CHAPTER IX.
Perch, and other fish—An elegant couple—Kangaroo dogs—Black and white cockatoos—Vegetable productions—Mr. O’Brien’s farm—Herds of cattle—Bush life—Proceed towards the Murrumbidgee river—A bush track—Romantic country—Arrive on the banks of the Murrumbidgee—Cross the river—Swamp oaks, and other trees—Remarkable caves—Return to Yas—Superstitious ceremonies—Crystal used in the cure of diseases—Mode of employing it.
Large quantities of native perch are caught in the Yas and Murrumbidgee rivers; their flavour is delicious: their average length is nineteen inches, and the weight from three to six pounds: they have however been taken from two and a half to three feet in length, and weighing seventy pounds; and some even of the enormous size of one hundred, and one hundred and twenty pounds:[66] the breadth is great in proportion to the length of the fish. Those I examined were of a yellowish-green colour, covered with irregular black spots, with a silvery abdomen. They are named by the colonists, “river cod;” and by the aborigines, “Mewuruk.”[67] In the stomach of this fish I frequently found shell-fish, of the genus Unio, in an entire state. The larger kind of these shells the natives of the Tumat country call “Nargun;” and the smaller, usually found in rivulets or creeks, “Pindaquin, or Bucki.” Occasionally half-digested masses of green caterpillars, and other insects, were also found in the stomach of this fish. In the Tumat country, varieties of the “river cod,” are called by the natives Bewuck, Mungee, &c. Another fish of the family of perches is also caught in the Yas, Murrumbidgee, and other large rivers in the colony: it is called the “perch” by the colonists, and “Kupé” by the natives. I preserved a specimen, caught in the Murrumbidgee, measuring seventeen inches in length, and six inches at its greatest breadth, containing a fine roe: twenty inches was the greatest length they had as yet been taken in this river; but, like the “river cod,” it increases more in breadth, in proportion to its weight, than in length. The colour of the Kupé was inclining to bronze; the ends of the scales being black, gave to the fish a checkered appearance.
Among the native inhabitants of the Yas district was a pair of originals: the man was called Daraga, and his lady the “beautiful Kitty of Yas.” Neither of them had pretensions to beauty. The lady had ornamented her delicate form (for all the ladies are fond of adornments) with two opossum tails, pendent in a graceful manner from her greasy locks; pieces of tobacco-pipe, mingled with coloured beads, adorned her neck; an old, dirty, opossum-skin cloak was thrown over the shoulders; a bundle of indescribable rags around the waist; and a netbul or culy hanging behind, (filled with a collection of “small deer,” and other eatables, that would baffle all attempts at description,) completed the toilette of this angelic creature. Of her features I shall only say, they were not such as painters represent those of Venus: her mouth, for instance, had a striking resemblance to the gaping entrance of a Wombat’s burrow. The husband also had decorated the locks of his cranium with opossum tails, with the addition of grease and red ochre; a tuft of beard ornamented his chin; and the colour of his hide was barely discernible, from the layers of mud and charcoal covering it: he wore a “spritsail yard” through his “apology for a nose;” the opossum-skin cloak covered his shoulders; and the “cumeel,” or belt of opossum-skin, girded the loins: the pipe was his constant companion, as the love of tobacco among those who have intercourse with Europeans, is unbounded, and no more acceptable present can be made them.
At meal times it was curious to observe the conduct of this interesting couple and the kangaroo dogs: it was evident that no good feeling subsisted betwixt the parties: the dogs regarded the former with an expression of anger, and the opposite party looked both sulkily and anxiously at the canine species;—the dogs appeared instinctively to fear that the human creatures would devour every morsel of the food, and that they should be minus their share; whilst the latter seemed to know, either by instinct or practical experience, that large dogs bite tolerably hard when angry.
Black and white cockatoos had lately become very numerous about this part of the country: the former appeared to have been attracted by some trees that had been felled when clearing a spot of land for cultivation—as these birds visit the dead or fallen trees to procure the larvæ of insects that breed in them. I have seen, more than once, small trees lying prostrate, occasioned by the powerful bills of the large black cockatoos, who, observing on the trunk, externally, indications of a larva being within, have diligently laboured to extract it; and should the object of their search be situated (as often occurs) far in, before they reach it, the trunk is so much cut through, that the slightest puff’ of wind lays it prostrate.[68]
Among some of the few vegetable productions in use among the Australian blacks as food, is the root of a species of bulrush, which they name “Cormiork.” It grows abundantly on the banks of the Yas, Murrumbidgee, Tumat, and other rivers: the roots are eaten only when young: they are prepared by being baked, and the epidermis removed. Europeans who have partaken of it, say it has an agreeable farinaceous taste. The roots are collected in spring, when the young plants have just commenced sprouting.
Among other farms about Yas Plains is “Mount Lavinia,” the property of my late fellow-traveller, Henry O’Brien, Esq., at whose place I passed many agreeable days during my sojourn at Yas. The house has been erected in a picturesque situation, upon a hill of moderate elevation, near the base of which the Yas river winds its course: the effect, on the approach to the house, is extremely pretty; the view from the hill overlooks a good extent of picturesque country, the greatest part is devoted to sheep pasturage; and some portion of arable land is alone wanting to make this spot still more charming. From another hill, on the plains, a short distance from that just mentioned, the view is still more expansive, overlooking the extensive verdant downs, surrounded in the distance by thinly-wooded hills, terminated in the south-west direction by distant blue mountains, near which flows the fine stream of the Murrumbidgee.
The plains were animated by herds of cattle, flocks of sheep, and troops of horses, grazing, reposing, or exercising: the whole combination of this beautiful scenery excited the most pleasing sensations, which were heightened by its English character, and cause the settler to reflect less on the remoteness from home; when surrounded by his family circle, and a few select friends—language, manners, customs, being all in accordance with his own “native land:” his farm once under cultivation, and stocked, he feels but few, if any wants. Above all, he has no anxious moments about the future welfare of his children, as there are few difficulties, in a new country, in providing for them; and although many complain of the “dulness of bush life,” it is seldom the case with those who are practically acquainted with it, for time rapidly passes away in the various enjoyments of a rustic life, and the superintendence of duties which the farm imposes on a settler, each tending to advance his prosperity. The farm produces the necessary daily supplies for the tables; and the sale of the wool gives a cash income for the purchase of other articles, as wearing apparel, tea, sugar, agricultural implements, &c.; Sydney is therefore usually visited once annually to dispose of the wool, or ship it to England, and to purchase any supplies that may be required for the use of the family or farm of the settler.
Early on the morning of the 11th of October, in company with Mr. Manton, I left “Mount Lavinia” to visit a part of the country about the Murrumbidgee river, and fourteen or fifteen miles distant from Yas. We crossed the extensive plains, and entered a bush track leading through a fine open forest country; some of the land was boggy, but the most part consisted of open forest, with rich pasturage, and was well circumstanced for the several sheep and cattle stations we passed. From the general excellent quality of land on and in the vicinity of the Yas plains, as well as being well watered, extensive purchases from the government have been made by the settlers already having grants here, and nearly the whole, with water frontage, has been purchased; I am inclined to think that this part of the colony will prove the richest and most valuable of almost any of the present known portions.
On approaching the Murrumbidgee river, the character of the scenery increases in beauty, assuming even a romantic appearance,—the broken country adding to, rather than diminishing the effect: the day was cloudless, with a brilliant sun, so the prospect extended to a great distance;—green sloping hills, thinly timbered, only wanting the addition of mansions to the natural lawns and parks to perfect the landscape; flowers of great variety and gay colours strewed the ground in the utmost profusion; the indigo shrub (Indigofera australis) was also abundant in flower, with numerous other flowering plants; green natural fields decked the level land; the songs of birds, and their increased numbers, were sufficient to acquaint us that we were approaching a river. The scene was of the most animated description; in the distance long lines of “swamp oaks,” (Casuarina palludosa,) readily distinguished by their dark, peculiar appearance, indicated to us the course of the river. Having enjoyed the prospect from the elevation, we descended a steep hill, proceeded through a luxuriant pasturage, which was bounded by thinly-wooded hills, carpeted with verdure, and soon arrived on the bank of the Murrumbidgee stream, which may be, at this part, forty or fifty yards wide. On the opposite side of the river Mr. Manton possessed a grant, which he had just commenced to stock and cultivate: the locality appeared excellent during the cool months, but liable to be soon parched by the fervent summers.
Having hobbelled our horses, that eagerly fed on the luxuriant grass surrounding them, we crossed the river in a canoe which had been scooped by Mr. Manton’s servants from the solid trunk of a “water gum” tree, (Eucalyptus sp.) and was capable of carrying four or six persons. Arriving on its opposite side we were now beyond the acknowledged limits of the colony, although numerous cattle and sheep stations extend to a great distance further. On the banks of this fine stream, besides numerous flowering shrubs, the elegant “swamp oaks” towered to the elevation of fifty or sixty feet, their dark filiform foliage giving them the character of the larch: besides these, (which were by far the most numerous,) there were some enormous trees of the Eucalyptus genus, called “water gum” by the colonists; they attain from ninety to one hundred feet in height, with a diameter of from six to eight feet; the wood is of a reddish colour, and very hard: on account of the latter quality, it is less frequently used, being difficult to cut. The currijong (Hibiscus) also grew about the limestone rocks in the vicinity, and was readily to be distinguished from other trees by the lighter and more vivid green of its foliage. A number of European genera of plants indigenous to the country, or at all events from their situations giving reason to suppose so, grew in the vicinity of this river; among others, the “sow thistle,” (the young tops of which are eaten by the natives just before the plant commences to blossom,) a small red poppy, the crow-foot, a rumex or dock (R. lancifolia?) geranium, and “shepherd’s purse,” (Thlaspi bursa pastoris,) were abundant, and they are seen very far in the interior beyond this place.
Some caves have been lately found in the limestone rocks about this selection; and since the valuable discovery of fossil bones in those at Wellington Valley, by Major Mitchell and others, limestone caverns have become one of the colonial lions; these, therefore, were pointed out to me as objects of great curiosity; I found them however very small, and they did not repay the trouble of getting into them. They resembled the small caves often seen in the limestone quarries of Plymouth and Oreston, in Devonshire, from which some valuable fossils have been procured: stalactites of course abounded, but neither fossils nor any red calcareous earth, in which those remains have usually been found deposited. Among a quantity of dust were several loose bones, which had been at first described to me as fossils, but which were the breast bones and tibiæ of the emu, and skulls, and other bones of dogs, which no doubt had been placed there by the natives, for the tibiæ of the emu (here called Béréban by the blacks) had a hole at the upper and anterior part; this perforation is made, as many of them afterwards told me, to enable them more readily, by admitting air, to suck out the rich marrow from the lower end, which was broken for that purpose. The extent of the cavern was from fifteen to twenty feet; the entrance so narrow, that the explorer could only enter feet foremost, nor was it sufficiently large in the interior to enable him to stand erect. About sunset we returned to Yas, having a fine moonlight night for our journey.
The aborigines have many superstitious ceremonies connected with their practice of the healing art, as we find among all primitive nations; those persons who take upon themselves the occupation to attend upon the sick or wounded, unite the offices of priest, soothsayer, and physician. The few medicines administered by them are from the vegetable kingdom; they also make use of a crystal for the cure of diseases, not by administering it to the sick person, but the physician employs its aid, to act upon the superstitious mind of his patient; it is the common quartz crystal, and is called by the natives, in the vicinity of Sydney, Krardgee Kibba, or Doctor Stone.[69] This name, borrowed from the Europeans, is sometimes employed by the Yas natives, but that by which it is characterized by them and likewise by the natives of the Murrumbidgee and Tumat countries, is “Merrúdagalle.” The aborigines say they manufacture it, but would not mention the ingredients of which it is composed; this was a secret!! The women are never permitted to look upon it, and the priests impose upon their minds a belief, that, should their curiosity prompt them so far, they would instantly die.
These crystals are valued by them according to their size, and it is not easy to procure a large one from them. They are not only regarded as a charm by which wounds and diseases of the human frame can be cured, but they advance another step, by declaring, that when thrown at a person (accompanied, I suppose, by certain incantations) it will have the power of causing his death. This power, said by them to be possessed by the stone, having been mentioned one day by a native to a European settler, the latter ridiculed it, and desired the black to put it to the test by throwing it at him. This, however, was refused, “he being good man;” alluding to the European, “he no want kill him;” and, after using every endeavour to induce blackee to make the trial, he shuffled out of the dilemma, by acknowledging “that it would have no effect upon the white fellers.”
The following account of the manner in which the crystal is used by the physician, may be considered interesting. In the Tumat country, a native black, named Golong, was suffering from a spear wound, received a short time previous in a skirmish with a hostile tribe; it was in the evening, (for the stones are only used after dark, as at that time their efficacy is considered greater,) when a native of his tribe, named Baramumbup, employed the crystal for the purpose of healing the wound in the following manner.
The patient was laid at a distance of twenty or thirty yards from the encampment, after which the physician commenced the examination of the wound, which he sucked; then, without spitting, he retired to a distance of ten or fifteen yards from the invalid, muttered, or appeared to mutter some prayer or invocation for about a minute; on concluding, he placed the crystal in his mouth, sucked it, and then, removing the stone, spat upon the ground, and trampled upon the discharged saliva, pressing it with his feet firmly into the earth. This ceremony was repeated several times on this and subsequent evenings, until the patient’s recovery, which, of course, was considered to have been effected by the wonderful curative properties resident in the crystal. On making inquiry, why the physician is so careful in trampling the saliva discharged from his mouth into the ground, no satisfactory reason could be obtained, a vague answer only being returned to the query; but it is not improbable that they consider, by this operation, they finally destroy the power of the evil spirit, extracted by the operation, through the virtues of the stone: some such reason for this proceeding may be inferred from an observation made to any European, who may be present at this part of the ceremony, that “He no come up again.”
A somewhat analogous custom exists among the aboriginal tribes of Brazil, called “Guachos,” as related by Spix and Martius in their Brazilian Travels. (English Trans. 8vo. vol. ii. page 77.) “Their Payés, or physicians, (called in their language, Vunageneto,) are conjurers and exorcists of the evil principle, which they call Nanigogigo. Their cures of the sick are very simple, and consist principally in fumigating, or in sucking, the part affected; on which the payé spits into a pit, as if he would give back the evil principle, which he has sucked out, to the earth, and bury it.”