An Historical Journal of the Transactions at Port Jackson and Norfolk Island Part 36

Two colonists, who had been in a boat fis.h.i.+ng, returned with a piece of intelligence very little to the credit of Bannelong, who had robbed them of what fish they had caught; and, as they had no arms, and he had several spears in his canoe, along with his wife and sister, they were deterred from making any resistance. In consequence of the fis.h.i.+ng-boat being robbed, orders were given that no boat in future should go out of the cove unarmed, and the natives were forbid ever going to the western point of the cove, where they stole the potatoes and threw the fiz-gig.

Three convicts, who went into the woods contrary to orders, were lost for several days; and when found, they were pretty severely punished: this, however, did not prevent one of these men from going out again, and he had now been so long absent, that there was no doubt but that he perished from hunger: another fell into the brook at Rose-Hill, and was drowned.

The number of deaths this year, 1790, were,

From sickness, 142 Lost in the woods, 4 Executed, 4 Drowned, 6 The total number of deaths, 156

On the 3d of January, 1791, several of the natives came to Governor Phillip's house, and told him that the native who had been fired at on the 28th of December, was wounded and would die; it was explained to them, that the reason of his being fired at, was, his attempting to wound a white man: on this, they did not appear dissatisfied.

Bannelong and his wife came in soon afterwards, and Governor Phillip charged him with taking the fish from the two colonists, which he denied; saying he had been a great way off; but when the two persons were sent for, and he found himself known, he entered into a long conversation, the purport of which was, an endeavour to justify himself; and this he did with an insolence that explained itself very clearly: he frequently mentioned the man who had been wounded, and threatened revenge; but appearing to recollect himself, he offered the governor his hand, which not being accepted, he grew violent, and seemed inclined to make use of his stick. One of the centinels was now called in, as it was much feared he would do some violent act, that would oblige Governor Phillip to order him to be put to death; for his behaviour was the height of savage insolence, and would have been immediately punished in any other person; but this man had so often made use of the word _be-ah-nah_, that they wished to bring him to reason without proceeding to force; especially, as it was suggested by an officer who was in the room, that he might not be understood clearly, and the governor was very unwilling to destroy the confidence Bannelong had for some time placed in him, which the slightest punishment or confinement would have done: he therefore told him to come near, for he was then standing at some distance, but he refused and went away.

Bannelong had not left the governor with any intention of returning; for, in pa.s.sing the wheelwright's shop, the workmen being at dinner, he stole a hatchet, with which, though pursued he got clear off.

In the afternoon of the 3d, the surgeon and some others went to the place where the wounded native was said to be, having directions to bring him to the hospital, if there were any hopes of his recovery.

When they got to the spot to which the native boy and girl, who were in the boat, directed them, two natives appeared; one of whom, having been concerned in stealing the potatoes, kept at a distance; the other came near enough to converse with them, and said, the man they were in search of was dead, in an adjoining cove, whither they went and found his body. The ball had pa.s.sed through the shoulder, and had cut the subclavian artery: the body was warm, and as his friends had left it covered with some boughs and fern, it was probable they did not intend either to bury or burn it. It proved to be the man who had thrown the fiz-gig; and as there was a necessity for firing on him, the taking place of the ball was rather to be wished for.

The woman who had been deserted by her husband, after remaining eight or ten days at Governor Phillip's house, went away on the 5th of January, and was reconciled to him again; his first wife now lived with another man, but she frequently visited Sydney, and was said to have granted favours to several of the convicts.

All the wheat and barley was now housed, except what was sown very late, and yielded better than could have been expected after the long drought. On the 18th, her Majesty's birthday was celebrated with the customary marks of respect. The Supply, having been put into thorough repair, sailed out of the cove on the 19th, with provisions and stores for Norfolk Island; but the wind coming round to the south-east, she was obliged to anchor, and did not get out of the harbour till the 22d.

The game-keeper, who was wounded on the 9th of December, as hath already been related, died on the 20th of January: his death was sudden, as at one time he was thought to be in a very fair way of recovery, being able to walk about. On opening the body, it appeared that the lungs on the left side, which had been wounded, were entirely wasted away: the pleura firmly adhered to the ribs for some inches round the wound; several of the small stones with which the spear had been armed, were found adhering to the side, and the rib against which the spear had broke, was splintered.

A considerable quant.i.ty of ground was now cleared, and large enclosures were made for cattle, which there was reason to hope would be brought from the Cape of Good Hope, by the s.h.i.+ps daily expected to arrive with the remainder of the corps raised for the service of this country, and the convicts from Ireland.

The person who had hitherto superintended the labour of the convicts, died on the 28th of January. This man left England with Governor Phillip, as a servant; but he had employed him in the public service from their first landing, and few men, who may hereafter be placed in his situation, will attain that ascendency which he had over the convicts, or be able to go through so much fatigue. He was replaced by a superintendant who came from England in the last s.h.i.+ps.

The Dutch vessel, which had been hired at Batavia to bring provisions purchased for the Colony, and which arrived at Port Jackson on the 17th of December, 1790, was cleared, and was ready for sea by the 5th of February. The provisions brought in her consisted of one hundred and seventy-one barrels of beef, one hundred and seventy-two barrels of pork, thirty-nine barrels of flour, one thousand pounds of sugar, and seventy thousand pounds of rice: five pounds in the hundred were to be allowed as loss on the rice; and after that deduction, there was a deficiency of forty-two thousand nine hundred pounds; for which, the master of the vessel would only allow the commissary at the rate of one halfpenny a pound; or, if paid in b.u.t.ter, at the rate of one pound of b.u.t.ter for eighteen pounds of rice: he had rice and flour on board, which he called his own property; and as he was a foreigner, and particularly circ.u.mstanced, the commissary was ordered to accept the b.u.t.ter in lieu of the deficiency of rice.

This vessel was hired by the officer, who commanded the Supply armed tender, and who was obliged to accept her at three hundred and fifty tons measurement, though she did not measure three hundred tons: the freight for bringing the provisions was fixed at twenty-eight thousand rix-dollars; bills for which had been given at Batavia. The master on his arrival, said, that after leaving Port Jackson, he should proceed to New Guinea in search of spices, which that island was supposed to produce; he was also to stop at Timur and several other settlements before he returned to Batavia: at the same time, he offered the vessel for sale, or to lett her on freight; but as he conjectured that the colony wanted such a vessel, his demands were exorbitant. He first valued her at sixty thousand rix-dollars, and before he was ready to sail, he offered her for two and thirty thousand rix-dollars.

If she was hired, he talked of eleven pounds sterling per month; but no attention being paid to any of these demands, he came down to forty s.h.i.+llings sterling a ton per month, if let on freight to carry the officers and seamen who had belonged to the Sirius to England; that freight to be paid until the vessel should return to Batavia. He was now ready to sail, and finding no attention would be paid to any such proposals, he offered to sell the vessel for thirty thousand rix-dollars, or to go to England on freight at forty s.h.i.+llings per ton; the vessel to be continued in pay for two months after her arrival at Portsmouth or Plymouth; or to have twenty thousand rix-dollars for the voyage.

A considerable time had pa.s.sed since Governor Phillip had reason to expect the arrival of some s.h.i.+ps from England, and he wished to secure a vessel for sending home the officers and men who had belonged to the Sirius, or to send for a farther supply of provisions, should no s.h.i.+ps arrive before the month of March: the Dutch vessel was, therefore, hired at twenty s.h.i.+llings per ton.

Two native youths who had frequently left Governor Phillip's house, in order to have their front teeth drawn, had now been absent several days for that purpose. They were seen in a bay down the harbour on the 8th of February, where a considerable number of the natives were a.s.sembled, it was supposed not less than a hundred, including women and children. Most of the men were painted, and it should seem that they were a.s.sembled for the purpose of drawing the front teeth from several men and boys.

Soon afterwards, the two youths returned to the governor's; they had their heads bound round with rushes, which were split, and the white side was put outwards: several pieces of reed were stuck through this fillet and came over the forehead; their arms were likewise bound round and ornamented in the same manner, and each had a black streak on his breast, which was broad at one end, and terminated in a point. They had lost their front teeth, and considering their manner of drawing teeth in this country, it was not surprising to see that one of them had lost a piece of his jaw-bone, which was driven out with the tooth.

Both these boys appeared to be in pain, but they would not own it, and seemed to value themselves on having undergone the operation; though why it is performed, or why the females lose a part of the little finger, could not as yet be learnt.

The weather was very close and sultry, and the natives having fired the country for several miles round, the wind, which blew strong on the 12th, was heated to a very extraordinary degree, particularly at Rose-Hill, where the country was on fire for several miles to the northward and southward.

Great numbers of parroquets were picked up under the trees, and the bats, which had been seen frequently flying about Rose-Hill soon after the evening closed in, and were supposed to go to the southward every night, and return to the northward before the day broke, now appeared in immense numbers: thousands of them were hanging on the branches of the trees, and many dropped down, unable to bear the burning winds.

The head of this bat strongly resembles that of a fox, and the wings of many of them extend three feet ten inches: Governor Phillip saw one which measured upwards of four feet from the tip of each wing. Some were taken alive, and would eat boiled rice, or other food readily out of the hand, and in a few days were as domestic as if they had been bred in the house: the governor had one, a female, that would hang by one leg a whole day without changing its position; and in that pendant situation, with its breast neatly covered with one of its wings, it ate whatever was offered it, lapping out of the hand like a cat. Their smell is stronger than that of a fox; they are very fat, and are reckoned by the natives excellent food. From the numbers which fell into the brook at Rose-Hill, the water was tainted for several days, and it was supposed that more than twenty thousand of them were seen within the s.p.a.ce of one mile.

The dry weather still continued, and many runs of water which were considerable at this season the last year, were now dried up; but the brook at Rose-Hill, though greatly reduced, was still a run of water that would supply more inhabitants than that settlement is likely to contain for many years; and in all the ponds there was plenty of good water; nor had the dry weather affected a spring that rises on the side of a hill, the water of which is better than what the brook affords. At Sydney, the run of water was now very small, but was sufficient for all culinary purposes; and should it hereafter be found necessary, wells may easily be made: a well at Governor Phillip's house was very little affected by the drought.

The natives continued to visit Sydney after Bannelong stole the hatchet, and behaved in a manner that gave every one reason to think he never would return; this, however, was not the case; for, after having frequently visited the fis.h.i.+ng-boats, and made many enquiries to know if Governor Phillip was angry, and would shoot him, he ventured to go to the hospital, and seemed very desirous of knowing if he might come to the governor's house; at the same time, he named a man who, he said, had stolen the hatchet, and denied having ever used any threats: however, not being satisfied with the answers which were given to him, he went away.

But some days afterwards he came to the governor's, who, happening to be in the yard when he came to the gate, ordered him away. He was seen soon afterwards, and as he appeared very desirous of being received again, and disclaimed any knowledge of the hatchet, or any intention of revenging the death of the native who had been shot, Governor Phillip appeared to believe him, and he was permitted to come into the yard, which was always open to the natives, and some bread and fish were given him; but he was no longer permitted to enter the house; this was putting him on a level with the other natives, and he appeared to feel his degradation; but it did not prevent him from repeating his visits very frequently.

-By-gone_, who has been mentioned as the daring fellow who lived with Bannelong, and was in campany with the man who had been shot, ventured to come to Rose-Hill; and as Governor Phillip wished for a friendly intercourse to be kept up with the natives, he was well received, and no notice was taken of past offences, so that he soon became perfectly at his ease.

A second store-house of brick was now tiled in, and though the crops in the ground had suffered from the very dry weather for the last eight months, it had been favourable for the buildings.

The barrack at Rose-Hill was nearly ready to receive the men, and one wing of the officers barracks was ready for tiling.

The Supply returned from Norfolk Island on the 26th of February, with the officers and seamen who had remained there after the loss of the Sirius; and the Dutch vessel being hired to carry them to England, she began to prepare for the voyage.

In the night of the 27th, they had very heavy rain, which was highly acceptable. On the 28th, it blew very fresh, and a fis.h.i.+ng boat, in working up the harbour, filled; fortunately, she was an English cutter, and did not sink. A young woman, a little girl, and two children, (all natives) were in the boat when the accident happened: the young woman had the two children on her shoulders in a moment, and swam on sh.o.r.e with them; the girl also swam on sh.o.r.e, as did such of the boat's crew that could swim.

Several of the natives seeing this accident as the boat drove towards the rocks, gave them every possible a.s.sistance, without which, in all probability, one of the crew would have been drowned. After clearing the boat, they collected the oars and such articles as had been driven on sh.o.r.e in different places; and in these friendly offices, Bannelong was very a.s.siduous: this behaviour gave Governor Phillip an opportunity of receiving him in a more kindly manner than he had done since his bad behaviour.

Though our colonists had never been able to learn the reason for the females losing two joints of the little finger, they now had an opportunity of seeing in what manner that operation is performed. Colebe's wife brought her child to Governor Phillip's house a few days after it was born, and as it was a female, both the father and mother had been repeatedly told, that if the finger was to be cut off, the governor wished to see the operation. The child was now two months old, and a ligature was applied round the little finger at the second joint; but two or three days afterwards, when she brought the child again, the ligature was either broke, or had been taken off: this being mentioned to the mother, she took several hairs from the head of an officer who was present, and bound them very tight round the child's finger. After some time, a gangrene took place; and though the child appeared uneasy when the finger was touched, it did not cry, nor was any attention paid to it after the ligature was applied.

It has already been observed, that this operation always took place on the left hand of the females; but this child was an exception, for it was the little finger on the right hand on which the ligature was applied: this bandage was continued until the finger was ready to drop off, when its parents carried it to the surgeon, who, at their request, separated it with a knife.

Making love in this country is always prefaced by a beating, which the female seems to receive as a matter of course. The native girl, who still resided occasionally at the clergyman's, had been absent two days, when she returned with a bad wound on the head, and some severe bruises on her shoulder; the girl whose life Governor Phillip had saved, returned with her; she also had a wound on her head, and one of her arms was much bruised by a blow with a club: the story they told was, that two men who frequently visited the settlement, wanted to sleep with them, and on their refusing, had, as usual on such occasions, beat them most unmercifully.

Bannelong, after an absence of several days, returned to the settlement; and the services he had rendered the boat's crew when they were in danger of being lost, being considered as an atonement for his past offences, he was admitted into Governor Phillip's house; in consequence of this reconciliation, the number of visitors greatly increased, the governor's yard being their head quarters.

Chapter XXI

TRANSACTIONS AT PORT JACKSON

April 1791 to May 1791

An excursion into the country.--Occurrences on the journey.--Surprising dexterity of the natives in climbing trees.--Their superst.i.tion.--Their method of curing wounds.--Their language.--Their manners and disposition.

On the 11th of April, 1791, Governor Phillip left Rose-Hill with a party, intending to reach Hawkesbury-River, opposite Richmond-Hill; and, if possible, to cross the river and get to the mountains. Besides the governor, the party consisted of a servant, and three convicts, who were good marksmen, eight soldiers, two serjeants, one captain, Lieutenant Tench, and Lieutenant Dawes; they took seven days provisions with them.

As a few hours heavy rain would raise the waters at the head of the Hawkesbury, and render their return very difficult, if not impracticable, the party were made so considerable, that they might divide if it was possible to cross the river, which the governor meant to do with only half a dozen persons; leaving the remainder to prepare a raft of light wood, if any could be found, or to a.s.sist their return, with lines carried for that purpose.

It was near eleven o'clock when the party set off, and, after crossing Rose-Hill creek, they went to the northward, as Governor Phillip wished to see if, after so long a drought, there was any water in a ravine near to which he intended to place a settler, the ground being good, lying well for cultivation, and having plenty of water where the farm-house was intended to be fixed.

This track of good ground runs to the eastward, and was separated from the cultivated land on the north side of Rose-Hill creek by a small patch of brush-wood, and a narrow slip of poor sandy soil.

Water being found in the bottom of the ravines, our party shaped their course so as to cross a part of the country, with which they were unacquainted, going north-west by the compa.s.s, and counting their paces. Colebe, and Ballederry, the young man who has been mentioned as living chiefly at Governor Phillip's house, were desirous of joining this party; and, as much information was expected from them, they were encouraged to go, and they carried their own provisions.

After pa.s.sing several deep ravines, and going round the heads of others, over a barren country for an hour, the land grew better, and was tolerable, till one o'clock, when it again grew bad and rocky. The natives informed them that this part of the country was inhabited by the _Bidjigals_, but that most of the tribe were dead of the small-pox. Though the country they pa.s.sed over in their morning's walk was chiefly poor stony ground, it was covered with timber, and was pleasing to the eye.

At half past one o'clock, the party came to a low piece of ground where they found water, and which, in any future excursion, would be a good sleeping place. The country continued a dry, arid soil, and the surface was mostly covered with loose stones, till forty minutes past three o'clock, when they came to some pools of good water, which were very acceptable, as one of the party was taken ill. Here they made fires and laid down for the night. In the course of the day, they had seen numbers of Pattagorong, and Baggaray; in one herd, it was supposed there could not be less than forty.

Soon after the fires were lighted, the voice of a native was heard in the woods, hunting his dog; and, as Colebe and Ballederry were very desirous of having an interview with him, though they said the tribe of _Bu-ru-be-ron-gal_, who were bad men and their enemies, resided near the spot, they frequently hallooed, and were answered by the stranger; and, as the voice drew nearer, they desired our party would all lie down and keep silence. A light was now seen in the woods, and our natives advancing towards it, a pretty long conversation ensued between them and the stranger, who approached them with great precaution: a little boy who was with him carried the fire, which was a piece of the bark of the tea-tree. This boy being sent forward first, joined Colebe and Ballederry, who, having told the stranger their names, the tribe to which they belonged, and received the like information from him, they joined, and the stranger was now told the names of the party who remained at the fire; at the same time, some of them were desired to speak.

At Governor Phillip's approach, the boy ran away, and the man did not appear perfectly at his ease when he saw four or five persons near him, though none of them were armed. They were all introduced to the stranger by name, and he was pressed to come to their fire, which was forty or fifty yards distant; but this he declined, saying he would go and fetch his family, and would return in the morning. Colebe and Ballederry told this man that their party were going to the river, which he pointed out as lying in the direction they had taken.

When these natives first endeavoured to make themselves heard by the stranger, they had advanced some little distance from the rest, but as he approached them they retreated, and wanted the serjeant, in whom they always placed great confidence, to take his gun, and go with them, which was not permitted: this showed that they, as well as the other native, thought there was some danger in the meeting; and the caution with which the stranger approached them was very great; by sending the boy before him with the fire, he could see if those he was going to join were armed or not, whilst the trees kept him from their view. This man had a stone hatchet, a spear, and a throwing-stick, which one of our natives was very desirous of his leaving; probably as a pledge for his returning in the morning, but this he refused: he was a young man, of the tribe of Bu-ru-be-ron-gal, and named -Bur-ro-wai_; his hair was ornamented with the tails of several small animals, and he had preserved all his teeth. On Colebe being asked how this man lived, he said that he had no canoe, but lived by the chace.

The next morning, (the 12th of April,) our party set off at half past six o'clock, keeping their course north-west, through a poor country, though covered with timber, till three quarters past eight, when they saw the river, which, in this situation, is about 300 feet wide: the banks are high, and the soil a light sand, but producing fine strait timber: this sand, which in some places does not appear to have any mixture of mould, extends several hundred yards from the river. The party were now eighteen miles and an half from Rose-Hill, which bore from them north 28 west.