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James Backhouse and Charles Tylor wrote The Life and Labours of George Washington Walker, of Hobart Town, Tasmania, which was published by A.W. Bennett, London, and Thomas Brady, York, in 1862. Walker had been Backhouse’s companion on his missionary journey in 1836. The extracts below are taken from taken from this book which includes quotes from Walker’s journal of the trip, in smaller type, which present a different perspective than the observations recorded by Backhouse.
pp. 253-
“THE only thickly settled portion of the Colony which the Friends had not yet explored was the district south of the capital, and after a few days sojourn in Sydney, they bent their steps in that direction. On the 13th of the Ninth Month [1836] they went by coach to Liverpool, a town of some importance for New South Wales, containing at that time 500 inhabitants.
“9 mo. 16. - We breakfasted with Thomas Moore and his wife, the oldest inhabitants in Liverpool, having been the first to locate themselves in what was then a wilderness. Thomas Moore is a magistrate and an active promoter by his influence and example, of the welfare of the community. After reading the Scriptures my companion had some appropriate counsel to offer, under the renewed feeling of gospel love, which was well received.
“From Liverpool the next stage was to Campbell Town, a village in the midst of beautiful English-like scenery, but composed of miserable houses. They found the town-jail a dreadful dungeon, such as it would be difficult to match in despotic and even barbarous countries.
“17th. - The Lock-up or jail is underground, beneath the Police-office, or Court-house, and was originally designed for a wine cellar. The descent is by stone steps, into an area which communicates with the open day by an aperture at the top. Between this area and the wards of the prison is a wall, under which there is access through arches to the doors of the prison, and which contributes sadly to the exclusion of the air. The cells consist of one large ward for all male prisoners not sentenced to solitary confinement, and five solitary cells. The former has only two small windows opening into the passage between it and the arched wall, consequently admitting little either of light or air. A lamp enabled us to explore this dungeon. There are four small air-holes on the opposite side or end of the apartment towards the road, but so small as to admit of very little air and less light. When many men are confined here, the stench issuing through the crevices of the roof, which forms the floor of the Police-office above, has been so intolerable, at times, when a Court has been sitting, that the Magistrates have been driven from the room. What then must have been the state of the poor creatures below ! We have been informed that as many as sixty men have on an occasion of emergency been incarcerated here at once, and that some have fainted from the excessive heat and want of wholesome air: and had they not been taken into the open air for recovery, there is every reason to suppose they would have died from suffocation. It forcibly reminded me of the Black Hole of Calcutta, of which I have read a description, not supposing I should see any prison in the British dominions, used in the present day, bearing so close a resemblance. I measured the large ward; its dimensions were 20 1/2 by 12 1/2 feet and 8 feet in height.
“18th. First-day. - After breakfasting at the inn, we called on C. B. by whose beside we sat for an hour or more, endeavouring to stay our minds on the great Object of all true worship; this proved as an introduction to some religious counsel to the young man then stretched on the bed of sickness. The meeting in the Police Office took place at three, when about thirty persons attended, chiefly of the upper class of the inhabitants. A great many persons were abroad, the day being fine, but the public-houses seemed to be the sources of attraction, the multitude being
“ ‘Too busy, or too gay to wait
“On the sad theme, - their everlasting state.”
“The general indifference that is exhibited towards that which should be emphatically the ‘one thing needful,’ is indeed truly mournful. It is to be feared too many verify the poet’s succeeding description of those who, neglecting the salvation of the soul.
“Sport for a day, and perish in a night,
“The foam upon the waters not so light.’
“Passing through Appin they came to the house [originally called Lachlan Vale, after Governor Lachlan Macquarie but later known as Northampton Dale] of Eliza Broughton.
“She is the widow of the late Commissary Broughton who left a large family, the greater number of whom fill influential stations in various parts of the Colony. We had previously become acquainted with E. B. and we met with a cordial reception.
“From Appin their course lay by the coast, through Wollongong and the district of Illawarra, as far as Shoal Haven.
“20th. - [John] Archer Broughton, a fine young man, the eldest son of Eliza Broughton, accompanied us some miles, to put us upon a cross road which would lead us to Wollongong. He is of an enquiring mind, and we had some conversation with him as we walked by the way, which left an impression on our minds that we thought it would have been worth coming thus far to realize. I was reminded of the time when I first met my friend J. Backhouse, at which remarkable period, I trust without undue confidence, I may say, to the praise of Divine Grace, I was favoured to receive the Truth in the love of it. Parting from our youthful friend under feeling of lively Christian interest, we pursued our journey through a sandy barren tract, yielding low shrubs interspersed with stunted Gums and other forest trees. This continued for about eighteen or twenty miles, until we came upon a high mountain range of basaltic formation, capped with sandstone, which runs nearly parallel with the coast so uninterruptedly that a pass has not been found for a wheeled conveyance. The district of Illawarra comprises a belt of land between the mountains and the sea, remarkable for its fertility and the salubrity of its climate. Descending the mountain by a precipitous rocky track that winds through an exceedingly dense forest, we reached the coast, more wearied from the nature of the road than the length of the way, which was somewhat less than thirty miles. We were entertained with great hospitality by Charles Throsby Smith and his wife [Sarah] [at Bustle Hill], who is a daughter of Eliza Broughton.
“27th. - We had a native as a guide. Many parts of the road were very heavy and awkward to traverse, lying through dense forests, where from the extreme richness of the soil, it was nearly knee deep in mud. On these occasions we had to take to the Bush where the nettles were very troublesome, striking against our hands and unless great care were observed, against our faces, producing blisters immediately. The leaves of the Tree-nettles, of which there are three species, sting very severely. Those of the largest, Urtica gigas [Dendrocnide excelsa], measure twelve inches in length and nearly as much in width, and the trunk of the full grown tree, is sometimes as much as twenty feet in circumference.
“28th. - We reached the house of Alexander Berry, at Colomgatta [Coolangatta], a little after dark, and though we had no other introduction than the mention of our names, we met with a hearty welcome.
“10 mo. 2. First day. - A large proportion of the people from the other side of the Shoal Haven River, assembled with those of Colomgatta [Coolangatta] and places adjacent, under the verandah of A. Berry’s house, with whom we had a full opportunity of religious labour. My companion was largely engaged both in testimony and prayer, and the people by their reverent deportment afforded evidence of being seriously impressed.
“From Shoal Haven their course led inland to Bongbong.
“3rd. - We took leave of our hospitable friends the Berrys, and attended by two Blacks whom we had engaged to show us the way across the mountains, we re-commenced our walk. The distance, which was forty miles, requiring us to stop a night on the road, and the country being wild and unfrequented through which we had to pass, A. Berry had liberally furnished us with provisions. Seven miles from Colomgatta [Coolangatta] [Broughton Creek] we stopped at a Saw Mill that had lately been erected. It is conducted by an overseer named Paterson or Pattison], a Scotchman, with a wife and family. They seemed such respectable persons, and evinced so much Christian good-will towards us, that we were easily prevailed upon to stop for an hour, while the hospitable matron regaled us and our blacks with tea, the usual beverage set before travellers in the bush, and always most acceptable to us. We were much pleased in observing the pains taken by the parents to impart to their numerous children the advantages of education, of which they seemed to be liberal partakers themselves. The father had constructed the Saw Mill himself; he had previously been a great sufferer by the want of principle in others which actuates many in this part of the world, and by which he had been involved in litigation and loss, in endeavouring to realize the fruits of his own industry.
“After leaving the Saw Mill, we ascended a steep hill that may be about a thousand feet in elevation, and then gradually descended into a level country, extending on both sides of the Kangaroo River. Some time before sunset we reached the stock station of a person named Brooks [Richard Brooks], where we were civilly offered such accommodation in the form of shake-downs as the hut afforded. The Overseer, a ticket-of-leave man, was absent at the monthly muster held at Bongbong. The regulation which requires this attendance is often the occasion of serious evils, the men at the musters sometimes indulging in riot and dissipation, which often terminate in their committing some offence by which they subject themselves to privation of their Ticket, or to still greater punishment. We learned when at Bongbong a day or two after, that this was likely to be the result in the present instance, the man being then in prison for an aggravated offence committed under the influence of intoxication, and for which he was liable to be sent to a chain-gang. We had a religious interview in the evening with the few men who were inmates of the hut. A large party of Aborigines, of several tribes, were encamped within a few yards of the place; they could not number much fewer than 150. The Kangaroo Ground blacks constitute a numerous tribe, and these had been joined by the Bongbong and Shoal Haven tribes, and by some of those from The Five Islands near Wollongong. One of our guides, whose name is Lewis, was from this tribe, and with two others had been employed by John Batman, at whose house we met with him when last in Van Diemans Land. He had been to see the people of his own tribe, and having come round by Shoal Haven, on his way to Bongbong, we fell in with him there, or rather he challenged us, and reminded us of having been at our meeting held at J. Batman’s; and we subsequently engaged him to conduct us the Bongbong. Lewis cuts quite a figure among his countrymen in these parts, who all appear to regard him as a sort of chief; being attired in an officer’s surtout and trousers, no doubt contributes to produce this impression.
“4th. - The night was so boisterous that I was ready to fear that the hut might blow down, Several times, the door which was without a fastening blew wide open. The recollection of so many Aborigines being camped on the spot, and that this circumstance did not excite even a momentary feeling of apprehension, affords a sufficient proof of confidence in the peaceable character of this people in this part of the country.
“In resuming our march, in addition to our guides, Lewis and Sam, and our old guide Tommy, who had deserted us on a former occasion, we had the company of eight others, who volunteered to escort us to Bongbong, a distance of about twenty-three miles. After proceeding three or four miles we began to ascend a very steep mountain range that cuts off the coast from the interior. From the summit of this range to Bongbong, sixteen miles, the country is nearly a continuous level. Ten miles from this place is a stream called the Waterfall, in consequence of its being precipitated, a quarter of a mile from the road, over the face of a perpendicular cliff, said to be at least 600 feet high [Fitzroy Falls]. We halted for half an hour at this stream, and divided among thirteen persons the provisions that had been furnished for three, but on so liberal a scale, that on being equally divided they afforded a tolerable lunch for all.
“The Blacks on the coast, particularly in Illawarra, appear to be in little danger of starving, as in addition to the casual aid they receive from Settlers in return for their services (among which I may enumerate the killing of game with guns, in which they are exceedingly expert) they have in the heart of the Cabbage-palm tree [Cabbage Tree Palm], an inexhaustible resource, and shell-fish abound along the coast. The are extremely fond of whale blubber, and about Shoal Haven eat it, we are told, with avidity. It is a pretty well ascertained fact that the Shoal Haven tribe believe in the transmigration of souls. They have an idea that the souls of their departed Chiefs occupy the bodies of porpoises, and scrupulously avoid injuring these creatures. They have been known to set up a grievous wail, especially the women, when a porpoise has been shot by a European, after he had been vehemently dissuaded from his purpose by the Aborigines. Every where the Aboriginal race is fast diminishing; and unless means are taken of an effective kind to rescue them from their present debased and wretched condition, as colonization advances, the original inhabitants of the Australian wilds will be no more.
“6th. - We called at the farms of John White and George B. Barton, two considerable settlers. We had a letter of introduction to the latter from Alexander Berry, who had been at the pains of preparing several documents of this description, with the friendly motive of facilitating our movements; but our way has hitherto been so made for us that we have hardly needed this kind of introduction. I have no reason to apprehend we could either have used the Christian freedom we have done, in introducing ourselves, though often entire strangers to the parties, or that our visits would have been so well received, had we been acting on any other than the simple gospel principle inculcated by our Divine Master, ‘Freely ye have received, freely give;’ at the same time exercising the Christian liberty of ‘eating such things as are given us.’
“7th. - We made a pretty good start, having about twenty-three miles to walk to Goulburn. The Chaing-gang [conditions on an Iron Gang in 1838] at Marulan [Wingello Stockade, 1834 to 1843] were waiting for us as we passed, and were drawn up in front of the huts while we addressed them. It was a relieving season of labour to my mind, though outwardly, they seemed almost as little hopeful as any body of Prisoners we have met with. This Stockade being remote from the town, the most incorrigible offenders are sent to it, and the discipline is proportionally rigid. Lieutenant Bentley informed us that in a gang consisting of seventy men, 260 cases of flagellation have occurred during the short space of sixteen months. One man had received 900 lashes ! The present conduct of the men composing this gang is considerably improved, and the punishments are now much less frequent. It is obvious that in speaking of this kind of discipline as in any degree effective, it can only be with reference to its restraining influence on hardened offenders, a mere negative good. As for reformation by the aid of the lash, it is out of the question. The situation of these wretched men is indeed sufficiently discouraging; little seems to be done for their religious instruction beyond the mere reading of the Episcopal Church prayers to them once a week. It does not appear that they are even visited by the Chaplain of the district. We were much struck with the marked malconformation of the heads of a great many of these men. Though depravity was strikingly depicted in the countenances of the majority, defective intellect (whether it were cause or effect, I do not undertake to determine) was as evidently conspicuous in many, if not most. We have repeatedly had occasion to remark this coincidence with respect to convicts generally, but this was a more than commonly striking illustration of the fact.
“8th. - There are settlers or squatters, (that is unauthorized occupiers of Crown lands) beyond the Colonial boundaries as far as Menaro Plains [Monaro Plains] and Twofold Bay; and there is every reason to expect that this summer a direct communication will be opened between these parts and Port Phillip, which is now so much a place of attraction to emigrants. So soon as this is the case, there will be a continued chain of settlements holding intercourse with one another, from Sydney, or I might have said from Moreton Bay, along the eastern, and part of the southern, and western coast of New Holland. It is indeed surprising how, in less than fifty years, the British population have overrun the larger proportion of this vast territory; and continuing to extend their encroachments on the unoccupied lands, it is reasonable to presume that in fifty years more, most of the available land, on the coast at least, will be appropriated.
“Returning from this the extreme point of their journey [they actually continued on to Goulburn from Marulan], the Friends took an inland course, revisiting Bongbong, and then following the beautiful vale of the Nepean river, and coming out on the western thoroughfare at Penrith.
“10th. - Captain Rossi’s [see also] establishment [Rossiville] is beautifully situated on the Wollondilly, and is one of the finest estates in the neighbourhood. We were conducted thither by a decent Welshman, an assigned servant, in whom there seemed some capacity to apprehend gospel truth, as well as some disposition to walk according to it; his master spoke of him as a very exemplary servant and a pious man. Such instances are rare in this land, among prisoners, and the reason that they are fewer than in the other colony may be, that there is less pains taken for their instruction. Captain Rossi received us in a very friendly manner. He is a large sheep-holder, and was a great sufferer by the disease [Epidemic Catarrh or Influenza] that prevailed among the flocks last year. He lost about 3000 sheep, nearly one-half of his flock. The manner in which he bore the loss was exemplary. Sending for his manager, he asked him if he thought any precautionary or corrective measure could have been adopted which they had omitted, that would have averted the evil. The answer being given decidedly in the negative, he observed: ‘Then as it is not a thing resulting from our neglect or mismanagement, but is obviously a visitation of Divine Providence, instead of murmuring we ought cheerfully to acquiesce.’
“16th. - The meetings at Bongbong and Sutton Forest took place as proposed. Only twenty persons were present at the former; there might be sixty or seventy at the latter. Neither occasion was remarkable for the free flow of gospel ministry, though that in the afternoon was the more satisfactory. There is a deplorable absence of spiritual-mindedness among those who profess the Christian name in these parts, and the absence of all attention to religious subjects is by far too generally descriptive of the state of the population, especially the lower classes.
“17th. - We made Captain Sturt’s residence at Mittagong, where we halted for the remainder of the day and night. This intelligent traveller is well known to the public, as the author of an account of his exploratory expedition into the interior, a few years ago, in which he was accompanied by George M’Leay [Macleay]. During the whole journey, and notwithstanding that they fell in with a great many new tribes of Aborigines, quite unacquainted with Europeans, they were able to avoid all open rupture with them. Once or twice they were placed in considerable jeopardy, but by their prudence and forbearance, combined with resolute courage, they succeeded in conciliating the good-will of the Blacks.
“22nd. - We spent the remainder of the day with Thomas Hassall; his wife is the eldest daughter of Samuel Marsden, and is strikingly like her father. At half-past six we repaired to the place of meeting, where between forty and fifty persons were assembled. Considering the day (the last in the week) and the hour, and that a large proportion of the families in the neighbourhood were suffering from Influenza, it was quite as numerous as we anticipated. Though the thermometer was at 86 degrees where we sat, it was an open time of gospel labour. There seemed some access to the minds of the people, which made the work less laborious than it often is. I hope the labours of Thomas Hassall, who is a sincerely pious and zealous clergyman, are not in vain. Few men are held in such general estimation, and probably few or none of the Colonial Chaplains exert themselves more for the good of their parishioners. He administers both to their temporal and spiritual wants, often acting as their medical advisor.
“23rd. - We dined at Henry T. Shadforth’s; and after dinner the servants were assembled in the dining-room. We had a good meeting, inasmuch as, amidst much of human infirmity and tendency to drowsiness from the heat of the weather and exercise out of doors, the Lord was with us, enabling us to rise superior to bodily infirmities, and to proclaim the glad tidings of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
“At Winbourne we met with a kind reception from George Cox and his family. Arrangements had been made for a meeting at his brother Edward Cox’s [Fernhill; Image at NLA], two miles distant. Here again we had a relieving meeting; though having to communicate some close counsel, reminding our hearers of the infinite importance of building on that foundation than which none other can be laid, which is Christ Jesus; that it is they who hear his words and do them, who will be found to have built upon this foundation, while they who do them not, will prove to have been building on the sand, whatever may have been their profession. Some reference was also made to the importance of building that only, which would endure the test of fire; not confounding things unimportant or which might be even contrary to the Divine will, with those things that are really essential, and are as gold, silver and precious stones.
“24th. - The tract called Mulgoa, so named from a creek which joins the Nepean River near Regentville, the residence of Sir John Jamieson [Jamison], is a very interesting portion of the country. The land has been cleared to a great extent by the proprietors, and patches of trees have been left at suitable intervals, with so much judgment, that it has all the appearance of an English park. The rich cultivated lands bordering on the Nepean River forcibly remind the beholder of the weaving corn fields and fertile meadows of an English landscape. No portion of the Colony we have visited bears stronger evidence of labour and capital judiciously applied, and its inhabitants include some of the most respectable as well as most opulent in the country.
“25th. - We reached Paramatta [Parramatta], and repaired to the residence of Hannibal M’Arthur [Macarthur], one of the most elegant mansions [The Vineyard] in the country. Its owner is a member of the Legislative Council. He received us in the most hospitable manner, and we spent the evening with the family and their guests. I had some serious conversation with a portion of the company on Music, which is practised in this colony to a more than ordinary extent, and is one of the means resorted to, I have no doubt, to dispel those serious feelings and convictions, which if cherished would convert from love of the world and its transitory pleasures, to love of Him, who knocks at the door of the heart are, it is to be feared, in numberless instances, drowned in the tones of the piano.
“27th. -Sydney. In looking back on the journey, I feel that it is incumbent on me to bear a testimony to Almighty Goodness. I left Sydney under feelings of great depression, which continued for some time after we had commenced our journey. Never did I feel more sensibly without Divine help, I could indeed ‘do nothing;’ and I often sat the meetings without taking much or even any part in the vocal labour. But I may say, better was the end than the beginning, and, hitherto the Lord hath helped me; for which I desire to ascribe the praise to the Lord, who is a Rock and Refuge to all who put their trust in him.”
In the preface is is noted:
pp. iii-iv.
“G.W. Walker sometimes refers to the low tone of his health, and it may be for the reader to be informed, that at the time of commencing his travels, he was the only survivor of a considerable family by a second marriage, and was liable to attacks of illness similar to those he refers to in the journal and letters; and there is reason to believe, that the constitutional vigour, both of himself and his companion [James Backhouse], was so much increased by their long travel in the service of the Gospel, as to add more days to their lives than they spent together in this interesting service.”
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