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.
CHAPTER XVII.
Arrive at Wombat Brush—Animals called Wombat—Parched country—Road-side houses—Colonial English—Column to the memory of La Perouse—Death of Le Receveur—Sydney police-office—The Bustard—Botanic garden—The aborigines—King Dungaree—The castor-oil shrub—Diseases of Australia—New Zealanders—Australian ladies—Prejudice against travellers from Botany Bay—Anecdote—A fishing excursion—Cephalopodous animals—Conclusion of the author’s researches in this colony.
On the 30th of December I left Goulburn Plains, and arrived the same evening at Arthursleigh. On the day following I crossed the “Uringalle,” (more commonly known by the name of “Paddy’s river,”) and arrived at “Wombat Brush.” This tract of forest land was so named from being formerly frequented by a number of the animals called “Wombat,” but which are now rarely or never seen in the vicinity of the settlement, the whole having been nearly destroyed. About the Tumat and Murrumbidgee country I witnessed numerous burrows; and certain marks of the animals indicative of their presence; but they can but seldom be seen, as they remain in the burrows during the day, coming out to feed at night.