CHAPTER XVI.
Flocks of pelicans and grey parrots—Arrive at Jugiong—A busy scene—The harvest—Quails and Hawks—Mr. Hume’s farm—Domestic life among the settlers—Miss my way in the forest—Mr. Reddal’s farm—Disease called the Black Leg—Mr. Bradley’s residence at Lansdowne Park—Drooping manna trees—Christmas festival—Mr. F. M’Arthur’s farm—Aboriginal tribes—Native costume—Noisy revelry—Wild ducks and pigeons—Spiders.
On leaving Darbylara, I proceeded to Jugiong by a different road from that by which I came, keeping near the Murrumbidgee river during the journey. Occasionally a flock of pelicans (“Guligalle” of the natives) were seen: this species has black and white plumage; the back and upper part of the wings being black, the remainder of the body white, with the bill and legs of a yellowish colour. Black swans (“Guniock” of the aborigines) were also seen; and among others of the “plumy tribe” that enlivened the scenery, were flocks of grey parrots, and several other species of the same tribe; the bell-bird, razor-grinder, and coach-whip birds, were also occasionally seen or heard; the latter well named from its peculiar note, which accurately resembles the cracking of a whip. In the vicinity of this noble stream the scenery was beautiful; rich and luxuriant pasturage abounded, and the country had a cheerful and animated appearance. The river, during its course, occasionally forms pretty cascades, by falling over huge rocks that oppose its current.
After riding four miles, a station belonging to Mr. Kennedy, called Kurongullen, gullen, was seen on the opposite side of the river; about a mile further distant, Mr. Lupton’s station of Guberolong was passed; and a further ride of eight miles, through a fertile picturesque country, brought me to Bulbábuck, a station the property of Mr. Henry O’Brien, where the men were busily occupied in cutting some fine fields of wheat. In the evening I reached Jugiong, and on the following day (10th December) arrived at Yas Plains.
This was the busy season with the settlers, being both the wool and grain harvest. Shearing had commenced some time before; but many who had numerous flocks were still engaged in that profitable occupation; the packing, sorting, screwing, and sewing in bales, occupying much time; wool being the staple article of the colony, and forming the principal riches of the settler. It is interesting for a stranger visiting the country at this period to view the processes of washing and shearing the animals—sorting, pressing, and packing the wool;—to often hear the terms of short and long staple wool, and to see the specimens of it arranged in small locks, showing the different degrees of fineness. If the shearing season is deferred, various grass seeds get into the wool, particularly those of the Anthisteria Australis, or kangaroo grass, one of the most abundant perhaps of the native grasses, frequently not only injuring the fleece, but, aided by its awns, penetrating even to the skin of the sheep. The Australian climate is admirably calculated for wool growing; the improvement of the fleeces during the late years, and the assorting of the wool by competent persons educated for the purpose in Germany, have produced for it so high a character in the London market, that the quantity exported from the colony is now great, and annually increasing: many of the settlers sell their wool to buyers in the colony, who speculate upon it, while others send it direct to agents in England.
The golden harvest also increases the business of the settler, usually occurring at the same time with the wool season, and the fields of grain around the scattered habitations render the scenery extremely rich. The prospect of the harvest this season was favourable both for its abundance and quality, although in some crops smut prevailed, the most were entirely free from it. It is a curious circumstance that self-sown wheat never smuts; that early sown is said to have little or none, and the wheat never smuts but when in blossom. I saw at one farm an ear of wheat from one of the fields, one side of which bore fine, healthy, and full grains, whilst the opposite side was entirely destroyed by smut. Wheat appears to suffer most. At one of the stations in the Tumat country the wheat suffered from smut, whilst barley and rye were perfectly free from it; and finer crops of the latter grain had never been seen. There are, I understand, many kinds of wheat that never suffer from smut in the colony; why are they not then sown in preference? The plan of trying different kinds of wheat and other grain, from various parts of the world, is worthy of attention, and would no doubt eventually confer much benefit, and add to the resources of the colony. There is a grain which the settlers have lately commenced to cultivate, called the “skinless oat,” said to be brought from China, that yields greater returns than the usually cultivated kind.
On riding through plains, &c. a number of quails are usually started by the dogs, and numerous eagle hawks, (Mollien of the natives,) and others of the same rapacious tribe, hover about for the purpose of darting upon the unfortunate quails when started; these hawks will also destroy and feed upon snakes, lizards, &c.
On the 23d of December I left Yas Plains for Sydney; in the evening I arrived at “Lomebraes,” or “Willowdalong,” the farm of Mr. John Hume, after a journey of twenty-two miles. This farm is situated close to a river, which I was surprised to find was the “Lachlan.” At this season it was merely a chain of shallow ponds, abounding with weeds, and even in the winter season, from the extent of the banks, it cannot attain any magnitude; probably by aid of tributary streams, it may in its course become a river of more importance. About this country the heat of the summer had not been so great as to parch up the land, which still maintained its verdure; but the utter want of variety in several parts of the colony, produces a tedious vacuity in the mind of the traveller when journeying over it.
A pleasing object in domestic life among the settlers was the number of healthy, blooming children seen on the farms in the interior; their little plump forms, with the prevailing flaxen hair, cheerful and lively disposition, and rosy countenances, sufficiently indicated that bush fare did not disagree with them: living in the midst of excellent milk, and other wholesome food, with exercise, they are never cloyed by the trash usually given to children in large towns. Sickness is also rarer among the servants, from an inability to become inebriated; but tobacco is quite a necessary of life among them; few can undergo any labour without it, and many have told me that they would rather give up their rations than be deprived of tobacco; consequently no gift is more acceptable in the bush to a servant, for any assistance he may render to the traveller, than a present of tobacco, for money in the distant parts of the colony, is comparatively useless, and they care little or nothing about it.
On leaving “Lomebraes,” the morning following, I proceeded some distance on my journey, when thinking I could reach “Mut, mut, billy,” sooner by taking a nearer cut across the bush, I followed cattle-paths, until I missed my way; no trifle in the bush of New South Wales, where many, having lost themselves in the mazes of a forest, have perished. However, after chancing the direction, I came to a settler’s hut, about three or four miles distant from Mr. Reddal’s farm, at Mut, mut, billy; I made inquiry of a man and woman, who were at that time busily engaged in opening a cow in the stock-yard, whether I was in the right road; after answering my inquiry in the affirmative, the man asked me if I had ever seen the disease called the “black leg,” which prevailed so much, and was still prevailing to some extent among the cattle in the colony, informing me that the cow had died of the disease, the first instance of it in this part of the country.
I felt gratified at having an opportunity of examining a case of this disease, of which I had only previously heard an account; so alighting, I entered the stock-yard, and examined the dead animal. Every part of the internal viscera was in a perfectly healthy condition, the stomach was distended with food, and there was nothing in the internal appearances exhibited to account for the death of the animal; but upon the thigh of the left hind leg, I perceived a swelling, and on the skin being laid back from it, an extent of dark extravasated blood was seen, and there was a similar state of extravasation upon one side of the neck: cutting through the fascia, the whole of the muscles, which had the appearances just mentioned, were found saturated with black blood, even to the bone. I can make no better comparison of its appearance than by saying it seemed as if those parts of the body had been severely beaten or mashed.
The animal I examined was a young cow; (the disease is said to attack principally the yearlings among cattle;) she had been perfectly well the preceding evening, but was found dead early in the morning; from the stomach being found distended with food, it could not have been long ill previous to its death. On arriving at the farm of Mut, mut, billy, I mentioned the circumstance to the overseer; he was alarmed at the disease having occurred so near, and expressed a fear of his cattle becoming attacked, as the disease was considered contagious; he asserted that none of his cattle had ever yet been affected, although he had heard of numbers dying in other districts from the disease.
It was a few days after this, when staying at Goulburn Plains, that a gentleman arrived, who mentioned his having seen a case of the disease denominated the “black leg,” in the stock-yard of the farm at Mut, mut, billy, that morning, so from this circumstance the fears of the overseer, respecting the extension of the disease, were unfortunately realized. The Irish assigned servants upon the estates where the disease has occurred, mention that it is not uncommon in Ireland, and is there considered contagious.[122] The mode of treatment adopted for its cure in that country is to bleed and rowel the cattle, and change the pasturage: it has been asserted that it was unknown in the colony until within the last twelvemonth; but some declare that it has existed, although not extensively, for a much longer period. Dr. Gibson informed me that the disease prevails principally among calves and yearlings, the first marked symptoms being a paralytic affection, the animal drawing the leg after it; a swelling and tenderness are then experienced about the affected parts, and usually a fatal termination ensues in twelve hours; bleeding relieves, and even has been known to cure cattle thus affected, if resorted to in time; but from the rapid progress of the disease, and among a large number of cattle, it is seldom observed until too late.
On the 24th of December I arrived at Lansdowne Park, (or, in the language of the country, “Bungee.”) Goulburn Plains, the residence of Mr. Bradley; and although the days previous had been sultry and oppressive, this was so cold as to make it agreeable to see a large wood-fire blazing on the parlour hearth, giving the close of day the appearance of a Christmas-eve at home, although in this country it was the height of the summer season; but such atmospherical changes occasionally take place in the colony.
The elegant drooping manna-trees (Eucalyptus mannifera) were numerous, and at this season secreted the peculiar saccharine mucilaginous substance called manna, which, in greater or less quantities, was lying upon the ground beneath them, or upon their leaves, trunks, and branches, in small white flakes, resembling bits of starch. The taste of this secretion is sweet and mucilaginous, having a greater or less aperient effect on different individuals; it is quite a sweetmeat, and seems to consist of mucilage, sugar, and probably some magnesia: although it readily acts as an aperient on some persons, upon others it produces no effect; it does not dissolve in the sun, but, on the contrary, becomes dryer and of harder consistence, by exposure; rain dissolves it, but more secretion of it takes place after wet than during a continuance of dry weather. Many of the colonists supposed the manna was secreted from the leaves of the tree, but from the foliage having a strong camphorated taste and odour, which the manna has not in the slightest degree, it was not probable; others again supposed it to proceed from the nectaries of the flowers, which are white, growing in clusters, and give to the tree a beautiful appearance when in bloom, attracting multitudes of parroquets. This tree, similar to the other Eucalypti, secretes a red gum, both spontaneously and in larger quantities, on incisions being made on the trunk. Birds and several insects feed upon the manna; among others the “Galang, galang,” as they are named in the language of the country, the “locust” of the colonists, of which insects, as I have before said, the aborigines declare it to be the excrement.
The tree is called in the aboriginal language “Bartoman,” and the manna is named “Cú ningaban;” it is collected and eaten by the natives. The growth of the tree, when young, is graceful and elegant; the bark is covered with a whitish powder, which readily rubs off upon the fingers, and the bark underneath is of a greyish colour; the bark of the “white gum” (Eucalyptus species) resembles this tree, but may be distinguished by not having a black butt like the manna-tree. On examining the tree to ascertain positively from what part of it the manna was secreted, I found in several that the manna exuded in a liquid form in minute drops from the bark, and then concreted; on some it had oozed out and had concreted upon the trunk in large thin flakes; it exuded about the consistence of syrup, and in taste was sweet; when secreted from the branches it falls from those above, upon the leaves, &c. of others beneath, and upon the ground, where, during a plentiful season, a large quantity may be collected.
The rain that had fallen the day previous to my examination of these trees, and the heat of the sun causing a quantity of manna to exude from them, its mode of secretion could be more readily distinguished. It is usually secreted about the commencement of December; but it depends on the weather whether the secretion is in greater or less quantity: this season it was abundant.
The manna trees had commenced during the latter part of December, to throw off their outer bark; their trunks, therefore, had a ragged appearance, and the ground underneath was strewed with dried crisped pieces which had fallen off, leaving a smooth and handsome new bark in their place. The black cockatoos (“Womberong,” and “Bulowla”) were occasionally seen in numbers, feeding upon the ripe cones of the Banksia, or “honeysuckles;”[123] and the smaller chattering parroquets were flying about, in hundreds, and revelling among the Eucalypti trees, which were now in flower; and, like to the humming-birds, they were extracting honey from the nectaries of the blossoms. On examining one that had been shot, the beak was covered, and the mouth filled, with honey, possessing the peculiar camphorated smell of the leaves and flowers of the tree, mingled with stamina; the stomach was filled with a dark, thick honey, among which some quantity of the stamina of the Eucalyptic flowers were mingled. The Blue Mountain parrot also sips the nectar from the flowers, as well as from peaches, &c. The natives, when they kill any of these birds, suck their beaks to extract the honey with which the mouth is usually filled, and also recover that collected in the stomach.
The aborigines were now collecting about the farms in expectation of a feast at the ensuing Christmas festival. I went up to one who was busily engaged in making an opossum-skin cloak: he sewed the skins together with the fibres of the bark of the “Stringy Bark” tree for thread, by first perforating holes in it with a sharp piece of bone, and then passing the thread through the holes as he proceeded. I asked him some questions, and then gave him a piece of tobacco: he asked for two piece tobacco, because “I merry busy, and you ask me much,” said blackee.
I visited “Northwood,” (distant about six miles from the Plains,) the neat farm of Mr. Francis M’Arthur, and afterwards rode across the plains to Dr. Gibson’s farm, at Taranna, which is situated near the “Soldier’s Flat;” this latter place consists of several small farms, of about a hundred acres each, which were granted by government to the discharged veterans. There were small bark huts erected upon the grants, and several ripe fields of grain and vegetable gardens about them.
The numerals among the aboriginal tribes of Goulburn Plains are as follows. One, Metong;—Two, Bulla;—Three, Bulla, metong;—Plenty, Nerang and Gorong.
Christmas Day is regarded as a festival by the blacks who live near the habitations of the white men, it being customary at this period for the settlers to distribute among them provisions and spirits, with which they contrive to render themselves perfectly happy. Several tribes had formed their encampment on and about the Plains, for the occasion, their huts had been speedily erected, by collecting the branches of trees, and lying over them sheets of bark, so placed as to form a shelter to windward; the fire being made in front. Some appeared in “native costume,” with an extra daub of red ochre, and the “bolombine” round the head; others wore tufts of the yellow crest of the white cockatoo, pending from their beards; but there were some who approximated to civilized society in dress, being arrayed in shirt, trowsers, and handkerchief;—and when thus cleanly “rigged out” in European finery, their personal appearance was not unprepossessing,—not that I mean to say they will bear away the palm for personal beauty.
Some of the “black fellers” had merely a jacket, others only a shirt: the garments, however, were merely put on for the occasion, to be soon after laid aside, as they find clothing materially obstruct them when engaged in hunting or other expeditions. The putting on the European garments serves merely to gratify their vanity, making them look “like white feller,” as they express it. Having observed, to one who petitioned me for a pair of “inexpressibles,” to look “like white feller,” that his father did not wear breeches; he replied, “My fadder no see white feller trowsers—if make a light (see) make get; but no white feller sit down this place when my fadder here.”
The “ladies” are conspicuous principally for their head gear; glowing in grease and red ochre, the ringlets of these “dark angels” were decorated with opossum tails, the extremities of other animals, and the incisor teeth of the kangaroo; some had the “Cambun” (“Bolombine” of the Tumat country,) or fillet daubed with pipe-clay bound round the forehead: this ornament is sometimes made from the stringy bark tree, as well as from the tendons of the kangaroo’s tail: lateral lines of pipe-clay ornamented the upper part of their faces, breast, and arms. Both men and women have raised cicatrices over the breast, arms, and back; but the forms of these personal decorations are various. They regarded with a degree of awe, a keyed bugle, with which a gentleman amused himself at this place: they called it the Cobbong (large) whistle; and were more pleased with the slow airs played upon it, than those of a lively and quick movement.
On the evening of Christmas Day we adjourned to the verandah: the scene was beautiful; the heavy clouds, which had previously obscured the heavens, had passed away: the sun, about to set, cast a red glow over the beautiful scenery of fields of golden grain; numerous herds of cattle and flocks of sheep scattered over different parts of the extensive plains; the elegant, drooping, young manna trees, and the sombre foliage of the Banksia, or honeysuckle; the picturesque wooded hills, with declivities covered with verdure to the plains beneath, and the farthest view terminated by distant mountains, formed a splendid prospect.
My attention was recalled from the enjoyment of this tranquil scene, by the noisy revelry of the blacks, whose approaches towards civilization were manifested by their getting intoxicated. The camp was now one scene of tumult and confusion: the huts, of a weak and temporary construction, were thrown down; the men, inebriated with “bull,” were chasing the women and children with sticks, who scampered away to escape the punishment awarded to their mockery: numerous curses, in English, proceeded from the lips of the inebriated blacks, being terms more expressive than any their limited language could afford. As the men swore, the women screamed and talked incessantly.
One of them came to me the following morning, and said, “You ought give black feller milliken, (milk,) bullock, and sheep, for white feller come up here, drive away opossum and kangaroo, and poor black feller get noting to patta (eat,) merry, merry, get hungry,”—a very true tale, thought I.
Kangaroo rats, called in the native language “Kánaman,” were numerous about this place; they are lively playful little animals, and when in confinement will drink milk and eat manna with avidity; their fur is as fine as that of the larger species of kangaroo. It is said to be found abundantly about the “Stringy Bark” ranges, forming rude nests of the fibrous bark. At a beautiful spot on the Wollondilly, not far distant from the plains, and at a part of the river forming even at this, the summer season, a fine sheet of water, called “Karoa” by the natives,[124] the “Burriol,” or musk ducks, with their young, the “Gunarung,” or wood-ducks, as well as other kinds of waterfowl, were seen in great numbers; and occasionally, about the marshes, the native companion, or Curaduck of the aborigines.
During this short excursion, a young black was stung by a wasp, and although he no doubt suffered severe pain, he yet disdained to utter a cry or a groan; he threw himself upon the ground, and rolled about, but no sound escaped his lips.
The bronzed-winged pigeon, the “Obungalong” in the aboriginal language, was abundant at this season. It constructs, like the pigeon tribe generally, a rude nest of sticks upon the forked branches of a tree, and lays two or more white eggs.
There is a spider which I frequently observed about Yas Plains, and also at other parts of the colony, which forms a den in the ground; the opening is about an inch in diameter; over this a lid is formed of web, incorporated with earth, and a web hinge, accurately filling the external aperture, which the animal can shut at pleasure. I have heard of a person who was accustomed to feed one of these insects; after feeding, it would enter the habitation, and shut down the lid, by drawing it close with one of its claws. It is nearly impossible to discover their habitations when the lid is closed, from its being so accurately fitted to the aperture.