and under it he placed his +revolver, in case he might want it for unwelcome visitors.</p> + +<p>Patrick Duggan's wife did the laundry work, and refused to +take payment in cash. But she made a curious bargain about it. A +priest visited Nyalong only once a month; he lived fifty miles +away; when Mrs. Duggan was in her last sickness he might be +unable to administer to her the rites of the church. So her +bargain was, that in case the priest should be absent, the +schoolmaster, as next best man, was to read prayers over her +grave. Philip thought there was something strange, perhaps +simoniacal, about the bargain. Twice Mrs. Duggan, thinking she +was on the point of death, sent a messenger to remind him of his +duty; and when at last she did die, he was present at the +funeral, and read the prayers for the dead over her grave.</p> + +<p>Avarice is a vice so base that I never heard of any man who +would confess that he had ever been guilty of it. Philip was my +best friend, and I was always loath to think unkindly of him, but +at this time I really think he began to be rather penurious--not +avaricious, certainly not. But he was not a hermit of the holiest +kind. He began to save money and acquire stock. He had not been +long on the hill before he owned a horse, two dogs, a cat, a +native bear, a magpie, and a parrot, and he paid nothing for any +of them except the horse. One day he met Mr. McCarthy talking to +Bob Atkins, a station hand, who had a horse to sell--a filly, +rising three. McCarthy was a good judge of horses, and after +inspecting the filly, he said: "She will just suit you, Mr. +Philip, you ought to buy her." So the bargain was made; the price +was ten pounds, Bob giving in the saddle, bridle, a pair of +hobbles, and a tether rope. He was proud of his deal.</p> + +<p>Two years afterwards, when Philip was riding through the bush, +Bob rode up alongside, and after a while said:</p> + +<p>"Well, Mister, how do you like that filly I sold you?"</p> + +<p>"Very well indeed. She is a capital roadster and +stockhorse."</p> + +<p>"Does she ever throw you?"</p> + +<p>"Never. What makes you ask?"</p> + +<p>"Well, that's queer. The fact is I sold her to you because I +could not ride her. Every time I mounted, she slung me a +buster."</p> + +<p>"I see, Bob, you meant well, didn't you? But she never yet +slung me a buster; she is quieter than a lamb, and she will come +to me whenever I whistle, and follow me like a dog."</p> + +<p>Philip's first dog was named Sam. He was half collie and half +bull dog, and was therefore both brave and full of sagacity. He +guarded the hut and the other domestics during school hours, and +when he saw Philip coming up the hill, he ran to meet him, +smiling and wagging his tail, and reported all well. The other +dog was only a small pup, a Skye terrier, like a bunch of tow, a +present from Tommy Traddles. Pup's early days were made very +miserable by Maggie, the magpie. That wicked bird used to strut +around Philip while he was digging in the garden, and after +filling her crop with worms and grubs, she flapped away on one +wing and went round the hut looking for amusement. She jumped on +Pup's back, scratched him with her claws, pecked at his skull, +and pulled locks of wool out of it, the poor innocent all the +while yelping and howling for mercy. Sam never helped Pup, or +drove Maggie away; he was actually afraid of her, and believed +she was a dangerous witch. Sometimes she pecked at his tail, and +he dared not say a word, but sneaked away, looking sideways at +her, hanging down his ears, and afraid to say his tail was his +own. Joey, the parrot, watched all that was going on from his +cage, which was hung on a hook outside the hut door. Philip tried +to teach Joey to whistle a tune: "There is na luck aboot the +hoose, There is na luck at a'," but the parrot had so many things +to attend to that he never had time to finish the tune. He was, +indeed, very vain and flighty, sidling along his perch and +saying: "Sweet pretty Joey, who are you, who are you? Ha! Ha! +Ha!" wanting everybody to take notice and admire him. When Maggie +first attacked poor Pup, scratched his back, pecked at his head, +and tore locks of wool out of him, and Pup screamed pitifully to +all the world for help, Joey poked his head between the wires of +his cage, turned one eye downwards, listened to the language, and +watched the new performance with silent ecstacy. He had never +heard or seen anything like it in the whole course of his life. +Philip used to drive Maggie away, take up poor Pup and stroke +him, while Maggie, the villain, hopped around, flapping her wings +and giving the greatest impudence.</p> + +<p>It really gave Philip a great deal of trouble to keep order +among his domestics. One day, while hoeing in the garden, he +heard the Pup screaming miserably. He said, "There's that +villain, Maggie, at him again," and he ran up to the hut to drive +her away. But when he reached it there was neither Pup nor Maggie +to be seen, only Joey in his cage, and he was bobbing his head up +and down, yelping exactly like the Pup, and then he began +laughing at Philip ready to burst, "Ha! Ha! Ha! Who are you? Who +are you? There is no luck aboot the hoose, There is na luck at +a'."</p> + +<p>The native bear resided in a packing case, nailed on the top +of a stump nearly opposite the hut door. He had a strap round his +waist, and was fastened to the stump by a piece of clothes line. +The boys called him a monkey-bear, but though his face was like +that of a bear he was neither a monkey nor a bear. He was in fact +a sloth; his legs were not made for walking, but for climbing, +and although he had strong claws and a very muscular forearm, he +was always slow in his movements. He was very silent and +unsociable, never joined in the amusements of the other +domestics, and when Philip brought him a bunch of tender young +gum-tree shoots for his breakfast in the morning, he did not even +say "thanks" or smile, or show the least gratitude. He never +spoke except at dead of night, when he was exchanging compliments +with some other bear up a gum tree in the forty-acre paddock. And +such compliments! Their voices were frightful, something between +a roar and a groan, and although Philip was a great linguist he +was never quite sure what they were saying. But the bear was +always scheming to get away; he was like the Boers, and could not +abide British rule. Philip would not have kept him at all, but as +he had taken him into the family circle when a cub he did not +like to be cruel and turn him out along in a heartless world. +Twice Bruin managed to untie the clothes line and started for the +forty-acre. He crawled along very slowly, and when he saw Philip +coming after him, he stopped, looked behind him, and said, "Hoo," +showing his disgust. Then Philip took hold of the end of the +clothes line and brought him back, scolding all the time.</p> + +<p>"You miserable Bruin, you don't know what's good for you; you +can't tell a light-wood from a gum-tree, and you'll die of +starvation, or else the boys will find you, and they will kill +you, thinking you are a wild bush bear, for you don't show any +signs of good education, after all the trouble I have taken to +teach you manners. I am afraid you will come to a bad end."</p> + +<p>And so he did. The third time Bruin loosed the clothes line he +had a six hours' start before he was missed, and sure enough he +hid himself in a lightwood for want of sense, and that very night +the boys saw him by the light of the moon, and Hugh Boyle climbed +up the tree and knocked him down with a waddy.</p> + +<p>Pussy, Philip's sixth domestic, had attained her majority; she +had never gone after snakes in her youth, and had always avoided +bad company. She did her duty in the house as a good mouser, and +when mice grew scarce she went hunting for game; she had a hole +under the eaves near the chimney, through which she could enter +the hut at any time of the night or day. While Philip was musing +after tea on the "Pons Asinorum" by the light of a tallow candle, +Pussy was out poaching for quail, and as soon as she caught one +she brought it home, dropped it on the floor, rubbed her side +against Philip's boot, and said, "I have brought a little game +for breakfast." Then Philip stroked her along the back, after +which she lay down before the fire, tucked in her paws and fell +asleep, with a good conscience.</p> + +<p>But many bush cats come to an unhappy and untimely end by +giving way to the vice of curiosity. When Dinah, the vain kitten, +takes her first walk abroad in spring time, she observes +something smooth and shiny gliding gently along. She pricks up +her ears, and gazes at the interesting stranger; then she goes a +little nearer, softly lifting first one paw and then another.</p> + +<p>The stranger is more intelligent than Dinah. He says to +himself, "I know her sort well, the silly thing. Saw her ages ago +in the Garden. She wants mice and frogs and such things--takes +the bread out of my mouth. Native industry must be protected." so +the stranger brings his head round under the grass and waits for +Dinah, who is watching his tail. The tail moves a little and then +a little more. Dinah says, "It will be gone if I don't mind," and +she jumps for it. At that instant the snake strikes her on the +nose with his fangs. Dinah's fur rises on end with sudden fright, +she shakes her head, and the snake drops off. She turns away, and +says, "This is frightful; what a deceitful world! Life is not +worth living." Her head feels queer, and being sleepy she lies +down, and is soon a dead cat.</p> + +<p>That summer was very hot at Nyalong, one hundred and ten +degrees in the shade. Philip began to find his bed of stringy +bark very hard, and as it grew older it curled together so much +that he could scarcely turn in it from one side to the other. So +he made a mattress which he stuffed with straw, and he found it +much softer than the stringy bark. But after a while the mattress +grew flat, and the stuffing lumpy. Sometimes on hot days he took +out his bed, and after shaking it, he laid it down on the grass; +his blankets he hung on the fence for many reasons which he +wanted to get rid of.</p> + +<p>The water in the forty-acre to the south was all dried up. An +old black snake with a streak of orange along his ribs grew +thirsty. His last meal was a mouse, and he said, "That was a dry +mouthful, and wants something to wash it down." He knew his way +to the water-hole at the end of the garden, but he had to pass +the hut, which when he travelled that way the summer before was +unoccupied. After creeping under the bottom rail of the fence, he +raised his head a little, and looked round. He said, "I see +there's another tenant here"--Bruin was then alive and was +sitting on the top of his stump eating gum leaves--"I never saw +that fellow so low down in the world before; I wonder what he is +doing here; been lagged, I suppose for something or other. He is +a stupid, anyway, and won't take any notice even if he sees +me."</p> + +<p>Sam and Puss were both blinking their eyes in the shade of the +lightwood, and whisking the flies from their ears. Maggie was +walking about with beak open, showing her parched tongue; the +heat made her low-spirited.</p> + +<p>The snake had crept as far as Philip's mattress, which was +lying on the grass, when Maggie saw him. She instantly gave the +alarm, "A snake, a snake!" for she knew he was a bad character. +Sam and Puss jumped up and began to bark; Joey said, "There is na +luck aboot the hoose." Bruin was too stupid to say anything. The +snake said, "Here is a terrible row all at once, I must make for +a hole." He had a keen eye for a hole, and he soon saw one. It +was a small one, in Philip's mattress, almost hidden by the seam, +and had been made most likely by a splinter or a nail. The snake +put his head in it, saying, "Any port in a storm," then drew in +his whole length, and settled himself comfortably among the +straw.</p> + +<p>Beasts and birds have instincts, and a certain amount of will +and understanding, but no memory worth mentioning. For that +reason the domestics never told Philip about the snake in his +mattress, they had forgotten all about it. If Sam had buried a +bone, he would have remembered it a week afterwards, if he was +hungry; but as for snakes, it was, "out of sight, out of +mind."</p> + +<p>Philip took in his mattress and blanket before sundown and +made his bed. The snake was still in the straw; he had been badly +scared, and thought it would be best to keep quiet until he saw a +chance to creep out, and continue his journey down the garden. +But it was awfully dark inside the mattress, and although he went +round and round amongst the straw he could not find any way out +of it, so at last he said: "I must wait till morning," and went +to sleep.</p> + +<p>When Philip went to bed the snake was disturbed, and woke up. +There was so heavy a weight on him that he could scarcely move, +and he was almost suffocated. He said: "This is dreadful; I have +been in many a tight place in my time, but never in one so tight +as this. Whatever am I to do? I shall be squeezed to death if I +don't get away from this horrid monster on top of me."</p> + +<p>Philip fell asleep as usual, and by-and-by the snake began to +flatten his ribs, and draw himself from under the load, until at +last he was clear of it; then, heaving a deep sigh of relief he +lay quiet for awhile to recover his breath. He knew there was a +hole somewhere if he could only find it and he kept poking his +nose here and there against the mattress.</p> + +<p>After sleeping an hour or two, Philip turned on his other +side, and the snake had to move out of the way in a hurry for +fear of being squeezed to death. There was a noise as of +something rustling in the straw, and after listening awhile, +Philip said: "I suppose it's a mouse," and soon fell fast asleep +again, because he was not afraid of mice even when they ran +across his nose.</p> + +<p>In the morning he took his blankets out again, and hung them +on the fence, shook up his mattress and pillow, and then spread +the sheets over them, tucking them in all round, and then he got +ready his breakfast.</p> + +<p>The whole of that day was spent by the snake in trying to find +a way out. The sheets being tucked in he was still in the dark, +and he kept going round and round, feeling for the hole with his +nose until he went completely out of his mind, just as a man does +when he is lost in the bush. So the day wore on, night and +bedtime came again, and Philip lay down to rest once more right +over the imprisoned snake. Then that snake went raving mad, lost +all control of himself, and rolled about recklessly. Philip sat +up in bed, and a cold sweat began to trickle down his face, and +his hair stood on end. He whispered to himself as if afraid the +snake might hear him. "The Lord preserve us, that's no mouse; +it's a snake right under me. What shall I do?"</p> + +<p>The first thing to do was to strike a light; the matches and +candle were on a box at his bedside, and he slowly put out his +hand to reach them, expecting every moment to feel the fangs in +his wrist. But he found the match-box, struck a light, carefully +examined the floor as far as he could see it, jumped out of bed +at one bound, and took refuge in the other room. There he looked +in every corner, and along every rafter for the other snake, for +he knew that at this season snakes are often found in pairs, but +he could not see the mate of the one he had left in bed.</p> + +<p>There was no sleep for Philip that night, and, by the light of +the candle, he sat waiting for the coming day, and planning dire +vengeance. At sunrise he examined closely every hole, and +crevice, and corner, and crack in both rooms, floor and floor, +slabs, rafters, and shingles. He said, at last: "I think there is +only one snake, and he is in the bed."</p> + +<p>Then he went outside, and cut a stick about five feet long, +one end of which he pointed with his knife. Returning to the +bedroom, he lifted up with the point of his stick the sheets, +blankets, and pillows, took them outside, and hung them on the +fence. Next he turned over the mattress slowly, but there was +nothing to be seen under it. He poked the mattress with the blunt +end of his stick here and there, and he soon saw that something +was moving inside. "Ah!" he said, "there you are, my friend." The +thought of having slept two nights on a live snake made him +shudder a little, but he was bent on vengeance. He took hold of +one end of the mattress with one hand, and holding the stick in +the other, he carried it outside and laid it on the grass. +Looking carefully at every side of the mattress he discovered the +hole through which the snake had entered. It was so small that he +could scarcely believe that a snake had gone through it, but no +other hole was anywhere visible. Philip said, "If the beast comes +out it shall be through fire," so he picked up a few pieces of +bark which he placed over the hole, and set on fire. The straw +inside was soon in a blaze, and the snake was lively. His +situation was desperate, and his movements could be traced by the +rising and falling of the ticking. Philip said, "My friend, you +are looking for a hole, but when you find it it will be a hot +one." The snake at last made a dash for life through the fire, +and actually came out into the open air. But he was dazed and +blinded, and his skin was wet and shining with oil, or +perspiration, or something.</p> + +<p>Philip gave him a finishing stroke with his stick, and tossed +him back into the fire. Of course a new mattress was necessary, +and a keen eye for snakes ever afterwards.</p> + +<p>The teaching in the school went on with regularity and +success. There was, however, an occasional interruption. Once a +furious squall came over the lake, and shook the frail building +so much that Philip threw open the door and sent out all the +children, the little ones and girls first, and then the boys, +remaining himself to the last like the captain of a sinking ship; +but he was not so much of a fool to stay inside and brave +destruction; he went out to a safe distance until the squall was +over.</p> + +<p>Sometimes a visitor interfered with the work of the school, +and Philip for that reason hated visitors; but it was his duty to +be civil and patient. Two inspectors called on two different +occasions to examine the scholars. One of them was scarcely +sober, and he behaved in a manner so eccentric that the master +had a strong temptation to kick him out. However, he at last +succeeded in seeing the inspector outside the door peaceably, and +soon afterwards the department dispensed with that gentleman's +services.</p> + +<p>He had obtained his office by favour of a minister at home for +services rendered at an election. His salary was 900 pounds per +annum. The next inspector received the same salary. He was +brother or brother-in-law to a bishop, and had many ancestors and +relatives of high degree. Philip foolishly showed him a few +nuggets which he had picked up in Picaninny Gully, and the +inspector showed Philip the letter by which he had obtained his +appointment and 900 pounds a year. It was only a couple of lines +written and signed by a certain lord in London, but it was +equivalent to an order for a billet on the government of +Victoria. Then the inspector said he would feel extremely obliged +to Philip if he would give him one of his little nuggets that he +might send it to my lord as a present, and Philip at once handed +over his biggest nugget. Little amenities of this kind make life +so pleasant. My lord would be pleased to receive the nugget, the +inspector was pleased to send it, and Philip said "it cannot be +bribery and corruption, but this inspector being a gentleman will +be friendly. When he mentions me and my school in his report he +cannot possibly forget the nugget."</p> + +<p>Barney, the boozer, one day visited the school. He opened the +door and stood on the threshold. His eyes seemed close together, +and there was a long red scar on his bare neck, where he had on a +former occasion cut his throat. All the scholars were afraid of +Barney, and the girls climbed up on the benches and began to +scream.</p> + +<p>Philip went up to the Boozer and said:</p> + +<p>"Well, my friend, what do you want here?"</p> + +<p>"The devil knows," replied Barney.</p> + +<p>"Very likely, but he is not here, he has gone down the +road."</p> + +<p>Then taking Barney by the arm he turned him round and guided +him to the road. Barney went about twenty yards until he came to +a pool of water. He stepped on to the fence and sat on the top +rail gazing into the pool. At last he threw his hat into it, then +his boots, coat, shirt, and trousers. When he was quite naked, he +stamped on his clothes until they were thoroughly soaked and +buried in mud. Barney then resumed his search for the devil, +swinging his arms to and fro in a free and defiant manner.</p> + +<p>The school was also visited by a bishop, a priest, a squatter, +and a judge. The dress and demeanour of the judge were very +impressive at so great a distance from any centre of +civilization, for he wore a tall beaver hat, a suit of black +broadcloth, and a white necktie. Philip received him with +reverence, thinking he could not be anything less than a lord +spiritual, such is the power of broadcloth and fine linen. Nosey, +the shepherd, was then living at Nyalong, having murdered the +other shepherd, Baldy, about six months before, and this judge +sent Nosey to the gallows seventeen years afterwards; but neither +Nosey nor the judge knew what was to happen after seventeen +years. This is the story of Nosey and Baldy.</p> + +<p><a name="ch-09"></a></p> + +<h3>THE TWO SHEPHERDS.</h3> + +<p>By the men on the run they were known as Nosey and Baldy, but +in a former stage of their existence, in the days of the Emperor +Augustus Cæsar, they were known as Naso and Balbus. They +were then rivals in love and song, and accused each other of +doing things that were mean. And now, after undergoing for their +sins various transmigrations into the forms of inferior animals, +during two thousand years, as soon as shepherds are required in +Australia Felix, they appear once more following their flocks and +herds. But they are entirely forgetful of all Greek and Roman +civilization; their morals have not improved, and their quarrels +are more bitter than ever. In the old times they tootled on the +tuneful reed, and sang in purest Latin the sweetest ditties ever +heard, in praise of Galatea and Amyntas, Delia and Iolla. But +they never tootle now, and never sing, and when they speak, their +tongue is that of the unmusical barbarians. In their pagan days +they stained their rustic altars with the blood of a kid, a +sacrifice to Jupiter, and poured out libations of generous wine; +but they offer up neither prayer nor sacrifice now, and they pour +libations of gin down their throats.</p> + +<p>The Italian rustic is yet musical, and the Roman citizen has +not lost the genius of his race. He is still unrivalled in +sculpture and architecture, in painting, in poetry, and +philosophy; and in every handicraft his fingers are as deft as +ever. But empire has slipped from his grasp, and empire once +lost, like time, never returns. Who can rebuild Ninevah or +Babylon, put new life into the mummies of the Pharoahs, and +recrown them; raise armies from the dust of the warriors of +Sesostris, and send them forth once more to victory and +slaughter? Julian the Apostate tried to rebuild the Holy City and +Temple of Israel, to make prophecy void--apparently a small +enterprise for a Roman Emperor--but all his labours were vain. +Modern Julians have been trying to resuscitate old Rome, and to +found for her a new empire, and have only made Italy another +Ireland, with a starving people and a bankrupt government. 'Nos +patriæ fines, nos dulcia linquimus arva'. The Italians are +emigrating year after year to avoid starvation in the Garden of +Europe. In every city of the great empire on which the sun never +sets they wander through the streets, clad in faded garments of +olive green--the toga long since discarded and forgotten--making +sweet music from the harp and violin, their melancholy eyes +wandering after the passing crowd, hoping for the pitiful penny +that is so seldom given.</p> + +<p>The two shepherds were employed on a station north of Lake +Nyalong. It is a country full of dead volcanoes, whose craters +have been turned into salt lakes, and their rolling floods of +lava have been stiffened into barriers of black rocks; where the +ashes belched forth in fiery blasts from the deep furnaces of a +burning world have covered the hills and plains with perennial +fertility.</p> + +<p>Baldy had been entrusted with a fattening flock, and Nosey had +in his care a lambing flock. From time to time the sheep were +counted, and it was found that the fattening flock was decreasing +in numbers. The squatter wanted to know what had become of his +missing sheep, but Baldy could give no account of them. His +suspicions, however, soon fell on Nosey. The latter was his +nearest neighbour, and although he had only the same wages--viz., +thirty pounds a year and rations-- he seemed to be unaccountably +prosperous, and was the owner of a wife and two horses. He had +been transported for larceny when he was only fifteen years of +age, and at twenty-eight he was suspected of being still a thief. +Girls of the same age were sent from Great Britain to Botany Bay +and Van Diemen's Land for stealing one bit of finery, worth a +shilling, and became the consorts of criminals of the deepest +dye. You may read their names in the Indents to this day, +together with their height, age, complexion, birthplace, and +other important particulars.</p> + +<p>Baldy went over to Nosey's hut one evening when the blue smoke +was curling over the chimney, and the long shadows of the Wombat +Hills were creeping over the Stoney Rises. Julia was boiling the +billy for tea, and her husband was chopping firewood outside.</p> + +<p>"Good evening, Julia," said Baldy; "fine evening."</p> + +<p>"Same to you, Baldy. Any news to-day?" asked Julia.</p> + +<p>"Well, there is," said Baldy, "and it's bad news for me; +there's ten more of my fatteners missing" (Nosey stopped chopping +and listened) "and the master says I'll have to hump my swag if I +can't find out what has become of them. I say, Nosey, you don't +happen to have seen any dingoes or blacks about here lately?"</p> + +<p>"I ain't seen e'er a one, neither dingo nor blackfellow. But, +you know, if they were after mischief they'd take care not to +make a show. There might be stacks of them about and we never to +see one of them."</p> + +<p>Nosey was proud of his cunning.</p> + +<p>"Well," said Baldy, "I can hear of nobody having seen any +strangers about the Rises, nor dingoes, nor black fellows. And +the dingoes, anyhow, would have left some of the carcases behind; +but the thieves, whoever they are, have not left me as much as a +lock of the wool of my sheep. I have been talking about 'em with +old Sharp; he is the longest here of any shepherd in the country, +and knows all the blacks, and he says it's his opinion the man +who took the sheep is not far away from the flock now. What do +you think about it, Nosey?"</p> + +<p>"What the----should I know about your sheep?" said Nosey. "Do +you mean to insinivate that I took 'em? I'll tell you what it is, +Baldy; it'll be just as well for you to keep your blasted tongue +quiet about your sheep, for if I hear any more about 'em, I'll +see you for it; do you hear?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, I hear. All right, Nosey, we'll see about it," said +Baldy.</p> + +<p>There would have been a fight perhaps, but Baldy was a smaller +man than the other and was growing old, while Nosey was in the +prime of life.</p> + +<p>Baldy went to Nyalong next day. His rations did not include +gin, and he wanted some badly, the more so because he was in +trouble about his lost sheep. Gin, known then as "Old Tom," was +his favourite remedy for all ailments, both of mind and body. If +he could not find out what had become of his sheep, his master +might dismiss him without a character. There was not much good +character running to waste on the stations, but still no squatter +would like to entrust a flock to a shepherd who was suspected of +having stolen and sold his last master's sheep.</p> + +<p>Baldy walked to Nyalong along the banks of the lake. The +country was then all open, unfenced, except the paddocks at the +home stations. The boundary between two of the runs was merely +marked by a ploughed furrow, not very straight, which started +near the lake, and went eastward along the plains. In the Rises +no plough could make a line through the rocks, and the boundaries +there were imaginary. Stray cattle were roaming over the country, +eating the grass, and the main resource of the squatters was the +Pounds Act. Hay was then sold at 80 pounds per ton at Bendigo; a +draft of fat bullocks was worth a mine of gold at Ballarat, and, +therefore, grass was everywhere precious. No wonder if the hardy +bullock-driver became a cattle lifter after his team had been +impounded by the station stockman when found only four hundred +yards from the bush track. Money, in the shape of fat stock, was +running loose, as it were, on every run, and why should not the +sagacious Nosey do a little business when Baldy's fat sheep were +tempting him, and a market for mutton could be found no farther +away than the Nyalong butcher's shop.</p> + +<p>Baldy left the township happier than usual, carrying under his +arm two bottles of Old Tom. He was seen by a man who knew him +entering the Rises, and going away in the direction of Nosey's +hut, and then for fifteen years he was a lost shepherd. In course +of time it was ascertained that he had called at Nosey's hut on +his way home. He had the lost sheep on his mind, and he could not +resist the impulse to have another word or two with Nosey about +them. He put down the two bottles of gin outside the door of the +hut, near an axe whose handle leaned against the wall. Nosey and +his wife, Julia, were inside, and he bade them good evening. Then +he took a piece of tobacco out of his pocket, and began cutting +it with his knife. He always carried his knife tied to his belt +by a string which went through a hole bored in the handle. It was +a generally useful knife, and with it he foot-rotted sheep, +stirred the tea in his billy, and cut beef and damper, sticks, +and tobacco.</p> + +<p>"I have been to Nyalong," he said, "and I heern something +about my sheep; they went to the township all right, strayed +away, you know, followed one another's tails, and never came +back, the O. K. bullocks go just the same way. Curious, isn't +it?"</p> + +<p>Nosey listened with keen interest. "Well, Baldy," he said, +"and what did you hear? Did you find out who took 'em?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes," said Baldy; "I know pretty well all about 'em now, +both sheep and bullocks. Old Sharp was right about the sheep, +anyway. The thief is not far from the flock, and it's not me." +Baldy was brewing mischief for himself, but he did not know how +much.</p> + +<p>"Did you tell the police about 'em?" asked Nosey.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, not to-day!" answered Baldy. "Time enough yet. I +ain't in no hurry to be an informer."</p> + +<p>Nosey eyed him with unusual savagery, and said:</p> + +<p>"Now didn't I tell you to say no more about your blasted +sheep, or I'd see you for it? and here you are again, and you +can't leave 'em alone. You are no better than a fool."</p> + +<p>"Maybe I am a fool, Nosey. Just wait till I get a light, and +I'll leave your hut and trouble you no more."</p> + +<p>He was standing in the middle of the floor cutting his +tobacco, and rubbing it between the palms of his hands, shaking +his head, and eyeing the floor with a look of great sagacity.</p> + +<p>Nosey went outside, and began walking to and fro, thinking and +whispering to himself. It was a habit he had acquired while +slowly sauntering after his sheep. He seemed to have another +self, an invisible companion with whom he discussed whatever was +uppermost in his mind. If he had then consulted his other self, +Julia, he might have saved himself a world of trouble; but he did +not think of her. He said to himself: "Now, Nosey, if you don't +mind, you are going to be in a hole. That old fool inside has +found out something or other about the sheep, and the peelers +will have you, if you don't look out, and they'll give you +another seven years and maybe ten. You've done your time once, +Nosey, and how would you like to do it again? Why couldn't you +leave the cursed sheep alone and keep out of mischief just when +you were settling down in life comfortable, and might have a +chance to do better. Baldy will be telling the peelers to-morrow +all he knows about the sheep you stole, and then they'll fetch +you, sure. There's only one thing to stop the old fool's jaw, and +you are not game to do it, Nosey; you never done a man yet, and +you are not game to do it now, and you'll be damned if you do it, +and the devil will have you, and you'll be hanged first maybe. +And if you don't do him you'll be lagged again for the sheep, and +in my opinion, Nosey, you are not game. Yes, by the powers, you +are, Nosey, damned if you ain't. Who's afeered? And you'll do it +quick --do it quick. Now or never's your time."</p> + +<p>While talking thus to himself, Nosey was pacing to and fro, +and he glanced at the axe every time he passed the door. The +weapon was ready to his hand, and seemed to be inviting him to +use it.</p> + +<p>"Baldy is going to light his pipe, and while he is stooping to +get a firestick, I'll do him with the axe."</p> + +<p>When Baldy turned towards the fire, Nosey grasped the axe and +held it behind him. He waited a moment, and then entered the hut; +but Baldy either heard his step, or had some suspicion of danger, +for he looked around before takingup a firestick. At that instant +the blow, intended for the back of the head, struck him on the +jaw, and he fell forward among the embers. For one brief moment +of horror he must have realised that he was being murdered, and +then another blow behind the head left him senseless.</p> + +<p>Nosey dragged the body out of the fireplace into the middle of +the floor, intending, while he was doing a man, to do him well. +He raised the axe to finish his work with a third blow, but Julia +gave a scream so piercing that his attention was diverted to +her.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Nosey," she said, "what are you doing to poor Baldy? You +are murdering him."</p> + +<p>Nosey turned to his wife with upraised axe.</p> + +<p>"Hold your jaw, woman, and keep quiet, or I'll do as much for +you."</p> + +<p>She said no more. She was tall and stout, had small, sharp, +roving eyes; and Nosey was a thick-set man, with a thin, +prominent nose, sunken eyes, and overhanging brows. He never had +a prepossessing appearance, and now his look and attitude were so +ugly and fierce that the big woman was completely cowed. The pair +stood still for some time, watching the last convulsive movements +of the murdered Baldy.</p> + +<p>Nosey could now pride himself on having been "game to do his +man," but he could not feel much glory in his work just yet. He +had done it without sufficient forethought, and his mind was soon +full of trouble.</p> + +<p>Murder was worse than sheep stealing, and the consequences of +his new venture in crime began to crowd on his mind with +frightful rapidity. He had not even thought of any plan for +hiding away the corpse. He had no grave ready, and could not dig +one anywhere in the neighbourhood. The whole of the country round +his hut was rocky-- little hills of bare bluestone boulders, and +grassy hollows covered with only a few inches of soil--rocks +everywhere, above ground and below. He could burn the body, but +it would take a long time to do it well; somebody might come +while he was at the work, and even the ashes might betray his +secret. There were shallow lakes and swamps, but he could not put +the corpse into any of them with safety: search would be made +wherever there was water, on the supposition that Baldy had been +drowned after drinking too freely of the gin he had brought from +Nyalong, and if the body was found, the appearance of the skull +would show that death had been caused, not by drowning, but by +the blows of that cursed axe. Nosey began to lay all the blame on +the axe, and said, "If it had not stood up so handy near the +door, I wouldn't have killed the man."</p> + +<p>It was the axe that tempted him. Excuses of that sort are of a +very ancient date.</p> + +<p>Luckily Nosey owned two horses, one of which was old and +quiet. He told Julia to fasten the door, and to open it on no +account whatever, while he went for the horse, which was feeding +in the Rises hobbled, and with a bell tied round his neck. When +he returned he saddled the animal, and Julia held the bridle +while he went into the hut for the body. He observed Baldy's pipe +on the floor near the fire-place, and he replaced it in the +pocket in which it had been usually kept, as it might not be safe +to leave anything in the hut belonging to the murdered man. There +was a little blood on the floor, but he would scrape that off by +daylight, and he would then also look at the axe and put away the +two bottles of gin somewhere; he could do all that next morning +before Baldy was missed. But the corpse must be taken away at +once, for he felt that every minute of delay might endanger his +neck. He dragged the body outside, and with Julia's help lifted +it up and placed it across the saddle. Then he tried to steady +his load with his right hand, and to guide the horse by the +bridle with his left, but he soon found that a dead man was a bad +rider; Baldy kept slipping towards the near side or the off side +with every stride of the horse, and soon fell to the ground.</p> + +<p>Nosey was in a furious hurry, he was anxious to get away; he +cursed Baldy for giving him so much trouble; he could have killed +him over again for being so awkward and stubborn, and he begun to +feel that the old shepherd was more dangerous dead than alive. At +last he mounted his horse, and called to Julia to come and help +him.</p> + +<p>"Here, Julia, lift him up till I catch hold of his collar, and +I'll pull him up in front of me on the saddle, and hold him that +way."</p> + +<p>Julia, with many stifled moans, raised the body from the +ground, Nosey reached down and grasped the shirt collar, and thus +the two managed to place the swag across the saddle. Then Nosey +made a second start, carefully balancing the body, and keeping it +from falling with his right hand, while he held the bridle with +his left.</p> + +<p>The funeral procession slowly wound its way in a westerly +direction among the black rocks over the softest and smoothest +ground to avoid making any noise. There was no telling what +stockman or cattle-stealer the devil might send at any moment to +meet the murderer among the lonely Rises, and even in the +darkness his horrible burden would betray him. Nosey was +disturbed by the very echo of his horse's steps; it seemed as if +somebody was following him at a little distance; perhaps Julia, +full of woman's curiosity; and he kept peering round and looking +back into the darkness. In this way he travelled about a mile and +a half, and then dismounting, lowered the body to the ground, and +began to look for some suitable hiding place. He chose one among +a confused heap of rocks, and by lifting some of them aside he +made a shallow grave, to which he dragged the body, and covered +it by piling boulders over and around it. He struck several +matches to enable him to examine his work carefully, and closed +up every crevice through which his buried treasure might be +visible.</p> + +<p>The next morning Nosey was astir early. He had an important +part to act, and he was anxious to do it well. He first examined +the axe and cleaned it well, carefully burning a few of Baldy's +grey hairs which he found on it. Then he searched the floor for +drops of blood, which he carefully scraped with a knife, and +washed until no red spot was visible. Then he walked to Baldy's +and pretended to himself that he was surprised to find it empty. +What had happened the previous night was only a dream, an ugly +dream. He met an acquaintance and told him that Baldy was neither +in his hut nor with his sheep.</p> + +<p>The two men called at old Sharp's hut to make enquiries. The +latter said, "I seen Baldy's sheep yesterday going about in mobs, +and nobody to look after them." Then the three men went to the +deserted hut. Everything in it seemed undisturbed. The dog was +watching at the door, and they told him to seek Baldy. He pricked +up his ears, wagged his tail, and looked wistfully in the +direction of Nosey's hut, evidently expecting his master to come +in sight that way.</p> + +<p>The men went to the nearest magistrate and informed him that +the shepherd was missing. A messenger went to the head station. +Enquiries were made at the township, and it was found that Baldy +had been to Nyalong the previous day, and had left in the evening +carrying two bottles of gin. This circumstance seemed to account +for his absence; he had taken too much of the liquor, was lying +asleep somewhere, and would reappear in the course of the day. +Men both on foot and on horseback roamed through the Rises, +examining the hollows and the flats, the margins of the shallow +lakes, and peering into every wombat hole as they passed. They +never thought of turning over any of the boulders; a drunken man +would never make his bed and blanket of rocks; he would be found +lying on the top if he had stumbled amongst them. One by one as +night approached the searchers returned to the hut. They had +discovered nothing, and the only conclusion they could come to +was, that Baldy was taking a very long sleep somewhere--which was +true enough.</p> + +<p>Next day every man from the neighbouring stations, and some +from Nyalong, joined in the search. The chief constable was +there, and as became a professed detector of crime, he examined +everything minutely inside and outside the two huts, but he could +not find anything suspicious about either of them. He entered +into conversation with Julia, but the eye of her husband was on +her, and she had little to say. Nosey, on the contrary, was full +of suggestions as to what might have happened to Baldy, and he +helped to look for him eagerly and actively in every direction +but the right one.</p> + +<p>For many days the Rises were peopled with prospectors, but one +by one they dropped away. The chief constable was loath to leave +the riddle unsolved; he had the instinct of the sleuth-hound on +the scent of blood. He had been a pursuer of bad works amongst +the convicts for a long time, both in Van Diemen's Land and in +Victoria, and had helped to bring many men to the gallows or the +chain-gang. He had once been shot in the back by a horse thief +who lay concealed behind the door of a shepherd's hut, but he +secured the horse thief. He was a man without nerves, of medium +height, strongly built, had a broad face, massive ears, wide, +firm mouth, and strong jaws.</p> + +<p>One night after the searchers had departed to their various +homes, the chief remained alone in the Rises, and leaving his +horse hobbled at a distance, cautiously approached Nosey's hut. +He placed his ear to the outside of the weatherboards, and +listened for some time to the conversation of Nosey and his wife, +expecting to obtain by chance some information about the +disappearance of the other shepherd. Nosey was in a bad temper, +swearing and finding fault with everything. Julia was prudent and +said little; it was best not to say too much to a man who was so +handy with the family axe. But at last she made use of one +expression which seemed to mean something. She said, "Oh, Nosey, +you murdering villain, you know you ought to be hanged." There +was a prophetic ring in these words which delighted the chief +constable, and he glued his great ear to the weatherboards, +eagerly listening for more; but the wrangling pair were very +disappointing; they would not keep to the point. At last he +walked round the hut, suddenly opened the door, and entered. +Nosey was struck dumb at once. His first thought was that his +plan had been sprung, and that the murder was out. The chief +addressed Julia in a tone of authority, imitating the counsel for +the crown when examining a prevaricating witness.</p> + +<p>"Now, missus, remember you will be put on your oath. You said +just now, 'Oh, Nosey, you murdering villain, you know you ought +to be hanged.' Those were your very words. Now what did you mean? +On your oath, mind; out with it at once."</p> + +<p>But Julia was not to be caught so easily. She replied:</p> + +<p>"Oh, bad luck to him, he is always angry. I don't know what to +do with him. I did not mean anything."</p> + +<p>"You did not mean anything about Baldy, I suppose, did you, +now?" queried the constable, shamefully leading the witness, and +looking hard at Nosey.</p> + +<p>Julia parried the question by heaving a deep sigh, and saying: +"Hi, ho, Harry, if I were a maid, I never would marry;" and then +she began singing a silly old song.</p> + +<p>The constable was disgusted, and said:</p> + +<p>"My good woman, you'll find there will be nothing to laugh at +in this job, when I see you again."</p> + +<p>As he left the hut, he turned at the door and gave one more +look at Nosey, who had stood all the time rivetted to the ground, +expecting every moment that the constable would produce the +handcuffs. Soon afterwards Julia went outside, walked round the +hut, and stayed awhile, listening and looking in every direction. +When she returned, Nosey said, in a hoarse whisper:</p> + +<p>"Is he gan yet?"</p> + +<p>"I think," replied Julia, "he won't be coming again to-night. +He has thrown away his trouble this time, anyhow; but ye must +hould your tongue, Nosey, if ye want to save your neck; he means +to have you if he can."</p> + +<p>Nosey stayed on the run some weeks longer, following his +sheep. It would not be advisable to go away suddenly, and, +moreover, he recollected that what the eye could not see might +some time be discovered by another of the senses. So he waited +patiently, standing guard as it were over the dead, until his +curiosity induced him to pay a farewell visit by daylight to the +place where Baldy was buried.</p> + +<p>There had been hot weather since the body had been deposited +in the shallow grave, and the crevices among the piles of +bluestones had been filled by the wind with the yellow stalks of +decayed grass. Nosey walked round his own particular pile, and +inspected it closely. He was pleased to find that it showed no +signs of having been touched since he raised it. It was just like +any of the other heaps of rocks around it. He had, at any rate, +given Baldy as good a funeral as circumstances would permit, +better than that of many a man who had perished of hunger, heat, +and thirst, in the shelterless wastes of the Never-Never Land, +"beyond Moneygrub's farthest run." Nosey and the weather had done +their work so well that for the next fifteen years no shepherd, +stockman, or squatter ever gave a second look at that unknown +grave. The black snake coiled itself beneath the decaying +skeleton, and spent the winter in secure repose. The native cat +tore away bits of Baldy's clothing, and with them and the yellow +grass made, year after year, a nest for its young among the +whitening bones.</p> + +<p>Everything, so far, had turned out quite as satisfactorily as +any murderer could expect. Nosey had been game to do his man, and +he had done him well. Julia was prudent enough to hold her tongue +for her own sake; it was unlikely that any further search would +be made for the lost shepherd; he had been safely put out of +sight, and not even Julia knew where he was buried.</p> + +<p>Nosey began to have a better opinion of himself than ever. +Neither the police nor the law could touch him. He would never be +called to account for putting away his brother shepherd, in this +world at any rate; and as for the next, why it was a long way +off, and there was time enough to think about it. The day of +reckoning was distant, but it came at last, as it always does to +every sinner of us all.</p> + +<p>Nosey resigned his billet, and went to Nyalong. He lived in a +hut in the eastern part of the township, not far from the lake, +and near the corner of the road coming down from the Bald Hill. +Here had been laid the foundation of a great inland city by a +bush publican, two storekeepers, a wheelwright, and a blacksmith. +Another city had been started at the western side of Wandong +Creek, but its existence was ignored by the eastern pioneers.</p> + +<p>The shepherd soon began to forget or despise the advice of his +wife, Julia; his tongue grew loose again, and at the bar of the +inn of the crossroads his voice was often heard loud and abusive. +He felt that he had become a person of importance, as the +possessor of a secret which nobody could discover. What he said +and what he did was discussed about the township, and the chief +constable listened to every report, expecting that some valuable +information would accidentally leak out.</p> + +<p>One day a man wearing a blue jumper and an old hat came down +the road, stepped on to the verandah of the inn, and threw down +his swag. Nosey was there, holding forth to Bill the Butcher, +Dick Smalley, Frank Barton, Bob Atkins, Charley Goodall, and +George Brown the Liar. A dispute occurred, in which the +presumptuous stranger joined, and Nosey promptly knocked him off +the verandah into the gutter. A valid claim to satisfaction was +thus established, and the swagman showed a disposition to enforce +it. He did not attempt to regain his position on the boards, but +took his stand on the broad stone of honour in the middle of the +road. He threw up his hat into the air, and began walking rapidly +to and fro, clenched his fists, stiffened his sinews, and at +every turn in his walk said:</p> + +<p>"You'll find me as good a man as ever you met in your +life."</p> + +<p>This man's action promised real sport, and true Britons as we +all were we were delighted to see him. Nosey stood on the +verandah for a minute or two, watching the motions of the +swagman; he did not seem to recollect all at once what the code +of honour required, until Bill the Butcher remarked, "He wants +you, Nosey," then Nosey went.</p> + +<p>The two men met in the middle of the road, and put up their +hands. They appeared well-matched in size and weight. The swagman +said:</p> + +<p>"You'll find me as good a man as ever you met in your +life."</p> + +<p>Nosey began the battle by striking out with his right and +left, but his blows did not seem to reach home, or to have much +effect.</p> + +<p>The swagman dodged and parried, and soon put in a swinging +blow on the left temple. Nosey fell to the ground, and the +stranger resumed his walk as before, uttering his war cry:</p> + +<p>"You'll find me as good a man as ever you met in your +life."</p> + +<p>There were no seconds, but the rules of chivalry were strictly +observed; the stranger was a true gentleman, and did not use his +boots.</p> + +<p>In the second round Nosey showed more caution, but the result +was the same, and it was brought about by another hard blow on +the temple. The third round finished the fight. Nosey lay on the +ground so long that Bill, the Butcher, went over to look at him, +and then he threw up the sponge--metaphorically--as there was no +sponge, nor any need of one.</p> + +<p>The defeated Nosey staggered towards his hut, and his temper +was afterwards so bad that Julia declined to stay with him any +longer; she loosed the marriage bonds without recourse to law, +and disappeared. Her husband went away westward, but he did not +stay long. He returned to Nyalong and lived awhile alone in his +hut there, but he was restless and dissatisfied. Everybody looked +at him so curiously. Even the women and children stood still as +he passed by them, and began whispering to one another, and he +guessed well enough why they were looking at him and what they +were saying--"That's Nosey the murderer; he killed Baldy and hid +him away somewhere; his wife said he ought to be hanged, and she +has run away and left him."</p> + +<p>When the hungry hawk comes circling over the grove of crookedy +gum in which two magpies are feeding their callow young, the bush +is soon filled with cries of alarm. The plump quail hides himself +in the depths of a thick tussock; the bronze-winged pigeon dives +into the shelter of the nearest scrub, while all the noisiest +scolds of the air gather round the intruder. Every magpie, minah, +and wattle-bird within a mile joins in the clamour. They dart at +the hawk as he flies from tree to tree. When he alights on a limb +they give him no peace; they flap their wings in his face, and +call him the worst of names. Even the Derwent Jackass, the +hypocrite with the shining black coat and piercing whistle, joins +in the public outcry, and his character is worse than that of the +hawk himself, for he has been caught in the act of kidnapping and +devouring the unfledged young of his nearest neighbour. The +distracted hawk has at length to retreat dinnerless to the swampy +margin of the river where the tallest tea-trees wave their +feathery tops in the wind.</p> + +<p>In like manner the human hawk was driven from the township. He +descended in the scale of crime, stole a horse, and departed by +night.</p> + +<p>Bill, the butcher, said next day: "Nosey has gone for good +this time. He will ride that horse to death and then steal +another."</p> + +<p>At this time I rode through the Rises and called at the two +huts; I found them occupied by two shepherds not unlike the +former tenants, who knew little and cared less what had become of +their predecessors. Time empties thrones and huts impartially, +and the king feels no pride in his monument of marble, nor the +shepherd any shame beneath the shapeless cairn which hides his +bones.</p> + +<p>At this time the old races both of men and animals were dying +out around Lake Nyalong, and others were taking their places. The +last black child ever seen in the township was brought by its +mother to the hut of a white woman. It was naked and very dirty, +and she laid it down on the clay floor. The white woman's heart +was moved with pity at the sight of the miserable little bairn. +She took it up, washed it with warm water and soap, wrapped it in +flannel, and gave it back to the mother. But the lubra was loath +to receive it. She said, "Black picaninny all die. No good; white +picaninny live."</p> + +<p>The kangaroo, wombat, and dingo were fast dying out, as well a +the blackfellow. We could all see well enough how the change was +brought about. Millions of years ago, new species may have been +evolved out of the old species, but nothing of the kind happens +now. The white men of Australia were not evolved out of the black +men. There are no family ties, and never will be, between the +kangaroo, the wombat and wallaby, and their successors, the +cattle, the sheep, and the goats. We can kill species, but we +can't create any.</p> + +<p>The rabbit, destined to bring Nosey to the gallows, was a +favoured animal on Austin's station at the Barwon. It was a +privilege to shoot him--in small quantities--he was so precious. +But he soon became, as the grammar says, a noun of multitude. He +swarmed on the plains, hopped over the hills, burrowed among the +rocks in the Rises, and nursed his multitudinous progeny in every +hollow log of the forest. Neither mountain, lake, or river ever +barred his passage. He ate up all the grass and starved the +pedigree cattle, the well-born dukes and duchesses, and on tens +of thousands of fertile acres left no food to keep the nibbling +sheep alive. Every hole and crevice of the rocks was full of him. +An uninvited guest, he dropped down the funnel-shaped entrance to +the den of the wombat, and made himself at home with the wild cat +and snake. He clothed the hills with a creeping robe of fur, and +turned the Garden of the West into a wilderness. Science may find +a theory to account for the beginning of all things, but among +all her triumphs she has been unable to put an end to the rabbit. +War has been made upon them by fire, dynamite, phosphorus, and +all deadly poisons; by dogs, cats, weasels, foxes, and ferrets, +but he still marches over the land triumphantly.</p> + +<p>For fifteen years Nosey roamed from station to station under +various names, between Queensland and the Murray, but wherever he +went, the memory of his crime never left him. He had been taught +in his boyhood that murder was one of the four sins crying to +heaven for vengeance, and he knew that sooner or later the cry +would be heard. Sometimes he longed to unburden his mind to a +priest, but he seldom saw or heard of one. The men with whom he +worked and wandered were all like himself--lost souls who had +taken the wrong turn in the beginning of their days, the failures +of all trades and professions; thieves, drunkards, and gamblers; +criminals who had fled from justice; men of pleasure and, +therefore, of misery; youths of good family exported from +England, Ireland, and Scotland to mend their morals, to study +wool, and become rich squatters. All these men get colonial +experience, but it does not make them saintly or rich. Here and +there, all over the endless plains, they at last lie down and +die, the dingoes hold inquests over them, and, literally, they go +to the dogs, because they took the wrong turn in life and would +not come back.</p> + +<p>In 1868 Nosey and his two mates were approaching a station on +the Lachlan. Since sunrise they had travelled ten miles without +breakfast, and were both hungry and weary. They put down their +swags in the shade of a small grove of timber within sight of the +station buildings. Bob Castles said:</p> + +<p>"I was shearing in them sheds in '52 when old Shenty owned the +run. He was a rum old miser, he was, would skin two devils for +one hide; believe he has gone to hell; hope so, at any rate. He +couldn't read nor write much, but he could make money better'n +any man I ever heard of. Bought two runs on the Murray, and paid +180,000 pounds for 'em in one cheque. He kept a lame schoolmaster +to write his cheques and teach his children, gave him 40 pounds a +year, the same as a shepherd. Lived mostly on mutton all the year +round; never killed no beef for the station, but now and then an +old bullock past work, salted him down in the round swamp for a +change o' grub. Never grew no cabbage or wegetables, only a +paddock of potatoes. Didn't want no visitors, 'cos he was afraid +they'd want to select some of his run. Wanted everything to look +as poor and miserable as possible. He put on a clean shirt once a +week, on Sabbath to keep it holy, and by way of being religious. +Kept no fine furniture in the house, only a big hardwood table, +some stools, and candle boxes. After supper old Mother Shenty +scraped the potato skins off the table into her apron --she +always boiled the potatoes in their jackets--and then Shenty lay +down on it and smoked his pipe till bedtime, thinking of the best +way to keep down expenses. A parson came along one day lifting a +subscription for a church, or school, or something. He didn't get +anything out of old Shenty, only a pannikin of tea and some +damper and mutton. The old cove said: 'Church nor school never +gave me nothing, nor do me no good, and I could buy up a heap o' +parsons and schoolmasters if I wanted to, and they were worth +buying. Us squatters is the harrystockrisy out here. The lords at +home sends out their good-for-nothing sons to us, to get rich and +be out of the way, and much good they does. Why don't you parsons +make money by your eddication if it's any good, instead of goin' +round beggin'? You are all after the filthy lucre, wantin' to +live on other folks.' I was holdin' the parson's horse, and when +he got into the saddle, he turns to old Shenty, and says: 'From +rottenness you sprung, and to rottenness you'll go. Your money +will drag you down to hell; you'll want to throw it away, but it +will burn into your soul for all eternity.'</p> + +<p>"I am mortal hungry," continued Bob, "and they don't give no +rations until about sundown, and we'll have to wait six hours. +It's hard lines. I see there's an orchard there now, and most +likely a wegtable garden--and cabbages. I'd like some boiled beef +and cabbage. It wouldn't be no harm to try and get somethin' to +eat, anyhow. What do you say, Ned? You was a swell cove once, and +knows how to talk to the quality. Go and try 'em."</p> + +<p>Ned went and talked to the "quality" so well that he brought +back rations for three.</p> + +<p>Towards the end of the year Nosey arrived at Piney Station, +about forty miles from the Murray, and obtained employment. +Baldy's bones had been lying under the rocks for nearly fifteen +years. It was absurd to suppose they could ever be discovered +now, or if they were, that any evidence could be got out of them. +Nosey felt sure that all danger for himself was passed, but still +the murder was frequently in his mind. The squatter was often +lonely, and his new man was garrulous, and one day Nosey, while +at work, began to relate many particulars of life in the old +country, in Van Diemen's Land, and in the other colonies, and he +could not refrain from mentioning the greatest of his +exploits.</p> + +<p>"I once done a man in Victoria," he said, "when I was +shepherding; he found me out taking his fat sheep, and was going +to inform on me, so I done him with an axe, and put him away so +as nobody could ever find him."</p> + +<p>The squatter thought that Nosey's story was mostly blowing, +especially that part of it referring to the murder. No man who +had really done such a deed, would be so foolish as to confess it +to a stranger.</p> + +<p>Another man was engaged to work at the station. As soon as he +saw Nosey he exclaimed, "Hello, Nosey, is that you?"</p> + +<p>"My name is not Nosey."</p> + +<p>"All right; a name is nothing. We are old chums, anyway."</p> + +<p>That night the two men had a long talk about old times. They +had both served their time in the island, and were, moreover, +"townies," natives of the same town at home. Nosey began the +conversation by saying to his old friend, "I've been a bad boy +since I saw you last --I done a man in Victoria"; and then he +gave the full particulars of his crime, as already related. But +the old chum could not believe the narrative, any more than did +the squatter.</p> + +<p>"Well, Nosey," he said, "you can tell that tale to the +marines."</p> + +<p>In the meantime the runs around Lake Nyalong had been surveyed +by the government and sold. In the Rises the land was being +subdivided and fenced with stone walls, and there was a chance +that Baldy's grave might be discovered if one of the surveyed +lines ran near it, for the stonewallers picked up the rocks as +near as possible to the wall they were building, and usually to +about the distance of one chain on each side of it.</p> + +<p>A man who had a contract for the erection of one of these +walls took with him his stepson to assist in the work. In the +month of August, 1869, they were on their way to their work +accompanied by a dog which chased a rabbit into a pile of rocks. +The boy began to remove the rocks in order to find the rabbit, +and in doing so uncovered part of a human skeleton. He beckoned +to his stepfather, who was rather deaf, to come and look at what +he had found. The man came, took up the skull, and examined +it.</p> + +<p>"I'll be bound this skull once belonged to Baldy," he said. +"There is a hole here behind; and, yes, one jaw has been broken. +That's Nosey's work for sure' I wonder where he is now."</p> + +<p>No work was done at the wall that day, but information was +given to the police.</p> + +<p>Mounted constable Kerry came over to the Rises. The skeleton +was found to be nearly entire; one jaw-bone was broken, and there +was a hole in the back of the skull. The feet were still encased +in a pair of boots laced high above the ankles. There were +portions of a blue-striped shirt, and of a black silk necktie +with reddish stripes. There was also the brim of an oiled +sou'wester' hat, a pipe, and a knife. The chin was very +prominent, and the first molar teeth on the lower jaw were +missing. The remains were carefully taken up and conveyed to +Nyalong; they were identified as those of Baldy; an inquest was +held, and a verdict of wilful murder was returned against Nosey +and his wife.</p> + +<p>After the inquest mounted constable Kerry packed up the +skeleton in a parcel with every small article found with it, +placed it in a sack, put it under his bed, slept over it every +night, and patiently waited for some tidings of the murderer. In +those days news travelled slowly, and the constable guarded his +ghastly treasure for eighteen months.</p> + +<p>Nemesis was all the time on her way to Piney station, but her +steps were slow, and she did not arrive until the seventeenth +anniversary of the disapppearance of Baldy.</p> + +<p>On that day she came under the guise of constable, who +produced a warrant, and said:</p> + +<p>"Cornelius Naso, alias Nosey, alias Pye, I arrest you under +this warrant, charging you with having murdered a shepherd, named +Thomas Balbus, alias Baldy, at Nyalong, in the colony of +Victoria, on the 28th day of February, 1854. You need not say +anything unless you like, but if you do say anything I shall take +it down in writing, and it will be used as evidence against you +at your trial."</p> + +<p>Nosey had nothing to say, except, "I deny the charge"; he had +said too much already.</p> + +<p>He was handcuffed and taken to the police station at Albury. +In one of his pockets a letter was found purporting to be written +by Julia, and disclosing her place of residence.</p> + +<p>Soon afterwards Nosey and his wife met in captivity after +their long separation, but their meeting was not a happy one; +they had no word of welcome for each other.</p> + +<p>The preliminary examination was held in the court house at +Nyalong, and there was a large gathering of spectators when the +proceedings commenced. On a form below the witness box there was +something covered with a white sheet. Men craned their necks and +looked at it over one another's shoulders. The two prisoners eyed +it intently. It was guarded by constable Kerry, who allowed no +one to approach it, but with an authoritative wave of the hand +kept back all impertinent intruders. That day was the proudest in +all his professional career. He had prepared his evidence and his +exhibits with the utmost care. At the proper moment he carefully +removed the white sheet, and the skeleton was exposed to view, +with everything replaced in the position in which it had been +found under the rocks in the Rises. Nosey's face grew livid as he +eyed the evidence of his handiwork; Julia threw up both hands, +and exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Oh! there's poor Baldy that you murdered!"</p> + +<p>Nosey felt that this uncalled-for statement would damage his +chance of escape, so, turning to the bench, he said:</p> + +<p>"Don't mind what the woman says, your lordship; she is not in +her right senses, and always was weak-minded."</p> + +<p>The constable being sworn, related how, on information +received, he had gone to the Stoney Rises, and had uncovered a +skeleton which was lying on a broad flat stone. The bones of the +legs from the knees downward were covered with stones. The boots +were attached to the feet, and were pointing in such a direction +as to show that the body must have rested on the right side. +Large stones, but such as one man could lift, had been placed +over the feet and the legs. The other bones were together, but +had been disturbed. With them he found the brim of an oiled +sou'-westr' hat, a clay tobacco pipe, a rusty clasp-knife with a +hole bored through the handle, fragments of a blue shirt; also +pieces of a striped silk neckerchief, marked D. S. over 3; the +marks had been sewn in with a needle. There was a hole in the +back of the skull, and the left jaw was broken.</p> + +<p>Just at this time a funeral procession, with a few attendants, +passed the court-house on its way to the cemetery. Julia's father +was going to his grave. He had come over the sea lately to spend +the rest of his days in peace and comfort in the home of his +daughter, and he found her in gaol under the charge of murder. +There was nothing more to live for, so he went out and died.</p> + +<p>The two prisoners were committed, but they remained in gaol +for more than seven months longer, on account of the difficulty +of securing the attendance of witnesses from New South Wales.</p> + +<p>But when the evidence was given it was overwhelming. Every man +who had known Baldy seemed to have been kept alive on purpose to +give evidence against the murderer. Every scrap of clothing which +the wild cats had left was identified, together with the knife, +the pipe, the hat brim, and the boots; and the prisoner's own +confession was repeated. Julia also took the side of the +prosecution. When asked if she had any questions to put, she +said, "My husband killed the man, and forced me to help him to +put the body on his horse."</p> + +<p>The jury retired to consider their verdict, and spent two +hours over it. In the meantime the two prisoners sat in the dock +as far apart as possible. They had never spoken to each other +during the trial, and Nosey now said in a low voice:</p> + +<p>"You had no call, Julia, to turn on me the way you did. What +good could it do you? Sure you might at least have said nothing +against me."</p> + +<p>The pent-up bitterness of seventeen years burst forth. The +constable standing near tried to stop the torrent, but he might +as well have tried to turn back a south-east gale with a +feather.</p> + +<p>"I was to say nothing, indeed, was I? And what call had I to +say nothing? Is that what you ask? Was I to stand here all day +and say never a word for myself until they were ready to hang me? +Tell me now, did I murder poor Baldy or did you? Was it not you +who struck him down with the axe without saying as much as 'by +your leave,' either to me or to him? Did you say a word to me +until you finished your bloody work? And then you threatened to +cut me down, too, with the axe, if I didn't hold my tongue, and +help you to lift the man on to your horse. It is this day you +should have remembered before you began that night's work. +Sorrow's the day I ever met you at all, with the miserable life +you led me; and you know I was always the good wife to you until +you gave yourself entirely to the devil with your wicked ways. +Wasn't I always on the watch for you every evening looking for +you, and the chop on the fire, and the hot tea, and everything +comfortable? And is it to hang me now you want to pay me back for +the trouble I took for you and all the misery I suffered these +long years? And the death of my poor father, who found me in +gaol, is at your door too, for he would have been alive and well +this day but for the deed you done, which broke his poor old +heart; the Lord have mercy on him. And who is to blame but your +own self for being in this place at all? You not only done the +man to death, but you must go about the bush bragging of it to +strangers, and twisting the halter for your own neck like a born +idiot; and that's what you are, in spite of your roguery and +cunning."</p> + +<p>And so on for two hours of hell until the jury came back. They +acquitted Julia and found her husband guilty. She left the court +without once looking back, and he faced the jury alone.</p> + +<p>Judge Pohlman had never before sent a man to the gallows. He +made the usual little moral speech, and bewailed his own +misfortune in having to perform so disagreeable a duty. Then he +put on the black cap and passed sentence. At the concluding +words, "May the Lord have mercy on your soul," the condemned man +responded with a fervent "Amen," adding, "And that's the last of +poor Nosey." He seemed greatly relieved when the ceremony was +over, but it was not quite the last, there was another to +follow.</p> + +<p>For ten days he remained in his cell, and no one visited him +except the priest. His examination of conscience was not +difficult, for he had often rehearsed it, and much of it had been +done for him in public.</p> + +<p>He made his last journey between two priests, joining +fervently in their prayers for the dying. His step was firm, and +he showed neither fear nor bravado. The hangman quickly drew down +the cap, but he seemed more flurried than his victim. The +sheriff, without speaking, motioned him to place the knot in the +correct position under the ear. Then the bolt was drawn and the +story of "The Two Shepherds" was finished.</p> + +<p>The man whom Philip met at Bendigo had farms in the country +thinly timbered. North, south, east, and west the land was held +under squatting licenses; with the exception of the home paddocks +it was unfenced, and the stock was looked after by boundary +riders and shepherds. To the south, between Nyalong and the +sea--a distance of fifty or sixty miles--the country was not +occupied by either the white or the black men. It consisted of +ranges of hills heavily timbered, furrowed by deep valleys, +through which flowed innumerable streams, winding their way to +the river of the plains. Sometimes the solitary bushman or +prospector, looking across a deep valley, saw, nestled amongst +the opposite hills, a beautiful meadow of grass. But when he had +crossed the intervening creek and scrubby valley, and continued +his journey to the up-land, he found that the deceitful meadow +was only a barren plain, covered, not with grass, but with the +useless grass-tree. There is a little saccharine matter in the +roots of the grass-tree, and a hopeful man from Corio once built +a sugar-mill near the stream, and took possession of the plain as +a sugar plantation. There was much labour, but very little +sugar.</p> + +<p>In the dense forest, cattle had run wild, and were sometimes +seen feeding in the thinly-timbered grass land outside; but +whenever a horseman approached they dashed headlong into the +scrub where no horseman could follow them. Wild boars and their +progeny also rooted among the tall tussocks in the marshes by the +banks of the river, where it emerged from the ranges into the +plains.</p> + +<p>Blackfish and eels were plentiful in the river, but they were +of a perverse disposition, and would not bite in the day-time. +The bend nearest to Nyalong was twelve miles distant, and Philip +once spent a night there with Gleeson and McCarthy. A fire was +kindled and some fish were caught, but Philip took none home. +Gleeson and McCarthy reserved their catches for their wives and +families, and Philip's fish were all cooked on the fire at +sunrise, and eaten for breakfast. Fishing was sport, certainly, +but it was not profitable, nor exciting, except to the temper. +Sometimes an eel took the bait, and then twisted himself round +the limb of a tree at the bottom of the river. He then pulled all +he was able until either the line or the hook was broken, or his +jaw was torn into strips.</p> + +<p>After midnight Philip was drowsy, and leaned his back against +a tree to woo sweet sleep. But there were mosquitos in millions, +bandicoots hopping close to the fire, and monkey-bears, night +hawks, owls, 'possums and dingoes, holding a corroboree hideous +enough to break the sleep of the dead.</p> + +<p>After breakfast the horses were saddled for home. Philip +carried his revolver in his belt, and Gleeson had a shot-gun. A +kangaroo was seen feeding about a hundred yards distant, and +Gleeson dismounted and shot at it, but it hopped away unharmed. A +few minutes afterwards, as the men were riding along at an easy +walk, three other horsemen suddenly came past them at a gallop, +wheeled about, and faced the fishermen. One was Burridge, a +station manager, the other two were his stockmen. The six men +looked at one another for a few moments without speaking. Both +Gleeson and McCarthy had the Tipperary temper, and it did not +remain idle long.</p> + +<p>"Well," asked Gleeson, "is anything the matter?"</p> + +<p>"I dinna ken yet," said Burridge. "Did na ye hear a gunshot +just now?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I fired at a kangaroo."</p> + +<p>"A kangaroo, eh? Are you sure it was a kangaroo?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, it was a kangaroo. What of that? Oh, I see, you think we +are after shooting your cattle. Is that it? Speak out like a +man."</p> + +<p>"Sometimes a beast is shot about here, and I'd like to find +out who does it."</p> + +<p>"Oh, indeed! you'd like to know who does it, would you? I can +tell you, anyway, who is the biggest cattle duffer round here, if +you'd like to know!" Gleeson touched one flank of his horse with +his heel, and rode close up to Burridge with the gun in his right +hand. "His name is Burridge, and that's yourself. Everybody knows +you, you old Scotch hound. You have as many cattle on the run +with your brand on them as your master has. There is not a bigger +cattle thief than old Burridge within a hundred miles, and you'll +be taken off the run in irons yet. Get out of my way, or I'll be +tempted to send you to blazes before your time."</p> + +<p>Burridge did not go off the run in irons; he left it +honourably for another run which he took up, and stocked with +cattle bearing no brand but his own. Evil tongues might tattle, +but no man could prove that Burridge ever broke the law.</p> + +<p>One fishing excursion to the bend was enough for Philip, but a +pig hunt was organised, and he joined it. The party consisted of +Gleeson, McCarthy, Bill the Butcher, Bob Atkins, and George Brown +the Liar, who brought a rope-net and a cart in which all the game +caught was to be carried home. Five dogs accompanied the party, +viz., Lion and Tiger, crossbred bull and mastiffs, experienced +pig fighters, Sam as a reserve, and three mongrels as light +skirmishers.</p> + +<p>The first animal met with was a huge old boar, the hero of a +hundred fights, the great-grandfather of pigs. He stood at bay +among the tussocks, the dogs barking furiously around him. Bill +the Butcher said, "Keep back, you men, or he'll rip the guts out +of your horses. I know him well. He has only one tusk, but it's a +boomer. Look out sharp till the dogs tackle him, he might make a +rush at some of us."</p> + +<p>The boar was a frightful-looking beast, long, tall, and +slab-sided, in perfect condition for fight, all bone, muscle, and +bristles, with not an ounce of lard in his lean body. He stood +still and stiff as a rock watching the dogs, his one white tusk, +long and keen sticking out above his upper lip. The loss of the +other tusk left him at a disadvantage, as he could only strike +effectively on one side. Lion and Tiger had fought him before, +and he had earned their respect. They were wary and cautious, and +with good reason. Their best hold was by the ears, and these had +been chewed away in former wars, till nothing was left of them +but the ragged roots. Bill the Butcher dismounted, dropped his +bridle, and cheered on the dogs at a prudent distance, "Good +dogs; seek him Lion; hold him Tiger."</p> + +<p>The dogs went nearer and nearer, jumping away whenever the +boar made an attack. At last they seized him by the roots of his +ears, one on each side, and held on. Bob Atkins and Bill +approached the combatants, carrying some strong cord, of New +Zealand flax. A running noose was secured round the hind legs of +the boar; he was then thrown on his side, and his forelegs were +tied together.</p> + +<p>Lion and Tiger stood near panting, with blood dripping from +their open jaws. Philip could not imagine why Bill did not +butcher the beast at once; it seemed impossible that a leathery +old savage like that could ever be transformed into tender pork. +For the present he was left prone on the field of battle, and the +pig hunt proceeded. There was soon much squealing of pigs, and +barking of dogs among the tussocks. Gleenson's dog pinned a young +boar, and after its legs were tied Philip agreed to stand by and +guard it, while Gleeson fetched the cart. But the boar soon +slipped the cord from his legs, and at once attacked his nearest +enemy, rushing at Philip and trying to rip open his boots. +Philip's first impulse was to take out his revolver, and shoot; +but he was always conscientious, and it occurred to him that he +would be committing a breach of trust, as he had undertaken to +guard the game alive until Gleeson came back with the cart. So he +tried to fight the pig with his boots, kicking him on the jaws +right and left. But the pig proved a stubborn fighter, and kept +coming up to the scratch again and again, until Philip felt he +had got into a serious difficulty. He began to think as well as +to kick quickly.</p> + +<p>"If I could only throw the animal to the ground I could hold +him down."</p> + +<p>The dogs had shown him that the proper mode of seizing a hog +was by the ears, so at the next round he seized both ears and +held them. There was a pause in the fight, and Philip took +advantage of it to address his enemy after the manner of the +Greeks and Trojans.</p> + +<p>"I have got you at last, my friend, and the curse of Cromwell +on you, I'd like to murder you without mercy; and if Gleeson +don't come soon he'll find here nothing but dead pig. I must try +to throw you somehow." After examining the pig narrowly he +continued, "It will be done by the hind legs."</p> + +<p>He let go one ear and seized a hind leg instead, taking the +enemy, as it were, both in front and rear. For some time there +was much kicking and squealing, until one scientific kick and a +sudden twist of the hind quarters brought the quarry to +earth.</p> + +<p>Philip knelt on the ribs of his foe, still holding one ear and +one hind leg. Then he proceeded with his speech, gasping for +breath:</p> + +<p>"And this is what happens to a poor man in Australia! Here +have I been fighting a wild beast of a pig for half an hour, just +to keep him alive, and all to oblige a cockatoo farmer, and small +thanks to me for that same. May all the curses--the Lord preserve +us and give us patience; I am forgetting the twelve virtues +entirely."</p> + +<p>Gleeson came at last with the cart and George Brown the Liar; +the pig's legs were again tied together, he was lifted into the +cart and covered with the rope net. Four other pigs were caught, +and then the hunters and dogs returned to the place in which the +old boar had been left. But he had broken or slipped his bonds, +and had gone away. He was tracked to the river, which was narrow +but deep, so he had saved his bacon for another day.</p> + +<p>At the division of the game Philip declined to take any share. +He said:</p> + +<p>"Thanks, I have had pig enough for the present."</p> + +<p>So there were exactly five pigs for the other five men.</p> + +<p>Having been satiated with the pleasures of fishing and +pig-hunting, Philip was next invited to try the pursuit of the +kangaroo. The first meet of men and hounds took place at +Gleeson's farm. McCarthy brought his dogs, and Philip brought +Sam, his revolver, and a club. Barton was too proud to join in +the sport; he despised inferior game. It might amuse new chums, +but it was below the notice of the old trooper, whose business +had been for many years to hunt and shoot bushrangers and +black-fellows, not to mention his regular duty as +flagellator.</p> + +<p>Gleeson that morning was cutting up his pumpkin plants with an +axe.</p> + +<p>"Good morning, Mr. Gleeson," said Philip. "Is anything the +matter? Is it a snake you are killing?"</p> + +<p>Gleeson began to laugh, a little ashamed of himself, and said, +"Look at these cursed pumpkins. I think they are bewitched. Every +morning I come to see if the fruit is growing, but this is what +they do. As soon as they get as big as a small potato, they begin +to wither and turn yellow, and not a bit more will they grow. So +I'm cutting the blessed things to pieces."</p> + +<p>Philip saw that about half the runners had been already +destroyed. He said, "Don't chop any more, Gleeson, and I'll show +you how to make pumpkins grow."</p> + +<p>He picked up a feather in the fowl-yard, and went inside the +garden.</p> + +<p>"Now look at these flowers closely; they are not all alike. +This flower will never turn into a pumpkin, but this one will if +it gets a little of the dust from the first flower. The bees or +other insects usually take the dust from one flower to the other, +but I suppose there are no bees about here just now?"</p> + +<p>Philip then dusted every flower that was open and said: "Now, +my friend, put away the axe, and you will have fruit here yet." +And the pumpkins grew and ripened.</p> + +<p>The two men then went towards the house, and Philip observed +the fragments of a clock scattered about the ground in front of +the verandah.</p> + +<p>"What happened to the clock?" said Philip.</p> + +<p>"Why," replied Gleeson, "the thing wasn't going right at all, +so I took it to pieces just to examine it, and to oil the wheels, +and when I tried to put it together again, the fingers were all +awry, and the pins wouldn't fit in their places, and the pendulum +swung crooked, and the whole thing bothered me so that I just +laid it on the floor of the verandah, and gave it one big kick +that sent it to smithereens. But don't mind me or the clock at +all, master; just come inside, and we'll have a bit o' dinner +before we start."</p> + +<p>Gleeson was the kindest man in the world; all he wanted was a +little patience.</p> + +<p>The kangaroo gave better sport than either the fish or the +pig, and Philip enjoyed it. His mare proved swift, but sometimes +shied at the start, when the kangaroos were in full view. She +seemed to think that there was a kangaroo behind every tree, so +she jumped aside from the trunks. That was to kill Philip at +last, but he had not the least idea what was to happen, and was +as happy as hermits usually are, and they have their troubles and +accidents just like other people.</p> + +<p>The kangaroos when disturbed made for the thick timber, and +the half-grown ones, called "Flying Joeys," always escaped; they +were so swift, and they could jump to such a distance that I +won't mention it, as some ignorant people might call me a liar. +Those killed were mostly does with young, or old men. Any horse +of good speed could round up a heavy old man, and then he made +for the nearest gum tree, and stood at bay with his back to it. +It was dangerous for man or dog to attack him in front, for with +his long hind claws he could cut like a knife.</p> + +<p>Philip's family began to desert him. Bruin, as already stated, +sneaked away and was killed by Hugh Boyle. Joey opened his +cage-door, and flew up a gum tree. When Philip came home from the +school, and saw the empty cage, he called aloud, "Joey, Joey, +sweet pretty Joey," and whistled. The bird descended as far as +the lightwood, but would not be coaxed to come any nearer. He +actually mocked his master, and said, "Ha, ha, ha! who are you? +Who are you? There is na luck aboot the hoose," which soon proved +true, for the next bird Pussy brought into the house was Joey +himself.</p> + +<p>Pup led a miserable life, and died early. The coroner +suspected that he had been murdered by Maggie, but there was no +absolute proof.</p> + +<p>Maggie had really no conscience. She began to gad about the +bush. In her girlish days she wore short frocks, as it were, +having had her wings clipped, but the next spring she went into +society, was a debutante, wore a dress of black and white satin +which shone in the sun, and she grew so vain and flighty, and +strutted about so, that it was really ridiculous to watch her. +She began also to stay out late in the evening, which was very +improper, and before going to bed Philip would go under the +lightwood with a lighted candle, and look for her amongst the +leaves, saying, "Maggie, are you there?" She was generally fast +asleep, and all she could do was to blink her eyes, and say, +"Peet, peet," and fall asleep again. But one night she never +answered at all. She was absent all next day, and many a day +after that. October came, when all the scrub, the lightwood, and +wattle were in full bloom, and the air everywhere was full of +sweetness. Philip was digging his first boiling of new potatoes, +when all at once Maggie swooped down into the garden, and began +strutting about, and picking up the worms and grubs from the soil +newly turned up.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you impudent hussy!" he said. "Where have you been all +this time?" He stooped, and tried to stroke her head as usual +with his forefinger, but Maggie stuck her bill in the ground, +turned a complete somersault, and caught the finger with both +claws, which were very sharp. She held on for a short time, then +dropped nimbly to her feet, and said, "There, now, that will +teach you to behave yourself."</p> + +<p>"Why, Maggie," said Philip, "what on earth is the matter with +you?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, there's nothing the matter with me, I assure you. I +suppose you didn't hear the news, you are such an old +stick-in-the-mud. It was in the papers, though--no cards--and all +the best society ladies knew it of course."</p> + +<p>"Why, Maggie, you don't mean to say you have got a mate?"</p> + +<p>"Of course I have, you horrid man, you are so vulgar. We were +married ages ago. I didn't invite you of course, because I knew +you would make yourself disagreeable--forbid the banns, or +something, and scare away all the ladies and gentlemen, for you +are a most awful fright, with your red hair and freckles, so I +thought it best to say nothing about the engagement until the +ceremony was over. It was performed by the Rev. Sinister Cornix, +and it was a very select affair, I assure you, and the dresses +were so lovely. There were six bridesmaids--the Misses Mudlark. +The Mudlarks, you know, have a good pedigree, they are come of +the younger branch of our family. We were united in the bonds +under a cherry tree. Oh! it was a lovely time, it was indeed, I +assure you."</p> + +<p>"And where are you living now, Maggie?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I am not going to tell you; you are too inquisitive. But +our mansion is on the top of a gum tree. It is among the leaves +at the end of a slender branch. If Hugh Boyle tries to kidnap my +babies, the branch will snap, and he will fall and break his +neck, the wretch. Oh, I assure you we thought of everything +beforehand; for I know you keep a lot of boys bad enough to steal +anything."</p> + +<p>"And what sort of a mate--husband, I mean--have you got?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, he is a perfect gentleman, and so attentive to me. +Latterly he has been a little crusty, I must admit; but you must +not say a word against him. If you do, I'll peck your eyes out. A +family, you know, is so troublesome, and it takes all your time +to feed them. There are two of them, the duckiest little fluffy +darlings you ever saw. They were very hungry this morning, so +when I saw you digging I knew you wouldn't begrudge them a +breakfast, and I just flew down here for it. But bless my soul, +the little darlings will be screaming their hearts out with +hunger while I am talking to you, and himself will be swearing +like a Derviner. So, by-by."</p> + +<p>Philip found Maggie's mansion easily enough; for, in spite of +all her chatter, she had no depth of mind. The tallest gum-tree +was on Barlow's farm which adjoined the forty-acre on the east. +Barlow had been a stockman for several years on Calvert's run, +and had saved money. He invested his money in the Bank of Love, +and the bank broke. It happened in this way.</p> + +<p>A new shepherd from the other side was living with his wife +and daughter near the Rises, and one day when Barlow was riding +over the run, he heard some strange sounds, and stopped his horse +to listen. There was nobody in sight in any direction, and Barlow +said, "There's something the matter at the new shepherd's hut," +and he rode swiftly towards it. As he approached the hut, he +heard the screams of women and the voice of a blackfellow, who +was hammering on the door with his waddy. He was a tame +blackfellow who had been educated at the Missionary Station. He +could write English, say prayers, sing hymns, read the Bible, and +was therefore named Parson Bedford by the Derviners, after the +Tasmanian Missionary. He could box and wrestle so well that few +white men could throw him. He could also drink rum; so whenever +he got any white money he knew how to spend it. He was the best +thief and the worst bully of all the blacks about Nyalong, +because he had been so well educated. I knew him well, and +attended his funeral, walking in the procession with the doctor +and twenty blackfellows. He had a white man's funeral, but there +was no live parson present, so king Coco Quine made an oration, +waving his hands over the coffin, "All same as whitefellow +parson," then we all threw clods on the lid.</p> + +<p>So much noise was made by the women screaming and the Parson +hammering, that the stockman was able to launch one crack of his +stock-whip on the Parson's back before his arrival was observed. +The Parson sprang up into the air like a shot deer, and then took +to his heels. He did not run towards the open plains, but made a +straight line for the nearest part of the Rises. As he ran, Frank +followed at an easy canter, and over and over again he landed his +lash with a crack like a pistol on the behind of the black, who +sprang among the rough rocks which the horse could not cross, and +where the lash could not reach him.</p> + +<center> +<p><a name="bookbush-03"></a><img alt="" src="images/bookbush-03.jpg"></p> + +<p><b>"You stockman, Frank, come off that horse."</b></p> +</center> + +<p>Then there was a parley. The Parson was smarting and furious. +He had learned the colonial art of blowing along with the +language. He threw down his waddy and said:</p> + +<p>"You stockman, Frank, come off that horse, drop your whip, and +I'll fight you fair, same as whitefellow. I am as good a man as +you any day."</p> + +<p>"Do you take me for a blooming fool, Parson? No fear. If ever +I see you at that hut again, or anywhere on the run, I'll cut the +shirt off your back. I shall tell Mr. Calvert what you have been +after, and you'll soon find yourself in chokey with a rope round +your neck."</p> + +<p>The Parson left Nyalong, and when he returned he was dying of +rum and rheumatism.</p> + +<p>Frank rode back to the hut. The mother and daughter had stood +at the door watching him flog the Parson. He was in their eyes a +hero; he had scourged their savage enemy, and had driven him to +the rocks. They were weeping beauties--at least the daughter was +a beauty in Frank's eyes--but now they wiped away their tears, +smoothed their hair, and thanked their gallant knight over and +over again. Two at a time they repeated their story, how they saw +the blackfellow coming, how they bolted the door, and how he +battered it with his club, threatening to kill them if they did +not open it.</p> + +<p>Frank had never before been so much praised and flattered, at +least not since his mother weaned him; but he pretended not to +care. He said:</p> + +<p>"Tut, tut, it's not worth mentioning. Say no more about it. I +would of course have done as much for anybody."</p> + +<p>Of course he could not leave the ladies again to the mercy of +the Parson, so he waited until the shepherd returned with his +flock.</p> + +<p>Then Frank rode away with a new sensation, a something as near +akin to love as a rough stockman could be expected to feel.</p> + +<p>Neddy, the shepherd, asked Mr. Calvert for the loan of arms, +and he taught his wife and daughter the use of old Tower muskets. +He said, "If ever that Parson comes to the hut again, put a +couple of bullets through him."</p> + +<p>After that Frank called at the hut nearly every day, enquiring +if the Parson had been seen anywhere abroad.</p> + +<p>"No," said Cecily, "we haven't seen him any more;" and she +smiled so sweetly, and lowered her eyes, and spoke low, with a +bewitching Tasmanian accent.</p> + +<p>Frank was in the mud, and sinking daily deeper and deeper. At +last he resolved to turn farmer and leave the run, so he rented +the land adjoining Philip's garden and the forty-acre. There was +on it a four-roomed, weather-board house and outbuildings, quite +a bush palace. Farming was then profitable. Frank ploughed a +large paddock and sowed it with wheat and oats. Then while the +grain was ripening he resolved to ask Cecily a very important +question. One Sunday he rode to the hut with a spare horse and +side saddle. Both horses were well groomed, the side saddle was +new, the bits, buckles, and stirrup-irons were like burnished +silver. Cecily could ride well even without a saddle, but had +never owned one. She yielded to temptation, but with becoming +coyness and modesty. Frank put one hand on his knee, holding the +bridle with the other; then Cicely raised one of her little feet, +was lifted lightly on to the saddle, and the happy pair cantered +gaily over the plain to their future home.</p> + +<p>Frank showed his bride-elect the land and the crops, the cows +and the horses, the garden and the house. Cecily looked at +everything, but said next to nothing. "She is shy," Frank +thought, "and I must treat her gently." But the opportunity must +not be thrown away, and on their way over the plains Frank told +his tale of love. I don't know precisely what he said or how he +said it, not having been present, but he did not hook his fish +that day, and he took home with him the bait, the horse, and the +empty side-saddle. But he persevered with his suit, and before +the wheat was ripe, Cecily consented to be his bride.</p> + +<p>He was so overjoyed with his success that instead of waiting +for the happy day when he had to say "With this ring I thee wed, +with all my worldly goods I thee endow," he gave Cecily the +worldly goods beforehand--the horse, with the beautiful new side +saddle and bridle--and nearly all his cash, reserving only +sufficient to purchase the magic ring and a few other +necessaries.</p> + +<p>The evening before the happy day the pair were seen walking +together before sundown on a vacant lot in the township, +discussing, it was supposed, the arrangements for the morrow.</p> + +<p>It was the time of the harvest, and Philip had been engaged to +measure the work of the reapers on a number of farms. I am aware +that he asked and received 1 pound for each paddock, irrespective +of area. On the bridal morn he walked over Frank's farm with his +chain and began the measurement, the reapers, most of them broken +down diggers, following him and watching him. Old Jimmy Gillon +took one end of the chain; he said he had been a chainman when +the railway mania first broke out in Scotland, so he knew all +about land surveying. Frank was absent, but he returned while +Philip was calculating the wages payable to each reaper, and he +said: "Here's the money, master; pay the men what's coming to 'em +and send 'em away."</p> + +<p>Frank looked very sulky, and Philip was puzzled. He knew the +blissful ceremony was to take place that day, but there was no +sign of it, nor of any bliss whatever; no wedding garments, no +parson, no bride.</p> + +<p>The bare matter of fact was, the bride had eloped during the +night.</p> + +<blockquote>"For young Lochinvar had come out of the West,<br> +And an underbred, fine-spoken fellow was he."</blockquote> + +<p>He was a bullock-driver of superior manners and attractive +personality, and was the only man in Australia who waxed and +curled his moustaches. Cecily had for some time been listening to +Lochinvar, who was known to have been endeavouring to "cut out" +Frank. She was staying in the township with her mother preparing +for matrimony, and her horse was in the stable at Howell's +Hotel.</p> + +<p>When Frank rode away to his farm on that fateful evening, +Lochinvar was watching him. He saw Cecily going home to her +mother for the last night, and while he was looking after her +wistfully, and the pangs of despairing love were in his heart, +Bill the Butcher came up and said:</p> + +<p>"Well, Lock, what are you going to do?"</p> + +<p>"Why, what can I do? She is going to marry Frank in the +morning."</p> + +<p>"I don't believe it: not if you are half the man you ought to +be."</p> + +<p>"But how can I help it?"</p> + +<p>"Help it? Just go and take her. Saddle your horse and her own, +take 'em up to the cottage, and ask her just to come outside for +a minute. And if you don't persuade her in five minutes to ride +away with you to Ballarat, I'll eat my head off. I know she don't +want to marry Frank; all she wants is an excuse not to, and it +will be excuse enough when she has married you."</p> + +<p>These two worthy men went to the Hotel and talked the matter +over with Howell. The jolly landlord slapped his knee and +laughed. He said: "You are right, Bill. She'll go, I'll bet a +fiver, and here it is, Lock; you take it to help you along."</p> + +<p>This base conspiracy was successful, and that was the reason +Frank was so sulky on that harvest morning.</p> + +<p>He was meditating vengeance. Love and hate, matrimony and +murder, are sometimes not far asunder, but Frank was not by +nature vengeful; he had that "foolish hanging of the nether lip +which shows a lack of decision."</p> + +<p>I would not advise any man to seek in a law court a sovereign +remedy for the wounds inflicted by the shafts of Cupid; but Frank +tried it. During his examination in chief his mien was gloomy and +his answers brief.</p> + +<p>Then Mr. Aspinall rose and said: "I appear for the defendant, +your Honour, but from press of other engagements I have been +unable to give that attention to the legal aspects of this case +which its importance demands, and I have to request that your +Honour will be good enough to adjourn the court for a quarter of +an hour."</p> + +<p>The court was adjourned for half an hour, and Mr. Aspinall and +his solicitor retired to a room for a legal consultation. It +began thus:</p> + +<p>"I say, Lane, fetch me a nobbler of brandy; a stiffener, +mind."</p> + +<p>Lane fetched the stiffener in a soda-water bottle, and it +cleared the legal atmosphere.</p> + +<p>When the court resumed business, Frank took his stand in the +witness box, and a voice said: "Now, Mr. Barlow, look at me."</p> + +<p>Frank had been called many names in his time, but never "Mr. +Barlow" before now. He looked and saw the figure of a little man +with a large head, whose voice came through a full-grown nose +like the blast of a trumpet.</p> + +<p>"You say you gave Cecily some money, a horse, saddle, and +bridle?"</p> + +<p>"I did."</p> + +<p>"And you bought a wedding ring?"</p> + +<p>"I've got it in my pocket."</p> + +<p>"I see. Your Honour will be glad to hear that the ring, at any +rate, is not lost. It will be ready for another Cecily, won't it, +Mr. Barlow?"</p> + +<p>Barlow, looking down on the floor of the court and shaking his +head slowly from side to side, said:</p> + +<p>"No, it won't No fear. There 'ull be no more Cecilies for +me."</p> + +<p>There was laughter in the court, and when Frank raised his +eyes, and saw a broad grin on every face, he, too, burst into a +fit of laughter.</p> + +<p>I saw Mr. Aspinall and Dr. Macadam walking together arm-in-arm +from the court. The long doctor and the little lawyer were a +strange pair. Everybody knew that they were sliding down the easy +slope to their tragic end, but they seemed never to think of +it.</p> + +<p>Frank returned to Nyalong, happier than either. He related the +particulars of the trial to his friends with the utmost +cheerfulness. Whether he recovered all the worldly goods with +which he had endowed Cecily is doubtful, but he faithfully kept +his promise that "There 'ull be no more Cecilies for me."</p> + +<p>There was a demon of mischief at work on Philip's hill at both +sides of the dividing fence. Sam was poisoned by a villainous +butcher; Bruin had been killed by Hugh Boyle; Maggie had eloped +with a wild native to a gum-tree; Joey had been eaten by Pussy; +Barlow had been crossed in love, and then the crowning misfortune +befell the hermit.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Chisholm was a lady who gave early tokens of her +vocation. At the age of seven she began to form benevolent plans +for the colonies of Great Britain. She built ships of broad +beans, filled them with poor families of Couchwood, sent them to +sea in a wash-basin, landed them in a bed-quilt, and started them +growing wheat. Then she loaded her fleet with a return cargo for +the British pauper, one grain of wheat in each ship, and +navigated it safely to Old England. She made many prosperous +voyages, but once a storm arose which sent all her ships to the +bottom of the sea. She sent a Wesleyan minister and a Catholic +priest to Botany Bay in the same cabin, strictly enjoining them +not to quarrel during the voyage. At the age of twenty she +married Captain Chisholm, and went with him to Madras. There she +established a School of Industry for Girls, and her husband +seconded her in all her good works.</p> + +<p>Mr. Chamier, the secretary, took a great interest in her +school; Sir Frederick Adams subscribed 20 pounds, and officers +and gentlemen in Madras contributed in five days 2,000 rupees. +The school became an extensive orphanage.</p> + +<p>Mrs. and Captain Chisholm came to Australia in 1838 for the +benefit of his health, and they landed at Sydney. They saw +Highland immigrants who could not speak English, and they gave +them tools and wheelbarrows wherewith to cut and sell +firewood.</p> + +<p>Captain Chisholm returned to India in 1840, but the health of +her young family required Mrs. Chisholm to remain in Sydney.</p> + +<p>Female immigrants arriving in Sydney were regularly hired on +board ship, and lured into a vicious course of life. Mrs. +Chisholm went on board each ship, and made it her business to +protect and advise them, and begged the captain and agent to act +with humanity. Some place of residence was required in which the +new arrivals could be sheltered, until respectable situations +could be found for them, and in January, 1841, she applied to +Lady Gipps for help. A committee of ladies was formed, and Mrs. +Chisholm at length obtained a personal audience from the +Governor, Sir George Gipps. He believed she was labouring under +an amiable delusion. He wrote to a friend:</p> + +<p>"I expected to have seen an old lady in a white cap and +spectacles, who would have talked to me about my soul. I was +amazed when my aide introduced a handsome, stately young woman, +who proceeded to reason the question as if she thought her +reason, and experience too, worth as much as mine."</p> + +<p>Sir George at last consented to allow her the use of a +Government building, a low wooden one. Her room was seven feet by +seven feet. Rats ran about in it in all directions, and then +alighted on her shoulders. But she outgeneraled the rats. She +gave them bread and water the first night, lit two candles, and +sat up in bed reading "Abercrombie." There came never less than +seven nor more than thirteen rats eating at the same time. The +next night she gave them another feast seasoned with arsenic.</p> + +<p>The home for the immigrants given her by Sir George had four +rooms, and in it at one time she kept ninety girls who had no +other shelter. About six hundred females were then wandering +about Sydney unprovided for. Some slept in the recesses of the +rocks on the Government domain. She received from the ships in +the harbour sixty-four girls, and all the money they had was +fourteen shillings and three half-pence.</p> + +<p>She took them to the country, travelling with a covered cart +to sleep in. She left married families at different stations, and +then sent out decent lasses who should be married.</p> + +<p>In those days the dead bodies of the poor were taken to the +cemetery in a common rubbish-cart.</p> + +<p>By speeches and letters both public and private, and by +interviews with influential men, Mrs. Chisholm sought help for +the emigrants both in Sydney and England, where she opened an +office in 1846.</p> + +<p>In the year 1856 Major Chisholm took a house at Nyalong, near +Philip's school. Two of the best scholars were John and David. +When David lost his place in the class he burst into tears, and +the Blakes and the Boyles laughed. The Major spoke to the boys +and girls whenever he met them. He asked John to tell him how +many weatherboards he would have to buy to cover the walls of his +house, which contained six rooms and a lean-to, and was built of +slabs. John measured the walls and solved the problem promptly. +The Major then sent his three young children to the school, and +made the acquaintance of the master.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Chisholm never went to Nyalong, but the Major must have +given her much information about it, for one day he read a +portion of one of her letters which completely destroyed Philip's +peace of mind. It was to the effect that he was to open a school +for boarders at Nyalong, and, as a preliminary, marry a wife. The +Major said that if Philip had no suitable young lady in view, +Mrs. Chisholm, he was sure, would undertake to produce one at a +very short notice. She had the whole matter already planned, and +was actually canvassing for pupils among the wealthiest families +in the colony. The Major smiled benevolently, and said it was of +no use for Philip to think of resisting Mrs. Chisholm; when she +had once made up her mind, everybody had to give way, and the +thing was settled. Philip, too, smiled faintly, and tried to look +pleased, dissembling his outraged feelings, but he went away in a +state of indignation. He actually made an attack on the twelve +virtues, which seemed all at once to have conspired against his +happiness. He said: "If I had not kept school so conscientiously, +this thing would never have happened. I don't want boarders, and +I don't want anybody to send me a wife to Nyalong. I am not, +thank God, one of the royal family, and not even Queen Victoria +shall order me a wife."</p> + +<p>In that way the lonely hermit put his foot down and began a +countermine, working as silently as possible.</p> + +<p>During the Christmas holidays, after his neighbour Frank had +been jilted by Cecily, he rode away, and returned after a week's +absence. The Major informed him that Mrs. Chisholm had met with +an accident and would be unable to visit Nyalong for some time. +Philip was secretly pleased to hear the news, outwardly he +expressed sorrow and sympathy, and nobody but himself suspected +how mean and deceitful he was.</p> + +<p>At Easter he rode away again and returned in less than a week. +Next day he called at McCarthy's farm and dined with the family. +He said he had been married the previous morning before he had +started for Nyalong, and had left his wife at the Waterholes. +McCarthy began to suspect that Philip was a little wrong in his +head; it was a kind of action that contradicted all previous +experience. He could remember various lovers running away +together before marriage, but he could not call to mind a single +instance in which they ran away from one another immediately +after marriage. But he said to himself, "It will all be explained +by-and-by," and he refrained from asking any impertinent +questions merely to gratify curiosity.</p> + +<p>After dinner Gleeson, Philip, and McCarthy rode into the bush +with the hounds. A large and heavy "old man" was sighted; and the +dogs stuck him up with his back to a tree. While they were +growling and barking around the tree Gleeson dismounted, and, +going behind the tree, seized the "old man" by the tail. The +kangaroo kept springing upwards and at the dogs, dragging Gleeson +after him, who was jerking the tail this way and that to bring +his game to the ground, for the "old man" was so tall that the +dogs could not reach his throat while he stood upright. Philip +gave his horse to McCarthy and approached the "old man" with his +club.</p> + +<p>"Shoot him with your revolver," said Gleeson. "If I let go his +tail, he'll be ripping you with his toe."</p> + +<p>"I might shoot you instead," said Philip; "better to club him. +Hold on another moment."</p> + +<p>Philip's first blow was dodged by the kangaroo, but the second +fell fairly on the skull; he fell down, and Ossian, a big and +powerful hound, seized him instantly by the throat and held on. +The three men mounted their horses and rode away, but Philip's +mare was, as usual, shying at every tree. As he came near one +which had a large branch, growing horizontally from the trunk, +his mare spring aside, carried him under the limb, which struck +his head, and threw him to the ground. He never spoke again.</p> + +<p>After the funeral, McCarthy rode over to the Rocky Waterholes +to make some enquiries. He called at Mrs. Martin's residence, and +he said:</p> + +<p>"Mr. Philip told us he was married the day before the +accident, but it seemed so strange, we could not believe it; so I +thought I would just ride over and enquire about it, for, of +course, if he had a wife, she will be entitled to whatever little +property he left behind him."</p> + +<p>"Yes, it's quite true," said Mrs. Martin. "They were married +sure enough. He called here at Christmas, and said he would like +to see Miss Edgeworth; but she was away on a visit to some +friends. I asked him if he had any message to leave for her, but +he said, 'Oh, no; only I thought I should like to see how she is +getting along. That's all, thank you. I might call again at +Easter.' So he went away. On last Easter Monday he came again. Of +course I had told Miss Edgeworth, about his calling at Christmas +and enquiring about her, and it made me rather suspicious when he +came again. As you may suppose, I could not help taking notice; +but for two days, nor, in fact, for the whole week, was there the +slightest sign of anything like lovemaking between them. No +private conversation, no walking out together, nothing but +commonplace talk and solemn looks. I said to myself, 'If there is +anything between them, they keep it mighty close to be sure.' On +the Tuesday evening, however, he spoke to me. He said:</p> + +<p>"'I hope you won't mention it, Mrs. Martin, but I would like +to have a little advice from you, if you would be so kind as to +give it. Miss Edgeworth has been living with you for some time, +and you must be well acquainted with her. I am thinking of making +a proposal, but our intercourse has been so slight, that I should +be pleased first to have your opinion on the matter.'</p> + +<p>"'Mr. Philip,' I said, 'you really must not ask me to say +anything one way or the other, for or against. I have my own +sentiments, of course; but nobody shall ever say that I either +made a match or marred one.'</p> + +<p>"Nothing happened until the next day. In the afternoon Miss +Edgeworth was alone in this room, when I heard Mr. Philip walking +down the passage, and stopping at the door, which was half open. +I peeped out, and then put off my slippers, and stepped a little +nearer, until through the little opening between the door and the +door-post, I could both see and hear them. He was sitting on the +table, dangling his boots to and fro just above the floor, and +she was sitting on a low rocking-chair about six feet distant. He +did not beat about the bush, as the saying is; did not say, 'My +dear,' or 'by your leave, Miss,' or 'excuse me,' or anything +nice, as one would expect from a gentleman on a delicate occasion +of the kind, but he said, quite abruptly:</p> + +<p>"'How would you like to live at Nyalong, Miss Edgeworth?'</p> + +<p>"She was looking on the floor, and her fingers were playing +with a bit of ribbon, and she was so nice and winsome, and well +dressed, you couldn't have helped giving her a kiss. She never +raised her eyes to his face, but I think she just looked as high +as his boots, which were stained and dusty. The silly man was +waiting for her to say something; but she hung down her head, and +said nothing. At last he said:</p> + +<p>"'I suppose you know what I mean, Miss Edgeworth?'</p> + +<p>"'Yes,' she said, in a low voice. 'I know what you mean, thank +you.'</p> + +<p>"Then there was silence for I don't know how long; it was +really dreadful, and I couldn't think how it was going to end. At +last he heaved a big sigh, and said:</p> + +<p>"'Well, Miss Edgeworth, there is no need to hurry; take time +to think about it. I am going to ride out, and perhaps you will +be good enough to let me know your mind when I come back.'</p> + +<p>"Then he just shook her hand, and I hurried away from the +door. It was rather mean of me to be listening to them, but I +took as much interest in Miss Edgeworth as if she were my own +daughter.</p> + +<p>"'There is no need to hurry,' he had said, but in my opinion +there was too much hurry, for they were married on the Saturday, +and he rode away the same morning having to open school again on +Monday.</p> + +<p>"Of course, Miss Edgeworth was a good deal put about when we +heard what had happened, through the papers, but I comforted her +as much as possible. I said, 'as for myself, I had never liked +the look of the poor man with his red hair and freckles. I am +sure he had a bad temper at bottom, for red-haired men are always +hasty; and then he had a high, thin nose, and men of that kind +are always close and stingy, and the stingiest man I ever knew +was a Dublin man. Then his manners, you must remember, were +anything but nice; he didn't wasteany compliments on you before +you married him, so you may just fancy what kind of compliments +you would have had to put up with afterwards. And perhaps you +have forgotten what you said yourself about him at Bendigo. You +were sure he was a severe master, you could see sternness on his +brow. And however you could have consented to go to the altar +with such a man I cannot understand to this day. I am sure it was +a very bad match, and by-and-by you will thank your stars that +you are well out of it.'</p> + +<p>"I must acknowledge that Miss Edgeworth did not take what I +said to comfort her very kindly, and she 'gave me fits,' as the +saying is; but bless your soul, she'll soon get over it, and will +do better next time."</p> + +<p>Soon after the death of Philip, Major Chisholm and his family +left Nyalong, and I was appointed Clerk to the Justices at Colac. +I sat under them for twelve years, and during that time I wrote a +great quantity of criminal literature. When a convict of good +conduct in Pentridge was entitled to a ticket-of-leave, he +usually chose the Western district as the scene of his future +labours, so that the country was peopled with old Jack Bartons +and young ones. Some of the young ones had been Philip's +scholars--viz., the Boyles and the Blakes. They were friends of +the Bartons, and Old John, the ex-flogger, trained them in the +art of cattle-lifting. His teaching was far more successful than +that of Philip's, and when in course of time Hugh Boyle appeared +in the dock on a charge of horse-stealing, I was pained but not +surprised. Barton, to whose farm the stolen horse had been +brought by Hugh, was summoned as witness for the Crown, but he +organised the evidence for the defence so well that the prisoner +was discharged.</p> + +<p>On the next occasion both Hugh and his brother James were +charged with stealing a team of bullocks, but this time the +assistance of Barton was not available. The evidence against the +young men was overwhelming, and we committed them for trial. I +could not help pitying them for having gone astray so early in +life. They were both tall and strong, intelligent and alert, good +stockmen, and quite able to earn an honest living in the bush. +They had been taught their duty well by Philip, but bad example +and bad company out of school had led them astray. The owner of +the bullocks, an honest young boor named Cowderoy, was sworn and +gave his evidence clearly. Hugh and James knew him well. They had +no lawyer to defend them, and when the Crown Prosecutor sat down, +there seemed no loophole left for the escape of the accused, and +I mentally sentenced them to seven years on the roads, the +invariable penalty for their offence.</p> + +<p>But now the advantages of a good moral education were +brilliantly exemplified.</p> + +<p>"Have you any questions to put to this witness?" asked the +Judge of the prisoners.</p> + +<p>"Yes, your Honour," said Hugh. Then turning to Cowderoy, he +said: "Do you know the nature of an oath?"</p> + +<p>The witness looked helplessly at Hugh, then at the Judge and +Crown Prosecutor; stood first on one leg, then on the other; +leaned down with his elbows on the edge of the witness-box +apparently staggering under the weight of his own ignorance.</p> + +<p>"Why don't you answer the question?" asked the Judge sharply. +"Do you know the nature of an oath?"</p> + +<p>Silence.</p> + +<p>Mr. Armstrong saw his case was in danger of collapse, so he +said: "I beg to submit, your Honour, that this question comes too +late and should have been put to the witness before he was sworn. +He has already taken the oath and given his evidence."</p> + +<p>"The question is a perfectly fair one, Mr. Armstrong," said +the Judge: and turning to the witness he repeated: "Do you know +the nature of an oath?"</p> + +<p>"No," said Cowderoy.</p> + +<p>The prisoners were discharged, thanks to their good +education.</p> + +<p><a name="ch-10"></a></p> + +<h3>A VALIANT POLICE-SERGEANT.</h3> + +<p>Sergeant Hyde came to my office and asked me to accompany him +as far as Murray Street. He said there was a most extraordinary +dispute between a white woman and a black lubra about the +ownership of a girl, and he had some doubts whether it was a case +within the jurisdiction of a police-court, but thought we might +issue a summons for illegal detention of property. He wanted me +to advise him, and give my opinion on the matter, and as by this +time my vast experience of Justices' law entitled me to give an +opinion on any imaginable subject, I very naturally complied with +his request. He was, moreover, a man so remarkable that a request +by him for advice was of itself an honour. In his youth he had +been complimented on the possession of a nose exactly resembling +that of the great Duke of Wellington, and ever since that time he +had made the great man the guiding star of his voyage over the +ocean of life, the only saint in his calendar; and he had, as far +as human infirmity would permit, modelled his conduct and +demeanour in imitation of those of the immortal hero. He spoke +briefly, and in a tone of decision. The expression of his face +was fierce and defiant, his bearing erect, his stride measured +with soldierly regularity. He was not a large man, weighing +probably about nine stone; but that only enhanced his dignity, as +it is a great historical fact that the most famous generals have +been nearly all small men.</p> + +<p>When he came into my office, he always brought with him an +odour of peppermint, which experience had taught me to associate +with the proximity of brandy or whisky. I have never heard or +read that the Iron Duke took pepperment lozenges in the morning, +but still it might have been his custom to do so. The sergeant +was a Londoner, and knew more about the private habits of his +Grace than I did. If he had been honoured with the command of a +numerous army, he would, no doubt, have led it onward, or sent it +forward to victory. His forces, unfortunately, consisted of only +one trooper, but the way in which he ordered and manoeuvred that +single horseman proved what glory he would have won if he had +been placed over many squadrons. By a general order he made him +parade outside the gate of the station every morning at ten +o'clock. He then marched from the front door with a majestic mien +and inspected the horse, the rider, and accoutrements. He walked +slowly round, examining with eagle eye the saddle, the bridle, +the bits, the girth, the sword, pistols, spurs, and buckles. If +he could find no fault with anything, he gave in brief the word +of command, "Patrol the forest road," or any other road on which +an enemy might be likely to appear. I never saw the sergeant +himself on horseback. He might have been a gay cavalier in the +days of his fiery youth, but he was not one now.</p> + +<p>As we passed the "Crook and Plaid Hotel," on our return to the +court-house, after investigating the dispute in Murray Street, I +observed a stranger standing near the door, who said:</p> + +<p>"Hello, Hyde! is that you?"</p> + +<p>He was evidently addressing the sergeant, but the latter +merely gave him a slight glance, and went away with his noble +nose in the air.</p> + +<p>The stranger looked after him and laughed. He said:</p> + +<p>"That policeman was once a shepherd of mine up in Riverina, +but I see he don't know me now--has grown too big for his boots. +Cuts me dead, don't he? Ha! ha! ha! Well I never!"</p> + +<p>The stranger's name was Robinson; he had been selling some +cattle to a neighbouring squatter, and was now on his way home. +He explained how he had, just before the discovery of gold, hired +Hyde as a shepherd, and had given him charge of a flock of +sheep.</p> + +<p>There were still a few native blacks about the run, but by +this time they were harmless enough: never killed shepherds, or +took mutton without leave. They were somewhat addicted to petty +larceny, but felony had been frightened out of their souls long +ago. They knew all the station hands, and the station hands knew +them. They soon spotted a new chum, and found out the soft side +of him; and were generally able to coax or frighten him to give +them tobacco, some piece of clothing, or white money.</p> + +<p>When the new shepherd had been following his flock for a few +days, Mr. Robinson, while looking out from the verandah of his +house over the plains, observed a strange object approaching at +some distance. He said to himself, "That is not a horseman, nor +an emu, nor a native companion, nor a swagman, nor a kangaroo." +He could not make it out; so he fetched his binocular, and then +perceived that it was a human being, stark naked. His first +impression was that some unfortunate traveller had lost his way +in the wide wilderness, or a station hand had gone mad with +drink, or that a sundowner had become insane with hunger, thirst, +and despair.</p> + +<p>He took a blanket and went to meet the man, in order that he +might cover him decently before he arrived too near the house. It +was Hyde, the new shepherd, who said he had been stripped by the +blacks.</p> + +<p>From information afterwards elicited by Robinson it appeared +that the blacks had approached Hyde in silence while his back was +turned to them. The sight of them gave a sudden shock to his +system. He was totally unprepared for such an emergency. If he +had had time to recall to memory some historical examples, he +might have summoned up his sinking courage, and have done a deed +worthy of record. There was David, the youthful shepherd of +Israel, who slew a lion and a bear, and killed Goliath, the +gigantic champion of the Philistines. There were the Shepherd +Kings, who ruled the land of Egypt. there was one-eyed +Polyphemus, moving among his flocks on the mountain tops of +Sicily; a monster, dreadful, vast, and hideous; able to roast and +eat these three blackfellows at one meal. And nearer our own time +was the youth whose immortal speech begins, "My name is Norval; +on the Grampian Hills my father fed his flocks." Our shepherd had +a stick in his hand and a collie dog at his command. Now was the +time for him to display "London Assurance" to some purpose; and +now was the time for the example of the ever-victorious Duke to +work a miracle of valour. But the crisis had come on too quickly, +and there was no time to pump up bravery from the deep well of +history. The unearthly ugliness of the savages, their thick lips, +prominent cheek bones, scowling and overhanging brows, broad snub +noses, matted black hair, and above all the keen, steady, and +ferocious scrutiny of their deep-set eyes, extinguished the last +spark of courage in the heart of Hyde. He did not look fierce and +defiant any more. He felt inclined to be very civil, so he smiled +a sickly smile and tried to say something, but his chin wobbled, +and his tongue would not move.</p> + +<p>The blacks came nearer, and one of them said, "Gib fig +tobacker, mate?" Here was a gleam of hope, a chance of postponing +his final doom. When a foe cannot be conquered, it is lawful to +pay him to be merciful; to give him an indemnity for his trouble +in not kicking you. The shepherd instantly pulled out his +tobacco, his pipe, his tobacco-knife, and matches, and handed +them over. A second blackfellow, seeing him so ready to give, +took the loan of his tin billy, with some tea and sugar in it, +and some boiled mutton and damper. These children of the plains +now saw that they had come upon a mine of wealth, and they worked +it down to the bed rock. One after another, and with the willing +help of the owner, they took possession of his hat, coat, shirt, +boots, socks, trousers, and drawers, until the Hyde was +completely bare, as naked, and, it is to be hoped, as innocent, +as a new-born babe. His vanity, which was the major part of his +personality, had vanished with his garments, and the remnant left +of body and soul was very insignificant.</p> + +<p>Having now delivered up everything but his life, he had some +hope that his enemies might at least spare him that. They were +jabbering to one another at a great rate, trying on, putting off, +and exchanging first one article and then another of the spoils +they had won. They did not appear to think that the new chum was +worth looking after any longer. So he began slinking away slowly +towards his flock of sheep, trying to look as if nothing in +particular was the matter; but he soon turned in the direction of +the home station. He tried to run, and for a short time fear +winged his feet; but the ground was hard and rough, and his feet +were tender; and though he believed that death and three devils +were behind him, he could go but slowly. A solitary eaglehawk sat +on the top branch of a dead gum-tree, watching him with evil +eyes; a chorus of laughing jackasses cackled after him in +derision from a grove of young timber; a magpie, the joy of the +morning, and most mirthful of birds, whistled for him sweet notes +of hope and good cheer; then a number of carrion crows beheld +him, and approached with their long-drawn, ill-omened "croank, +croank," the most dismal note ever uttered by any living thing. +They murder sick sheep, and pick out the eyes of stray lambs. +They made short straggling flights, alighting on the ground in +front of the miserable man, inspecting his condition, and +calculating how soon he would be ready to be eaten. They are +impatient gluttons, and often begin tearing their prey before it +is dead.</p> + +<p>Mr. Robinson clothed the naked, and then mounted his horse and +went for the blacks. In a short time he returned with them to the +station, and made them disgorge the stolen property, all but the +tea, sugar, mutton, and damper, which were not returnable. He +gave them some stirring advice with his stockwhip, and ordered +them to start for a warmer climate. He then directed Hyde to +return to his sheep, and not let those blank blacks humbug him +out of clothes any more. But nothing would induce the shepherd to +remain another day; he forswore pastoral pursuits for the rest of +his life. His courage had been tried and found wanting; he had +been covered--or, rather, uncovered--with disgrace; and his +dignity--at least in Riverina --was gone for ever. In other +scenes, and under happier auspices, he might recover it, but on +Robinson's station he would be subjected to the derision of the +station hands as long as he stayed.</p> + +<p>How he lived for some time afterwards is unknown; but in 1853 +he was a policeman at Bendigo diggings. At that time any man able +to carry a carbine was admitted into the force without question. +It was then the refuge of the penniless, of broken-down +vagabonds, and unlucky diggers. Lords and lags were equally +welcomed without characters or references from their former +employers, the Masters' and Servants' Act having become a dead +letter. Hyde entered the Government service, and had the good +sense to stay there. His military bearing and noble mien +proclaimed him fit to be a leader of men, and soon secured his +promotion. He was made a sergeant, and in a few years was +transferred to the Western District, far away, as he thought, +from the scene of his early adventure.</p> + +<p>He lived for several years after meeting with and cutting his +old employer, Robinson, and died at last of dyspepsia and +peppermints, the disease and the remedy combined.</p> + +<p><a name="ch-11"></a></p> + +<h3>WHITE SLAVES.</h3> + +<p>Many men who had been prisoners of the Crown, or seamen, lived +on the islands in Bass' Straits, as well as on islands in the +Pacific Ocean, fishing, sealing, or hunting, and sometimes +cultivating patches of ground. The freedom of this kind of life +was pleasing to those who had spent years under restraint in +ships, in gaols, in chain-gangs, or as slaves to settlers in the +bush, for the lot of the assigned servant was often worse than +that of a slave, as he had to give his labour for nothing but +food and clothing, and was liable to be flogged on any charge of +disobedience, insolence, or insubordination which his master +might choose to bring against him. Moreover, the black slave +might be sold for cash, for five hundred to a thousand dollars, +according to the quality of the article and the state of the +market, so that it was for the enlightened self-interest of the +owner to keep him in saleable condition. But the white slave was +unsaleable, and his life of no account. When he died another +could be obtained for nothing from the cargo of the next convict +ship.</p> + +<p>Some masters treated their men well according to their +deserts; but with regard to others, the exercise of despotic +authority drew forth all the evil passions of their souls, and +made them callous to the sufferings of their servants.</p> + +<p>The daily fear of the lash produced in the prisoners a +peculiar expression of countenance, and a cowed and slinking +gait, which I have never seen in any other men, white or black. +And that gait and expression, like that of a dog crouching at the +heels of a cruel master in fear of the whip, remained still after +the prisoners had served the time of their sentences, and had +recovered their freedom. They never smiled, and could never +regain the feelings and bearing of free men; they appeared to +feel on their faces the brand of Cain, by which they were known +to all men, and the scars left on their backs by the cruel lash +could never be smoothed away. Whenever they met, even on a lonely +bush track, a man who, by his appearance might be a magistrate or +a Government officer, they raised a hand to the forehead in a +humble salute by mere force of habit. There were some, it is +true, whose spirits were never completely broken--who fought +against fate to the last, and became bushrangers or murderers; +but sooner or later they were shot, or they were arrested and +hanged. The gallows-tree on the virgin soil of Australia +flourished and bore fruit in abundance.</p> + +<p>The trial of a convict charged with disobedience or +insubordination was of summary jurisdiction. Joe Kermode, a +teamster, chanced to be present at one of these trials. It was +about ten o'clock in the morning when he saw near a house on the +roadside a little knot of men at an open window. He halted his +team to see what was the matter, and found that a police +magistrate, sitting inside a room, was holding a Court of Petty +Sessions at the window. It was an open court, to which the public +were admitted according to law; a very open court, the roof of +which was blue--the blue sky of a summer's morning. A witness was +giving evidence against an assigned servant, charged with some +offence against his master. His majesty, the magistrate, +yawned--this kind of thing was tiresome. Presently a lady came +into the room, walked to the open window, clasped her hands +together, and laid them affectionately on the shoulder of the +court. After listening for a few moments to the evidence she +became impatient, and said, "Oh, William, give him three dozen +and come to breakfast." So William gave the man three dozen and +went to breakfast--with a good conscience; having performed the +ordinary duty of the day extraordinarily well, he was on the high +road to perfection.</p> + +<p>The sentence of the court was carried out by a scourger, +sometimes called flagellator, or flogger. The office of scourger +was usually held by a convict; it meant promotion in the +Government service, and although there was some danger connected +with it, there was always a sufficient number of candidates to +fill vacancies. In New South Wales the number of officers in the +cat-o'-nine tails department was about thirty. The danger +attached to the office consisted in the certainty of the scourger +being murdered by the scourgee, if ever the opportunity was +given.</p> + +<p>Joe Kermode had once been a hutkeeper on a station. The hut +was erected about forty yards from the stockyard, to which the +sheep were brought every evening, to protect them from attack by +dingoes or blackfellows. If the dingoes and blackfellows had been +content with one sheep at a time to allay the pangs of hunger, +they could not have been blamed very much; but after killing one +they went on killing as many more as they could, and thus wasted +much mutton to gratify their thirst for blood.</p> + +<p>Joe and the shepherd were each provided with a musket and +bayonet for self-defence.</p> + +<p>The hut was built of slabs, and was divided by a partition +into two rooms, and Joe always kept his musket ready loaded, +night and day, just inside the doorway of the inner room. Two or +three blacks would sometimes call, and ask for flour, sugar, +tobacco, or a firestick. If they attempted to come inside the +hut, Joe ordered them off, backing at the same time towards the +inner door, and he always kept a sharp look-out for any movement +they made; for they were very treacherous, and he knew they would +take any chance they could get to kill him, for the sake of +stealing the flour, sugar, and tobacco. Two of them once came +inside the hut and refused to go out, until Joe seized his +musket, and tickled them in the rear with his bayonet, under the +"move on" clause in the Police Offences Statute.</p> + +<p>Early one morning there was a noise as of some disturbance in +the stockyard, and Joe, on opening the door of his hut, saw +several blacks spearing the sheep. He seized his musket and +shouted, warning them to go away. One of them, who was sitting on +the top rail with his back towards the hut, seemed to think that +he was out of range of the musket, for he made most unseemly +gestures, and yelled back at Joe in a defiant and contemptuous +manner. Joe's gun was charged with shot, and he fired and hit his +mark, for the blackfellow dropped suddenly from the top rail, and +ran away, putting his hands behind him, and trying to pick out +the pellets.</p> + +<p>One day a white stockman came galloping on his horse up to the +door of the hut, his face, hands, shirt and trousers being +smeared and saturated with blood. Joe took him inside the hut, +and found that he had two severe wounds on the left shoulder. +After the bleeding had been stanched and the wounds bandaged, the +stranger related that as he was riding he met a blackfellow +carrying a fire-stick. He thought it was a good opportunity of +lighting his pipe, lucifer matches being then unknown in the +bush; so he dismounted, took out his knife, and began cutting +tobacco. The blackfellow asked for a fig of tobacco, and, after +filling his pipe, the stockman gave him the remainder of the fig +he had been cutting, and held out his hand for the firestick. The +blackfellow seemed disappointed; very likely expecting to receive +a whole fig of tobacco--and, instead of handing him the firestick +he threw it on the ground. At the first moment the stockman did +not suspect any treachery, as he had seen no weapon in possession +of the blackfellow. He stooped to pick up the firestick; but just +as he was touching it, he saw the black man's feet moving nearer, +and becoming suddenly suspicious, he quickly moved his head to +one side and stood upright. At the same instant he received a +blow from a tomahawk on his left shoulder. This blow, intended +for his head, was followed by another, which inflicted a second +wound; but the stockman succeeded in grasping the wrist of his +enemy. Then began a wrestling match between the two men, the +stakes two lives, no umpire, no timekeeper, no backers, and no +bets. The only spectator was the horse, whose bridle was hanging +on the ground. But he seemed to take no interest in the struggle, +and continued nibbling the grass until it was over.</p> + +<p>The black man, who had now dropped his rug, was as agile and +nimble as a beast of prey, and exerted all his skill and strength +to free his hand. But the white man felt that to loose his hold +would be to lose his life, and he held on to his grip of the +blackfellow's wrist with desperate resolution. The tomahawk fell +to the ground, but just then neither of the men could spare a +hand to pick it up. At length, by superior strength, the stockman +brought his enemy to the ground. He then grasped the thick, +matted hair with one hand, and thus holding the black's head +close to the ground, he reached with the other hand for the +tomahawk, and with one fierce blow buried the blade in the +savage's brain. Even then he did not feel quite sure of his +safety. He had an idea that it was very difficult to kill +blackfellows outright, that theywere like American 'possums, and +were apt to come to life again after they had been killed, and +ought to be dead. So to finish his work well, he hacked at the +neck with the tomahawk until he had severed the head completely +from the body; then taking the head by the hair, he threw it as +far as he could to the other side of the track. By this time he +began to feel faint from loss of blood, so he mounted his horse +and galloped to Joe Kermode's hut.</p> + +<p>When Joe had performed his duties of a good Samaritan to the +stranger he mounted his horse, and rode to the field of battle. +He found the headless body of the black man, the head at the +other side of the track, the tomahawk, the piece of tobacco, the +rug, and the firestick. Joe and the shepherd buried the body; the +white man survived.</p> + +<p><a name="ch-12"></a></p> + +<h3>THE GOVERNMENT STROKE.</h3> + +<p>"The Government Stroke" is a term often used in the colonies, +and indicates a lazy and inefficient manner of performing any +kind of labour. It originated with the convicts. When a man is +forced to work through fear of the lash, and receives no wages, +it is quite natural and reasonable that he should exert himself +as little as possible. If you were to reason with him, and urge +him to work harder at, for instance, breaking road metal, in +order that the public might have good roads to travel on, and +show him what a great satisfaction it should be to know that his +labours would confer a lasting benefit on his fellow creatures; +that, though it might appear a little hard on him individually, +he should raise his thoughts to a higher level, and labour for +the good of humanity in general, he would very likely say, "Do +you take me for a fool?" But if you gave him three dozen lashes +for his laziness he will see, or at least feel, that your +argument has some force in it. As a matter of fact men work for +some present or future benefit for themselves. The saint who +sells all he has to give to the poor, does so with the hope of +obtaining a reward exceedingly great in the life to come. And +even if there were no life to come, his present life is happier +far than that of the man who grabs at all the wealth he can get +until he drops into the grave. The man who works "all for love +and nothing for reward" is a being incomprehensible to us +ordinary mortals; he is an angel, and if ever he was a candidate +for a seat in Parliament he was not elected. Even love--"which +rules the court, the camp, the grove"--is given only with the +hope of a return of love; for hopeless love is nothing but +hopeless misery.</p> + +<p>I once hired an old convict as gardener at five shillings a +day. He began to work in the morning with a great show of +diligence while I was looking on. But on my return home in the +evening it was wonderful to find how little work he had contrived +to get through during the day; so I began to watch him. His +systematic way of doing nothing would have been very amusing if +it cost nothing. He pressed his spade into the ground with his +boot as slowly as possible, lifted the sod very gently, and +turned it over. Then he straightened his back, looked at the +ground to the right, then to the left, then in front of him, and +then cast his eyes along the garden fence. Having satisfied +himself that nothing particular was happening anywhere within +view, he gazed awhile at the sod he had turned over, and then +shaved the top off with his spade. Having straightened his back +once more, he began a survey of the superficial area of the next +sod, and at length proceeded to cut it in the same deliberate +manner, performing the same succeeding ceremonies. If he saw me, +or heard me approaching, he became at once very alert and +diligent until I spoke to him, then he stopped work at once. It +was quite impossible for him both to labour and to listen; nobody +can do two things well at the same time. But his greatest relief +was in talking; he would talk with anybody all day long if +possible, and do nothing else; his wages, of course, still +running on. There is very little talk worth paying for. I would +rather give some of my best friends a fee to be silent, than pay +for anything they have to tell me. My gardener was a most +unprofitable servant; the only good I got out of him was a clear +knowledge of what the Government stroke meant, and the knowledge +was not worth the expense. He was in other respects harmless and +useless, and, although he had been transported for stealing, I +could never find that he stole anything from me. The disease of +larceny seemed somehow to have been worked out of his system; +though he used to describe with great pleasure how his +misfortunes began by stealing wall-fruit when he was a boy; and +although it was to him like the fruit</p> + +<blockquote>"Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste<br> +Brought death into the world, and all our woe."</blockquote> + +<p>it was so sweet that, while telling me about it sixty years +afterwards, he smiled and smacked his lips, renewing as it were +the delight of its delicious taste.</p> + +<p>He always avoided, as much as possible, the danger of dying of +hard work, so he is living yet, and is eighty-six years old. +Whenever I see him he gives me his blessing, and says he never +worked for any man he liked so well. A great philosopher says, in +order to be happy it is necessary to be beloved, but in order to +be beloved we must know how to please, and we can only please by +ministering to the happiness of others. I ministered to the old +convict's happiness by letting him work so lazily, and so I was +beloved and happy.</p> + +<p>He had formerly been an assigned servant to Mr. Gellibrand, +Attorney-General of Tasmania, before that gentleman went with Mr. +Hesse on that voyage to Australia Felix from which he never +returned. Some portions of a skeleton were found on the banks of +a river, which were supposed to belong to the lost explorer, and +that river, and Mount Gellibrand, on which he and Hesse parted +company, were named after him.</p> + +<p>There was a blackfellow living for many years afterwards in +the Colac district who was said to have killed and eaten the lost +white man; the first settlers therefore call him Gellibrand, as +they considered he had made out a good claim to the name by +devouring the flesh. This blackfellow's face was made up of +hollows and protuberances ugly beyond all aboriginal ugliness. I +was present at an interview between him and senior-constable +Hooley, who nearly rivalled the savage in lack of beauty. Hooley +had been a soldier in the Fifth Fusiliers, and had been convicted +of the crime of manslaughter, having killed a coloured man near +Port Louis, in the Mauritius. He was sentenced to penal servitude +for the offence, and had passed two years of his time in +Tasmania. This incident had produced in his mind an interest in +blackfellows generally, and on seeing Gellibrand outside the +Colac courthouse, he walked up to him, and looked him steadily in +the face, without saying a word or moving a muscle of his +countenance. I never saw a more lovely pair. The black fellow +returned the gaze unflinchingly, his deep-set eyes fixed fiercely +on those of the Irishman, his nostrils dilated, and his frowning +forehead wrinkled and hard, as if cast in iron. The two men +looked like two wild beasts preparing for a deadly fight. At +length, Hooley moved his face nearer to that of the savage, until +their noses almost met, and between his teeth he slowly +ejaculated: "You eat white man? You eat me? Eh?" Then the deep +frown on Gellibrand's face began slowly to relax, his thick lips +parted by degrees, and displayed, ready for business, his sharp +and shining teeth, white as snow and hard as steel. A smile, +which might be likened to that of a humorous tiger, spread over +his spacious features, and so the interview ended without a +fight. I was very much disappointed, as I hoped the two +man-slayers were going to eat each other for the public good, and +I was ready to back both of them without fear, favour, or +affection.</p> + +<p>There is no doubt that the blacks ate human flesh, not as an +article of regular diet, but occasionally, when the fortune of +war, or accident, favoured them with a supply. When Mr. Hugh +Murray set out from Geelong to look for country to the westward, +he took with him several natives belonging to the Barrabool +tribe. When they arrived near Lake Colac they found the banks of +the Barongarook Creek covered with scrub, and on approaching the +spot where the bridge now spans the watercourse, they saw a +blackfellow with his lubra and a little boy, running towards the +scrub. The Barrabool blacks gave chase, and the little boy was +caught by one of them before he could find shelter, and was +instantly killed with a club. That night the picaninny was +roasted at the camp fire, and eaten.</p> + +<p>And yet these blacks had human feelings and affections. I once +saw a tribe travelling from one part of the district to another +in search of food, as was their custom. One of the men was dying +of consumption, and was too weak to follow the rest. He looked +like a living skeleton, but he was not left behind to die. He was +sitting on the shoulders of his brother, his hands grasping for +support the hair on the head, and his wasted legs dangling in +front of the other's ribs. These people were sometimes hunted as +if they were wolves, but two brother wolves would not have been +so kind to each other.</p> + +<p>Before the white men came the blacks never buried their dead; +they had no spades and could not dig graves. Sometimes their dead +were dropped into the hollow trunks of trees, and sometimes they +were burned. There was once a knoll on the banks of the +Barongarook Creek, below the court-house, the soil of which +looked black and rich. When I was trenching the ground near my +house for vines and fruit trees, making another garden of +paradise in lieu of the one I had lost, I obtained cart loads of +bones from the slaughter yards and other places, and placed them +in trenches; and in order to fertilize one corner of the garden, +I spread over it several loads of the rich-looking black loam +taken from the knoll near the creek. After a few years the vines +and trees yielded great quantities of grapes and fruit, and I +made wine from my vineyard. But the land on which I had spread +the black loam was almost barren, and yet I had seen fragments of +bones mixed with it, and amongst them a lower jaw with perfect +teeth, most likely the jaw of a young lubra. On mentioning the +circumstance to one of the early settlers, he said my loam had +been taken from the spot on which the blacks used to burn their +dead. Soon after he arrived at Colac he saw there a solitary +blackfellow crouching before a fire in which bones were visible. +So, pointing to them, he asked what was in the fire, and the +blackfellow replied with one word "lubra." He was consuming the +remains of his dead wife, and large tears were coursing down his +cheeks. Day and night he sat there until the bones had been +nearly all burned and covered with ashes. This accounted for the +fragments of bones in my black loam; why it was not fertile, I +know, but I don't know how to express the reason well.</p> + +<p>While the trenching of my vineyard was going on, Billy +Nicholls looked over the fence, and gave his opinion about it. He +held his pipe between his thumb and forefinger, and stopped +smoking in stupid astonishment. He said--"That ground is ruined, +never will grow nothing no more; all the good soil is buried; +nothing but gravel and stuff on top; born fool."</p> + +<p>Old Billy was a bullock driver, my neighbour and enemy, and +lived, with his numerous progeny, in a hut in the paddock next to +mine. In the rainy seasons the water flowed through my ground on +to his, and he had dug a drain which led the water past his hut, +instead of allowing it to go by the natural fall across his +paddock. The floods washed his drain into a deep gully near his +hut, which was sometimes nearly surrounded with the roaring +waters. He then tried to dam the water back on to my ground, but +I made a gap in his dam with a long-handled shovel, and let the +flood go through. Nature and the shovel were too much for Billy. +He came out of his hut, and stood watching the torrent, holding +his dirty old pipe a few inches from his mouth, and uttered a +loud soliloquy:--"Here I am--on a miserable island--fenced in +with water--going to be washed away --by that Lord Donahoo, son +of a barber's clerk--wants to drown me and my kids--don't +he--I'll break his head wi' a paling--blowed if I don't." He then +put his pipe in his mouth, and gazed in silence on the rushing +waters.</p> + +<p>I planted my ground with vines of fourteen different +varieties, but, in a few years, finding that the climate was +unsuitable for most of them, I reduced the number to about five. +These yielded an unfailing abundance of grapes every year, and as +there was no profitable market, I made wine. I pruned and +disbudded the vines myself, and also crushed and pressed the +grapes. The digging and hoeing of the ground cost about 10 pounds +each year. When the wine had been in the casks about twelve +months I bottled it; in two years more it was fit for +consumption, and I was very proud of the article. But I cannot +boast that I ever made much profit out of it--that is, in cash-- +as I found that the public taste for wine required to be +educated, and it took so long to do it that I had to drink most +of the wine myself. The best testimony to its excellence is the +fact that I am still alive.</p> + +<p>The colonial taste for good liquor was spoiled from the very +beginning, first by black strap and rum, condensed from the steam +of hell, then by Old Tom and British brandy, fortified with +tobacco-- this liquor was the nectar with which the ambrosial +station hands were lambed down by the publicans--and in these +latter days by colonial beer, the washiest drink a nation was +ever drenched with. the origin of bad beer dates from the repeal +of the sugar duty in England; before that time beer was brewed +from malt and hops, and that we had "jolly good ale and old," and +sour pie.</p> + +<p>A great festival was impending at Colac, to consist of a +regatta on the lake, the first we ever celebrated, and a picnic +on its banks. All the people far and near invited themselves to +the feast, from the most extensive of squatters to the oldest of +old hands. The blackfellows were there, too--what was left of +them. Billy Leura walked all the way from Camperdown, and on the +day before the regatta came to my house with a couple of black +ducks in his hand. Sissy, six years old, was present; she +inspected the blackfellow and the ducks, and listened. Leura said +he wanted to sell me the ducks, but not for money; he would take +old clothes for them. He was wearing nothing but a shirt and +trousers, both badly out of repair, and was anxious to adorn his +person with gay attire on the morrow. So I traded off a pair of +old cords and took the ducks.</p> + +<p>Next day we had two guests, a Miss Sheppard, from Geelong, and +another lady, and as my house was near the lake, we did our +picnicking inside. We put on as much style as possible to suit +the occasion, including, of course, my best native wine, and the +two ducks roasted. Sissy sat at the table next to Miss Sheppard, +and felt it her duty to lead the conversation in the best society +style. She said:</p> + +<p>"You see dose two ducks, Miss Sheppard?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, dear; very fine ones."</p> + +<p>"Well, papa bought 'em from a black man yesterday. De man said +dey was black ducks, but dey was'nt black, dey was brown. De +fedders are in de yard, and dey are brown fedders."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know, dear; they call them black ducks, but they are +brown-- dark brown."</p> + +<p>"Well, you see, de blackfellow want to sell de ducks to papa, +but papa has no money, so he went into de house and bring out a +pair of his old lowsers, and de blackfellow give him de ducks for +de lowsers, and dems de ducks you see."</p> + +<p>"Yes, dear; I see," said Miss Sheppard, blushing terribly.</p> + +<p>We all blushed.</p> + +<p>"You naughty girl," said mamma; "hold your tongue, or I'll +send you to the kitchen."</p> + +<p>"But mamma, you know its quite true," said Sissy. "Didn't I +show you de black man just now, Miss Sheppard, when he was going +to de lake? I said dere's de blackfellow, and he's got papa's +lowsers on, didn't I now?"</p> + +<p>The times seemed prosperous with us, but it was only a +deceptive gleam of sunshine before the coming storm of adversity. +I built an addition to my dwelling; and when it was completed I +employed a paperhanger from London named Taylor, to beautify the +old rooms. He was of a talkative disposition; when he had nobody +else to listen he talked to himself, and when he was tired of +that he began singing. The weather was hot, and the heat, +together with his talking and singing, made him thirsty; so one +day he complained to me that his work was very dry. I saw at once +an opportunity of obtaining an independent and reliable judgment +on the quality of my wine; so I went for a bottle, drew the cork, +and offered him a tumblerful, telling him it was wine which I had +made from my own grapes. As Taylor was a native of London, the +greatest city in the world, he must have had a wide experience in +many things, was certain to know the difference between good and +bad liquor, and I was anxious to obtain a favourable verdict on +my Australian product. He held up the glass to the light, and +eyed the contents critically; then he tasted a small quantity, +and paused awhile to feel the effect. He then took another taste, +and remarked, "It's sourish." He put the tumbler to his mouth a +third time, and emptied it quickly. Then he placed one hand on +his stomach, said "Oh, my," and ran away to the water tap outside +to rinse his mouth and get rid of the unpleasant flavour. His +verdict was adverse, and very unflattering.</p> + +<p>Next day, while I was inspecting his work, he gave me to +understand that he felt dry again. I asked him what he would +like, a drink of water or a cup of tea? He said, "Well, I think +I'll just try another glass of that wine of yours." He seemed +very irrational in the matter of drink, but I fetched another +bottle. This time he emptied the first tumbler without +hesitation, regardless of consequences. He puckered his lips and +curled his nose, and said it was rather sourish; but in hot +weather it was not so bad as cold water, and was safer for the +stomach. He then drew the back of his hand across his mouth, +looked at the paper which he had been putting on the wall, and +said, "I don't like that pattern a bit; too many crosses on +it."</p> + +<p>"Indeed," I said, "I never observed the crosses before, but I +don't see any harm in them. Why don't you like them?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, it looks too like the Catholics, don't you see? too +popish. I hate them crosses."</p> + +<p>"Really," I replied. "I am sorry to hear that. I am a Catholic +myself."</p> + +<p>"Oh, lor! Are you, indeed? I always thought you were a +Scotchman."</p> + +<p>Taylor finished that bottle of wine during the afternoon, and +next day he wanted another. He wanted more every day, until he +rose to be a three-bottle man. He became reconciled to the +crosses on the wall-paper, forgave me for not being a Scotchman, +and I believe the run of my cellar would have made him a sincere +convert to popery-- as long as the wine lasted.</p> + +<p>Soon after this memorable incident, the Minister and Secretary +made an official pleasure excursion through the Western District. +They visited the court and inspected it, and me, and the books, +and the furniture. They found everything correct, and were +afterwards so sociable that I expected they would, on returning +to Melbourne, speedily promote me, probably to the Bench. But +they forgot me, and promoted themselves instead. I have seen them +since sitting nearly as high as Haman in those expensive Law +courts in Lonsdale Street, while I was a despicable jury-man +serving the Crown for ten shillings a day. That is the way of +this world; the wicked are well-paid and exalted, while the +virtuous are ill-paid and trodden down. At a week's notice I was +ordered to leave my Garden of Eden, and I let it to a tenant, the +very child of the Evil One. He pruned the vines with goats and +fed his cattle on the fruit trees. Then he wrote to inquire why +the vines bore no grapes and the fruit trees no fruit, and wanted +me to lower the rent, to repair the vineyard and the house, and +to move the front gate to the corner of the fence. That man +deserved nothing but death, and he died.</p> + +<p>In the summer of 1853, the last survivor of the Barrabool +tribe came to Colac, and joined the remnant of the Colac blacks, +but one night he was killed by them at their camp, near the site +of the present hospital. A shallow hole was dug about forty or +fifty yards from the south-east corner of the allotment on which +the Presbyterian manse was built, and the Colac tribe buried his +body there, and stuck branches of trees around his grave. About +six months afterwards a Government officer, the head of a +department, arrived at Colac, and I rode with him about the +township and neighbouring country showing him the antiquities and +the monuments, among others the mausoleum of the last of the +Barrabools. The leaves had by this time fallen from the dead +branches around the sepulchre, and the small twigs on them were +decaying. The cattle and goats would soon tread them down and +scatter them, and the very site of the grave would soon be +unknown.</p> + +<p>The officer was a man of culture and of scientific tendencies, +and he asked me to dig up the skull of the murdered blackfellow, +and sent it to his address in Melbourne. He was desirous of +exercising his culture on it, and wished to ascertain whether the +skull was bracchy-cephalous, dolichophalous, or polycephalous. I +think that was the way he expressed it. I said there was very +likely a hole in it, and it would be spoiled; but he said the +hole would make no difference. I would do almost anything for +science and money, but he did not offer me any, and I did not +think a six months' mummy was old enough to steal; it was too +fresh. If that scientist would borrow a spade and dig up the +corpse himself, I would go away to a sufficient distance and +close my eyes and nose until he had deposited the relic in his +carpet bag. But I was too conscientious to be accessory to the +crime of body-snatching, and he had not courage enough to do the +foul deed. That land is now fenced in, and people dwell there. +The bones of the last of the Barrabools still rest under +somebody's house, or fertilise a few feet of a garden plot.</p> + +<p><a name="ch-13"></a></p> + +<h3>ON THE NINETY-MILE.</h3> + +<p><b>A HOME BY A REMOTER SEA.</b></p> + +<p>The Ninety-Mile, washed by the Pacific, is the sea shore of +Gippsland. It has been formed by the mills of two oceans, which +for countless ages have been slowly grinding into meal the rocks +on the southern coast of Australia; and every swirling tide and +howling gale has helped to build up the beach. The hot winds of +summer scorch the dry sand, and spin it into smooth, conical +hills. Amongst these, low shrubs with grey-green leaves take +root, and thrive and flourish under the salt sea spray where +other trees would die. Strange plants, with pulpy leaves and +brilliant flowers, send forth long green lines, having no visible +beginning or end, which cling to the sand and weave over it a +network of vegetation, binding together the billowy dunes.</p> + +<p>The beach is broken in places by narrow channels, through +which the tide rushes, and wanders in many currents among low +mudbanks studded with shellfish--the feeding grounds of ducks, +and gulls, and swans; and around a thousand islands whose soil +has been woven together by the roots of the spiky mangrove, or +stunted tea-tree. Upon the muddy flats, scarcely above the level +of the water, the black swans build their great circular nests, +with long grass and roots compacted with slime. Salt marshes and +swamps, dotted with bunches of rough grass, stretch away behind +the hummocks. Here, towards the end of the summer, the blacks +used to reap their harvest of fat eels, which they drew forth +from the soft mud under the roots of the tussocks.</p> + +<p>The country between the sea and the mountains was the +happy-hunting-ground of the natives before the arrival of the +ill-omened white-fellow. The inlets teemed with flathead, mullet, +perch, schnapper, oysters, and sharks, and also with innumerable +water-fowl. The rivers yielded eels and blackfish. The sandy +shores of the islands were honey-combed with the holes in which +millions of mutton-birds deposited their eggs in the last days of +November in each year. Along many tracks in the scrub the black +wallabiesand paddy-melons hopped low. In the open glades among +the great gum-trees marched the stately emu, and tall kangaroos, +seven feet high, stood erect on their monstrous hind-legs, their +little fore-paws hanging in front, and their small faces looking +as innocent as sheep.</p> + +<p>Every hollow gum-tree harboured two or more fat opossums, +which, when roasted, made a rich and savoury meal. Parrots of the +most brilliant plumage, like winged flowers, flew in flocks from +tree to tree, so tame that you could kill them with a stick, and +so beautiful that it seemed a sin to destroy them. Black +cockatoos, screaming harshly the while, tore long strips of bark +from the messmate, searching for the savoury grub. Bronzed-winged +pigeons, gleaming in the sun, rose from the scrub, and flocks of +white cockatoos, perched high on the bare limbs of the dead +trees, seemed to have made them burst into miraculous bloom like +Aaron's rod.</p> + +<p>The great white pelican stood on one leg on a sand-bank, +gazing along its huge beak at the receding tide, hour after hour, +solemn and solitary, meditating on the mysteries of Nature.</p> + +<p>But on the mountains both birds and beasts were scarce, as +many a famishing white man has found to his sorrow. In the heat +of summer the sea-breeze grows faint, and dies before it reaches +the ranges. Long ropes of bark, curled with the hot sun, hang +motionless from the black-butts and blue gums; a few birds may be +seen sitting on the limbs of the trees, with their wings +extended, their beaks open, panting for breath, unable to utter a +sound from their parched throats.</p> + +<p>"When all food fails then welcome haws" is a saying that does +not apply to Australia, which yields no haws or fruit of any kind +that can long sustain life. A starving man may try to allay the +pangs of hunger with the wild raspberries, or with the cherries +which wear their seeds outside, but the longer he eats them, the +more hungry he grows. One resource of the lost white man, if he +has a gun and ammunition, is the native bear, sometimes called +monkey bear. Its flesh is strong and muscular, and its eucalyptic +odour is stronger still. A dog will eat opossum with pleasure, +but he must be very hungry before he will eat bear; and how lost +to all delicacy of taste, and sense of refinement, must the +epicure be who will make the attempt! The last quadruped on which +a meal can be made is the dingo, and the last winged creature is +the owl, whose scanty flesh is viler even than that of the hawk +or carrion crow, and yet a white man has partaken of all these +and survived. Some men have tried roasted snake, but I never +heard of anyone who could keep it on his stomach. The blacks, +with their keen scent, knew when a snake was near by the odour it +emitted, but they avoided the reptile whether alive or dead.</p> + +<p>Before any white man had made his abode in Gippsland, a +schooner sailed from Sydney chartered by a new settler who had +taken up a station in the Port Phillip district. His wife and +family were on board, and he had shipped a large quantity of +stores, suitable for commencing life in a new land. It was +afterwards remembered that the deck of the vessel was encumbered +with cargo of various kinds, including a bullock dray, and that +the deck hamper would unfit her to encounter bad weather. As she +did not arrive at Port Phillip within a reasonable time, a cutter +was sent along the coast in search of her; and her long boat was +found ashore near the Lakes Entrance, but nothing else belonging +to her was ever seen.</p> + +<p>When the report arose in 1843 that a white woman had been seen +with the blacks, it was supposed that she was one of the +passengers of the missing schooner, and parties of horsemen went +out to search for her among the natives, but the only white woman +ever found was a wooden one--the figure-head of a ship.</p> + +<p>Some time afterwards, when Gippsland had been settled by white +men, a tree was discovered on Woodside station near the beach, in +the bark of which letters had been cut, and it was said they +would correspond with the initials of the names of some of the +passengers and crew of the lost schooner, and by their appearance +they must have been carved many years previously. This tree was +cut down, and the part of the trunk containing the letters was +sawn off and sent to Melbourne. There is little doubt that the +letters on the tree had been cut by one of the survivors of that +ill-fated schooner, who had landed in the long boat near the +Lakes, and had made their way along the Ninety-Mile beach to +Woodside. They were far from the usual track of coasting vessels, +and had little chance of attracting attention by signals or +fires. Even if they had plenty of food, it was impossible for +them to travel in safety through that unknown country to Port +Phillip, crossing the inlets, creeks, and swamps, in daily danger +of losing their lives by the spears of the wild natives. They +must have wandered along the ninety-mile as far as they could go, +and then, weary and worn out for want of food, reluctant to die +the death of the unhonoured dead, one of them had carved the +letters on the tree, as a last despairing message to their +friends, before they were killed by the savages, or succumbed to +starvation.</p> + +<blockquote>"For who, to dumb forgetfulness a prey,<br> +This pleasing, anxious being e'er resigned,<br> +Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day,<br> +Nor cast one longing, lingering look behind?"</blockquote> + +<p><a name="ch-14"></a></p> + +<h3>GIPPSLAND PIONEERS.</h3> + +<p><b>AT THE OLD PORT.</b></p> + +<p>Most of them were Highlanders, and the news of the discovery +of Gippsland must often have been imparted in Gaelic, for many of +the children of the mist could speak no English when they +landed.</p> + +<p>Year after year settlers had advanced farther from Sydney +along the coastal ranges, until stations were occupied to the +westward of Twofold Bay. In that rugged country, where no wheeled +vehicle could travel, bullocks were trained to carry produce to +the bay, and to bring back stores imported from Sydney. Each +train was in charge of a white man, with several native drivers. +But rumours of better lands towards the south were rife, and +Captain Macalister, of the border police, equipped a party of men +under McMillan to go in search of them. Armed and provisioned, +they journeyed over the mountains, under the guidance of the +faithful native Friday, and at length from the top of a new Mount +Pisgah beheld a fair land, watered throughout as the Paradise of +the Lord. Descending into the plains, McMillan selected a site +for a station, left some of his men to build huts and stockyards, +and returned to report his discovery to Macalister.</p> + +<p>Slabs were split with which walls were erected, but before a +roof was put on them the blacks suddenly appeared and began to +throw their spears at the intruders; one spear of seasoned +hardwood actually penetrated through a slab. The men, all but +one, who shall be nameless, seized their guns and fired at the +blacks, who soon disappeared. The white men also disappeared over +the mountains; the rout was mutual.</p> + +<p>But the country was too good to be occupied solely by savages, +and when McMillan returned with reinforcements he made some +arrangements, the exact particulars of which he would never +disclose. He brought cattle to his run, and they quickly grew +fat; but civilised man does not live by fat cattle alone, and a +market had to be sought. Twofold Bay was too far away, and young +Melbourne was somewhere beyond impassable mountains. McMillan +built a small boat, which he launched on the river, and pulled +down to the lakes in search of an outlet. He found it, but the +current was so strong that it carried him out to sea. He had to +land on the outer beach, and to drag his boat back over the sands +to the inner waters.</p> + +<p>He next rode westward with his man Friday to look for a port +at Corner Inlet, and he blazed a track to the Albert River. +Friday was an inland black. He gazed at the river, which was +flowing towards the mountains, and said:</p> + +<p>"What for stupid yallock* yan along a bulga**?"</p> + +<blockquote>[* Footnote: *Yallock, river. **Bulga, +mountain.]</blockquote> + +<p>McMillan tried to explain the theory of the tides.</p> + +<p>"One big yallock down there push him along, come back +by-and-by." And Friday saw the water come back by-and-by.</p> + +<p>They reached the mouth of the river on February 1st, 1841, saw +a broad expense of salt water, and McMillan concluded that he had +found a port for Gippsland.</p> + +<p>Ten months afterwards Jack Shay arrived at the port. He had +first come to Twofold Bay from Van Diemen's Land, and nothing was +known about his former life. "That's nothing to nobody," he said. +He was a bushman, rough and weather-beaten, with only one +peculiarity. The quart pot which he slung to his belt would hold +half a gallon of tea, while other pots only held a quart, and +that was the reason why he was known all the way from Monaroo to +Adelaide as "Jack of the Quart Pot."</p> + +<p>He had arrived rather late on the previous evening, and this +morning, as he sat on a log contemplating the scenery, his first +conclusion was that the port was not flourishing. There was not a +ship within sight. The mouth of the Albert River was visible on +his right, and the inlet was spread out before him shining in the +morning sun. About a mile away on the western shore was One Tree +Hill. Towards the south were mud banks and mangrove islands, +through which the channel zigzagged like a figure of eight, and +then the view was closed by the scrub on Sunday Island. There was +a boat at anchor in the channel about a mile distant, in which +two men were fishing for their breakfast, for there was famine in +the settlement, and the few pioneers left in it were kept alive +on a diet of roast flathead. On the beach three boats were drawn +up out of reach of the tide, and looking behind him Jack counted +twelve huts and one store of wattle-and-dab. The store had been +built to hold the goods of the Port Albert Company. It was in +charge of John Campbell, and contained a quantity of axes, +tomahawks, saddles and bridles, a grindstone, some shot and +powder, two double-barrelled guns, nails and hammers, and a few +other articles, but there was nothing eatable to be seen in it. +If there was any flour, tea, or sugar left, it was carefully +concealed from any of the famishing settlers who might by chance +peep in at the door. Outside the hut was a nine-pounder gun on +wheels, which had been landed by the company for use in time of +war; but until this day there had been no hostilities between the +natives and the settlers. From time to time numbers of black +faces had been seen among the scrub, but so far no spear had been +thrown nor hostile gun fired. The members of the company were +Turnbull, McLeod, Rankin, Brodribb, Hornden, and Orr. Soon after +they landed they cleared a semi-circular piece of ground behind +their tents, to prevent the blacks from sneaking up to them +unseen. Near the beach stood two she-oak trees, marked, one with +the letters M. M., 1 Feb., 1841, the other 2 Mar., 1841, and the +initials of the members of the Port Albert Company. Behind the +huts three hobbled horses were feeding, two of which had been +brought by Jack Shay. A gaunt deerhound, with a shaggy coat, lame +and lean, was lying in the sun. There was also an old cart in +front of one of the huts, out of which two boys came and began to +gather wood and to kindle a fire. They were ragged and hungry, +and looked shyly at Jack Shay. One was Bill Clancy, and the other +had been printer's devil to Hardy, of the 'Gazette', and was +therefore known as Dick the Devil. They had been picked up in +Melbourne by Captain Davy, who had brought them to Port Albert in +his whaleboat. Their ambition had been for "a life on the ocean +wave, and a home on the rolling deep," as heroic young pirates; +but at present they lived on shore, and their home was George +Scutt's old cart.</p> + +<p>A man emerged from one of the huts carrying a candle-box, +which he laid on the ground before the fire. Jack observed that +the box was full of eggs, on the top of which lay two teaspoons. +The man was Captain David, usually known as Davy. He said:</p> + +<p>"I am going to ask you to breakfast, Jack; but you have been a +long time coming, and provisions are scarce in these parts."</p> + +<p>"Don't you make no trouble whatsomever about me," said Jack. +"Many's the time I've hadshort rations, and I can take pot-luck +with any man."</p> + +<p>"You'll find pot-luck here is but poor luck," replied Davy. +"I've got neither grub nor grog, no meat, no flour, no tea, no +sugar-- nothing but eggs; but, thank God, I've got plenty of +them. There are five more boxes full of them in my hut, so we may +as well set to at once."</p> + +<p>Davy drew some hot ashes from the fire, and thrust the eggs +into them, one by one. When they were sufficiently cooked, he +handed one and a teaspoon to Jack and took another himself, +saying, "We shall have to eat them just as they are; there is +plenty of salt water, but I haven't even a pinch of salt."</p> + +<p>"Why, Davy, there's plenty of salt right before your face. Did +you never try ashes? Mix a spoonful with your egg this way, and +you'll find you don't want no better salt."</p> + +<p>"Right you are, Jack; it goes down grand," said Davy, after +seasoning and eating one egg. Then to the boys, "Here you kids, +take some eggs and roast 'em and salt 'em with ashes, and then +take your sticks and try if you can knock down a few parrots or +wattle birds for dinner. But don't you go far from the camp, and +keep a sharp look-out for the blacks; for you can never trust +'em, and they might poke their spears through you."</p> + +<p>"But, Davy," asked Jack, "where is the port and the shipping, +and where are all the settlers? There don't seem to be many +people stirring about here this morning."</p> + +<p>"Port and shipping be blessed," said Davy; "and as for the +settlers, there are only about half-a-dozen left, with these two +boys and my wife, and Hannah Scutt. We don't keep no regular +watch, and meal-times is of little use unless there's something +to eat. I landed here from that whale-boat on the 30th of last +May, and I have been waiting for you ever since. In a few weeks +we had about a hundred and fifty people camped here. They came +mostly in cutters from Melbourne, looking for work or looking for +runs. They said men were working for half-a-crown a day without +rations on the road between Liardet's beach and the town. But +there was no work for them here; and, as their provisions soon +ran short, they had to go away or starve. I stopped here, and +have been starving most of the time. Some went back in the +cutters and some overland.</p> + +<p>"Brodribb and Hobson came here over the mountains with four +Port Phillip blacks, and they decided to look for a better way by +the coast. I landed them and their four blacks at the head of +Corner Inlet. They were attacked by the Western Port blacks near +the River Tarwin, but they frightened them away by firing their +guns. The four Port Phillip blacks who were carrying the +ammunition and provisions ran away too; and the two white men had +nothing to eat for two or three days until they made Massey and +Anderson's station on the Bass, where they found their runaway +blacks.</p> + +<p>"William Pearson and his party were the next who left the +Port. They took the road over the mountains, and lived on monkey +bears until they reached Massey and Anderson's.</p> + +<p>"McClure, Scott, Montgomery, and several other men started +next. They had very little of their provisions left when I landed +them one morning at One Tree Hill there over the water. They were +fourteen days tramping over the mountains, and were so starved +that they ate their own dogs. They came back in a schooner, but I +think some of them will never get over that journey. I tell you, +Jack, it's hard to make a start in a new country with no money, +no food, and no live stock, except Scott's old horse and that +lame deerhound. Poor Ossian was a good dog, and used to run down +an old man kangaroo for us, until one of them gave him a terrible +rip with his claw, and he has been lame ever since. For eight +weeks we were living on roast flat-head, and I grew tired of it, +so on the 17th of last month I started down the inlet in my +whaleboat, and went to Lady Bay to take in some firewood. I knew +the mutton-birds would be coming to the islands on the 23rd or +24th, but I landed on one of them on the 19th, four or five days +too soon, and began to look for something to eat. There were some +pig-faces, but they were only in flower, no fruit on 'em. I could +find nothing but penguin's eggs and I put some of those in a pot +over the fire. But they would never get hard if I boiled them all +day. There is something oily inside of them, and how it gets +there I never could tell. You might as well try to live on rancid +butter and nothing else. However, on November 23rd the +mutton-birds began to come in thousands, and then I was soon +living in clover. I had any quantity of hard-boiled eggs and +roast fowl, for I could knock down the birds with a stick.</p> + +<p>"But, Jack, what have you been doing since I met you the year +before last? You had a train of pack bullocks and a mob of +cattle, looking for a run about Mount Buninyong. Did you start a +station there for Imlay?"</p> + +<p>"No, I didn't. I found a piece of good country, but Pettit and +the Coghills hunted me out of it, so Imlay sold the cattle, and +went back to Twofold Bay. Then Charles Lynot offered me a job. He +was taking a mob of cattle to Adelaide, but he heard there was no +price for them there, so he took up a station at the Pyrenees, +seventeen miles beyond Parson Irvine's run at the Amphitheatre. I +was there about twelve months. My hut was not far from a deep +waterhole, and the milking yard was about two hundred yards from +the hut. The wild blacks were very troublesome; they killed three +white men at Murdering Creek, and me and Francis, Clarke's +manager, hunted them off the station two or three times. The +blacks were more afraid of Francis than of anybody else, as +besides his gun he always carried pistols, and they never could +tell how many he had in his pockets. Cockatoo Bill's tribe drove +away a lot of Parson Irvine's sheep, and broke a leg of each +sheep to keep them from going back. The Parson and Francis went +after them, and one of our stockmen named Walker, and another, a +big fellow whose name I forget. They shot some of the blacks, but +the sheep were spoiled.</p> + +<p>"There was a tame blackfellow we called Alick, and two gins, +living about our station, and he had a daughter we called +picaninny Charlotte, ten or eleven years old, who was very quick +and smart, and spoke English very well. One morning, when I was +in the milking yard, she came to me and said, 'You look out. +Cockatoo Bill got your axe under his rug--sitting among a lot of +lubras. Chop you down when you bring up milk in buckets.'</p> + +<p>"I had no gun with me, so I crept out of the yard, and sneaked +through the scrub to get into the hut through the back door, +keeping out of sight of Bill and the lubras, who were all sitting +on the ground in front of the hut. We had plenty of arms, and I +always kept my double-barrelled gun loaded, and hanging over the +fireplace. I crept inside the hut, reached down for the gun, and +peeped out of the front door, looking for Bill. The lubras began +yabbering, and in an instant Bill dropped his rug and the axe, +leaped over the heads of the women, and was off like a deer. I +took a flying shot at him with both barrels. His lubra went about +afterwards among the stations complaining that Jack Quart Pot +shot Cockatoo Bill, and Parker (the Government Protector) made +enquiries about him. I saw him coming towards my hut, and I said +to piccaninny Charlotte, 'No talk, no English, no nothing;' and +when Parker asked her if she knew anything about Cockatoo Bill +she shammed stupid, and he couldn't get a word out of her. Who is +that cove with the spyglass?"</p> + +<p>"That's John Campbell, the company's storeman. He is looking +for a schooner every day. He would have gone long ago like the +rest, but he does not like to leave the stores behind. Here, Mr. +Campbell, wouldn't you like to take a roast egg or two for +breakfast? There's plenty for the whole camp."</p> + +<p>"I will, Davy, and thank you. Who are the men in the boat down +the channel?"</p> + +<p>"They are George Scutt and Pately Jim fishing for their +breakfast. They were hungry, I reckon, and went away before I +brought out the eggs, or they might have had a feed."</p> + +<p>While the men were roasting their eggs, their eyes wandered +over everything within view, far and near. On land and sea their +lives had often depended on their watchfulness. The sun was +growing warm, and there was a quivering haze over the waters. +While glancing down the channel, Davy observed some dark objects +appearing near a mangrove island. He pointed them out to +Campbell, and said:</p> + +<p>"What kind of birds are they? Do you think they are +swans?"</p> + +<p>"I can't think what else they can be," said Campbell; "but +they have not got the shape of birds, and they don't swim +smoothly like swans, but go jerking along like big coots. Take a +look through the glass, Davy, and see if you can make them +out."</p> + +<p>Davy took a long and steady look, and said: "I am blowed if +they ain't blackfellows in their canoes. They are poleing them +along towards the channel, one, two, three--there's a dozen of +'em or more. I can see their long spears sticking out, and they +are after some mischief. The tide is on the ebb, and they are +going to drop down with it, and spear those two men in the boat; +and they are both landlubbers, and haven't even got a gun with +them. We must bear a hand and help them. Get your guns and we'll +launch the whaleboat."</p> + +<p>John Campbell steered, and Shay and Davy pulled as hard as +they could towards the canoes, which were already drifting down +with the current. The two fishermen were busy with their lines, +every now and then pulling out a fish and baiting their hooks +with a fresh piece of shark. They never looked up the channel, +nor guessed the danger that was every moment coming nearer, for +the blacks as yet had not made the least noise. At last Campbell +saw several of them seizing their spears and making ready to +throw them, so he fired one of his barrels; and Davy stood up in +the boat and gave a cooee that might have been heard at Sunday +Island, for when anything excited him on the water he could be +heard shouting and swearing at an incredible distance. He yelled +at the fishermen, "Boat ahoy! up anchor, you lubbers, and +scatter. Don't you see the blacks after you?"</p> + +<p>The natives began paddling away as fast as they could towards +the nearest land, and Davy and Shay pulled after them; but the +blacks soon reached the shore, and, taking their spears, ran into +the nearest scrub. When the whaleboat grounded, there was not one +of them to be seen. Davy said:</p> + +<p>"They are watching us not far off. You two keep a sharp +look-out, and if you see a black face fire at it. I am going to +cut out the fleet."</p> + +<p>He rolled up his trousers, took a fishing line, waded out to +the canoes, and tied them together, one behind another, leaving a +little slack line between each of them. He then fastened one end +of the line to the whaleboat, shoved off, and sprang inside. The +blacks came out of the scrub, yelling and brandishing their +spears, a few of which they threw at the boat, but it was soon +out of their reach. Thus a great naval victory had been gained, +and the whole of the enemy's fleet captured without the loss of a +man. Nothing like it had been achieved since the days of the +great Gulliver.</p> + +<p>The two fishermen had taken no part in the naval operations, +and when the whaleboat returned with its train of canoes like the +tail of a kite, Davy administered a sharp reprimand.</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you two lubbers keep your eyes skinned. I suppose +you were asleep, eh? You ought to have up anchor and pulled away, +and then the devils could never got near you. Look here!" holding +up a piece of bark, "that's all they've got to paddle with in +deep water, and in the shallows they can only pole along with +sticks."</p> + +<p>Pately Jim had been a prize runner in Yorkshire, and trifles +never took away his breath. He replied calmly:</p> + +<p>"Yo're o'reet, Davy. We wor a bit sleepy, but we're quite +wakken noo. Keep yor shirt on, and we'll do better next +time."</p> + +<p>When the canoes, which were built entirely with sheets of +bark, were drawn up on the beach, nothing was found in them but a +few sticks, bark paddles, and a gown--a lilac cotton gown.</p> + +<p>"That goon," said Campbell, "has belonged to some white woman +thae deevils have murdered. There is no settler nearer than +Jamieson, and they maun ha brocht the goon a' the way frae the +Bass."</p> + +<p>But Campbell was mistaken. There had been another white woman +in Gippsland.</p> + +<p><a name="ch-15"></a></p> + +<h3>THE ISLE OF BLASTED HOPES.</h3> + +<p>There is a large island where the Ninety-Mile Beach ends in a +wilderness of roaring breakers. It is the Isle of Blasted Hopes. +Its enchanting landscape has allured many a landsman to his ruin, +and its beacon, seen through the haze of a south-east gale, has +guided many a watchful mariner to shipwreck and death.</p> + +<p>After the discovery of Gippsland, Pearson and Black first +occupied the island under a grazing license, and they put eleven +thousand sheep on it, with some horses, bullocks, and pigs. The +sheep began to die, so they sold them to Captain Cole at ten +shillings a head, giving in the other stock. They were of the +opinion that they had made an excellent bargain, but when the +muster was made nine thousand six hundred of the sheep were +missing. The pigs ran wild, but multiplied. When the last sheep +had perished, Cole sold his license to a man named Thomas, who +put on more sheep, and afterwards exchanged as many as he could +find with John King for cattle and horses. Morrison next occupied +the island until he was starved out. Then another man named +Thomas took the fatal grazing license, but he did not live on the +land. He placed his brother in charge of it, to be out of the way +of temptation, as he was too fond of liquor. The brother was not +allowed the use of a boat; he, with his wife and family, was +virtually a prisoner, condemned to sobriety. But by this time a +lighthouse had been erected, and Watts the keeper of it had a +boat, and was, moreover, fond of liquor. The two men soon became +firm friends, and often found it necessary to make voyages to +Port Albert for flour, or tea, or sugar. The last time they +sailed together the barometer was low, and a gale was brewing. +When they left the wharf they had taken on board all the stores +they required, and more; they were happy and glorious. Next day +the masthead of their boat was seen sticking out of the water +near Sunday Island. The pilot schooner went down and hauled the +boat to the surface, but nothing was found in her except the +sand-ballast and a bottle of rum. Her sheet was made fast, and +when the squall struck her she had gone down like a stone. The +Isle of Blasted Hopes was useless even as an asylum for +inebriates.</p> + +<p>The 'Ecliptic' was carrying coals from Newcastle. The time was +midnight, the sky was misty, and the gale was from the +south-east, when the watch reported a light ahead. The cabin boy +was standing on deck near the captain, when he held a +consultation with his mate, who was also his son. Father and son +agreed; they said the light ahead was the one on Kent's Group, +and then the vessel grounded amongst the breakers. The seamen +stripped off their heavy clothing, and went overboard; the +captain and his son plunged in together and swam out of sight. +There were nine men in the water, while the cabin boy stood +shivering on deck. He, too, had thrown away his clothes, all but +the wrist-bands of his shirt, which in his flurry he could not +unbutton. He could not make up his mind to jump overboard. He +heard the men in the water shouting to one another, "Make for the +light." That course led them away from the nearest land, which +they could not see. At length a great sea swept the boy among the +breakers, but his good angel pushed a piece of timber within +reach, and he held on to it until he could feel the ground with +his feet; he then let the timber go, and scrambled out of reach +of the angry surge; but when he came to the dry sand he fainted +and fell down. When he recovered his senses he began to look for +shelter; there was a signal station not far off, but he could not +see it. He went away from the pitiless sea through an opening +between low conical hills, covered with dark scrub, over a +pathway composed of drift sand and broken shells. He found an old +hut without a door. There was no one in it; he went inside, and +lay down shivering.</p> + +<p>At daybreak a boy, the son of Ratcliff, the signal man, +started out to look for his goats, and as they sometimes passed +the night in the old fowlhouse, he looked in for them. But +instead of the goats, he saw the naked cabin boy. "Who are you?" +he said, "and what are you doing here, and where did you come +from?"</p> + +<p>"I have been shipwrecked," replied the cabin boy; and then he +sat up and began to cry.</p> + +<p>Young Ratcliff ran off to tell his father what he had found; +and the boy was brought to the cottage, put to bed, and supplied +with food and drink. The signal for a wreck was hoisted at the +flagstaff, but when the signallman went to look for a wreck he +could not find one. He searched along the shore and found the +dead body of the captain, and a piece of splintered spar seven or +eight feet long, on which the cabin boy had come ashore. The +'Ecliptic', with her cargo and crew, had completely disappeared, +while the signalman, near at hand, slept peacefully, undisturbed +by her crashing timbers, or the shouts of the drowning seamen. +Ratcliff was not a seer, and had no mystical lore. He was a +runaway sailor, who had, in the forties, travelled daily over the +Egerton run, unconscious of the tons of gold beneath his +feet.</p> + +<p>There was a fair wind and a smooth sea when the 'Clonmel' went +ashore at three o'clock in the morning of the second day of +January, 1841. Eighteen hours before she had taken a fresh +departure from Ram's Head to Wilson's Promontory. The anchors +were let go, she swung to wind, and at the fall of the tide she +bedded herself securely in the sand, her hull, machinery, and +cargo uninjured. The seventy-five passengers and crew were safely +landed; sails, lumber, and provisions were taken ashore in the +whaleboats and quarter-boats; tents were erected; the food +supplies were stowed away under a capsized boat, and a guard set +over them by Captain Tollervey.</p> + +<p>Next morning seven volunteers launched one of the whaleboats, +boarded the steamer, took in provisions, made a lug out of a +piece of canvas, hoisted the Union Jack to the mainmast upside +down, and pulled safely away from the 'Clonmel' against a head +wind. They hoisted the lug and ran for one of the Seal Islands, +where they found a snug little cove, ate a hearty meal, and +rested for three hours. They then pulled for the mainland, and +reached Sealer's Cove about midnight, where they landed, cooked +supper, and passed the rest of the night in the boat for fear of +the blacks.</p> + +<p>Next morning three men went ashore for water and filled the +breaker, when they saw three blacks coming down towards them; so +they hurried on board, and the anchor was hauled up.</p> + +<p>As the wind was coming from the east, they had to pull for +four hours before they weathered the southern point of the cove; +they then hoisted sail and ran for Wilson's Promentory, which +they rounded at ten o'clock a.m. At eight o'clock in the evening +they brought up in a small bay at the eastern extremity of +Western Port, glad to get ashore and stretch their weary limbs. +After a night's refreshing repose on the sandy beach, they +started at break of day, sailing along very fast with a strong +and steady breeze from the east, although they were in danger of +being swamped, as the sea broke over the boat repeatedly. At two +o'clock p.m. they were abreast of Port Philip Heads; but they +found a strong ebb tide, with such a ripple and broken water that +they did not consider it prudent to run over it. They therefore +put the boat's head to windward and waited for four hours, when +they saw a cutter bearing down on them, which proved to be 'The +Sisters', Captain Mulholland, who took the boat in tow and landed +them at Williamstown at eleven o'clock p.m., sixty-three hours +from the time they left the 'Clonmel'.</p> + +<p>Captain Lewis, the harbour master, went to rescue the crew and +passengers and brought them all to Melbourne, together with the +mails, which had been landed on the island since known by the +name of the 'Clonmel'.</p> + +<p>For fifty-two years the black boilers of the 'Clonmel' have +lain half buried in the sandspit, and they may still be seen +among the breakers from the deck of every vessel sailing up the +channel to Port Albert.</p> + +<p>The 'Clonmel', with her valuable cargo, was sold in Sydney, +and the purchaser, Mr. Grose, set about the business of making +his fortune out of her. He sent a party of wreckers who pitched +their camps on Snake Island, where they had plenty of grass, +scrub, and timber. The work of taking out the cargo was continued +under various captains for six years, and then Mr. Grose lost a +schooner and was himself landed in the Court of Insolvency.</p> + +<p>While the pioneers at the Old Port were on the verge of +starvation, the 'Clonmel' men were living in luxury. They had all +the blessings both of land and sea--corned beef, salt pork, +potatoes, plum-duff, tea, sugar, coffee, wine, beer, spirits, and +tobacco from the cargo of the 'Clonmel', and oysters without end +from a neighbouring lagoon. They constructed a large square punt, +which they filled with cargo daily, wind and weather permitting; +at other times they rested from their labours, or roamed about +the island shooting birds or hunting kangaroo. They saw no other +inhabitants, and believed that no black lucifer had as yet +entered their island garden; but, though unseen, he was watching +them and all their works.</p> + +<p>One morning the wreckers had gone to the wreck; a man named +Kennedy was left in charge of the camp; Sambo, the black cook, +was attending to his duties at the fire; and Mrs. Kennedy, the +only lady of the party, was at the water hole washing clothes. +Her husband had left the camp with his gun in the hope of +shooting some wattle birds, which were then fat with feeding on +the sweet blossoms of the honeysuckle. He was sitting on a log +near the water-hole talking to his wife, who had just laid out to +dry on the bushes three coloured shirts and a lilac dress. She +stood with her hands on her hips, pensively contemplating the +garments. She had her troubles, and was turning them over in her +mind, while her husband was thinking of something else quite +different. It is, I believe, a thing that often happens.</p> + +<p>"I am thinking, Flora," he said, "that this would be a grand +island to live on--far better than Skye, because it has no rocks +on it. I would like to haf it for a station. I could put sheep +and cattle on it, and they could not go away nor be lifted, +because there is deep water all round it; and we would haf plenty +of beef, and mutton, and wool, and game, and fish, and oysters. +We could make a garden and haf plenty of kail, and potatoes, and +apples."</p> + +<p>"It's all ferry well, Donald," she replied, "for you to be +talking about sheep, and cattle, and apples; but I'd like to know +wherefer we would be getting the money to buy the sheep and +cattle? And who would like to live here for efer a thousand miles +from decent neebors? And that's my best goon, and it's getting +fery shabby; and wherefer I'm to get another goon in a country +like this I'm thinking I don't know."</p> + +<p>Donald thought his wife was troubling herself about mere +trifles, but before he had time to say so, a blackfellow snatched +his gun from across his knees, another hit him on the head with a +waddy, and a third did the same to Flora and the unfortunate +couple lay senseless on the ground. Their hopes and troubles had +come to a sudden end.</p> + +<p>This onslaught had been made by four blacks, who now made a +bundle of the clothes, and carried them and the gun away, going +towards the camp in search of more plunder. The tents occupied by +the wreckers had been enclosed in a thick hedge of scrub to +protect them from the drifting sand. There was only one opening +in the hedge, through which the blacks could see Sambo cooking +the wreckers' dinner before a fire. His head was bare, and he was +enjoying the genial heat of early summer, singing snatches of the +melodies of Old Virginny.</p> + +<p>The hearing of the Australian aboriginal is acute, and his +talent for mimicry astonishing; he can imitate the notes of every +bird and the call of every animal with perfect accuracy.</p> + +<p>Sambo's senseless song enchanted the four blacks. It was first +heard with tremendous applause in New Orleans, it was received +with enthusiasm by every audience in the Great Republic, and it +had been the delight of every theatre in the British Empire. It +may be said that "jim Crow" buried the legitimate drama and +danced on its grave. It really seemed to justify the severe +judgment passed on us by the sage of Chelsea, that we were +"sixteen millions, mostly fools." No air was ever at the same +time so silly and so successful as "Jim Crow." But there was life +in it, and it certainly prolonged that of Sambo, for as the four +savages crouched behind the hedge listening to the</p> + +<blockquote>"Turn about and wheel about, and do just so,<br> +And ebery time I turn about I jump Jim Crow,"</blockquote> + +<p>they forgot their murderous errand.</p> + +<p>At last there was an echo of the closing words which seemed to +come from a large gum tree beyond the tents, against which a +ladder had been reared to the forks, used for the purpose of a +look-out by Captain Leebrace.</p> + +<p>Sambo paused, looked up to the gum tree, and said, "By golly, +who's dere?" The echo was repeated, and then he wheeled about in +real earnest, transfixed with horror, unable to move a limb. The +blacks were close to him now, but even their colour could not +restore his courage. They were cannibals, and were preparing to +kill and eat him. But first they examined their game critically, +poking their fingers about him, pinching him in various parts of +the body, stroking his broad nose and ample lips with evident +admiration, and trying to pull out the curls on his woolly +head.</p> + +<p>Sambo was usually proud of his personal appearance, but just +now fear prevented him from enjoying the applause of the +strangers.</p> + +<p>At length he recovered his presence of mind sufficiently to +make an effort to avert his impending doom. If the blacks could +be induced to eat the dinner he was cooking their attention to +himself might be diverted, and their appetites appeased, so he +pointed towards the pots, saying, "Plenty beef, pork, plum +duff."</p> + +<p>The blacks seemed to understand his meaning, and they began to +inspect the dinner; so instead of taking the food like sensible +men, they upset all the pots with their waddies, and scattered +the beef, pork, plum duff and potatoes, so that they were covered +with sand and completely spoiled.</p> + +<p>Two of the blacks next peered into the nearest tent, and +seeing some knives and forks, took possession of them. But there +was a sound of voices from the waterhole, and they quickly +gathered together their stolen goods and disappeared. In a few +minutes Captain Leebrace and the wreckers arrived at the camp, +bringing with them Kennedy and his wife, who had recovered their +senses, and were able to tell what had happened.</p> + +<p>"Black debbils been heah, cappen, done spoil all de dinner, +and run away wid de knives and forks," Sambo said.</p> + +<p>Captain Leebrace soon resolved on a course of reprisals. He +went up the ladder to the forks of the gum tree with his +telescope, and soon obtained a view of the retreating thieves, +appearing occasionally and disappearing among the long grass and +timber; and after observing the course they were taking he came +down the ladder. He selected two of his most trustworthy men, and +armed them and himself with double-barrelled guns, one barrel +being smooth bore and the other rifled, weapons suitable for game +both large and small. During the pursuit the captain every now +and then, from behind a tree, searched for the enemy with his +telescope, until at last he could see that they had halted, and +had joined a number of their tribe. He judged that the blacks, if +they suspected that the white men would follow them, would direct +their looks principally towards the tents, so he made a wide +circuit to the left. Then he and his men crept slowly along the +ground until they arrived within short range of the natives.</p> + +<p>Three of the blacks were wearing the stolen shirts, a fourth +had put on the lilac dress, and they were strutting around to +display their brave apparel just like white folks. The savage man +retains all finery for his own personal adornment, and never +wastes any of it on his despicable wife, but still Captain +Leebrace had some doubt in the matter. He whispered to his men, +"I don't like to shoot at a gown; there may be a lubra in it, but +I'll take the middle fellow in the shirt, and you take the other +two, one to the right, the other to the left; when I say one, +two, three, fire."</p> + +<p>The order was obeyed and when the smoke cleared away the print +dress was gone, but all the rest of the plunder was recovered on +the spot. The shirts were stripped off the bodies of the blacks; +and after they had been rinsed in a water-hole, they were found +to have been not much damaged, each shirt having only a small +bullet hole in it. It was in this way that the lilac dress +escaped, and was found in the canoe at the Old Port; the +blackfellow who wore it had taken it off and put it under his +knees in the bottom of his canoe, and when the white men's boat +came after him, he was in so great a hurry to hide himself in the +scrub that he left the dress behind.</p> + +<p>Next day there was a sudden alarm in the camp at the Old Port. +Clancy and Dick the Devil came running toward the beach, full of +fear and excitement, screaming, "The blacks, the blacks, they are +coming, hundreds of them, and they are all naked, and daubed over +white, and they have long spears."</p> + +<p>The men who had guns--Campbell, Shay, and Davy--fetched them +out of their huts and stood ready to receive the enemy; even +McClure, although very weak, left his bed and came outside to +assist in the fight. The fringe of the scrub was dotted with the +piebald bodies of the blacks, dancing about, brandishing their +spears, and shouting defiance at the white men. They were not in +hundreds, as the boys imagined, their number apparently not +exceeding forty; but it was evident that they were threatening +death and destruction to the invaders of their territory. None, +however, but the very bravest ventured far into the cleared +space, and they showed no disposition to make a rush or anything +like a concerted attack.</p> + +<p>Campbell, after watching the enemy's movements for some time, +said, "I think it will be better to give them a taste of the +nine-pounder. Keep a look-out while I load her."</p> + +<p>He went into his store to get the charge ready. He tied some +powder tightly in a piece of calico and rammed it home. On this +he put a nine-pound shot; but, reflecting that the aim at the +dancing savages would be uncertain, he put in a double charge, +consisting of some broken glass and a handful of nails.</p> + +<p>He then thrust a wooden skewer down the touch-hole into the +powder bag below, primed and directed the piece towards the +scrub, giving it, as he judged, sufficient elevation to send the +charge among the thickest of the foe. As this was the first time +the gun had been brought into action, and there was no telling +for certain which way it would act, Campbell thought it best to +be cautious; so he ordered all his men to take shelter behind the +store. He then selected a long piece of bark, which he lighted at +the fire, and, standing behind an angle of the building, he +applied the light to the touch-hole. Every man was watching the +scrub to see the effect of the discharge. There was a fearful +explosion, succeeded by shrieks of horror and fear from the +blacks, as the ball and nails and broken glass went whistling +over their heads through the trees. Then there was a moment of +complete silence. Campbell, like a skilful general, ordered his +men to pursue at once the flying foe, in order to reap to the +full the fruits of victory, and they ran across the open ground +to deliver a volley; but on arriving at the scrub no foe was to +be seen, either dead or alive. The elevation of the artillery had +been too great, and the missiles had passed overhead; but the +result was all that could be hoped for, for two months afterwards +not a single native was visible.</p> + +<p>Two victories had been gained by the pioneers, and it was felt +that they deserved some commemoration. At night there was a feast +around the camp fire; it was of necessity a frugal one, but each +member of the small community contributed to it as much as he was +able. Campbell produced flour enough for a large damper, a luxury +unseen for the last eight weeks; McClure gave tea and sugar; Davy +brought out a box full of eggs and a dozen mutton birds; Scutt +and Pateley furnished a course of roast flathead; Clancy and Dick +the Devil, the poor pirates, gave all the game they had that day +killed, viz., two parrots and a wattle bird. The twelve canoes, +the spoils of victory, were of little value; they were placed on +the camp fire one after another, and reduced to ashes.</p> + +<p>The warriors sat around on logs and boxes enjoying the good +things provided and talking cheerfully, but they made no set +speeches. Dinner oratory is full of emptiness and they had plenty +of that every day. They dipped pannikins of tea out of the iron +pot.</p> + +<p>When Burke and Wills were starving at Cooper's Creek on a diet +of nardoo, the latter recorded in his diary that what the food +wanted was sugar; he believed that nardoo and sugar would keep +him alive. The pioneers at the Old Port were convinced that their +great want was fat; with that their supper would have been +perfect.</p> + +<p>McClure was dying of consumption as everybody knew but +himself; he could not believe that he had come so far from home +only to die, and he joined the revellers at the camp fire. He +said to kindly enquirers that he felt quite well, and would soon +regain his strength. Before that terrible journey over the +mountains he had been the life and soul of the Port. He could +play on the violin, on the bagpipes--both Scotch and Irish--and +he was always so pleasant and cheerful, looking as innocent as a +child, that no one could be long dispirited in his company, and +the most impatient growler became ashamed of himself.</p> + +<p>McClure was persuaded to bring out his violin once more--it +had been long silent--and he began playing the liveliest of +tunes, strathspeys, jigs, and reels, until some of the men could +hardly keep their heels still, but it is hard to dance on loose +sand, and they had to be contented with expressing their feelings +in song. Davy sang "Ye Mariners of England," and other songs of +the sea; and Pateley Jim gave the "Angel's Whisper," followed by +an old ballad of the days of Robin Hood called "The Wedding of +Aythur O'Braidley," the violin accompanying the airs and putting +the very soul of music into every song.</p> + +<p>But by degrees the musician grew weary, and began to play odds +and ends of old tunes, sacred and profane. He dwelt some time on +an ancient "Kyrie Eleeson," and at last glided, unconsciously as +it were, into the "Land o' the Leal."</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>I'm wearin' away, Jean,<br> +Like snaw wreaths in thaw, Jean,<br> +I'm wearin' awa, Jean,<br> +To the Land o' the Leal.</p> + +<p>There's nae sorrow there, Jean,<br> +There's nae caul or care, Jean,<br> +The days aye fair, Jean,<br> +I' the Land of the Leal.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>At last McClure rose from his seat, and said, "I'll pit awa +the fiddle, and bid ye a good nicht. I think I'll be going hame +to my mither the morn."</p> + +<p>He went into his tent. It was high tide, and there was a +gentle swish of long low waves lapping the sandy beach. The night +wind sighed a soothing lullaby through the spines of the she-oak, +and his spirit passed peacefully away with the ebb. He was the +first man who died at the Old Port, and he was buried on the bank +of the river where Friday first saw its waters flowing towards +the mountain.</p> + +<p>Thirty years afterwards I saw two old men, Campbell and +Montgomery, pulling up the long grass which had covered his +neglected grave.</p> + +<p><a name="ch-16"></a></p> + +<h3>GLENGARRY IN GIPPSLAND.</h3> + +<p>Jack Shay was not sorry to leave the Old Port. The nocturnal +feast made to celebrate the repulse of the blackfellows could not +conceal the state of famine which prevailed, and he was pleased +to remember that he had brought plenty of flour, tea, and sugar +as far as the Thomson river. Davy had no saddle, but John +Campbell lent him one for the journey, and also sold him shot and +powder on credit. So early in the morning the two men took a +"tightener" of roast eggs, and commenced their journey on +McMillan's track, each man carrying his double-barrelled gun, +ready loaded, in his hand. By this time the sight of a gun was a +sufficient warning to the blackfellows to keep at a safe +distance; the discharge of the nine-pounder had proved to them +that the white man possessed mysterious powers of mischief, and +it was a long time before they could recover courage enough to +approach within view of the camp at the Old Port. On the second +day of their journey Davy and Shay arrived at the Thomson, and +found the mob of cattle and the men all safe. They built a hut, +erected a stockyard, and roughly fixed the boundaries of the +station by blazed trees, the bank of the river, and other natural +marks.</p> + +<p>There were three brothers Imlay in the Twofold Bay +district--John, Alexander, and George--the latter residing at the +Bay, where he received stores from Sydney, and shipped return +cargoes of station produce and fat cattle for Hobarton. Two +stations on the mountains were managed by the other two brothers, +and their brand was III., usually called "the Bible brand." When +the station on the Thomson was put in working order, the Imlays +exchanged it for one owned by P. P. King, which was situated +between their two stations in the Monaro district. The Gippsland +station was named Fulham, and was managed by John King. Jack Shay +returned to the mountains, and Davy to the Old Port.</p> + +<p>Soon afterwards the steamer 'Corsair' arrived from Melbourne, +bringing many passengers, one of whom was John Reeve, who took up +a station at Snake Ridge, and purchased the block of land known +as Reeve's Survey. The new settlers also brought a number of +horses, and Norman McLeod had twenty bullocks on board. The +steamer could not reach the port, and brought-to abreast of the +Midge Channel. The cattle and horses were slung and put into the +water, four at a time, and swam to land, but all the bullocks +disappeared soon afterwards and fled to the mountains.</p> + +<p>Next the brig 'Bruthen' arrived from Sydney, chartered by the +Highland chief Macdonnell, of Glengarry. In the days of King +William III. a sum of 20,000 pounds was voted for the purpose of +purchasing the allegiance of the Glengarry of that day, and of +that of several other powerful chiefs. On taking the oath of +loyalty to the new dynasty, they were to receive not more than +2,000 pounds each; or, if they preferred dignity to cash, they +could have any title of nobility they pleased below that of earl. +Most of them took the oath and the cash. It is not recorded that +any chief preferred a title, but the Macdonnell of 1842 was Lord +Glengarry to all the new settlers in Gippsland. His father, +Colonel Alexander Ronaldson Macdonnell, was the last genuine +specimen of a Highland chief, and he was the Fergus McIvor of +Walter Scott's "Waverley." He always wore the dress of his +ancestors, and kept sentinels posted at his doors. He perished in +the year 1828, while attempting to escape from a steamer which +had gone ashore. His estate was heavily encumbered, and his son +was compelled to sell it to the Marquis of Huntly. In 1840 it was +sold to the Earl of Dudley for 91,000 pounds, and in 1860 to +Edward Ellice for 120,000 pounds.</p> + +<p>The landless young chief resolved to transfer his broken +fortunes to Australia. He brought with him a number of men and +women, chiefly Highlanders, who were landed by Davy in his +whaleboat. For this service Glengarry gave a cheque on a Sydney +bank for five pounds, which was entrusted to Captain Gaunson of +the schooner 'Coquette' to purchase groceries. On arriving in +Sydney the Gaunsons went on a pleasure excursion about the +harbour, the 'Coquette' was capsized in a squall, one or two of +the family perished, and Davy's cheque went down with the vessel. +But when the schooner was raised and the water pumped out, the +cheque was found, and the groceries on the next voyage arrived +safely at the Old Port.</p> + +<p>Glengarry's head man and manager of the enterprise was a poor +gentleman from Tipperary named Dancer, and his chief stockman was +Sandy Fraser.</p> + +<p>By the regulations then in force in New South Wales, Glengarry +was entitled, for a fee of 10 pounds per annum, to hold under a +depasturing license an area of twenty square miles, on which he +might place 500 head of cattle or 4,000 sheep. He selected a site +for his head station and residence on the banks of the Tarra. The +house was built, huts and stockyards were erected, 500 dairy cows +were bought at 10 pounds each, and the business of dairy farming +commenced.</p> + +<p>But the young chief and his men were unused to the management +of a station in the new country; they had everything to learn, +and at a ruinous cost.</p> + +<p>A number of young men bailed up the cows each morning, and put +on the leg ropes; then they sat on the top rails of the stockyard +fence and waited while the maids drew the milk. Dancer +superintended the labours of the men and the milkmaids. He sat in +his office in a corner of the stockyard, entering in his books +the number of cattle milked, and examining the state of their +brands, which were daubed on the hides with paint and brush. Some +cheese was made, but it was not of much account, and all the milk +and butter were consumed on the station.</p> + +<p>At this time the blacks had quite recovered from the fright +occasioned by the discharge of the nine-pounder gun, and were +again often seen from the huts at the Old Port. Donald Macalister +was sent by his uncle, Lachlan Macalister, of Nuntin, to make +arrangements for shipping some cattle and sheep. The day before +their arrival Donald saw some blacks at a distance in the scrub, +and without any provocation fired at them with an old Tower +musket, charged with shot. The next day the drovers and shepherds +arrived with the stock, and drove them over Glengarry's bridge to +a place between the Tarra and Albert rivers, called the Coal +Hole, afterwards occupied by Parson Bean. there was no yard +there, and the animals would require watching at night; so Donald +decided to send them back to Glengarry's yards. Then he and the +drovers and shepherds would have a pleasant time; there would be +songs and whisky, the piper would play, and the men and maids +would dance. The arrangement suited everybody. The drovers +started back with the cattle, Donald helped the shepherds to +gather the sheep, and put them on the way, and then he rode after +the cattle. The track led him past a grove of dense ti-tree, on +the land now known as the Brewery Paddock, and about a hundred +yards ahead a single blackfellow came out of the grove, and began +capering about and waving a waddy. Donald pulled up his horse and +looked at the black. He had a pair of pistols in the holsters of +his saddle, but he did not draw them: there was no danger from a +blackfellow a hundred yards off. But there was another behind him +and much nearer, who came silently out of the ti-tree and thrust +a spear through Donald's neck. The horse galloped away towards +Glengarry's bridge.</p> + +<p>When the drovers saw the riderless horse, they supposed that +Macalister had been accidentally thrown, and they sent Friday to +look for him. He found him dead. The blacks had done their work +quickly. They had stripped Donald of everything but his trousers +and boots, had mutilated him in their usual fashion, and had +disappeared. A messenger was sent to old Macalister, and the +young man was buried on the bank of the river near McClure's +grave. The new cemetery now contained three graves, the second +being that of Tinker Ned, who shot himself accidentally when +pulling out his gun from beneath a tarpaulin.</p> + +<p>Lachlan Macalister had had a long experience in dealing with +blackfellows and bushrangers; he had been a captain in the army, +and an officer of the border police. The murder of his nephew +gave him both a professional and a family interest in chastising +the criminals, and he soon organised a party to look for them. It +was, of course, impossible to identify any blackfellow concerned +in the outrage, and therefore atonement must be made by the +tribe. The blacks were found encamped near a waterhole at Gammon +Creek, and those who were shot were thrown into it, to the +number, it was said, of about sixty, men, women, and children; +but this was probably an exaggeration. At any rate, the black who +capered about to attract young Macalister's attention escaped, +and he often afterwards described and imitated the part he took +in what he evidently considered a glorious act of revenge. The +gun used by old Macalister was a double-barrelled Purdy, a +beautiful and reliable weapon, which in its time had done great +execution.</p> + +<p>The dairy business at Greenmount was carried on at a continual +loss, and Glengarry resolved to return to Scotland. He sold his +cows and their increase to Thacker and Mason, of Sydney, for +twenty-seven shillings and sixpence per head; his house was +bought by John Campbell. On the eve of his departure for Sydney +in the schooner 'Coquette' (Captain Gaunson), a farewell dinner +was given by the Highlanders at the Old Port, and Long Mason, who +had come from Sydney to take delivery of the cows on behalf of +Thacker and Mason, was one of the guests. But there was more of +gloom than of gaiety around the festive board. All wished well to +the young chief, but the very best of his friends could think of +nothing cheerful to say to him. His enterprise had been a +complete failure; the family tree of Clanranald the Dauntless had +refused to take root in a strange land the glory had gone from it +for ever, and there was nothing to celebrate in song or +story.</p> + +<p>Other men from the Highlands failed to win the smiles of +fortune in Gippsland. At home, notwithstanding their tribal +feuds, they held their own for two thousand years against the +Roman and Saxon, the Dane and the Norman. Only one hundred and +fifty years ago (it seems now almost incredible) they nearly +scared the Hanoverian dynasty from the throne of England, and +even yet, though scattered throughout the British Empire, they +are neither a fallen nor a falling race.</p> + +<p>Glengarry returned to his tent early, and then the buying and +selling of the five hundred cows became the subject of +conversation; the whisky circulated, and Long Mason observed that +unfriendly looks began to be directed towards himself. He was an +Englishman, a Southron, and it was a foul shame and dishonour +that such as he should pay a Highland chief only twenty-seven +shillings and sixpence for beasts that had cost ten pounds each. +That was not the way in the good old days when the hardy men of +the north descended from the mountains with broadsword and +shield, lifted the cattle of the Saxon, and drove them to their +homes in the glens.</p> + +<p>The fervid temper of the Gael grew hotter at the thought of +the rank injustice which had been done, and it was decided that +Long Mason should be drowned in the inlet. He protested against +the decision with vigour, and apparently with reason. He +said:</p> + +<p>"I did not buy the cattle at all. Glengarry sold them to +Thacker and my brother in Sydney, and I only came over to take +delivery of them. What wrong have I done?"</p> + +<p>But the reasoning of the prosaic Englishman was thrown to the +winds:</p> + +<p>"Ye've done everything wrong. Ye should hae gin ten pund +sterling apiece for the coos, and not twenty-sen and saxpence. +It's a pity yer brither, and Thacker, and MacFarlane are no here +the nicht, and we'd droon them, too."</p> + +<p>Four strong men, shouting in Gaelic the war-cry of +Sheriffmuir, "Revenge, revenge, revenge to-day, mourning +to-morrow!" seized the long limbs of the unfortunate Mason, and +in spite of his struggles bore him towards the beach. The water +near the margin was shallow, so they waded in until it was deep +enough for their purpose. There was a piercing cry, "Help! +murder! murder!" John Campbell heard it, but it was not safe for +a Campbell to stand between a Macdonnell and his revenge. +However, Captain Davy and Pateley Jim came out of their huts to +see what was the matter, and they waded after the Highlanders. +Each seized a man by the collar and downhauled. There was a +sudden whirlpool, a splashing and a spluttering, as all the five +men went under and drank the brine.</p> + +<p>"I think," said Pateley, "that will cool 'em a bit," and it +did.</p> + +<p>Long Mason was a university man, educated for the church, but +before his ordination to the priesthood he had many other +adventures and misfortunes. After being nearly drowned by the +Highlanders he was placed in charge of Woodside station by his +elder brother; he tried to mitigate the miseries of solitude with +drink, but he did so too much and was turned adrift. He then made +his way to New Zealand, and fought as a common soldier through +the Heki war. Captain Patterson, of the schooner 'Eagle', met him +at a New Zealand port. He was wearing a long, ragged old coat, +such as soldiers wore, was out of employment, and in a state of +starvation. The captain took pity on him, brought him back to +Port Albert, and he became a shepherd on a station near +Bairnsdale. While he was fighting the Maoris his brother had gone +home, and had sent to Sydney money to pay his passage to England. +But he could not be found, and the money was returned to London. +At length Captain Bentley found out where he was, took him to +Sydney, gave him an outfit, and paid his passage to England. Long +Mason, honest man that he was, sent back the passage money, was +ordained priest, obtained a living near London, and roamed no +more.</p> + +<p>He had a younger brother named Leonard Mason, who lived with +Coady Buckley at Prospect, near the Ninety-Mile, and became a +good bushman. In 1844 Leonard took up a station in North +Gippsland adjoining the McLeod's run, but the Highlanders tried +to drive him away by taking his cattle a long distance to a pound +which had been established at Stratford. The McLeods and their +men were too many for Leonard. He went to Melbourne to try if the +law or the Government would give him any redress, but he could +obtain no satisfaction. The continued impounding of his cattle +meant ruin to him, and when he returned to Gippsland he found his +hut burned down and his cattle gone on the way to the pound. He +took a double-barrelled gun and went after them. He found them at +Providence Ponds, which was a stopping place for drovers. Next +morning he rose early, went to the stockyard with his gun, and +waited till McDougall, who was manager for the McLeods, came out +with his stockmen. When they approached the yard he said:</p> + +<p>"I shall shoot the first man who touches those rails to take +my cattle out."</p> + +<p>McDougall laughed, and ordered one of his men to take down the +slip-rails, but the man hesitated; he did not like the looks of +Mason. Then McDougall dismounted from his horse and went to the +slip-rails, but as soon as he touched them Mason shot him.</p> + +<p>Coady Buckley spared neither trouble nor expense in obtaining +the best counsel for Mason's defence at the trial in Melbourne. +He was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to nine years' +imprisonment, but after a time was released on the condition of +leaving Victoria, and when last heard of was a drover beyond the +Murray.</p> + +<p>After the departure of Glengarry, Dancer could find no +profitable employment in Gippsland, and lived in a state of +indigence. At last he borrowed sufficient money on a promissory +note to pay his passage to Ireland. In Tipperary he became a +baronet and a sheriff, and lived to a good old age.</p> + +<p><a name="ch-17"></a></p> + +<h3>WANTED, A CATTLE MARKET.</h3> + +<p>It seemed incredible to the first settlers in North Gippsland +that their new Punjaub, the land of the five rivers, which +emptied their waters into immense lakes, should communicate with +the sea by no channel suitable for ships, and an expedition was +organised to endeavour to find an outlet. McMillan had two boats +at his station at Bushy Park, but he had no sails, so he engaged +Davy as sailmaker and chief navigator on the intended voyage. The +two men rode together from the Old Port up the track over Tom's +Cap, and shot two pigeons by the way, which was fortunate, for +when they arrived at Kilmany Park William Pearson was absent, and +his men were found to be living under a discipline so strict that +his stock-keeper, Jimmy Rentoul, had no meat, and dared not kill +any without orders; so McMillan and Davy fried the pigeons, and +ate one each for supper. Next morning they shot some ducks for +breakfast, and then proceeded on their journey. They called at +Mewburn Park, arrived at Bushy Park (McMillan's own station), and +Davy began making the sails the same evening. Next morning he +crossed the river in a canoe, made out of a hollow log, to +Boisdale, Lachlan Macalister's station, and went to the milking +yard. The management was similar to that of Dancer at Greenmount. +Eleven men and women were milking about one hundred and fifty +cows, superintended by nine Highlanders, who were sitting on the +toprails discoursing in Gaelic. One of them was Jock Macdonald, +who was over eighteen stone in weight, too heavy for any ordinary +horse to carry; the rest were Macalisters, Gillies, and Thomsons. +The stockmen were convicts, and they lived with the Highlanders +in a big building like the barracks for soldiers. Every man +seemed to do just what he liked, to kill what he liked, and to +eat what he liked, and it was astonishing to see so little +discipline on a station owned by a gentleman who had seen service +both in the army and in the border police.</p> + +<p>The blacks were at this time very troublesome about the new +stations. They began to be fond of beef, and in order to get it +they drove fat cattle into the morasses and speared them. This +proceeding produced strained relations between the two races, and +the only effectual remedy was the gun. But many of the settlers +had scruples about shooting blackfellows except in self-defence, +and it could hardly be called self-defence to shoot one or more +of the natives because a beast had been speared by some person or +persons unknown. John Campbell, at Glencoe, tried a dog, a savage +deerhound, which he trained to chase the human game. This dog +acquired great skill in seizing a blackfellow by the heel, +throwing him, and worrying him until Campbell came up on his +horse. When the dog had thus expelled the natives from Glencoe, +Campbell agreed to lend him to little Curlewis for three months +in order to clear Holey Plains Station. Curlewis paid ten heifers +for the loan of the dog, and Campbell himself went to give him a +start in the hunt, as the animal would not own any other man as +master. But the blacks soon learned that Campbell and his dog had +left Glencoe unprotected, and the second night after his +departure they boldly entered the potato patch near his hut, and +bandicooted the whole of his potatoes.</p> + +<p>When the sails were made, the two boats were provisioned with +tea, sugar, flour, and a keg of whisky; the meat was carried in +the shape of two live sheep, to be killed when required. The +party consisted of eight men, and each man was armed with a +double-barrelled gun. McMillan, McLennan, Loughnan, and Davy went +in one boat, and in the other boat were William Pearson, John +Reeve, Captain Orr, and Sheridan, who was manager for Raymond at +Stratford. Sheridan was a musical man, and took his flute with +him. When everything was ready they dropped down the river to +Lake Wellington, and took note of the soundings during the whole +of the voyage as they went along. Wherever they approached either +shore, they saw natives or found traces of them. Every beach was +strewn with the feathers of the ducks, swans, and other birds +they had killed, and it was difficult to find sufficient dead +wood near the water to make a fire, the blacks having used so +much of it at their numerous camping places.</p> + +<p>The gins had an ingenious system of capturing the ducks. They +moved along under water, leaving nothing but their nostrils +visible above the surface, and they were thus able to approach +the unsuspecting birds. As opportunity offered they seized them +by the legs, drew them quickly under water, and held them until +they were drowned. When they had secured as many as they could +hold in one hand they returned to land.</p> + +<p>One of the explorers always kept guard while the others slept, +the first watch of each night being assigned to Davy, who baked +the damper for the next day. One of the sheep was killed soon +after the voyage commenced; and the duty of taking ashore, +tethering, and guarding the other sheep at each landing place was +taken in turn by Pearson and Loughnan. At the lower end of the +lakes the water was found to be brackish, so they went ashore at +several places to look for fresh water. They landed on a flat at +Reeve's River, and Davy found an old well of the natives, but it +required cleaning out, so he went back to the boat for a spade. +It was Loughnan's turn that day to tether the sheep on some +grassy spot, and to look after it; the animal by this time had +become quite a pet, and was called Jimmy. On coming near the +boats Davy looked about for Jimmy, but could not see him and +asked Loughnan where he was.</p> + +<p>"Oh, he is all right," said Loughnan, "I did not tether him, +but he is over there eating the reeds."</p> + +<p>"Then he's gone," replied Davy.</p> + +<p>Every man became seriously alarmed and ran down to the reeds, +for Jimmy carried their whole supply of meat. They found his +tracks at the edge of the water, and followed them to the foot of +a high bluff, which they ascended, calling as they went +repeatedly for Jimmy. They looked in every direction, scanning +especially the tops of the reeds to see if Jimmy was moving +amongst them, but they could see no sign of the sheep that was +lost. The view of land and river, mountain and sea, was very +beautiful, but they were too full of sorrow for Jimmy to enjoy +it. On going away they agreed to call the bluff Jimmy's point, +but other voyagers came afterwards who knew nothing of Jimmy, and +they named it Kalimna, The Beautiful. Near the shore a number of +sandpipers were shot, and stewed for dinner in the large iron pot +which was half full of mutton fat. Then the party pulled down to +the entrance of the lakes at Reeve's River, went ashore, and +camped for the night.</p> + +<p>Next day they found an outlet to the ocean, and sounded it as +they went along, finding six feet of water on the bar at low +tide. But the channel proved afterwards to be a shifting one; the +strong current round Cape Howe, and the southerly gales, often +filled it with sand, and it was not until many years had passed, +and much money had been expended, that a permanent entrance was +formed. In the meantime all the trade of Gippsland was carried on +first through the Old Port, and then through the new Port Albert. +For ten years all vessels were piloted without buoy or beacon; in +one year one hundred and forty having been entered inwards and +outwards.</p> + +<p>The party now started on the return voyage. In going up the +lakes a number of blacks were observed on the port beach, and the +boats were pulled towards the land until they grounded, and some +of the men went ashore. The natives were standing behind a small +sand hummock calling out to the visitors. One of them had lost an +eye, and another looked somewhat like a white man browned with +the sun and weather, but only the upper part of his body could be +seen above the sand. One of the men on shore said, "Look at that +white-fellow." That was the origin of the rumour which was soon +spread through the country that the blacks had a white woman +living with them, the result being that for a long time the +blackfellows were hunted and harassed continually by parties of +armed men. When the natives behind the sand hummock saw that the +white men had no arms, they began to approach them without their +spears. Sheridan took up his flute, and they ran back to the +scrub, but after he had played a while they came nearer again and +listened to the music.</p> + +<p>After pulling two or three miles, another party of natives was +seen running along the sands, and the explorers went ashore again +at a point of land where seven or eight men had appeared, but not +one was now visible. Davy climbed up a honeysuckle tree, and then +he could see them hiding in the scrub. Several of them were +seized and held by the white men, who gave them some sugar and +then let them go.</p> + +<p>The boats then sailed away with a nice easterly breeze, and in +McLennan's Straits hundreds of blackfellows were seen up in the +trees shouting and shaking their spears; but the boats were kept +away in mid-stream, out of reach of the weapons.</p> + +<p>That night the camp was made at Boney Point, near the mouth of +the River Avon; the name was given to it on account of the large +quantity of human bones found there. No watch was kept, as it was +believed that all the blacks had been left behind in McLennan's +Straits. There was still some whisky left in the keg; and, before +going to sleep, Orr, Loughnan, and Sheridan sang and drank +alternately until the vessel was empty. At daylight they pulled +up the Avon and landed at Clydebank, which was at that time one +of Macalister's stations, but afterwards belonged to Thomson and +Cunningham. After breakfast they walked to Raymond's station at +Stratford, and then to McMillan's at Bushy Park.</p> + +<p>The cattle brought over the mountains into Gippsland soon grew +fat, and the first settlers sold some of them to other men who +came to search for runs; but the local demand was soon supplied. +In two years and a half all the best land was occupied. An +intending settler, who had driven a herd of cattle seven hundred +miles, had some bitter complaints to make about the country in +June, 1843. He said: "The whole length of Gippsland, from the +bore of the mountains in which the road comes, is 110 miles, and +the breadth about fifteen miles, the whole area 1650 square +miles, one-third of which is useless through scrub and morass, +which leaves only 1,100 square miles come-at-able at all, and +nearly a third of this is useless. On this 1,100 square miles of +land there are 45,000 sheep, 1,500 cattle, and 300 horses. Other +herds of cattle and about 2,000 sheep are expected daily. The +blacks are continuing their outrages, robbing huts and gardens +and slaughtering cattle wholesale, Messrs. Pearson and Cunningham +being the latest sufferers by the cannibals. Sheep shearing is +nearly completed, after paying a most exorbitant price to the +shearers.* The wool is much lighter than in any other part of the +colony, and the skins much thicker than in hotter climates;" and +lastly, "A collection has been made for the support of a +minister." But the minister was not supported long, and he had to +shake the dust of Gippsland off his feet. From Dan to +Beersheba--from the bore in the mountains to the shores of Corner +Inlet, all was barren to this disappointed drover.</p> + +<blockquote>[*Footnote *In the season of 1844 the average price +per 100 for sheep-shearing was 8s.; the highest price asked, 8s. +6d.]</blockquote> + +<p>And the squatters, in order to keep a foothold in the country, +had to seek markets for their stock over the sea. The first to +export cattle was James McFarlane of Heyfield. He chartered the +schooner 'Waterwitch' for 100 pounds a month for six months, and +found her in everything. She arrived on March 2nd, 1842, but +could not come up to the Port being too sharp in the bottom, and +drawing (when loaded with cattle) thirteen feet six inches, so +she lay down at the Oyster Beds. McFarlane borrowed the square +punt from the 'Clonmel' wreckers, a weak stockyard of tea tree +was erected, and the punt was moored alongside. A block was made +fast to the bottom of the punt, and a rope rove through it to a +bullock's head, and the men hauled on the rope. Sometimes a beast +would not jump, and had to be levered and bundled into the punt +neck and crop. Then the men got into a boat, and reached over to +make the rope fast from the head of the bullock to one of the +eyebolts which were fixed round the punt, and even then the +bullock would sometimes go overboard. It took a week to load +twenty fat bullocks and twenty cows with their calves. The +schooner set sail for New Zealand on April 2nd, 1842, and at Port +Nicholson the bullocks were sold for fifteen and the cows for +twelve pounds each, cash. The 'Waterwitch' returned to Port +Albert on April 29th, and took in another cargo of breeding +cattle, which had to be sold on bills, the cash at Port Nicholson +being exhausted. McFarlane next sought for a market at Hobarton, +which was then supplied with beef from Twofold Bay. Forty +bullocks were put on board the 'Waterwitch' in five days, and in +forty-eight hours they were offered for sale in Hobarton, and +fetched fourteen pounds ten shillings a head--all but one, a +snail-horned brute, which was very wild. When he landed, a number +of soldiers were at drill in the paddock, and he charged the +redcoats at once. They prepared to receive cavalry, but he broke +through the ranks, scattered the citizens the whole length of +Liverpool Street, and reached the open country. Guisden, the +auctioneer, sold the chance of him for eleven pounds.</p> + +<p>At this time, nobody in Hobarton had heard of such a place as +Gippsland; but the fat cattle, which were far superior to those +imported from Twofold Bay, soon made the new territory well +known, and many enterprising men of various characters found +their way to it from the island.</p> + +<p>McFarlane sent over another cargo of forty bullocks, +thirty-seven of which averaged fourteen pounds; one was lost, and +two belonging to Macalister, heavy weights, were sold for forty +pounds ten shillings.</p> + +<p>McMillan took over the 'Waterwitch' for the next trip, and +also chartered the schooners 'Industry' and 'Scotia', which were +the first vessels brought up to the shipping place at Port Albert +on August, 3rd, 1842. Each of these vessels took two cargoes to +Hobarton, which sold well, and then Macalister chartered the brig +'Pateena', which would hold sixty bullocks. The 'Clonmel' punt +was now dispensed with; the cattle were roped, put in the water, +and made to swim between the vessel and a boat. A piece of small +ratline was fixed to the slings, with the handlead made fast to +it so that it would sink. The mate had the slings, and a man in +the boat held the other end of the line, and with it he hauled +the slings under the bullocks, which were then made fast, and the +animal was hoisted up. In this way forty bullocks were shipped in +three hours.</p> + +<p>Oysters were obtained in great abundance at Clonmel, Snake +Island, and in other parts of the inlets, and the cattle vessels, +after receiving their loading, took bags of oysters on board for +sale at Hobarton. In June, 1843, the cutter 'Lucy' took 700 dozen +to Melbourne, and in July another 700 dozen. In August the 'Mary +Jane' took 500 dozen, and the cutter 'Domain' 400 dozen. The +oyster beds were soon destroyed, and when in course of a few +years I was appointed inspector of fisheries at Port Albert I +could never find a single dozen oysters to inspect, although I +was informed that a certain reverend poacher near the Caledonian +Canal could obtain a bucket full of them when so disposed.</p> + +<p>Gippsland enjoyed one year of prosperity, followed by seven +years of adversity. The price of stock declined so rapidly that +in April, 1843, the very best beasts only realized 6 pounds per +head, and soon afterwards it was estimated that there were in New +South Wales 50,000 fat bullocks which nobody would buy. Moreover, +the government was grievously in want of money, and in addition +to the fees for depasturing licenses, exacted half-yearly +assessments on the unsaleable flocks and herds. But the law +exacted payment on live cattle only, so the squatters in their +dire distress resolved to kill their stock and boil them, the +hides and the resulting tallow being of some value. The Hentys, +in the Portland district, commenced boiling their sheep in +January, 1844, and on every station in New South Wales the +paddocks still called the "boiling down" were devoted to the +destruction of sheep and cattle and to the production of tallow. +It was found that one hundred average sheep would yield one ton +of tallow, and ten average bullocks also one ton, the price in +London ranging from 35 pounds to 42 pounds per ton. By this +device of boiling-down some of the pioneers were enabled to +retain their runs until the discovery of gold.</p> + +<p>The squatters were assisted in their endeavours to diminish +the numbers of their live stock by their neighbours, both black +and white. It is absurd to blame the aborigines for killing sheep +and cattle. You might as well say it is immoral for a cat to +catch mice. Hunting was their living; the land and every animal +thereon was theirs; and after we had conferred on them, as usual, +the names of savages and cannibals, they were still human beings; +they were our neighbours, to be treated with mercy; and to seize +their lands by force and to kill them was robbery and murder. The +State is a mere abstraction, has neither body nor soul, and an +abstraction cannot be sent either to heaven or hell. But each +individual man will be rewarded according to his works, which +will follow him. Because the State erected a flag on a bluff +overlooking the sea, Sandy McBean was not justified in shooting +every blackfellow or gin he met with on his run, as I know he did +on the testimony of an eye-witness. This is the age of whitewash. +There is scarcely a villain of note on whose character a new coat +has not been laboriously daubed by somebody, and then we are +asked to take a new view of it. It does not matter very much now, +but I should prefer to whitewash the aboriginals.</p> + +<p>J. P. Fawkner wrote: "The military were not long here before +the Melbourne district was stained with the blood of the +aborigines, yet I can safely say that in the year in which there +was neither governor, magistrate, soldier, nor policemen, not one +black was shot or killed in the Melbourne district, except +amongst or by the blacks themselves. Can as much be said of any +year since? I think not."</p> + +<p>In the year 1844 Mr. Latrobe was required to send to the +Council in Sydney a return of all blacks and whites killed in the +Port Phillip district since its first settlement. He said forty +whites had been killed by the blacks, and one hundred and +thirteen blacks had been reported as killed by the whites; but he +added, "the return must not be looked upon as correct with +respect to the number of aborigines killed." The reason is plain. +When a white man murdered a few blacks it was not likely that he +would put his neck into the hangman's noose by making a formal +report of his exploit to Mr. Latrobe. All the surviving +blackfellow could say was: "Quamby dead --long +time--white-fellow--plenty--shoot 'em."</p> + +<p>He related in eight words the decline and fall of his race +more truly than the white man could do it in eight volumes.</p> + +<p>It is not so easy a task to justify the white men who assisted +the squatters to diminish the numbers of their stock. They were +principally convicts who had served their sentences, or part of +them, in the island, and had come over to Gippsland in cattle +vessels. Some of them lived honestly, about one hundred of them +disappeared when the Commissioner of Crown Lands arrived with his +black and white police, and a few of the most enterprising +spirits adopted the calling of cattle stealers, for which +business they found special facilities in the two special +surveys.</p> + +<p><a name="ch-18"></a></p> + +<h3>TWO SPECIAL SURVEYS.</h3> + +<p>A notice dated March 4th, 1841, was gazetted in Sydney to the +following effect:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>"Any Holder of a Land Receipt to the extent of not less than +five thousand one hundred and twenty acres may, if he think fit, +demand a special survey of any land not hereinafter excepted, +within the district of Port Philip, whether such Land Receipt be +obtained in the manner pointed out in the 'Government Gazette' of +the 21st January last, or granted by the Land and Emigration +Commissioners in London.</p> + +<p>"Not more than one mile of frontage to any river, watercourse, +or lake to be allowed to every four square miles of area; the +other boundaries to be straight lines running north and south, +east and west.</p> + +<p>"No land to be taken up within five miles of the towns of +Melbourne, Geelong, Williamstown, or Portland.</p> + +<p>"The right of opening roads through any part of the land to be +reserved for the Crown, but no other reservation whatever to be +inserted in the Deeds of Grant."</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>The Port Albert Company took up land, under the above +conditions, between the Albert and Tarra rivers. It was in Orr's +name, and is still known as Orr's Special Survey. A surveyor was +appointed to mark and plan the boundaries; he delegated the work +to another surveyor. Next a re-survey was made, then a +sub-divisional survey, and then other surveys went on for fifty +years, with ever-varying results. It is now a well-established +fact that Orr's Special Survey is subject to an alternate +expansion and contraction of area, which from time to time +vitiates the labour of every surveyor, and has caused much +professional animosity. Old men with one foot in the grave, in +this year 1895, are still accusing each other of embezzling acres +of it; the devil of Discord, and Mercury the god of thieves, +encamped upon it; the Port Albert Company fell into its Slough of +Despond, which in the Court of Equity was known as "Kemmis v. +Orr," and there all the members perished.</p> + +<p>Mr. John Reeve had a land receipt, and wanted land. After he +had taken up the station known as Snake Ridge he looked about for +a good Special Survey. He engaged Davy and his whaleboat for a +cruise in Port Albert waters and McMillan, Sheridan, and Loughnan +were of the party. They went up the narrow channel called the +Caledonian Canal, examined the bluffs, shores, and islands of +Shallow Inlet, and at night encamped on St. Margaret's Island. +When shelter was required, Davy usually put up the mainsail of +his boat for a tent; but that night was so fine and warm that it +was decided to avoid the trouble of bringing the sail ashore and +putting it up. After supper the men lay around the fire, and one +by one fell asleep; but about midnight heavy rain began to fall, +the sail was brought ashore, and they all crept under it to keep +themselves as dry as possible.</p> + +<p>The next morning was fair. On leaving the port it had been the +intention of the party to return the same evening, and the boat +was victualled for one day only. There was now nothing for +breakfast but a little tea and sugar and a piece of damper: no +flesh, fish, or fowl. Davy was anxious to entertain his +passengers to the best of his ability, especially Mr. Reeve, who, +though not of delicate health, was a gentleman of refined tastes, +and liked to have his meals prepared and served in the best +style. Fresh water was of the first necessity, and, after so much +rain, should have been plentiful, but not a spoonful could +anywhere be found: the soil of the island was sandy, and all the +rain had soaked into it and disappeared. The damper having been +exposed to the weather was saturated with water. There was in the +boat a large three-legged iron pot, half filled with fat, a hard +and compact dainty not liable to be spilled or wasted, and in it +had been stewed many a savoury meal of sandpipers, parrots, rats, +and quail. This pot had been fortunately left upright and +uncoveredduring the night, and the abundant rain had filled it +with fresh water. Davy, with the intuition of artistic genius, at +once saw the means of producing a repast fit for the gods. He +poured the water which covered the fat from the iron pot into the +kettle, which he placed on the fire for the purpose of making +tea. He cut the sodden damper into substantial slices, put them +into the pot, and cooked them in the fat over the fire. When well +done they tasted like fried bread, and gave entire satisfaction; +Mr. Reeve observing, when the feast was finished, that he had +never in all his life eaten a better breakfast.</p> + +<p>A start was made for the port, but the wind came dead ahead, +and the men had to pull the whole way across the inlet, through +the Caledonian Canal, and as far as Long Point. There they went +ashore for a rest, and Mr. Reeve asked Davy if he could find the +mouth of the Tarra River. Davy said he had never been there, but +he had no doubt that he could find it, as he had seen the river +when he was duck-shooting. It was then high water, and the wind +still blowing strongly from the west, so a reef was taken in the +lug, and the boat ran right into the Tarra as far as the site of +the present court-house. There the party landed, and after +looking at the country Mr. Reeve decided to take up his special +survey there. It was partly open forest, but it contained, also, +a considerable area of rich flats covered with luxuriant tea tree +and myrtle scrub, which in course of time became mingled with +imported blackberry bushes, whins, sweetbriar, and thistles. Any +quantity of labour might be spent on it with advantage to the +owner, so the following advertisement appeared in the public +journals:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p><b>TO CAPITALISTS AND THE INDUSTRIOUS LABOURING CLASS.</b></p> + +<p>GIPPSLAND--PORT ALBERT.</p> + +<p>An accurate plan of Mr. Reeve's Special Survey of Tarra Vale +having been completed, notice is hereby given that farms of +various sizes are now open for sale or lease. The proprietor +chiefly desires the establishment of a Respectable Tenantry, and +will let these farms at the moderate rent of one bushel of wheat +per acre. The estate consists of 5,120 acres of rich alluvial +flats; no part of the estate is more than two miles from the +freshwater stream of Tarra. Many families already occupy +purchased allotments in the immediate vicinity of the landing +place and Tarra Ville. There is a licensed hotel, good stores and +various tradesmen, likewise dray roads from Maneroo and Port +Philip. Apply to F. Taylor, Tarra Ville, or John Brown, +Melbourne.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>There were several doubtful statements in this notice, but, as +the law says, "Buyer, beware."</p> + +<p>Joshua Dayton was not a capitalist, but he belonged to the +Industrious Labouring Class, and he offered himself, and was +accepted as a Respectable Tenant, at the rental of a bushel of +wheat to the acre. He was a thief on principle, but simple Mr. +Taylor, of Tarraville, put his trust in him, because it would be +necessary to fence and improve the land in order to produce the +bushel of wheat. The fee simple, at any rate, would be safe with +Mr. Reeve; but we live and learn--learn that there are men +ingenious enough to steal even the fee simple, and transmit it by +will to their innocent children.</p> + +<p>The farm comprised a beautiful and rich bend of the Tarra, +forming a spacious peninsula. Joshua erected a fence across the +isthmus, leaving the rest of his land open to the trespass of +cattle, which were, therefore, liable to be driven away. But he +did not drive them away; he impounded them within his bend, and +at his leisure selected the fattest for slaughter, thus living +literally on the fat of the land. He formed his boiling-down +establishment in a retired glade, surrounded with tea-tree, tall +and dense, far from the prying eyes and busy haunts of men. His +hut stood on a gentle rise above the highest flood mark, and in +close proximity to the slip rails, which were jealously guarded +by his Cerberus, Neddy, a needy immigrant of a plastic nature, +whose mind succumbed under the strong logic of his employer.</p> + +<p>Neddy had so far led an honest life, and did not fall into +habits of thievery without some feelings of compunction. When +Joshua first drove cattle into the bend, he did not tell Neddy +that he had stolen them. Oh, no! He said:</p> + +<p>"Here are a few beasts I have had running about for some time, +and I think I'll kill one or two of the fattest and make tallow +of them. Beef is worth next to nothing, and we must make a living +somehow. And I know you would like a little fresh beef, Neddy; a +change of diet is good for the health."</p> + +<p>But Neddy was not so much of a fool as to be able to shut his +eyes to the nature of the boiling-down business. The brands were +too various, and Joshua claimed them all. Neddy said one +night:</p> + +<p>"Don't you think, Joshua, this game of yours is rather +dangerous? Why, it's nothing better than cattle stealing; and +I've heern folks say at one time it was a hanging matter. You may +be found out some day by an unlucky chance, and then what will +you do?"</p> + +<p>"You mustn't call it cattle stealing, Neddy; that doesn't +sound well," said Joshua. "I call it back pay for work and labour +done. I have good reasons for it. I was sent out for stealing a +horse, which I never did steal; I only bought it cheap for a +couple of pounds. They sent me to the island, and I worked seven +years for a settler for nothing. Now I put it to you, Neddy, as +an honest and sensible man, Am I to get no pay for that seven +years' work? And how am I to get it if I don't take it myself? +The Government will give me no pay; they'd give me another seven +years if they could. But you see, there are no peelers here, no +beaks, and no blooming courts, so I intend to make hay while the +sun shines, which means tallow in these times. All these settlers +gets as much work out of Government men as they can get for +nothing, and if you says two words to 'em they'll have you +flogged. So while I does my seven years I says nothing, but I +thinks, and I makes up my mind to have it out of 'em when my time +comes. And I say it's fair and honest to get your back wages the +best way you can. These settlers are all tarred with the same +brush; they make poor coves like us work for 'em, and flog us +like bullocks, and then they pretend they are honest men. I say +be blowed to such honesty."</p> + +<p>"But if you are caught, Joshua, what then?"</p> + +<p>"Well, we must be careful. I don't think they'll catch me in a +hurry. You see, I does my business quick: cuts out the brand and +burns it first thing, and always turns out beasts I don't want +directly."</p> + +<p>Other men followed the example of Joshua, so that between +troubles with the black men, troubles with the white men, and the +want of a market for his stock, the settler's days were full of +anxiety and misery. And, in addition, the Government in Sydney +was threatening him with a roaming taxgatherer under the name of +a Commissioner of Crown Lands, to whom was entrusted the power of +increasing or diminishing assessments at his own will and +pleasure. The settler therefore bowed down before the lordly +tax-gatherer, and entertained him in his hut with all available +hospitality, with welcome on his lips, smiles on his face, and +hatred in his heart.</p> + +<p>The fees and fines collected by the Commissioners all over New +South Wales had fallen off in one year to the extent of +sixty-five per cent; more revenue was therefore required, and was +it not just that those who occupied Crown lands should support +the dignity of the Crown? Then the blacks had to be protected, or +otherwise dealt with. They could not pay taxes, as the Crown had +already appropriated all they were worth, viz., their country. +But they were made amenable to British law; and in that +celebrated case, "Regina v. Jacky Jacky," it was solemnly decided +by the judge that the aborigines were subjects of the Queen, and +that judge went to church on the Sabbath and said his prayers in +his robes of office, wig and all.</p> + +<p>Jacky Jacky was charged with aiding and abetting Long Bill to +murder little Tommy. He said:</p> + +<p>"Another one blackfellow killed him, baal me shoot him."</p> + +<p>The court received his statement as equivalent to a plea of +"Not guilty."</p> + +<p>Witness Billy, an aboriginal, said:</p> + +<p>"I was born about twenty miles from Sydney. If I don't tell +stories, I shall go to Heaven; if I do, I shall go down below. I +don't say any prayers. It is the best place to go up to Heaven. I +learnt about heaven and hell about three years ago at Yass plains +when driving a team there. Can't say what's in that book; can't +read. If I go below, I shall be burned with fire."</p> + +<p>Billy was sworn, and said:</p> + +<p>"I knew Jacky Jacky and Cosgrove, the bullock driver. I know +Fyans Ford. I know Manifolds. I went from Fyans Ford with +Cosgrove, a drove of cattle, and a dray for Manifolds. I knew +Little Tommy at Port Fairy. He is dead. I saw him dying. When +driving the team, I fell in with a lot of blacks. They asked me +what black boy Tommy was; told them my brother. They kept +following us two miles and a half. Jacky Jacky said; 'Billy, I +must kill that black boy in spite of you.'"</p> + +<p>Jacky Jacky said sharply, "Borack."</p> + +<p>"Jacky Jacky, who was the king, got on the dray, and Little +Tommy got down; a blackfellow threw a spear at him, and hit him +in the side; the king also threw a spear, and wounded him; a lot +of blacks also speared him. Long Bill came up and shot him with a +ball. Jacky Jacky said to Cosgrove: 'Plenty gammon; I must kill +that black boy.' Little Tommy belonged to the Port Fairy tribe, +which had always been fighting with Jacky Jacky's tribe."</p> + +<p>"It's all gammon," said Jacky Jacky, "borack me, its another +blackfellow."</p> + +<p>"Jacky Jacky, when with the dray, spoke his own language which +I did not understand. I was not a friend of Little Tommy. I was +not afraid of the Port Fairy tribe. I am sometimes friend with +Jacky Jacky's tribe. If I met him at Yass I can't say whether I +should spear him or not; they would kill him at the Goulburn +River if he went there. Blackfellow not let man live who +committed murder."</p> + +<p>Are the aboriginals amenable to British law? Question argued +by learned counsel, Messrs. Stawell and Barry.</p> + +<p>His Honor the Resident Judge said: "The aboriginals are +amenable to British law, and it is a mercy to them to be under +that control, instead of being left to seek vengeance in the +death of each other; it is a mercy to them to be under the +protection of British law, instead of slaughtering each +other."</p> + +<p>Jacky Jacky was found guilty of "aiding and abetting." The +principals in the murder were not prosecuted, probably could not +be found. Before leaving the court, he turned to the judge and +said, "You hang me this time?"</p> + +<p>He only knew two maxims of British law applicable to his race, +and these he had learned by experience. One maxim was "Shoot 'em" +and the other was "Hang him."</p> + +<p>There is abundant evidence to prove that an aboriginal legal +maxim was, "The stranger is an enemy, kill him." It was for that +reason Jacky Jacky killed Little Tommy, who was a stranger, +belonging to the hostile Port Fairy tribe.</p> + +<p>Joshua and Neddy carried on the boiling down business +successfully for some time, regularly shipping tallow to +Melbourne in casks, until some busybody began to insinuate that +their tallow was contraband. Then Joshua took to carrying goods +up the country, and Neddy took to drink. He died at the first +party given by Mother Murden at her celebrated hostelry.</p> + +<p>There were at this time about two hundred men, women, and +children scattered about the neighbourhood of New Leith +(afterwards called Port Albert), the Old Port, the New Alberton +and Tarra Vale. Alberton, by the way, was gazetted as a township +before the "village" of St. Kilda was founded. There were no +licenses issued for the various houses of entertainment, vulgarly +called "sly grog shops." There was no church, no school, no +minister, and no music, until Mother Murden imported some. It was +hidden in the recesses of a barrel organ; and, in order to +introduce the new instrument to the notice of her patrons and +friends, Mother Murden posted on her premises a manuscript +invitation to a grand ball. She was anxious that everything +should be carried out in the best style, and that the festive +time should commence at least without intoxication. She therefore +had one drunken man carried into the "dead room," another to an +outside shed. Neddy, the third, had become one of her best +customers, and therefore she treated him kindly. He was unsteady +on his legs, and she piloted him with her own hands to the front +door, expecting that he would find a place for himself somewhere +or other. She gave him a gentle shove, said "Good night, Neddy," +and closed the door. She then cleared a space for the dancers in +her largest room, placed the barrel-organ on a small table in one +corner, and made her toilet.</p> + +<p>The guests began to arrive, and Mother Murden received them in +her best gown at the front door. Neddy was lying across the +threshold.</p> + +<p>"It's only Neddy," she said apologetically; "he has been +taking a little nobbler, and it always runs to his head. He'll be +all right by-and-by. Come in my dears, and take your things off. +You'll find a looking-glass in the room behind the bar."</p> + +<p>The gentlemen stepped over Neddy, politely gave their hands to +the ladies, and helped them over the human obstacle.</p> + +<p>When everything was ready, Mother Murden sat down by the +barrel-organ, took hold of the handle, and addressed her +guests:</p> + +<p>"Now boys, choose your girls."</p> + +<center> +<p><a name="bookbush-04"></a><img alt="" src="images/bookbush-04.jpg"></p> + +<p><b>"The biggest bully apropriated the belle of the +ball."</b></p> +</center> + +<p>The biggest bully, a "conditional pardon" man of the year +1839, acted as master of the ceremonies, and called out the +figures. He also appropriated the belle of the ball as his +partner.</p> + +<p>The dancing began with great spirit, but as the night wore on +the music grew monotonous. There were only six tunes in the +organ, and not all the skill and energy of Mother Murden could +grind one more out of it.</p> + +<p>Neddy lay across the doorway, and was never disturbed. He did +not wake in time to take any part in the festive scene, being +dead. Now and then a few of the dancers stepped over him, and +remarked, "Neddy is having a good rest." In the cool night air +they walked to and fro, then, returning to the ball-room, they +took a little refreshment, and danced to the same old tunes, +until they were tired.</p> + +<p>Mother Murden's first ball was a grand success for all but +Neddy.</p> + +<blockquote>"No sleep till morn when youth and pleasure meet,<br> +To chase the glowing hours with flying feet."</blockquote> + +<p>But morn reveals unsuspected truths, and wrinkled invisible in +the light of tallow candles. The first rays of the rising sun +fell on Neddy's ghastly face, and the "conditional pardon" man +said, "Why, he's dead and cold."</p> + +<p>Mother Murden came to the door with a tumbler in her hand, +containing a morning nip for Neddy, "to kill the worm," as the +Latins say; but the worm was dead already. The merry-makers stood +around; the men looked serious and the ladies shivered. They said +the air felt chilly, so they bade one another good morning and +hurried home.</p> + +<p>It is hard to say why one sinner is taken and the other left. +Joshua's time did not arrive until many years afterwards, when we +had acquitted him at the General Sessions; but that is another +story.</p> + +<p><a name="ch-19"></a></p> + +<h3>HOW GOVERNMENT CAME TO GIPPSLAND.</h3> + +<p>At this time there was no visible government in Gippsland. The +authorities in Sydney and Melbourne must have heard of the +existence of the country and of its settlement, but they were +content for a time with the receipt of the money paid into the +Treasury for depasturing licenses and for assessments on +stock.</p> + +<p>In 1840 the Land Fund received in New South Wales amounted to +316,000 pounds; in 1841 it was only 90,000 pounds; and in 1842 +Sir George Gipps, in his address to the Council severely +reprimanded the colonists for the reckless spirit of speculation +and overtrading in which they had indulged during the two +preceding years. This general reprimand had a more particular +application to Mr. Benjamin Boyd, the champion boomer of those +days.</p> + +<p>Labourers out of employment were numerous, and contractors +were informed by 'Gazette' notice that the services of one +hundred prisoners were available for purposes of public utility, +such as making roads, dams, breakwaters, harbours, bridges, +watchhouses, and police buildings. Assignees of convicts were +warned that if they wished to return them to the custody of the +Government, they must pay the expense of their conveyance to +Sydney, otherwise all their servants would be withdrawn, and they +would become ineligible as assignees of prisoners in future.</p> + +<p>Between the first of July, 1840, and the first of November, +1841, 26,556 bounty immigrants had been received in Sydney. The +bounty orders were suspended in the autumn of the latter year, +but in 1842 Lord Stanley was of opinion that the colony could +beneficially receive ten thousand more immigrants during the +current year.</p> + +<p>Many married labourers could find no work in Sydney, and in +November, 1843, the Government requested persons sending +wool-drays to the city to take families to inland districts +gratis.</p> + +<p>A regular stream of half-pay officers also poured into the +colony, and made Sir George's life a burden. They all wanted +billets, and if he made the mistake of appointing a civilian to +some office, Captain Smith, with war in his eye and fury in his +heart, demanded an interview at once. He said:</p> + +<p>"I see by this morning's 'Gazette' that some fellow of the +name of Jones has been made a police superintendent, and here am +I, an imperial officer, used to command and discipline, left out +in the cold, while that counter-jumper steps over my head. I +can't understand your policy, Sir George. What will my friends of +the club in London say, when they hear of it, but that the +service is going to the dogs?"</p> + +<p>So Captain Smith obtained his appointment as superintendent of +police, and with a free sergeant and six convict constables, +taken, as it were, out of bond, was turned loose in the bush. He +had been for twenty years in the preventive service, but had +never captured a prize more valuable than a bottle of whisky. He +knew nothing whatever about horses, and rode like a beer barrel, +but he nevertheless lectured his troopers about their horses and +accoutrements. The sergeant was an old stockrider, and he one day +so far forgot the rules of discipline as to indulge in a mutinous +smile, and say:</p> + +<p>"Well, captain, you may know something about a ship, but I'll +be blowed if you know anything about a horse."</p> + +<p>That observation was not entered in any report, but the +sergeant was fined 2 pounds for "insolence and insubordination." +The sum of 60,899 pounds was voted for police services in 1844, +and Captain Smith was paid out of it. All the revenue went to +Sydney, and very little of it found its way to Melbourne, so that +Mr. Latrobe's Government was sometimes deprived of the +necessaries of life.</p> + +<p>Alberton was gazetted as a place for holding Courts of Petty +Sessions, and Messrs. John Reeve and John King were appointed +Justices of the Peace for the new district.</p> + +<p>Then Michael Shannon met James Reading on the Port Albert +Road, robbed him of two orders for money and a certificate of +freedom, and made his way to Melbourne. There he was arrested, +and remanded by the bench to the new court at Alberton. But there +was no court there, no lock-up, and no police; and Mr. Latrobe, +with tears in his eyes, said he had no cash whatever to spend on +Michael Shannon.</p> + +<p>The public journals denounced Gippsland, and said it was full +of irregularities. Therefore, on September 13th, 1843, Charles J. +Tyers was appointed Commissioner of Crown Lands for the district. +He endeavoured to make his way overland to the scene of his +future labours, but the mountains were discharging the +accumulated waters of the winter and spring rainfall, every +watercourse was full, and the marshes were impassable.</p> + +<p>The commissioner waited, and then made a fresh start with six +men and four baggage horses. Midway between Dandenong and the +Bunyip he passed the hut of Big Mat, a new settler from +Melbourne, and obtained from him some information about the best +route to follow. It began to rain heavily, and it was difficult +to ford the swollen creeks before arriving at the Big Hill. At +Shady Creek there was nothing for the horses to eat, and beyond +it the ground became treacherous and full of crabholes. At the +Moe the backwater was found to be fully a quarter of a mile wide, +encumbered with dead logs and scrub, and no safe place for +crossing the creek could be found. During the night the famishing +horses tore open with their teeth the packages containing the +provisions, and before morning all that was left of the flour, +tea, and sugar was trodden into the muddy soil and hopelessly +lost; not an ounce of food could be collected. There was no game +to be seen; every bird and beast seemed to have fled from the +desolate ranges. Mr. Tyers had been for many years a naval +instructor on board a man-of-war, understood navigation and +surveying, and, it is to be presumed, knew the distance he had +travelled and the course to be followed in returning to Port +Philip; but there were valleys filled with impenetrable scrub, +creeks often too deep to ford, and boundless morasses, so that +the journey was made crooked with continual deviations. If a +black boy like McMillan's Friday had accompanied the expedition, +his native instinct would, at such a time, have been worth all +the science in the world.</p> + +<p>The seven men, breakfastless, turned their backs to Gippsland. +The horses were already weak and nearly useless, so they and all +the tents and camp equipage were abandoned. Each man carried +nothing but his gun and ammunition. All day long they plodded +wearily through the bush--wading the streams, climbing over the +logs, and pushing their way through the scrub. Only two or three +small birds were shot, which did not give, when roasted, a +mouthful to each man.</p> + +<p>At night a large fire was made, and the hungry travellers lay +around it. Next morning they renewed their journey, Mr. Tyers +keeping the men from straggling as much as he could, and cheering +them with the hope of soon arriving at some station. No game was +shot all that day; no man had a morsel of food; the guns and +ammunition seemed heavy and useless, and one by one they were +dropped. It rained at intervals, the clothing became soaked and +heavy, and some of the men threw away their coats. A large fire +was again made at night, but no one could sleep, shivering with +cold and hunger.</p> + +<p>Next morning one man refused to go any further, saying he +might as well die where he was. He was a convict accustomed to +life in the bush, and Mr. Tyers was surprised that he should be +the first man to give way to despair, and partly by force and +partly by persuasion he was induced to proceed. About midday +smoke was seen in the distance, and the hope of soon obtaining +food put new life into the wayfarers. But they soon made a long +straggling line of march; the strongest in the front, the weakest +in the rear.</p> + +<p>The smoke issued from the chimney of the hut occupied by Big +Mat. He was away looking after his cattle, but his wife Norah was +inside, busy with her household duties, while the baby was asleep +in the corner. There was a small garden planted with vegetables +in front of the hut, and Norah, happening to look out of the +window during the afternoon, saw a strange man pulling off the +pea pods and devouring them. The strange man was Mr. Tyers. Some +other men were also coming near.</p> + +<p>"They are bushrangers," she said running to the door and +bolting it, "and they'll rob the hut and maybe they'll murder me +and the baby."</p> + +<p>That last thought made her fierce. She seized an old Tower +musket, which was always kept loaded ready for use, and watched +the men through the window. They came into the garden one after +another, and at once began snatching the peas and eating them. +There was something fearfully wild and strange in the demeanour +of the men, but Norah observed that they appeared to have no +firearms and very little clothing. They never spoke, and seemed +to take no notice of anything but the peas.</p> + +<p>"The Lord preserve us," said Norah, "I wish Mat would +come."</p> + +<p>Her prayer was heard, for Mat came riding up to the garden +fence with two cattle dogs, which began barking at the strangers. +Mat said:</p> + +<p>"Hello, you coves, is it robbing my garden ye are?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Tyers looked towards Mat and spoke, but his voice was +weak, his mouth full of peas, and Mat could not tell what he was +saying. He dismounted, hung the bridle on to a post, and came +into the garden. He looked at the men, and soon guessed what was +the matter with them; he had often seen their complaint in +Ireland.</p> + +<p>"Poor craythurs," he said, "it's hungry ye are, and hunger's a +killing disorder. Stop ating they pays to wonst, or they'll kill +ye, and come into the house, and we'll give ye something +better."</p> + +<p>The men muttered, but kept snatching off the peas. Norah had +unbolted the door, and was standing with the musket in her +hand.</p> + +<p>"Take away the gun, Norah, and put the big billy on the fire, +and we'll give 'em something warm. The craythurs are starving. I +suppose they are runaway prisoners, and small blame to 'em for +that same, but we can't let 'em die of hunger."</p> + +<p>The strangers had become quite idiotic, and wou'd not leave +the peas, until Mat lost all patience, bundled them one by one by +main force into his hut, and shut the door.</p> + +<p>He had taken the pledge from Father Mathew before he left +Ireland, and had kept it faithfully; but he was not strait-laced. +He had a gallon of rum in the hut, to be used in case of +snake-bite and in other emergencies, and he now gave each man a +little rum and water, and a small piece of damper.</p> + +<p>Rum was a curse to the convicts, immigrants, and natives. Its +average price was then about 4s. 3d. per gallon. The daily ration +of a soldier consisted of one pound of bread, one pound of fresh +meat, and one-seventh of a quart of rum. But on this day, to Mr. +Tyers and his men, the liquor was a perfect blessing. He was +sitting on the floor with his back to the slabs.</p> + +<p>"You don't know me, Mat?"</p> + +<p>"Know ye, is it? Sure I never clapped eyes on ye before, that +I know of. Are ye runaway Government men? Tell the truth, now, +for I am not the man to turn informer agin misfortunate craythurs +like yourselves."</p> + +<p>"My name is Tyers. I passed this way, you may remember, not +very long ago."</p> + +<p>"What! Mr. Tyers, the commissioner? Sure I didn't know you +from Adam. So ye never went to Gippsland at all?"</p> + +<p>"Our horses got at the provisions and spoiled them; so we had +to come back, and we have had nothing to eat for three days. +There is one man somewhere behind yet; I am afraid he will lie +down and die. Do you think you could find him?"</p> + +<p>"For the love of mercy, I'll try, anyway. Norah, dear, take +care of the poor fellows while I go and look for the other man; +and mind, only to give 'em a little food and drink at a time, or +they'll kill their wake stomachs with greediness; and see you all +do just as Norah tells you while I'm away, for you are no better +than childer."</p> + +<p>Mat galloped away to look for the last man, while his wife +watched over the welfare of her guests. She said:</p> + +<p>"The Lord save us, and be betune us and harm, but when I seen +you in the garden I thought ye were bushrangers, and I took up +the ould gun to shoot ye."</p> + +<p>Mat soon found the last man, put him on his horse, and brought +him to the hut. Next morning he yoked his bullocks, put all his +guests into the dray, and started for Dandenong. On December +23rd, 1843, Mr. Tyers and his men arrived in Melbourne, and he +reported to Mr. Latrobe the failure of his second attempt to +reach Gippsland.</p> + +<p>While the commissioner and his men were vainly endeavouring to +reach the new country, seven other men were suffering famine and +extreme hardships to get away from it. They had arrived at the +Old Port by sea, having been engaged to strip bark by Mr. P. W. +Walsh, usually known in Melbourne as Paddy Walsh. He had been +chief constable in Launceston. Many years before Batman or +Fawkner landed in Port Philip, parties of whalers were sent each +year to strip wattle bark at Western Port. Griffiths and Co. had +found the business profitable, and Paddy Walsh came to the +conclusion that there was money to be made out of bark in +Gippsland. He therefore engaged seven men and shipped them by +schooner, writing to a storekeeper at the Old Port to receive the +bark, ship it to Melbourne, and supply the strippers with the +requisite stores.</p> + +<p>The seven men landed at the Old Port and talked to the +pioneers. They listened to their dismal accounts of starvation on +roast flathead and mutton-birds' eggs, of the ferocity of the +blacks, of the murder of Macalister, of the misfortunes of +Glengarry. The nine-pounder gun still stood at the corner of the +company's store, pointed towards the scrub, a silent warning to +the new men of the dangers in store for them. They took their +guns and went about the bush looking for wattle trees, but they +could not find in any place a sufficient quantity to make the +business profitable. There was no regular employment to be had, +but fortunately the schooner 'Scotia', chartered by John King, +went ashore in a gale, and four of the barkers, all Irishmen +obtained a few days' work in taking out her mud ballast. But no +permanent livelihood could be expected from shipwrecks, and the +seven strippers resolved, if possible, to return to Melbourne. +They wanted to see Paddy Walsh once more, but they had no money, +and the storekeeper refused to pay their fare by sea. After much +negotiation, they obtained a week's rations, and gave all the +tools they had brought with them to Captain Davy in payment for +his trouble in landing them at One Tree Hill. They were informed +that Brodribb and Hobson had made Western Port in four days on +foot, and of course they could do the same. Four of the men were +named Crow, Sparrow, Fox, and Macnamara; of the other three two +were Englishmen, Smith and Brown; the third, a native of London, +named Spiller, installed himself in the office of captain on +account of his superior knowledge. He guaranteed to lead the +party in a straight line to Western Port. He said he could box +the compass; he had not one about him, but that made no +difference. He would lay out their course every morning; they had +to travel westward; the sun rose in the east, everybody knew as +much as that; so all he had to do was to turn his back to the +rising sun, and march straight on to Western Port which was +situated in the west. The men agreed that Spiller's theory was a +very good one; they could not think of any objection to it.</p> + +<p>Each man carried his blanket and rations, his gun and +ammunition. Every morning Spiller pointed out the course to be +taken and led the way. From time to time, with a look of extreme +wisdom, he took observations of the position of the sun, and +studied the direction of his own shadow on the ground. For five +days the men followed him with great confidence, and then they +found that their rations were all consumed, and there was no sign +of Western Port or any settlement. They began to grumble, and to +mistrust their captain; they said he must have been leading them +astray, otherwise they would have seen some sign of the country +being inhabited, and they formed a plan for putting Spiller's +knowledge of inland navigation to the test.</p> + +<p>A start was made next morning, the cockney as usual, taking +the lead. One man followed him, but kept losing ground purposely, +merely keeping the leader in sight; the others did the same. +Before the last man had lost sight of the camp, he could see +Spiller in the distance walking towards it. He then uttered a +long coo-ee, which was answered by every man of the party. They +thought some valuable discovery had been made. One by one they +followed the call and were soon assembled at the still burning +embers they had lately left.</p> + +<p>"A nice navigator you are, ain't you, Spiller? Do you know +where you are now?" asked Brown.</p> + +<p>"Well, I must say there seems to be some mistake," said +Spiller. "I came along when I heard the coo-ee, and found myself +here. It is most unaccountable. Here is where we camped last +night, sure enough. It is most surprising."</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is surprising," said Smith. "You know the compass, +don't you, you conceited little beggar. You can box it and make a +bee-line for Western Port, can't you? Here you have been +circussing us round the country, nobody knows where, until we +have not a morsel of food left; but if I am to be starved to +death through you, you miserable little hound, I am not going to +leave you alive. What do you say, mates? Let us kill him and eat +him. I'll do the job myself if nobody else likes it. I say +nothing could be fairer."</p> + +<p>Sparrow, one of the Irishmen, spoke. He was a spare man, six +feet high, had a long thin face, a prominent nose, sloping +shoulders, mild blue eyes, and a most gentle voice. I knew him +after he returned to Gippsland and settled there. He was averse +to quarrelling and fighting; and, to enable him to lead a +peaceable life, he carried a short riding whip with a hammer +handle, and kept the lash twisted round his hand. He was a +conscientious man too, and had a strong moral objection to the +proposal of killing and eating Spiller; but he did not want to +offend the company, and he made his refusal as mild as +possible.</p> + +<p>"It's a think I wouldn't like to quarrel about with no man," +he said, "and the Lord knows I am as hungry as any of you; and if +we die through this misleading little chap I couldn't say but he +would be guilty of murdering us, and we might be justified in +making use of what little there is of him. But for my part I +couldn't take my share of the meat--not to-day at any rate, +because you may disremember it's Friday, and it's agen the laws +of the Church to ate meat this day. So I'd propose that we wait +till to-morrow, and if we grow very wake with the hunger, we can +make use of the dog to stay our stomachs a little while longer, +and something better may turn up in the meantime."</p> + +<p>"Is it to cook my dog Watch you mean?" asked Crow. (Here Watch +went to his master, and lay down at his feet, looking up in his +face and patting the ground with his tail.) "I tell you what it +is, Sparrow, you are not going to ate my dog. What has the poor +fellow done to you, I'd like to know? You may cook Spiller if you +like, to-day or to-morrow, it's all the same to me--and I grant +he well deserves it --but if you meddle with Watch you'll have to +deal with me."</p> + +<p>"It's no use going on this way, mates," said Brown. "We might +as well be moving while we have strength enough to do so. Come +along."</p> + +<p>The men began to rise to their feet. Macnamara suddenly +snatched Spiller's gun, and fired off both barrels; he then said, +"Now hand over your shot and powder." Spiller, half scared to +death, handed them over.</p> + +<p>"Now," said Macnamara, "you are my prisoner. I am going to +take care of you until you are wanted; and if I see you so much +as wink the wrong way I'll blow your brains out, if you have any. +Here's your empty gun. Now march."</p> + +<p>All the men followed. The country was full of scrub, and they +walked through it in Indian file. Not a bird or beast was killed +that day or the next. A consultation was held at night, and it +was agreed to kill Watch in the morning if nothing else turned +up, Crow by this time being too hungry to say another word in +favour of his dog. But at daylight an eaglehawk was watching them +from a tree, and Brown shot it. It was soon put in the ashes, and +when cooked was divided among the seven.</p> + +<p>On the eighth day Macnamara said, "I can smell the ocean." His +name means "sons of the sea," and he was born and reared on the +shore of the Atlantic. Sand hummocks were soon seen, and the roar +of the breakers beyond could be heard. Two redbills were shot and +eaten, and Spiller and Watch were kept for future use. On the +ninth day they shot a native bear, which afforded a sumptuous +repast, and gave them strength to travel two days longer. When +they camped at night a tribe of blacks made a huge fire within a +short distance, howling their war songs, and brandishing their +weapons. It was impossible to sleep or to pass a peaceful night +with such neighbours, so they crawled nearer to the savages and +fired a volley at them. Then there was silence, which lasted all +night. Next morning they found a number of spears and other +weapons which the blacks had left on the ground; these they threw +into the fire, and then resumed their miserable journey. On this +day cattle tracks were visible, and at last, completely worn out, +they arrived at Chisholm's station, eleven days after leaving One +Tree Hill. They still carried their guns, and had no trouble in +obtaining food during the rest of their journey to Melbourne.</p> + +<p>At the same time that Mr. Tyers reported his failure to reach +Gippsland, the seven men reported to Walsh their return from it. +The particulars of these interviews may be imagined, but they +were never printed, Mr. John Fawkner, with unusual brevity, +remarking that "Gippsland appears to be sinking into +obscurity."</p> + +<p>Some time afterwards it was stated that "a warrant had been +issued for Mr P. Walsh, formerly one of our leading merchants, on +a charge of fraud committed in 1843. Warrant returned 'non est +inventus'; but whether he has left the colony, or is merely +rusticating, does not appear. Being an uncertificated bankrupt, +it would be a rather dangerous experiment, punishable by law with +transportation for fifteen years."</p> + +<p>But Mr. Tyers could not afford to allow Gippsland to sink into +obscurity; his official life and salary depended on his finding +it. A detachment of border and native police had arrived from +Sydney by the 'Shamrock', and some of them were intended as a +reinforcement for Gippsland, "to strengthen the hands of the +commissioner in putting down irregularities that at present exist +there."</p> + +<p>Dr. Holmes was sending a mob of cattle over the mountains, and +Mr. Tyers ordered his troopers to travel with them, arranging to +meet them at the head of the Glengarry river. He avoided this +time all the obstacles he had formerly encountered by making a +sea voyage, and he landed at Port Albert on the 13th day of +January, 1844.</p> + +<p><a name="ch-20"></a></p> + +<h3>GIPPSLAND UNDER THE LAW.</h3> + +<p>As soon as it was known at the Old Port that a Commissioner of +Crown Lands had arrived, Davy, the pilot, hoisted a flag on his +signal staff, and welcomed the representative of law and order +with one discharge from the nine-pounder. He wanted to be +patriotic, as became a free-born Briton. But he was very sorry +afterwards; he said he had made a mistake. The proper course +would have been to hoist the flag at half-mast, and to fire +minute guns, in token of the grief of the pioneers for the death +of freedom.</p> + +<p>Mr. Tyers rode away with a guide, found his troopers at the +head of the Glengarry, and returned with them over Tom's Cap. He +camped on the Tarra, near the present Brewery Bridge, and his +black men at night caught a number of blackfish, which were found +to be most excellent.</p> + +<p>Next day the commissioner entered on his official duties, and +began to put down irregularities. He rode to the Old Port, and +halted his men in front of the company's store. All the +inhabitants soon gathered around him. He said to the +storekeeper:</p> + +<p>"My name is Tyers. I am the Commissioner of Crown Lands. I +want to see your license for this store."</p> + +<p>"This store belongs to the Port Albert Company," replied John +Campbell. "We have no license, and never knew one was required in +such a place as this."</p> + +<p>"You are, then, in illegal occupation of Crown lands, and +unless you pay me twenty pounds for a license I am sorry to say +it will be my duty to destroy your store," said Mr. Tyers.</p> + +<p>There were two other stores, and a similar demand was made at +each of them for the 20 pounds license fee, which was paid after +some demur, and the licenses were signed and handed to the +storekeepers.</p> + +<p>Davy's hut was the next visited.</p> + +<p>"Who owns this building?" asked Mr. Tyers.</p> + +<p>"I do," said Davy. "I put it up myself."</p> + +<p>"Have you a license?"</p> + +<p>"No, I have not. Never was asked for one since I came here, +and I don't see why I should be asked for one now."</p> + +<p>"Well, I ask you now. You are in illegal occupation of Crown +lands, and you must pay me twenty pounds, or I shall have to +destroy your hut."</p> + +<p>"I hav'nt got the twenty pounds," Davy said: "never had as +much money in my life; and I wouldn't pay it to you if I had it. +I would like to know what right the Government, or anybody else, +has to ask me for twenty pounds for putting up a hut on this +sandbank? I have been here with my family pretty nigh on to three +years; sometimes nearly starved to death, living a good deal of +the time on birds, and 'possums, and roast flathead; and what +right, in the name of common sense, has the Government to send +you here to make me pay twenty pounds? What has the Government +done for me or anybody else in Gippsland? They have already taken +every penny they could get out of the settlers, and, as far as I +know, have not spent one farthing on this side of the mountains. +They did not even know there was such a country till McMillan +found it. It belonged to the blacks. There was nobody else here +when we came, and if we pay anybody it should be the +blackfellows. Besides, if I had had stock, and money enough to +take up a run, I could have had the pick of Gippsland, twenty +square miles, for ten pounds; and because I am a poor man you +want me to pay twenty pounds for occupying a few yards of sand. +Where is the sense of that, I'd like to know? If you are an +honest Englishman, you ought to be ashamed of yourself for coming +here with your troopers and carbines and pistols on such a +business, sticking up a poor man for twenty pounds in the name of +the Government. Why, no bushrangers could do worse than +that."</p> + +<p>"You are insolent, my man. If you don't pay the money at once +I'll give you just ten minutes to clear out, and then I shall +order my men to burn down your hut. You will find that you can't +defy the Government with impunity."</p> + +<p>"Burn away, if you like, and much good may it do you." +Pointing to his whaleboat on the beach, "There's the ship I came +here in from Melbourne, and that's the ship I shall go back in, +and you daren't hinder me."</p> + +<p>Mr. Reeve was present, watching the proceedings and listening. +He had influential friends in Sydney, had a station at Snake +Ridge, a special survey on the Tarra, and he felt that it would +be advisable to pour oil on the troubled waters. He said:</p> + +<p>"I must beg of you, Mr. Tyers, to excuse Davy. He is our +pilot, and there is no man in Gippsland better qualified for that +post, nor one whose services have been so useful to the settlers +both here and at the lakes. We have already requested the +Government to appoint him pilot at the port; we are expecting a +reply shortly, and it will be only reasonable that he should be +allowed a site for his hut."</p> + +<p>"You see, Mr. Reeve, I must do my duty," said Mr. Tyers, "and +treat all alike. I cannot allow one man to remain in illegal +occupation, while I expel the others."</p> + +<p>"The settlers cannot afford to lose their pilot, and I will +give you my cheque for the twenty pounds," said Mr. Reeve.</p> + +<p>"Twelve months afterwards the cheque was sent back from +Sydney, and Mr. Reeve made a present of it to Davy.</p> + +<p>"At this time the public journals used very strong language in +their comments on the action of Governors and Government +officials, and complaint was made in the House of Commons that +the colonial press was accustomed to use "a coarseness of +vituperation and harshness of expression towards all who were +placed in authority." But gentlemen were still civil to one +another, except on rare occasions, and then their language was a +strong as that of the journals, e.g.:</p> + +<p>"I, Arthur Huffington, surgeon, residing at the station of Mr. +W. Bowman, on the Ovens River, do hereby publicly proclaim George +Faithful, settler on the King River, to be a malicious liar and a +coward.</p> + +<p>"Ovens River, March 6th, 1844.</p> + +<p>"You will find a copy of the above posted at every +public-house between the Ovens and Melbourne, and at the corner +of every street in the town."</p> + +<p>This defiance could not escape the notice of the lawyers, and +they soon got the matter into their own hands.</p> + +<p>Huffington brought an action of trespass on the case for libel +against Faithful, damages 2,000 pounds.</p> + +<p>It was all about branding a female calf; "duffing it" was the +vulgar term, and to call a settler "duffer" was more offensive +than if you called him a murderer.</p> + +<p>Mr. Stawell opened the pleadings, brushing up the fur of the +two tiger cats thus:</p> + +<p>"Here you have Mr. Faithful--the son of his father--the pink +of superintendents--the champion of Crown Lands +Commissioners--the fighting man of the plains of Goulburn--the +fastidious Beau Brummel of the Ovens River,"--and so on. Arthur +and George were soon sorry they had not taken a shot at each +other in a paddock.</p> + +<p>The calf was a very valuable animal--to the learned counsel. +On January 30th, 1844, Davy became himself an officer of the +Government he had denounced so fiercely, being appointed pilot at +Port Albert by Sir George Gipps, who graciously allowed him to +continue the receipt of the fee already charged, viz., three +pounds for each vessel inwards and outwards.</p> + +<p>There were eight other huts on the sandbank, but as not one of +the occupants was able to pay twenty pounds, their names are not +worth mentioning. After making a formal demand for the money, and +giving the trespassers ten minutes to take their goods away, Mr. +Tyers ordered his men to set the buildings on fire, and in a +short time they were reduced to ashes. The commissioner then rode +back to his camp with the eighty pounds, and wrote a report to +the Government of the successful inauguration of law and order +within his jurisdiction, and of the energetic manner in which he +had commenced to put down the irregularities prevalent in +Gippsland.</p> + +<p>The next duty undertaken by the commissioner was to settle +disputes about the boundaries of runs, and he commenced with +those of Captain Macalister, who complained of encroachments. To +survey each run with precision would take up much time and +labour, so a new mode of settlement was adopted. By the +regulations in force no single station was to consist of more +than twenty square miles of area, unless the commissioner +certified that more was required for stock possessed by +applicant. This regulation virtually left everything to the +goodwill and pleasure of the commissioner, who first decided what +number of square miles he would allot to a settler, then mounted +his horse, to whose paces he was accustomed, and taking his +compass with him, he was able to calculate distances by the rate +of speed of his horse almost as accurately as if he had measured +them with a chain. These distances he committed to paper, and he +gave to every squatter whose run he thus surveyed a description +of his boundaries, together with a tracing from a chart of the +district, which he began to make. He allotted to Captain +Macalister all the country which he claimed, and a dispute +between Mr. William Pearson and Mr. John King was decided in +favour of the latter.</p> + +<p>It was reported in Sydney that Mr. Tyers was rather difficult +of access, but it was believed he had given satisfaction to all +and everyone with whom he had come in contact, except those +expelled from the Old Port, and a few squatters who did not get +as much land as they wanted. There were also about a hundred +escaped prisoners in the country, but these never complained that +the commissioner was difficult of access.</p> + +<p>The blacks were still troublesome, and I heard Mr. Tyers +relate the measures taken by himself and his native police to +suppress their irregularities. He was informed that some cattle +had been speared, and he rode away with his force to investigate +the complaint. He inspected the cattle killed or wounded, and +then directed his black troopers to search for tracks, and this +they did willingly and well. Traces of natives were soon +discovered, and their probable hiding-place in the scrub was +pointed out to Mr. Tyers. He therefore dismounted, and directing +two of his black troopers armed with carbines to accompany him, +he held a pistol in each hand and walked cautiously into the +scrub. The two black troopers discharged their carbines. The +commissioner had seen nothing to shoot at, but his blacks soon +showed him two of the natives a few yards in front, both mortally +wounded. Mr. Tyers sent a report of the affair to the Government, +and that was the end of it.</p> + +<p>This manner of dealing with the native difficulty was adopted +in the early days, and is still used under the name of "punitive +expeditions." That judge who prayed to heaven in his wig and +robes of office, said that the aborigines were subjects of the +Queen, and that it was a mercy to them to be under her +protection. The mercy accorded to them was less than Jedburgh +justice: they were shot first, and not even tried afterwards.</p> + +<p>The settlers expelled from the sandbank at the Old Port +required some spot on which they could put up their huts without +giving offence to the superior powers. The Port Albert Company +excised a township from their special survey, and called it +Victoria; Mr. Robert Turnbull bought 160 acres, the present Port +Albert, at 1 pound per acre, and offered sites for huts to the +homeless at the rate of 1 pound per annum, on the condition that +they carried on no business. The stores were removed from the Old +Port to the new one, and the first settlement in Gippsland was +soon again overgrown with scrub and ferns. Mr. Reeve offered +farms to the industrious at the rental of one bushel of wheat to +the acre. For some time the township of Tarraville was a +favourite place of residence, because the swamps which surrounded +Port Albert were impassable for drays during the winter months; +the roads to Maneroo and Melbourne mentioned in Mr. Reeve's +advertisement were as yet in the clouds. Captain Moore came from +Sydney in the revenue cutter 'Prince George' to look for +smugglers, but he did not find any. He was afterwards appointed +collector for Gippsland, and he came down again from Sydney with +a boat's crew of six prisoners, a free coxswain, and a portable +house, in which he sate for the receipt of Customs.</p> + +<p>For a time the commissioner resided at Tarraville, and then he +went to the lakes and surveyed a township at Flooding Creek, now +called Sale. His black troopers were in some cases useful, in +others they were troublesome; they indulged in irregularities; +there was no doubt that they drank rum procured in some +inexplicable manner. They could not be confined in barracks, or +remain continually under the eye of their chief, and it was not +always possible to discover in what manner they spent their +leisure hours. But occasionally some evidence of their exploits +came to light, and Mr. Tyers became aware that his black police +considered themselves as living among hostile tribes, in respect +of whom they had a double duty to perform, viz., to track cattle +spearers at the order of their chief, and on their own account to +shoot as many of their enemies as they could conveniently +approach.</p> + +<p>There were now ladies as well as gentlemen in Gippsland, and +one day the commissioner sailed away in his boat with a select +party. After enjoying the scenery and the summer breezes for a +few hours, he cast his eyes along the shore in search of some +romantic spot on which to land. Dead wood and dry sticks were +extremely scarce, as the blacks used all they could find at their +numerous camps. He was at length so fortunate as to observe a +brown pile of decayed branches, and he said, "I think we had +better land over there; that deadwood will make a good fire"; and +the boat was steered towards it. But when it neared the land the +air was filled with a stench so horrible that Mr. Tyers at once +put the boat about, and went away in another direction. Next day +he visited the spot with his police, and he found that the dead +wood covered a large pile of corpses of the natives shot by his +own black troopers, and he directed them to make it a +holocaust.</p> + +<p>The white men brought with them three blessings for the +natives-- rum, bullets, and blankets. The blankets were a free +gift by the Government, and proved to the eyes of all men that +our rule was kind and charitable. The country was rightfully +ours; that was decided by the Supreme Court; we were not obliged +to pay anything for it, but out of pure benignity we gave the +lubras old gowns, and the black men old coats and trousers; the +Government added an annual blanket, and thus we had good reason +to feel virtuous.</p> + +<p>We also appointed a protector of the aborigines, Mr. G. A. +Robinson, at a salary of 500 pounds per annum. He took up his +residence on the then sweet banks of the Yarra, and made +excursions in various directions, compiling a dictionary. He +started on a tour in the month of April, 1844, making Alberton +his first halting-place, and intending to reach Twofold Bay by +way of Omeo. But he found the country very difficult to travel; +he had to swim his horse over many rivers, and finally he +returned to Melbourne by way of Yass, having added no less than +8,000 words to his vocabulary of the native languages. But the +public journals spoke of his labours and his dictionary with +contempt and derision. They said, "Pshaw! a few mounted police, +well armed, would effect more good among the aborigines in one +month than the whole preaching mob of protectors in ten +years."</p> + +<p>When a race of men is exterminated somebody ought to bear the +blame, and the easiest way is to lay the fault at the door of the +dead; they never reply.</p> + +<p>When every blackfellow in South Gippsland, except old +Darriman, was dead, Mr. Tyers explained his experience with the +Government blankets. They were now no longer required, as +Darriman could obtain plenty of old clothes from charitable white +men. It had been the commissioner's duty to give one blanket +annually to each live native, and thus that garment became to him +the Queen's livery, and an emblem of civilisation; it raised the +savage in the scale of humanity and encouraged him to take the +first step in the march of progress. His second step was into the +grave. The result of the gift of blankets was that the natives +who received them ceased to clothe themselves with the skins of +the kangaroo, the bear or opossum. The rugs which they had been +used to make for themselves would keep out the rain, and in them +they could pass the wettest night or day in their mia-mias, warm +and dry. But the blankets we kindly gave them by way of saving +our souls were manufactured for the colonial market, and would no +more resist the rain than an old clothes-basket. The consequence +was that when the weather was cold and wet, the blackfellow and +his blanket were also cold and wet, and he began to shiver; +inflammation attacked his lungs, and rheumatism his limbs, and he +soon went to that land where neither blankets nor rugs are +required. Mr. Tyers was of opinion that more blacks were killed +by the blankets than by rum and bullets.</p> + +<p>Government in Gippsland was advancing. There were two justices +of the peace, the commissioner, black and white police, a +collector of customs, a pilot, and last of all, a parson--parson +Bean--who quarrelled with his flock on the question of education. +The sheep refused to feed the shepherd; he had to shake the dust +off his feet, and the salvation of souls was, as usual, postponed +to a more convenient season. At length Mr. Latrobe himself +undertook to pay a visit to Gippsland. He was a splendid +horseman, had long limbs like King Edward Longshanks, and was in +the habit of making dashing excursions with a couple of troopers +to take cursory views of the country. He set out in the month of +May, 1844, and was introduced to the settlers in the following +letter by "a brother squatter":</p> + +<blockquote>"Gentlemen, look out. The jackal of your oppressor +has started on a tour. For what purpose? To see the isolated and +miserable domiciles you occupy and the hard fare on which you +subsist? No! but to see if the oppressor can further apply the +screw with success and impunity. You have located yourselves upon +lands at the risk of life and property, paying to the Government +in license and assessment fees for protection which you have +never received, and your quiesence under such a system of robbery +has stimulated your oppressor to levy on you a still greater +amount of taxation, not to advance your interests, but to +replenish his exhausted treasury. Should you strain your +impoverished exchequer to entertain your (in a family sense) +worthy superintendent, depend upon it he will recommend a more +severe application of the screw. Give him, therefore, your +ordinary fare, salt junk and damper, or scabby mutton, with a pot +of Jack the Painter's tea, in a black pot stirred with a greasy +knife."</blockquote> + +<p>Mr. Latrobe and Sir George bore all the weight of public +abuse, and it was heavy. Now it is divided among many Ministers, +each of whom carries his share with much patience, while our +Governor's days in the "Sunny South" are "days of pleasantness, +and all his paths are peace."</p> + +<p>No gentleman could accept hospitality like that suggested by +"a brother squatter," and Mr. Latrobe sought refuge at the Port +Albert Hotel, Glengarry's imported house. Messrs. Tyers, Raymond, +McMillan, Macalister, and Reeve were pitching quoits at the rear +of the building under the lee of the ti-tree scrub. Davy, the +pilot, was standing near on duty, looking for shipping with one +eye and at the game with the other. The gentlemen paused to watch +the approaching horsemen. Mr. Latrobe had the royal gift of +remembering faces once seen; and he soon recognised all those +present, even the pilot whom he had seen when he first arrived in +Melbourne. He shook hands with everyone, and enquired of Davy how +he was getting on with the piloting. He said: "Now gentlemen, go +on with your game. I like quoits myself and I should be sorry to +interrupt you." Then he went into the hotel and stayed there +until morning. He no doubt obtained some information from Mr. +Tyers and his friends, but he went no further into the country. +Next morning he started with his two troopers on his return to +Melbourne, and the other gentlemen mounted their horses to +accompany him; but the "worthy superintendent" rode so fast that +he left everyone behind and was soon out of sight, so his +intended escort returned to port. Mr. Latrobe's view of Gippsland +was very cursory.</p> + +<p>Rabbit Island was stocked with rabbits in 1839 by Captain +Wishart, the whaler. In 1840 he anchored his barque, the +'Wallaby', in Lady's Bay, and lanced his last whale off Horn +Point. A great, grey shark happened to be cruising about the +whaling ground, the taste of blood was on the sea, and he +followed the wounded whale; until, going round in her flurry, she +ran her nose against Wishart's boat and upset it. Then the shark +saw strange animals in the water which he had never seen before. +He swam under them and sniffed at their tarry trousers, until +they landed on the rocks: all but one, Olav Pedersen, a strong +man but a slow swimmer. A fin arose above the water between Olav +and the shore. He knew what that meant, and his heart failed him. +Three times he called for help and Wishart threw off his wet +clothes and plunged into the sea. The shark was attracted to the +naked captain, and he bit a piece out of one leg. Both bodies +were recovered; that of Wishart was taken to Hobarton, and Olav +was buried on the shore at the foot of a gum tree. His epitaph +was painted on a board nailed to the tree, and was seen by one of +the pioneers on his first voyage to the Old Port in 1841.</p> + +<p>Before Gippsland was brought under the law, Rabbit Island was +colonised by two whalers named Page and Yankee Jim, and Page's +wife and baby. They built a bark hut, fenced in a garden with a +rabbit-proof fence, and planted it with potatoes. Their base of +supplies for groceries was at the Old Port.</p> + +<blockquote>They were monarchs of all they surveyed,<br> +From the centre all round to the sea.</blockquote> + +<p>They paid no rent and no taxes. Sometimes they fished, or went +to the seal islands and brought back seal skins. In the time of +the potato harvest, and when that of the mutton birds drew near, +there were signs of trouble coming from the mainland. Fires were +visible on the shore at night, and smoke by day; and Page +suspected that the natives were preparing to invade the island. +At length canoes appeared bobbing up and down on the waves, but a +shot from the rifle sent them back to the shore. For three days +and nights no fire or smoke was seen, and the two whalers ceased +to keep watch. But early next morning voices were heard from the +beach below the hut; the blacks were trying to launch the boat. +Page and Jim shouted at them and went down the cliff; then the +blacks ran away up the rocks, and were quickly out of sight. +Presently Mrs. page came running out of the hut half dressed, and +carrying her baby; she said she heard the blacks jabbering in the +garden. In a short time the hut was in a blaze, and was soon +burned to the ground. The two men then launched their boat and +went to the Port. Davy shipped a crew of six men, and started in +his whaleboat for the island; but the wind was blowing hard from +the west, and they did not arrive at the island until next day. +The blacks had then all disappeared; and, as the men wanted +something to eat, Davy told them to dig up some potatoes, while +he went and shot six rabbits. When he returned with his game, the +men said they could not find any potatoes. He said, "That's all +nonsense," and went himself to the garden; but he could not find +one potato. The blackfellows had shipped the whole crop in their +canoes, so that there was nothing but rabbit for breakfast.</p> + +<p>In this manner the reign of the Page dynasty came to an abrupt +termination. The baby heir-apparent grew up to man's estate as a +private citizen, and became a fisherman at Williamstown.</p> + +<p><a name="ch-21"></a></p> + +<h3>UNTIL THE GOLDEN DAWN.</h3> + +<p>After Mr. Latrobe's short visit to Port Albert, Gippsland was +for many years ruled by Mr. Tyers with an authority almost royal. +Davy, after his first rebellious outburst at the burning of the +huts, and his subsequent appointment as pilot, retired to the new +Port Albert and avoided as much as possible the haunts of the +commissioner. On the salt water he was almost as powerful and +imperious as was his rival by land. He ruled over all ships and +shipwrecks, and allowed no man to say him nay.</p> + +<p>Long Mason, the first overseer of Woodside Station, took over +a cargo of fat cattle to Hobarton for his brother. After +receiving the cash for the cattle he proceeded to enjoy himself +after the fashion of the day. The shepherd knocked down his +cheque at the nearest groggery and then returned to his sheep +full of misery. Long Mason had nearly 300 pounds, and he acted +the part of the prodigal brother. He soon made troops of friends, +dear brethren and sisters, on whom he lavished his coin; he hired +a band of wandering minstrels to play his favourite music, and +invited the beauty an chivalry of the convict capital to join him +in his revels. When his money was expended he was put on board a +schooner bound for Port Albert, on which Davis (of Yarram) and +his family were passengers. For two days he lay in his bunk sick +and suffering. As the vessel approached the shore his misery was +intense. He demanded drink, but no one would give him any. He +began to search his pockets for coin, but of the 300 pounds only +one solitary sixpence was left. With this he tried to bribe the +cabin boy to find for him one last taste of rum; but the boy +said, "All the grog is locked up, and the captain would welt me +if I gave you a single drop."</p> + +<p>So Long Mason landed at the Port with his sixpence, was +dismissed by his brother from Woodside Station, and became a +wandering swagman.</p> + +<p>The next overseer for Woodside voyaged to Port Albert in the +brig 'Isabella' in the month of June, 1844. This vessel had been +employed in taking prisoners to Macquarie Harbour and Port Arthur +until the government built a barque called the 'Lady Franklin'; +then Captain Taylor bought the brig for the cattle trade. On this +voyage he was anxious to cross the bar for shelter from a +south-east gale, and he did not wait for the pilot, although the +vessel was deeply laden; there was not water enough for her on +the old bar; she struck on it, and the heavy easterly sea threw +her on the west bank. It was some time before the pilot and his +two men could get aboard, as they had to fight their way through +the breakers to leeward. There was too much sea for the boat to +remain in safety near the ship, and Davy asked the captain to +lend him a hand to steer the boat back to Sunday Island. The +second mate went in her, but she was capsized directly. The +ship's boat was hanging on the weather davits, and it was no use +letting her down to windward on account of the heavy sea. Davy +ran out to the end of the jibboom with a lead line. He could see +the second mate hanging on to the keel of the capsized boat, and +his two men in the water. The ebb sea kept washing them out, and +the heavy sea threw them back again, and whenever they could get +their heads above water they shouted for help. Davy threw the +lead towards them from the end of the jibboom, but they were too +far away for the line to reach them. At length the ship's boat +was launched to leeward, four men and the mate got into her, but +by this time the two boatmen were drowned. While the ship's boat +was running through the breakers past the pilot boat, the first +mate grabbed the second mate by the collar, held on to him until +they were in smooth water, and then hauled him in. It was too +dangerous for the seamen to face the breakers again, so the pilot +sang out to them to go to Snake Island.</p> + +<p>About two o'clock in the afternoon the vessel lay pretty quiet +on the ebb tide; a fire was lighted in the galley, and all hands +had something to eat. There was not much water in the cabin; but, +as darkness set in, and the flood tide made, the seas began to +come aboard. There was a heavy general cargo in the hold, six +steerage passengers, four men and two women (one of whom had a +baby), and one cabin passenger, who was going to manage Woodside +Station in place of Long Mason, dismissed.</p> + +<p>The sea began to roll over the bulwarks, and the brig was fast +filling with water. For some time the pumps were kept going, but +the water gained on them, and all hands had to take to the +rigging. The two women and the baby were first helped up to the +foretop; then the pilot, counting the men, found one missing.</p> + +<p>"Captain," he said, "what has become of the new manager?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, he is lying in his bunk half-drunk."</p> + +<p>"Then," replied Davy, "he'll be drowned!"</p> + +<p>He descended into the cabin and found the man asleep, with the +water already on a level with his berth.</p> + +<p>"Why the blazes don't you get up and come out of this +rat-hole?" he said. "Don't you see you are going to be +drowned?"</p> + +<p>The manager looked up and smiled.</p> + +<p>"Please, don't be so unkind, my dear man," he replied. "Let me +sleep a little longer, and then I'll go on deck."</p> + +<p>Davy standing with the water up to his belt, grew mad.</p> + +<p>"Come out of that, you confounded fool," he said.</p> + +<p>He dragged him out of his bunk into the water, and hauled him +up the companion ladder, and with the help of the men took him up +the rigging, and lashed him there out of reach of the +breakers.</p> + +<p>All the rest of the men went aloft, and remained there during +the night. Their clothing was soaked with water, and the weather +was frosty and bitterly cold. Just before daylight, when the tide +had ebbed, and the sea had gone down, the two women and the baby +were brought below from the foretop, and all hands descended to +the deck. They wanted to make a fire, but everything was wet, and +they had to cut up some of the standing rigging which had been +out of reach of the surf before they could find anything that +would burn. With that a fire was made in the galley, and the +women and baby were put inside. At sunrise it was found that the +sea had washed up a ridge of sand near the ship, and, not wishing +to pass another tide on board, all the crew and passengers went +over the side, and waded through the shallow water until they +came to a dry sand-pit. They were eleven in number, including the +women and baby, and they waited until the boat came over from +Snake Island and took them to the port. A little of the cargo was +taken out of the 'Isabella', but in a few days she went to +pieces.</p> + +<p>Captain Taylor went to Hobarton, and bought from the insurers +the schooner 'Sylvanus' which had belonged to him, and having +been wrecked was then lying ashore on the coast. He succeeded in +floating her off without much damage, and he ran her in the +cattle trade for some time. He then sold her to Boys & Hall, +of Hobarton, went to Sydney, bought the schooner 'Alert', and +sailed her in the same trade until the discovery of gold. All the +white seamen went off to the diggings, and he hired four Kanakas +to man his craft.</p> + +<p>On his last trip to Port Albert the pilot was on board, +waiting for the tide. The pilot boat had been sent back to Sunday +Island, the ship's boat was in the water, and was supposed to +have been made fast astern by the crew. At break of day the pilot +came on deck, and on taking a look round, he saw that the +longboat had got away and was drifting towards Rabbit Island. He +roared down the companion to Captain Taylor, "Your longboat's got +adrift, and is off to Rabbit Island."</p> + +<p>In another minute Captain Taylor was on deck. He gazed at his +distant longboat and swore terribly. Then he took a rope and went +for his four Kanakas; but they did not wait for him; they all +plunged into the sea and deserted. The captain and pilot stood on +deck watching them as they swam away, hand over hand, leaving +foaming wakes behind like vessels in full sail. They were making +straight for the longboat, and Davy said, "They will go away in +her and leave us here in the lurch." But the captain said, "I +think not." He was right. The Kanakas brought back the boat +within hail of the schooner, and after being assured by the +captain that he would not ropes-end them, they climbed +aboard.</p> + +<p>On returning to Hobarton Captain Taylor was seized with the +gold fever. He laid up the 'Alert', went with his four men to +Bendigo, and was a lucky digger. Then he went to New Zealand, +bought a farm, and ploughed the waves no more.</p> + +<p>In January, 1851, some buoys were sent to Port Albert and laid +down in the channel. The account for the work was duly sent to +the chief harbour master at Williamstown, but he took no notice +of it, nor made any reply to several letters requesting payment. +There was something wrong at headquarters, and Davy resolved to +see for himself what it was. Moreover, he had not seen Melbourne +for ten years, and he yearned for a change. So, without asking +leave of anyone, he left Port Albert and its shipping "to the +sweet little cherub that sits up aloft, and takes care of the +life of Poor Jack," and went in his boat to Yanakie Landing. Mrs. +Bennison lent him a pony, and told him to steer for two bald +hills on the Hoddle Ranges; he could not see the hills for the +fog, and kept too much to port, but at last he found a track. He +camped out that night, and next morning had breakfast at Hobson's +Station. He stayed one night at Kilcunda, and another at Lyle's +station, near the bay. He then followed a track which Septimus +Martin had cut through the tea-tree, and his pony became lame by +treading on the sharp stumps, so that he had to push it or drag +it along until he arrived at Dandenong, where he left it at an +inn kept by a man named Hooks. He hired a horse from Hooks at +five shillings a day. The only house between Dandenong and +Melbourne was once called the South Yarra Pound, kept by Mrs. +Atkinson. It was near Caulfield, on the Melbourne side of +"No-good-damper swamp." Some blackfellows had been poisoned there +by a settler who wanted to get rid of them. He gave them a damper +with arsenic in it, and when dying they said, "No good, +damper."</p> + +<p>Davy landed in Melbourne on June 17th, 1851, put his horse in +Kirk's bazaar, and stayed at the Queen's Head in Queen Street, +where Sir William Clarke's office is now. The landlady was Mrs. +Coulson, a widow. Next morning he was at the wharf before +daylight, and went down the Yarra in the first steamer for +Williamstown. He found that Captain Bunbury, the chief +harbour-master, had gone away in the buoy-boat, a small schooner +called the 'Apollo', so he hired a whale-boat, and overtook the +schooner off the Red Bluff. When he went on board he spoke to +Ruffles, master of the schooner, and said:</p> + +<p>"Is the harbour-master aboard? I want to see him."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but don't speak so loud, or you'll wake him up," replied +Ruffles. "He is asleep down below."</p> + +<p>Davy roared out, "I want to wake him up. I have come two +hundred miles on purpose to do it. I want to get a settlement +about those buoys at Port Albert. I am tired of writing about +them."</p> + +<p>This woke up Bunbury, who sang out:</p> + +<p>"What's the matter, Ruffles? What's all that noise about?"</p> + +<p>"It's the pilot from Port Albert. He wants to see you, sir, +about the buoys."</p> + +<p>"Tell him to come down below." Davy went.</p> + +<p>Bunbury was a one-armed naval lieutenant, the head of the +harbour department, and drew the salary. He had subordinate +officers. A clerk at Williamstown did his clerical work, and old +Ruffles navigated the 'Apollo' for him through the roaring waters +of Port Philip Bay, while he lay in his bunk meditating on +something. He said:</p> + +<p>"Oh, is that you, Pilot? Well, about those buoys, eh? That's +all right. All you have to do is go to my office in Williamstown, +tell my clerk to fill in a form for you, take it to the Treasury, +and you will get your money."</p> + +<p>Davy went back to the office at Williamstown, had the form +made out by the clerk, and took it to Melbourne in the steamer, +the last trip she made that day. By this time the Treasury was +closed. It was situated in William Street, where the vast Law +Courts are now; and Davy was at the door when it was opened next +morning, the first claimant for money. A clerk took his paper, +looked over it, smiled, and said it was of no use whatever +without Bunbury's signature. Davy started for Williamstown again +in the second boat, found that Bunbury had gone away again in the +'Apollo', followed him in a whale boat, overtook him off St. +Kilda, obtained his signature, and returned to the Treasury. +Captain Lonsdale was there, but he said it was too late to pay +money that day, and also that the form should be signed by +someone at the Public Works office.</p> + +<p>Then Davy's patience was gone, and he spoke the loud language +of the sea. The frail building shook as with an earthquake. Mr. +Latrobe was in a back room writing one of those gubernatorial +despatches which are so painful to read. He had to suspend the +pangs of composition, and he came into the front room to see what +was the matter. Davy told him what was the matter in very +unofficial words. Mr. Latrobe listened patiently and then +directed Captain Lonsdale to keep the Treasury open until the +account was paid. He also said the schooner 'Agenoria' had been +wrecked on the day that Davy left Port Albert, and requested him +to return to duty as soon as possible, lest other vessels might +be wrecked for want of a pilot. "The sweet little cherub that +sits up aloft" could not be depended on to pilot vessels over the +bar.</p> + +<p>Davy took his paper to the Public Works office in Queen +Street. Here he found another officer bursting with dignity, who +said: "There is already one signature too many on this +account."</p> + +<p>"Can't you scratch it out, then?" said Davy.</p> + +<p>"We don't keep hens to scratch in this office," replied the +dignified one, who took a ruler, and having drawn a line through +the superfluous name, signed his own. When Davy went again to the +Treasury with his account, Captain Lonsdale said he had not cash +on hand to pay it, and deducted twenty pounds, which he sent to +Port Albert afterwards, when the Government had recovered its +solvency. His Honour the Superintendent might have assumed the +classical motto, "Custos sum pauperis horti."</p> + +<p>Davy put the money in his pocket, went to the Queen's Head, +and, as it was already dark, he hired a man for ten shillings to +show him the road through the wet wilderness of Caulfield and +round No-good-damper Swamp. It was half-past eleven when he +arrived at Hook's Hotel, and, as his pony was still too lame to +travel, he bought the horse he had hired, and set out with the +Sale mailman. At the Moe he found Angus McMillan, William +Montgomery, and their stockmen, afraid to cross the creek on +account of the flood, and they had eaten all their provisions. +Before dark a black gin came over in a canoe from the +accommodation hut on the other side of the creek, having heard +the travellers cooeying. They told her they wanted something to +eat, but it was too dangerous for her to cross the water again +that night. A good fire was kept burning but it was a wretched +time. It rained heavily, a gale of wind was blowing, and trees +kept falling down in all directions. Scott, the hut-keeper, sent +the gin over in the canoe next morning with a big damper, tea, +sugar, and meat, which made a very welcome breakfast for the +hungry travellers.</p> + +<p>They stayed there two days and two nights, and as the flood +was still rising, they resolved to try to cross the creek at all +risks, preferring to face the danger of death by drowning rather +than to die slowly of starvation. Each man took off his clothes, +all but his flannel shirt and drawers, strapped them to the +pommel of his saddle, threw the stirrup irons over the saddle, +and stopped them with a string under the horse's belly to keep +them from getting foul in the trees and scrub. In some places the +horses had to climb over logs under water, sometimes they had to +swim, but in the end they all arrived safely at the hut. They +were very cold, and ravenously hungry; and while their clothes +were drying before a blazing fire, they drank hot tea and ate up +every scrap of food, so that Scott was obliged to accompany them +to the next station for rations. He left the gin behind, having +no anxiety about her. While he was away she could feed +sumptuously on grubs, crabs, and opossums.</p> + +<p>In March, 1852, when everybody was seized with the gold fever, +Davy took it in the natural way. He again left Port Albert +without a pilot and went to Melbourne to resign his office. But +Mr. Latrobe promised to give him a salary of 500 pounds a year +and a boat's crew of five men and a coxswain. The men were to +have twelve-and-six a day and the coxswain fifteen shillings.</p> + +<p>By this time the gold fever had penetrated to the remotest +parts of Gippsland, and from every squatting station and every +lonely hut on the plains and mountains men gathered in troops. +They were leaving plenty of gold behind them at Walhalla and +other places. The first party Davy met had a dray and bullocks. +They were slowly cutting a road through the scrub, and their team +was the first that made its way over the mountains from Gippsland +to Melbourne. Their captain was a lady of unbounded bravery and +great strength--a model pioneeress, with a talent for governing +the opposite sex.* When at home on her station she did the work +of a man and a woman too. She was the one in a thousand so seldom +found. She not only did the cooking and housework, but she also +rode after stock, drove a team, killed fat beasts, chopped wood, +stripped bark, and fenced. She did not hanker after woman's +rights, nor rail against the male sex. She was not cultured, nor +scientific, nor artistic, nor aesthetic. She despised all the +ologies. All great men respected her, and if the little ones were +insolent she boxed their ears and twisted their necks. She +conquered all the blackfellows around her land with her own right +arm. At first she had been kind to them, but they soon became +troublesome, wanted too much flour, sugar, and beef, and refused +to go away when she ordered them to do so. Without another word +she took down her stockwhip, went to the stable, and saddled her +horse. Then she rounded up the blackfellows like a mob of cattle +and started them. If they tried to break away, or to hide +themselves among the scrub, or behind tussocks, she cut pieces +out of their hides with her whip. Then she headed them for the +Ninety-mile Beach, and landed them in the Pacific without the +loss of a man. In that way she settled the native difficulty. The +Neills, with a bullock team, the Buckleys and Moores, with horse +teams, followed the track of the leading lady. The station-owners +stayed at home and watched their fat stock, which soon became +valuable, and was no longer boiled.</p> + +<blockquote>[*Footnote: Mrs. Buntine; died 1896.]</blockquote> + +<p>On December 31st, 1851, there were in Tasmania twenty thousand +and sixty-nine convicts. Six months afterwards more than ten +thousand had left the island, and in three years forty-five +thousand eight hundred and eighty-four persons, principally men, +had left for the diggings. It was evident that Sir Wm. Denison +would soon have nobody to govern but old women and children, a +circumstance derogatory to his dignity, so he wrote to England +for more convicts and immigrants, and he pathetically exclaimed, +"To whom but convicts could colonists look to cultivate their +lands, to tend their flocks, to reap their harvests?" In the +month of May, 1853, Sir William wrote that "the discovery of gold +had turned him topsy-turvy altogether," and he rejoiced that no +gold had been discovered in his island. Then the Legislature +perversely offered a reward of five thousand pounds to any man +who would discover a gold field in Tasmania, but, as a high-toned +historian observes, "for many years they were so fortunate as not +to find it."</p> + +<p>The convicts stole boats at Launceston, and landed at various +places about Corner Inlet. Some were arrested by the police and +sent back to Tasmania. Many called at Yanakie Station for free +rations. Mr. Bennison applied for police protection, and Old Joe, +armed with a carbine, was sent from Alberton as a garrison. Soon +afterwards a cutter of about fifteen tons burden arrived at +Corner Inlet manned by four convicts, who took the mainsail +ashore and used it as a tent. They then allowed the cutter to +drift on the rocks under Mount Singapore, and she went to pieces +directly. While trying to find a road to Melbourne, they came to +Yanakie Station, and they found nobody at the house except Joe, +Mrs. Bennison, and an old hand. It was now Joe's duty to overawe +and arrest the men, but they, although unarmed, overawed and +arrested Joe. He became exceedingly civil, and after Mrs. +Bennison had supplied them with provisions he showed them the +road to Melbourne. They were arrested a few days afterwards at +Dandenong and sent back to the island prison.</p> + +<p><a name="ch-22"></a></p> + +<h3>A NEW RUSH.</h3> + +<blockquote> +<p>"And there was gathering in hot haste."</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>When gold was first discovered at Stockyard Creek, Griffiths, +one of the prospectors, came to me with the intention of +registering the claim, under the impression that I was Mining +Registrar. He showed me a very good sample of gold. As I had not +then been appointed registrar, he had to travel sixty miles +further before he could comply with the necessary legal +formalities. Then the rush began. Old diggers came from all parts +of Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, and New Zealand; also +men who had never dug before, and many who did not intend to +dig--pickpockets, horse thieves, and jumpers. The prospectors' +claim proved the richest, and the jumpers and the lawyers paid +particular attention to it. The trail of the old serpent is over +everything. The desire of the jumpers was to obtain possession of +the rich claim, or of some part of it; and the lawyers longed for +costs, and they got them. The prospectors paid, and it was a long +time before they could extricate their claim from the clutches of +the law. They found the goldfield, and they also soon found an +unprofitable crop of lawsuits growing on it. They were called +upon to show cause before the warden and the Court of Mines why +they should not be deprived of the fruit of their labours. The +fact of their having discovered gold, and of having pegged out +and registered their claim, could not be denied; but then it was +argued by counsel most learned in mining law that they had done +something which they should have omitted to do, or had omitted to +do something else which they should have done, frail human beings +as they were, and therefore their claim should be declared to +belong to some Ballarat jumper. I had to sit and listen to such +like legal logic until it made me sick, and ashamed of my +species. Of course, justice was never mentioned, that was out of +the question; if law and justice don't agree, so much the worse +for justice.</p> + +<p>Gold was next found at Turton's Creek, which proved one of the +richest little gullies ever worked by diggers. It was discovered +by some prospectors who followed the tracks which Mr. Turton had +cut over the scrubby mountains, and so they gratefully gave his +name to the gully, but I never heard that they gave him any of +the gold which they found in it. A narrow track from Foster was +cut between high walls of impenetrable scrub, and it soon became +like a ditch full of mud, deep and dangerous. If the diggers had +been assured that they would find heaven at the other end of it, +they would never have tried to go, the prospect of eternal +happiness having a much less attraction for them than the +prospect of gold; but the sacred thirst made them tramp bravely +through the slough. The sun and wind never dried the mud, because +it was shut in and overshadowed by the dense growth of the bush. +All tools and provisions were carried through it on the backs of +horses, whose legs soon became caked with mud, and the hair was +taken off them as clean as if they had been shaved with a razor. +Most of them had a short life and a hard one.</p> + +<p>The digging was quite shallow, and the gully was soon rifled +of the gold. At this time there was a mining registrar at Foster, +as the new diggings at Stockyard Creek were named, and some men, +after pegging out their claim at Turton's Creek, went back down +the ditch to register them at Foster. It was a great mistake. It +was neither the time nor the place for legal forms or ceremony. +Time was of the essence of the contract, and they wasted the +essence. Other and wiser men stepped on to their ground while +they were absent, commenced at once to work vigorously, and the +original peggers, when they returned, were unable to dislodge +them. Peter Wilson pegged out a claim, and then rode away to +register it. He returned next day and found two men on it who had +already nearly worked it out.</p> + +<p>"This claim is mine, mates," said Peter; "I pegged it out +yesterday, and I have registered it. You will have to come +out."</p> + +<p>One of the men looked up at Peter and said, "Oh! your name is +Peter, isn't it? I hear you are a fighting man. Well, you just +come down off that bare-legged horse, and I'll kill you in a +couple of minutes, while I take a spell."</p> + +<p>"It's no use your talking that way; you'll see I'll have the +law on you, and you'll have to pay for it," replied Peter.</p> + +<p>"You can go, Peter, and fetch the law as soon as you like. I +don't care a tinker's curse for you or the law; all I want is the +profits, and I'm going to have them."</p> + +<p>This profane outlaw and his mate got the profits, cleared all +the gold out of Peter's claim, and took it away with them.</p> + +<p>It was reported in Melbourne that there was no law or order at +Turton's Creek; that the diggers were treating the mining +statutes and regulations with contempt; that the gold went to the +strong, and the weakest went to the wall. Therefore, six of the +biggest policemen in Melbourne were selected, stretched out, and +measured in Russell Street barracks, and were then ordered to +proceed to Turton's Creek and vindicate the majesty of the law. +They landed from the steamer on the wharf at Port Albert, and, +being armed with carbines and revolvers, looked very formidable. +They proceeded on their journey in the direction of Foster, and +it was afterwards reported that they arrived at Turton's Creek, +and finding everybody quiet and peaceable, they came back again, +bringing with them neither jumpers nor criminals. It was said, +however, that they never went any further than the commencement +of the ditch. They would naturally, on viewing it, turn aside and +camp, to recruit their energies and discuss the situation. +Although they were big constables, it did not follow they were +big fools. They said the Government ought to have asphalted the +ditch for them. It was unreasonable to expect men, each six foot +four inches in height, carrying arms and accoutrements, which +they were bound by the regulations to keep clean and in good +order, to plunge into that river of mud, and to spoil all their +clothes.</p> + +<p>Turton's Creek was soon worked out, and before any +professional jumpers or lawyers could put their fingers in the +pie, the plums were all gone. The gully was prospected from top +to bottom, and the hills on both sides were tunnelled, but no +more gold, and no reefs were found. There was much speculation by +geologists, mining experts, and old duffers as to the manner in +which the gold had contrived to get into the creek, and where it +came from; where it went to, the diggers who carried it away in +their pockets knew well enough.</p> + +<p>The diggers dispersed; some went to Melbourne to enjoy their +wealth; some stayed at Foster to try to get more; some died from +the extreme enjoyment of riches suddenly acquired, and a few went +mad. One of the latter was brought to Palmerston, and remained +there a day or two on his way to the Yarra Bend Lunatic Asylum. +Having an inborn thirst for facts, I conversed with him from the +wooden platform which overlooks the gaol yard. He was walking to +and fro, and talking very cheerfully to himself, and to the world +in general. He spoke well, and had evidently been well educated, +but his ideas were all in pieces as it were, and lacked +connection. He spoke very disrespectfully of men in high places, +both in England and the Colonies; and remarked that Members of +Parliament were the greatest rascals on the face of the earth. No +man of sound mind would ever use such language as that.</p> + +<p>Some years afterwards, while I was Collector of Customs at +Port Albert, I received a letter from Melbourne to the following +purport:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>"Yarra Bend Asylum,<br> +---------- 188--</p> + +<p>"Strictly private and confidential</p> + +<p>"Sir,--You are hereby ordered to take possession of and detain +every vessel arriving at Port Albert. You will immediately +proceed on board each of them, and place the broad arrow abaft +the foremast six feet above the deck. You will thus cut off all +communication with the British Empire. I may state that I am the +lawful heir to the title and estates of a Scottish dukedom, and +am deprived of the possession and enjoyment of my rightful +station and wealth by the machinations of a band of conspirators, +who have found means to detain me in this prison in order to +enjoy my patrimony. You will particularly observe that you are to +hold no communication whatever with the Governor of this colony, +as he is the paid agent of the conspirators, and will endeavour +to frustrate all efforts to obtain my rights. You will also be +most careful to withhold all information from the Duke of +Dunsinane, who is a member of the junior branch of my family, and +at the head of the conspiracy. You will proceed as soon as +possible to enrol a body of men for the purpose of effecting my +deliverance by force of arms. As these men will require payment +for their services, you will enter the Bank of Victoria at Port +Albert, and seize all the money you will find there, the amount +of which I estimate at ten thousand pounds, which will be +sufficient for preliminary expenses. You will give, in my name, +to the manager of the bank, a guarantee in writing for repayment +of the money, with current rate of interest added, when I recover +the dukedom and estates. Be careful to explain to him that you +take the money only as a loan, and that will prevent the bank +from laying any criminal charge against you. Should anything of +the kind be in contemplation, you will be good enough to report +progress to me as soon as possible, and I will give you all +necessary instructions as to your future proceedings.</p> + +<p>"I may mention that in seeking to obtain my title and estates, +I am influenced by no mean or mercenary considerations; my sole +desire is to benefit the human race. I have been employing all my +leisure hours during the last nine years in perfecting a system +of philosophy entirely new, and applicable to all times, to all +nations, and to all individuals. I have discovered the true +foundation for it, which, like all great inventions, is so simple +that it will surprise the world it was never thought of before. +It is this: "Posito impossibili sequitur quidlibet." My +philosophy is founded on the firm basis of the Impossible; on +that you can build anything and everything. My great work is +methodical, divided into sections and chapters, perfect in style, +and so lucid in argument that he who runs may read and be +enlightened. I have counted the words, and they number so far +seven hundred and two thousand five hundred and seventy-eight +(702,578). Five years more will be required to complete the work; +I shall then cause it to be translated into every language of the +world, and shipped at the lowest rate of tonnage for universal +distribution gratis. This will ensure its acceptance and its own +beauty and intrinsic merits will secure its adoption by all +nations, and the result will be human happiness. It will +supersede all the baseless theories of science, religion, and +morality which have hitherto confounded the human intellect.</p> + +<p><i>"Extract from my Magnum Opus.</i></p> + +<p>"We may reasonably suppose that matter is primordially +self-existent, and that it imbued itself with the potentiality of +life. It therefore produced germs. A pair of germs coalesced, and +formed a somewhat discordant combination, the movements in which +tended towards divergence. They attracted and enclosed other +atoms, and, progressing through sleep and wakefulness, at last +arrived at complete satisfaction, or perfect harmonic +combination. This harmonic combination is death. We may say then, +in brief, that growth is simply discordant currents progressing +towards harmony. One question may be briefly noticed. It has been +asked, when did life first appear on the earth? We shall +understand now that the question is unnecessary. Life first +appeared on the earth when the earth first appeared as an +unsatisfied atom seeking combination. The question is rather, +when did the inanimate first appear? It appeared when the first +harmonic combination was effected. The earth is indeed to be +considered as having grown up through the life that is inherent +in it. Man is the most concentrated and differentiated outgrowth +of that life. Mankind is, so to speak, the brain of the earth, +and is progressing towards the conscious guidance of all its +processes."</p> + +<p>"Dunsinane."</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>It was not clear on what ground this noble duke based his +authority over me; but I had been so long accustomed to fulfil +the behests of lunatics of low degree that I was able to receive +those of an afflicted lord with perfect equanimity. But as I +could not see that my obedience would be rewarded with anything +except death or Pentridge, I refrained from action. I did not +place the broad arrow abaft of anything or anybody, nor did I +make a levy on the cash in the Bank of Victoria.</p> + +<p><a name="ch-23"></a></p> + +<h3>GIPPSLAND AFTER THIRTY YEARS.</h3> + +<blockquote>"A pleasing land of drowsihed it was,<br> +And dreams that wave before the half-shut eye."</blockquote> + +<p>For twelve years I did the Government stroke in Her Majesty's +Court at Colac, then I was ordered to make my way to +Gippsland.</p> + +<p>The sun of wisdom shone on a new ministry. They observed that +many of their officers were destitute of energy, and they +resolved to infuse new life into the service, by moving its +members continually from place to place. But officials live long, +and the most robust ministry dies early, and the wisdom of one +cabinet is foolishness to the next.</p> + +<p>I took root so deeply in the soil of Gippsland that I became +immoveable. Twice the Government tried to uproot me, but I +remained there to the end of my official days.</p> + +<p>Little reliable information about the country or its +inhabitants was to be had, so I fondly imagined that in such a +land, secured from contamination by the wicked world outside, I +should find a people of primeval innocence and simplicity, and +the long-forgotten lines returned to my memory:</p> + +<blockquote>"Beatus ille qui procul negotils,<br> +Ut prisca gens mortalium."</blockquote> + +<p>It was summer time, and the weather was serene and beautiful, +when in the grey dusk of the evening we sailed through the Rip at +Port Philip Heads. Then began the troubles of the heaving ocean, +and the log of the voyage was cut short. It ran thus:</p> + +<p>"The ship went up, and the ship went down; and then we fell +down, and then we was sick; and then we fell asleep; and then we +was at Port Albert; and that's all I knows about it."</p> + +<p>I walked along the one street past the custom house, the +post-office, and the bank, about three hundred yards and saw +nothing beyond but tea-tree and swamps, through which ran a +roughly-metalled road, leading apparently to the distant +mountains. There was nothing but stagnation; it was the deadest +seaport ever seen or heard of. There were some old stores, empty +and falling to pieces, which the owners had not been enterprising +enough to burn for the insurance money; the ribs of a wrecked +schooner were sticking out of the mud near the channel; a +stockyard, once used for shipping cattle, was rotting slowly +away, and a fisherman's net was hanging from the top rails to +dry. Three or four drays filled with pigs were drawn up near the +wharf; these animals were to form part of the steamer's return +cargo, one half of her deck space being allotted to pigs, and the +other half to passengers. In case of foul weather, the deck +hamper, pigs and passengers, was impartially washed +overboard.</p> + +<p>An old man in a dirty buggy was coming along the road, and all +the inhabitants and dogs turned out to look and bark at him, just +as they do in a small village in England, when the man with the +donkey-cart comes in sight. To allay my astonishment on observing +so much agitation and excitement, the Principal Inhabitant +introduced himself, and informed me that it was a busy day at the +Port, a kind of market day, on account of the arrival of the +steamer.</p> + +<p>I began sorrowfully to examine my official conscience to +discover for which of my unatoned-for sins I had been exiled to +this dreary land.</p> + +<p>Many a time in after years did I see a stranger leave the +steamer, walk, as I had done, to the utmost extremity of the +seaport, and stand at the corner of the butcher's shop, gazing on +the swamps, the tea-tree, and the far-away wooded hills, the +Strelezcki ranges. The dismal look of hopeless misery thatstole +over his countenance was pitiful to behold. After recovering the +power of speech, his first question was, "How is it possible that +any man could ever consent to live in a hole like this?" Here the +Principal Inhabitant intervened, and poured balm on the wounded +spirit of the stranger. He gently reminded him that first +impressions are not always to be relied on; and assured him that +if he would condescend to take up his abode with us for two or +three years, he would never want to live anywhere else. The +climate was delicious, the best in the world; it induced a +feeling of repose, and bliss, and sweet contentment. We had no +ice or snow, or piercing blasts in winter; and the heat of summer +was tempered by the cool breezes of the Pacific Ocean, which +gently lapped our lovely shores. The land, when cleared, was as +rich and fertile as the farmer's heart could wish, yielding +abundant pasturage both in summer and winter. The mountains sent +down to us unfailing supplies of the purest water; we wanted no +schemes of irrigation, for</p> + +<blockquote>"Green are our fields and fair our flowers,<br> +Our fountains never drumlie."</blockquote> + +<p>We had no plagues of locust, no animal or insect pests to +destroy our crops or herbage. Rabbits had been introduced and +turned loose at various times, but, instead of multiplying until +they had become as numerous as the sand on the seashore, as had +been the case in other parts of Australia, in Gippsland they +invariably died; and it had been abundantly proved that rabbits +had no more chance of living there than snakes in Ireland. And +with regard to the salubrity of the climate, the first settlers +lived so long that they were absolutely tired of life. Let him +look at the cemetery, if he could find it. After thirty years of +settlement it was almost uninhabited --neglected and overgrown +with tussocks and scrub for want of use.</p> + +<p>It will be gathered from this statement of the Principal +Inhabitant that Gippsland had really been discovered and settled +about thirty years before; but mountains and sea divided it from +the outside world, and, on account of the intense drowsiness and +inactivity which the delicious air and even temperature of the +climate produced, the land and its inhabitants had been forgotten +and unnoticed until it had been rediscovered, and its praises +sung by the enterprising Minister of the Crown before +mentioned.</p> + +<p>Following the example of the cautious cat when introduced into +a strange house, I investigated every corner of the district as +far as the nature of the country would permit; and I found that +it contained three principal corners or villages about three +miles apart, at each of which the police magistrate and clerk had +to attend on certain days, business or no business, generally the +latter. It was, of course, beneath the dignity of a court to walk +officially so far through the scrub; so the police magistrate was +allowed sixty pounds per annum in addition to his salary, and the +clerk whom I relieved fifty pounds, to defray the expense of +keeping their horses.</p> + +<blockquote>"Away went Gilpin, and away<br> +Went Gilpin's hat and wig."</blockquote> + +<p>I bought a waggonette, and then began to look for a horse to +draw it. As soon as my want became known it was pleasing to find +so many of my neighbours willing to supply it. Cox, the gaoler, +said he knew of a horse that would just suit me. It belonged to +Binns, an ex-constable, who was spending a month in gaol on +account of a little trouble that had come upon him. Cox invited +me into his office, and brought Binns out of his cell.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Binns "I have a horse, and there's not another +like him on the island," (these men always meant Van Diemen's +Land when they said "the island," forgetting occasionally that +they had crossed the straits, and were in a land of freedom) "as +good a goer as ever carried a saddle, or wore a collar. I +wouldn't sell him on no account, only you see I'm hard up just +now."</p> + +<p>"What is his age?" I enquired.</p> + +<p>"Well, he's just rising ten. He has been used a bit hard, but +you won't overwork him, and he'll do all the law business you +want as easy as winking. He's the best trotter on the island, and +has won many a stake for me. When I took Johnny-come-lately to +gaol in Melbourne for stealing him, he brought me back in less +time than any horse ever did the distance before or since. And +you can have him dirt cheap. I'll take ten pounds for him, and +he's worth twenty pounds of any man's money."</p> + +<p>Lovers' vows and horsedealers' oaths are never literally true; +it is safer to receive them as lies. I thought it would be +prudent to try this trotter before buying him, so Binns signed an +order, in a very shaky hand, to the man in charge of his farm, to +let me have the horse on trial. When I harnessed and put him in +between the shafts he was very quiet indeed. I took a whip, not +for the purpose of using it, but merely for show; a horse that +had won so many races would, of course, go without the lash.</p> + +<p>When I was seated and requested him to start, he began walking +very slowly, as if he had a load of two tons weight behind him, +and I never weighed so much as that. I had to use the whip, and +at last after a good deal of reflection he began to trot, but not +with any speed; he did not want to win anything that day. I +remarked that his ears looked dead; no sound or sight of any kind +disturbed the peace of his mind. He evidently knew this world +well and despised it; nothing in it could excite his feelings any +more.</p> + +<p>Halfway up the Water Road I met Bill Mills, a carrier. He +stopped his team and looked at mine.</p> + +<p>"Have you bought that horse, Mister?" he said.</p> + +<p>"Not yet; I am only trying him," I replied. "Do you know +him?"</p> + +<p>"Know him? I should think I did. That's old Punch. I broke him +into harness when he was three off. He nearly killed me; ran away +with me and my dog-cart among the scrub at the racecourse swamp, +and smashed it against a honeysuckle."</p> + +<p>"Is that long ago?" I enquired.</p> + +<p>"Long ago? Let me see. That horse is twenty year old if he's a +day. He'll not run away with you now; no fear; he's quite safe. +Good-day, Mister. Come on, Star;" and Bill touched his leader +with his whip.</p> + +<p>When I arrived at the court-house, I made a search in the +cause list book, and found that Johnny-come-lately had been sent +to gaol just sixteen years before for stealing Old Punch, so I +restored that venerable trotter to its owner.</p> + +<p>I had soon more horses offered to me for trial, every old +screw within twenty miles being brought to me for inspection. The +next animal I harnessed belonged to Andrew Jackson, and was +brought by Andrew Jackson, junior, who said his father could let +me have it for a month on trial. Jackson, junior, was anxious to +go away without the horse, but I told him to wait a bit while I +put on the harness. The animal was of a mouse colour, very tall, +something like a giraffe; and by the time I got him between the +shafts, I could see that he was possessed by a devil of some +kind. It might be a winged one who would fly away with me; so, in +order to have a clear course, I led him through the gateway into +the middle of the road, and while Jackson, junior, held his head, +I mounted carefully into the trap. I held the lines ready for a +start, and after some hesitation the giraffe did start, but he +went tail foremost. I tried to reverse the engine, but it would +only work in one direction. He backed me into the ditch, and then +across it on to the side path, then against the fence, bucking at +it, and trying to go through and put me in the Tarra. I told +Andrew, junior, to take the giraffe home to his parent, and +relate what he had seen.</p> + +<p>My next horse was a black one from Sale, and he also was +possessed of a devil, but one of a different species. He was +named Gilpin, and the very name ought to have been a warning to +me if I had had sense enough to profit by it. Just as I sat down, +and took the reins, and was going to observe what he would do, he +suddenly went away at full gallop. I tried to pull him in, but he +put his chin against his chest, and the harder I pulled the +faster he flew. The road was full of ruts, and I was bumped up +and down very badly. My hat went away, but, for the present, my +head kept its place. I managed to steer safely as far as the +bridge across the Tarra but, in going over it, the horse's hoofs +and whirling wheels sounded like thunder, and brought out the +whole population of Tarraville to look at me. It was on a Sunday +afternoon; some good people were singing hymns in the local +chapel, and as I passed the turn of the road, they left the +anxious benches, came outside in a body, and gazed at me, a +bare-headed and miserable Sabbath-breaker going swiftly to +perdition. I also was on a very anxious bench. But now there was +a long stretch of good road before me, and I made good use of it. +Instead of pulling the horse in, I let him go, and encouraged him +with the whip to go faster, being determined to let him gallop +until either he or the sun went down. Then the despicable wretch +slackened his pace, and wanted to come to terms. So I wheeled him +round and whipped him without mercy, making him gallop all the +way home again. I did not buy him.</p> + +<p>But the next horse I tried was comparatively blameless, so I +bought him, and at the end of the first month sent in a claim to +the Law Department for the usual allowance. I was curtly informed +that the amount had been reduced from fifty pounds to ten pounds +for my horse, although sixty pounds was still allowed to the +other horse for travelling the same distance, the calculation +evidently being based on the supposition that the police +magistrate's horse would eat six times as much as mine. +Remonstrance was vain, and I found I had burdened myself with an +animal, possessing no social or political influence whatever. I +knew already that the world was governed without wisdom, and I +now felt that it was also ruled with extreme meanness.</p> + +<p>And even after my horse was condemned to starve on ten pounds +per annum, the cost of justice was still extravagant. Without +reckoning the expense incurred in erecting and maintaining three +court houses, and three police stations, and paying three +policemen for doing next to nothing, I ascertained from the cause +lists that it cost the Government fourteen pounds sterling every +time we fined Terry, the cobbler, five shillings for being drunk; +and Terry did not always pay the fines. What ails British law is +dignity, and the insufferable expense attending it. The disease +will never be cured until a strong-minded Chief Justice shall be +found, who has sense enough to sit on the bench in his native +hair, and to take off his coat when the thermometer rises to +eighty degrees. It was in that manner Judge Winstanley kept court +at Waterloo in Illinois, and we had there quicker justice, +cheaper laws, and better manners than those which this southern +hemisphere yet exhibits. As to the lawyers, if we did not like +them, we could lynch them, so they were sociable and civil. +Moreover, Prairie de Long was discovered and settled nearly +twenty years before Australia Felix was heard of.</p> + +<p>The three villages had a life-long feud with, and a consuming +jealousy of, each other. Until my arrival I was not aware that +there were three such places as Palmerston, Alberton, and +Tarraville, claiming separate and rival existences. I had a +notion that they were merely straggling suburbs of the great city +and seaport, Port Albert. But it was a grievous mistake. I asked +a tall young lady at the hotel, who brought in some very salt +fish that took the skin off the roof of my mouth, if she could +recommend the society of these villages, and if she would favour +me with her opinion as to which would be the best place to select +as a residence, and she said, "The people there are an 'orrid +lot." This was very discouraging; but, on making further +enquiries, I found she only expressed the opinion which the +inhabitants of these centres of population held of each other; +and it was evident that I should have to demean myself with +prudence, and show no particular affection for one place more +than for another, or trouble would ensue. Therefore, as soon as +occasion offered, I took a house and paddock within easy distance +of all the three corners, so that when the Government allowance +had reduced my horse to a skeleton, I might give him a spell on +grass, and travel to the courts on foot. The house was on a +gentle rise, overlooking a rich river flat. It had been built by +a retainer of Lord Glengarry, who had declined to follow any +further the fortunes of his chief when he had closed his dairying +operations at Greenmount. A tragedy had been enacted in it some +years before, and a ghost had often since been seen flitting +about the house and grounds on moonlight nights. This gave an +aristocratic distinction to the property, which was very +pleasing, as it is well known that ghosts never haunted any +mansions or castles except such as have belonged to ancient +families of noble race. I bought the estate on very reasonable +terms, no special charge being made for the ghost.</p> + +<p>The paddock had been without a tenant for some time, but I +found it was not unoccupied. A friendly neighbour had introduced +his flock of sheep into it, and he was fattening them cheaply. I +said, "Tityre, tu patulae recubans sub tegmine fayi, be good +enough to round up your sheep and travel." Tityrus said that +would be all right; he would take them away as soon as they were +ready for the butcher. It would be no inconvenience to me, as my +horse would not be able to eat all the grass. The idea of paying +anything did not occur to him; he was doing me a favour. He was +one of the simple natives. As I did not like to take favours from +an entire stranger, the sheep and the shepherd sought other +pastures beyond the winding Tarra.</p> + +<p>The dense tea-tree which bordered the banks of the river was +the home of wild hogs, which spent the nights in rooting up the +soil and destroying the grass. I therefore armed myself with a +gun charged with buckshot, and went to meet the animals by +moonlight. I lay in ambush among the tussocks. One shot was +enough for each hog; after receiving it he retired hastily into +the tea-tree and never came out again.</p> + +<p>After I had cleared my land from sheep and pigs, the grass +began to grow in abundance; and passing travellers, looking +pensively over the fence, were full of pity for me because I had +not stock enough to eat the grass. One man had a team of bullocks +which he was willing to put in; another had six calves ready to +be weaned; and a third friend had a horse which he could spare +for a spell. All these were willing to put in their stock, and +they would not charge me anything. They were three more of the +simple natives.</p> + +<p>I would rather buy forty cows than one horse, because, even +allowing for the cow's horns, the horse has so many more points. +I wanted a good cow, a quiet milker, and a farmer named Ruffy +offered to sell me one. He was very rough indeed, both in words +and work. He showed me the cow, and put her in the bail with a +big stick; said she was as quiet as a lamb, and would stand to be +milked anywhere without a leg-rope. "Here Tom," he roared to his +son, "bring a bucket, and come and milk Daisy without the rope, +and show the gentleman what a quiet beast she is." Tom brought a +bucket, placed the stool near the cow, sat down, and grasped one +of the teats. Daisy did not give any milk, but she gave instead +three rapid kicks, which scattered Tom, the bucket, and the stool +all over the stockyard. I could not think of anything that it +would be safe to say under the circumstances, so I went away +while the farmer was picking up the fragments.</p> + +<p><a name="ch-24"></a></p> + +<h3>GOVERNMENT OFFICERS IN THE BUSH.</h3> + +<blockquote>"Satan finds some mischief still<br> +For idle hands to do."</blockquote> + +<p>Although I had to attend at three courts on three days of each +week, my duties were very light, and quite insufficient to keep +me out of mischief; it was therefore a matter of very great +importance for me to find something else to do. In bush townships +the art of killing time was attained in various ways. Mr. A. went +on the street with a handball, and coaxed some stray idler to +join him in a game. He was a young man of exceptional innocence, +and died early, beloved of the gods. Mr. B. kept a pair of sticks +under his desk in the court house, and made a fencing school of +the space allotted to the public. Some of the police had been +soldiers, and were quite pleased to prove their skill in arms, +and show how fields were won. As a result there were more +breaches of the peace inside the court than outside. Mr. C. tried +to while away his lonely hours by learning to play on a violin, +which he kept concealed in a corner between a press and the wall +of his office. He executed music, and doubled the terrors of the +law. Intending litigants stood transfixed with horror when they +approached the open door of his office, and listened to the wails +and long-drawn screeches which filled the interior of the +building; and every passing dog sat down on its tail, and howled +in sympathetic agony with the maddening sounds.</p> + +<p>But the majority of the officials condemned to live in the +dreary townships tried to alleviate their misery by drinking and +gambling. The Police Magistrate, the Surveyor, the Solicitor, the +Receiver of Revenue, the Police Inspector, and the Clerk of +Courts, together with one or two settlers, formed a little +society for the promotion of poker, euchre, and other little +games, interspersed with whiskies. It is sad to recall to mind +the untimely end at which most of them arrived. Mr. D. was found +dead on the main road; Mr. E. shot himself through the head; Mr. +F. fell asleep in the bush and never woke; and Mr. G. was drowned +in a waterhole. One officer was not quite so unfortunate as some +of his friends. His score at the Crook and Plaid became so long +that he began to pass that hotel without calling. Polly, the +venerable landlady, took offence at such conduct, and was daily +on the watch for him. When she saw him passing, which he always +did at a rapid pace, she hobbled to the door, and called after +him, "Hey, hey!" Then the gentleman twirled his cane, whistled a +lively tune, looked up, first to the sky, and then to the right +and left, but never stopped, or looked back to Polly behind him. +At last his creditors became so troublesome, and his accounts so +inexplicable, that he deserted the public service, and took +refuge across the Murray.</p> + +<p>Mr. H. fell into the habit of borrowing his collections to pay +his gambling debts. He was allowed a certain number of days at +the beginning of each month to complete his returns, and send in +his cash. So he made use of the money collected during the days +of grace to repay any sums he had borrowed from the public cash +during the preceding month. But the cards were against him. One +morning an Inspector of Accounts from Melbourne appeared +unexpectedly in his office.</p> + +<p>In those days there were no railways and no telegraphs. Their +introduction was an offensive nuisance to us. The good old times +will never come again, when we could regulate our own hours of +attendance, take unlimited leave of absence, and relieve distress +by having recourse to the Government cash. When Grimes was +Auditor-General every officer was a gentleman and a man of +honour. In the bush no bank account was kept, as there was no +bank within fifty or a hundred miles; and it was an implied +insult to expect a gentleman to produce his cash balance out of +his pocket. As a matter of courtesy he expected to be informed by +letter two or three weeks beforehand when it was intended to make +an official inspection of his books, in order that he might not +be absent, nor taken unawares.</p> + +<p>When the Inspector appeared, Mr. H. did not lose his presence +of mind, or show any signs of embarrassment. He said he was glad +to see him (which was a lie), hoped he had had a pleasant journey +through the bush; asked how things were going on in Melbourne, +and made enquiries about old friends there. But all the while he +was calculating chances. He had acquired the valuable habit of +the gambler and speculator, of talking about one thing while he +was thinking about another. His thoughts ran on in this style: +"This fellow (he could not think of him as a gentleman) wants to +see my cash; haven't got any; must be near five hundred pounds +short by this time; can't borrow it' no time to go round' +couldn't get it if I did' deuced awkward; shall be given in +charge; charged with larceny or embezzlement or something; can't +help it' better quit till I think about it." So apologising for +his absence for a few minutes on urgent business, he went out, +mounted his horse, and rode away to the mountains.</p> + +<p>The inspector waited five minutes, ten minutes, twenty +minutes. He made enquiries, and finding that Mr. H. had gone +away, he examined the books and vouchers, and concluded that +there should be a cash balance of more than four hundred pounds +payable to revenue. He looked about the office for the cash, but +did not find any. Then the police began to look for Mr. H., but +week after week passed by, and Mr. H. was neither seen nor heard +of.</p> + +<p>There were only two ways of leaving South Gippsland that could +be considered safe; one was by sea from Port Albert, the other by +the road over the mountains. If anyone ventured to desert the +beaten track, and tried to escape unseen through the forest, he +was likely to be lost, and to be starved to death. The only man +ever known to escape was an eccentric farmer, a "wandering outlaw +of his own dark mind," as Byron so darkly expressed it. He +deserted his wife one morning in a most systematic manner, taking +with him his horse and cart, a supply of provisions, and all the +money he was worth. A warrant for his arrest was issued, and the +police were on the look-out for him at all the stations from Port +Albert to Melbourne, but they never found him. Many weeks passed +by without any tidings of the man or his team, when one day he +drove up to his own gate, unhitched his horse, and went to work +as usual. On enquiry it was found that he had gone all the way to +Sydney overland, on a visit to an old friend living not far from +that city. It was supposed that he had some reason for his visit +when he started, but if so, he lost it by the way, for when he +arrived he had nothing particular to say. After a few days' rest +he commenced his return journey to South Gippsland, and travelled +the whole distance without being observed by the watchful police. +When asked about his travels, his only remark was, "Splendid +horse; there he is between the shafts; walked twelve hundred +miles; never turned a hair; splendid horse; there he is."</p> + +<p>But Mr. H. lacked the intellect or the courage to perform a +similar fool's errand successfully. He rode up to the police +station at Alberton, and finding from the officer in charge that +he was wanted on a warrant, he supplied that want. He stated that +he had been on a visit, for the benefit of his health, to a +friend in the mountains, a rail-splitter, who had given him +accommodation in his hut on reasonable terms. He had lived in +strict retirement. For a time he was in daily and nightly fear of +the appearance of the police coming to arrest him; every sound +disturbed him. In about ten days he began to feel lonely and +disappointed because the police did not come; neither they or +anybody else seemed to be looking for him, or to care anything +about him. Heroic self-denial was not his virtue, and he felt no +call to live the life of a hermit. He was treated with undeserved +neglect, and at the end of four weeks he resolved that, as the +police would not come to him, he would go to the police.</p> + +<p>He unburdened his mind, and made a confession to the officer +who had him in charge. He explained how he had taken the money, +how he had lost it, and who had won it. It relieved his mind, and +the policeman kept the secret of confession until after the +trial. Then he broke the seal, and related to me confidentially +the story of his penitent, showing that he was quite as unfit for +the sacerdotal office as myself.</p> + +<p>Mr. H. on his trial was found not guilty, but the department +did not feel inclined to entrust him with the collection or +custody of any more cash. In succeeding years he again served the +Government as State school teacher, having received his +appointment from a minister of merciful principles. A reclaimed +poacher makes an excellent gamekeeper, and a repentant thief may +be a better teacher of youth than a sanctimonious hypocrite.</p> + +<p><a name="ch-25"></a></p> + +<h3>SEAL ISLANDS AND SEALERS.</h3> + +<blockquote>"Am I my brother's keeper?"</blockquote> + +<p>The islands in Bass' Straits, Hogan's Group, Kent's Group, the +Answers, the Judgment Rocks, and others, are visited at certain +seasons of the year by seals of three different kinds--viz., the +hair seals, which are not of much value except for their oil; the +grey seals, whose skins are valuable; and the black seals, whose +furs always command the highest price. When these animals have +not been disturbed in their resorts for some years they are +comparatively tame, and it is not difficult to approach them. +Great numbers of the young ones are sometimes found on the rocks, +and if pushed into the water they will presently come out again, +scramble back on to the rocks, and begin crying for their dams. +But the old seals, when frequently disturbed, become shy, and, on +the first alarm, take to the water. The flesh of the young seals +is good to eat, and seamen who have been cast away on the islands +have been sometimes saved from starvation by eating it.</p> + +<p>I once made the acquaintance of an old sealer. He had formerly +been very sensitive on the point of honour; would resent an +insult as promptly as any knight-errant; but by making an idol of +his honour his life had been a grievous burden to him. And he was +not even a gentleman, and never had been one. He was known only +as "Jack."</p> + +<p>It was in the year 1854, when I had been cast ashore in Corio +Bay by a gale of hostile fortune, and had taken refuge for a +while at the Buck's Head Hotel, then kept by a man named +McKenzie. One evening after tea I was talking to a carpenter at +the back door, who was lamenting his want of timber. He had not +brought a sufficient supply from Geelong to complete his +contract, which was to construct some benches for a Presbyterian +Church. Jack was standing near listening to the conversation.</p> + +<p>"What kind of timber do you want?" he said. "There is a lot of +planks down there in the yard, and if you'll be outside about +eleven o'clock, I'll chuck over as many as you want."</p> + +<p>The contractor hesitated. "Whose planks are they?" he +asked.</p> + +<p>"I don't know whose they are, and I don't care," replied Jack. +"Say the word, and you can have them, if you like."</p> + +<p>The contractor made no reply, at least in words, to this +generous offer. It is not every man that has a friend like Jack; +many men will steal from you, but very few will steal for you, +and when such a one is found he deserves his reward.</p> + +<p>We adjourned to the bar parlour, and Jack had a glass of +brandy, for which he did not pay. There was among the company a +man from Adelaide, a learned mineralogist, who commenced a +dissertation on the origin of gold. He was most insufferable; +would talk about nothing but science. Darwin wrote a book about +"The Origin of Species," and it has been observed that the origin +of species is precisely what is not in the book. So we argued +about the origin of gold, but we could get nowhere near it.</p> + +<p>When the rest of the company had retired, Jack observed to me: +"You put down that Adelaide chap gradely; he had not a leg to +stand on."</p> + +<p>I was pleased to find that Jack knew a good argument when he +heard it, so I rewarded his intelligence with another glass of +brandy, and asked him if he had been long in the colonies. He +said:</p> + +<p>"My name's not Jack; that's what they call me, but it doesn't +matter what my name is. I was brought up in Liverpool, but I +wasn't born there; that doesn't matter either. I used to work at +the docks, was living quite respectable, was married and had a +little son about five years old. One night after I had had supper +and washed myself, I said to th' missus, 'There's a peep-show i' +Tithebarn Street, and if you'll wash Bobby's face I'll tek him +there; its nobbut a penny.' You know it was one o' them shows +where they hev pictures behind a piece o' calico, Paul Pry with +his umbrella, Daniel i' th' lions' den, ducks swimming across a +river, a giantess who was a man shaved and dressed in women's +clothes, a dog wi' five legs, and a stuffed mermaid--just what +little lads would like. There was a man, besides, who played on a +flute, and another singing funny songs. When I went outside into +the street there was little Billy Yates, as used to play with +Bobby, so I says, 'Come along, Billy, and I'll tek thee to the +show.' When we got there we set down on a bench, and, just as +they began to show th' pictures, three black-fellows came in and +set down on th' bench before us. They thowt they were big swells, +and had on black coats, white shirts, stiff collars up to their +ears, red and green neck-handkerchers, and bell-topper hats; so I +just touched one of em on th' showder and said: 'Would you please +tek your hats off to let th' lads see th' pictures?' Well, the +nigger just turned his head half-round, and looked at me impudent +like, but he kept his hat on. So I asked him again quite civil, +and he called me a low fellow, towld me to mind my own business, +and the other two niggers grinned. Well, you know, I could not +stand that. I knew well enough what they were. They were stewards +on the liners running between New York and Liverpool, and they +were going round trying to pass for swells in a penny peep-show. +I didn't want to make a row just then and spoil the show, so I +said to th' lads, we mun go hooum, and I took 'em hooum, and then +come back to th' show and waited at th' door. When the niggers +come out I pitched into th' one as had given me cheek; but we +couldn't have it out for th' crowd, and we were all shoved into +th' street. I went away a bit, thinking no more about it, and met +a man I knew and we went into a public house and had a quart o' +fourpenny. We were in a room by ourselves, when the varra same +three niggers come in and stood a bit inside the door. So I took +my tumbler and threw it at th' head of th' man I wanted, and then +went at him. But I couldn't lick him gradely because th' landlord +come in and stopped us; so after a while I went hooum. Next +morning I was going along Dale Street towards the docks to work, +when who should I see but that varra same blackfellow: it looked +as if th' devil was in it. He was by hisself this time, coming +along at th' other side of th' street. So I crossed over and met +him, and went close up to him and said, 'Well, what have you to +say for yoursel' now?' and I gav him a lick under th' ear. He +fell down on th' kerbstone and wouldn't get up-- turned sulky +like. There was soon a crowd about, and they tried to wakken him +up; but he wouldn't help hisself a bit--just sulked and wouldn't +stir. I don't believe he'd ha' died but for that, because I +nobbut give him but one hit. I thowt I'd better make mysel' +scarce for a while, so I left Liverpool and went to Preston. Were +you ever in Preston?" I said I was. "Well then, you'll remember +Melling, the fish-monger, a varra big, fat man. I worked for him +for about six months, and then come back to Liverpool, thinking +there'd be no more bother about the blackfellow. But they took me +up, and gev me fourteen year for it; and if it had been a white +man I wouldn't ha' got more than twelve months, and I was sent +out to Van Diemen's Land and ruined for ever, just for nowt else +but giving a chance lick to a blackfellow. And now I hear they're +going to war wi' Russia, and-- England, Scotland, Ireland, and +Wales--I hope they'll all get blooming well licked. It don't mend +a man much to transport him, nor a woman either for that matter: +they all grow worse than ever. When I got my ticket I sometimes +went working in th' bush, sometimes whaling and sealing, and +sometimes stripping bark at Western Port and Portland Bay, before +there was such a place as Melbourne. I was in a whaler for two +years about Wilson's Promontory, until the whales were all killed +or driven away. I never saved any money until nine years back; we +always went on th' spree and spent every penny directly we were +paid off. At that time I went with a man from Port Albert to the +Seal Islands in a boat. I knew of a place where there was a cave, +a big hollow under the rocks, where th' seals used to go to +sleep, and a blow hole coming out of it to th' top of the island. +We hired a boat and went there, and made a kind of a door which +we could drop down with a rope to shut up the mouth of th' cave +and catch the seals inside. We killed so many that we couldn't +take th' skins away all at once in the boat to Port Albert; we +had to come back again. I thowt to myself I'd be richer than ever +I was in my life; th' skins were worth hundreds of pounds. I had +agreed to go halves with th' Port Albert man, but, you see, he'd +ha' never gotten a penny but for me, because he knew nothing +whatever about sealing. It didn't look quite fair to give him +half; and then I thowt what a lucky thing it would be for me if +he were drowned; and he was drowned, but mind you, I didn't do +it. It was this way. When we got back to th' blow-hole th' +weather was bad. One o' them sou'east gales set in, and th' big +waves dashed agen the rocks, roaring and sending spray right +across th' island. We had packed away all th' seal-skins snug in +th' boat and pulled th' door up from th' bottom of th' chimney +before th' gale started. When we were taking down the rope and +tackle and th' shears, th' water began to come boiling up th' +blow hole and sinking down again. There was a big rush of wind, +first up and then down sucking you in like. It was a ticklish +time, and just as we were going to lower th' shears, th' Port +Albert man made a kind of slip, and was sucked in with the wind, +and went head first into the boiling water and out of sight. I +took hold of the slack of a rope, thinking I'd throw it to him; +he might get hold of it, and then I could pull him out. In about +half a minute he was thrown up again by th' next wave right to +the top of th' chimney. I could see his face within four feet of +me. He threw up his hands for something to catch at and looked at +me, and then gave a fearful scream. I didn't throw him the rope; +something stopped me. He might not have got hold of it, you know, +anyhow. He went down again among th' white water, and I never saw +him no more--only when I am dreaming. I always dream about him. I +can see his face come up above the boiling water, and when he +screams I wake up. I can never get clear of him out of my head; +and yet, mind you, I didn't drown him; he fell in of his self, +and I just missed throwing him th' rope, that's all; and I wasn't +bound to do it, was I?</p> + +<p>"As for the money I got for the seal skins, I could have lived +comfortably on it all my life, but it never did me no good. I +started drinking, trying to forget that Port Albert man, but it +was no use. Every shilling was soon gone, and eversince I've been +doing odd jobs and loafing about the publics. I've never done no +good and never shall. Let's have just another nobbler afore we +turn in."</p> + +<p><a name="ch-26"></a></p> + +<h3>A HAPPY CONVICT.</h3> + +<p>"Thrice did I receive forty stripes, save one."</p> + +<p>It was court day at Palmerston, and there was an unusual +amount of business that morning. A constable brought in a +prisoner, and charged him with being a vagrant--having no lawful +visible means of support. I entered the charge in the cause list, +"Police v. John Smithers, vagrancy," and then looked at the +vagrant. He was growing aged, was dressed in old clothes, faded, +dirty, and ill-fitting; he had not been measured for them. His +face was very dark, and his hair and beard were long and rough, +showing that he had not been in gaol lately. His eyes wandered +about the court in a helpless and vacant manner. Two boys about +eight or nine years old entered the court, and, with colonial +presumption, sat in the jury box. There were no other spectators, +so I left them there to represent the public. They stared at the +prisoner, whispered to each other, and smiled. The prisoner could +not see anything to laugh at, and frowned at them. Then the +magistrate came in, rubbing one of his hands over the other, +glanced at the prisoner as he passed, and withered him with a +look of virtuous severity. He was our Black Wednesday magistrate, +and was death on criminals. When he had taken his seat on the +bench, I opened the court, and called the first and only case. It +was not often we had a man to sit on, and we sat heavily on this +one. I put on my sternest look, and said "John Smithers"--here +the prisoner instantly put one hand to his forehead and stood at +"attention"-- "you are charged by the police with vagrancy, +having no lawful visible means of support. What have you to say +to that charge?"</p> + +<p>"I am a blacksmith looking for work," said the prisoner; "I +ain't done nothing, your worship, and I don't want nothing."</p> + +<p>"But you should do something," replied the magistrate; "we +don't want idle vagabonds like you wandering about the country. +You will be sent to gaol for three months."</p> + +<p>I stood up and reminded the justice respectfully that there +was as yet no evidence against the prisoner, so, as a matter of +form, he condescended to hear the constable, who went into the +witness-box and proved his case to the hilt. He had found the man +at nightfall sitting under the shelter of some tea-tree sticks +before a fire; asked him what he was doing there; said he was +camping out; had come from Melbourne looking for work; was a +blacksmith; took him in charge as a vagrant, and locked him up; +all his property was the clothes he wore, an old blanket, a tin +billy, a clasp knife, a few crusts of bread, and old pipe, and +half a fig of tobacco; could find no money about him.</p> + +<p>That last fact settled the matter. A man travelling about the +bush without money is a deep-dyed criminal. I had done it myself, +and so was able to measure the extent of such wickedness. I never +felt really virtuous unless I had some money in my pocket.</p> + +<p>"You are sentenced to imprisonment for three months in +Melbourne gaol," said the magistrate; "and mind you don't come +here again."</p> + +<p>"I ain't done nothing, your worship," replied the prisoner; +"and I don't want nothing."</p> + +<p>"Take him away, constable."</p> + +<p>Seven years afterwards, as I was riding home about sundown +through Tarraville, I observed a solitary swagman sitting before +a fire, among the ruins of an old public house, like Marius +meditating among the ruins of Carthage. There was a crumbling +chimney built of bricks not worth carting away--the early bricks +in South Gippsland were very bad, and the mortar had no visible +lime in it--the ground was strewn with brick-bats, bottles, +sardine tins, hoop iron, and other articles, the usual refuse of +a bush shanty. It had been, in the early times, a place reeking +with crime and debauchery. Men had gone out of it mad with +drinking the poisonous liquor, had stumbled down the steep bank, +and had ended their lives and crimes in the black Tarra river +below. Here the rising generation had taken their first lessons +in vice from the old hands who made the house their favourite +resort. Here was planned the murder of Jimmy the Snob by +Prettyboy and his mates, whose hut was near the end of the bridge +across the river, and for which murder Prettyboy was hanged in +Melbourne.</p> + +<p>In the dusk I mistook the swagman for a stray aboriginal who +had survived the destruction of his tribe, but on approaching +nearer, I found that he was, or at least once had been, a white +man. He had gathered a few sticks, which he was breaking and +putting on the fire. I did not recognise him, did not think I had +ever seen him before, and I rode away.</p> + +<p>During the next twenty-four hours he had advanced about +half-a-mile on his journey, and in the evening was making his +fire in the Church paddock, near a small water-hole opposite my +house. I could see him from the verandah, and I sent Jim to offer +him shelter in an outbuilding. Jim was one of the two boys who +had represented the public in the jury box at the Palmerston +court seven years before. He came back, and said the man declined +the offer of shelter; never slept under a roof winter or summer, +if he could help it; had lived in the open air for twelve years, +and never stayed a night in any building, except for three +months, when he was in Melbourne gaol. He had been arrested by a +constable near Palmerston seven years before, although he had +done nothing, and a fool of a beak, with a long grey beard, had +given him three months, while two puppies of boys were sitting in +the jury box laughing at him.</p> + +<p>He also gave some paternal advice to the youth, which, like a +great deal of other paternal advice, was rejected as of no +value.</p> + +<p>"Never you go to Melbourne, young man," he said, "and if you +do, never stop in any boarding-house, or public. They are full of +vermin, brought in by bad characters, mostly Government officers +and bank clerks, who have been in Pentridge. Don't you never go +near 'em."</p> + +<p>This advice did not sound very respectful; however, I +overlooked it for the present, as it was not unlikely I might +have the advantage of seeing him again in custody, and I sent to +him across the road some hot tea, bread, butter, and beef. This +softened the heart and loosed the tongue of the old swagman. It +appeared from his account of himself that he was not much of a +blacksmith. He was ostensibly going about the colony looking for +work, but as long as he could get food for nothing he did not +want any work, and he always avoided a blacksmith's shop; as soon +as he found himself near one he ceased to be a blacksmith.</p> + +<p>When asked about his former life, he said a gentleman had once +advised him to write the particulars of it, and had promised him +half-a-crown if he would do so. He had written some of them, but +had never seen the gentleman again, so he did not get the +half-crown; and now he would take sixpence for the copyright of +his work. I gave him sixpence, and he drew out a manuscript from +an inside pocket of his coat, and handed it to me. It was +composed of small sheets of whitey-brown wrapping paper sewn +together. He had ruled lines on it, and had written his biography +with lead pencil. On looking over it I observed that, although he +was deficient in some of the inferior qualifications of a great +historian, such as spelling, grammar, and a command of words of +seven syllables, yet he had the true instincts of a faithful +chronicler. He had carefully recorded the names of all the +eminent bad men he had met, of the constable who had first +arrested him, of the magistrate who had committed him for trial, +of the judge who had sentenced him, of the gaolers and warders +who had kept him in prison, of the captain, doctor, and officers +of the ship which conveyed him to Sydney, of the squatters who +had forced him to work for them, and of the scourgers who had +scourged him for not working enough. The names of all these +celebrated men, together with the wicked deeds for which they +were admired, were given in detail, after the true historic +method. We all take a great interestin reading every particular +relating to the lives of notorious tyrants and great sinners; we +like to know what clothes they wore, and how they swore. But the +lives of great and good men and women are very uninteresting; +some young ladies even, when travelling by train, prefer, as I +observe, French novels inspired by Cloacina to the "Lives of the +Saints."</p> + +<p>Some people in the colonies are said to have had no +grandfathers; but John Smithers was even more deficient in +pedigree, for he had neither father nor mother, as far as he +could recollect. He commenced life as a stable boy and general +drudge in England, at a village inn owned and conducted by a +widow named Cobbledick. This widow had a daughter named Jemima. +The mischief wrought in this world by women, from Eve to Jemima +downwards, is incalculable, and Smithers averred that it was this +female, Jemima, who brought on his sorrow, grief, and woe. She +was very advanced in wordly science, as young ladies are apt to +be when they are educated in the retail liquor trade. When +Smithers had been several years at the inn, and Jemima was +already in her teens, she thought the world went slowly; she had +no lover, there was nobody coming to marry her, nobody coming to +woo. But at length she was determined to find a remedy for this +state of things. She had never read the history of the loves of +the great Catherine of Russia, nor of those of our own virgin +Queen Elizabeth, but by an inborn royal instinct she was impelled +to follow their high example. If lovers did not offer their +adoration to her charms spontaneously, there was at any rate one +whose homage she could command. One Sunday afternoon, while her +mother was absent, she went to the stable and ordered Smithers to +come and take a walk with her, directing him first to polish his +shoes and put on his best clothes. She brought out a bottle of +scented oil to sweeten him, and told him to rub it well into his +hair, and stroke his head with his hands until it was sleek and +shiny. She had put on her Sunday dress and best bonnet; she had +four ringlets at each side of her face; and to crown her charms, +had ventured to borrow her mother's gold watch and chain. Being +now a perfect princess in stateliness and beauty, she took Jack +by the arm--she called him Jack--and made him march away with +her. He was rather abashed at the new duty imposed upon him, but +he had been so well kicked and cuffed all his life that he never +thought of disobeying orders. Love fooled the gods, and it gave +him little trouble to fool so sorry a pair as Jack and his +Jemima. They walked along Perkins' Lane where many of the +neighbours were likely to see them, for Jemima was anxious that +all the other girls, her dearest friends, should be filled with +spite and envy at her good fortune in having secured a lover.</p> + +<p>When the happy youth and maid were returning with wandering +steps and slow, Jemima saw her mother pass the end of the lane on +her way homewards, much sooner than she had expected. The golden +hours on angel wings had flown away too quickly for the lovers. +Miss Cobbledick was filled with sudden alarm, and her brief day +of glory was clouded. It was now impossible to reach home in time +to avoid trouble. Her mother would be certain to miss the watch, +and what was she to do with it? What with Jack, and what with +herself? Self-preservation being the first law of nature, Jemima +resolved to sacrifice Jack in order to shield herself from her +mother's rage. He was not of much account in any respect; so she +gave him the watch and chain, telling him to keep them safely +till she asked for them, and to hurry round by the yard gate into +the stable. This gave great relief to her conscience, and enabled +her to meet her mother with a face of untroubled innocence.</p> + +<p>Jack had not a lively imagination; but during the night he had +a clear and blissful vision of his future destiny, the only dream +of fortune his life was ever blessed with. He was to be the +landlord of the hotel, when Mrs. Cobbledick had gone to bliss, +and Jemima was to be his bride, and the landlady.</p> + +<p>But early next morning there was trouble in the house. The +watch was missing, and nobody knew anything about it. Jemima +helped her mother to look for it, and could not find it. A +constable was sent for, and he questioned everyone in and about +the house, and searched everywhere without result. Last of all +Jack was asked if he knew anything of the missing watch. He was +faithful and true. How could he betray Jemima, his future partner +in life? He said he "had never seen no watch, and didn't know +nothing whatsomever about no watch," and the next instant the +constable pulled the watch out of Jack's pocket.</p> + +<p>At his trial he was asked what he had to say in his defence, +and then he told the truth, and said Jemima gave him the watch to +keep until she should ask for it. But there is a time for all +things; and Jack could never learn the proper time for telling +the truth, or for telling a lie; he was always in the wrong. The +judge, in passing sentence, said he had aggravated his crime by +endeavouring to implicate an innocent young lady in his villany, +and gave him seven years.</p> + +<p>He was taken on board a hulk, where he found two or three +hundred other boys imprisoned. On the evening of his arrival a +report was circulated among them that they were all to be sent to +another ship, which was bound for Botany Bay, and that they would +never see England again. They would have to work and sleep in +chains; they would be yoked together, and whipped like bullocks; +and if they escaped into the bush the blacks would kill and eat +them. As this dismal tale went round, some of the boys, who were +quite young and small, began to cry, and to call for their +mothers to come and help them; and then the others began to +scream and should and yell. The warders came below and tried to +silence them, but the more they tried the louder grew the uproar, +and it continued for many hours during the night.</p> + +<blockquote>"Britons rarely swerve<br> + From law, however stern, which tends their strength to +serve."</blockquote> + +<p>Discipline must be maintained; so next morning the poor little +beggars were brought up on deck in batches, stripped, triced up, +and severely flogged. Jack, and a number of other boys, said they +had not cried at all, but the officer in charge thought it was +better that a few of the innocent should suffer rather than that +one of the guilty should escape, so they were all flogged alike, +and soon after they were shipped for New South Wales.</p> + +<p>On his arrival n Sydney, Jack was assigned as a servant to a +squatter, and taken into the bush a long way to the west. The +weather had been very hot for a long time, all the grass had +withered to dust, and the cattle were starving. The first work +which he was ordered to do was to climb trees and cut off the +branches, in order that the cattle might keep themselves alive by +eating the leaves and twigs. Jack had never been used to handle +an axe or tomahawk, so he found the labour of chopping very hard. +He did his best, but that was not good enough for the squatter, +who took him to a magistrate, and had him flogged by the official +scourger.</p> + +<p>While serving his sentence of seven years he was flogged four +times; three of the times he said he had "done nothing," and for +the fourth flogging he confessed to me that he had "done +something," but he did not say what the "something" was. In those +days it seems that "doing nothing" and "doing something" were +crimes equally meriting the lash.</p> + +<p>And now after a long life of labour the old convict had +achieved independence at last. I don't think I ever met a richer +man; he was richer than the whole family of the Rothschilds; he +wanted scarcely anything. Food and clothing he obtained for the +asking for them, and he was not particular as to their quality of +the quantity was sufficient. Property to him was something +despicable; he did not want any, and would not live inside of a +house if he had one; he preferred the outside. He was free from +family cares--never had father or mother, sister or brother, wife +or children. No poor relatives ever claimed his hospitality; no +intimate friends wanted to borrow half-a-crown; no one ever asked +him to buy suburban lots, or to take shares in a limited +liability company. He was perfectly indifferent to all danger +from bush-rangers, burglars, pickpockets, or cattle stealers; he +did not even own a dog, so the dogman never asked him for the dog +tax. He never enquired about the state of the money market, nor +bothered himself about the prices of land or cattle, wood, wine, +or wheat. Every bank, and brewery, and building society in the +world might go into liquidation at once for aught he cared. He +had retired from the Government service, had superannuated +himself on a pension of nothing per annum, and to draw it he +required no voucher.</p> + +<p>And yet, notwithstanding all these advantages, I don't think +there are many men who would voluntarily choose his lot. I +watched him from the end of the verandah, and began speculating +about him. What was he thinking about during his solitary watches +in the night or while he tramped alone through the bush year +after year in heat and cold, wind and rain? Did he ever think of +anything--of his past life, or of his future lot? Did he believe +in or hope for a heaven? or had he any fear of hell and eternal +punishment? Surely he had been punished enough; in this life he +had endured evil things in plenty, and might at least hope for +eternal rest in the next.</p> + +<p>He was sitting with his back against a gum tree, and his feet +towards the fire. From time to time he threw a few more sticks on +the embers, and a fitful blaze lit up his dark weatherbeaten +face.</p> + +<p>Then to my surprise he began to sing, and to sing well. His +voice was strong, clear, and mellow, and its tones rose and fell +in the silent night air with a pathetic and wonderful sweetness. +The burden of his song was "We may be happy yet."</p> + +<blockquote>"Oh, smile as thou wert wont to smile,<br> +Before a weight of care<br> +Had crushed thine heart, and yet awhile<br> +Left only sorrow there;<br> +We may be happy yet."</blockquote> + +<p>He sang three stanzas, and was silent. Then someone said: +"Poor old fellow; I hope he may be happy yet."</p> + +<p>Next morning he was sitting with his back against the gum +tree. His fire had gone out, and he seemed to be late in awaking, +and in no hurry to resume his journey. But his travels were +finished; he never awoke. His body was quite cold, and he must +have died soon after he had sung the last note of his song. He +had only sixpence in his pocket--the sixpence I had given him for +his biography. The police took him in charge once more and put +him in his last prison, where he will remain until we shall all +be called together by the dread blast of the Archangel's trumpet +on the Judgment Day.</p> + +<h3>THE END</h3> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Book of the Bush, by George Dunderdale + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOOK OF THE BUSH *** + +***** This file should be named 16349-h.htm or 16349-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/3/4/16349/ + +Produced by Amy Zellmer + +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. 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