Mr. Harper has been trying a great variety of foreign grain on different colonial soils; among others the Leghorn wheat, the ears of which are six inches in length, and from the straw the Leghorn bonnets so well known to the fair sex are manufactured.
Proceeding on my journey; between this farm and Lupton’s Inn, I was accosted by a native black, who asked me, whether “I white feller parson,[76] for me want shilling;” but not being of the clerical profession, I did not consider myself liable to be placed under contribution, more particularly upon the highway. It occurred to me at the time, that he must have heard of the five hundred pounds, granted annually from the colonial funds for their conversion, and concluded that all clergymen should bestow their shillings on himself and comrades. We parted with this conditional bargain, that if he brought me birds and other animals, he should have shillings in return.
Passing through “Bargo Brush,” the forest was still gay with flowers, with the additional beauty of the splendid proteacous shrub, called the “Warratah” or “tulip tree” of the colonists, which now displayed its brilliant crimson flowers. I remained for the night at “Mittagong,” and on the afternoon of the 10th arrived at “Arthursleigh,” the extensive and beautiful farm, the property of Hannibal M’Arthur, Esq.; I passed here two very agreeable days in the society of this gentleman and his friends. On the 12th I arrived at “Goulbourn Plains,” and on the evening of the 14th at “Yas Plains.”
The plains still retained their verdant appearance, although down the country vegetation was much parched. The river had fallen considerably since my previous visit. In the river, besides the quantity of fish there is a small and new species of lobster, which is also procured in large quantities from the muddy ponds on the Yas Plains; they are delicious eating, and taken readily by placing a piece of raw meat on a bent pin: when one is felt at the bait, it is to be dragged gently to the margin of the pond, (which is very muddy, but not deep,) and taken on the back by the hand: a number can thus be caught in a short time. The aborigines call them “Murugonan.” They burrow deep into the mud, and the blacks capture them by thrusting the hand into the holes, and dragging them out, although they often extend to such a depth that the whole length of the arm is inserted before the animal is secured.[77] The ponds in which the lobsters are taken are always full of water, being supplied by springs: one of them was about fifty yards in length by twenty in breadth, but of no great depth at any part. They form a chain along the plains during the dry season of the year; but during heavy rains they unite into a running stream, which empties itself into the Yas river. It is only at the season, when there is merely a chain of ponds or swamps, with but little water, that the lobsters can be caught with facility.
In the Murrumbidgee, Yas, Tumat, and other large rivers, there is a different and larger species of lobster which is frequently found in the stomachs of the “river cod.” This kind is called “Mungola” by the aborigines, and they are captured, measuring a foot and a foot and a half in length, and weighing three or four pounds. I examined a small one, captured in the Murrumbidgee at Jugiong; its dimensions were as follow:—
| Inch. | |
|---|---|
| Length of the body | 4 |
| Length of the tail | 4 |
| Length of the claw | 5½ |
| Breadth of the body at the broadest part | 2 |
| Breadth of the claw | 1⅜ |
| Length of the anterior or external antennæ | 7 |
The colour of the upper surface of the shield was dark green, with reddish tinges on the sides, the rings of the tail studded with short, thick spines, and similar but smaller spines on the sides of the shield: the spines and claws were white: the legs having been pulled off by the blacks, to prevent their escape during the time they were employed in catching others. I could not ascertain their colour. They are found under the large stones in the river, and are taken by the hand when the rivers are low. The natives usually seek for them in the evening, or at night by torchlight, and say it is difficult to get them during the daylight.[78]
Snakes are numerous in various parts of the colony. Those known among the colonists as the “black and brown snakes,” are found about the banks of the rivers, or in swampy situations: the natives (they are not, however, the best authority for the extent of danger a venomous snake produces) say that its bite is not deadly, but causes the person to feel sick and sleepy for a short time, which passes off without producing any further ill effects, even if no remedy be applied.
It would be interesting to institute experiments, so that the extent of danger attending the bites of the venomous reptiles in the colony might be ascertained with some degree of correctness. As far as regards this snake, I am well informed by persons who have been bitten, that the effects are as above stated; but still it would be interesting to know the degree of violence the poison is capable of producing in each of the venomous reptiles. I examined a “black snake,” which had been just killed at the farm of Gudarigby, upon a “flat” near the river: it was of a shining, silvery, black colour above; the abdomen being dark red: it measured three feet and a half in length, and at its largest circumference, three inches: it was a male specimen. The stomach was filled with a quantity of green frogs with golden spots; (the Rainette dorée of Péron?) some having the appearance of being just swallowed, whilst others were half digested: there was also a mass of digested matter, in which the remains of frogs could be distinctly seen. This snake appears to be a species of the genus “Acanthophis.” By the natives of Yas, the black snake is called “Bulbuk.”
The “brown snake,” which I examined, is also venomous, and, according to popular opinion, the effect very dangerous upon the human constitution. The specimen measured nearly five feet in length, and five inches at its largest circumference; the upper part of the body was of a brown colour, (from which no doubt its name is derived,) with a few light shades of black; the abdomen was of a light, bluish black. In the stomach were found several half-digested lizards, and a quantity of worms, which in some parts had even perforated the coats: on a further examination, the lungs were also found perforated by, and had attached to them, a number of these worms, varying from one and a half to two inches in length, and of a bright red colour: I preserved them, together with the lungs, in spirits, and sent them to the museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, in London.[79]