1 ^

JOUKNALS

EXPEDITIONS OE DISCOVERY
INTO
CENTRAL AUSTRALIA,
AND
OVERLAND
FROM ADELAIDE TO KING GEORGE'S SOUND,
In the years 1840-1;
sent by the colonists op south australia,
OTith the Sanction antr Support of the 4§o6enrment:
INCLUDING AN ACCOUNT OP THE
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE ABORIGINES

AND THE

STATE OF THEIR RELATIONS WITH EUROPEANS.

BY EDWAED JOHN EYEE,
RESIDENT MAGISTRATE, MURRAY RIVER.

IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. II.

LONDON :
T. AND W. BOONE, 29, NEW BOND STREET.
1845.

CONTENTS OF VOLUME II.

CHAPTER I. PAGE
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— Termina
tion of the Cliffs— Find water . . .1

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 — Indis
position . . . .18
CHAPTER III.
Heavy road — A young Kangaroo 3hot — Grassy country — Point Mal
colm — 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 . • 42

IV CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IV. PAGE
Go on board the Mississippi — Wet weather — Visit Lucky Bay — Inter
view with Natives — Wylie understands their language — Get the
horses shod — Prepare to leave the vessel — Kindness and liberality
of Captain Kossiter — Renew journey to the westward — Fossil forma
tion still continues — Salt water streams and lakes — A large salt
river — Character of the country . . .68
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 . . . .92
CHAPTER VI.
Concluding Remarks , . . .113

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 . 147
CHAPTER II.
Physical appearance— Dress— Character— Habits of Life— Meetings of
Tribes — Wars — Dances— Songs . -. . . 20G

CONTENTS. V
CHAPTER III. PAGE
Food — How procured — How prepared — Limitation as to age, &c. 244
CHAPTER IV.
Property in land— Dwellings — Weapons — Implements — Government
— Customs — Social Relations — Marriage — Nomenclature . 296
CHAPTER V.
Ceremonies and Superstitions — Forms of burial — Mourning customs —
Religious ideas — Empirics, &c. . . . 332
CHAPTER VI.
Numbers — Diseases — Cause of limited Population — Crimes against
Europeans — Amongst themselves — Treatment of each other in dis
tribution of food, &c. .... 368
CHAPTER VII.
Language, Dialects, Customs, &c. — General similarity throughout the
Continent — Causes of differences — Route by which the Natives have
overspread the country, &c. . . . 391
CHAPTER VIII.
Effects of contact with Europeans — Attempts at Improvement and
civilization — Account of Schools — Defects of the system . 412
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 . . . . 508

209
229 238
306308
310
312
344 461
405

LIST OF PLATES.— VOL. II.
Distribution of flour at Moorunde, O. Hamilton . Frontispiece.
Arrival at King George's Sound, J. Neill - • P«ae l09
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
I. Head of war spear of the North Coast, barbed for 3 feet, total length
9| feet.
2. Head of fish spear of the North Coast, barbed for 18 inches, total
length 8J feet.
2. Head of spear of the North Coast, barbed for 18 inches, total length 8f
feet.
4. Head of war spear of the North Coast, with head of quartz, 6 inches,
total length 9| feet.
5. Head of war spear of the North Coast, with head of slate, 6 inches,
total length 9J feet.
6. Two handed sword of hard wood. North Coast, 3 J 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.

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 fragiaents 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 ill-
fated 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
VOL. II. b

2 APPALLING SITUATION.
faithfully served me for many years-, who had fol
lowed my fortunes in adversity and in prosperity, who
had accompanied me in all my wanderings, and
whose attachment to me had been his sole induce
ment 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

DEFENCELESS CONDITION. 3
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 car
tridges, lying about near the place where the boys
had slept, so that it was evident they had delibe
rately 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.
b 2

4 NIGHT OF HORRORS.
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, accom
panied 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 theywere very restless, and gave us a great deal
of trouble. With an aching heart, and in most pain
ful 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

SCENE BY DAYLIGHT. 0
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

6 NARROW ESCAPE.
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 ser
viceable 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 1 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

PROCEED TO THE WESTWARD. 7
humanity towards him, whose career had been cut
short in so untimely a manner. This duty was ren
dered 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 vivid
ness, 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 im
pressions 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 in
tervals as before. The day became very warm, and
at eleven, after travelling ten miles to the west, I de
termined to halt until the cool of the evening. After

8 WYLIE'S STATEMENT.
baking some bread and getting our dinners, I
questioned Wylie as to what he knew of the sad oc
currence 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 un
successful 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 subse
quent 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

APPEARANCE OF THI! MURDERERS. »
civilized community again, he had become very ap
prehensive that the other natives, who belonged to
quite a different part of Australia to himself, and
who spoke a totally different language, would mur
der 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 re
cognized the native boys, covered with their blankets
only, and advancing towards us. From Wylie's
account of their proposal to go back towards Fow
ler'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 some
what 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 blood
hounds 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 destruc
tion. 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

10 ADVANCE TOWARDS THE NATIVES.
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 per
suading 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

THEY CALL FOR WYLIE. 11
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 dont 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 un
successful ; 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

12 FORCED MARCHES.
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 im
portunities 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 oppor
tunity 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 pre
venting from them straying, was to close the chains

DESERT COUNTRY. 13
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 con
tinuation 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

14 BANKSIAS MET WITH.
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 descrip
tion of. country generally. Those only who have
looked out with the eagerness and anxiety of a per
son in my situation, to note any change in the vege
tation 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 pro
cure 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,

TRACES OF NATIVES. 15
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 vege
tation 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 bad 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.

16 EXHAUSTED CONDITION.
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 our
selves, 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 pre
vented 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

FIND WATER.

17

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 de
scended 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.

VOL. II.

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 SHORB
— 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 under
taking, 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,

PAINFUL REFLECTIONS. 19
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 termina
tion 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
c2

20 BLACK COCKATOOS.
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 con
tinue 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 pro
cured almost anywhere in these drifts, which extend
for some miles, along the coast. Some black cock
atoos made their appearance near the sand-hills, in
dicating, 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 in
habited 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

WATCH FOR THE NATIVE BOYS. 21
other two natives, and at night, after watering the
horses and concealing the saddles, we took our pro
visions 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 know
ledge; 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 in
dications 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

22 NO TRACES OF THE BOYS.
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 unfortu
nately 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 in
flamed 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

THEIR POSITION WHEN LAST SEEN. 23
have arrived long before this, and I now felt satis
fied 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 weresixty-threemilesfromthenearest 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 walk-

24 PROBABLE FATE
ing 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

OF THE TWO BOYS. 25
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 advanc
ing into one still more so, and that v, e 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 cir
cumstances, 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 them
selves 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 con
trol he had been subject to before, and each con
ceiving 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 origi
nally, of injuring either myself or the overseer,

26 CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH LED
have taken such precautions, and made such pre
vious 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 accom
pany 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 con
sented to divide our little stock of food for the pur
pose 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 con
spired 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 am
munition, and loaded the guns preparatory to their

TO THE OVERSEER'S DEATH. 27
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.

28 MOVE ALONG THE BEACH.
At midnight we arose and moved onwards, fol
lowing 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
7 th. 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 nothingbutthe 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

KILL ANOTHER HORSE. 29
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 opera
tion, Wylie made a fire close to the carcase, and as
soon as he could get at a piece of the flesh he com
menced roasting some, and continued alternately,
eating, working and cooking. After cutting off
about 100 pounds of the best of the meat, and hang
ing 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 neigh
bourhood. Before dark he had made an oven, and
roasted about twenty pounds, to feast upon during
the night. The evening set in stormy, and threat
ened 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

30 APPETITE OF A NATIVE.
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 com
plained 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 atten
tion 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

WYLIE FINDS THE LOST FOAL. 31
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 de
lighted to see him return, followed by the foal,
which he had found six miles away and still travel
ling 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,

32 SLOW PROGRESS ALONG THE BEACH.
another change in the vegetatibn, 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 h orses
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

FIRST HILLS SEEN. 33
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 incle
mency, 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
VOL. II. D

34 •Wylie's appetite.
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 dimi
nish 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 my
self from two to three1 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° 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 attri
buted 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 com-

EFFECTS OF UNWHOLESOME DIET. 35
plaining ; 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 ab
sence, 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 beauti
ful 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
d 2

36 CONTINUED ILLNESS,
the attack was over, I was left very weak, and inca
pable 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 sur
vived 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 simi
larly 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, &c. ; 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,

DIG FOR WATER. 37
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 spoonfulof 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 day
light, 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 Har-
rowgate 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° 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 de
clining in elevation, and appeared as if it would
verv shortly cease altogether, so that we might hope
to have an unobstructed view of the country inland.

38 MOUNT RAGGED.
A jagged peak, which I named Mount Ragged,
bore W. 10° N., and a round topped one W. 30° 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 out
line of their lofty summits. The whole of the inter
vening 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 op
portunity 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

RUNNING WATER. 39
of improvement also gradually developed them
selves. 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 granite rock 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° S., Cape Pasley, S. W., Point Malcolm, S.
33° W., and Mount Ragged W. 32° 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 our
selves in but little better condition. The incessant
walking we were subject to, the low and unwhole
some diet we had lived upon, the severe and weaken
ing 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

40 FATIGUE AND INDISPOSITION.
backs, to harness, unharness, water, and attend to
the horses, besides other trifling occupations, making
up our daily routine, usually so completely ex
hausted 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 suffer
ing than of rest, and we were glad when the day
light 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 indispo
sition 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 plea
sure, which made me forgetful or careless of the
circumstances and difficulties by which I was sur
rounded, 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

WYLIE'S CHARACTER. 41
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 ex
tremely 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  CASUARIN.E 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 diffi
culty 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° W., and the island we had seen for the last two
days, E. 18° S. Having seen some large kanga
roos 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

GRASSY COUNTRY. 43
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 swallowingthe 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, giv
ing 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 here
tofore 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 espe
cially 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

44 POINT MALCOLM.
found excellent water at three and a half feet, and
halted for the day, after a stage of five miles. Un
fortunately 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, appear
ing 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

GRASS-TREES MET WITH. 45
spray curling and rising from the rocks in one per
petual 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,
1 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 pre
sent 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

46 A KANGAROO KILLED.
fell at intervals. At dusk I got up the horses,
watered them, and was preparing to remove the bag
gage 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 re
moved 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 w ere 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. Fortu
nately it had not been molested by the wild dogs
during the night. Though not of a large species,

CATCH FISH. 47
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, carry
ing 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 break
fast, 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 pro
tected among the tea-trees, and had so much fire
wood, 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.

48 WYLIE'S DISAPPOINTMENT.
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 en
deavoured 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 magni
tude 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, discon
tented look upon his return. As yet I had not told
him that I had been fishing ; but upon showing him

SHOOT ANOTHER KANGAROO. 49
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 catch
ing 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 send
ing him to water them, I remained behind to dry my
clothes, which had got thorougly 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 care-
VOL. II. E

50 WYLIE'S FEAST.
fully 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,

CRAB-HUNTING. 51
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 uncom
fortable 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,
e 2

52 IMPROVED CONDITION OF THE HORSES.
enable them also to recruit a little upon the ex
cellent grass which grew in this neighbourhood.
Wylie took the rifle out to try to get another kan
garoo, 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 mus-
quitoes. May 26. — Up early, and Wylie, who had been
eating the whole night, was so thirsty, that he ac
tually 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 fa
vourable 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 im
proved in appearance and in strength, that I thought
we might once again venture, without oppression
to the animals, occasionally to ride ; I selected there
fore, the strongest from among them for this pur
pose, and Wylie and myself walked and rode alter
nately ; after passing the scrubby sand-ridges, and

RUSSELL RANGE. 53
descending to the open downs behind them, I
steered direct for Cape Arid, cutting off Cape Pas-
ley, 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 casuarinse, 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 " Rus
sell Range," after the Right Honourable the Secre
tary of State for the Colonies — Lord John Russell.
They constitute the first great break in the charac
ter and appearance of the country for many hun
dreds 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

54 CAPE ARID.
been procured. We found none where we were en
camped, 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

CONTINUE JOURNEY. 55
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 re
turning, 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 kan
garoo, 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 re
turning 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 pro
ceeded behind Cape Arid for ten miles, at a course
of W. 15° 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

56 OPOSSUMS CAUGHT.
to ride at all. At night we had abundance of fire
wood, 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 abun
dant 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

WYLIE'S SELFISHNESS. 57
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 un
dulating, of moderate elevation, and affording a con
siderable 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 circum
stances ever compel me to depend upon him for a
share of what he might procure. At night, there
fore, 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 select
ing 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,

58 SALT-WATER RIVER.
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 morn
ing, 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

FRESH-WATER LAKE. 59
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

60 GRASS-TREE FUEL.
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 abso
lutely 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 practi
cable nor fertile.
Six miles beyond the fresh -water lake we came to
another salt-water stream, and finding, upon follow
ing 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 un
harnessed 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 re
quire 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

KNOCKED DOWN BY A HORSE. 61
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 cha
grined 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.

62 GRUBS. — FLAG-REED ROOTS.
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 clos
ing 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,

FRESH-WATER STREAMS. 63
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 tra
velling 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 incle
mency, 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

64 THISTLE COVE.
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 or 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 oppor
tunity 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 yester
day 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 abun
dance of the flag-reed for our support. Keeping a
little behind the shore for the first hour, we crossed

BOATS SEEN. 65
over the sandy ridge bounding it, and upon looking
towards the sea, I thought I discovered a boat sail
ing 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 disap
pointed 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 dis
appointment, we were surprised to see both boats
suddenly lower their sails, and apparently commence
VOL. II. F

66

WHALER AT ANCHOR.

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 here
tofore concealed her from our view. She was appa
rently 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 congra
tulated 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,) imme
diately east of Lucky Bay, and at less than a quar-

HOSPITALITY OF CAPTAIN ROSSITER. 67
ter 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.

p2

CHAPTER IV.
GO ON BOARD THE MISSISSIPPI — WET WEATHER  VISIT
LUCKY BAY — INTERVIEW WITH NATIVES — WYLIE UNDER
STANDS THEIR LANGUAGE — GET THE HORSES SHOD — PRE
PARE TO LEAVE THE VESSEL — KINDNESS AND LIBERALITY
OF CAPTAIN ROSSITER  RENEW JOURNEY TO THE WEST
WARD  FOSSIL FORMATION STILL CONTINUES — SALT WATER
STREAMS AND LAKES  A LARGE SALT RIVER — CHARACTER
OT 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 bag
gage, 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 com
munity. 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 re
cruit 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

ON BOARb THE MISSISSIPPI. 69
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 com
mence 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 wet season, which
appeared to be setting in, but which, under the cir
cumstances 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

70 THE WHALER'S GARDEN.
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, &c.
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 cul
tivating 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

MADAGASCAR SHEEP. 71
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 pro
cured from the west side of the island of Madagas
car ; 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 Mada-
gases, were said to be powder, brass headed trunk
nails, muskets, gun-flints, clear claret bottles, look
ing-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 enter
tained 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

72 FRESH WATER LAKE.
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 our
selves 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

WET WEATHER. 73
the bay, held out great promise that fish could
readily have been caught. Ducks were also nu
merous 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 after
noon ; 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 suc
cess. During almost the whole of the time that I re
mained 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 ex
posed 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 con
siderable lapse of time, and a long interval of sus
pense and anxiety, the fish chased turned out to be a

74 CREW OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
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 Missis
sippi 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 commu-

VISITED BY NATIVES. 75
cation 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 cau
tious, 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

76 FRENCH BLACKSMITH.
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 de
lighted 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

KINDNESS OF CAPTAIN ROSSITER. 77
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 sauce
pans 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 pay
ment 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

78 LEAVE THE VESSEL.
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 remem
bered 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

RENEW THE JOURNEY. 79
upon the coast, and I promised to comply with his
request. After wishing my kind host good bye, and direct
ing 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, how
ever, 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 grass-

80 FOSSIL FORMATION.
trees, 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 en
campment, we steered N. 30° W. to clear a rocky
hill, passing which, on our left at six miles, we

STREAMS AND LAKES. 81
changed the course to W. 10° 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 com
fort 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
VOL. II. G

82 SALT LAKE.
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 our
selves, being unable to carry any with us, as the can
teens were full of treacle. From our camp, a peak,
near Cape le Grand, bore E. 33° 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 south
west 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

PAINFUL RETROSPECTIONS. 83
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 sur
rounding the lake, and which varied from sixty to a
hundred and fifty feet in elevation, and were gene
rally 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 under
taking, 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
g 2

84 STONY RIDGES.
miles from our camp we ascended some high ridges
of an oolitic limestone formation, which were par
tially 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° S., the peak
called by the French the " Chapeau," E. 23° S., and
the head of the salt-water lake E. 10° S. We had
now a succession of barren, sandy and stony ridges for
more than three miles, and as there was but little pros
pect of our finding permanent water in such a miser
able 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° W., S. 26° W., E. 41° S.,
E.440 S. and S. 33° E. respectively ; the west point
of a bay bore S. 51° W. the eastern point E. 36° 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

WILD FOWL. 85
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 ter
minating 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° 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

86 CHAIN JF salt ponds.
through, and made our journey cold and miserable.
After travelling a short distance we lost all symp
toms 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 in
tent 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 tra
velling 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

SALT-WATER RIVER. 87
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 con
dition, 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,

88 CROSS THE RIVER.
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 grow
ing upon the margin, were the paper-barked tea-
tree, and the bastard gum.
Leaving the river, and proceeding over an undu
lating 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

CHARACTER OF THE COUNTRY. 89
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° 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 dis
tance 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.

90 MOUNT BARREN.
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° 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 cha
racter 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 in
ferior character, consisting now principally of only
chains of small stagnant ponds of salt water, desti
tute 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

WANT OF RAIN. 91
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 grass-
trees, which generally accommodate themselves to
any soil, were stunted and diminutive, and by no
means so abundant as before. The general eleva
tion 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 entan
gled 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

HEAVY RAINS. 93
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, how
ever, 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 anywhere as we went along, could have dipped
a pint pot half full. It was dreadful work to travel

94 POOLS OF WATER.
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 to
day 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

wylie's day's sport. 95
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 hi
therto 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 uten
sils, 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 Missis
sippi, 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 sometime, 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

96 DENSE SCRUB.
miles through the same sterile country, and then
observing a watercourse coming from the hills, I
became apprehensive I should experience some diffi
culty 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 perse
verance 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° E. from East Mount Barren,
the hills under which we were encamped being con-

APPEARANCE OF NATIVES. 97
nected with that range. Most properly had it been
called Mount Barren, for a more wretched arid-
looking 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 follow
ing 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
VOL. II. H

98 BARREN COUNTRY.
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 Bar
ren, E. from a bluff range three miles from us, and
N. 55° 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° N.,
headed all ranges in four miles. From this point
East Mount Barren bore E. 20° N., and as I was now
clear of hills in front, I changed my course to W. 20°
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° 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 iron-

king george's sound hills. 99
stone 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 pre
cipitous 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 recog
nised 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, how
ever, 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 cheer-
h 2

100 wylie's joy.
ing 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° S., and
West Mount Barren E. 5° 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 in
effectual 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° N., Middle
Mount Barren E. 21° N., and Rugged Mountains
behind the Sound, W. 4° 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 ob-

CAPE RICHE. 101
served 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° W.
Some high land, seen to the southward and west
ward 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 wit1, the sea.

102 CROSS A large river.
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 nar
row 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 im
proving. 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 casuarinse 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

BALD ISLAND. 103
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. — Ourhorseshavingbeen a good deal fagged
yesterday, I did not disturb them early, and it was
nearly noon when we moved away from our encamp
ment, 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° 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° 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 tight black mixed with sand, and
the grass interspersed among the trees was abundant

104 WYLIE ACTS AS GUIDE.
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

THE CANDIUP RIVER. 105
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 mise
rably 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 empty
ing 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 cross
ing 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 sub
ject 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

106. SUFFERINGS AT KING'S RIVER.
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, endea
vouring 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 con
stantly through the cold torrents in the depth of the
winter season, and latterly beingdetained 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

LEAVE THE HORSES. 107
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 pro
ceeded up the King's river, with a view of attempt
ing 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 wrere 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

108 REACH ALBANY.
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 com
pletely 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 com
menced and terminated my labours stood in strong
relief before me. The gay and gallant cavalcade
that accompanied me on my way at starting — the

>I\

s

WYLIE's RECEPTION BY HIS TRIBE. 109
small but enterprising band that I then commanded,
the goodly array of horses and drays, with all their
well-ordered appointments and equipment were con-
jured 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 dis
asters 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 power
fully 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 wit
ness the meeting between Wylie and his friends.
Affection's strongest ties could not have produced a
more affecting and melting scene— the wordless

1 10 KINDNESS OF THE COLONISTS.
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 calumni
ators, 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, per
forming 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

EMBARK FOR SOUTH AUSTRALIA. Ill
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, 1 wrote
a brief report of my journey, which was forwarded,
with a copy both of my own and Wylie's depo
sitions, relative to the melancholy loss of my over
seer 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 allow
ance of provisions,* by order of Mr. Phillips ; who
promised to recommend that it should be perma
nently 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 Ade
laide. Wylie had given them so flattering an
account of South Australia and its pleasures, that he
* This was confirmed by Governor Hutt.

112 ARRIVAL AT ADELAIDE.
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 narra
tive 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 abetter
soil, or with watercourses appearing to have an outlet
to the ocean, rendered the country one of much
VOL. II. I

114 CONCLUDING REMARKS.
greater interest, I was quite unable, from the cir
cumstances under which I was placed, the re
duced 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 ex
amine 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 under
took in 1839, as well as those of 1840-1 (for a con
siderable 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 pre
viously unknown, of about 270 miles in length,
extending between the parallels of 33° 40' and 29°
S. latitude. In longitude, that part of my route
which was before unknown, extends between the
parallels of 138° E., and 1 18° 40' 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 Aus
tralia, complete the examination of the whole of the

CONCLUDING REMARKS. 115
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° S. It was ascertained to be
hemmed in by an impassable barrier, consisting of the
basin of an immense lake, which I named Lake Tor-
rens, 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 ex
tremity 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 arise 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
i 2

116 CONCLUDING REMARKS.
point visited by me, was bounded by a steep, con
tinuous, 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 ex
traordinary 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° 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 extre
mity of Lake Torrens ; the following is the report
made by that officer upon his return.

CONCLUDING REMARKS. 117
"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° 45' 25", 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 Flin
ders range, as high as the parallel of Mount Hopeless, and the
meridian of 141°, (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 Eock
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 Flin
ders range all crossing the plains in that direction. In one of
these watercourses, the Siccus (lat. about 31° 55'), whose sec
tion nearly equals that of the Murray, there were indications of
not very remote floods having risen to between twenty and thirty

118 CONCLUDING REMARKS.
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° 29', 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° 45', 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° 59', where the lake was visible within fifteen or
Bixteen 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 decep
tive, 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 in
tervals on the surface of the sand at the margin of the lake, or
as it might more properly be called, the Desert ; but this ap
pearance might either be caused by water brought down by the

CONCLUDING REMARKS. 119
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 poiut 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 proba
bly his Mount Serle ; for though it was not to be expected that
Mr. Eyre, whose principal and almost sole object was to dis
cover a road to the interior, would, at the same time, have been
able to lay down the position of his route with the same accu
racy that might have been expected from a surveyor ; this differ
ence 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 hun
dred feet above the level of the sea ; and our two converg
ing 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

120 CONCLUDING REMARKS.
of their rations, and the latter on account of the probable diffi
culty 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 with
out 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 bound
aries of the province, and can speak with almost as much confi
dence 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

CONCLUDING REMARKS. 121
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 ex
tending north from Mount Bryan, as far as Mount Hopeless, a
distance of about three hundred miles, as far as the meridian of
141° (and probably much beyond it), available for either agricul
tural or pastoral purposes ; and that, though there may be occa
sional 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 gene
rally iron-stone, conglomerate and quartz, with sandstone and

122 CONCLUDING REMARKS.
slate at the lower elevation. At the points of highest elevation
from Mount Bryan northward, igneous rocks of basaltic charac
ter protruded from below, forming rugged and fantastic outlines.
"At one spot, particularly, about 30°, there were marked indi
cations 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°
Farenheit, when the thermometer standing in water in the kegs
stood at 52°, and in the atmosphere at 54°.
" 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 Frorne 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 fur
nished to the Colonial Government, was sent from
Port Lincoln, and is the same which was subse
quently published with other papers, relative to
South Australia, for the House of Commons, in

CONCLUDING REMARKS. 123
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 move
ments were very rapid, and many arrangements,
consequent upon dividing my party at Bax
ter's range, had to be attended to ; added to this
were the difficulties and embarrassments of conduct
ing 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

124 CONCLUDING REMARKS.
wondered at, considering the circumstances under
which the sketch was constructed.
At Mount Hopeless the variation was 4° E., at
Mount Arden it was 7° 24' E. Now if this varia
tion 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.*
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 1 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.
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 eleva
tion 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
* 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.

CONCLUDING REMARKS. 125
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,* 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,
* By altitude deduced from the temperature of boiling water.

126 CONCLUDING REMARKS.
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 over
land 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.* .
On the northern side of the triangle I have al
luded 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 gra
nite, extending nearly all the way across, and then
stretching out to the north-west in lofty rugged out
line as far as the eye could reach ; the most remark
able 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
* Vide note to page 154, vol. i.

CONCLUDING REMARKS. 127
entirely of rugged barren rocks, without timber or
vegetation. There was not a stream or a water
course 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.*
Continuing the line of coast to the westward, the
expedition passed through the most wretched and
desolate country imaginable, consisting almost en
tirely of a table-land, or of undulating ridges, co
vered 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 pa
rallel of 123° 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
* A small exploring party, under a Mr. Darke, was sent from
Port Lincoln in August, 1 844, 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.

128 CONCLUDING REMARKS.
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 pro
cured 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 sur
face 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 enter
prising a traveller as my friend Captain Sturt, in its
favour. That gentleman, with the noble and disin
terested enthusiasm by which he has ever been

CONCLUDING REMARKS. 129
characterised, has once more sacrificed the pleasure
and quiet of domestic happiness, at the shrine of en
terprise 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 appro
bation 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 cal
culated 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 com
municated 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 fol
lowing is a copy of a private letter to John Mor-
phett, Esq. M.C., and published iri the Adelaide
Observer of the 9th November, 1844: —
VOL. II. K

130 CONCLUDING REMARKS.
" Uth 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. Run
ning 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 Dar
ling 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 every
thing 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

CONCLUDING REMARKS. 131
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 misunder
stood the story ; but most assuredly I fully anticipated we
should, sooner or later, come on some dreadful scene 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 discourag
ing. It is nothing more however than what I expected. They
say that beyond the hills it is all sand and rocks ; that there is
K 2

132 CONCLUDING REMARKS.
neither grass or water, or wood; and that it is awfully hot. This
last feature Bppears 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 per
fectly 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 gene
ral 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 perse
verance. 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, ' neces
sity is the mother of invention.' You will find some means or
other, no doubt ; and so we will. However, under any circum
stances, depend upon it I will either lift up or tear down the cur-"
tain 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

CONCLUDING REMARKS. 133
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 ere
long. Wehave 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 1"
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 ac
counts 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 con
siderable diffidence that I advance anv 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, how
ever, are further confirmed, the question still re
mains as it was ; and it may perhaps not be . out of

134 CONCLUDING REMARKS.
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 sup
pose, and, in fact, I do so believe, that a considera
ble 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, inter
vals 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

CONCLUDING REMARKS. 135
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 scat
tered at intervals throughout the whole area inclosed
by, but south of, Lake Torrens, many steep -sided
fragments of a table land,* which had evidently
* " 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 j and I
am fully convinced from close examination, that they are a part ol

136 CONCLUDING REMARKS.
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,*
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
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 com
posed ; 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 sur
face 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.
* 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.

CONCLUDING REMARKS. 137
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.
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 conti
nent, 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 commu
nication 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.

138 CONCLUDING REMARKS.
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 interven
ing lines of coast connecting those points.
With respect to the first consideration, it is un
necessary 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 in
quiry, or although I may sometimes have had a
difficulty in explaining myself to, or in understand
ing 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 in
telligibly, 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 re-
fration combined. I have often myself been very
similarly deceived by the semblance of hills, islands,

CONCLUDING REMARKS. 139
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 ex
tensive 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

140 CONCLUDING REMARKS.
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, fkst
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 Abori -
gines 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.* And about longitude
128° 20' E., when crossing over towards King
George's Sound, large parrots were found coming
* Vide Vol. I. pages 52, 124, and 344.

CONCLUDING REMARKS. 141
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 des
cription 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, &c. Can there then be such in
the interior, "with so barren and arid a region,
bounding it ? and how are we to commence an ex
amination with so many difficulties and embarrass
ments 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
4 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

142 CONCLUDING REMARKS.
appearance, customs, character, and pursuits of the
Aborigines, at opposite points of the continent,
whilst no such coincidence exists along the inter
vening 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.* 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 1 25th
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. If then we have reasonable grounds for believing
that such lines of route actually do exist, it becomes
* 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.

CONCLUDING REMARKS. 143
a matter of much interest and importance to de
termine 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 circum
stances 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 cha
racter 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

ABORIGINES OF AUSTRALIA.

VOL. II.

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS

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 pro
gress of which an extensive portion of the previously
unknown parts of that continent were explored, I
have thought it might not be uninteresting to intro
duce 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 mis
judged 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
l 2

148 PRELIMINARY REMARKS.
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 hos
tility between the natives and parties coming over
land 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 fre
quently 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

PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 149
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 pro
tection. During the whole of the three years I was Resi
dent 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 dis
trict, once considered the wildest and most dan
gerous, 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 Ade
laide, for his valuable assistance, in comparing and
discussing the results of our respective observations,
on matters connected with the natives, and for the

150 PRELIMINARY REMARKS.
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 par
ticularly understood, however, that with any deduc
tions, 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.*
In the descriptions given in the following pages,
* Some few of these notes were printed in the Colony, in a de
tached form, as Reports to the Colonial Government, or in the Vo»
cabularies 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 uni
formity 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.

PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 151
although there may occasionally be introduced, ac
counts 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 ex
clusively 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, cus
toms, and pursuits, are also so very similar, though mo
dified in some respects by local circumstances or cli
mate, that little doubt can be entertained that all have
originally sprung from the same stock. The prin
cipal 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

152 PRELIMINARY REMARKS.
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 con
sidered, that the matenal 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 in
formation 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 exten
sive, and one which no single individual, except by
the devotion of a life-time, could hope fully to dis
cuss. 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 de
tect and exhibit the links which form the chain of
connection in the habits and history of tribes so re
motely 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.

UNJUST OPINIONS. 153
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 re
lating 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 Austra
lian 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 scho
lastic efforts hitherto made on his behalf, and to
many deeds of violence or aggression committed by
him upon the settler.*
* I cannot adduce a stronger proof in support of the position
Ivassume, 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

154 UNJUST OPINIONS
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 ab
solutely 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 unteach-
able. 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 com
prehensive enough for, nor is our system sufficiently
adapted to, the singular circumstances they are in,
considering the case of some collisions with the natives on the
Ovens River, and after a full consideration of the various cir
cumstances 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 intempe
rate 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."

¦REGARDING THE NATIVES. 155
to enable us successfully to contend with the diffi
culties 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 con
sidered for the future a$ more deserving our sym
pathy 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 ne
cessity, or the force of custom — the better ones are
implanted in him as a part of his nature. With ca
pabilities 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 disadvantage, I do not
imagine thathis vices would usually be found

156 AGGRESSIONS NOT
greater, or his passions more malignant than those
of a very large proportion of men ordinarily deno
minated 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 for
bearance that these poor untutored children of im
pulse have invariably shewn.
It is true that occasionally many crimes have
been committed by them, and robberies and mur
ders have too often occurred ; but who can tell what
were the provocations which led to, what the feel
ings 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 Euro
pean's shed by natives, a torrent of theirs, by Euro
pean hands, would crimson the earth.*
* " 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 north
western district (of Port Phillip), since its first occupation by
settlers —
" Total number of white people killed by Aborigines . 8*
"  Aborigines killed by white people . 43."
This is only in one district, and only embraces such cases as

CONFINED TO THE NATIVES. 157
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 settle
ments, have totally disappeared. It is equally in
disputable 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 set
tlements 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
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.

158 OUR INJUSTICE
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 con
cerning the right of one race of people to wrest from
another their possessions, simply because they hap
pen to be more powerful than the original inhabi
tants, 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.*
Without laying claim to this country by right of
conquest, without pleading even the mockery of
* " 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.

TOWARDS THE NATIVES. 159
cession, or the cheatery of sale, we have unhesitat
ingly entered upon, occupied, and disposed of its
lands, spreading forth a new population over its sur
face, 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 endea
vouring 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 concili
ation, 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 produc
tions ? 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

160 WRONGS OF
game of the wilds that the European does not
destroy for his amusement are driven away by his
flocks and herds.* The waters are occupied and
* " 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." — Greifs 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 civilised people? He believed
that their affections were as warm as the Europeans." " Per
haps 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 1 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 be en 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 ?

THE NATIVES. 161
enclosed, and access to them is frequently forbidden.
The fields are fenced in, and the natives are no
longer at 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 habita
tion of the intruder, they are probably chased away
or bitten by his dogs, and for this they can get no
redress.* 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 civili
zation 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 succes-
* 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.
VOL. II. M

162 WRONGS OF
sion 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.*
What are they to do under such circumstances,
or how support a life so bereft of its wonted sup-
* 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 com
manded, 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 pro
vided, (viz. travelling annually to the sea coast in quest of shell
fish, 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."

THE NATIVES. 163
plies ? 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 pre
sence, 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 sup
plied 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 fur
ther, 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 over
drawn ; there is no trait in it that I have not per
sonally witnessed, or that might not have been
m 2

164 WRONGS OF
enlarged upon ; and there are often other circum
stances 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 indi
cate the degree of injury our presence unavoidably
inflicts. I would hope, also, to point out the jus
tice, as well as the expediency of appropriating a con
siderable 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.*
* " 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 pro
moted 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
dep6ts 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 endea
vour 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.

THE NATIVES. 165
Surely if we acknowledge the first principles of
justice, or if we admit the slightest claims of huma
nity 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 Go
vernment, 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 out-
stations. Little is expended in the daily provi
sioning 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 inhabi
tants precludes the Aborigines from resorting to the
same sources to supply their wants, that are open to

166 WRONGS OF
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 abun
dant 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 per
nicious 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 the Aborigines' Protection Societv, 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

THE NATIVES. 167
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, asso
ciated 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 degra
dation 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 ap-

168 WRONGS OF
plication 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 coloni
zation, 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, uncivi
lized being, driven from his home, deprived of all
his ordinary means of subsistence,* and pressed
perhaps by a hostile tribe from behind, should occa
sionally be guilty of aggressions or injuries towards
* " 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.

THE NATIVES. 169
his oppressors? The wonder rather is, not that
these things do sometimes occur, but that they
occur so rarely.
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.*
* " 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.

170 WRONGS OF
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 mani
fested as to their fate. I do not wish it to be
understood that such is always the case; on the

THE NATIVES. 171
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, in
terests, 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* of the settlers
* 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 sacri
fice of European life, by the hands of the savage tribes, among
whom you live, if unprovoked and unrevenged, may justly claim

172 WRONGS OF
upon the Aborigines, in which it is stated that men,
women, and children have been surprised, sur
rounded and shot down indiscriminately, at their
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 state
ment 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 1"
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-
deraug, 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-

THE NATIVES. 173
camps at night ; or who have heard such deeds,
or other similar ones, justified or boasted of, it
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 wit
nesses, I proceeded to view the bodies, upon which were found
the wounds as set forth in the accompanying rerjort.
" 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, &c.
(Signed) " C. W. Sievewright.
" James Croke, Esq., Crown Prosecutor,"
&c. &c. &c.
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-gou-
ing,' 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.

174 WRONGS OF
will readily be believed to what an extent the feel
ing I have alluded to has occasionally been carried,
and to what excesses it has led.*
" 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, (abullct.)
" No. 5. Woman wounded ; gun-shot wound in back (a ball),
gun-shot through right hand (a ball).
(Signed) " C. W. Sievewright."
* 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 des
patch 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 com
pensation 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 punctually, every in
stance 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 Govern
ment in England towards the Aborigines ten years ago, and it

THE NATIVES. 175
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,* and to the acts of the Colonial
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. * 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 para
graph : —
" The following conversation between two gentlemen took place
in the military barrack square, on Tuesday, just after the execu
tion of the seven murderers of the native blacks, and while Gene
ral 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

176 WRONGS OF
Governments themselves, who have found it neces
sary, sometimes, to prohibit fire-arms at out-stations,
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, \7th March, 1843.
" Sir, — I have the honour to report, for his Excellency's in
formation, 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 Abori
ginal 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 impos
sible 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, &c.
(Signed) "C. J. La Trobe."
"The Honourable the Colonial Secretary,
&c. &c. &c."
Rumours of another similar occurrence existed in the settle
ments north of Sydney, about the same time. To the inquiries

THE NATIVES. 177
and have been compelled to take away the assigned
servants, or withdraw the depasturing licences of
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 Bode, who returned from an excursion to
*' Umpie-boang" in the first week of April, that natives of dif
ferent 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 run
away 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. VOL. II. N

178 WRONGS OF
individuals, because they have been guilty of aggres
sion upon the Aborigines.
" 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, &c.
(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 sta
tion in the north of this district. A report of the kind certainly
exists among the two tribes I fell in with, namely, the Dallamba-
rah 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 em
ployed frequently neglect to bury the carcases, it is very possi*

THE NATIVES. 179
The following extract from a letter addressed by
the Chief Protector of the Port Phillip district, Mr.
ble that the Aborigines may have devoured them, particularly the
entrails, which they are very fond of, and that hence some acci
dent of the kind alluded to may have occurred without their
knowledge. " I have, &c.
(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 indi
cation of the feeling among the lowest classes in the colonies, and
of the harrowing deeds to which that might lead.
Extract from South Australian Register, 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 dis
appointment 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. Lang-
horne'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 hnow
that many overland parties have not hesitated tojireat the natives
wherever they appeared ; and it is possible that the tribes now
hostilely disposed may have received some provocation."
N 2

180 WRONGS OF
Robinson, to his Honour the Superintendent at Mel
bourne, 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 re
spectable body of men, many, to my knowledge,
deeply commiserating the condition of the natives ;
a few have been engaged in the work of their ame
lioration ; 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 ame
lioration ; 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 gene
ral 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

THE NATIVES. 181
Aborigine. The difficulty on the part of the Abori
gine 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 gene
rally of the bad character of their men. The say
ing 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 observa
tions. " The bad character of the white servants is a reason
assigned by many settlers for keeping the natives

182 WRONGS OF
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 sta
tions; 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 ser
vants 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 appoint
ments, 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

THE NATIVES. 183
of the Colony, and a Commissioner of Crown Lands,
In the Geelong district.
" In offeringmy 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 idle
ness, 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 con
duct 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 gaolr
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

184 WRONGS OF
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 im
partial 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 detec
tion 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

THE NATIVES. 185
guilty.* 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.
A single instance or two will be sufficient, in illus
tration of the impunity which generally attends
these acts of violence. On the 25th January, 1 843,
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
* Vide Chapter 9, of Notes on the Aborigines.

186 WRONGS OF
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 cir
cumstances 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 man
slaughter 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,

THE NATIVES. 187
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 "'as
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 nierciful, 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."*
Other cases have occurred in which some of the
circumstances have come under my own nptice, and
when Europeans have committed wanton aggres
sions 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
* I believe this case was not brought to trial.

188 WRONGS OF
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 pro
tector, 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 circum
stances connected with the slaughter of several
Aborigines, by a Mr. Frances. On the 9th and 10th

THE NATIVES. 189
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 cir
cumstances, I most cordially agree. In Frances'
case, the perpetrator admits his having shot four
Aborigines, and for aught that is shewn to the con
trary, it was an unprovoked aggression. The
natives, whose testimony Mr. Parker states, can be

190 WRONGS OF
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 " Port-
bull ucs,' a people inhabiting the country near
Mount Zero, the northernmost point of the Gram
pians. 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 Gram
pians. " 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

THE NATIVES. 191
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. — A Han'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

*92

WRONGS OF

heard of since. No legal evidence was attainable in
this latter case. There is no doubt the charges pre
ferred 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 ' Caranger-
mite,' 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 pro
vince." .
Upon the same subject, His Honour the Super
intendent 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 unfor
tunately been in which the lives of the Aborigines

THE NATIVES. 193
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 con
viction. Independently of the instances of wanton outrage,
which sometimes are perpetrated on the outskirts of
the settled districts by the lowest and most aban
doned 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,* and thus the very efforts made to preserve
* 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 pre
vention 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 Govern
ment 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
VOL. II. O

194 WRONGS OF
peace and good order, have inadvertently become
the means of subverting them.
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 sup
posed upon the track of the murderers. 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
the effectual protection of these people, and especially of those
which must originate from the exasperation of the settlers, on
account of aggressions <m 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."

THE NATIVES. 195
advanced nearer, the guide saw that he was mis
taken 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 na
ture 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 mur
derers, 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 catas
trophe ; 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 Govern-
men Resident at Port Lincoln, from whom I re
ceived 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 police
man, for attempting to escape from custody, when
taken in charge on suspicion of being implicated in
o 2

196 WRONGS OF
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 Mis
sionaries, who has for some years past been sta
tioned among the Port Lincoln natives, and is inti
mately acquainted with their language.*
" 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 Lin
coln 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 cha
ritable correspondent added, ' Unfortunately only in
the arm, instead of through the body.' From these
* 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 im
pressed with a conviction of the evils and injuries to which they
ar» subject from our anomalous position with regard to them.
I have quoted it, therefore, not for the purpose of casting im
putations 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 con
ceived and entered upon with the best intentions, produce in
their result the most unmitigated evils.

THE NATIVES. 197
statements one would infer that the parties con
cerned 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 ease 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 cap
tured last year by Major O'Halloran'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 inhabi
tants, 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

198 WRONGS OF
state, that while searching the man's wallet, he
seized hold of one gun, and when the other police
man 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 pro
bable, 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 sove
reigns, 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

THE NATIVES. 199
wallet not examined the day before when he was in
town ?* 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.
" 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 ;f that he jumped up, and endea-
* There cannot be a greater act of injustice towards the na
tives 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.
f There must, I think, be some mistake here in the phraseo
logy. 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
sufferio z, parties. This shews the absurdity of applying European
custorLs 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 in-

200 WRONGS OF
voured 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.
" 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 men
tioning the party's Christian name ; but, alas ! no
good Samaritan was found amongst these three;
they all passed by on the other side, without alle
viating 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
fluence over them to induce them to give up offenders them
selves. I believe such a system may be devised. — Vide Chapter
IX.

THE NATIVES. 201
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 Chris
tian 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 providen
tially 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

202 WRONGS OF
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, notwith
standing 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 inno
cence; 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

THE NATIVES. 203
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 ob
serving 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 colo
nists are inimical to the natives ; it is worse that the
law, as it stands at present, does not extend its pro
tection to them ; but it is too bad when the press
lends its influence to their destruction. Such, how
ever, is undoubtedly the case. When Messrs. Bid-
die 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 mu
tilated 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

204 WRONGS OF
trust that I have sufficiently shewn that the cha
racter 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 con
trary, 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 estab
lishing that such is the case, it must be evident that
it is incumbent upon us not only to make allow
ances when pronouncing an opinion on the charac
ter 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 amelio
ration may be produced, both in their moral and
physical condition.*
* " We say distinctly and deliberately that nothing compara
tively 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

THE NATIVES. 205
I shall now proceed to give an account of the
appearance, habits, mode of life, means of subsist-
ance, social relations, government, ceremonies, super
stitions, numbers, languages, &c. &c. 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.
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.

CHAPTER II.
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE  DRESS — CHARACTER  HABITS OF
LIFE— MEETINGS OF TRIBES— WARS  DANCES— SONGS.
The Aborigines of Australia, with whom Euro
peans 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 circum
stances or influences, and such as might naturally be
expected to be met with among a people spread
over such an immense extent of country. Com
pared 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 per
fect and beautiful, though the dental arrangement fs
sometimes singular, as no difference exists in many

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE. 207
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 fre
quently 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 corpu
lency. 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 pro
priety 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 attenu
ated. 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

208 PHYSICAL APPEARANCE.
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 fire
wood, 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 appear
ance 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 — occasion
ally even pretty.
The colour of the skin, both in the male and

DRESS. 209
female, is generally black, or very darkly tinged.
The hair is either straight or curly, but never ap
proaching to the woolliness of the negro. It is usually
worn short by both sexes, and is variously orna
mented at different periods of life. Sometimes it is
smeared with red ochre and grease ; a,t other times
adorned with tufts of feathers, the tail of the native
dog, kangaroo teeth, and bandages or nets of different
kinds.* 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
* The same fondness for red paint, ornaments of skins, tufts
of feathers, &c, is noticed by Catlin as prevalent among the
American Indians, and by Dieffenbach as existing among the
New Zealanders.
VOL. II. P

210 DRESS.
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 cover
let; by the skins being stretched out and dried in the
sun, and then sewn together with the sinews of the
emu, &c. 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 uncon-
fined, 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.*
In either if the skin be a handsome one, the dress
is very pretty and becoming.
On the sea coast, where the country is barren,
* A similar custom prevails among the women of the
American Indians. — C"tl>n. vol. ii. p. 135?.

CHARACTER. 211
and the skins of animals cannot readily be procured,
sea-weed or rushes are manufactured into garments,
with considerable ingenuity. In all cases the gar
ments 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 enter
tained 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 dis-
p 2

212 CHARACTER.
position,* 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 over
come 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.
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
* 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.

CHARACTER. 213
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 occa
sions 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 fine 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 dis
may, 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

214 HABITS OF LIFE.
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 Euro
pean 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 dif
ferent 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, corre
sponding 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,

HABITS OF LIFE. 215
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 con
versation with freedom, or in their ordinary manner.*
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 sensi
bility of feeling. It may often be repressed from pride
or policy, but it will sometimes break forth uncon
trolled, and reveal, that the best and genuine feelings
of the heart are participated in by savage in com
mon with civilized man. The following is an in
stance 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 accom
pany 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
* For the existence of similar customs amongst the American
Indians, vide Catlin, vol. i. p. 56.

216 HABITS OF LIFE.
accompanied me to the house, where every thing-
he saw recalled the memory of his child.
Innate propriety of behaviour is also frequently ex
hibited 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 per
formance, one of the natives standing by as spec
tator, mentioned that a white woman was passing up
the road ; and although this was some little dis
tance 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 them
selves concerned, nor do I hold it to be any proof

HABITS OF LIFE. 217
that they are cowards, because they dread or give
way before Europeans and their fire-arms. So un
equal 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 ac
companied 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, &c. &c. The Abo
rigines 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

2lg HABITS OF LIFE.
saw a small log or root at the bottom of a deep
river. In a locality, however, which is badly wa
tered, 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 ven
turing 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 Euro
peans—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 remain
ing many weeks in one locality, and frequently not
many days. The number travelling together de
pends, 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 cer
tain 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 ;

MEETINGS OF TRIBES. 219
or to assist in the initiatory ceremonies by which
young persons enter into the different grades of
distinction amongst them. The manner and for
malities of meeting depend upon the cause for
which they assemble. If the tribes have been long
apart, many deaths may have occurred in the inte
rim; 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 ami
cable relations with the other, or the reverse.
The following is an account of a meeting which
I witnessed, between the natives of Moorunde (com
prising 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

220

MEETINGS OF TRIBES.

with them as their credentials, long narrow neis,
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 re
sponded 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 ac
companying them a little on one side. They occa
sionally 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

MEETINGS OF TRIBES. 221
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, con
tinuing their wild and piercing lamentations, they
moved up towards the Moorunde tribe, who sat
silently and immoveably in the place at first occu
pied. 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 in
duced 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.

222 MEETINGS OF TRIBES.
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.*
If the meeting of the tribes be for the purpose of
* Chapter V.

wars. 223
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 sup
posed 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

224 wars.
sometimes takes place at night, when fire-brands are
thrown about, spears launched, and bwirris* 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.
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
* A short, heavy, wooden stick, with a knob at one end.

wars. 225
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 men
tioned, 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, evi
dently 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 coun
try and lineage described by the older men. At
these meetings all occurrences of interest are nar
rated, information is given as to the localities in
VOL. II. Q

226 AMUSEMENTS.
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, &c, 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 occu
pations 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

AMUSEMENTS. 227
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 repre
sent 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 unin
teresting compared to them.*
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
* An amusement of the New Zealand children. — Dieffenbach,
vol. 2. p. 32.
Q 2

223 AMUSEMENTS.
the dexterities of warfare, in which they are soon to
be more seriously engaged.*
An amusement of the adults, is a large bunch of emu
feathers tied together, (fig. 1. PI. 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 accom
panied 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 to
gether, 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. Some
times, 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
* For an account of a similar practise among the American
Indians, vide Catlin, vol. 1. p. 131.

i

1

AMUSEMENTS. 229
the pomp and circumstance: of war. Being excellent
mimics, they imitate in many of their dances the
habits, and movements of animals. They also repre
sent the mode of hunting, fighting, love-making, &c.
New figures and new songs are constantly intro
duced, 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 ac
quainted, and which I knew to belong to distant
parts of the country where a different dialect was
spoken, and which consequently could not be under
stood where, I heard them. Many of the natives
cannot even give an interpretation of the songs of
their own districts,* 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. Of these amusements the natives are passionately
fond ; and when once they have so far overcome
their naturally indolent disposition as to be in
duced' to engage in them there is no knowing when
they will give over. Dances are sometimes held
* "Not one in ten of the young men. who are dancing and
singing it, l^nbw 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.

230 DANCES.
during the day, but these are of rare occurrence, and
seem to be in some way connected with their cere
monial 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. Through
out 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 paint
ing 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 quiver
ing 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

DANCES. 231
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, not
withstanding 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 sur
prising 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, &c. and in
these it is amazing to behold the facility and skill
with which they form in close array, spread into

232 DANCES.
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, occa
sionally 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 per
formers. 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

DANCES. 233
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 crouch
ing 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 semi
circle, 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 accord
ingly. In some they are altogether measured and
monotonous, in others very lively and quick, keep
ing the performers almost constantly at a double
quick march, moving in advance and retreat, cross
ing past or threading through the ranks, and using g
kind of motion with the feet in unison with the
music, that bears a strong resemblance to the Euro-

234 DANCES,
pean mode of dancing. At particular points the
figures terminate by some simultaneous motion of
the whole performers, accompanied by a deep, gut-
teral " Waugh,"* 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. 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 mo
tion 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
* 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.

DANCES. 235
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 inter
mingling, the males and females dancing by them-
selves. 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

236 DANCES.
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

DANCES. 237
in a kangaroo skin, with the flesh side outwards,
and painted all over in small while 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 sym
bolise 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 wmle 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

238

DANCES.

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 fea
thers. 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 un
dermost branch.
Having again re
tired towards the hol
low, they remained
there for a few mi
nutes, and then ad
vanced for the third
time. On this occasion, however, instead of the image
or standards, they all carried their spears. After

songs. 239
dancing with these for some time, they went for
ward 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 pro
cured. 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, 1 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 cele
brated, 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

240 SONGS.
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 Schur-
mann, German Missionaries to the Aborigines, will
give an idea of the nature of the songs of the Ade
laide tribe.
KADLITPIKO PALTI. CAPTAIN JACK'S SONG.
Pindi mai birkibirki parrato, TheEuropean food, thepease,
parrato. ( De capo bis.) I wished to eat, I wished to eat.

SONGS.

241

MULLAWIRRABURKARNA PALTI.
Natta ngai padlo ngaityarni-
appi ; watteyernaurlo tappandi
ngaityo parni tatti. (Da capo.)

KING JOHNS SONG.
Now it (viz. the road or track)
has tired me ; throughout
Yerna there is here unto me a
continuous road.

Wiltongarrolo kundando
Kadlottikurrelo paltando
Mangakurrelo paltando
Worrikarrolo paltando
Turtikarrolo paltando

Strike (him, viz. the dog) with
the tuft of eagle feathers.
Strike (him) with the girdle
Strike (him) with the string
round the head
Strike (him) with the blood of
circumcision
Strike (him) with the blood of
the arm, &c. &c.

Kartipaltapaltarlo padlara kun
dando
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.

Durtikarro minnurappindo
Wimmari minnurappindi
Wattetarpirri minnurappindo

Kawemukka minnurappindo
Tarralye minnurappindo
Kirki minurappindo
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
Karro karro kauwemukka
Karro karro makkitia
VOL. II.

Karra yernka makkitia
Makkitia mulyeria

242 S0NG3.
" These words are rapidly repeated to the Ngultas, while under
going 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 Voca
bulary published by Mr. Meyer, another of the Ger
man Missionaries at Encounter Bay.

What a fine road is
> this for me winding
between the hills !

" 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 .
" 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 :

" 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, jieither
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.

songs. 243
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 disagree
ments amongst themselves, which their habits and
superstitions are calculated to foment.

R 2

CHAPTER III.
•FOOD — HOW PROCURED — HOW PREPARED — LIMITATION AS
TO AGE, ETC., ETC.
The food of the Aborigines of Australia em
braces 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 circum
stances. Every district has in it something peculiar
to itself. The soil and climate of the continent
vary greatly in their character and afford a corres
ponding 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 bor
dering 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 dis
tricts there may at particular seasons of the year he 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 exten-

food. 245
sive 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 vege
table 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
lie 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 re-

246 FACILITIES FOR
spect 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 practi
cal experience in the desert, many resources at com
mand 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.* In judging, therefore, of the cha
racter 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
* Vide vol. i. p. 349.

TRAVERSING THE DESERT. 247
danger : he has thus the advantage over the Euro
pean 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 tempera
ment of the savage, give him an equally great ad
vantage. 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.
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 re
pairing 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 col
lect the spangles, and water is sometimes procured
thus in very great abundance.* Should there be
* Vide vol. i. p. 361.

248 MEANS OF
neither rains nor dews, their experience at once
points out to them the lowest levels where the gum-
scrub 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.*
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 re
quires 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 con
sequence of such a very different combination of cir
cumstances would be, that the native would obtain
an abundant and satisfying supply, whilst the Euro
pean 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 occa
sions, I have found to be the case both with myself,
and with natives with me who have not been ac
customed to the scrub, or to this method of pro
curing water. The difficulty and labour of finding
* Vide vol. i. p. 349.

PROCURING WATER. 249
and digging out the roots, our want of skill in se
lecting 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. In
deed, 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 proeure 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

250 VARIETIES
made use of, but the smaller ones generally are se
lected, such as vary in diameter from an inch down
wards. 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 mucila
ginous 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 per
manently 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 chang
ing 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 ; fresh-

OF FOOD. 251
water turtle ; frogs of different kinds ; rats and
mice ; lizards, and most kinds of snakes and rep
tiles ; grubs of all kinds ; moths of several va
rieties ; 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 ; opos
sums ; 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

252 CATCHING CRAY-FISH.
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 inun
dates 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 nu
tritious 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 spec
tacle, 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

TAKING FISH AT WEIRS. 253
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 con--

254 VEGETABLE FOOD.
ditioned 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, &c. 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

CANNIBALISM. 255
limited, or destroyed their original means of sub
sistence, 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 travel
ling, 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, how
ever, 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 diffi
cult 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.*
* The only authentic and detailed account of any instance of
cannibalism, that I am acquainted with, is found in Earlia-

256 MODES OF
Many methods of obtaining the various articles
of food, are resorted to by the natives, some of these
men tary 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 1 1 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

PROCURING FOOD. 257
are very simple ; some exceedingly ingenious ;
whilst others require great tact and skill ; and not a
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 opera
tion was again commenced, and in a few minutes the body dis
embowelled. " 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
VOL. II. S

258

MODES OF

few exercise to their fullest extent those qualities,
which they possess so greatly, and prize so highly,
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 im
patience 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 quan
tity 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 posses
sion, 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 per
mission 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."

CATCHING FISH. 259
such as quickness of sight, readiness of hand, caution
in arranging plans, judgment in directing them,
patience in waiting for the result, endurance in pur
suing, 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
s 2

260 MODES OF
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 gene
rally 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 nishand 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,

CATCHING FISH. 261
seeking shelter in the mud and weeds, only to be
come 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 con
ducted 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 pre
vious 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 parti
cular 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

262 MODES OF
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 peculi
arities 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, gradu
ally emerge, and deliver the fish that have been
speared, to their friends on the shore. If unsuc
cessful they swim a few yards further down, and
dive again with their weapons. And thus they fre
quently 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.

CATCHING FISH. 263
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 be
hind, 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

264 MODES OF
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 calcu
lated 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.
Afire 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 burn
ing a most agreeable fragrance and a powerful and
brilliant light, almost wholly free from smoke.

CATHING FISH. 265
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 seem
ing 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 fre
quently been out with a single native, and seen
him spear from ten to sixteen of these in an hour
or two.

266 FISHING BY NIGHT.
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 sud
denly 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 some
times 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, &c. &c.
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

DIVING FOR MUSCLES. 267
ever make any, though they are glad enough to get
them from Europeans.
The large fresh- water lobster is sometimes pro
cured 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 ex
traordinary 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 with
out ever hurting themselves, and seldom failing to
obtai the object of their search.
Turtle are procured in the same way, but gene
rally 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 ope
ration 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

268 REPTILES AND GRUBS.
" 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.

BULBOUS ROOTS. 269
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 na
ture, 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

270 FRUITS AND BERRIES.
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 exten
sively used by Europeans. The shrub on which
this grows, is very elegant and graceful, and varies
from four to twelve feet in height.* When in full
bearing, nothing can exceed its beauty, drooping
beneath its crimson load.
Another shrub found in the scrubs, may some-
* A species of fusanus.

USED FOR FOOD. 271
times 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,*
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 bound
ing 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 allu
vial 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,
* Nitraria Australis.

272 FRUITS AND BERRIES.
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.*
* Mr. Simpson gives the following account of the Bunya
Bunya, a fruit-hearing 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 gra
dually 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

MANNA — HONEY. 273
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 beauti
fully 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
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."
VOL. II. T

274 WHITE ANTS.
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 mad
man, tumbling over trees and bushes that lie in his
way, but rarely losing sight of his object, until con
ducted 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, ccc. 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

NEST OF THE LEIPOA. 275
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 con
siderable 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 pre
viously 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 arc of a dark green colour
t 2

276 MODES OF TAKING
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 prac
tised. 1st. A native travelling with his family
through the woods, when he sees a kangaroo feed
ing 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 be
fore 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 perse
verance 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

THE KANGAROO. 277
strike it with his spear, seldom quitting his lurking
place without an ample remuneration for his con
finement. 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 con
flict, many of them are slaughtered. At other times,
the ground is so selected as to enable tliem 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 oppo
site 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

278 HUNTING THE EMU
to frequent. These are covered lightly over with
small sticks, boughs, &c. and the animal going to
drink, hops upon them, and falls into the pit with
out 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 se
lected 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 com
pelled, 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 gene
rally comes back every night to sleep on one spot

AND THE OPOSSUM. 279
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 con
cealed, 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

280 MODE OF HUNTING
has recently been there, he then ascends the tree to
look for it ; this, if the tree be in a leaning po
sition, 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 instru
ment 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 an
other 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

THE OPOSSUM. 281
among the boughs; these vary from one foot to
nine, or more, in depthj 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 rust
ling motion made by the animal in shifting its posi
tion, 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 what
ever 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

282 WALLABIE HUNTING.
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 hunt
ing 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

WALLABIE HUNTING. 283
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-wal
labies are speared by the natives creeping upon them
stealthily among the rugged rocks which they fre
quent, 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 lay
ing them one upon another, form, through the scrubs,
two lines of bush fence, diverging from an apex some
times 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 cor
ners 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

284 SPEARING BIRDS.
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 spear
ing 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 throw
ing 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 pre
cision, 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 ascertain
ing where there is a shelving bank to any of the

NOOSING WATERFOWL. 285
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
lieads 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.*
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 care
fully putting the noose over the head of the bird,
draws it under water towards him. After taking it
* Plate 4, fig. 1.

286 NATIVE MODE OF
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, peli
cans, 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 be
tween 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,

NETTING BIRDS. 287
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 sta
tioned at convenient places near, Avith httle round
pieces of bark in their hands to throAV 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 tAvo natives at
the trees utter a shrill whistle, resembling the note
of the hawk, upon Avhich the flock, which usuallv
consists of ducks, lower their flight at once, and
proceeding onwards, strike full against the net,
which is instantly loAvered by the men attending to
it, and the birds are left struggling in the Avater, or
on the ground, entangled in its meshes, whilst the
natives are busy paddling in their canoes, or scam
pering 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 in
clined 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,

288 NETTING BIRDS.
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 occa
sions, 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 prac
tised 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, &c, &c.
Such is an outline of some of the kinds of food

MODES OF COOKING. 289
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 un
necessary 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 com
plete 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 opera
tions 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
VOL. n. u

290 NATIVE OVEN.
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 some
times 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 pro
cess 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

MODE OF COOKING. 291
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 gene
rally, devolves upon the women, except in the case
of an emu or a kangaroo, or some of the larger
and more valuable animals, Avhen 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,.
&c, are usually broiled upon the embers. Roots,
bark of trees, &c, 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, &c 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, &c. 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
u 2

292 NATIVE COOKERY.
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 se
parated 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 en
suring rapid preparation in the process of cooking ;

RESTRICTIONS IN FOOD. 293
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 for
bidden 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

294 FOOD FORBIDDEN AT
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, bandi
coot, old male opossum, wallabie (linkara), coote,
two fishes (toor-rue and toit-chock), &c. &c.
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, &c.
Young females, before the breasts are fully deve
loped, are disallowed the young of any of the kan
garoo 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, &c.

DIFFERENT PERIODS OF LIFE. 295
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), &c. 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 — MAR
RIAGE  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 other
wise 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 asser
tion 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 pro
prietary 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

PROPERTY IN LAND. 297
sufficiency of pieces of white chalk and red ochre
wherewith to bedaub their bodies for their filthy cor-
robberies." Many similar proofs might be given of
the general feeling entertained respecting the rights
of the Aborigines, arising out of their original pos
session 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 accord
ing 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 in
herits, nor has primogeniture among the sons any
peculiar rights or advantages. Tribes can only
come into each other's districts by permission, or in
vitation, in which case, strangers or visitors are
always well treated. The following extract from
Captain Grey's work gives the result of that gen
tleman's observations in Western Australia, corrobo.r-
rated by Dr. Lang's experience of the practice
among the natives of New South Wales, (vol. ii.
p. 232 to 236.)

298 PROPERTY IN LAND.
"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 occasion
ally 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 circum
scribed 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 differ
ence between the Aboriginal and the European ideas of property

PROPERTY IN LAND. 299
m 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 par
ticular district, regard the intrusion of any other tribe of Abo
rigines upon that district, for the purposes of kangaroo hunting,
&c. 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 Euro
pean 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 par
ticular 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 ques
tions on the subject, who were the Aboriginal owners of parti-

300 PROPERTY IN LAND.
cular 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 Aus
tralia 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, tha^
we find, as is certainly the case in Australia, Nullum sine
nomine saxurn. " 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

NATIVE DWELLINGS. 301
other, in the form of a semicircle, as a protection
from the wind, for the head, which is laid usually
elose 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.*
* " 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 some
times double, having two entrances, others are demicircular ;
some are made with boughs and grass, and last are the temporary
screens ; one hut measured 1 0 feet diameter by five feet high,
and sufficiently strong for a man on horseback to ride over.

302 NATIVE DWELLINGS.
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 mate-
" 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 mea
sured 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."

BARK HUTS. 303
rial, 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, &c. &c, are also frequently
made use of by the natives for lodging houses in
cold or wet weather. When hostile parties are sup
posed 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 water
courses, or where there are dense bushes of poly
gonum, or close belts of reeds ; the fires are very

304 ARRANGEMENT OF HUTS.
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 cus
toms and restrictions exist, which are often broken
through, when they congregate in the neighbour
hood of European settlements.
Such is the custom requiring all boys and unini
tiated 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 menstru
ating; and if looked upon by the young males, it is
supposed that dire results will follow. Strangersareby
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

WEAPONS. 305
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 rudi-
mental 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
VOL. II. x

306 WEAPONS.
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 ac
quainted 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, vary
ing 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-5nk, or throw-

WEAPONS. 307
ing 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 accord
ing 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 slip
ping 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 be
tween the fore-finger and the next ; the head of the
spear, in which is a small hole, is fitted to the kan
garoo tooth, and then coming down between the
fore-finger and thumb, is firmly grasped for throw
ing ; the arm is then drawn back, the weapon le
velled 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
x 2

308

WEAPONS.

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 thick
ness, 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 para
bola 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 for
midable weapon, used among the tribes tothe 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 indi
viduals. Another weapon is an angular piece of hard wood,

i \

r)

WEAPONS. 309
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 outof 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 extremi
ties, 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-look
ing 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

310 IMPLEMENTS.
end, which is used as a knife or chisel; flints or
muscle shells are used for skinning animals, dissect
ing food, cutting hair, &c.
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,
&c , 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 six
teen 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,

plats jy

£,-.-/. -A ..-.

IMPLEMENTS 311
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, &c. 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-

312 NETS AND BASKETS.
fish ; a lenko, or small net for hanging round the
neck, to put muscles, cray-fish, frogs, &c. in ; arocko,
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 ; gene
rally 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

/fort/fiS

SKIN CLOAKS. 313
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, &c. 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 be
comes 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

314 THE CANOE.
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 up
setting 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

GOVERNMENT. 315
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 govern
ment existing among a people who recognize no
authority, and where every member of the commu
nity 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 in
fluence 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 im-

316 GOVERNMENT.
plements 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 blind
ness, or impart to the waters the power of destroy
ing life, &c. ; sacred daggers for causing the death
of their enemies by enchantment; the moor-y-tim-
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

GOVERNMENT. 317
inclined, therefore, to think that the degree of esti
mation 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, per
haps, 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, &c. It thus happens that,
although a tribe may be dispersed all over their own
district in single groups, or some even visiting neigh
bouring 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 occu
pation, 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

318 CUSTOMS.
elder men, apart from the others. It not unfre
quently 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 com
pelled 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 va
rious members are left to form their own judgments,
and to act as they think proper.
In their domestic relations with one another po
lygamy 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

SOCIAL RELATIONS. 319
considered the absolute property of the husband,
and can be given away, or exchanged, or lent, ac
cording 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 ar
rangements 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 under
taking of marriage. In those cases where I have

320 MARRIAGE.
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 toag
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.*
* Fceminse sese per totam pene vitam prostituunt. Apud plu-
rimas tribus juventutem utriusque sexus sine discrimine concum-
bere in usus est. Si juvenis forte indigenorum ccetum quendam
in castris manentem adveniat ubi qusevis sit puella innupta, mos
est ; nocte veniente et cubantibus omnibus, illam ex loco exsur-
gere et juvenem accedentem cum illo per noctem manere unde
in sedem propriam ante diem redit. Cui fcemina sit, earn amicis
libenter praebet ; si in itinere sit, uxori in castris manenti aliquis
ejus supplet ille vires. Advenis ex longinquo accedentibus
fceminas ad tempus dare hospitis esse boni judicatur. Viduis et
fceminis jam senescentibus saepe in id traditis, quandoque etiam
invitis et insciis cognatis, adolescentes utuntur. Puellae tenerse
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, ux-
oribus 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, nam fceminas aspicere
haud licitam, decern plus minus uncias longa et circa quatuor
lata insculpta ac figuris diversis ornata, et ultimam perforata
partem ad longam (plerumque e crinibus humanis textam) in-
screndam chordam cui nomen " Mooyumkarr," extra castra in
gyrum versata, stridore magno e percusso aere facto, libertatem
coeundi juventuti esse turn concessam omnibus indicat. Parentes
ssepe infantum, viri uxorum quaestum corporum faciunt. In
urbe Adelaide panis praemio parvi aut paucorum denariorum
meretrices fieri eas libenter cogunt. Facile potest intelligi,

MARRIAGE. 321
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 Ade
laide, a girl about eighteen, was confined, and re
covered slowly ; before she was well the tribe removed
from the locality, and the husband preferred accom
panying 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 re
moved to the mission station, to receive medical attend
ance, 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 help
less and infirm.* In 1839 1 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
amorem inter nuptos vix posse esse grandem, quum omnia quae ad
fceminas attinent, hominum arbitrio ordinentur et tanta sexuum
societati laxitas, et adolescentes quibus ita multae ardoris ex-
plendi dantur occasiones, haud magnopere uxores, nisi ut servas
desideraturos. * "Practised by the American Indians." — Catlin, vol. i.
p. 216. VOL. II. Y

322 MARRIAGE.
care of when discovered, they both died in about
a week afterwards. No age is prescribed for ma
trimony, but young men under twenty-five years of
age do not often obtain wives, there are exceptions,
however, to this: J 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.
Women are often sadly ill-treated by their hus
bands 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 inflic
tion 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 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

MARRIAGE. 323
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."
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
lea dand 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
y 2

324 NOMENCLATURE.
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 wander
ings, which she frequently could not do if encum
bered 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 termi
nation constituting the distinction of name for male
or female, thus : —

If male.

If female.

The 1st child would be called Kertameru

Kertanya

2nd

>»

Warritya

Warriarto

3rd

>>

Kudnutya

Kudnarto

4th

»

Monoitya

Monarto

5th

JJ

Milaitya

Milarto

6th

3)

Marrutya

Marruarto

7th

>>

Wangutya

Wangwarto

8th

,1

Ngarlaitya

Ngarlarto

9th

it

Pouarna

j»

These are given at. birth ; but a short time after

NOMENCLATURE. 325
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, Kadlit-
pinna, the father Of Kadli ; the mother is called Kadli
ngangki, or mother of Kadli, from ngangki, a femafe
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 Mem
parnimbe is as often called by his former name of
Tenberry as his paidronymic ; he is also called occa
sionally 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 War-
rulan, Timarro, &c. yet he is never called War-
rulanimbe, Timarronimbe, &c. The mother's name,

326 NOMENCLATURE.
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, &c.
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 cray
fish of that name, and so on. Other local appella
tions are given referring to some peculiarity of
personal appearance, Parn-gang-gapko, the bald-
headed, Towang Makkeroo, the broken-thighed, &c.
Others again refer to family bereavements, as
Rooptootarap, a father without children, Parnto-
makker, 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, &c. These
are all distinctions, which though readily discoverable
by a person tolerably well versed in the dialect, or

NOMENCLATURE. 327
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 ap
pears 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 be
coming 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).

328 THE TIENDE.
" 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 dif
ferences between the customs and habits of the Abo
rigines of Western Australia, narrated by Captain
Grey, and those in force among the tribes I have
myself been best acquainted with in Southern or

FAMILY NAMES. 329
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
NogonyukMongalung
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 GwerrinjokeMaleoke
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 lati
tude, members of all these families are found. In South Austra
lia, 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.

330 LOCAL APPELLATIONS.
" 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 ordi
nary 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 Narwij-
jerook, 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

DIALECTS. 331
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 dif
ferent dialects meet, the Yakkiimban, 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 un
derstood 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 cir
cumcision 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 extraordi
nary one conjoined with it.* Descending the east
side of Spencer's and St. Vincent's Gulf, and around
* " Finditur usque ad urethram a parte infera penis."

ceremonies. 333
the district of Adelaide, the simple rite of circum
cision 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 south
eastern, 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, distin
guishing 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

334 CIRCUMCISION.
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 in
tended 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 pecu
liar stamping and groaning, beginning at the far end
of the line, and gradually advancing towards the

TATTOOING. 335
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 per
formed 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 distinc
tive 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.

336 CEREMONY OF WflAREPIN.
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, sur
round 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 cloth
ing 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 meet
ings of these tribes, as in the case of the meeting of

CEREMONY OF WHAREPIN. 337
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 de
scribed, 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 littlenets 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 ex
posed, and a Nar-wij-jerook coming to the side of
each, carefully lifted up a portion of the covering
vol. n. z

338 CEREMONY OF WHAREPIN.
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 offi
ciating. 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 loudgutteralWhaugh was uttered by the
other natives around. They were then disenchanted
and the ceremony was over, but for some time after
wards, 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 diffi
cult to find out the names of particular natives, and

CEREMONY OF WHAREPIN. 339
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 speak
ing, 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 inti
mately are neighbouring tribes acquainted with the
peculiar relations subsisting between the members
of each, that there is rarely any difficulty in com
prehending 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
z 2

340 " RENDITCH."
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, &c.
Many tribes! 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 informa
tion respecting them. These scars are confined to
particular tribes whom I have only met with occa
sionally, 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 im
portance that I am aware of is that of tattooing the
back, a long and very painful operation.* The
* 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.

TATTOOING FEMALES. 341
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 per
forms 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 per
pendicular gashes an inch long, three-sixteenths of
an inch deep, and about half an inch apart, in hori
zontal lines from right to left quite across the back,
the rows being half an inch or three-quarters dis
tant from each other.
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 imagin
able, the blood gushes out in torrents, and though
frequently wiped away with grass by some of the
women present, is scarcely removed before the crim
son 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

342 TATTOOING FEMALES.
wipe off the blood. The whole scene is most revolt
ing 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 im
possible 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 scream
ing out in agony, applied her teeth and nails with

TATTOOING FEMALES. 343
such good effect to the thighs of the old lady who
held her down, that the latter was compelled to re
lease 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 tat
tooed, 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

344 FUNERAL CEREMONIES.
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 exami
nation 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 per
son 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 personifica
tion 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

\

i

i

FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 345
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, &c. being previously
sewn up, and the corpse covered with mats, pieces of
old cloth, nets, &c. 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 Alexan
drina, is to construct a platform,* 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
* " They often deposit their dead on trees and on scaffolds."
 Catlin's American Indians, vol. ii. p. 10 — vide also vol. i.
p. 89.

346 FUNERAL CEREMONIES.
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.
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 bark4
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

FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 347
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 prac
tised 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

348 FUNERAL CEREMONIES.
stood across the body, one at the head, and one at
the foot, facing each other.
Having cut above the abdomen the strings bind
ing 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* 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.
* Also an American custom. — Catlin, vol. i. p. 90. Lacerat
ing the flesh at death was expressly forbidden in the Jewish
dispensation* It is practised also in New Zealand. — Vide
Dieffenbach.

FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 349
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,*
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.
Upon the mounds, or tumuli, over the graves,
huts of bark, or boughs, are generall}7 erected to
shelter the dead from the rain ; they are also fre
quently wound round with netting. Many graves
being usually in one vicinity, and an elevated dry
* This appears to he a very general custom, and to be of
Eastern origin. Catlin describes it as always being attended to
at the disposaljof the dead by the American Indians. In South
Africa, however, Moffat states (p. 307), " that the corpse is put
exactly facing the north."

350 FUNERAL CEREMONIES.
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 look
ing 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 ex-

FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 351
tremely 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 5
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.
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 ceremo
nies, or inflict punishment if evil agency is sus
pected 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 ab-
* " 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.

352 FUNERAL CEREMONIES.
sent, 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 Ten-
berry'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 pro
ceedings. Notice having been sent by Tenberry the
evening before, to warn them to be ready, I accom
panied him early in the morning towards the en
campment 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, pro
bably in the light of an accuser ; and behind the
son were the widows, wailing and lamenting bit
terly. After taking the centre of the circle, Tenberry
called for a spear, but no one offered one, he there
fore took a long one from a native in the ring, who

MOURNING FOR THE DEAD. 353
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 unflinch
ingly 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 or
dering 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* and hair, and daubing the head and
breast with a white pigment ; among the women,
* 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, ap
pears very similar to the practices among the Israelites in the
time of Moses. Vide Leviticus xix. 27, 28 ; Leviticus xxi. 5 ;
Jeremiah xlviii. 37; Ezekiel xxvii. 30, 31, 32; Revelations
xviii. 19, &c.
VOL. II. 2 A

354 MOURNING FOR THE DEAD.
by cutting and burning the hair close off* 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 lite
rally 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 carbo
nate 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.)
The lamentations for the dead do not terminate
with the burial ; frequently they are renewed at in
tervals 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 re
currence, a new name is given to the object, and
adopted in the language of the tribe. Thus at
* The women among the American Indians also cut off the
hair close to the head as a sign of mourning. — Vide Catlin, vol. i.
p. 95.

RELIGIOUS IDEAS. 355
Moorunde, a favourite son of the native Tenberry
was called Torpcol, 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 them
selves 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.* 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
* " 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." — Bur-
chell's Bichuana tribes, vol. ii. p. 531.
2 A 2

356 RELIGIOUS IDEAS.
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 be
lief 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.
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, &c, gave names to every thing and
place, placed the natives in their different districts,

EVIL SPIRITS. 357
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 moun
tains, 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* 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 circum
stances they do not like moving about in the dark,
and it is with the greatest difficulty that they are
* 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.

358 DREAD OF COMETS.
ever induced to go singly from one station to another,
a mile or two distant, after night-fall. Notwith
standing 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. 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 prin-

SORCERERS. 359
cipal 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 explana
tion gave him the least satisfaction, he was in such a
state of apprehension and excitement, and he finally
marched off with the Httle 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 ap
pear 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,* wind, hail, thunder,
ice. 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 ex
tracted bv them from individuals who were suffering:
under the withering influence of some hostile sorce-
* Also an American superstition. — Vide Catlin, vol. i. p. 134.
" Sorcerers or rain makers, for both offices are generally as
sumed by one individual.-' — Moffat's South Africa, p. 305.

360 WITCHCRAFT.
rers; the pringurru,a sacred piece of bone (used some
times for bleeding), &c. 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 sick
ness has been produced by a sorcerer of the opposite
tribe, and should the pringurru have been burnt,
death must necessarily follow.
As all internal pains are attributed to witchcraft,
sorcerers possess the power of relieving or curing
tliem. Sometimes the mouth is applied to the sur
face 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,
&c. sufficiently tight to impede circulation ; suction

SURGERY. 361
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 astrin
gent liquid of the nettle bark, or a macerated pre
paration from a particular kind of broad-leaved
grass. Superficial wounds are left to themselves,
and usually heal without much trouble. Malfor
mations 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 forbid
den 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, how
ever, 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 symp-

362 SPIRIT OF THE. WATERS.
toms 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 dis
eases 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 exer-

EXORCISM. 363
cise 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* 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
* " Dancing over him, shaking his frightful rattles, and sing
ing songs of incantation, in the hopes to cure him by a charm." —
Catlin's North American Indians, vol. i. p. 39.

364 EXORCISM.
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 as
suming 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.
It was a long time before I lost a vivid impres.
sion 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 con
tributed to produce a thrilling and imposing effect
upon the mind.
At the Murray River, singular looking places are
found sometimes,
tf^4r&g**~*^<m*r&'!zrs7T^ made by the na-
^~ g tives by piling
small stones close

DISENCHANTING ENCLOSURES. 365
together, upon their ends in the ground, in a shape
resembling the accompanying diagram, and pro
jecting 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 disen
chanting 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: —

366 POWER OF SORCERY.
' ' 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 diame
ter, 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 re
turn 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

CLIMBING UP TO HEAVEN. 367
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 for
getful, 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 aggre
gate 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 resi
dence, neither cultivating the Soil, nor domesticating
animals, they have no pursuits to confine them to
any particular locality, or to cause them to congre
gate permanently in the same district. On the
contrary, all their habits have an opposite ten
dency. 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 con-

NUMBERS. 36.9
tingent 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 dis
trict that may at one time be thinly inhabited, or
even altogether untenanted, may at another be teem
ing 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 Abori
gines. 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 appear
ance 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,
VOL. II. 2 B

370

NUMBERS.

in what appeared to me an arid and foodless
desert. Captain Grey has observed in other parts of Aus
tralia, the same ingenuity and stealth manifested by
them in either cloaking their movements, or conceal
ing their presence, until circumstances rendered it
in their opinion no longer necessary to preserve this
concealment, vol. i. p. 147, he says : " Imme
diately 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 parti
culars 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

NUMBERS.

371

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 dis
trict, 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 atten
tion 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 contapt with Europeans,

Adelaide

Encounter Bay

100

Moorunde

200

Fort Lincoln

340

Hutt River

40

680

or together about 1600.
Taking in the southern districts of South Aus-
2 b 2

372 NUMBERS.
tralia 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 con
siderably 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

NUMBERS.

373

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, &c. enable
them to collect in large numbers, and indulge to
the uttermost their curiosity in observing the novel
ties around them, in meeting strange tribes, and
joining them either in war or festivity, in pro
curing tools, clothes, &c. 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 „ 374
1842 ., 400
1843 „ 450
1844 ,, 793
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.

374 NUMBERS.
2 issues in 1841 the average attendance were 52 men, women, and
12 „ 1842 „ 94 [children
10 „ 1843 „ 136
9 „ 1844 „ 171
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 im
mediately 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

NUMBERS.

375

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 cir
cumstance, 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

376 NUMBERS.
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 assu
ming 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 IJ 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 com
paratively 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

DURATION OF LIFE. 377
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 ex
tended, apply to the natives of New Holland gene
rally. 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

378 INFANTICIDE.
children born on an average to each mother, two
only are reared, and these subject to all the ca-
siialities and dangers which savage life is ex
posed to.*
Upon inquiry into the causes which tend to pre
vent population going on in an increasing ratio
among the natives of Australia, the following ap
pear 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
* 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 ac
curate 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 abo
riginal 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."

DISEASES. 379
young children are peculiarly liable, such as dysen-
try, cold, and their consequences, &c*
Fourthly. Wars and quarrels, occurring some
times 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, &c. 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 Euro
peans, and the infection passed along from one tribe
to another : it has not been experienced now for
many years.f
* Huic accedit, ex quo illis sunt immisti Europaei, lues ve
nerea. Morbum infantibus matres affiant, et ingens multitude
quotannis inde perit.
f Ex morbis quos patiuntur ab adventu Europseorum longe
frequentissima et maxime fatalis est lues venerea. An hie mor-

380 DISEASES.
Many natives of deformed persons are occasionally
to be met with, especially in the extremities. I
bus indigenis, priusquam illis immiscebuntur Europsei erat
notus, sciri nunc minime potest. Ipsi jamdiu ex oriente adduc-
tum dicunt, ex quo maxime probabile videtur, eum, origine prima
ex Europa, inde de gente in gentem per totam pcene continen-
tem esse illatam. Neque dubium eum in gentibus iis quibus
non immiscentur Europsei, neque frequentem esse, nee 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 hse gentes, hunc, sicut ejus
modi alii morbum per contactumcontractum esse illis tamen pestem
cujus indies spectantur tanteetamque terribiles offensiones, vitare
minime curae est. Vidi egomet plurimos non modo segrotorum in
tentoriis otiari, verum etiam fcedatils 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 pcene li-
beri formam atque membra bene formati ; postea autem ex fre-
quenti cum oppido et proximis stationibus commercio, circa
Octobrem 1844, morbos quam maxime horridos contraxerant.
Inde eo tempore moribundi erant plurimi, nonnulli mortui, pau-
cique ex iis, qui frequenter coibant, ex omni eetate et sexu hu-
juscepestisformisomnino expertes erant. Apud indigenas morbus
hie eodein fere modo quo apud Europseos sese ostendere videtur
variis tamen ex causis etiam magis odiosum, eo praesertim quod
pustule rotundse, 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 propin-
quantibus simul horrorem ac nauseam movent. Ulcera haec
aliquando infra sex vel octo menses ipsa se cohserent; plerumque

DISEASES. 38 J
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 ; some
times 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 in
habitants 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 in
stances of this kind. One of the most intelligent
autem incitamentorum et vi causticorum ad locum adhibita infra
hebdomadas tres sanantur. Nee minus apud indigenas quam
apud Europaeos, remedium hujusce morbi speciale : medicamenta
sunt mercurialia, majore tamen illis cum periculo, turn propter
eorum mores, quum quod plerumque sub dio vivunt, omni absente
medicina. Post annum primum aut alteram morbus evanescit,
interdum mortem affert. Semper autem segrotis miseris cruci-
atus maximus et dolores perpetui inde fiunt. 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.

382 CRIMES AGAINST EUROPEANS.
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 unac
quainted 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 nu
merically, 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 vin
dictive people. The following are the returns of
the convictions of natives in South Australia for the
years 1842 and 1843, viz. : —

AGAINST EACH OTHER. 383

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
-
J
2
Resident Magis
iTRATE's
Court.
Assault
0
.
3
3
Breaking windows
1
-
0
0
Intoxication
3
-
0
0
Injuring park trees
0
-
0
2
11
In the colony of New South Wales, the return of
all the trials of the Aborigines, from 1 Oth 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 in
dividuals were sentenced, viz., twelve to death, six to
transportation for ten years, and one to a flogging.*
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
* For particulars vide Papers on the Aborigines of Australian
Colonies, printed for the House of Commons, August 9th, 1844.
384 FORCE OF CUSTOM.
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 im
planted 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 : —

NATIVE CUSTOMS. 385
" 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 en
thralled 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 acquisi
tion 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 gene
rally 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
vol. n. 2 c

386 DISTRIBUTION OF FOOD.
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 col
lect. 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

TREATMENT OF FEMALES. 387
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 com
munities. Well might they retort to our accusa
tions, 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 circum
stances 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 dis
agreeable work of any kind to be done — the woman
is compelled to do it. Is there a scarcity of food
2 c 2

388 NATIVE PUNISHMENTS.
at the camp when the husband comes home hun
gry — the wife is punished for his indolence and in
activity.* The complete subserviency of the younger peo
ple 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 tra
ditional 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 civi
lization 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 punish
ments 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 num-
* 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.

NATIVE PUNISHMENTS. 389
ber 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 cer
tain 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 punish
ment 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

390 GIVING UP CRIMINALS.
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, &C.  GENERAL SIMILARITY
THROUGHOUT THE CONTINENT — CAUSES OF DIFFERENCES
 ROUTE BY WHICH THE NATIVES HAVE OVERSPREAD
THE COUNTRY, &C.
During the last few years much has been done
towards an examination and comparison of the dia
lects spoken by the aboriginal tribes of Australia in
different portions of the continent. The labours of
Mr. Threlkeld, of Captain Grey, of Messrs. Tei-
chelman 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 per
sonal appearance, character, customs, traditions,
dialects, &c. among the many and remotely sepa
rated tribes scattered over the surface of New Hol
land. Each of these, no doubt, varies in many
particulars from the others, and so much so some

392 LANGUAGE.
times, as to lead to the impression that they are
essentially different and distinct.* Upon close
examination, however, a sufficient general resem
blance 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 con
tinent 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, &c, but only specific ones as applied to each
particular variety of tree, fish, bird, &c. The car
dinal numbers, being only carried up to three, there
being no degrees of comparison except by a re
petition to indicate intensity, or by a combination of
opposite adjectives, to point out the proportion in
tended, and no distinction of genders, if we except an
attempt to mark one among those tribes who give nu
merical names to their children, according to the order
of their birth, as before mentioned, j" All parts of
speech appear to be subject to inflections, if we except
adverbs, post-fixes, and post-positions. Nouns, ad
jectives, pronouns and verbs have all three numbers;
* 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.
t Chap. IV. page 324.

LANGUAGE. 393
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 attri
bute it may possess ; thus, rice is in the Moorunde
dialect called " yeelilee" or " maggots," from an ima
gined resemblance between the two objects.
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 sepa
rated. 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 neighbour
hood 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

394 LANGUAGE.
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.

English.

"Western
Australia.

Adelaide.

Encounter Bay.

Parnkalla, or
Fort Lincoln.

Aiawong, or
Moorunde.

Boraipar, or
East of
Moorunde.

Yak Kumban, or
Darling.

Head of Great
Australian Bight.

Murrumbidgee.

I

Nganya

Ngaii

Ngape

Ngai, ngatto

Ngappo

Yet-wa

-

Ajjo

Naddo

Thou

Nginnee

Ninna

Nginte

Ninna

Ngurru

Nin-wa

Nimba

Jan-na

Nindu

She

Bal

Pa

Kitye

Parma

Nin

Nin-yala

We ^
Ye

Nganneel
Arlingul K urang

Ngadlu Na

NganeNgune

NgarrinyalboNuralli

NgennoNguno

Yang-wer

Inno-wa

They
Balgoon
Parna
Ear
Yardna
Ngau-o
Woot-to
Aneuglia
We two
Ngal-li
Ngadli
Ngele
Ngadli
Ngel-lo
Ngal-long- alle
Allewa
You two
Newball
Niwa
Ngurle
Nuwalla
Ngupal
Wool-lang
They two
Boala
Purla
Kengk
Pudlanbi
Dlau-o
Bool-lang
Kitto
One
Two |
Three j
FourMany
Gyne, orKain
EarduraNgarrill Partanna
KumandePurlaityeMarnkutyePurlaitye pur-laitye
Towata
YammalaityeNing Kaiengg
Ninggengk Nappalder,
maltaiar
Eukkokukko Ruwar
Kuma, Kub-
mane
Kuttara,Kal- belli
Kappo
Kulbarri
Meiter
Tang kul
Tang kul
meiter
Tang kul
tang kul
Neil ko
Kei-arpePoo-lette Pooleckwia
Poolette Poo-
lette
Kit-tarwe
NeetcharParkooloo
Parkool neet-
charri
Ool-lar-rer
Gum-me-ra Koo-te-ra
Mitong
Bul-la
Bul-la-mitong Mad-dau
Few
Warrang
Kutyonde
Baupalata
Pooleckwia
A-lam-mera
w
oto
COCO
396

DIALECTS.

T^Tpfltorn - -

Head of the

Parnkalla

Aiawong

1

English.

TT COliCl 11
Australia.

GreatAustralian Bight

or
Port Lincoln.

Adelaide.

or
Moorunde.

Encounter Bay.

c

Ngang-ga

Tchin-du

Yur-no

Tindo

Ngan-kur

Nang-ge

San <

Bat-ta

f
Meki
Per-ar
Pir-ra
Pi-ki
Kak-kir-ra
Mar-ke-ri
Moon <
Me-makMe-uk
Yaa-win
4
Star \
Mil-yarm
Nan-gar
Kal-ga
Pur-le
Pur-le
Pil-le
Tul-de
Fire \ f
Kal-la
Kal-la
Gad-la
Gad-la
Ka-bung-go
Bru-ge
Kuyp-be
Kau-we
Ka-pi
Kau-we
Ngook-ko
Tap-pa- tau-we
Water <
Kow-win
Gab-by
Gaip-py
Kau-o
Ngu-ke
(
Gur-r-gel
Min-yu-ro
Min-y-ara
Manu-py-a-
Tar-kool-len
Ta-lin
V
Ny-et-ting
Pai-al-la
rin-de
Yorte
Cold <
Nag-o
Many-a-pai- anua
Man-nu-ren de
v-
Kal-lar-uk
Gad-li-ra
Kam-ba-ren-
Whin-ye-an-
Wal-de
Hot )
Pul-la
de
ga
Klatt-in
War-du
Kurl-yiu
c.
Wal-tar
(
Noo-yung
War-ri
Dak-ko
Maiye
Wind j
(
f
Jee dee
oon-da-ga
Wirra
Man-ya
Mak-ke-ra
Par-nar
Rain «{
Kunto-ro
Mul-ku-ri
I
Father
Ham-nun
Mum-ma
Pap-pi
Yer-Iit-ta
Pe-ta
Nga-i-ye-ra
Mother
Ngan-gan
Ngam,mait-ya
Ngan-kit-ta
ach-er |
Nin-ke-ri
Wife j
Kardo
Kun-nal
Yan-gar-ra
Yan-gar-ra
Ngam-mait-
Nape
Kar-te-ti
Kar-to
ko
Woman |
Ya-go
Me-lah
Wy-e-bolia
Pal-la-ra
Ngam-mait- ya
Yar-tu-weMi-mime
Egg {
No \
Noor-go
Gal-pin
Be-be
Mu-ka
Tol-lun-ko
Pel-le-te
Yu-a-do
Muk-ka, Ger-
Mak-ka
Ma-lan-na
Yamp-ko
Tarnau,-Tauo
ga
Yes
Ee-ee-kwa
Yal-da
Ya, Yandi,
A-wo
Ne, Ti-a-ti
Ai-ai, Nin
Head
Kat-ta
Kar-ga
Kak-ka
Ma-karta
Pet-po-ga
Kur-le
Hands j
Feet
Myre-a
Merrer
Mar-ra
Mar-ra
Man-nour-ko
Jeena
Jinna
Id-na
Tidna
Dtun
Tur-ne
Eye
Mail
Mail
Me-na
Me-na
Kol-lo
Nose
Mool-y-a
Mul-Iah
Mud-la
Mud-la
Roon-ko
Ko-pe
Tooth
Nal-go
E-rai
i-ra
Ti-al-la
Ngen-ko
Ture
Men or
Yoon-gar
Malta
Mey-u
Ma-ru
Narr-inyeri
people
Kor-ne
DIALECTS.

397

Boraipar, or
East of Moorunde.

Lako
Hindmarsh

Nau-wing-y Mit-y-ahToot-te Wan-nap-pe Wol-pool
Tar-nar K6ne-ne Meen-je-mun

Wir-rin-go-non
Koo-y-yoo-o-non

Meen-chyMarm-me Parp-pe Mut-to-minLi-u
Me-rik-ki LattoPoor-paiMan-nan-gyTchin-nang-y Mer-ring-y Cheen-jeLee-ang-y
Woo-ta-wolli

Lake
Mundy

Narwee
Yav-re-kud-y-ab Tourd Whee-y
Wan-y-up Gart-yin
Allan-go-pe
Mey-en-tumong

Thar-re-rong

Bam-bourk

Yeer-ring- min-ap
Whee-in

Bar-reit

Moot-mote

Yak Kumban, or
Darling.

Moon-mut- wam-ma

Kun-ny Mam-ma

Mar-kor-raj -j e-o

Mal-ing
Bo-rak

Bo-rope-pi-naek Man-ny-ah
Jin-nerr Mer
Kar

Meer-rang Kar-bung
Tung-an

Yuko

Paitch-o way

Pool-le Wheen-je Koon-nea
Tin-bom-ma

Yek-ke-ma- len-na

Murrumbidgee, or
Hume river.

Mail-yu- wonda
Malwolda Kan-bea
Am-Mo-gai noong-go

Perte Par-ru-wer
Ar-ta-wir-ri

Molonglo, or
Its vicinity.

Maru

Ye-rai

Ku-on

Mim-ma Wee-inWong-gaKal-lin

Bal-lii-dai
Yeer-ring-gi

Mum-bau-ra
Whin-nue Yerai-to-laelKam-bey-an-no Thou-roKerarwongKe-rong
Yu-rong BundinyahKunny Mam-maIn-ner Bal-laj-je-roKob-ba-ka Whir-rai
Yar-lo, kna
Bal-lan Mur-ru-gan
Tjin-nuk Yau-nowayMil Moo-roo-daYee-ran Maing

Eur-roga Bug-ga-rangMum-maitCob- bo-ton

Giuaga Gar-roul Kan-byMur-go

Naij-jon

Kar-rat-taKunu-go-non

Whin-nue

Ban-dong Ko-rai Naj-jan-da

Bal-lain-dai
Ko-bong-go
Moor-ro, ou.ouk
Nae, al-lah
Ko-ta-jongMar-row-la
Jin-y-gy
Magalite NoorMai-en

398 DIALECTS.
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.* This view is still further
strengthened, by including in the comparison the
weapons, habits, customs, and traditions, of the
various tribes.
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
* 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 httle short of absolute cer
tainty." — Vestiges of the Creation, p. 302.

DIALECTS. 399
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 Dar
ling near Laidley's Ponds, and forms in its varia
tions 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 desi
rable 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.

A SPECIMEN OF THE DIFFERENCE OF DIALECTS SPOKEN BY THE NATIVE TRIBES OF PORT PHILLIP."

Pine gonne or Na
English.
Woddowrong, or Corio
Natives.
Koligon, or Colack Natives.
Dautgart, or Natives to the
West of Colack.
J hongworong, or Goul-
burn Natives.
tives of Junction of
Gonlburn with
Murray.
Gnurellean, or Natives
West of Carapaspefe.
Head
Mor-rok-gnet-ok*
Mor-rok-grun-ok
Be-nia-nen
Mor-rom-gna-ta
Po-ko
Tong-go-gnen-a
Eyes
Mer-gnet-ok
Mer-gnen-ok
Mer-gna-nen
Mer-ing-gna-ta
Ma
Mer-e-gnen-a
Forehead
Ment-gnet-uk
Gner-ongnen-ok
Mer-then-quan- nen
Me-gnen-gna-ta
Mean-de-gnen-a
Nose
Kanug-gnet-ok
Kong-gnen-ok
Kaw-ing-gna-ta
Kow-o
Tan-de-gnen-a
Lips
Wov-ung-gnet-ok
Wor-ung-gnen-ok
Wor-ro-gna-ta
Wor-o
Wor-om-de-gnen-a
Arm
Far-ong-gnet-ok
Ken-e-gnen-ok
Far-ok-gna-ta
Po-re-ne
Tar-ok-e-gnen-a
Leg
Kar-gnet-ok
Kar-e-gnen-ok
Ho-ra-gna-ta
Tut-en-ga
Ko-rom-bognen-a
Foot
Gen-ong-gnet-ok
Ken-ong-gnen-ok
Gnen-ong-gna-ta
Gen-a
Gen-ong-be-gnen-a
Sun
Mer-e
Na
Derug
Now-an
Yourug-ga
Now-wer
Moon
Yern
Bard-bard
Bar-i-nan-nen
Yam-buk
Yourug-kud-a
To-rong-i
Star
Fot-ba-rum
Kar-art-kar-art
Bom-mar-a-morug
Fort
Tut-ta
Tort-tok
Earth
Du
Ta
Mering
Beak
VVok-a
Mil-a
Stone
Lu
Tre
Mor-i
Lang
Bo-ren-a
Kor-dob-e
Fire
Weang
Wean
. •
.
Pe-da
Wem-be
Water
Gno-bet
Kan
Baret
. ¦ •
.
Kor-den-ok
Kangaroo
Ko-im
Ko-ra
Ko-rin
Mar-ons
Ki-e-me
Kori-e
Emu
Kar-wer
Por-i-mul
Por-i-mul
...
Kow-wer
Opossum
Wol-ard
Pong-o
Pi-e
...
Wo-i-e
One
Ko-i-moil
.
, .
Kap
You-a
Lu-a
Two and two
Bul-ad-barp-bul-ad
Bul-ad-duk-bul-ad-duk
Bul-ad-da-bul-da-da
Bul-mo-gur-nen- bul-mo-grur-nen .
Bul-tu-bul-bol- tu-bol
Bo-ri-de-bo-rl-de
oo
* The letters " gn," at the commencement of words and syllables, represent a peculiar nasal sound common in the dialects of Port Phillip J
to form this sound, the organs of speech must be placed in the same position as they are to sound g hard: and then the sound is emitted
through the nose like the letter u. . •—•«•«=*•
SPECIMEN OF FIVE DIALECTS SPOKEN BY THE ABORIGINES
OF THE NORTH-WESTERN DISTRICT.

401

Ehgush.

W rror/no.

Jajowrong.

Knenxoren- WUBRO.

BURAPPliK.

Ta-ounourong.

Father .

Pedouring ettnk

Marmook .

Marmak

Marmook .

Warredoo.

Mother .

Knardon kuettuk

Barbook .

Barpanorook

Barbook .

Barbanook.

Son

Boron

Boboop

Wat ye pook

.

Boboop.

Daughter

Bagornok .

Tor roi

Mangapook .

Lay u rook .

Baguroo.

Brother

Warnoong

Warwook .

Warwook

Warwook .

Parngannoo.

Sister

Wairn ga knettuk

Kotook

Kotoogan garook

Kotook men-
nook

Bainbainoo.

Husband

War ringoor tan-
nooh
Nannapoon goora-

Nannetook

Nannetook .

Nannetook

Nangoronoo.

Wife . .

Marrarbook

Nettargorook

Mater mennook

Beembannoo.

nook

Mao . .
Gole
Gole
Gole
Woitu-bullar (pl-)
Goleen.
Woman .
Bagorook .
Ture
Bien biengu
bullar
Lalli bullar .
Lay u rook .
Badyuroo.
Old man
Woorine wooring
Knarmbeet
Onyirn
Ti yin gular.
Old woman
Mondegorook .
Onyimgorook
Ony im gorook
Onyimgorook .
Week week.
Black man
Hangondedook .
Bango-dedook
Bangodedook
Bangondeyook .
Mararmgon- deg.
Marramboo.
Body
Bangik
Bangook .
Bangook
Bangook .
Soul . .
Murrum knook
Mooroopook
Mooroopook .
Knanbileknook
Moorooboo.
White man
Amygeet .
Amygeet .
Amygeet
Moandeet .
Amygee.
Skin . .
Tallanook
Meetook
Meetook
Meetook .
Darboo.
Fat . .
Koreetook
Bairpulluk
Bairpulluk .
Bairpulluk
Mambooloo.
Bone . .
Goorook .
Kalkook
Kalkook
Mairderook
Kalgoo.
Blood .
Goortan yook .
Go rook
Goorkook .
Goorookook
Gurugoo.
Head . .
Moorn yook
Bourpook .
Bourpook .
Bourpook .
Kowanoo.
Eyes . .
Mirrook .
Minnook .
Minnook
Minnook .
Mingoo.
Ears . .
Wingook .
Wimbulook
Wimbulook .
Wimbulook
Wirringoo.
Mouth .
Woorutanyook .
Wooruknook
Wooranyook .
Wooranook
Woorungoo.
Nose . .
Karn yook
Garnook
Garnook
Garnook .
Garknop.
Beard
Nareen gan dan
yook
Lean yook
Knarneknook
Knarni knook
Nannin yook .
Kner nin yoo.
Teeth .
Lear nook .
Lear nook
Learnook .
Leangoo.
Tongue .
Tallan yook
Tallknook .
Tallknook .
Talleknook.
Tallanoo.
Fore arm
Yoondap
Yoondap .
Yoondap
Nanne wannoo .
Yoondaboo.
Hand .
Munangin
Munnar
Mun ne knook
Munnanook
Munangoo.
Thigh .
Karreem nook .
Karrepook
Karrepook
Karreboo .
Tarrangknoo.
Leg-
Loortam nook .
Burapook
Burapook
Burapook . .
Gooramboo.
Foot . .
Tinnanook
Tinnanjook
Tinnan jowook
Tinnanook
Tinnanoo.
Fire . .
Wing
Wee
Wee
Wannap . • .
Wein.
Water
Moabeet .
Wonyeram
Kat yin
Karteen .
Parn.
Rain
Mundur .
Woller
Woller .
Metark
Yayal.
Thunder
Mundur .
Mundur
Mundur
Mundarra
Moondabil.
Earth .
Dar .
Dar
Dar
Dar .
Be-eek.
Stone
Lar
Lar
Lar . .
Lar .
Moid yerre.
Wind .
Moonmoot
Mirreen
Mya
My-ya
Gooree.
Sky
Woorer woorer
Woorer woo
Woorer woorer
Woorer-kalkook
Woorer woo-
Sun
Mirri
rer .
Nowe
Nowe .
Nowee
Nummi.
Moon
Minyan
Yern
Yern
Wiying wil
Minnun.
Stars
Toort barain
Toort
Toort .
Toort
Toort.
Cloud .
Lark
Murrong .
Murrong
Murrong .
Lark.
Yesterday
Taleyu
Talege
Talege .
Tallegallegor .
Yullongoi.
To-morrow
Yeramun .
Bairpobarrah
Bairpobarrah
Bairpoorm
Yeramboin.
Day
Mirriyu .
Noweyu
Noweyu
Nowegal .
Karremeen.
Night .
Moorkalyn
Boorroinyu
Booroinyu .
Booroinyetta
Boorointlyee.
Kangaroo
Goim
Goora
Goora .
Gooreyeer
Marram.
VOL. II.
2 D
SPECIMEN OF FIVE DIALECTS SPOKEN BY THE ABORIGINES.— continued.

English .

WlTOUBO.

Jajowrong.

Knenkohem- WTTItRO.

BuRAPPER.

Ta-oungorong.

Opossum

Wollert

Weila

Weila .

Weela

Wollert.

Dog

Garl

Garl

Garl

Werengun

Yerangun.

Emu

Kowe

Harramul .

Yowerre

Kowe

Barramul.

Tree

Koor par gerong

Kalkpu Gher-
ra

Kalk pu gherra

Tark Tawooh .

Kalk-par-ge- rong.

Grass

Bohiet

Boin .

Bo hiet

Buhiet

Barnoom.

Bark

Mooriet

Myabert

Marrartak

Moorartap

Moorartap.

Leaf

Mooran

Gerrar

Gerrar .

Gerra r

Gerong.

Flower .

Goora

Duwin

Goen goen

Goorr

Gooroo.
Large Spear
Karp
Kouiyun
Koiyun .
Koiyun
.
Koiyun.
Reed Speer
Tark
Tark
Dark .
Tarr
Derar.
Boomerang
Wangim
Tatim tatim
Tatoom tatoom
Warn
Wangim.
Battle-axe
Leangil
Learwil
Learwil
Learwil
.
Leungail.
House
Karrong
Lar
Lar
Larr .
Yillum.
Great
Detarbul
Knooreeta- book
Wanemook
Murt yowook
Kooroonandook
Woortabook.
Little .
Nany a korooh
Wardebook
Murtook .
Wi korook.
Alive
Mooron
Mooron
Mooron
Moorun
Mooron.
Dead .
Detarwa
Deryuug .
Detyung
Weekin
Werregi.
Bad
Noolam
Yurrong
Yartin yar
Yettowarndook
Noolam;
Good .
Koenebanyook
Talkook .
Talkook
Talkook .
Wan wan goo,
Long
Nerrim
Karpool
Tuwurnge
Tuwarnandook .
Yurobot.
Short .
Moeit
Moet
Moet
Tuliiwandook .
Moert.
Cold
Molongetting .
Motangin .
Motangorin .
Lokan yurain .
Motaugan.
Warm .
Narwoorarning
Wootyeep .
Wooty eep
Boorook .
Narworing.
One
Koen moet
Kiarp
Kiarp
Kiarp
Koopt you.
Two
Bullait
Bullait
Bullait .
Bullait .
Bullarbil.
Three .
Bullait par koen-
Bullait par
Bullait parkiarp
Bullait kiarp .
Bullarbil bar-
moet
kiarp
boop.
Four
Bullait bullait .
Bullait bullait
Bullait yown
bullait
Bullait bullait .
Bullarbil bul
larbil.
Plenty .
Wurreyoolyool .
Kurt kurt .
Kurt kurt yar
Parrook .
Woortyannoo.
I . .
Bangeek .
Bangak
Bangak
Bangak .
Murrumbik.
You
Bangen
Bang-in
Bang-in
Bang-in .
MurrumbyCD,
Where *
Wear
Windya
Windyaya
Windya .
Inda.
Here
Kimbarne
Kinkio
Kinkio
Kingooda .
Kalarwe.
Another
Yarknouk
Yuwannook
Yuwannook .
Yuwannook
Yuwangoo.
What for
Wekartook
Wenarra .
Wenarra
Wenarra .
Nann in gar-
took.
Toombak.
To tell .
Keyak
Keyak
Keyak .
Koongak .
To give .
Wowak
Wokah
Wokak .
Wohak .
Wooknak.
To speak
Nartun whoora-
keeh
Woorakeyak
Woorakeyaku
Woorakeyar
Mallam doon-
yer.
To eat .
.
Mullun tak-
Mullun tank-
Takk wan nek-
Tangeyer.
kah
beku
nin
To drink
Knurtul-nopeet
 oppellar
 opellanyook
Kopallanyoo
Opear.
To hear .
Gnarwah . .
Kneerknak
Kneerknak
Knaryin .
Knarngak.
To see .
•
Nark ar
Narkinnewa-
Naryin
Knar nar.
To sleep
Komkarneetyan
Kombeyan ak
noong .
Kombeyanak
Kombeyan win .
Karnambeyan
To steal
Pilmirringoora .
Kunnundillar
Kannand yinnar
Mong kargurar
Peart yin.
To fight
Peet yalleet yan
Dorkt yerar
Dorkelyeer .
Dork alley an .
Wialley an.
To kill .
Bannargak
Berkagak .
Berkin agak .
Talkowak .
Berkagat,
To dance
Kneerekeyan
Yepenyun .
Yepenneknen
Warrepin knan .
Knarger nan.
To make
Mongak .
Mongak
Moyoopah
Tal gonak
Yes
Ye ye
Ye ye
Ye ye
Knaar
Knary ea.
No
Borack
Lowurrong.
Nullun yer .
Burapper .
Targoon.
By and by
Numiet
Numiet
Mallin yook .
Kim barm
Malle mal.
A long time
Tuwumgeeyomeer
Tuwurn keey
Mallarmeer .
Kim bowa
Parmboet.
since
oomeer j
DIALECTS. 403
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 con
firms 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 there
fore 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 Bongarres (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,
2 d2

404 GENERAL SIMILARITY
whilst the dialects spoken in the intermediate ones differ con
siderably 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 conclu-

s i v.«&'iytf^iK/J,»

THROUGHOUT THE CONTINENT. 405
sions, which otherwise might have been almost
certainly deduced.
Connecting, however, and comparing all the facts
with whi<!h we are acquainted, respecting the
Aborigines, it appears that there are still grounds
sufficient to hazard the opinion, that it is not im
probable that Australia was first peopled on its
north-western coast, between the parallels of 12°
and 16° S. latitude. From whence we might sur
mise 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° 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, &c. of the parent tribe in
proportion to the distance traversed, or its isolated

406 SEPARATION OE THE TRIBES.
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* 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 accom
panied 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 varia-
* Vide note at the bottom of page 332, chapter V.

CHANGE IN THEIR CUSTOMS. 407
tion, 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 cere
mony 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 remem
bered or recognised such ceremonials. By extend-

408 ROUTE OF THE NATIVES
ing 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 direc
tion 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 Ade
laide 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, &c. 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

ACROSS NEW HOLLAND. 409
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 modifica
tions, in proportion to the time, distance, or isolated
character of the separation. If we look at the pro
gress of any two parties of natives, branching off
upon different rivers, and trace them, either up
wards 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 lan
guage 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,

410 SPREAD OF THE NATIVES
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,
orby tribes passingwjo the Murray for the same reason.
It is not demanding too much, therefore, to suppose
that the general lines of route taken by the Abori
gines in spreading over the continent of Australia,
have been somewhat analogous to those I have
imagined, or that we can fairly account for any

OVER NEW HOLLAND. 411
material differences there may be in the dialects,
customs, or weapons of the different tribes, by refer
ring them to the effect of local circumstances, the
length of time that may have elapsed since separa
tion, 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 cus
toms, 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 fidelitv 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 pur
pose 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 con
dition 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 civi
lization 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 pro
duced upon simple and untutored races, by the ad
vance of civilization upon them, we have many and
painful proofs. History records innumerable in
stances of nations who were once numerous and
powerful, decaying and disappearing before this

EFFECTS OF CONTACT WITH EUROPEANS. 413
fatal and inexplicable influence; history will record,
I fear, similar results for the many nations who are
now struggling ; alas, how vainly, against this deso
lating 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 coun
try, 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 dis
covery at about 200,000, are stated to have been reduced, or
cut off, to the present population of about 32,000, by a con
tinual system of oppression, which once begun, never slack
ened." Catlin gives a feeling and melancholy account
of the decrease of the North American Indians,*
and similar records might be adduced of the sad
* Vide Catlin's American Indians, vol. i. p. 4 & 5, and vol. ii.
p. 238.

414 EFFECTS OF CONTACT
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.*
Advancing from thence towards the interior a mi
serable 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, j" of once powerful, but now decayed tribes
* " In the first year of the settlement of New South Wales,
1 788, Goveruor 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 indivi
duals alive ! ! "
f "The whole eastern country, once thickly peopled, may now
be said to be entirely abandoned to the whites, with the excep
tion 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, sub-

WITH EUROPEANS. 415
are seen interspersed throughout the country, until
at last upon arriving at the more remote regions,
where the blighting and annihilating effects of colo
nization 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.
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,* so the native, who ought
to be improved by a contact with Europeans, is
overwhelmed and swept away by their approach.
dued, 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." — Strzelecki's N. S. Wales,
p. 350.
* " 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."— Athenaum.

416 EFFECTS OF CONTACT
In Van Diemen's Land the same result has been
produced as at Sydney, but in a more extended and
exterminating manner.* There, instead of a few
districts, the whole island is depopulated of its
original inhabitants, and only thirty or forty indi
viduals, the banished remnant of a once numerous
people, are now existing as exiles at Flinders
Island, to tell the tale of their expatriation.f In
• "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 in
discriminate, 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.
t "At the epoch of their deportation, in 1835, the number of
the natives amounted to 210. Visited by mein 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. Ch'ef Protector Robinson (who re
moved them) observes (Parliamentary Report, p. 198), "When
the natives were all assembled at Flinders Island, in 1835, 1 took
charge of them, and have continued to do so ever since. I did
not find them retaining that ferocious character which they dis
played 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

WITH EUROPEANS. 4J7
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 pro
vince 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 dimi
nution 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, &c.
In April, 1843, or only six and a half years after
South Australia had first been occupied, the Pro
tector of the Aborigines in Adelaide ascertained that
the tribes, properly belonging to that neighbourhood,
consisted of 150 individuals, in the following pro
portions, namely, 70 men, 39 women, and 41
children. Now, at the Murray, among a large num
ber of natives who, until 1842, were comparatively
isolated from Europeans, and among whom are fre-
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."
VOL. II. 2 E

418 DIMINUTION OF THE NATIVES.
quently many different tribes, I found by an accu
rate 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 com
paring 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.*
Again, in 1844, the Protector ascertained from
* This result seems to be generally borne out by the few accu
rate 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 re
siding 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 Pro
tection 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.

SMALL NUMBER OF BIRTHS. 419
the records he had kept that, in the same tribe, there
t 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 pros
titution 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
2 e 2

420 FRUITLESS EFFORTS
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 labour
ing 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.* Neither have the efforts

* 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 conver
sion of some at least of the Aborigines in this part of the colony,
and not to express concern that so many years of constant atten-

OF THE MISSIONARIES. 421
hitherto made to improve the physical circumstances
or social relations of the Aborigines been attended
with any better success. None have yet been in
duced permanently to adopt our customs, or com
pletely 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 testi-
tion 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 con
versation. 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 in
clination 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.' "

422 INTELLIGENCE OF CHILDREN.
mony 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.
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, &c. 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 httle 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

UNFAVOURABLE RESULTS. 423
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 disap
pointed, and they have again descended from the
civilized to the savage state. What can be the causes
then, that have operated to produce such unfavour
able results ?
If we admit, and it is admitted by all whose expe
rience best qualifies them to give an opinion, that the
Australian is fully equal in natural powers and in
telligence, 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 radi
cal 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: —

424 TREATMENT OF THE NATIVES
" 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 la
bour, 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 necessa
rily 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 set-
lers, 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.

BY THE SETTLERS. 425
" 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 sub
jects 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
iu the public street in Perth, in the act of murdering a native
woman, close to the store of the Messrs. Habgood : many Eu
ropeans 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

426 CASE OF MIAGO.
child in the most barbarous manner, close to the house ; her
screams were actually heard by the Europeans under whose pro
tection, 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 re
lapse 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 per
fectly civilized ; he waited at the gun-room mess, was tempe
rate (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 peo
ple 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 sym
pathy 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 1 — what white man would

EFFORTS OF GOVERNMENT. 427
have been his brother ? —what white woman his sister ? He
had two courses left open to him, — he could either have re
nounced 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.

428

The following is an Abstract of the Expenditure in New South

Aboriginal Native
. Institution.

EXPENSE OP EACH MISSION.

YEAB.

Mission of
Inquiry into the
State and
Number of the
Aboriginal
Population under
Lieut. R. Sadlier.

Mission
under the Rev.
L. E. Threlkeld, at
Lake
Macquarie.

Mission
under the Church
Missionary Society,
at Wellington Valley.

German
Mission at
Moreton Bay.

Wesleyan
Mission at
Port Phillip.

£. s. d.

£. *. d.

£. s. d.

£. S. d.

£. i. d.

£. s. d.

1821

185 0 llj

..

..
1822
539 1 0i
..
1823
962 0 0
..
..
1824
212 11 0
..
..
1825
66 6 0
..
1826
225 18 9
186 9 10
..
1827
315 1 9J
201 14 6
12 15 6
..
1828
286 8 7
..
1829
165 3 2
..
..
1830
168 3 7
86 10 4
..
1831
132 10 0
186 0 0
..
..
1832
100 0 0
186 0 0
726 0 6
..
1833
6 5 0
186 0 0
433 6 8
..
1834
186 0 0
500 0 0
..
1835
186 0 0
500 0 0
..
1836
186 0 0
500 0 0
221 11 6
1837
186 0 0
650 0 0
634 11 9}
1838
186 0 0
500 0 0
310 19 2
1,460 11 7f
1839
186 0 0
530 3 0
159 7 C
631 18 6
1840
186 0 0
500 0 0
321 5 10
795 0 5
1841
186 0 0
500 0 0
494 1 4
449 14 10
1842
..
500 0 0
231 0 4
315 0 1
'otal £
3,364 9 10J
388 4 4
2,145 5 10
5,839 10 2
1,516 14 2
4,538 8 9
429

Wales on account of the Aborigines from 1821 to 1842 inclusive.

1

Cost of Blankets

Total Expense
Expense
and
Total Expense
of the
several Missions
of the
Protectorate,
other Expenses,
not included
of the
Aborigines
R E M. A R K S.
in
at
in any
in
each Year.
Port Phillip.
previous Column.
each Year.
£. «.
d.
£. t. d.
£. «. d.
£. *. d.
185 0
11|
..
185 0 llf
The sums, which in the
Annual Statements for the
539 1
0i
..
13 2 IJ
552 3 2
Council were brought to ac
count under the head Abori
962 0
0
..
..
962 0 0
gines, as arrears of previous
years, have, in this Return,
212 11
0
..
..
212 11 0
been posted to the expendi
ture of the year for which
66 6
0
..
..
66 6 0
they were incurred, in order
that the actual expense of
412 8
7
..
..
412 8 7
each year may, as nearly as
practicable, be shewn.
529 11
»i
..
..
529 1 1 9J
286 8
7
..
..
286 8 7
Exclusively of the sums
165 3
o
165 3 2
specified in this Return,
—
..
one-half of the expense of
254 13
11
254 13 11
the Border Police is usually
considered to be incurred
318 10
0
14 0 0
332 10 0
on account of the Abori
gines.
1,012 0
6
..
412 1 8J
1,424 2 2J
The half of this expense
was,
625 11
8
..
340 13 1
966 4 9
1,128 0 6
in 1839 £.5,174 13 0
686 0
0
..
442 0 6
1840 7,512 8 9
1841 8,215 12 0
686 0
0 6
825 17 91
904 10 0
1,511 17 91
1,812 1 6
1842 6,813 15 0
907 11
Total £.27,716 8 9
1,500 11
9J
..
851 19 10|
2,352 11 8
2,457 10
9|-
990 7 6
1,190 4 7
4,638 2 10f
1,507 9
0
3,004 6 0
1 ,330 7 6
5,842 2 6
1,802 6
3
5,611 12 6
961 4 0
8,375 2 9
1,629 16
2
7,618 3 31
847 13 6
10,095 12 11J
1,046 0
5
7,967 5 1
689 10 0
9,702 15 6
17,792 13
13. 1 4
25,191 14 4h
8,823 4 81
51,807 12 2J
430 ATTEMPTS AT IMPROVEMENT
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, how
ever, 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. is

AND CIVILIZATION. 431
noted in the estimates for the Aboriginal Depart
ment. This sum is distributed as follows : —
Salary of Protector . . 36300
Master of Native School at Walkerville 100
Matron of School at Native Location 20
Provisions . . . 150
Donation to Lutheran Mission . ] 00
Miscellaneous . . . 150
£820
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 mission
aries. 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 „ 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

432 ACCOUNT OF SCHOOLS
to dictation. In geography many of the scholars
knew the ordinary divisions of the earth, its shape,
diameter, circumference, and the. names of the con
tinents, oceans, seas, gulfs, &c. &c. together with the
general description of the inhabitants of each part,
as to colour, &c. Of the girls, fourteen had been
taught to sew, and have made upwards of fifty gar
ments for themselves, besides several shirts for
Europeans. Mr. Klose receives as salary £33. per annum from
the Government, and a remittance from his society
at Dresden. The matron of the establishment also
receives £20. 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. Until very
recently this school was taught in the native lan
guage ; 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 attend
ance 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

IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 433
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 apart
ments 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. 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,
vol. n. 2 F

434 THE PROTECTORATE.
one of the missionaries. The Government give £20.
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 manage
ment 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 remu
nerate any natives who may render services to
the Government, or the Protectorate. At Moo
runde, 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 Ade
laide, 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

MISSIONARY STATIONS. 43.5
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 na
tives 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 fre
quently located at other places in the neighbour
hood. 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 vo
cabularies 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 exist
ing 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
2 f 2

436 DEFECTS OF THE
intended for the scholars 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 in
struction. 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 indo
lent 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 sepa
rate. There are still, however, many evils attending
the present practice, most of which arise from the
inadequacy of the funds, applicable to the Abori
gines, and which must be removed before any per
manent good can be expected from the instruction
given. The first of these, and perhaps one of the

SYSTEM OF INSTRUCTION. 437
greatest, is that the adult natives make their en
campments immediately in the neighbourhood of
the schools, whilst the children, when out of school,
roam in a great measure at will, or are often em
ployed collecting firewood, &c. about the park lands,
a place almost constantly occupied by the grown up
natives, there is consequently nearly as much inter
course 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 com
prehend 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

438 DEFECTS OF THE
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*
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 ?
A third, and a very great evil, is that, after a
* " 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 respect
ing Wellington Valley, by Sir G. Gipps, November 1840.

SYSTEM OF INSTRUCTION. 439
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, there
fore, 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 some
what 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.* At present
* 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
schoolj instituted at York, and the partial failure of that at
Guilford, both of which at first promised so well. The fickle

440 DEFECTS OF THE
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 con
dition 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
disposition of these people, in youth as in older years, incapaci
tate them from any long continued exertions, whether of learn
ing 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 ex
ertions 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 6f difficulty."

SYSTEM OF INSTRUCTION. 441
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 be
coming 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.
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 other
wise, 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

442 OBJECTIONS TO TEACHING
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 differ
ences 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 tho
roughly kept under the influence and direction of
their own people.
Amongthe colonists themselves there have scarcely
been two opinions upon the subject, and almost all

IN THE NATIVE LANGUAGE. 443
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 mis
sionaries themselves still retain their former impres
sions, 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 com
pelled to give up their wandering habits, as there
is no game near a town. This might be well enough

444 OBJECTIONS TO ASSEMBLING NATIVES
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 rea
son of the whole, but it is very questionable whe
ther 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 con
cerned. 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 some
times 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

IN THE VICINITY OF TOWNS. 445
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 idle
ness, and the opportunities to acquire bad habits,
such as begging, pilfering, drinking, &c. the effects
of which must also have a very bad moral tendency
upon the children.
The town of Adelaide appears capable of sup
porting 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 sup
ported by the offal of a place where so much ani
mal food is consumed ; but by far the greater num
ber 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 occa
sionally 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 em
braces about 150 individuals. The others come in

446 EMPLOYMENT OF NATIVES
detached parties from almost all parts of the co
lony. 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 as
sembled at one spot sometimes portions of tribes
the most distant from each other, and whose lan
guages, customs and ceremonies are quite dissimilar.
If any proof were wanted to shew the power of
European influence in removing prejudices or effect
ing a total revulsion of their former habits and cus
toms, 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 store
keepers with whom they spend two-thirds of their
time, and make themselves very useful. At har
vest time many natives assist the settlers. At En
counter 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 use-

BY EUROPEANS. 447
fully 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 as
sembling, 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 remedv without means ; but in the sincere and
earnest hope that an interest in behalf of a people
who are generally much misrepresented, and who

448 APPRENTICING NATIVES.
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 imperfec
tions 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 pro
per 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 testi
mony to the anxious desire of the Governmenfjto
promote the welfare of the natives.
I have equal pleasure in recording the great in
terest that prevails on their behalf among their
numerous friends in the colonies, and the general

MEANS OF IMPROVEMENT. 446
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 misunder
stood. My sole, my only wish has been to
bring about an improvement in the terms of in
tercourse, 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 im
pressed with the advantages, and the necessity of
colonization, I am only anxious to mitigate its con
comitant 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 com
munity, 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
VOL. II. 2 G

450 INTERESTS OF THE SETTLERS AND
the system at present in force, when taking posses
sion of and occupying a country where there are
indigenous races. By shewing the complete failure
of all efforts hitherto made, to prevent the oppres
sion and eventual extinction of these unfortunate
people, I would demonstrate the necessity of re
modelling 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 pre
sent beset our relations with the Aborigines ; but
to be effectual, these measures, at the same time that
they afford, in some degree, compensation and sup
port 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 au
thorizing him to locate in the more remote districts
of the country.
From a long experience, and an attentive obser
vation 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 suffer-

OF THE NATIVES MUST BE COMBINED. 451
ings of his unhappy race. I am equally convinced
that all one-sided legislation— all measures having
reference solely to the natives must fail. The com
plete want of success attending the protecting sys
tem, and all other past measures, clearly shew, that
unless the interests of the two classes can be so in
terwoven 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 de
stroyed or counteracted, as far as it may be practi
cable to effect this, and the settler must be convinced
that it is his interest to treat the native with kind
ness 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 indivi
dual, 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 la
boured under, of the various relations that have
2g2

452 OPINIONS IN THE COLONIES OF ATTEMPTS
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 per
manent 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 sin
gular 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

TO CIVILIZE THE NATIVES. 453
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.* 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.
" The circumstances, too, of the aborigines called upon them
for increased exertion. Theywere 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 yet a law is passed, subjecting natives, who appear
thus, to punishment ! — How are they to clothe themselves ?

454 OPINIONS IN THE COLONIES OF ATTEMPTS
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 appli
cable 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 disas
sociate 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, &c. 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 CIVILIZE THE NATIVES. 455
to them seem reliefs and enjoyments from these restraints which
civilized life entails upon them."
" With regard to the mental improvement of the native chil
dren, 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 visit
ing various districts of New South Wales, Port
Phillip, Van Diemen's Land, and Flinders' Island,
and after a personal acquaintance with, and experi
ence 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 Abori
gines, from which the preservation and elevation of their race
was expected to result, have utterly failed, though it is consola
tory, 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

456 CAUSE OF THE DISAGREEMENTS BETWEEN
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 suc
cessful, especially when we consider, that all past
efforts on behalf of the Aborigines have entirely
overlooked the wrongs and injuries they are suffer
ing under from our mere presence in their country,
whilst none have been adapted to meet the exi
gencies 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 produ
cing 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

THE NATIVES AND THE1 SETTLERS. 457
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 pre
sence 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 deepest interest
and importance, both to the politician and to the phi
lanthropist. 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 adop
tion, 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 pro
duced 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 ap
pear 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 for
ward to protect the weak, or the oppressed; nor

SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT. 459
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 con
sidered as the lowest, and most irreclaimable of man
kind, 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 improve
ments 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 pro
mote 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.

460 POLICY OF CHANGE OF SYSTEM.
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 over
come opposing difficulties, who would conscien
tiously 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 our
selves ; and in place of those resources we have de
prived them of, to offer to them a certain and regu
lar 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 irri
tating 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 ex
citement and alarm, would be avoided, whilst the

-.':
^J

j^

\<

POST AT MOORUNDE. 461
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

462

RELATIONS WITH THE MURRAY

thirty individuals, exclusive of many who were per
haps 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 amount
ing to sixty-eight Europeans, were absent for up
wards of six weeks, at an immense expense, and
were then obliged to return without bringing in a
single culprit from the offending tribes *
The line of route had become unsafe and danger
ous 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,
* 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 suc
ceeding in capturing native offenders, and how very frequently it
has occurred, that in their attempts to do so, either through mis
take, 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 treat
ment 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.

NATIVES IN 1841. 463
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 Excel
lency 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 instruc
tions, were exclusively those of conciliation and
kindness. I made it my duty to go personally
amongst the most distant and hostile tribes, to ex
plain 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

464

ALTERED CONDUCT OF

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 benefieial
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 com
mitted 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

THE MURRAY NATIVES. 465
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 in
fluential 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 m,en that the youths had been guiltj' of
the offence. At my earnest solicitations, and repre
sentations 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
VOL. II. 2 H

466 EFFECTS OF KINDNESS
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 Murrav ; 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 fre
quently 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 uninter
rupted or in safety. Many of those very natives,
who had been concerned in affrays or aggressions,
have since travelled hundreds of miles and encoun
tered 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

ON THE NATIVE TRIBES. 467
and considerate manner, and have upon all occa
sions, 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 influ
ence 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,
2 h 2

468 EFFECTS OF KINDNESS
(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 wait
ing 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 encamp
ments. 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

ON THE NATIVE TlilBES. 469
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 jour
ney 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 under
taken, 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 Nad -buck, to go as guide and inter
preter to the Darling. The latter native had accom
panied 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,

470 INFLUENCE OF THE
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 in
telligent disposition that although my own acquaint
ance 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 Govern
ment 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 un-

STATION AT MOORUNDE. 471
willing 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 satisfac
torily the true grounds of the report I had heard at Lake Vic
toria, 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 con
nection 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 in
variably 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 annoy-

472 CAPTAIN STURTS REPORT
ance, 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 kan
garoos 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 re
flects 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 in
fluence 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 propor
tioned. 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 remark
able 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.

OF JOURNEY UP THE DARLING. 473
" 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 1/th 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 three or four

474 CAPTAIN STURT'S REPORT.
miles an hour. The river still continues to rise, and is fast fill
ing 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, in
digo—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 commu
nication 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 un
clothes 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 Wil-
liorara (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 supply
ing 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

VIEW OF INTERIOR WATER. 475
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° 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 evi
dently 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 im
possible 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.

476 captain sturt's report.
" 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 fit
ness for service and good condition ; and I have every reason to
feel satisfied with the manner in which the men generally per
form 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 unac
quainted 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,

VALUABLE SERVICES OF THE NATIVES. 477
an old story of the affray with Major Mitchell some
years before. As Captain Sturt was still at the
Rufus ( 1 50 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 commu
nicate 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 labo
rious and harassing journeys, during which they
must suffer both some degree of risk in passing

478 RESULTS OF KINDNESS.
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 hu
manity ? 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 kind
ness 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

JUSTICE DUE TO THE NATIVES. 479
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 re
moving, 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

480 SUGGESTIONS FOR THE IMPROVEMENT
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.
1 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 in
stance, 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

of the aborigines. 481
effect this, the means must be suited to their circum-
tances 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 accom
plished, in a great degree, by distributing food
VOL. II. 2 I

482 suggestions for the improvement
regularly to all the natives, in their respective
districts.* 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 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."

OF THE ABORIGINES. 483
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 improve
ment, 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
2 i 2

484 SUGGESTIONS FOR THE IMPROVEMENT
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 induce
ments 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 ex
pected, until the former have almost disappeared
before their oppressors.
Many subordinate arrangements would be neces-
ary 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 arrange
ments were made, only in a few districts every year,
much would be done towards eventually accomplish
ing 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 re
strain 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 subsist-

OF THE ABORIGINES. 485
ence, 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 Euro
peans, 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 dis
tricts, as funds could be obtained for that purpose.
It is possible that if means at the same time w ere
afforded of teaching them industrial pursuits, a
proportion of the food required might eventually
be raised by themselves, but it would not be pru
dent 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 Abori
gines, 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 men-

486 SUGGESTIONS FOR THE IMPROVEMENT
tion 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 per
spicuity to suppose the country divided into dis
tricts, 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 assem
ble 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 suf
ficient at present ; thus stations such as I have de
scribed, 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 ac
quainted with Europeans and their customs, it would
be essential that each station should be supported
by two or more policemen. These might after-

OF THE ABORIGINES. 487
wards be reduced in number, or withdrawn, accord
ing to the state of the district.*
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 un
doubtedly be the most desirable to have these es
tablishments under missionaries. In other cases
they might be confided to the protectors of the Abo
rigines, 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 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 fre
quent petty successes that they have hitherto committed those
crimes, which have drawn down so fearful a vengeance upon
them."— Grey, vol ii. p. 379.

488 SUGGESTIONS FOR THE IMPROVEMENT
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.*
Deaths, Births, and Marriages, should be duly
registered, and a gratuity given on every such occa
sion, to ensure the regulation being attended to.
Rewards should be given, (as an occasional pre
sent, 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
* Natives, from a distance, are in the habit of going at cer
tain times of the year into Adelaide, and remaining three or four
months at a time. They are said by Europeans to plunder sta
tions 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 Ade
laide, 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.

OF THE ABORIGINES. 489
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 provid
ing 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, &c, 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.

490 SUGGESTIONS FOR THE IMPROVEMENT
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 boun
daries, where they are likely to come under the in
fluence 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

OF THE SCHOOLS. 491
excited by prizes, being given to children distin
guishing themselves at certain stages of their pro
gress, 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 appren
tices 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 ad
joining 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 pub
lic worship, accompanied by their masters.

492 STATE OF THE LAW RELATIVE
In carrying into effect the above or any other
regulations which might be found necessary for the
welfare and improvement of the children. I be
lieve that a sufficient degree of influence would be
acquired over the parents by the system of supply
ing them with food, which I have recommended to
induce a cheerful consent, but it would be only pru
dent to have a legislative enactment on the subject,
that by placing the school-children under the guard
ianship 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.*
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
* " 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.

TO ABORIGINAL EVIDENCE. 493
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 com
pletely 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 & 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 Euro
pean has the native brought up and tried for a mur
derous 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 pu
nishment would be (as they have been before) cer
tain and severe.
Without attempting to assign a degree of cre
dence to the testimony of a native beyond what it

494 DISADVANTAGEOUS POSITION OF NATIVES
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 circum
stances 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 prose
cutor 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

IN A COURT OF JUSTICE. 495
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 em
barrassing 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 con
dition 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 im
measurable ! 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 ap
plication ! 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

496 DISADVANTAGEOUS POSITION OF NATIVES
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 diffi
culties, 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 pre
sumption, 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 com
plexion 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

IN A COURT OF JUSTICE. 497
punishing the cruelty, or the atrocity of the Euro
pean,* no amount of native evidence would be of
the least avail. Reverse the case, and the sole un
supported 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
* 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 oneclass 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. Euro
peans, 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.''
VOL. II. 2 K

498 EVIL RESULTS ARISING FROM
circumstances are noteasily 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 pos
sible for the natives to be blind to the unequal mea
sure of justice, which is thus dealt out, and which
will still continue to be so as long as the law remains
unchanged ?
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 prosecu
tion ; the degree of weight or credibility to be at
tached to it, might be left to the court taking cogni
zance 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 oppres
sion, 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 inter
course with this people — unaccustomed to the intri
cacies of untruth, they know not that they must be
consistent to deceive, and it is therefore rarely diffi
cult 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.* It has already been shewn how highly
* 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 —

INADMISSIBILITY OF NATIVE EVIDENCE. 499
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 tram
mels of custom and prejudice, and by embracing
" 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, rea
son 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 re
spect, 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 com
plain of being made to suffer the higher penalties of our law,
when deprived (by legal disability) of its benefits. Little diffi
culty 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,"
2 k 2

500 NECESSITY OF PROTECTING NATIVES ,
our habits and pursuits, making an effort to rise in
the scale of moral and physical improvement. What
ever alteration therefore we may make in our sys
tem for the better, or however anxious we may be
for the welfare and the improvement of the Abori
gines, we may rest well assured that our efforts are
but thrown away, as long as the natives are per
mitted with impunity to exercise their cruel or de
grading 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 pur
pose, there is no hope of any lasting or permanent
good being accomplished.
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 mo
ment 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

AGAINST EACH OTHER. 501
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 proceed
ing 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 con
tradiction to suppose, that individuals subject to savage and bar
barous 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 un
just;, 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 ex
plaining 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

502 lord Stanley's letter
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,
&c. 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 per
sonal observation, where natives have sought re
dress both against one another and against Euro
peans, but where from their evidence being una
vailable 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

ON THE ABORIGINES. 503
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 indif-

504 lord Stanley's letter
ferent 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 con
tinually absent themselves, and when at home evince but httle
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 in
creasing, and that the natives are ' gradually swept away by de
bauchery 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 mo
mentary disappointment alone, but from a settled and reasonable
conviction. " Nor do the other missions hold out any greater encourage
ment. 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, notwith
standing an expenditure in 1841 of nearly 1,300/., 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

ON THE ABORIGINES. 505
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 un
equivocal 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 pre
vious provision for their subsistence or employment, was a pro
ceeding 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 com
mand. I am unwilling, at this distance from the scene, and

506 lord Stanley's letter
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 cor
respondence 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 understand
ing 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 perpetra
tors 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

ON THE ABORIGINES. 507
" 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 im
provement, 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 considera
tion 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, &c.
(signed) " STANLEY."

EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES
OP 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 kan
garoo 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 & 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.

explanation of the plates. 509
16. Mona — net cap to confine the hair of young men of
opossum fur.
1 7- Korno — widow's mourning cap made of carbonate of
lime, moulded to the head, weight 8|lbs.
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| 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| feet,
used for punishments, as described page 222, also for
general purposes.
4. Short, smooth, hardwood spear, 74 feet long, used to
spear fish in diving.
5. Reed spear with barbed hardwood 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.

510 explanation of the plates.
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

ditto

but hollowed and conical.

3.

Ditto

ditto

straight and flat.

4.

Ditto

ditto

narrow and carved.

5.

Ditto

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-rarm 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.

EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES. 511
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, &c. from the fibulas of kangaroos,
wallabies, emus, &c.
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, &c. 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

512 explanation of the plates.
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 flatfish 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 con
tains 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.

THE END.

G. NORMAN, PRINTER, MAIDEN LAXE, COVENT GARDEN.

YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

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