Arrive at Wombat Brush—Animals called Wombat—Parched
country—Road-side houses—Colonial English—Column to
the memory of La Perouse—Death of Le Receveur—Sydney
police-office—The Bustard—Botanic garden—The aborigines—King
Dungaree—The castor-oil shrub—Diseases of Australia—New
Zealanders—Australian ladies—Prejudice against travellers
from Botany Bay—Anecdote—A fishing excursion—Cephalopodous
animals—Conclusion of the author’s researches in this colony.
On the 30th of December I left Goulburn Plains, and arrived the same
evening at Arthursleigh. On the day following I crossed the “Uringalle,”
(more commonly known by the name of “Paddy’s river,”) and arrived at
“Wombat Brush.” This tract of forest land was so named from being
formerly frequented by a number of the animals called “Wombat,” but which
are now rarely or never seen in the vicinity of the settlement, the whole
having been nearly destroyed. About the Tumat and Murrumbidgee country I
witnessed numerous burrows; and certain marks of the animals indicative
of their presence; but they can but seldom be seen, as they remain in the
burrows during the day, coming out to feed at night.
One of these animals kept at “Been,” in the Tumat country, alive and
in a tame state, would remain in its habitation until dark; it would
then come out, and seek for the keelers or milk vessels; and should
none be uncovered, would contrive to get off the covers, bathe itself
in the milk, drinking at the same time. It would also enter the little
vegetable garden attached to the station, in search of lettuces, to which
it evinced much partiality; if none could be found, it would gnaw the
cabbage-stalks, without touching the foliage. Although numerous in the
more distant parts of the colony, they are difficult to procure, from the
great depth to which they burrow.
Having passed the “ploughed ground,” Bong Bong, Mittagong range, &c. I
continued, through a country parched by the summer heats, or having a
burnt aspect, from the custom among the settlers or natives, of setting
fire to the dried grass. The scorched and arid appearance of the land, as
my journey led towards Sydney, was wretched, compared with the beautiful
verdant plains and ranges I had left in the Tumat, Murrumbidgee, and Yas
countries. The harvest was for the most part reaped; a few scattered
patches animated by the verdure of the young maize springing up, and the
yellow flowers of the native “Jibbong,” (_Persoonia sp._,) with a few
other flowering shrubs, scattered about, was all that cheered the eye of
the traveller on the journey. I arrived at Sydney on the 2nd of Jan. 1833.
The houses by the road side, on the approach to Sydney from Liverpool,
or Paramatta, are very neat in their construction. A bark-hut near the
“metropolis” is daily becoming rarer; they are speedily giving place to
neat and even elegant verandah cottages. There are certainly an abundance
of public-houses in the colony, and the neat, clean appearance of the
attendants, as well as the interior of the inns, may vie with those in
the mother-country. The signs of the taverns assume every variety, all
but that of _Temperance_.
It has often been mentioned by writers upon the United States of America,
that a purer and more correct English is spoken in that country than in
the “old country,” where it is corrupted by so many different provincial
dialects. The remark respecting the United States of America will equally
apply to Australia; for among the native-born Australians, (descended
from European parents,) the English spoken is very pure; and it is easy
to recognize a person from _home_ or one born in the colony, no matter
of what class of society, from this circumstance.
On a spot near the entrance to Botany Bay, (so named by Sir Joseph
Banks, and “Sting Ray Bay,” from the number of that fish captured there
by Captain Cook,) a neat column has been erected by Mr. Joshua Thorp,
(at that time the government architect,) from a design by Mr. Cookney,
to the memory of La Perouse; the expense of its erection being paid by
a subscription from the officers of the French discovery ships, which
visited the colony in 1824; the colonial government supplying convict
labourers. It is situated on a little elevation not far from the place
at which Captain Cook landed. The column is circular, standing on a
pedestal, and surmounted by a sphere. Its elevation may be about fifteen
feet. This was the last place whence intelligence was received from
the indefatigable but unfortunate navigator. The inscriptions on the
pedestal are in English and French, and as follow:—“This place, visited
by Mons. de la Perouse in 1788, is the last whence any accounts of him
were received. Erected in the name of France by M.M. de Bougainville and
Ducampier, commanding the frigate La Thetis and the corvette L’Esperance,
lying in Port Jackson. An. 1825.” About one hundred yards distant, inland
from this column, near a red gum tree, are interred the remains of Pere
le Receveur, one of the naturalists attached to Perouse’s expedition,
who died at Botany Bay, in 1788. On the red-gum tree was the following
inscription, carved by one of the officers attached to Bougainville’s
expedition:—“Prés de cet arbre. Reposent les restes, Du P. Le Receveur.
Visité en Mars, 1824.”
During the time that the French discovery ships, La Thetis and
L’Esperance, lay at Port Jackson, this place was also visited by
their commanders and officers; and search having been made for the
exact spot where the remains of the naturalist were deposited, some
of his bones were found, and over that spot a plain monument has been
erected to his memory: on it was placed the following inscription:—“Hic
jacet, Le Receveur, Ex. F. F. Minoribus, Galliæ Sacerdos, Physicus in
Circumnavigatione Mundi Duce de la Perouse. Obiit die 17 Feb. Anno 1788.”
The following account of the death of Le Receveur is given in Philipp’s
Voyage to Botany Bay, &c. “During the stay of M. de la Perouse in Botany
Bay, Father Le Receveur, who came out in the Astrolabe as a naturalist,
died. His death was occasioned by wounds, which he received in the
unfortunate _rencontre_ at the Navigator’s Island.” A slight monument was
erected to his memory. An inscription was placed on it similar to the
preceding.
The Sydney police office daily produces a strange compound of characters;
ludicrous scenes and incidents furnish abundance of _aliment_ for the
newspapers, who decorate many of the cases brought before the magistrate
in so facetious a manner as to amuse their readers and sell the papers.
The number of newspapers published in Sydney is very great, considering
the small town, and many of them are well and ably conducted. The “Sydney
Herald” is published twice a week; the “Sydney Gazette” three times; the
“Sydney Monitor” twice; and there are other smaller papers _published
weekly_.
At Paramatta I saw two tame specimens of the lesser _Otis_, or Bustard,
the “Curlew” of the colony, which is abundant in this country; they were
familiar with the man who was in the habit of feeding them, but averse
to approach strangers. It is principally during the stillness of night
that the peculiar melancholy cry and whistle of these birds are heard,
seeming like the harbinger of death. While sitting one night by the
bed-side of a young man, expiring from a decline, I heard the note of the
bird, unbroken by any other sound; it came over my senses like a knell
summoning the departing spirit to its last long home.[125]
Among the attractions which Sydney presents to the visitor is the Botanic
Garden, with its neat and tastefully arranged walks; it is, however, to
be regretted, that this establishment, as a “botanic garden,” is not
encouraged, it being, in fact, merely a government vegetable and fruit
garden. Such an establishment would be most valuable as a nursery for the
introduction of trees, shrubs, or plants, estimable either for timber,
fruits, flowers, or dyes, and thus add to the resources of the colony; by
its means how many valuable productions might be introduced: at present
exotics are almost entirely confined to the gardens of a few intelligent
settlers. Still there are several trees and plants introduced from New
Zealand, the north-west, and other parts of Australia, Cape, &c. A fine
healthy specimen of the “_Adenanthos sericea_” has been successfully
introduced, (which is correctly figured in Labillardiere’s Plant. Nov.
Holl. Tab. 38,) which shows that shrubs, &c. from King George’s Sound (to
which place this one is indigenous,) can be grown in perfection at Port
Jackson.
In a pond the pretty white flowers and dark leaves of _Damasonium
ovatifolium_ were floating, and may be often seen swimming on the surface
of the more tardy streams in the colony. The New Zealand flax plant does
not appear to thrive well, nor has it yet flowered; the best plants I
have seen were at the “Vineyard,” the residence of H. M’Arthur, Esq.,
who has planted it in a moister soil. The Karaka tree, (_Corynocarpus
lævigata_,) of New Zealand, was in thriving condition, having reached the
elevation of from six to nearly fourteen feet, and borne fruit.
The New Zealand species of _Dracæna_, (or Tee of the natives of that
country,) grows and flowers well not only in these gardens, but is
frequently seen planted in front of the dwelling houses in and about
Sydney; as also that lofty species of _Araucaria_, (A. excelsa,)
commonly known by the name of Norfolk Island pine.[126] The Indian
bamboo also grows very luxuriantly in the gardens, and in that part of
the domain near the government house. The _Callistachys ovata_, from
King George’s Sound, was also in flower; it is an elegant shrub, having
a silvery pubescence over the leaves, and bears handsome clusters of
yellow flowers. The _Hibiscus splendens_, from Moreton Bay, was also in
full bloom; its large and elegant pink flowers being full five inches
in diameter. Numerous species of _Eucalypti_, _Banksia_, &c. from the
interior of the colony, as also from Moreton Bay, and other portions
of the Australian coast, were in a thriving state; and a species of
_Dracæna_, bearing purple flowers, and brought from Moreton Bay, was in
blossom.
About Sydney, however, in January, the beauty of the floral kingdom had
in some degree passed away: _Melaleuca myrtifolia_, _Leptospermum_,
_Xanthorrea hastile_, and other species; _Calicoma serratifolia_;
_Gompholobium_; _Lambertia formosa_; _Isopogon anethifolius_; _Enokelia
major and minor_; _Billardieria scandens_; and a few others still
remaining, covered with blossoms, to animate the scene with their
varied tints and brilliancy of appearance. The shrubs of the _Staphelia
viridiflora_ were now in fruit; which, when ripe, is of a purplish black
colour, having a sweetish taste, and is gathered and sold in the shops
under the popular name of “_five corners_:” this name, no doubt, was
applied to it on account of the _calyx_ projecting in five points above
the fruit. The gardens are laid out in very neat order, and Mr. Richard
Cunningham having arrived from England with an appointment as colonial
botanist, it may be hoped from his known talent and assiduity that the
colony will soon have a “_Botanic Garden_,” in lieu of a repository for
turnips and carrots.
The aborigines are often seen about Sydney; but to me they appear,
probably from their vicious habits, a far worse-looking race than those
I had seen in the interior. The _celebrated_ King Bungaree had recently
ended his mortal career, as well as most of his tribe, none of them ever
having been induced to settle and cultivate the soil for subsistence.
It is related, that in the time of the government of General Macquarie
there was an attempt made, by distributing seeds among them, to induce
the natives to cultivate the ground: among the packets of seed sent
for distribution were some which contained fish-hooks; these, together
with the seeds, were given by the governor to the sable monarch, King
Bungaree. Some time after the governor inquired of him whether the seeds
had yet come up—“Oh berry well, berry well,” exclaimed Bungaree, “all
make come up berry well, except dem fish-hooks, them no come up yet.”
The castor oil shrub (_Ricinus communis_) abounds in the colony both
in a wild and cultivated state, thriving even in the most arid soils;
yet the oil is still imported and sold in the colony at a high price,
when by very little attention any quantity could be expressed from the
seeds, not only for medicinal, but likewise for domestic purposes; such
as burning in lamps; for which latter purpose it is used in some parts
of South America, as well as by the Javanese and others. There are two
methods employed to extract the oil—coction and expression; the first is
performed by tying the seeds, previously decorticated and bruised, in a
bag, and then suspending in boiling water until all the oil is extracted,
and, rising to the surface of the water, is skimmed off.
This mode of preparation is still preferred by many of the West Indian
practitioners; but as the oil is apt to get rancid when thus prepared,
it is now obtained, both at home and abroad, by subjecting the seeds to
the press in the same manner as the almond. The oil obtained is equal to
one-fourth of the weight of the seeds employed. The acrid principle is
contained in the cotyledons, and not in the embryon, nor in the testa. It
is of a volatile nature. Good expressed castor oil is nearly inodorous
and insipid; but the best leaves a slight sensation of acrimony in the
throat after it is swallowed. It is thick, viscid, transparent, and
colourless, or of a pale straw colour: that which is obtained by coction
has a brownish hue; and both kinds, when they become rancid, thicken,
deepen in colour to reddish brown, and acquire a hot, nauseous taste.
It has all the chemical characters of the other expressed oils, except
that it is heavier, and is very soluble in alcohol, and also in sulphuric
ether.[127]
Few diseases can be said to be produced by the climate of Australia:
dissipation and numerous vices introduced from home have caused some to
prevail extensively in the populous town of Sydney, but in the interior
they are comparatively few. A number of persons perish from that fatal
disease consumption; but I do not regard it as produced by the climate,
as it invariably attacks persons from England, of dissipated habits, or
of employments uncongenial to health. The vice of intemperance prevails
extensively, and renders the bills of mortality much greater than could
be supposed from the population and acknowledged salubrity of the climate.
New Zealanders are now employed at Sydney as labourers, and are much
esteemed for their steady and sober habits: they are also careful of the
money they earn:—as an instance, one of them, who had just returned to
Sydney from a whaling voyage, on receiving his wages, placed the amount
in the hands of a gentleman, from whom he drew occasionally, about ten
shillings at a time, to purchase clothes, or any other necessary article.
The Australian ladies may compete for personal beauty and elegance with
any European, although satirized as “corn-stalks” from the slenderness
of their forms. It is true their reserve is great, but it proceeds
from diffidence, for in family intercourse they are both animated and
communicative. Their education, from a deficiency of good schools,
was formerly much neglected, except they were sent to Europe for that
purpose; but now that cause of complaint is removed by the establishment
of several respectable seminaries and teachers; so the high degree of
natural talent the Australian females really possess may now be improved
by proper cultivation. Even among the male Australians there is a
taciturnity proceeding from natural diffidence and reserve, not from any
want of mental resources: this led one of their more lively countrymen to
observe, “that they could do every thing but speak.”
It has been said that formerly it was dangerous in England to inform
a fellow-traveller of having just arrived from Botany Bay, as he will
soon shun your acquaintance; but visitors from that country must, after
the following anecdote, stand a worse chance in the celestial empire. A
ship arriving at China from Australia, the commander, when asked by the
Chinese where the ship came from, jocosely answered, “From New South
Wales, where all the English thieves are sent.” The inhabitants of the
empire, taking the joke seriously, reported this and every other ship
which arrived from that country to the mandarin as “ship from thiefo
country: one thiefo captain, three thiefo officers, twenty-five thiefo
crew.” And when the Hooghly arrived with the late governor of New South
Wales, it was—“One thiefo viceroy of thiefo country, with several thiefo
attendants.” The thiefo viceroy’s lady landing at Macao, was not reported
to the mandarin.
One afternoon, a party was formed for a fishing excursion in Port
Jackson: we took a seine with us, and pulled out to a fine bay or cove,
called “Chowder Bay,” a picturesque little spot, and not far distant in
the harbour from the north head at the entrance of Port Jackson. On the
seine being hauled, immense numbers of the _Balistes_, more commonly
known by the name of “_Leather Jackets_,” from the great toughness of
their skins, of various sizes were obtained. This fish is troublesome
to hook-and-line fishermen, from biting their hook into two parts. It
was probably this circumstance that caused the name of _File-fish_ to
be conferred upon them. Their flesh is not used by Europeans; but the
blacks eat them. Several sting-rays (_Trygon pastinaca_? of Cuvier) were
also caught, together with numerous specimens of _Diodon_; _Sygnathus_,
and two species of _Mullus_; one was the _Mullus barbatus_, Linn., of
a bright-red colour, “Le Rouget” of the French: this is the species
said to be so celebrated for the excellence of its flavour, as well as
the pleasure the Romans took in contemplating the changes of colour it
experienced while dying.
The “_Cat-fish_,” (_Silurus_,) said to have the power of stinging with
the tentaculæ or feelers, which pend from about the external part of the
mouth, large quantities of the _Chœtodon fasciata_, or Banded Chœtodon,
and several species of bream, were caught in this and other coves so
numerous in the splendid harbour of Port Jackson.
Several large cephalopodous animals, Loligo of Lamarck, Les Calmars
of Cuvier, were frequently taken in the seine. If taken in the hand
alive, they would, with the succulent tentaculæ, draw the fingers of
the person holding them towards their parrot-beaked mouths, and inflict
a severe bite: they also discharge, when captured, a large quantity of
thick black fluid, a very minute proportion of which suffices to render
turbid a large quantity of water. Should this black liquid fall upon
linen clothes, it produces a stain difficult, if at all possible, to be
removed. It is from this fluid that the material known by the name of
China or Indian ink, is manufactured. The ancients were also accustomed
to use it as a writing ink, and esteemed the flesh as a delicacy. Most
of the eastern natives, and those among the Polynesian islands, partake
of it, and esteem it as food: they may be seen exposed for sale in the
bazaars throughout India.
Having brought my researches in this colony to a conclusion for the
present, I have to regret the limited portion of time I was able to
devote to the investigation of its various natural productions, &c.,
so numerous and interesting in all portions of the great continent of
Australia. The discoveries already made have been numerous; and, when it
is considered that an immense tract of country still remains unexplored,
many treasures in every department of natural history may yet be looked
for from this comparatively new and extraordinary portion of the globe.
To the botanist and zoologist, objects of peculiar interest are
continually presenting themselves, not previously described, or indeed
known in Europe. While a field of investigation might be opened by the
geologist, the cultivation of which may be expected to repay his labours
a thousand fold.