North Australian scrubs, is the stinging-tree ('Urtica gigas'), which
is very abundant, and ranges in size from a large shrub of thirty feet
in height to a small plant measuring only a few inches. Its leaf is
large and peculiar, from being covered with a short silvery hair,
which, when shaken, emits a fine pungent dust, most irritating to the
skin and nostrils. If touched, it causes most acute pain, which is
felt for months afterwards--a dull gnawing pain, accompanied by a
burning sensation, particularly in the shoulder, and under the arm,
where small lumps often arise. Even when the sting has quite died
away, the unwary bushman is forcibly reminded of his indiscretion each
time that the affected part is brought into contact with water. The
fruit is of a pink, fleshy colour, hanging in clusters, and looks so
inviting that a stranger is irresistibly tempted to pluck it; but
seldom more than once, for though the raspberry-like berries are
harmless in themselves, some contact with the leaves is almost
unavoidable. The blacks are said to eat the fruit; but for this I
cannot vouch, though I have tasted one or two at odd times, and found
them very pleasant. The worst of this nettle is the tendency it
exhibits to shoot up wherever a clearing has been effected. In passing
through the dray tracks cut through the scrub, great caution was
necessary to avoid the young plants that cropped up even in a few
weeks. I have never known a case of its being fatal to human beings;
but I have seen people subjected by it to great suffering, notably a
scientific gentleman, who plucked off a branch and carried it some
distance as a curiosity, wondering the while what was causing the pain
and numbness in his arm. Horses I have been die in agony from the
sting, the wounded parts becoming paralysed; but strange to say, it
does not seem to injure cattle, who dash through scrubs full of it
without receiving any damage. This curious anomaly is well known to
all bushmen.
For a couple of hours we followed the tortuous windings of the track,
without we white men having the faintest conception where we were
going, though the troopers and Lizzie declared that we were pushing
straight through. At length a ray of sunlight became visible, and in a
few minutes we emerged from the sombre depths of the jungle, and found
ourselves on the banks of a splendid river, the Mackay. Traces of
blacks were seen in every direction, the white sand being covered with
their foot-prints. Abandoned gungales were plentiful on the opposite
bank, which was clear of scrub, and whilst we were eating the damper
and beef with which each of the party was provided, Lizzie espied a
thin column of smoke at no great distance.
We approached it as cautiously as possible, taking advantage of every
shrub that offered a cover, and finally, lying down and worming our way
through the grass on all fours, a mode of progression that is in itself
particularly fatiguing and objectionable, but not without excitement,
for we never knew the moment when we might chance to put our hands on a
dormant snake, or find ourselves sprawling over a nest of bulldog ants.
We were successful in completely surprising the camp, which consisted
entirely of gins and piccaninnies, all the males, as usual, being out
hunting. The gins spoke quite a different language from that of the
Hinchinbrook and Herbert River people, and Lizzie was a long time
before she could make them understand. They seemed to know nothing of
any white men, nor, I may say, of anything else in particular. They
were ignorant where the Mackay rose, or where it debouched, and could
give us no information regarding the waterfall we saw on the distant
range, what river it supplied, or what kind of country was between us
and the hills. Altogether they were a most unsatisfactory lot; and
having rummaged their camp without finding any suspicious articles, and
threatened them with wholesale destruction if they gave warning of our
approach to any other tribe, by either smoke signals or messengers, we
departed, much disgusted.
On arriving at the edge of a small copse, at a short distance from the
camp, we found the arsenal of the male portion of the tribe. Why they
had stacked their arms so far away from the gungales we never could
make out; but there they were, consisting of the usual spears and
shields, and, in addition, several of the enormous swords used by these
natives, of which we had often heard, but that few of our party, except
Dunmore, had ever seen. These curious weapons are made of the heaviest
iron-bark wood, are about five feet in length, by as many inches in
breadth, and about an inch thick in the centre--rather more than less,
and both edges scraped down to as sharp an edge as the material will
receive. They are slightly curved; but the most wonderful part about
them is the handle, which is so small that a European can with
difficulty squeeze three fingers into it. The mystery is, how do they
use them? for Goliath of Gath could never have wielded an instrument as
heavy as this with one hand. It is supposed that the warrior raises
the cumbrous weapon on his shield, and having got within sword's length
of his enemy, lets it drop on his head. This portion of a black's
frame is undeniably hard; but such a blow would crush it like an
egg-shell; and as he may be credited with sufficient sense to know
this, it seems difficult to understand why he should stand still and
allow such a disagreeable operation to be performed. Whether or not
the use of these weapons has been discovered since I left Australia, I
am unable to say; but certainly up to that time we who lived in their
neighbourhood were unable to appreciate the varied excellencies they
doubtless possess.
We pursued our way up the Mackay River in hopes of finding some
termination to the thick scrub on the opposite bank, so that we might
return to our boat without having to thread its intricate mazes again;
and in this we were successful, finding a break in the jungle an hour
before sunset, which at once admitted us to the plain, through the
centre of which ran the Macalister, and in due course we reached our
camp, where, after having a glorious "bogey" (the Australian term for
bathing) in the river, and overhauling each other well, to see that no
ticks were adhering to our skins, we had supper, and turned in, having
done little good, except finding a road to the Mackay less tedious than
the one we had taken in the morning. The ticks that I mentioned just
now, are little insects no bigger than a pin's head when they first
fasten on to you, but soon become swollen with blood until larger than
a pea. They do no harm to a man besides the unpleasant feeling they
occasion, but they almost invariably kill a dog. Nearly all our dogs
fell victims sooner or later to either the alligator or the tick.
HOW WE EXPLORED THE MACKAY RIVER.
We now determined to carry with us enough tea, sugar, and flour to last
for a week, and to work up towards the unknown country at the head of
the Mackay, leaving the boat in its present position, under the charge
of two men. We intended to push towards the range whence both the
Macalister and the Mackay rivers drew their supply; and as the former
stream in its windings over the open plain approached within a mile of
its large neighbour, we resolved to move the boat a little further up
before starting on our new expedition. By occasionally lightening her,
and dragging her over the shallows, this was accomplished in a couple
of hours, and we finally halted at a bend in the river where the bank
was high enough to shield the boat from all observation, whilst the
scrub bordering the Mackay, standing at less than a quarter of a mile
distant, the men left behind could easily see if any considerable body
of blacks moved between the two streams, and could take the bearings of
all smoke arising from fires in the direction of the coast, so that we
might visit them hereafter, if deemed necessary. The fact of two
rivers, each containing a constant supply of water, being found in such
close proximity to each other, caused much remark, for none of us had
ever observed a similar instance in Australia, which is as a rule very
deficient in permanent rivers.
We now turned our attention to getting sufficient provisions cooked to
last the exploring party for three days, as we were determined to
employ the utmost vigilance, and show as little smoke as possible, for
nothing creates such suspicion amongst the aboriginals as seeing fresh
fires constantly lighted, unless accompanied by the smoke signals,
which I have described in a former chapter. As we were utterly
ignorant of the code they employed, we resolved only to light our fires
at night, and not even then unless we found some sequestered spot where
the flame would be unseen. Some of us at once started for a large
lagoon that we had passed in the morning, and creeping up through the
long grass, found its surface quite covered with water-fowl of every
description, from the black swan to the beautiful pigmy goose. A
volley, fired at a concerted signal, strewed the surface of the lake
with the dead and wounded, and we were compelled to stand idly on the
bank until the wind wafted the game ashore, for at the report of the
guns two or three heavy splashes and as many dusky forms gliding into
the water betokened that we had disturbed alligators, either having a
nap, or lying in wait for kangaroos and wallaby coming down to drink.
More than one house now stands on the margin of this lagoon, but their
inhabitants are still afraid to bathe in the broad sheet of water
spread so invitingly before them.
Having secured our game, we returned to the boat, and after plucking
and splitting open the birds, some were roasted over the fire for
immediate use, but by far the greater number were boiled in a pot,
which was portion of the boat's furniture when on an expedition. One
of the troopers had with a tomahawk stripped off a sheet of bark, and
on this was manufactured a gigantic damper. For the information of
such of my readers as may be unacquainted with Australia, I must
explain that damper is unleavened bread, well kneaded and baked in the
ashes. But simple though such a rough form of loaf may seem from the
above description, it is in reality a very difficult thing to turn out
a thoroughly good damper, and only practice will enable the new-comer
to obtain the sleight of hand necessary for the production of a
first-rate specimen. In form a damper resembles a flat cheese of two
or three inches thick, and from one to two feet in diameter. Great care
and much practice are requisite to form this shape so that no cracks
shall appear, and when this is done the work is by no means over, for
the exact heat of the fire must be judged by the cook, otherwise he
will either burn up his dough, or it will come out a crude, sodden,
uneatable mass. A good wood fire that has been burning several days,
and has gained a quantity of ashes, is the best; but wood is plentiful
enough in the bush, and if you only know the right kind to use, you
find no difficulty in soon providing yourself with a glorious heap of
glowing embers. Scraping away a hole in the centre of the fire a
little larger than the disc, you gently drop it in with your hands,
strew it over with enough powdery white ash to prevent the embers
coming into actual contact with the dough, and then cover the whole
with the glowing coals. Only practice can enable the bushman to judge
the exact depth of this layer, which, of course, differs in every case,
according to the size of the damper. It is left in this fiery bed
until small cracks appear on the covering caused by the steam forcing
its way out. This is a sign that it is nearly done, confirmation of
which is sought by introducing a knife-blade through the ashes, and
sounding the crust. If this gives back a hard sound, the damper may be
considered cooked, and is then withdrawn, stood carefully 'on its
edge'--never forget this--and is ready to eat when cool.
As there was nothing very particular to do that afternoon, we watched
the troopers spearing fish, in which they were most skilful. There is
in some of the Australian rivers a splendid fish, called the
'Barrimundi', which not only much resembles the salmon in appearance,
but, like it, requires running water and access to the sea. Many a
time I have vainly tried to lure them from their watery depths, but no
bait would tempt them that I could ever hit on, though I have little
doubt that a fly or artificial minnow would prove killing. We could
see them in the Macalister, lying with their heads pointed up stream,
and seemingly motionless but for the slight waving of the tail that
retained them in their places. Having cut several slender switches,
not thicker than a tobacco-pipe stem, and sharpened one end with a
knife, the trooper Ferdinand, who was by far the most expert among his
brethren, grasped this apparently inoffensive little weapon between the
thumb and middle finger, whilst the blunt end rested against the ball
of the forefinger. Stooping down, he approached to within four or five
yards of the fish, which were only a few inches from the surface, and
suddenly jerking his switch forward, it entered the water almost
horizontally, and rarely failed to transfix a 'Barri mundi', which,
darting forward, was soon hampered by the weapon catching in the weeds,
and became the prey of its sharp-eyed captor, who had never lost sight
of it in its endeavour to escape. This fish is excellent eating, and
averages from eight to thirty pounds in weight.
As Dunmore and I were strolling along a small lagoon overgrown with
water-lilies, he pointed out to me a pretty graceful little bird, about
the size of a jack-snipe, but with longer legs, and most extraordinary
claws. I am ashamed to say I shot this poor little fellow, to examine
him, and found that each toe measured at least three inches from the
leg to the extremity of the claw. This is to enable the bird to run
along safely over the floating leaves of the lotus, on which plant it
seems to get its living. I had never seen one before; and the simple
manner in which Nature had adapted it to its peculiar line of life
struck me as both curious and beautiful. What this little bird's
scientific name is I never heard, but we colonists call it the "Lotus
bird."
As there was a remote chance of the party left with the boats coming in
contact with the blacks, it was deemed advisable to leave them a
trooper, who would more readily recognise their whereabouts than the
white men; therefore a boy known by the not euphonious sobriquet of
"Killjoy," was selected to remain with the pilot and his two boatmen,
and after dividing the big meat damper in five equal portions, the
exploring party, consisting of Dunmore, Ferdinand, Larry, Lizzie and
myself, struck out for the opening in the scrub on the Mackay river.
We descended into the sandy bed, and crossed to the opposite side,
which was much more open country, consisting of park-like land, lightly
timbered, but the soil not nearly so rich as the fertile plain through
which wound the Macalister. It would be tedious to weary my readers
with a minute account of our doings each day; enough to say that we
passed through new country of every description, crossing from side to
side of the Mackay, to cut off its many bends, and that our progress
was but slow, the distant ranges seeming hardly nearer on the third day
than they were at starting. We were disappointed in not meeting with
any blacks, though their traces were plentiful; and we had commenced to
fear that the tribe we had surprised five days before had given warning
of our approach, when Ferdinand reported smoke a couple of miles on our
right. It was about mid-day when this was seen; and having made a
hurried meal off the damper, which I may here state answered its
purpose admirably, we crept towards the fire with the utmost caution.
Our route took us away from the river, and on arriving at the edge of a
small belt of scrub, we could make out that the fire was by the side of
a water-hole, but the two hundred yards between it and ourselves was so
open, that surprising the camp seemed almost impossible. The hour was
in our favour, for the blacks were lying about listlessly, resting
themselves after the fatigues of procuring the food of which they had
just made a meal. They numbered about twenty of both sexes, and were
evidently quite unconscious of our proximity. Detaching the two
troopers to make a detour, and cut them off from the scrub in that
direction, Dunmore, Lizzie, and I remained perfectly motionless for
above an hour, and then, judging that the boys must have reached their
position, we advanced towards the camp swiftly but silently. We got
over a third of the distance before the blacks saw us, and then ensured
a general scrimmage. The women and children jumped into the lagoon,
and the men, snatching up their weapons, threw a volley of spears with
such force and precision that, had we been twenty yards closer, it
would have gone hard with both my companions and myself. As it was,
the missiles nearly all fell short, seeing which the warriors dropped
their arms and took to their heels, running directly for the spot where
Ferdinand and Larry lay in ambush. Both Dunmore and myself fired our
carbines over the heads of the retreating Myalls (wild blacks), which
completed their panic, and one of them, rushing recklessly forward, was
captured by the troopers, and brought by them in triumph to the camp,
amidst the yells and jabbering of the gins and piccaninnies.
After half an hour or so, seeing that no harm was intended to them, the
women came out of the water, and we were very much pleased to find that
they readily understood Lizzie. On being addressed by her, the
warrior, who had hitherto maintained a sullen and defiant attitude,
became conversational, and readily replied to all the questions put to
him by Dunmore. Unlike most of the blacks, he appeared to be very
little frightened at the situation in which he found himself, and
seemed instinctively to know that all danger was past. On being
questioned regarding the shipwrecked crew, he denied all knowledge of
any vessel having been lost, but said at once that a white man had
lived with this tribe for many moons, though he was dead now. This
rather astonished us, and we asked if any relics were still in the
camp, upon which one of the gins produced an old sheath-knife, worn
down nearly to nothing by constant sharpening; half a dozen horn
buttons, one of them still sewn to a fragment of moleskin; and an empty
tin match-box. We asked how long the white man had been dead, and were
told that he died three moons before, of fever, and that we could see
his grave if we liked, for it was within a day's journey. There was an
openness about this tribe, and a frankness in their answers, that made
us certain that all we heard was the truth, and as they had evidently
befriended this poor wanderer, we were anxious to repay them in some
measure, and strengthen the kindly feelings they felt for the white
men, so we told Lizzie to assure them that our visit was only to search
for our lost brethren; that we should like to visit the grave, if one
of them would guide us; and that in return for their services we would
give them a new knife and a tomahawk.
As they were profoundly ignorant of the use of fire-arms, and we wished
to impress upon them the irresistible power of the white man, it was
agreed that we should ask them to guide us to the nearest place
frequented by kangaroos, and pick off two or three of these animals in
their presence, if possible. They were very curious to know the
meaning of our "lightning sticks," and we repaired, escorted by nearly
the whole tribe, to a neighbouring water-hole, where we could remain
concealed, and get an easy shot at any game coming down to drink. We
were not kept long waiting, for within half an hour a couple of
wallabies came hopping leisurely along, and were very cleverly dropped
in their tracks, one by Dunmore, the other by Larry. Our hosts were in
ecstasies, and seemed very grateful that a similar fate had not
befallen some of their number in the morning; but we made Lizzie
explain to them clearly that our object was not to hurt our black
friends, unless they were wicked--ill-treating white men, or spearing
cattle. A couple of noble emus now came stalking slowly towards the
water, and, passing within forty yards of our hiding-place, both fell
victims to the breechloaders of Dunmore and myself.
This beautiful bird inhabits the open country throughout Australia,
where at one time it was very common, but is now rarely seen in the
settled districts. However, in the north emus may be found in plenty;
and I do not think there is the slightest fear of their becoming
extinct, as some writers suggest. All my readers must have seen this
bird at the Zoological Gardens, and remarked its likeness to the
ostrich, both in form and habits; but the prisoner portrays but poorly
the free majestic gait of the wild inhabitant of the plains. The
colour of the adult bird is a greyish brown, the feathers are very
loose and hairy, whilst the height of a fine male is often nearly seven
feet. The usual mode of capturing these birds is to ride them down,
using dogs trained for the purpose to pull them to the ground. The
dogs should be taught to reserve their attack until the emu is
thoroughly tired out, and then to spring upon the neck; but an unwary
puppy will bitterly rue his temerity should he come within reach of the
powerful legs, which deal kicks fiercely around, and of sufficient
power to disable any assailant. The ostrich always kicks forward, in
which he differs from the emu, whose blow is delivered sideways and
backwards, like a cow. This bird is very good eating, if you know the
part to select; the legs proving tough and unpalatable, while the back
is nearly as tender as fowl. But to the bushman the most valuable
thing about the emu is its oil, which is looked upon as a sovereign
remedy for bruises or sprains when rubbed into the affected part either
pure or mixed with turpentine. This useful oil is of a light yellow
colour, and from its not readily congealing or becoming glutinous, it
is in much request for cleaning the locks of fire-arms. It chiefly
resides in the skin, but also collects in great quantities near the
rump. The usual mode of obtaining it is to pluck out all the feathers,
cut the skin into small pieces, and boil them in a common pot; but a
still simpler plan, though less productive, is to hang the skin before
a fire, and catch the oil as it drips down. A full-sized bird will
yield from six to seven quarts. The food of the emu consists of grass
and various fruits. It emits a deep drumming sound from its throat, but
no other cry, that I ever heard. Its nest is only a shallow hole
scraped in the ground, and in this hollow the eggs, which vary in
number, are laid. Dr. Bennett remarks that "There is always an odd
number, some nests having been discovered with nine, others with
eleven, and others again with thirteen." When fresh they are of a
beautiful green colour, and are in much request for mounting in silver
as drinking cups; but after a little while the colour changes to a
dirty brownish green. One peculiarity about the next is, that the
parent bird never goes straight up to it, but walks round and round in
a narrowing circle, of which the nest is the centre. I once caught
seven little emus, only just out of the shell; but shutting them up for
the night in an empty room, I was horrified the next morning to find
that they had all been killed by rats. The young ones have four broad
longitudinal stripes down the back, which disappear as they grow up.
The emu is easily domesticated, and on many cattle and sheep stations
tame specimens are funning about the paddocks. To my mind they are an
intolerable nuisance, always doing some mischief--either frightening
the horses, or stealing things from the workmen. I saw one cured of
his thievish propensities for a long time. He always loafed about the
kitchen when dinner was being served, and if the cook turned his back
for a moment, his long neck was thrust through the window, and anything
within reach--from an onion to a salt-spoon--disappeared with
marvellous celerity. But my friend caught a tartar when he bolted two
scalding potatoes, steaming from the pot. He rushed round and round
the little paddock, and at last dropped down as if dead, from pain and
fatigue. Poor wretch, he must have suffered dreadfully; and I am sure
we all pitied him, except the cook, whose patience he had quite worn
out.