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pp. 74-77.
“On my way to the station [on the Moruya River] I have described, I saw a number of the Aborigines. They were painted with red, yellow and white streaks, especially on the face; and the appearance of some of them was abundantly ghastly and horrible. They said they were going to have a fight. Their fights are generally but sham battles, there being a great deal of noise and clamour, and very little danger; but their duels are more formidable. Each gathers his hair on the top of his head, and ties it round in a bunch, - as a lady her ‘back hair,’ or a farmer his horse’s tail, - so that it acts like a cushion or pad. One then stoops, and receives a blow on the head with a heavy but blunt weapon. Having shaken his ears, and scratched his head, it is now his turn to strike a similar blow; and thus the battle is continued, until it is ascertained which of the two has the thickest skull, and can bear the most heavy blows; when he who first declines to receive another, is declared vanquished; and thus the matter ends. The blacks appear to be almost insensible to ordinary injuries; and wounds, the mere shock of which would assuredly kill a white man, are borne by them with hardly a complaint, and are sometimes a matter of jest.
“From this group of Aborigines, one came running to us saying that he had ‘bailed up,’ or secured, a white fellow in a neighbouring hut, having caught him without a pass. He soon brought out a white man, who looked very much frightened; and, shaking his finger at him, repeated, ‘mind your business, sar; mind your business.’ It turned out that this black imagined he was invested with the office of constable; and, meeting this man, demanded his pass, which he, being a convict, was obliged to have with him. The pass happening to be old and dirty, our sable friend said it was a bad one, and laid hold of the man, saying he should go before a magistrate. We asked him to read the paper, and on this he looked knowingly, and said, ‘I Jagga-Jagga; constable belonging to Bronlee [Broulee]; take up white fellow, ‘pose him got no pass; put him along of lock-up; made constable by ----- Johnny Hawthorn.’ This black could use his fists; and, being once struck by a man whom he was assisting in ploughing, he drubbed him heartily, amid the plaudits of the bystanders. Some of the assemblage recognised my companion, and raced after him, shouting, ‘I say, Woolloomalan ! - (the native name of his place) - where you yan ? (go). Where Charley sit down ? B’leve you got bacca ? Eh ?’
“During this excursion, I had the opportunity of comparing the appearance of the blacks, three parts wild, with those who had ‘come in,’ or become partly civilised. Compare that merry fellow who is twanging ‘Jim Crow’ on a Jew’s harp, with that savage-looking being who is cowering over a small fire. The latter has a hang-dog look, and will not meet your eye, or even glance at you; but then he knows he is in disgrace for killing calves; and some of his party, there is too much reason to fear, have carried off and devoured a little white boy who has been anxiously sought for, and who disappeared on the same day with one of the cannibals who had been lurking about the farmer’s premises [This is an unsubstantiated and false statement, not uncommon at a time when sensationalised rumours were rife].
“I fell in with the half-cast Cingalese who found the shipwrecked Mrs. Frazer among the wild blacks northward. He said he discovered her, in the midst of native women, picking shell-fish on the coast; and that her husband, and the other white men who were killed, were put to death for unwittingly violating one of the native customs. The man was originally sent to the Colony as a convict, but ran away, and lived for many years amongst the Aborigines, by whom he said he was much respected; ‘very much respected indeed.’ He was proud of being the natural son of a lieutenant in the army, and boasted that he had the blood of a gentleman in his veins. In return for saving Mrs. Frazer, and conducting her into the settled parts of the Colony, he had received a free pardon; but he still lived entirely with the blacks, and when I saw him, had just returned from an expedition in search of a wife. After conferring in due form with the sable fathers of the tribe, he had been allowed, as a particular friend and ancient ally, to select one of the most captivating daughters; and I saw the bride, arrayed in a blanket, squatted on the ground which formed their bed, and very bashful and sheepish she appeared. She had large black eyes, and was rather comely. He said that she was a very good wife; but then, as it happened, he was rather old and she was young, and, moreover, grieved at being compelled to leave her old friends. Thus, ultimately, unhappy domestic differences arose, and she dissolved the connexion by running away, leaving him a disconsolate widower, for, I doubt not, the twentieth time at least.
pp. 87-121.
“I am anxious, before leaving Ulladulla and turning my steps northward, to introduce some of the aborigines; one or two of whom are generally to be found on the premises of every settler in the bush, forming, in fact, a part of household. I must, of course, give the preference to the sex - I cannot say to the fair sex - and I accordingly commence with a lady. That black-looking dame, with a pipe stuck between her protruding lips, and attired in a dirty check gown, gathered up behind like a bag, is Mrs. Paddy, the elder wife of yonder fine-built man, whose costume consists of a shirt and pea-jacket only. Her usual resort is the back kitchen, where she washes dishes, and also employs herself in roasting parrots and magpies for her own particular benefit. Her lord and master, having a decided taste for marital comforts, has taken unto himself a second and younger wife, of a yellow complexion; but the elder Mrs. Paddy does not object to his taste, nor appear jealous of her juvenile rival. She is of amiable disposition, and cried not when the fat pig was killed, and when the dog was shot. She sleeps ‘in camp,’ and walks up to the settlement every morning to perform the duties of kitchen-maid. Yonder lively, active, clever fellow, is called ‘Charley.’ He is very fond of riding, and that as fast as his horse can scamper. When the  maize is ripe, his duty is to shoot the cockatoos, parrots, and magpies that infest it; and in this employment he delights. He patronises Paddy’s elder wife aforesaid, and presents his feathered spoils to her. It is to be observed, that he has a very fine, bright eye.
“That symmetrical, manly fellow, with broad shoulders and a deep chest, is ‘Jimmy Woodbury,” and a great personage in his own tribe; for, though the aborigines recognise no chiefs, such a man as Jimmy acquires much influence among them. He is a good bruiser, and once thrahed three white men who combined to molest him. If you show him your shoulder-of-mutton fist, adorned with large knuckles, saying, ‘What do you think of this, Jimmy ?’ he will immediately reply, ‘You see this, massa,’ and exhibit his skill in fighting; hitting out straight from the shoulder, and leaping from the ground at every blow, thus throwing the whole weight of the body into it. As well might one grapple with a catamountain; and it is to be recollected that, however much he might hurt you, to hurt him, with your fists, is quite out of the question. He allows no suspicious characters to lurk about the camp when he is ‘at home,’ and has been known to take a stick and give a white interloper a good thrashing.
“This man was often employed, as a stockman, in taking cattle and horses up the coast, and was a great favourite wherever he went. Before starting, he required a rig-out, as a necessary preliminary, that he might appear a ‘cabon swell,’ and some ‘white money’ (silver), that he might might be able to ‘take his grog like a gentleman;’ but I never heard of his becoming intoxicated. If he wore boots, he rode with his feet chock-up in the stirrups but, if without them, he had the stirrup-iron between the great toe and its neighbour. If it were remarked to him, when attired in his travelling dress, that he was quite the gentleman, he would answer, ‘I believe so, Massa.’ He was agreat man at Corrobbories, and was as well satisfied, when daubed from head to foot with white clay, having his hair powdered with the downy feathers of the white cockatoo, and a reed stuck through the cartilage of his nose, as when representing a Sunday buck; and I know that he walked fifty miles, in one day, in order to join in a dance at night. I have traveled with him up the coast, and found him an excellent companion. He has waited on me as a servant, made the tea, boiled the eggs, and shown every wish to promote my comfort; having perviously assisted me in a burglarious entry through the window into the dwelling of a settler who was absent. At night, he took up his quarters by the fire and there I saw him in all his naked, sable beauty, sprawling on his back, fast asleep; with one foot, which was ‘budgel,’ propped on the kettle. He had previously spit all over his foot, blowing and sputtering, as a groom does when dressing a horse. Spitting on a diseased part is a favourite remedy amongst the blacks. They pretend thus to drive out the disease, and to catch it in their hands; and the then affect to carry it away, and bury it in a hole previously dug. When I saw Jimmy thus sleeping, it occurred to me - where were his thoughts straying, and what fancies, what strange visions, were depicted in his imagination ? What would one peep into his mind have revealed ?
About Ulladulla were many smart, active, young black men, who occasionally made themselves useful, especially in reaping, and in felling timber; and in the former employment they were very expert. In order to make them work, it was essential to keep them in good humour; and the occasional discharge of a broadside of jokes produced great vigour and activity in their operations. Their reward generally consisted of beef and flour, with the occasional gift of a shirt; buy, their greatest treat, and most favourite dish, was boiled rice, with abundance of sugar sprinkled over it. Round a huge dish of this they would sit luxuriating, and carefully licking their spoons after each mouthful. At night, they made a gunyah, and lined it with straw, over which they spread their blankets, if they had any. A fire was lighted in front, and the dogs curled up at their backs. There they would long sit singing; but I cannot say much for their musical taste. To borrow from Mr. Ford,
‘When they joined in doleful chorus,
How these happy blacks did bore us.’
“There were many old wives or ‘gins,’ lean and cross. Their withered features were perfectly ghastly, and their legs exactly like broomsticks. Their apparel was not choice; it was borrowed from the whites, and consisted mostly of old gowns or frocks. They were a rag-tag and bob-tail congregation, and ‘fickle, coy, and hard to please.’ They would sometime quarrel violently, and abuse one another at the to[ of their voice, forming a very Babel of sounds; for, like a whirligig newly wound up, and set spinning, so vibrates the tongue of an enraged gin. When they could be induced to agree together, they were useful for picking potatoes, and husking maize; but, as they were accomplished in petit larceny, they helped themselves bountifully both to maize and potatoes, by sneaking into the fields at night.
“When in their own quarters, in their camp, they laid aside their dresses, and squatted under their gunyahs, unadorned, with their chins on their knees, fondling mangy, half-starved dogs; and, if a white man passed, they stretched out their hands, drawling, ‘Baccy;’ for they all smoked. They always kept a small fire burning at their feet. Some of the younger women were proud of their children, and reared them with kindness and attention. The little black wretches used to run about naked, as merry as grigs [a lively person], and they usually rejoiced in fine names, bestowed by the whites. “Prince Leeboo’ was a happy boy, with white teeth, a merry face, and abdominal proportions worthy of a Lilliputian alderman. For some time he was quite the show child. The mother and the other women simpered and smirked, like so many affected old dowagers, when the young gentleman was noticed and admired; and he, on his part, appeared not a little pleased. The elder boys, some of whom were as ugly as imps of darkness, whilst others were much the reverse, used to amuse themselves with playing spears, made of sticks. One of their favourite amusements was to stand on a log, that had fallen across the creek, and, throwing pieces of wood into the water above them, spear them as they floated by. They would also throw sticks and bommerangs [Boomerangs] at each other’s legs; ha that was thrown at receiving notice, that he might jump out of the way, if he could. One or two of them struck up acquaintance with the overseer’s son, and the boys were prime friends. The Devonshire lad herded the milking cows in the bush; ‘Terrence’ was always with him, and succeeded in convincing him that there was no sufficient reason why he should be encumbered with such useless articles as clothes. Accordingly, Master Sam, one fine day, made his appearance minus a very essential article of a young gentleman’s attire, and great was the indignation of his father on witnessing the metamorphis. ‘What maxims are these ?’ exclaimed the enraged parent, as he persued the flying cupid with a stock-whip; but Sam was fleeter than he, and made his escape.
“Although gins cherish some of their children, they certainly kill many, and, almost invariably, the male half-breeds; and when children, born during the residence of the mothers with stockmen, are put to death, there can be no doubt that these men are parties consenting to the deed. The old villainous gins assemble at the birth, and carry away the child, and destroy it. Those black women who live with stockmen are fair housewives, and wash and cook very well. The half-castes are generally of a dirty, yellowish white; but I have seen a girl very good looking, and with eyes large, black, sparkling, full of life, and not easily to be matched.
“None of the black men about Ulladulla were ever known to wash or bathe; but they were fond of greasing and combing out their fine black hair, which was by no means woolly. The younger women sometimes sported in the lake, like ebon Nereids, but that rarely; and, perhaps, they were afraid of spoiling their complexions by too frequent ablutions. The men were fond of dress; and when they had ‘white money,’ would sometimes contrive to procure a stray garment of unusual splendour. Once they got hold of a dressing gown, and in this way strutted about a la Monsieur Mantilini, the robe passing from one to the other; for the original owner was soon tired of it. Some of them possessed cloaks, made of the skins of the opossum. These were about six feet in length, but not so much in breadth. Mr. Eyre well describes their manner of wearing them. ‘The cloak,’ he says, ‘is worn with the fur outwards, and is thrown over the back and left shoulder, and pinned on, in front, with a little wooden peg; the open part is opposite the right side, so as to leave the right arm and shoulder quite unconfined in the male; the female throws it over the back and left shoulder, and brings it round under the right arm-pit; and, when tied in front, by a string passing round the cloak and back, a pouch is formed behind in which a child is always carried. In either, if the skin be a handsome one, the dress is very pretty and becoming.’ Our Ulladulla ladies, however, were not possessed of the cloak; but their lords and might sometimes be seen strutting along in them, with their spears in their hands, and their dogs at their heels; whilst the wives hopped along, in the rear, carrying the baggage. Beards were commonly worn; and the long white beards of the old men had a singular appearance, when contrasted with their black faces and glimmering eyes. These old gentlemen acquire an ascendency over the young men, who hold them in some degree of dread; and it is suspected that, when they threaten any evil, they sometimes contrive to support their reputation, as true prophets, by the use of poison.
“All the blacks were excellent mimics, and greatly enjoyed a joke at the expense of a white man; but could not endure being themselves made a butt. Nothing made them so angry as derision. They would then work themselves into a rage, and walk off, swelling with indignation, and bawling defiance. ‘Fisherman Tommy,’ who was the ugliest specimen of human nature that I ever beheld, having an immense mouth, heavy lips, huge yellow teeth, and a nose exactly like the mouth of a trumpet, was troubled with the cacoethes ridendi [rough translation: manic laughter]. When the fit was strong upon him, with his back bent, his mouth wide open, and his finger pointed, he sometimes greatly astonished a stranger by his stentorian shoutings, and infinitely amused the bystanders. Though very ugly, he was not the less gay. His gin had a remarkably gentle and subdued expression of countenance, and appeared to be well treated by her husband; indeed, I have no reason to think that any of the women were ill-used by the males. who were, in a certain degree, influenced in such matters by the opinion of the whites, whom they looked upon as a fountain of honour; always taking care, however, to distinguish between master and man.
“Those of the aborigines who would make themselves useful (but there was employment for a few only) gained, in the course of the year, no small portion of food and clothing from the settlers; but all could at any time supply themselves with opossums, bandicoots, kangaroos, fish, and wild fowl. They were divided into two classes, the fishermen and the hunters. They cooked their food by roasting it before a fire; and I have seen two of them thus cooking a bandicoot, with the skin and entrails. A more perfect picture of happiness and content than they exhibited when watching and turning their roast, and inhaling the rich odour it diffused around, could not easily be conceived. But when a bullock was killed on the farm, then was their jubilee; and they flocked round the stock-yard, grinning through the rails, and waiting for the head and entrails, which they carried off to their camp. Occasionally, in the peach season, a row of black faces was to be seen peeping over the garden fence, or peering through the branches of the spreading geraniums which, in some places, hid the paling. The anxious expectants did not ask for the fruit; but their wishes were well understood, and generally attended to; and the younger members of the black family were frequently turned into the garden to pick up the peaches which had fallen from the trees, - for, with us, peaches were as abundant as blackberries in England; and the trees were all standards.
“Those of the blacks, who had guns, shot the kangaroo. Others would sneak up to the animal with a spear, the point of which would remain in its body, whilst the handle broke off, and they then traced it by the blood. Others, again, when they found a kangaroo, formed a circle round it, and drove it from place to place by shouting - thus puzzling it greatly - and waited for an opportunity of knocking it down by throwing a tomahawk. Their dogs, though useful in finding the animal, were not strong enough to pull it down.
“Some of the aborigines feed on a large bat, popularly called ‘the flying fox [Fruit Bat];’ but our black people disdained such food. I recollect going with Charley to see what is called a ‘fox-ground.’ He was dressed in his best, and in high glee, and sped along as fast as his horse could carry him, raising a vortex of mud and water as he galloped across the wet falts on which the water lay; for we had had much rain. We found these filthy creatures hanging by the heels, in thousands, from the higher branches of the trees; and, occasionally, one would stretch out a leg, but we could not disturb them by shouting, and they were out of reach of a stick. At night, they leave the woods, and resort to the seashore; and we have often seen them passing over head in large flocks. They are said to carry their young on their backs. They are fond of fruit; but, if they bite a peach, the whole of it is tainted by their defiling touch.
“During the fine summer nights, the blacks held frequent corrobbories, dancing, by the light of the moon, to the chant of the gins, which was accompanied by the clapping together of sticks.
‘He treads the dance, through all its rapturous rounds,
To the wild music of barbarian sounds.’
“In these dances they often imitate the motions of animals, the kangaroo for instance. A shout, in the stronger voices of the men, formed an occasional period in the chant. By the bye, it has happened that certain settlers, inspired by rum and water, have adopted the kangaroo dance; springing round the table, after dinner, hand in hand, as if practising a new variation of the game of leap-frog; but such indications of a convivial spirit are considered to belong only to those who have gone irremediably to the dogs.
“Sir Thomas Mitchell graphically describes the corrobbory: - ‘This amusement always takes place at night, and by the light of blazing boughs. They dance to beaten time, accompanied by a song. The dancers paint themselves white, in such remarkably varied ways that no two individuals are alike. The surrounding darkness seems necessary to the effect of the whole. All these dances being more or less dramatic, the painted figures, coming forwards in mystic order from the obscurity of the background, while the singers and beaters of time are invisible, have a highly theatrical effect. Each dance seems most tastefully progressive; the movement being at first slow, and introduced by two persons, displaying the most graceful motions both of arms and legs, whilst others, one by one, drop in, until each, imperceptibly falling into the truly savage attitude of the corrobbory, jump - the legs striding to the utmost, the head turned over one shoulder, the eyes glaring and fixed with savage energy in one direction, the arms raised and inclined towards the head, the hands usually grasping waddies, bommerangs, or other warlike weapons. The jump now keeps time with each beat; and at each leap the dancer takes six inches to one side, all being in a connected line, led by the first dancer. The line is doubled or tripled according to the space and numbers, and this gives great effect; for when the first line jumps to the left the second jumps to the right, the third to the left again, and so on until the action acquires due intensity, when all simultaneously and suddenly stop.’ - Three Expeditions, &c., vol. ii’ p. 5.
“In ‘Savage Life and Scenes in Australia and New Zealand,’ by Mr. Angas, we have also an account of the corrobbory: - ‘The dance of the frogs consisted of a number of men painted and armed with ‘wirries,’ which they beat together, singing all the time; then, squatting on the ground, they leaped along one after the other, in circles, imitating the actions and movements of a frog. In another  dance they go through the performance of hunting the emu, one man imitating the voice of the bird. Their last amusement was that of sitting cross-legged round a fire, singing and beating time with spears and wirries. Suddenly they all stretched out their right arms as if pointing to some unseen object, displayed their teeth, and rolled their eyes in a dreadful manner, and then jumped on their feet with a shout that echoed for miles through the stillness of the night.’
“When our blacks visited Sydney, and saw the military paraded, and heard the bands, they said that was ‘white fellows corrobbory.’ On such occasions, they were always delighted if they met a settler whom they had known in the bush, and their greetings were not a little uproarious, but always concluded with the modest enquiry, ‘B’lieve you got white money, massa ?’ In the bush they often used to sing, in chorus, the famous song, ‘Jim Crow,’ saying, ‘Jim Crow tister went to de ball,’ and so forth. Their own songs are montonous, and consist of the frequent repetition of a few words, such as, ‘Water, water, where is water ? There is water, welling out of the ground;’ but this, of course, is sung in their own dialect. They have their bards or rhymers, who compose their songs; and when a new song is produced, it passes quickly from tribe to tribe. The lingo used by them, when talking to Europeans, consists of broken English, interlarded with a jargon generally believed to be composed of words of their dialects, but being, in fact, a collection of barbarisms invented by whites, and acquired from them. A favourite expression is ‘gammon.’ When anything is narrated to them which they do not credit, they grin and shake the forefinger in the manner of reproof, and ejaculate, ‘Too much gammon belonging to you, massa; too much altogether.’
“I should imagine that the number of aborigines on the coast-line between Jervis Bay and the River Moruya, a distance of one hundred miles, is about four hundred. They sometimes assembled to hold corrobbories, and to play foot-ball. They are now peaceable and well conducted - in fact, polite and gracious in their manners; and the only instance of ill-treatment that I ever knew them to experience at the hands of the settlers, was, in the case of one who was illegally imprisoned for an undue period, for the misdemeanor of picking up some potatoes as he passed through a field. One of the settlers appeared at the police court as the black’s advocate, but without success; and the magistrate who imprisoned the black, being an Irish-man, might perhaps be excused, on the ground that had a patriotic love for potatoes. It was, However, proposed that the defendant should bring an action, and, if defeated and condemned in costs, should file schedule as an insolvent, and give in an inventory of his property, which would have been found to consist of one bommerang, a few spears, and an old blanket.
“Since the aborigines have no idea of a supreme being, or of retributive judgment, their evidence cannot be received in courts of justice; and, indeed, I cannot conceive that it would be worth anything if it were received. They have no notion of a being whom they by no means worship, but, on the contrary, attempt to outwit, called the Devil-Devil [Debil-Debil], and he, they think, will do them a mischief, if he have an opportunity; and, indeed, Charley told me that he had twice seen him, and that he was like a very large white horse, with an immense head; but, probably, when Charley saw this vision, he had been dining sumptuously on some native delicacy, and his digestion was a little disordered. I recollect telling one of the blacks that I had seen the Devil-Devil in such and such a place. He immediately started, in evident alarm, and inquired particulars; but, finding I was hoaxing him, said, ‘Get out, you gammoning beggar.’ The blacks appear capable of comprehending that white men have a ‘great Massa,’ whose dwelling is in the heavens; but further they do not go. And they cannot conceive how we are to get there; and one of them, after brooding upon the subject, exclaimed - ‘Yan (go) up along of wheelbarrow (dray) and bullock, I b’lieve,’ - meaning, by means of a dray. Some of them will tell long stories relative to a future state of existence, in which they are to be the actors; but these they evidently derive from the whites, and, when they narrate them, are romancing not a little. Thus, Charley has told me that, when he was dead, he should find himself in a very wide forest; that, presently, Devil-Devil, who would be ‘walking all about,’ would come up to him, and, f he had been a good fellow, and had not ‘crammered (stolen) corn,’ Devil-Devil would tell him to sit down there, and would give him plenty of tobacco, flour, and tea and sugar; but, if he had been a bad fellow, the Devil-Devil would make him walk about a long time and give him nothing. Missionaries have for years laboured amongst them; but no instance has been known of their receiving the tenets of Christianity; and the influence of this great agent of civilisation is, as yet, excluded. The Mission, I believe, receives no longer any pecuniary support from the Government, but still lingers on. Some aboriginal children have been taught to read, and some of the men have been trained to act as policemen, and are very efficient.
“The Aborigines very generally believe that the whites are deceased blacks come to life again; and they had long entertained an idea allied to this, as they fancied porpoises, which, as before observed, drive large fish on shore, were animated by the spirits of their fathers. The notion they at present have is, evidently, the result of their reasoning on the probable derivation of the whites, and not an idea adopted without consideration. Where they fancy they detect a likeness in a white person, to one of their deceased comrades, they are firmly convinced that the truth of their theory is proved, and that the person in question is certainly their former acquaintance in another guise; often have they pertinaciously claimed relationship on these frounds; and many a white man, who has fallen into their power, has owed his life to their forming this idea with regard to him. Near Ulladulla, they sometimes carry a body about with them for months, secured between two sheets of bark, in order - so Charley told me, - that the spirit of the deceased might not be able to track them and bring the Devil-Devil in its train. They ultimately bury the body in a deep grave; the gins wailing around, and repeating, with rapid utterance, a doleful chant, whilst the tears stream down their cheeks. On one occasion, fisherman Tommy acted as sexton, and his wife lamented; for it was the funeral of their daughter. He stripped himself naked, with the exception of the maro, and, with his hands, scraped into the grave the earth that had been thrown out in forming it, and carefully trod it in. The grave was dug east and west, and ultimately covered with green boughs. The maro is a belt worn round the abdomen; and, before and behind, depend from it, tails formed of the fur of the kangaroo. I do not think it is worn as a covering, but as an ornament and a support, and as affording a convenient means of carrying a tomahawk; the handle of which is thrust between it and the body. On the subject of decency, the blacks are as innocent as infants; although they so far conform to our habits as to put on some kind of clothing when mingling with the whites.
“I had once an opportunity of seeing a place which the aborigines had prepared, for the purposes of the ceremony of knocking out a front tooth from lads arrived at puberty. They had formed an avenue, or alley, about a quarter of a mile in length, and eight yards across, and terminating at each end in a semicircle. The trees on the sides of the avenue were curiously marked or carved, and strips of bark were suspended the whole of the distance, from tree to tree. In the interior of the avenue, they had formed of earth and turf, representations of men and women, of canoes, sharks, whales, kangaroos, and so-forth. In one place, they represented a shark following a canoe. All the explanation I could get from them on the spot, was, that this was ‘all belonging to play-about;’ but Jimmy Woodbury afterwards told me that a fire is made in the centre of the alley, and the youths sit before it in a semicircle, whilst the gins form another semicircle behind them; ‘then the gins yan away along of bush,’ and the men take the lads in another direction, and knock out the tooth with a tomahawk. The aborigines on the Peel and Gwydyr [Gwydir] do not knock out the front tooth; but in the place of this ceremony, substitute others abundantly ludicrous, but altogether indescribable in this place. The ceremonies attending the knocking out of the front tooth are minutely described in Colonel Collins’ account of New South Wales.
“I thought it probable, that the representation of a shark following a canoe had reference to a circumstance that had lately occurred in a neighbouring harbour; for the blacks sometimes creep about, near the shore in their canoes. A shark followed a black who was thus out fishing, and appeared determined to have him for dinner. The black had caught nineteen fish, called salmon, and as the shark followed him, he threw him, ever and anon, a fish; and paddled lustily for the shore. The shark stopped to pick up each fish; and, when the whole were gone, the fugitive thought his fate was sealed, and called lustily for assistance. A whale-boat came to the rescue, at the very nick of time, and the black leapt into it, and had the satisfaction of putting two spears into his enemy, who pursued him to the boat, and with such violence, that, chancing to strike one of the oars, a man in the boat was precipitated into the sea. The shark was afterwards found dead. The blacks say that these hungry monsters will take them out of their canoes; and they, probably, dash against the frail vessel and upset it.
“Some of the tribe to which this black belonged greatly distinguished themselves, three of four years since, by saving the crew of a schooner [Rover] which was wrecked in the surf. The white by-standers stood aghast, and could not contrive means to render any assistance; but fifteen of the aborigines formed a line, hand in hand, and went into the surf and saved all on board. A benevolent individual residing near, a captain in the navy, made earnest application to the Governor, for a reward for these daring fellows; but the reply received was, that there were no funds at the disposal of the Government for such a purpose. This seems a hard case, when such immense sums have been realised by the sale of waste lands ! But Captain _____ [William Oldrey] did all he could to reward these men, by making them frequent presents of little comforts, and he presented to each ‘humanity man’ a brass plate, having attached to it a chain, by which to hang it round the neck. On each plate he caused to be engraved the name of the wearer, and a record of the good deed he and his comrades had done. This was the more generous, as the trading vessel that was cast away contained goods and stores belonging to himself, which were all irrecoverably lost. The same gentleman is before alluded to as having, at a police office, pleaded the cause of a black held in captivity. He is an old and gallant officer, who has seen a great deal of service, and been more than once desperately wounded, and his noble nature ever prompted him to befriend the aborigines.
“Such are now these sons of the forest; who for centuries, have roamed over them uncontrolled.
“ ‘From gae to age, as waves upon the tide
Of stormless time, they calmly lived and died.’
“Soon they will altogether fade away; their favourite haunts will be deserted, and their land will know them no more. Some of the most obvious causes of this sad catastrophe are change of habit, which will undermine their constitutions; vices which they will acquire from whites, and which will destroy many; and the abstraction of their women by stockmen; though, indeed, the gins are always ready to elope from their natural lords, who appear to care little or nothing about the matter. As their fate is sealed, and the lands they once called theirs are sold, or offered for sale, it would be but reasonable that what can be done to smooth their course to cold oblivion should not be omitted. Supplies of blankets would contribute very much to their comfort; the simple luxuries that delight them are by no means costly; and flour might sometimes be given.
“Blankets used to be supplied by the Government to the aborigines of the district in which Ulladulla is situate; but these supplies have been discontinued; and, since the acquisition of blankets induced them to neglect the manufacture of opossum cloaks, they suffer much in consequence. I heard one of them say to the gallant officer before alluded to, ‘Captain _____ [Oldrey] yan along England, speak along of Queen, tell um Queen, blackfellow him got no blanket, him merry cold.’ The same black enquired why they were not paid for their land, since ‘blackfellow belonging New Zealand’ was paid for his. I believe that blankets are still given to the blacks in the squatting districts. In those districts the aborigines will longest survive; for where, as in many places within the boundaries, the country is closely occupied by farmers, they are thrust out altogether; thus, in their happy valley Illawarra, hereafter described, they have nearly disappeared. So must they, also, when Ulladulla is fully occupied, and the game destroyed; but when they shall be thrust out thence, they must perish; for if they intrude into the districts of strange tribes they will be slaughtered by them. Thus, this is their actual sentence, although as yet deferred: remain, and you shall assuredly be starved; go away, and you shall be killed and eaten. If it be asked, why should not these aborigines maintain themselves as labourers ? I reply that there is not work for a quarter of them. If, why do they not till the ground ? that their patrimony has been rested from them. And, I would enquire in return, whether, if they had land, it could be expected that they should learn the art of husbandry by intuition; and how far they are capable of altogether abandoning habits implanted in their very nature.
“I have thus endeavoured to portray a tribe of comparatively civilized aborigines; but, if we turn to the untamed savage, we shall view a different picture. ‘The wild blacks’ are generally exceedingly hostile to all white intruders; and this feeling may, in some measure, be traced to the fact, that themselves are divided into tribes, and to each tribe is allotted the dominion of a certain district; for, as they punish with death all trespassers of their own colour, so they attempt to repel the white man. So, at Ulladulla, about twenty years since, there was a war between the two races; and on the part of the blacks, it was waged as a war of extermination. They destroyed the cattle, and lay in wait for the owners of them; and, being as dangerous as wild beasts, met the same fate. At length, they found it their interest to be on good terms with the white strangers, and, as the colonial term is, ‘came in.’ The same events happen, more or less, in every part of the country that is newly taken up, until the aborigines find that they are engaged in a fatal war; then, in like manner, they give up the contest, and as far as their dealings with the whites are concerned, throw off the savage altogether.
“The untamed savage holds the life of a man very cheap, and will take it to obtain but the buttons on his coat; on the other hand, many of the persons brought into contact with the wild aborigines, are stockmen and shepherds, who, if injured or provoked, are not the most forbearing and indulgent men in the world; and, often with good reason, look upon their black neighbours with great suspicion. Indeed, the genuine savage does not, and cannot, understand forbearance; and, if he meet with it, his aggressions only increase. He naturally judges of the motives of the white man from those which he knows would, in similar circumstances, induce himself to pursue a like course. Hence, forbearance is supposed by him to arise from fear. In like manner - though it might always be remembered that some tribes are less barbarous than others - presents only whet the appetite of the wild man. All the whites possess he thinks is lawful prey. A squatter, to the southward of us, was vainly warned of these traits. He could not be persuaded that those to whom he had pursued an unvaried course of kindness, and who appeared perfectly friendly, would become his assassins; but from them he met his fate. He was, probably, a vicarious sacrifice; for, if the aborigines are unable to take the life of him who originally gave them offence, they take that of the first white they can contrive to lay hands upon.
“Sir Thomas Mitchell, speaking of the tribe that he fell in with on the Murray, says, ‘to attempt to conciliate these people had last year proved hopeless. Our gifts had only excited their cupidity; and our uncommon forbearance had only inspired them with a poor opinion of our courage;’ and again, ‘those they treacherously attacked, had they been sent from heaven, could not have done more to administer to their wants than they did, nor endured more for the sake of good will.’ - Three Expeditions, vol. ii., p. 96. 103. Sir Thomas elsewhere compares them to fiends, and to wild beasts thirsting for blood.
“The blacks invariably attack by stealth, and often lurk in the tops of trees, and thence hurl the spear. The huts, in the districts where they are ‘dangerous,’ are perforated with loop holes; and four men, armed with muskets, can defend themselves against a tribe. Their assailants, however, often have recourse to fire; and, if they succeed in firing the hut, the men are certainly massacred. Those who have fallen into their hands have, we are told, often been tortured to death; either by being held extended on a bed of venomous ants, or by having the mouth and nose stopped, whilst one of the savages would press or jump on the chest until life became extinct. This was the fate of one white man, in consequence of two parties amongst the aborigines quarrelling with whom he should reside. The savages who were ultimately disappointed, seized an opportunity, and destroyed him; just as a child, in its passion, breaks a toy that is denied him. And what was the fate of the passengers and crew of the Maria, which was cast away on the coast of South Australia ? ‘Those who escaped the dangers of the reef, after subsisting on roots and shells, toiled along the shore for ninety miles, men, women, and children, in the burning sun, hungry, thirsty, and barefoot, till they arrived at the Milmendura tribe. Two more days’ march, they trusted, would bring them to the sea mouth of the Murray, where the Encounter Bay natives had communication with the whalers, and they there looked to an end of their sufferings. But these terminated only in death. The savages stripped them of their few remaining garments, and deliberately murdered them, as they came up in straggling parties, knocking out their brains with wirries, or chasing them with the spear. Many of the bodies were found buried in the sand, some pushed into wombat burrows, and others were never found at all. The fingers of some of the ladies had been cut off with shells to obtain their rings, and one of the saddest sights was to see the linen of the children, all stained with blood, lying about in the huts of these cruel wretches.’* [Footnote - *Savage Life, &c. By G.F. Angas. Vol. i., p. 66.] Some of the savage practices mentioned by Mr. Angas are really almost too horrible to be detailed. Cutting a steak from a living beast is nothing in comparison.
“When the squatter has become on good terms with the blacks immediately around him, their presence is in some respects an advantage. They become not only willing and useful in the performance of small services, but form his body-guard, and give notice of, and repel, intruders from a distance. These strangers often make incursions for the sake of feeding on his cattle and sheep. They kill a beast, quarter it, and run off with the quarters into a thick scrub, and there eat and sleep until all be consumed; and from such, their natural fortress, they cannot be expelled. But these wild men, not content with killing and eating, appear to be possessed with the spirit of mischief. They ‘rush’ or disperse the cattle, drive them into swamps, and murder those who attend them. Under these circumstances, many stations have been abandoned in despair, after much loss of life on both sides. ‘Humiliating proofs that the white man had been driven away,’ says Sir Thomas Mitchell, in his account of his late important expedition into Tropical Australia, ‘were visible in the remains of dairies burnt down, stock-yards in ruins, untrodden roads. The incursions of the savage, who is learning to ‘bide his time,’ on the Darling, are greatly encouraged by the hardships of the colonists, where water is scarce; and I was shown where no less than eight hundred head of fat bullocks had been run together by them when no water is too abundant. Then, horses cannot travel, and cattle stick fast in the soft earth, and are thus at the mercy of the natives. The stone ovens, such as they prepare for the cooking of kangaroos, had been used for the consumption of about twenty head of cattle a day, by the wild tribes who had assembled from the Darling and Lower Bogan on that occasion. The tribes from the Darling are extremely hostile even to to the more peaceably disposed hill-tribes near the colony, and several stations have already been abandoned in consequence of the outrages of the aborigines from the Darling and Lachlan.’* [Footnote - *’Journal of an Expedition into the Interior of Tropical Australia.’ By Lieut.-Colonel Sir T.L. Mitchell, D.C.L., &c., p. 25.]
“When a man is making his way into a new country, with his flocks and herds, the blacks, though unseen, hang upon his skirts for weeks together, waiting for an opportunity ‘to make a rush;’ and they have often succeeded. A settler, whom I knew well, thus lost, in a few minutes, all he had in the world, and, from comparative wealth, was reduced to ruin. Since cattle cannot endure the presence of the blacks, it may easily be conceived with what facility they are dispersed. When the yelling savages mingle amongst them, they are off in all directions; and, if they are often thus disturbed, they are lost altogether.
“Dreadful, demoniacal, is the rage of the infuriated savage. I have been told by one who was an eye-witness to the scene, that, when they have been baulked of their destined victim, so full have they been of the fiend, and so athirst for blood, that they have destroyed one of their own tribe. They managed the matter thus. Two of them went towards the black whom they had determined to sacrifice, and whilst one of them attracted his attention by offering him a piece of tobacco, the other threw him, when he was immediately transfixed, and fastened to the ground with spears. They then cut up and roasted their victim; and afterwards marched down to a flat, which I knew well, in single file, bearing the limbs in their hands. There they danced a wild, cannibal dance, accompanied with howlings and imprecations, and dashed their spears into the ground, and gnawed and tore the limbs with their teeth. They were all frightfully painted. So dreadful an instance of the power of evil passions I should not venture to relate, but on authority on which I feel sure I can rely. An anecdote, related by a New Zealand missionary, strongly illustrates the dark state of the mind of the savage. A dying chief, his soul oppressed with horror, exclaims, ‘I shall go to the evil spirit; I shall dwell with him for ever. My eyes will never be made stars, like those of a great chief; for I die young, and have not killed men enough.’
“But, if we prefer a bill of indictment against the wild aborigines of Australia, have they no counter charge to make ? Assuredly they have, and especially against the manner in which the new country is occupied. One would imagine that it were the duty of the Government to establish posts in the interior, and to ensure efficient protection, both to its untamed black subjects, and to the hardy squatter. From the one it exacts a large revenue, from the other it claims allegiance; occasionally taking the liberty of hanging him. But it allows the squatter to depend on his own strong arm and stout heart for protection; and thus permits, in every direction, petty wars and a system of murderous reprisals. In the largest squatting district in the colony, - having, indeed, no boundary to the westward, - was only a quasi force of about a dozen mounted convicts, commanded by a commissioner of crown lands, and I believe even this was withdrawn in 1846.
“The aborigines contend not merely their domains, but even for existence. ‘The intrusion of cattle is, by itself, sufficient to produce the extirpation of the native race by limiting their means of existence. Cattle find the water-holes, and come from stations often many miles distant, attracted by the rich verdure usually growing about them; and by treading the water into mud, or by drinking it up, the literally destroy the whole country for the aborigines, and thereby also banish from it the kangaroos, emus, and other animals on which they live. I felt much more disgusted than the poor natives, while they were thus exploring in vain every hollow in search of water for our use, that or “cloven foot should appear everywhere.”’ I quote Sir Thomas Mitchell’s late work, who adds (page 305) ‘We traversed fine open grassy plains. The air was fragrant from the many flowers then springing up, especially where the natives had burnt the grass. The extensive burning by them, a work of considerable labour, and performed in dry warm weather, left tracts in the open forest which had become as green as an emerald, with the young crop of grass. These plains were thickly imprinted with the feet of kangaroos, and the work is undertaken by the natives to attract these animals to such places. How natural must be the aversion of the natives to the intrusion of another race of men with cattle; people who recognise no right in the aborigines to either the grass they have worked from infancy, nor to the kangaroos they have thus hunted with their fathers. No, nor yet to the emus they kill for their feathers only; these birds being reserved and held sacred, for the sole use of the old men and women !’ Lamentable as this state of things is, however, it cannot, I apprehend, be for a moment contended, that the magnificent interior is the sole right of the aborigines, to the exclusion of the rest of the family of man, and is to be entirely abandoned to the wild man, too often, ‘fierce is his clime, uncultured as his plains.’* [Footnote - *If any would maintain the contrary, let them first contend with the clergy, in respect of church and school lands, glebe, and so forth.] Still, as before hinted, the interposition of government would tend greatly to mitigate the contest between the two races, and would be an act of justice to each alike. Then the Kaffir war, so to speak, would be terminated; and if the whites have contingent rights in respect of the vast territories, still peopled only by the blacks, these have at least the present right of possession of their forests and chaces, and have even enacted their own game laws.
“I have alluded to the cannibal practices of the aborigines. Those at Ulladulla were free from from this reproach; but they all said that the blacks to the southward of the Moruya river continued such habits; and I have no doubt they spoke the truth. Still exists: -
“’The horrid feast, where human flesh is food;
The Burning thirst, whose dreadful draught is blood !’
“During a visit to the southward, and whilst conversing with the very comely grand-daughters of a surgeon whom I had known in England, but which fair young ladies were then keeping a retail store, there marched in a huge, frightful black, who looked more dusky than ever by the side of these dainty damsels, who were neither freckled nor sun-burnt although living in the bush. One of them inquired of their visitor if he had caught such and such a native; and I then learnt that, whilst two blacks were playing at cards, behind a log, by the light of their fire, one of them had been speared, the murderer immediately making his escape and taking his gin with him; and that, since this event, there had been a great commotion amongst the aborigines, who were determined on revenge.
“The black now told us that they had not yet found either the murderer or his gin, but they should ‘bye-and-bye;’ for they should ‘gammon’ that he was only to be ‘punished,’ - (by going through the ordeal I explain in a note;*) [Footnote - *The natives ‘punish’ one of their number who has infringed their laws, by compelling him to stand apart (his only defence being a shield) whilst a certain number of spears are hurled at him. So great is the guilty and quickness of the eye of this people, that the ordeal is often undergone without injury.] and when the punishment was over, and the culprit thought he was safe, they should knock him on the head at night, and cut the gin’s throat, and roast and eat them both. I inquired why the gin was to die, but obtained no reason. He repeated his previous assertion, and went through a pantomime of the whole process of cannibalism. He showed me how they should kill the gin, crack her bones, and divide the joints: and then laughed outrageously, displaying strong teeth, and a huge cavernous throat. He added, ‘Baal (not) patta (eat) old woman gin; patta young woman gin; good meat, good fat, like bullock.’ It appeared pretty clear that the culprit and his wife were to be devoured, to prevent their ‘jumping-up-again,’ but they still had a chance, for the heads were to be placed in a tree, and if Devil-Devil, when ‘walking all about,’ should see the heads, and willed that it should be so, the defunct might jump-up again. The son of the murderer ran away, when he heard what his father had done, but I learnt that he was not to be killed. I heard the same account of the murder, and of its consequences from other blacks. I do not, however, give this anecdote as proving the cannibalism of the aborigines; that, I apprehend, is now a fact beyond dispute.
“The aborigines seen in the streets of Sydney, generally present a wretched appearance. It is painful to witness the abject and degraded state of some who wander about, it can hardly be said in human shape.
“In the harbour there are figures cut in the rocks, representing men, whales, and canoes. There is also found the ‘mano colorado.’ Of these sculptures the natives can give no explanation, except that their fathers made them ‘long time ago.’ [Aboriginal Art Sites Around Sydney]
“Of the natives of Tasmania few remain. All that the ‘Van-Demonians’ could catch were sent to Flinder’s Island, in Bass’ Straits. Their removal from their native country was a necessary and a humane measure; but it appears cruel to continue to confine these now harmless beings to an island within sight of their own coast, with the certainty that, placed where they are, they must soon cease to exist, for they do not increase. I know that the feelings of this people are quick. A shipmate of mine fell in with one of their women, who had been carried by sealers to the westward of Port Phillip. On hearing that he came from Van Dieman’s Land, she eagerly inquired, ‘You know Ben Lomond ?’ and on finding that he did, exclaimed, ‘that my country !’ and burst into tears, and lamented bitterly. Some of these natives are supposed still to exist amongst the mountains on the west coast of Van Dieman’s Land; but excepting these, (if any) the handful confined to Flinder’s Island, ‘the abode of broken hearts,’ are all that remain of the ancient lords of the forests of Tasmania.
‘There dwell the most forlorn of human kind,
Cruelly spared, and hopeless of escape.’*
[Footnote - * Count Strzelecki states that ‘at the epoch of their deportation in 1835 the number of natives amounted to 210. In 1842 they mustered only 54 individuals; and, during eight years, they had an accession of only 14 children !’ They are believed to die of disease of the stomach, produced by mental distress.]
“In New South Wales there is one, and only one, of the Botany Bay tribe remaining. He is very fond of the Bay, very intelligent, and has a ten-acre peice of ground and some ‘white fellow’ tenants. ‘Well Mitter,’ (Mr.) said he to a friend of mine, in a half-musing tone, ‘all black-fellow gone ! all this my country! pretty place Botany ! Little pickaninny, I run about here. Plenty black-fellow then; corrobbory; great fight; all canoe about. Only me left now, Mittter - . Poor gin mine tumble down, (die). All gone ! Bury her like a lady, Mitter - ; all put in coffin, English fashion. I feel lump in throat when I talk about her; but, - I buried her all very genteel, Mitter - .’
“A rumour existed in the Colony, that some blacks had been poisoned by the squatters. The first edition of this rumour was to the effect, that they had been poisoned by the gift of a sheep that had been dipped for the scab, or dressed with arsenic; then we heard that this was not the accusation, but the reply; then again we were told that arsenic had been administered in maize-meal. It is impossible to say that a diabolical wretch might not have poisoned blacks, of whom he lived in dread; but we have the satisfaction of knowing these rumours attracted the attention of the late Sir George Gipps; and I will venture to say, that two men could not be found in the colony, who would doubt, that if Sir George could have detected any tangible foundation for such reports, he would, if possible, have brought the guilty parties to condign punishment. Still, the existence of such a rumour, and the recollection of the great difficulty Captain Cook had to prevent even British sailors from wantonly slaughtering aborigines, of a superior class to these, makes every friend of humanity naturally anxious that the government should afford protection to both races.”
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