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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Journals Of Expeditions Of Discovery Into
+Central Australia Volume 2, by Edward John Eyre
+
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+Title: Journals Of Expeditions Of Discovery Into Central
+       Australia And Overland From Adelaide To King George's
+       Sound In The Years 1840-1: Sent By The Colonists Of
+       South Australia, With The Sanction And Support Of The
+       Government: Including An Account Of The Manners And
+       Customs Of The Aborigines And The State Of Their
+       Relations With Europeans. Volume 2.
+
+Author: Edward John Eyre
+
+Release Date: March, 2004 [EBook #5345]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on July 2, 2002]
+
+Edition: 10
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOURNALS OF EXPEDITIONS 2 ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Col Choat colc@gutenberg.net.au
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+PRODUCTION NOTES:
+--Italics in the book have been changed to to upper case in this eBook.
+--Footnotes have been placed in brackets [] within the text.
+--A number of tables have been omitted or rendered incomplete. These are
+  indicated in the eBook at the point at which they occurred in the book.
+--Plates and maps in the book have not been reproduced. A list of plates
+  forms part of the Table of Contents. There were 2 maps included in the
+  book. These indicated the extent of Eyre's journeys.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+JOURNALS OF EXPEDITIONS OF DISCOVERY INTO CENTRAL AUSTRALIA AND OVERLAND
+FROM ADELAIDE TO KING GEORGE'S SOUND IN THE YEARS 1840-1: SENT BY THE
+COLONISTS OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA, WITH THE SANCTION AND SUPPORT OF THE
+GOVERNMENT: INCLUDING AN ACCOUNT OF THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE
+ABORIGINES AND THE STATE OF THEIR RELATIONS WITH EUROPEANS.
+
+by EYRE, EDWARD JOHN (1815-1901)
+
+
+
+TO LIEUT.-COLONEL GEORGE GAWLER, K.H. M.R.G.S.
+UNDER WHOSE AUSPICES, AS GOVERNOR OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA,
+THE EXPEDITIONS, DESCRIBED IN THE FOLLOWING PAGES,
+WERE UNDERTAKEN, THESE VOLUMES ARE RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED,
+AS A TRIBUTE OF GRATITUDE FOR HIS KINDNESS AND RESPECT FOR HIS VIRTUES,
+BY THE AUTHOR.
+
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+
+In offering to the public an account of Expeditions of Discovery in
+Australia, undertaken in the years 1840-1, and completed in July of the
+latter year, some apology may be deemed necessary for this narrative not
+having sooner appeared, or perhaps even for its being now published at
+all.
+
+With respect to the first, the author would remark that soon after his
+return to South Australia upon the close of the Expeditions, and when
+contemplating an immediate return to England, he was invited by the
+Governor of the Colony to remain, and undertake the task of
+re-establishing peace and amicable relations with the numerous native
+tribes of the Murray River, and its neighbourhood, whose daring and
+successful outrages in 1841, had caused very great losses to, and created
+serious apprehensions among the Colonists.
+
+Hoping that his personal knowledge of and extensive practical experience
+among the Aborigines might prove serviceable in an employment of this
+nature, the author consented to undertake it; and from the close of
+September 1841, until December 1844, was unremittingly occupied with the
+duties it entailed. It was consequently not in his power to attend to the
+publication of his travels earlier, nor indeed can he regret a delay,
+which by the facilities it afforded him of acquiring a more intimate
+knowledge of the character and habits of the Aborigines, has enabled him
+to render that portion of his work which relates to them more
+comprehensive and satisfactory than it otherwise would have been.
+
+With respect to the second point, or the reasons which have led to this
+work being published at all, the author would observe that he has been
+led to engage in it rather from a sense of duty, and at the instance of
+many of his friends, than from any wish of his own. The greater portion
+of the country he explored was of so sterile and worthless a description,
+and the circumstances which an attempt to cross such a desert region led
+to, were of so distressing a character, that he would not willingly have
+revived associations, so unsatisfactory and so painful.
+
+It has been his fate, however, to cross, during the course of his
+explorations, a far greater extent of country than any Australian
+traveller had ever done previously, and as a very large portion of this
+had never before been trodden by the foot of civilized man, and from its
+nature is never likely to be so invaded again, it became a duty to record
+the knowledge which was thus obtained, for the information of future
+travellers and as a guide to the scientific world in their inquiries into
+the character and formation of so singular and interesting a country.
+
+To enable the reader to judge of the author's capabilities for the task
+he undertook, and of the degree of confidence that may be due to his
+impressions or opinions, it may not be out of place to state, that the
+Expeditions of 1840--1 were not entered upon without a sufficient
+previous and practical experience in exploring.
+
+For eight years the author had been resident in Australia, during which
+he had visited many of the located parts of New South Wales, Port
+Phillip, South Australia, Western Australia, and Van Diemen's Land. In
+the years 1836, 1837, 1838, 1839, and 1840 he had conducted expeditions
+across from Liverpool Plains in New South Wales to the county of Murray,
+from Sydney to Port Phillip, from Port Phillip to Adelaide, and from King
+George's Sound to Swan River, besides undertaking several explorations
+towards the interior, both from Port Lincoln and from Adelaide.
+
+To the knowledge and experience which were thus acquired, the author must
+ascribe the confidence and good opinion of his fellow-colonists, which
+led them in 1840 to place under his command an undertaking of such
+importance, interest, and responsibility; and to these advantages he
+feels that he is in a great measure indebted, under God's blessing, for
+having been enabled successfully to struggle through the difficulties and
+dangers which beset him, in crossing from Adelaide to King George's
+Sound.
+
+With this explanation for obtruding upon the public, the author would
+also solicit their indulgence, for the manner in which the task has been
+performed. The only merit to which he can lay claim, is that of having
+faithfully described what he saw, and the impressions which were produced
+upon him at the time. In other respects it is feared that a work, which
+was entirely (and consequently very hastily) prepared for the press from
+the original notes, whilst voyaging from Australia to England, must
+necessarily be crude and imperfect. Where the principal object, however,
+was rather to record with accuracy than indulge in theory or conjecture,
+and where a simple statement of occurrences has been more attended to
+than the language in which they are narrated, plainness and fidelity
+will, it is hoped, be considered as some compensation for the absence of
+the embellishments of a more finished style, or a studied composition,
+and especially as the uncertainty attending the duration of the author's
+visit to England made it a matter of anxious consideration to hurry these
+volumes through the press as rapidly as possible. There is one
+circumstance to which he wishes particularly to allude, as accounting for
+the very scanty notices he is now able to give of the geology or botany
+of the country through which he travelled; it is the loss of all the
+specimens that were collected during the earlier part of the Expedition,
+which occurred after they had been sent to Adelaide; this loss has been
+irreparable, and has not only prevented him from ascertaining points
+about which he was dubious, but has entirely precluded him from having
+the subjects considered, or the specimens classified and arranged by
+gentlemen of scientific acquirements in those departments of knowledge,
+in which the author is conscious he is himself defective. In the latter
+part of the Expedition, or from Fowler's Bay to King George's Sound, the
+dreadful nature of the country, and the difficulties and disasters to
+which this led, made it quite impossible either to make collections of
+any kind, or to examine the country beyond the immediate line of route;
+still it is hoped that the passing notices which are made in the journal,
+and the knowledge of the similarity of appearance and uniform character,
+prevalent throughout the greater portion of the country passed through,
+will be quite sufficient to give a general and correct impression of the
+whole.
+
+To Mr. Gray of the British Museum, the author is particularly indebted
+for his valuable contribution on the Natural History of the Southern
+coast of Australia, and to Mr. Gould, the celebrated Ornithologist, his
+thanks are equally due, for a classified and most interesting list of the
+birds belonging to the same portion of the continent.
+
+To Mr. Adam White, of the British Museum, he is also indebted for an
+account of some new insects, and to Dr. Richardson, for a scientific and
+classified arrangement of fish caught on the Southern coast, near King
+George's Sound. The plates to which the numbers refer in the
+last-mentioned paper, are the admirable drawings made from life, by J.
+Neill, Esq. of King George's Sound, and now lodged at the British Museum.
+They are, however, both too numerous and too large to give in a work of
+this description, and will probably be published at some future time by
+their talented author.
+
+For the account given of the Aborigines the author deems it unnecessary
+to offer any apology; a long experience among them, and an intimate
+knowledge of their character, habits, and position with regard to
+Europeans, have induced in him a deep interest on behalf of a people, who
+are fast fading away before the progress of a civilization, which ought
+only to have added to their improvement and prosperity. Gladly would the
+author wish to see attention awakened on their behalf, and an effort at
+least made to stay the torrent which is overwhelming them.
+
+It is most lamentable to think that the progress and prosperity of one
+race should conduce to the downfal and decay of another; it is still more
+so to observe the apathy and indifference with which this result is
+contemplated by mankind in general, and which either leads to no
+investigation being made as to the cause of this desolating influence, or
+if it is, terminates, to use the language of the Count Strzelecki, "in
+the inquiry, like an inquest of the one race upon the corpse of the
+other, ending for the most part with the verdict of 'died by the
+visitation of God.'"
+
+In his attempt to delineate the actual circumstances and position of the
+natives, and the just claims they have upon public sympathy and
+benevolence, he has been necessitated to refer largely to the testimony
+of others, but in doing this he has endeavoured as far as practicable, to
+support the views he has taken by the writings or opinions of those who
+are, or who have been resident in the Colonies, and who might therefore
+be supposed from a practical acquaintance with the subject, to be most
+competent to arrive at just conclusions.
+
+In suggesting the only remedy which appears at all calculated to mitigate
+the evil complained of, it has studiously been kept in view that there
+are the interests of two classes to be provided for, those of the
+Settlers, and those of the Aborigines, it is thought that these interests
+cannot with advantage be separated, and it is hoped that it may be found
+practicable to blend them together.
+
+The Aborigines of New Holland are not on the whole a numerous people;
+they are generally of a very inoffensive and tractable character, and it
+is believed that they may, under ordinary circumstances, almost always be
+rendered peaceable and well-disposed by kind and consistent treatment.
+Should this, in reality, prove to be the case, it may be found perhaps,
+that they could be more easily managed, and in the long run at a less
+expense, by some such system as is recommended, than by any other
+requiring means of a more retaliatory or coercive character. The system
+proposed is at least one which by removing in a great measure temptation
+from the native, and thereby affording comparative security to the
+settlers, will have a powerful effect in inducing the latter to unite
+with the Government in any efforts made to ameliorate the condition of
+the Aborigines; a union which under present or past systems has not ever
+taken place, but one which it is very essential should be effected, if
+any permanent good is hoped for.
+
+To Mr. Moorhouse the author returns his best thanks for his valuable
+notes on the Aborigines, to which he is indebted for the opportunity of
+giving an account of many of the customs and habits of the Adelaide
+tribes.
+
+To Anthony Forster, Esq. he offers his warmest acknowledgments for his
+assistance in overlooking the manuscripts during the voyage from
+Australia, and correcting many errors which necessarily resulted from the
+hurried manner in which they were prepared; it is to this kind
+supervision must be ascribed the merit--negative though it may be--of
+there not being more errors than there are.
+
+
+
+CONTENTS OF VOLUME II.
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+THE CAMP PLUNDERED--NIGHT OF HORRORS--PROCEED ON TO THE WESTWARD--THE
+BOYS FOLLOW US--THEY ARE LEFT BEHIND--FORCED MARCHES--DESERT
+COUNTRY--BANKSIAS MET WITH--TRACES OF NATIVES--TERMINATION OF THE
+CLIFFS--FIND WATER
+
+CHAPTER II.
+REFLECTIONS UPON SITUATION--WATCH FOR THE ARRIVAL OF THE NATIVE
+BOYS--THEIR PROBABLE FATE--PROCEED ON THE JOURNEY--FACILITY OF OBTAINING
+WATER--KILL A HORSE FOR FOOD--SILVER-BARK TEA-TREE--INTENSE COLD--FIRST
+HILLS SEEN--GOOD GRASS--APPETITE OF A NATIVE--INJURIOUS EFFECTS OF
+UNWHOLESOME DIET--CHANGE IN THE CHARACTER OF THE COUNTRY--GRANITE FORMS
+THE LOW WATER LEVEL--TREE WASHED ON SHORE--INDISPOSITION
+
+CHAPTER III.
+HEAVY ROAD--A YOUNG KANGAROO SHOT--GRASSY COUNTRY--POINT MALCOLM--TRACES
+OF ITS HAVING BEEN VISITED BY EUROPEANS--GRASS-TREES MET WITH--A KANGAROO
+KILLED--CATCH FISH--GET ANOTHER KANGAROO--CRAB HUNTING--RENEW THE
+JOURNEY--CASUARINAE MET WITH--CROSS THE LEVEL BANK--LOW COUNTRY BEHIND
+IT--CAPE ARID--SALT WATER CREEK--XAMIA SEEN--CABBAGE TREE OF THE
+SOUND--FRESH WATER LAKE--MORE SALT STREAMS--OPOSSUMS CAUGHT--FLAG REEDS
+FOUND--FRESH WATER STREAMS--BOATS SEEN--MEET WITH A WHALER
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+GO ON BOARD THE MISSISSIPPI--WET WEATHER--VISIT LUCKY BAY--INTERVIEW WITH
+NATIVES--WYLIE UNDERSTANDS THEIR LANGUAGE--GET THE HORSES SHOD--PREPARE
+TO LEAVE THE VESSEL--KINDNESS AND LIBERALITY OF CAPTAIN ROSSITER--RENEW
+JOURNEY TO THE WESTWARD--FOSSIL FORMATION STILL CONTINUES--SALT WATER
+STREAMS AND LAKES--A LARGE SALT RIVER--CHARACTER OF THE COUNTRY
+
+CHAPTER V.
+LARGE WATERCOURSE--LAKE OF FRESH WATER--HEAVY RAINS--REACH MOUNT
+BARREN--SALT LAKES AND STREAMS--BARREN SCRUBBY COUNTRY--RANGES BEHIND
+KING GEORGE'S SOUND ARE SEEN--BRACKISH PONDS--PASS CAPE RICHE--A LARGE
+SALT RIVER--CHAINS OF PONDS--GOOD LAND--HEAVILY TIMBERED COUNTRY--COLD
+WEATHER--FRESH LAKE--THE CANDIUP RIVER--KING'S RIVER--EXCESSIVE
+RAINS--ARRIVAL AT KING GEORGE'S SOUND, AND TERMINATION OF THE
+EXPEDITION--RECEPTION OF WYLIE BY THE NATIVES
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+CONCLUDING REMARKS
+
+
+
+
+MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE ABORIGINES OF AUSTRALIA.
+
+CHAPTER I.
+PRELIMINARY REMARKS--UNJUST OPINIONS GENERALLY ENTERTAINED OF THE
+CHARACTER OF THE NATIVE--DIFFICULTIES AND DISADVANTAGES HE LABOURS UNDER
+IN HIS RELATIONS WITH EUROPEANS--AGGRESSIONS AND INJURIES ON THE PART OF
+THE LATTER IN GREAT DEGREE EXTENUATE HIS CRIMES
+
+CHAPTER II.
+PHYSICAL APPEARANCE--DRESS--CHARACTER--HABITS OF LIFE--MEETINGS OF
+TRIBES--WARS--DANCES--SONGS
+
+CHAPTER III.
+FOOD--HOW PROCURED--HOW PREPARED--LIMITATION AS TO AGE, etc.
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+PROPERTY IN
+LAND--DWELLINGS--WEAPONS--IMPLEMENTS--GOVERNMENT--CUSTOMS--SOCIAL
+RELATIONS--MARRIAGE--NOMENCLATURE
+
+CHAPTER V.
+CEREMONIES AND SUPERSTITIONS--FORMS OF BURIAL--MOURNING
+CUSTOMS--RELIGIOUS IDEAS--EMPIRICS, etc.
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+NUMBERS--DISEASES--CAUSE OF LIMITED POPULATION--CRIMES AGAINST
+EUROPEANS--AMONGST THEMSELVES--TREATMENT OF EACH OTHER IN DISTRIBUTION OF
+FOOD, etc.
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+LANGUAGE, DIALECTS, CUSTOMS, etc.--GENERAL SIMILARITY THROUGHOUT THE
+CONTINENT--CAUSES OF DIFFERENCES--ROUTE BY WHICH THE NATIVES HAVE
+OVERSPREAD THE COUNTRY, etc.
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+EFFECTS OF CONTACT WITH EUROPEANS--ATTEMPTS AT IMPROVEMENT AND
+CIVILIZATION--ACCOUNT OF SCHOOLS--DEFECTS OF THE SYSTEM
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT OF SYSTEM ADOPTED TOWARDS THE NATIVES 458
+
+* * * * *
+
+
+
+EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES OF NATIVE ORNAMENTS, WEAPONS, IMPLEMENTS, AND
+WORKS OF INDUSTRY
+
+
+
+LIST OF PLATES.--VOL. II.
+
+Distribution of flour at Moorunde, G. Hamilton
+Arrival at King George's Sound, J. Neill
+Plate I.--Native Ornaments
+Kangaroo Dance of King George's Sound, J. Neill
+Woodcut of a Standard used in the Dances performed by day
+Plate II. Native Weapons
+Plate III. Native Weapons
+Plate IV. Native Implements
+Plate V. Native Works of Industry
+Mode of disposing of the Dead of the Lower Murray
+Murray River at Moorunde
+Plate VI. Miscellaneous Native Articles
+1. Head of war spear of the North Coast, barbed for 3 feet, total length
+9 1/2 feet.
+2. Head of fish spear of the North Coast, barbed for 18 inches, total
+length 8 3/4 feet.
+2. Head of spear of the North Coast, barbed for 18 inches, total length
+8 3/4 feet.
+4. Head of war spear of the North Coast, with head of quartz, 6 inches,
+total length 9 1/2 feet.
+5. Head of war spear of the North Coast, with head of slate, 6 inches,
+total length 9 1/2 feet.
+6. Two handed sword of hard wood, North Coast, 3 1/2 feet.
+7. Throwing stick of North Coast, 3 feet 1 inch.
+8. Throwing stick of North Coast, very pliant, 3-16ths of an inch only
+thick, 3 feet 6 inches.
+9. Broad short throwing stick, 2 feet 2 inches.
+10. An ornament of feathers for the neck.
+11. Five Kangaroo teeth in a bunch, worn round the neck.
+12. A net waistband or belt, from Murray River, 8 feet long 6 inches
+wide.
+13. Plume of feathers tied to thin wand, and stuck in the hair at
+dances--New South Wales.
+14. War club.
+15. War club.
+16. Bag of close net work.
+17. Band for forehead of Swan's down.
+18. Root end of a kind of grass, used as pins for pegging out skins.
+19. Sorcerer's stick.
+20. Sorcerer's stick.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+VOLUME II
+
+
+
+
+
+JOURNAL OF EXPEDITIONS IN CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN AUSTRALIA, IN 1840-1.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter I.
+
+
+
+THE CAMP PLUNDERED--NIGHT OF HORRORS--PROCEED ON TO THE WESTWARD--THE
+BOYS FOLLOW US--THEY ARE LEFT BEHIND--FORCED MARCHES--DESERT
+COUNTRY--BANKSIAS MET WITH--TRACES OF NATIVES--TERMINATION OF THE
+CLIFFS--FIND WATER.
+
+
+Glancing hastily around the camp I found it deserted by the two younger
+native boys, whilst the scattered fragments of our baggage, which I left
+carefully piled under the oilskin, lay thrown about in wild disorder, and
+at once revealed the cause of the harrowing scene before me.
+
+Upon raising the body of my faithful, but illfated follower, I found that
+he was beyond all human aid; he had been shot through the left breast
+with a ball, the last convulsions of death were upon him, and he expired
+almost immediately after our arrival. The frightful, the appalling truth
+now burst upon me, that I was alone in the desert. He who had faithfully
+served me for many years, who had followed my fortunes in adversity and
+in prosperity, who had accompanied me in all my wanderings, and whose
+attachment to me had been his sole inducement to remain with me in this
+last, and to him alas, fatal journey, was now no more. For an instant, I
+was almost tempted to wish that it had been my own fate instead of his.
+The horrors of my situation glared upon me in such startling reality, as
+for an instant almost to paralyse the mind. At the dead hour of night, in
+the wildest and most inhospitable wastes of Australia, with the fierce
+wind raging in unison with the scene of violence before me, I was left,
+with a single native, whose fidelity I could not rely upon, and who for
+aught I knew might be in league with the other two, who perhaps were even
+now, lurking about with the view of taking away my life as they had done
+that of the overseer. Three days had passed away since we left the last
+water, and it was very doubtful when we might find any more. Six hundred
+miles of country had to be traversed, before I could hope to obtain the
+slightest aid or assistance of any kind, whilst I knew not that a single
+drop of water or an ounce of flour had been left by these murderers, from
+a stock that had previously been so small.
+
+With such thoughts rapidly passing through my mind, I turned to search
+for my double-barelled gun, which I had left covered with an oilskin at
+the head of my own break wind. It was gone, as was also the
+double-barelled gun that had belonged to the overseer. These were the
+only weapons at the time that were in serviceable condition, for though
+there were a brace of pistols they had been packed away, as there were no
+cartridges for them, and my rifle was useless, from having a ball
+sticking fast in the breech, and which we had in vain endeavoured to
+extract. A few days' previous to our leaving the last water, the overseer
+had attempted to wash out the rifle not knowing it was loaded, and the
+consequence was, that the powder became wetted and partly washed away, so
+that we could neither fire it off, nor get out the ball; I was,
+therefore, temporarily defenceless, and quite at the mercy of the
+natives, had they at this time come upon me. Having hastily ripped open
+the bag in which the pistols had been sewn up, I got them out, together
+with my powder flask, and a bag containing a little shot and some large
+balls. The rifle I found where it had been left, but the ramrod had been
+taken out by the boys to load my double-barelled gun with, its own ramrod
+being too short for that purpose; I found it, however, together with
+several loose cartridges, lying about near the place where the boys had
+slept, so that it was evident they had deliberately loaded the fire-arms
+before they tried to move away with the things they had stolen; one
+barrel only of my gun had been previously loaded, and I believe neither
+barrels in that of the overseer.
+
+After obtaining possession of all the remaining arms, useless as they
+were at the moment, with some ammunition, I made no further examination
+then, but hurried away from the fearful scene, accompanied by the King
+George's Sound native, to search for the horses, knowing that if they got
+away now, no chance whatever would remain of saving our lives. Already
+the wretched animals had wandered to a considerable distance; and
+although the night was moonlight, yet the belts of scrub, intersecting
+the plains, were so numerous and dense, that for a long time we could not
+find them; having succeeded in doing so at last, Wylie and I remained
+with them, watching them during the remainder of the night; but they were
+very restless, and gave us a great deal of trouble. With an aching heart,
+and in most painful reflections, I passed this dreadful night. Every
+moment appeared to be protracted to an hour, and it seemed as if the
+daylight would never appear. About midnight the wind ceased, and the
+weather became bitterly cold and frosty. I had nothing on but a shirt and
+a pair of trowsers, and suffered most acutely from the cold; to mental
+anguish was now added intense bodily pain. Suffering and distress had
+well nigh overwhelmed me, and life seemed hardly worth the effort
+necessary to prolong it. Ages can never efface the horrors of this single
+night, nor would the wealth of the world ever tempt me to go through
+similar ones again.
+
+April 30.--At last, by God's blessing, daylight dawned once more, but sad
+and heart-rending was the scene it presented to my view, upon driving the
+horses to what had been our last night's camp. The corpse of my poor
+companion lay extended on the ground, with the eyes open, but cold and
+glazed in death. The same stern resolution, and fearless open look, which
+had characterized him when living, stamped the expression of his
+countenance even now. He had fallen upon his breast four or five yards
+from where he had been sleeping, and was dressed only in his shirt. In
+all probability, the noise made by the natives, in plundering the camp,
+had awoke him; and upon his jumping up, with a view of stopping them,
+they had fired upon and killed him.
+
+Around the camp lay scattered the harness of the horses, and the remains
+of the stores that had been the temptation to this fatal deed.
+
+As soon as the horses were caught, and secured, I left Wylie to make a
+fire, whilst I proceeded to examine into the state of our baggage, that I
+might decide upon our future proceedings. Among the principal things
+carried off by the natives, were, the whole of our baked bread, amounting
+to twenty pounds weight, some mutton, tea and sugar, the overseer's
+tobacco and pipes, a one gallon keg full of water, some clothes, two
+double-barrelled guns, some ammunition, and a few other small articles.
+
+There were still left forty pounds of flour, a little tea and sugar, and
+four gallons of water, besides the arms and ammunition I had secured last
+night.
+
+From the state of our horses, and the dreadful circumstances we were
+placed in, I was now obliged to abandon every thing but the bare
+necessaries of life. The few books and instruments I had still left, with
+many of the specimens I had collected, a saddle, and some other things,
+were thrown aside to lighten somewhat more the trifling loads our animals
+had to carry. A little bread was then baked, and I endeavoured once more
+to put the rifle in serviceable condition, as it was the only weapon we
+should have to depend upon in any dangers that might beset us. Unable in
+any way to take out the breech, or to extract the ball, I determined to
+melt it out, and for that purpose took the barrel off the stock, and put
+the breech in the fire, holding the muzzle in my hand. Whilst thus
+engaged, the rifle went off, the ball whizzing close past my head; the
+fire, it seems, had dried the powder, which had been wetted, not washed
+out; and when the barrel was sufficiently heated, the piece had gone off,
+to the imminent danger of my life, from the incautious way in which I
+held it. The gun, however, was again serviceable; and after carefully
+loading it, I felt a degree of confidence and security I had before been
+a stranger to.
+
+At eight o'clock we were ready to proceed; there remained but to perform
+the last sad offices of humanity towards him, whose career had been cut
+short in so untimely a manner. This duty was rendered even more than
+ordinarily painful, by the nature of the country, where we happened to
+have been encamped. One vast unbroken surface of sheet rock extended for
+miles in every direction, and rendered it impossible to make a grave. We
+were some miles away from the sea-shore, and even had we been nearer,
+could not have got down the cliffs to bury the corpse in the sand. I
+could only, therefore, wrap a blanket around the body of the overseer,
+and leaving it enshrouded where he fell, escape from the melancholy
+scene, accompanied by Wylie, under the influence of feelings which
+neither time nor circumstances will ever obliterate. Though years have
+now passed away since the enactment of this tragedy, the dreadful horrors
+of that time and scene, are recalled before me with frightful vividness,
+and make me shudder even now, when I think of them. A life time was
+crowded into those few short hours, and death alone may blot out the
+impressions they produced.
+
+For some time we travelled slowly and silently onwards. Wylie preceding,
+leading one of the horses, myself following behind and driving the others
+after him, through a country consisting still of the same alternations of
+scrub and open intervals as before. The day became very warm, and at
+eleven, after travelling ten miles to the west, I determined to halt
+until the cool of the evening. After baking some bread and getting our
+dinners, I questioned Wylie as to what he knew of the sad occurrence of
+yesterday. He positively denied all knowledge of it--said he had been
+asleep, and was awoke by the report of the gun, and that upon seeing the
+overseer lying on the ground he ran off to meet me. He admitted, however,
+that, after the unsuccessful attempt to leave us, and proceed alone to
+King George's Sound, the elder of the other two natives had proposed to
+him again to quit the party, and try to go back to Fowler's Bay, to the
+provisions buried there. But he had heard or knew nothing, he said, of
+either robbery or murder being first contemplated.
+
+My own impression was, that Wylie had agreed with the other two to rob
+the camp and leave us;--that he had been cognisant of all their
+proceedings and preparations, but that when, upon the eve of their
+departure, the overseer had unexpectedly awoke and been murdered, he was
+shocked and frightened at the deed, and instead of accompanying them, had
+run down to meet me. My opinion upon this point received additional
+confirmation from the subsequent events of this day; but I never could
+get Wylie to admit even the slightest knowledge of the fatal occurrence,
+or that he had even intended to have united with them in plundering the
+camp and deserting. He had now become truly alarmed; and independently of
+the fear of the consequences which would attach to the crime, should we
+ever reach a civilized community again, he had become very apprehensive
+that the other natives, who belonged to quite a different part of
+Australia to himself, and who spoke a totally different language, would
+murder him as unhesitatingly as they had done the white man.
+
+We remained in camp until four o'clock, and were again preparing to
+advance, when my attention was called by Wylie to two white objects among
+the scrub, at no great distance from us, and I at once recognized the
+native boys, covered with their blankets only, and advancing towards us.
+From Wylie's account of their proposal to go back towards Fowler's Bay, I
+fully hoped that they had taken that direction, and left us to pursue our
+way to the Sound unmolested. I was therefore surprised, and somewhat
+alarmed, at finding them so near us. With my rifle and pistols I felt
+myself sufficiently a match for them in an open country, or by daylight.
+Yet I knew that as long as they followed like bloodhounds on our tracks
+our lives would be in their power at any moment that they chose to take
+them, whilst we were passing through a scrubby country, or by night.
+Whatever their intention might be, I knew, that if we travelled in the
+same direction with them, our lives could only be safe by their
+destruction. Although they had taken fully one-third of the whole stock
+of our provisions, their appetites were so ravenous, and their habits so
+improvident, that this would soon be consumed, and then they must either
+starve or plunder us; for they had already tried to subsist themselves in
+the bush, and had failed.
+
+As these impressions rapidly passed through my mind, there appeared to me
+but one resource left, to save my own life and that of the native with
+me: that was, to shoot the elder of the two. Painful as this would be, I
+saw no other alternative, if they still persisted in following us. After
+packing up our few things, and putting them upon the horses, I gave the
+bridles to Wylie to hold, whilst I advanced alone with my rifle towards
+the two natives. They were now tolerably near, each carrying a
+double-barrelled gun, which was pointed towards me, elevated across the
+left arm and held by the right hand. As I attempted to approach nearer
+they gradually retreated.
+
+Finding that I was not likely to gain ground upon them in this way, I
+threw down my weapons, and advanced unarmed, hoping that if they let me
+near them I might suddenly close with the eldest and wrest his gun from
+him. After advancing about sixty or seventy yards towards them, I found
+that they again began to retreat, evidently determined not to let me
+approach any nearer, either armed or unarmed. Upon this I halted, and
+endeavoured to enter into parley with them, with a view to persuading
+them to return towards Fowler's Bay, and thus obviate the painful
+necessity I should have been under of endeavouring, for my own security,
+to take away the life of the eldest whenever I met with him, should they
+still persist in going the same road as myself. The distance we were
+apart was almost too great for parley, and I know not whether they heard
+me or not; though they halted, and appeared to listen, they did not reply
+to what I said, and plainly wished to avoid all closer contact. They now
+began to call incessantly to Wylie, and in answer to my repeated efforts
+to get them to speak to me, only would say, "Oh massa, we don't want you,
+we want Wylie." Thus fully confirming me in the opinion I had formed,
+that Wylie had agreed to go with them before the deed of violence was
+committed. It was now apparent to me that their only present object in
+following us had been to look for Wylie, and get him to join them. In
+this they were unsuccessful; for he still remained quietly where I left
+him holding the horses, and evidently afraid to go near them. There was
+no use wasting further time, as I could not get them to listen to me. The
+sun, too, was fast sinking in the horizon, we had been four days without
+finding water, and the probability was we had very far still to go before
+we could hope to procure any; every moment, therefore, was precious.
+
+Having returned to Wylie, I made him lead one of the horses in advance,
+and I followed behind, driving the rest after him, according to the
+system of march I had adopted in the morning. As soon as the two natives
+saw us moving on, and found Wylie did not join them, they set up a wild
+and plaintive cry, still following along the brush parallel to our line
+of route, and never ceasing in their importunities to Wylie, until the
+denseness of the scrub, and the closing in of night, concealed us from
+each other.
+
+I was now resolved to make the most of the opportunity afforded me, and
+by travelling steadily onwards, to gain so much distance in advance of
+the two natives as to preclude the possibility of their again overtaking
+us until we had reached the water, if indeed we were ever destined to
+reach water again. I knew that they would never travel more than a few
+miles before lying down, especially if carrying all the bread they had
+taken, the keg of water, guns, and other articles. We had, however, seen
+none of these things with them, except the fire-arms.
+
+Our road was over scrubby and stony undulations, with patches of dry
+grass here and there; in other parts, we passed over a very sandy soil of
+a red colour, and overrun by immense tufts of prickly grass (spinifex),
+many of which were three and four yards in diameter. After pushing on for
+eighteen miles, I felt satisfied we had left the natives far behind, and
+finding a patch of grass for the horses, halted for the remainder of the
+night. It was quite impossible, after all we had gone through, to think
+of watching the horses, and my only means of preventing from them
+straying, was to close the chains of their hobbles so tight, that they
+could not go far; having thus secured them, we lay down, and for a few
+hours enjoyed uninterrupted and refreshing sleep.
+
+Moving on again on the 1st of May, as the sun was above the horizon, we
+passed through a continuation of the same kind of country, for sixteen
+miles, and then halted for a few hours during the heat of the day. We had
+passed many recent traces of natives both yesterday and to-day, who
+appeared to be travelling to the westward. After dividing a pot of tea
+between us, we again pushed on for twelve miles, completing a stage of
+twenty-eight miles, and halting, with a little dry grass for the horses.
+
+It was impossible they could endure this much longer, they had already
+been five days without water, and I did not expect to meet with any for
+two days more, a period which I did not think they could survive. As yet
+no very great change had taken place in the country; it was still scrubby
+and rocky, but the surface stone now consisted of a cream-coloured
+limestone of a fine compact character, and full of shells. The cliffs,
+parallel with which we were travelling, were still of about the same
+height, appearance, and formation as before, whilst the inland country
+increased in elevation, forming scrubby ridges to the back, with a few
+open grassy patches here and there. One circumstance in our route to-day
+cheered me greatly, and led me shortly to expect some important and
+decisive change in the character and formation of the country. It was the
+appearance for the first time of the Banksia, a shrub which I had never
+before found to the westward of Spencer's Gulf, but which I knew to
+abound in the vicinity of King George's Sound, and that description of
+country generally. Those only who have looked out with the eagerness and
+anxiety of a person in my situation, to note any change in the vegetation
+or physical appearance of a country, can appreciate the degree of
+satisfaction with which I recognised and welcomed the first appearance of
+the Banksia. Isolated as it was amidst the scrub, and insignificant as
+the stunted specimens were that I first met with, they led to an
+inference that I could not be mistaken in, and added, in a tenfold
+degree, to the interest and expectation with which every mile of our
+route had now become invested. During the day the weather had been again
+cloudy, with the appearance of rain; but the night turned out cold and
+frosty, and both I and the native suffered extremely. We had little to
+protect us from the severity of the season, never being able to procure
+firewood of a description that would keep burning long at once, so that
+between cold and fatigue, we were rarely able to get more than a few
+moments rest at a time; and were always glad when daylight dawned to
+cheer us, although it only aroused us to the renewal of our unceasing
+toil.
+
+May 2.--We again moved away at dawn, through a country which gradually
+become more scrubby, hilly, and sandy. The horses crawled on for
+twenty-one miles, when I halted for an hour to rest, and to have a little
+tea from our now scanty stock of water. The change which I had noticed
+yesterday in the vegetation of the country, was greater and more cheering
+every mile we went, although as yet the country itself was as desolate
+and inhospitable as ever. The smaller Banksias now abounded, whilst the
+Banksia grandis, and many other shrubs common at King George's Sound,
+were frequently met with. The natives, whose tracks we had so frequently
+met with, taking the same course as ourselves to the westward, seemed now
+to be behind us; during the morning we had passed many freshly lit fires,
+but the people themselves remained concealed; we had now lost all traces
+of them, and the country seemed untrodden and untenanted. In the course
+of our journey this morning, we met with many holes in the sheets of
+limestone, which occasionally coated the surface of the ground; in these
+holes the natives appeared to procure an abundance of water after rains,
+but it was so long since any had fallen, that all were dry and empty now.
+In one deep hole only, did we find the least trace of moisture; this had
+at the bottom of it, perhaps a couple of wine glasses full of mud and
+water, and was most carefully blocked up from the birds with huge stones:
+it had evidently been visited by natives, not an hour before we arrived
+at it, but I suspect they were as much disappointed as we were, upon
+rolling away all the stones to find nothing in it.
+
+After our scanty meal, we again moved onwards, but the road became so
+scrubby and rocky, or so sandy and hilly, that we could make no progress
+at all by night, and at eight miles from where we dined, we were
+compelled to halt, after a day's journey of twenty-nine miles; but
+without a blade even of withered grass for our horses, which was the more
+grievous, because for the first time since we left the last water, a very
+heavy dew fell, and would have enabled them to feed a little, had there
+been grass. We had now traversed 138 miles of country from the last
+water, and according to my estimate of the distance we had to go, ought
+to be within a few miles of the termination of the cliffs of the Great
+Bight.
+
+May 3.--The seventh day's dawn found us early commencing our journey. The
+poor horses still crawled on, though slowly. I was surprised that they
+were still alive, after the continued sufferings and privations they had
+been subject to. As for ourselves, we were both getting very weak and
+worn out, as well as lame, and it was with the greatest difficulty I
+could get Wylie to move, if he once sat down. I had myself the same kind
+of apathetic feeling, and would gladly have laid down and slept for ever.
+Nothing but a strong sense of duty prevented me from giving way to this
+pleasing but fatal indulgence.
+
+The road to-day became worse than ever, being one continued succession of
+sandy, scrubby and rocky ridges, and hollows formed on the top of the
+cliffs along which our course lay. After travelling two and a half miles,
+however, we were cheered and encouraged by the sight of sandy hills, and
+a low coast stretching beyond the cliffs to the south-west, though they
+were still some distance from us. At ten miles from where we had slept, a
+native road led us down a very steep part of the cliffs, and we descended
+to the beach. The wretched horses could scarcely move, it was with the
+greatest difficulty we got them down the hill, and now, although within
+sight of our goal, I feared two of them would never reach it. By
+perseverance we still got them slowly along, for two miles from the base
+of the cliffs, and then turning in among the sand-drifts, to our great
+joy and relief, found a place where the natives had dug for water; thus
+at twelve o'clock on the seventh day since leaving the last depot, we
+were again encamped at water, after having crossed 150 miles of a rocky,
+barren, and scrubby table land.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter II.
+
+
+
+REFLECTIONS UPON SITUATION--WATCH FOR THE ARRIVAL OF THE NATIVE
+BOYS--THEIR PROBABLE FATE--PROCEED ON THE JOURNEY--FACILITY OF OBTAINING
+WATER--KILL A HORSE FOR FOOD--SILVER-BARK TEA-TREE--INTENSE COLD--FIRST
+HILLS SEEN--GOOD GRASS--APPETITE OF A NATIVE--INJURIOUS EFFECTS OF
+UNWHOLESOME DIET--CHANGE IN THE CHARACTER OF THE COUNTRY--GRANITE FORMS
+THE LOW WATER LEVEL--TREE WASHED ON SHORE--INDISPOSITION.
+
+
+Having at last got fairly beyond all the cliffs bounding the Great Bight,
+I fully trusted that we had now overcome the greatest difficulties of the
+undertaking, and confidently hoped that there would be no more of those
+fearful long journeys through the desert without water, but that the
+character of the country would be changed, and so far improved as to
+enable us to procure it, once at least every thirty or forty miles, if
+not more frequently.
+
+Relieved from the pressure of immediate toil, and from the anxiety and
+suspense I had been in on the subject of water, my mind wandered to the
+gap created in my little party since we had last been at water; more than
+ever, almost, did I feel the loss of my overseer, now that the last and
+most difficult of our forced marches had been successfully accomplished,
+and that there was every hope of our progress for the future, being both
+less difficult and more expeditious. How delighted he would have been had
+he been with us to participate in the successful termination of a stage,
+which he had ever dreaded more than any other during the whole of our
+journey, and with what confidence and cheerfulness he would have gone on
+for the future. Out of five two only were now present; our little band
+had been severed never to be reunited; and I could not but blame myself
+for yielding to the overseer's solicitation to halt on the evening of the
+29th April, instead of travelling on all night as I had originally
+intended: had I adhered to my own judgment all might yet have been well.
+Vain and bootless, however, now were all regrets for the irrecoverable
+past; but the present was so fraught with circumstances calculated to
+recal and to make me feel more bitterly the loss I had sustained, that
+painful as the subject was, the mind could not help reverting to and
+dwelling upon it.
+
+Having given each of the horses a bucket of water, Wylie watched them
+whilst I cooked our dinner and made some tea, after getting which we
+again gave the horses another bucket of water a-piece, hobbled them out
+for the night, and then lay down ourselves, feeling perfectly secure from
+being overtaken by the native boys. We were obliged to place ourselves
+close to the hole of water to keep the horses from getting into it, as
+they were thirsty and restless, and kept walking round the well nearly
+the whole night, and feeding very little. We ourselves, too, although
+dreadfully tired and weak, were so cold and restless, that we slept but
+little. I had also a large swelling on two of the joints of the second
+finger of the right hand, which gave me very great pain.
+
+May 4.--After an early breakfast we gave the horses as much water as they
+chose to drink, and removing their hobbles gave them full liberty to
+range where they liked. I then left Wylie to continue his slumbers, and
+taking my rifle, walked about three miles among the sand-drifts to search
+for grass, but could find none, except the coarse vegetation that grew
+amongst the sand-drifts. I found two other places where the natives got
+water by digging, and have no doubt that it may be procured almost
+anywhere in these drifts, which extend for some miles, along the coast.
+Some black cockatoos made their appearance near the sand-hills,
+indicating, in connection with the change I had noticed in the
+vegetation, that we were now about entering a different and less
+difficult country than any we had yet traversed. These birds I knew never
+inhabited that description of country we had been so long travelling
+through. We had not seen one before, during our whole journey, and poor
+Wylie was quite delighted at the idea of our vicinity to a better region.
+
+During the day a strict look out was kept for the other two natives, and
+at night, after watering the horses and concealing the saddles, we took
+our provisions and arms up among the sand-hills, and slept there at some
+distance from the water: that if they travelled onwards by moon-light,
+they might not come upon us unawares whilst sleeping. If they had
+continued their route to the westward, they would, I knew, both have a
+severe task to reach the water, and be unable to go to it without our
+knowledge; the youngest boy I did not think would prove equal to so
+arduous a task, but the elder one I thought might, if his courage and
+perseverance did not fail him in travelling so far, without any
+indications to lead him to hope for final success, save the fact of our
+having gone on before. Upon the whole, however, I thought it more than
+probable that on finding they could not get Wylie to join them, and that
+they could not keep pace with us, they would turn back, and endeavour to
+put in practice their original intention of trying to reach Fowler's Bay.
+Still it was necessary to be cautious and vigilant. A few days at most
+would decide whether they were advancing this way or not, and until
+satisfied upon this point, I determined to take every precaution in my
+power to guard against a surprise. My hand was dreadfully painful at
+night, and quite deprived me of all rest.
+
+May 5.--Up before day-break, and moved down to the water to breakfast,
+then examined carefully round the wells, and between the sand-drifts and
+the sea, to see if any foot-prints had been made during the night, but
+none had. There were many pigeons about, and as I had still some
+ammunition left, I felt the loss of my gun severely. During the morning a
+very large eagle came and settled near us, and I sent Wylie with the
+rifle to try to shoot it; he crept within a very few yards of it, and
+being a good shot, I felt sure of a hearty meal, but unfortunately the
+rifle missed fire, having got damp during the heavy fall of dew a few
+evenings before. We lost our dinner, but I received a useful lesson on
+the necessity of taking better care of the only gun I had left, and being
+always certain that it was in a fit and serviceable state; I immediately
+set to work, cleaned and oiled it, and in the afternoon made some
+oil-skin covers for the lock and muzzle to keep the damp from it at
+nights. For the last day or two I had been far from well, whilst my
+inflamed hand, which was daily getting worse, caused me most excruciating
+pain, and quite destroyed my rest at nights. In the evening we again
+retired among the sand-hills to sleep.
+
+May 6.--After breakfast we carefully examined the sand-drifts and the
+sea-shore, to see if the two boys had passed, but there were no traces of
+them to be found, and I now felt that we were secure from all further
+interruption from them. Three days we had been in camp at the water,
+making altogether a period of six since we last saw them. Had they
+continued their course to the westward, they must have arrived long
+before this, and I now felt satisfied that they had turned back to
+Fowler's Bay for the sake of the provisions buried there, or else they
+had fallen in with the natives, whose traces we had so repeatedly seen,
+and either joined them, or been killed by them.
+
+It was now apparent to me beyond all doubt, that in following us on the
+30th of April, so far out of the direction they ought to have taken if
+they intended to go to the eastward, their only object had been to get
+Wylie to accompany them. As he was the eldest of the three, and a strong
+full grown man, they would have found him a protection to them from his
+superior age, strength and skill. As it was they had but little chance of
+making their way safely either to the east or west. At the time I last
+saw them they were sixty-three miles from the nearest water in the former
+direction, and eighty-seven miles from that in the latter. They were
+tired and exhausted from previous walking, and in this state would have
+to carry the guns, the provisions, and other things they had taken. This
+would necessarily retard their progress, and lengthen out the period
+which must elapse before they could obtain water in any direction. On the
+night of the 29th April they must have had one gallon of water with them,
+but when we saw them on the 30th, I have no doubt, that with their usual
+improvidence, they had consumed the whole, and would thus have to undergo
+the fatigue of carrying heavy weights, as well as walking for a
+protracted period, without any thing to relieve their thirst. Their
+difficulties and distress would gradually but certainly increase upon
+them, and they would then, in all likelihood, throw away their guns or
+their provisions, and be left in the desert unarmed, without food or
+water, and without skill or energy to direct them successfully to search
+for either. A dreadful and lingering death would in all probability
+terminate the scene, aggravated in all its horrors by the consciousness
+that they had brought it entirely upon themselves. Painfully as I had
+felt the loss of my unfortunate overseer, and shocked as I was at the
+ruthless deed having been committed by these two boys, yet I could not
+help feeling for their sad condition, the miseries and sufferings they
+would have to encounter, and the probable fate that awaited them.
+
+The youngest of the two had been with me for four years, the eldest for
+two years and a half, and both had accompanied me in all my travels
+during these respective periods. Now that the first and strong
+impressions naturally resulting from a shock so sudden and violent as
+that produced by the occurrences of the 29th April, had yielded, in some
+measure, to calmer reflections, I was able maturely to weigh the whole of
+what had taken place, and to indulge in some considerations in
+extenuation of their offence. The two boys knew themselves to be as far
+from King George's Sound, as they had already travelled from Fowler's
+Bay. They were hungry, thirsty, and tired, and without the prospect of
+satisfying fully their appetites, or obtaining rest for a long period of
+time, they probably thought, that bad and inhospitable as had been the
+country we had already traversed, we were daily advancing into one still
+more so, and that we never could succeed in forcing a passage through it;
+and they might have been strengthened in this belief by the unlucky and
+incautiously-expressed opinions of the overseer. It was natural enough,
+under such circumstances, that they should wish to leave the party.
+Having come to that determination, and knowing from previous experience,
+that they could not subsist upon what they could procure for themselves
+in the bush, they had resolved to take with them a portion of the
+provisions we had remaining, and which they might look upon, perhaps, as
+their share by right. Nor would Europeans, perhaps, have acted better. In
+desperate circumstances men are ever apt to become discontented and
+impatient of restraint, each throwing off the discipline and control he
+had been subject to before, and each conceiving himself to have a right
+to act independently when the question becomes one of life and death.
+
+Having decided upon leaving the party, and stealing a portion of the
+provisions, their object would be to accomplish this as effectually and
+as safely as they could; and in doing this, they might, without having
+had the slightest intention originally, of injuring either myself or the
+overseer, have taken such precautions, and made such previous
+arrangements as led to the fatal tragedy which occurred. All three of the
+natives were well aware, that as long as they were willing to accompany
+us, they would share with us whatever we had left; or that, if resolutely
+bent upon leaving us, no restriction, save that of friendly advice, would
+be imposed to prevent their doing so; but at the same time they were
+aware that we would not have consented to divide our little stock of food
+for the purpose of enabling any one portion of the party to separate from
+the other, but rather that we would forcibly resist any attempts to
+effect such a division, either openly or by stealth. They knew that they
+never could succeed in their plans openly, and that to do so by stealth
+effectually and safely, it would first be necessary to secure all the
+fire-arms, that they might incur no risk from our being alarmed before
+their purpose was completed. No opportunity had occurred to bring their
+intentions into operation until the evening in question, when the scrubby
+nature of the country, the wildness of the night, the overseer's sound
+sleeping, and my own protracted absence, at a distance with the horses,
+had all conspired to favour them. I have no doubt, that they first
+extinguished the fires, and then possessing themselves of the fire-arms,
+proceeded to plunder the baggage and select such things as they required.
+In doing this they must have come across the ammunition, and loaded the
+guns preparatory to their departure, but this might have been without any
+premeditated intention of making use of them in the way they did. At this
+unhappy juncture it would seem that the overseer must have awoke, and
+advanced towards them to see what was the matter, or to put a stop to
+their proceedings, when they fired on him, to save themselves from being
+caught in their act of plunder. That either of the two should have
+contemplated the committal of a wilful, barbarous, cold-blooded murder, I
+cannot bring myself to believe--no object was to be attained by it; and
+the fact of the overseer having been pierced through the breast, and many
+yards in advance of where he had been sleeping, in a direction towards
+the sleeping-place of the natives, clearly indicated that it was not
+until he had arisen from his sleep, and had been closely pressing upon
+them, that they had fired the fatal shot. Such appeared to me to be the
+most plausible and rational explanation of this melancholy affair--I
+would willingly believe it to be the true one.
+
+Wylie and I moved on in the evening, with the horses for two miles, and
+again pitched our camp among the sand-drifts, at a place where the
+natives were in the habit of digging wells for water, and where we
+procured it at a very moderate depth below the surface. Pigeons were here
+in great numbers, and Wylie tried several times with the rifle to shoot
+them, but only killed one, the grooved barrel not being adapted for
+throwing shot with effect.
+
+At midnight we arose and moved onwards, following along the beach. I
+intended to have made a long stage, as I no longer had any fears about
+not finding water; but at nine miles one of the horses knocked up, and
+could proceed no farther, I was compelled, therefore, to turn in among
+the sand-drifts, and halt at five in the morning of the 7th. We were
+again fortunate in procuring water by digging only two feet under the
+sand-hills, which were here very high, and were a continuation of those
+in which we had first found water on the 3rd. In the afternoon, I again
+tried to advance upon our journey, but after proceeding only four miles,
+the jaded horse was again unable to move further, and there was no
+alternative but to halt and search for water. This was found among the
+sand-hills, but we could procure nothing but the coarse grass growing
+upon the drifts for the animals to eat.
+
+May 8.--About two hours before daylight, rain began to fall, and
+continued steadily though lightly for three hours, so that enough had
+fallen to deposit water in the ledges or holes of the rocks. The day was
+wild and stormy, and we did not start until late. Even then we could only
+get the tired horse along for three miles, and were again compelled to
+halt. Water was still procured, by digging under the sand-hills, but we
+had to sink much deeper than we had lately found occasion to do. It was
+now plain, that the tired horse would never be able to keep pace with the
+others, and that we must either abandon him, or proceed at a rate too
+slow for the present state of our commissariat. Taking all things into
+consideration, it appeared to me that it would be better to kill him at
+once for food, and then remain here in camp for a time, living upon the
+flesh, whilst the other horses were recruiting, after which I hoped we
+might again be able to advance more expeditiously. Upon making this
+proposal to Wylie, he was quite delighted at the idea, and told me
+emphatically that he would sit up and eat the whole night. Our decision
+arrived at, the sentence was soon executed. The poor animal was shot, and
+Wylie and myself were soon busily employed in skinning him. Leaving me to
+continue this operation, Wylie made a fire close to the carcase, and as
+soon as he could get at a piece of the flesh he commenced roasting some,
+and continued alternately, eating, working and cooking. After cutting off
+about 100 pounds of the best of the meat, and hanging it in strips upon
+the trees until our departure, I handed over to Wylie the residue of the
+carcase, feet, entrails, flesh, skeleton, and all, to cook and consume as
+he pleased, whilst we were in the neighbourhood. Before dark he had made
+an oven, and roasted about twenty pounds, to feast upon during the night.
+The evening set in stormy, and threatened heavy rain, but a few drops
+only fell. The wind then rose very high, and raged fiercely from the
+south-west. At midnight it lulled, and the night became intensely cold
+and frosty, and both Wylie and myself suffered severely, we could only
+get small sticks for our fire, which burned out in a few minutes, and
+required so frequently renewing, that we were obliged to give it up in
+despair, and bear the cold in the best way we could. Wylie, during the
+night, made a sad and dismal groaning, and complained of being very ill,
+from pain in his throat, the effect he said of having to work too hard. I
+did not find that his indisposition interfered very greatly with his
+appetite, for nearly every time I awoke during the night, I found him up
+and gnawing away at his meat, he was literally fulfilling the promise he
+had made me in the evening, "By and bye, you see, Massa, me 'pta' (eat)
+all night."
+
+May 9.--The day was cold and cloudy, and we remained in camp to rest the
+horses, and diminish the weight of meat, which was greater than our
+horses could well carry in their present state. On getting up the horses
+to water them at noon, I was grieved to find the foal of my favourite
+mare (which died on the 28th March) missing; how we had lost it I could
+not make out, but as its tracks were not any where visible near the camp,
+it was evident that it had never come there at all. In leaving our last
+halting place my time and attention had been so taken up with getting the
+weak horse along, that I had left it entirely to Wylie to bring up the
+others, and had neglected my usual precaution of counting to see if all
+were there before we moved away. The little creature must have been lying
+down behind the sand-hills asleep, when we left, or otherwise it would
+never have remained behind the others. Being very desirous not to lose
+this foal, which had now accompanied me so far and got through all the
+worst difficulties, I saddled the strongest of the horses, and mounting
+Wylie, I set off myself on foot with him to search for it. We had not
+gone far from the camp, when Wylie wished me to go back, offering to go
+on by himself; and as I was loth to leave our provisions and ammunition
+to the mercy of any native that might chance to go that way, I acceded to
+his request, and delivering to him the rifle, returned to the encampment.
+Wylie had pledged himself to the due execution of this errand, and I had
+some confidence that he would not deceive me. Hour after hour passed away
+without his return, and I began to be uneasy at his long delay, and half
+repented that I had been so foolish as to trust the rifle in his hands.
+At last, a little after dark, I was delighted to see him return, followed
+by the foal, which he had found six miles away and still travelling
+backwards in search of the horses. Having given him an extra allowance of
+bread as a reward for his good conduct, we took our tea and lay down for
+the night.
+
+During the day, whilst Wylie was absent, I had employed my time in
+collecting firewood from the back of the sand-hills. In this occupation I
+was pleased to meet with the silver-bark tea-tree, another change in the
+vegetation, which still further convinced me that we were rapidly
+advancing into a more practicable country.
+
+May 10.--The morning was spent in washing my clothes, cooking meat, and
+preparing to move on in the afternoon. Wylie, who knew that this was his
+last opportunity, was busy with the skeleton of the horse, and never
+ceased eating until we moved on in the afternoon. As we took away with us
+nearly a hundred pounds of the flesh, the poor horses were heavily laden
+for the condition they were in. The scrubby and swampy nature of the
+country behind the shore compelled us too to keep the beach, where the
+sands were loose and heavy. Our progress was slow, and at eight miles I
+halted. Here we found a little dry grass not far from the sea, and as the
+horses did not require water, they fared tolerably well. This was the
+first grass we had met with since we descended the cliffs on the 3rd
+instant. The horses having entirely subsisted since then on the wiry
+vegetation which binds the sand-drifts together. Although we had water in
+the canteens for ourselves, and the horses did not require any, I was
+curious to know whether fresh water could be procured where we were
+encamped--a long, low and narrow tongue of sandy land, lying between the
+sea on one side and extensive salt swamps on the other, and in no part
+elevated more than a few feet above the level of the sea itself. After
+tea I took the spade and commenced digging, and to my great surprise at
+six feet I obtained water, which though brackish was very palatable. This
+was very extraordinary, considering the nature of the position we were
+in, and that there were not any hills from which the fresh water could
+drain.
+
+The night was again bitterly cold and frosty, and we suffered severely.
+Now the winter had set in, and we were sadly unprepared to meet its
+inclemency, the cold at nights became so intense as to occasion me
+agonies of pain; and the poor native was in the same predicament.
+
+May 11.--Upon moving away this morning, I kept behind the sea shore along
+the borders of the salt swamp, steering for some sand-hills which were
+seen a-head of us. A hill was now visible in the distance, a little south
+of west, rising above the level bank behind the shore,--this was the
+first hill, properly so called, that we had met with for many hundreds of
+miles, and it tended not a little to cheer us and confirm all previous
+impressions relative to the change and improvement in the character of
+the country. Our horses were dreadfully fatigued and moved along with
+difficulty, and it was as much as we could do to reach the sand-hills we
+had seen, though only seven miles away. In our approach to them we passed
+through a fine plain full of grass, and of a much better description than
+we had met with since leaving Fowler's Bay. Not only was it long and in
+the greatest abundance, but there were also mixed with the old grass many
+stalks of new and green, the whole forming a rich and luxurious feast for
+our horses, such as they had not enjoyed for many a long day. Nearer to
+the sand-hills we obtained excellent water by digging, at a depth of five
+feet, and only half a mile away from the grass. This place was too
+favourable not to be made the most of, and I determined to halt for a day
+or two to give our horses the benefit of it, and to enable us to diminish
+the weight of meat they had to carry. Whilst here I gave Wylie free
+permission to eat as much as he could,--a privilege which he was not long
+in turning to account. Between last night's supper and this morning's
+breakfast he had got through six-and-a-half pounds of solid cooked flesh,
+weighed out and free from bone, and he then complained, that as he had so
+little water (the well had fallen in and he did not like the trouble of
+cleaning it out again), he could hardly eat at all. On an average he
+would consume nine pounds of meat per day. I used myself from two to
+three when undergoing very great exertions. After dinner I ascended one
+of the sand-hills, and set the hill I had seen in the morning at W. 17
+degrees S.
+
+May 12.--I intended this morning to have walked down to the beach, but
+was suddenly taken ill with similar symptoms to those I had experienced
+on the 19th, and 21st of April; and, as formerly, I attributed the
+illness entirely to the unwholesome nature of the meat diet. Wylie was
+ill too, but not to so great a degree; nor was I surprised at his
+complaining; indeed, it would have been wonderful if he had not,
+considering the enormous quantity of horse flesh that he daily devoured.
+After his feasts, he would lie down, and roll and groan, and say he was
+"mendyt" (ill) and nothing would induce him to get up, or to do any
+thing. There were now plenty of sting-ray fish along the beach again, and
+I was desirous, if possible, to get one for a change of diet; my friend,
+however, had so much to eat, that though he said he should like fish too,
+I could not get him to go about a mile to the back of the sand-hills, to
+cut a stick from the scrub, to make a spear for catching them.
+
+May 13.--After breakfast, Wylie said he thought he could catch some
+bandicoots, by firing the scrub near the sand-hills, and went out for an
+hour or two to try, but came back as he went. During his absence, I was
+employed in repairing my only two pair of socks now left, which were
+sadly dilapidated, but of which I was obliged to be very careful, as they
+were the only security I had against getting lame. In the afternoon I
+walked down to the beach, to try to spear sting-ray, but the sea was
+rough, and I saw none. In my ramble, I found plenty of the beautiful
+white clematis, so common both to the north and south of Sydney.
+
+May 14.--I was again seized with illness, though I had been particularly
+careful in the quantity of flesh which I had used. For many hours I
+suffered most excruciating pains; and after the violence of the attack
+was over, I was left very weak, and incapable of exertion. Wylie was also
+affected. It was evident that the food we were now living upon, was not
+wholesome or nutritious. Day after day we felt ourselves getting weaker
+and more relaxed, whilst the least change of weather, or the slightest
+degree of cold, was most painfully felt by both of us. What we were to do
+in the wet weather, which might daily be expected, I knew not, suffering
+as we did from the frosts and dews only. In the state we now were in, I
+do not think that we could have survived many days' exposure to wet.
+
+May 15.--I intended to have proceeded early on our journey this morning,
+but was so ill again, that for some hours I could not stir. The boy was
+similarly situated. About ten we got a little better, and packing up our
+things, moved away, but had scarcely gone more than a couple of miles
+along the beach, when I discovered that the horse-hobbles had been left
+behind. It was Wylie's duty always to take these off, and strap them
+round the horses necks, whilst I was arranging the saddles, and fixing on
+them our arms, provisions, etc.; he had forgotten to do this, and had left
+them lying on the ground. As we could not possibly do without the
+hobbles, I sent Wylie back for them, telling him I would drive on the
+horses slowly for a few miles, and then halt to wait for him.
+
+After proceeding eleven miles along the coast, I halted, and Wylie came
+up a little before dark, bringing the hobbles with him. We were both very
+hungry; and as we had suffered so much lately from eating the horse
+flesh, we indulged to-night in a piece of bread, and a spoonful of flour
+boiled into a paste, an extravagance which I knew we should have to make
+up for by and bye. I had dug for water, and procured it at a depth of
+five feet; but it was too brackish either to drink, or give to our
+horses; we used it, however, in boiling up our flour into paste. The
+afternoon was exceedingly dark and stormy looking, but only a few light
+showers fell. The night then set in cold, with a heavy dew.
+
+May 16.--We commenced our journey at daylight, travelling along the
+beach, which was very heavy for nine miles, and then halting, at a very
+low part of the coast, to rest the horses. Whilst here, I dug for water,
+and getting it of very fair quality, though with an effluvia very like
+Harrowgate water, I decided upon remaining for the day. We were very much
+fatigued, being weak and languid, and like our horses, scarcely able to
+put one foot before the other. From our present encampment, some islands
+were visible at a bearing of S. 18 degrees E. The tops of the hills,
+also, to the back, were visible above the level bank, which formed the
+continuation of the singular table land extending round the Bight, but
+which was now gradually declining in elevation, and appeared as if it
+would very shortly cease altogether, so that we might hope to have an
+unobstructed view of the country inland.
+
+A jagged peak, which I named Mount Ragged, bore W. 10 degrees N., and a
+round topped one W. 30 degrees N. We were now actually beyond those
+hills; but the level bank, under which we had been travelling, prevented
+our seeing more of them than the bare outline of their lofty summits. The
+whole of the intervening country, between the level bank and the hills,
+consisted of heavy sandy ridges, a good deal covered with scrub; but we
+now found more grass than we had seen during the whole journey before. In
+the night I was taken ill again, with violent pains, accompanied by cold
+clammy sweats; and as the air was cold and raw, and a heavy dew falling,
+I suffered a great deal.
+
+May 17.--This morning I felt rather better, but very weak, and wishing to
+give the horses an opportunity of drinking, which they would not do very
+early on a cold morning, I did not break up the camp until late. Upon
+laying down last night Wylie had left the meat on the ground at some
+distance from our fire, instead of putting it up on a bush as I had
+directed him, the consequence was that a wild dog had stolen about
+fourteen pounds of it whilst we slept, and we were now again reduced to a
+very limited allowance.
+
+After travelling about five miles we found a great and important change
+in the basis rock of the country; it was now a coarse imperfect kind of
+grey granite, and in many places the low-water line was occupied by
+immense sheets of it. Other symptoms of improvement also gradually
+developed themselves. Mountain ducks were now, for the first time, seen
+upon the shore, and the trunk of a very large tree was found washed up on
+the beach: it was the only one we had met with during the whole course of
+our journey to the westward, and I hailed it with a pleasure which was
+only equalled by finding, not far beyond, a few drops of water trickling
+down a huge graniterock abutting on the sea-shore. This was the only
+approximation to running water which we had found since leaving Streaky
+Bay, and though it hardly deserved that name, yet it imparted to me as
+much hope, and almost as much satisfaction, as if I had found a river.
+Continuing our course around a small bay for about five miles, we turned
+into some sand-drifts behind a rocky point of the coast. from which the
+islands we had seen yesterday bore E. 47 degrees S., Cape Pasley, S. W.,
+Point Malcolm, S. 33 degrees W., and Mount Ragged W. 32 degrees N.
+Several reefs and breakers were also seen at no great distance from the
+shore.
+
+Our stage to-day was only twelve miles, yet some of our horses were
+nearly knocked up, and we ourselves in but little better condition. The
+incessant walking we were subject to, the low and unwholesome diet we had
+lived upon, the severe and weakening attacks of illness caused by that
+diet, having daily, and sometimes twice a day, to dig for water, to carry
+all our fire-wood from a distance upon our backs, to harness, unharness,
+water, and attend to the horses, besides other trifling occupations,
+making up our daily routine, usually so completely exhausted us, that we
+had neither spirit nor energy left. Added to all other evils, the nature
+of the country behind the sea-coast was as yet so sandy and scrubby that
+we were still compelled to follow the beach, frequently travelling on
+loose heavy sands, that rendered our stages doubly fatiguing: whilst at
+nights, after the labours of the day were over, and we stood so much in
+need of repose, the intense cold, and the little protection we had
+against it, more frequently made it a season of most painful suffering
+than of rest, and we were glad when the daylight relieved us once more.
+On our march we felt generally weak and languid--it was an effort to put
+one foot before the other, and there was an indisposition to exertion
+that it was often very difficult to overcome. After sitting for a few
+moments to rest--and we often had to do this--it was always with the
+greatest unwillingness we ever moved on again. I felt, on such occasions,
+that I could have sat quietly and contentedly, and let the glass of life
+glide away to its last sand. There was a dreamy kind of pleasure, which
+made me forgetful or careless of the circumstances and difficulties by
+which I was surrounded, and which I was always indisposed to break in
+upon. Wylie was even worse than myself, I had often much difficulty in
+getting him to move at all, and not unfrequently was compelled almost
+forcibly to get him up. Fortunately he was very good tempered, and on the
+whole had behaved extremely well under all our troubles since we had been
+travelling together alone.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter III.
+
+
+
+HEAVY ROAD--A YOUNG KANGAROO SHOT--GRASSY COUNTRY--POINT MALCOLM--TRACES
+OF ITS HAVING BEEN VISITED BY EUROPEANS--GRASS TREES MET WITH--A KANGAROO
+KILLED--CATCH FISH--GET ANOTHER KANGAROO--CRAB HUNTING--RENEW THE
+JOURNEY--CASUARINAE MET WITH--CROSS THE LEVEL BANK--LOW COUNTRY BEHIND
+IT--CAPE ARID--SALT WATER CREEK--XAMIA SEEN--CABBAGE TREE OF THE
+SOUND--FRESH WATER LAKE--MORE SALT STREAMS--OPOSSUMS CAUGHT--FLAG REEDS
+FOUND--FRESH WATER STREAMS--BOATS SEEN--MEET WITH A WHALER.
+
+
+May 18.--THIS morning we had to travel upon a soft heavy beach, and moved
+slowly and with difficulty along, and three of the horses were
+continually attempting to lie down on the road. At twelve miles, we found
+some nice green grass, and although we could not procure water here, I
+determined to halt for the sake of the horses. The weather was cool and
+pleasant. From our camp Mount Ragged bore N. 35 degrees W., and the
+island we had seen for the last two days, E. 18 degrees S. Having seen
+some large kangaroos near our camp, I sent Wylie with the rifle to try
+and get one. At dark he returned bringing home a young one, large enough
+for two good meals; upon this we feasted at night, and for once Wylie
+admitted that his belly was full. He commenced by eating a pound and a
+half of horse-flesh, and a little bread, he then ate the entrails,
+paunch, liver, lights, tail, and two hind legs of the young kangaroo,
+next followed a penguin, that he had found dead upon the beach, upon this
+he forced down the whole of the hide of the kangaroo after singeing the
+hair off, and wound up this meal by swallowing the tough skin of the
+penguin; he then made a little fire, and laid down to sleep, and dream of
+the pleasures of eating, nor do I think he was ever happier in his life
+than at that moment.
+
+May 19.--The morning set in very cold and showery, with the wind from the
+southward, making us shiver terribly as we went along; luckily the
+country behind the sea-shore was at this place tolerably open, and we
+were for once enabled to leave the beach, and keep a little inland. The
+soil was light and sandy, but tolerably fertile. In places we found low
+brush, in others very handsome clumps of tea-tree scattered at intervals
+over some grassy tracts of country, giving a pleasing and park-like
+appearance we had long been strangers to. The grass was green, and
+afforded a most grateful relief to the eye, accustomed heretofore to rest
+only upon the naked sands or the gloomy scrubs we had so long been
+travelling amongst. Anxious if possible to give our horses a day or two's
+rest, at such a grassy place, and especially as the many kangaroos we
+saw, gave us hope of obtaining food for ourselves also, I twice dug for
+water, but did not find any of such quality as we could use. I was
+compelled therefore to turn in among the sand-hills of Point Malcolm,
+where I found excellent water at three and a half feet, and halted for
+the day, after a stage of five miles. Unfortunately we were now beyond
+all grass, and had to send the horses by a long and difficult road to it,
+over steep sandy ridges, densely covered by scrub. Upon halting, one of
+our horses lay down, appearing to be very ill, for two hours I could not
+get him to rise, and was sadly afraid he would die, which would have been
+a serious loss to us, for he was the strongest one we had left. A little
+inside Point Malcolm, I found traces of Europeans who had slept on shore
+near the beach, and upon one of the tea-trees, I found cut "Ship Julian,
+1840," "Haws, 1840," "C. W." and some few other letters, which I did not
+copy. The forenoon continued very wild and stormy, with occasional
+showers of rain, and as we could get neither firewood nor shelter at our
+camp, and the sand eddied around us in showers, we were very miserable.
+After dinner, I sent Wylie out with the rifle, to try to shoot a
+kangaroo, whilst I took a walk round, to look for grass, and to ascertain
+whether water could not be procured in some place nearer the horses, and
+better provided with firewood and shelter. My efforts were without
+success, nor did I meet with better fortune, in examining Point Malcolm,
+to see if there was any place where we could fish from the shore, the
+point itself was of granite, but on the sheltered side the water was very
+shoal, close to the shore, whilst on the outer side the waves were
+breaking with frightful violence, and the spray curling and rising from
+the rocks in one perpetual and lofty jet. In the evening Wylie returned
+without a kangaroo.
+
+The night turned out showery, wild, and cold, making us keenly alive to
+the bleak, shelterless position we were encamped in.
+
+May 20.--The sick horse was better to-day, and as they had all found
+their way back to the best grass, I determined to remain in camp. Wylie
+took the rifle, and again went out kangarooing, whilst I took a long walk
+to examine the country, and look out for a line of road to proceed by,
+when we left our present position. I was anxious, if possible, to give
+over travelling along the beach where the sands were so loose and heavy,
+not only causing great extra fatigue to the horses, but adding also
+considerably to the distance we should otherwise have to travel. For some
+distance I passed over steep ridges, densely covered with large tea-trees
+or with other scrub, after which I emerged upon open sandy downs, covered
+with low shrubs or bushes, and frequently having patches of good grass
+interspersed; the grass-tree was here met with for the first time, but
+not very abundantly. This description of country continued between the
+coast and the low level bank which still shut out all view of the
+interior, though it had greatly decreased in elevation as we advanced to
+the west, and appeared as if it would soon merge in the level of the
+country around. The day was tolerably fine, but windy, and a few slight
+showers fell at intervals. At dusk I got up the horses, watered them, and
+was preparing to remove the baggage to a more sheltered place, when Wylie
+made his appearance, with the gratifying intelligence that he had shot
+one kangaroo, and wounded another; the dead one he said was too far away
+for us to get it to-night, and we, therefore, (very unwillingly,) left it
+until the morning, and at present only removed our baggage nearer to the
+grass, and among thick clumps of tea-trees where we had shelter and
+firewood in abundance. The only inconvenience being that we were obliged
+to be economical of water, having to bring it all from the sand-drifts,
+and our kegs only carrying a few quarts at a time. In the prospect of a
+supply of kangaroo, we finished the last of our horse-flesh to-night. It
+had lasted us tolerably well, and though we had not gained above
+sixty-five miles of distance, since we commenced it, yet we had
+accomplished this so gradually, that the horses had not suffered so much
+as might have been expected, and were improving somewhat in strength and
+appearance every day. It was much to have got them to advance at all,
+considering the dreadful sufferings they had endured previous to our
+arrival at water on the 3rd of May.
+
+Getting up one of the horses early on the 21st, we took some water with
+us and proceeded to where Wylie had left the kangaroo, to breakfast.
+Fortunately it had not been molested by the wild dogs during the night.
+Though not of a large species, it was a full grown animal, and furnished
+us with a grateful supply of wholesome food. Once more Wylie enjoyed as
+much as he could eat, and after breakfast, I took the horse back to the
+camp, carrying with me about thirty-two pounds weight of the best and
+most fleshy parts of the kangaroo. Wylie remained behind with the rifle,
+to return leisurely and try to shoot another; but early in the afternoon
+he returned, not having seen one. The truth, I suspect was, that he had
+eaten too much to breakfast, and laid down to sleep when I was gone,
+coming back to the camp as soon as he felt hungry again. The rest of the
+day was taken up in attending to the horses and bringing a supply of
+water up for ourselves. The weather was mild and pleasant, and a few
+slight showers fell at night, but we were now so well protected among the
+tea-trees, and had so much firewood, that we were not inconvenienced by
+the rain.
+
+As I still intended to remain in camp to recruit the horses, I wished
+Wylie to go out again on the 22nd, to try for another kangaroo; but the
+other not being yet all used, he was very unwilling to do so, and it was
+only upon my threatening to move on if he did not, that I could get him
+out. As soon as he was gone, I went down to Point Malcolm to try to fish,
+as the weather was now so much more moderate. Unfortunately, my tackling
+was not strong, and after catching three rock-fish, weighing together
+three pounds and a half; a large fish got hooked, and took great part of
+my line, hook and all, away.
+
+It was very vexing to lose a line when I had not many, but still more so
+to miss a fine fish that would have weighed fifteen or sixteen pounds.
+Being obliged to come back, I spent the remainder of the afternoon in
+preparing lines for the morrow.
+
+Towards evening Wylie returned gloomy and sulky, and without having fired
+a shot; neither had he brought the horses up with him to water as I had
+requested him to do, and now it was too late to go for them, and they
+would have to be without water for the night. I was vexed at this, and
+gave him a good scolding for his negligence, after which I endeavoured to
+ascertain what had so thoroughly put him out of humour, for ordinarily he
+was one of the best tempered natives I had met with: a single sentence
+revealed the whole--"The----dogs had eaten the skin."
+
+This observation came from the very bottom of his soul, and at once gave
+me an idea of the magnitude of the disappointment he had sustained; the
+fact was, upon leaving the camp in the morning he had taken a firestick
+in his hand, and gone straight back to where we skinned the kangaroo on
+the 21st, with the intention of singeing off the hair and eating the
+skin, which had been left hanging over a bush. Upon his arrival he found
+it gone: the wild dogs had been beforehand with him and deprived him of
+the meal he expected; hence his gloomy, discontented look upon his
+return. As yet I had not told him that I had been fishing; but upon
+showing him what I had brought home, and giving him the two largest for
+supper, his brow again cleared, and he voluntarily offered to go out
+again to try to get a kangaroo to-morrow.
+
+May 23.--Leaving Wylie asleep at the camp, I set off early to fish at
+Point Malcolm. After catching four rock-fish, weighing five pounds, and
+losing several hooks, I commenced hunting about among the rocks for
+crabs, of which I procured about a dozen They were quite different from
+the English crab, being very small, not more than three or four inches in
+diameter, and without any meat in the inside of the shell; but the chine
+and claws afforded very fair pickings. Upon returning to the camp, I
+learnt from Wylie with great satisfaction that he had shot another
+kangaroo as he went to bring up the horses. The latter were now at the
+camp; so sending him to water them, I remained behind to dry my clothes,
+which had got thoroughly wetted in catching the crabs.
+
+Upon Wylie's return I mounted him on one of the horses, and accompanying
+him on foot, proceeded to where he had left the kangaroo; as it was only
+one mile and a half away we brought it back upon the horse, entire, that
+we might skin it more leisurely at the camp. It was a larger one than the
+last, and promised an abundant supply of food for some days; added to
+this we had five pounds of fish and a dozen crabs, so that our larder was
+well and variously stocked. Upon skinning the kangaroo, Wylie carefully
+singed, folded up, and put away the skin for another day, fully
+determined that this time he would lose no part of the precious prize.
+Having taken the paunch and emptied it, he proceeded to make a kind of
+haggis (rather a dirty one to be sure), by putting into it the liver,
+lights, heart, and small intestines, and then tying it up, thrust it into
+the fire to be roasted whole. This seemed to be a favourite dish with
+him, and he was now as happy as a king, sleeping and eating alternately
+the whole night long; his only complaint now being that the water was so
+far off, and that as we had to carry it all up from the sand-hills to our
+camp, he could not drink so much as he should like, and in consequence,
+could not eat so much either, for it required no small quantity of liquid
+to wash down the enormous masses of meat that he consumed whenever he had
+an opportunity.
+
+May 24.--Leaving Wylie to continue his feast and attend to the horses, I
+went down to the beach to hunt again for crabs, of which I procured about
+three dozen, but still of the same small size as before; a few larger
+ones were seen in the deeper clefts of the rocks, but I could not get at
+them; indeed, as it was, I was very nearly terminating my crab hunting
+and expedition at the same time. The places where these animals were
+obtained, were the clefts and holes among large masses and sheets of rock
+close to the sea, and which were covered by it at high water; many of
+these were like platforms, shelving to the sea, and terminating abruptly
+in deep water. Whilst busily engaged upon one of them, in trying to get
+some crabs out from its clefts, I did not notice that the surf sometimes
+washed over where I stood, until whilst stooping, and in the act of
+fishing out a crab, a roller came further than usual and dashing over me,
+threw me down and took both me and my crabs to some distance, nearly
+carrying us down the steep into the sea, from which nothing could have
+rescued me, as I should soon have been dashed to pieces by the breakers
+against the rocks. Having gathered up the crabs I had collected, I set
+off homewards in a sad cold uncomfortable plight, with the skin scraped
+off my hands and one of my heels, and with my shoes in such a state from
+scrambling about among the rocks and in the wet, as strongly to indicate
+to me the propriety of never attempting to go crab hunting again with my
+shoes on, unless I wished to be placed altogether "hors du combat" for
+walking. Wylie I found had got up the horses and watered them, and had
+brought up a supply of water for the camp, so that we had nothing to do
+in the afternoon but boil crabs and eat them, at which occupation I found
+him wonderfully more skilful than I was, readily getting through two to
+my one.
+
+On the 25th we still remained in camp to take advantage of the abundant
+supply of food we had for ourselves, and by giving the horses a long
+rest, enable them also to recruit a little upon the excellent grass which
+grew in this neighbourhood. Wylie took the rifle out to try to get
+another kangaroo, but did not succeed. I remained at home to mend my
+boots, and prepare for advancing again to-morrow. In the afternoon we
+filled our kegs, and brought away the bucket and spade from the
+sand-hills, that we might be ready to move without going again to the
+water. For the first time since we left Fowler's Bay we were troubled
+with musquitoes.
+
+May 26.--Up early, and Wylie, who had been eating the whole night, was so
+thirsty, that he actually walked all the way through the dew and cold of
+the morning to the water to drink, as I could only afford him one pint
+out of the kegs. We had now been in camp six clear days, at this most
+favourable position; we had got an abundant and wholesome supply of
+provisions for ourselves, and had been enabled to allow our horses to
+enjoy a long unbroken interval of rest, amidst the best of pasturage, and
+where there was excellent water. Now that we were again going to continue
+our route, I found that the horses were so much improved in appearance
+and in strength, that I thought we might once again venture, without
+oppression to the animals, occasionally to ride; I selected therefore,
+the strongest from among them for this purpose, and Wylie and myself
+walked and rode alternately; after passing the scrubby sand-ridges, and
+descending to the open downs behind them, I steered direct for Cape Arid,
+cutting off Cape Pasley, and encamping after a stage of eighteen miles,
+where it bore south-east of us. We halted for the night upon a ridge
+timbered with casuarinae, and abounding in grass. Once more we were in a
+country where trees were found, and again we were able at night to make
+our fires of large logs, which did not incessantly require renewing to
+prevent their going out. We had now crossed the level bank which had so
+long shut out the interior from us; gradually it had declined in
+elevation, until at last it had merged in the surrounding country, and we
+hardly knew where it commenced, or how it ended. The high bluff and
+craggy hills, whose tops we had formerly seen, stood out now in bold
+relief, with a low level tract of country stretching to their base,
+covered with dwarf brush, heathy plants and grass-tree, with many
+intervals of open grassy land, and abounding in kangaroos. I named these
+lofty and abrupt mountain masses the "Russell Range," after the Right
+Honourable the Secretary of State for the Colonies--Lord John Russell.
+They constitute the first great break in the character and appearance of
+the country for many hundreds of miles, and they offer a point of great
+interest, from which future researches may hereafter be made towards the
+interior. Nearer to the coast, and on either side of Cape Pasley were
+sand-drifts, in which I have no doubt that water might have been
+procured. We found none where we were encamped, but had sufficient in the
+kegs for our own use, and the horses were not thirsty; many and recent
+tracks of natives were observed, but the people themselves were not seen.
+
+The morning of the 27th was exceedingly cold; and as we left our
+encampments early, neither I nor Wylie were inclined to ride for the
+first few miles; it was as much as we could do to keep ourselves from
+shivering whilst walking; the dews were so heavy, that we were soon wet
+through by the spangles from the shrubs and grass, whilst the pace at
+which we travelled was not sufficiently rapid to promote a quick
+circulation, and enable us to keep ourselves warm.
+
+At six miles we passed some sand hills, where there was every indication
+of water, but I did not think it worth while delaying to try the
+experiment in digging, and pushed on for four miles further, round a
+bight of the coast, encamping on the east side of Cape Arid, where a
+small salt water creek entered the bight. The mouth of this was closed by
+a bar of sand, quite dry; nor did the salt water continue for any great
+distance inland. Following it up, in the hope of finding fresh water near
+its source, I found that there was none now, but that after rains
+considerable streams must be poured into it from the gorges of Cape Arid.
+The rocks here were all of granite; and in some of the ledges we were
+fortunate enough to find abundance of water deposited by the rains, at
+which we watered our horses. This being the first time we had ever been
+able to do so on our whole journey without making use of the spade and
+bucket. After putting the horses out upon the best grass we could find,
+Wylie and I went to try our luck at fishing; the sea was boisterous, and
+we caught none; but in returning, got about eight or nine crabs a-piece,
+which, with some of the kangaroo that was still left, enabled us to make
+our fare out tolerably.
+
+May 26.--In the latter part of the night the rain set in moderately, but
+steadily, and both Wylie and myself were very wet and miserable. The
+morning still continued showery, and I was anxious to have remained in
+camp for the sake of the horses; but as we had consumed at breakfast the
+last of our kangaroo, it became necessary to find some means of renewing
+our resources, or else lose no time in making the best of our way
+onwards. Having sent Wylie to try and get crabs, I went out with the
+rifle, but could see nothing to shoot; and upon returning to the camp, I
+found Wylie had been equally unsuccessful among the rocks, the sea being
+too rough; there was no alternative, therefore, but to move on, and
+having got up the horses, we proceeded behind Cape Arid for ten miles, at
+a course of W. 15 degrees N., and encamped at night amid a clump of
+tea-trees, and bastard gums, where we got good grass for our horses, but
+no water. The day had been intensely cold, and I could not persuade Wylie
+to ride at all. At night we had abundance of firewood, and a few of the
+long narrow yams were also found at this encampment, the first vegetable
+food we had yet procured. Grass trees had been abundant on our line of
+route to-day, and for the first time we met with the Xamia. In the
+evening, the kangaroo fly (a small brown fly) became very troublesome,
+annoying us in great numbers, and warning us that rain was about to fall.
+At night it came in frequent though moderate showers. We got very much
+wetted, but our fire was good, and we did not suffer so much from the
+cold as the damp, which affected me with cramp in the limbs, and
+rheumatism.
+
+May 29.--After breakfasting upon a spoonful of flour a-piece, mixed with
+a little water and boiled into a paste, we again proceeded. At ten miles
+we came to a small salt water stream, running seawards; in passing up it
+to look for a crossing place, Wylie caught two opossums, in the tops of
+some tea-trees, which grew on the banks. As I hoped more might be
+procured, and perhaps fresh water, by tracing it higher up, I took the
+first opportunity of crossing to the opposite side, and there encamped;
+Wylie now went out to search for opossums, and I traced the stream
+upwards. In my route I passed several very rich patches of land in the
+valleys, and on the slopes of the hills enclosing the watercourse. These
+were very grassy and verdant, but I could find no fresh water, nor did I
+observe any timber except the tea-tree. After tracing the stream until it
+had ceased running, and merely became a chain of ponds of salt water, I
+returned to the camp a good deal fatigued; Wylie came in soon after, but
+had got nothing but a few yams. The general character of the country on
+either side the watercourse, was undulating, of moderate elevation, and
+affording a considerable extent of sheep pasturage. The cockatoos of King
+George's Sound, (without the yellow crest) were here in great numbers.
+Kangaroos also abounded; but the country had not brush enough to enable
+us to get sufficiently near to shoot them.
+
+During the day Wylie had caught two opossums, and as these were entirely
+the fruit of his own labour and skill, I did not interfere in their
+disposal; I was curious, moreover, to see how far I could rely upon his
+kindness and generosity, should circumstances ever compel me to depend
+upon him for a share of what he might procure. At night, therefore, I sat
+philosophically watching him whilst he proceeded to get supper ready, as
+yet ignorant whether I was to partake of it or not. After selecting the
+largest of the two animals, he prepared and cooked it, and then put away
+the other where he intended to sleep. I now saw that he had not the
+remotest intention of giving any to me, and asked him what he intended to
+do with the other one. He replied that he should be hungry in the
+morning, and meant to keep it until then. Upon hearing this I told him
+that his arrangements were very good, and that for the future I would
+follow the same system also; and that each should depend upon his own
+exertions in procuring food; hinting to him that as he was so much more
+skilful than I was, and as we had so very little flour left, I should be
+obliged to reserve this entirely for myself, but that I hoped he would
+have no difficulty in procuring as much food as he required. I was then
+about to open the flour-bag and take a little out for my supper, when he
+became alarmed at the idea of getting no more, and stopped me, offering
+the other opossum, and volunteering to cook it properly for me. Trifling
+as this little occurrence was, it read me a lesson of caution, and taught
+me what value was to be placed upon the assistance or kindness of my
+companion, should circumstances ever place me in a situation to be
+dependent upon him; I felt a little hurt too, at experiencing so little
+consideration from one whom I had treated with the greatest kindness, and
+who had been clothed and fed upon my bounty, for the last fifteen months.
+
+May 30.--In commencing our journey this morning, our route took us over
+undulating hills, devoid of timber, but having occasionally small patches
+of very rich land in the valleys and upon some of the slopes. This
+continued to a salt-water river, broad, and apparently deep near the sea.
+As I was doubtful whether it would have a bar-mouth to seawards, I
+thought it more prudent to trace it upwards, for the purpose of crossing.
+At no very great distance it contracted sufficiently to enable me to get
+over to the other side. But in doing so the ground proved soft and boggy,
+and I nearly lost one of the horses. Four miles beyond this river we came
+to another channel of salt water, but not so large as the last. In
+valleys sloping down to this watercourse we met, for the first time,
+clumps of a tree called by the residents of King George's Sound the
+cabbage-tree, and not far from which were native wells of fresh water;
+there were also several patches of rich land bordering upon the
+watercourse.
+
+Travelling for two miles further, we came to a very pretty fresh-water
+lake, of moderate size, and surrounded by clumps of tea-tree. It was the
+first permanent fresh water we had found on the surface since we
+commenced our journey from Fowler's Bay--a distance of nearly seven
+hundred miles. I would gladly have encamped here for the night, but the
+country surrounding the lake was sandy and barren, and destitute of
+grass. We had only made good a distance of eleven miles from our last
+camp, and I felt anxious to get on to Lucky Bay as quickly as I could, in
+order that I might again give our horses a rest for a few days, which
+they now began to require. From Captain Flinders' account of Lucky Bay I
+knew we should find fresh water and wood in abundance. I hoped there
+would also be grass, and in this case I had made up my mind to remain a
+week or ten days, during which I intended to have killed the foal we had
+with us, now about nine months old, could we procure food in no other
+way. After leaving Lucky Bay, as we should only be about three hundred
+miles from the Sound, and our horses would be in comparatively fresh
+condition, I anticipated we should be able to progress more rapidly.
+Indeed I fully expected it would be absolutely necessary for us to do so,
+through a region which, from Flinders' description as seen from sea, and
+from his having named three different hills in it Mount Barrens, we
+should find neither very practicable nor fertile.
+
+Six miles beyond the fresh-water lake we came to another salt-water
+stream, and finding, upon following up a little way, that it was only
+brackish, we crossed and halted for the night. Wylie went out to search
+for food, but got nothing, whilst I unharnessed and attended to the
+horses, which were a good deal fagged, and then prepared the camp and
+made the fires for the night: I could get nothing but grass-tree for this
+purpose, but it was both abundant and dry. Owing to its very resinous
+nature, this tree burns with great heat and brilliancy, emitting a
+grateful aromatic odour. It is easily lit up, makes a most cheerful fire,
+and notwithstanding the fervency with which it burns, does not often
+require renewing, if the tree be large. Our whole journey to-day had been
+over undulations of about three hundred feet in elevation; the country
+rose a little inland, and a few occasional bluffs of granite were
+observed in the distance, but no timber was seen any where. At night the
+flies and mosquitoes were very troublesome to us.
+
+May 31.--The morning showery, and bitterly cold, so that, for the first
+two hours after starting, we suffered considerably, After travelling for
+seven miles and a half, through an undulating and bare country, we came
+to a salt-water river, with some patches of good land about it. Having
+crossed the river a little way up where it became narrower, we again
+proceeded for five miles farther, through the same character of country,
+and were then stopped by another salt stream, which gave us a great deal
+of trouble to effect a crossing. We had traced it up to where the channel
+was narrow, but the bed was very deep, and the water running strongly
+between banks of rich black soil. Our horses would not face this at
+first, and in forcing them over we were nearly losing two of them. After
+travelling only a quarter of a mile beyond this stream I was chagrined to
+find we had crossed it just above the junction of two branches, and that
+we had still one of them to get over; the second was even more difficult
+to pass than the first, and whilst I was on the far side, holding one of
+the horses by a rope, with Wylie behind driving him on, the animal made a
+sudden and violent leap, and coming full upon me, knocked me down and
+bruised me considerably. One of his fore legs struck me on the thigh, and
+I narrowly escaped having it broken, whilst a hind leg caught me on the
+shin, and cut me severely.
+
+As soon as we were fairly over I halted for the night, to rest myself and
+give Wylie an opportunity of looking for food. The water in both branches
+of this river was only brackish where we crossed, and at that which we
+encamped upon but slightly so.
+
+There were many grass-trees in the vicinity, and as several of these had
+been broken down and were dead they were full of the white grubs of which
+the natives are so fond. From these Wylie enjoyed a plentiful, and to
+him, luxurious supper. I could not bring myself to try them, preferring
+the root of the broad flag-reed, which, for the first time, we met with
+at this stream, and which is an excellent and nutritious article of food.
+This root being dug up, and roasted in hot ashes, yields a great quantity
+of a mealy farinaceous powder interspersed among the fibres; it is of an
+agreeable flavour, wholesome, and satisfying to the appetite. In all
+parts of Australia, even where other food abounds, the root of this reed
+is a favourite and staple article of diet among the aborigines. The
+proper season of the year for procuring it in full perfection, is after
+the floods have receded, and the leaves have died away and been burnt
+off. It is that species of reed of which the leaves are used by coopers
+for closing up crevices between the staves of their casks.
+
+June 1.--Upon getting up this morning I found myself very stiff and sore
+from the bruises I had received yesterday, yet I felt thankful that I had
+escaped so well; had any of my limbs been broken, I should have been in a
+dreadful position, and in all probability must have perished. After Wylie
+had dug up some of the flag-roots for breakfast, and a few to take with
+us, we proceeded on our journey. I was anxious to have made a long stage,
+and if possible, to have reached Thistle Cove by night; but the country
+we had to pass over was heavy and sandy, and after travelling fifteen
+miles, the horses became so jaded, that I was obliged to turn in among
+some sand-drifts near the coast, and halt for the night. The course we
+had been steering for the last few days towards Lucky Bay, had gradually
+brought us close to the coast again, and during a part of our journey
+this afternoon we were travelling upon the sea-shore. At ten miles after
+starting, we crossed a strong stream of fresh water running through some
+sandy flats into the sea; a mile and a half beyond this we crossed a
+second stream; and half a mile further a third, all running strongly,
+with narrow channels, into the sea, and quite fresh. Fresh water was also
+laying about every where on our road in large pools; a proof of the very
+heavy rains that had lately fallen. We were, therefore, enjoying the
+advantages of a wet season without having been subject to its inclemency,
+and which, in our present weak, unprotected state, we could hardly have
+endured. The country to the back was sandy and undulating, covered
+principally with low shrubs, and rising inland; there were also several
+granite bluffs at intervals, from among which, the streams I had crossed,
+probably took their rise; but there were no trees to be seen any where,
+except a few of the tea of cabbage-trees. I do not think that any of the
+three fresh-water streams we had crossed would be permanent, their
+present current being owing entirely to the recent rains; but when they
+are running, and the weather is moderately fair, they afford an admirable
+opportunity of watering a vessel with very little trouble, the water
+being clear and pure to its very junction with the sea.
+
+At night we made our supper of the flag-roots we had brought with us, and
+a spoonful of flour a-piece, boiled into a paste. The night was very cold
+and windy, and having neither shelter nor fire-wood at the sand-drifts
+where we were, we spent it miserably.
+
+June 2.--As we had made a shorter stage yesterday than I intended to have
+done, and the quantity of flour we had now remaining was very small, I
+did not dare to make use of any this morning, and we commenced our
+journey without breakfast. Being now near Thistle Cove, where I intended
+to halt for some time, and kill the little foal for food, whilst the
+other horses were recruiting, and as I hoped to get there early this
+afternoon, I was anxious to husband our little stock of flour in the
+hope, that at the little fresh-water lake described by Flinders, as
+existing there, we should find abundance of the flag-reed for our
+support. Keeping a little behind the shore for the first hour, we crossed
+over the sandy ridge bounding it, and upon looking towards the sea, I
+thought I discovered a boat sailing in the bay. Upon pointing this object
+out to Wylie, he was of the same opinion with myself, and we at once
+descended towards the shore, but on our arrival were greatly disappointed
+at not being able again to see the object of our search. In the course of
+half an hour, however, whilst resting ourselves and watching the surface
+of the ocean, it again became visible, and soon after a second appeared.
+It was now evident that both these were boats, and that we had noticed
+them only when standing off shore, and the light shone upon their sails,
+and had lost them when upon the opposite tack. It was equally apparent
+they were standing out from the main land for the islands. I imagined
+them to be sealers, who having entered the bay to procure water or
+firewood, were again steering towards the islands to fish. Having hastily
+made a fire upon one of the sand-hills, we fired shots, shouted, waved
+handkerchiefs, and made every signal we could to attract attention, but
+in vain. They were too far away to see, or too busy to look towards us.
+The hopes we had entertained were as suddenly disappointed as they had
+been excited, and we stood silently and sullenly gazing after the boats
+as they gradually receded from our view.
+
+Whilst thus occupied and brooding over our disappointment, we were
+surprised to see both boats suddenly lower their sails, and apparently
+commence fishing. Watching them steadily we now perceived that they were
+whale boats, and once more our hearts beat with hope, for I felt sure
+that they must belong to some vessel whaling in the neighbourhood. We now
+anxiously scanned the horizon in every direction, and at last were
+delighted beyond measure to perceive to the westward the masts of a large
+ship, peeping above a rocky island which had heretofore concealed her
+from our view. She was apparently about six miles from us, and as far as
+we could judge from so great a distance, seemed to be at anchor near the
+shore.
+
+Poor Wylie's joy now knew no bounds, and he leapt and skipped about with
+delight as he congratulated me once more upon the prospect of getting
+plenty to eat. I was not less pleased than he was, and almost as absurd,
+for although the vessel was quietly at anchor so near us, with no sails
+loose and her boats away, I could not help fearing that she might
+disappear before we could get to her, or attract the notice of those on
+board. To prevent such a calamity, I mounted one of the strongest horses
+and pushed on by myself as rapidly as the heavy nature of the sands would
+allow, leaving Wylie at his own especial request to bring on the other
+horses. In a short time I arrived upon the summit of a rocky cliff,
+opposite to a fine large barque lying at anchor in a well sheltered bay,
+(which I subsequently named Rossiter Bay, after the captain of the
+whaler,) immediately east of Lucky Bay, and at less than a quarter of a
+mile distant from the shore. The people on board appeared to be busily
+engaged in clearing their cables which were foul, and did not observe me
+at all. I tied up my horse, therefore, to a bush, and waited for Wylie,
+who was not long in coming after me, having driven the poor horses at a
+pace they had not been accustomed to for many a long day. I now made a
+smoke on the rock where I was, and hailed the vessel, upon which a boat
+instantly put off, and in a few moments I had the inexpressible pleasure
+of being again among civilized beings, and of shaking hands with a
+fellow-countryman in the person of Captain Rossiter, commanding the
+French Whaler "Mississippi."
+
+Our story was soon told, and we were received with the greatest kindness
+and hospitality by the captain.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter IV.
+
+
+
+GO ON BOARD THE MISSISSIPPI--WET WEATHER--VISIT LUCKY BAY--INTERVIEW WITH
+NATIVES--WYLIE UNDERSTANDS THEIR LANGUAGE--GET THE HORSES SHOD--PREPARE
+TO LEAVE THE VESSEL--KINDNESS AND LIBERALITY OF CAPTAIN ROSSITER--RENEW
+JOURNEY TO THE WESTWARD--FOSSIL FORMATION STILL CONTINUES--SALT WATER
+STREAMS AND LAKES--A LARGE SALT RIVER--CHARACTER OF THE COUNTRY.
+
+
+June 2.--AFTER watering the horses at a deposit left by the rains, in the
+sheets of granite near us, and turning them loose, we piled up our little
+baggage, and in less than an hour we were comfortably domiciled on board
+the hospitable Mississippi,--a change in our circumstances so great, so
+sudden, and so unexpected, that it seemed more like a dream than a
+reality; from the solitary loneliness of the wilderness, and its
+attendant privations, we were at once removed to all the comforts of a
+civilised community.
+
+After we had done ample justice to the good cheer set before us, by our
+worthy host, he kindly invited us to remain on board as long as we
+pleased, to recruit our horses, and told us, that when we felt refreshed
+sufficiently to renew the journey, he would supply us with such stores
+and other articles as we might require. I learnt that the Mississippi had
+but recently arrived from France, and that she had only been three weeks
+upon the ground she had taken up for the season's whaling. As yet no
+whales had been seen, and the season was said not to commence before the
+end of June or beginning of July. The boats I saw in the morning belonged
+to her, and had been out chasing what they thought to be a whale, but
+which proved to be only a fin-back, a species which was not thought to
+repay the trouble of trying out.
+
+Early in the evening the whalers retired to rest, and I had a comfortable
+berth provided for me in the cabin, but could not sleep; my thoughts were
+too much occupied in reflecting upon the great change which the last few
+hours had wrought in the position of myself and my attendant. Sincerely
+grateful to the Almighty for having guided us through so many
+difficulties, and for the inexpressible relief afforded us when so much
+needed, but so little expected, I felt doubly thankful for the mercy we
+experienced, when, as I lay awake, I heard the wind roar, and the rain
+drive with unusual wildness, and reflected that by God's blessing, we
+were now in safety, and under shelter from the violence of the storm, and
+the inclemency of the west season, which appeared to be setting in, but
+which, under the circumstances we were in but a few short hours ago, we
+should have been so little able to cope with, or to endure.
+
+June 3.--I arose at day-break, as I found the whalers breakfasted
+betimes, to enable them to send their boats away to look out, at an early
+hour. In fact, during the season, I was informed, that it was not unusual
+to send them to their posts before the break of day, and especially so,
+if other vessels were in company, or there was any competition. After
+breakfast I landed with the Captain, to get up and inspect the horses;
+poor animals they had not gone far and were doubtless glad at not being
+required to march away to-day. I was only sorry that the country did not
+abound more in grass. Plenty of water left by the rains was procurable,
+in the ledges of the granite rocks, but the vegetation was scanty, the
+soil being very sandy, and covered principally with small shrubs, heathy
+plants, etc.
+
+Leaving the horses to enjoy their respite from labour, I accompanied the
+Captain to see a garden made by the sailors, in which peas and potatoes
+had already been planted, and appeared to be growing well. A rich piece
+of land had been selected on a slope, bordering upon a salt water creek,
+which here wound through the level country towards the sea. The water in
+this creek, was brackish in the upper part, but seaward it was quite
+salt, it had a bar mouth of sand, which was quite dry. Unfortunately, the
+Captain had no garden seeds but the peas and potatoes, so that their
+labours were confined to cultivating these; otherwise during the many
+months spent by them in bay whaling, they might have abundantly supplied
+themselves with a variety of vegetables, at once an agreeable and
+wholesome addition to the ordinary diet on board ship. After dinner I
+went with the Captain to visit an island near, upon which he kept his
+live stock, such as pigs, sheep, and tortoises; the two latter had been
+procured from the west side of the island of Madagascar; the sheep were
+strange looking animals, more like goats than sheep, of all colours, and
+with fat tails, like the Cape sheep. Their cost at Madagascar had been a
+tumbler full of powder a piece; a bullock would have cost ten bottles
+full, and other things could have been procured at proportionable prices.
+The principal articles in request among the Madagases, were said to be
+powder, brass headed trunk nails, muskets, gun-flints, clear claret
+bottles, looking-glasses, and cutlery.
+
+The greater part of the day was very cold and showery, and I remained
+quietly on board, reading some old English papers. Wylie was as happy as
+he could be. It was true he did not understand a word spoken by those
+around him (for not a soul on board spoke English but the Captain), but
+he had as much to eat as he desired; and to do him justice, I believe he
+made the most of the opportunity. On the other hand, his capacity for
+eating entertained the Frenchmen, with the exception, perhaps, of his
+first meal on board, and then, I believe, that the immense number of
+biscuits he devoured, and the amazing rapidity with which they
+disappeared, not only astounded, but absolutely alarmed them. Fish were
+caught in great numbers from the ship's side, mackarel and baracoota
+being obtained every day. Other varieties might have been procured off
+the rocks near the shore, from which there were many places well adapted
+for fishing. Periwinkles abounded, and crabs were numerous among the
+crevices of the rocks. Altogether, this seemed to be a most favourable
+place; and had we not met with the vessel, it would have held out to us
+the prospect of obtaining as abundant a supply of food for ourselves as
+we had got at Point Malcolm, without the necessity of destroying the poor
+foal. The night again set in very wild, cold, and wet.
+
+June 4.--This morning the weather appeared tolerably fine, and I landed
+with the French doctor for the purpose of walking across to Thistle Cove.
+After travelling four miles over a sandy heathy country, we arrived at
+the pretty little fresh water lake, so accurately described by Captain
+Flinders, and which I had so anxiously looked forward to attaining, that
+we might halt to rest, and recruit the horses. There is no timber around
+the lake, beyond a few xamias, grass trees, and some stunted tea-trees;
+neither was there much grass. In other respects, I could not have pitched
+upon a more favourable place to have halted at: for near the lake
+abounded the flag reed, of which the root was so valuable for food. This
+one article would have supported us well during our stay here, whilst the
+many bluff rocks, with deep calm water close to them, extending all
+around the promontory which projected into the sea, and round the bay,
+held out great promise that fish could readily have been caught. Ducks
+were also numerous in the lake, and kangaroos on shore. The day turned
+out very bleak and wet, and we both got thoroughly soaked through before
+we got back to the vessel, which was not until about two in the
+afternoon; I was then obliged to borrow a dry suit from the Captain,
+whilst my own clothes were drying.
+
+June 5.--From this time until the fourteenth of June I remained on board
+the Mississippi, enjoying the hospitality of Captain Rossiter. Wylie went
+out once or twice to try to shoot a kangaroo for the ship, but he never
+succeeded; he had so much to eat on board that he had no stimulus to
+exertion, and did not take the trouble necessary to insure success.
+During almost the whole of the time that I remained on board the
+Mississippi, the weather was exceedingly boisterous, cold, and wet, and I
+could not but feel truly thankful that I had not been exposed to it on
+shore; even on board the ship, with shelter and extra clothing, I felt
+very sensibly the great change which had taken place in the temperature.
+
+I regretted greatly that during my stay I had not the opportunity of
+seeing a whale caught. There was only once an attempt at a chase. In this
+instance three boats were sent out, commanded by the Captain and the two
+mates, but after a considerable lapse of time, and a long interval of
+suspense and anxiety, the fish chased turned out to be a hump-back, and
+as this was not deemed worth catching, the boats returned to the ship.
+The life led by the whalers, as far as I was able to judge, from the
+short time I was with them, seemed to be one of regularity, but of
+considerable hardship. At half-past six or seven in the evening they
+invariably went to bed, but were up at the first dawn of day, and
+sometimes even before it, the boats were then usually sent to a distance
+from the ship to look out for whales, and whether fortunate or otherwise,
+they would always have a pretty hard day's work before they returned.
+They were, however, well fed, being apparently even better dieted than
+the generality of merchant-ships; the bread was of a better quality, and
+the allowance of butter, cheese, beans, and other little luxuries much
+more liberal. In the Mississippi the crew were generally young men, and
+with few exceptions all were complete novices at sea; this I was told was
+in consequence of an expected war between England and France, and the
+prohibition of able seamen from leaving their country. Captain Rossiter
+assured me that he had not been allowed for a considerable length of time
+to sail at all from France, as the war was daily expected to break out.
+He was still ignorant as to what had been done in this respect, and
+naturally felt very anxious at being, as he might imagine, on an enemy's
+coast.
+
+During the time I remained on board the vessel, a party of natives once
+or twice came down to the beach, and as I was anxious to enter into
+commucation with them, two were induced to get into the boat and come on
+board; as I expected, my boy Wylie fully understood the language spoken
+in this part of the country, and could converse with them fluently.
+Through him I learnt that they had never seen white people before the
+Mississippi anchored here, which was somewhat singular, considering the
+frankness with which they visited us, and the degree of confidence they
+appeared to repose in us. Of the interior I could gain no satisfactory
+account, they said that as far inland as they were acquainted with the
+country, it was similar to what we saw, that there was an abundance of
+water in the valleys in small wells, that there was a lake and fresh
+water river, but that there was little or no wood anywhere. In turn they
+were curious to know where we had come from, or where we were going; but
+Wylie, who in this respect, at least, was prudent and cautious, told them
+that we had come from the eastward to join the ship, and were now going
+to remain. Finding I could gain no further useful information, presents
+of fish and biscuits were made to them, and they were put on shore,
+highly pleased with their visit. During the remainder of my stay, I had
+no further opportunity of entering into conversation with these people,
+as the weather was generally wild, and they could not procure much
+shelter or fire-wood on the coast, had they come down to see us.
+
+A few days before I contemplated commencing the renewal of my journey, I
+requested the Captain to allow a blacksmith he had on board to shoe my
+horses, and to this he kindly consented, but as a scarcity of iron
+prevailed, some old harpoons and lances had to be worked up for this
+purpose. The blacksmith who was a Frenchman, made his shoes and nails in
+so different, and apparently in so much more clumsy manner than I was
+accustomed to, that I was almost afraid of letting him put them on, and
+tried hard, but in vain, to get him to imitate the English shoe and nail
+in ordinary use.
+
+Finding that I was likely to derive no advantage from my officious
+interference, I determined to let him have his own way, and was surprised
+and delighted to find that he performed his work well and skilfully, the
+only unusual part of the operation to me, being the necessity he appeared
+to be under, of always having a man to hold up the leg of the horse
+whilst he put the shoe on, instead of holding the foot up himself, as an
+English blacksmith does; such however, he assured me was the practice
+always in France, and he appeared to think it the best too. Having had my
+horses shod, I got some canvass from the Captain, to make bags for
+carrying my provisions, and then giving him a list of stores that I
+wished to take with me, I commenced preparations for leaving my
+hospitable entertainer. Every thing that I wished for, was given to me
+with a kindness and liberality beyond what I could have expected; and it
+gives me unfeigned pleasure, to have it now in my power to record thus
+publicly the obligations I was under to Captain Rossiter.
+
+On the 14th, I landed the stores, to arrange and pack them ready for the
+journey. They consisted of forty pounds of flour, six pounds of biscuit,
+twelve pounds of rice, twenty pounds of beef, twenty pounds of pork,
+twelve pounds of sugar, one pound of tea, a Dutch cheese, five pounds of
+salt butter, a little salt, two bottles of brandy, and two tin saucepans
+for cooking; besides some tobacco and pipes for Wylie, who was a great
+smoker, and the canteens filled with treacle for him to eat with rice.
+The great difficulty was now, how to arrange for the payment of the
+various supplies I had been furnished with, as I had no money with me,
+and it was a matter of uncertainty, whether the ship would touch at any
+of the Australian colonies. Captain Rossiter however, said that he had
+some intention of calling at King George's Sound, when the Bay whaling
+was over, and as that was the place to which I was myself going, I gave
+him an order upon Mr. Sherratt, who had previously acted as my agent
+there in the transaction of some business matters in 1840. To this day,
+however, I have never learnt whether Captain Rossiter visited King
+George's Sound or not.
+
+In arranging the payment, I could not induce the Captain to receive any
+thing for the twelve days' that we had been resident in the ship, nor
+would he allow me to pay for some very comfortable warm clothing, which
+he supplied me with, both for myself and Wylie. Independently too of the
+things which I had drawn from the ship's stores, Captain Rossiter
+generously and earnestly pressed me to take any thing that I thought
+would be serviceable to me from his own private stock of clothes. The
+attention and hospitality shewn me, during my stay on board the vessel,
+and the kindness and liberality which I experienced at my departure, will
+long be remembered by me with feelings of gratitude. In the evening I
+slept on shore, and got every thing ready for commencing my labours again
+in the morning.
+
+June 15.--Early this morning the boat came on shore for me, and I went on
+board to take a farewell breakfast, in the Mississippi, and to wish good
+bye to her kind-hearted people. At eight I landed with the Captain, got
+up my horses and loaded them, a matter of some little time and trouble,
+now my stock of provisions and other things was so greatly augmented; in
+addition too to all I had accumulated before, the Captain insisted now
+upon my taking six bottles of wine, and a tin of sardines.
+
+Having received a few letters to be posted at Albany for France, I asked
+the Captain if there was anything else I could do for him, but he said
+there was not. The only subject upon which he was at all anxious, was to
+ascertain whether a war had broken out between France and England or not.
+In the event of this being the case, he wished me not to mention having
+seen a French vessel upon the coast, and I promised to comply with his
+request.
+
+After wishing my kind host good bye, and directing Wylie to lead one of
+the horses in advance, I brought up the rear, driving the others before
+me. Once again we had a long and arduous journey before us, and were
+wending our lonely way through the unknown and untrodden wilds. We were,
+however, in very different circumstances now, to what we had been in
+previous to our meeting with the French ship. The respite we had had from
+our labours, and the generous living we had enjoyed, had rendered us
+comparatively fresh and strong. We had now with us an abundance, not only
+of the necessaries, but of the luxuries of life; were better clothed, and
+provided against the inclemency of the weather than we had been; and
+entered upon the continuation of our undertaking with a spirit, an
+energy, and a confidence, that we had long been strangers to.
+
+From the great additional weight we had now to carry upon the horses, we
+were again obliged to give up riding even in turn, and had both to walk.
+This was comparatively of little consequence, however, now we were so
+well provided with every thing we could require, and the country appeared
+to be so well watered, that we could arrange our stages almost according
+to our own wishes.
+
+Steering to the north-west we passed over a sandy country, covered with
+low heathy plants, and grasstrees, and having granite elevations
+scattered over its surface at intervals. Under these hills fresh water
+swamps and native wells were constantly met with, and at one of them we
+encamped for the night, after a stage of about four miles.
+
+During the day, we passed a variety of beautiful shrubs, and among them
+were many different kind of Banksias, one was quite new to me, and had a
+scarlet flower, which was very handsome. The fossil formation still
+constituted the geological character of the country, most of the lower
+ridges of rock intervening between the various hills of granite,
+exhibiting shells in great abundance. In the more level parts, the
+surface was so coated over with sand, that nothing else could be seen. I
+have no doubt, however, that the whole of the substrata would have been
+found an uninterrupted continuation of the tertiary deposit.
+
+At night I observed native fires about a mile from us, in a direction
+towards the sea; but the natives did not come near us, nor was I myself
+anxious to come into communication with them whilst my party was so
+small.
+
+The evening had set in with steady rain, which continuing with little
+intermission during the night, wet us considerably.
+
+June 16.--This morning, I found I had caught cold, and was very unwell.
+Upon leaving the encampment, we steered N. 30 degrees W. to clear a rocky
+hill, passing which, on our left at six miles, we changed the course to
+W. 10 degrees N. Three miles from the hill, we crossed a small stream of
+brackish water running very strongly towards the sea, and then halted for
+the day upon it, after a short stage. The country we had traversed in our
+route, still consisted of the same sandy plains and undulations, covered
+with low shrubs, heathy plants, grass and cabbage-trees, with here and
+there elevations of granite, and fresh water swamps: in and around which,
+the soil was black and very rich; very little wood was to be met with
+anywhere, and nothing that deserved the appellation of trees.
+
+The country, inland, appeared to rise gradually, but did not seem to
+differ in character and features from that we were traversing.
+
+June 17.--A little before daylight it commenced raining, and continued
+showery all day, and though we got wet several times, we experienced
+great comfort from the warm clothing we had obtained from Captain
+Rossiter. Upon ascending the hills, above our camp, which confined the
+waters of the little stream we were upon, we could trace its course
+south-west by south, to a small lake lying in the same direction, and
+which it appeared to empty into. A second small lake was observable to
+the north-west of the first. Two and a half miles from our camp, we
+passed a granite elevation, near which, were many fresh swamps,
+permanently, I think, abounding in water and having much rich and grassy
+land around, of which the soil was a deep black, and but little mixed
+with sand. For the next three miles and a half, our route lay over a rich
+swampy grassy land, and we were literally walking all the way in water
+left by the rains; besides crossing in that distance two fresh water
+streams, running strongly towards the sea, and both emptying into small
+lakes seen under the coast ridges. The largest of these two was one yard
+and a half wide and a foot deep, and appeared of a permanent character.
+We now ascended an undulating and rather more elevated tract of country
+of an oolitic limestone formation, most luxuriantly clothed with the
+richest grass, and having several lakes interspersed among the hollows
+between the ridges. Near this we halted for the night under some of the
+coast sand-hills, after a day's stage of twelve miles. We had splendid
+feed for our horses, but were without any water for ourselves, being
+unable to carry any with us, as the canteens were full of treacle. From
+our camp, a peak, near Cape le Grand, bore E. 33 degrees S.
+
+June 18.--During the night heavy showers had fallen, and in the oilskins
+we caught as much water as sufficed for our tea. After breakfast we
+proceeded onwards, and at a little more than three miles came to the
+borders of a large salt lake, lying southwest and north-east, and being
+one of two noted by Captain Flinders as having been copied into his map
+from a French chart. Following the borders of the lake for a mile we
+found abundance of fresh water under the banks by which it was inclosed,
+and which, judging from the rushes and grasses about it, and the many
+traces of native encampments, I imagine to be permanent. The lake itself
+was in a hollow sunk in the fossil formation, which was now very clearly
+recognisable in the high banks surrounding the lake, and which varied
+from sixty to a hundred and fifty feet in elevation, and were generally
+pretty steep towards the shore. The day being fine I halted at this place
+to re-arrange the loads of the horses and take bearings.
+
+A year had now elapsed since I first entered upon the Northern
+Expedition. This day twelve months ago I had left Adelaide to commence
+the undertaking, cheered by the presence and good wishes of many friends,
+and proudly commanding a small but gallant party--alas, where were they
+now? Painful and bitter were the thoughts that occupied my mind as I
+contrasted the circumstances of my departure then with my position now,
+and when I reflected that of all whose spirit and enterprise had led them
+to engage in the undertaking, two lone wanderers only remained to attempt
+its conclusion.
+
+June 19.--The dew was very heavy this morning, and we did not start until
+rather late, travelling through a very grassy country, abounding in fresh
+swamps of a soft peaty soil, and often with the broad flag-reed growing
+in them. All these places were boggy and impassable for horses. In
+attempting to cross one a horse sunk up to his haunches, and we had much
+difficulty in extricating him. At five miles from our camp we ascended
+some high ridges of an oolitic limestone formation, which were partially
+covered by drift-sand, and in the distance looked like the ridge of a sea
+shore. From their summit Cape le Grand bore E. 27 degrees S., the peak
+called by the French the "Chapeau," E. 23 degrees S., and the head of the
+salt-water lake E. 10 degrees S. We had now a succession of barren, sandy
+and stony ridges for more than three miles, and as there was but little
+prospect of our finding permanent water in such a miserable region, I
+took the opportunity of halting at a little rain water deposited in a
+hole of the rocks; here we procured enough for ourselves, but could not
+obtain any for the horses. Our camp not being far from the coast, I
+walked after dinner to the sand-hills to take bearings. Several islands
+were visible, of which the centres were set at S. 10 degrees W., S. 26
+degrees W., E. 41 degrees S., E. 44 degrees S. and S. 33 degrees E.
+respectively; the west point of a bay bore S. 51 degrees W. the eastern
+point E. 36 degrees S. Upon digging for water under the sand-hills it was
+found to be salt.
+
+June 20.--Rain fell lightly but steadily until one P.M., making it very
+disagreeable travelling through the rugged and stony ridges we had to
+encounter, and which were a good deal covered with scrub and brush. About
+four miles from our camp of last night we crossed high stony ridges, and
+immediately beyond came to some steep sand-drifts, among the hollows of
+which I dug for water, but at five feet was stopped by rock. The scrubby,
+hilly, and rugged nature of the back country, generally about three
+hundred feet above the level of the sea, now compelled me to keep the
+beach for five miles, from which I was then again driven by the hills
+terminating abruptly towards the sea, and forcing me to scale a steep
+stony range, which for four miles and a half kept us incessantly toiling
+up one rugged ascent after another. We then came to an extensive hollow,
+being a partial break in the fossil formation, and having two large lakes
+and many smaller ones interspersed over its surface. Around the margins
+of the lakes we again found timber--the tea-tree and the bastard gum. The
+water in the lakes was salt, but some slight elevations of granite
+afforded us in their hollows an abundance of water for ourselves and
+horses. The traces of natives were numerous and recent, but yet we saw
+none. Swans, ducks, and wild fowl of various kinds were in great numbers,
+and kept up an unceasing noise at night whilst passing from one lake to
+the other. Our stage had been twelve miles and a half, but the hilly and
+rugged nature of the road had made it severe upon the horses, whilst the
+wet overhead and the wet grass under our feet made it equally harassing
+to ourselves. From our encampment some white drifts in the coast line
+bore S. 35 degrees E., and probably were the "white streak in the
+sand-hills" of Flinders.
+
+June 21.--We did not get away until late, but the dew had been so heavy
+during the night that even then the shrubs and bushes wet us completely
+through, and made our journey cold and miserable. After travelling a
+short distance we lost all symptoms of grass, and the country was again
+sandy and barren, and covered with shrubs and heathy plants. In this
+region we passed two native women and a boy, within gun-shot of us; but
+as they were so intent upon their occupation of digging roots, and did
+not notice us, I was unwilling to alarm them, and we passed silently by.
+At six miles we came to a fine deep hole of excellent water about thirty
+yards in circumference. It was situated in a narrow, short, but steep and
+rocky gorge, and is, I think, permanent. Four miles beyond this we
+crossed a chain of salt ponds, trending seawards, towards an apparent gap
+in the coast-line; and six miles further another. Upon the latter we
+halted for the night, as there was good grass for the horses, and
+brackish water was procurable a little way up the stream, where it
+divided into branches. The constant travelling in the wet for the last
+few days began now to affect our limbs considerably, and upon halting at
+nights we found our feet always much swollen, and our legs generally
+stiff and cramped.
+
+June 22.--A very heavy dew fell in the night, and we were again condemned
+to wade for three hours up to our middle among the wet brush; after which
+the day became fine, and we got our clothes dried. Travelling for two and
+a half miles, we crossed another small brackish chain of ponds, and then
+ascending rather higher ground, obtained a view of a large lake under the
+sand-hills, into which the channel we encamped upon last night emptied
+itself. The lake appeared as if it were deep, and its dark blue colour
+led me to imagine there might be a junction with the sea towards the
+south-west, where the low appearance of the coast ridge indicated a gap
+or opening of some kind. At four miles from our last night's encampment
+we were stopped by a large salt-water river, fully a hundred yards wide,
+and increasing to three or four times that size as it trended to its
+junction with the large lake, and which was visible from the hills above
+the river. This river was deep where we first struck upon it, but
+appeared to be much more so towards the lake, where the water was of a
+dark blue colour, as was that also of the lake itself. This confirmed me
+in my opinion that there must be a junction with the sea; but
+unfortunately I was obliged to trace its course upwards, for the purpose
+of crossing, and the circumstances under which I was travelling precluded
+me from delaying, or going so far back out of my way to examine its
+mouth. I dared not leave Wylie in charge of the camp for the time
+necessary for me to have gone alone; and to take the horses such a
+distance, and through a rough or heavy country, on the uncertainty of
+procuring for them either grass or water, would have been a risk which,
+in their condition, I did not think myself justified in incurring.
+
+After tracing the river northerly for two miles and a half, I found it
+divided into two branches, and though these were still of considerable
+size, yet a ledge of rocks extending across the channels enabled us to
+effect a passage to the other side. At the place where we crossed, the
+stream running over the rocks was only slightly brackish, and we watered
+our horses there; had we traced it a little further it might possibly
+have been quite fresh, but we had no time for this, for Wylie having
+taken charge of the horses but for a few moments, whilst I had been
+examining the river for a crossing place, contrived to frighten them all
+in some way or other, and set them off at a gallop; the result was, that
+our baggage was greatly disturbed, and many things knocked off and
+damaged, whilst it took us some time again to get our horses and
+re-arrange the loads.
+
+The valley through which the river took its course, was rocky, with
+sheets of granite extending in many places to the water's edge. There was
+abundance of good grass, however, and in its upper branches, probably,
+there might have been some considerable extent of pasturage. The trees
+growing upon the margin, were the paper-barked tea-tree, and the bastard
+gum.
+
+Leaving the river, and proceeding over an undulating sandy country,
+without timber, but covered with shrubs, we passed at six miles between
+two small lakes, and in three more descended to a deep valley among
+granite rocks; here we encamped after a stage of sixteen miles, with
+plenty of fresh water in pools, and very fair grass for the horses, about
+a mile and a half before we halted, we had obtained a view to seawards,
+and I set the "Rocky Islets" at a bearing of S. 25 degrees W.
+
+The character of the country generally, through which we travelled
+to-day, was very similar to that we had so long been traversing. Its
+general elevation above the level of the sea, was about three hundred
+feet, and to a distant observer, it seemed to be a perfect table land,
+unbroken to the horizon, and destitute of all timber or trees, except
+occasionally a few cabbage-trees, grass-trees, or minor shrubs; it was
+also without grass. Upon crossing this region deep gorges or valleys are
+met with, through which flow brackish or salt-water streams, and shading
+these are found the tea-tree and the bastard gum. The steep banks which
+inclose the valleys, through which the streams take their course, and
+which until lately we had found of an oolitic limestone, now exhibited
+granite, quartz, sandstone or iron-stone.
+
+June 23.--Our horses having rambled some distance back upon our
+yesterday's tracks, it was late when they were recovered, and we did not
+get away until eleven. After travelling a mile and a half, we crossed a
+stream of most excellent water running over a bed of granite, in which
+were some large deep pools with reeds growing around their margins. A
+branch of this watercourse was crossed a little further on, but was quite
+dry where we passed it.
+
+Nine miles from our last night's camp a view of the "Rocky Islets" was
+obtained from a hill, and set at due south. Immediately on descending
+from the hill we crossed a salt chain of ponds in a bed of sandstone and
+ironstone, and nine miles beyond this we came to another, also of salt
+water; here we halted for the night as there was tolerable grass for the
+horses, and we were fortunate enough to discover fresh water in a granite
+rock.
+
+In the course of the afternoon I obtained a view of a very distant hill
+bearing from us W.8 degrees S. This I took to be the east Mount Barren of
+Flinders; but it was still very far away, and the intervening country
+looked barren and unpromising. During the day our route had still been
+over the same character of country as before, with this exception, that
+it was more stony and barren, with breccia or iron-stone grit covering
+the surface. The streams were less frequently met with, and were of a
+greatly inferior character, consisting now principally of only chains of
+small stagnant ponds of salt water, destitute of grass, and without any
+good soil in the hollows through which they took their course. Many of
+these, and especially those we crossed in the latter part of the day,
+were quite dry, and appeared to be nothing more than deep gutters washed
+by heavy rains between the undulations of the country.
+
+The rock formation, where it was developed, was exclusively sandstone or
+ironstone, with inferior granite; and even the higher levels, which had
+heretofore been of a sandy nature, were now rugged and stony, and more
+sterile than before; the grasstrees, which generally accommodate
+themselves to any soil, were stunted and diminutive, and by no means so
+abundant as before. The general elevation of the country still appeared
+to be the same. I estimated it at about three hundred feet.
+
+One circumstance, which struck me as rather singular, with regard to the
+last forty miles of country we had traversed, was, that it did not appear
+to have experienced the same weather as there had been to the eastward.
+The little water we found deposited in the rocks, plainly indicated that
+the late rains had either not fallen here at all, or in a much less
+degree than they had, in the direction we had come from; whilst the dry
+and withered state of any little grass that we found, convinced me that
+the earlier rains had still been more partial, so great was the contrast
+between the rich luxuriance of the long green grass we had met with
+before, and the few dry withered bunches of last year's growth, which we
+fell in with now.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter V.
+
+
+
+LARGE WATERCOURSE--LAKE OF FRESH WATER--HEAVY RAINS--REACH MOUNT
+BARREN--SALT LAKES AND STREAMS--BARREN SCRUBBY COUNTRY--RANGES BEHIND
+KING GEORGE'S SOUND ARE SEEN--BRACKISH PONDS--PASS CAPE RICHE--A LARGE
+SALT RIVER--CHAINS OF PONDS--GOOD LAND--HEAVILY TIMBERED COUNTRY--COLD
+WEATHER--FRESH LAKE--THE CANDIUP RIVER--KING'S RIVER--EXCESSIVE
+RAINS--ARRIVAL AT KING GEORGE'S SOUND AND TERMINATION OF THE
+EXPEDITION--RECEPTION OF WYLIE BY THE NATIVES.
+
+
+June 24.--UPON moving on early this morning, we crossed the bed of a
+considerable watercourse, containing large deep pools of brackish water,
+but unconnected at present by any stream. The late hour at which we
+halted last night had prevented us from noticing this larger chain of
+ponds, and of which, that we were encamped upon formed only a branch. The
+country we now passed through, varied but little in character, except
+that the shrubs became higher, with a good deal of the Eucalyptus dumosa
+intermingled with them, and were entangled together by matted creepers or
+vines, which made it extremely difficult and fatiguing to force a way
+through. The whole was very sterile, and without grass.
+
+After travelling nine miles, we passed on our right a small lake of fresh
+water; and two miles beyond this another, about a mile in circumference,
+but deep, and evidently of a permanent character. Close to this fresh
+water lake was another, divided from it by only a narrow neck of land,
+and yet the latter was as salt as the sea. We had only made a short stage
+as yet; but as there was a little food for the horses near the lake, I
+thought it more prudent to halt there than run the risk of being left
+without in the wretched looking country before us,
+
+The Mount Barren ranges were observed again, but the weather was cloudy,
+so that I could make nothing out distinctly. In the afternoon, Wylie shot
+three teal, of which there were numbers on the lake. At night, our
+baggage and clothes had nearly all been destroyed by fire, a spark having
+been carried by the wind to the tarpaulin which covered them, and which,
+as it had been but newly tarred, was soon in a blaze. I was fortunate
+enough, however, to observe the accident in time to save our other
+effects.
+
+June 25.--We commenced our journey early, but had not gone far before the
+rain began to fall, and continued until ten o'clock. Occasionally the
+showers came down in perfect torrents, rendering us very cold and
+miserable, and giving the whole country the appearance of a large puddle.
+We were literally walking in water; and by stooping down, almost any
+where as we went along, could have dipped a pint pot half full. It was
+dreadful work to travel thus in the water, and with the wet from the long
+brush soaking our clothes for so many hours; but there was no help for
+it, as we could not find a blade of grass for our horses, to enable us to
+halt sooner. The surface of the whole country was stony and barren in the
+extreme. A mile from our camp, we passed a small salt lake on our left;
+and at fifteen miles more, came to a valley with some wiry grass in it.
+At this I halted, as there was no prospect of getting better grass, and
+the water left by the rains was abundant. The latter, though it had only
+fallen an hour or two, was in many places quite salt, and the best of it
+brackish, so thoroughly saline was the nature of the soil upon which it
+had been deposited.
+
+As the afternoon proved fine, I traced down the valley we were upon to
+its junction with a stream flowing over a granite bed, about a mile from
+our camp. In this the pools of water were large, deep, and brackish, but
+there was plenty of fresh water left by the rains in holes of the rocks
+upon its banks. As, however, there did not appear to be better grass upon
+the larger channel, than in the valley where we were, I did not think it
+worth while to remove our camp.
+
+June 26.--I determined to remain in camp today to rest the horses, and to
+enable me to arrange their loads, so that Wylie and I might again ride
+occasionally. We had both walked for the last eleven days, during which
+we had made good a distance of 134 miles from Rossiter Bay, and as I
+calculated we ought under ordinary circumstances to reach the Sound in
+ten days more, I thought that we might occasionally indulge in riding,
+and relieve ourselves from the great fatigue we had hitherto been subject
+to, especially as the horses were daily improving in strength and
+condition.
+
+Whilst I was engaged in making the necessary preparations, and throwing
+away some things which I thought we could dispense with, such as our
+bucket, some harness, ammunition, cooking utensils, and sundry other
+things, Wylie took the rifle, and went down to the watercourse to shoot.
+On his return in the afternoon he produced four teal and a black swan, as
+the produce of his day's sport; he had, however, shot away every charge
+of shot from the belt, which had been filled on board the Mississippi,
+and held three pounds and a half, besides three ball cartridges; how
+often he fired at the swan before he got it I could never discover, but I
+heard shot after shot as fast as he could load and fire for some time,
+and he himself acknowledged to firing at it seven times, but I suspect it
+to have been nearer twice seven.
+
+To-day we were obliged to fetch up what water we required for our own
+use, from the holes in the granite rocks near the river, that lying on
+the ground near our camp being too salt for use.
+
+June 27.--Upon moving on this morning we passed towards the Mount Barren
+ranges for ten miles through the same sterile country, and then observing
+a watercourse coming from the hills, I became apprehensive I should
+experience some difficulty in crossing it near the ranges, from their
+rocky and precipitous character, and at once turned more southerly to
+keep between the sea and a salt lake, into which the stream emptied
+itself. After getting nearly half round the lake, our progress was
+impeded by a dense and most difficult scrub of the Eucalyptus dumosa.
+Upon entering it we found the scrub large and strong, and growing very
+close together, whilst the fallen trees, dead wood, and sticks lying
+about in every direction, to the height of a man's breast, rendered our
+passage difficult and dangerous to the horses in the extreme. Indeed,
+when we were in the midst of it, the poor animals suffered so much, and
+progressed so little, that I feared we should hardly get them either
+through it or back again. By dint of great labour and perseverance we
+passed through a mile of it, and then emerging upon the beach followed it
+for a short distance, until steep rocky hills coming nearly bluff into
+the sea, obliged us to turn up under them, and encamp for the night not
+far from the lake. Here our horses procured tolerable grass, whilst we
+obtained a little fresh water for ourselves among the hollows of the
+rocks.
+
+Our stage had been about thirteen miles, and our position was S. 30
+degrees E. from East Mount Barren, the hills under which we were encamped
+being connected with that range. Most properly had it been called Mount
+Barren, for a more wretched aridlooking country never existed than that
+around it. The Mount Barren ranges are of quartz or reddish micaceous
+slate, the rocks project in sharp rugged masses, and the strata are all
+perpendicular.
+
+June 28.--Upon getting up this morning we saw the smoke of native fires
+along the margin of the lake, at less than a mile from us. They had
+already noticed our fire, and called out repeatedly to us, but as I did
+not wish to come into communication with them at all, I did not reply.
+Soon afterwards we saw them in the midst of the lake carrying boughs, and
+apparently fishing. Three miles from the lake we crossed a small salt
+stream, and a mile further another. Four miles beyond the latter we came
+to a very deep narrow salt lake, swarming with swans, pelicans, and
+ducks. As the passage between the lake and the sea appeared to be
+scrubby, and very similar to that we had found so much difficulty in
+passing yesterday, I turned to the north-west to head it inland; but had
+not proceeded far before I found our progress stopped by a large
+salt-water stream, which joined the lake, and whose course was through
+steep precipitous ravines. By following the river upwards I came to a
+place where we could descend into its basin, and as the water there,
+though brackish, was still drinkable, I halted for the night after a
+stage of fourteen miles. The horses were a good deal tired with the rough
+hilly road they had passed over, and having been without water last
+night, stood greatly in need of rest.
+
+In the afternoon Wylie took the rifle to shoot some of the swans and
+ducks around us, but was not successful. I remained at the camp, breaking
+down and clearing a passage amongst the shrubs and trees which grew in
+the rocky bed of the watercourse, to enable us to get our horses readily
+across to-morrow. Our position bore S. W. from East Mount Barren, E. from
+a bluff range three miles from us, and N. 55 degrees E. from some high
+hills in the direction of Middle Mount Barren. The course of the stream
+we were encamped upon being nearly north and south.
+
+June 29.--Having found so much difficulty in keeping between the hills
+and the sea, I determined now to keep more inland, and steering W. 20
+degrees N., headed all ranges in four miles. From this point East Mount
+Barren bore E. 20 degrees N., and as I was now clear of hills in front, I
+changed my course to W. 20 degrees S., passing through a barren worthless
+country for eleven miles, and encamping upon a deep ravine, in which we
+procured brackish water. Our horses were greatly fagged. From our camp
+West Mount Barren bore S. 41 degrees W.
+
+June 30.--For the first ten miles to-day we had a very bad road, over
+steep stony ridges and valleys, covered for the most part with dense gum
+scrub. The surface was strewed over with rough pebbles or ironstone grit,
+and was broken a good deal into steep-faced ridges and deep hollows, as
+if formed so by the action of water. The formation of these precipitous
+banks appeared to be an ochre of various colours--red and yellow, and of
+a soft friable description. At ten miles we crossed a watercourse with
+many pools of brackish water in it, trending to a lake visible under the
+coast ridge. There was good grass near this, and many kangaroos were
+seen, but as no fresh water could be obtained, we passed on, and at three
+miles further came to a hole of rain-water in a rocky gorge, but here
+there was not a blade of grass. Hoping to meet with more success further
+on, we still advanced for twelve miles, until night compelled us at last
+to encamp without either grass or water, both ourselves and our horses
+being greatly fatigued.
+
+In the evening we obtained a view of some high rugged and distant ranges,
+which I at once recognised as being the mountains immediately behind King
+George's Sound. At last we could almost say we were in sight of the
+termination of our long, harassing, and disastrous journey. Early in the
+morning I had told Wylie that I thought we should see the King George's
+Sound hills before night, but he at the time appeared rather sceptical;
+when, however, they did break upon our view, in picturesque though
+distant outline, his joy knew no bounds. For the first time on our
+journey he believed we should really reach the Sound at last. The
+cheering and not-to-be-mistaken view before him had dissipated all his
+doubts. Once more he gazed upon objects that were familiar to him; the
+home of his childhood was before him, and already almost in fancy he was
+there, and amongst his friends; he could think, or talk of nothing else,
+and actually complimented me upon the successful way in which I had
+conducted him to the end of his journey. From our camp the distant ranges
+bore W. 5 degrees S., and West Mount Barren E. 5 degrees S.
+
+July 1.--After travelling three miles we came to a chain of large ponds
+of brackish water, but with excellent grass around them, and as the
+horses had nothing to eat or drink last night we halted for three hours.
+The water was bad, but they drank it, and we were obliged to do so too,
+after an ineffectual search for better. At noon we again moved on, and
+after proceeding about five miles, came to a large watercourse where the
+water was excellent, and the feed abundant. Here we halted for the night,
+to make our horses amends for the bad fare and hard work of yesterday.
+From the hill above our camp West Mount Barren bore E. 8 degrees N.,
+Middle Mount Barren E. 21 degrees N., and Rugged Mountains behind the
+Sound, W. 4 degrees S. The watercourse we were upon, like all those we
+had lately crossed, had perpendicular cliffs abutting upon it, either on
+one side or the other, and the channel through which it wound looked
+almost like a cut made through the level country above it. A few
+casuarinae were observed in parts of the valley, being the first met with
+since those seen near Cape Arid.
+
+July 2.--Our route to-day lay through a country much covered with
+gum-scrub, banksias, and other shrubs, besides occasionally a few patches
+of stunted gum-trees growing in clumps in small hollows, where water
+appeared to lodge after rains. At two miles we crossed a small
+watercourse, and at fifteen further, came to a deep valley with fine
+fresh-water pools in it, and tolerable feed around; here we halted for
+the night. The valley we were upon (and one or two others near) led to a
+much larger one below, through which appeared to take its course the
+channel of a considerable watercourse trending towards a bight in the
+coast at S. 17 degrees W.
+
+Some high land, seen to the southward and westward of us, I took to be
+Cape Riche, a point I should like greatly to have visited, but did not
+think it prudent to go so far out of my direct course, in the
+circumstances I was travelling under.
+
+July 3.--Upon commencing our journey to-day I found our route was much
+intersected by deep ravines and gorges, all trending to the larger valley
+below, and where I had no doubt a large chain of ponds, and probably much
+good land, would have been found. After proceeding four miles and a half,
+we were stopped by a large salt-water river, which seemed to be very deep
+below where we struck it, and trended towards a bight of the coast where
+it appeared to form a junction with the sea.
+
+Many oyster and cockle shells were on its shore. This was the largest
+river we had yet come to, and it gave us much trouble to cross it, for,
+wherever it appeared fordable, the bed was so soft and muddy, that we
+dared not venture to take our horses into it. By tracing it upwards for
+eight miles, we at last found a rocky shelf extending across, by which we
+were enabled to get to the other side. At the point where we crossed, it
+had become only a narrow rocky channel; but there was a strong stream
+running, and I have no doubt, higher up, the water might probably have
+been quite fresh. Its waters flowed from a direction nearly of
+west-north-west, and appeared to emanate from the high rugged ranges
+behind King George's Sound. The country about the lower or broad part of
+this river, as far as I traced it, was rocky and bad; but higher up,
+there was a good deal of grass, and the land appeared improving. In the
+distance, the hills seemed less rocky and more grassy, and might probably
+afford fair runs for sheep. Upon the banks of the river were a few
+casuarinae and more of the tea-tree, and bastard gum, than we had seen
+before upon any other watercourse.
+
+Upon crossing the river, we found the country getting more wooded, with a
+stunted-looking tree, apparently of the same species as the stringy bark,
+with bastard gums, and large banksias, the intervals being filled up with
+grass-trees and brush, or shrubs, common at King George's Sound. At dark
+we could find no water, and I therefore pushed on by moonlight, making
+Wylie lead one of the horses whilst I drove the rest after him. At nine
+o'clock, we came to a deep valley with plenty of water and grass in it,
+and here we halted for the night, after a stage of full thirty miles. The
+early part of the morning had been very wet, and it continued to rain
+partially for the greatest part of the day, rendering us very cold and
+uncomfortable. At night it was a severe frost.
+
+July 4.--Our horses having been a good deal fagged yesterday, I did not
+disturb them early, and it was nearly noon when we moved away from our
+encampment, crossing the main watercourse, of which the ponds we were
+upon last night were only a branch. In the larger channel, there were
+many fine pools of water, connected by a strongly running stream in a
+deep narrow bed, and which wound at a course of E. 25 degrees S. through
+a valley of soft, spongy, peaty formation, and over which we had much
+trouble in getting our horses, one having sunk very deep, and being with
+difficulty extricated. After travelling two miles and a half, we obtained
+a view of Bald Island, bearing S. 15 degrees W.; and in two miles and a
+half more, we crossed a fine chain of ponds, taking its course through
+narrow valleys between hills of granite; these valleys and the slopes of
+the hills were heavily timbered; the soil was very rich, either a reddish
+loam, or a light black mixed with sand, and the grass interspersed among
+the trees was abundant and luxuriant. After ascending the range, we
+passed principally over stony hills, and valleys heavily timbered, and
+with brush or underwood, filling up the interstices of the trees.
+
+Ten miles from our last night's camp we crossed the tracks of horses,
+apparently of no very old date, this being the first symptom we had yet
+observed of our approach towards the haunts of civilised man. The day was
+cold with heavy squalls of rain, and as the night appeared likely to be
+worse, I halted early, after a stage of thirteen miles. After dark the
+rain ceased, and the night cleared up, but was very cold.
+
+July 5.--Another rainy day, and so excessively cold that we were obliged
+to walk to keep ourselves at all warm; we spent a miserable time,
+splashing through the wet underwood, and at fifteen miles we passed a
+fresh water lake, in a valley between some hills. This Wylie recognised
+as a place he had once been at before, and told me that he now knew the
+road well, and would act as guide, upon which I resigned the post of
+honour to him, on his promising always to take us to grass and water at
+night. Two miles and a half beyond the lake, we came to a fresh water
+swamp, and a mile beyond that to another, at which we halted for the
+night, with plenty of water, but very little grass. During the day, we
+had been travelling generally through a very heavily timbered country.
+
+At night the rain set in again, and continued to fall in torrents at
+intervals; we got dreadfully drenched, and suffered greatly from cold and
+want of rest, being obliged to stand or walk before the fire, nearly the
+whole night.
+
+July 6.--The morning still very wet and miserably cold. With Wylie acting
+as guide, we reached in eight miles, the Candiup river, a large chain of
+ponds, connected by a running stream, and emptying into a wide and deep
+arm of the sea, with much rich and fertile land upon its banks. The whole
+district was heavily timbered, and had good grass growing amongst the
+trees. From the very heavy rains that had fallen, we had great trouble in
+crossing many of the streams, which were swollen by the floods into
+perfect torrents. In the Candiup river I had to wade, cold and chill as I
+was, seven times through, with the water breast high, and a current that
+I with difficulty could keep my feet against, in order to get the horses
+over in safety; the only fordable place was at a narrow ledge of rocks,
+and with so strong a stream, and such deep water below the ledge, I dared
+not trust Wylie to lead any of them, but went back, and took each horse
+across myself. The day was bitterly cold and rainy, and I began to suffer
+severely from the incessant wettings I had been subject to for many days
+past.
+
+Four miles beyond the Candiup river, we came to King's river, a large
+salt arm of Oyster Harbour, here my friend Wylie, who insisted upon it
+that he knew the proper crossing place, took me into a large swampy
+morass, and in endeavouring to take the horses through, three of them got
+bogged and were nearly lost, and both myself and Wylie were detained in
+the water and mud for a couple of hours, endeavouring to extricate them.
+At last we succeeded, but the poor animals were sadly weakened and
+strained, and we were compelled to return back to the same side of the
+river, and encamp for the night, instead of going on to King George's
+Sound as I had intended!
+
+Fortunately there was tolerable grass, and fresh water lay every where
+about in great abundance, so that the horses would fare well, but for
+ourselves there was a cheerless prospect. For three days and nights, we
+had never had our clothes dry, and for the greater part of this time, we
+had been enduring in full violence the pitiless storm--whilst wading so
+constantly through the cold torrents in the depth of the winter season,
+and latterly being detained in the water so long a time at the King's
+river, had rendered us rheumatic, and painfully sensitive to either cold
+or wet. I hoped to have reached Albany this evening, and should have done
+so, as it was only six miles distant, if it had not been for the unlucky
+attempt to cross King's river. Now we had another night's misery before
+us, for we had hardly lain down before the rain began to fall again in
+torrents. Wearied and worn-out as we were, with the sufferings and
+fatigues of the last few days, we could neither sit nor lie down to rest;
+our only consolation under the circumstances being, that however bad or
+inclement the weather might be, it was the last night we should be
+exposed to its fury.
+
+July 7.--Getting up the horses early, we proceeded up the King's river,
+with a view of attempting to cross, but upon sounding the depths in one
+or two places, I found the tide, which was rising, was too high; I had
+only the alternative, therefore, of waiting for several hours until the
+water ebbed, or else of leaving the horses, and proceeding on without
+them. Under all the circumstances, I decided upon the latter; the rain
+was still falling very heavily, and the river before us was so wide and
+so dangerous for horses, from its very boggy character, that I did not
+think it prudent to attempt to force a passage, or worth while to delay
+to search for a proper crossing place. There was good feed for the horses
+where they were, and plenty of water, so that I knew they would fare
+better by remaining than if they were taken on to the Sound; whilst it
+appeared to me more than probable that I should have no difficulty,
+whenever I wished to get them, to procure a guide to go for and conduct
+them safely across, at the proper crossing place.
+
+Having turned our horses loose, and piled up our baggage, now again
+greatly reduced, I took my journals and charts, and with Wylie forded the
+river about breast high. We were soon on the other side, and rapidly
+advancing towards the termination of our journey; the rain was falling in
+torrents, and we had not a dry shred about us, whilst the whole country
+through which we passed, had, from the long-continued and excessive
+rains, become almost an uninterrupted chain of puddles. For a great part
+of the way we walked up to our ankles in water. This made our progress
+slow, and rendered our last day's march a very cold and disagreeable one.
+Before reaching the Sound, we met a native, who at once recognised Wylie,
+and greeted him most cordially. From him we learnt that we had been
+expected at the Sound some months ago, but had long been given up for
+lost, whilst Wylie had been mourned for and lamented as dead by his
+friends and his tribe. The rain still continued falling heavily as we
+ascended to the brow of the hill immediately overlooking the town of
+Albany--not a soul was to be seen--not an animal of any kind--the place
+looked deserted and uninhabited, so completely had the inclemency of the
+weather driven both man and beast to seek shelter from the storm.
+
+For a moment I stood gazing at the town below me--that goal I had so long
+looked forward to, had so laboriously toiled to attain, was at last
+before me. A thousand confused images and reflections crowded through my
+mind, and the events of the past year were recalled in rapid succession.
+The contrast between the circumstances under which I had commenced and
+terminated my labours stood in strong relief before me. The gay and
+gallant cavalcade that accompanied me on my way at starting--the small
+but enterprising band that I then commanded, the goodly array of horses
+and drays, with all their well-ordered appointments and equipment were
+conjured up in all their circumstances of pride and pleasure; and I could
+not restrain a tear, as I called to mind the embarrassing difficulties
+and sad disasters that had broken up my party, and left myself and Wylie
+the two sole wanderers remaining at the close of an undertaking entered
+upon under such hopeful auspices.
+
+Whilst standing thus upon the brow overlooking the town, and buried in
+reflection, I was startled by the loud shrill cry of the native we had
+met on the road, and who still kept with us: clearly and powerfully that
+voice rang through the recesses of the settlement beneath, whilst the
+blended name of Wylie told me of the information it conveyed. For an
+instant there was a silence still almost as death--then a single
+repetition of that wild joyous cry, a confused hum of many voices, a
+hurrying to and fro of human feet, and the streets which had appeared so
+shortly before gloomy and untenanted, were now alive with natives--men,
+women and children, old and young, rushing rapidly up the hill, to
+welcome the wanderer on his return, and to receive their lost one almost
+from the grave.
+
+It was an interesting and touching sight to witness the meeting between
+Wylie and his friends. Affection's strongest ties could not have produced
+a more affecting and melting scene--the wordless weeping pleasure, too
+deep for utterance, with which he was embraced by his relatives, the
+cordial and hearty reception given him by his friends, and the joyous
+greeting bestowed upon him by all, might well have put to the blush those
+heartless calumniators, who, branding the savage as the creature only of
+unbridled passions, deny to him any of those better feelings and
+affections which are implanted in the breast of all mankind, and which
+nature has not denied to any colour or to any race.
+
+Upon entering the town I proceeded direct to Mr. Sherrats', where I had
+lodged when in King George's Sound, in 1840. By him and his family I was
+most hospitably received, and every attention shewn to me; and in the
+course of a short time, after taking a glass of hot brandy and water,
+performing my ablutions and putting on a clean suit of borrowed clothes,
+I was enabled once more to feel comparatively comfortable, and to receive
+the many kind friends who called upon me.
+
+I feel great pleasure in the opportunity now afforded me of recording the
+grateful feelings I entertain towards the residents at Albany for the
+kindness I experienced upon this occasion. Wet as the day was, I had
+hardly been two hours at Mr. Sherrats before I was honoured by a visit
+from Lady Spencer, from the Government-resident, Mr. Phillips, and from
+almost all the other residents and visitors at the settlement,--all vying
+with each other in their kind attentions and congratulations, and in
+every offer of assistance or accommodation which it was in their power to
+render.
+
+Finding that a vessel would shortly sail for Adelaide, I at once engaged
+my passage, and proceeded to make arrangements for leaving King George's
+Sound.
+
+To the Governor of the Colony, Mr. Hutt, I wrote a brief report of my
+journey, which was forwarded, with a copy both of my own and Wylie's
+depositions, relative to the melancholy loss of my overseer on the 29th
+April. I then had my horses got up from the King's river, and left them
+in the care of Mr. Phillips, who had in the most friendly manner offered
+to take charge of them until they recovered their condition and could be
+sold.
+
+Wylie was to remain at the Sound with his friends, and to receive from
+the Government a weekly allowance of provisions, [Note 29: This was
+confirmed by Governor Hutt.] by order of Mr. Phillips; who promised to
+recommend that it should be permanently continued, as a reward for the
+fidelity and good conduct he had displayed whilst accompanying me in
+the desert.
+
+On the 13th July I wished my friends good bye, and in the afternoon went
+on board the Truelove to sail for Adelaide; whilst working out of harbour
+we were accompanied as long as any of the shore boats remained, by some
+of the natives of the place, who were most anxious to have gone with me
+to Adelaide. Wylie had given them so flattering an account of South
+Australia and its pleasures, that he had excited the envy and curiosity
+of the whole tribe; dozens applied to me to take them, and I really think
+I could have filled the ship had I been disposed; one or two, more
+persevering than the rest, would not be denied, and stuck close to the
+vessel to the last, in the hope that I might relent and take them with me
+before the pilot boat left, but upon this occurring, to their great
+discomforture, they were compelled to return disappointed.
+
+On the afternoon of the 26th of July I arrived in Adelaide, after an
+absence of one year and twenty-six days.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter VI.
+
+
+
+CONCLUDING REMARKS.
+
+
+Having now brought to a close the narrative of my explorations in 1840-1,
+it may not be out of place to take a brief and cursory review of the
+whole, and to state generally what have been the results effected. In
+making this summary, I have no important rivers to enumerate, no fertile
+regions to point out for the future spread of colonization and
+civilization, or no noble ranges to describe from which are washed the
+debris that might form a rich and fertile district beneath them; on the
+contrary, all has been arid and barren in the extreme.
+
+Such, indeed, has been the sterile and desolate character of the
+wilderness I have traversed, and so great have been the difficulties
+thereby entailed upon me, that throughout by far the greater portion of
+it, I have never been able to delay a moment in my route, or to deviate
+in any way from the line I was pursuing, to reconnoitre or examine what
+may haply be beyond. Even in the latter part of my travels, when within
+the colony of Western Australia, and when the occasionally meeting with
+tracts of a better soil, or with watercourses appearing to have an outlet
+to the ocean, rendered the country one of much greater interest, I was
+quite unable, from the circumstances under which I was placed, the
+reduced and worn-out state of my horses, and the solitary manner in which
+I was travelling, ever to deviate from my direct line of route, either to
+examine more satisfactorily the character of the country, or to determine
+whether the watercourses, some of which occasionally bore the character
+of rivers (though of only short course), had embouchures opening to the
+sea or not.
+
+In a geographical point of view, I would hope the result of my labours
+has not been either uninteresting, or incommensurate with the nature of
+the expedition placed under my command, and the character of the country
+I had to explore. By including in the summary I am now making, the
+journeys I undertook in 1839, as well as those of 1840-1 (for a
+considerable portion of the country then examined was recrossed by the
+Northern Expedition), it will be seen that I have discovered and examined
+a tract of country to the north of Adelaide, which was previously
+unknown, of about 270 miles in length, extending between the parallels of
+33 degrees 40 minutes and 29 degrees S. latitude. In longitude, that part
+of my route which was before unknown, extends between the parallels of
+138 degrees E., and 118 degrees 40 minutes E., or about 1060 miles of
+direct distance. These being connected with the previously known portions
+of South-western, South-eastern, and part of Southern Australia, complete
+the examination of the whole of the south line of the coast of this
+continent. Indeed, I have myself (at various times) crossed over the
+whole of this distance from east to west, from Sydney to Swan River. In
+the early part of the Expedition, 1840, the continuation of Flinders
+range, from Mount Arden, was traced and laid down to its termination,
+near the parallel of 29 degrees S. It was ascertained to be hemmed in by
+an impassable barrier, consisting of the basin of an immense lake, which
+I named Lake Torrens, and which, commencing from the head of Spencer's
+Gulf, increased in width as it swept to the north-west, but subsequently
+bent round again to the north-east, east and south-east, in
+correspondence with the trend of Flinders range, the northern extremity
+of which it completely surrounded in the form of a horse-shoe. The shores
+of this lake I visited to the westward of Flinders range, at three
+different points, from eighty to ninety miles apart from each other, and
+on all these occasions I found the basin to consist, as far as I could
+penetrate, of a mass of mud and sand, coated on the surface with a crust
+of salt, but having water mixed with it beneath. At the most
+north-westerly point attained by me, water was found in an arm of the
+main lake, about two feet deep, clear, and salt as the sea; it did not
+extend, however, more than two or three hundred yards, nor did it
+continue to the bed of the main lake, which appeared, from a rise that I
+ascended near the arm, to be of the same character and consistency as
+before. The whole course of the lake, to the farthest point visited by
+me, was bounded by a steep, continuous, sandy ridge, exactly like a
+sea-shore ridge; those parts of its course to the north, and to the east
+of Flinders range, which I did not go down to, were seen and laid down
+from various heights in that mountain chain. Altogether, the outline of
+this extraordinary feature, as thus observed and traced, could not have
+extended over a circuit of less than 400 miles.
+
+It is singular enough that all the springs found near the termination of
+Flinders range should have been salt, and that these were very nearly in
+the same latitude in which Captain Sturt had found brine springs in the
+bed of the Darling in 1829, although our two positions were so far
+separated in longitude. My furthest position to the north-west was also
+in about the same latitude, as the most inland point gained by any
+previous exploring party, viz. that of Sir Thomas Mitchell's in 1832,
+about the parallel of 149 degrees E. longitude; but by my being about 600
+miles more to the westward, I was consequently much nearer to the centre
+of New Holland. It is, to say the least, remarkable that from both our
+positions, so far apart as they are, the country should present the same
+low and sterile aspect to the west and north-west. Since my return from
+the expedition, a party has been sent out under Captain Frome, the
+Surveyor-General, in South Australia, to examine the south-east extremity
+of Lake Torrens; the following is the report made by that officer upon
+his return.
+
+
+"The most northern point at which I found water last year, was near the
+top of a deep ravine of the Black Rock Hills, in lat. 32 degrees 45
+minutes 25 seconds, where I left the dray and the larger portion of my
+party on the 20th July, taking on only a light spring cart, the bottom
+filled entirely with kegs containing sufficient water for our horses for
+nearly three days, and provisions for one month, which was as much as the
+cart would contain.
+
+"My object being to ascertain the boundaries of the southern termination
+of the eastern branch of Lake Torrens, as laid down by Mr. Eyre, and also
+the nature of the country between Flinders range, as high as the parallel
+of Mount Hopeless, and the meridian of 141 degrees, (the eastern limits
+of the province), I kept at first a course as near N.N.E. as the nature
+of the ground would admit, to ensure my not passing to the east of this
+extremity of the lake; from whence I intended, if possible, to pursue a
+line nearly north-east, as far as my time and the means at my disposal
+would allow me, hoping to reach the high land laid down by Sir Thomas
+Mitchell, on the right banks of the Darling, to the north of Mount Lyell,
+and thus ascertain if any reasonable hope existed of penetrating at some
+future time towards the interior from thence. The continued heavy rains
+which had fallen for more than three weeks before my departure from
+Adelaide, on the 8th July, and for nearly a fortnight afterwards, had
+left the surface water in pools on the scrubby plains, and in some of the
+ravines; but on proceeding north, it was evident that these rains had not
+been there so general or so heavy, though by steering from point to point
+of the hills, after crossing the Black Rock Range at Rowe's Creek, I was
+able to find sufficient water for the horses, and to replenish the kegs
+every second or third day. From this spot, the plains, as well as the
+higher land, appeared evidently to dip away to the north-east, the barren
+hills all diminishing in elevation, and the deep watercourses from
+Flinders range all crossing the plains in that direction. In one of these
+watercourses, the Siccus (lat. about 31 degrees 55 minutes), whose
+section nearly equals that of the Murray, there were indications of not
+very remote floods having risen to between twenty and thirty feet above
+its bed, plainly marked by large gum-trees lodged in the forks of the
+standing trees, and lying high up on its banks, on one of which I
+remarked dead leaves still on the branches; and in another creek (Pasmore
+River), lat. 31 degrees 29 minutes, a strong current was running at the
+spot where we struck it (owing, I suppose, to recent heavy rains among
+the hills from whence it has its source), but below this point the bed
+was like that of all the other creeks, as dry as if no rain had ever
+fallen, and with occasional patches of various shrubs, and salt water
+tea-tree growing in it. After crossing the low ridge above Prewitt's
+Springs, lat. 31 degrees 45 minutes, forming the left bank of the basin
+of the Siccus, the plain extended between the north and east as far as
+the eye could reach, and the lurid glare of the horizon, as we advanced
+northward, plainly indicated the approach of Lake Torrens, which, from
+the direction I had followed, I expected to turn about this point. I was
+obliged, however, to continue a northerly course for the sake of water,
+which I could only hope to find in the ravines of the hills on our left,
+as high as the parallel of 30 degrees 59 minutes, where the lake was
+visible within fifteen or sixteen miles, and appeared from the high land
+to be covered with water, studded with islands, and backed on the east by
+a bold rocky shore. These appearances were, however, all deceptive, being
+caused solely by the extraordinary refraction, as on riding to the spot
+the following day, not a drop of water was to be seen in any direction.
+The islands turned out to be mere low sandy ridges, very scantily clothed
+with stunted scrub on their summits, and no distant land appeared any
+where between the north and south-east, though from the hills above our
+camp of the previous night, I could discern, with the aid of a very
+powerful telescope, a ridge of low land, either on the eastern side of
+the lake, or rising out of it, distant at least seventy miles, rendered
+visible at that distance by the excessive refractive power of the
+atmosphere on the horizon. A salt crust was seen at intervals on the
+surface of the sand at the margin of the lake, or as it might more
+properly be called, the Desert; but this appearance might either be
+caused by water brought down by the Siccus, and other large watercourses
+spreading over the saline soil in times of flood, or by rain, and
+appeared to me no proof of its ever being covered with water for any
+period of time. A few pieces of what appeared drift timber were also
+lying about its surface. The sand, as we advanced farther east, became
+more loose and drifting, and not a blade of grass, or any species of
+vegetation, was visible, rendering hopeless any attempt to cross it with
+horses. This point of the lake shore, being by Mr. Eyre's chart about
+thirty miles to the westward of where I found it, I thought it advisable
+to push further north, in the direction of the highest point of the
+range, which I imagined was probably his Mount Serle; for though it was
+not to be expected that Mr. Eyre, whose principal and almost sole object
+was to discover a road to the interior, would, at the same time, have
+been able to lay down the position of his route with the same accuracy
+that might have been expected from a surveyor; this difference of
+longitude prevented my being certain of the identity of the spot, or that
+the range on our left, might not after all, be another long promontory
+running to the north, similar to that on the western side of which was
+Mr. Eyre's course. The appearance of the country, however, from the hills
+close under Mount Serle (for the perpendicular cliffs on the east side of
+this range of hills prevented my ascending to their summit without
+turning them among the ranges, for which I had not time), convinced me at
+once, from its perfect accordance with the description given by Mr. Eyre,
+that his eastern arm of Lake Torrens was the sandy desert I had left, its
+surface being about three hundred feet above the level of the sea; and
+our two converging lines having thus met at Mount Serle, I knew it was
+useless to advance further in the same direction to a spot which he had
+named, from the impossibility of proceeding beyond it, "Mount Hopeless."
+
+"I was thus forced to return to Pasmore River, as the nearest point from
+whence I could cross to the low hills to the eastward, south of Lake
+Torrens; and from thence I sent back to the depot two men of the party,
+and three horses--the former for the sake of their rations, and the
+latter on account of the probable difficulty I should have in procuring
+water--taking on with me only Mr. Henderson and Mr. Hawker on foot, with
+the light cart and one policeman. The second evening I made the most
+northern of these hills, but could not find a drop of water in any of
+them; and having unluckily lost the policeman, who had crossed in front
+of the dray and got entangled in the dense scrub, I was detained three
+days riding upon his tracks, until I had traced them to our dray tracks
+from the depot at the Black Rock Hill, which he reached in safety, after
+being out five days without food. The cart, in the mean time, had been
+obliged to leave the spot where I left it, for want of water--having been
+out six days without obtaining any but what we carried in the kegs; and
+when I overtook it, we had not sufficient provisions for another attempt,
+the period of one month, for which they were intended to last, having
+already nearly expired.
+
+"I very much regret not having been able to reach, at all events, within
+sight of Mount Lyell; but where I turned I could plainly see the whole
+country within fifty or sixty miles of the boundaries of the province,
+and can speak with almost as much confidence of its absolute sterility as
+if I had actually ridden over it. It would certainly be possible in the
+wet season to take a small party from Prewitt's Springs across to this
+hill of Sir Thomas Mitchell (distant about one hundred and sixty miles),
+by carrying on water for eight or ten days; but no further supply might
+be found short of the Darling (eighty miles beyond Mount Lyell), on which
+river it would be madness to attempt anything without a considerable
+force, on account of the natives; and the same point might be reached in
+nearly as short a time, and with much more certainty, with any number of
+men that might be considered necessary, by ascending the Murray as high
+as the Laidley Ponds, and proceeding north from thence.
+
+"On returning to the depot, I moved the party down to Mount Bryan, and
+made another attempt on the 25th August, with Mr. Henderson, and one man
+leading a pack-horse, to the north-east, hoping, from the heavy rains
+which had fallen during the past two months, to find sufficient water in
+the ravines to enable me to push on for several days. The second day, I
+crossed the high range I had observed from the Black Rock Hills and Mount
+Bryan, for the southern termination of which Colonel Gawler steered when
+he left the northern bend of the Murray in December, 1839; but though
+these hills had an elevation of twelve hundred or fourteen hundred feet
+above the plain, there was no indication of rain having fallen there
+since the deluge. This want of water prevented my proceeding further to
+the north-east; but from the summit of the highest of these hills (Mount
+Porcupine,) I had a clear view of the horizon in every direction, and a
+more barren, sterile country, cannot be imagined.
+
+"The direction of the dividing ridge between the basin of the Murray and
+the interior desert plain was generally about north-east from the Black
+Rock Hills (the highest point north of Mount Bryan,) gradually decreasing
+in elevation, and, if possible, increasing in barrenness. The summits of
+those hills I found invariably rock--generally sandstone--the lower
+slopes covered with dense brush, and the valleys with low scrub, with
+occasional small patches of thin wiry grass. I was obliged to return on
+the third day, and reached the foot of Mount Bryan on the fourth evening,
+at the southern extremity of which hill the horses were nearly bogged in
+the soft ground, though only fifty miles distant from land where the dust
+was flying as if in the midst of summer.
+
+"It appears to me certain, from the result of these different attempts,
+that there is no country eastward of the high land extending north from
+Mount Bryan, as far as Mount Hopeless, a distance of about three hundred
+miles, as far as the meridian of 141 degrees (and probably much beyond
+it), available for either agricultural or pastoral purposes; and that,
+though there may be occasional spots of good land at the base of the main
+range on the sources of the numerous creeks flowing from thence towards
+the inland desert, these must be too limited in extent to be of any
+present value.
+
+"The nature of the formation of the main range I found generally
+iron-stone, conglomerate and quartz, with sandstone and slate at the
+lower elevation. At the points of highest elevation from Mount Bryan
+northward, igneous rocks of basaltic character protruded from below,
+forming rugged and fantastic outlines.
+
+"At one spot, particularly, about 30 degrees, there were marked
+indications of volcanic action, and several hollows resembling small
+craters of extinct volcanoes, near one of which we found a small spring
+of water, maintaining always a temperature of about 76 degrees Farenheit,
+when the thermometer standing in water in the kegs stood at 52 degrees,
+and in the atmosphere at 54 degrees.
+
+"The accompanying sketch of the country from Mount Bryan northwards, will
+probably explain its character better than any written description. The
+altitudes marked at the different spots where they were observed, were
+obtained by the temperature of boiling water, as observed by two
+thermometers; but as they were not graduated with sufficient minuteness
+for such purposes, the results can only be considered approximate."
+
+E. C. FROME,
+Capt. Royal Engineers,
+Surveyor-General.
+September 14th, 1843.
+
+
+In the above report it will be observed, that there are some apparent
+discrepancies between my account and Captain Frome's. First, with respect
+to the position of the south-east extremity of Lake Torrens. Captain
+Frome states that he found that point thirty miles more to the east than
+I had placed it in my chart. Now the only sketch of my course under
+Flinders range, and that a rough one, which I furnished to the Colonial
+Government, was sent from Port Lincoln, and is the same which was
+subsequently published with other papers, relative to South Australia,
+for the House of Commons, in 1843. This sketch was put together hastily
+for his Excellency the Governor, that I might not lose the opportunity of
+forwarding it when I sent from Port Lincoln to Adelaide for supplies
+early in October, 1840. It was constructed entirely, after I found myself
+compelled to return from the northern interior, and could only be
+attended to, in a hurried and imperfect manner, during the brief
+intervals I could snatch from other duties, whilst travelling back from
+the north to Port Lincoln (nearly 400 miles,) during which time my
+movements were very rapid, and many arrangements, consequent upon
+dividing my party at Baxter's range, had to be attended to; added to this
+were the difficulties and embarrassments of conducting myself one
+division of the party to Port Lincoln, through 200 miles of a desert
+country which had never been explored before, and which, from its arid
+and sterile character, presented impediments of no ordinary kind.
+
+Upon my return to Adelaide in 1841, after the Expedition had terminated,
+other duties engrossed my time, and it was only after the publication of
+Captain Frome's report, that my attention was again called to the
+subject. Upon comparing my notes and bearings with the original sketch I
+had made, I found that in the hurry and confusion of preparing it, whilst
+travelling, I had laid down all the bearings and courses magnetic,
+without allowing for the variation; nor can this error, perhaps, be
+wondered at, considering the circumstances under which the sketch was
+constructed.
+
+At Mount Hopeless the variation was 4 degrees E., at Mount Arden it was 7
+degrees 24 minutes E. Now if this variation be applied proportionably to
+all the courses and bearings as marked down in the original chart,
+commencing from Mount Arden, it will be found that Mount Serle will be
+brought by my map very nearly in longitude to where Captain Frome places
+it. [Note 30 at end of para.] Our latitudes appear to agree exactly.
+The second point upon which some difference appears to exist
+between Captain Frome's report and mine is the character of Lake Torrens
+itself, which Captain Frome thought might more properly be called
+a desert. This, it will be observed, is with reference to its south-east
+extremity--a point I never visited, and which I only saw once from
+Mount Serle; a point, too, which from the view I then had of it,
+distant although it was, even at that time seemed to me to be
+"apparently dry," and is marked as such in Arrowsmith's chart,
+published from the sketch alluded to.
+
+[Note 30: This has been done by Arrowsmith in the map which accompanies
+these volumes;--to which Mr. Arrowsmith has also added Captain Frome's
+route from the original tracings.]
+
+There is, however, a still greater, and more singular difference alluded
+to in Captain Frome's report, which it is necessary to remark; I mean
+that of the elevation of the country. On the west side of Flinders range,
+for 200 miles that I traced the course of Lake Torrens, it was, as I have
+observed, girded in its whole course by a steep ridge, like a sea-shore,
+from which you descended into a basin, certainly not above the level of
+the sea, possibly even below it (I had no instruments with me to enable
+me to ascertain this,) the whole bed consisted of mud and water, and I
+found it impossible to advance far into it from its boggy nature. On the
+east side of Flinders range, Captain Frome found the lake a desert, 300
+feet above the level of the sea, [Note 31: By altitude deduced from the
+temperature of boiling water.] and consisting of "loose and drifting
+sand," and "low sandy ridges, very scantily clothed with stunted scrub on
+their summits." Now, by referring to Captain Frome's chart and report, it
+appears that the place thus described was nearly thirty miles south of
+Mount Serle, and consequently twenty miles south of that part of the bed
+of Lake Torrens which I had seen from that hill. It is further evident,
+that Captain Frome had not reached the basin of Lake Torrens, and I
+cannot help thinking, that if he had gone further to the north-east, he
+would have come to nearly the same level that I had been at on the
+western side of the hills. There are several reasons for arriving at this
+conclusion. First, the manner in which the drainage is thrown off from
+the east side of Flinders range, and the direction which the watercourses
+take to the north-east or north; secondly, because an apparent connection
+was traceable in the course of the lake, from the heights in Flinders
+range, nearly all the way round it; thirdly, because the loose sands and
+low sandy ridges crowned with scrub, described by Captain Frome, were
+very similar to what I met with near Lake Torrens in the west side,
+before I reached its basin.
+
+After the Northern Expedition had been compelled to return south, (being
+unable to cross Lake Torrens,) the peninsula of Port Lincoln was
+examined, and traversed completely round, in all the three sides of the
+triangle formed by its east and west coasts, and a line from Mount Arden
+to Streaky Bay. A road overland from Mount Arden was forced through the
+scrub for a dray; but the country travelled through was of so
+inhospitable a character as to hold out no prospect of its being
+generally available for overland communication. One unfortunate
+individual has since made an attempt to take over a few head of cattle by
+this route, but was unable to accomplish it, and miserably perished with
+his whole party from want of water. [Note 32: Vide note to page 154,
+Vol. I. (Note 11)]
+
+On the northern side of the triangle I have alluded to, or on the line
+between Mount Arden and Streaky Bay, a singularly high and barren range,
+named the Gawler Range after His Excellency the Governor, was found
+consisting of porphoritic granite, extending nearly all the way across,
+and then stretching out to the north-west in lofty rugged outline as far
+as the eye could reach; the most remarkable fact connected with this
+range, was the arid and sterile character of the country in which it was
+situated, as well as of the range itself, which consisted entirely of
+rugged barren rocks, without timber or vegetation. There was not a stream
+or a watercourse of any kind emanating from it; we could find neither
+spring nor permanent fresh water, and the only supply we procured for
+ourselves was from the deposits left by very recent rains, and which in a
+few days more, would have been quite dried up. The soil was in many
+places saline, and wherever water had lodged in any quantity (as in lakes
+of which there were several) it was quite salt.
+
+[Note 33: A small exploring party, under a Mr. Darke, was sent from Port
+Lincoln in August, 1844, but after getting as far as the Gawler Range were
+compelled by the inhospitable nature of the country to return. The
+unfortunate leader was murdered by the natives on his route homewards.]
+
+Continuing the line of coast to the westward, the expedition passed
+through the most wretched and desolate country imaginable, consisting
+almost entirely of a table-land, or of undulating ridges, covered for the
+most part with dense scrubs, and almost wholly without either grass or
+water. The general elevation of this country was from three to five
+hundred feet, and all of the tertiary deposit, with primary rocks
+protruding at intervals.
+
+The first permanent fresh water met with on the surface was a small
+fresh-water lake, beyond the parallel of 123 degrees E.; but from Mount
+Arden to that point, a distance of fully 800 miles in a direct line, none
+whatever was found on the surface (if I except a solitary small spring
+sunk in the rock at Streaky Bay). During the whole of this vast distance,
+not a watercourse, not a hollow of any kind was crossed; the only water
+to be obtained was by digging close to the sea-shore, or the sand-hills
+of the coast, and even by that means it frequently could not be procured
+for distances of 150 to 160 miles together. With the exception of the
+Gawler Range, which lies between Streaky Bay and Mount Arden, this dreary
+waste was one almost uniform table-land of fossil formation, with an
+elevation of from three to five hundred feet, covered for the most part
+by dense impenetrable scrubs, and varied only on its surface by
+occasional sandy or rocky undulations.
+
+What then can be the nature of that mysterious interior, bounded as it is
+by a table-land without river or lakes, without watercourses or drainage
+of any kind, for so vast a distance? Can it be that the whole is one
+immense interminable desert, or an alternation of deserts and shallow
+salt lakes like Lake Torrens? Conjecture is set at defiance by the
+impenetrable arrangements of nature; where, the more we pry into her
+secrets, the more bewildered and uncertain become all our speculations.
+
+It has been a common and a popular theory to imagine the existence of an
+inland sea, and this theory has been strengthened and confirmed by the
+opinion of so talented, so experienced, and so enterprising a traveller
+as my friend Captain Sturt, in its favour. That gentleman, with the noble
+and disinterested enthusiasm by which he has ever been characterised, has
+once more sacrificed the pleasure and quiet of domestic happiness, at the
+shrine of enterprise and science. With the ardour of youth, and the
+perseverance and judgment of riper years, he is even now traversing the
+trackless wilds, and seeking to lift up that veil which has hitherto hung
+over their recesses. May he be successful to the utmost of his wishes,
+and may he again rejoin in health and safety his many friends, to forget
+in their approbation and admiration the toils he has encountered, and to
+enjoy the rewards and laurels which will have been so hardly earned, and
+so well deserved.
+
+It was in August, 1844, that Captain Sturt set out upon his arduous
+undertaking, with a numerous and well equipped party, and having
+provisions calculated to last them for eighteen months. I had the
+pleasure of accompanying the expedition as far as the Rufus (about 240
+miles from Adelaide), to render what assistance I could, in passing up,
+on friendly terms among the more distant natives of the Murray. Since my
+return, Captain Sturt has been twice communicated with, and twice heard
+from, up to the time I left the Colony, on the 21st December, 1844. The
+last official communication addressed to the Colonial Government will be
+found in Chapter IX. of Notes on the Aborigines. The following is a copy
+of a private letter to John Morphett, Esq M.C., and published in the
+Adelaide Observer of the 9th November, 1844:--
+
+
+"14th October, 1844.
+
+"I left Lake Victoria, as I told you in a former letter, on the 18th of
+September, and again cut across the country to the Murray. As we
+travelled along we saw numerous tracks of wild cattle leading from the
+marshes to the river, and we encamped at the junction of the river and a
+lagoon (one of the most beautiful spots you ever saw), just where these
+tracks were most numerous. In the night therefore we were surrounded by
+lowing herds, coming to the green pastures of which we had taken
+possession. In the morning I sent Messrs. Poole and Brown, with Flood my
+stockman, and Mark to drive in some bullocks, as I was anxious to secure
+one or two workers. The brush however was too thick, and in galloping
+through it after a bull, Flood's carbine exploded, and blew off three of
+the fingers of his right hand. This accident obliged me to remain
+stationary for two days, notwithstanding my anxiety to get up to the
+lagoon at Williorara, to ascertain the truth or otherwise of the report I
+had heard of the massacre of a party of overlanders there.
+
+"On the 23rd I reached the junction of the Ana branch with the Murray,
+discovered by Eyre, and then turned northwards. Running this Ana branch
+up, I crossed it where the water ceased, and went to the Darling,
+striking it about fifteen miles above its junction with the Murray. The
+unlooked-for course of the Darling however kept me longer on its banks
+than I had anticipated; but you can form no idea of the luxuriant verdure
+of its flats. They far surpass those of the Murray, both in quantity and
+quality of soil; and extended for many miles at a stretch along the river
+side. We have run up it at a very favourable season, and seen the
+commencement of its floods; for, two days after we reached it, and found
+it with scarcely any water in its bed, we observed a fresh in it,
+indicated by a stronger current. The next morning to our surprise the
+waters were half-bank high. They had risen six feet during the night, and
+were carrying everything before them; now they are full sixteen feet
+above their level, and a most beautiful river it is. Over this said
+mysterious river, as Major Mitchell calls it, the trees drooped like
+willows, or grew in dark clusters at each turn; the sloping banks were of
+a vivid green, the flats lightly timbered, and the aspect of the whole
+neighbourhood cheerful.
+
+"I had hoped that we should have been able to approach the ranges pretty
+closely along the line of Laidley's Ponds; but fancy our disappointment
+when we arrived on its banks to find that instead of a mountain stream it
+was a paltry creek, connecting a lake, now dry, with the river, and that
+its banks were quite bare. I was therefore obliged to fall back upon the
+Darling, and have been unable to stir for the last four days by reason of
+heavy rain.
+
+"On Tuesday I despatched Mr. Poole to the ranges, which are forty miles
+distant from us, to ascertain if there is water or feed under them; but I
+have no hope of good tidings, and believe I shall ultimately be obliged
+to establish myself on the Darling.
+
+"You will be glad to hear, and so ought every body, that we have
+maintained a most satisfactory intercourse with the natives. The report
+we had heard referred to Major Mitchell's affray with them, and you will
+not be surprised at their reverting to it, when I tell you that several
+old men immediately recognized me as having gone down the Murray in a
+boat, although they could have seen me for an hour or two only, and
+fifteen years have now elapsed since I went down the river. I suppose we
+misunderstood the story; but most assuredly I fully anticipated we
+should, sooner or later, come on some dreadful acene or other, and I came
+up fully prepared to act; but the natives have been exceedingly quiet,
+nor have we seen a weapon in the hands of any of them: in truth I have
+been quite astonished at the change in the blacks; for instead of
+collecting in a body, they have visited us with their wives and children,
+and have behaved in the most quiet manner. We may attribute this in part
+to our own treatment of the natives, and in part to Eyre's influence over
+them, which is very extensive, and has been productive of great good. The
+account the natives give of the distant interior is very discouraging. It
+is nothing more however than what I expected. They say that beyond the
+hills it is all sand and rocks; that there is neither grass or water, or
+wood; and that it is awfully hot. This last feature appears to terrify
+them. They say that they are obliged to take wood to the hills for fire,
+and that they clamber up the rocks on the hills; that when there is water
+there, it is in deep holes from which they are obliged to sponge it up
+and squeeze it out to drink. I do not in truth think that any of the
+natives have been beyond the hills, and that the country is perfectly
+impracticable.
+
+"We are now not more than two hundred and fifteen feet above the sea,
+with a declining country to the north-west, and the general dip of the
+continent to the south-west. What is the natural inference where there is
+not a single river emptying itself upon the coast, but that there is an
+internal basin? Such a country can only be penetrated by cool calculation
+and determined perseverance. I have sat down before it as a besieger
+before a fortress, to make my approaches with the same systematic
+regularity. I must cut hay and send forage and water in advance, as far
+as I can. I have the means of taking sixteen days' water and feed for two
+horses and three men; and if I can throw my supplies one hundred miles in
+advance, I shall be able to go two hundred miles more beyond that point,
+at the rate of thirty miles a-day, one of us walking whilst two rode.
+Surely at such a distance some new feature will open to reward our
+efforts! My own opinion is, that an inland sea will bring us up ere
+long--then how shall we get the boat upon it? 'Why,' you will say,
+'necessity is the mother of invention.' You will find some means or
+other, no doubt; and so we will. However, under any circumstances, depend
+upon it I will either lift up or tear down the curtain which hides the
+interior from us, so look out for the next accounts from me as of the
+most interesting kind, as solving this great problem, or shutting the
+door to discovery from this side the continent for ever.
+
+"P.S. Poole has just returned from the ranges. I have not time to write
+over again. He says that there are high ranges to N. and N.W. and
+water,--a sea extending along the horizon from S.W. by W., to ten E. of
+N. in which there are a number of islands and lofty ranges as far as the
+eye can reach. What is all this? Are we to be prosperous? I hope so; and
+I am sure you do. To-morrow we start for the ranges, and then for the
+waters,--the strange waters on which boat never swam, and over which flag
+never floated. But both shall are long. We have the heart of the interior
+laid open to us, and shall be off with a flowing sheet in a few days.
+Poole says that the sea was a deep blue, and that in the midst of it
+there was a conical island of great height. When will you hear from me
+again?"
+
+
+From this communication, Captain Sturt appears to be sanguine of having
+realized the long hoped for sea, and at last of having found a key to the
+centre of the continent. Most sincerely do I hope that this may be the
+case, and that the next accounts may more than confirm such satisfactory
+intelligence.
+
+My own impressions were always decidedly opposed to the idea of an inland
+sea, nor have I changed them in the least, now that circumstances
+amounting almost to proof, seem to favour that opinion.
+
+Entertaining, as I do, the highest respect for the opinion of one so
+every way capable of forming a correct judgment as Captain Sturt, it is
+with considerable diffidence that I advance any conjectures in opposition
+to his, and especially so, as I may be thought presumptuous in doing so
+in the face of the accounts received. Until these accounts, however, are
+further confirmed, the question still remains as it was; and it may
+perhaps not be out of place to allude to some of the reasons which have
+led me to form an opinion somewhat different from that entertained by
+Captain Sturt, and which I have been compelled to arrive at after a long
+personal experience, a closer approach to the interior, and a more
+extensive personal examination of the continent, than any other traveller
+has hitherto made. In the course of that experience, I have never met
+with the slightest circumstance to lead me to imagine that there should
+be an inland sea, still less a deep navigable one, and having an outer
+communication with the ocean. I can readily suppose, and, in fact, I do
+so believe, that a considerable portion of the interior consists of the
+beds or basins of salt lakes or swamps, as Lake Torrens, and some of
+which might be of great extent. I think, also, that these alternate, with
+sandy deserts, and that probably at intervals, there are many isolated
+ranges, like the Gawler range, and which, perhaps, even in some places
+may form a connection of links across the continent, could any favourable
+point be obtained for commencing the examination.
+
+It is very possible that among these ranges, intervals of a better or
+even of a rich and fertile country might be met with.
+
+The suggestion thrown out by Captain Sturt a few years ago, that
+Australia might formerly have been an Archipelago of islands, appears to
+me to have been a happy idea, and to afford the most rational and
+satisfactory way of accounting for many of the peculiarities observable
+upon its surface or in its structure. That it has only recently (compared
+with other countries) obtained its present elevation, is often forcibly
+impressed upon the traveller, by the appearance of the country he is
+traversing, but no where have I found this to be the case in a greater
+degree, than whilst exploring that part of it, north of Spencer's Gulf,
+where a great portion of the low lands intervening, between the base of
+Flinders range, and the bed of Lake Torrens, presents the appearance of a
+succession of rounded undulations of sand or pebbles washed perfectly
+smooth and even, looking like waves of the sea, and seeming as if they
+had not been very many centuries deserted by the element that had moulded
+them into their present form. In this singular district I found scattered
+at intervals throughout the whole area inclosed by, but south of, Lake
+Torrens, many steep-sided fragments of a table land, [Note 34 at end of
+para.] which had evidently been washed to pieces by the violent action of
+water, and which appeared to have been originally, of nearly the same
+general elevation as the table lands to the westward. It seems to me,
+that these table lands have formerly been the bed of the ocean, and this
+opinion is fully borne out by the many marine remains, fossil shells, and
+banks of oyster shells, [Note 35 at end of para.] which are frequently to
+be met with embedded in them. What are now the ranges of the continent
+would therefore formerly have been but rocks or islands, and if this
+supposition be true, there are still hopes that some other islands are
+scattered over the immense space occupied by Australia, and which may be
+of as rich and fertile a character, as any that are yet known. Thus if
+the intervening extent of desert lying between any of the known portions
+of Australia, and what may be considered as having been the next island,
+can be ascertained and crossed over, new and valuable regions may yet be
+offered for the extension of the pastoral interest of our Colonies,
+and for the general spread of civilization and improvement.
+
+[Note 34: "An hundred miles above this, I passed a curious feature, called
+the "Square Hills" (plate 123 ). I landed my canoe and went ashore, and to
+their tops to examine them. Though they appeared to be near the river, I
+found it half a day's journey to travel to and from them; they being
+several miles from the river. On ascending them I found them to be two or
+three hundred feet high, and rising on their sides at an angle of 45 deg.
+and on their tops, in some places for half a mile in length perfectly
+level, with a green turf, and corresponding exactly with the tabular
+hills spoken of above the Mandans, in plate 39, vol. 1. I therein said
+that I should visit these hills on my way down the river; and I am fully
+convinced from close examination, that they are a part of the same
+original superstratum, which I therein described, though 7 or 800 miles
+separated from them. They agree exactly in character, and also in the
+materials of which they are composed; and I believe that some
+unaccountable gorge of waters has swept away the intervening earth,
+leaving these solitary and isolated, though incontrovertible evidences,
+that the summit level of all this great valley, has at one time been
+where the level surface of these hills now is, two or three hundred feet
+above what is now denominated the summit level."--Catlin's American
+Indians, Vol. 2. pp. 11 and 12.]
+
+[Note 35: Similar banks of fossil shells and oyster beds, are found in the
+Arkansas.--Vide Catlin, Vol. 2. p. 85. At page 86, Mr. Catlin describes
+banks of gypsum and salt, extending through a considerable extent of
+country, and which apparently was of a very similar formation to some of
+the localities I was in to the north of Spencer's Gulf.]
+
+I have already observed that several circumstances connected with my own
+personal experience have led me to the conclusion, that there is no
+inland sea now occupying the centre of New Holland; it will be sufficient
+to name three of the most important of these.
+
+First. I may mention the hot winds which in South Australia, or opposite
+the centre of the continent, always blow from the north, to those, who
+have experienced the oppressive and scorching influence of these winds,
+which can only be compared to the fiery and withering blasts from a
+heated furnace, I need hardly point out that there is little probability
+that such winds can have been wafted over a large expanse of water.
+
+Secondly. I may state that between the Darling river and the head of the
+Great Australian Bight, I have at various points come into friendly
+communication with the Aborigines inhabiting the outskirts of the
+interior, and from them I have invariably learnt that they know of no
+large body of water inland, fresh or salt; that there were neither trees
+nor ranges, but that all was an arid waste so far as they were accustomed
+to travel.
+
+Thirdly. I infer the non-existence of an inland sea, from the coincidence
+observable in the physical appearance, customs, character, and pursuits
+of the Aborigines at opposite points of the continent, whilst no such
+coincidence exists along the intervening lines of coast connecting those
+points.
+
+With respect to the first consideration, it is unnecessary to add further
+remark; as regards the second, I may state, that although I may sometimes
+not have met with natives at those precise spots which might have been
+best suited for making inquiry, or although I may sometimes have had a
+difficulty in explaining myself to, or in understanding a people whose
+language I did not comprehend; yet such has not always been the case, and
+on many occasions I have had intercourse with natives at favourable
+positions, and have been able, quite intelligibly, to carry on any
+inquiries. One of these opportunities occurred in the very neighbourhood
+of the hill from which Mr. Poole is said to have seen the inland sea, as
+described in Captain Sturt's despatch.
+
+There are several reasons for supposing Mr. Poole to have been deceived
+in forming an opinion of the objects which he saw before him from that
+elevation: first, I know, from experience, the extraordinary and
+deceptive appearances that are produced in such a country as Mr. Poole
+was in, by mirage and refration combined. I have often myself been very
+similarly deceived by the semblance of hills, islands, and water, where
+none such existed in reality. Secondly, in December 1843, I was within
+twenty-five miles of the very spot from which Mr. Poole thought he looked
+upon a sea, and I was then accompanied by natives, and able, by means of
+an interpreter, to communicate with those who were acquainted with the
+country to the north-west. My inquiries upon this point were particular;
+but they knew of no sea. They asserted that there was mud out in that
+direction, and that a party would be unable to travel; from which I
+inferred either that some branch of the Darling spread out its waters
+there in time of flood, or that Lake Torrens itself was stretching out in
+the direction indicated. Thirdly, I hold it physically impossible that a
+sea can exist in the place assigned to it, in as much as during an
+expedition, undertaken by the Surveyor-general of the Colony, in
+September, 1843, that officer had attained a position which would place
+himself and Mr. Poole at two opposite points, upon nearly the same
+parallel of latitude; but about 130 miles of longitude apart, in a low
+level country, and in which, therefore, the ranges of their respective
+vision from elevations would cross each other, and if there was a sea,
+Captain Frome must have seen it as well as Mr. Poole; again, I myself had
+an extensive and distant view to the north-east and east from Mount
+Hopeless, a low hill, about ninety miles further north than Captain
+Frome's position, but a little more east; yet there was nothing like a
+sea to be seen from thence, the dry and glazed-looking bed of Lake
+Torrens alone interrupting the monotony of the desert.
+
+There are still some few points connected with our knowledge of the
+outskirts of the interior which leave great room for speculation, and
+might lead to the opinion that it is not altogether a low or a desert
+region. The facts which have more immediately come under my own
+observation, are connected, first with the presence of birds belonging to
+a higher and better country in the midst of a desert region, and
+secondly, with the line of route taken by the Aborigines in spreading
+over the continent, as deduced from a coincidence or dissimilarity of the
+manners, customs, or languages of tribes remotely apart from one another.
+
+With respect to the presence of birds in a region such as they do not
+usually frequent, I may state that at Mount Arden, near the head of
+Spencer's Gulf, swans were seen taking their flight high in the air, to
+the north, as if making for some river or lake they were accustomed to
+feed at. At the Frome river, where it spreads into the plains to the
+north of Flinders range; four white cockatoos were found flying about
+among the trees, although those birds had not been met with for 200 miles
+before I attained that point. [Note 36: Vide Vol. I. July 4, Aug 31,
+and March 19.] And about longitude 128 degrees 20 minutes E., when
+crossing over towards King George's Sound, large parrots were found coming
+from the north-east, to feed upon the berries of a shrub growing on the
+sea coast, although no parrots were seen for two or three hundred
+miles on either side, either to the east or to the west, they
+must, therefore, have come from the interior. Now the parrot is a bird
+that often frequents a mountainous country, and always inhabits one
+having timber of a better description and larger growth than the
+miserable shrubs met with along the coast; it is a bird too that always
+lives within reach of permanent fresh-water, as rivers, lakes, creeks,
+pools, etc. Can there then be such in the interior, with so barren and
+arid a region, bounding it? and how are we to commence an examination
+with so many difficulties and embarrassments attending the very outset?
+
+The second series of facts which have attracted my attention, relate to
+the Aborigines. It is a well known circumstance that the dialects,
+customs, and pursuits in use among them in the various parts of the
+continent, differ very much from each other in some particulars, and yet
+that there is such a general similarity in the aggregate as to leave no
+room to doubt that all the Aborigines of Australia have had one common
+origin, and are in reality one and the same race. If this then is really
+the case, they must formerly have spread over the continent from one
+first point, and this brings me to the
+
+Third reason I have mentioned as being one, from which I infer, that
+there is not an inland sea, viz., the coincidence observable in the
+physical appearance, customs, character, and pursuits of the Aborigines,
+at opposite points of the continent, whilst no such coincidence exists
+along the intervening lines of coast connecting those two points, and
+which naturally follows from the circumstances connected with the present
+location of the various tribes in which this is observable, and with the
+route which they must have taken to arrive at the places they now occupy
+on the continent. [Note 37 at end of para.] I believe that the idea of
+attempting to deduce the character of the continent, and the most probable
+line for crossing it, from the circumstances and habits of the natives
+inhabiting the coast line is quite a novel one. It appears to me, however,
+to be worth consideration; and if it is true that the natives have all one
+common origin, and have spread over the continent from one first point,
+I think it may reasonably be inferred that there is a practicable route
+across the centre of New Holland, and that this line lies between the
+125th and 135th degrees of east longitude. It further appears that there
+must still be a second route, other than the coast line, in the direction
+between Port Jackson in New South Wales and the south-east corner of the
+Gulf of Carpentaria on the north coast.
+
+[Note 37: Vide Chapter VII. of Notes on the Aborigines, where this subject
+will be found fully discussed, and the reasons given for supposing the
+conclusions here assumed.]
+
+If then we have reasonable grounds for believing that such lines of route
+actually do exist, it becomes a matter of much interest and importance to
+determine the most favourable point from which to explore them. My own
+experience has pointed out the dreadful nature of the southern coast, and
+the very great and almost insuperable difficulties that beset the
+traveller at the very commencement--in his efforts even to establish a
+single depot from which to enter upon his researches. The northern coast
+may, probably, afford greater facilities, but in a tropical climate,
+where the heat and other circumstances render ordinary difficulties and
+impediments still more embarrassing and dangerous, it is a matter of deep
+moment that the expedition for interior exploration should commence at
+the right point, and this can only be ascertained by a previous
+examination.
+
+I have myself always been most anxious to attempt to cross from Moreton
+Bay on the N. E. coast to Port Essington on the N. W. I believe that this
+journey is quite practicable, and I have no doubt that if judiciously
+conducted, and the country to the south of the line of route always
+examined, as far as that could be done, it would completely develop, in
+connection with what is already known, the character and formation of
+Australia, and would at once point out the most proper place from which
+subsequent expeditions ought to start in order finally to accomplish the
+passage across its interior--from the north to the south.
+
+
+
+
+
+MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE ABORIGINES OF AUSTRALIA.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+
+PRELIMINARY REMARKS--UNJUST OPINIONS GENERALLY ENTERTAINED OF THE
+CHARACTER OF THE NATIVE--DIFFICULTIES AND DISADVANTAGES HE LABOURS UNDER
+IN HIS RELATIONS WITH EUROPEANS--AGGRESSIONS AND INJURIES ON THE PART OF
+THE LATTER IN GREAT DEGREE EXTENUATE HIS CRIMES.
+
+
+Upon bringing to a close the narrative of an Expedition of Discovery in
+Australia, during the progress of which an extensive portion of the
+previously unknown parts of that continent were explored, I have thought
+it might not be uninteresting to introduce a few pages on the subject of
+the Aborigines of the country.
+
+It would afford me much gratification to see an interest excited on their
+behalf proportioned to the claims of a people who have hitherto been
+misjudged or misrepresented.
+
+For the last twelve years I have been personally resident in one or other
+of the Australian Colonies, and have always been in frequent intercourse
+with the aboriginal tribes that were near, rarely being without some of
+them constantly with me as domestics.
+
+To the advantages of private opportunities of acquiring a knowledge of
+their character were added, latterly, the facilities afforded by my
+holding a public appointment in South Australia, in the midst of a
+district more densely populated by natives than any in that Colony, where
+no settler had ventured to locate, and where, prior to my arrival in
+October 1841, frightful scenes of bloodshed, rapine, and hostility
+between the natives and parties coming overland with stock, had been of
+frequent and very recent occurrence.
+
+As Resident Magistrate of the Murray District, I may almost say, that for
+the last three years I have lived with the natives. My duties have
+frequently taken me to very great distances up the Murray or the Darling
+rivers, when I was generally accompanied only by a single European, or at
+most two, and where, if attacked, there was no possibility of my
+receiving any human aid. I have gone almost alone among hordes of those
+fierce and blood-thirsty savages, as they were then considered, and have
+stood singly amongst them in the remote and trackless wilds, when
+hundreds were congregated around, without ever receiving the least injury
+or insult.
+
+In my first visits to the more distant tribes I found them shy, alarmed,
+and suspicious, but soon learning that I had no wish to injure them, they
+met me with readiness and confidence. My wishes became their law; they
+conceded points to me that they would not have done to their own people,
+and on many occasions cheerfully underwent hunger, thirst, and fatigue to
+serve me.
+
+Former habits and prejudices in some respects gave way to the influence I
+acquired. Tribes that never met or heard of one another before were
+brought to mingle in friendly intercourse. Single individuals traversed
+over immense distances and through many intervening tribes, which
+formerly they never could have attempted to pass, and in accomplishing
+this the white man's name alone was the talisman that proved their
+safe-guard and protection.
+
+During the whole of the three years I was Resident at Moorunde, not a
+single case of serious injury or aggression ever took place on the part
+of the natives against the Europeans; and a district, once considered the
+wildest and most dangerous, was, when I left it in November 1844, looked
+upon as one of the most peaceable and orderly in the province.
+
+Independently of my own personal experience, on the subject of the
+Aborigines, I have much pleasure in acknowledging the obligations I am
+under to M. Moorhouse, Esq. Protector of Aborigines in Adelaide, for his
+valuable assistance, in comparing and discussing the results of our
+respective observations, on matters connected with the natives, and for
+the obliging manner in which he has furnished me with many of his own
+important and well-arranged notes on various points of interest in their
+history.
+
+By this aid, I am enabled, in the following pages, to combine my own
+observations and experience with those of Mr. Moorhouse, especially on
+points connected with the Adelaide Tribes. In some cases, extracts from
+Mr. Moorhouse's notes, will be copied in his own words, but in most I
+found an alteration or rearrangement to be indispensable to enable me to
+connect and amplify the subjects: I wish it to be particularly
+understood, however, that with any deductions, inferences, remarks, or
+suggestions, that may incidentally be introduced, Mr. Moorhouse is
+totally unconnected, that gentleman's notes refer exclusively to abstract
+matters of fact, relating to the habits, customs, or peculiarities of the
+people treated of, and are generally confined to the Adelaide Tribes.
+
+[Note 38: Some few of these notes were printed in the Colony, in a
+detached form, as Reports to the Colonial Government, or in the
+Vocabularies of the Missionaries, and since my return to England I find
+others have been published in papers, ordered to be printed by the House
+of Commons, in August 1844. From the necessity, however, of altering in
+some measure the phraseology, to combine Mr. Moorhouse's remarks with my
+own, and to preserve a uniformity in the descriptions, it has not been
+practicable or desirable in all cases, to separate or distinguish by
+inverted commas, those observations which I have adopted. I have,
+therefore, preferred making a general acknowledgment of the use I have
+made of the notes that were supplied to me by Mr. Moorhouse.]
+
+In the descriptions given in the following pages, although there may
+occasionally be introduced, accounts of the habits, manners, or customs
+of some of the tribes inhabiting different parts of Australia I have
+visited, yet there are others which are exclusively peculiar to the
+natives of South Australia. I wish it, therefore, to be understood, that
+unless mention is made of other tribes, or other parts of the continent,
+the details given are intended to apply to that province generally, and
+particularly to the tribes in it, belonging to the districts of Adelaide
+and the Murray river.
+
+As far as has yet been ascertained, the whole of the aboriginal
+inhabitants of this continent, scattered as they are over an immense
+extent of country, bear so striking a resemblance in physical appearance
+and structure to each other; and their general habits, customs, and
+pursuits, are also so very similar, though modified in some respects by
+local circumstances or climate, that little doubt can be entertained that
+all have originally sprung from the same stock. The principal points of
+difference, observable between various tribes, appear to consist chiefly
+in some of their ceremonial observances, and in the variations of dialect
+in the language they speak; the latter are, indeed, frequently so great,
+that even to a person thoroughly acquainted with any one dialect, there
+is not the slightest clue by which he can understand what is said by a
+tribe speaking a different one.
+
+The only account I have yet met with, which professed to give any
+particular description of the Aborigines of New Holland, is that
+contained in the able papers upon this subject, by Captain Grey, in the
+second volume of his travels. When it is considered, that the material
+for that purpose was collected by the author, during a few months
+interval between his two expeditions, which he spent at Swan River, and a
+short time subsequently passed at King George's Sound, whilst holding the
+appointment of Government Resident there; it is perfectly surprising that
+the amount of information amassed should be so great, and so generally
+correct, on subjects where so many mistakes are liable to be made, in all
+first inquiries, when we are ignorant of the character and habits of the
+people of whom information is to be sought, and unacquainted with the
+language they speak.
+
+The subject, however, upon a portion of which Captain Grey so
+successfully entered, is very extensive, and one which no single
+individual, except by the devotion of a life-time, could hope fully to
+discuss. The Continent of Australia is so vast, and the dialects,
+customs, and ceremonies of its inhabitants so varied in detail, though so
+similar in general outline and character, that it will require the lapse
+of years, and the labours of many individuals, to detect and exhibit the
+links which form the chain of connection in the habits and history of
+tribes so remotely separated; and it will be long before any one can
+attempt to give to the world a complete and well-drawn outline of the
+whole.
+
+It is not therefore to satisfy curiosity, or to interrupt the course of
+inquiry, that I enter upon the present work; I neither profess, nor could
+I attempt to give a full or matured account of the Aborigines of New
+Holland. Captain Grey's descriptions on this subject are limited to the
+races of South-western, as mine are principally directed to those of
+Southern Australia, with occasionally some remarks or anecdotes relating
+to tribes in other parts of the Continent with whom I have come in
+contact.
+
+The character of the Australian native has been so constantly
+misrepresented and traduced, that by the world at large he is looked upon
+as the lowest and most degraded of the human species, and is generally
+considered as ranking but little above the members of the brute creation.
+Savages have always many vices, but I do not think that these are worse
+in the New Hollanders, than in many other aboriginal races. It is said,
+indeed, that the Australian is an irreclaimable, unteachable being; that
+he is cruel, blood-thirsty, revengeful, and treacherous; and in support
+of such assertions, references are made to the total failure of all
+missionary and scholastic efforts hitherto made on his behalf, and to
+many deeds of violence or aggression committed by him upon the settler.
+
+[Note 39: I cannot adduce a stronger proof in support of the position I
+assume, in favour of the natives, than by quoting the clear and just
+conclusions at which the Right Honourable Lord Stanley, the present
+Secretary of State for the Colonies, arrived, when considering the case of
+some collisions with the natives on the Ovens River, and after a full
+consideration of the various circumstances connected with the occurrence.
+In a despatch to Governor Sir G. Gipps, dated 5th October, 1841, Lord
+Stanley says, "Contrasting the accounts of the Aborigines given by Mr.
+Docker with those given by Mr. Mackay, and the different terms on which
+those gentlemen appear to be with them in the same vicinity, I cannot
+divest myself of the apprehension that the fault in this case lies with
+the colonists rather than with the natives. It was natural, that conduct
+so harsh and intemperate as that of the Messrs. Mackay should be signally
+visited on them, and probably also on wholly unoffending persons, by a
+race of uninstructed and ignorant savages. At the same time the case of
+Mr. Docker affords a most satisfactory instance of natives entering into
+permanent service with white men, and working, as they appear to do,
+steadily for wages."]
+
+With respect to the first point, I consider that an intimate knowledge of
+the peculiar habits, laws, and traditions, by which this people are
+governed, is absolutely necessary, before any just opinion can be formed
+as to how far the means hitherto pursued, have been suitable, or adapted
+to counteract the influence of custom and the force of prejudice. Until
+this knowledge is attained, we have no right to brand them as either
+irreclaimable, or unteachable. My own impression, after long experience,
+and an attentive consideration of the subject, is, that in the present
+anomalous state of our relations with the Aborigines, our measures are
+neither comprehensive enough for, nor is our system sufficiently adapted
+to, the singular circumstances they are in, to enable us successfully to
+contend with the difficulties and impediments in the way of their rising
+in the scale of civilization.
+
+Upon the second point it is also necessary to make many inquiries before
+we arrive at our conclusions; and I have no doubt, if this be done with
+calmness, and without prejudice, it will be generally found that there
+are many extenuating circumstances which may be brought to modify our
+judgment. I am anxious, if possible, to place a few of these before the
+public, in the hope, that by lessening in some degree the unfavourable
+opinion heretofore entertained of the Aborigines, they may be considered
+for the future as more deserving our sympathy and benevolence.
+
+Without assuming for the native a freedom from vice, or in any way
+attempting to palliate the many brutalising habits that pollute his
+character, I would still contend that, if stained with the excesses of
+unrestrained passions, he is still sometimes sensible to the better
+emotions of humanity. Many of the worst traits in his character are the
+result of necessity, or the force of custom--the better ones are
+implanted in him as a part of his nature. With capabilities for
+receiving, and an aptness for acquiring instruction, I believe he has
+also the capacity for appreciating the rational enjoyments of life.
+
+Even in his present low and debased condition, and viewed under every
+disadvantages, I do not imagine that his vices would usually be found
+greater, or his passions more malignant than those of a very large
+proportion of men ordinarily denominated civilised. On the contrary, I
+believe were Europeans placed under the same circumstances, equally
+wronged, and equally shut out from redress, they would not exhibit half
+the moderation or forbearance that these poor untutored children of
+impulse have invariably shewn.
+
+It is true that occasionally many crimes have been committed by them, and
+robberies and murders have too often occurred; but who can tell what were
+the provocations which led to, what the feelings which impelled such
+deeds? Neither have they been the only or the first aggressors, nor has
+their race escaped unscathed in the contest. Could blood answer blood,
+perhaps for every drop of European's shed by natives, a torrent of their,
+by European hands, would crimson the earth.
+
+[Note 40: "The whites were generally the aggressors. He had been informed
+that a petition had been presented to the Governor, containing a list of
+nineteen murders committed by the blacks. He could, if it were necessary,
+make out a list of five hundred blacks who had been slaughtered by the
+whites, and that within a short time."--Extract from speech of Mr.
+Threlkeld to the Auxiliary Aborigines' Protection Society in New South
+Wales. Abstract of a "Return of the number of homicides committed
+respectively by blacks and whites, within the limits of the northwestern
+district (of Port Phillip), since its first occupation by settlers--"
+
+"Total number of white people killed by Aborigines   8
+"Total number of Aborigines killed by white people  43."
+
+This is only in one district, and only embraces such cases as came to the
+knowledge of Mr. Protector Parker. For particulars vide Papers on
+Aborigines of Australian Colonies, printed for the House of Commons,
+August 1844, p. 318.]
+
+Let us now inquire a little, upon whose side right and justice are
+arrayed in palliation (if any such there can be) of deeds of violence or
+aggression on the part of either.
+
+It is an undeniable fact, that wherever European colonies have been
+established in Australia, the native races in that neighbourhood are
+rapidly decreasing, and already in some of the elder settlements, have
+totally disappeared. It is equally indisputable that the presence of the
+white man has been the sole agent in producing so lamentable an effect;
+that the evil is still going on, increased in a ratio proportioned to the
+number of new settlements formed, or the rapidity with which the settlers
+overrun new districts. The natural, the inevitable, but the no less
+melancholy result must be, that in the course of a few years more, if
+nothing be done to check it, the whole of the aboriginal tribes of
+Australia will be swept away from the face of the earth. A people who, by
+their numbers, have spread around the whole of this immense continent,
+and have probably penetrated into and occupied its inmost recesses, will
+become quite extinct, their name forgotten, their very existence but a
+record of history.
+
+It is a popular, but an unfair and unwarranted assumption, that these
+consequences are the result of the natural course of events; that they
+are ordained by Providence, unavoidable, and not to be impeded. Let us at
+least ascertain how far they are chargeable upon ourselves.
+
+Without entering upon the abstract question concerning the right of one
+race of people to wrest from another their possessions, simply because
+they happen to be more powerful than the original inhabitants, or because
+they imagine that they can, by their superior skill or acquirements,
+enable the soil to support a denser population, I think it will be
+conceded by every candid and right-thinking mind, that no one can justly
+take that which is not his own, without giving some equivalent in return,
+or deprive a people of their ordinary means of support, and not provide
+them with any other instead. Yet such is exactly the position we are in
+with regard to the inhabitants of Australia.
+
+[Note 41: "The invasion of those ancient rights (of the natives) by
+survey and land appropriations of any kind, is justifiable only on the
+ground, that we should at the same time reserve for the natives an AMPLE
+SUFFICIENCY for THEIR PRESENT and future use and comfort, under the new
+style of things into which they are thrown; a state in which we hope they
+will be led to live in greater comfort, on a small space, than
+they enjoyed before it occurred, on their extensive original
+possessions."--Reply of His Excellency Colonel Gawler, to the gentlemen
+who objected to sections of land being appropriated for the natives,
+before the public were allowed to select.]
+
+Without laying claim to this country by right of conquest, without
+pleading even the mockery of cession, or the cheatery of sale, we have
+unhesitatingly entered upon, occupied, and disposed of its lands,
+spreading forth a new population over its surface, and driving before us
+the original inhabitants.
+
+To sanction this aggression, we have not, in the abstract, the slightest
+shadow of either right or justice--we have not even the extenuation of
+endeavouring to compensate those we have injured, or the merit of
+attempting to mitigate the sufferings our presence inflicts.
+
+It is often argued, that we merely have taken what the natives did not
+require, or were making no use of; that we have no wish to interfere with
+them if they do not interfere with us, but rather that we are disposed to
+treat them with kindness and conciliation, if they are willing to be
+friends with us. What, however, are the actual facts of the case; and
+what is the position of a tribe of natives, when their country is first
+taken possession of by Europeans.
+
+It is true that they do not cultivate the ground; but have they,
+therefore, no interest in its productions? Does it not supply grass for
+the sustenance of the wild animals upon which in a great measure they are
+dependent for their subsistence?--does it not afford roots and vegetables
+to appease their hunger?--water to satisfy their thirst, and wood to make
+their fire?--or are these necessaries left to them by the white man when
+he comes to take possession of their soil? Alas, it is not so! all are in
+turn taken away from the original possessors. The game of the wilds that
+the European does not destroy for his amusement are driven away by his
+flocks and herds. [Note 42 at end of para.] The waters are occupied and
+enclosed, and access to them in frequently forbidden. The fields are
+fenced in, and the natives are no longerat liberty to dig up roots--the
+white man claims the timber, and the very firewood itself is occasion
+ally denied to them. Do they pass by the habitation of the intruder, they
+are probably chased away or bitten by his dogs, and for this they can
+get no redress. [Note 43 at end of para.] Have they dogs of their own,
+they are unhesitatingly shot or worried because they are an annoyance to
+the domestic animals of the Europeans. Daily and hourly do their wrongs
+multiply upon them. The more numerous the white population becomes, and
+the more advanced the stage of civilization to which the settlement
+progresses, the greater are the hardships that fall to their lot and the
+more completely are they cut off from the privileges of their birthright.
+All that they have is in succession taken away from them--their
+amusements, their enjoyments, their possessions, their freedom--and all
+that they receive in return is obloquy, and contempt, and degradation,
+and oppression. [Note 44 appears after note 43, below]
+
+[Note 42: "But directly an European settles down in the country, his
+constant residence in one spot soon sends the animals away from it, and
+although he may in no other way interfere with the natives, the mere
+circumstance of his residing there, does the man on whose land he settles
+the injury of depriving him of his ordinary means of subsistence."--GREY'S
+TRAVELS, vol. ii. p. 298.
+
+"The great question was, were we to give them no equivalent for that which
+we had taken from them? Had we deprived them of nothing? Was it
+nothing that they were driven from the lands where their fathers
+lived, where they were born and which were endeared to them by
+associations equally strong with the associations of more civilsed
+people? He believed that their affections were as warm as the Europeans."
+"Perhaps he obtained his subsistence by fishing, and occupied a slip of
+land on the banks of a river or the margin of a lake. Was he to be turned
+off as soon as the land was required, without any consideration
+whatever?" "Had any proper attempt been made for their civilization? They
+had not yet had fair play--they had been courted by the missionaries with
+the Bible on the one hand, and had at the sametime been driven away and
+destroyed by the stock-keepers on the other. He thought that they might
+be reclaimed if the proper course was adopted."--EXTRACTS FROM THE SPEECH
+OF SYDNEY STEPHEN, ESQ., AT A MEETING ON BEHALF OF THE ABORIGINES IN
+SYDNEY, OCTOBER 19, 1838.
+
+I have myself repeatedly seen the natives driven off private lands in the
+vicinity of Adelaide, and their huts burned, even in cold wet weather.
+The records of the Police Office will shew that they have been driven off
+the Park lands, or those belonging to Government, or at least that they
+have been brought up and punished for cutting wood from the trees there.
+What are they to do, when there is not a stick or a tree within miles of
+Adelaide that they can legally take?]
+
+
+[Note 43: I have known repeated instances of natives in Adelaide
+being bitten severely by savage dogs rushing out at them from the
+yards of their owners, as they were peaceably passing along the street. On
+the other hand I have known a native imprisoned for throwing his waddy at,
+and injuring a pig, which was eating a melon he had laid down for a moment
+in the street, and when the pig ought not to have been in the street at
+all. In February 1842, a dog belonging to a native was shot by order of
+Mr. Gouger, the then Colonial Secretary, and the owner as soon as he
+became aware of the circumstance, speared his wife for not taking better
+care of it, although she could not possibly have helped the occurrence. If
+natives then revenge so severely such apparently trivial offences among
+themselves, can we wonder that they should sometimes retaliate upon us
+for more aggravated ones.]
+
+[Note 44: The following are extracts from an address to a jury, when
+trying some aboriginal natives, by Judge Willis. They at least shew some
+of the BLESSINGS the Aborigines experience from being made British
+subjects, and placed under British laws:--"I have, on a recent occasion,
+stated my opinion, which I still entertain, that the proprietor of a run,
+or, in other words, one who holds a lease or license from the Crown to
+depasture certain Crown lands, may take all lawful means to prevent either
+natives or others from entering or remaining upon it." "The aboriginals of
+Van Diemen's Land were strictly commanded, by Governor Arthur's
+proclamation of the 15th of April 1828 (a proclamation of which His
+Majesty King George the Fourth, through the Right honourable the then
+Secretary of State, by a dispatch of the 2nd of February, 1829, under the
+circumstances, signified his approval,) "to retire and depart from, and
+for no reason, and no pretence, save as therein provided, (viz.
+travelling annually to the sea coast in quest of shellfish, under certain
+regulations,) to re-enter the settled districts of Van Diemen's Land, or
+any portions of land cultivated and occupied by any person whomsoever,
+under the authority of Her Majesty's Government, on pain of forcible
+expulsion therefrom, and such consequences as might be necessarily
+attendant on it, and all magistrates and other persons by them authorized
+and deputed, were required to conform themselves to the directions and
+instructions of this proclamation, in effecting the retirement and
+expulsion of the Aborigines from the settled districts of that
+territory."]
+
+What are they to do under such circumstances, or how support a life so
+bereft of its wonted supplies? Can we wonder that they should still
+remain the same low abject and degraded creatures that they are,
+loitering about the white man's house, and cringing, and pandering to the
+lowest menial for that food they can no longer procure for themselves? or
+that wandering in misery through a country, now no longer their own,
+their lives should be curtailed by want, exposure, or disease? If, on the
+other hand, upon the first appearance of Europeans, the natives become
+alarmed, and retire from their presence, they must give up all the haunts
+they had been accustomed to frequent, and must either live in a starving
+condition, in the back country, ill supplied with game, and often wanting
+water, or they must trespass upon the territory of another tribe, in a
+district perhaps little calculated to support an additional population,
+even should they be fortunate enough to escape being forced into one
+belonging to an enemy.
+
+Under any circumstances, however, they have but little respite from
+inconvenience and want. The white man rapidly spreads himself over the
+country, and without the power of retiring any further, they are
+overtaken, and beset by all the evils from which they had previously
+fled.
+
+Such are some of the blessings held out to the savage by civilization,
+and they are only some of them. The picture is neither fanciful nor
+overdrawn; there is no trait in it that I have not personally witnessed,
+or that might not have been enlarged upon; and there are often other
+circumstances of greater injury and aggression, which, if dwelt upon,
+would have cast a still darker shade upon the prospects and condition of
+the native.
+
+Enough has, however, perhaps been said to indicate the degree of injury
+our presence unavoidably inflicts. I would hope, also, to point out the
+justice, as well as the expediency of appropriating a considerable
+portion of the money obtained, by the sales of land, towards alleviating
+the miseries our occupation of their country has occasioned to the
+original owners.
+
+[Note 44a: "That it appears to memorialists that the original occupants of
+the soil have an irresistible claim on the Government of this country for
+support, inasmuch as the presence of the colonists abridges their means
+of subsistence, whilst it furnishes to the public treasury a large
+revenue in the shape of fees for licences and assessments on stock,
+together with the very large sums paid for land seized by the Crown, and
+alienated to private individuals.
+
+"That it appears to memorialists that the interests at once of the
+natives and the colonists would be most effectually promoted by the
+government reserving suitable portions of land within the territorial
+limits of the respective tribes, with the view of weaning them
+from their erratic habits, forming thereon depots for supplying
+them with provisions and clothing, under the charge of individuals
+of exemplary moral character, taking at the same time an interest
+in their welfare, and who would endeavour to instruct them in agricultural
+and other useful arts."--Extract from Memorial of the Settlers of
+the County of Grant, in the district of Port Phillip, to His Excellency
+Sir G. Gipps, in 1840.]
+
+Surely if we acknowledge the first principles of justice, or if we admit
+the slightest claims of humanity on behalf of these debased, but harshly
+treated people, we are bound, in honour and in equity, to afford them
+that subsistence which we have deprived them of the power of providing
+for themselves.
+
+It may, perhaps, be replied, and at first it might seem, with some
+appearance of speciousness, that all is done that can be done for them,
+that each of the Colonial Governments annually devotes a portion of its
+revenue to the improvement, instruction, and maintenance of the natives.
+So far this is very praiseworthy, but does it in any degree compensate
+for the evil inflicted?
+
+The money usually voted by the councils of Government, towards defraying
+expenses incurred on behalf of the Aborigines of Australia, is but a very
+small per centage upon the sums that have been received for the sales of
+lands, and is principally expended in defraying the salaries of
+protectors, in supporting schools, providing food or clothing for one or
+two head stations, and perhaps supplying a few blankets once in the year
+to some of the outstations. Little is expended in the daily provisioning
+of the natives generally, and especially in the more distant country
+districts least populated by Europeans, but most densely occupied by
+natives, and where the very thinness of the European inhabitants
+precludes the Aborigines from resorting to the same sources to supply
+their wants, that are open to them in a town, or more thickly inhabited
+district. Such are those afforded by the charity of individuals, by the
+rewards received for performing trifling services of work, by the
+obtaining vast quantities of offal, or of broken victuals, which are
+always abundant in a country where animal food is used in excess, and
+where the heat of the climate daily renders much of it unfit for
+consumption in the family, and by others of a similar nature.
+
+Such resources, however humiliating and pernicious they are in their
+effects, are not open to the tribes living in a district almost
+exclusively occupied by the sheep or cattle of the settler, and where the
+very numbers of the stock only more completely drive away the original
+game upon which the native had been accustomed to subsist, and hold out a
+greater temptation to him to supply his wants from the superabundance
+which he sees around him, belonging to those by whom he has been
+dispossessed. The following appropriate remarks are an extract from
+Report of Aborigines' Protection Society, of March, 1841, (published in
+the South Australian Register, 4th December, 1841.)
+
+"Under that system it is obvious to every coloured man, even the least
+intelligent, that the extending settlements of the Europeans involve a
+sentence of banishment, and eventual extermination, upon his tribe and
+race. Major Mitchell, in his travels, refers to this apprehension on the
+part of the Aborigines--"White man come, Kangaroo go away"--from which as
+an inevitable consequence follows--"black man famished away." If, then,
+this appears a necessary result of the unjust, barbarous, unchristian
+mode of colonization pursued in New Holland, over-looking the other
+incidental, and more pointedly aggravating provocations, to the coloured
+man, associated with that system, how natural, in his case, is an enmity
+which occasionally visits some of the usurping race with death! We call
+the offence in him MURDER; but let the occasion be only examined, and we
+must discover that, in so designating it, we are imposing geographical,
+or national restrictions, upon the virtue of patriotism; or that in the
+mani-festations of that principle, we make no allowances for the
+influence on its features of the relative degradation or elevation of
+those among whom it is met.
+
+"Our present colonization system renders the native and the colonizing
+races from necessity belligerents; and there can be no real peace, no
+real amity, no mutual security, so long as that system is not substituted
+by one reconciling the interest of both races. Colonists will fall before
+the spears and the waddies of incensed Aborigines, and they in return
+will be made the victims of 'summary justice.'
+
+"In cases of executive difficulty, the force of popular prejudice will be
+apt to be too strong for the best intentioned Governor to withstand it;
+Europeans will have sustained injury; the strict forms of legal justice
+may be found of difficult application to a race outcast or degraded,
+although ORIGINALLY in a condition fitted to appreciate them, to benefit
+by them, and reflect their benefits upon others; impatient at this
+difficulty, the delay it may occasion, and the shelter from ultimate
+punishment, the temptation will ever be strong to revert to summary
+methods of proceeding; and thus, as in a circle, injustice will be found
+to flow reciprocal injury, and from injury injustice again, in another
+form. The source of all these evils, and of all this injustice, is the
+unreserved appropriation of native lands, and the denial, in the first
+instance of colonization, of equal civil rights. To the removal of those
+evils, so far as they can be removed in the older settlements, to their
+prevention in new colonies, the friends of the Aborigines are invoked to
+direct their energy; to be pacified with the attainment of nothing less;
+for nothing less will really suffice."
+
+Can it be deemed surprising that a rude, uncivilized being, driven from
+his home, deprived of all his ordinary means of subsistence [Note 45 at
+end of para.], and pressed perhaps by a hostile tribe from behind, should
+occasionally be guilty of aggressions or injuries towards his oppressors?
+The wonder rather is, not that these things do sometimes occur, but that
+they occur so rarely.
+
+[Note 45: "If you can still be generous to the conquered, relieve the
+hunger which drives us in despair to slaughter your flocks and the men who
+guard them. Our fields and forests, which once furnished us with abundance
+of vegetable and animal food, now yield us no more; they and their produce
+are yours; you prosper on our native soil, and we are famishing."
+--STRZELECKI'S N. S. WALES, p. 356.]
+
+In addition to the many other inconsistencies in our conduct towards the
+Aborigines, not the least extraordinary is that of placing them, on the
+plea of protection, under the influence of our laws, and of making them
+British subjects. Strange anomaly, which by the former makes amenable to
+penalties they are ignorant of, for crimes which they do not consider as
+such, or which they may even have been driven to commit by our own
+injustice; and by the latter but mocks them with an empty sound, since
+the very laws under which we profess to place them, by their nature and
+construction are inoperative in affording redress to the injured.
+
+[Note 46: "To subject savage tribes to the penalties of laws with which
+they are unacquainted, for offences which they, very possibly, regard as
+acts of justifiable retaliation for invaded rights, is a proceeding
+indefensible, except under circumstances of urgent and extreme
+necessity."--Fourth Report of the Colonization Commissioners, presented to
+the House of Commons, 29th July, 1840.
+
+"The late act, declaring them naturalized as British subjects, has only
+rendered them legally amenable to the English criminal law, and added one
+more anomaly to all the other enactments affecting them. This
+naturalization excludes them from sitting on a jury, or appearing as
+witnesses, and entails a most confused form of judicial proceedings; all
+which, taken together, has made of the Aborigines of Australia a
+nondescript caste, who, to use their own phraseology, are 'neither black
+nor white.'"--Strzelecki's N. S. Wales.]
+
+If, in addition to the many evils and disadvantages the natives must
+necessarily be subject to from our presence, we take still further into
+account the wrongs they are exposed to from the ill feeling towards them
+which has sometimes existed among the settlers, or their servants, on the
+outskirts of the country; the annoyances they are harassed by, even where
+this feeling does not exist, in being driven away from their usual haunts
+and pursuits (and this is a practice often adopted by the remote grazier
+as a mere matter of policy to avoid trouble or the risk of a collision);
+we shall find upon the whole that they have often just causes of offence,
+and that there are many circumstances connected with their crimes which,
+from the peculiar position they are placed in, may well require from us
+some mitigation of the punishment that would be exacted from Europeans
+for the same misdeeds.
+
+Captain Grey has already remarked the strong prejudice and recklessness
+of human life which frequently exist on the part of the settlers with
+regard to the natives. Nor has this feeling been confined to Western
+Australia alone. In all the colonies, that I have been in, I have myself
+observed that a harsh and unjust tone has occasionally been adopted in
+speaking of the Aborigines; and that where a feeling of prejudice does
+not exist against them, there is too often a great indifference
+manifested as to their fate. I do not wish it to be understood that such
+is always the case; on the contrary, I know that the better, and right
+thinking part of the community, in all the colonies, not only disavow
+such feelings, but are most anxious, as far as lies in their power, to
+promote the interests and welfare of the natives. Still, there are always
+some, in every settlement, whose passions, prejudices, interests, or
+fears, obliterate their sense of right and wrong, and by whom these poor
+wanderers of the woods are looked upon as intruders in their own country,
+or as vermin that infest the land, and whose blood may be shed with as
+little compunction as that of the wild animals they are compared to.
+
+By those who have heard the dreadful accounts current in Western
+Australia, and New South Wales, of the slaughter formerly committed by
+military parties, or by the servants [Note 47 at end of para.] of the
+settlers upon the Aborigines, in which it is stated that men, women, and
+children have been surprised, surrounded and shot down indiscriminately,
+at their camps at night; or who have heard such deeds, or other similar
+ones, justified or boasted of, it will readily be believed to what an
+extent the feeling I have alluded to has occasionally been carried, and
+to what excesses it has led. [Note 48 appears after Note 47, below]
+
+[Note 47: The following extract from a reply of his Honour the
+Superintendent of Port Phillip to the representation made to his Honour
+by the settlers and inhabitants of the district of Port Fairy, in
+March 1842, shews that these frightful atrocities against the natives
+had not even then ceased.
+
+"That the presence of a protector in your district, and other means of
+prevention hitherto employed, have not succeeded better than they have
+done in repressing aggression or retaliation, and have failed to establish
+a good understanding between the natives and the European settlers,
+is greatly to be deplored.
+
+"As far as the local government has power, every practicable extension
+of these arrangements shall be made without delay; but, gentlemen,
+however harsh, a plain truth must be told, the destruction of
+European property, and even the occasional sacrifice of European
+life, by the hands of the savage tribes, among whom you live, if
+unprovoked and unrevenged, may justly claim sympathy and pity; but the
+feeling of abhorrence which one act of savage retaliation or cruelty on
+your part will rouse, must weaken, if not altogether obliterate every
+other, in the minds of most men; and I regret to state, that I have
+before me a statement presented in a form which I dare not discredit,
+shewing that such acts are perpetrated among you.
+
+"It reveals a nightly attack upon a small number of natives, by a
+party of the white inhabitants of your district, and the murder of
+no fewer than three defenceless aboriginal women and a child, in
+their sleeping place; and this at the very time your memorial was
+in the act of signature, and in the immediate vicinity of the station
+of two of the parties who have signed it. Will not the commission of
+such crimes call down the wrath of God, and do more to check the
+prosperity of your district, and to ruin your prospects, than all
+the difficulties and losses under which you labour?" Mr. Sievewright's
+letter gives an account of this infamous transaction.
+
+
+"WESTERN ABORIGINAL ESTABLISHMENT,
+THOLOR, 26TH FEBRUARY, 1842.
+
+"Sir,--I have the honour to report that on the afternoon
+of the 24th instant, two aboriginal natives, named Pwe-bin-gan-nai,
+Calangamite, returned to this encampment, which they had left with their
+families on the 22nd, and reported 'that late on the previous evening,
+while they with their wives, two other females, and two children, were
+asleep at a tea-tree scrub, called One-one-derang, a party of eight white
+people on horseback surrounded them, dismounted, and fired upon them with
+pistols; that three women and a child had been thus killed, and the other
+female so severely wounded as to be unable to stand or be removed by
+them;' they had saved themselves and the child, named 'Uni bicqui-ang,'
+by flight, who was brought to this place upon their shoulders.
+
+"At daybreak yesterday I proceeded to the spot indicated, and there found
+the dead bodies of three women, and a male child about three years of age;
+and also found a fourth woman dangerously wounded by gunshot wounds, and
+severely scorched on the limbs by the discharge of fire-arms.
+
+"Having proceeded to the station of the Messrs. Osbrey and Smith, distant
+about 700 yards from where the bodies were found, and requested the
+presence of those gentlemen as witnesses, I proceeded to view the bodies,
+upon which were found the wounds as set forth in the accompanying report.
+
+"All knowledge of this barbarous transaction is denied by the proprietors,
+overseer, and servants at the home station, so near to which the bodies
+were found, nor have I as yet obtained any information which may lead to
+the discovery of the perpetrators of these murders.
+
+"I have, etc.
+(Signed) "C. W. SIEVEWRIGHT."
+James Croke, Esq.,
+Crown Prosecutor,"
+etc. etc. etc.
+
+
+Description of Gun-shot Wounds upon the bodies of three Aboriginal Women
+and One Male Child found dead, and an Aboriginal Woman found wounded in a
+tea-tree scrub, near the Station of Messrs. Osbrey and Smith, Portland
+District, upon the 25th of February, 1842, by Assistant-Protector
+Sievewright.
+
+
+"No. 1. Recognised by the assistant-protector as
+'Wooi-goning,' wife of an Aboriginal native 'Pui-bui-gannei;' one gun-shot
+wound through the chest (a ball), and right thigh broken by a gun-shot
+wound (a ball).
+
+"No. 2. Child (male); one gun-shot wound through the chest (a bullet),
+left thigh lacerated by some animal.
+
+"No. 3. Woman big with child; one gun-shot wound through the chest
+(a bullet), left side scorched.
+
+"No. 4. Woman; gun-shot wound through abdomen (a bullet), by right hip;
+gun-shot wound, left arm broken, (a bullet.)
+
+"No. 5. Woman wounded; gun-shot wound in back (a ball), gun-shot through
+right hand (a ball).
+
+"(Signed)
+"C. W. SIEVEWRIGHT."]
+
+
+[Note 48: The belief on the part of the Home authorities that such deeds
+did occur, and their opinion, so many years ago, regarding them, may be
+gathered from the following extract from a despatch from Lord Glenelg to
+Governor Sir James Stirling, dated 23rd of July, 1835. "I perceive, with
+deep concern, that collisions still exist between the colonists and the
+natives.
+
+"It is impossible, however, to regard such conflicts without
+regret and anxiety, when we recollect how fatal, in too many instances,
+our colonial settlements have proved to the natives of the places where
+they have been formed.
+
+"It will be your duty to impress upon the settlers that it is the
+determination of the Government to visit any act of injustice or
+violence on the natives, with the utmost severity, and that in no
+case will those convicted of them, remain unpunished. Nor will it
+be sufficient simply to punish the guilty, but ample compensation must be
+made to the injured party, for the wrong received. You will make it
+imperative upon the officers of police never to allow any injustice or
+insult in regard to the natives to pass by unnoticed, as being of too
+trifling a character; and they should be charged to report to you, with
+punctuality, every instance of aggression or misconduct. Every neglect of
+this point of duty you will mark with the highest displeasure."
+
+Such were the benevolent views entertained by the Government in England
+towards the Aborigines ten years ago, and it might be readily proved from
+many despatches of subsequent Secretaries of State to the different
+Governors, that such have been their feelings since, and yet how little
+has been done in ten years to give a practical effect to their good
+intentions towards the natives.]
+
+Were other evidence necessary to substantiate this point, it would be
+only requisite to refer to the tone in which the natives are so often
+spoken of by the Colonial newspapers, to the fact that a large number of
+colonists in New South Wales, including many wealthy landed proprietors
+and magistrates, petitioned the Local Government on behalf of a party of
+convicts, found guilty on the clearest testimony of having committed one
+of the most wholesale, cold-blooded, and atrocious butcheries of the
+Aborigines ever recorded [Note 49 at end of para.], and to the acts of the
+Colonial Governments themselves, who have found it necessary, sometimes,
+to prohibit fire-arms at out-stations, and have been compelled to take
+away the assigned servants, or withdraw the depasturing licences of
+individuals, because they have been guilty of aggression upon the
+Aborigines.
+
+[Note 49: Seven men were hanged for this offence, on the 18th of December,
+1838. In the Sydney Monitor, published on the 24th or next issue after the
+occurrence, is the following paragraph:--
+
+"The following conversation between two gentlemen took place in the
+military barrack square, on Tuesday, just after the execution of the seven
+murderers of the native blacks, and while General O'Connell was reviewing
+the troops of the garrison.
+
+"COUNTRY GENTLEMAN.--So I find they have hanged these men.
+"TOWN GENTLEMAN.   --They have."
+"COUNTRY GENTLEMAN.--Ah! hem, we are going on a safer game now.
+"TOWN GENTLEMAN.   --Safer game! how do you mean?"
+"COUNTRY GENTLEMAN.--Why, we are poisoning the blacks; which is much
+                     better, and serve them right too!"
+
+"We vouch for the truth of this conversation, and for the very words;
+and will prove our statement, if public justice should, in our
+opinion require it."
+
+The following letter from His Honour the Superintendent of Port Philip
+shews, that even in 1843, suspicions were entertained in the colony,
+that this most horrible and inhuman cruelty towards the Aborigines had
+lately been practised there.
+
+
+"Melbourne, 17th March, 1843.
+
+"SIR,--I have the honour to report, for his Excellency's information,
+that in the month of December last, I received a letter from the Chief
+Protector, enclosing a communication received from Dr. Wotton, the
+gentleman in charge of the Aboriginal station at Mount Rouse, stating that
+a rumour had reached him that a considerable number of Aborigines had
+been poisoned at the station of Dr. Kilgour, near Port Fairy.
+
+"I delayed communicating this circumstance at the time, as I expected
+the Chief Protector and his assistants would find it practicable to
+bring the crime home to the parties accused of having perpetrated it;
+but I regret to state, that every attempt to discover the guilty
+parties has hitherto proved ineffectual, and that although there
+may be strong grounds of suspicion that such a deed had been perpetrated,
+and that certain known parties in this district were the perpetrators,
+yet it seems nearly impossible to obtain any legal proof to bear on
+either one point or the other.
+
+"I beg leave to enclose copies of two communications which I have received
+from Mr. Robinson on the subject.
+
+"I have, etc.
+"(Signed)
+"C. J. LATROBE."
+"The Honourable the Colonial Secretary,
+etc. etc. etc."
+
+
+Rumours of another similar occurrence existed in the settlements
+north of Sydney, about the same time. To the inquiries made on the
+subject, by the Government, the following letters refer.
+
+
+"Moreton Bay, Zion's Hill, 14th January 1843.
+
+"Sir,--In reply to your inquiry respecting the grounds on which I made
+mention in my journal, kept during a visit to the Bunga Bunga country,
+of a considerable number of blacks having been poisoned in the
+northern part of this district, I beg leave to state, that having
+returned from Sydney in the month of March 1842, I learnt, first,
+by my coadjutor, the Rev. Mr. Epper, that such a rumour was spreading,
+of which I have good reason to believe also his Excellency the Governor
+was informed during his stay at Moreton Bay. I learnt, secondly,
+by the lay missionaries, Messrs. Nique and Rode, who returned
+from an excursion to "Umpie-boang" in the first week of April, that
+natives of different tribes, who were collecting from the north for a
+fight, had related the same thing to them as a fact. Messrs. Nique and
+Rode have made this statement also in their diary, which is laid before
+our committee in Sydney. I learnt, thirdly, by the runaway Davis, when
+collecting words and phrases of the northern dialect from him, previous
+to my expedition to the Bunga Bunga country, that there was not the least
+doubt but such a deed had been done, and moreover that the relatives of
+the poisoned blacks, being in great fury, were going to revenge
+themselves. Davis considered it, therefore, exceedingly dangerous for us
+to proceed to the north, mentioning at the same time, that two white men
+had already been killed by blacks in consequence of poisoning. I
+ascertained likewise from him the number, 50 or 60.
+
+"When inquiring of him whether he had not reported this fact to
+yourself, he replied, that both he, himself, and Bracewell, the
+other runaway, whom Mr. Petrie had brought back from the Wide Bay,
+had done so, and that you had stated it fully in your report to his
+Excellency the Governor, respecting himself and Bracewell.
+
+"4. The natives who had carried our provisions up to Mr. Archer's station,
+made the same statement to us, as a reason why they would not accompany
+us any farther to the Bunga Bunga country.
+
+"When writing down, therefore, my journal, I considered it unnecessary to
+make a full statement of all that had come to my knowledge since the month
+of March, concerning that most horrid event, or even to relate it as
+something new, as it was not only known several months since to the
+respective authorities, but also as almost every one at Moreton Bay
+supposed that an investigation would take place without delay.
+
+"I have, etc.
+"(signed) "WILLIAM SCHMIDT,
+"Missionary.""S. Simpson, Esq.,
+"Commissioner of Crown Lands,
+"Eagle Farm."
+
+
+"WOOGAROO, MORETON BAY, 6TH MAY, 1843.
+
+"Sir,--I have the honour to report, for the information of his Excellency,
+that during my excursion to the Bunga country, I have taken every
+opportunity of instituting an inquiry as to the truth of the alleged
+poisoning of some Aborigines at a sheep station in the north of this
+district. A report of the kind certainly exists among the two tribes I
+fell in with, namely, the Dallambarah and Coccombraral tribes, but as
+neither of them were present at the time, they could give me no
+circumstantial information whatever on the subject. The Giggabarah
+tribe, the one said to have suffered, I was unable to meet with.
+Upon inquiry at the stations to the north, I could learn nothing
+further than that they had been using arsenic very extensively for
+the cure of the scab, in which operation sheep are occasionally
+destroyed by some of the fluid getting down their throats; and as the
+men employed frequently neglect to bury the carcases, it is very possible
+that the Aborigines may have devoured them, particularly the entrails,
+which they are very fond of, and that hence some accident of the kind
+alluded to may have occurred without their knowledge.
+
+"I have, etc.
+"(signed) S. SIMPSON,
+"Commissioner of Crown Lands."
+
+"The Honourable E. D. Thomson,
+"Colonial Secretary."
+
+
+For the sake of humanity I would hope that such unheard of atrocities
+cannot really have existed. That the bare suspicion even of such crimes
+should have originated and gained currency in more than one district
+of Australia, is of itself a fearful indication of the feeling
+among the lowest classes in the colonies, and of the harrowing
+deeds to which that might lead.
+
+Extract from South Australian Registe, 10th of July, 1841, after the
+return of Major O'Halloran and a party of sixty-eight individuals, sent
+up the Murray to try and rescue property stolen by blacks. "In the mean
+time we cannot but think that the DISAPPOINTMENT SO GENERALLY
+EXPRESSED, because Major O'Halloran has returned 'WITHOUT FIRING A SHOT,'
+is somewhat unreasonable, seeing that in his presence the natives DID
+NOTHING TO WARRANT AN EXTREME MEASURE, and that there were no means of
+identifying either the robbers of Mr. Inman, or the murderers of Mr.
+Langhorne's servants. It is quite clear that a legally authorised English
+force could not be permitted to fire indiscriminately upon the natives AS
+SOME PERSONS THINK they ought to have done, or to fire at all, save when
+attacked, or under circumstances in which any white subject of the Queen
+might be shot at. We KNOW that many overland parties HAVE NOT HESITATED
+TO FIRE AT THE NATIVES WHEREVER THEY APPEARED; and it is possible that
+the tribes now hostilely disposed may have received some provocation."]
+
+The following extract from a letter addressed by the Chief Protector of
+the Port Phillip district, Mr. Robinson, to his Honour the Superintendent
+at Melbourne, shews that officer's opinion of the feeling of the lower
+class of the settlers' servants, with regard to the Aborigines in
+Australia Felix.
+
+
+"Anterior to my last expedition I had seen a large portion of this
+province; I have now seen nearly the entire, and, in addition, have made
+myself thoroughly acquainted with the character of its inhabitants.
+
+"The settlers are, for the most part, a highly respectable body of men,
+many, to my knowledge, deeply commiserating the condition of the natives;
+a few have been engaged in the work of their amelioration; these,
+however, are but isolated instances; the majority are averse to having
+the natives, and drive them from their runs.
+
+"Nothing could afford me greater pleasure than to see a reciprocity of
+interest established between the settler and aborigine, and it would
+delight me to see the settlers engaged in the great work of their
+amelioration; and though on the part of the settlers, a large majority
+would readily engage, I nevertheless feel persuaded that, until a better
+class of peasantry be introduced, and a code of judicature suited to the
+condition of the natives, its practicability, as a general principle, is
+unattainable.
+
+"In the course of my wanderings through the distant interior, I found it
+necessary, in order to arrive at a correct judgment, to observe the
+relative character of both classes, i. e. the European and the Aborigine.
+The difficulty on the part of the Aborigine by proper management can be
+overcome; but the difficulty on the part of the depraved white man is of
+far different character, and such as to require that either their place
+should be supplied by a more honest and industrious peasantry, or that a
+more suitable code of judicature be established, to restrain their
+nefarious proceedings with reference to the aboriginal natives.
+
+"I found, on my last expedition, that a large majority of the white
+servants employed at the stock stations in the distant interior were, for
+the most part, men of depraved character; and it was with deep regret
+that I observed that they were all armed; and in the estimation of some
+of these characters, with whom I conversed, I found that the life of a
+native was considered to be of no more value than that of a wild dog. The
+settlers complained generally of the bad character of their men. The
+saying is common among them, 'That the men and not we are the masters.'
+The kind of treatment evinced towards the aboriginal natives in remote
+parts of the interior by this class of persons, may be easily imagined;
+but as I shall have occasion more fully to advert to this topic in the
+report I am about to transmit to the Government, I shall defer for the
+present offering further observations.
+
+"The bad character of the white servants is a reason assigned by many
+settlers for keeping the natives from their stations. At a few
+establishments, viz. Norman M'Leod's, Baillie's, Campbell's, Lenton's,
+and Urquhart's, an amicable and friendly relation has been maintained for
+several years; the Aborigines are employed and found useful. I visited
+these stations; and the proprietors assured me the natives had never done
+them any injury; the natives also spoke in high terms of these parties.
+There are other settlers also who have rendered assistance in improving
+the condition of the natives, and to whom I shall advert in my next
+report.
+
+"Whether the proprietors of these establishments devote more attention,
+or whether their white servants are of less nefarious character than
+others, I am not prepared to say; but the facts I have stated are
+incontrovertible, and are sufficient to shew the reclaimability of the
+natives, when proper persons are engaged, and suitable means had recourse
+to. I cannot but accede to the proposition, namely, that of holding out
+inducements to all who engage in the amelioration of the aboriginal
+natives. Those who have had experience, who have been tried and found
+useful, ought to have such inducements held out to them as would ensure a
+continuance of their appointments, the more especially as it has always
+been found difficult to obtain suitable persons for this hazardous and
+peculiar service."
+
+
+The following extract from another letter, also addressed to his Honour
+the Superintendent, shews the opinions and feelings of the writer, a
+Magistrate of the Colony, and a Commissioner of Crown Lands, in the
+Geelong district.
+
+
+"In offering my candid opinion, I submissively beg leave to state, that
+for the last three years, on all occasions, I have been a friend to the
+natives; but from my general knowledge of their habits of idleness,
+extreme cunning, vice, and villany, that it is out of the power of all
+exertion that can be bestowed on them to do good by them; and I further
+beg leave to state, that I can plainly see the general conduct of the
+native growing worse, and, if possible, more useless, and daily more
+daring. One and all appear to consider that no punishment awaits them.
+This idea has latterly been instilled into their minds with, I should
+think, considerable pains, and also that the white men should be punished
+for the least offence.
+
+"In reply to the latter part of your letter, I beg leave to bring to your
+notice that, at considerable risk, two years ago, I apprehended a native
+for the murder of one of Mr. Learmonth's men, near Bunengang. He was
+committed to Sydney gaol, and at the expiration of a year he was returned
+to Melbourne to be liberated, and is now at large. In the case of Mr.
+Thomson's, that I apprehended two, and both identified by the men who so
+fortunately escaped. It is a difficult thing to apprehend natives, and
+with great risk of life on both sides. On the Grange, and many parts of
+the country, it would be impossible to take them; AND IN MY OPINION, the
+only plan to bring them to a fit and proper state is to insist on the
+gentlemen in the country to protect their property, AND TO DEAL WITH SUCH
+USELESS SAVAGES ON THE SPOT."
+
+
+Captain Grey bears testimony to similar feelings and occurrences in
+Western Australia. In speaking of capturing some natives, he says, vol.
+2. p. 351. "It was necessary that I should proceed with great caution, in
+order not to alarm the guilty parties when they saw us approaching, in
+which case, I should have had no chance of apprehending them, and I did
+not intend to adopt the popular system of shooting them when they ran
+away." And again, at page 356, he says, "It was better that I, an
+impartial person, should see that they were properly punished for theft,
+than that the Europeans should fire indiscriminately upon them, as had
+lately been done, in another quarter."
+
+Even in South Australia, where the Colonists have generally been more
+concentrated, and where it might naturally be supposed there would be
+less likelihood of offenders of this kind escaping detection and
+punishment, there are not wanting instances of unnecessary and
+unprovoked, and sometimes of wanton injury upon the natives. In almost
+all cases of this description, it is quite impracticable from the
+inadmissibility of native evidence, or from some other circumstances, to
+bring home conviction to the guilty. [Note 50 at end of para.] On the
+other hand, where natives commit offences against Europeans, if they can
+be caught, the punishment is certain and severe. Already since the
+establishment of South Australia as a colony, six natives have been tried
+and hung, for crimes against Europeans, and many others have been shot or
+wounded, by the police and military in their attempts to capture or
+prevent their escape. No European has, however, yet paid the penalties of
+the law, for aggressions upon the Aborigines, though many have deserved
+to do so. The difficulty consists in legally bringing home the offence,
+or in refuting the absurd stories that are generally made up in
+justification of it.
+
+[Note 50: Vide Chapter 9, of Notes on the Aborigines.]
+
+A single instance or two will be sufficient, in illustration of the
+impunity which generally attends these acts of violence. On the 25th
+January, 1843, the sheep at a station of Mr. Hughes, upon the Hutt river,
+had been scattered during the night, and some of them were missing. It
+was concluded the natives had been there, and taken them, as the tracks
+of naked feet were said to have been found near the folds. Upon these
+grounds two of Mr. Hughes' men, and one belonging to Mr. Jacobs, another
+settler in the neighbourhood, took arms, and went out to search for the
+natives. About a mile from the station they met with one native and his
+wife, whom they asked to accompany them back to the station, promising
+bread and flour for so doing. They consented to go, but were then
+escorted AS PRISONERS, the two men of Mr. Hughes' guarding the male
+native, and Mr. Jacobs' servant (a person named Gregory) the female.
+Naturally alarmed at the predicament they were in, the man ran off,
+pursued by his two guards, but escaped. The woman took another direction,
+pursued by Gregory, who recaptured her, and she was said to have then
+seized Gregory's gun, and to have struck at him several blows with a
+heavy stick, upon which, being afraid that he would be overcome, HE SHOT
+HER. Mr. Hughes, the owner of the lost sheep, came up a few moments after
+the woman was shot, and heard Gregory's story concerning it, but no marks
+of his receiving any blows were shewn. On the 23rd of March, he was tried
+for the offence of manslaughter; there did not appear the slightest
+extenuating circumstances beyond his own story, and his master giving him
+a good character, and yet the jury, without retiring, returned a verdict
+of Not Guilty!
+
+At the very next sittings of the Supreme Court Criminal Sessions, another
+and somewhat analogous case appeared. The following remarks were made by
+His Honour Judge Cooper, to the Grand Jury respecting it: "There was also
+a case of manslaughter to be tried, and he called their attention to
+this, because it did not appear in the Calendar. The person charged was
+named Skelton, and as appeared from the depositions, was in custody of
+some sheep, when an alarm of the rushing of the sheep being given, he
+looked and saw something climbing over the fence, and subsequently
+something crawling along the ground, upon which he fired off his piece,
+and hit the object, which upon examination turned out to be a native. The
+night was dark, and the native was brought into the hut, where he died
+the next day. He could not help observing, that cases of this kind were
+much more frequent than was creditable to the reputation of the Colony.
+Last Sessions a man was tried and acquitted of the charge of killing a
+native woman. That verdict was a very merciful one, but not so merciful,
+he trusted, as to countenance the idea that the lives of the natives are
+held too cheaply. The only observation that he would make upon this case
+was, that it was ONE OF GREAT SUSPICION."
+
+[Note 51: I believe this case was not brought to trial.]
+
+Other cases have occurred in which some of the circumstances have come
+under my own notice, and when Europeans have committed wanton aggressions
+on the Aborigines, and have then made up a plausible story to account for
+what had taken place, but where, from obvious circumstances, it was quite
+impossible to disprove or rebut their tale, however improbable it might
+be. In the Port Phillip District in 1841, Mr. Chief Protector thus writes
+to the local Government.
+
+
+"Already appalling collisions have happened between the white and
+aboriginal inhabitants, and, although instances, it is possible, have
+transpired when natives have been the aggressors, yet it will be found
+that the largest majority originated with the Europeans. The lives of
+aboriginal natives known to have been destroyed are many, and if the
+testimony of natives be admissible, the amount would be great indeed; but
+even in cases where the Aborigines are said to be the aggressors, who can
+tell what latent provocation existed for perpetrating it? Of the numerous
+cases that could be cited, the following from a recent journal of an
+assistant protector, Mr. Parker, of the Lodden, will suffice to shew the
+insurmountable difficulty, I may add the impossibility, of bringing the
+guilty parties to justice, for in nine cases, I may say, out of ten,
+where natives are concerned, the only evidence that can be adduced is
+that of the Aborigines.
+
+"This evidence is not admissible. Indeed the want of a code, suited to
+the Aborigines, is now so strongly felt, and of such vital importance to
+the welfare and existence of the natives, that I earnestly trust that
+this important subject may be brought under the early consideration and
+notice of Her Majesty's Government.
+
+"The following is the extract from Mr. Parker's journal referred to: 'On
+the 8th of March 1841, I proceeded to the Pyrenees to investigate the
+circumstances connected with the slaughter of several Aborigines, by a
+Mr. Frances. On the 9th and 10th I fell in with different parties of
+natives. From the last of these I obtained some distressing statements,
+as to the slaughter of the blacks; they gave me the names of seven
+individuals shot by Mr. Frances within the last six months. I found,
+however, no legal evidence attainable. The only persons present in the
+last and most serious affair with the Aborigines, which took place in
+December of last year, were Frances, a person named Downes, and a
+stock-keeper in Melbourne. No other admissible evidence of the death of
+these poor people can be obtained than what Frances's written statement
+conveys. In that he reports that he and the person before named WENT OUT
+IN CONSEQUENCE OF SEEING THE BUSH ON FIRE, AND FELL IN SUDDENLY WITH SOME
+NATIVES, ON WHOM THEY FIRED AND KILLED FOUR. The natives say six were
+slain, and their information on that point is more to be depended on.
+Owing to the legal disabilities of the Aborigines, this case must be
+added with many others which have passed without judicial notice. I
+cannot, however, but wish that squatting licenses were withheld from
+persons who manifest such an utter disregard of human life as Mr.
+Frances, even on his own shewing, has done.'
+
+"And in this latter sentiment, under existing circumstances, I most
+cordially agree. In Frances' case, the PERPETRATOR ADMITS his having SHOT
+FOUR ABORIGINES, and for aught that is shewn to the contrary, it was AN
+UNPROVOKED AGGRESSION. The natives, whose testimony Mr. Parker states,
+can be relied upon, affirm that six were slain, and these within the
+brief period of six months.
+
+"In my last expedition I visited the country of the 'Barconedeets,' the
+tribe attacked by Frances; of these I found a few sojourning with the
+"Portbullucs,' a people inhabiting the country near Mount Zero, the
+northernmost point of the Grampians. These persons complained greatly of
+the treatment they had received, and confirmed the statement made to the
+sub-protector by the other natives. The following are a few of the
+collisions, from authentic documents brought under the notice of this
+department, that have happened between settlers and Aborigines, and are
+respectfully submitted for the information of the Government.
+
+"CASES.--CHARLES WEDGE AND OTHERS.--Five natives killed and others
+wounded at the Grampians.
+
+"AYLWARD AND OTHERS.--Several natives killed and others wounded at the
+Grampians. In this case Aylward deposed, 'that there must have been a
+great many wounded and several killed, as he saw blood upon the grass,
+and in the tea-tree two or three dead bodies.'
+
+"MESSRS. WHYTE'S FIRST COLLISION.--William Whyte deposed that 30 natives
+were present, and they were all killed but two, and one of these it is
+reported died an hour after of his wounds.
+
+"DARLOT.--One native shot. Two natives shot near Portland Bay by the
+servants of the Messrs. Henty.
+
+"HUTTON AND MOUNTED POLICE.--The written report of this case states,
+'that the party overtook the aborigines at the junction of the
+'Campaspee;' they fired, and it is stated, that to the best of the belief
+of the party, five or six were killed.' In the opinion of the
+sub-protector a greater number were slain.
+
+"MESSRS. WINTER AND OTHERS.--On this occasion five natives were killed.
+
+"One black shot by Frances.
+
+"MUNROE AND POLICE.--Two blacks shot and others wounded.
+
+"The following from Lloyd's deposition:--'We fired on them; I have no
+doubt some were killed; there were between forty and fifty natives.'
+
+"BY PERSONS UNKNOWN.--A native of the Coligan tribe killed by white
+persons.
+
+"MESSRS. WEDGE AND OTHERS.--Three natives killed and others wounded.
+
+"Names of Taylor and Lloyd are mentioned as having shot a black at Lake
+Colac.
+
+"WHYTE'S SECOND COLLISION.--ALLAN'S CASE.--Two natives shot.
+
+"Taylor was overseer of a sheep station in the Western district, and was
+notorious for killing natives. No legal evidence could be obtained
+against this nefarious individual. The last transaction in which he was
+concerned, was of so atrocious a nature, that he thought fit to abscond,
+and he has not been heard of since. No legal evidence was attainable in
+this latter case. There is no doubt the charges preferred were true, for
+in the course of my inquiries on my late expedition, I found a tribe, a
+section of the Jarcoorts, totally extinct, and it was affirmed by the
+natives that Taylor had destroyed them. The tribes are rapidly
+diminishing. The 'Coligans,' once a numerous and powerful people,
+inhabiting the fertile region of Lake 'Colac,' are now reduced, all ages
+and sexes, under forty, and these are still on the decay. The Jarcoorts,
+inhabiting the country to the west of the great lake 'Carangermite,' once
+a very numerous and powerful people, are now reduced to under sixty. But
+time would fail, and I fear it would be deemed too prolix, were I to
+attempt to particularise in ever so small a degree, the previous state,
+condition, and declension of the original inhabitants of so extensive a
+province."
+
+
+Upon the same subject, His Honour the Superintendent of Port Phillip thus
+writes:--
+
+
+"On this subject, I beg leave to remark that great impediments evidently
+do interpose themselves in the way of instituting proper judicial inquiry
+into the causes and consequences of the frequent acts of collision
+between the settlers and the aboriginal natives, and into the conduct of
+the settlers on such occasions. I am quite ready to lament with the
+Protectors, that numerous as the cases have unfortunately been in which
+the lives of the Aborigines have been taken in this district, IN NO
+SINGLE INSTANCE HAS THE SETTLER BEEN BROUGHT BEFORE THE PROPER TRIBUNAL."
+
+
+Many similar instances might be adduced to shew the little chance there
+is of evidence enough being procurable, even to cause the aggressor to be
+put upon his trial, still less to produce his conviction.
+
+Independently of the instances of wanton outrage, which sometimes are
+perpetrated on the outskirts of the settled districts by the lowest and
+most abandoned of our countrymen, there are occasions also, when equal
+injuries are inflicted unintentionally, from inexperience or
+indiscretion, on the part of those whose duty it is to protect rather
+than destroy, when the innocent have been punished instead of the
+guilty [Note 52 at end of para.], and thus the very efforts made to
+preserve peace and good order, have inadvertently become the means of
+subverting them.
+
+[Note 52: Upon collisions of this character, Lord John Russell remarks in
+his despatch, 21st December, 1839, to Sir G. Gipps: "In the case now
+before me the object of capturing offenders was entirely lost sight of,
+and shots were fired at men who were apparently only guilty of jumping
+into the water to escape from an armed pursuit. I am, however, happy to
+acknowledge that you appear to have made every practicable exertion for
+the prevention of similar calamities in future, and I approve the
+measures adopted by you for that purpose. You cannot overrate the
+solicitude of Her Majesty's Government on the subject of the Aborigines
+of New Holland. It is impossible to contemplate the condition and the
+prospects of that unfortunate race without the deepest commiseration. I
+am well aware of the many difficulties which oppose themselves to the
+effectual protection of these people, and especially of those which must
+originate from the exasperation of the settlers, on account of
+aggressions on their property, which are not the less irritating, because
+they are nothing else than the natural results of the pernicious examples
+held out to the Aborigines, and of the many wrongs of which they have
+been the victims. Still it is impossible that the Government should
+forget that the original aggression was our own; and that we have never
+yet performed the sacred duty of making any systematic or considerable
+attempt to impart to the former occupiers of New South Wales, the
+blessings of Christianity, or the knowledge of the arts and advantages of
+civilized life."]
+
+Several very lamentable instances of this kind, have occurred in Port
+Lincoln. The following is one among others. Soon after the murder of
+Messrs. Biddle and Brown, a party of soldiers was sent over to try and
+capture the aggressors. In one of their attempts a native guide was
+procured from the Eastern tribe, who promised to conduct them to where
+the murderers were. The party consisting of the military and their
+officer, the police, a settler, and the missionary, in all twelve or
+fourteen persons, set off towards Coffin's Bay, following as they
+supposed upon the track of the murders. Upon reaching the coast some
+natives were seen fishing in the water, and the party was at once spread
+out in a kind of semicircle, among the scrub, to close upon and capture
+them; the officer, missionary, and guide, being stationed near the
+centre. As the party advanced nearer, the guide saw that he was mistaken
+in the group before him, and that they were not the guilty parties, but
+friends. The officer called out not to fire, but unfortunately from the
+distance the men were at, and the scrubby nature of the country, he was
+not heard or attended to. A shot was fired, one of the natives sprung up
+convulsively in the water, walked on shore and fell down, exclaiming
+whilst dying, "me Kopler, me good man," and such indeed it proved. He was
+one of a friendly tribe, and a particular protege of the missionary's,
+having taken the name of Kopler from his German servant who was so
+called.
+
+The other natives at once came forward to their dying friend, scornfully
+motioning away his murderers, fearless alike of the foes around them, and
+regardless of their ill-timed attempts to explain the fatal mistake. Will
+it be credited, that at such a scene as this the soldiers were indulging
+in coarse remarks, or brutal jests, upon the melancholy catastrophe; and
+comparing the last convulsive spring of the dying man to a salmon leaping
+in the water. Yet this I was assured was the case by the Government
+Resident at Port Lincoln, from when I received this account.
+
+Another melancholy and unfortunate case of the same nature occurred at
+Port Lincoln, on the 11th of April, 1844, where a native was shot by a
+policeman, for attempting to escape from custody, when taken in charge on
+suspicion of being implicated in robbing a stranded vessel. An
+investigation was made into this case by the Commissioner of Police, when
+it was stated in the depositions, that attempts at rescue were made by
+the other natives. Upon these grounds, I believe, it was considered that
+the policeman was justified in what he did.
+
+The following extract relating to this subject, is from a letter
+addressed to a gentleman in Adelaide, by the Rev. C. Schurmann, one of
+the German Missionaries, who has for some years past been stationed among
+the Port Lincoln natives, and is intimately acquainted with their
+language.
+
+[Note 53: Without adopting the tone of this letter, and which in some
+respects I cannot approve of, I believe the writer to be deeply interested
+in the welfare of the Aborigines, and strongly impressed with a conviction
+of the evils and injuries to which they are subject from our anomalous
+position with regard to them. I have quoted it, therefore, not for the
+purpose of casting imputations on the Government, but to shew how
+powerless they are, and how frequently, under the existing system in
+force with respect to the Aborigines, those very measures which were
+conceived and entered upon with the best intentions, produce in their
+result the most unmitigated evils.]
+
+
+"You will probably recollect, that some time ago (I think it was in the
+month of May) the Adelaide newspapers contained a short notice of a Port
+Lincoln native having been shot by the police in self-defence, and a
+letter in the 'Observer,' mentioned another as being shot by Mr.----, but
+as the charitable correspondent added, 'Unfortunately only in the arm,
+instead of through the body.' From these statements one would infer that
+the parties concerned in these transactions were without blame, being
+perfectly justified--the one to protect his life, and the other his
+property. However, since my return to Port Lincoln, I have learned that
+both tales run very differently when told according to truth. I address
+myself, therefore, to you, with the true facts of the transactions, as I
+have learned them. partly from the settlers themselves, partly from the
+natives. My motive for so doing is to case my own mind, and to gratify
+the interest which I know you take in the Aborigines of this country.
+
+"The man shot by the police was named Padlalta, and was of so mild and
+inoffensive a disposition, that he was generally noticed by the settlers
+on that very account, several of whom I have heard say since, it was a
+pity that some other native had not been hit in his stead. The same man
+was captured last year by Major O'llalloran's party, but was set at
+liberty as soon as I came up and testified his innocence, for which the
+poor fellow kissed my hand near a dozen times.
+
+"The day before he met his death he was as usual in the town, doing
+little jobs for the inhabitants, to get bread or other food. On the
+evening when he was killed, he had encamped with about half a dozen other
+natives on the northern side of Happy Valley, a short mile from the town.
+The police who were sent by the Government Resident to see what number of
+natives were at the camp state, that while searching the man's wallet, he
+seized hold of one gun, and when the other policeman came up to wrest it
+from him, he the native grasped the other gun too. In the scuffle that
+ensued, one of the guns went off, when the other natives who had fled
+returned and presented their spears. They then shot the native who held
+the gun.
+
+"Now this statement is a very strange one, when it is considered that the
+native was a very spare and weak man, so that either of the police ought
+to have been able to keep him at arm's length; but to say that he seized
+both their guns is beyond all credibility. The natives were sitting down
+when the police arrived. How they could therefore find a wallet upon the
+murdered man, I cannot conceive; since the natives never have their
+wallets slung, except when moving; and it certainly is not probable, that
+the man, in spite of the fright he is admitted to have been in, should
+have thought of taking up his wallet.
+
+"The wallet is said to have contained some sovereigns, taken from the
+cutter Kate, which was wrecked some time previous to this affair, about
+forty miles up the coast, and to have been one of those marked by the
+police, at a native camp near the wreck from which the natives had been
+scared away, leaving all their things behind. But if the murdered native
+had taken the sovereigns, why were they not then in his wallet, or why
+was the wallet not examined the day before when he was in town?
+[Note 54 at end of para.] I think that there is little doubt that the
+police found no wallet at all upon the native, and that they coined away
+one of those found at the camp upon him, with a view to incriminate him."
+
+[Note 54: There cannot be a greater act of injustice towards the natives
+than that of applying the English law to them with respect to stolen
+property. Any one who knows any thing of their habits, and the custom
+prevalent amongst them, of giving any European clothing, or other articles
+they may acquire, from one to another, must be fully aware how little the
+fact of their being found in possession of stolen property is just
+evidence against them. Articles such as I have mentioned, often pass, in a
+very short time, through the hands of three or four individuals, and
+perhaps even through as many tribes.]
+
+"Another native, Charley, who was present when the said affair took
+place, tells me, that the police sneaked upon, and fired at them, while
+sitting round the fire; [Note 55 at end of para.] that he jumped up, and
+endeavoured to make himself known, as a friendly native, by saying,
+"Yarri (that is the name the natives have given to one of the police),
+Yarri, I Charley, I Charley,"--but that the effect produced had been the
+pointing of a gun at him, when of course he ran away. That any of the
+natives returned, and poised their spears, he firmly denies; but accounts
+for the murder, by supposing that the dead man made resistance, and
+offered to spear his assailants. He moreover says, that Padlalta would not
+have died in consequence of the first shot, but that the police fired
+repeatedly, which agrees with the settlers, who say they heard three
+shots. When the bloody deed had been committed (a ball had passed right
+through his body), the cruel perpetrators ran home, leaving the murdered
+man helpless."
+
+[Note 55: There must, I think, be some mistake here in the phrascology.
+I cannot think any of the police would fire upon a small party of friendly
+natives whilst unresisting. The probability is, that they surrounded the
+natives to make prisoners, and fired upon being resisted. This must
+generally occur if the police have positive orders to make captures.
+Natives, not very much in contact with Europeans, will almost always
+resist an attempt to make prisoners of them, or will try to escape. Very
+many have, at various times, met their death under such circumstances;
+and too often it has occurred, that the innocent have been the suffering
+parties. This shews the absurdity of applying European customs and laws
+to a people situated as the Australian natives are. It shews, too, the
+necessity of altering our present system and policy towards them, to one
+that will exercise sufficient influence over them to induce them to give
+up offenders themselves. I believe such a system may be devised.--Vide
+Chapter IX.]
+
+"Some time after, a party of three settlers went to the spot, one of whom
+he recognized, and claimed his acquaintance, and perhaps assistance, by
+mentioning the party's Christian name; but, alas! no good Samaritan was
+found amongst these three; they all passed by on the other side, without
+alleviating his pain, moistening his parched lips, warming his shivering
+limbs, or aiding him in any way whatever. There he lay a whole cold and
+long winter night, without a fire to warm him, or a soul to talk to him.
+Next morning he was found still alive, but died on the way into town,
+where he was buried in the jail yard, like a condemned felon.
+
+"What awful and melancholy reflections crowd upon one's mind in thinking
+on this transaction. But what conclusians must a poor people, whom a
+Christian and civilized nation calls savages, arrive at, with such facts
+before them.
+
+"The other native, wounded by Mr.--in the arm, was doubtless of the party
+who attacked the flock; but it must have been some hours after that he
+was shot, for the shepherd had to come home with the flock to inform him
+of the occurrence, and then search and pursuit had to be made, during
+which he was overtaken. He is a stupid idiotic sort of man, so that the
+natives have not deemed him worthy of receiving the honours of their
+ceremonies, and still call him a boy, or youth, although he is an oldish
+man.
+
+"On another occasion, when an uninhabited hut, with some wheat in it, had
+been broken into by some unknown natives, a party went in search of the
+offenders. It was night when they came on a camp, on the opposite side of
+the lake to where the hut stands; the natives, acting upon the first
+impulse, and warned by frequent examples, ran away, when two of the party
+snapped their pieces, but providentially both guns missed fire. The
+natives, however, soon took confidence, and returned, when it was found
+that two of the most orderly and useful men would have been shot if the
+guns had gone off. The party took upon themselves to make one of them
+prisoner, but of course did not venture to bring him before the
+magistrate.
+
+"These facts incontestably prove, that, notwithstanding the Aborigines
+are called British subjects, and in spite of the so-called protection
+system, there is no shadow of protection for them, while they are
+debarred from the first and most important of all liberties, namely, that
+of being heard in a Court of civil Justice.
+
+"Several instances have occurred during my residence in this district, in
+which natives have been arraigned before the administrators of the law,
+although I was morally convinced of their innocence; in other cases, they
+have sought redress through me, for wanton attacks on their person and
+lives, without being listened to.
+
+"Only a few weeks ago a native was very nearly being taken up, on the
+charge of having thrown a spear at Mr. Smith's shepherd, without,
+however, any felonious intent, the distance being too great. This
+circumstance saved the man, or else he would, no doubt, have been tried
+and found guilty on the shepherd's evidence, who would not allow that he
+could be mistaken in the individual, although the accused native came
+boldly into town and court (a circumstance that has never before occurred
+since I have known these natives), although he was an intimate friend of
+the shepherd and his wife; and although all the other natives could prove
+where he had been at the time of the attack on the flock, and state who
+were the guilty parties.
+
+"For those who have had an opportunity of observing the Aborigines in
+their original state, it is not very difficult to distinguish the guilty
+from the innocent, for they are a simple-minded race, little skilled in
+the arts of dissimulation.
+
+"It is bad enough that a great part of the colonists are inimical to the
+natives; it is worse that the law, as it stands at present, does not
+extend its protection to them; but it is too bad when the press lends its
+influence to their destruction. Such, however, is undoubtedly the case.
+When Messrs. Biddle and Brown were murdered, the newspapers entertained
+their readers week after week with the details of the bloody massacre,
+heaping a profusion of vile epithets upon the perpetrators. But of the
+slaughter by the soldiers, (who killed no less than four innocent
+natives, while they captured not one guilty party), among the tribes who
+had had nothing to do with the murders--of the treachery of attacking in
+the darkness of the night, a tribe who had the day before been hunting
+kangaroo with their informers, when one of the former guides to the
+magistrates' pursuing party was killed amongst others; of the wanton
+outrage on the mutilated body of one of the victims;--of these things the
+press was as silent as the grave."
+
+
+Without attempting to enlarge more fully upon the subjects entered upon
+in the preceding pages, I trust that I have sufficiently shewn that the
+character of the Australian natives has been greatly misrepresented and
+maligned, that they are not naturally more irreclaimably vicious,
+revengeful, or treacherous than other nations, but on the contrary, that
+their position with regard to Europeans, places them under so many
+disadvantages, subjects them to so many injuries, irritates them with so
+many annoyances, and tempts them with so many provocations, that it is a
+matter of surprise, not that they sometimes are guilty of crime, but that
+they commit it so rarely.
+
+If I have in the least degree succeeded in establishing that such is the
+case, it must be evident that it is incumbent upon us not only to make
+allowances when pronouncing an opinion on the character or the crimes of
+the Aborigines; but what is of far greater and more vital importance, as
+far as they are concerned, to endeavour to revise and improve such parts
+of our system and policy towards them as are defective, and by better
+adapting these to the peculiar circumstances of this people, at once
+place them upon juster and more equal terms, and thus excite a reasonable
+hope that some eventual amelioration may be produced, both in their moral
+and physical condition.
+
+[Note 56: "We say distinctly and deliberately that nothing comparatively
+has yet been done--that the natives have hitherto acquired nothing of
+European civilization, but European vices and diseases, and that the
+speedy extinction of the whole race is inevitable, save by the
+introduction of means for their civilization on a scale much more
+comprehensive and effectual than any yet adopted."--Leading Article in
+South Australian Register, 1st August, 1840.]
+
+I shall now proceed to give an account of the appearance, habits, mode of
+life, means of subsistance, social relations, government, ceremonies,
+superstitions, numbers, languages, etc. etc. of the natives of Australia,
+so as to afford some insight into the character and circumstances of this
+peculiar race, to exhibit the means hitherto adopted for, and the
+progress made in attempting, their civilization, and to shew the effects
+produced upon them by a contact with Europeans.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter II.
+
+
+
+PHYSICAL APPEARANCE--DRESS--CHARACTER--HABITS OF LIFE--MEETINGS OF
+TRIBES--WARS--DANCES--SONGS.
+
+
+The Aborigines of Australia, with whom Europeans have come in contact,
+present a striking similarity to each other in physical appearance and
+structure; and also in their general character, habits, and pursuits. Any
+difference that is found to exist is only the consequence of local
+circumstances or influences, and such as might naturally be expected to
+be met with among a people spread over such an immense extent of country.
+Compared with other aboriginal races, scattered over the face of the
+globe, the New Hollander appears to stand alone.
+
+The male is well built and muscular, averaging from five to six feet in
+height, with proportionate upper and lower extremities. The anterior
+lobes of the brain are fairly developed, so as to give a facial angle,
+far from being one of the most acute to be found amongst the black races.
+The eyes are sunk, the nose is flattened, and the mouth wide. The lips
+are rather thick, and the teeth generally very perfect and beautiful,
+though the dental arrangement is sometimes singular, as no difference
+exists in many between the incisor and canine teeth. The neck is short,
+and sometimes thick, and the heel resembles that of Europeans. The ankles
+and wrists are frequently small, as are also the hands and feet. The
+latter are well formed and expanded, but the calves of the legs are
+generally deficient. Some of the natives in the upper districts of the
+Murray, are, however, well formed in this respect. In a few instances,
+natives attain to a considerable corpulency. The men have fine broad and
+deep chests, indicating great bodily strength, and are remarkably erect
+and upright in their carriage, with much natural grace and dignity of
+demeanour. The eye is generally large, black, and expressive, with the
+eye-lashes long.
+
+When met with for the first time in his native wilds there is frequently
+a fearless intrepidity of manner, an ingenuous openness of look, and a
+propriety of behaviour about the aboriginal inhabitant of Australia,
+which makes his appearance peculiarly prepossessing.
+
+In the female the average height is about five feet, or perhaps a little
+under. The anterior part of the brain is more limited than in the male;
+the apex of the head is carried further back; the facial angle is more
+acute; and the extremities are more attenuated. The latter circumstance
+may probably be accounted for from the fact, that the females have to
+endure, from a very early age, a great degree of hardship, privation, and
+ill-treatment. Like most other savages the Australian looks upon his wife
+as a slave. To her belongs the duty of collecting and preparing the daily
+food, of making the camp or hut for the night, of gathering and bringing
+in firewood, and of procuring water. She must also attend to the
+children; and in travelling carry all the moveable property and
+frequently the weapons of her husband. In wet weather she attends to all
+the outside work, whilst her lord and master is snugly seated at the
+fire. If there is a scarcity of food she has to endure the pangs of
+hunger, often, perhaps, in addition to ill-treatment or abuse. No wonder,
+then, that the females, and especially the younger ones, (for it is then
+they are exposed to the greatest hardships,) are not so fully or so
+roundly developed in person as the men. Yet under all these disadvantages
+this deficiency does not always exist. Occasionally, though rarely, I
+have met with females in the bloom of youth, whose well-proportioned
+limbs and symmetry of figure might have formed a model for the sculptor's
+chisel. In personal appearance the females are, except in early youth,
+very far inferior to the men. When young, however, they are not
+uninteresting. The jet-black eyes, shaded by their long, dark lashes, and
+the delicate and scarcely-formed features of incipient womanhood give a
+soft and pleasing expression to a countenance that might often be called
+good-looking--occasionally even pretty.
+
+The colour of the skin, both in the male and female, is generally black,
+or very darkly tinged. The hair is either straight or curly, but never
+approaching to the woolliness of the negro. It is usually worn short by
+both sexes, and is variously ornamented at different periods of life.
+Sometimes it is smeared with red ochre and grease; at other times adorned
+with tufts of feathers, the tail of the native dog, kangaroo teeth, and
+bandages or nets of different kinds.
+
+[Note 57: The same fondness for red paint, ornaments of skins, tufts of
+feathers, etc., is noticed by Catlin as prevalent among the American
+Indians, and by Dieffenbach as existing among the New Zealanders.]
+
+When the head of the native is washed clean, and purified from the odour
+of the filthy pigment with which it is bedaubed, the crop of hair is very
+abundant, and the appearance of it beautiful, being a silken, glossy, and
+curly black. Great pains are, however, used to destroy or mar this
+striking ornament of nature.
+
+Without the slightest pride of appearance, so far as neatness or
+cleanliness is concerned, the natives are yet very vain of their own rude
+decorations, which are all worn for EFFECT. A few feathers or teeth, a
+belt or band, a necklace made of the hollow stem of some plant, with a
+few coarse daubs of red or white paint, and a smearing of grease,
+complete the toilette of the boudoir or the ball-room. Like the scenery
+of a panorama, they are then seen to most advantage at a distance; for if
+approached too closely, they forcibly remind us of the truth of the
+expression of the poet, that "nature unadorned is adorned the most."
+
+The body dress is simple; consisting of the skins of the opossum, the
+kangaroo, or the wallabie, when they can be procured. A single garment
+only is used, made in the form of an oblong cloak, or coverlet; by the
+skins being stretched out and dried in the sun, and then sewn together
+with the sinews of the emu, etc. The size of the cloak varies according to
+the industry of the maker, or the season of the year. The largest sized
+ones are about six feet square, but the natives frequently content
+themselves with one not half this size, and in many cases are without it
+altogether. The cloak is worn with the fur side outwards, and is thrown
+over the back and left shoulder, and pinned on in front with a little
+wooden peg; the open part is opposite the right side, so as to leave the
+right arm and shoulder quite unconfined, in the male; the female throws
+it over the back and left shoulder, and brings it round under the right
+arm-pit, and when tied in front by a string passing round the cloak and
+the back, a pouch is formed behind, in which the child is always
+carried. [Note 58 at end of para.] In either if the skin be a handsome
+one, the dress is very pretty and becoming.
+
+[Note 58: A similar custom prevails among the women of the American
+Indians.--CATLIN. vol. ii. p. 132.]
+
+On the sea coast, where the country is barren, and the skins of animals
+cannot readily be procured, sea-weed or rushes are manufactured into
+garments, with considerable ingenuity. In all cases the garments worn by
+day constitute the only covering at night, as the luxury of variety in
+dress is not known to, or appreciated by, the Aborigines.
+
+No covering is worn upon the head, although they are continually exposed
+to the rays of an almost tropical sun. In extreme seasons of heat, and
+'when they are travelling, they sometimes gather a few green bunches or
+wet weeds and place upon their heads; but this does not frequently occur.
+
+The character of the Australian natives is frank, open, and confiding. In
+a short intercourse they are easily made friends, and when such terms are
+once established, they associate with strangers with a freedom and
+fearlessness, that would give little countenance to the impression so
+generally entertained of their treachery. On many occasions where I have
+met these wanderers in the wild, far removed from the abodes of
+civilization, and when I have been accompanied only by a single native
+boy, I have been received by them in the kindest and most friendly
+manner, had presents made to me of fish, kangaroo, or fruit, had them
+accompany me for miles to point out where water was to be procured, and
+been assisted by them in getting at it, if from the nature of the soil
+and my own inexperience. I had any difficulty in doing so myself.
+
+I have ever found them of a lively, cheerful disposition [Note 59 at end
+of para.], patiently putting up with inconveniences and privations, and
+never losing that natural good temper which so strongly characterizes
+them. On the occasion of my second visit from Moorunde, to the Rufus
+natives in 1841, when I had so far overcome the ill-feelings and dread,
+engendered by the transactions in that quarter, in 1840, as to induce
+a large body of them to accompany me back to the station, they had to
+walk a distance of 150 miles, making daily the same stages that the
+horses did, and unprovided with any food but what they could procure
+along the road as they passed, and this from the rapidity with which
+they had to travel, and the distance they had to go in a day, was
+necessarily limited in quantity, and very far from sufficient to
+appease even the cravings of hunger, yet tired, foot-sore, and hungry
+as they were, and in company with strangers, whose countrymen had slain
+them in scores, but a few months before, they were always merry at
+their camps at nights, and kept singing, laughing, and joking, to a
+late hour.
+
+[Note 59: Such appears usually to be the characteristic of Nature's
+children, than whom no race appears more thoroughly to enjoy life.--Vide
+character of the American Indians, by Catlin, vol. 1. p. 84.]
+
+On falling in with them in larger numbers, when I have been travelling in
+the interior with my party, I have still found the same disposition to
+meet me on terms of amity and kindness. Nor can a more interesting sight
+well be imagined, than that of a hundred or two hundred natives advancing
+in line to meet you, unarmed, shouting and waving green boughs in both
+hands, men, women, and children, the old and the young, all joining in
+expressing their good feelings and pacific intentions. On such occasions
+I have been often astonished at the facility with which large bodies,
+have by a little kindness and forbearance been managed, and kept from
+being troublesome or annoying, by a party of only six or seven Europeans.
+I have occasionally had upwards of 150 natives sitting in a long line,
+where I placed them, and as orderly and obedient almost as a file of
+soldiers.
+
+At other times, when riding with only a native boy over the plains of the
+interior, I have seen the blue smoke of the native fires, curling up
+through the distant line of trees, which marked some yet unvisited
+watercourse, and upon making towards it, have come suddenly upon a party
+encamped in the hollow, beneath the banks upon which I stood. Here I have
+remained, observing them for a few moments, unseen and unthought of. A
+single call would arouse their attention, and as they looked up, would
+draw from them a wild exclamation of dismay, accompanied by a look of
+indescribable horror and affright, at beholding the strange, and to them
+incomprehensible beings who stood before them. Weapons would hastily be
+seized, baggage gathered up, and the party so lately buried in repose and
+security, would at once be ready either to fight or to evacuate their
+camps, as circumstances might seem to render most expedient. A few
+friendly gestures and a peaceable demeanour would however soon dissipate
+their terror, and in a few moments their weapons would be thrown aside,
+and both invaders and invaded be upon intimate and confiding terms.
+
+I have always found the natives ready to barter their nets, weapons, or
+other implements, for European articles, and sometimes they will give
+them unsolicited, and without any equivalent; amongst themselves they
+constantly do this.
+
+In their intercourse with each other, natives of different tribes are
+exceedingly punctilious and polite, the most endearing epithets are
+passed between those who never met before; almost every thing that is
+said is prefaced by the appellation of father, son, brother, mother,
+sister, or some other similar term, corresponding to that degree of
+relationship which would have been most in accordance with their relative
+ages and circumstances. In many instances, too, these titles are even
+accompanied by the still more insinuating addition of "dear," to say
+nothing of the hugs and embraces which they mutually give and receive.
+
+The natives are very fond of the children they rear, and often play with,
+and fondle them; but husbands rarely shew much affection for their wives.
+After a long absence, I have seen natives, upon their return, go to their
+camp, exhibiting the most stoical indifference, never take the least
+notice of their wives, but sit down, and act, and look, as if they had
+never been out of the encampment; in fact, if any thing, they are more
+taciturn and reserved than usual, and some little time elapses before
+they enter into conversation with freedom, or in their ordinary manner.
+
+[Note 60: For the existence of similar customs amongst the American
+Indians, vide Catlin, vol. i. p. 56.]
+
+Upon meeting children after a long absence, I have seen parents "fall
+upon their necks, and weep" bitterly. It is a mistaken idea, as well as
+an unjust one, that supposes the natives to be without sensibility of
+feeling. It may often be repressed from pride or policy, but it will
+sometimes break forth uncontrolled, and reveal, that the best and genuine
+feelings of the heart are participated in by savage in common with
+civilized man. The following is an instance in point:--A fine intelligent
+young boy, was, by his father's consent, living with me at the Murray for
+many weeks; but upon the old man's going into Adelaide, he took his son
+away to accompany him. Whilst there, the boy died, and for nearly a year
+I never saw any thing more of the father, although he occasionally had
+been within a few miles of my neighbourhood. One day, however, I was out
+shooting about three miles from home, and accidentally fell in with him.
+Upon seeing me he immediately burst into tears, and was unable to speak.
+It was the first time he had met me since his son's death, and my
+presence forcibly reminded him of his loss. The same circumstance
+occurred when he accompanied me to the house, where every thing he saw
+recalled the memory of his child.
+
+Innate propriety of behaviour is also frequently exhibited by the
+Aborigines in their natural state, in the modest unassuming manner in
+which they take their positions to observe what is going on, and in a
+total absence of any thing that is rude or offensive. It is true that the
+reverse of this is also often to be met with; but I think it will usually
+be found that it is among natives who have before been in contact with
+Europeans, or where familiarities have been used with them first, or an
+injudicious system of treatment has been adopted towards them.
+
+DELICACY of feeling is not often laid to the charge of the Aborigines,
+and yet I was witness to a singular instance of it at King George's
+Sound. I was looking one evening at the natives dancing, and who were, as
+they always are on these occasions, in a state of complete nudity. In the
+midst of the performance, one of the natives standing by a spectator,
+mentioned that a white woman was passing up the road; and although this
+was some little distance away, and the night was tolerably dark, they all
+with one accord crossed over to the bushes where their cloaks were, put
+them on, and resumed their amusement.
+
+It has been said, and is generally believed, that the natives are not
+courageous. There could not be a greater mistake, at least as far as they
+are themselves concerned, nor do I hold it to be any proof that they are
+cowards, because they dread or give way before Europeans and their
+fire-arms. So unequal a match is no criterion of bravery, and yet even
+thus, among natives, who were labouring under the feelings, naturally
+produced by seeing a race they were unacquainted with, and weapons that
+dealt death as if by magic, I have seen many instances of an open manly
+intrepidity of manner and bearing, and a proud unquailing glance of eye,
+which instinctively stamped upon my mind the conviction that the
+individuals before me were very brave men.
+
+In travelling about from one place to another, I have always made it a
+point, if possible, to be accompanied by one or more natives, and I have
+often found great advantage from it. Attached to an exploring party they
+are frequently invaluable, as their perceptive powers are very great, and
+enable them both to see and hear anything at a much greater distance than
+a European. In tracking stray animals, and keeping on indistinct paths,
+they display a degree of perseverance and skill that is really wonderful.
+They are useful also in cutting bark canoes to cross a river, should such
+impede the progress of the party, and in diving for anything that may be
+lost in the water, etc. etc. The Aborigines generally, and almost always
+those living near large bodies of water, are admirable swimmers and
+divers, and are almost as much at home in the water as on dry land. I
+have known them even saw a small log or root at the bottom of a deep
+river. In a locality, however, which is badly watered, it sometimes
+happens that they cannot swim. At Meerkap, in Western Australia, while
+crossing with some friends, from the Sound to Swan River, we met with
+some who were in this predicament, and who seemed a good deal astonished
+at our venturing into the small ponds at that place. I have been told
+that the natives at the Sound could not swim before that settlement was
+occupied by Europeans--this seems hardly probable, however, upon the
+sea-coast; at all events, be this as it may, they all swim now.
+
+In habit they are truly nomadic, seldom remaining many weeks in one
+locality, and frequently not many days. The number travelling together
+depends, in a great measure, upon the period of the year, and the
+description of food that may be in season. If there is any particular
+variety more abundant than another, or procurable only in certain
+localities, the whole tribe generally congregate to partake of it. Should
+this not be the case, then they are probably scattered over their
+district in detached groups, or separate families.
+
+At certain seasons of the year, usually in the spring or summer, when
+food is most abundant, several tribes meet together in each other's
+territory for the purpose of festivity or war, or to barter and exchange
+such food, clothing, implements, weapons, or other commodities as they
+respectively possess; or to assist in the initiatory ceremonies by which
+young persons enter into the different grades of distinction amongst
+them. The manner and formalities of meeting depend upon the cause for
+which they assemble. If the tribes have been long apart, many deaths may
+have occurred in the interim; and as the natives do not often admit that
+the young or the strong can die from natural causes, they ascribe the
+event to the agency of sorcery, employed by individuals of neighbouring
+tribes. This must of course be expiated in some way when they meet, but
+the satisfaction required is regulated by the desire of the injured tribe
+to preserve amicable relations with the other, or the reverse.
+
+The following is an account of a meeting which I witnessed, between the
+natives of Moorunde (comprising portions of several of the neighbouring
+tribes) and the Nar-wij-jerook, or Lake Bonney tribe, accompanied also by
+many of their friends. This meeting had been pre-arranged, as meetings of
+large bodies of natives never take place accidentally, for even when a
+distant tribe approaches the territory of another unexpectedly,
+messengers are always sent on in advance, to give the necessary warning.
+The object of the meeting in question was to perform the initiatory
+ceremonies upon a number of young men belonging to both of the tribes. In
+the Murray district, when one tribe desires another to come from a
+distance to perform these ceremonies, young men are sent off with
+messages of invitation, carrying with them as their credentials, long
+narrow news, made of string manufactured from the rush. These nets are
+left with the tribe they are sent to, and brought back again when the
+invitation is responded to.
+
+Notice having been given on the previous evening to the Moorunde natives
+of the approach of the Nar-wij-jerook tribe, they assembled at an early
+hour after sunrise, in as clear and open a place as they could find. Here
+they sat down in a long row to await the coming of their friends. The men
+were painted, and carried their weapons, as if for war. The women and
+children were in detached groups, a little behind them, or on one side,
+whilst the young men, on whom the ceremonies were to be performed, sat
+shivering with cold and apprehension in a row to the rear of the men,
+perfectly naked, smeared over from head to foot with grease and
+red-ochre, and without weapons. The Nar-wij-jerook tribe was now seen
+approaching. The men were in a body, armed and painted, and the women and
+children accompanying them a little on one side. They occasionally
+halted, and entered into consultation, and then, slackening their pace,
+gradually advanced until within a hundred yards of the Moorunde tribe.
+Here the men came to a full stop, whilst several of the women singled out
+from the rest, and marched into the space between the two parties, having
+their heads coated over with lime, and raising a loud and melancholy
+wail, until they came to a spot about equi-distant from both, when they
+threw down their cloaks with violence, and the bags which they carried on
+their backs, and which contained all their worldly effects. The bags were
+then opened, and pieces of glass and shells taken out, with which they
+lacerated their thighs, backs, and breasts, in a most frightful manner,
+whilst the blood kept pouring out of the wounds in streams; and in this
+plight, continuing their wild and piercing lamentations, they moved up
+towards the Moorunde tribe, who sat silently and immoveably in the place
+at first occupied. One of the women then went up to a strange native, who
+was on a visit to the Moorunde tribe and who stood neutral in the affair
+of the meeting, and by violent language and frantic gesticulations
+endeavoured to incite him to revenge the death of some relation or
+friend. But he could not be induced to lift his spear against the people
+amongst whom he was sojourning. After some time had been spent in
+mourning, the women took up their bundles again, and retiring, placed
+themselves in the rear of their own party. An elderly man then advanced,
+and after a short colloquy with the seated tribe, went back, and beckoned
+his own people to come forward, which they did slowly and in good order,
+exhibiting in front three uplifted spears, to which were attached the
+little nets left with them by the envoys of the opposite tribe, and which
+were the emblems of the duty they had come to perform, after the ordinary
+expiations had been accomplished.
+
+In advancing, the Nar-wij-jerooks again commenced the death wail, and one
+of the men, who had probably sustained the greatest loss since the tribes
+had last met, occasionally in alternations of anger and sorrow addressed
+his own people. When near the Moorunde tribe a few words were addressed
+to them, and they at once rose simultaneously, with a suppressed shout.
+The opposite party then raised their spears, and closing upon the line of
+the other tribe, speared about fifteen or sixteen of them in the left
+arm, a little below the shoulder. This is the generally understood order
+of revenge; for the persons who were to receive the wounds, as soon as
+they saw the weapons of their assailants poised, at once put out the left
+foot, to steady themselves, and presented the left shoulder for the blow,
+frequently uttering the word "Leipa" (spear), as the others appeared to
+hesitate.
+
+Whilst this was going on, the influential men of each tribe were
+violently talking to each other, and apparently accusing one another of
+being accessory to the death of some of their people. Disclaimers passed
+on each side, and the blame was imputed to other and more distant tribes.
+The manes of the dead having been appeased, the honour of each party was
+left unsullied, and the Nar-wij-jerooks retired about a hundred yards,
+and sat down, ready to enter upon the ceremonies of the day, which will
+be described in another place. [Note 61: Chapter V.]
+
+If the meeting of the tribes be for the purpose of war, a favourable
+situation is selected by one of the parties, and notice is sent to the
+other, who then proceed to the place of meeting, where both draw out
+their forces in opposing parallel lines. Day-break, or nearly about
+sunset in the evening, are the times preferred for these engagements, as
+the softened light at those hours does not so much affect the eyesight,
+and the spears are more easily seen and avoided. Both parties are fully
+armed with spears, shields, and other weapons, and the fight sometimes
+lasts for three or four hours, during which scarcely a word is spoken,
+and but little noise of any kind is heard, excepting a shrill cry now and
+then, when some one is wounded or has a narrow escape. Many are injured
+generally on both sides, and some severely so; but it rarely happens that
+more than one or two are killed, though hundreds may have been engaged.
+
+The fights are sometimes witnessed by men who are not concerned in them,
+by the women and the children. The presence of the females may be
+supposed probably to inspire the belligerents with courage and incite
+them to deeds of daring.
+
+The most dangerous and fatal affrays in which the natives engage are
+those which occur suddenly amongst tribes who have been encamped near one
+another on amicable terms, and between whom some cause of difference has
+arisen, probably in relation to their females, or some recent death,
+which it is imagined the sorcerers have been instrumental in producing.
+In the former case a kind of melee sometimes takes place at night, when
+fire-brands are thrown about, spears launched, and bwirris [Note 62 at end
+of para.] bran-dished in indescribable confusion. In the latter case the
+affray usually occurs immediately after the body is buried, and is more of
+a hand-to-hand fight, in which bwirris are used rather than spears, and
+in which tremendous blows are struck and frightful wounds inflicted.
+
+[Note 62: A short, heavy, wooden stick, with a knob at one end.]
+
+In wars males are always obliged to join their relatives by blood and
+their own tribe. Women frequently excite the men to engage in these
+affrays to revenge injuries or deaths, and sometimes they assist
+themselves by carrying spears or other weapons for their husbands. I am
+not aware that women or children are ever butchered after a battle is
+over, and I believe such is never the case. Single camps are sometimes
+treacherously surprised when the parties are asleep, and the males
+barbarously killed in cold blood. This generally takes place just before
+the morning dawns, when the native is most drowsy, and least likely to
+give his attention to any thing he might hear. In these cases the attack
+is generally made under the belief that the individual is a desperate
+sorcerer, and has worked innumerable mischiefs to their tribe. In their
+attacks upon European parties I believe the natives generally advance in
+a line or crescent, beating their weapons together, throwing dust in the
+air, spitting, biting their beards, or using some other similar act of
+defiance and hostility. I have never witnessed any such collision myself,
+but am told that the attack is always accompanied by that peculiar savage
+sound produced by the suppressed guttural shout of many voices in unison,
+which they use in conflicts amongst themselves, and which is continued to
+the moment of collision, and renewed in triumph whenever a weapon strikes
+an opponent.
+
+When hostilely disposed from either fear or from having been previously
+ill-treated, I have seen the natives, without actually proceeding to
+extremities, resort to all the symptoms of defiance I have mentioned, or
+at other times, run about with fire-brands in their hands, lighting the
+bushes and the grass, either as a charm, or in the hope of burning out
+the intruders. When much alarmed and rather closely pressed, they have
+run up the trees like monkeys, and concealed themselves among the boughs,
+evidently thinking they were secure from pursuit there.
+
+If tribes meet simply for the purpose of festivity, and have no deaths to
+avenge on either side, although they appear in warlike attitude, painted
+and bearing spear and shield, yet when they approach each other, they all
+become seated upon the ground. After which, the strangers, should there
+be any, undergo a formal introduction, and have their country and lineage
+described by the older men. At these meetings all occurrences of interest
+are narrated, information is given as to the localities in which food is
+most abundant, and invitations are issued by the proprietors of these
+districts, to their relations and friends to accompany them thither.
+
+The position of one tribe towards another, whether on friendly terms or
+otherwise, is talked about, and consultations are held on the existing
+state of affairs, whether hostilities shall be continued or withdrawn,
+and future plans of operation are marked out.
+
+Whilst the men are occupied in discussing these matters, the females
+engage in a narration of family occurrences, such as births of children,
+marriages, deaths, etc., not omitting a sprinkling of gossip and scandal,
+from which, even these ebon sisters of a fairer race, are not altogether
+exempt.
+
+In the evening, the huts of the different tribes are built as near to
+each other as practicable, each tribe locating itself in the direction
+from whence it came. The size and character of the huts, with the number
+of their occupants, vary according to the state of the weather, and the
+local circumstances of their position. In fine weather, one hut will
+contain from two to five families, in wet weather more, each family
+however having a separate fire.
+
+The amusements of the natives are various, but they generally have a
+reference to their future occupations or pursuits. Boys who are very
+young, have small reed spears made for them by their parents, the ends of
+which are padded with grass, to prevent them from hurting each other.
+They then stand at a little distance, and engage in a mimic fight; and by
+this means acquire early that skill in the use of this weapon, for which,
+in after life, they are so much celebrated. At other times round pieces
+of bark are rolled along the ground, to represent an animal in the act of
+running, at which the spears are thrown for the sake of practice.
+
+Another favourite amusement among the children, is to practise the dances
+and songs of the adults, and a boy is very proud if he attains sufficient
+skill in these, to be allowed to take part in the exhibitions that are
+made before other tribes.
+
+String puzzles are another species of amusement with them. In these a
+European would be surprised to see the ingenuity they display, and the
+varied and singular figures which they produce. Our juvenile attempts in
+this way, are very meagre and uninteresting compared to them. [Note 63: An
+amusement of the New Zealand children.--Dieffenbach, vol. 2. p. 32.]
+
+Other gratifications enjoyed by children, consist in learning the
+occupations and pursuits of after life, as to make twine, and weapons; to
+ascend trees; to procure food; to guide the canoe, and many other things,
+which enter into the pursuits of a savage.
+
+The elder boys engage more extensively in similar occupations, as they
+are more particularly interested in them, and by their exertions have to
+provide chiefly for their own support. Mock combats frequently take place
+amongst them, in which they are encouraged by the adults, that they may
+acquire the dexterities of warfare, in which they are soon to be more
+seriously engaged. [Note 64: For an account of a similar practise among
+the American Indians, vide Catlin, vol. 1. p. 131.]
+
+An amusement of the adults, is a large bunch of emu feathers tied
+together, (fig. 1. Pl. 1.) which is held out and shaken as if in
+defiance, by some individual, whilst the others advance to try to take it
+out of his hands. This occasions an amusing struggle before the prize is
+gained, in which it is not uncommon to see from ten to twenty strong and
+lusty men rolling in a heap together. This is a sort of athletic exercise
+amongst them, for the purpose of testing each other's strength. On such
+an occasion they are all unarmed and naked.
+
+At nights, dances or plays are performed by the different tribes in turn,
+the figures and scenes of which are extensively varied, but all are
+accompanied by songs, and a rude kind of music produced by beating two
+sticks together, or by the action of the hand upon a cloak of skins
+rolled tightly together, so as to imitate the sound of a drum. In some of
+the dances only are the women allowed to take a part; but they have
+dances of their own, in which the men do not join. At all times they are
+the chief musicians, vocal and instrumental. Sometimes, however, they
+have an old man to lead the band and pitch the tunes; and at others they
+are assisted by the old and young men indiscriminately.
+
+The natives have not any war-dance, properly so called, though sometimes
+they are decorated in all the pomp and circumstance of war. Being
+excellent mimies, they imitate in many of their dances the habits and
+movements of animals. They also represent the mode of hunting, fighting,
+love-making, etc. New figures and new songs are constantly introduced, and
+are as much applauded and encored, as more refined productions of a
+similar kind in civilized communities; being sometimes passed from tribe
+to tribe for a considerable distance. I have often seen dances performed
+to songs with which I was acquainted, and which I knew to belong to
+distant parts of the country where a different dialect was spoken, and
+which consequently could not be understood where I heard them. Many of
+the natives cannot even give an interpretation of the songs of their own
+districts [Note 65 at end of para.], and most of the explanations they do
+give are, I am inclined to think, generally very imperfect, as the
+measures or quantities of the syllables appear to be more attended to
+than the sense.
+
+[Note 65: "Not one in ten of the young men who are dancing and singing it,
+know the meaning of the song they are chaunting over."--Catlin, vol. 1. p.
+126. Also the case in New Zealand, with respect to some of the
+songs.--Vide Dieffenbach, vol. 2. p. 57.]
+
+Of these amusements the natives are passionately fond; and when once they
+have so far overcome their naturally indolent disposition as to be
+induced to engage in them there is no knowing when they will give over.
+Dances are sometimes held during the day, but these are of rare
+occurrence, and seem to be in some way connected with their ceremonial
+observances or superstitions, since rude figures, and lofty branches of
+trees, decorated with tufts of feathers, emu plumes, swan's down and red
+ochre, occupy a prominent part in the exhibition, although never met with
+in the dances by night.
+
+The dances vary a great deal among the different tribes, both as to
+figures and music; the painting or decoration of their persons, their use
+of weapons, and the participation of the females in them. Throughout the
+entire continent, as far as it is known. there are many points of
+resemblance in the dances of all the Aborigines, such as the practice of
+painting the body with white and red ochre, carrying boughs in their
+hands, or tying them round their limbs; adorning the head with feathers
+or down, bearing bunches of feathers, tied in tufts in their hands, the
+women singing and beating time upon folded skins, the men beating time
+upon sticks or some of their smaller weapons, an old man acting as leader
+of the band, and giving the time and tune to the others; the dances
+representing the actions of animals, the circumstances of the chase, of
+war, or of love; and the singular and extraordinary quivering motion of
+the thighs when the legs are distended, a peculiarity probably confined
+to the natives of the continent of Australia.
+
+The most interesting dances are those which take place at the meeting of
+different tribes. Each tribe performs in turn, and as there is much
+rivalry, there is a corresponding stimulus to exertion. The dances
+usually commence an hour or two after dark, and are frequently kept up
+the greater part of the night, the performers becoming so much excited
+that, notwithstanding the violent exercise required to sustain all their
+evolutions, they are unwilling to leave off. It is sometimes difficult to
+induce them to commence a dance; but if they once begin, and enter into
+the spirit of it, it is still more difficult to induce them to break up.
+
+The females of the tribe exhibiting, generally sit down in front of the
+performers, either irregularly, in a line, or a semicircle, folding up
+their skin cloaks into a hard ball, and then beating them upon their laps
+with the palm of their hand, and accompanying the noise thus produced
+with their voices. It is surprising to see the perfect time that is kept
+in this way, and the admirable manner in which the motions of the dancers
+accord with the music. There is no confusion, irregularity, or mistake.
+Each person is conversant with his part; and all exhibit a degree of
+elasticity and gracefulness in their movements which, in some of the
+dances, is very striking and beautiful.
+
+In many of the figures, weapons are carried, such as the waddy, the
+shield, the spear, etc. and in these it is amazing to behold the facility
+and skill with which they form in close array, spread into open rank,
+change places, and thread through the mazes of the dance, without ever
+deranging their plans, or coming in contact with each other.
+
+The tribes who are not engaged in dancing, are seated in a large
+semicircle as spectators, occasionally giving a rapturous exclamation of
+delight, as any part of the performance is well gone through or any
+remarkable feat of activity exhibited. Where natives have not much
+acquaintance with Europeans, so as to give up, in some measure, their
+original habits, if there is any degree of jealousy between the
+respective tribes, they are sometimes partitioned off from each other by
+boughs of trees, whilst they look at the dance. On one occasion I saw
+five tribes met together, and the evening was of course spent in dancing.
+Each tribe danced in turn, about forty being engaged at once, besides
+sixteen females, eight of whom were at each corner of the male
+performers. The men were naked, painted in various devices with red and
+white, and had their heads adorned with feathers. The women wore their
+opossum cloaks, and had bands of white down round their foreheads, with
+the long feathers of the cockatoo sticking up in front like horns. In the
+dance the men and women did not intermingle; but the two sets of women
+who were dancing at the corners of the line, occasionally changed places
+with each other, passing in this transit, at the back of the men. All
+sung, and the men beat time upon their smaller weapons whilst dancing,
+the whole making up a wild and piercing noise, most deafening and
+ungrateful to the ears.
+
+The natives of the Rufus and Lake Victoria (Tar-ru) have a great variety
+of dances and figures. One of these, which I witnessed, representing the
+character, habits, and chase of the kangaroo was admirably performed, and
+would have drawn down thunders of applause at any theatre in Europe. One
+part of this figure, where the whole of the dancers successively drop
+down from a standing to a crouching posture, and then hop off in this
+position with outstretched arms and legs, was excellently executed. The
+contrast of their sable skins with the broad white stripes painted down
+their legs; their peculiar attitudes, and the order and regularity with
+which these were kept, as they moved in a large semicircle, in the
+softening light of the fire, produced a striking effect; and in
+connection with the wild and inspiriting song, which gave an impulse to
+their gesticulation, led me almost to believe that the scene was
+unearthly.
+
+In some of the dances the music varies rapidly from slow to quick, and
+the movements alter accordingly. In some they are altogether measured and
+monotonous, in others very lively and quick, keeping the performers
+almost constantly at a double quick march, moving in advance and retreat,
+crossing past or threading through the ranks, and using a kind of motion
+with the feet in unison with the music, that bears a strong resemblance
+to the European mode of dancing. At particular points the figures
+terminate by some simultaneous motion of the whole performers,
+accompanied by a deep, gutteral "Waugh," [Note 66 at end of para.] uttered
+by all together; at others by the actors closing in a dense circle, and
+raising and pointing their weapons upwards with the same exclamation.
+
+[Note 66: This very peculiar sound appears to be common among the American
+Indians, and to be used in a similar manner.--Vide Catlin, vol. 2. p.136.]
+
+The "Paritke," or natives inhabiting the scrub north-west of Moorunde,
+have quite a different form of dancing from the river natives. They are
+painted or decorated with feathers in a similar way; but each dancer ties
+bunches of green boughs round the leg, above the knees, whilst the mode
+of dancing consists in stamping with the foot and uttering at each motion
+a deep ventral intonation, the boughs round the knees making a loud
+rustling noise in keeping with the time of the music. One person, who
+directs the others in the movements of this dance, holds in his hands an
+instrument in the form of a diamond, made of two slight sticks, from two
+and a half to three feet long, crossed and tied in the middle, round this
+a string, made of the hair of the opposum, is pressed from corner to
+corner, and continued successively towards the centre until there is only
+room left for the hand to hold the instrument. At each corner is appended
+a bunch of cockatoo feathers. With this the chief performer keeps a
+little in advance of the dancers, and whisking it up and down to the time
+of the music, regulates their movements.
+
+In another dance, in which women are the chief performers, their bodies
+are painted with white streaks, and their hair adorned with cockatoo
+feathers. They carry large sticks in their hands, and place themselves in
+a row in front, whilst the men with their spears stand in a line behind
+them. They then all commence their movements, but without intermingling,
+the males and females dancing by themselves. There is little variety or
+life in this dance, yet it seems to be a favourite one with the natives.
+
+The women have occasionally another mode of dancing, by joining the hands
+together over the head, closing the feet, and bringing the knees into
+contact. The legs are then thrown outwards from the knee, whilst the feet
+and hands are kept in their original position, and being drawn quickly in
+again a sharp sound is produced by the collision. This is either
+practised alone by young girls, or by several together for their own
+amusement. It is adopted also when a single woman is placed in front of a
+row of male dancers to excite their passions; for many of the native
+dances are of a grossly licentious character. In another figure they keep
+the feet close together, without lifting them from the ground, and by a
+peculiar motion of the limbs advance onwards, describing a short
+semicircle. This amusement is almost exclusively confined to young
+females among themselves.
+
+It has already been remarked, that the natives, on particular occasions,
+have dances which they perform in the day-time, which are different from
+others, and seem to have some connection with their ceremonial
+observances or superstitions. I have only witnessed one of these. It took
+place at Moorunde, in March 1844, on the occasion of a large number of
+distant natives coming to visit the place; and the visitors were the
+performers. The Moorunde natives were seated upon the brow of a
+sand-bank; the strangers, consisting of two tribes, down in a hollow a
+little way off, among a few bushes. When ready, they advanced in a line
+towards the others, dancing and singing, being painted and decorated as
+usual, some having tufts of feathers placed upon their heads like
+cockades and others carrying them in their hands tied to short sticks.
+Nearly all the males carried bunches of green boughs, which they waved
+and shook to the time of the song. The women were also painted, and
+danced in a line with the men, those of each tribe stationing themselves
+at opposite ends of the line. Dancing for a while, they retired again
+towards the hollow, and after a short interval advanced as before, but
+with a person in the centre carrying a curious, rude-looking figure,
+raised up in the air. This singular object consisted of a large bundle of
+grass and reeds bound together, enveloped in a kangaroo skin, with the
+flesh side outwards, and painted all over in small white circles. From
+the top of this projected a thin stick, with a large tuft of feathers at
+the end to represent the head, and sticks were stuck out laterally from
+the sides for the arms, terminating in tufts of feathers stained red to
+represent the hands. From the front, a small stick about six inches long
+was projected, ending with a thick knob, formed of grass, around which a
+piece of old cloth was tied. This was painted white and represented the
+navel. The figure was about eight feet long, and was evidently intended
+to symbolise a man. It was kept in its elevated position by the person
+who carried it, and who advanced and retired with the movements of the
+dancers. The position of the latter was alternately erect and crouching,
+whilst they sang and beat time with the green boughs. Sometimes they
+stretched out their right arms simultaneously, and at other times their
+left, apparently for the purpose of marking the time at particular parts
+of the song. After dancing for a while in this way, they again retired to
+the hollow, and for a few moments there was another pause; after which
+they again advanced as before, but without the image. In the place of
+this two standards were exhibited, made of poles, about twelve feet long,
+and borne by two persons. These were perfectly straight, and for the
+first eight feet free from boughs; above this nine branches were left
+upon each pole, having at their ends each a bunch of feathers of the hawk
+or owl. On the top of one of the standards was a bunch of emu feathers.
+The branches were stripped of all their smaller twigs and leaves, and of
+their bark. They were painted white, and wound round with the white down
+of the black swan, twisted into a rope. This also extended for a
+considerable distance down the pole, below the undermost branch.
+
+Having again retired towards the hollow, they remained there for a few
+minutes, and then advanced for the third time. On this occasion, however,
+instead of the image or standards, they all carried their spears. After
+dancing with these for some time, they went forward towards the Moorunde
+natives, who sprang upon their feet, and seizing their weapons, speared
+two or three of the strangers in the shoulder, and all was over. I was
+anxious to have got hold of the rude figure to have a drawing made of it,
+but it had been instantly destroyed. The standards I procured.
+
+This dance took place between nine and ten in the morning, and was quite
+unlike any thing I had seen before. A stranger might have supposed it to
+be a religious ceremony, and the image the object of worship. Such,
+however, I am convinced was not the case, although I believe it to have
+had some connection with their superstitions, and that it was regarded in
+the light of a charm.
+
+Before the country was occupied by Europeans, the natives say that this
+dance was frequently celebrated, but that latterly it has not been much
+in use. No other instance of it ever came under my own observation in any
+part of New Holland.
+
+The songs of the natives are of a very rude and unmeaning character,
+rarely consisting of more than one or two ideas, which are continually
+repeated over and over again. They are chiefly made on the spur of the
+moment, and refer to something that has struck the attention at the time.
+The measure of the song varies according to circumstances. It is gay and
+lively, for the dance; slow and solemn for the enchanter; and wild and
+pathetic for the mourner. The music is sometimes not unharmonious; and
+when heard in the stillness of the night and mellowed by distance, is
+often soothing and pleasing. I have frequently laid awake, after retiring
+to rest, to listen to it. Europeans, their property, presence, and
+habits, are frequently the subject of these songs; and as the natives
+possess great powers of mimicry, and are acute in the observation of
+anything that appears to them absurd or ludicrous, the white man often
+becomes the object of their jests or quizzing. I have heard songs of this
+kind sung at the dances in a kind of comic medley, where different
+speakers take up parts during the breaks in the song, and where a
+sentence or two of English is aptly introduced, or a quotation made from
+some native dialect, other than that of the performers. It is usually
+conducted in the form of question and answer, and the respective speakers
+use the language of the persons they are supposed to represent. The
+chorus is, however, still the same repetition of one or two words.
+
+The following specimens, taken from a vocabulary published by Messrs.
+Teichelmann, and Schurmann, German Missionaries to the Aborigines, will
+give an idea of the nature of the songs of the Adelaide tribe.
+
+
+KADLITPIKO PALTI.
+Pindi mai birkibirki parrato, parrato. (DE CAPO BIS.)
+
+CAPTAIN JACK'S SONG.
+The European food, the pease, I wished to eat, I wished to eat.
+
+
+MULLAWIRRABURKARNA PALTI.
+Natta ngai padlo ngaityarniappi; watteyernaurlo tappandi ngaityo parni
+tatti. (DA CAPO.)
+
+KING JOHN'S SONG.
+Now it (viz. the road or track) has tired me;
+throughout Yerna there is here unto me a continuous road.
+
+
+WILTONGARROLO kundando
+Strike (him, viz. the dog) with the tuft of eagle feathers.
+
+Kadlottikurrelo paltando
+Strike (him) with the girdle
+
+Mangakurrelo paltando
+Strike (him) with the string round the head
+
+Worrikarrolo paltando
+Strike (him) with the blood of circumcision
+
+Turtikarrolo paltando
+Strike (him) with the blood of the arm. etc. etc.
+
+Kartipaltapaltarlo padlara kundando
+
+Wodliparrele kadlondo
+
+Kanyamirarlo kadlondo
+
+Karkopurrelo kadlondo
+
+
+"This curse or imprecation is used in hunting a wild dog, which, by the
+mysterious effects of those words, is induced to lie down securely to
+sleep, when the natives steal upon and easily kill him. The first word in
+each line denotes things sacred or secret, which the females and children
+are never allowed to see.
+
+* * *
+
+KAWEMUKKA minnurappindo Durtikarro minnurappindo
+Tarralye minnurappindo  Wimmari minnurappindi
+Kirki minurappindo      Wattetarpirri minnurappindo
+Worrikarro minurappindo
+
+
+"These sentences are used in hunting opossums, to prevent their escape,
+when the natives set fire to hollow trees in which the opossums are
+living.
+
+* * *
+
+KARRO karro wimmari     Karra yernka makkitia
+Karro karro kauwemukka  Makkitia mulyeria
+Karro karro makkitia
+
+
+"These words are rapidly repeated to the NGULTAS, while undergoing the
+painful operation of tattooing; they are believed to be so powerful as to
+soothe the pain, and prevent fatal consequences of that barbarous
+operation."
+
+Another specimen may be given from the Vocabulary published by Mr. Meyer,
+another of the German Missionaries at Encounter Bay.
+
+
+"Miny-el-ity yarluke an-ambe what is it road me for Aly-..el-..arr'
+yerk-in yangaiak-ar! here are they standing up hill . . . . . . s
+
+What a fine road is this for me winding between the hills!
+
+
+"The above words compose one of the native songs. It refers to the road
+between Encounter Bay and Willunga. All their songs appear to be of the
+same description, consisting of a few words which are continually
+repeated. This specimen, it will be observed, consists of two regular
+verses:
+
+-u|--|u-|u-u
+-u|--|u-|u-u
+
+"This may, however, be accidental."
+
+I have not thought it worth while to give any specimens of the songs I
+have collected myself, because I could not be quite certain that I should
+give the original words with strict accuracy, neither could I be
+satisfied about the translations.
+
+The assemblage of several tribes at one place for any of the objects I
+have described, rarely continues uninterrupted for any great length of
+time, for even where it has taken place for the most pacific purposes, it
+seldom terminates as it began; and the greater the number of natives
+present, the less likelihood is there that they will remain very long in
+a state of quiescence.
+
+If not soon compelled to separate by the scarcity of food, or a desire to
+follow some favourite pursuit, for which the season of the year is
+favourable, they are generally driven to it by discord and disagreements
+amongst themselves, which their habits and superstitions are calculated
+to foment.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter III.
+
+
+
+FOOD--HOW PROCURED--HOW PREPARED--LIMITATION AS TO AGE, ETC., ETC.
+
+
+The food of the Aborigines of Australia embraces an endless variety of
+articles, derived both from the animal and vegetable kingdom. The
+different kinds in use depend in a great measure upon the season of the
+year and local circumstances. Every district has in it something peculiar
+to itself. The soil and climate of the continent vary greatly in their
+character and afford a corresponding variety of productions to the
+Aborigines. As far as it is yet known there are no localities on its
+coast, no recesses in its interior, however sterile and inhospitable they
+may appear to the traveller, that do not hold out some inducements to the
+bordering savage to visit them, or at proper seasons of the year provide
+him with the means of sustenance. Captain Grey remarks, in volume 2, of
+his travels, page 261--
+
+
+"Generally speaking, the natives live well; in some districts there may
+at particular seasons of the year be a deficiency of food, but if such is
+the case, these tracts are, at those times, deserted. It is, however,
+utterly impossible for a traveller or even for a strange native to judge
+whether a district affords an abundance of food, or the contrary; for in
+traversing extensive parts of Australia, I have found the sorts of food
+vary from latitude to latitude, so that the vegetable productions used by
+the Aborigines in one are totally different to those in another; if,
+therefore, a stranger has no one to point out to him the vegetable
+productions, the soil beneath his feet may teem with food, whilst he
+starves. The same rule holds good with regard to animal productions; for
+example, in the southern parts of the continent the Xanthorrea affords an
+inexhaustible supply of fragrant grubs, which an epicure would delight
+in, when once he has so far conquered his prejudices as to taste them;
+whilst in proceeding to the northward, these trees decline in health and
+growth, until about the parallel of Gantheaume Bay they totally
+disappear, and even a native finds himself cut off from his ordinary
+supplies of insects; the same circumstances taking place with regard to
+the roots and other kinds of food at the same time, the traveller
+necessarily finds himself reduced to cruel extremities. A native from the
+plains, taken into an elevated mountainous district near his own country,
+for the first time, is equally at fault.
+
+"But in his own district a native is very differently situated; he knows
+exactly what it produces, the proper time at which the several articles
+are in season, and the readiest means of procuring them. According to
+these circumstances he regulates his visits to the different portions of
+his hunting ground; and I can only state that I have always found the
+greatest abundance in their huts."
+
+
+It is evident therefore that a European or even a stranger native would
+perish in a district capable of supplying the necessaries of life, simply
+because he had not the experience necessary to direct him where to search
+for food, or judgment to inform him what article might be in season at
+the particular time of his visit. It is equally the same with respect to
+procuring water. The native inhabiting a scrubby and an arid district
+has, from his knowledge of the country and from a long residence and
+practical experience in the desert, many resources at command to supply
+his wants, where the white man would faint or perish from thirst.
+
+The very densest brushes, which to the latter are so formidable and
+forbidding, hold out to the former advantages and inducements to resort
+to them of more than ordinary temptation. Abounding in wild animals of
+various kinds, they offer to the natives who frequent them an unlimited
+supply of food: a facility for obtaining firewood, a grateful shade from
+the heat, an effectual screen from the cold, and it has already been
+shewn that they afford the means of satisfying their thirst by a process
+but little known, and which from a difference in habits and temperament
+would be but little available to the European.[Note 67 at end of para.]
+In judging, therefore, of the character of any country, from the mere
+fact of natives being seen there, or even of their being numerous, we must
+take all these circumstances into consideration; and, in estimating the
+facility with which a native can remain for a long time in a country,
+apparently arid and inhospitable, we must not omit to take into account
+his education and experience, and the general nature of his habits. The
+two former have accustomed him from infancy to feel at home and at ease,
+where a European sees only dread and danger: he has thus the advantage
+over the European in the desert, that a swimmer has in the water over the
+man who cannot swim; conscious of his own powers and resources, he feels
+not the least apprehension, whilst the very terrors of the other but
+augment his danger. On the other hand, the general habits, mode of life,
+and almost temperament of the savage, give him an equally great advantage.
+Indolent by disposition and indulgence, he makes very short stages in his
+ordinary travels, rarely moving more than from eight to twelve miles in
+the day, and this he does so leisurely and quietly, that he neither
+becomes excited nor heated, and consequently does not experience that
+excessive thirst, which is produced by the active exertions or violent
+exercise of the European, and which in the latter is at the same time so
+greatly augmented, by his want of confidence and anxiety.
+
+[Note 67: Vide vol. I. p.349 (March 26.)]
+
+Another very great advantage on the part of the natives is, the intimate
+knowledge they have of every nook and corner of the country they inhabit;
+does a shower of rain fall, they know the very rock where a little water
+is most likely to be collected, the very hole where it is the longest
+retained, and by repairing straight to the place they fill their skins,
+and thus obtain a supply that lasts them many days. Are there heavy dews
+at night, they know where the longest grass grows, from which they may
+collect the spangles, and water is sometimes procured thus in very great
+abundance. [Note 68 at end of para.] Should there be neither rains nor
+dews, their experience at once points out to them the lowest levels where
+the gumscrub grows, and where they are sure of getting water from its
+roots, with the least possible amount of labour that the method
+admits of, and with the surest prospect of success.
+
+[Note 69: Vide vol. I. p.349 (March 27.)]
+
+[Note 68: Vide vol. I. p.361 (March 30.)]
+
+Another very important circumstance in favour of the native, and one
+which results in a measure from some of the above-mentioned
+considerations, is the fact, that the native sets to work to procure his
+supply calmly and collectedly, and before he requires it; whilst the
+European, even if acquainted with the method of obtaining it, would not
+resort to it until the last extremity, when the body was fatigued and
+heated by previous exertion, the mouth dry and parched by thirst, and the
+mind excited and anxious from apprehension. The natural consequence of
+such a very different combination of circumstances would be, that the
+native would obtain an abundant and satisfying supply, whilst the
+European would never be able to procure a sufficiency to appease his
+thirst, but would rather fatigue and exhaust his strength the more, from
+his want of skill and experience, and from his body and mind being both
+in an unfit state for this particular kind of exertion. Such at least, on
+many various occasions, I have found to be the case both with myself, and
+with natives with me who have not been accustomed to the scrub, or to
+this method of procuring water. The difficulty and labour of finding and
+digging out the roots, our want of skill in selecting proper ones, the
+great dust arising from the loose, powdery soil in which they were, and
+our own previously excited and exhausted state, have invariably prevented
+us from deriving the full advantage we expected from our efforts.
+
+In cases of extreme thirst, where the throat is dry and parched, or life
+at all in danger, the toil of digging for the roots would be well repaid
+by the relief afforded. I have myself, in such cases, found that though I
+could by no means satiate my thirst, I could always succeed in keeping my
+mouth cool and moist, and so far in rendering myself equal to exertions I
+could not otherwise have made. Indeed, I hold it impossible that a
+person, acquainted with this means of procuring water, and in a district
+where the gum-scrub grew, could ever perish from thirst in any moderate
+lapse of time, if he had with him food to eat, and was not physically
+incapable of exertion. Under such circumstances, the moisture he would be
+able to procure from the roots, would, I think, be quite sufficient to
+enable him to eat his food, and to sustain his strength for a
+considerable time, under such short stages as would gradually conduct him
+free from his embarrassments.
+
+In addition to the value of the gum-scrub to the native, as a source from
+whence to obtain his supply of water, it is equally important to him as
+affording an article of food, when his other resources have failed. To
+procure this, the lateral roots are still made use of, but the smaller
+ones generally are selected, such as vary in diameter from an inch
+downwards. The roots being dug up, the bark is peeled off and roasted
+crisp in hot ashes; it is then pounded between two stones, and has a
+pleasant farinaceous taste, strongly resembling that of malt. I have
+often seen the natives eating this, and have frequently eaten it myself
+in small quantities. How far it alone would support life, or sustain a
+man in strength, I have of course no means of forming an opinion; but it
+is, probably, only resorted to when other food is scarce. Several of the
+roots of other shrubs are also used for food, and some of them are
+mucilaginous and very palatable.
+
+Throughout the greater portion of New Holland, where there do not happen
+to be European settlers, and invariably where fresh water can be
+permanently procured upon the surface, the native experiences no
+difficulty whatever in procuring food in abundance all the year round. It
+is true that the character of his diet varies with the changing seasons,
+and the formation of the country he inhabits; but it rarely happens that
+any season of the year, or any description of country does not yield him
+both animal and vegetable food. Amongst the almost unlimited catalogue of
+edible articles used by the natives of Australia, the following may be
+classed as the chief:--all salt and fresh-water fish and shell-fish, of
+which, in the larger rivers, there are vast numbers and many species;
+freshwater turtle; frogs of different kinds; rats and mice; lizards, and
+most kinds of snakes and reptiles; grubs of all kinds; moths of several
+varieties; fungi, and many sorts of roots; the leaves and tops of a
+variety of plants; the leaf and fruit of the mesembryanthemum; various
+kinds of fruits and berries; the bark from the roots of many trees and
+shrubs; the seeds of leguminous plants; gum from several species of
+acacia; different sorts of manna; honey from the native bee, and also
+from the flowers of the Banksia, by soaking them in water; the tender
+leaves of the grass-tree; the larvae of insects; white ants; eggs of
+birds; turtles or lizards; many kinds of kangaroo; opossums; squirrels,
+sloths, and wallabies; ducks; geese; teal; cockatoos; parrots; wild dogs
+and wombats; the native companion; the wild turkey; the swan; the
+pelican; the leipoa, and an endless variety of water-fowl, and other
+descriptions of birds.
+
+Of these articles, many are not only procurable in abundance, but in such
+vast quantities at the proper seasons, as to afford for a considerable
+length of time an ample means of subsistence to many hundreds of natives
+congregated in one place; and these are generally the kinds of food of
+which the natives are particularly fond. On many parts of the coast, and
+in the larger inland rivers, fish are obtained of a very fine
+description, and in great abundance. At Lake Victoria, which is filled
+with the back waters of the Murray, I have seen six hundred natives
+encamped together, all of whom were living at the time upon fish procured
+from the lake, with the addition, perhaps, of the leaves of the
+mesembryanthemum. When I went amongst them I never perceived any scarcity
+in their camps. The fish were caught in nets.
+
+At Moorunde, when the Murray annually inundates the flats, fresh-water
+cray-fish make their way to the surface of the ground from holes where
+they have been buried during the year, in such vast numbers that I have
+seen four hundred natives live upon them for weeks together, whilst the
+numbers spoiled or thrown away would have sustained four hundred more.
+This fish is an excellent and nutritious article of food, and would be
+highly prized by the epicure. It is caught by the women who wade into the
+water in a long close line, stooping down and walking backwards, whilst
+they grope with their hands and feet, presenting a singular, and to the
+uninitiated, an incomprehensible spectacle, as they thus move slowly
+backwards, but keep the line regular and well preserved, as all generally
+occupy the same position at one time. When a cray-fish is caught the
+large claws are torn off to prevent the animal from biting, and both
+claws and body are put into a small net suspended from the neck for that
+purpose. In two or three hours a woman will procure as many fish as will
+last her family for a day. The men are too lazy to do anything when food
+is so abundant, and lie basking under the trees in luxurious indolence,
+whilst their wives, mothers, or sisters are engaged in cooking for them.
+
+An unlimited supply of fish is also procurable at the Murray about the
+beginning of December, when the floods, having attained their greatest
+height, begin again to recede; and when the waters, which had been thrown
+by the back water channels of the river into the flats behind its banks,
+begin again to reflow through them into the river as it falls in height.
+At this time the natives repair to these channels, and making a weir
+across them with stakes and grass interwoven, leave only one or two small
+openings for the stream to pass through. To these they attach bag nets,
+which receive all the fish that attempt to re-enter the river. The number
+procured in this way in a few hours is incredible. Large bodies of
+natives depend upon these weirs for their sole subsistence, for some time
+after the waters have commenced to recede.
+
+Another very favourite article of food, and equally abundant at a
+particular season of the year, in the eastern portion of the continent,
+is a species of moth which the natives procure from the cavities and
+hollows of the mountains in certain localities. This, when roasted, has
+something of the appearance and flavour of an almond badly peeled. It is
+called in the dialect of the district, where I met with it, Booguon. The
+natives are never so well conditioned in that part of the country, as at
+the season of the year when they return from feasting upon this moth; and
+their dogs partake equally of the general improvement.
+
+The tops, leaves, and stalks of a kind of cress, gathered at the proper
+season of the year, tied up in bunches, and afterwards steamed in an
+oven, furnish a favourite, and inexhaustible supply of food for an
+unlimited number of natives. When prepared, this food has a savoury and
+an agreeable smell, and in taste is not unlike a boiled cabbage. In some
+of its varieties it is in season for a great length of time, and is
+procured in the flats of rivers, on the borders of lagoons, at the
+Murray, and in many other parts of New Holland.
+
+There are many other articles of food among the natives, equally abundant
+and valuable as those I have enumerated: such as various kinds of
+berries, or fruits, the bulbous roots of a reed called the belillah,
+certain kinds of fungi dug out of the ground, fresh-water muscles, and
+roots of several kinds, etc. Indeed, were I to go through the list of
+articles seriatim, and enter upon the varieties and subdivisions of each
+class, with the seasons of the year at which they were procurable, it
+would at once be apparent that the natives of Australia, in their natural
+state, are not subject to much inconvenience for want of the necessaries
+of life. In almost every part of the continent which I have visited,
+where the presence of Europeans, or their stock, has not limited, or
+destroyed their original means of subsistence, I have found that the
+natives could usually, in three or four hours, procure as much food as
+would last for the day, and that without fatigue or labour. They are not
+provident in their provision for the future, but a sufficiency of food is
+commonly laid by at the camp for the morning meal. In travelling, they
+sometimes husband, with great care and abstinence, the stock they have
+prepared for the journey; and though both fatigued and hungry, they will
+eat sparingly, and share their morsel with their friends, without
+encroaching too much upon their store, until some reasonable prospect
+appears of getting it replenished.
+
+In wet weather the natives suffer the most, as they are then indisposed
+to leave their camps to look for food, and experience the inconveniences
+both of cold and hunger. If food, at all tainted, is offered to a native
+by Europeans, it is generally rejected with disgust. In their natural
+state, however, they frequently eat either fish or animals almost in a
+state of putridity.
+
+Cannibalism is not common, though there is reason to believe, that it is
+occasionally practised by some tribes, but under what circumstances it is
+difficult to say. Native sorcerers are said to acquire their magic
+influence by eating human flesh, but this is only done once in a
+life-time.
+
+[Note 70: The only authentic and detailed account of any instance of
+cannibalism, that I am acquainted with, is found in Parliamentary Papers
+on Australian Aborigines, published August, 1844, in a report of
+Mr. Protector Sievewright, from Lake Tarong, in one of the Port Phillip
+districts.
+
+"On going out I found the whole of the men of the different tribes
+(amounting to upwards of 100) engaged hand to hand in one general melee.
+
+"On being directed by some of the women, who had likewise sought shelter
+near my tent, to the huts of the Bolaghers, I there found a young woman,
+supported in the arms of some of her tribe, quite insensible, and
+bleeding from two severe wounds upon the right side of the face; she
+continued in the same state of insensibility till about 11 o'clock, when
+she expired.
+
+"After fighting for nearly an hour, the men of the Bolagher tribe
+returned to their huts, when finding that every means I had used to
+restore the young woman was in vain, they gave vent to the most frantic
+expressions of grief and rage, and were employed till daylight in
+preparing themselves and weapons to renew the combat.
+
+"Shortly before sunrise they again rushed towards the Targurt and
+Elengermite tribes, who, with about a dozen of Wamambool natives, were
+encamped together, when a most severe struggle took place between them,
+and very few escaped on either side without serious fractures or dangerous
+spear wounds. Although the Targurt tribe were supported by the Elengermite
+and Wamambool natives, and were consequently much superior in number,
+they were, after two hours hard fighting, driven off the ground and
+pursued for about four miles, to where their women and children had
+retired; when one of the former, named Mootinewhannong, was selected,
+and fell, pierced by about 20 spears of the pursuers.
+
+"The body of this female was shortly afterwards burned to ashes by her
+own people, and the Bolagher natives returned to their encampment,
+apparently satisfied with the revenge they had taken, and remained
+silently and sullenly watching the almost inanimate body of the wounded
+female.
+
+"When death took place, they again expressed the most violent and
+extravagant grief; they threw themselves upon the ground, weeping and
+screaming at the height of their voices, lacerating their bodies and
+inflicting upon themselves wounds upon their heads, from blows which they
+gave themselves with the leangville. About an hour after the death of the
+young woman, the body was removed a few hundred yards into the bush
+by the father and brother of the deceased; the remainder of the tribe
+following by one at a time, until they had all joined what I imagined
+to be the usual funeral party. Having accompanied the body when it
+was removed, I was then requested to return to my tent, which request
+I took no notice of. In a few minutes I was again desired, rather
+sternly, and by impatient signs to go. I endeavoured to make them
+understand that I wished to remain, and I sat down upon a tree close to
+where the body lay. The father of the deceased then came close up to me,
+and pointed with his finger to his mouth, and then to the dead body. I
+was at this moment closely and intensely scrutinized by the whole party.
+I at once guessed their meaning, and signified my intention to remain,
+and, with as much indifference as I could assume, stretched myself upon
+the tree, and narrowly watched their proceedings.
+
+"With a flint they made an incision upon the breast, when a simultaneous
+shriek was given by the party, and the same violent signs of grief were
+again evinced. After a short time the operation was again commenced,
+and in a few minutes the body disembowelled.
+
+"The scene which now took place was of the most revolting description;
+horror-stricken and utterly disgusted, while obliged to preserve that
+equanimity of demeanour upon which I imagined the development of this
+tragedy to depend, I witnessed the most fearful scene of ferocious
+cannibalism.
+
+"The bowels and entire viscera having been disengaged from the body,
+were at first portioned out; but from the impatience of some of the women
+to get at the liver, a general scramble took place for it, and it was
+snatched in pieces, and, without the slightest process of cooking,
+was devoured with an eagerness and avidity, a keen, fiendish expression
+of impatience for more, from which scene, a memory too tenacious upon
+this subject will not allow me to escape; the kidneys and heart were
+in like manner immediately consumed, and as a climax to these revolting
+orgies, when the whole viscera were removed, a quantity of blood and
+serum which had collected in the cavity of the chest, was eagerly
+collected in handsful, and drunk by the old man who had dissected
+the body; the flesh was entirely cut off the ribs and back, the
+arms and legs were wrenched and twisted from the shoulder and hip
+joints, and their teeth employed to dissever the reeking tendons, when
+they would not immediately yield to their impatience. The limbs were now
+doubled up and put aside in their baskets; and on putting a portion of
+the flesh upon a fire which had previously been lit, they seemed to
+remember that I was of the party; something was said to one of the women,
+who cut off a foot from the leg she had in her possession, and offered it
+to me; I thought it prudent to accept of it, and wrapping it in my
+handkerchief, and pointing to my tent, they nodded assent, and I joyfully
+availed myself of their permission to retire. They shortly afterwards
+returned to their huts with the debris of the feast, and during the day,
+to the horror and annoyance of my two boys, and those belonging to the
+establishment, they brought another part, and some half-picked bones, and
+offered them to us. The head was struck off with a tomahawk and placed
+between hot stones in the hollow of a tree, where it has undergone a
+process of baking, and it is still left there otherwise untouched."]
+
+Many methods of obtaining the various articles of food, are resorted to
+by the natives, some of these are very simple; some exceedingly
+ingenious; whilst others require great tact and skill; and not a few
+exercise to their fullest extent those qualities, which they possess so
+greatly, and prize so highly, such as quickness of sight, readiness of
+hand, caution in arranging plans, judgment in directing them, patience in
+waiting for the result, endurance in pursuing, and strength in holding
+fast.
+
+Fish are procured in different ways. They are caught with weirs or dams,
+as already described; and also with large seines made of string
+manufactured from the rush, and buoyed up with dry reeds, bound into
+bundles, and weighted by stones tied to the bottom. This is used just in
+the same way as the European seine, being either shot from a canoe, or
+set by swimming or wading, according to the depth of the water. Great
+numbers of fish of various kinds, and often of a large size, are caught
+in this way. Fresh water turtles, varying in weight from three to twelve
+pounds, are also taken in the same way, and are excellent eating.
+
+Another kind of net (ngail-le) used in fishing is made of slender twine,
+and has a large mesh. It is long, but not more than from two to three
+feet deep. A string is passed through the loops of the upper part, and is
+then stretched across a lagoon, or any other sheet of still water, the
+upper part being nearly level with the surface of the water, and the
+lower part dangling loose below, without weight. In setting it each
+extremity is fastened to a pole or spear, stuck firmly in the mud to keep
+it in its place, whilst a third pole is occasionally put in the middle. A
+few dry reeds are sometimes fastened at intervals to the line, running
+through the upper part to prevent the net from sinking too low. When set,
+the native either remains by it to take the fish out as they are caught,
+or leaves it there all night. The fish swimming about the lagoon, or
+sporting near the surface, strike against the net, and get their heads
+fast in the meshes. The net swinging loose, yields to their pressure, and
+entangles them the more as they struggle to extricate themselves from it.
+This is a most destructive mode of catching fish, and generally secures
+the finest and largest.
+
+Fish are sometimes taken in another way. A party of natives proceed to a
+lagoon, or lake of still water, each carrying in his hand a small net
+(ken-de-ran-ko) of a semi-oval shape, about twenty inches long, from
+seven to nine inches across, and from five to seven inches deep. This net
+is kept in shape by a thin hoop of wood running round it in the upper
+part. With this the native dives to the bottom, and searches among the
+weeds until he sees a fish; he then cautiously places the net under it,
+and, rising suddenly to the surface, holds his victim at arm's length
+above his head; and then biting it to kill it, he throws it on the shore
+and dives down again for another.
+
+The natives are very skilful in this mode of fishing, and it is an
+interesting sight to see several of them in the water diving together,
+and exerting themselves against each other in their efforts to catch the
+best fish, whilst the affrighted inhabitants of the water swim wildly and
+confusedly about, seeking shelter in the mud and weeds, only to become an
+easier prey. I have even seen natives dive down in the river, without net
+or implement of any kind, and bring up good-sized fish, which they had
+caught with their hands at the bottom.
+
+Another method of diving with the net is conducted on a larger scale. The
+net itself is made of strong twine, from six to eight feet long, oval at
+the top, about two feet across, and two deep. It is looped to a wooden
+hoop or bow, with a strong string drawn tightly across the two ends of
+the bow, and passed through the loops of the straight side of the net.
+With this two natives dive together under the cliffs which confine the
+waters of the Murray, each holding one end of the bow. They then place it
+before any hole or cavity there may be in the rocks beneath the surface,
+with the size, shape, and position of which they have by previous
+experience become well acquainted; the terrified fish is then driven into
+the net and secured. Fishes varying from twenty to seventy pounds are
+caught in this way. It is only, however, at particular seasons of the
+year, when the female fish are seeking for a place to deposit their spawn
+that this mode of fishing can be adopted.
+
+Other kinds of hoop-nets are used for catching fish in shallow waters, or
+for taking the shrimp, and a small fish like the white-bait, but they
+need not be particularly described.
+
+The next principal mode of procuring fish is by spearing them, and even
+this is performed in a variety of ways, according to the season of the
+year, the description of fish to be taken, and the peculiarities of the
+place where they are found. In the shallow waters upon the sea-coast the
+native wades with his spear and throwing-stick, and follows the windings
+of the fish with singular rapidity and skill, rarely missing his aim
+where he has an opportunity of striking.
+
+In the larger rivers, when the waters are low and clear, a party of
+natives varying in numbers from five to forty plunge in with their
+spears, which for the purpose are made of hard wood, with smooth, sharp
+points, and about six feet long. Forming themselves into a large
+semicircle in the water, they all dive down, simultaneously, with their
+weapons, accompanied sometimes by a young man, a few yards in advance of
+the middle of the party, and without a spear. For a considerable time
+they remain under water, and then, if successful, gradually emerge, and
+deliver the fish that have been speared, to their friends on the shore.
+If unsuccessful they swim a few yards further down, and dive again with
+their weapons. And thus they frequently go on for a mile or two, until
+they are either tired or satisfied with their success. I have known a
+party of thirty natives kill seven or eight fish in the course of an
+hour, none of which were under fifteen pounds, whilst some of them were
+much larger.
+
+The regularity with which they keep their relative positions,
+notwithstanding the current of the river, and the dexterity and order
+with which they dive under the water, are truly surprising to a person
+who witnesses them for the first time.
+
+At the period of floods, and when they have nearly attained their height,
+and the young reeds and rushes begin to shew themselves above the surface
+of the water, near the bank of rivers or of lagoons formed by the floods
+in the alluvial flats behind, another method of spearing fish is
+practised from a canoe (mun) made out of a solid sheet of the bark of the
+gum-tree (eucalyptus).
+
+To these reeds the fish are very fond of resorting, probably to feed upon
+the insects that are found upon the tender leaves; in moving about from
+one place to another they strike against the reeds, and produce a
+vibration in the tops above the water; this indicates to the native, who
+is sailing stealthily along in his canoe, the exact place where they are
+passing, and suddenly raising his arm with great energy he strikes
+forcibly among the reeds with his spear, without letting it go out of his
+hand. If the first blow does not succeed, it is rapidly repeated, and
+seldom fails in securing a prize. When a large fish is speared, it is
+pressed downwards to the ground, and the native leaps out of his canoe
+and dives to the bottom to secure it. The spear (moo-ar-roo) used in this
+method of fishing varies from ten to sixteen feet in length, and is made
+of pine, pliant, and of nearly a uniform thickness; it is about an inch
+and a half in diameter, and has two short pointed pieces of hard wood
+lashed to one end, projecting about five or six inches, and set a little
+apart, so as to form a kind of prongs or grains. This instrument is also
+used for propelling the canoe.
+
+It is used too for spearing fish by night, which is by far the most
+interesting method of any.
+
+Having previously prepared his canoe, straightened his spear, and
+hardened and sharpened the points of the prongs, the native breaks up his
+fire-wood in small pieces, and loads his canoe with a stock calculated to
+last the time he intends to be absent. An oval piece of bark, about three
+feet long and two broad, is then coated over with wet mud and placed in
+the stern of the canoe, on a framework of sticks. One or two sticks are
+stuck upright in the mud, and others placed around them in the form of a
+cone. A fire is then put underneath, and the native, stepping into the
+bow of his canoe, pushes steadily into the stream, and commences his
+nocturnal employment. The wood of which the fire is made is of a
+particular kind, and, as only one description of tree will answer, it has
+frequently to be brought from a considerable distance. It is obtained
+among the brush of the table-land stretching behind the valley of the
+Murray, on either side, and its peculiarities are that it is light,
+brittle, and resinous, emitting when burning a most agreeable fragrance
+and a powerful and brilliant light, almost wholly free from smoke.
+
+Two men usually accompany each canoe, one to attend to the fire, and keep
+it always burning brightly, and the other to guide the canoe and spear
+the fish. As soon as the fire begins to blaze up the scene becomes most
+beautiful. The low black looking piece of bark floats noiselessly down
+the middle of the stream, or stealthily glides under the frowning cliffs,
+now lit up by a brilliant light. In the bow is seen the dark, naked, but
+graceful form of the savage, standing firm and erect, and scarcely
+seeming to move, as with the slightest motion of his arms he guides the
+frail canoe. His spear is grasped in his hand, whilst his whole attitude
+and appearance denote the most intense vigilance and attention. Suddenly
+you see his arm uplifted, and the weapon descending with the rapidity of
+thought, a splash is seen, a struggle heard, and a fish is slowly and
+cautiously drawn towards the canoe pierced through with the spear. If it
+is a large one, the native at once plunges into the water, still
+retaining his hold of the spear, and soon reappears with the trophy in
+his arms.
+
+Among the rocks under the cliffs, or among logs or roots of trees, or on
+a clayey bottom, large fresh-water lobsters (poo-ta-ron-ko) are procured
+in the same way, weighing from two to four pounds each, and of a most
+delicate and excellent flavour. I have frequently been out with a single
+native, and seen him spear from ten to sixteen of these in an hour or
+two.
+
+It has a singular and powerful effect upon the imagination, to witness at
+midnight a fleet of these canoes, gliding about in the distance like so
+many balls of fire, imparting a still deeper shade to the gloom of
+darkness which surrounds the spectator, and throwing an air of romance on
+the whole scene. Occasionally in travelling at night, and coming suddenly
+upon the river from the scrub behind, I have been dazzled and enchanted
+with the fairy sight that has burst upon me. The waters have been alive
+with brilliant fires, moving to and fro in every direction, like meteors
+from a marsh, and like those too, rapidly and inexplicably disappearing
+when the footsteps of strangers are heard approaching.
+
+A few other methods of catching fish are sometimes resorted to, such as
+stirring up the mud in stagnant ponds, and taking the fish when they come
+up almost choked to the surface. Groping with their hands or with boughs,
+etc. etc.
+
+There is also a particular season of the year (about September), when in
+the larger rivers the fish become ill or diseased, and lie floating on
+the surface unable to descend, or drift down dead with the current.
+Fishes weighing nearly eighty pounds are sometimes taken in this way. The
+natives are always looking out for opportunities of procuring food so
+easily, and never hesitate to eat any fish, although they may have been
+dead for some time.
+
+I have never seen the natives use hooks in fishing of their own
+manufacture, nor do I believe that they ever make any, though they are
+glad enough to get them from Europeans.
+
+The large fresh-water lobster is sometimes procured by diving, in which
+case the females are generally employed, as the weather is cold, and
+night is the best time to procure them. It is extraordinary to see a
+party of women plunge into the water on a cold dark night, and swim and
+dive about amongst logs, stumps, roots, and weeds without ever hurting
+themselves, and seldom failing to obtai the object of their search.
+
+Turtle are procured in the same way, but generally by the men, and in the
+day time.
+
+Muscles of a very large kind are also got by diving. The women whose duty
+it is to collect these, go into the water with small nets (len-ko) hung
+round their necks, and diving to the bottom pick up as many as they can,
+put them into their bags, and rise to the surface for fresh air,
+repeating the operation until their bags have been filled. They have the
+power of remaining for a long time under the water, and when they rise to
+the surface for air, the head and sometimes the mouth only is exposed. A
+stranger suddenly coming to the river when they were all below, would be
+puzzled to make out what the black objects were, so frequently appearing
+and disappearing in the water.
+
+Cray-fish of the small kind (u-kod-ko) weighing from four to six ounces
+are obtained by the women wading into the water as already described, or
+by men wading and using a large bow-net, called a "wharro," which is
+dragged along by two or three of them close to the bottom where the water
+is not too deep.
+
+Frogs are dug out of the ground by the women, or caught in the marshes,
+and used in every stage from the tadpole upwards.
+
+Rats are also dug out of the ground, but they are procured in the
+greatest numbers and with the utmost facility when the approach of the
+floods in the river flats compels them to evacuate their domiciles. A
+variety is procured among the scrubs under a singular pile or nest which
+they make of sticks, in the shape of a hay-cock, three or four feet high
+and many feet in circumference. A great many occupy the same pile and are
+killed with sticks as they run out.
+
+Snakes, lizards and other reptiles are procured among the rocks or in the
+scrubs. Grubs are got out of the gum-tree into which they eat their way,
+as also out of the roots of the mimosa, the leaves of the zamia, the
+trunk of the xanthorra, and a variety of other plants and shrubs.
+
+One particularly large white grub, and a great bon-bouche to the natives,
+is procured out of the ground. It is about four inches long and half an
+inch in thickness, and is obtained by attaching a thin narrow hook of
+hard wood to the long, wiry shoots of the polygonum, and then pushing
+this gently down the hole through which the grub has burrowed into the
+earth until it is hooked. Grubs are procured at a depth of seven feet in
+this way without the delay or trouble of digging.
+
+Moths are procured as before described; or the larger varieties are
+caught at nights whilst flying about.
+
+Fungi are abundant, and of great variety. Some are obtained from the
+surface of the ground, others below it, and others again from the trunks
+and boughs of trees.
+
+Roots of all kinds are procured by digging, one of the most important
+being that of the flag or cooper's reed, which grows in marshes or
+alluvial soils that are subject to periodical inundations. This is used
+more or less at all seasons of the year, but is best after the floods
+have retired and the tops have become decayed and been burnt off. The
+root is roasted in hot ashes, and chewed, when it affords a nutritious
+and pleasant farinaceous food.
+
+The belillah is another important bulbous root, which also grows on lands
+subject to floods. It is about the size of a walnut, of a hard and oily
+nature, and is prepared by being roasted and pounded into a thin cake
+between two stones. Immense tracts of country are covered with this plant
+on the flats of the Murray, which in the distance look like the most
+beautiful and luxuriant meadows. After the floods have retired I have
+seen several hundreds of acres, with the stems of the plant six or seven
+feet high, and growing so closely together as to render it very difficult
+to penetrate far amongst them.
+
+The thick pulpy leaf of the mesembryanthemum is in general use in all
+parts of Australia which I have visited, and is eaten as a sort of relish
+with almost every other kind of food. That which grows upon the elevated
+table lands is preferred to that which is found in the valleys. It is
+selected when the full vigour of the plant begins to decline and the tips
+of the leaves become red, but before the leaf is at all withered. The
+fruit is used both when first ripe and also after it has become dried up
+and apparently withered. In each case it has an agreeable flavour and is
+much prized by the natives.
+
+Many other descriptions of fruits and berries are made use of in
+different parts of the continent, the chief of which, so far as their use
+has come under my own observation, are--
+
+1. A kind of fruit called in the Moorunde dialect "ketango," about the
+size and shape of a Siberian crab, but rounder. When this is ripe, it is
+of a deep red colour, and consists of a solid mealy substance, about the
+eighth of an inch in thickness, enclosing a large round stone, which,
+upon being broken, yields a well-flavoured kernel. The edible part of the
+fruit has an agreeable acid taste, and makes excellent puddings or
+preserves, for which purpose it is now extensively used by Europeans. The
+shrub on which this grows, is very elegant and graceful, and varies from
+four to twelve feet in height. [Note 71: A species of fusanus.] When in
+full bearing, nothing can exceed its beauty, drooping beneath its
+crimson load.
+
+Another shrub found in the scrubs, may sometimes be mistaken for this, as
+it bears in appearance a similar fruit; but on being tasted, it is bitter
+and nauseous. This in the Murray dialect is called "netting." The natives
+prepare it by baking it in an oven, which takes the bitter taste away.
+The "netting" is earlier in season than the "ketango."
+
+2. A berry about the size and shape of a large sloe, but with a smaller
+stone; conical in shape, and rounded at the large end. This fruit is
+juicy and saline, though not disagreeable in taste. There are several
+varieties of it, which when ripe are of a black, red, or yellow colour.
+The black is the best. The bush upon which it grows is a salsolaceous
+bramble [Note 72: Nitraria Australis], and is found in large quantities
+on the saline flats, bordering some parts of the Murrumbidgee and Murray
+rivers; and along the low parts of the southern coast, immediately behind
+the ridges bounding the sea shore. It is a staple article of food in its
+season, among the natives of those districts where it abounds, and is
+eaten by them raw, stone and all.
+
+3. A small berry or currant, called by the natives of Moorunde
+"eertapko," about the size of No. 2. shot. When ripe it is red, and of an
+agreeable acid flavour. It grows upon a low creeping tap-rooted plant, of
+a salsolaceous character, found in the alluvial flats of the Murray,
+among the polygonum brushes, and in many other places. A single plant
+will spread over an area of many yards in diameter, covering the dry and
+arid ground with a close, soft, and velvety carpet in the heat of summer,
+at which time the fruit is in perfection. To collect so small a berry
+with facility, and in abundance, the natives cut a rounded tray of thin
+bark, two or three feet long, and six or eight inches wide, over this
+they lift up the plant, upon which the fruit grows, and shake the berries
+into it. When a sufficiency has been collected, the berries are skilfully
+tossed into the air, and separated from the leaves and dirt. The natives
+are very fond of this fruit, which affords them an inexhaustible resource
+for many weeks. In an hour a native could collect more than he could use
+in a day.
+
+The other sorts of fruits and berries are numerous and varied, but do not
+merit particular description.
+
+[Note 73: Mr. Simpson gives the following account of the Bunya Bunya, a
+fruit-bearing tree lately discovered on the N.E. coast of New
+Holland.
+
+"Ascending a steep hill, some four miles further on, we passed
+through a bunya scrub, and for the first time had an opportunity of
+examining this noble tree more closely. It raises its majestic head above
+every other tree in the forest, and must, therefore, frequently reach the
+height of 250 feet; the trunk is beautifully formed, being as straight as
+an arrow, and perfectly branchless for above two-thirds of its height;
+branches then strike off, nearly at right angles from the trunk, forming
+circles which gradually diminish in diameter till they reach the summit,
+which terminates in a single shoot; the foliage shining, dark green, the
+leaves acutely pointed and lanceolate, with large green cones, the size
+of a child's head, hanging from the terminal branches in the fruiting
+season (January). It is, too, very remarkable that the bunya tree,
+according to the natives, is nowhere to be met with but in these parts;
+it is, however, there is no doubt, a species of the araucaria genus, well
+known in South America; the timber, when green, is white, fine grained
+and very tough, but whether it retains these qualities when dry, has not
+yet been determined. The Aborigines are particularly fond of the bunya
+nuts, which are as large as a full sized almond, including the shell,
+and, in good seasons, come from a distance of 100 or 200 miles to feast
+upon them."]
+
+Bark from the roots of trees and shrubs is roasted, and then pounded
+between two stones for use.
+
+Gums exude from the trees on which they are procured. These are generally
+varieties of the Mimosa.
+
+Manna exudes in great abundance from the tree already mentioned, as
+constituting the firewood which the natives use in fishing by night. It
+is of a mottled red or brown colour, of a firm consistency and sweet
+taste, resembling exactly in appearance, flavour, and colour, the manna
+used medicinally in Europe.
+
+Another variety is yielded by the Eucalyptus mannifera and is found early
+in the morning under the tree, scattered on the ground. This is
+beautifully white and delicate, resembling flakes of snow.
+
+Honey is procured by steeping the cones of the Banksia or other
+melliferous flowers in water. It is procured pure from the hives of the
+native bees, found in cavities of rocks, and the hollow branches of
+trees. The method of discovering the hive is ingenious. Having caught one
+of the honey bees, which in size exceeds very little the common house
+fly, the native sticks a piece of feather or white down to it with gum,
+and then letting it go, sets off after it as fast as he can: keeping his
+eye steadily fixed upon the insect, he rushes along like a madman,
+tumbling over trees and bushes that lie in his way, but rarely losing
+sight of his object, until conducted to its well-filled store, he is
+amply paid for all his trouble. The honey is not so firm as that of the
+English bee, but is of very fine flavour and quality.
+
+White ants are dug in great numbers out of their nests in the ground,
+which are generally found in the scrubs. They are a favourite food of the
+natives in the spring of the year. The females only are used, and at a
+time just before depositing their eggs. They are separated from the dirt
+that is taken up with them, by being thrown into the air, and caught
+again upon a trough of bark.
+
+The eggs of birds are extensively eaten by the natives, being chiefly
+confined to those kinds that leave the nest at birth, as the leipoa, the
+emu, the swan, the goose, the duck, etc. But of others, where the young
+remain some time in the nest after being hatched, the eggs are usually
+left, and the young taken before they can fly. The eggs of the leipoa, or
+native pheasant, are found in singular-looking mounds of sand, thrown up
+by the bird in the midst of the scrubs, and often measuring several yards
+in circumference. The egg is about the size of the goose egg, but the
+shell is extremely thin and fragile. The young are hatched by the heat of
+the sand and leaves, with which the eggs are covered. Each egg is
+deposited separately, and the number found in one nest varies from one to
+ten.
+
+One nest that I examined, and that only a small one, was twelve yards in
+circumference, eighteen inches high, and shaped like a dome. It was
+formed entirely of sand scraped up by the bird with its feet. Under the
+centre of the dome, and below the level of the surrounding ground was an
+irregular oval hole, about eighteen inches deep, and twelve in diameter.
+In this, the eggs were deposited in different layers among sand and
+leaves; on the lower tier was only one egg, on the next two, at a depth
+of four or five inches from the ground. All the eggs were placed upon
+their smaller ends, and standing upright. The colour of the egg is a dark
+reddish pink; its length, three inches six-tenths; breadth, two inches
+two-tenths; circumference, lengthwise, ten inches, and across, seven
+inches two-tenths. The eggs appear to be deposited at considerable
+intervals. In the nest alluded to, two eggs had only been laid sixteen
+days after it was discovered, at which time there had been one previously
+deposited. The bird is shaped like a hen pheasant, of a brownish colour,
+barred with black, and its weight is about four pounds and a half.
+
+The eggs of the emu are rather smaller than those of the ostrich. They
+are of a dark green colour and the shell is very thick. They are
+deposited by the bird almost upon the ground, in the vicinity of a few
+bushes, or tufts of grass, and usually in a country that is tolerably
+open; a great many eggs are found in one nest, so that it is generally
+looked upon by the natives as a great prize.
+
+Eggs are eaten in all stages. I have even seen rotten ones roasted, and
+devoured with great relish.
+
+Kangaroos are speared, netted, or caught in pit falls. Four methods of
+spearing them are practised. 1st. A native travelling with his family
+through the woods, when he sees a kangaroo feeding or sleeping, will
+steal silently and cautiously upon it, keeping, as he advances, a tree or
+shrub between himself and the animal, or holding up before him, if he be
+in an open place, a large branch of a tree, until sufficiently near to
+throw the fatal weapon. 2ndly. Two natives get upon the track of a
+kangaroo, which they follow up perseveringly even for two or three days,
+sleeping upon it at night, and renewing their pursuit in the morning,
+until, at last, the wearied animal, fairly tired out by its relentless
+pursuers, is no longer able to fly before them, and at last becomes a
+prize to the perseverance of the hunters. 3rdly. A small hut of reeds is
+made near the springs, or water holes, in those districts, where water is
+scarce; and in this, or in the top of a tree, if there be one near, the
+native carefully conceals himself, and patiently waits until his game
+comes to drink, when he is almost sure to strike it with his spear,
+seldom quitting his lurking place without an ample remuneration for his
+confinement. 4thly. A large party of men go out early in the morning,
+generally armed with barbed spears, and take their stations upon ground
+that has been previously fixed upon in a large semicircle. The women and
+children, with a few men, then beat up, and fire the country for a
+considerable extent, driving the game before them in the direction of the
+persons who are lying in wait, and who gradually contract the space they
+had been spread over, until they meet the other party, and then closing
+their ranks in a ring upon the devoted animals, with wild cries and
+shouts they drive them back to the centre as they attempt to escape,
+until, at last, in the conflict, many of them are slaughtered. At other
+times, the ground is so selected as to enable them to drive the game over
+a precipice, or into a river, where it is easily taken. Netting the
+kangaroo does not require so large a party; it is done by simply setting
+a strong net (mugn-ko) across the path, which the animal is
+accustomed to frequent, and keeping it in its place by long sticks, with
+a fork upon the top. A few natives then shew themselves in a direction
+opposite to that of the net, and the kangaroo being alarmed, takes to his
+usual path, gets entangled in the meshes, and is soon despatched by
+persons who have been lying in wait to pounce upon him.
+
+Pitfalls are also dug to catch the kangaroo around the springs, or pools
+of water they are accustomed to frequent. These are covered lightly over
+with small sticks, boughs, etc. and the animal going to drink, hops upon
+them, and falls into the pit without being able to get out again. I have
+only known this method of taking the kangaroo practised in Western
+Australia, between Swan River and King George's Sound,
+
+The emu is taken similarly to the kangaroo. It is speared in the first,
+third, and fourth methods I have described. It is also netted like the
+kangaroo, indeed with the same net, only that the places selected for
+setting it are near the entrance to creeks, ravines, flats bounded by
+steep banks, and any other place where the ground is such as to hold out
+the hope, that by driving up the game it may be compelled, by surrounding
+scouts, to pass the place where the net is set. When caught the old men
+hasten up, and clasping the bird firmly round the neck with their arms,
+hold it or throw it on the ground, whilst others come to their assistance
+and despatch it. This is, however, a dangerous feat, and I have known a
+native severely wounded in attempting it; a kick from an emu would break
+a person's leg, though the natives generally keep so close to the bird as
+to prevent it from doing them much harm.
+
+The emu is frequently netted by night through a peculiarity in the habits
+of the bird, that is well-known to the natives, and which is, that it
+generally comes back every night to sleep on one spot for a long time
+together. Having ascertained where the sleeping place is, the natives set
+the net at some little distance away, and then supplying themselves with
+fire-sticks, form a line from each end of the net, diverging in the
+distance. The party may now be considered as forming two sides of a
+triangle, with the net at the apex and the game about the middle of the
+base; as soon as the sides are formed, other natives arrange themselves
+in a line at the base, and put the bird up. The emu finding only one
+course free from fire-sticks, viz. that towards the net or apex of the
+triangle, takes that direction, and becomes ensnared.
+
+Opossums are of various kinds and sizes. They inhabit the hollows of
+trees, or sometimes the tops, where they make a house for themselves with
+boughs. They are also found in the holes of rocks. They are hunted both
+in the day-time and by moon-light. During the day the native, as he
+passes along, examines minutely the bark of the trees, to see whether any
+marks have been left by the claws of the animal in climbing on the
+previous night. If he finds any he is sure that an opossum is concealed,
+either in that tree or one adjoining. The way he distinguishes whether
+the marks are recently made or otherwise is, by examining the appearance
+of the bark where the wound is, if fresh it is white, has rough edges, or
+has grains of sand adhering to it; if otherwise it is dry and brown, and
+free from loose particles. Having ascertained that an opossum has
+recently been there, he then ascends the tree to look for it; this, if
+the tree be in a leaning position, or has a rough bark, is not difficult
+to him, and he rarely requires any other aid than his hands and feet; but
+if the bark be smooth, and the tree straight, or of very large
+dimensions, he requires the assistance of his stone hatchet, or of a
+strong sharp-pointed stick, flattened on one side near the point (called
+in the Adelaide dialect, "Wadna," in that of Moorunde "Ngakko,"); with
+this instrument a notch is made in the bark about two feet above the
+ground. In this the small toes of the left foot are placed, the left arm
+is employed in clasping the trunk of the tree, and the right in cutting
+another notch for the right foot, about two feet above the first; but a
+little to one side of it, the wadna or ngakko is now stuck firmly in the
+bark above, and serves to enable him to raise the body whilst gaining the
+second notch, into which the ball of the great toe of the right foot is
+placed, and the implement liberated to make a third step on the left
+side, and so on successively until the tree is ascended. The descent is
+made in the same manner, by clasping the tree, and supporting the feet in
+the notches. The principle of climbing in the way described, appears to
+consist in always having three points of contact with the tree, either
+two arms and one leg, or two legs and one arm.
+
+Having got up the tree, the native proceeds to search for any holes there
+may be in its trunk, or among the boughs; these vary from one foot to
+nine, or more, in depth, for the whole trunk itself is sometimes hollow.
+To ascertain in which hole the opossum is, the native drops in a pebble
+or a piece of bark, or a broken bit of stick, and then applying his ear
+to the outside, listens for the rustling motion made by the animal in
+shifting its position, when disturbed by what has been dropped upon it. A
+stick is sometimes made use of, if the hole be not very deep, for the
+same purpose, after inserting it in the hole, and twisting the rough end
+round and withdrawing it, he looks to see if any fur is left on the
+point, if so, the animal is there, but if the point of the stick shews no
+fur, he goes to the next hole or tree, and so on until he finds it.
+
+If not very far in the hole the native puts in his arm, and draws it out
+by the tail, striking its head violently against the tree to prevent its
+biting him, as soon as it is clear of the orifice; if the hole be deep,
+the furthest point to which the animal can recede is ascertained, and an
+opening made near it with whatever implement he may be using. If the
+whole trunk of the tree, or a large portion of it be hollow, a fire is
+made in the lower opening, which soon drives out the game.
+
+When opossums are hunted by moonlight, the native dog is useful in
+scenting them along the ground where they sometimes feed, and in guiding
+the native to the tree they have ascended, when alarmed at his approach.
+They are then either knocked down with sticks or the tree is ascended as
+in the day time.
+
+Flying squirrels are procured in the same way as opossums. The sloth,
+which is an animal as large as a good sized monkey, is also caught among
+the branches of the larger scrub-trees, among which it hides itself; but
+it is never found in holes.
+
+Wallabies are of many kinds, and are killed in various ways. By hunting
+with bwirris, by nets, by digging out of the ground; the larger sorts, as
+rock wallabies, by spearing, and several kinds by making runs, into which
+they are driven. In hunting with bwirris (a short heavy stick with a knob
+at one end) a party of natives go out into the scrub and beat the bushes
+in line, if any game gets up, the native who sees it, gives a peculiar
+"whir-rr" as a signal for the others to look out, and the animal is at
+once chased and bwirris thrown at him in all directions, the peculiar
+sound of the "whir-rr" always guiding them to the direction he has taken.
+It rarely happens that an animal escapes if the party of natives be at
+all numerous.
+
+In netting the wallabies, a party of seven or eight men go in advance,
+with each a net of from twenty to forty feet long, and when they arrive
+near the runs, usually made use of by these animals, a favourable spot is
+selected, and the nets set generally in a line and nearly together, each
+native concealing himself near his own net. The women and children who,
+in the mean time had been making a considerable circuit, now begin to
+beat amongst the bushes with the wind, shouting and driving the wallabies
+before them towards the nets, where they are caught and killed.
+
+Other species of the wallabie burrow in the ground like rabbits, and are
+dug out. The large rock-wallabies are speared by the natives creeping
+upon them stealthily among the rugged rocks which they frequent, on the
+summits of precipitous heights which have craggy or overhanging cliffs.
+
+In making runs for taking the wallabie, the natives break the branches
+from the bushes, and laying them one upon another, form, through the
+scrubs, two lines of bush fence, diverging from an apex sometimes to the
+extent of several miles, and having at intervals large angles formed by
+the fence diverging. At the principal apex and at all the angles or
+corners the bushes are tied up, and a hole in the fence left like the run
+of a hare. At each of these a native is stationed with his bwirris, and
+the women then beating up the country, from the base of the triangle
+drive up the game, which finding themselves stopped by the bush fence on
+either side, run along in search of an opening until the first angle
+presents itself, when they try to escape by the run, and are knocked on
+the head by the native guarding it.
+
+Native companions and swans are sometimes speared or killed with bwirris;
+the latter are also caught easily in the water holes or lakes when
+moulting, as they are then unable to fly. Pelicans are caught in nets or
+whilst asleep in the water, by natives wading in and seizing them by the
+legs.
+
+Wild dogs are speared, but young ones are often kept and tamed, to assist
+in hunting, in which they are very useful. The wombat is driven to his
+hole with dogs at night, and a fire being lighted inside, the mouth is
+closed with stones and earth. The animal being by this means suffocated,
+is dug out at convenience.
+
+Birds are killed on the wing, with bwirris, or whilst resting on the
+ground, or in the water, or upon branches of trees. They are also taken
+by spearing, by snaring, by noosing, and by netting. In spearing them the
+natives make use of a very light reed spear (kiko), which is pointed with
+hard wood, and projected when used, with the nga-waonk or throwing
+stick. They resort to the lagoons or river flats, when flooded, and
+either wading or in canoes, chase and spear the wild fowl. The
+kiko is thrown to a very great distance, with amazing rapidity and
+precision, so that a native is frequently very successful by this method,
+particularly so when the young broods of duck and other wild fowl are
+nearly full grown, but still unable to fly far. Getting into his canoe,
+the native paddles along with extraordinary celerity after his game,
+chasing them from one side of the lagoon to the other, until he loads
+himself with spoil.
+
+Ducks and teal are caught by snaring, which is practised in the following
+manner. After ascertaining where there is a shelving bank to any of the
+lagoons, which is frequented by these birds, and upon which there is
+grass, or other food that they like near the edges, the natives get a
+number of strong reeds, bend them in the middle, and force the two ends
+of each into the ground, about seven inches apart, forming a number of
+triangles, with their uppermost extremities about five or six inches from
+the ground. From these, strings are suspended with slip nooses, and when
+a sufficient number are set, the natives go away, to let the ducks come
+up to feed. This they soon do; and whilst poking their heads about in
+every direction a great many push them through the snares and get hung.
+
+Noosing waterfowl is another general and very successful mode of taking
+them. It is performed by a native, with a tat-tat-ko, or long rod,
+tapering like a fishing rod, but longer, and having a piece of string at
+the end, with a slip noose working over the pliant twig which forms the
+last joint of the rod. [Note 74: Plate 4, fig. 1. (not reproduced in this
+etext)] This being prepared, and it having been ascertained where
+the birds are, the native binds a quantity of grass or weeds around
+his head, and then taking his long instrument, plunges into the water
+and swims slowly and cautiously towards them, whilst they see nothing
+but a tuft of grass or weeds coming floating towards them, of which
+they take no notice, until coming close upon them he gently raises
+the tapering end of the instrument, and carefully putting the noose over
+the head of the bird, draws it under water towards him. After taking it
+out of the noose, he tucks its head in his belt, or lets it float on the
+water, whilst he proceeds to catch another, or as many more as he can
+before the birds take the alarm at the struggles of their companions, and
+fly away. A windy day is generally selected for this employment, when the
+water is ruffled by waves. On such occasions a skilful native will secure
+a great many birds.
+
+Netting birds remains to be described, and is the most destructive mode
+of taking them of any that is practised. Geese, ducks, teal, widgeons,
+shags, pelicans, pigeons, and others are procured in this way. The method
+adopted is as follows:--a large square or oblong net, (kue-rad-ko) from
+thirty to sixty feet broad, and from twenty to forty deep, is formed by
+lacing together pieces of old fishing nets, or any others, made of light
+twine, that they may have. A strong cord is then passed through the
+meshes of one end, and tied at both extremes of the net. The natives then
+go down to a lagoon of moderate width, where two tall trees may be
+standing opposite to each other on different sides, or they select an
+opening of a similar kind among the trees on the bank of the river,
+through which the ducks, or other birds, are in the habit of passing when
+flying between the river and the lagoons. An old man ascends each of the
+trees, and over the topmost branch of both lowers the end of a strong
+cord passing through the net. The other end is tied near the root of each
+tree, and serves for the native, who is stationed there, to raise or
+lower the net as it may be required. When set, the ropes are hauled
+tight, and the net dangles in the air between the two trees, hanging over
+the lagoon, or dry passage, as the case may be. All being ready, a native
+is left holding each end of the rope, and others are stationed at
+convenient places near, with little round pieces of bark in their hands
+to throw at the birds, and drive them onwards as they approach the net.
+The women are then sent to put the birds up, and they come flying through
+the open space towards the net, not dreaming of the evil that awaits
+them; as they approach nearer, the two natives at the trees utter a
+shrill whistle, resembling the note of the hawk, upon which the flock,
+which usually consists of ducks, lower their flight at once, and
+proceeding onwards, strike full against the net, which is instantly
+lowered by the men attending to it, and the birds are left struggling in
+the water, or on the ground, entangled in its meshes, whilst the natives
+are busy paddling in their canoes, or scampering towards the net on the
+ground, to wring their necks off, and get the instrument of destruction
+raised again, to be ready for the next flight that may come. Should the
+birds fly too high, or be inclined to take any other direction, little
+pieces of bark are thrown above them, or across their path, by the
+natives stationed for that purpose. These circling through the air, make
+a whirring noise like the swoop of the eagle when darting on his prey,
+and the birds fancying their enemy upon them, recede from the pieces of
+bark, and lowering their flight, become entangled in the net. Early in
+the morning, late in the evening, and occasionally in the night, this
+work is conducted, with the greatest success, though many are caught
+sometimes in the day.
+
+As many as fifty birds are taken in a single haul. I have myself, with
+the aid of a native, caught thirty-three, and many more would have been
+got, but that the net was old, and the birds broke through it before they
+could be all killed. On other occasions, I have been out with the
+natives, where a party of five or six have procured from twenty to thirty
+ducks, on an average, daily, for many days successively. In these
+occupations the natives make use of a peculiar shrill whistle to frighten
+down the birds; it is produced by pulling out the under lip with the
+fore-finger and thumb, and pressing it together, whilst the tongue is
+placed against the groove, or hollow thus formed, and the breath strongly
+forced through. Whistling is also practised in a variety of other ways,
+and has peculiar sounds well known to the natives, which indicate the
+object of the call. It is used to call attention, to point out that game
+is near, to make each other aware of their respective positions in a
+wooded country, or to put another on his guard that an enemy is near,
+etc., etc.
+
+Such is an outline of some of the kinds of food used by the natives, and
+the modes of procuring it as practised in various parts of Australia
+where I have been. There is an endless variety of other articles, and an
+infinite number of minute differences in the ways of procuring them,
+which it is unnecessary to enter upon in a work which professes to give
+only a general account of the Aborigines, their manners, habits, and
+customs, and not a full or complete history, which could only be compiled
+after the observation of many years devoted exclusively to so
+comprehensive a subject.
+
+In the preparation and cooking of their food, and in the extent to which
+this is carried, there are almost as many differences as there are
+varieties of food. Having no vessels capable of resisting the action of
+fire, the natives are unacquainted with the simple process of boiling.
+Their culinary operations are therefore confined to broiling on the hot
+coals, baking in hot ashes, and roasting, or steaming in ovens. The
+native oven is made by digging a circular hole in the ground, of a size
+corresponding to the quantity of food to be cooked. It is then lined with
+stones in the bottom, and a strong fire made over them, so as to heat
+them thoroughly, and dry the hole. As soon as the stones are judged to be
+sufficiently hot, the fire is removed, and a few of the stones taken, and
+put inside the animal to be roasted if it be a large one. A few leaves,
+or a handful of grass, are then sprinkled over the stones in the bottom
+of the oven, on which the animal is deposited, generally whole, with hot
+stones, which had been kept for that purpose, laid upon the top of it. It
+is covered with grass, or leaves, and then thickly coated over with
+earth, which effectually prevents the heat from escaping. Bark is
+sometimes used to cover the meat, instead of grass or leaves, and is in
+some respects better adapted for that purpose, being less liable to let
+dirt into the oven. I have seen meat cooked by the natives in this
+manner, which, when taken out, looked as clean and nicely roasted as any
+I ever saw from the best managed kitchen.
+
+If the oven is required for steaming food, a process principally applied
+to vegetables and some kinds of fruits, the fire is in the same way
+removed from the heated stones, but instead of putting on dry grass or
+leaves, wet grass or water weeds are spread over them. The vegetables
+tied up in small bundles are piled over this in the central part of the
+oven, wet grass being placed above them again, dry grass or weeds upon
+the wet, and earth over all. In putting the earth over the heap, the
+natives commence around the base, gradually filling it upwards. When
+about two-thirds covered up all round, they force a strong sharp-pointed
+stick in three or four different places through the whole mass of grass
+weeds and vegetables, to the bottom of the oven. Upon withdrawing the
+stick, water is poured through the holes thus made upon the hissing
+stones below, the top grass is hastily closed over the apertures and the
+whole pile as rapidly covered up as possible to keep in the steam. The
+gathering vegetable food, and in fact the cooking and preparing of food
+generally, devolves upon the women, except in the case of an emu or a
+kangaroo, or some of the larger and more valuable animals, when the men
+take this duty upon themselves.
+
+In cooking vegetables, a single oven will suffice for three or four
+families, each woman receiving the same bundles of food when cooked,
+which she had put in. The smaller kinds of fish and shell-fish, birds and
+animals, frogs, turtle, eggs, reptiles, gums, etc., are usually broiled
+upon the embers. Roots, bark of trees, etc., are cooked in the hot ashes.
+Fungi are either eaten raw or are roasted. The white ant is always eaten
+raw. The larvae of insects and the leaves of plants are either eaten raw
+or in a cooked state. The larger animals, as the kangaroo, emu, native
+dog, etc. and the larger fishes, are usually roasted in the oven.
+
+In preparing the food for the cooking process a variety of forms are
+observed. In most animals, as the opossum, wallabie, dog, kangaroo, etc.
+the the bones of the legs are invariably broken, and the fur is singed
+off; a small aperture is made in the belly, the entrails withdrawn, and
+the hole closed with a wooden skewer, to keep in the gravy whilst
+roasting. The entrails of all animals, birds, and fishes, are made use
+of, and are frequently eaten whilst the animal itself is being prepared.
+Most birds have the feathers pulled or singed off, they are then thrown
+on the fire for a moment or two and when warm are withdrawn, skinned and
+the skin eaten. The meat is now separated on each side of the breast
+bone, the limbs are disjointed and thrown back, and the bird is placed
+upon the fire, and soon cooked, from the previous dissection it had
+undergone, and from hot coals being put above it.
+
+The smaller fish and reptiles are simply thrown upon the fire, sometimes
+gutted, at other times not. The larger fish are divided into three
+pieces, in the following manner. The fish is laid on its side, and a
+longitudinal cut made from the head to within three or four inches of the
+tail, just above where the ribs are joined to the back bone, these are
+separated by a sharp pointed stick, and the same done on the other side;
+a transverse incision is then made near the root of the tail, the gills
+are separated from the head, the fleshy part covering the back dissected
+from one to two inches thick, over the whole surface left between the
+longitudinal cuts that had been made in the sides, and extending from the
+head to the transverse incision near the tail. The divisions then consist
+of three pieces, one comprising the head, backbone, and tail, another the
+fleshy part that covered the back, and the third the belly and sides. The
+last is the most prized of the three. This method of dividing the fish is
+well adapted for ensuring rapid preparation in the process of cooking; it
+is also well suited for satisfying the respective owners and claimants;
+the three pieces being, if not quite equal in size, sufficiently so for
+the purpose of partition.
+
+There are many usages in force among the natives respecting the
+particular kinds of food allowed to be eaten at different ages;
+restrictions and limitations of many kinds are placed upon both sexes at
+different stages of life. What is proper to be eaten at one period, is
+disallowed at another, and vice versa. And although laws of this nature
+appear to be in force throughout the whole continent, there appear to be
+occasional differences of custom as to restriction in regard to both food
+and age. It also appears that there are more restrictions placed upon the
+females, until past the age of child-bearing, than upon the males.
+
+Infants are not often weaned until between two and three years old; but
+during this time any food is given to them which they can eat, except
+those kind of vegetables which are likely to disagree with them. No
+restrictions are placed upon very young children of either sex, a portion
+being given to them of whatever food their parents may have. About nine
+or ten years appears to be the age at which limitations commence. Boys
+are now forbidden to eat the red kangaroo, or the female or the young
+ones of the other kinds; the musk duck, the white crane, the bandicoot,
+the native pheasant, (leipoa, meracco), the native companion, some kinds
+of fungi, the old male and female opossum, a kind of wallabie (linkara),
+three kinds of fish (toor-rue, toitchock, and boolye-a), the black duck,
+widgeon, whistling duck, shag (yarrilla), eagle, female water-mole
+(nee-witke), two kinds of turtles (rinka and tung-kanka), and some other
+varieties of food.
+
+When young men they are disallowed the black duck, the widgeon, the
+whistling duck, the emu, the eggs of the emu, a fish called kalapko, the
+red kangaroo, the young of other kinds of kangaroo, if taken from the
+pouch; a kind of shag called yarrilla, the snake (yarl-dakko), the white
+crane, the eagle, a kind of water-mole (nee-witke), two kinds of turtle
+(rinka and tung-kanka), the musk-duck, the native dog, the large grub dug
+out of the ground (ronk), a vegetable food called war-itch (being that
+the emu feeds upon), the native companion, bandicoot, old male opossum,
+wallabie (linkara), coote, two fishes (toor-rue and toit-chock), etc. etc.
+
+Married men, until from thirty-five to forty years of age, are still
+forbidden the red kangaroo, the young of any kangaroo from the pouch, the
+fish kelapko, the shag yarrilla, the coote, the white crane, the turtle
+rinka, the native companion, the eagle, etc.
+
+Young females, before the breasts are fully developed, are disallowed the
+young of any of the kangaroo species if taken from the pouch, the red
+kangaroo, the white crane, the bandicoot, the native companion, the old
+male opossum, the wallabie (linkara), the shag (yarrilla), the eagle, etc.
+
+Full grown young females are not allowed to eat the male opossum, the
+wallabie (linkara), the red kangaroo, the fish kelapko, the black duck,
+the widgeon, the whistling duck, the coote, the native companion, two
+turtles (rinka and tung-kanka), the emu, the emu's egg, the snake
+(yarl-dakko), cray-fish which may have deformed claws, the female or the
+young from the pouch of any kangaroo, the musk duck, the white crane, the
+bandicoot, the wild dog, two kinds of fish (toor-rue and toitchock), the
+shag (yarrilla), the water mole (neewitke), the ground grub (ronk), the
+vegetable food eaten by the emu (war-itch), etc. When menstruating, they
+are not allowed to eat fish of any kind, or to go near the water at all;
+it being one of their superstitions, that if a female, in that state,
+goes near the water, no success can be expected by the men in fishing.
+Fish that are taken by the men diving under the cliffs, and which are
+always females about to deposit their spawn, are also forbidden to the
+native women.
+
+Old men and women are allowed to eat anything, and there are very few
+things that they do not eat. Among the few exceptions are a species of
+toad, and the young of the wombat, when very small, and before the hair
+is well developed.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter IV.
+
+
+
+PROPERTY IN LAND--DWELLINGS--WEAPONS--IMPLEMENTS--GOVERNMENT--CUSTOMS--
+SOCIAL RELATIONS--MARRIAGE--NOMENCLATURE.
+
+
+It has generally been imagined, but with great injustice, as well as
+incorrectness, that the natives have no idea of property in land, or
+proprietary rights connected with it. Nothing can be further from the
+truth than this assumption, although men of high character and standing,
+and who are otherwise benevolently disposed towards the natives, have
+distinctly denied this right, and maintained that the natives were not
+entitled to have any choice of land reserved for them out of their own
+possessions, and in their respective districts.
+
+In the public journals of the colonies the question has often been
+discussed, and the same unjust assertion put forth. A single quotation
+will be sufficient to illustrate the spirit prevailing upon this point.
+It is from a letter on the subject published in South Australian Register
+of the 1st August, 1840:--"It would be difficult to define what
+conceivable proprietary rights were ever enjoyed by the miserable savages
+of South Australia, who never cultivated an inch of the soil, and whose
+ideas of the value of its direct produce never extended beyond obtaining
+a sufficiency of pieces of white chalk and red ochre wherewith to bedaub
+their bodies for their filthy corrobberies." Many similar proofs might be
+given of the general feeling entertained respecting the rights of the
+Aborigines, arising out of their original possession of the soil. It is a
+feeling, however, that can only have originated in an entire ignorance of
+the habits, customs, and ideas of this people. As far as my own
+observation has extended, I have found that particular districts, having
+a radius perhaps of from ten to twenty miles, or in other cases varying
+according to local circumstances, are considered generally as being the
+property and hunting-grounds of the tribes who frequent them. These
+districts are again parcelled out among the individual members of the
+tribe. Every male has some portion of land, of which he can always point
+out the exact boundaries. These properties are subdivided by a father
+among his sons during his own lifetime, and descend in almost hereditary
+succession. A man can dispose of or barter his land to others; but a
+female never inherits, nor has primogeniture among the sons any peculiar
+rights or advantages. Tribes can only come into each other's districts by
+permission, or invitation, in which case, strangers or visitors are
+always well treated. The following extract from Captain Grey's work gives
+the result of that gentlemen's observations in Western Australia,
+corroborated by Dr. Lang's experience of the practice among the natives
+of New South Wales, (vol. ii. p. 232 to 236.)
+
+
+"TRADITIONAL LAWS RELATIVE TO LANDED PROPERTY.--Landed property does not
+belong to a tribe, or to several families, but to a single male; and the
+limits of his property are so accurately defined that every native knows
+those of his own land, and can point out the various objects which mark
+his boundary. I cannot establish the fact and the universality of this
+institution better than by the following letter addressed by Dr. Lang,
+the Principal of Sydney College, New South Wales, to Dr. Hodgkin, the
+zealous advocate of the Aboriginal Races:
+
+"LIVERPOOL, 15th Nov. 1840.
+
+"My Dear Friend,--In reply to the question which you proposed to me some
+time ago, in the course of conversation in London, and of which you have
+reminded me in the letter I had the pleasure of receiving from you
+yesterday, with the pamphlets and letters for America, viz.--'Whether the
+Aborigines of the Australian continent have any idea of property in
+land,' I beg to answer most decidedly in the affirmative. It is well
+known that these Aborigines in no instance cultivate the soil, but
+subsist entirely by hunting and fishing, and on the wild roots they find
+in certain localities (especially the common fern), with occasionally a
+little wild honey; indigenous fruits being exceedingly rare. The whole
+race is divided into tribes, more or less numerous, according to
+circumstances, and designated from the localities they inhabit; for
+although universally a wandering race with respect to places of
+habitation, their wanderings are circumscribed by certain well-defined
+limits, beyond which they seldom pass, except for purposes of war or
+festivity. In short, every tribe has its own district, the boundaries of
+which are well known to the natives generally; and within that district
+all the wild animals are considered as much the property of the tribe
+inhabiting, or rather ranging on, its whole extent, as the flocks of
+sheep and herds of cattle, that have been introduced into the country by
+adventurous Europeans, are held by European law and usage the property of
+their respective owners. In fact, as the country is occupied chiefly for
+pastoral purposes, the difference between the Aboriginal and the European
+ideas of property in the soil is more imaginary than real, the native
+grass affording subsistence to the kangaroos of the natives, as well as
+to the wild cattle of the Europeans, and the only difference indeed
+being, that the former are not branded with a particular mark like the
+latter, and are somewhat wilder and more difficult to catch. Nay, as the
+European regards the intrusion of any other white man upon the
+CATTLE-RUN, of which European law and usage have made him the possessor,
+and gets it punished as a trespass, the Aborigines of the particular
+tribe inhabiting a particular district, regard the intrusion of any other
+tribe of Aborigines upon that district, for the purposes of kangaroo
+hunting, etc. as an intrusion, to be resisted and punished by force of
+arms. In short, this is the frequent cause of Aboriginal, as it is of
+European wars; man, in his natural state, being very much alike in all
+conditions--jealous of his rights, and exceedingly pugnacious. It is
+true, the European intruders pay no respect to these Aboriginal divisions
+of the territory, the black native being often hunted off his own ground,
+or destroyed by European violence, dissipation, or disease, just as his
+kangaroos are driven off that ground by the European's black cattle; but
+this surely does not alter the case as to the right of the Aborigines.
+
+"But particular districts are not merely the property of particular
+tribes; particular sections or portions of these districts are
+universally recognised by the natives as the property of individual
+members of these tribes; and when the owner of such a section or portion
+of territory (as I ascertained was the case at King George's Island) has
+determined on burning off the grass on his land, which is done for the
+double purpose of enabling the natives to take the older animals more
+easily, and to provide a new crop of sweeter grass for the rising
+generation of the forest, not only all the other individuals of his own
+tribe, but whole tribes from other districts are invited to the hunting
+party, and the feast and dance, or corrobory that ensue; the wild animals
+on the ground being all considered the property of the owner of the land.
+I have often heard natives myself tell me, in answer to my questions on
+the subject, who were the Aboriginal owners of particular tracts of land
+now held by Europeans; and indeed this idea of property in the soil, FOR
+HUNTING PURPOSES, is universal among the Aborigines. They seldom complain
+of the intrusion of Europeans; on the contrary, they are pleased at their
+SITTING DOWN, as they call it, on their land: they do not perceive that
+their own circumstances are thereby sadly altered for the worse in most
+cases; that their means of subsistence are gradually more and more
+limited, and their numbers rapidly diminished: in short, in the
+simplicity of their hearts, they take the frozen adder in their bosom,
+and it stings them to death. They look for a benefit or blessing from
+European intercourse, and it becomes their ruin.
+
+"If I had a little more leisure I would have written more at length, and
+in a style more worthy of your perusal; but you may take it as certain,
+at all events, that the Aborigines of Australia HAVE an idea of property
+in the soil in their native and original state, and that that idea is, in
+reality, not very different from that of the European proprietors of
+sheep and cattle, by whom they have, in so many instances, been
+dispossessed, without the slightest consideration of their rights or
+feelings.
+
+"Indeed, the infinity of the native names of places, all of which are
+descriptive and appropriate, is of itself a PRIMA FACIE evidence of their
+having strong ideas of property in the soil; for it is only where such
+ideas are entertained and acted on, that we find, as is certainly the
+case in Australia, NULLUM SINE NOMINE SAXUM.
+
+"I am, my dear Friend,
+"Your's very sincerely,
+"JOHN DUNMORE LANG.
+
+"To Dr. Hodgkin."
+
+
+The dwellings of the Aborigines are simple, of a very temporary
+character, and requiring but little skill or labour to construct them. In
+the summer season, or when the weather is fine, they consist of little
+more than a few bushes laid one upon the other, in the form of a
+semicircle, as a protection from the wind, for the head, which is laid
+usually close up to this slight fence. In the winter, or in cold or wet
+weather, the semicircular form is still preserved, but the back and sides
+are sheltered by branches raised upon one end, meeting at the top in an
+arch, and supported by props in front, the convex part being always
+exposed to the wind. The sizes of these huts depends upon the facilities
+that may be afforded for making them, the number of natives, and the
+state of the weather.
+
+[Note 75: "Travelled northerly for 20 miles; at evening encamped at
+Tarcone, adjacent to the station (then being formed) of Drs. Bernard
+and Kilgour. The greater part of the servants at this establishment
+had been convicts, they were in a state of great insubordination.
+My native attendants pointed out an extensive weir, 200 feet long
+and five feet high; they said it was the property of a family,
+and emphatically remarked, "that white men had stolen it and their
+country;" the Yow-ew-nil-lurns were the original inhabitants. "Tapoe,"
+the Mount Napier of Mitchell, is an isolated hill of volcanic
+formation; the crater is broken down on the west side to its base.
+The great swamp is skirted by low hills and well grassed open forest
+land; the natives are still the undisputed occupants, no white men
+having been there to dispossess them. The people who occupy the
+country have fixed residences; at one village were 13 large huts,
+they are warm and well constructed, in shape of a cupola or "kraal;" a
+strong frame of wood is first made, and the whole covered with thick
+turf, with the grass inwards; there are several varieties; those like a
+kraal are sometimes double, having two entrances, others are
+demicircular; some are made with boughs and grass, and last are the
+temporary screens; one hut measured 10 feet diameter by five feet high,
+and sufficiently strong for a man on horseback to ride over.
+
+"Left early, attended by Pevay, to reconnoitre the country. In the
+marshes numerous trenches were again met with; these resembled more the
+works of civilized than of savage men; they were of considerable extent;
+one continuous treble line measured 500 yards in length, two feet in
+width, and from 18 inches to two feet in depth; these treble dikes led to
+extensive ramified watercourses; the whole covered an area of at least
+ten acres, and must have been done at great cost of labour to the
+Aborigines, a convincing proof of their persevering industry. These are
+the most interesting specimens of native art I had seen; thousands of
+yards had been accomplished; the mountain streams were made to pass
+through them. In fishing, the natives use the arabine or eel-pot of
+platted grass, from nine to twelve feet in length. On the elevated ground
+were some of the largest ash-hills I had seen, and must have been the
+work of generations; one measured 31 yards in length, 29 in width, and
+two in height, with hollow cavities for the natives' bivouacs and camping
+places."--"Extract from Mr. Robinson's Letter, copied from papers
+relative to Australian Aborigines, printed for the House of Commons,
+August 1844, p. 240."]
+
+Sometimes each married man will have a hut for himself, his wives, and
+family, including perhaps occasionally his mother, or some other near
+relative. At other times, large long huts are constructed, in which, from
+five to ten families reside, each having their own separate fire. Young
+unmarried men frequently unite in parties of six or eight, and make a hut
+for themselves. The materials of which the huts are composed, are
+generally small branches or boughs of trees, covered in wet weather with
+grass, or other similar material. At other times, and especially if
+large, or made in wet weather, they are formed of thick solid logs of
+wood, piled and arranged much in the same way as the lighter material,
+but presenting an appearance of durability that the others do not
+possess. In this case they are generally well covered over with grass,
+creeping plants, or whatever else may appear likely to render them
+waterproof. In travelling through the country, I have found that where
+bushes or shrubs abounded, I could at any time in an hour or two, by
+working hard, make myself a hut in which I could lie down, perfectly
+secure from any rain. The natives, of course, have much less difficulty
+in doing this, from their great skill and constant practice. In many
+parts of New Holland that I have been in, bark is almost exclusively used
+by the natives, for their huts; where it can be procured good it is
+better than any thing else. I have frequently seen sheets of bark twelve
+feet long, and eight or ten feet wide, without a single crack or flaw, in
+such cases one sheet would form a large and good hut; but even where it
+is of a far inferior description, it answers, by a little system in the
+arrangement, better than almost any thing else. Projecting, or
+overhanging rocks, caverns, hollows of trees, etc. etc., are also
+frequently made use of by the natives for lodging houses in cold or wet
+weather. When hostile parties are supposed to be in the neighbourhood,
+the natives are very cautious in selecting secret and retired places to
+sleep. They go up on the high grounds, back among scrubs, or encamp in
+the hollows of watercourses, or where there are dense bushes of
+polygonum, or close belts of reeds; the fires are very small on these
+occasions, and sometimes none are made; you may thus have a large body of
+natives encamped very near you without being conscious of it. I have been
+taken by a native to a camp of about twenty people in a dense belt of
+reeds, which I had gone close by without being aware of their presence,
+although I could not have been more than three or four yards from some of
+them when I passed.
+
+It has already been remarked, that where many natives meet together, the
+arrangements of their respective huts depends upon the direction they
+have come from. In their natural state many customs and restrictions
+exist, which are often broken through, when they congregate in the
+neighbourhood of European settlements.
+
+Such is the custom requiring all boys and uninitiated young men to sleep
+at some distance from the huts of the adults, and to remove altogether
+away in the morning as soon as daylight dawns, and the natives begin to
+move about. This is to prevent their seeing the women, some of whom may
+be menstruating; and if looked upon by the young males, it is supposed
+that dire results will follow. Strangers are by another similar rule
+always required to get to their own proper place at the camp, by going
+behind and not in front of the huts. In the same way, if young males meet
+a party of women going out to look for food, they are obliged to take a
+circuit to avoid going near them. It is often amusing to witness the
+dilemma in which a young native finds himself when living with Europeans,
+and brought by them into a position at variance with his prejudices on
+this point. All the buildings of the natives are necessarily from their
+habits of a very temporary character, seldom being intended for more than
+a few weeks' occupation, and frequently only for a few days. By this time
+food is likely to become scarce, or the immediate neighbourhood unclean,
+and a change of locality is absolutely unavoidable. When the huts are
+constructed, the ground is made level within, any little stumps of
+bushes, or plants, stones, or other things being removed, and grass,
+reeds, or leaves of trees frequently gathered and spread over the bottom,
+to form a dry and soft bed; this and their opossum cloak constitute the
+greatest degree of luxury to which they aspire. Occasionally native men,
+in very cold weather, are both without huts and clothing of any kind. In
+this case, many small fires are made (for the natives never make a large
+one), by which they keep themselves warm. I have often seen single
+natives sleep with a fire at their head, another at their feet, and one
+on either side, and as close as ever they could make them without burning
+themselves; indeed, sometimes within a very few inches of their bodies.
+
+The weapons of the natives are simple and rudimental in character, but
+varied in their kind and make, according to the purposes for which they
+may be required, or the local circumstances of the district in which they
+are used. The spear, which is the chief weapon of offence over all the
+known parts of the continent, is of two kinds, one kind is used with the
+throwing stick, and the other is thrown out of the hand; of each there
+are four varieties that I am acquainted with. Of those launched with the
+throwing stick there are--1, the kiko, or reed spear, pointed with hard
+wood; 2, the kiero, or hard wood spear, with about two feet of the
+flower-stem of the grass-tree jointed to the upper end; 3, a similar
+weapon, with five or six jags cut in the solid wood of the point upon one
+side; and 4, the light hard wood spear of Port Lincoln, and the coast to
+the eastward, where a single barb is spliced on at the extreme point with
+the sinew of the emu or the kangaroo: each spear averages from six to
+eight feet in length, and is thrown with facility and precision to
+distances, varying from thirty to one hundred yards, according to the
+kind made use of, and the skill of the native in using it.
+
+Of the large spear there is--1, the karkuroo, or smooth heavy spear, made
+of the gum-scrub; 2, the same description of weapon, barbed with
+fragments of flint or quartz; 3, another variety, having five or six jags
+cut at the point, upon one side; and 4, a similar weapon, with the same
+number of barbs cut upon both sides of the point: each of them is from
+twelve to fourteen feet long, and is thrown with most deadly force and
+accuracy to distances of from thirty to forty feet. The fishing spear has
+already been described. The Nga-wa-onk, or throwing stick is from
+twenty to twenty-six inches in length, and is of a very similar character
+throughout the continent, varying a little in width or shape according to
+the fashion of particular districts. It consists of a piece of hard wood,
+broad about the middle, flattened and sometimes hollowed on the inside,
+and tapering to either extremity; at the point the tooth of a kangaroo is
+tied and gummed on, turning downwards like a hook; the opposite end has a
+lump of pitch with a flint set in it, moulded round so as to form a knob,
+which prevents the hand from slipping whilst it is being used, or it is
+wound round with string made of the fur of the opossum for the same
+purpose. In either case it is held by the lower part in the palm of the
+hand, clasped firmly by the three lower fingers, with its upper part
+resting between the fore-finger and the next; the head of the spear, in
+which is a small hole, is fitted to the kangaroo tooth, and then coming
+down between the fore-finger and thumb, is firmly grasped for throwing;
+the arm is then drawn back, the weapon levelled to the eye, a quivering
+motion given to it to steady it, and it is hurled with a rapidity, force,
+and precision quite incredible.
+
+The Wangn or wangno (the boomerang of Eastern and kiley of Western
+Australia) is another simple but destructive weapon, in the hands of the
+native. It consists of a thin, flat, curved piece of hard wood, about two
+feet long, made out of the acacia pendula or gum-scrub, the raspberry-jam
+wood, or any other of a similar character, a branch or limb is selected
+which has naturally the requisite curve (an angle from one hundred to one
+hundred and thirty degrees) and is dressed down to a proper shape and
+thickness, and rounded somewhat at the bend, those whose angles are
+slightly obtuse, are usually thrown with the sharp edge against the wind,
+and go circling through the air with amazing velocity, and to a great
+height and distance, describing nearly a parabola and descending again at
+the foot of the person who throws them; those which have the largest
+obtuse angle are thrown generally against the ground from which they
+bound up to a great height, and with much force. With both, the natives
+are able to hit distant objects with accuracy, either in hunting or in
+war; in the latter case this weapon is particularly dangerous, as it is
+almost impossible, even when it is seen in the air, to tell which way it
+will go, or where descend. I once nearly had my arm broken by a wangno,
+whilst standing within a yard of the native who threw it, and looking out
+purposely for it.
+
+The (katta twirris) or two-edged sword is a formidable weapon, used among
+the tribes to the north of Adelaide, exclusively for war; another weapon,
+common among the same tribes, is the katta, a round chisel-pointed stick,
+about three feet long, and used principally in pitched battles between
+two individuals.
+
+Another weapon is an angular piece of hard wood, pointed and shaped very
+much like a miner's pick, the longer or handle-end being rounded and
+carved, to give a firmer grasp; another dreadful weapon, intended for
+close combat, is made out of hard wood, from two to three feet long,
+straight and with the handle rounded and carved for the grasp, which has
+an immense pointed knob at the end; the bwirri, is also a weapon of hard
+wood about two feet long, rather slight and merely smoothed in the
+handle, with a round knob at the extremity, it is principally thrown, and
+with very great precision; but is more generally used after game than in
+warfare.
+
+The shield (tar-ram) is made out of the bark or wood of the gum-tree, and
+varies in shape and device, the ordinary shield is about two or two and a
+half feet long, from eight to eighteen inches across, and tapering from
+the middle towards the extremities, two holes are made near the centre,
+through which a piece of wood is bent for a handle; shields are always
+carved and painted in time of war.
+
+The implements made use of by the natives are not very numerous, and
+their general characteristics are nearly the same all over the continent.
+The native hatchet is made of a very hard greenish-looking stone, rubbed
+to an edge on either side; it is fixed in the cleft of a stick, or a
+branch is doubled round it, and either tied or gummed to prevent its
+slipping. The throwing sticks have generally a sharp piece of quartz or
+flint gummed on at the lower end, which is used as a knife or chisel;
+flints or muscle shells are used for skinning animals, dissecting food,
+cutting hair, etc.
+
+The ngak-ko, a strong chisel-pointed stick, from three to four feet long,
+is used for dissecting the larger animals and fish, for digging grubs out
+of the trees, for making holes to get out opossums, etc., for stripping
+bark, ascending trees, for cutting bark canoes, and a variety of other
+useful purposes. The rod for noosing ducks, (tat-tat-ko) and other wild
+fowl, is about sixteen feet long, and consists, in its lower part, for
+the first ten feet, of hard wood, tapering like an ordinary spear, to
+this is cemented with resin, a joint of tolerably strong reed about
+sixteen inches long, at the upper end of this is inserted and cemented
+with wax, a tapering rod of hard wood, three feet long and very similar
+to the top joint of a fly-fishing rod, to this is spliced a fine springy
+and strong top, of about eighteen inches in length, at the end of which
+is bound a piece of fine strong cord, which works with a running noose
+upon the tapering end of the instrument. Needles are made from the fibula
+of the emu or kangaroo, and are pointed at one end by being rubbed on a
+stone, they are used in sewing as we use a shoemaker's awl, the hole is
+bored and the thread put through with the hand; the thread is made of the
+sinews of the emu and kangaroo. The netting needle is a little round bit
+of stick or reed, about the size of a lead pencil, round which the string
+is wound, no mesh is used, the eye and hand enabling the native to net
+with the utmost regularity, speed, and neatness.
+
+The nets for hunting, for carrying their effects or food, for making
+belts for the waist, or bandages for the head, are all made from the
+tendons or fur of animals, or from the fibres of plants. In the former,
+the sinews of the kangaroo or emu, and the fur of opossums and other
+similar animals, are used; in the latter, a species of rush, the fibres
+of the root of the mallow, the fibres of the root of the broad flag-reed,
+etc. and in some parts of the continent, the fibrous bark of trees. The
+materials are prepared for use by being soaked in water and carded with
+the teeth and hands, or by being chewed or rubbed.
+
+String is made by the fibres being twisted, and rubbed with the palm of
+the hand over the naked thighs, and is often as neatly executed as
+English whip-cord, though never consisting of more than two strands,--the
+strands being increased in thickness according to the size of the cord
+that may be required. Nets vary in size and strength according to the
+purposes for which they are required; the duck net (kew-rad-ko) has
+already been described, as also the kenderanko, or small net for diving
+for fish, and the taendilly net, for diving with under the rocks for the
+larger fish; the kenyinki is a net with very small meshes, and set out
+with a wooden bow, for catching shrimps and other very small fish. There
+are also, a wharro, a large hoop-net for catching small cray-fish; a
+lenko, or small net for hanging round the neck, to put muscles,
+cray-fish, frogs, etc. in; a rocko, or large net bag, used by the women
+for carrying their worldly effects about with them; the kaar-ge-rum, or
+net for the waistband; the rad-ko, or fishing net, which is a regular
+seine for catching fish, about fifty or sixty feet in length, and varying
+in depth according to the place where it is to be used; the emu or
+kangaroo net (nunko) is very strong, with meshes from five to six inches
+square; it is made of cord as thick as a large quill, and its length is
+from a hundred to a hundred and thirty feet, and depth about five feet
+when set. The wallabie net is about thirty feet long, of strong cord, and
+when set about eighteen inches high. The size of the meshes of all the
+nets depends upon the game to be taken; generally they are small. Neat,
+and variously striped baskets and mats are made by the women of certain
+tribes, from rushes, or a broad-leaved description of grass. The kallater
+is a round basket, wide at the base, and tapering upwards; its size
+varies. The poola-danooko is a very pretty looking, flat, oval basket,
+adapted for laying against the back. The poneed-ke is a large, flat,
+circular mat, worn over the back and shoulders, and when tied by a band
+round the waist affords a lodging for an infant. Large bags or wallets
+are also made of kangaroo skins, with the fur outside, and small ones of
+the skins of lesser animals with the fur inside. Skins are prepared for
+making cloaks by pegging them tight out upon the ground soon after they
+are taken off the animal, when dry, cold ashes or dust are thrown in, to
+absorb any grease that may have exuded. If the weather is damp, or the
+native is in a hurry, they are pegged out near the fire; after drying,
+the smaller skins are rubbed with stones to make them flexible, or are
+scored or ornamented with various devices, cut with a flint or shell on
+the skin side; the larger skins have their inner layers shaved off by
+flints, shells, or implements of wood. Opossums, wallabies, young
+kangaroos, etc. are skinned sometimes by simply making a slit about the
+head, through which the rest of the body is made to pass; the skins are
+turned inside out, and the ends of the legs tied up, and are then ready
+for holding water, and always form part of the baggage of natives who
+travel much about, or go into badly watered districts. I have seen these
+skins (lukomb) capable of holding from two to three gallons of water: the
+fur is always inside. The karko is a small spade of wood, used by the
+natives north of Adelaide for digging up grubs from the ground. The canoe
+or "mun" is a large sheet of bark cut from the gum-tree, carefully
+lowered to the ground, and then heated with fire until it becomes soft
+and pliable, and can be moulded into form, it is then supported by wooden
+props, to keep it in shape, until it becomes hard and set, which is in
+about twenty-four hours, though it is frequently used sooner. On its
+being launched, sticks or stretchers are placed across each end and in
+the middle, to prevent the bark from contracting or curling up with
+exposure to the air. A large canoe will hold seven or eight people
+easily; it is often twenty feet long. The following is a description of
+an ordinary one for fishing:--length fifteen feet, width three feet,
+depth eight inches, formed out of a single sheet of bark, with one end a
+little narrower than the other and pointing upwards. This end is paddled
+first; the bottom is nearly flat, and the canoe is so firm, that a person
+can take hold of one side, and climb into it from the water without
+upsetting it. It is paddled along with the long pine-spear moo-aroo,
+described as being used in fishing at night by firelight. In propelling
+it the native stands near the centre, pushing his moo-aroo against the
+water, first on one side and then on the other; in shallow water one end
+of the moo-aroo is placed on the bottom, and the canoe so pushed along.
+The natives are well acquainted with the use of fire, for hardening the
+points of their weapons or softening the wood to enable them to bend
+them. In the former case, the point is charred in the fire, and scraped
+with a shell or flint to the precise shape required; in the latter, their
+spears, and other similar weapons, are placed upon hot ashes, and bent
+into form by pressure. It is a common practice among many of the tribes
+to grease their weapons and implements with human fat, taken from the
+omentum, either of enemies who have been killed, or of relations who have
+died. Spears, and other offensive arms, are supposed to possess
+additional powers if thus treated; and nets and other implements for
+procuring game are imagined to become much more effectual in ensnaring
+prey. In setting nets, too, the natives have a practice of taking up a
+handful of water to the mouth, and then squirting it out over the net, in
+a shower of spray, this they think is a powerful charm to ensure the fish
+being caught.
+
+There can hardly be said to be any form of government existing among a
+people who recognize no authority, and where every member of the
+community is at liberty to act as he likes, except, in so far as he may
+be influenced by the general opinions or wishes of the tribe, or by that
+feeling which prompts men, whether in civilised or savage communities to
+bend to the will of some one or two persons who may have taken a more
+prominent and leading part than the rest in the duties and avocations of
+life. Among none of the tribes yet known have chiefs ever been found to
+be acknowledged, though in all there are always some men who take the
+lead, and whose opinions and wishes have great weight with the others.
+
+Other things being equal, a man's authority and influence increase among
+his tribe in proportion to his years. To each stage of life through which
+he passes is given some additional knowledge or power, and he is
+privileged to carry an additional number of implements and weapons, as he
+advances in life. An old grey-headed man generally carries the principal
+implements and weapons, either for war or sorcery; many of the latter the
+women and children are never allowed to see, such as pieces of
+rock-crystal, by which the sorcerer can produce rain, cause blindness, or
+impart to the waters the power of destroying life, etc.; sacred daggers
+for causing the death of their enemies by enchantment; the
+moor-y-um-karr or flat oval piece of wood which is whirled round
+the camp at nights, and many others of a similar nature.
+
+I have not, however, found that age is invariably productive of
+influence, unless the individual has previously signalized himself among
+his people, and taken up a commanding position when youth and strength
+enabled him to support his pretensions, and unless he be still in full
+possession of vigour of mind and energy of character, though no longer
+endowed with personal strength. The grey-head appears to be usually
+treated with respect as long as the owner is no incumbrance to those
+around him, but the moment he becomes a drag, every tie is broken, and he
+is at once cast off to perish. Among many tribes with which I have been
+acquainted, I have often noticed that though the leading men were
+generally elderly men from forty-five to sixty years old, they were not
+always the oldest; they were still in full vigour of body and mind, and
+men who could take a prominent part in acting as well as counselling. I
+am inclined, therefore, to think that the degree of estimation in which
+any native is held by his fellows, or the amount of deference that may be
+paid to his opinions, will in a great measure depend upon his personal
+strength, courage, energy, prudence, skill, and other similar
+qualifications, influenced, perhaps, collaterally by his family
+connections and the power which they possess.
+
+Each father of a family rules absolutely over his own circle. In his
+movements and arrangements he is uncontrolled, yet, as a matter of
+policy, he always informs his fellows where he is going, what he is going
+to do, how long he will be absent, when he will meet them again, etc. It
+thus happens that, although a tribe may be dispersed all over their own
+district in single groups, or some even visiting neighbouring tribes, yet
+if you meet with any one family they can at once tell you where you will
+find any other, though the parties themselves may not have met for weeks.
+Some one or other is always moving about, and thus the news of each
+other's locality gets rapidly spread among the rest. The principal
+occupation, indeed, of parties when they meet, is to give and receive
+information relative to neighbouring families or tribes. In cases of
+sudden danger or emergency, the scattered groups are rapidly warned or
+collected by sending young men as messengers, or by raising signal smokes
+in prominent positions.
+
+In an assembly of the tribe, matters of importance are generally
+discussed and decided upon, by the elder men, apart from the others. It
+not unfrequently happens, however, that some discontented individual will
+loudly and violently harangue the whole tribe; this usually occurs in the
+evening, and frequently continues for hours together; his object being
+generally either to reverse some decision that has been come to, to
+excite them to something they are unwilling to do, or to abuse some one
+who is absent. Occasionally he is replied to by others, but more
+frequently allowed uninterruptedly to wear himself out, when from sheer
+exhaustion he is compelled to sit down.
+
+Occasionally the tribe is addressed by its most influential members in
+the language of admonition or advice, and though at such times a loud
+tone and strong expressions are made use of, there is rarely any thing
+amounting to an order or command; the subject is explained, reasons are
+given for what is advanced, and the result of an opposite course to that
+suggested, fully pointed out; after this the various members are left to
+form their own judgments, and to act as they think proper.
+
+In their domestic relations with one another polygamy is practised in its
+fullest extent. An old man having usually from one to four wives, or as
+many as he can procure.
+
+The females, and especially the young ones are kept principally among the
+old men, who barter away their daughters, sisters, or nieces, in exchange
+for wives for themselves or their sons. Wives are considered the absolute
+property of the husband, and can be given away, or exchanged, or lent,
+according to his caprice. A husband is denominated in the Adelaide
+dialect, Yongarra, Martanya (the owner or proprietor of a wife). Female
+children are betrothed usually from early infancy, and such arrangements
+are usually adhered to; still in many cases circumstances occur
+frequently to cause an alteration; but if not, the girls generally go to
+live with their husbands about the age of twelve, and sometimes even
+before that. Relatives nearer than cousins are not allowed to marry, and
+this alliance does not generally take place. Female orphans belong to the
+nearest male relative, as also does a widow, instead of to the nearest
+male relative of the husband, as was found to be the case in Western
+Australia by Captain Grey. Two or three months generally elapse before
+the widow goes to another husband; but if the wife dies, the man takes
+another as soon as he can get one. If a woman, having young children,
+join another tribe, the children go with her; but I am not aware whether
+they would remain permanently attached to that tribe or not. Brothers
+often barter their sisters for wives for themselves, but it can only be
+done with the parents' consent, or after their death. If a wife be
+stolen, war is always continued until she is given up, or another female
+in her place.
+
+There is no ceremony connected with the undertaking of marriage. In those
+cases where I have witnessed the giving away of a wife, the woman was
+simply ordered by the nearest male relative in whose disposal she was, to
+take up her "rocko," the bag in which a female carries the effects of her
+husband, and go to the man's camp to whom she had been given. Marriage is
+not looked upon as any pledge of chastity, indeed no such virtue is
+recognised.
+
+[Note 76: Foeminae sese per totam pene vitam prostituunt. Apud plurimas
+tribus juventutem utriusque sexus sine discrimine concumbere in usus est.
+Si juvenis forte indigenorum coetum quendam in castris manentem adveniat
+ubi quaevis sit puella innupta, mos est; nocte veniente et cubantibus
+omnibus, illam ex loco exsurgere et juvenem accedentem cum illo per
+noctem manere unde in sedem propriam ante diem redit. Cui foemina sit,
+eam amicis libenter praebet; si in itinere sit, uxori in castris manenti
+aliquis ejus supplet ille vires. Advenis ex longinquo accedentibus
+foeminas ad tempus dare hospitis esse boni judicatur. Viduis et foeminis
+jam senescentibus saepe in id traditis, quandoque etiam invitis et
+insciis cognatis, adolescentes utuntur. Puellae tenerae a decimo primum
+anno, et pueri a decimo tertio vel quarto, inter se miscentur. Senioribus
+mos est, si forte gentium plurium castra appropinquant, viros noctu huic
+inde transeuntes, uxoribus alienis uti et in sua castra ex utraque parte
+mane redire. Temporis quinetiam certis, machina quaedam ex ligno ad formam
+ovi facta, sacra et mystica, uam foeminas aspicere haud licitam, decem
+plus minus uncias longa et circa quatuor lata insculpta ac figuris
+diversis ornata, et ultimam perforata partem ad longam (plerumque e
+crinibus humanis textam) inscrendam chordam cui nomen "Mooyumkarr," extra
+castra in gyrum versata, stridore magno e percusso aere facto, libertatem
+coeundi juventuti esse tum concessam omnibus indicat. Parentes saepe
+infantum, viri uxorum quaestum corporum faciunt. In urbe Adelaide panis
+praemio parvi aut paucorum denariorum meretrices fieri eas libenter
+cogunt. Facile potest intelligi, amorem inter nuptos vix posse esse
+grandem, quum omnia quae ad foeminas attinent, hominum arbitrio
+ordinentur et tanta sexuum societati laxitas, et adolescentes quibus ita
+multae ardoris explendi dantur occasiones, haud magnopere uxores, nisi ut
+servas desideraturos.
+
+But little real affection consequently exists between husbands and wives,
+and young men value a wife principally for her services as a slave; in
+fact when asked why they are anxious to obtain wives, their usual reply
+is, that they may get wood, water, and food for them, and carry whatever
+property they possess. In 1842 the wife of a native in Adelaide, a girl
+about eighteen, was confined, and recovered slowly; before she was well
+the tribe removed from the locality, and the husband preferred
+accompanying them, and left his wife to die, instead of remaining to
+attend upon her and administer to her wants. When the natives were gone,
+the girl was removed to the mission station, to receive medical
+attendance, but eventually died. In the same year an old woman who broke
+her thigh was left to die, as the tribe did not like the trouble of
+carrying her about. Parents are treated in the same manner when helpless
+and infirm. [Note 77 at end of para.] In 1839 I found an aged man
+left to die, without fire or food, upon a high bare hill beyond the
+Broughton. In 1843 I found two old women, who had been abandoned in
+the same way, at the Murray, and although they were taken every care
+of when discovered, they both died in about a week afterwards. No age
+is prescribed for matrimony, but young men under twenty-five years
+of age do not often obtain wives, there are exceptions, however,
+to this: I have seen occasionally young men of seventeen or eighteen
+possessing them. When wives are from thirty-five to forty years of age,
+they are frequently cast off by the husbands, or are given to the
+younger men in exchange for their sisters or near relatives, if such are
+at their disposal.
+
+[Note 77: "Practised by the American Indians."--Catlin, vol. i. p. 216.
+
+"The early life of a young woman at all celebrated for beauty is generally
+one continued series of captivity to different masters, of ghastly wounds,
+of wanderings in strange families, of rapid flights, of bad treatment from
+other females amongst whom she is brought a stranger by her captor; and
+rarely do you see a form of unusual grace and elegance, but it is marked
+and scarred by the furrows of old wounds; and many a female thus wanders
+several hundred miles from the home of her infancy, being carried off
+successively to distant and more distant points."]
+
+Women are often sadly ill-treated by their husbands or friends, in
+addition to the dreadful life of drudgery, and privation, and hardship
+they always have to undergo; they are frequently beaten about the head,
+with waddies, in the most dreadful manner, or speared in the limbs for
+the most trivial offences. No one takes the part of the weak or the
+injured, or ever attempts to interfere with the infliction of such severe
+punishments.
+
+Few women will be found, upon examination, to be free from frightful
+scars upon the head, or the marks of spear-wounds about the body. I have
+seen a young woman, who, from the number of these marks, appeared to have
+been almost riddled with spear wounds. Upon this point Captain Grey
+remarks, vol. ii. p. 249.
+
+The menses commence to flow among the native females at an earlier age
+than among Europeans, frequently beginning at about twelve; they are also
+subject to many irregularities in their periodical return, arising
+probably from the kind of life they lead and the nature of the diet upon
+which they live. I have known cases where this irregularity has extended
+to three months. Child-bearing does not commence often before the age of
+sixteen, nor have I ever noticed pregnant women under that age. In
+inquiries conducted by Mr. Moorhouse among the natives of Adelaide, that
+gentleman ascertained, that as many as nine children have occasionally
+been born to one woman; that the average number is about five; but that
+each mother only reared an average of two. At childbirth, the placenta,
+which is considered as sacred, is carefully put away from the reach of
+the dogs as soon as thrown off from the uterus, and the female is up and
+following her usual avocations a very few hours after the accouchement.
+Instances have occurred of women sitting up, and asking for food an hour
+after confinement, though wet with rain, and having very little fire. Two
+days after it, I have seen a woman walking two or three miles, and going
+out to look for food in her usual manner. Infanticide is very common, and
+appears to be practised solely to get rid of the trouble of rearing
+children, and to enable the woman to follow her husband about in his
+wanderings, which she frequently could not do if encumbered with a child.
+The first three or four are often killed; no distinction appears to be
+made in this case between male or female children. Half-castes appear to
+be always destroyed.
+
+The nomenclature of the natives is a subject of considerable difficulty,
+and is at present involved in much obscurity and uncertainty, so many
+different practices obtaining, and so many changes of name occurring to
+some individuals during the course of their life. In the Adelaide
+district, and among the tribes to the north, Mr. Moorhouse has found that
+numerical names are given to children when first born, in the order of
+birth, a variation in the termination constituting the distinction of
+name for male or female, thus:--
+
+
+                                  IF MALE.   IF FEMALE.
+The 1st child would be called     Kertameru  Kertanya
+2nd child would be called         Warritya   Warriarto
+3rd child would be called         Kudnutya   Kudnarto
+4th child would be called         Monaitya   Monarto
+5th child would be called         Milaitya   Milarto
+6th child would be called         Marrutya   Marruarto
+7th child would be called         Wangutya   Wangwarto
+8th child would be called         Ngarlaitya Ngarlarto
+9th child would be called         Pouarna    Ngarlarto
+
+
+These are given at birth; but a short time after another name is added,
+which is derived from some object in nature, as a plant, animal, or
+insect. This name continues until after marriage and the birth of the
+first child, upon which the father takes the name of this child, and has
+the word binna or spinna, (an adult,) affixed, as Kadli; name of a child,
+Kadlitpinna, the father of Kadli; the mother is called Kadli ngangki, or
+mother of Kadli, from ngangki, a female or woman. The names of the father
+and mother are changed at the birth of every child in the same manner.
+
+At Moorunde, and among many other tribes, I have not found any numerical
+names to be given at birth, the first name usually being that derived
+from some object in nature. This is occasionally changed after marriage
+and the birth of a child; as among the Adelaide or northern natives, the
+father taking the name of the child with the affix of imbe or nimbe
+(implying father), as Kartul, a child's name, Kartulnimbe the father of
+Kartul, Memparne, a child's name, Memparnimbe the father of Memparne.
+This paidronymic is not, however, always adhered to in preference to the
+original name; thus Memparnimbe is as often called by his former name of
+Tenberry as his paidronymic; he is also called occasionally Worrammo,
+from his being left-handed. Neither have I found the name of the parent
+change at the birth of every child; thus Memparnimbe has other children,
+younger than Memparne, as Warrulan, Timarro, etc. yet he is never called
+Warrulanimbe, Timarronimbe, etc. The mother's name, similarly to that of
+the father, is also occasionally altered to that of the child, with the
+affix of arwer, or emarwer, as Kartulemarwer, the mother of Kartul,
+Memparnemarwer, the mother of Memparne, yet is the original name of the
+mother as often used as the paidronymic. Old men are frequently called by
+the name of the place which belongs to them, with the affix of bookola
+thus Mooroondooyo Bookola is the old man who owns Mooroonde, etc.
+
+At other times nicknames are given to natives, and so generally made use
+of by the others that the proper or original name becomes almost lost.
+Thus a native named Marloo, from a habit he had of looking about him and
+saying, "I see, I see," is called Nairkinimbe, or the father of seeing.
+Another named Ngalle-ngalle is called Eukonimbe, the father of eukodko,
+from his being very fond of the crayfish of that name, and so on. Other
+local appellations are given referring to some peculiarity of personal
+appearance, Parn-gang-gapko, the baldheaded, Towang Makkeroo, the
+broken-thighed, etc. Others again refer to family bereavements, as Roo
+ptootarap, a father without children, Parntomakker, a childless mother,
+Parnko, an orphan, Wirrang, one who has lost a brother, Rockootarap, one
+whose wife is dead, Thaltarlpipke, an unmarried man, Rartchilock, one who
+owns a wife, Rang, a widow, Waukerow, an unmarried woman, etc. These are
+all distinctions, which though readily discoverable by a person tolerably
+well versed in the dialect, or long resident among the same natives,
+present many difficulties, and lead to many mistakes, amongst casual
+inquirers, or those whose pursuits do not keep them long at the place of
+their inquiries. There are others which are still more difficult to be
+understood, from the almost utter impossibility of learning (with any
+reasonable sacrifice of time) the language with sufficient accuracy to
+enable the inquirer thoroughly to comprehend the meanings of the proper
+names, and deduce the roots from which they are derived.
+
+Even among the Adelaide tribes, where there appears to be a greater
+uniformity in the system of nomenclature than I have met with any where
+else, and where Mr. Moorhouse has devoted more time and attention to the
+subject than perhaps any other person, there are still difficulties and
+uncertainties. Thus an Adelaide boy about the age of ten, is called by
+the name of Koar (the crow), from early infancy, but between ten and
+twelve, after undergoing one of their ceremonies, the name was changed to
+Mannara, (which I believe means the crow's nest). According, however, to
+the usual system adopted, this boy's name ought to have remained Koar,
+until, by becoming a married man and a father, it gave way to a
+paidronymic.
+
+There is another subject somewhat analogous to that of nomenclature, and
+about which still less is known;--that of every native adopting some
+object in creation as his crest, or tiende. The same thing is noticed by
+Captain Grey in his narrative (vol. ii. p. 228).
+
+
+"But as each family adopts some animal or vegetable, as their crest or
+sign, or KOBONG as they call it, I imagine it more likely, that these
+have been named after the families, than that the families have been
+named after them.
+
+"A certain mysterious connection exists between a family and its KOBONG,
+so that a member of a family will never kill an animal of the species, to
+which his KOBONG belongs, should he find it asleep; indeed, he always
+kills it reluctantly, and never without affording it a chance to escape.
+This arises from the family belief, that some one individual of the
+species is their nearest friend, to kill whom would be a great crime, and
+to be carefully avoided. Similarly, a native who has a vegetable for his
+KOBONG, may not gather it under certain circumstances, and at a
+particular period of the year."
+
+From the foregoing quotation, it is apparent that very little difference
+exists in the custom as practised in Western and Southern Australia. In
+the former, however, there appears to be an unwillingness to destroy the
+object represented by the kobong or tiende that I have never observed in
+the latter. But very little appears to be known on this subject at
+present, as far as regards the reason for assuming the tiende, or its
+connection with the individual or family it may represent. The same
+tiende seems to descend from a father to his children; but I have been
+told occasionally of instances where such has not been the case. There
+are several striking differences between the customs and habits of the
+Aborigines of Western Australia, narrated by Captain Grey, and those in
+force among the tribes I have myself been best acquainted with in
+Southern or South-eastern Australia. One singular peculiarity is
+described by Captain Grey.
+
+
+"One of the most remarkable facts connected with the natives, is that
+they are divided into certain great families, all the members of which
+bear the same names, as a family or second name: the principal branches
+of these families, so far as I have been able to ascertain, are the
+
+   Ballaroke
+   Tdondarup
+   Ngotak
+   Nagarnook
+   Nogonyuk
+   Mongalung
+   Narrangur.
+
+"But in different districts the members of these families give a local
+name to the one to which they belong, which is understood in that
+district, to indicate some particular branch of the principal family. The
+most common local names are,
+
+   Didaroke
+   Gwerrinjoke
+   Maleoke
+   Waddaroke
+   Djekoke
+   Kotejumeno
+   Namyungo
+   Yungaree.
+
+"These family names are common over a great portion of the continent; for
+instance, on the Western coast, in a tract of country extending between
+four and five hundred miles in latitude, members of all these families
+are found. In South Australia, I met a man who said that he belonged to
+one of them, and Captain Flinders mentions Yungaree, as the name of a
+native in the Gulf of Carpentaria.
+
+"These family names are perpetuated, and spread through the country, by
+the operation of two remarkable laws:--
+
+"1st. That children of either sex, always take the family name of their
+mother.
+
+"2nd. That a man cannot marry a woman of his own family name."
+
+
+From this it appears that the natives of that part of the country have in
+addition to their other ordinary names a family or surname, which is
+perpetuated through successive generations on the mother's side. This is
+not the case as far as my observations and inquiries have enabled me to
+ascertain among the numerous tribes frequenting the Murray river, and Mr.
+Moorhouse assures me that he has been equally unable to detect any
+coincidence of the kind among the tribes frequenting the district of
+Adelaide.
+
+The division, numbers, and names of the various tribes are also subjects
+of difficulty and uncertainty. As far as my researches have yet extended
+upon this point, it appears to me, first, that groups of natives have a
+distinctive or a local appellation, derived from the particular place
+they belong to, as Barmerara maru, the natives frequenting the lake
+called Barmera: Moolyoolpero maru, the natives frequenting the lagoon
+called Moolyoolko, and so on. Secondly, a general or tribal name, as
+Narwijjerook, a native of the tribe so called, which includes the natives
+of Barmera and various others in that neighbourhood. Karn-brickolenbola,
+a native of the tribe so called, and which includes various groups around
+Mooroonde. Thirdly, it appears that wherever a change occurs in the name
+of the tribes to which contiguous groups of natives may belong, there is
+a corresponding change in the dialect or language spoken; thus the
+Narwij-jerook speak a dialect called Narwijjong, the Karn-brickolenbola
+tribe the Aiawong dialect, and so on.
+
+In many of these dialects there appears to be little more difference than
+exists among the counties in England. Such is the case up the course of
+the Murray from Lake Alexandrina to the Darling; and such Captain Grey
+found to be the case throughout a great part of Western Australia. In
+others the dialects are so totally unlike one another, that natives,
+meeting upon opposite sides of a river, cannot speak to or understand a
+word of what each other say, except through the medium of a third
+language, namely that spoken by the natives of the river itself, and
+which is totally unlike either of the other two.
+
+This is the case at Moorunde, where three different dialects meet, the
+Yakkumban, or dialect spoken by the Paritke tribe, or natives inhabiting
+the scrub to the west and north-west of the Murray. The
+Boraipar or language of the Arkatko tribe, who
+inhabit the scrub to the east of the Murray, and the Aiawong or river
+dialect, extending, with slight variations, from the junction of the
+Murray and Lake Alexandrina to the Darling.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter V.
+
+
+
+CEREMONIES AND SUPERSTITIONS--FORMS OF BURIAL--MOURNING CUSTOMS--RELIGIOUS
+IDEAS--EMPIRICS, ETC.
+
+
+The ceremonies and superstitions of the natives are both numerous and
+involved in much obscurity; indeed it is very questionable if any of them
+are understood even by themselves. Almost all the tribes impose
+initiatory rites upon the young, through which they must pass from one
+stage of life to another, until admitted to the privileges and rights of
+manhood. These observances differ greatly in different parts of the
+continent, independently of local or distinctive variations indicative of
+the tribe to which a native may belong.
+
+Thus at the Gulf of Carpentaria, the rite of circumcision is performed;
+at Swan River, King George's Sound, and nearly three hundred miles to the
+eastward of the latter place, no such rite exists. Round the head of the
+Great Australian Bight, and throughout the Port Lincoln Peninsula, not
+only is this rite performed, but a still more extraordinary one conjoined
+with it. [Note 78: "Finditur usque ad urethram a parte inferaa penis."]
+Descending the east side of Spencer's and St. Vincent's Gulf, and
+around the district of Adelaide, the simple rite of circumcision is
+retained. Proceeding but a little farther to the banks of the Murray, and
+its neighbourhood, no such ceremony exists, nor have I ever heard of its
+having been observed any where on the southeastern, or eastern parts of
+the continent.
+
+So also with respect to tattooing; in one part of the continent it is
+adopted, in another it is rejected; when it is practised, there are many
+varieties in the form, number, or arrangement of the scars,
+distinguishing the different tribes, so that one stranger meeting with
+another any where in the woods, can at once tell, from the manner in
+which he is tattooed, the country and tribe to which he belongs, if not
+very remote. In the Adelaide district, Mr. Moorhouse has observed, that
+there are five stages to be passed through, before the native attains the
+rank of a bourka, or full grown man. The first is, that from birth to the
+tenth year, when he is initiated into the second, or Wilya kundarti, by
+being covered with blood, drawn from the arm of an adult; he is then
+allowed to carry a wirri for killing birds, and a small wooden spade
+(karko) for digging grubs out of the ground. At from twelve to fourteen,
+the third stage is entered, by having the ceremony of circumcision
+performed, which takes place in the following manner. Early in the
+morning, the boys to be circumcised are seized from behind, and a bandage
+is fastened over the eyes of each; they are then led away from the
+presence of the women and children to a distance of half a mile, when
+they are laid on the ground, and covered with a cloak, or skin, so as not
+to see what is passing amongst the adults, who proceed with the ceremony.
+Three of them now commence limping, and making a peculiar groaning noise,
+until they arrive opposite one of the boys, upon whom they seize. The
+individual laid hold of, jumps up, and runs off at full speed, as if he
+intended to escape; the three, before occupied in limping and groaning,
+run with him to prevent this, and after three or four races, all four run
+over the place where the boys are covered up, and the boy, who had been
+trying to escape, is caught, and laid down near the other boys, and
+covered with dust. He is now supposed to be in a state of enchantment,
+from which he is aroused by being lifted up by the ears, at the same time
+that loud noises are made into them. All the men now, except the sick,
+form themselves into a circle, and keep walking round in single file, the
+first individual having a katto, or long stick held down his back. After
+a few circles this is given to another; a short rest is taken, and then
+the whole party rise, except the sick, the inspired men, or sorcerers,
+and those upon whom the operation is to be performed, and proceed to a
+short distance, the man with the katto down his back leading. When
+assembled, they form into a line, and at word of command commence the
+peculiar stamping and groaning, beginning at the far end of the line, and
+gradually advancing towards the other. During several rounds of this
+noise, they advance at each, a little nearer to the boys, who when they
+are very near, have their eyes uncovered that they may see the men
+approaching. The first man who held the katto, fastens it in the ground,
+and all the others coming up, take hold of it, and fall down into a heap.
+The boys are then thrown upon the heap of men, and the operation is
+performed by men who are supposed to be inspired, or sorcerers.
+Immediately after the operation, the boys are taken away from the
+presence of all females, and kept upon a vegetable diet until recovered
+from its effects. The head is covered with grease, and red ochre, with a
+bandage passed round it, and is ornamented with tufts of feathers. The
+Yudna, or pubic covering, is worn by the circumcised for some months
+after the operation.
+
+The fourth stage (Wilyaru) is entered about the age of twenty, when the
+back, shoulders, arms and chest, are tattooed. He is called ngulte, at
+the time of the operation; yellambambettu, when the incisions have begun
+to discharge pus; tarkange, when the sores are just healed; mangkauitya,
+at the time the cuts begin to rise; and bartamu, when the scars are at
+their highest elevation. Each tribe has a distinctive mode of making
+their incisions. Some have scars running completely across the chest,
+from one axillar to the other, whilst others have merely dotted lines;
+some have circles and semicircles formed on the apex of the shoulder,
+others small dots only.
+
+The fifth stage is bourka or full man, and is only attained when the
+individual is getting grey-headed.
+
+Among the Murray natives and contiguous tribes, instead of the rite of
+circumcision, a ceremony called wharepin, is performed upon youths from
+fourteen to sixteen. Early in the morning some of the male friends of the
+boy about to be operated upon, go behind him to seize him, upon which he
+sets off running as hard as he can, as if to escape; but being followed
+by his pursuers is soon captured and thrown down; he is then raised up
+and surrounded by several natives, who hold him and smear him from head
+to foot, with red ochre and grease; during this part of the ceremony, a
+band of elderly women, generally the mother and other near relatives,
+surround the group, crying or lamenting, and lacerating their thighs and
+backs with shells or flints, until the blood streams down. When well
+ochred all over, the novice is led away by another native, apart from the
+rest of the tribe, or if there are more than one, they stand together
+linked hand in hand, and when tired sit down upon bunches of green boughs
+brought for that purpose, for they are neither allowed to sit on the
+ground, nor to have any clothing on; and when they move about they always
+carry a bunch of green boughs in each hand.
+
+They are now ready for the ceremony, which is usually performed by
+influential natives of distant tribes, and which generally takes place at
+the meetings of these tribes, as in the case of the meeting of the
+Moorunde natives, and the Nar-wij-jerook tribe described in Chapter
+II.P.220. On that occasion, there were three Moorunde natives to be
+operated upon. As soon as the ceremonial of the meeting of the tribes had
+been gone through, as already described, the Nar-wij-jerook natives
+retired about a hundred yards, and sat down on the ground, the Moorunde
+people remaining standing. The three spears which had little nets
+attached to them, and which had been brought down by the Nar-wij-jerooks,
+were now advanced in front of that tribe, still seated and stuck in a row
+in the ground. Three men then got up and seated themselves at the foot of
+the three spears, with their legs crossed. Two other natives then went
+over to the Moorunde people, to where the three novices stood shaking and
+trembling, like criminals waiting for their punishment, seizing them by
+the legs and shoulders, and carefully lifting them from the ground, they
+carried each in turn, and laid them on their backs at full length upon
+green boughs, spread upon the ground in front of the three men sitting by
+the spears, so that the head of each rested on the lap of one of the
+three. From the moment of their being seized, they resolutely closed
+their eyes, and pretended to be in a deep trance until the whole was
+over. When all three novices had been laid in their proper position,
+cloaks were thrown over them, but leaving the face exposed, and a
+Nar-wij-jerook coming to the side of each, carefully lifted up a portion
+of the covering and commenced plucking the hair from the pubes. At
+intervals, the operators were relieved by others of both sexes, and of
+various ages; little children under ten, were sometimes but not
+frequently officiating. When all the hair had been pulled out, that
+belonging to each native was carefully rolled up in green boughs, the
+three lots being put together, and given to one of the wise or inspired
+men to be put properly away; bunches of green boughs were now placed
+under each arm of the boys as also in their hands, after which several
+natives took hold of them, and raised them suddenly and simultaneously to
+their feet, whilst a loud gutteral Whaugh was uttered by the other
+natives around. They were then disenchanted and the ceremony was over,
+but for some time afterwards, the initiated are obliged to sleep away
+from the camp, and are not allowed to see the women; their heads and
+bodies are kept smeared with red ochre and grease, and tufts of feathers
+and kangaroo teeth are worn tied to the hair in front. One of the most
+singular circumstances connected with this ceremony, is that the natives
+who have officiated never afterwards mention the name of the young men,
+nor do the latter ever mention the names of the individuals who have
+operated upon them; should the name of either be accidentally mentioned
+in the presence of the other, they are greatly annoyed, and at once put
+the hand up to the mouth to signify that it must not be spoken. It is
+thus often very difficult to find out the names of particular natives,
+and strangers would make many mistakes, imagining that they were putting
+down the name, when in reality they were marking some phrase, signifying
+that his name could not be mentioned by the one applied to. They have no
+objection to meet each other after the ceremony, nor do they decline
+speaking, but there is this peculiarity in their conduct that if one
+gives food, or any thing else to the other, it is either laid on the
+ground for him to take, or is given through the intervention of a third
+person, in the gentlest and mildest manner possible, whereas to another
+native it would be jerked, perhaps much in the same way that a bone is
+thrown to a dog. There are other instances in which the names of natives
+are never allowed to be spoken, as those of a father or mother-in-law, of
+a son-in-law and some cases arising from a connection with each other's
+wives. In speaking, therefore, of one another, or introducing persons to
+distant natives, a very round about way of describing them has often to
+be adopted, yet so intimately are neighbouring tribes acquainted with the
+peculiar relations subsisting between the members of each, that there is
+rarely any difficulty in comprehending who the individual is that is
+alluded to. Among the Adelaide tribes, there is no circumstance but death
+that makes them unwilling to mention the name of any of their
+acquaintances, and this cause of unwillingness I believe extends equally
+all over the continent.
+
+The ceremony of tattooing is practised among the tribes of the Murray and
+its neighbourhood with great circumstantial variety. Some are tattooed
+all over the back or breast in rows, some only one half of each or of
+one, some are only dotted, others have rings or semicircles round the
+upper part of the arms and some are tattooed on the belly, etc.
+
+Many tribes I have met with in different parts of Australia, have no
+tattooing at all, others are marked on the breast by singular looking
+scars, occupying a space of six or eight inches each way upon the chest,
+these are called "renditch" in the Murray dialect, and are made by fire;
+but I have never been able to obtain any satisfactory information
+respecting them. These scars are confined to particular tribes whom I
+have only met with occasionally, and for a period which did not allow me
+the opportunity of making much inquiry into their origin.
+
+At Encounter Bay, instead of plucking out the hair of the pubes, the
+incipient beard is pulled out by the roots, and the youth, as at the
+Murray, is smeared from head to foot with red ochre and grease.
+
+Among the females the only ceremony of importance that I am aware of is
+that of tattooing the back, a long and very painful operation. [Note 79 at
+end of para.] The method of performing the operation is as follows:
+the person whose back is to be tattooed is taken out early in the
+morning and squatted on the ground with her back towards the operator
+(always a male), and her head bent down between the knees of a strong
+old woman who is sitting on the ground for that purpose; the back is
+thus presented in the best position to the operator, and the girl,
+as long as her head is kept firmly in its position, cannot possibly
+arise until all is over. The man who performs the ceremony then
+commences by taking hold of a fold of the flesh on the girl's right side,
+just above the breech, with his left hand, whilst with his right he
+holds a piece of flint or shell, and cuts perpendicular gashes an inch
+long, three-sixteenths of an inch deep, and about half an inch apart,
+in horizontal lines from right to left quite across the back, the rows
+being half an inch or three-quarters distant from each other.
+
+[Note 79: Hoc plerumque menstruis jam primum venientibus factum est:
+saepe autem puellis propter timorem statum suam celantibus, aut aliqua
+alia ex causa, opus quod tempore menstruali fieri prorsus necessarium est,
+in proxima differtur.]
+
+This is carried up the whole way from where he commences to the
+shoulders, and when freshly done, presents one of the most dreadful
+spectacles imaginable, the blood gushes out in torrents, and though
+frequently wiped away with grass by some of the women present, is
+scarcely removed before the crimson stream flows as profusely as ever.
+During the time of the ceremony the mother and other female relations
+lament and mourn, whilst they lacerate their bodies with shells. When the
+incisions are all made, grass or boughs are warmed at the fire, to wipe
+off the blood. The whole scene is most revolting and disgusting; the
+ground near where the poor creature sits is saturated with blood, and the
+whole back is one mass of coagulated gore. In one case, where I saw this
+operation performed upon a girl belonging to the Paritke tribe, she
+seemed to suffer much pain. At first, until nearly a row of scars had
+been made across the lower part of the back, she bore the operation well,
+but as it proceeded, her cries were piteous and unceasing, and before it
+was concluded, they became the most heart-rending screams of agony. From
+the position in which she was held, however, by the old woman on the
+ground (and who, by the way, was her mother,) it was impossible for her
+to stir or escape; indeed, had she attempted it, she would probably have
+been most cruelly beaten in addition.
+
+The ceremony occupied three-quarters of an hour, but it was two hours
+before the wounds had ceased to bleed, and even then, the dried blood was
+not washed off. Two kangaroo teeth, and a tuft of emu feathers were tied
+to the girl's hair, and she was smeared over with grease and red ochre,
+but was still forbidden to touch food until the morning.
+
+Many weeks elapse before the wounds heal, and the inconveniences
+attending them are removed.
+
+In another case that I saw, the girl bore the operation most stoically,
+until about two-thirds over, when she could stand it no longer, but
+screaming out in agony, applied her teeth and nails with such good effect
+to the thighs of the old lady who held her down, that the latter was
+compelled to release her grasp, and the poor girl got up, vowing she
+would not have another incision made. Of course all resistance would have
+been futile, or probably have only brought down a fearful chastisement
+upon her if she had been alone with her tribe in the bush; but she took
+advantage of my presence, and escaped with nearly one-third of the
+incisions deficient. At this ceremony many other natives of both sexes,
+and of all ages were standing looking on; but so little did they
+commiserate the poor creature's sufferings, that the degree of her pain
+only seemed to be the measure of their laughter and merriment.
+
+The girls, however, are always anxious to have this ceremony performed,
+as a well tattooed back is considered a great addition to their other
+charms, and whenever I have offered to protect them from the cruelty of
+their tribe for refusing to submit to it, they have invariably preferred
+submitting to the operation.
+
+The only other ceremonies undergone by the females, are those of having
+the belly or arms tattooed, and of having the hair plucked from the pubes
+after the death of a child, and sometimes from other causes.
+
+In the mode of disposing of the dead, and the ceremonials attending it,
+there is a difference in almost every tribe. Among the Adelaide natives
+as soon as a person dies, a loud wailing cry is raised by the relations
+and friends. The body is immediately wrapped up in the skin or clothing
+worn during life, and in the course of a day or two, it is placed upon
+the wirkatti or bier, which is made of branches crossed so as to form the
+radii of a circle, an examination is then entered upon as to the cause of
+death, in the following manner. The bier is carried upon the shoulders of
+five or six persons, over places where the deceased had been living;
+whilst this is going on, a person is placed under the bier, professedly
+in conversation with the deceased. He asks, what person killed you? If
+the corpse say no one, the inquest ceases; but if it states that some
+person has, the bier moves round, the corpse is said to produce the
+motion, influenced by kuingo (a fabulous personification of death). If
+the alleged murderer be present, the bier is carried round by this
+influence, and one of the branches made to touch him. Upon this a battle
+is sure to ensue either immediately, or in the course of a day or two.
+
+At the time of burial the body is removed from the bier, and deposited,
+with the head to the west, in a grave from four to six feet deep.
+Children under four years are not buried for some months after death.
+They are carefully wrapped up, carried upon the back of the mother by
+day, and used as a pillow by night, until they become quite dry and
+mummy-like, after which they are buried, but the ceremony is not known to
+Mr. Moorhouse.
+
+In the Encounter Bay neighbourhood, four modes of disposing of the dead
+obtain, according to Mr. Meyer:--old persons are buried; middle-aged
+persons are placed in a tree, the hands and knees being brought nearly to
+the chin, all the openings of the body, as mouth, nose, ears, etc. being
+previously sewn up, and the corpse covered with mats, pieces of old
+cloth, nets, etc. The corpse being placed in the tree, a fire is made
+underneath, around which the friends and relatives of the deceased sit,
+and make lamentations. In this situation the body remains, unless removed
+by some hostile tribe, until the flesh is completely wasted away, after
+which the skull is taken by the nearest relative for a drinking cup.
+
+The third mode is to place the corpse in a sitting posture, without any
+covering, the face being turned to the eastward, until dried by the sun,
+after which it is placed in a tree. This mode is adopted with those to
+whose memory it is intended to shew some respect. The fourth method is to
+burn the body; but this is only practised in the case of still-born
+children, or such as die shortly after birth.
+
+Another method practised upon Lake Alexandrina, is to construct a
+platform [Note 80 at end of para.], or bier upon high poles of pine,
+put upright in the ground upon which the body is placed, bandages being
+first put round the forehead, and over the eyes, and tied behind. A bone
+is stuck through the nose, the fingers are folded in the palm of the hand,
+and the fist is tied with nets, the ends of which are fastened about a
+yard from the hands; the legs are put crossing each other.
+
+[Note 80: "They often deposit their dead on trees and on scaffolds."
+--Catlin's AMERICAN INDIANS, vol. ii. p. 10--vide also vol. i. p. 89]
+
+The lamentations are raised by the natives around, fires are made below,
+so that the smoke may ascend over the corpse, and the mourners usually
+remain encamped about the place for a great length of time, or until the
+body is thoroughly dry, after which they leave it. Mr. Schurman says, "At
+Port Lincoln, after the body is put in a grave, and a little earth is
+thrown on it; the natives place a number of sticks across its mouth, over
+which they spread grass or bushes to prevent the remaining earth from
+falling down, so that an empty space of about three feet in depth is left
+between the body and the top earth."
+
+At the Flinders river (Gulf of Carpentaria), Captain Stokes observes, "At
+the upper part of Flinders river, a corpse was found lodged in the
+branches of a tree, some twenty feet high from the ground; it had three
+coverings, first, one of bark, then a net, and outside of all a layer of
+sticks."
+
+On the Murray river, and among the contiguous tribes, many differences
+occur in the forms of burial adopted by the various tribes. Still-born
+children are buried immediately. Infants not weaned are carried about by
+the mother for some months, well wrapped up, and when thoroughly dry, are
+put into nets or bags, and deposited in the hollows of trees, or buried.
+Children and young people are buried as soon as practicable after death,
+and a spearing match generally ensues.
+
+Old people are also buried without unnecessary delay. I have even seen a
+man in the prime of life all ready placed upon the bier before he was
+dead, and the mourners and others waiting to convey him to his long home,
+as soon as the breath departed.
+
+In the case of a middle-aged, or an old man, the spearing and fighting
+contingent upon a death is always greater than for younger natives. The
+burial rites in some tribes assimilate to those practised near Adelaide;
+in others I have witnessed the following ceremony:--The grave being dug,
+the body was laid out near it, on a triangular bier (birri), stretched
+straight on the back, enveloped in cloths and skins, rolled round and
+corded close, and with the head to the eastward; around the bier were
+many women, relations of the deceased, wailing and lamenting bitterly,
+and lacerating their thighs, backs, and breasts, with shells or flint,
+until the blood flowed copiously from the gashes. The males of the tribe
+were standing around in a circle, with their weapons in their hands, and
+the stranger tribes near them, in a similar position, imparting to the
+whole a solemn and military kind of appearance. After this had continued
+for some time, the male relatives closed in around the bier, the mourning
+women renewed their lamentations in a louder tone, and two male relatives
+stepped up to the bier, and stood across the body, one at the head, and
+one at the foot, facing each other.
+
+Having cut above the abdomen the strings binding the cloths which were
+wound round the body, they proceeded to cut a slit of about ten inches
+long, through the swathing cloths above the belly; through this opening,
+they removed the arms, which appeared to have been crossed there, laying
+them down by the sides, inside the wrappings (for no part was unwound);
+having warmed a handful of green boughs over a fire, they thrust them in
+through the opening in the cloths, upon the naked belly of the corpse;
+after a little while these were removed, and one of their sorcerers made
+an incision of about eight inches long in the abdomen. Having pulled out
+the entrails and peritoneum, they were turned over, and carefully
+examined, whilst the women kept wailing and cutting [Note 81 at end
+of para.] themselves more violently than before, and even the men
+themselves lamented aloud. When this had been continued for some time,
+a portion of the omentum was cut off, wrapped in green leaves, and then
+put carefully away in a bag. The entrails were now replaced, a handful
+or two of green leaves thrust in above them, the cloths replaced, and the
+body again bound up ready for interment.
+
+[Note 81: Also an American custom.--Catlin, vol. i. p. 90. Lacerating the
+flesh at death was expressly forbidden in the Jewish dispensation. It is
+practised also in New Zealand.--Vide Dieffenbach.]
+
+A relative of the deceased now jumped up, with his weapons, violently
+excited, and apparently with the intention of spearing some one; but he
+was at once restrained by his friends, who informed me that the
+investigation had satisfied them that the man had not died through the
+agency of sorcery; if he had, it is imagined that a cicatrice would have
+been found upon the omentum. Two men now got into the grave, spread a
+cloth in the bottom, and over that green boughs. Other natives turned the
+bier round, and lifting up the body, gave it to the two in the grave to
+lay in its proper position, which was quite horizontal, and with the head
+to the west [Note 82 at end of para.], the grave being dug east and west:
+green boughs were now thrown thickly into it, and earth was pushed in by
+the bystanders with their feet, until a mound had been raised some height
+above the ground. All was now over, and the natives began to disperse,
+upon which the wild and piercing wail of the mourners became redoubled.
+
+[Note 82: This appears to be a very general custom, and to be of Eastern
+origin. Catlin describes it as always being attended to at the disposal
+of the dead by the American Indians. In South Africa, however, Moffat
+states (p. 307), "that the corpse is put exactly facing the north."]
+
+Upon the mounds, or tumuli, over the graves, huts of bark, or boughs, are
+generally erected to shelter the dead from the rain; they are also
+frequently wound round with netting. Many graves being usually in one
+vicinity, and an elevated dry place being selected, the cemeteries often
+present a picturesque appearance. Graves are frequently visited by the
+women at intervals, for some months, and at such times the wail is
+renewed, and their bodies lacerated as at the interment. At Boga Lake, I
+saw a grave with a very neat hut of reeds made over it, surmounted by
+netting, and having a long curious serpentine double trench, of a few
+inches deep, surrounding it; possibly it might have been the burial place
+of the native mentioned by Major Mitchell, as having been shot by his
+black, Piper, at that lake.
+
+Nets, but not implements, are sometimes buried with the natives; nor do
+the survivors ever like to use a net that has belonged to a man who is
+dead.
+
+There are not any ceremonies attending the burial of young children; and
+the male relatives often neglect to attend at all, leaving it altogether
+to the women.
+
+The natives have not much dread of going near to graves, and care little
+for keeping them in order, or preventing the bones of their friends from
+being scattered on the surface of the earth.
+
+I have frequently seen them handling them, or kicking them with the foot
+with great indifference. On one occasion when out with an old native
+looking for horses before it was daylight, I came to a grave of no very
+old date, and where the boughs and bushes built over in the form of a hut
+were still remaining undisturbed; the weather was extremely cold, and the
+old man did not hesitate to ask me to pull down the boughs to make a
+fire, but would not do it himself.
+
+On another occasion when a poor old woman had been deserted by the
+natives of Moorunde, and died a few days after being brought up to the
+station, I had great difficulty in getting the other natives to bury her,
+they would on no account touch the body; but after digging a hole, they
+got a long wiry branch of a tree, and one man taking hold of each end
+they bent the middle round the old woman's neck, and thus dragged her
+along the ground and threw her into the pit like a dog, all the time
+violently and continually spitting out in every direction to ward off, as
+they said, the infection.
+
+[Note 83: "He tied a thong to her leg, avoiding the touch of that form
+which gave him birth, dragged the corpse to some bushes, and left the
+thong because it had been in contact with the body of his mother."
+--Moffat's South Africa, p. 306.]
+
+Sometimes it happens that when a death occurs, the nearest grown up male
+relative, whose duty it would be to take the principal part in the
+ceremonies, or inflict punishment if evil agency is suspected to have
+caused the death, may be absent. In this case he would have to discharge
+these duties upon the first occasion of his meeting with the supposed
+aggressors. The following is an instance which I witnessed.
+
+A relative of Tenberry, one of the principal natives of the Murray, had
+died when he was absent, and the son of the deceased was too young to
+revenge the sorcery which it was imagined had caused his father's death,
+it therefore became Tenberry's duty to do this upon the first occasion
+that offered. I was with him when the parties first came into the
+neighbourhood, and I witnessed the proceedings. Notice having been sent
+by Tenberry the evening before, to warn them to be ready, I accompanied
+him early in the morning towards the encampment of the natives, situated
+in a hollow near the water; when within about a hundred yards we saw from
+the rise all the natives seated below us in the valley. Tenberry now
+halted, and having taken a hasty survey of the group hung down his head
+upon his breast and raised a low mournful lamentation; after a time it
+ceased, and the wail was at once replied to and continued by women's
+voices in the camp: he now hastily went down to the camp still uttering
+his lamentations, and the whole body rose at his approach, and formed a
+large open circle around him. The natives who were supposed to have
+caused the death of his friend, formed a part of the circle and were
+armed with spears; behind them stood the orphan son of the deceased,
+probably in the light of an accuser; and behind the son were the widows,
+wailing and lamenting bitterly.
+
+After taking the centre of the circle, Tenberry called for a spear, but
+no one offered one, he therefore took a long one from a native in the
+ring, who had evidently brought it for that purpose and yielded it
+unresistingly. Pacing with this weapon furiously up and down the circle,
+he advanced and retreated before the accused, brandishing the spear at
+them, and alternately threatening and wailing. No one replied, but the
+melancholy dirge was still kept up by the widows in the rear.
+
+After sufficiently exciting himself in this manner for some time, he
+advanced with uplifted spear, and successively repeating his blows
+speared four or five persons among the accused natives in the left arm,
+each of them pushing forward his arm unflinchingly for the blow as he
+advanced upon them. Tenberry now again hung down his head and took up his
+lamentation for a short time, after which he paced about rapidly,
+vehemently haranguing, and violently gesticulating, and concluded by
+ordering all the natives present to separate their camps, and each tribe
+to make their own apart.
+
+Mourning is performed by the men by cutting their beards [Note 84 at end
+of para.] and hair, and daubing the head and breast with a white pigment;
+among the women, by cutting and burning the hair close off [Note 85 at
+end of para.] to the head and plastering themselves with pipe-clay.
+In some cases, hot ashes are put upon the head to singe the hair to
+its very roots, and they then literally weep "in dust and ashes." Among
+some of the Murray tribes, a mourning cap is worn by the women, made two
+or three inches thick of carbonate of lime. It is moulded to the head
+when moist around a piece of net work; the weight is eight pounds and
+a half. (Pl. 1, fig. 17.)
+
+[Note 84: The custom among the Australians of putting dust or ashes on the
+head, of shaving the head, of clipping the beard, and of lacerating the
+body at death or in sign of mourning, appears very similar to
+the practices among the Israelites in the time of Moses. Vide
+Leviticus xix. 27, 28; Leviticus xxi. 5; Jeremiah xiviii. 30, 31, 32;
+Revelations xviii. 19, etc.]
+
+[Note 85: The women among the American Indians also cut off the hair
+close to the head as a sign of mourning.--Vide Catlin, vol. i.]
+
+The lamentations for the dead do not terminate with the burial;
+frequently they are renewed at intervals by the women, during late hours
+of the night, or some hours before day-break in the morning. Piercingly
+as those cries strike upon the traveller in the lonely woods, if raised
+suddenly, or very near him, yet mellowed by distance they are soothing
+and pleasing, awakening a train of thoughts and feelings, which, though
+sad and solemn, are yet such as the mind sometimes delights to indulge
+in. The names of the dead are never repeated by the natives among
+themselves, and it is a very difficult matter for a European to get them
+to break through this custom, nor will they do it in the presence of
+other natives. In cases where the name of a native has been that of some
+bird or animal of almost daily recurrence, a new name is given to the
+object, and adopted in the language of the tribe. Thus at Moorunde, a
+favourite son of the native Tenberry was called Torpool, or the Teal;
+upon the child's death the appellation of tilquaitch was given to the
+teal, and that of torpool altogether dropped among the Moorunde tribe.
+
+The natives of New Holland, as far as yet can be ascertained, have no
+religious belief or ceremonies. A Deity, or great First Cause, can hardly
+be said to be acknowledged, and certainly is not worshipped by this
+people, who ascribe the creation to very inefficient causes. They state
+that some things called themselves into existence, and had the property
+of creating others. But upon all subjects of this nature their ideas are
+indistinct and indefinite, as they are not naturally a reasoning people,
+and by no means given to the investigation of causes or their effects;
+hence, if you inquire why they use such and such ceremonies, they reply,
+our fathers did so, and we do it; or why they believe so and so, our
+fathers told us it was so. [Note 86 at end of para.] They are not fond of
+entering upon abstruse subjects, and when they are induced to do it, it is
+more than possible, from our imperfect acquaintance with their language,
+and total ignorance of the character and bent of their thoughts upon such
+points, that we are very likely to misunderstand and misrepresent their
+real opinions. It appears to me that different tribes give a different
+account of their belief, but all generally so absurd, so vague,
+unsatisfactory, and contradictory, that it is impossible at present
+to say with any certainty what they really believe, or whether they
+have any independent belief at all. Mr. Moorhouse, who has taken
+great pains in his inquiries among the natives around Adelaide upon
+questions of this nature, states that they believe in a Soul or Spirit
+(itpitukutya), separate and distinct altogether from the body, which
+at death goes to the west, to a large pit, where the souls of all men go.
+When all are dead, the souls will return to their former place of
+residence, go to the graves of their forsaken bodies, and inquire,
+are these the bodies that we formerly inhabited? The bodies will reply,
+"we are not dead, but still living." The souls and bodies will not be
+re-united; the former will live in trees during the day, and at night
+alight on the ground, and eat grubs, lizards, frogs, and kangaroo rats,
+but not vegetable food of any description. The souls are never again
+to die, but will remain about the size of a boy eight years old.
+
+[Note 86: "For that practice, they are, as far as I could learn, unable to
+give any other reason than that of its being the custom of their
+forefathers which they are therefore bound to follow."--Burchell's
+Bichuana tribes, vol. ii. p. 531.]
+
+The account given me by some of the natives of the Murray of the origin
+of the creation, is, that there are four individuals living up among the
+clouds, called Nooreele, a father and his three male children, but there
+is no mother. The father is all-powerful, and of benevolent character. He
+made the earth, trees, waters, etc., gave names to every thing and place,
+placed the natives in their different districts, telling each tribe that
+they were to inhabit such and such localities, and were to speak such and
+such a language. It is said that he brought the natives originally from
+some place over the waters to the eastward. The Nooreele never die, and
+the souls (ludko, literally a shadow) of dead natives will go up and join
+them in the skies, and will never die again. Other tribes of natives give
+an account of a serpent of immense size, and inhabiting high rocky
+mountains, which, they say, produced creation by a blow of his tail. But
+their ideas and descriptions are too incongruous and unintelligible to
+deduce any definite or connected story from them.
+
+All tribes of natives appear to dread evil spirits, having the appearance
+of Blacks (called in the Murray dialect Tou, in that of Adelaide Kuinyo).
+They fly about at nights through the air, break down branches of trees,
+pass simultaneously from one place to another, and attack all natives
+that come in their way, dragging such as they can catch after them. Fire
+[Note 87 at end of para.] appears to have considerable effect in keeping
+these monsters away, and a native will rarely stir a yard by night,
+except in moonlight, without carrying a fire-stick. Under any
+circumstances they do not like moving about in the dark, and it is with
+the greatest difficulty that they are ever induced to go singly from
+one station to another, a mile or two distant, after night-fall.
+Notwithstanding this dread of they don't know exactly what, the natives
+do not let their fears prevent them moving about after dark, if any
+object is to be gained, or if several of them are together. By moonlight
+they are in the habit of travelling from one place to another, as well as
+of going out to hunt opossums.
+
+[Note 87: Fire is produced by the friction of two pieces of wood or
+stick--generally the dry flower-stem of the Xanthorrea. The natives,
+however, usually carry a lighted piece of wood about with them, and do
+not often let it go out.]
+
+Anything that is extraordinary or unusual, is a subject of great dread to
+the natives: of this I had a singular instance at Moorunde. In March,
+1843, I had a little boy living with me by his father's permission,
+whilst the old man went up the river with the other natives to hunt and
+fish. On the evening of the 2nd of March a large comet was visible to the
+westward, and became brighter and more distinct every succeeding night.
+On the 5th I had a visit from the father of the little boy who was living
+with me, to demand his son; he had come down the river post haste for
+that purpose, as soon as he saw the comet, which he assured me was the
+harbinger of all kinds of calamities, and more especially to the white
+people. It was to overthrow Adelaide, destroy all Europeans and their
+houses, and then taking a course up the Murray, and past the Rufus, do
+irreparable damage to whatever or whoever came in its way. It was sent,
+he said, by the northern natives, who were powerful sorcerers, and to
+revenge the confinement of one of the principal men of their tribe, who
+was then in Adelaide gaol, charged with assaulting a shepherd; and he
+urged me by all means to hurry off to town as quickly as I could, to
+procure the man's release, so that if possible the evil might be averted.
+No explanation gave him the least satisfaction, he was in such a state of
+apprehension and excitement, and he finally marched off with the little
+boy, saying, that although by no means safe even with him, yet he would
+be in less danger than if left with me.
+
+All natives of Australia believe in sorcery and witchcraft on the part of
+certain of their own tribe, or of others. To enable them to become
+sorcerers, certain rites must be undergone, which vary among the
+different tribes. Around Adelaide they have at one period to eat the
+flesh of young children, and at another that of an old man, but it does
+not appear that they partake more than once in their life of each kind.
+When initiated, these men possess extensive powers, they can cure or
+cause diseases, can produce or dissipate rain [Note 88 at end of para.],
+wind, hail, thunder, etc. They have many sacred implements or relics,
+which are for the most part carefully kept concealed from the eyes of all,
+but especially from the women, such as, pieces of rock crystal, said to
+have been extracted by them from individuals who were suffering under
+the withering influence of some hostile sorcerers; the pringurru, a sacred
+piece of bone (used sometimes for bleeding), etc. The latter, if burned
+to ashes in the fire, possesses mortiferous influence over enemies.
+If two tribes are at war, and one of either happens to fall sick, it is
+believed that the sickness has been produced by a sorcerer of the opposite
+tribe, and should the pringurru have been burnt, death must necessarily
+follow.
+
+[Note 88: Also an American superstition.--Vide Catlin, vol.i.p. 134.
+"Sorcerers or rain makers, for both offices are generally assumed by one
+individual."--Moffat's South Africa, p. 305.]
+
+As all internal pains are attributed to witchcraft, sorcerers possess the
+power of relieving or curing them. Sometimes the mouth is applied to the
+surface where the pain is seated, the blood is sucked out, and a bunch of
+green leaves applied to the part; besides the blood, which is derived
+from the gums of the sorcerer, a bone is sometimes put out of the mouth,
+and declared to have been procured from the diseased part; on other
+occasions the disease is drawn out in an invisible form, and burnt in the
+fire, or thrown into the water; at others the patient is stretched upon
+the ground, whilst another person presses with his feet or hands upon the
+diseased part, or cold water is sprinkled over, and green leaves used as
+before. There are few complaints that the natives do not attempt to cure,
+either by charms or by specific applications: of the latter a very
+singular one is the appliance personally of the urine from a female--a
+very general remedy, and considered a sovereign one for most disorders.
+Bandages are often applied round the ankles, legs, arms, wrists, etc.
+sufficiently tight to impede circulation; suction is applied to the bites
+of snakes, and is also made use of by their doctors in drawing out blood
+from the diseased part, a string being tied to the hair, if it be the
+head that ails, or to any other part, and the opposite end is put into
+the sorcerer's mouth, who then commences sucking and spitting out blood,
+which he declares comes from the patient. Blood letting is practised
+occasionally to relieve pains in the head, or oppression of the system.
+The operation is performed by opening a vein in the arm, with a piece of
+rock crystal in the same way as Europeans bleed.
+
+Fractures of the extremities are treated with splints and bandages, as in
+Europe. Venereal ulcers are sprinkled with alkaline wood ashes, the
+astringent liquid of the nettle bark, or a macerated preparation from a
+particular kind of broad-leaved grass. Superficial wounds are left to
+themselves, and usually heal without much trouble. Malformations of the
+body are attributed to the influence of the stars, caused by the mother
+eating forbidden food during pregnancy, or if occurring after birth it is
+still caused by the stars, in consequence of forbidden food being eaten.
+The teeth of the native are generally regular and very beautiful, indeed,
+in their natural state, I have never seen a single instance of decayed
+teeth, among them. Among those, however, who have been living near
+Europeans for some years past, and whose habits and diet have been
+changed from simple to more artificial ones, a great alteration is taking
+place in this respect, and symptoms of decaying teeth are beginning to
+make their appearance among many.
+
+Among other superstitions of the natives, they believe in the existence
+of an individual called in the Murrumbidgee Biam, or the Murray
+Biam-baitch-y, who has the form and figure of a black, but is deformed in
+the lower extremities, and is always either sitting cross-legged on the
+ground, or ferrying about in a canoe.
+
+From him the natives say they derive many of the songs sung at their
+dances; he also causes diseases sometimes, and especially one which
+indents the face like the effects of small pox. Another evil agency,
+dreaded by the natives, is a spirit of the waters, called ngook-wonga, it
+causes many diseases to those who go into the waters in unauthorised
+places, or at improper times, hence a native is very loth to go into
+water he is not accustomed to for the first time.
+
+To counteract the evil effects produced by this spirit, there are persons
+particularly devoted to this branch of sorcery, the following is a case
+where I saw them exercise their powers. A boy of about fourteen had at
+the Murray river been seized with a severe attack of erysipelas in the
+lower part of one of his legs, from bathing and remaining in the water
+when heated. As this did not get better, it was ascribed to the evil
+agency of the Spirit of the Waters; and the Pachwonga or Pachwin were
+called in to cure him. They arrived late at night, three in number, and
+at once proceeded to the exercise of their duties. As soon as it was seen
+that the magicians were coming, the friends of the boy lifted him up, and
+carrying him some distance away from the camp, placed him on the ground
+by himself, and then ranged themselves in two rows upon either side, in a
+sitting posture, but at some distance behind the patient. The three magi
+now advanced in the form of a triangle, one leading and the other two
+behind, equidistantly apart. They were all painted, carried bunches of
+green reeds in their hands, which they kept shaking, and danced [Note 89
+at end of para.] with a measured tread, keeping the right foot always in
+advance of the other as in a galopade, and singing a low solemn dirge,
+which was vehemently beat time to, by the natives behind thumping
+on the ground. Upon arriving at the boy, the leading native fell down
+on his knees close to him, and took hold of the diseased leg, the
+other two still dancing and singing around the patient. In a little
+time, one of the two fell down also on his knees on another side
+of the boy, leaving the third still dancing and singing around them.
+At last he fell down also on his knees in a triangular position
+with the others, the boy being in the centre. All three now commenced
+blowing, spitting, making curious gurgling kinds of noises, waving
+their green bunches of reeds, and pressing forcibly upon the diseased
+leg to make the patient give audible indications of the evil spirit
+leaving him. After some time, two of the three doctors got up
+again, danced and sung around the boy, and then once more assuming their
+kneeling positions, recommenced spitting and blowing, waving their
+bunches of reeds, and making the same curious noises, but louder than
+ever. Their exorcism at last was effectual, the evil spirit, in the shape
+of a sharp stone, was extracted from the limb, and driven into the
+ground; but it was too dark they said to see it. As soon as this
+agreeable news was announced, the friends of the boy came up and hastily
+removed him back to the camp, whilst the three doctors assuming the
+triangular position, sung and danced round the place where the boy had
+been laid, and then advancing in the same form towards the river, keeping
+the right foot always in advance, they at last fairly drove the spirit
+into the water and relieved the neighbourhood from so troublesome a
+visitor.
+
+[Note 89: "Dancing over him, shaking his frightful rattles, and singing
+songs of incantation, in the hopes to cure him by a charm."--Catlin's
+North American Indians, vol. i.p. 39.]
+
+It was a long time before I lost a vivid impression of this ceremony; the
+still hour of the night, the naked savages, with their fancifully painted
+forms, their wild but solemn dirge, their uncouth gestures, and unnatural
+noises, all tended to keep up an illusion of an unearthly character, and
+contributed to produce a thrilling and imposing effect upon the mind.
+
+At the Murray River, singular looking places are found sometimes, made by
+the natives by piling small stones close together, upon their ends in the
+ground, in a shape resembling the accompanying diagram, and projecting
+four or five inches above the ground. The whole length of the place thus
+inclosed, by one which I examined, was eleven yards; at the broad end it
+was two yards wide, at the narrow end one. The position of this singular
+looking place, was a clear space on the slope of a hill, the narrow end
+being the lowest, on in the direction of the river. Inside the line of
+stones, the ground was smoothed, and somewhat hollowed. The natives
+called it Mooyumbuck, and said it was a place for disenchanting an
+individual afflicted with boils. In other places, large heaps of small
+loose stones are piled up like small haycocks, but for what purpose I
+could never understand. This is done by the young men, and has some
+connection probably with their ceremonies or amusements.
+
+In others, singular shaped spaces are inclosed, by serpentine trenches, a
+few inches deep, but for what purpose I know not, unless graves have
+formerly existed there.
+
+Another practice of the natives, when travelling from one place to
+another, is to put stones up in the trees they pass, at different heights
+from the ground, to indicate the height of the sun when they passed.
+Other natives following, are thus made aware of the hour of the day when
+their friends passed particular points. Captain Grey found the same
+custom in Western Australia; vol. i. p. 113, he says:--
+
+
+"I this day again remarked a circumstance, which had before this period
+elicited my attention, which was, that we occasionally found fixed on the
+boughs of trees, at a considerable height from the ground, pieces of
+sandstone, nearly circular in form, about an inch and a half in
+thickness, and from four to five in diameter, so that they resembled
+small mill-stones. What was the object of thus fashioning, and placing
+these stones, I never could conceive, for they are generally in the least
+remarkable spots. They cannot point out burial places, for I have made
+such minute searches, that in such case I must have found some of the
+bones; neither can they indicate any peculiar route through the country,
+for two never occur near one another."
+
+
+The power of sorcery appears always to belong, in a degree, to the aged,
+but it is assumed often by the middle aged men. It is no protection to
+the possessor, from attack, or injury, on the part of other natives. On
+the contrary, the greater the skill of the sorcerer, and the more
+extensive his reputation, the more likely is he to be charged with
+offences he is unconscious of, and made to pay their penalty. Sorcerers
+are not ubiquitous, but have the power of becoming invisible, and can
+transport themselves instantaneously to any place they please. Women are
+never sorcerers. It is a general belief among almost all the Aborigines,
+that Europeans, or white people, are resuscitated natives, who have
+changed their colour, and who are supposed to return to the same
+localities they had inhabited as black people. The most puzzling point,
+however, with this theory, appears to be that they cannot make out how it
+is that the returned natives do not know their former friends or
+relatives. I have myself often been asked, with seriousness and
+earnestness, who, among the Europeans, were their fathers, their mothers,
+and their other relatives, and how it is that the dead were so ignorant,
+or so forgetful, as not to know their friends when they again returned to
+the earth.
+
+One old native informed me, that all blacks, when dead, go up to the
+clouds, where they have plenty to eat and drink; fish, birds, and game of
+all kinds, with weapons and implements to take them. He then told me,
+that occasionally individuals had been up to the clouds, and had come
+back, but that such instances were very rare; his own mother, he said,
+had been one of the favoured few. Some one from above had let down a
+rope, and hauled her up by it; she remained one night, and on her return,
+gave a description of what she had seen in a chaunt, or song, which he
+sung for me, but of the meaning of which I could make out nothing.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter VI
+
+
+
+NUMBERS--DISEASES--CAUSE OF LIMITED POPULATION--CRIMES AGAINST EUROPEANS--
+AMONGST THEMSELVES--TREATMENT OF EACH OTHER IN DISTRIBUTION OF FOOD, ETC.
+
+
+There is scarcely any point connected with the subject of the Aborigines
+of New Holland, upon which it is more difficult to found an opinion, even
+approximating to the truth, than that of the aggregate population of the
+continent, or the average number of persons to be found in any given
+space. Nor will this appear at all surprising, when the character and
+habits of the people are taken into consideration. Destitute of any fixed
+place of residence, neither cultivating the soil, nor domesticating
+animals, they have no pursuits to confine them to any particular
+locality, or to cause them to congregate permanently in the same
+district. On the contrary, all their habits have an opposite tendency.
+
+The necessity of seeking daily their food as they require it, the fact of
+that food not being procurable for any great length of time together in
+the same place, and the circumstance that its quality, and abundance, or
+the facility of obtaining it, are contingent upon the season of the year,
+at which they may visit any particular district, have given to their mode
+of life, an unsettled and wandering character.
+
+The casual observer, or the passing traveller, has but little, therefore,
+to guide him in his estimate of the population of the country he may be
+in. A district that may at one time be thinly inhabited, or even
+altogether untenanted, may at another be teeming with population. The
+wanderer may at one time be surrounded by hundreds of savages, and at
+another, in the same place he may pass on alone and unheeded.
+
+At Lake Victoria, on the Murray, I have seen congregated upwards of six
+hundred natives at once, again I have passed through that neighbourhood
+and have scarcely seen a single individual; nor does this alone
+constitute the difficulty and uncertainty involved in estimating the
+numbers of the Aborigines. Such are the silence and stealth with which
+all their movements are conducted, so slight a trace is left to indicate
+their line of march, and so small a clue by which to detect their
+presence, that the stranger finds it impossible to tell from any thing
+that he sees, whether he is in their vicinity or not. I have myself often
+when travelling, as I imagined in the most retired and solitary recesses
+of the forest, been suddenly surprised by the unexpected appearance of
+large bodies of natives, without being in the least able to conjecture
+whence they had come, or how they obtained the necessaries of life, in
+what appeared to me an arid and foodless desert.
+
+Captain Grey has observed in other parts of Australia, the same ingenuity
+and stealth manifested by them in either cloaking their movements, or
+concealing their presence, until circumstances rendered it in their
+opinion no longer necessary to preserve this concealment, vol. i. p. 147,
+he says: "Immediately numbers of other natives burst upon my sight, each
+tree, each rock, seemed to give forth its black denizen as if by
+enchantment; a moment before the most solemn silence pervaded these
+woods, we deemed that not a human being moved within miles of us, and now
+they rang with savage and ferocious yells, and fierce armed men crowded
+around us on every side, bent on our destruction."
+
+Nor is it less difficult to arrive at the number of the population in
+those districts which are occupied by Europeans. In some, the native
+tribes rarely frequent the stations, in others, portions only of the
+different tribes are to be found; some belong to the district and others
+not. In all there is a difficulty in ascertaining the exact number of any
+tribe, or the precise limits to which their territory extends in every
+direction around. Even could these particulars be accurately obtained in
+a few localities, they would afford no data for estimating the population
+of the whole, as the average number of inhabitants to the square mile,
+would always vary according to the character of the country and the
+abundance of food.
+
+Upon this subject Captain Grey remarks, vol. ii. p. 246, "I have found the
+number of inhabitants to a square mile to vary so much from district to
+district, from season to season, and to depend upon so great a variety of
+local circumstances, that I am unable to give any computation which I
+believe would even nearly approach to truth."
+
+Mr. Moorhouse, who has also paid much attention to this subject, in the
+neighbourhood of Adelaide, has arrived at the conclusion, that, in 1843,
+there were about sixteen hundred aborigines, in regular or irregular
+contact with the Europeans, in the province of South Australia; these he
+has classed as follows, viz.:--
+
+In regular contact with Europeans,
+
+
+Adelaide district  300
+Encounter Bay      230
+Moorunde           300
+Port Lincoln        60
+Hutt River          30
+                   ---
+                   920
+
+
+In irregular contact with Europeans,
+
+
+Adelaide            -
+Encounter Bay      100
+Moorunde           200
+Port Lincoln       340
+Hutt River          40
+                   ---
+                   680
+
+
+or together about 1600.
+
+Taking in the southern districts of South Australia 120 miles from
+Adelaide, the northern ones 160, and the eastern one 200. Mr. Moorhouse
+estimates that there are altogether only about 3000 natives. This
+however, appears to me to be a considerably under-rated number, and I
+should rather incline to the opinion, that there are twice as many, if
+the Port Lincoln peninsula be added to the limits already mentioned. In
+the Port Lincoln district, Mr. Schurman conjectures there are about 400.
+
+On the Murray River, which is, perhaps, the most densely populated part
+of the country, I imagine there are, from Moorunde, about three to four
+natives to every mile of river, which as it winds very considerably in
+its course, would give a large population to the square mile, if only the
+valley of the Murray was taken into account.
+
+There are other tribes also frequenting the river occasionally, from the
+back scrubs on either side; but as these range through a great extent of
+country beyond the valley, and only sometimes come down there on a visit;
+I do not include them in the estimate.
+
+At Moorunde itself I have sometimes had from four to five hundred
+collected, and among those, only a few, perhaps, from the very remote
+tribes.
+
+At the Rufus and Lake Victoria, I have seen above six hundred together,
+where they had no other motive to collect in so large a party, than from
+custom, and for the enjoyment of festivity.
+
+Large towns are frequently the centre of meeting for many, and very
+distant tribes. The facility of obtaining scraps by begging, small
+rewards for trifling jobs of work, donations from the charitable, and a
+variety of broken victuals, offal, etc. enable them to collect in large
+numbers, and indulge to the uttermost their curiosity in observing the
+novelties around them, in meeting strange tribes, and joining them either
+in war or festivity, in procuring tools, clothes, etc. to carry back and
+barter in their own districts, and for other similar objects. Thus,
+Adelaide is nearly always occupied by tribes from one part or other of
+the country: on an average, it will support probably six hundred in the
+way I have described, though occasionally eight hundred have met there.
+The following returns of the numbers who have attended the annual muster
+on the Queen's birthday, when bread and beef have been distributed, will
+show how the ratio has gone on increasing during the last five years.
+
+
+In 1840 there were present 283 men, women, and children.
+   1841 there were present 374 men, women, and children.
+   1842 there were present 400 men, women, and children.
+   1843 there were present 450 men, women, and children.
+   1844 there were present 793 men, women, and children.
+
+
+In the Murray district, where it has been customary, since the first
+establishment of the post at Moorunde, to issue a certain quantity of
+flour once in the month (at the full moon) to every native who chose to
+come in to receive it, the increase in attendance has been progressively
+going on, viz.
+
+
+ 2 issues in 1841 the average attendance were  52 men, women, and children
+12 issues in 1842 the average attendance were  94 men, women, and children
+10 issues in 1843 the average attendance were 136 men, women, and children
+ 9 issues in 1844 the average attendance were 171 men, women, and children
+
+
+Occasionally nearly 500 natives have been present at these monthly issues
+of flour, and the reason that the average attendance is not greater, is,
+that immediately after collecting at Moorunde, at the full of the moon,
+to receive their flour, from 100 to 300 would usually set off to
+Adelaide, where there are so many objects of interest and attraction, and
+re-remain there for several months at a time, and especially during the
+winter. As fast, too, as one party returned to their own districts,
+another would go into town, and thus the average number would be
+constantly kept down. A third reason why the musters do not appear so
+large as they otherwise would, is that many of the more distant natives
+come down at other times than the full moon, and I have then been obliged
+to deviate from my usual custom, and issue flour to them at the periods
+when they arrived. The number of natives attending such extraordinary
+issues do not appear in the periodical returns.
+
+In endeavouring to estimate the numbers and proportions of the sexes, and
+children, almost as great a difficulty exists as in that of obtaining
+their aggregate numbers. This arises from the fact of the more distant
+tribes who visit Europeans stations, frequently leaving their younger
+wives, or little children at home, with aged relatives, whilst they
+themselves go to a distance. In all the periodical, or regular issues of
+flour at the time of full moon, I have accurately kept lists of all who
+attended. The gross totals of thirty-three issues are as follows:--
+
+
+Men      1266
+Women    1330
+Boys      930
+Girls     551
+Infants    52
+         ----
+         4129
+
+
+From this it is apparent, first, that the women attending the monthly
+meetings at the Murray have been, on the whole, about five and a half per
+cent in excess of the men, an extraordinary and unusual circumstance, as
+compared with the results obtained at other places. I can only account
+for this upon the supposition before given, that when large bodies of
+natives leave Moorunde for Adelaide, more men than women go away, and
+that consequently a larger proportion of females is left behind. Mr.
+Moor-house remarks, upon this point, that he has found the males to
+average seventy per cent more than the females, among the Adelaide
+tribes. My own observation leads me to the opinion that upon the Murray
+the two sexes are as nearly equal in numbers as may be.
+
+Secondly, it would appear, that of the Moorunde issues, the number of
+girls attending has been little more than one half that of the boys. This
+may, perhaps, arise in some measure from females assuming the duties of
+women, and being classed as such, at an age when males would still be
+considered as only boys. The principal reason, however, must, as before,
+be ascribed to a greater number of girls being left behind by the more
+distant tribes when they come to visit Moorunde.
+
+Thirdly, from the list I have given, it seems that to each woman there
+would be about 1 1/3 child. Upon this subject Mr. Moorhouse remarks, that
+his investigation has led to the conclusion that each woman has, on an
+average, five children born (nine being the greatest number known), but
+that each mother only rears, upon an average, two; and this I think, upon
+the whole, would be a tolerably correct estimate.
+
+There is one point connected with the return I have given, peculiarly
+striking, as it shews the comparatively small increase that now appears
+to be going on among the more numerous tribes of the Aborigines, I allude
+to the fact of there only having been fifty-two young infants among 1330
+women. By infants I mean such as had to be carried in the arms, for those
+who could walk at all have been classed among the boys and girls.
+
+I have never known a case of twins among the Aborigines, and Mr.
+Moorhouse informs me that no case has ever come under his observation;
+but Captain Grey found such to occur sometimes in Western Australia. On
+the number and proportion of the sexes he observes, that 4.6 seemed to be
+the average number of children born to each woman, and that there was one
+female to every 1.3 males. With respect to the duration of life among the
+Aborigines, Captain Grey says, vol. ii. p. 246-248--"With regard to the
+age occasionally attained by the natives, I believe very erroneous ideas
+have been prevalent, for so far am I from considering them to be short
+lived, that I am certain they frequently attain the age of seventy years
+and upwards." "Yet were these instances of longevity contrasted with the
+great number of deaths which take place during the period of infancy,
+there can be no doubt whatever that the average duration of life amongst
+these savage tribes falls far short of that enjoyed by civilized races."
+
+These remarks, as far as my observation has extended, apply to the
+natives of New Holland generally. I have frequently met with many
+venerable, white-headed men among the Aborigines, who could not, I think,
+have been less than eighty years of age, and who yet retained the full
+vigour of mind, and the bold, upright, though now wasted form, that had
+characterised them in the pride of manhood; but about sixty-five appears
+perhaps to be the average age attained by the old.
+
+The second inference is more than borne out by the statement already
+recorded, that for every five children born on an average to each mother,
+two only are reared, and these subject to all the casualities and dangers
+which savage life is exposed to.
+
+[Note 90: This can of course only apply to tribes tolerably well known to
+Europeans, and more or less frequently coming in contact with them. Of
+tribes in their natural state we can have no accurate data, and but few
+passing notes even that are worthy of confidence. Generally I have found
+children to be numerous among tribes who have never had intercourse with
+Europeans' and it is a well known fact that the increase of numbers in
+aboriginal tribes is checked in proportion to the frequency, or the
+extent of their communication with Europeans. At Flinders island to which
+210 Van Diemen's Land natives were removed from Van Diemen's Land in
+1835, this is singularly exemplified. In 1842 Count Strzelecki says, page
+353--"And while each family of the interior of New South Wales,
+uncontaminated by contact with the whites, swarms with children, those of
+Flinders island, had during eight years an accession of only fourteen in
+number."]
+
+Upon inquiry into the causes which tend to prevent population going on in
+an increasing ratio among the natives of Australia, the following appear
+to be the most prominent. First, polygamy, and the illicit and almost
+unlimited intercourse between the sexes, habits which are well known to
+check the progress of population, wherever they prevail.
+
+Secondly. Infanticide, which is very general, and practised to a great
+extent, especially among the younger and favourite women.
+
+Thirdly. Diseases, to which in a savage state young children are
+peculiarly liable, such as dysentry, cold, and their consequences, etc.
+
+[Note 91: Huic accedit, ex quo illis sunt immisti Europaei, lues venerea.
+Morbum infantibus matres afflant, et ingens multitudo quotannis
+inde perit.]
+
+Fourthly. Wars and quarrels, occurring sometimes from the most trivial
+circumstances, and often ending in deaths, or wounds that terminate in
+death.
+
+The diseases to which the natives are subject, are with the exception of
+those induced by artificial living, as gout, rheumatism, etc. very similar
+to those which afflict Europeans, the principal being the result of
+inflammation, acute, or chronic, arising from exposure to the cold, and
+which affects most generally the bronchiae, the lungs, and the pleura.
+Phthisis occasionally occurs, as does also erysipelas. Scrofula has been
+met with, but very rarely. A disease very similar to the small-pox, and
+leaving similar marks upon the face, appears formerly to have been very
+prevalent, but I have never met with an existing case, nor has Mr.
+Moorhouse ever fallen in with one. It is said to have come from the
+eastward originally, and very probably may have been derived in the first
+instance from Europeans, and the infection passed along from one tribe to
+another: it has not been experienced now for many years.
+
+[Note 92: Ex morbis quos patiuntur ab adventu Europaeorum longe
+frequentissima et maxime fatalis est lues venerea. An hic morbus
+indigenis, priusquam illis immiscebuntur Europaei erat notus, sciri nunc
+minime potest. Ipsi jamdiu ex oriente adductum dicunt, ex quo maxime
+probabile videtur, eum, origine prima ex Europa, inde de gente in gentem
+per totam poene continentem esse illatam. Neque dubium eum in gentibus iis
+quibus non immiscentur Europaei, neque frequentem esse, nec acrem, eorum
+autem per immistionem terribilem in modum augescere. Quinetiam ii sunt
+indigenarum mores, ut, adveniat modo forma sub pessima morbus, velox et
+virulentus qualis nusquam alias illico latissime effluat. Licet bene
+sciant hae gentes, hunc, sicut ejus modi alii morbum per contactum
+contractum esse illis tamen pestem cujus indies spectantur tantae tamque
+terribiles offensiones, vitare minime curae est. Vidi egomet plurimos non
+modo aegrotorum in tentoriis otiari, verum etiam foedatus ita secure
+induere vestes aut iisdem in stragulis cubare, ac si optima ibi adesset
+sanitas. Mihi stationem publicam ponendi causa ad "Morrandi" in mensa
+Octobris, 1841, advenienti, occurrebant populi morbis poene liberi
+formam atque membra bene formati; postea autem ex frequenti cum oppido
+et proximis stationibus commercio, circa Octobrem 1844, morbos quam
+maxime horridos contraxerant. Inde eo tempore moribundi erant plurimi,
+nonnulli mortui, paucique ex iis, qui frequenter coibant, ex omni aetate
+et sexu hujusce pestis formis omnino expertes erant. Apud indigenas
+morbus hic eodem fere modo quo apud Europaeos sese ostendere videtur
+variis tamen ex causis etiam magis odiosum, eo praesertim quod pustulae
+rotundae, magnitudinem fere uncialem habentes, simul in cute exsurgunt.
+His gradatim, cum pure effluente, pars media expletur, et inde magis
+magisque crescentibus et dispersis corporis universi superficies tabe ac
+scabie laborat, quae propinquantibus simul horrorem ac nauseam movent.
+Ulcera haec aliquando infra sex vel octo menses ipsa se cohaerent;
+plerumque autem incitamentorum et vi causticorum ad locum adhibita infra
+hebdomadas tres sanantur. Nec minus apud indigenas quam apud Europaeos,
+remedium hujusoe morbi speciale: medicamenta sunt mercurialia, majore
+tamen illis cum periculo, tum propter eorum mores, quum quod plerumque
+sub dio vivunt, omni absente medicina. Post annum primum aut alterum
+morbus evanescit, interdum mortem affert. Semper autem aegrotis miseris
+cruciatus maximus et dolores perpetui inde flunt. Moorhousi de morbo hoc
+opiniones in paucis a meis experimentis dissident, quum ille num glandem
+penis aut inguinis, principio nunquam, glandem autem penis rarissime vel
+secundo attingere arbitrabatur. Ego autem et hoc et illud in ripis
+Murray fluminis vidi.]
+
+Many natives of deformed persons are occasionally to be met with,
+especially in the extremities. I have seen natives tall, and perfect, and
+well built in the body and limbs, from the head down to the knees: but
+from that point downwards, shrivelled and blighted, presenting but skin
+and bone. Many are blind in one eye, some in both; sometimes this appears
+the effect of inflammation, or of cataract; at others, it may be the
+result of accident. Among those natives inhabiting the sandy drifts along
+the western coast, where the sand is always circling about in a perfect
+shower, I have no doubt but that many become blind from its effects.
+
+In October, 1839, Mr. Moorhouse found nine inhabitants in two huts to the
+south; out of these, five were quite blind, and one had lost one eye;
+they were occupied in making nets.
+
+Deaf and dumb persons are not often found among the Aborigines, but I
+have met with instances of this kind. One of the most intelligent natives
+I ever met with, was a deaf and dumb youth at the Wimmera. From this poor
+boy, I could more readily and intelligibly obtain by signs a description
+of the country, its character, and localities, than from any native I
+ever met with, whose language I was at the time quite unacquainted with.
+
+The blind, or the infirm, are generally well treated, and taken care of
+when young, but as soon as they advance in years, or become an impediment
+to the movements of the tribe, they are abandoned at once by their
+people, and left to perish.
+
+The crimes committed by the natives against Europeans do not bear any
+proportion, either numerically, or in magnitude, to their number, as a
+people, and the circumstances of their position. When we consider the low
+state of morals, or rather, the absence of all moral feeling upon their
+part, the little restraint that is placed upon their community, by either
+individual authority, or public opinion, the injuries they are smarting
+under, and the aggressions they receive, it cannot but be admitted that
+they are neither an ill disposed, nor a very vindictive people. The
+following are the returns of the convictions of natives in South
+Australia for the years 1842 and 1843, viz. :--
+
+SUPREME COURT.
+--------------
+
+OFFENCE.                         1842 1843 1844
+
+Larceny                            2    0    2
+Assault with intent to murder      2    0    0
+Wilful murder                      0    3    1
+Sheep stealing                     1    2    1
+Cattle stealing                    0    1    2
+
+RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT.
+----------------------------
+
+Assault                             0   3    3
+Breaking windows                    1   0    0
+Intoxication                        3   0    0
+Injuring park trees                 0   0    2
+                                    ----------
+                                    9   9   11
+
+
+In the colony of New South Wales, the return of all the trials of the
+Aborigines, from 10th February, 1837, to the 24th July, 1843, amounted to
+thirty-three cases, and implicated sixty-one individuals. The offences
+were chiefly murder and assault, or stealing sheep and cattle. In ten
+cases only, out of thirty-three, convictions took place, and nineteen
+individuals were sentenced, viz., twelve to death, six to transportation
+for ten years, and one to a flogging. [Note 93: For particulars vide
+Papers on the Aborigines of Australian Colonies, printed for the House of
+Commons, August 9th, 1844.]
+
+Among the natives, but few crimes are committed against each other; in
+fact, it would be somewhat difficult to define what their idea of crime
+would be, for that which is offensive on the part of another is
+considered a virtue in themselves. Accustomed to act upon the impulse of
+the moment, and to take summary vengeance for injury, real or imagined,
+their worst deeds are but in accordance with their own standard of right,
+having no moral sense of what is just or equitable in the abstract, their
+only test of propriety must in such cases be, whether they are
+numerically, or physically strong enough to brave the vengeance of those
+whom they may have provoked, or injured. Custom has, however, from time
+immemorial, usurped the place of laws, and with them, perhaps, is even
+more binding than they would be. Through custom's irresistible sway has
+been forged the chain that binds in iron fetters a people, who might
+otherwise be said to be without government or restraint. By it, the young
+and the weak are held in willing subjection to the old and the strong.
+Superstitious to a degree they are taught from earliest infancy to dread
+they know not what evil or punishment, if they infringe upon obligations
+they have been told to consider as sacred. All the better feelings and
+impulses implanted in the human heart by nature, are trampled upon by
+customs, which, as long as they remain unchanged, must for ever prevent
+them from rising in the scale of civilization and improvement, or to use
+the apt and expressive language of Captain Grey upon this point, vol. ii.
+p. 217 :--
+
+"He (the native) is in reality subjected to complex laws, which not only
+deprive him of all free agency of thought, but at the same time, by
+allowing no scope for the development of intellect, benevolence, or any
+other great moral qualification, they necessarily bind him down in a
+hopeless state of barbarism, from which it is impossible for him to
+emerge, so long as he is enthralled by these customs, which, on the other
+hand, are so ingeniously devised as to have a direct tendency to
+annihilate any effort that is made to overthrow them."
+
+Those customs regulate all things, the acquisition and disposal of wives,
+the treatment of women, of the elders, the acquiescence of the younger
+members of a tribe in any measure that may have been decided upon by the
+old men, the rules which guide the international intercourse between
+different tribes, the certain restrictions or embargoes that are put upon
+different kinds of food or at certain ages, the fear of sorcery or
+witchcraft if they transgress the orders of the elders, or break through
+the ordinances that have been imposed upon them, and many other similar
+influences.
+
+In their intercourse with each other I have generally found the natives
+to speak the truth and act with honesty, and they will usually do the
+same with Europeans if on friendly terms with them. In their treatment of
+each other, and in the division of food, policy and custom have induced
+them to be extremely polite and liberal. Old men are especially well off
+in this respect, as the younger people always give them the best and
+largest share of everything. Males generally are generous and liberal to
+each other in sharing what food they have, but it is not often that the
+females participate in the division. When following their usual pursuits
+upon the Murray, I have seen the men after an hour or two's fishing with
+the nets, sit down and devour all they had caught, without saving
+anything for their family or wives, and then hurry about noon to the
+camps to share in what had been procured by the women, who usually begin
+to return at that hour, with what they have been able to collect.
+Favourite kinds of food are also frequently sent as presents from one
+male to another, and at other times two parties will meet and exchange
+the different kinds they respectively bring. Among the younger people I
+have often seen a poor hungry fellow, who had by his skill or
+perseverance obtained some small article of food, compelled by the rules
+of savage politeness to share out the petty spoil among a group of
+expectant sharks around, whilst he whose skill or labour had procured it
+dared hardly taste it, and was sure to come in for the smallest share.
+
+Naturally, I do not think they are bloodthirsty; custom or example may
+sometimes lead them on to shed blood, but it is usually in accordance
+with their prejudices or to gratify the momentary excitement of passion.
+With many vices and but few virtues, I do not yet think the Australian
+savage is more? vicious in his propensities or more virulent in his
+passions than are the larger number of the lower classes of what are
+called civilized communities. Well might they retort to our accusations,
+the motives and animus by which too many of our countrymen have been
+actuated towards them.
+
+I have remarked that as far as my observation has enabled me to judge,
+the natives are rarely guilty of offences (which they deem such,) towards
+members of their own tribes. There are many acts, however, which
+according to our ideas of right and wrong, are acts of the greatest
+cruelty and tyranny, which they exercise towards each other, though
+sanctioned by custom, and enforced by daily practice. Such are the
+cruelties inflicted upon the women, who are looked upon in the light of
+slaves, and mercilessly beaten or speared for the most trifling offences.
+No one under any circumstances ever attempts to take the part of a
+female, and consequently they are maltreated and oppressed in a shocking
+degree. Does a native meet a woman in the woods and violate her, he is
+not the one made to feel the vengeance of the husband, but the poor
+victim whom he has abused. Is there hard or disagreeable work of any kind
+to be done--the woman is compelled to do it. Is there a scarcity of food
+at the camp when the husband comes home hungry--the wife is punished for
+his indolence and inactivity.
+
+[Note 94: In February 1842, Mr. Gouger, then Colonial Secretary at
+Adelaide, caused a dog belonging to a native to be shot for some cause or
+other I am not acquainted with. The animal had been left by its master in
+the charge of his wife, and as soon as he learnt that it was dead, he
+speared her for not taking better care of it.]
+
+The complete subserviency of the younger people of both sexes in the
+savage community, to the older or leading men, is another very serious
+evil they labour under. The force of habit and of traditional custom has
+so completely clouded their otherwise quick perceptions, that they
+blindly yield to whatever the elders may require of them; they dare not
+disobey, they dare not complain of any wrong or indignity they may be
+subjected to this has been and will be the greatest bar to their
+civilization or improvement until some means are taken to free them from
+so degrading a thraldom, and afford that protection from the oppression
+of the strong and the old which they so greatly require.
+
+On the Murray river, or amongst the Adelaide natives I am not aware that
+any stated punishments are affixed to specific crimes, except that of
+spearing in the arm to expiate deaths. Vengeance appears usually to be
+summarily executed and on the spot, according to the physical strength or
+number of friends of the individual injured; otherwise it is made a cause
+of quarrel between tribes, and a battle or disturbance of some kind takes
+place. This appears to be one great point of distinction between the
+practice of some of the tribes in Southern and Western Australia. Captain
+Grey says in reference to the latter place, (vol. ii. p. 243.)
+
+
+"Any other crime may be compounded for, by the criminal appearing and
+submitting himself to the ordeal of having spears thrown at him by all
+such persons as conceive themselves to have been aggrieved, or by
+permitting spears to be thrust through certain parts of his body; such as
+through the thigh, or the calf of the leg, or under the arm. The part
+which is to be pierced by a spear, is fixed for all common crimes, and a
+native who has incurred this penalty, sometimes quietly holds out his leg
+for the injured party to thrust his spear through."
+
+
+This custom does not appear to hold among the tribes of South Australia,
+with whom I have come in contact; but I have often been told by natives
+of tribes in New South Wales, that they practised it, although an
+instance of the infliction of the punishment never came under my own
+observation.
+
+Injuries, when once overlooked, are never revenged afterwards. Tribes may
+compel members to make restitution, as in the case of stealing a wife;
+but I have never known an instance of one of their number being given up
+to another tribe, for either punishment or death. Occasionally they have
+been induced to give up guilty parties to Europeans; but to effect this,
+great personal influence on the part of the person employed is necessary
+to ensure success. Though they are always ready to give up or point out
+transgressors, if belonging to other tribes than their own.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter VII.
+
+
+
+LANGUAGE, DIALECTS, CUSTOMS, etc.--GENERAL SIMILARITY THROUGHOUT THE
+CONTINENT--CAUSES OF DIFFERENCES--ROUTE BY WHICH THE NATIVES HAVE
+OVERSPREAD THE COUNTRY, etc.
+
+
+During the last few years much has been done towards an examination and
+comparison of the dialects spoken by the aboriginal tribes of Australia
+in different portions of the continent. The labours of Mr. Threlkeld, of
+Captain Grey, of Messrs. Teichelman and Schurmann, of Mr. Meyer, of Mr.
+Schurman, with the occasional notes of visitors and travellers, have done
+much to elucidate this subject, and have presented to the world
+vocabularies of the Hunter's River and Lake Macquarie districts in New
+South Wales; of Swan River and King George's Sound in Western Australia;
+of Adelaide, of Encounter Bay, and of Port Lincoln, in South Australia;
+besides occasional phrases or scanty manuals of various other dialects
+spoken in different districts. From these varied contributions it would
+appear that a striking coincidence exists in the personal appearance,
+character, customs, traditions, dialects, etc. among the many and remotely
+separated tribes scattered over the surface of New Holland. Each of
+these, no doubt, varies in many particulars from the others, and so much
+so some times, as to lead to the impression that they are essentially
+different and distinct. [Note 95 at end of para.] Upon close examination,
+however, a sufficient general resemblance is usually found to indicate
+that all the tribes have originally sprung from the same race, that
+they have gradually spread themselves over the whole continent from
+some one given point; which appears, as far as we can infer from
+circumstantial evidence, to have been somewhere upon the northern
+coast. There are some points of resemblance which, as far as is yet
+known, appear to be common to most of the different dialects with
+which we are acquainted. Such are, there being no generic terms
+as tree, fish, bird, etc., but only specific ones as applied to
+each particular variety of tree, fish, bird, etc. The cardinal
+numbers, being only carried up to three, there being no degrees
+of comparison except by a repetition to indicate intensity, or by a
+combination of opposite adjectives, to point out the proportion intended,
+and no distinction of genders, if we except an attempt to mark one among
+those tribes who give numerical names to their children, according to the
+order of their birth, as before mentioned. [Note 96: Chap. IV.
+nomenclature.] All parts of speech appear to be subject to inflections,
+if we except adverbs, post-fixes, and post-positions. Nouns, adjectives,
+pronouns and verbs have all three numbers, singular, dual and plural. The
+nominative agent always precedes an active verb. When any new object
+is presented to the native, a name is given to it, from some fancied
+similarity to some object they already know, or from some peculiar
+quality or attribute it may possess; thus, rice is in the Moorunde
+dialect called "yeelilee" or "maggots," from an imagined resemblance
+between the two objects.
+
+[Note 95: Catlin remarks the existence of a similar number and variety in
+the dialects of the American Indians, but appears to think them radically
+different from one another.]
+
+The most singular and remarkable fact, connected with the coincidence of
+customs or dialect, amongst the Aborigines, is that it exists frequently
+to a less degree among tribes living close to one another, than between
+those who are more remotely separated. The reason of this apparent
+anomaly would seem to be, that those tribes now living near to one
+another, and among whom the greatest dissimilarity of language and
+customs is found to exist, have originally found their way to the same
+neighbourhood by different lines of route, and consequently the greatest
+resemblances in language and custom, might naturally be expected to be
+met with, (as is in reality the case), not between tribes at present the
+nearest to each other, but between those, who although now so far
+removed, occupy respectively the opposite extremes of the lines of route
+by which one of them had in the first instance crossed over the
+continent.
+
+Without entering into an elaborate analysis, of either the structure or
+radical derivation of the various dialects we are acquainted with, I
+shall adduce a few instances in each, of words taken from the
+vocabularies I have mentioned before, for King George's Sound, Adelaide,
+Encounter Bay, and Port Lincoln, and supply them myself from other
+dialects, including those meeting on the Murray or at the Darling, to
+shew the degree of similarity that exists in language.
+
+In selecting the examples for comparison, I have taken first the personal
+pronouns and numerals, as being the words which usually assimilate more
+closely in the different dialects, than any other. Secondly, those words
+representing objects which would be common to all tribes, and which from
+their continual recurrence, and daily use, might naturally be supposed to
+vary the least from each other, if the original language of all were the
+same, but which, if radically different in any, render the subject still
+more difficult and embarrassing.
+
+DIALECTS
+========
+
+[Note: At this point in the book a table appears, which lists
+common English words and the equivalent word as taken from the
+vocabularies of aborigines from various locations. This table has not
+been reproduced in full, however, a few entries are given below.]
+
+
+English   Western   Adelaide   Encounter   Parnkalla       Aiawong
+          Australia            Bay         (Port Lincoln) (Moorundie)
+
+I        Nganya     Ngaii      Ngaape       Ngai, ngatto   Ngappo
+Thou     Nginnee    Ninna      Nginte       Ninna          Ngurru
+She      Bal        Pa         Kitye        Panna          Nin
+We (Ye)  Nganneel   Ngadlu     Ngane        Ngarrinyalbo   Ngenno
+They     Balgoon    Parna      Kar          Yardna         Ngau-o
+We two   Ngal-li    Ngadli     Ngele        Ngadli         Ngel-lo
+You two  Newball    Niwa       Ngurle       Nuwalla        Ngupal
+They two Boala      Purla      Kengk        Pudlanbi       Dlau-o
+One      Gyne       Kumande    Yammalaitye  Kuma           Meiter
+Two      Kardura    Purlaitye  Ning Kaiengg Kuttara        Tang kul
+Many     Partanna   Towata     Ruwar        Kulbarri       Neil
+Few      Warrang    Kutyonde   --           --             Baupalata
+
+
+Upon comparison of the different dialects given in the two foregoing
+tables, and which comprise an extent of country, embracing fully one half
+of the continent of Australia, it will be apparent that a sufficient
+degree of resemblance exists to justify the conclusion, that they were
+derived from one and the same original. It is true, that in many
+respects, there are sometimes even radical differences in some of the
+words of various dialects; but as Captain Grey judiciously remarks, if
+the comparison in such cases be extended, and the vocabulary of each
+enlarged, there will always be found points of resemblance, either in the
+dialects compared, or in some intermediate dialect, which will bear out
+the conclusion assumed. [Note 97 at end of para.] This view is still
+further strengthened, by including in the comparison the weapons, habits,
+customs, and traditions, of the various tribes.
+
+[Note 97. I may here refer to a curious mathematical calculation, by
+Dr. Thomas Young, to the effect, that if three words coincide in two
+different languages, it is ten to one they must be derived in both cases
+from some parent language, or introduced in some other manner. "Six words
+would give more," he says, "than seventeen hundred to one, and eight near
+100,000; so that in these cases, the evidence would be little short of
+absolute certainty."--Vestiges of the Creation, p. 302.]
+
+It must be admitted, however, that where the languages spoken by two
+tribes, appear to differ greatly, there is no key common to both, or by
+which a person understanding one of them thoroughly, could in the least
+degree make out the other, although an intimate acquaintance with one
+dialect and its construction, would undoubtedly tend to facilitate the
+learning of another. A strong illustration of this occurs at Moorunde,
+where three dialects meet, varying so much from each other, that no
+native of any one of the three tribes, can understand a single word
+spoken by the other two, except he has learnt their languages as those of
+a foreign people.
+
+The dialects I allude to, are first that of the Murray river, called the
+"Aiawong" and which is spoken with slight variations from the Lake
+Alexandrina, up to the Darling. Secondly, the "Boraipar," or language of
+the natives to the east of the Murray, and which appears in its
+variations to branch into that of the south-eastern tribes; and thirdly,
+the "Yak-kumban," or dialect spoken by the natives, inhabiting the
+country to the north-west and north of the Murray, and which extends
+along the range of hills from Mount Bryant to the Darling near Laidley's
+Ponds, and forms in its variations the language of the Darling itself;
+these tribes meet upon the Murray at Moorunde, and can only communicate
+to each other by the intervention of the Aiawong dialect, which the
+north-western or south-eastern tribes are compelled to learn, before they
+can either communicate with each other, or with the natives of the
+Murray, at their common point of rendezvous.
+
+To the tables already given, it is thought desirable to add two of the
+dialects, spoken in the country to the eastward of South Australia, and
+which were published for the House of Commons, with other papers on the
+Aborigines, in August 1844.
+
+[Note: At this point in the book two table appear, with the following
+headings. These tables have not been reproduces in this eBook.]
+
+A SPECIMEN OF THE DIFFERENCE OF DIALECTS SPOKEN BY THE NATIVE TRIBES OF
+PORT PHILLIP.
+
+SPECIMEN OF FIVE DIALECTS SPOKEN BY THE ABORIGINES OF THE NORTH-WESTERN
+DISTRICT.
+
+
+Captain Flinders observed the same difference to exist in various parts
+of New Holland, which he visited, and yet that judicious navigator
+inclined to the opinion that all the various tribes had originally one
+common origin. Vol. ii. p. 213-14, he says,
+
+
+"I do not know that the language of any two parts of Terra Australis,
+however near, has been found to be entirely the same; for even at Botany
+Bay, Port Jackson, and Broken Bay, not only the dialect, but many words
+are radically different; and this confirms one part of an observation,
+the truth of which seems to be generally admitted, that although
+similarity of language in two nations proves their origin to be the same,
+yet dissimilarity of languages is no proof of the contrary position.
+
+"The language of Caledon Bay (north-west coast) may therefore be totally
+different to what is spoken on the east and south coasts, and yet the
+inhabitants have one common origin; but I do not think that the language
+is absolutely and wholly different, though it certainly was no better
+understood by Bongarrco (a Sydney native) than by ourselves. In three
+instances I found a similarity. The personal pronoun of Port Jackson,
+'Ngia' (I), was used here, and apparently in the same sense. When inquiry
+was made after the axe, the natives replied 'yehangeree-py,' making signs
+of beating, and py signifies to beat in the Port Jackson language. The
+third instance was that of the lad Woga calling to Bongarree in the boat,
+which after he had done several times without being answered, he became
+angry, and exclaimed Bongarree-gah in a vehement manner, as Bongarree
+himself would have done in a similar case."
+
+
+Captain Grey, in speaking of the Aborigines of New Holland, says (vol.
+ii. p. 209),
+
+
+"One singularity in the dialects spoken by the Aborigines in different
+portions of Australia is, that those of districts widely removed from one
+another, sometimes assimilate very closely, whilst the dialects spoken in
+the intermediate ones differ considerably from either of them. The same
+circumstances take place with regard to their rights and customs."
+
+
+And again, after comparing some of the dialects of South Australia and
+New South Wales with those of Western Australia, Captain Grey says (vol.
+ii. p. 216),
+
+
+"Having thus traced the entire coast line of the continent of Australia,
+it appears that a language the same in root is spoken throughout this
+vast extent of country, and from the general agreement in this, as well
+as in personal appearance, rites and ceremonies, we may fairly infer a
+community of origin for the Aborigines."
+
+
+Had we a collected and an authentic account of the dialects, weapons,
+habits, customs, and traditions of all the tribes of Australia with whom
+Europeans have already been in close or friendly contact, and which, with
+very few exceptions, would embrace the circuit of the whole continent, we
+should have a mass of valuable and interesting information, that would
+enable us, not only to form a probable opinion as to the community of
+origin of the various tribes, and the point from which they first
+overspread the continent, but also to guide us in conjecturing the routes
+which the various offsets have taken from the parent tribe, the places of
+contact where they have met from opposite extremities of the continent,
+and the gradual change which has taken place in the habits, customs, and
+dialects of each.
+
+In the absence of many links necessary to form a connection, we can at
+present only surmise conclusions, which otherwise might have been almost
+certainly deduced.
+
+Connecting, however, and comparing all the facts with which we are
+acquainted, respecting the Aborigines, it appears that there are still
+grounds sufficient to hazard the opinion, that it is not improbable that
+Australia was first peopled on its north-western coast, between the
+parallels of 12 degrees and 16 degrees S. latitude. From whence we might
+surmise that three grand divisions had branched out from the parent
+tribe, and that from the offsets of these the whole continent had been
+overspread.
+
+The first division appears to have proceeded round the north-western,
+western, and south-western coast, as far as the commencement of the Great
+Australian Bight. The second, or central one, appears to have crossed the
+continent inland, to the southern coast, striking it about the parallel
+of 134 degrees E. longitude. The third division seems to have followed
+along the bottom of the Gulf of Carpentaria to its most south-easterly
+bight, and then to have turned off by the first practicable line in a
+direction towards Fort Bourke, upon the Darling. From these three
+divisions various offsets and ramifications would have been made from
+time to time as they advanced, so as to overspread and people by degrees
+the whole country round their respective lines of march. Each offset
+appearing to retain fewer or more of the original habits, customs, etc. of
+the parent tribe in proportion to the distance traversed, or its isolated
+position, with regard to communication with the tribes occupying the main
+line of route of its original division; modified also, perhaps, in some
+degree, by the local circumstances of the country through which it may
+have spread.
+
+Commencing with the parent tribe, located as I have supposed, first upon
+the north-west coast, we find, from the testimony of Captain Flinders and
+Dampier, that the male natives of that part of the country, have two
+front teeth of the upper jaw knocked out at the age of puberty, and that
+they also undergo the rite of circumcision; but it does not appear that
+any examination was made with sufficient closeness to ascertain,
+whether [Note 98: Vide Note 78.] any other ceremony was conjoined with
+that of circumcision. How far these ceremonies extend along the
+north-western or western coasts we have no direct evidence, but at
+Swan River, King George's Sound, and Cape Arid, both customs are
+completely lost, and for the whole of the distance intervening
+between these places, and extending fully six hundred miles in
+straight line along the coast, the same language is so far spoken,
+that a native of King George's Sound, who accompanied me when travelling
+from one point to the other, could easily understand, and speak to any
+natives we met with. This is, however, an unusual case, nor indeed am I
+aware that there is any other part of Australia where the same dialect
+continues to be spoken by the Aborigines, with so little variation, for
+so great a distance, as in the colony of Western Australia.
+
+Following round the southern coast easterly, the head of the Great Bight
+is the first point at which any great change appears to occur, and even
+here it is less in the character, language, and weapons of the natives,
+than in their ceremonial observances. For the first time the rite of
+circumcision is observed, and conjoined with it the still more
+extraordinary practice to which I have before alluded. The ceremony of
+knocking out the two upper front teeth of boys arrived at the age of
+puberty, is not, however, adopted. We have already noticed, that for six
+hundred miles to the west and north-west from the Great Bight,
+circumcision is unknown. The tribes, therefore, who practise it, cannot
+have come from that direction, neither are they likely to have come from
+the eastward, for after crossing the head of the Port Lincoln peninsula,
+and descending towards Adelaide, we find the rite of circumcision alone
+is practised, without any other ceremony in connection with it. Now, in a
+change of habits or customs, originating in the wandering, unsettled life
+of savages, it is very likely, that many of their original customs may
+gradually be dropped or forgotten; but it is scarcely probable, that they
+should be again revived by their descendants, after a long period of
+oblivion, and when those tribes from whom they more immediately
+proceeded, no longer remembered or recognised such ceremonials. By
+extending the inquiry still further to the east, the position I have
+assumed is more forcibly borne out, for the rite of circumcision itself
+then becomes unknown. It is evident, therefore, that the Adelaide or Port
+Lincoln natives could not have come along either the eastern or western
+coasts, and retained customs that are there quite unknown, neither could
+they have come across the country inland, in the direction of the
+Darling, for the ceremonies alluded to are equally unknown there. They
+must then have crossed almost directly from the north-western coast,
+towards the south-eastern extremity of the great Australian Bight. And
+from them the Adelaide natives would appear to be a branch or offset.
+
+Returning to the north-west coast, and tracing down the route of the
+third division of the parent family, from the south-east Bight of
+Carpentaria, towards Fort Bourke upon the Darling, we shall find, that by
+far the greatest and most fertile portion of New Holland appears to have
+been peopled by it. In its progress, offsets and ramifications would have
+branched off in every direction along the various ranges or watercourses
+contiguous to the line of route. All the rivers running towards the
+eastern coast, together with the Nammoy, the Gwyder, the Castlereagh,
+Macquarie, Bogan, Lochlan, Darling, Hume, Goulburn, etc. with their many
+branches and tributaries, would each afford so many routes for the
+different sub-divisions of the main body, to spread over the varied and
+fertile regions of Eastern, South-eastern, and part of Southern
+Australia. As tribe separated from tribe, each would retain, in a greater
+or less degree, some of the language, habits, or customs of the original
+division; but such points of resemblance would naturally again undergo
+many changes or modifications, in proportion to the time, distance, or
+isolated character of the separation. If we look at the progress of any
+two parties of natives, branching off upon different rivers, and trace
+them, either upwards or downwards, we shall find, that the further they
+went, the more isolated they would become, and the less likely to come
+again in contact with each other, or with the original division from
+which they separated. We may, therefore, naturally expect a much greater
+variety of dialects or customs in a country that is much intersected by
+rivers, or ranges, or by any features that tend to produce the isolating
+effect that I have described, than in one whose character has no such
+tendency; and this in reality we find to be the case. In Western and
+South-western Australia, as far as the commencement of the Great Bight,
+the features and character of the country appear to be but little
+diversified, and here, accordingly, we find the language of the natives
+radically the same, and their weapons, customs, and ceremonies very
+similar throughout its whole extent; but if, on the other hand, we turn
+to Eastern, South-eastern, and part of Southern Australia, we find the
+dialects, customs, and weapons of the inhabitants, almost as different as
+the country itself is varied by the intersection of ranges and rivers.
+
+The division I have supposed as taking a south-easterly course from the
+Gulf of Carpentaria, would appear early to have lost the rite of
+circumcision; but to have retained among some of its branches, the
+practice of knocking out the front teeth of the upper jaw. Thus, those
+who made their way to Port Jackson and to Hunter's River, and to some of
+the southern parts of New South Wales, still retained the practice of
+knocking out one of the front teeth at the age of puberty; but at
+Keppel's, Harvey's, and Glass-House bays, on the north-east coast, at
+Twofold bay on the south-east, at Port Phillip on the south, and upon the
+rivers Darling and Murray, of the interior, no such rite is practised. It
+is clear, therefore, that when the continent was first peopled, the
+natives of Sydney or Hunter's River could not have come round the
+north-east coast by Keppel's or Harvey's bays, and retained a ceremony
+that is there lost; neither could the Murrumbidgee or southern districts
+of New South Wales, have been peopled from Port Phillip, or from South
+Australia, or by tribes passing up the Murray for the same reason. It is
+not demanding too much, therefore, to suppose that the general lines of
+route taken by the Aborigines in spreading over the continent of
+Australia, have been somewhat analogous to those I have imagined, or that
+we can fairly account for any material differences there may be in the
+dialects, customs, or weapons of the different tribes, by referring them
+to the effect of local circumstances, the length of time that may have
+elapsed since separation, or to the isolated position in which they may
+have been placed, with regard to that division of the parent tribe from
+which they had seceded.
+
+At present our information respecting the customs, habits, weapons and
+dialects of the various tribes is too limited and too scattered to enable
+us to trace with accuracy the division to which each may have originally
+belonged, or the precise route by which it had arrived at its present
+location; but I feel quite confident that this may be done with tolerable
+certainty, when the particulars I have referred to shall be more
+abundantly and correctly recorded.
+
+It is at least a subject of much interest, and one that is well worthy
+the attention of the traveller or the philanthropist. No one individual
+can hope personally to collect the whole material required; but if each
+recorded with fidelity the facts connected with those tribes, with whom
+he personally came in contact, a mass of evidence would soon be brought
+together that would more than suffice for the purpose required.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter VIII.
+
+
+
+
+EFFECTS OF CONTACT WITH EUROPEANS--ATTEMPTS AT IMPROVEMENT AND
+CIVILIZATION--ACCOUNT OF SCHOOLS--DEFECTS OF THE SYSTEM.
+
+
+Some attempts have been made in nearly all the British Settlements of
+Australia to improve the condition of the aboriginal population; the
+results have, however, in few cases, met the expectations of the
+promoters of the various benevolent schemes that have been entered upon
+for the object; nor have the efforts hitherto made succeeded in arresting
+that fatal and melancholy effect which contact with civilization seems
+ever to produce upon a savage people. It has already been stated, that in
+all the colonies we have hitherto established upon the continent, the
+Aborigines are gradually decreasing in number, or have already
+disappeared in proportion to the time their country has been occupied by
+Europeans, or to the number of settlers who have been located upon it.
+
+Of the blighting and exterminating effects produced upon simple and
+untutored races, by the advance of civilization upon them, we have many
+and painful proofs. History records innumerable instances of nations who
+were once numerous and powerful, decaying and disappearing before this
+fatal and inexplicable influence; history WILL record, I fear, similar
+results for the many nations who are now struggling; alas, how vainly,
+against this desolating cause. Year by year, the melancholy and appalling
+truth is only the more apparent, and as each new instance multiplies upon
+us, it becomes too fatally confirmed, until at last we are almost, in
+spite of ourselves, forced to the conviction, that the first appearance
+of the white men in any new country, sounds the funeral knell of the
+children of the soil. In Africa, in the country of the Bushmen, Mr.
+Moffat says--
+
+
+"I have traversed those regions, in which, according to the testimony of
+the farmers, thousands once dwelt, drinking at their own fountains, and
+killing their own game; but now, alas, scarcely is a family to be seen!
+It is impossible to look over those now uninhabited plains and mountain
+glens without feeling the deepest melancholy, whilst the winds moaning in
+the vale seem to echo back the sound, 'Where are they?'"
+
+
+Another author, with reference to the Cape Colony, remarks--
+
+
+"The number of natives, estimated at the time of the discovery at about
+200,000, are stated to have been reduced, or cut off, to the present
+population of about 32,000, by a continual system of oppression, which
+once begun, never slackened."
+
+
+Catlin gives a feeling and melancholy account of the decrease of the
+North American Indians, [Note 99: Vide Catlin's American Indians,
+vol. i. p. 4 and 5, and vol. ii. p. 238.] and similar records might be
+adduced of the sad fate of almost every uncivilized people, whose country
+has been colonized by Europeans. In Sydney, which is the longest
+established of all our possessions in New Holland, it is believed that not
+a single native of the original tribes belonging to Port Jackson is now
+left alive. [Note 100 at end of para.] Advancing from thence towards the
+interior a miserable family or two may be met with, then a few detached
+groups of half-starved wretches, dependant upon what they can procure
+by begging for their daily sustenance. Still further, the scattered
+and diseased remnants [Note 101 at end of para.], of once powerful,
+but now decayed tribes are seen interspersed throughout the country,
+until at last upon arriving at the more remote regions, where the
+blighting and annihilating effects of colonization have not yet
+overtaken them, tribes are yet found flourishing in their natural state,
+free from that misery and diminution which its presence always brings
+upon them.
+
+[Note 100: "In the first year of the settlement of New South Wales, 1788,
+Governor Phillip caused the amount of the population of Port Jackson to be
+ascertained, by every cove in it being visited by different inspectors at
+the same time. The number of natives found in this single harbour was
+130, and they had 67 boats. At the same time it was known that many were
+in the woods making new canoes. From this and other data, Governor Phillip
+estimated the population between Botany Bay and Broken Bay inclusive,
+at 1500."--Aboriginal Protection Society's Report, May 1839, p. 13.
+
+In Report of the same Society for July 1839, page 71, Mr. Threlkeld
+says--"Of one large tribe in the interior four years ago there were 164
+persons--there are now only three individuals alive!!"]
+
+[Note 101: "The whole eastern country, once thickly peopled, may now be
+said to be entirely abandoned to the whites, with the exception of some
+scattered families in one part, and of a few straggling individuals in
+another; and these once so high spirited, so jealous of their independence
+and liberty, now treated with contempt and ridicule even by the lowest of
+the Europeans; degraded, subdued, confused, awkward, and distrustful, ill
+concealing emotions of anger, scorn, and revenge--emaciated and covered
+with filthy rags;--these native lords of the soil, more like spectres of
+the past than living men, are dragging on a melancholy existence to a yet
+more melancholy doom."--STRZELECHI'S N. S. WALES, p.350.]
+
+It is here that the native should be seen to be appreciated, in his
+native wilds, where he alone is lord of all around him. To those who have
+thus come into communication with the Aborigines, and have witnessed the
+fearless courage and proud demeanour which a life of independence and
+freedom always inspires, it cannot but be a matter of deep regret to see
+them gradually dwindling away and disappearing before the presence of
+Europeans. As the ravages of a flood destroy the country through which it
+takes its course, and which its deposit ought only to have fertilized,
+[Note 102 at end of para.] so the native, who ought to be improved by a
+contact with Europeans, is overwhelmed and swept away by their approach.
+In Van Diemen's Land the same result has been produced as at Sydney, but
+in a more extended and exterminating manner.[Note 103 at end of para.]
+There, instead of a few districts, the whole island is depopulated
+of its original inhabitants, and only thirty or forty individuals,
+the banished remnant of a once numerous people, are now existing as
+exiles at Flinders Island, to tell the tale of their expatriation. [Note
+104 at end of para.] In Western Australia the same process is gradually
+but certainly going on among the tribes most in contact with the
+Europeans. In South Australia it is the same; and short as is the time
+that this province has been occupied as a British Colony, the results
+upon the Aborigines are but too apparent in their diminished numbers, in
+the great disproportion that has been produced between the sexes, and in
+the large preponderance of deaths over births. A miserably diseased
+condition, and the almost total absence of children, are immediate
+consequences of this contact with Europeans. The increase or diminution
+of the tribes can only be ascertained exactly in the different
+districts, by their being regularly mustered, and lists kept of the
+numbers and proportion of the sexes, births, deaths, etc.
+
+[Note 102: "Hard indeed is the fate of the children of the soil,
+and one of the darkest enigmas of life lies in the degradation and
+decay wrought by the very civilization which should succour, teach,
+and improve."--ATHENAEUM.]
+
+[Note 103: "That the Aboriginal Tasmanian was naturally mild and
+inoffensive in disposition, appears to be beyond doubt. A worm, however,
+will turn, and the atrocities which were perpetrated against these
+unoffending creatures may well palliate the indiscriminate, though
+heart-rending slaughter they entailed. Such was the character of the
+Tasmanian native before roused by oppression, and ere a continued
+and systematic hostility had arisen between the races--ere 'their
+hand was against every man, and every man's hand against them.'"
+--MARTYN'S COLONIAL MAGAZINE, May, 1840.]
+
+[Note 104: "At the epoch of their deportation, in 1835, the number of the
+natives amounted to 210. Visited by me in 1842, that is, after the
+interval of seven years, they mustered only fifty-four individuals."
+--STRZELECKI'S NEW SOUTH WALES, p. 352
+
+Respecting the Aborigines of Van Diemen's Land, who were thus forcibly
+removed, Mr. Chief Protector Robinson (who removed them) observes
+(Parliamentary Report, p. 198), "When the natives were all assembled
+at Flinders Island, in 1835, I took charge of them, and have continued
+to do so ever since. I did not find them retaining that ferocious
+character which they displayed in their own country; they shewed
+no hostility, nor even hostile recollection towards the whites.
+Unquestionably these natives assembled on the island were the same who
+had been engaged in the outrages I have spoken of; many of them, before
+they were removed, pointed out to me the spots where murders and other
+acts of violence had been committed; they made no secret of
+acknowledging their participation in such acts, and only considered them
+a just retaliation for wrongs done to them or their progenitors. On
+removal to the island they appeared to forget all these facts; they
+could not of course fail to remember them, but they never recurred to
+them."]
+
+In April, 1843, or only six and a half years after South Australia had
+first been occupied, the Protector of the Aborigines in Adelaide
+ascertained that the tribes, properly belonging to that neighbourhood,
+consisted of 150 individuals, in the following proportions, namely, 70
+men, 39 women, and 41 children. Now, at the Murray, among a large number
+of natives who, until 1842, were comparatively isolated from Europeans,
+and among whom are frequently many different tribes, I found by an
+accurate muster every month at Moorunde for a period of three years, that
+the women, on an average, were equally numerous with the men, from which
+I infer that such is usually the case in their original and natural
+state. Taking this for granted, and comparing it with the proportions of
+the Adelaide tribe, as given above, we shall find that in six years and a
+half the females had diminished from an equality with the males, to from
+70 to 80 per cent. less, and of course the tribe must have sustained also
+a corresponding diminution with respect to children.
+
+[Note 105: This result seems to be generally borne out by the few accurate
+returns that have hitherto been made on the subject. In Mr. Protector
+Parker's report for his district, to the north-west of Port Phillip (for
+January, 1843), that gentleman gives a census of 375 male natives, and 295
+female, which gives an excess of about 26 per cent. of males over females.
+In 1834 Mr. Commissioner Lambie gives a census, for the district of
+Manero, of 416 males and 321 females, or an excess of the former over the
+latter of nearly 45 per cent. It would appear that the disproportion of
+the sexes increases in a ratio corresponding to the length of time a
+district has been occupied by settlers and their stock, and to the density
+of the European population residing in it. Official returns for four
+divisions of the Colony of New South Wales, give a decrease of the
+proportion of females to males of fifteen per cent. in two years. Vide
+Aborigines Protection Society Report, July, 1839, p. 69. In the same
+Report, p. 70, Mr. Threlkeld states, that the Official Report for one
+district gives only two women to 28 men, two boys, and no girls.]
+
+Again, in 1844, the Protector ascertained from the records he had kept
+that, in the same tribe, there were, in four years, twenty-seven births
+and FIFTY deaths, which shews, beyond all doubt, the gradual but certain
+destruction that was going on among the tribe. If no means can be adopted
+to check the evil, it must eventually lead to their total extermination.
+
+By comparing the twenty-seven births in four years with the number of
+women, thirty-nine, it appears that there would be annually only one
+child born among every six women: a result as unnatural as it is
+evidently attributable to the increased prostitution that has taken
+place, with regard both to Europeans and other native tribes, whom
+curiosity has attracted to the town, but whom the Adelaide tribe were not
+in the habit of meeting at all, or, at least, not in such familiar
+intercourse prior to the arrival of the white people. This single cause,
+with the diseases and miseries which it entails upon the Aborigines, is
+quite sufficient to account for the paucity of births, and the additional
+number of deaths that now occur among them.
+
+In the Moorunde statistics, given Chapter VI., the very small number of
+infants compared with the number of women is still more strongly
+illustrated; but in this case only those infants that lived and were
+brought up by their mothers to the monthly musters were marked down; many
+other births had, doubtless, taken place, where the children had died, or
+been killed, but of which no notice is taken, as it would have been
+impossible under the circumstances of such a mixture of tribes, and their
+constantly changing their localities, to have obtained an accurate
+account of all.
+
+Under the circumstances of our intercourse with the Aborigines as at
+present constituted, the same causes which produced so exterminating an
+effect in Sydney and other places, are still going on in all parts of
+Australia occupied by Europeans, and must eventually lead to the same
+result, if no controlling measures can be adopted to prevent it.
+
+Many attempts, upon a limited scale, have already been made in all the
+colonies, but none have in the least degree tended to check the gradual
+but certain extinction that is menacing this ill-fated people; nor is it
+in my recollection that throughout the whole length and breadth of New
+Holland, a single real or permanent convert to Christianity has yet been
+made amongst them, by any of the missionaries engaged in their
+instruction, many of whom have been labouring hopelessly for many years.
+
+In New South Wales, one of the oldest and longest established missions in
+Australia was given up by the Rev. Mr. Threlkeld, after the fruitless
+devotion of many years of toil. [Note 106 at end of para.] Neither have
+the efforts hitherto made to improve the physical circumstances or social
+relations of the Aborigines been attended with any better success. None
+have yet been induced permanently to adopt our customs, or completely to
+give up their wandering habits, or to settle down fixedly in one place,
+and by cultivating the ground, supply themselves with the comforts and
+luxuries of life. It is not that the New Hollander is not as apt and
+intelligent as the men of any other race, or that his capacity for
+receiving instruction, or appreciating enjoyment is less; on the contrary,
+we have the fullest and most ample testimony from all who have been
+brought much into contact with this people that the very contrary is the
+case: a testimony that is completely borne out by the many instances on
+record, of the quickness with which natives have learned our language, or
+the facility with which temporarily they have accommodated themselves to
+our habits and customs.
+
+[Note 106: Vide Parliamentary Reports on Australian Aborigines, 9th of
+August, 1844, pages 160 and 161.--"In submitting to this decision, it is
+impossible not to feel considerable disappointment to the expectations
+formerly hoped to be realized in the conversion of some at least of the
+Aborigines in this part of the colony, and not to express concern that so
+many years of constant attention appear to have been fruitlessly
+expended. It is however, perfectly apparent that the termination of the
+mission has arisen solely from the Aborigines becoming extinct in these
+districts, and the very few that remain elsewhere are so scattered, that
+it is impossible to congregate them for instruction; and when seen in the
+towns, they are generally unfit to engage in profitable conversation. The
+thousands of Aborigines, if ever they did exist in these parts, decreased
+to hundreds, the hundreds have lessened to tens, and the tens will
+dwindle to units before a very few years will have passed away."
+
+"This mission to the Aborigines has ceased to exist, not from want of
+support from the British Government, nor from the inclination of the
+agent, but purely from the Aborigines themselves becoming extinct in these
+parts; and in leaving this scene of much solitariness, privation, and
+trial, it is earnestly hoped that He who fixes the bounds of our
+habitation, apparently in Sydney for a season, will guide our feet through
+life to his glory, and provide support for a numerous family, so that the
+'ministry be not blamed.'"]
+
+On the natural intelligence of the native children, Mr. Moorhouse
+remarks, after several years practical experience:--
+
+
+"They are as apt as European children so far as they have been tried, but
+they have not been put to abstract reasoning. Their perceptive powers are
+large, as they are much exercised in procuring food, etc. Anything
+requiring perception only is readily mastered, the alphabet will be known
+in a few lessons; figures are soon recognised, and the quantities they
+represent, but addition from figures alone always presents difficulties
+for a while, but in a little time, however, it is understood."
+
+
+Upon the same subject, Captain Grey remarks, vol. ii. p. 374.
+
+
+"They are as apt and intelligent as any other race of men I am acquainted
+with; they are subject to the same affections, appetites, and passions as
+other men."
+
+
+Innumerable cases might be adduced, where native boys, or young men, and
+sometimes even females, have been taken into the employment of the
+settlers, and have lived with them as active and useful servants for many
+months, and occasionally even years. Unfortunately, however, in all such
+cases, they have eventually returned again to their savage life, and
+given up the customs and habits they had assumed. The same result has
+occurred among the many children who have been educated at the various
+schools established for their instruction, in the different Colonies.
+Numerous examples might be given of the great degree of proficiency made;
+and often, of many of the scholars being in such a state of forwardness
+and improvement, as reasonably to sanction the expectation, that they
+might one day become useful and intelligent members of the community:
+this hope has, however, hitherto, in almost every instance, been sooner
+or later disappointed, and they have again descended from the civilized
+to the savage state. What can be the causes then, that have operated to
+produce such unfavourable results?
+
+If we admit, and it is admitted by all whose experience best qualifies
+them to give an opinion, that the Australian is fully equal in natural
+powers and intelligence, to the generality of mankind; it is very
+evident, that where so little success has hitherto attended any attempts
+to improve him, either morally or socially, there must either be some
+radical defects in the systems adopted, or some strongly counteracting
+causes to destroy their efficiency. I believe, that to both these
+circumstances, may be traced the results produced.
+
+The following remarks, by Captain Grey, upon this subject, point out some
+of the evils to which the natives are subject, and in a great degree,
+account for the preference they appear to give to their own wild life and
+habits. (Vol. 2. pp. 367 to 371.) He says:--
+
+
+"If we inquire into the causes which tend to detain them in their present
+depressed condition, we shall find that the chief one is--'prejudice' The
+Australians have been most unfairly represented as a very inferior race,
+in fact as one occupying a scale in the creation which nearly places them
+on a level with the brutes, and some years must elapse, ere a prejudice
+so firmly rooted as this can be altogether eradicated, but certainly a
+more unfounded one never had possession of the public mind.
+
+"Amongst the evils which the natives suffer in their present position,
+one is an uncertain and irregular demand for their labour, that is to
+say, they may one day have plenty of means for exerting their industry
+afforded them by the settlers, and the next their services are not
+required; so that they are necessarily compelled to have recourse to
+their former irregular and wandering habits.
+
+"Another is the very insufficient reward for the services they render. As
+an example of this kind, I will state the instance of a man who worked
+during the whole season, as hard and as well as any white man, at getting
+in the harvest for some setlers, and who only received bread, and
+sixpence a day, whilst the ordinary labourers would earn at least fifteen
+shillings. In many instances, they only receive a scanty allowance of
+food, so much so, that some settlers have told me that the natives left
+them because they had not enough to eat.
+
+"The evil consequence of this is, that a native finding he can gain as
+much by the combined methods of hunting and begging, as he can by
+working, naturally prefers the former and much more attractive mode of
+procuring subsistence, to the latter one.
+
+"Many of the natives have not only a good idea of the value of money, but
+even hoard it up for some particular purpose; several of them have shewn
+me their little treasure of a few shillings, and have told me it was
+their intention to save more until they had enough to buy a horse, a gun,
+or some wished-for article, but their improvidence has always got the
+better of their thriftiness, and this sum has eventually been spent in
+treating their friends to bread and rice.
+
+"Another evil is the very extraordinary position in which they are placed
+with regard to two distinct sets of laws; that is they are allowed to
+exercise their own laws upon one another, and are again held amenable to
+British law where British subjects are concerned. Thus no protection is
+afforded them by the British law against the violence or cruelty of one
+of their own race, and the law has only been hitherto known to them as
+the means of punishment, but never as a code from which they can claim
+protection or benefit.
+
+"The following instances will prove my assertion: In the month of October
+1838, I saw early one morning some natives in the public street in Perth,
+in the act of murdering a native woman, close to the store of the Messrs.
+Habgood: many Europeans were present, amongst others a constable; but
+there was no interference on their part until eventually the life of the
+woman was saved by the courage of Mr. Brown, a gardener in Perth, who
+rushed in amongst the natives, and knocked down the man who was holding
+her; she then escaped into the house of the Messrs. Habgood, who treated
+the poor creature with the utmost humanity. She was, however, wounded in
+several places in the most severe and ghastly manner.
+
+"A letter I received from Mr. A. Bussel, (a settler in the southern part
+of the colony,) in May, 1839, shews that the same scenes are enacted all
+over it. In this case, their cow-keeper, (the native whose burial is
+narrated at p. 330,) was speared by the others. He was at the time the
+hired servant of Europeans, performing daily a stated service for them;
+yet they slew him in open day-light, without any cause of provocation
+being given by him.
+
+"Again, in October, 1838, the sister of a settler in the northern
+district, told me that shortly before this period, she had, as a female
+servant, a most interesting little native girl, not more than ten or
+eleven years of age. This girl had just learned all the duties belonging
+to her employment, and was regarded in the family as a most useful
+servant, when some native, from a spirit of revenge, murdered this
+inoffensive child in the most barbarous manner, close to the house; her
+screams were actually heard by the Europeans under whose protection, and
+in whose service she was living, but they were not in time to save her
+life. This same native had been guilty of many other barbarous murders,
+one of which he had committed in the district of the Upper Swan, in the
+actual presence of Europeans. In June, 1839, he was still at large,
+unmolested, even occasionally visiting Perth.
+
+"Their fondness for the bush and the habits of savage life, is fixed and
+perpetuated by the immense boundary placed by circumstances between
+themselves and the whites, which no exertions on their part can overpass,
+and they consequently relapse into a state of hopeless passive
+indifference.
+
+"I will state a remarkable instance of this:--The officers of the Beagle
+took away with them a native of the name of Miago, who remained absent
+with them for several months. I saw him on the North-west coast, on board
+the Beagle, apparently perfectly civilized; he waited at the gun-room
+mess, was temperate (never tasting spirits), attentive, cheerful, and
+remarkably clean in his person. The next time I saw him was at Swan
+River, where he had been left on the return of the Beagle. He was then
+again a savage, almost naked, painted all over, and had been concerned in
+several murders. Several persons here told me,--"you see the taste for a
+savage life was strong in him, and he took to the bush again directly."
+Let us pause for a moment and consider.
+
+"Miago, when he was landed, had amongst the white people none who would
+be truly friends of his,--they would give him scraps from their table,
+but the very outcasts of the whites would not have treated him as an
+equal,--they had no sympathy with him,--he could not have married a white
+woman,--he had no certain means of subsistence open to him,--he never
+could have been either a husband or a father, if he had lived apart from
+his own people;--where, amongst the whites, was he to find one who would
+have filled for him the place of his black mother, whom he is much
+attached to?--what white man would have been his brother?--what white
+woman his sister? He had two courses left open to him,--he could either
+have renounced all natural ties, and have led a hopeless, joyless life
+amongst the whites,--ever a servant,--ever an inferior being;--or he
+could renounce civilization, and return to the friends of his childhood,
+and to the habits of his youth. He chose the latter course, and I think
+that I should have done the same."
+
+
+Such are a few of the disadvantages the natives have to contend with, if
+they try to assimilate in their life and habits to Europeans, nor is
+there one here enumerated, of which repeated instances have not come
+under my own observation. If to these be added, the natural ties of
+consanguinity, the authority of parents, the influence of the example of
+relatives and friends, and the seducing attraction which their own habits
+and customs hold out to the young of both sexes; first, by their offering
+a life of idleness and freedom, to a people naturally indolent and
+impatient of restraint; and secondly, by their pandering to their natural
+passions: we shall no longer wonder that so little has been effected
+towards ameliorating their condition, or inducing them to adopt habits
+and customs that deprive them of those indulgences.
+
+In New South Wales and Port Phillip, the Government have made many
+efforts in behalf of the Aborigines; for a series of years past, and at
+present, the sum of about ten thousand pounds, is annually placed upon
+the estimates, towards defraying the salaries of a Chief Protector, and
+several subordinate ones, and for other expenses connected with the
+natives.
+
+[Note: Not included in thei eBook, Table on pages 428-9: ABSTRACT
+OF EXPENDITURE IN N.S.W ON ACCOUNT OF THE ABORIGINES FROM 1821 TO 1842
+INCLUSIVE.]
+
+In Western Australia a sum of money is also devoted annually towards
+defraying the salaries of two Protectors, and other expenses connected
+with the department.
+
+I am not, however, personally aware, what the particular arrangements may
+be that have latterly been adopted in either of these colonies, for the
+benefit of the Aborigines, or the degree of success which may have
+attended them. I believe, however, that in both places, more has been
+attempted, within the last three or four years, than had ever been the
+case before. What the eventual result may be it is impossible to tell,
+but with the past experience before me, I cannot persuade myself, that
+any real or permanent good will ever be effected, until the influence
+exercised over the young by the adults be destroyed, and they are freed
+from the contagious effects of their example, and until means are
+afforded them of supporting themselves in a new condition, and of forming
+those social ties and connections in an improved state, which they must
+otherwise be driven to seek for among the savage hordes, from which it is
+attempted to reclaim them.
+
+In South Australia many efforts have been made in behalf of the
+Aborigines, and an anxious desire for their welfare has frequently been
+exhibited on the part of the Government, and of many of the colonists.
+For the year 1845 the sum of 820 pounds is noted in the estimates for the
+Aboriginal Department. This sum is distributed as follows:--
+
+
+Salary of Protector                      300 pounds
+Master of Native School at Walkerville   100
+Matron of School at Native Location       20
+Provisions                               150
+Donation to Lutheran Mission             100
+Miscellaneous                            150
+                                         ---
+Total                                    820 pounds
+
+
+There are three native schools established in the province. The first is
+that at the native location in the town of Adelaide, commenced in
+December, 1839, by Mr. Klose, one of the Dresden missionaries. The
+average attendance of children has been about sixteen, all of whom have
+latterly been lodged as well as fed at the school. The progress made by
+the children may be stated to have been as follows: on the 16th February,
+1844--
+
+14 were able to read polysyllables.
+2 were able to read monosyllables.
+2 could repeat the cardinal numbers.
+14 were in addition.
+3 in subtraction.
+9 in multiplication.
+2 in division.
+
+Most of the children could repeat the Lord's Prayer and Commandments, and
+they were able to narrate the history of the Creation, the fall of our
+first parents, and other portions of the Old and New Testament. A few
+were able to write these subjects to dictation. In geography many of the
+scholars knew the ordinary divisions of the earth, its shape, diameter,
+circumference, and the names of the continents, oceans, seas, gulfs, etc.
+etc. together with the general description of the inhabitants of each
+part, as to colour, etc. Of the girls, fourteen had been taught to sew,
+and have made upwards of fifty garments for themselves, besides several
+shirts for Europeans.
+
+Mr. Klose receives as salary 33 pounds per annum from the Government, and
+a remittance from his society at Dresden. The matron of the establishment
+also receives 20 pounds from the Government. The average expense of
+provisions for each child per week, amounts to two shillings and ten
+pence. The cost of clothing each child per year is 2 pounds. Until very
+recently this school was taught in the native language; but English is
+now adopted, except in lecturing from Scripture, when the native language
+is still retained.
+
+At Walkerville, about one mile from North Adelaide, another school has
+been established under the superintendence of Mr. Smith, since May, 1844.
+Up to October of the same year the average attendance of children had
+been sixty-three. In that short time the progress had been very
+satisfactory; all the children had passed from the alphabetical to the
+monosyllabic class, and most had mastered the multiplication table;
+eighteen could write upon the slate, and six upon paper; twelve girls had
+commenced sewing, and were making satisfactory progress.
+
+They go four times in the week to the council chamber to be instructed by
+gratuitous teachers. On Sunday evening service is performed according to
+the Church of England by Mr. Fleming, and the children are said to be
+attentive and well-behaved. The Methodists of the New Connection have
+them also under spiritual instruction in the morning and afternoon of
+each Sabbath, assisted by persons of other religious denominations.
+
+All instruction is given in English; their food is cooked by the elder
+children, (who also provide the firewood,) and distributed by themselves
+under the master's eye The cook is said to take good care of himself, and
+certainly his appearance does not belie the insinuation, for he is by far
+the fattest boy in the lot. The school building is a plain, low cottage,
+containing a school-room, a sleeping-room for the male children, another
+for the female, and apartments for the master and mistress. There is also
+an old out-building attached, where the children perform their ablutions
+in wet weather. Mr. and Mrs. Smith receive 100 pounds. per annum from the
+Colonial Government for their services. The children of this school have
+not yet been generally provided with other clothing than a small blanket
+each. The third school was only just commenced at Encounter Bay, where it
+has been established through the influence and exertions of Mr. Meyer,
+one of the missionaries. The Government give 20 pounds per annum, and the
+settlers of the neighbourhood 100 bushels of wheat, and some mutton. Six
+or eight children are expected to be lodged and boarded at this school,
+with the means at present existing.
+
+Besides the establishment of schools, there is a Protector resident in
+Adelaide to take the management of the aboriginal department, to afford
+medical assistance and provisions to such of the aged or diseased as
+choose to apply for them, and to remunerate any natives who may render
+services to the Government, or the Protectorate. At Moorunde, upon the
+Murray, the natives are mustered once a month by the Resident magistrate,
+and two pounds and a half of flour issued to each native who chooses to
+attend. This is occasionally done at Port Lincoln, and has had a very
+beneficial effect. Once in the year, on the Queen's birthday, a few
+blankets are distributed to some of the Aborigines at Adelaide, Moorunde,
+Encounter Bay, and Port Lincoln, amounting in all to about 300. Four
+natives are also provisioned by the Government as attaches to the police
+force at different out-stations, and are in many respects very useful.
+
+Exclusive of the Government exertions in behalf of the Aborigines, there
+are in the province four missionaries from the Lutheran Missionary
+Society at Dresden, two of whom landed in October 1838, and two in August
+1840. Of these one is stationed at the native location, and (as has
+already been stated) acts as schoolmaster. A second is living twelve
+miles from Adelaide, upon a section of land, bought by the Dresden
+Society, with the object of endeavouring to settle the natives, and
+inducing them to build houses upon the property, but the plan seems
+altogether a failure. It was commenced in November 1842, but up to
+November 1844 natives had only been four months at the place; and on one
+occasion a period of nine months elapsed, without their ever visiting it
+at all, although frequently located at other places in the neighbourhood.
+
+A third missionary is stationed at Encounter Bay, and is now conducting a
+school, mainly established through his own exertions and influence.
+
+The fourth is stationed at Port Lincoln. All the four missionaries have
+learned the dialects of the tribes where they are stationed, and three
+have published vocabularies and grammars as the proof of their industry.
+
+Such is the general outline of the efforts that have hitherto been made
+in South Australia, and the progress made. It may be well to inquire,
+what are likely to be the results eventually under the existing
+arrangements. From the first establishment of the schools, until June
+1843, the children were only instructed at the location, their food was
+given to them to take to the native encampments to cook, and they were
+allowed to sleep there at night. The natural consequence was, that the
+provisions intended for the sonolars were shared by the other natives,
+whilst the evil influence of example, and the jeers of their companions,
+did away with any good impression produced by their instruction. I have
+myself, upon going round the encampments in Adelaide by night, seen the
+school-children ridiculed by the elder boys, and induced to join them in
+making a jest of what they had been taught during the day to look upon as
+sacred.
+
+A still more serious evil, resulting from this system was, that the
+children were more completely brought into the power, and under the
+influence of the parents, and thus their natural taste for an indolent
+and rambling life, was constantly kept up. The boys naturally became
+anxious to participate and excel in the sports, ceremonies, or pursuits
+of their equals, and the girls were compelled to yield to the customs of
+their tribe, and break through every lesson of decency or morality, which
+had been inculcated.
+
+Since June, 1843, the system has so far been altered, that the children,
+whilst under instruction, are boarded and lodged at the school houses,
+and as far as practicable, the boys and girls are kept separate. There
+are still, however, many evils attending the present practice, most of
+which arise from the inadequacy of the funds, applicable to the
+Aborigines, and which must be removed before any permanent good can be
+expected from the instruction given. The first of these, and perhaps one
+of the greatest, is that the adult natives make their encampments
+immediately in the neighbourhood of the schools, whilst the children,
+when out of school, roam in a great measure at will, or are often
+employed collecting firewood, etc. about the park lands, a place almost
+constantly occupied by the grown up natives, there is consequently nearly
+as much intercourse between the school children and the other natives,
+and as great an influence exercised over them by the parents and elders,
+as if they were still allowed to frequent the camps.
+
+Another evil is, that no inducement is held out to the parents, to put
+their children to school, or to allow them to remain there. They cannot
+comprehend the advantage of having their children clothed, fed, or
+educated, whilst they lose their services; on the contrary, they find
+that all the instruction, advice, or influence of the European, tends to
+undermine among the children their own customs and authority, and that
+when compelled to enforce these upon them, they themselves incur the
+odium of the white men. Independently, however, of this consideration,
+and of the natural desire of a parent to have his family about him, he is
+in reality a loser by their absence, for in many of the methods adopted
+for hunting, fishing, or similar pursuits, the services even of young
+children are often very important. For the deprivation of these, which he
+suffers when his children are at school, he receives no equivalent, and
+it is no wonder therefore, that by far the great majority of natives
+would prefer keeping their children to travel with them, and assist in
+hunting or fishing. It is a rare occurrence, for parents to send, or even
+willingly [Note 107 at end of para.] to permit their children to go to
+school, and the masters have consequently to go round the native
+encampments to collect and bring away the children against their wishes.
+This is tacitly submitted to at the time, but whenever the parents
+remove to another locality, the children are informed of it, and at
+once run away to join them; so that the good that has been done in school,
+is much more rapidly undone at the native camp. I have often heard the
+parents complain indignantly of their children being thus taken; and
+one old man who had been so treated, but whose children had run away
+and joined him again, used vehemently to declare, that if taken any more,
+he would steal some European children instead, and take them into the
+bush to teach them; he said he could learn them something useful,
+to make weapons and nets, to hunt, or to fish, but what good did the
+Europeans communicate to his children?
+
+[Note 107: "Mr. Gunter expressed very decidedly his opinion, that the
+blacks do not like Mr. Watson, and that they especially do not like him,
+SINCE HE HAS TAKEN CHILDREN FROM THEM BY FORCE: he would himself like to
+have some children under his care, IF HE COULD PROCURE THEM BY PROPER
+MEANS."--Memorandum respecting Wellington Valley, by Sir G. Gipps,
+November 1840.]
+
+A third, and a very great evil, is that, after a native boy or girl has
+been educated and brought up at the school, no future provision is made
+for either, nor have they the means of following any useful occupation,
+or the opportunity of settling themselves in life, or of forming any
+domestic ties or connections whatever, save by falling back again upon
+the rude and savage life from which it was hoped education would have
+weaned them. It is unnatural, therefore, to suppose that under existing
+circumstances they should ever do other than relapse into their former
+state; we cannot expect that individuals should isolate themselves
+completely from their kind, when by so doing they give up for ever all
+hope of forming any of those domestic ties that can render their lives
+happy.
+
+Such being the very limited, and perhaps somewhat equivocal advantages we
+offer the Aborigines, we can hardly expect that much or permanent benefit
+can accrue to them; and ought not to be disappointed if such is not the
+case. [Note 108 at end of para.] At present it is difficult to say what
+are the advantages held out to the natives by the schools, since they have
+no opportunity of turning their instruction to account, and must from
+necessity relapse again to the condition of savages, when they leave
+school. Taken as children from their parents, against the wishes of
+the latter, there are not means sufficient at the schools for keeping
+them away from the ill effects of the example and society of the most
+abandoned of the natives around. They are not protected from the power
+or influence of their parents and relatives, who are always encouraging
+them to leave, or to practise what they have been taught not to do.
+The good that is instilled one day is the next obliterated by evil
+example or influence. They have no future openings in life which
+might lead them to become creditable and useful members of society;
+and however well disposed a child may be, there is but one sad and
+melancholy resource for it at last, that of again joining its tribe,
+and becoming such as they are. Neither is there that disinclination
+on the part of the elder children to resume their former mode of
+life and customs that might perhaps have been expected; for whilst
+still at school they see and participate enough in the sports,
+pleasures, or charms of savage life to prevent their acquiring a distaste
+to it; and when the time arrives for their departure, they are generally
+willing and anxious to enter upon the career before them, and take their
+part in the pursuits or duties of their tribe. Boys usually leave school
+about fourteen, to join in the chase, or learn the practice of war. Girls
+are compelled to leave about twelve, through the joint influence of
+parents and husbands, to join the latter; and those only who have been
+acquainted with the life of slavery and degradation a native female is
+subject to, can at all form an opinion of the wretched prospect before
+her.
+
+[Note 108: The importance of a change in the system and policy adopted
+towards the Aborigines, and the urgent necessity for placing the schools
+upon a different and better footing, appears from the following extract
+from a despatch from Governor Hutt to Lord Stanley, 21st January, 1843, in
+which the difficulties and failure attending the present system are
+stated. Mr. Hutt says (Parliamentary Reports, p. 416). "It is to the
+schools, of course, that we must look for any lasting benefit to be
+wrought amongst the natives, and I regret most deeply the total
+failure of the school instituted at York, and the partial failure
+of that at Guilford, both of which at FIRST promised so well. The
+fickle disposition of these people, in youth as in older years,
+incapacitate them from any long continued exertions, whether of
+learning or labour, whilst from the roving lives of the parents in
+search of food, the children, if received into the schools, must
+be entirely supported at the public expense. This limits the sphere
+of our operations, by restricting the number of the scholars who
+can thus be taken charge of. Through the kindly co-operation of the
+Wesleyan Society at Perth, and the zealous pastoral exertions of the Rev.
+Mr. King at Fremantle, the schools at both these places have been
+efficiently maintained; but in the country, and apart from the large
+towns, to which the Aborigines have an interest in resorting in large
+numbers for food and money, the formation of schools of a lasting
+character will be for some time a work of doubt and of difficulty."]
+
+There are two other points connected with the natives to which I will
+briefly advert: the one, relative to the language in which the school
+children are taught, the other, the policy, or otherwise, of having
+establishments for the natives in the immediate vicinity of a town, or of
+a numerous European population.
+
+With respect to the first, I may premise, that for the first four years
+the school at the location in Adelaide was conducted entirely in the
+native tongue. To this there are many objections.
+
+First, the length of time and labour required for the instructor to
+master the language he has to teach in.
+
+Secondly, the very few natives to whom he can impart the advantages of
+instruction, as an additional school, and another teacher would be
+required for every tribe speaking a different dialect.
+
+Thirdly, the sudden stop that would be put to all instruction if the
+preceptor became ill, or died, as no one would be found able to supply
+his place in a country where, from the number, and great differences of
+the various dialects, there is no inducement to the public to learn any
+of them.
+
+Fourthly, that by the children being taught in any other tongue than that
+generally spoken by the colonists, they are debarred from the advantage
+of any casual instruction or information which they might receive from
+others than their own teachers, and from entering upon duties or
+relations of any kind with the Europeans among whom they are living, but
+whose language they cannot speak.
+
+Fifthly, that, by adhering to the native language, the children are more
+deeply confirmed in their original feelings and prejudices, and more
+thoroughly kept under the influence and direction of their own people.
+
+Among the colonists themselves there have scarcely been two opinions upon
+the subject, and almost all have felt, that the system originally adopted
+was essentially wrong. It has recently been changed, and the English is
+now adopted instead of the native language. I should not have named this
+subject at all, had I not been aware that the missionaries themselves
+still retain their former impressions, and that although they have
+yielded to public opinion on this point, they have not done so from a
+conviction of its utility.
+
+The second point to which I referred,--the policy, or otherwise, of
+having native establishments near a populous European settlement, is a
+much more comprehensive question, and one which might admit, perhaps, of
+some reasons on both sides, although, upon the whole, those against it
+greatly preponderate.
+
+The following are the reasons I have usually heard argued for proximity
+to town.
+
+1st. It is said that the children sooner acquire the English language by
+mixing among the towns people. This, however, to say the least, is a very
+negative advantage, for in such a contact it is far more probable that
+they will learn evil than good; besides, if means were available to
+enable the masters to keep their scholars under proper restrictions,
+there would no longer be even the opportunity for enjoying this very
+equivocal advantage.
+
+2nd. It is stated that the natives are sooner compelled to give up their
+wandering habits, as there is no game near a town. This might be well
+enough if they followed any better employment, but the contrary is the
+case; and with respect to the school-children, the restriction would be
+the correction of a bad habit, which they ought never to be allowed to
+indulge in, and one which might soon be done away with entirely if
+sufficient inducement were held out to the parents to put their children
+to school, and allow them to remain there.
+
+3rd. It is thought that a greater number of children can be collected in
+the vicinity of a town than elsewhere. This may perhaps be the case at
+present, but would not continue so if means were used to congregate the
+natives in their own proper districts.
+
+4th. It is said that provisions and clothing are cheaper in town and more
+easily procured than elsewhere. This is the only apparently valid reason
+of the whole, but it is very questionable whether it is sufficient to
+counterbalance the many evils which may result from too close a
+contiguity to town, and especially so as far as the adults are concerned.
+With respect to the children, if kept within proper bounds, and under
+proper discipline, it is of little importance where they may be located,
+and perhaps a town may for such purposes be sometimes the best. With the
+older natives however it is far different, and the evils resulting to
+them from too close contact with a large European population, are most
+plainly apparent; in,--
+
+1st. The immorality, which great as it is among savages in their natural
+state, is increased in a tenfold degree when encouraged and countenanced
+by Europeans, and but little opening is left for the exercise of
+missionary influence or exertions.
+
+2nd. The dreadful state of disease which is superinduced, and which
+tends, in conjunction with other causes as before stated, to bring about
+the gradual extinction of the race.
+
+3rd. The encouragement a town affords to idleness, and the opportunities
+to acquire bad habits, such as begging, pilfering, drinking, etc. the
+effects of which must also have a very bad moral tendency upon the
+children.
+
+The town of Adelaide appears capable of supporting about six hundred
+natives on an average. Many of these obtain their food by going errands,
+by carrying wood or water, or by performing other light work of a similar
+kind. Many are supported by the offal of a place where so much animal
+food is consumed; but by far the greater number are dependent upon
+charity, and some few even extort their subsistence from women or
+children by threats, if they have the opportunity of doing so without
+fear of detection.
+
+The number of natives usually frequenting the town of Adelaide averages
+perhaps 300, but occasionally there are even as many as 800. These do not
+belong to the neighbourhood of the town itself, for the Adelaide tribe
+properly so called only embraces about 150 individuals. The others come
+in detached parties from almost all parts of the colony. Some from the
+neighbourhood of Bonney's Well, or 120 miles south; some from the
+Broughton, or 120 miles north; some from the upper part of the Murray, or
+nearly 200 miles east. Thus are assembled at one spot sometimes portions
+of tribes the most distant from each other, and whose languages, customs
+and ceremonies are quite dissimilar. If any proof were wanted to shew the
+power of European influence in removing prejudices or effecting a total
+revulsion of their former habits and customs, a stronger one could
+scarcely be given than this motley assembly of "all nations and
+languages." In their primitive state such a meeting could never take
+place; the distant tribes would never have dreamt of attempting to pass
+through the country of the intermediate ones, nor would the latter have
+allowed a passage if it had been attempted.
+
+I have remarked that in Adelaide many of the natives support themselves
+by light easy work, or going errands; there are also a dozen, or fourteen
+young men employed regularly as porters to storekeepers with whom they
+spend two-thirds of their time, and make themselves very useful. At
+harvest time many natives assist the settlers. At Encounter Bay during
+1843, from 70 to 100 acres of wheat or barley, were reaped by them; at
+Adelaide from 50 to 60 acres, and at Lynedoch Valley they aided in
+cutting and getting in 200 acres. Other natives have occasionally
+employed themselves usefully in a variety of ways, and one party of young
+men collected and delivered to a firm in town five tons of mimosa bark up
+to December 1843. At the native location during the year 1842, three
+families of natives assisted by the school-children, had dug with the
+spade the ground, and had planted and reaped more than one acre of maize,
+one acre of potatoes, and half an acre of melons, besides preparing
+ground for the ensuing year. On the Murray River native shepherds and
+stock-keepers have hitherto been employed almost exclusively, and have
+been found to answer well. Most of the settlers in that district have one
+or more native youths constantly living at their houses.
+
+In concluding an account of the present state and prospects of the
+Aborigines and of the efforts hitherto made on their behalf, I may state
+that I am fully sensible that to put the schools upon a proper footing
+and to do away with the serious disadvantages I have pointed out as at
+present attending them, or to adopt effective means for assembling,
+feeding, or instructing the natives in their own respective districts
+would involve a much greater expenditure than South Australia has
+hitherto been able to afford from her own resources; and I have therefore
+called attention to the subject, not for the purpose of censuring what it
+is impossible to remedy without means; but in the sincere and earnest
+hope that an interest in behalf of a people who are generally much
+misrepresented, and who are certainly in justice entitled to expect at
+our hands much more than they receive, will be excited in the breasts of
+the British public, who are especially their debtors on many accounts.
+
+I am aware that the subject of the Aborigines is one of a very difficult
+and embarrassing nature in many respects, and I know that evils and
+imperfections will occasionally occur, in spite of the utmost efforts to
+prevent them. No system of policy can be made to suit all circumstances
+connected with a subject so varied and perplexing, and especially so,
+where every new arrangement and all benevolent intentions are restrained
+or limited, by the deficiency of pecuniary means to carry out the object
+in a proper manner. Already the subject of apprenticing the natives, or
+teaching them a trade, has been under the consideration of the
+Government, but has been delayed from being brought into operation by the
+want of funds sufficient to carry the object into effect. It is intended,
+I believe, to make the experiment as soon as means are available for that
+purpose.
+
+My duties as an officer of the Government having been principally
+connected with the more numerous, but distant tribes of the interior, I
+can bear testimony to the anxious desire of the Government to promote the
+welfare of the natives.
+
+I have equal pleasure in recording the great interest that prevails on
+their behalf among their numerous friends in the colonies, and the
+general kindness and good feeling that have been exhibited towards them
+on the part of a large proportion of the colonists of Australia. It is in
+the hope that this good feeling may be promoted and strengthened that I
+have been led to enter into the details of the preceding pages. In
+bringing before the public instances of a contrary conduct or feeling, I
+by no means wish to lead to the impression that such are now of very
+frequent or general occurrence, and I trust my motives may not be
+misunderstood. My sole, my only wish has been to bring about an
+improvement in the terms of intercourse, which subsists between the
+settlers and the Aborigines. Whilst advocating the cause of the latter, I
+am not insensible to the claims of the former, who leaving their native
+country and their friends, cheerfully encounter the inconveniences,
+toils, privations, and dangers which are necessarily attendant upon
+founding new homes in the remote and trackless wilds of other climes.
+Strongly impressed with the advantages, and the necessity of
+colonization, I am only anxious to mitigate its concomitant evils, and by
+effecting an amelioration in the treatment and circumstances of the
+Aborigines, point out the means of rendering the residence or pursuits of
+the settler among an uncivilized community, less precarious, and less
+hazardous than they have been. My object has been to shew the result, I
+may almost say, the necessary result of the system at present in force,
+when taking possession of and occupying a country where there are
+indigenous races. By shewing the complete failure of all efforts hitherto
+made, to prevent the oppression and eventual extinction of these
+unfortunate people, I would demonstrate the necessity of remodelling the
+arrangements made on their behalf, and of adopting a more equitable and
+liberal system than any we have yet attempted.
+
+I believe that by far the greater majority of the settlers in all the
+Australian Colonies would hail with real pleasure, the adoption of any
+measures calculated to remove the difficulties, which at present beset
+our relations with the Aborigines; but to be effectual, these measures,
+at the same time that they afford, in some degree, compensation and
+support to the dispossessed and starving native--must equally hold out to
+the settler and the stockholder that security and protection, which he
+does not now possess, but which he is fairly entitled to expect, under
+the implied guarantee given to him by the Government, when selling to him
+his land, or authorizing him to locate in the more remote districts of
+the country.
+
+From a long experience, and an attentive observation of what has been
+going on around me, I am perfectly satisfied, that unless some great
+change be made in our system, things will go on exactly as they have
+done, and in a few years more not a native will be left to tell the tale
+of the wrongs and sufferings of his unhappy race. I am equally convinced
+that all one-sided legislation--all measures having reference solely to
+the natives must fail. The complete want of success attending the
+protecting system, and all other past measures, clearly shew, that unless
+the interests of the two classes can be so interwoven and combined, that
+both may prosper together; no real good can be hoped for from our best
+efforts to ameliorate the condition of the savage. In all future plans it
+is evident that the native must have the inducements and provocations to
+crime destroyed or counteracted, as far as it may be practicable to
+effect this, and the settler must be convinced that it is his interest to
+treat the native with kindness and consideration, and must be able to
+feel that he is no longer exposed to risk of life or property for
+injuries or aggressions, which, as an individual, he has not induced.
+
+I have now nearly discharged the duty I have undertaken--a duty which my
+long experience among the natives, and an intimate acquaintance with
+their peculiarities, habits, and customs, has in a measure almost forced
+upon me. In fulfilling it, I have been obliged to enter at some length
+upon the subject, to give as succinct an account as I could of the
+unfavourable impressions that have often, but unjustly, been entertained
+of the New Hollanders: of the difficulties and disadvantages they have
+laboured under, of the various relations that have subsisted, or now
+subsist between them and the colonists, of the different steps that have
+been adopted by the Government or others, to ameliorate their condition,
+and of the degree of success or otherwise that has attended these
+efforts. I have stated, that from the result of my own experience and
+observation, for a long series of years past, from a practical
+acquaintance with the character and peculiarities of the Aborigines, and
+after a deliberate and attentive consideration of the measures that have
+been hitherto pursued, I have unwillingly been forced to the conviction,
+that some great and radical defect has been common to all; that we have
+not hitherto accomplished one single, useful, or permanent result; and
+that unless a complete change in our system of policy be adopted for the
+future, there is not the slightest hope of our efforts being more
+successful in times to come, than they have been in times past. That I am
+not alone or singular in the view which I take on this subject, may be
+shewn from various sources, but most forcibly from the opinions or
+statements of those, who from being upon the spot, and personally
+acquainted with the real facts of the case, may be supposed to be most
+competent to form just conclusions, and most worthy of having weight
+attached to their opinions. The impression on the public mind in the
+colonies, with respect to the general effect of the measures that have
+heretofore been adopted, may be gathered from the many opinions or
+quotations to which I have already referred in my remarks; many others
+might be adduced, if necessary, but one or two will suffice.
+
+The following extract is from a speech by A. Forster, Esq. at a meeting
+held to celebrate the anniversary of the South Australian Missionary
+Society, on the 6th September, 1843, and at which the Governor of the
+Colony presided:--
+
+
+"This colony had been established for nearly seven years, and during the
+whole of that time the natives had been permitted to go about the streets
+in a state of nudity. [Note 109 at end of para.] This was not only an
+outrage on decency and propriety, but it was demoralising to the natives
+themselves. Like Adam, after having come in contact with the tree of
+knowledge, they had begun to see their own nakedness, and were ashamed
+of it. If they could give them a nearer approach to humanity by clothing
+them, if they could make them look like men, they would then, perhaps,
+begin to think like men. What he complained of was, not that they were
+in a low and miserable condition, but that no effort had been made to
+rescue them from that condition."
+
+[Note 109: And yet a law is passed, subjecting natives, who appear thus,
+to punishment!--How are they to clothe themselves?]
+
+"The circumstances, too, of the aborigines called upon them for increased
+exertion. They were wasting away with disease--they were dying on the
+scaffold--they were being shot down in mistake for native dogs, and their
+bleeding and ghastly heads had been exhibited on poles, as scare-crows to
+their fellows."
+
+
+The report of the Missionary Society, read on the same occasion, says,
+
+
+"Though it is undeniable that there is much to discourage in the small
+results which can yet be reckoned from these efforts, and a variety of
+secondary means might be brought to bear with great advantage on the
+condition of the natives, still we must exercise faith in the power of
+the Spirit of God, over the most savage soul, in subduing the wicked
+passions and inclining the heart unto wisdom by exalted views of a future
+state, and of the divine character and will."
+
+
+Captain Grey's opinion of the little good that had ever been
+accomplished, may be gathered from the following quotation, and which is
+fully as applicable to the state of the natives in 1844, as it was in
+1841. Vol. ii. p. 366, he says,
+
+
+"I wish not to assert, that the natives have been often treated with
+wanton cruelty, but I do not hesitate to say, that no real amelioration
+of their condition has been effected, and that much of negative evil, and
+indirect injury has been inflicted on them."
+
+
+Upon the same subject, the Committee of Management of the Native School
+at Perth, Swan River, Western Australia, state in their 3rd Annual
+Report, dated 1844.
+
+
+"With regard to the physical condition of the native children, and those
+who are approaching to mature life, it may be observed, that they are
+somewhat improving, though slowly, we trust surely. We find that to undo
+is a great work; to disassociate them from their natural ideas, habits,
+and practices which are characteristic of the bush life, is a greater
+difficulty, for notwithstanding the provisions of sleeping berths in good
+rooms, also of tables, etc. for their use, and which are peculiar to
+civilised life, and with which they are associated, yet they naturally
+verge towards, and cling to aboriginal education, and hence to squat on
+the sand to eat, to sleep a night in the bush, to have recourse to a
+Byly-a-duck man for ease in sickness; these to them seem reliefs and
+enjoyments from these restraints which civilized life entails upon them."
+
+"With regard to the mental improvement of the native children, we cannot
+say much."
+
+"As to the religious state of the pupils in the institution we have
+signs, improvements, and encouragements, which say to us, 'Go on.'"
+
+
+The following quotation from Count Strzelecki's work only just published
+(1845), shews the opinion of that talented and intelligent traveller,
+after visiting various districts of New South Wales, Port Phillip, Van
+Diemen's Land, and Flinders' Island, and after a personal acquaintance
+with, and experience among the Aborigines:--
+
+
+"Thus, in New South Wales, since the time that the fate of the
+Australasian awoke the sympathies of the public, neither the efforts of
+the missionary, nor the enactments of the Government, and still less the
+Protectorate of the "Protectors," have effected any good. The attempts to
+civilize and christianize the Aborigines, from which the preservation and
+elevation of their race was expected to result, HAVE UTTERLY FAILED,
+though it is consolatory, even while painful, to confess, that NEITHER
+THE ONE NOR THE OTHER ATTEMPT HAS BEEN CARRIED INTO EXECUTION, WITH THE
+SPIRIT WHICH ACCORDS WITH ITS PRINCIPLES."
+
+
+With such slight encouragement in colonies where the best results are
+supposed to have been obtained, and with instances of complete failure in
+others, it is surely worth while to inquire, why there has been such a
+signal want of success?--and whether or not any means can be devised that
+may hold out better hopes for the future? I cannot and I would not
+willingly believe, that the question is a hopeless one. The failure of
+past measures is no reason that future ones should not be more
+successful, especially when we consider, that all past efforts on behalf
+of the Aborigines have entirely overlooked the wrongs and injuries they
+are suffering under from our mere presence in their country, whilst none
+have been adapted to meet the exigencies of the peculiar relations they
+are placed in with regard to the colonists. The grand error of all our
+past or present systems--the very fons et origo mali appears to me to
+consist in the fact, that we have not endeavoured to blend the interests
+of the settlers and Aborigines together; and by making it the interest of
+both to live on terms of kindness and good feeling with each, bring about
+and cement that union and harmony which ought ever to subsist between
+people inhabiting the same country. So far, however, from our measures
+producing this very desirable tendency, they have hitherto,
+unfortunately, had only a contrary effect. By our injustice and
+oppression towards the natives, we have provoked them to retaliation and
+revenge; whilst by not affording security and protection to the settlers,
+we have driven them to protect themselves. Mutual distrusts and mutual
+misunderstandings have been the necessary consequence, and these, as must
+ever be the case, have but too often terminated in collisions or
+atrocities at which every right-thinking mind must shudder. To prevent
+these calamities for the future; to check the frightful rapidity with
+which the native tribes are being swept away from the earth, and to
+render their presence amidst our colonists and settlers, not as it too
+often hitherto has been, a source of dread and danger, but harmless, and
+to a certain extent, even useful and desirable, is an object of the
+deepestinterest and importance, both to the politician and to the
+philanthropist. I have strong hopes, that means may be devised, to bring
+about, in a great measure, these very desirable results; and I would
+suggest, that such means only should be tried, as from being just in
+principle, and equally calculated to promote the interests of both races,
+may, in their practical adoption, hold out the fairest prospect of
+efficacy and success.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter IX.
+
+
+
+SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT OF SYSTEM ADOPTED TOWARDS THE NATIVES.
+
+
+In the preceding chapters I have given a general outline of the
+character, manners, and customs of the Aborigines of Australia, and of
+the effects produced upon them by a contact with civilization.
+
+I have thus endeavoured to lay before the public their present state and
+future prospects, and as far as I am able, have attempted to explain what
+appear to me the reasons that so little success has hitherto attended
+Missionary, or other efforts, in their behalf. I would sincerely hope,
+that the accounts which I have given, may not be altogether useless; but
+that a certain knowledge of the real position of the natives, of the just
+claims they have upon us, and of the little prospect that exists of any
+real or permanent good being effected for them, until a great alteration
+takes place in our system, and treatment, may be the means of attracting
+attention to their condition, and of enlisting the sympathy of my
+fellow-countrymen in their cause.
+
+Englishmen have ever been ready to come forward to protect the weak, or
+the oppressed; nor could they lend their aid to promote a greater, or a
+nobler work, than that of endeavouring, to arrest the decay, and avert
+the destruction which at present threatens the aboriginal races of our
+Australian colonies; and to try at least to bring within the pale of
+christianity and civilization, a people hitherto considered as the
+lowest, and most irreclaimable of mankind, but whose natural capabilities
+and endowments, are, I feel assured, by no means inferior to those of the
+most favoured nations.
+
+I shall now briefly suggest such alterations and additions, in the system
+of instruction and policy adopted towards them, as appear to me likely to
+prove beneficial.
+
+I am aware, that in carrying out the improvements I propose, a greatly
+increased expenditure on behalf of the natives would be necessary, beyond
+what has hitherto been allowed by any of the Colonial Governments.
+
+It appears to me, however, that they are justly entitled to expect, at
+our hands, some compensation for the injuries our presence unavoidably
+inflicts, and some alleviation of the consequent miseries they are
+suffering under.
+
+If we are sincere in our desires and efforts to promote the improvement,
+or prevent the decay of this unfortunate people, we are bound to make our
+measures sufficiently comprehensive to hold out some reasonable hope of
+success, otherwise our labour and money are only thrown away.
+
+I do not believe that there is any one practically acquainted with the
+present state of our relations with the Aborigines, and the system
+adopted towards them, its working, defects, and inaptitude to overcome
+opposing difficulties, who would conscientiously assert that there is the
+least prospect of any greater benefits resulting in future than have been
+realized up to the present time.
+
+There is another reason, independently of justice or humanity, one which,
+with some, may perhaps have more weight, as a motive for extending and
+amending our policy towards the natives. I mean self-interest. If our
+measures were calculated to afford them that protection which we claim
+for ourselves; and in place of those resources we have deprived them of,
+to offer to them a certain and regular supply of food in their respective
+districts, their wandering habits would be partially restrained, and a
+degree of influence and authority acquired over the whole aboriginal
+population, in contact with Europeans, which would counteract their
+natural propensities. The flocks and herds of the settlers, and the lives
+of his family and servants, would be as unmolested and uninjured as among
+our own people. There would no longer occur those irritating aggressions,
+or bloody retaliations, which have too often taken place heretofore,
+between the black and the white man; and the misfortune of always having
+the border districts in a state of excitement and alarm, would be
+avoided, whilst the expense and inconvenience of occasionally sending
+large parties of military and police, to coerce or punish transgressors
+that they can rarely meet with, would be altogether dispensed with.
+
+Unfortunately, the system I propose has been so little tried in
+Australia, that but few instances of its practical results can be
+adduced. There is one instance, however, which, from its coming nearer to
+it than any other, may serve to exemplify the success that might be
+expected. The case I allude to, is that of the establishment of the
+Government post at Moorunde, upon the Murray, in October 1841, by His
+Excellency Governor Grey. The circumstances which led to the formation of
+this post, arose from the disturbed and dangerous state the river route
+from New South Wales was in at the time, from the fearful losses that had
+occurred both of life and property, and the dread entertained by many,
+that the out-stations, which were formed along the line of hills fronting
+the Murray, would be subject to irruptions from the natives.
+
+Between the 16th of April, and 27th of August, or in about four months,
+four several affrays had taken place between the Aborigines and
+Europeans, in which many of the latter had been killed, and stock, drays,
+and other property, had been taken to a great value, (in one instance
+alone amounting to 5,000 sheep, besides drays and stores); on the other
+hand the sacrifice of native life had been very great, and was admitted
+in one case, to have amounted to thirty individuals, exclusive of many
+who were perhaps mortally wounded. Four different parties had been sent
+up the river during this short period, to punish aggressions. or protect
+property. In one of these the Europeans were worsted and driven back by
+the natives, in another a number amounting to sixty-eight Europeans, were
+absent for upwards of six weeks, at an immense expense, and were then
+obliged to return without bringing in a single culprit from the offending
+tribes.
+
+[Note 110: In this latter case, the Commissioner of Police, and the
+greater number of his men, accompanied the expedition, leaving of course
+the colony unprotected, and ordinary civil arrangements at a stand still
+until their return. I have already remarked, the little chance there is,
+of either the police or military ever succeeding in capturing native
+offenders, and how very frequently it has occurred, that in their attempts
+to do so, either through mistake, or from mismanagement, they have very
+often been guilty of most serious and lamentable acts of injury and
+aggression upon the innocent and the unoffending. As a mere matter of
+policy, or financial arrangement, I believe it would in the long run,
+be prudent and economical, to adopt a liberal and just line of treatment
+towards the Aborigines. I believe by this means, we should gain a
+sufficient degree of influence, to induce them always to GIVE UP OFFENDERS
+THEMSELVES; and I believe that this is the ONLY MEANS by which we can ever
+hope to ensure their CAPTURE.]
+
+The line of route had become unsafe and dangerous for any party coming
+from New South Wales; a feeling of bitter hostility, arising from a sense
+of injury and aggression, had taken possession both of the natives and
+the Europeans, and it was evident for the future, that if the European
+party was weak, the natives would rob and murder them, and if otherwise,
+that they would commit wholesale butchery upon the natives. It was to
+remedy this melancholy state of affairs, that the Government station at
+Moorunde was established, and his Excellency the Governor, did me the
+honour to confide to my management the carrying out the objects proposed.
+
+The instructions I received, and the principles upon which I attempted to
+carry out those instructions, were exclusively those of conciliation and
+kindness. I made it my duty to go personally amongst the most distant and
+hostile tribes, to explain to them that the white man wished to live with
+them, upon terms of amity, and that instead of injuring, he was most
+anxious to hold out the olive branch of peace.
+
+By the liberality of the Government, I had it in my power once every
+month, to assemble all the natives who chose to collect, whether from
+near or more distant tribes, and to give to each a sufficiency of flour
+to last for about two days, and once in the year, at the commencement of
+winter, to bestow upon some few of the most deserving, blankets as a
+protection against the cold.
+
+How far success attended the system that was adopted, or the exertions
+that were made, it is scarcely perhaps becoming in me to say: where the
+object, however, is simply and solely to try to benefit the Aborigines,
+and by contrasting the effects of different systems, that have been
+adopted towards them, to endeavour to recommend the best, I must, even at
+the risk of being deemed egotistical, point out some of the important and
+beneficial results that accrued at Moorunde.
+
+In the first place, I may state that the dread of settling upon the
+Murray, has so far given place to confidence, that from Wellington (near
+the Lake), to beyond the Great South Bend, a distance of more than 100
+miles, the whole line of river is now settled and occupied by stock,
+where, in 1841, there was not a single European, a herd of cattle, or a
+flock of sheep; nay, the very natives who were so much feared then, are
+looked upon now as an additional inducement to locate, since the services
+of the boys or young men, save in great measure the expense of European
+servants. There are few residents on the Murray, who do not employ one or
+more of these people, and at many stations, I have known the sheep or
+cattle, partially, and in some instances, wholly attended to by them.
+
+For three years I was resident at Moorunde, and during the whole of that
+time, up to November, 1844, not a single case of serious aggression,
+either on the persons or property of Europeans had ever occurred, and but
+very few offences even of a minor character. The only crime of any
+importance that was committed in my neighbourhood, was at a sheep
+station, about 25 miles to the westward, where somefew sheep were stolen,
+by a tribe of natives during the absence or neglect of the men attending
+them. By a want of proper care and precaution, temptation was thrown in
+the way of the natives, but even then, it was only some few of the young
+men who were guilty of the offence; none of the elder or more influential
+members of the tribe, having had any thing to do with it. Neither did the
+tribe belong to the Murray river, although they occasionally came down
+there upon visits. There was no evidence to prove that the natives had
+stolen the sheep at all; the only fact which could be borne witness to,
+was that so many sheep were missing, and it was supposed the natives had
+taken them. As soon as I was made acquainted with the circumstances, I
+made every inquiry among the tribe suspected, and it was at once admitted
+by the elder men that the youths had been guilty of the offence. At my
+earnest solicitations, and representations of the policy of so doing, the
+culprits, five in number, WERE BROUGHT IN AND DELIVERED UP BY THEIR
+TRIBE. No evidence could be procured against them, and after remanding
+them from time to time as a punishment, I was obliged to discharge them.
+
+I may now remark, that upon inquiry into the case, and in examining
+witnesses against the natives, it came out in evidence, that at the same
+station, and not long before, a native HAD BEEN FIRED AT, (with what
+effect did not appear,) simply because he SEEMED to be going towards the
+sheep-folds, which were a long way from the hut, and were directly in the
+line of route of any one either passing towards Adelaide, or to any of
+the more northern stations. Another case occurred about the same time,
+and at the same station, where an intelligent and well-conducted native,
+belonging to Moorunde, was sent by a gentleman at the Murray to a
+surgeon, living about sixty miles off, with a letter, and for medicines.
+The native upon reaching this station, which he had to pass, was
+ASSAULTED AND OPPOSED BY A MAN, ARMED WITH A MUSKET, and if not fired at,
+(which he said he was,) was at least intimidated, and driven back, and
+PREVENTED FROM GOING FOR THE MEDICINES FOR THE INDIVIDUAL WHO WAS ILL. I
+myself knew the native who was sent, to be one of the most orderly and
+well-conducted men we had at the Murray; in fact he had frequently, at
+different times, been living with me as an attache to the police force.
+
+In the second place, I may state, that during the time I have held office
+at Moorunde, I have frequently visited on the most friendly terms, and
+almost alone, the most distant and hostile tribes, where so short a time
+before even large and well-armed bodies of Europeans could not pass
+uninterrupted or in safety. Many of those very natives, who had been
+concerned in affrays or aggressions, have since travelled hundreds of
+miles and encountered hunger and thirst and fatigue, to visit a white
+man's station in peace, and on friendly terms.
+
+Thirdly, I may observe, that ever since I went to the Murray, instead of
+shewing signs of enmity or hostility, the natives have acted in the most
+kind and considerate manner, and have upon all occasions, when I have
+been travelling in less known and more remote districts, willingly
+accompanied me as guides and interpreters, introducing me from one tribe
+to another, and explaining the amicable relations I wished to establish.
+In one case, a native, whom I met by himself, accompanied me at once,
+without even saying good-bye to his wife and family, who were a mile or
+two away, and whom, as he was going to a distance of one hundred and
+fifty miles and back, he was not likely to see for a great length of
+time. He was quite content to send a message by the first native he met,
+to say where he was going. In my intercourse with the Aborigines I have
+always noticed that they would willingly do any thing for a person whom
+they were attached to. I have found that an influence, amounting almost
+to authority, is produced by a system of kindness; and that in cases
+where their own feelings and wishes were in opposition to the particular
+object for which this influence might be exercised, that the latter would
+almost invariably prevail. Thus, upon one occasion in Adelaide, where a
+very large body of the Murray natives were collected to fight those from
+Encounter Bay, I was directed by the Government to use my influence to
+prevent the affray. Upon going to their encampment late at night, I
+explained the object of my visit to them, and requested them to leave
+town in the morning, and return to their own district, (90 miles away.)
+In the morning I again went to the native camp, and found them all ready,
+and an hour afterwards there was not one in Adelaide. Another strong
+instance of the power that may be acquired over the natives occurred at
+Moorunde, in 1844:--Several tribes were assembled in the neighbourhood,
+and were, as I was told, going to fight. I walked down towards their huts
+to see if this was the case, but upon arriving at the native camps I
+found them deserted, and all the natives about a quarter of a mile away,
+on the opposite side of a broad deep sheet of water caused by the floods.
+As I reached the edge of the water I saw the opposing parties closing,
+and heard the cry of battle as the affray commenced; raising my voice to
+the utmost, I called out to them, and was heard, even above the din of
+combat. In a moment all was as still as the grave, a canoe was brought
+for me to cross, and I found the assembled tribes fully painted and
+armed, and anxiously waiting to know what I was going to do. It was by
+this time nearly dark, and although I had no fears of their renewing the
+fight again for the night, I knew they would do so early in the morning;
+I accordingly directed them to separate, and remove their encampments.
+One party I sent up the river, a second down it, a third remained where
+they were, and two others I made recross the water, and go up to encamp
+near my own residence. All this was accomplished solely by the influence
+I had acquired over them, for I was alone and unarmed among 300 natives,
+whose angry passions were inflamed, and who were bent upon shedding each
+others' blood.
+
+By the assistance of the natives, I was enabled in December 1843, to
+ascend the Darling river as far as Laidley's Ponds (above 300 miles from
+Moorunde) when accompanied only by two other Europeans, and should have
+probably been enabled to reach Mount Lyell (100 miles further) but that a
+severe attack of illness compelled me to return. My journey up the
+Darling had, however, this good effect, that it opened a friendly
+communication with natives who had never before come in contact with the
+white man, except in enmity or in contest, and paved the way for a
+passage upon friendly terms of any expedition that might be sent by that
+route to explore the continent. Little did I anticipate at the time, how
+soon such an expedition was to be undertaken, and how strongly and how
+successfully the good results I so confidently hoped for were to be fully
+tested.
+
+In August 1844, Captain Sturt passed up the Murray to explore the country
+north-west of the Darling, and whilst at Moorunde, on his route, was
+supplied with a Moorunde boy to accompany his party to track stock, and
+also with a native of the Rufus named And-buck, to go as guide and
+interpreter to the Darling. The latter native had accompanied me to
+Laidley's Ponds in December 1843, and had come down to Moorunde,
+according to a promise he then made me, to visit me in the winter, and go
+again with me up the Darling, if I wished it. At Laidley's Ponds I found
+the natives very friendly and well conducted, and one of them, a young
+man named Topar, was of such an open intelligent disposition that
+although my own acquaintance with him was of very short duration, I did
+not hesitate to recommend him strongly to my friend Captain Sturt, as
+likely to be a willing and useful assistant. The following report from
+Captain Sturt, dated from Laidley's Ponds, will best shew how far I was
+justified in expecting that a friendly intercourse might be maintained
+even with the Darling natives, and to what distance the influence of the
+Government station at Moorunde had extended, upon the conciliatory system
+that had been adopted, limited though it was by an inadequacy of funds to
+provide for such a more extended and liberal treatment of the Aborigines
+as I should wish to have adopted.
+
+
+"Sir,--Feeling assured that the Governor would be anxious to hear from me
+as soon as possible after the receipt of my letters from Lake Victoria, I
+should have taken the earliest opportunity of forwarding despatches to
+his Excellency after I had ascertained whether the reports I had heard of
+the massacre of a party of overlanders at the lagoons on the Darling was
+founded in fact or not; but having been obliged to cross over from the
+ana-branch of the Darling to that river itself for water,--and its
+unlooked-for course having taken me greatly to the eastward, I had no
+opportunity by which to send to Moorunde, although I was most anxious to
+allay any apprehensions my former letter might have raised as to the
+safety of my party. I tried to induce several natives to be the bearers
+of my despatches, but they seemed unwilling to undertake so long a
+journey; the arrival, therefore, of a messenger from Moorunde was a most
+welcome occurrence, as he proposes returning to that place immediately,
+and will be the bearer of this communication to you.
+
+"In continuing, for his Excellency's information, the detail of the
+proceedings of the expedition under my orders since I last addressed you,
+I have the honour to state that I had advanced a considerable way up the
+Darling before I ascertained satisfactorily the true grounds of the
+report I had heard at Lake Victoria, and was enabled to dismiss all
+further anxiety on the subject from my mind.
+
+"It referred to the affray which took place on the Darling, opposite to
+Laidley's Ponds, between Major Mitchell and the natives; and I conclude
+that the circumstance of our being about to proceed to the same place,
+recalled a transaction which had occurred eight years ago to their minds;
+for we can trace a connection between the story we heard at the Lake, and
+what we have heard upon the spot; but all the circumstances were at first
+told to us with such minuteness, that coupling them with the character
+Major Mitchell has given of the Darling natives, and the generally
+received opinion of their ferocity and daring, we could hardly refuse
+giving a certain degree of credit to what we heard; more especially as it
+was once or twice confirmed by natives with whom we communicated on our
+way up the river. I really feared we should come into collision with
+these people, despite my reluctance to proceed to extremities; but it
+will be satisfactory to his Excellency, as I trust it will to Lord
+Stanley, to know that we have passed up the Darling on the most friendly
+terms with the native tribes, insomuch that I may venture to hope that
+our intercourse with them will be productive of much good. So far from
+the show of any hostility, they may have invariably approached us
+unarmed, nor have we seen a weapon in the hands of a native since we
+touched upon the river. THEY HAVE CONSTANTLY SLEPT AT OUR FIRES, AND
+SHEWN BY THEIR MANNER THAT THEY HAD EVERY CONFIDENCE IN US, BRINGING
+THEIR WIVES AND CHILDREN TO THE CAMP, NOR AT ANY TIME GIVING US THE LEAST
+ANNOYANCE, BUT ALWAYS SHEWING A WILLINGNESS TO SAVE US TROUBLE, AND TO DO
+WHATEVER WE DESIRED THEM TO DO. NOTHING INDEED COULD HAVE BEEN MORE
+SATISFACTORY TO US THAN OUR INTERCOURSE WITH THESE POOR PEOPLE, OR MORE
+AMUSING THAN THE SPIRITS AND FEELINGS TO WHICH THEY HAVE GIVEN WAY BEFORE
+US, WHEN UNCONTROLLED BY FEAR. MANY INDEED HAVE CONTINUED WITH US FOR
+SOME TIME, AND HAVE EVINCED SINCERE AND MARKED SORROW AT LEAVING US. I
+have made it a rule to give blankets to the old and infirm, and tomahawks
+and knives to the young men, and they perfectly understand the reason of
+this distinction. Finding too, that they consider kangaroos as their own
+property, we have almost invariably given them all the animals the dogs
+have killed, and have endeavoured to convince them that we wish to be
+just, and have the kindest feelings toward them. In this humane duty I
+have been most cordially assisted both by Mr. Poole and Mr. Browne, and I
+must add, by the conduct of my men towards the natives, which reflects
+very great credit upon them. WE HAVE RECEIVED VERY GREAT ASSISTANCE FROM
+OUR GUIDES, WHO HAVE ALWAYS SMOOTHED THE WAY TO OUR COMMUNICATION WITH
+THE DIFFERENT TRIBES; and I have earnestly to recommend Nadbuck, who has
+accompanied us from Moorunde to this place, to the favour of the
+Governor, and to request that he may be rewarded in such manner as his
+Excellency thinks fit, from the funds of the expedition. We find that Mr.
+Eyre's influence has extended to this place, and that he is considered in
+the highest light by all the natives along the Darling. In their physical
+condition they are inferior to the natives of the Murray in size and
+strength, but we have seen many very handsome men, and, although
+diminutive in stature, exceedingly well proportioned. The tribe at
+Williorara, Laidley's Ponds, numbers about eighty souls; the greater
+proportion women and children. One of them, Topar, accompanies us to the
+hills with another native, Toonda, who has been with us since we left
+Lake Victoria, and who is a native of this tribe. He is a very singular
+and remarkable man, and is rather aged, but still sinewy and active;
+Topar is young, and handsome, active, intelligent, and exceedingly good
+natured;--with them I hope we shall be able to keep up our friendly
+relations with the natives of the interior.
+
+"I have to request that you will thank his Excellency for the prompt
+assistance he would have afforded us; but I am sure it will be as
+gratifying to him as it is to us to know that it is not required.
+
+"As I reported to you in my letter of the 17th of September, I left Lake
+Victoria on the following day, and crossing the country in a
+south-easterly direction, reached the Murray after a journey of about
+fifteen miles, over plains, and encamped on a peninsula formed by the
+river and a lagoon, and on which there was abundance of feed. We had
+observed numerous tracks of wild cattle leading from the brush across the
+plains to the river, and at night our camp was surrounded by them. I
+hoped, therefore, that if I sent out a party in the morning. I should
+secure two or three working bullocks, and I accordingly detached Mr.
+Poole and Mr. Browne, with Flood, my stockman, and Mack, to run them in;
+but the brush was too thick, and in galloping after a fine bull, Flood's
+carbine went off, and carried away and broke three of the fingers of his
+right hand. This unfortunate accident obliged me to remain stationary for
+a day; but we reached the junction of the ana-branch of the Darling with
+the Murray, on the 23rd, and then turned for the first time to the
+northward.
+
+"We found the ana-branch filled by the back waters of the Murray, and ran
+up it for two days, when the water in it ceased, and we were obliged to
+cross over to the Darling, which we struck on an east course, about
+eighteen miles above its junction with the Murray. It had scarcely any
+water in its bed, and no perceptible current--but its neighbourhood was
+green and grassy, and its whole aspect pleasing. On the 27th, we thought
+we perceived a stronger current in the river, and observed small sticks
+and grass floating on the water, and we were consequently led to believe
+that there was a fresh in it; and as we had had rain, and saw that the
+clouds hung on the mountains behind us, we were in hopes the supply the
+river was receiving came from Laidley's Ponds. On the following morning
+the waters of the Darling were half-bank high, and from an insignificant
+stream it was at once converted into a broad and noble river, sweeping
+everything away on its turbid waters at the rate of these or four miles
+an hour. The river still continues to rise, and is fast filling the
+creeks and lagoons on either side of it. The cattle enjoy the most
+luxuriant feed on the banks of the river--there being abundance of grass
+also in the flats, which far surpass those of the Murray both in richness
+of soil, and in extent. I cannot but consider the river as a most
+valuable feature of the interior: many a rich and valuable farm might be
+established upon it. Its seasons appear to be particularly favourable,
+for we have had gentle rains ever since we came upon it. Its periodical
+flooding is also at a most favourable period of the year, and its waters
+are so muddy that the deposit must be rich, and would facilitate the
+growth of many of the inter-tropical productions, as cotton, indigo--the
+native indigo growing to the height of three feet--maize, or flax;
+whilst, if an available country is found in the interior, the Darling
+must be the great channel of communication to it. The country behind the
+flats is sandy and barren, but it would in many places support a certain
+number of stock, and might be found to be of more value than appearances
+would justify me in stating, and I would beg to be understood, in
+speaking of the Darling, that I only speak of it as I have seen it. The
+summer sun probably parches up the vegetation and unclothes the soil; but
+such is the effect of summer heat in all similar latitudes, and that spot
+should be considered the most valuable where the effect of solar heat can
+be best counteracted by natural or artificial means. I had hoped, as I
+have stated, that the Darling was receiving its accession of waters from
+the Williorara (Laidley's Ponds); but on arriving on its banks we were
+sadly disappointed to find, instead of a mountain stream, a creek only
+connects the river with Cowandillah Lake; instead of supplying the
+Darling with water it was robbing it, and there was scarcely a blade of
+vegetation on its banks. I was, therefore, obliged to return to the
+Darling, and to encamp until such time as I should determine on our next
+movement. From some hills above the camp, we had a view of some ranges to
+the north-west and north, and I detached Mr. Poole on the 4th to
+ascertain the nature of the country between us and them, before I
+ventured to remove the party; more especially as the natives told us the
+interior beyond the ranges was perfectly impracticable. This morning Mr.
+Poole returned, and informed me that, from the top of the ranges he
+ascended, he had a view of distant ranges to the north and north-west, as
+far as he could see; that from south-west to west to 13 degrees east of
+north, there was water extending, amidst which there were numerous
+islands; that there was a very distant high peak, which appeared to be
+surrounded by water, which shewed as a dark blue line along the horizon.
+The country between him and the more distant ranges appeared to be level,
+and was similar in aspect to the plains we had traversed when approaching
+the hills, which were covered with spear grass, a grass of which the
+animals are fond, and thin green shrubs.
+
+"I will not venture a conjecture as to the nature of the country whose
+features have been thus partially developed to us. How far these waters
+may stretch, and what the character of the ranges is, it is impossible to
+say, but that there is a good country at no great distance, I have every
+reason to hope. Mr. Poole states that the small scolloped parroquets
+passed over his head from the north-west in thousands; and he observed
+many new birds. I am therefore led to hope, that, as these first are
+evidently strong on the wing on their arrival here, that the lands from
+which they come are not very remote from us. So soon as I shall have
+verified my position in a satisfactory manner,--which a clouded sky has
+hitherto prevented my doing,--we shall move to the ranges, and leaving my
+drays in a safe place, shall proceed with the horse teams to a closer
+examination of the country, and, if I should find an open sea to
+north-west, shall embark upon it with an ample supply of provisions and
+water, and coast it round. The reports of the fine interior, which we
+have heard from the natives, are so contradictory, that it is impossible
+to place any reliance in them; but Toonda informs us that the water Mr.
+Poole has seen is fresh--but as we are not more than two hundred and
+fifteen feet above the sea, and are so near Lake Torrens, I can hardly
+believe that such can be the case. It is a problem, however, that will
+now very soon be solved, and I most sincerely trust this decided change
+in the barrenness of the land will lead us to a rich and available
+country.
+
+"I have great pleasure in reporting to you the continued zeal and anxiety
+of my officers, and the cheerful assistance they render me. I have found
+Mr. Piesse of great value, from his regular and cautious issue of the
+stores and provisions; and Mr. Stewart extremely useful as draftsman.
+Amongst my men, I have to particularise Robert Flood, my stockman, whose
+attention to the horses and cattle has mainly insured their fitness for
+service and good condition; and I have every reason to feel satisfied
+with the manner in which the men generally perform their duties.
+
+"I have to apologize for the hurried manner in which this letter is
+written, and beg to subscribe myself,
+
+"Sir, your most obedient servant,
+
+"CHARLES STURT."
+
+
+With reference to the above report, I may mention in explanation, that,
+after I had accompanied the exploring party as far as the Rufus, and
+returned from thence to Moorunde, a rumour was brought to Captain Sturt
+by some natives from the Darling, of a massacre said to have taken place
+up that river near Laidley's Ponds. From being quite unacquainted with
+the language not only of the Darling natives, but also of the Rufus
+interpreter or the Moorunde boy, Captain Sturt's party had been only able
+to make out the story that was told to them by signs or by the aid of
+such few words of English as the boy might have learnt at Moorunde. They
+had naturally fallen into some error, and had imagined the natives to be
+describing the recent murder of a European party coming down the Darling
+with stock, instead of their narrating, as was in reality the case, an
+old story of the affray with Major Mitchell some years before. As Captain
+Sturt was still at the Rufus (150 miles from Moorunde) when he received
+the account, as he imagined, of so sanguinary an affray, he felt anxious
+to communicate the occurrence to the Colonial Government as early as
+possible, and for this purpose, induced two natives to bring down
+despatches to Moorunde. Upon their arrival there, the policeman was
+absent in town, and I had no means of sending in the letters to the
+Government, but by natives. Two undertook the task, and walked from
+Moorunde to Adelaide with the letters, and brought answers back again to
+the station within five days, having walked 170 miles in that period,
+Moorunde being 85 miles from Adelaide.
+
+Again upon the Government wishing to communicate with Captain Sturt,
+letters were taken by the natives up to the Rufus, delivered over to
+other natives there, and by them carried onwards to Captain Sturt,
+reaching that gentleman on the eleventh day after they been sent from
+Moorunde, at Laidley's Ponds, a distance of 300 miles.
+
+By this means a regular intercourse was kept up with the exploring party,
+entirely through the aid and good feeling of the natives, up to the time
+I left the colony, in December, 1844, when messengers who had been sent
+up with despatches were daily expected back with answers. For their very
+laborious and harassing journeys, during which they must suffer both some
+degree of risk in passing through so many other tribes on their line of
+route, and of hunger and other privations in prosecuting them, the
+messengers are but ill requited; the good feeling they displayed, or the
+fatigues they went through, being recompensed only by the present of a
+SMALL BLANKET AND A FEW POUNDS OF FLOUR. With these facts before us can
+we say that these natives are a ferocious, irreclaimable set of savages,
+and destitute of all the better attributes of humanity? yet are they
+often so maligned. The very natives, who have now acted in such a
+friendly manner, and rendered such important services to Europeans, are
+the SAME NATIVES who were engaged in the plundering of their property,
+and taking away their lives when coming over land with stock. Such is the
+change which has been effected by kindness and conciliation instead of
+aggression and injury; and such, I think, I may in fairness argue, would
+generally be the result if SIMILAR MEANS were more frequently resorted
+to.
+
+As yet Moorunde is the only place where the experiment has been made of
+assembling the natives and giving food to them; but as far as it has been
+tried, it has been proved to be eminently successful. I am aware that the
+system is highly disapproved of by many of the colonists, and the general
+feeling among them appears to be that nothing should be given where
+nothing is received, or in other words, that a native should never have
+any thing given to him until he does some work for it. I still maintain
+that the native has a right to expect, and that we are IN JUSTICE BOUND
+to supply him with food in any of those parts of the country that we
+occupy, and to do this, too, WITHOUT demanding or requiring any other
+consideration from him than we have ALREADY received when we TOOK FROM
+HIM his possessions and his hunting grounds. It may be all very proper to
+get him to work a little if we can--and, perhaps, that MIGHT follow in
+time, but we have no right to force him to a labour he is unused to, and
+WHICH HE NEVER HAD TO PERFORM IN HIS NATURAL STATE, whilst we have a
+right to supply him with what he has been accustomed to, BUT OF WHICH WE
+HAD DEPRIVED HIM--FOOD.
+
+If in our relations with the Aborigines we wish to preserve a friendly
+and bloodless intercourse; if we wish to have their children at our
+schools to be taught and educated; if we hope to bring the parents into a
+state that will better adapt them for the reception of christianity and
+civilization; or if we care about staying the rapid and lamentable
+ravages which a contact with us is causing among their tribes, we must
+endeavour to do so, by removing, as far as possible, all sources of
+irritation, discontent, or suffering. We must adopt a system which may at
+once administer to their wants, and at the same time, give to us a
+controlling influence over them; such as may not only restrain them from
+doing what is wrong, but may eventually lead them to do what is right--an
+influence which I feel assured would be but the stronger and more lasting
+from its being founded upon acts of justice and humanity. It is upon
+these principles that I have based the few suggestions I am going to
+offer for the improvement of our policy towards the natives. I know that
+by many they will be looked upon as chimerical or impracticable, and I
+fear that more will begrudge the means necessary to carry them into
+effect; but unless something of the kind be done--unless some great and
+radical change be effected, and some little compensation made for the
+wrongs and injuries we inflict--I feel thoroughly satisfied that all we
+are doing is but time and money lost, that all our efforts on behalf of
+the natives are but idle words--voces et preterea nihil--that things will
+still go on as they have been going on, and that ten years hence we shall
+have made no more progress either in civilizing or in christianizing them
+than we had done ten years ago, whilst every day and every hour is
+tending to bring about their certain and total extinction.
+
+
+SUGGESTIONS FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE ABORIGINES.
+
+1st. It appears that the most important point, in fact almost the only
+essential one, in the first instance, is to gain such an influence or
+authority over the Aborigines as may be sufficient to enable us to induce
+them to adopt, or submit to any regulations that we make for their
+improvement, and that to effect this, the means must be suited to their
+circumtances and habits.
+
+2ndly. It is desirable that the means employed should have a tendency to
+restrain their wandering habits, and thus gradually induce them to locate
+permanently in one place.
+
+3rdly. It is important that the plan should be of such a nature as to
+become more binding in its influence in proportion to the length of time
+it is in operation.
+
+4thly. It should hold out strong inducements to the parents, willingly to
+allow their children to go to, and remain at the schools.
+
+5thly. It should be such as would operate, in some degree, in weaning the
+natives from towns or populous districts.
+
+6thly. It should offer some provision for the future career of the
+children upon their leaving school, and its tendency should be of such a
+character as to diminish, as far as practicable, the attractions of a
+savage life.
+
+7thly. It is highly important that the system adopted should be such as
+would add to the security and protection of the settlers, and thereby
+induce their assistance and co-operation, instead, as has too often been
+the case hitherto with past measures, of exciting a feeling of irritation
+and dislike between the two races.
+
+I believe that all these objects might be accomplished, in a great
+degree, by distributing food regularly to all the natives, in their
+respective districts.
+
+[Note 111: The whole of my remarks on the Aborigines having been hurriedly
+compiled, on board ship, during the voyage from Australia, it was not
+until my arrival in England that I became aware that a plan somewhat
+similar to this in principle, was submitted to Lord John Russell by a Mr.
+J. H. Wedge, and was sent out to the colony of New South Wales, to be
+reported upon by the authorities. I quote the following extract from Mr.
+La Trobe's Remarks on Mr. Wedge's letter, as shewing an opinion differing
+from my own (Parliamentary Papers, p. 130). "With reference to the supply
+of food and clothing, it has not been hitherto deemed advisable to
+furnish them indiscriminately to all natives visiting the homesteads. In
+one case, that of the Western Port District, the assistant protector has
+urged that this should be the case; but I have not felt myself
+sufficiently convinced of the policy or expediency of such measure to
+bring it under his Excellency's notice."]
+
+I have previously shewn, that from the injuries the natives sustain at
+our hands, in a deprivation of their usual means of subsistence, and a
+banishment from their homes and possessions, there is at present no
+alternative for them but to remain the abject and degraded creatures they
+are, begging about from house to house, or from station to station, to
+procure food, insulted and despised by all, and occasionally tempted or
+driven to commit crimes for which a fearful penalty is enacted, if
+brought home to them. I have given instances of the extent to which the
+evils resulting from the anomalous state of our relations with them are
+aggravated by the kind of feeling which circumstances engender on the
+part of the Colonists towards them. I have pointed out the tendency of
+their own habits and customs, to prevent them from rising in the scale of
+improvement, until we can acquire an influence sufficient to counteract
+these practices; and I have shewn that thus situated, oppressed,
+helpless, and starving, we cannot expect they should make much progress
+in civilization, or pay great regard to our instructions, when they see
+that we do not practice what we recommend, and that we have one law for
+ourselves and another for them. The good results that have been produced
+when an opposite and more liberal system has been adopted (limited as
+that system was) has also been stated. It is only fair to assume,
+therefore, that these beneficial effects may be expected to accrue in an
+increasing ratio in proportion to our liberality and humanity.
+
+My own conviction is, that by adopting the system I recommend, an almost
+unlimited influence might be acquired over the native population. I
+believe that the supplying them with food would gradually bring about the
+abandonment of their wandering habits, in proportion to the frequency of
+the issue, that the longer they were thus dependent upon us for their
+resources, the more binding our authority would be; that when they no
+longer required their children to assist them in the chase or in war,
+they would willingly allow them to remain at our schools; that by only
+supplying food to natives in their own districts they would, in some
+measure, be weaned from the towns; that by restraining the wandering
+habits of the parents in this way, there would be fewer charms and less
+temptation to the children to relapse from a comparative state of
+civilization into one of barbarism again; and that, by supplying the
+wants of the natives, and taking away all inducements to crime, a
+security and protection would be afforded to the settlers which do not
+now exist, and which, under the present system, can never be expected,
+until the former have almost disappeared before their oppressors.
+
+Many subordinate arrangements would be necessary to bring the plan into
+complete operation, and from its general character it could not, perhaps,
+be carried out every where at once, but if such arrangements were made,
+only in a few districts every year, much would be done towards eventually
+accomplishing the ends desired.
+
+At Moorunde flour was only regularly issued once in the month, but that
+is not often enough to attain the full advantages of the system, still
+less to remedy the evils the natives are subject to, or restrain their
+wandering propensities. Upon the Murray the natives are peculiarly
+situated, and have greater facilities for obtaining their natural food
+than in any other part of the country. They were consequently in a
+position more favourable for making an experiment upon, than those of the
+inland districts, where a native is often obliged to wander over many
+miles of ground for his day's subsistence, and where large tribes cannot
+remain long congregated at the same place. In these it would therefore be
+necessary to make the issues of food much more frequently, and I would
+proportion this frequency to the state of each district with regard to
+the number of Europeans, and stock in it; and the facility there might be
+for procuring native food. On the borders of the colony, where the
+natives are less hemmed in, the issue might take place once every
+fortnight, gradually increasing the number of the issues in approaching
+towards Adelaide as a centre. At the latter, and in many other of the
+districts where the country is thoroughly occupied by Europeans, it would
+be necessary, as it would only be just, to supply the natives with food
+daily, and I would extend this arrangement gradually to all the
+districts, as funds could be obtained for that purpose. It is possible
+that if means at the same time were afforded of teaching them industrial
+pursuits, a proportion of the food required might eventually be raised by
+themselves, but it would not be prudent to calculate upon any such
+resources at first.
+
+Having now explained what I consider the first and most important
+principle, to be observed in all systems devised for the amelioration of
+the Aborigines, viz. that of endeavouring to adapt the means employed to
+the acquisition of a strong controlling influence over them, and having
+shewn how I think this might best be obtained, I may proceed to mention a
+few collateral regulations, which would be very essential to the
+effective working of the system proposed.
+
+First. It would be necessary for the sake of perspicuity to suppose the
+country divided into districts, agreeing as nearly as could be
+ascertained with the boundaries of the respectives tribes. In these
+districts a section or two of land, well supplied with wood and water,
+should be chosen for the Aborigines; such lands, if possible, to be
+centrically situated with regard to the tribes intended to assemble
+there, but always having reference to their favourite places of resort,
+or to such as would afford the greatest facilities for procuring their
+natural food. I do not apprehend that these stations need be very
+numerous at first: for the whole colony of South Australia nine or ten
+would probably be sufficient at present; thus stations such as I have
+described, at Adelaide, Encounter Bay, The Coorong, Moorunde, the Hutt
+River, Mount Bryant, Mount Remarkable, and Port Lincoln would embrace
+most of the tribes of Aborigines at present in contact with the settlers;
+others could be added, or these altered, as might be thought desirable or
+convenient.
+
+Secondly. In order to carry due weight when first established, and until
+the natives get well acquainted with Europeans and their customs, it
+would be essential that each station should be supported by two or more
+policemen. These might afterwards be reduced in number, or withdrawn,
+according to the state of the district.
+
+[Note 112: "It is absolutely necessary, for the cause of humanity and good
+order, that such force should exist; for as long as distant settlers
+are left unprotected, and are compelled to take care of and avenge
+themselves, so long must great barbarities necessarily be committed,
+and the only way to prevent great crimes on the part of the natives,
+and massacres of these poor creatures, as the punishment of such crimes,
+is to check and punish their excesses in their infancy; it is only after
+becoming emboldened by frequent petty successes that they have hitherto
+committed those crimes, which have drawn down so fearful a vengeance upon
+them."--GREY, vol ii. p. 379.]
+
+Under any circumstances a police is necessary in all the country
+districts, nor do I think on the whole, many more policemen would be
+required than there are at out-stations at present. They would only have
+to be quartered at the native establishments.
+
+Thirdly. It would be absolutely requisite to have experienced and proper
+persons in charge of each of the locations; as far as practicable, it
+would undoubtedly be the most desirable to have these establishments
+under missionaries. In other cases they might be confided to the
+protectors of the Aborigines, and to the resident or police magistrates.
+All officers having such charge should be deemed ex-officio to be
+protectors, and as many should be in the commission of the peace as
+possible.
+
+Many other necessary and salutary regulations, would naturally occur in
+so comprehensive a scheme, but as these belong more to the detail of the
+system, it may be desirable to allude only to a few of the most
+important.
+
+It would be desirable to keep registers at all the stations, containing
+lists of the natives frequenting them, their names, and that of the tribe
+they belong to.
+
+Natives should not be allowed to leave their own districts, to go to
+Adelaide, or other large towns, unless under passes from their respective
+protectors, and if found in Adelaide without them, should be taken up by
+the police and slightly punished.
+
+[Note 113: Natives, from a distance, are in the habit of going at certain
+times of the year into Adelaide, and remaining three or four months at a
+time. They are said by Europeans to plunder stations on the line of route
+backwards and forwards, and to threaten, and intimidate women and
+children living in isolated houses near the town. There is no doubt but
+that they have sometimes driven away the natives properly belonging to
+Adelaide, and have been the means, by their presence, of a great decrease
+in the attendance of the children of the Adelaide tribes at the school.
+The protector has more than once been obliged to make official
+representations on this subject, and to request that measures might be
+taken to keep them away.]
+
+Deaths, Births, and Marriages, should be duly registered, and a gratuity
+given on every such occasion, to ensure the regulation being attended to.
+
+Rewards should be given, (as an occasional present, of a blanket for
+instance), to such parents as allowed their children to go to and remain
+at school during the year.
+
+Rewards should be bestowed for delivering up offenders, or for rendering
+any other service to the Government.
+
+Light work should be offered to such as could be induced to undertake it,
+and rewards, as clothing, or the like, should be paid in proportion to
+the value of the work done, and BEYOND THE MERE PROVIDING THEM with food.
+
+Gifts might also be made to those parents, who consented to give up the
+performance of any of their savage or barbarous ceremonies upon their
+children.
+
+Young men should be encouraged to engage themselves in the service of
+settlers, as shepherds or stockkeepers, and the masters should be induced
+to remunerate their services more adequately than they usually do.
+
+The elder natives should be led as far as could be, to make articles of
+native industry for sale, as baskets, mats, weapons, implements, nets,
+etc., these might be sent to Adelaide and sold periodically for their
+benefit.
+
+Such and many other similar regulations, would appear to be advantageous,
+and might be adopted or altered from time to time, as it should be deemed
+desirable.
+
+Upon the subject of schools for the native children, it appears that much
+benefit would be derived from having them as far separated as possible
+from other natives, and that the following, among others, would be
+improvements upon the plans in present use.
+
+1st. That the school buildings should be of such size and arrangement, as
+to admit of all the scholars being lodged as well as boarded, and of the
+boys and girls having different sleeping rooms.
+
+2ndly. That the schools should have a sufficiency of ground properly
+enclosed around them, for the play-grounds, and that no other natives
+than the scholars should be admitted within those precincts, except in
+the presence of the master, when relatives come to see each other; but
+that on no account should any natives be permitted to encamp or sleep
+within the school grounds.
+
+3rdly. That the children should not be allowed or encouraged to roam
+about the towns, begging, or to ramble for any purpose outside their
+boundaries, where they are likely to come under the influence of the
+other natives. This is particularly necessary with respect to girls,
+indeed the latter should never be allowed to be absent from school at
+all, by themselves.
+
+4thly. To compensate in some degree, for what may at first appear to them
+an irksome or repulsive restraint, playthings should occasionally be
+provided for those children who have behaved well, and all innocent
+amusement be encouraged, and as often as might be convenient, the master
+should accompany his scholars out into the country for recreation, or
+through the town, or such other public places, as might be objects of
+interest or curiosity.
+
+5thly. That a stimulus to exertion, should be excited by prizes, being
+given to children distinguishing themselves at certain stages of their
+progress, such as a superior article of dress, a toy, or book, or
+whatever might be best adapted to the age or disposition of the child.
+
+6thly. That parents should never be allowed to withdraw the children,
+contrary to their wishes, after having once consented to allow them to
+remain there.
+
+7thly. That children of both sexes, after having received a proper degree
+of instruction, and having attained a certain age, should be bound out as
+apprentices for a limited term of years, to such as were willing to
+receive them, proper provision being made for their being taught some
+useful occupation, and being well treated.
+
+8thly. Encouragement should be offered to those who have been brought up
+at the schools to marry together when their apprenticeships are out, and
+portions of land should be preserved for them and assistance given them
+in establishing themselves in life. At first perhaps it might be
+advisable to have these settlements in the form of a village and
+adjoining the school grounds, so that the young people might still
+receive the advantage of the advice or religious instruction of the
+missionaries or such ministers as attended to this duty at the schools.
+
+9thly. The children should be taught exclusively in the English language
+and on Sundays should always attend divine service at some place of
+public worship, accompanied by their masters.
+
+In carrying into effect the above or any other regulations which might be
+found necessary for the welfare and improvement of the children. I
+believe that a sufficient degree of influence would be acquired over the
+parents by the system of supplying them with food, which I have
+recommended to induce a cheerful consent, but it would be only prudent to
+have a legislative enactment on the subject, that by placing the
+school-children under the guardianship of the protectors, they might be
+protected from the influence or power of their relatives; after these had
+once fully consented to their being sent to school to be educated.
+
+[Note 114: "The best chance of preserving the unfortunate race of New
+Holland lies in the means employed for training their children: the
+education given to such children should consist in a very small part of
+reading and writing. Oral instruction in the fundamental truths of the
+Christian religion will be given by the missionaries themselves. The
+children should be taught early; the boys to dig and plough, and the
+trades of shoemakers, tailors, carpenters and masons; the girls to sew and
+cook and wash linen, and keep clean the rooms and furniture. The more
+promising of these children might be placed, by a law to be framed for
+this purpose, under the guardianship of the Governor and placed by him at
+a school, or in apprenticeship, in the more settled parts of the colony.
+Thus early trained, the capacity of the race for the duties and
+employments of civilized life would be fairly developed."--Letter from
+Lord John Russell to Sir G. Gipps; Parliamentary Report on
+Aborigines, p. 74.]
+
+There is yet another point to be considered with respect to the
+Aborigines, and upon the equitable adjustment of which hinges all our
+relations with this people, whilst upon it depends entirely our power of
+enforcing any laws or regulations we may make with respect to them, I
+allude to the law of evidence as it at present stands with respect to
+persons incompetent to give testimony upon oath.
+
+It is true that in South Australia an act has very recently passed the
+legislative council to legalize the unsworn testimony of natives in a
+court of justice, but in that act there occurs a clause which completely
+neutralizes the boon it was intended to grant, and which is as follows,
+"Provided that no person, whether an Aboriginal or other, SHALL BE
+CONVICTED OF ANY OFFENCE by any justice or jury upon the SOLE TESTIMONY
+of any such uncivilized persons." 7 and 8 Victoria, section 5.
+
+Here then we find that if a native were ill-treated or shot by an
+European, and the whole tribe able to bear witness to the fact, no
+conviction and no punishment could ensue: let us suppose that in an
+attempt to maltreat the native, the European should be wounded or injured
+by him, and that the European has the native brought up and tried for a
+murderous attack upon him, how would it fare with the poor native? the
+oath of the white man would overpower any exculpatory unsworn testimony
+that the native could bring, and his conviction and punishment would be
+(as they have been before) certain and severe.
+
+Without attempting to assign a degree of credence to the testimony of a
+native beyond what it deserves, I will leave it to those who are
+acquainted with Colonies, and the value of an oath among the generality
+of storekeepers and shepherds, to say how far their SWORN evidence is, in
+a moral point of view, more to be depended upon than the unsworn parole
+of the native. I would ask too, how often it occurs that injuries upon
+the Aborigines are committed by Europeans in the presence of those
+competent to give a CONVICTING TESTIMONY, (unless where all, being
+equally guilty, are for their own sakes mutually averse to let the truth
+be known)? or how often even such aggressions take place under
+circumstances which admit of circumstantial evidence being obtained to
+corroborate native testimony?
+
+Neither is it in the giving of evidence alone, that the native stands at
+a disadvantage as compared with a white man. His case, whether as
+prosecutor or defendant, is tried before a jury of another nation whose
+interests are opposed to his, and whose prejudices are often very strong
+against him.
+
+I cannot illustrate the position in which he is placed, more forcibly,
+than by quoting Captain Grey's remarks, vol. ii. p. 381, where he says:--
+
+
+"It must also be borne in mind, that the natives are not tried by a jury
+of their peers, but by a jury having interests directly opposed to their
+own, and who can scarcely avoid being in some degree prejudiced against
+native offenders."
+
+
+The opinion of Judge Willis upon this point may be gathered from the
+following extract, from an address to a native of New South Wales, when
+passing sentence of death upon him:--
+
+
+"The principle upon which this court has acted in the embarrassing
+collisions which have too frequently arisen between the Aborigines and
+the white Europeans, has been one of reciprocity and mutual protection.
+On the one hand, the white man when detected (WHICH I FEAR SELDOM
+HAPPENS), has been justly visited with the rigour of the law, for
+aggressions on the helpless savages; and, on the other, the latter has
+been accountable for outrages upon his white brethren. As between the
+Aborigines themselves, the court has never interfered, for obvious
+reasons. Doubtless, in applying the law of a civilized nation to the
+condition of a wild savage, innumerable difficulties must occur. The
+distance in the scale of humanity between the wandering, houseless man of
+the woods, and the civilized European, is immeasurable! FOR PROTECTION,
+AND FOR RESPONSIBILITY IN HIS RELATION TO THE WHITE MAN THE BLACK IS
+REGARDED AS A BRITISH SUBJECT. In theory, this sounds just and
+reasonable; but in practice, how incongruous becomes its application! As
+a British subject, he is presumed to know the laws, for the infraction of
+which he is held accountable, and yet he is shut out from the advantage
+of its protection when brought to the test of responsibility. As a
+British subject, he is entitled to be tried by his PEERS. Who are the
+peers of the black man? Are those, of whose laws, customs, language, and
+religion, he is wholly ignorant--nay, whose very complexion is at
+variance with his own--HIS peers? He is tried in his native land by a
+race new to him, and by laws of which he knows nothing. Had you, unhappy
+man! had the good fortune to be born a Frenchman, or had been a native of
+any other country but your own, the law of England would have allowed you
+to demand a trial by half foreigners and half Englishmen. But, by your
+lot being the lowest, as is assumed, in the scale of humanity, you are
+inevitably placed on a footing of fearful odds, when brought into the
+sacred temple of British justice. Without a jury of your own
+countrymen--without the power of making adequate defence, by speech or
+witness--you are to stand the pressure of every thing that can be alleged
+against you, and your only chance of escape is, not the strength of your
+own, but the weakness of your adversary's case. Surrounded as your trial
+was with difficulties, everything, I believe, was done that could be done
+to place your case in a proper light before the jury. They have come to a
+conclusion satisfactory, no doubt, to their consciences. Whatever might
+be the disadvantages under which you laboured, they were convinced, as I
+am, that you destroyed the life of Dillon; and as there was nothing
+proved to rebut the presumption, of English law, arising from the fact of
+homicide being committed by you, they were constrained to find you guilty
+of murder. There may have been circumstances, if they could have been
+proved, which would have given a different complexion to the case from
+that of the dying declaration of the deceased, communicated to the Court
+through the frail memory of two witnesses, who varied in their relation
+of his account of the transaction. This declaration, so taken, was to be
+regarded as if taken on oath, face to face with your accuser; and,
+although you had not the opportunity of being present at it, and of
+cross-examining the dying man, yet by law it was receivable against you."
+
+
+In vol. ii. p 380, Captain Grey says:--
+
+
+"I have been a personal witness to a case in which a native was most
+undeservedly punished, from the circumstance of the natives, who were the
+only persons who could speak as to certain exculpatory facts, not being
+permitted to give their evidence."
+
+
+Under the law lately passed in South Australia, the evidence of natives
+would be receivable in a case of this kind, in palliation of the offence.
+Although it is more than questionable how far such evidence would weigh
+against the white man's oath; but for the purpose of obtaining redress
+for a wrong, or of punishing the cruelty, or the atrocity of the European
+[Note 115 at end of para.], no amount of native evidence would be of the
+least avail. Reverse the case, and the sole unsupported testimony of a
+single witness, will be quite sufficient to convict even unto death, as
+has lately been the case in two instances connected with Port Lincoln,
+where the natives have been tried at different times for murder,
+convicted, and two of them hung, upon the testimony of one old man, who
+was the only survivor left among the Europeans, but who, from the natural
+state of alarm and confusion in which he must have been upon being
+attacked, and from the severe wounds he received, could not have been in
+an advantageous position, for observing, or remarking the identity of the
+actual murderers, among natives, who, even under more favourable
+circumstances are not easily recognizable upon a hasty view, and still
+less so, if either they, or the observer, are in a state of excitement at
+the time. Is it possible for the natives to be blind to the unequal
+measure of justice, which is thus dealt out, and which will still continue
+to be so as long as the law remains unchanged?
+
+[Note 115: Governor Hutt remarks, in addressing Lord Glenelg on this
+subject:--"In furtherance of the truth of these remarks, I would request
+your Lordship particularly to observe, that here is one class of Her
+Majesty's subjects, who are DEBARRED A TRUE AND FAIR TRIAL BY JURY,
+whose evidence is inadmissible in a court of justice, and who consequently
+may be the victims of any of the most outrageous cruelty and violence,
+and yet be UNABLE, FROM THE FORMS AND REQUIREMENTS OF THE LAW, to obtain
+redress, and whose quarrels, ending sometimes in bloodshed and death,
+it is unjust, as well as inexpedient, to interfere with.
+
+"A jury ought to be composed of a man's own peers. Europeans, in the case
+of a native criminal, cannot either in their habits or sympathies be
+regarded as such, and his countrymen are incapable of understanding or
+taking upon themselves the office of juror."]
+
+I have no wish to give the native evidence a higher character than it
+deserves, but I think that it ought not to be rendered unavailable in a
+prosecution; the degree of weight or credibility to be attached to it,
+might be left to the court taking cognizance of the case, but if it is
+consistent and probable, I see no reason why it should not be as strong a
+safeguard to the black man from injury and oppression, as the white man's
+oath is to him. There are many occasions on which the testimony of
+natives may be implicitly believed, and which are readily distinguishable
+by those who have had much intercourse with this people--unaccustomed to
+the intricacies of untruth, they know not that they must be consistent to
+deceive, and it is therefore rarely difficult to tell when a native is
+prevaricating.
+
+Among the natives themselves, the evil effects resulting from the
+inability of their evidence to produce a conviction are still more
+apparent and injurious. [Note 116 at end of para.] It has already been
+shewn how highly important it is to prevent the elders from exercising
+an arbitrary and cruel authority over the young and the weak, and how
+necessary that the latter should feel themselves quite secure from
+the vengeance of the former, when endeavouring to throw off the
+trammels of custom and prejudice, and by embracing our habits and
+pursuits, making an effort to rise in the scale of moral and physical
+improvement. Whatever alteration therefore we may make in our system
+for the better, or however anxious we may be for the welfare and the
+improvement of the Aborigines, we may rest well assured that our
+efforts are but thrown away, as long as the natives are permitted
+with impunity to exercise their cruel or degrading customs upon
+each other, unchecked and unpunished. We may feel equally certain that
+these oppressions and barbarities can never be checked or punished but by
+means of their own unsupported testimony against each other, and until
+this can be legally received, and made available for that purpose, there
+is no hope of any lasting or permanent good being accomplished.
+
+[Note 116: Upon the inability of natives to give evidence in a court of
+justice, Mr. Chief Protector Robinson remarks, in a letter to His Honour,
+the Superintendent of Port Phillip, dated May, 1843--"The legal
+disabilities of the natives have been a serious obstacle to their civil
+protection; and I feel it my duty, whilst on this subject, respectfully to
+bring under notice the necessity that still exists for some suitable
+system of judicature for the governance and better protection of the
+aboriginal races. 'As far as personal influence went, the aboriginal
+natives have been protected from acts of injustice, cruelty, and
+oppression; and their wants, wishes, and grievances have been faithfully
+represented to the Government of the colony,' and this, under the
+circumstances, was all that could possibly be effected. There is,
+however, reason to fear that the destruction of the aboriginal natives
+has been accelerated from the known fact of their being incapacitated
+to give evidence in our courts of law. I have frequently had to deplore,
+when applied to by the Aborigines for justice in cases of aggression
+committed on them by white men, or by those of their own race, my
+inability to do so in consequence of their legal incapacity to give
+evidence. It were unreasonable, therefore, under such circumstances,
+to expect the Aborigines would respect, or repose trust and confidence
+in the Protectors, or submit to the governance of a department unable
+efficiently to protect or afford them justice. Nor is it surprising they
+should complain of being made to suffer the higher penalties of our law,
+when deprived (by legal disability) of its benefits. Little difficulty
+has been experienced in discovering the perpetrator where the blacks
+have been concerned, even in the greater offences, and hence the ends
+of justice would have been greatly facilitated by aboriginal evidence.
+It is much to be regretted the Colonial Act of Council on aboriginal
+evidence was disallowed."]
+
+The following very forcible and just remarks are from Captain Grey's
+work, vol. ii. pages 375 to 378:--
+
+
+"I would submit, therefore, that it is necessary from the moment the
+Aborigines of this country are declared British subjects, they should, as
+far as possible, be taught that the British laws are to supersede their
+own, so that any native who is suffering under their own customs, may
+have the power of an appeal to those of Great Britain; or to put this in
+its true light, that all authorized persons should, in all instances, be
+required to protect a native from the violence of his fellows, even
+though they be in the execution of their own laws.
+
+"So long as this is not the case, the older natives have at their
+disposal the means of effectually preventing the civilization of any
+individuals of their own tribe, and those among them who may be inclined
+to adapt themselves to the European habits and mode of life, will be
+deterred from so doing by their fear of the consequences, that the
+displeasure of others may draw down upon them.
+
+"So much importance am I disposed to attach to this point, that I do not
+hesitate to assert my full conviction, that whilst those tribes which are
+in communication with Europeans are allowed to execute their barbarous
+laws and customs upon one another, so long will they remain hopelessly
+immersed in their present state of barbarism: and however unjust such a
+proceeding might at first sight appear, I believe that the course pointed
+out by true humanity would be, to make them from the very commencement
+amenable to the British laws, both as regards themselves and Europeans;
+for I hold it to be imagining a contradiction to suppose, that
+individuals subject to savage and barbarous laws, can rise into a state
+of civilization, which those laws have a manifest tendency to destroy and
+overturn.
+
+"I have known many instances of natives who have been almost or quite
+civilized, being compelled by other natives to return to the bush; more
+particularly girls, who have been betrothed in their infancy, and who, on
+approaching the years of puberty, have been compelled by their husbands
+to join them.
+
+"To punish the Aborigines severely for the violation of laws of which
+they are ignorant, would be manifestly cruel and unjust; but to punish
+them in the first instance slightly for the violation of these laws would
+inflict no great injury on them, whilst by always punishing them when
+guilty of a crime, without reference to the length of period that had
+elapsed between its perpetration and their apprehension, at the same time
+fully explaining to them the measure of punishment that would await them
+in the event of a second commission of the same fault, would teach them
+gradually the laws to which they were henceforth to be amenable, and
+would shew them that crime was always eventually, although it might be
+remotely, followed by punishment.
+
+"I imagine that this course would be more merciful than that at present
+adopted; viz. to punish them for a violation of a law they are ignorant
+of, when this violation affects a European, and yet to allow them to
+commit this crime as often as they like, when it only regards themselves;
+for this latter course teaches them, not that certain actions, such, for
+instance, as murder, etc. are generally criminal, but only that they are
+criminal when exercised towards the white people, and the impression,
+consequently excited in their minds is, that these acts only excite our
+detestation when exercised towards ourselves, and that their criminality
+consists, not in having committed a certain odious action, but in having
+violated our prejudices."
+
+
+Many instances have come under my own personal observation, where natives
+have sought redress both against one another and against Europeans, but
+where from their evidence being unavailable no redress could be afforded
+them. Enough has however been now adduced to shew the very serious evils
+resulting from this disadvantage, and to point out the justice, the
+policy, the practicability, and the necessity of remedying it.
+
+In bringing to a close my remarks on the Aborigines, their present
+condition and future prospects, I cannot more appropriately or more
+forcibly conclude the subject than by quoting that admirable letter of
+Lord Stanley's to Governor Sir G. Gipps, written in December, 1842; a
+letter of which the sentiments expressed are as creditable to the
+judgment and discrimination, as they are honourable to the feelings and
+humanity of the minister who wrote it, and who, in the absence of
+personal experience, and amidst all the conflicting testimony or
+misrepresentation by which a person at a distance is ever apt to be
+assailed and misled, has still been able to separate the truth from
+falsehood, and to arrive at a rational, a christian, and a just opinion,
+on a subject so fraught with difficulties, so involved in uncertainty,
+and so beset with discrepancies.
+
+In writing to Sir G. Gipps, Lord Stanley says (Parliamentary Reports, pp.
+221, 2, 3):--
+
+
+"DOWNING-STREET, 20TH DECEMBER, 1842.
+"SIR,
+
+"I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your despatches of the
+dates and numbers mentioned in the margin, reporting the information
+which has reached you in respect to the aboriginal tribes of New South
+Wales, and the result of the attempts which have been made, under the
+sanction of Her Majesty's Government, to civilize and protect these
+people.
+
+"I have read with great attention, but with deep regret, the accounts
+contained in these despatches. After making every fair allowance for the
+peculiar difficulty of such an undertaking, it seems impossible any
+longer to deny that the efforts which have hitherto been made for the
+civilization of the Aborigines have been unavailing; that no real
+progress has yet been effected, and that there is no reasonable ground to
+expect from them greater suceess in future. You will be sensible with how
+much pain and reluctance I have come to this opinion, but I cannot shut
+my eyes to the conclusion which inevitably follows from the statements
+which you have submitted to me on the subject.
+
+"Your despatch of the 11th March last, No. 50, contains an account of the
+several missions up to that date, with reports likewise from the chief
+Protector and his assistants, and from the Crown Land Commissioners. The
+statements respecting the missions, furnished not by their opponents, nor
+even by indifferent parties, but by the missionaries themselves, are, I
+am sorry to say, as discouraging as it is possible to be. In respect to
+the mission at Wellington Valley, Mr. Gunther writes in a tone of
+despondency, which shews that he has abandoned the hope of success. The
+opening of his report is indeed a plain admission of despair; I sincerely
+wish that his facts did not bear out such a feeling. But when he reports,
+that after a trial of ten years, only one of all who have been attached
+to the mission 'affords some satisfaction and encouragement;' that of the
+others only four still remain with them, and that these continually
+absent themselves, and when at home evince but little desire for
+instruction; that 'their thoughtlessness, and spirit of independence,
+ingratitude, and want of sincere, straightforward dealing, often try us
+in the extreme;' that drunkenness is increasing, and that the natives are
+'gradually swept away by debauchery and other evils arising from their
+intermixture with Europeans,' I acknowledge that he has stated enough to
+warrant his despondency, and to shew that it proceeds from no momentary
+disappointment alone, but from a settled and reasonable conviction.
+
+"Nor do the other missions hold out any greater encouragement. That at
+Moreton Bay is admitted by Mr. Handt to have made but little progress, as
+neither children nor adults can be persuaded to stay for any length of
+time; while that at Lake Macquarie had, at the date of your despatch,
+ceased to exist, from the extinction or removal of the natives formerly
+in its vicinity. The Wesleyan Missionaries at Port Phillip,
+notwithstanding an expenditure in 1841 of nearly 1,300 pounds, acknowledge
+that they are 'far from being satisfied with the degree of success which
+has attended our labours,' and 'that a feeling of despair sometimes takes
+possession of our minds, and weighs down our spirits,' arising from the
+frightful mortality among the natives.
+
+"In the face of such representations, which can be attributed neither to
+prejudice nor misinformation, I have great doubts as to the wisdom or
+propriety of continuing the missions any longer. I fear that to do so
+would be to delude ourselves with the mere idea of doing something; which
+would be injurious to the natives, as interfering with other and more
+advantageous arrangements, and unjust to the colony, as continuing an
+unnecessary and profitless expenditure.
+
+"To this conclusion I had been led by your despatch, No. 50, but
+anticipating that the protectorate system would promise more beneficial
+results, I postponed my instructions in the matter until I should receive
+some further information.
+
+"Your despatches of the 16th and 20th May have furnished that further
+information, although they contradict the hopes which I had been led to
+entertain. After the distinct and unequivocal opinion announced by Mr. La
+Trobe, supported as it is by the expression of your concurrence, I cannot
+conceal from myself that the failure of the system of protectors has been
+at least as complete as that of the missions.
+
+"I have no doubt that a portion of this ill success, perhaps a large
+portion, is attributable to the want of sound judgment and zealous
+activity on the part of the assistant protectors. Thus the practice of
+collecting large bodies of the natives in one spot, and in the immediate
+vicinity of the settlers, without any previous provision for their
+subsistence or employment, was a proceeding of singular indiscretion.
+That these people would commit depredations rather than suffer want, and
+that thus ill-blood, and probably collisions, would be caused between
+them and the settlers, must, I should have thought, have occurred to any
+man of common observation; and no one could have better reason than Mr.
+Sievewright to know his utter inability to control them. When such a
+course could be adopted, I am not surprised at your opinion that the
+measures of the protectors have tended 'rather to increase than allay the
+irritation which has long existed between the two races.'
+
+"But after allowing for the effect of such errors, and for the
+possibility of preventing their recurrence, there is yet enough in Mr. La
+Trobe's reports to shew that the system itself is defective, at least in
+the hands of those whose services we are able to command. I am unwilling,
+at this distance from the scene, and without that minute local knowledge
+which is essential, to give you any precise instructions as to the course
+which under present circumstances should be pursued: but I have the less
+hesitation in leaving the matter in your hands, because your whole
+correspondence shews that no one feels more strongly than yourself the
+duty as well as the policy of protecting, and, if possible, civilizing
+these Aborigines, and of promoting a good understanding between them and
+the white settlers. At present, though I am far from attributing to the
+white settlers generally an ill disposition towards the natives, there is
+an apparent want of feeling among them, where the natives are concerned,
+which is much to be lamented. Outrages of the most atrocious description,
+involving sometimes considerable loss of life, are spoken of, as I
+observe in these papers, with an indifference and lightness which to
+those at a distance is very shocking. I cannot but fear that the feeling
+which dictates this mode of speaking, may also cause the difficulty in
+discovering and bringing to justice the perpetrators of the outrages
+which from time to time occur. With a view to the protection of the
+natives, the most essential step is to correct the temper and tone
+adopted towards them by the settlers. Whatever may depend on your own
+personal influence, or on the zealous co-operation of Mr. La Trobe, will
+I am sure be done at once, and I will not doubt that your efforts in this
+respect will be successful. In regard to the missions and the protectors,
+I give you no definite instructions. If at your receipt of this despatch
+you should see no greater prospect of advantage than has hitherto
+appeared, you will be at liberty to discontinue the grants to either as
+early as possible; but if circumstances should promise more success for
+the future, the grants may be continued for such time as may be necessary
+to bring the matter to a certain result. In the meantime, agreeing as I
+do, in the general opinion, that it is indispensable to the protection of
+the natives that their evidence should, to a certain extent at least, be
+received in the courts of law, I shall take into my consideration the
+means by which this can be effected in the safest and most satisfactory
+manner.
+
+"I cannot conclude this despatch without expressing my sense of the
+importance of the subject of it, and my hope that your experience may
+enable you to suggest some general plan by which we may acquit ourselves
+of the obligations which we owe towards this helpless race of beings. I
+should not, without the most extreme reluctance, admit that nothing can
+be done; that with respect to them alone the doctrines of Christianity
+must be inoperative, and the advantages of civilization incommunicable. I
+cannot acquiesce in the theory that they are incapable of improvement,
+and that their extinction before the advance of the white settler is a
+necessity which it is impossible to control. I recommend them to your
+protection and favourable consideration with the greatest earnestness,
+but at the same time with perfect confidence: and I assure you that I
+shall be willing and anxious to co-operate with you in any arrangement
+for their civilization which may hold out a fair prospect of success.
+
+"I have, etc.
+"(signed)
+"STANLEY."
+
+* * * * *
+
+EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES OF NATIVE ORNAMENTS, WEAPONS, IMPLEMENTS,
+AND WORKS OF INDUSTRY.
+
+
+PLATE I.--ORNAMENTS.
+
+1. Ku-ru-un-ko--tuft of emu feathers used in the play spoken of, page
+228.
+2. Three tufts of feathers tied in a bunch, with two kangaroo teeth, worn
+tied to the hair.
+3. Tufts of feathers, used as a flag or signal, elevated on a spear;
+similar ones are worn by the males, of eagle or emu feathers over the
+pubes.
+4. Let-ter-rer--kangaroo teeth worn tied to the hair of young males and
+females after the ceremonies of initiation.
+5 and 6. Coverings for the pubes, worn by females, one is of fur string in
+threads, the other of skins cut in strips.
+7. Tufts of white feathers worn round the neck.
+8. Tufts of feathers stained red, worn round the neck.
+9. Tufts of feathers stained red, with two kangaroo teeth to each tuft,
+also worn round the neck.
+10. A piece of bone worn through the septum nasi.
+11. Tufts of feathers worn round the neck, one is black, the other
+stained red.
+12. Tufts of feathers stained red, with four kangaroo teeth in a bunch,
+worn round the neck.
+13. Necklace of reeds cut in short lengths.
+14. Band for forehead, feathers and swan's-down.
+15. Man-ga--band for forehead, a coil of string made of opossum fur.
+16. Mona--net cap to confine the hair of young men of opossum fur.
+17. Korno--widow's mourning cap made of carbonate of lime, moulded to the
+head, weight 8 1/2lbs.
+18. Dog's-tail, worn as an appendage to the beard, which is gathered
+together and tied in a pigtail.
+
+
+PLATE II.--WEAPONS.
+
+1. Spear barbed on both sides, of hard wood, 10 1/2 feet long, used in war
+or hunting.
+2. Similar to the last but only barbed on one side, used for same
+purposes.
+3. Kar-ku-ru--smooth spear of hard wood, 10 1/2 feet, used for
+punishments, as described page 222, also for general purposes.
+4. Short, smooth, hard wood spear, 7 1/2 feet long, used to spear fish in
+diving.
+5. Reed spear with barbed hard wood point, used for war with the throwing
+stick--the way of holding it, and position of the hand are shewn.
+6. Hard wood spear with grass-tree end, 8 feet long, used with the
+throwing stick for general purposes.
+7. Hard wood spear with single barb spliced on, 8 feet long, used from
+Port Lincoln to King George's Sound for chase or war, it is launched with
+the throwing stick.
+8. Ki-ko--reed spear, hard wood point, 6 to 7 feet long, used with the
+throwing-stick to kill birds or other game.
+9. Hard wood spear, grass-tree end, barbed with flint, used with the
+throwing-stick for war.
+10. The head of No. 9 on a arger scale.
+11. The head of No. 1 on a larger scale.
+12. The head of a Lachlan spear, taken from a man who was wounded there,
+the spear entered behind the shoulder in the back, and the point reached
+to the front of the throat, it had to be extracted by cutting an opening
+in the throat and forcing the spear-head through from behind--the man
+recovered.
+13. The head of No. 7 on a larger scale.
+
+
+PLATE III.--WEAPONS.
+
+1. Nga-waonk, or throwing-stick, about 2 feet long, and narrow.
+2. Ditto but hollowed and conical.
+3. Ditto straight and flat.
+4. Ditto narrow and carved.
+5. Ditto broad in the centre.
+6. Sorcerer's stick, with feathers and fur string round the point
+7. Ditto plain.
+8. The Darling Wangn, (boomerang) carved, 1 foot 10 inches.
+9. The Darling war Wangn, 2 feet 1 inch.
+10. Battle-axe.
+11. Ditto
+12. Ditto
+13. Ditto
+14. The lower end of the throwing-stick, shewing a flint gummed on as a
+chisel.
+15. The Tar-ram, or shield made out of solid wood, 2 feet 7 inches long,
+1 foot broad, carved and painted.
+16. A side view of ditto
+17. War-club of heavy wood, rounded and tapering.
+18. Port Lincoln Wirris, or stick used for throwing at game, 2 feet.
+19. Murray River Bwirri, or ditto ditto
+20. War club, with a heavy knob, and pointed.
+21. Port Lincoln Midla, or lever, with quartz knife attached to the end.
+22. Murray river war club.
+
+
+PLATE IV.--IMPLEMENTS.
+
+1. Tat-tat-ko, or rod for noosing wild fowl, 16 feet long, vide p. 310.
+2. Moo-ar-roo, or paddle and fish spear, 10 to 16 feet, vide p. 263.
+3. Chisel pointed hard wood stick, from 3 to 4 feet long, used by the
+women for digging.
+4. Ngakko, or chisel pointed stick, 3 feet long, used by the men.
+5. Mun--canoe of bark, vide p. 314.
+6. 7, 8. Varieties of Mooyumkarr, or sacred oval pieces of wood, used at
+night, by being spun round with a long string so as to produce a loud
+roaring noise for the object of counteracting any evil influences, and
+for other purposes.
+9. 10, 11, 12. Needles, etc. from the fibulas of kangaroos, wallabies,
+emus, etc.
+13. Kangaroo bone, used as a knife.
+14. Stone with hollow in centre for pounding roots.
+15. Stone hatchet.
+16. Distaff with string of hair upon it.
+17. Lenko, or net hung round the neck in diving to put muscles, etc. in.
+18. Kenderanko, net used in diving, vide p. 260.
+19. Drinking cup made of a shell.
+20. Drinking cup, being the scull of a native with the sutures closed
+with wax or gum.
+
+
+PLATE V.--WORKS OF INDUSTRY.
+
+1. Lukomb, or skin for carrying water, made from the skins of opossums,
+wallabie, or young kangaroo; the fur is turned inside, and the legs,
+tail, and neck, are tied up; they hold from 1 quart to 3 gallons.
+2. Pooneed-ke--circular mat, 1 foot 9 inches in diameter, made of a kind
+of grass, worn on the back by the women, with a band passed round the
+lower part and tied in front, the child is then slipped in between the
+mat and the back, and so carried.
+3. Kal-la-ter--a truncated basket of about a foot wide at the bottom,
+made also of a broad kind of grass, used for carrying anything in, and
+especially for taking about the fragile eggs of the Leipoa.
+4. A wallet, or man's travelling bag, made of a kangaroo skin, with the
+fur outside.
+5. A small kal-la-ter.
+6. Pool-la-da-noo-ko, or oval basket made of broad-leaved grass, used for
+carrying anything; from its flat make, it fits easily to the back.
+7. An Adelaide oblong and somewhat flattish basket, made of a kind of
+rush.
+8. The Rok-ko, or net bag, made of a string manufactured from the rush,
+it is carried by the women, and contains generally all the worldly
+property of the family, such as shells and pieces of flint for
+knives--bones for needles--sinews of animals for thread--fat and red
+ochre for adorning the person--spare ornaments or belts--white pigment
+for painting for the dance--a skin for carrying water--a stone for
+pounding roots--the sacred implements of the husband carefully folded up
+and concealed--a stone hatchet--and many other similar articles. The size
+of the rok-ko varies according to the wealth of the family; it is
+sometimes very large and weighty when filled.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Journals Of Expeditions Of Discovery
+Into Central Australia Volume 2, by Edward John Eyre
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOURNALS OF EXPEDITIONS 2 ***
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