TRANSACTIONS AT PORT JACKSON
April 1791 to May 1791
An excursion into the country.--Occurrences on the journey.--Surprising
dexterity of the natives in climbing trees.--Their superstition.--Their
method of curing wounds.--Their language.--Their manners and disposition.
On the 11th of April, 1791, Governor Phillip left Rose-Hill
with a party, intending to reach Hawkesbury-River, opposite
Richmond-Hill; and, if possible, to cross the river and get to
the mountains. Besides the governor, the party consisted of a
servant, and three convicts, who were good marksmen, eight
soldiers, two serjeants, one captain, Lieutenant Tench, and
Lieutenant Dawes; they took seven days provisions with them.
As a few hours heavy rain would raise the waters at the head
of the Hawkesbury, and render their return very difficult, if not
impracticable, the party were made so considerable, that they
might divide if it was possible to cross the river, which the
governor meant to do with only half a dozen persons; leaving the
remainder to prepare a raft of light wood, if any could be found,
or to assist their return, with lines carried for that
purpose.
It was near eleven o'clock when the party set off, and, after
crossing Rose-Hill creek, they went to the northward, as Governor
Phillip wished to see if, after so long a drought, there was any
water in a ravine near to which he intended to place a settler,
the ground being good, lying well for cultivation, and having
plenty of water where the farm-house was intended to be fixed.
This track of good ground runs to the eastward, and was separated
from the cultivated land on the north side of Rose-Hill creek by
a small patch of brush-wood, and a narrow slip of poor sandy
soil.
Water being found in the bottom of the ravines, our party
shaped their course so as to cross a part of the country, with
which they were unacquainted, going north-west by the compass,
and counting their paces. Colebe, and Ballederry, the young man
who has been mentioned as living chiefly at Governor Phillip's
house, were desirous of joining this party; and, as much
information was expected from them, they were encouraged to go,
and they carried their own provisions.
After passing several deep ravines, and going round the heads
of others, over a barren country for an hour, the land grew
better, and was tolerable, till one o'clock, when it again grew
bad and rocky. The natives informed them that this part of the
country was inhabited by the _Bidjigals_, but that most of
the tribe were dead of the small-pox. Though the country they
passed over in their morning's walk was chiefly poor stony
ground, it was covered with timber, and was pleasing to the eye.
At half past one o'clock, the party came to a low piece of ground
where they found water, and which, in any future excursion, would
be a good sleeping place. The country continued a dry, arid soil,
and the surface was mostly covered with loose stones, till forty
minutes past three o'clock, when they came to some pools of good
water, which were very acceptable, as one of the party was taken
ill. Here they made fires and laid down for the night. In the
course of the day, they had seen numbers of Pattagorong, and
Baggaray; in one herd, it was supposed there could not be less
than forty.
Soon after the fires were lighted, the voice of a native was
heard in the woods, hunting his dog; and, as Colebe and
Ballederry were very desirous of having an interview with him,
though they said the tribe of _Bu-ru-be-ron-gal_, who were
bad men and their enemies, resided near the spot, they frequently
hallooed, and were answered by the stranger; and, as the voice
drew nearer, they desired our party would all lie down and keep
silence. A light was now seen in the woods, and our natives
advancing towards it, a pretty long conversation ensued between
them and the stranger, who approached them with great precaution:
a little boy who was with him carried the fire, which was a piece
of the bark of the tea-tree. This boy being sent forward first,
joined Colebe and Ballederry, who, having told the stranger their
names, the tribe to which they belonged, and received the like
information from him, they joined, and the stranger was now told
the names of the party who remained at the fire; at the same
time, some of them were desired to speak.
At Governor Phillip's approach, the boy ran away, and the man
did not appear perfectly at his ease when he saw four or five
persons near him, though none of them were armed. They were all
introduced to the stranger by name, and he was pressed to come to
their fire, which was forty or fifty yards distant; but this he
declined, saying he would go and fetch his family, and would
return in the morning. Colebe and Ballederry told this man that
their party were going to the river, which he pointed out as
lying in the direction they had taken.
When these natives first endeavoured to make themselves heard
by the stranger, they had advanced some little distance from the
rest, but as he approached them they retreated, and wanted the
serjeant, in whom they always placed great confidence, to take
his gun, and go with them, which was not permitted: this showed
that they, as well as the other native, thought there was some
danger in the meeting; and the caution with which the stranger
approached them was very great; by sending the boy before him
with the fire, he could see if those he was going to join were
armed or not, whilst the trees kept him from their view. This man
had a stone hatchet, a spear, and a throwing-stick, which one of
our natives was very desirous of his leaving; probably as a
pledge for his returning in the morning, but this he refused: he
was a young man, of the tribe of Bu-ru-be-ron-gal, and named
-Bur-ro-wai_; his hair was ornamented with the tails of
several small animals, and he had preserved all his teeth. On
Colebe being asked how this man lived, he said that he had no
canoe, but lived by the chace.
The next morning, (the 12th of April,) our party set off at
half past six o'clock, keeping their course north-west, through a
poor country, though covered with timber, till three quarters
past eight, when they saw the river, which, in this situation, is
about 300 feet wide: the banks are high, and the soil a light
sand, but producing fine strait timber: this sand, which in some
places does not appear to have any mixture of mould, extends
several hundred yards from the river. The party were now eighteen
miles and an half from Rose-Hill, which bore from them north
28° west.
The current in the river was running down, and they set off at
half past ten o'clock, to follow its windings, as it ran to the
eastward. The person who was charged with counting his paces, and
setting the objects to which they directed their march, had
hitherto gone first; but the long sedge, the dead branches which
had fallen from the trees, the nettles, and a weed resembling ivy
which entangled the feet, made walking on, or near the banks of
the river very fatiguing; he was therefore directed to follow the
party, and to take the bearings of those who went before him from
time to time, still counting his paces, that they might always
know their situation in the woods, and the direction it would be
necessary to take when they returned across the country.
They proceeded in an Indian file, the person who went first,
always falling into the rear whenever he found himself
fatigued.
Several good situations were seen on the opposite side of the
river as our party went along, and the ground appeared to be
good: they also passed some good spots on their side of the
river, and saw several places where the natives had slept on its
banks. Ducks were seen in great numbers, but the party seldom got
a shot.
In the afternoon, a creek obliged them to leave the banks of
the river, and go round its head, as it was too deep to cross:
having rounded the head of this creek, they found themselves on
the borders of a river not more than eighty feet wide; the banks
were low, and covered with a thick brush, which did not make
walking less laborious to those who went first. Their view was
now very contracted, the ground rising on the right so as to
confine the prospect to fifty or one hundred yards; and what they
could see was mostly a poor stony soil. In the afternoon, they
fell in with one of the native's hunting-huts, which Colebe and
Ballederry would have cut to pieces, had not Governor Phillip
prevented them; they said it belonged to their enemies, and they
were much displeased at not being permitted to destroy it.
The natives were known to eat a grub which is found in the
small gum-tree, and when our party came to the creek already
mentioned, a native fled on their approach, leaving his fire, and
some decayed wood he had drawn out of the creek, for the purpose
of procuring a large worm which is found in it, and which they
eat. The smell of this wood is so strong, that few Europeans are
able to bear it for any length of time; indeed, it cannot be
distinguished from the foulest privy.
At four o'clock the party halted and made fires for the night,
being all pretty well tired. Just before they stopped for the
night, several natives were heard, and Colebe and Ballederry
wanted to join them, but they went away in their canoes.
In the morning of the 13th, the party set off again, still
following the creek, which was now little larger than a good
ditch, and went through a very barren rocky country, until noon,
when, being at the head of the creek they crossed it, and, after
resting some time, they endeavoured to go to the north-west, in
order to fall in with the river which they had lost by going
round the creek in the afternoon of the preceding day; but they
were soon stopped by a deep ravine; and the surgeon going to a
rising ground on the left, saw the country open to the westward,
and thought he could distinguish Richmond-Hill; this led them all
to the spot, and, from the break in the mountain, and the
trending of the land, Governor Phillip imagined it to be
Richmond-Hill, which they saw, being the southern extremity of a
range of hills. It bore west by south, and appeared to be from
eleven to thirteen miles distant, as near as could be
determined.
The place from whence our party had this prospect, was called
-Tench's Prospect-Hill_, that officer being of the party,
and having from thence seen Richmond-Hill for the first time.
The spot where they had made the river on the 12th, being
little more than four miles distant, it was thought best to
return there, and from thence to trace the river to the westward
till they got opposite to Richmond-Hill. The Governor was well
aware of the difficulties they would have to encounter on the
banks of a river where walking was laborious, and every little
creek they met with would oblige them to follow it up the country
till they could cross it; but in a country like this, you may
travel many miles through the woods and not get sight of very
high land, though it may not be half a mile from you.
Our party set off, in order to get back to sleep near the head
of the creek, which they had crossed at noon, and which they soon
attained: it was flood-tide when they got there, and they found
the tide to rise about eighteen inches, making high water at nine
o'clock: this was on the night of the 13th. After crossing the
creek at half past seven o'clock the next morning, they shaped a
course that was likely to carry them to the river, without being
embarrassed with the bad walking on its banks, or the windings of
the creek, until they got near the spot, from whence they
proposed taking a fresh departure.
After crossing the creek, and some very rocky ground, they had
good walking over a country, full of timber and pleasing to the
eye; but the ground was poor, and the surface mostly covered with
stones. Here some ants nests were seen, composed of an amazing
number of small stones, which formed a circle of five or six feet
diameter, rising regularly in the center to the height of twenty
or thirty inches. An hour and a half s walking brought them to a
swamp, where they stopped to fire at some ducks, and then
crossing it, they continued their course nearly west 8° north
till eleven o'clock, when they came to a pool of good water. The
country was now sandy, and presently afterwards, they arrived on
the borders of the river, and soon got to the place where they
first stopped in the morning of the 12th.
Several canoes being seen, our two natives were very desirous
of speaking to the persons in them, and the party were all
desired to hide themselves in the grass until the canoes should
come abreast of them; Colebe and Ballederry also concealed
themselves, but the canoes stopping on the opposite shore before
they came near, one of our natives was told to call to them,
which he did, and was soon answered by an old man, who, after a
short conversation, came over in his canoe, being known to
Colebe.
This man joined the party without the least fear; and from the
questions that were put to him respecting the river, Colebe and
Ballederry concluded they had come this journey in order to
procure stone hatchets, as the natives get the stones whereof
they make their hatchets from that part of the river near
Richmond-Hill, which the old man said was a great way off, and
the road to it was very bad.
Colebe and Ballederry had at first supposed, that Governor
Phillip and his party came from the settlement to kill ducks and
patagorongs; but finding they did not stop at the places where
those animals were seen in any numbers, they were at a loss to
know why the journey was taken; and though they had hitherto
behaved exceedingly well, yet, as they now began to be tired of a
journey, which yielded them no sort of advantage, they
endeavoured to persuade the governor to return, saying, it was a
great way to the place where the stone hatchets were to be
procured, and that they must come in a boat.
On the party leaving this place, the old native returned to
his canoe, but he joined them soon afterwards, and gave Governor
Phillip two stone hatchets, two spears, and a throwing-stick:
this present was made in consequence of our two natives telling
him who all the party were. In return for the old man's present,
he had some bread, some fish-hooks, and a couple of small
hatchets given him. The spears were well made; one of them had a
single barb of wood fixed on with gum, the other had two large
barbs cut out of the solid wood, and it was as finely brought to
a point as if it had been made with the sharpest instrument. The
throwing-stick had a piece of hard stone fixed in gum instead of
the shell which is commonly used by the natives who live on the
sea coast: it is with these stones, which they bring to a very
sharp edge, that the natives make their spears.
The old native followed our party in his canoe as they kept
along the banks of the river, and another canoe, with a woman and
child, joined him: the old man observing that they did not keep
near enough the water's edge to have the least fatigue in
walking, came out of his canoe and took the lead, and he soon
brought them to a path made by the natives, where it was very
good walking, and which ran alongside the river. It was near four
o'clock when they stopped for the night, and were joined by a
young man and a lively little boy, who they soon found intended,
as well as the old man, to take up their residence with them,
though their families were on the opposite bank, and they had two
fires lighted.
Though our natives appeared to be on very friendly terms with
their new acquaintances, yet they certainly had no particular
affection for them, and spoke of them very lightly when they were
out of hearing; particularly Ballederry, who said the youngest
man of the two was bad: his name was _Yal-lah-mien-di_; they
supposed him to be the old man's son, and the child to be his
grandson. The old man called himself _Go-me-bee-re_, and
said the child's name was _Jim-bah_; they were of the tribe
of _Bu-ru-be-rong-al_.
Colebe and Ballederry, in describing that tribe on the second
day's journey, had called them _climbers of trees_, and men
who lived by hunting; certainly, no persons can better deserve
the appellation of climbers, if we may judge from what was seen
of Go-me-bee-re, who, for a biscuit, in a very few minutes cut
his notches in the bark of a tree and mounted it with surprising
agility, though an old man. These notches are cut in the bark
little more than an inch deep, which receives the ball of the
great toe; the first and second notches are cut from the ground;
the rest they cut as they ascend, and at such a distance from
each other, that when both their feet are in the notches, the
right foot is raised nearly as high as the middle of the left
thigh: when they are going to raise themselves a step, their
hatchet is held in the mouth, in order to have the use of both
their hands; and, when cutting the notch, the weight of the body
rests on the ball of the great toe: the fingers of the left hand
are also fixed in a notch cut on the side of the tree for that
purpose, if it is too large to admit their clasping it
sufficiently with the left arm to keep the body close to the
tree.
In this manner do these people climb trees, whose
circumference is ten or fifteen feet, or upwards, after an
opossum or a squirrel, though they rise to the height of sixty or
eighty feet before there is a single branch.
Governor Phillip had occasionally seen a few of the natives
climb the trees at Sydney and Rose-Hill, but this old man greatly
surpassed them. In the evening, the four natives and the child
took their places at the fire, and a scene ensued which shows
that these people are not a little superstitious.
Colebe had been wounded below the left breast with a fiz-gig,
and though it must have been done many years back, or the wound
must have been slight, as it was difficult to discover any scar,
yet it was supposed he felt some pain, though it probably might
be occasioned by the straps of his knapsack; however, the
youngest of the two strangers was applied to for relief.
He began the ceremony by taking a mouthful of water, which he
squirted on the part affected, and then applying his mouth, he
began to suck as long as he could without taking breath; this
seemed to make him sick, and when he rose up, (for his patient
was sitting on the ground) he walked about for a few minutes, and
then began to suck again, till it was again necessary for him to
take breath: this was repeated three times, and he seemed, by
drawing in his stomach, to feel the pain he had drawn from the
breast of his patient; and having picked up a bit of stick or
stone, which he did with so little caution that several of the
party saw him, he pretended to take something out of his mouth
and throw it into the river. He certainly did throw something
away, which must be what he picked up; but Colebe, after the
ceremony was over, said it was what he had sucked from his
breast, which some understood to be two barbs of a fiz-gig, as he
made use of the word _Bul-ler-doo-ul_; but Governor Phillip
was of opinion he meant two pains.
Before this business was finished, the doctor felt his
patient's back below the shoulder, and seemed to apply his
fingers as if he twitched something out; after which, he sat down
by the patient, and put his right arm round his back; the old
man, at the same time, sat down on the other side the patient,
with his face the contrary way, and clasped him round the breast
with his right arm; each of them had hold of one of the patient's
hands, in which situation they remained a few minutes.
Thus ended the ceremony, and Colebe said he was well. He gave
his worsted night cap and the best part of his supper to the
doctor as a fee; and being asked, if both the men were doctors,
he said, yes, and the child was a doctor also, so that it may be
presumed the power of healing wounds descends from father to
son.
This affair being finished, most of the party fell asleep,
whilst the two doctors were amused by Colebe and Ballederry, with
an account of the buildings at Sydney and Rose-Hill, and in what
manner the colonists lived: in this history, names were as
particularly attended to as if their hearers had been intimately
acquainted with every person who was mentioned.
Though the tribe of Buruberongal, to which these men belonged,
live chiefly by hunting, the women are employed in fishing, and
our party were told, that they caught large mullet in the river.
Neither of these men had lost their front tooth, and the names
they gave to several parts of the body were such as the natives
about Sydney had never been heard to make use of. Ga-dia (the
penis), they called _Cud-da_; Go-rey (the ear), they called
-Ben-ne_; in the word _mi_ (the eye), they pronounced
the letter _I_ as an _E_; and in many other instances
their pronunciation varied, so that there is good reason to
believe several different languages are spoken by the natives of
this country, and this accounts for only one or two of those
words given in Captain Cook's vocabulary having ever been heard
amongst the natives who visited the settlement.
Having taken leave of their new friends the
-Car-ra-dy-gans_ (doctors), our party set off at a quarter
past seven o'clock in the morning of the 15th of April, and
followed the natives path along the banks of the river, walking
at a good pace till a quarter past eight o'clock, when they came
to a creek which was too wide to be crossed by cutting down a
tree, and was too deep to be forded; they were, therefore,
obliged to follow its windings till they supposed themselves at
the head of it, and then they endeavoured to regain the banks of
the river; but they presently found that they had only rounded a
small arm of this creek, the principal branch of which they
continued to trace with infinite fatigue for the remainder of the
day.
It was high water in this creek at forty minutes past twelve
o'clock, and at half past three, they found it divide into two
branches, either of which might have been crossed on a tree; but
by this time the party were tired, and threatened with heavy
rain, which would make their night very uncomfortable, as they
had no tent; they therefore took up their residence at a spot
where a quantity of timber, from trees, which had already been
burnt down by the natives, promised them good fires with little
labour.
The rain went off after a few light showers, but our two
natives now began to grow quite impatient to return home. Colebe
talked about his wife, and said his child would cry; and
Ballederry lost all patience when the rain began, telling the
governor, that there were good houses at Sydney and Rose-Hill,
but that they had no house now, no fish, no melon (of which fruit
all the natives are very fond); and there is no doubt but they
would have left the party, had they been acquainted with the
country through which they had to return. It was most likely that
the greatest part of the next day would be spent in getting to
that part of the river which the creek had obliged them to quit,
so that two days would be taken up in getting to the opposite
side of a creek, not one hundred feet wide; it was, therefore,
determined to return to Rose-Hill, which bore from the sleeping
place south-east, sixteen miles distant.
The river which Governor Phillip had named the Nepean in a
former excursion, was then traced for some miles, and he expected
to have fallen in with it this journey, and to have traced it
down to where it empties itself into the Hawkesbury, which it is
supposed to do above Richmond-Hill: indeed, during the first day
of this excursion, he supposed it possible that the river they
were then tracing might be the Nepean, but what they saw of it
afterwards, left no doubt but that they had fallen in with the
Hawkesbury some miles below Richmond-Hill.
In the morning of the 16th of April, at half past seven
o'clock, Governor Phillip and his party set off on their return
to Rose-Hill; and, as soon as they were clear of the creek, they
went south 40° east, which, they supposed, would carry them
into the path leading from Rose-Hill to Prospect-Hill.--The face
of the country where they slept, and for several miles in their
road, was a poor soil, but finely formed, and covered with the
stately white gum-tree. At noon, they came to a hollow, in which
they found some very good water; here they stopped near an hour:
after passing this gully, and a rocky piece of ground, the soil
grew better, and they soon came to a brook of good water, which
they had occasion to cross twice; the soil was good, and covered
with long grass: they were now drawing near to Rose-Hill, where
they arrived a little before four o'clock.
The dry weather still continued, and though they had a few
showers, the quantity of rain which fell in the month of April,
was not sufficient to bring the dry ground into proper order for
sowing the grain; a few acres, however, of what was in the best
condition, were sown with wheat the last week in the month. This
long continuance of dry weather, not only hurt their crops of
corn very much, but the gardens likewise suffered greatly; many
being sown a second and a third time, as the seed never
vegetated, from the want of moisture in the soil; this was a
double misfortune, for vegetables were not only growing scarce,
but seed also.
The expected supply of provisions not arriving, Governor
Phillip was obliged to reduce the ratio of daily subsistence; but
this reduction did not extend to the women and children.
After saying that there were many of the convicts, who, if not
attended to, ate their week's allowance of provisions in two or
three days; it will be obvious that the labour hitherto drawn
from that class of people, must be greatly lessened by the
necessity the Governor was under of reducing even that allowance;
indeed, it was felt by every individual, for the daily ratio of
provisions issued from the public stores, was the same to the
convict as it was to the governor.
Two seamen, who had belonged to the Sirius, became settlers,
and were fixed on the creek leading to Rose-Hill, where they had
sixty acres of ground each allotted them, and they were to be
victualled from the public store for eighteen months. A person
who was sent from England to superintend the labour of the
convicts, also became a settler, and one hundred and forty acres
of land were allotted him on the creek: he was allowed the labour
of four convicts for a year, and himself and his daughter were to
be victualled from the public store for twelve months.
Several convicts, whose terms for which they were sentenced
were expired, were permitted to cultivate ground at the foot of
Prospect-Hill, and to those who became settlers, Governor Phillip
gave what live stock he could spare, as there was not any
belonging to the public in the settlement; nor were individuals
possessed of any considerable quantity of live stock, the
greatest part having been killed the last year, when they were
distressed for want of provisions; and those who were able to
cultivate a little maize, were glad to make use of it as a
substitute for bread.
Little more than twelve months back, hogs and poultry were in
great abundance, and were increasing very rapidly; but, at this
time, a hen that laid eggs sold for twenty shillings; pork sold
for a shilling per pound, but there was seldom any to sell; a
roasting-pig sold for ten shillings, and good tobacco for twenty
shillings per pound: tobacco, the growth of this country, which,
if properly cured, would probably equal the best Brazil tobacco,
sold in its green state, for ten shillings per pound.
Such was the state of the colony at this time.
All the maize was now got in, and, notwithstanding the
extraordinary drought for some time before, and long after it was
put into the ground, the crop was not a bad one, and the cobs
were remarkably large where the ground had been well
prepared.
In the beginning of May, the officers and men of the New
South-Wales corps went into the new barrack at Rose-Hill. The
barrack for the soldiers had been finished some time, but one of
the wings, which was intended for the officers, could not be
compleated before the end of the month.
Those natives who had been most accustomed to live at the
settlement, would now leave it frequently for several days
together, as they found plenty of fish towards the head of the
harbour.
The savage ferocity of these people shows itself whenever they
find themselves thwarted. Bannelong and Colebe with their wives,
dined at the governor's on the 8th of May, and came in as usual,
to have a glass of wine and a dish of coffee; after which they
left the house to go and sleep at Bannelong's hut on the point;
but, in the middle of the night, Governor Phillip was called up
by the cries of the young girl whom he had formerly rescued from
Bannelong: she, it seems, had gone to sleep in a shed at the back
of the governor's house, and Bannelong, Colebe, and two others
got over the paling, and were endeavouring to carry her off,
which the centinels prevented; and, as Governor Phillip did not
know at the moment, but that Bannelong and those who were with
him, had returned to sleep in the yard after he went to bed, and
before the gate was locked, they were permitted to escape; which,
indeed, could only have been prevented by ordering them to be put
to death.
One of these men was seen the next day, and, being taxed with
attempting to carry off the girl, he denied the charge; as the
natives always do when they are not caught in the fact. Bannelong
and Colebe were not seen for a week, and the latter appearing
first, when accused, said he was asleep at the time, and laid the
blame on Bannelong, who coming soon after, and not being able to
make any excuse, or to deny being in the yard, appeared sullen;
and when Governor Phillip told him that he was angry, and that
the soldiers should shoot him if he ever came again to take any
woman away, he very cooly replied, that then he would spear the
soldier; at the same time, he said he was very hungry; and, as no
advantage would have followed punishing him, he was ordered
something to eat, after the threat had been repeated of his being
shot, if ever he came again in the night.
It was probable, that the displeasure of Governor Phillip with
Bannelong would have a better effect than any corporal
punishment, which might only lead him to revenge himself on some
of those who frequently went into the woods unarmed; at the same
time, orders were given for the centinels to fire on any of the
natives who might be seen getting over the paling in the night,
and the sleeping of the women in the yard when their husbands
were not with them was discouraged,
The girl was asked if the natives were going to take her away
in order to beat her,--she said no, it was to force her to sleep
with them; at the same time these men had left their own wives at
their fires.
The Supply had now so far exceeded the time in which she
generally made the voyage to and from Norfolk-Island, that fears
were entertained for her safety, but they were removed by her
arrival on the 30th of May. As she was the only vessel in this
country, it was not without great concern that Governor Phillip
found the necessary repairs she wanted would require more time
than he could have wished her to remain in the harbour.