CHAPTER VIII.
Bredalbane Plains—Forest country—Cockatoos and parrots—Peculiar species of the lizard tribe—Medicinal trees—Bark of the wattle trees—Mr. Manton’s farm—Picturesque view—Yas plains—Encampment of natives—Stringy bark, or box tree—Use of that plant—Native method of cooking—The Australian negro—Game—The flying squirrel—Human chimney ornaments—Cloaks of opossum or kangaroo skins—Barbarous ceremonies—Women not admitted to the confidence of the males.
On the 3rd of October we resumed our journey, taking a bush path for a short distance, until we emerged upon “Bredalbane Plains,” a great portion of which is very swampy, and during heavy rains overflown. Passing a cattle station, the property of Mr. Chisholm, we had a view of another plain, or more correctly marsh, (named the third Bredalbane Plain,) abounding in reeds; here several birds of the heron species, known by the name of the “native companion,” (Ardea antigone,) were pacing about, in search of food, but rising with heavy flight on being disturbed. After an agreeable ride of fourteen miles, we arrived at “Mut, mut billy,” the farm of Mr. Reddal; here we remained for the night.[60]
Proceeding on our journey the following morning, we passed an interesting open forest country, possessing some good land for cultivation, and abundance of fine herbage for grazing. Many of the situations appeared too damp for sheep, but all, even to the mountain ranges, had fine feeding for cattle. About noon we arrived at “Gonnong,” a cattle station belonging to Mr. Kennedy, of Appin. Our route continued through a still beautiful country, abounding in fine herbage, and for the most part an open forest of much picturesque beauty; blocks of granite, grouped in various forms and of all dimensions, appeared elevating themselves above the land, crowning the summits of the hills, or protruding through the declivities.
Black and white cockatoos, (Psittacus funereus, Lath. and P. galeritus Temm.,) with an infinite variety of the parrot tribe, such as ground parrots, (Psittacus formosus, Lath.) loris, (Psittacus eximius, Shaw.) &c., enlivened the scene, for even their discordant screams are cheering in the depths of an Australian solitude; among them also the “Rosehill parrot,” which, for beauty, variety, and harmony of colours, is not to be equalled by any of the other species, was abundant; I picked up one of this species lying dead on the road, still warm, in full and beautiful plumage, and without any external wound to account for its death. The more gentle “Bronze-winged pigeons” (Columba chalcoptera) were also very numerous, alighting on the road to pick up food, unmindful of the near approach of the horses. The plumage of this bird varies from a beautiful fawn colour to a dark brown, with several brown feathers near the bases of the wings, from which cause it derives its colonial appellation. Numerous magpies, crows, and the smaller variety of birds of gay plumage, also crossed our path, exciting the admiration and attention of the traveller.
A peculiar, and, I believe, undescribed species of the lizard tribe, of a black colour and repulsive appearance, but perfectly harmless, was occasionally seen; the tail is very short in proportion to the length of the body, having the appearance of a portion of it being accidentally broken off, but on examination it is found to be the natural formation; they crossed the road before us, moving very slow, and did not display any signs of timidity at our presence. This species is said to be eaten by the aborigines.
After passing the Gap,[61] or opening in the mountain range, through which the road to Yas Plains leads, we continued for a few miles through a still interesting country. About this place several of the varieties or species of Eucalyptus, which have opposite leaves of a bluish green colour, their surface being sprinkled thinly with a whitish powder, were very abundant; it is from their foliage that the largest quantity of the camphorated oil, which so closely resembles the Caju puti, is produced. Some contain it in such abundance as to cover the hand with oil, when one of the leaves is gently rubbed against it. I am informed that the oil has been extracted in the colony for medicinal purposes, and, I believe, will be found possessed of similar properties to the Caju puti, so highly esteemed in arthrodial rheumatism as an embrocation. The oil known by the name of Caju puti[62] oil is produced from the leaves of a tree of the Melaleuca genus, of the species M. leucadendron and M. Caju puti.
By five o’clock, P.M. we arrived, after a very agreeable day’s journey, at the neat white cottage of Mr. Rose, at Mundoona: we had made a journey of twenty-nine miles this day, and were now within a few miles of Yas Plains, although they were not visible from this farm; the fine stream of the Yas river flows through the estate, only a short distance from the cottage. Since leaving “Goulburn Plains,” we had occasionally seen the “Green-wattle tree” still in bloom; its bark is highly valued for the tanning principle it abundantly contains; the bark of another “Acacia,” called “black wattle” by the colonists, also contains similar properties, but the former bears the preference from producing a stronger liquor, and from the latter imparting a much deeper red tinge to the leather; the bark is used in the tan pits macerated only in cold water, but when there is time and requisite conveniences, a decoction is made, by which a stronger liquor is procured. The aborigines, about the Illawarra district, and other parts of the colony, stupify fish, by throwing the bark of the “green-wattle tree” into the water.
I rode over to Yas Plains, to the farm of Mr. Manton, (a son of the celebrated gunsmith,) about four miles distant on the banks of the Yas river, the house being constructed on an elevated site, commands a fine picturesque view of the extensive plains or downs of Yas, the distant wooded hills, forest scenery, with the Yas river slowly winding its course beneath. This part of the colony appears valuable; the country is for the most part open forest, with luxuriant pasturage, and well watered, (an object of much importance in this arid country,) combining capabilities of cultivation and grazing land with picturesque beauty. The “Plains,” or more properly speaking, extensive downs, are destitute of trees, affording abundance of pasturage for sheep, &c., and the distance is terminated by open forest country, most part of which has already been granted or sold by government to settlers.
Mr. Manton’s farm is delightfully situated, having a fine stream of water running through it, every facility for sheep-washing is afforded him—a desideratum of the first importance in this colony, where wool forms the staple article, the settler’s main prop, and the cleaner it is brought to market, of course a better price can be obtained. The land about the farm, (as must be expected from all large grants,) is composed of good and bad portions, but the former, I believe, preponderates.
The natives had just arrived in the paddock, and established their temporary village or encampment; their habitations were merely sheets of bark, stripped from the trees in the vicinity, and supported by props, the sheet of bark being placed to windward, and shifted as might be required, the fire for cooking purposes, &c., being made in front. The aborigines are very expert in stripping large and perfect sheets of bark from the trees, and as this material is used by the colonists for the covering of huts and other purposes, the natives are often employed by them to procure it. The bark of two species of the Eucalyptus called “stringy bark” and “box-tree” by the colonists, (more particularly the former,) is preferred, as from them it is more readily stripped in pieces of the large size usually required. If the aborigines wanted to pass a river, I observed them strip off sheets of bark with great expedition, upon which they crossed, paddling themselves with a piece of wood, sometimes placing piles of mud at each end of the rude bark to prevent the ingress of the water, if there was any thing in it they wished to keep dry: having all the services they require out of the rudely constructed vessels, they desert and leave them either to be carried down the stream or rot on the banks, being aware that another canoe of the same rude construction is always ready when it may be required.
When the bark of the “stringy bark” (or, according to its native name in this part of the colony, Dether) is waved, it is rejected by the stock-keepers, fencers, &c., as unserviceable, the timber being then found twisted, and not capable of being split into straight pieces for paling, &c.; but when the fibres of the bark run in a parallel direction, the wood of the tree is also found to correspond, and the grain being straight is readily split into rails, posts, or applied to any other purpose that may be required by the settler. The wood of the “box-tree” (Eucalyptus marginata?) is considered very durable for flooring boards, shingles, &c., and the young trees for shafts of gigs; for the latter purpose it is considered by many persons not to be surpassed by any other kind of wood in the colony.
The usual mode of cooking among the native tribes, is by throwing the food upon the fire to broil, or rather to get half-roasted, in which state it is eaten; or a native oven is made in the ground, similar to those in use among the New Zealanders, and throughout the Polynesian Archipelago.[63] The remarks made on the characteristic features and intellectual capacities of the aborigines, previously seen in the Bathurst district, equally apply to those now seen in this portion of the colony. I cannot consider them so degraded a race as they have been represented. Lesson, alluding to the Australian negro, says, “To judge by his external appearance and intellect, the native of New South Wales would seem to have been degraded from the true rank of man, and to approach the nature of the brute.
“This race does not appear to differ in any thing essential from the Oceanic race, of which the Papuas alone form another somewhat distinct branch; they have a similarity of form and external character to the inhabitants of New Britain, New Ireland, and very probably those of New Caledonia. Poverty of soil and rigour of climate must have exerted an influence upon the race, and deteriorated it, and it is from this source that the slight differences arise, which seem to separate it from the African negro race, with which, however, an attentive examination shows it to be identical.” And he further observes, “it is probable that the negroes of New Holland have extended into the Australian continent, by New Guinea and the eastern islands, and that the migration has been made from the coast of Africa by the great island of Madagascar, which had itself, at a later period, received men of other races.”
The races inhabiting, however, the land of New South Wales and Van Dieman’s Land or Tasmania, differ; the former, although possessing the African features, have straight hair, whilst those of the latter country are more closely allied to the Papuans. As far as regards their occasionally miserable appearance, (for many are the reverse in the interior,) it may be counted for by a dependence upon a precarious supply of food. Having no natural fruits, they subsist principally upon the produce of the chase, having nothing to induce them to cultivate the soil; they have no fixed habitations, and consequently no villages; the different tribes or families remove to those localities where game may abound, and as too long a stay in any situation would cause a scarcity of game, they seldom remain in one spot longer than three or four days. How different then they are, in respect to country and climate, from those races inhabiting the Polynesian Archipelago, who live in a luxuriant and fertile country, abounding in all the vegetables and fruits of tropical countries, as well as having hogs, fowls, &c.[64]
Polygamy is permitted among the Australian aborigines: each takes as many wives as he pleases, or can maintain, and can dismiss or assign them over at pleasure; but many have only one wife, not taking another until she is dismissed. Some of the women of the interior tribes have fine forms, tolerably handsome features, and fine curled hair; the generality, however, of both males and females, are not conspicuous for personal beauty.
After wet weather they track game with much facility, and from the late rains the hunting expeditions had been very successful; game was therefore abundant at the camp, which consisted of opossums, flying squirrels, bandicoots, snakes, &c. I purchased, for a small piece of tobacco, the skin (the fur of which is remarkably fine) of a very handsome light grey flying squirrel, called by the natives Min, ugo, (and also Bango and Berat.) It is surprising the distance these animals “fly,” or spring, aided by the membrane extending from the sides between the fore and hind legs. The little sugar squirrel has been known to leap a distance of forty yards, from an elevation of thirty feet to the butt of a tree, across a river. One of the opossums among the game was a female which had two large-sized young ones in her pouch; the delicate morsels were at this time broiling, unskinned, and undrawn, upon the fire, whilst the “old mother” was lying yet unflayed in the basket.
It was amusing to see with what rapidity and expertness the animals were skinned and embowelled by the blacks; the offal was thrown to the dogs, but as such a waste on the part of the natives does not often take place, we can only presume it is when game, as it was at present, is very abundant—the dogs are usually in poor condition, from getting a very precarious supply of provender: the liver being extracted, and gall-bladder removed, a stick was thrust through the animal, which was either thrown upon the ashes to broil, or placed upon a wooden spit before the fire to roast; whether the food was removed from the fire cooked, or only half-dressed, depended entirely on the state of their appetites: the flesh of the animals at this time preparing for dinner by our tawny friends appeared delicate, and was no doubt excellent eating, as the diet of the animals was in most instances vegetable.
The natives are as dirty in general habits as in cookery, and this unclean race were often seen as “chimney ornaments” in the settlers’ habitations, placing themselves on each side of the fire-place, or almost in the hearth, to get warm, looking like a huge piece of charred wood, and forming objects neither useful nor ornamental; they have a great antipathy to any thing like labour, (I do not mean to disparage the race by this observation, for all uncultivated tribes are similar in this respect,) and the only way to get rid of them whenever they became troublesome, was to set them to work.
Both sexes wear cloaks made from several skins of the opossum, kangaroos, or other animals joined together. In cold weather the fur is worn turned inwards, making a warm and comfortable garment; neither males nor females appear to regard it as a covering required for decency, but merely as a protection against the inclemency of the weather, as it is frequently thrown aside. The skins of either the opossum or kangaroo are used for cloaks, and are prepared, when recently taken from the animal, by stretching them out upon the ground with small wooden pegs, the inner side being scraped with a shell, until they are rendered perfectly clean and pliable. The skins when dry are stitched neatly together, with thread made from the long tendons of the muscles about the tail of the kangaroo; (which when dried are capable of being divided into threads of almost any degree of fineness;) the needle is formed of a piece of bone; and a number of these skins sewn together form the cloaks in general use. Among both males and females many have a sort of tatauing, or ornamental marks scratched upon the inner part of the cloak, according to the taste of the owner.
Both sexes have the septum naris perforated, in which a piece of straw, stick, or emu-bone is worn, looking like what Jack would term a “spritsail yard;” this practice is universal among the whole of the tribes seen in the colony, and is regarded as highly ornamental. I have before alluded to the loss of an incisor tooth of the upper jaw, observed among the adult male natives; this, on inquiry, I found proceeded from a custom existing among them, (which is attended at the time with much ceremony,) of a male, on attaining the age of manhood, having to undergo this operation, receiving at the same time the “cumeel,” or opossum-skin belt, after which he is admitted into the society of men, permitted to attend the corroberas, or consultations when any marauding or war expedition is in contemplation, or when the tribe is about to remove from one part of the country to another: previous to this, they are considered only fit society for women, and associate principally with them. A son of a chief at Yas Plains, who had not yet undergone this ceremony, necessary for his admission, attended one of their meetings: on being discovered, he was obliged to leave the assembly.
The females among the native tribes have little confidence reposed in them by the opposite sex, from fear that their secret plans and expeditions might be divulged by them: when, therefore, they form a plot to steal or kill cattle, they are careful to conceal their schemes from the weaker sex, and boys associate with them; for in instances not a few, when plans for marauding excursions have been overheard by the females, the latter have betrayed them to the stock-keepers, and thus frustrated their intentions. But may not this proceed from the want of mutual confidence between the parties? Among the tribes a chieftain does not preserve an hereditary rank, chiefs being chosen for superior bravery, being the best hunter, or having a superior mind.[65] Thus men in a state of nature choose their leaders; and we may observe a similar order of things among gregarious animals.