The party leaves the Darling.
Natives approach the camp during the night.
Scared by a rocket.
Discovery of a Caper-tree.
The kangaroos and emus driven away by the natives.
Difference between the plains of the Darling and Bogan.
Extreme illness of one of the party.
New Year's range.
A thunderstorm.
Three natives remind us of the man wounded.
Another man of the party taken ill.
Acacia pendula.
Beauty of the scenery.
Mr. Larmer traces Duck Creek up to the Macquarie.
A hot wind.
Talambe of the Bogan Tribe.
Tombs of Milmeridien.
Another bullock fails.
Natives troublesome.
Successful chase of four kangaroos.
Natives of the Bogan come up.
Water scarce.
Two red-painted natives.
Uncertainty of Mr. Cunningham's fate.
Mr. Larmer overtakes the party.
Result of his survey.
Send off a courier to Sydney.
Marks of Mr. Dixon.
Tandogo Creek and magnificent pine forest.
Hervey's range in sight.
Improved appearance of the country.
Meet the natives who first accompanied us.
Arrive at a cattle station.
Learn that Mr. Cunningham had been killed by natives.
Cookopie ponds.
Goobang Creek.
Character of the river Bogan.
Native inhabitants on its banks.
Their mode of fishing.
Manners and customs.
Prepare to quit the party.
The boats.
Plan of encampment.
Mount Juson.
Leave the party and mark a new line of ascent to Hervey's range.
Get upon a road.
Arrive at Buree.
THE PARTY LEAVES THE DARLING.
August 13.
This morning we finally quitted Fort Bourke and the banks of the Darling
to return by our former route along the Bogan. We halted within a mile of
our previous encampment, and again drank of the waters of that river, but
from a very shallow pond, that which we formerly had recourse to being
quite dry.
NATIVES APPROACH THE CAMP DURING THE NIGHT.
August 14.
We continued the journey most prosperously, all things considered, and
bivouacked beside a large pond two miles beyond our ground of the 23rd
May. We saw natives all about, but they did not venture too near us. I
supposed they were of the tribe which formerly behaved so well when we
passed these ponds. About eight P.M. however we perceived numerous
fire-sticks approaching among the bushes; and though I counted nine in
motion yet I heard no noise. I directed the men to be silent, curious to
know what these people meant to do. At length, when the lights had
approached within 150 yards of our camp, everyone suddenly disappeared;
the bearers preserving all the while the most perfect silence. I then
thought it advisable to scare these natives away, supposing that they
were lurking about our camp with the intention to steal.
SCARED BY A ROCKET.
I accordingly placed some men with instructions to rush forward shouting
as soon as I should send up a rocket. Its ascent and our sudden
accompanying noise had no doubt a tremendous effect on the natives, for
even in the morning they remained at a respectful distance.
August 15.
We began to discover some signs of vegetation in the earth. Blades of
green grass appeared among the yellow stalks, and on the plains we found
a new species of Danthonia;* the whole country indeed already wore a
better appearance than on any part of the Darling. We passed our station
of 22nd May about a mile and encamped close to a good pond. Several
natives' huts were near, at which the fires were still burning; the
inhabitants having fled; but I forbade the men to go near these huts, or
touch a stone hatchet and some carved boomerangs which had been left
behind. A native dog lay as if watching these implements; and it barked
on my approaching one of the huts, a circumstance unusual in one of these
animals. Soon after four natives came up shouting, and two of them having
advanced in front, sat down, but we took no notice of them, thinking that
they had followed from the last camp, and belonged to the fire-stick
visitors; they called back the fugitives however and encamped together on
a pond lower down.
(*Footnote. Danthonia lappacea, Lindley manuscripts; spicis geminatis
foliis brevioribus, palea inferiore sericea cornea; laciniis lateralibus
foliatis divaricatis arista rigida brevioribus.)
August 16.
As we moved off about eight this morning the blacks hung about in groups
but we paid no attention to them. We had now, happily for both parties,
arrived where the natives had probably heard of firearms, and of the
numerous white men beyond the hills, neither were the blacks of these
parts ever known to behave like the savages on the lower Darling. I
sought in vain for my lost telescope during this day's journey; the
natives having probably found it, as the whole line of our track was much
marked with their footsteps. We reached our former camp of May 20 and 21
by two o'clock, and again pitched our tents near that spot.
August 17.
Nineteen of our bullocks had strayed during the night, but were found
about seven miles back, in a scrub near the Bogan. We did not therefore
start until ten o'clock, but were able nevertheless to cross the Pink
hills, and reach our ground of May 19.
DISCOVERY OF THE CAPER-TREE.
Today I fell in with a tree of which I saw but a single specimen during
my former journey,* and I had observed only a sickly one before during
this expedition. It bore a yellow flower, and fruit resembling a small
pomegranate, on a hooked stalk. I had unfortunately omitted to gather
specimens of it when seen by me in flower in 1831; and now I could not
procure any of the seeds, every rind being hollow, and the interior
destroyed apparently by insects. I considered this a very remarkable tree
as well from its rare occurrence as on account of its fruit, of which the
natives appear to make some use.
(*Footnote. See above.)
The Pink hills, as I have already mentioned, consist of the diluvial
gravel, and their position at the point separating the tributary basin of
the Macquarie and Bogan from the channel of the Darling is just where
such a deposit might be produced.
August 18.
I was more successful in my search this morning for seeds of the fruit
above-mentioned; and I was surprised to find many specimens of the tree
in the scrub through which we had previously passed without observing
them. On one plant we found some fruit apparently full-grown, but not
ripe; and on others perfect specimens of the last year's crop, including,
of course, the seeds. The fruit resembles a small lemon but has within
small nuts or stones enveloped in a soft pulp, and the whole has an
agreeable perfume. We also found some specimens of the flower, rather
faded.* We reached our old encampment of May 18 by three o'clock.
(*Footnote. My friend Dr. Lindley considers this one of the most
interesting plants brought home by me, and has described it as follows:
Capparis Mitchellii, Lindley manuscripts; stipulis spinosis, foliis
obovatis supra glabris, pedunculis floris solitariis clavatis foliis
brevioribus, fructu sphaerico tomentoso. A fine specimen of Capparis
related to C. sandwichiana.)
August 19.
When all were ready to start it was discovered that one bullock was
missing; the two men who had been in charge of the cattle all night were
sent in search of it, while the party proceeded towards our former camp
of May 17. As our route between these camps traversed the great bend
where the course of the Bogan changes from north to west-north-west I was
enabled to cut off four miles by travelling North 145 degrees East a part
of the way.
THE KANGAROOS AND EMUS DRIVEN AWAY BY THE NATIVES.
We crossed some undulating ground with an open forest upon it in which we
killed two large kangaroos. We supposed, on account of this success, that
we had outwitted the blacks by our cross course; for we had reason to
suspect that they proceeded ahead of us along our old track and drove off
the emu and kangaroo as we seldom saw either. We however surprised two
natives cutting away at an opossum's hole in a tree at some distance to
our left; and on seeing us they made off with great speed towards the
northern bend of the river and our former route.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE PLAINS OF THE DARLING AND BOGAN.
On reaching our old encampment we discovered new beauty in the plains on
the Bogan when compared with those on the banks of the Darling. There we
dreaded plains, the surface being soft and uneven. Here on the contrary
they delighted the eye with their great levelness, while the firmer
surface was no less agreeable to the foot. The grass also had been so
cleanly burnt off that the surface resembled a floor, and although such a
piece of perfect level country, extending for miles, was by no means a
common feature, it was perhaps more striking to us, on coming from the
soft plains, on account of its firmness, neither hoofs nor wheels leaving
any impression upon it. The two men came in with the stray bullock soon
after the tents were pitched, and thus our party was again in a state to
move forward.
EXTREME ILLNESS OF ONE OF THE PARTY.
One of the men, Robert Whiting, who had been long afflicted with the
black scurvy, continued to get weaker daily; and it seemed very doubtful
whether his life could be preserved until we should reach a station where
vegetables might be procured. In other respects he was as well off as if
in a hospital; the proper medicines were given to him, he was kept warm
in a tent, and on the journey he was conveyed in a covered van. He was
however sinking daily, all his teeth were dropping out, and yet, poor
fellow, he had been, when in health, one of the most indefatigable of the
party, and had been also with me on my journey to the northward. He did
not look the same man on this occasion from the first setting out; and it
was evident that he had brought the disease from an ironed gang where it
had been prevalent some time before.
NEW YEAR'S RANGE.
August 20.
Following our old route we crossed the extremities of New Year's range,
and at the rocky point where it was first seen by us I obtained bearings
on it, and several other heights to the westward which I had seen also
from that range. The sky was obscured this morning by a kind of smoky
haze which brought with it a smell of burning grass. It was evident that
either the Macquarie marshes or some other extensive tract to the
eastward was on fire, as the wind blew from that quarter. The obscurity
continued during the whole of the day, and the smell also. As we crossed
the plain, which appeared to Captain Sturt like a "broad and rapid
river," the dogs killed an emu, and thus we were now pretty well supplied
with fresh meat. We at length encamped where we first came to the creek,
after descending from New Year's range, having found a good pond there.
A THUNDERSTORM.
August 21.
Early this morning we were all awakened by the unwonted sound of THUNDER,
the first we had heard after having been 4 1/2 months in the interior.
The wind had been high during the night, but a dead calm preceded the
rumbling peals which were first heard at a great distance. Soon however
we had the cloud near enough in all its glory, with lightning playing
above and about us, until the atmosphere seemed one continued blaze of
light; the rain also fell heavily for a short time. At daylight the sky
was cloudy, and it seemed that the drought was about to break up; at
least this was the most remarkable change in the weather which we had met
with on the journey; and as we were doubtful about the state of the ponds
of the Bogan I was well pleased with the prospect of rain. We proceeded
to the old camp of May 15, where we again pitched our tents. There was
not much rain during the day, but about sunset a heavy cloud accompanied
by thunder and a squall broke over us. Soon after the wind lulled, the
sky became clear, and in the morning we found ice on the water; the
atmosphere having resumed its usual serenity.
THREE NATIVES REMIND US OF THE MAN WOUNDED. FRIENDLY INTERVIEW.
August 22.
Early this morning the cooeys of three natives were heard. On meeting
them they went through the usual formalities; an old man fixing his eyes
on the ground with due decorum. They could say budgery; and by their
repeating this word they appeared, in our eyes, infinitely less savage
than the natives on the Darling. They also plainly alluded to the man
wounded with small shot at the encounter which took place on our formerly
occupying the next camp up the Bogan. We understood them to allude to
this event by their tapping rapidly with the finger over the arm and
shoulder; and then pointing towards the place where the unfortunate
rencontre happened. We had been more than usual on our guard in returning
towards the haunts of a tribe where we had, although unwillingly, done
such mischief; but these fellows seemed, by their laughing, to advert to
it as a good joke, and we therefore concluded that the poor fellow had
recovered. They asked for nothing, and on retiring made signs that they
were going towards the hills, or westward. We travelled towards our
former camp of May 14, but the distance being sixteen miles it was too
much for our weak animals. We halted therefore four miles short of it;
and though we turned a mile off the route to the eastward in search of
the Bogan we did not find it until after we had encamped, and then at
nearly a mile further to the eastward still.
ANOTHER MAN OF THE PARTY TAKEN ILL.
Another man of the party, Johnston, who was rather aged, began to show
symptoms of the black scurvy, which made him walk lame. This might be
partly attributed to the rancidity of the salt pork rather than the
saltness, as it had been in a great measure spoiled by having been taken
out of the proper barrels and put without brine into the water casks
before I joined the party. The two men now afflicted with scurvy were
precisely those who ate this pork most voraciously; and consequently its
effect soonest became apparent upon them.
Acacia pendula. BEAUTY OF THE SCENERY.
August 23.
The weather again quite serene. We continued our march and, passing our
former camp of the 14th, reached that of May 13 by two P.M. The ponds in
which we had before found water were now dried up; but we fortunately
discovered others a little distance higher. At two miles onward from the
camp of May 14 we saw bushes of Acacia pendula for the first time since
we had previously passed that place. The locality of that beautiful shrub
is very peculiar, being always near but never within, the limits of
inundations. Never far from hills yet never upon them. These bushes,
blended with a variety of other acacias and crowned here and there with
casuarinae, form very picturesque groups, especially when relieved with
much open ground. Indeed the beauty of the sylvan scenery on the lower
Bogan may be cited as an exception to the general want of pictorial
effect in the woods of New South Wales. The poverty of the foliage of the
eucalyptus, the prevailing tree, affords little of mass or shadow; and
indeed seldom has that tree, either in the trunk or branches, anything
ornamental to landscape. On these plains, where all surrounding trees and
shrubs seemed different from those of other countries, the Agrostis
virginica of Linnaeus, a grass common throughout Asia and America, but
new to me in Australia, grew near the scrubs. Here also grows a new
species of Eleusine, being a very tall nutritious grass.*
(*Footnote. E. marginata, Lindley manuscripts; culmo tereti glabro,
foliis glabris, ligula nulla, spicis digitatis strictis, spiculis
subsexfloris, palea inferiore carinata mucronata marginata.)
August 24.
Retracing still our former steps, we reached a pond on the Bogan 3 1/2
miles short of our camp of May 12. There I fixed the camp in open ground
and near good grass, with the intention of resting for two days; this
repose having become absolutely necessary for the purpose of refreshing
our exhausted cattle.
MR. LARMER TRACES DUCK CREEK UP TO THE MACQUARIE.
August 25.
Being near the route of Mr. Hume when he proceeded westward from Mount
Harris and crossed two creeks, of which the Bogan was one; I was desirous
of ascertaining the source of the other, whose channel he had found
intermediate between this river and the Macquarie. Being occupied in
completing my plans of the Darling preparatory to my immediate return to
the colony, I instructed Mr. Larmer to proceed on a survey of that creek
by tracing from our next camp (that of May 12) on a bearing of 102
degrees East of North, until he reached it, and then to follow it up. Mr.
Larmer took with him five men and a week's provisions, also a copy of our
recent survey of the Bogan, with Mr. Oxley's Macquarie; and I instructed
him to rejoin the main party at Cudduldury, the camp where I calculated
we should arrive about the probable time of his return.
A HOT WIND.
August 26.
The morning was calm but about noon a hot wind set in, blowing very
strongly from the north-north-west, the thermometer stood at 86 degrees,
but by sunset at 80 degrees. I had been sensible of a parching and
unseasonable dryness and warmth in the winds from that quarter throughout
the winter, while farther in the interior; and it may be inferred from
these hot winds blowing so early in the season that the drought and the
absence of any humidity in the climate prevailed to a very great extent
over the interior regions. This is what I should expect to find in the
central parts of Australia, from the nature of that portion which I had
seen and the state of the weather throughout the winter. An almost
perpetual sunshine had prevailed, dry cirro-cumulus clouds had arisen
indeed sometimes, but no point of the earth's surface was of sufficient
height to attract them or to arrest their progress in the sky. There
seemed neither on the earth nor in the air sufficient humidity to feed a
cloud. Dew was very uncommon, the moisture from the one or two slight
showers, which did reach the ground, was measured out in this shape upon
the vegetation on the mornings immediately succeeding their fall. The hot
wind of the Bogan met with no antidote as in Sydney, where the heat of a
similar wind is usually moderated towards evening by a strong south-west
breeze. On the Bogan the wind was oppressively hot during the night, and
lulled only towards morning.
August 27.
Our cattle moved on in the morning, apparently much better for the rest
and the grass on which they had fed here. We reached in good time a small
open plain, distant about two miles from our camp of May 11, and halted
close by a pond in the bed of the Bogan.
TALAMBE OF THE BOGAN TRIBE.
At this point there were several fires, but the natives had run off on
our approach; at sunset however a young man came frankly up to our camp,
when we recognised Talambe, one of those who had accompanied the king of
the Bogan. We were all very glad to meet with an old acquaintance, even
of this kind and colour; and although he could only say budgery, this was
something, after the total want of any common terms with the savages we
had lately seen; and really the mild tone of voice and very different
manner of this native and others of his tribe, who came up next morning,
made us feel comparatively at home, although still not very far from
Oxley's Tableland.
TOMBS OF MILMERIDIEN.
August 28.
Several natives came up with Talambe in the morning, and they accompanied
us on our route. As we passed a burial-ground called by them Milmeridien
I rode to examine it and, on reaching the spot, these natives became
silent and held down their heads. Nor did their curiosity restrain them
from passing on, although I unfolded my sketch-book which they had not
seen before, and remained there half an hour for a purpose of which they
could have had no idea. The burying-ground was a fairy-like spot in the
midst of a scrub of drooping acacias. It was extensive and laid out in
walks which were narrow and smooth, as if intended only for sprites; and
they meandered in gracefully curved lines among the heaps of reddish
earth which contrasted finely with the acacias and dark casuarinae
around. Others gilt with moss shot far into the recesses of the bush,
where slight traces of still more ancient graves proved the antiquity of
these simple but touching records of humanity. With all our art we could
do no more for the dead than these poor savages had done. As we
approached Nyngan we crossed a plain on which we killed a kangaroo which
afforded a seasonable supply, for our stock of pork was nearly exhausted;
and two men were now so ill as to require to be carried in the light
covered waggon. We encamped at Nyngan near a large pond of water.
ANOTHER BULLOCK FAILS.
August 29.
One of the bullocks had sunk in the mud while drinking at the pond, and
when at length it was drawn out it was so weak as to be unable to stand.
I therefore halted this day in hopes he would recover before next
morning.
NATIVES TROUBLESOME.
Our friends the blacks had been rather forward during the night, and
throughout this day they lay about my tent pointing to their empty
stomachs, and behaving in a contemptuous manner, although we had given
them most of our kangaroo. At length I determined to send them off, if
this could be done without quarrelling with them. I directed Burnett to
take some men with fixed bayonets and march in line towards them. This
move answered very well, the natives receded to a distance, perfectly
understanding our object; but there sat down, and made their fires. Only
two came up next morning, again pointing to their stomachs; but I knew
from experience that to feed them was to retain them permanently in our
camp and now I did not want them, and had no food to spare.
August 30.
The bullock could not be made to rise and we were after all obliged to
leave him. When we proceeded the natives remained behind, of course
intending to kill and eat the poor animal.
SUCCESSFUL CHASE OF FOUR KANGAROOS.
This day in crossing a plain I saw, with my glass, the head of a kangaroo
in the grass at a distance. We ran the dogs towards it, when two got up.
One dog, named Nelson, killed the smallest and threw it over his head,
all the while keeping his eye on the other, which he immediately pursued
and also killed. He then saw and took after a third, a very large forest
kangaroo; and this also he seized and fought with, until Burnett got up
to his assistance. About three miles further a fourth kangaroo was seen
and killed by the same dog, so that we obtained abundance of fresh
provisions for several days. We encamped in our old position of the 9th
of May.
NATIVES OF THE BOGAN COME UP.
In the evening some natives whom we had formerly seen with the king of
the Bogan came up with two very timid old men. We gave them some
kangaroo, and they behaved very well, retiring to a fire at some distance
in order to cook it and pass the night.
August 31.
We were accompanied in our travels this morning, first by several young
natives, and afterwards by a chief who came before us rather
ceremoniously, and halted in an open plain, until I went up to him. His
costume was rather imposing, consisting of a network which confined his
hair into the form of a round cap, having in the front a plume of white,
light feathers; a rather short cloak of opossum skins was drawn tightly
around his body with one hand, his boomerangs and waddy being grasped
fast in the other. (See Plate 21.)
As we crossed the large plain within the bend of the Bogan, and where its
course changes from west to near north, our eyes were refreshed with the
sight of a crop of green grass growing in all the hollow parts, some rain
having recently fallen there. We encamped on our old ground at Walwadyer.
WATER SCARCE.
September 1.
The natives whom we last met with and had entertained at our camp, with a
view to obtain their assistance in finding water at the end of this day's
journey, took to their heels exactly when the carts started this morning;
carrying off with them a little native boy, an orphan, whom we had
washed, scrubbed, dressed, and carried on a cart, meaning to take him
with us to the colony. We proceeded as far as our next camp, called
Bugabada, where, finding some water, I halted until I could ascertain the
distance to the next pool. For this purpose I sent a party to Cudduldury
with directions to meet Mr. Larmer (who had been instructed to rejoin the
party at that place this day) and to let him know where we were. They
returned at sunset without having either found water or seen Mr. Larmer.
As I knew the Bogan was dry for many miles above Cudduldury I made
arrangements for carrying on a supply next day, that we might proceed to
some ponds on this river, distant about twenty-five miles. Still it was
impossible for the party to reach that point in one day, and the water we
could carry would not be enough for our cattle. At nine P.M. however
distant thunder was heard, the sky became overcast and several smart
showers fell during the night, thus affording most providentially a
prospect of dew on the following night, which would refresh the horses
and bullocks.
TWO RED-PAINTED NATIVES.
September 2.
Two natives came towards our camp, having hideous countenances and being
savagely painted with crimson on the abdomen and right shoulder; the nose
and cheek-bones were also gules, and some blazing spots were daubed, like
drops of gore, on the brow. The most ferocious-looking wore round his
brow the usual band newly whitened. He, like all those more savage
natives, had neither a word nor even a smile for us.
UNCERTAINTY OF MR. CUNNINGHAM'S FATE.
The other my men recognised to be Werrajouit, the native who formerly had
in his possession the handkerchief which was supposed to have belonged to
Mr. Cunningham. I thought that if that gentleman had really been
sacrificed, some of these fellows had been guilty of his murder; but we
were still uncertain of his fate; and perhaps his life had been saved by
some of these very natives whom the men were now much inclined to seize
as his destroyers. A gin and child were brought to us that we might give
some clothes to the latter, a practice we had foolishly encouraged at the
first interviews; so that they almost persecuted me with young children,
expecting that they should receive something. This gin had an English
haversack, and Burnett, by my orders, examined the contents; but he found
nothing likely to have belonged to Mr. Cunningham except a piece of
cloth. This search was made after they had disappointed us respecting a
waterhole and when the man who had promised to be our guide had decamped.
All the ponds in which we had found water before were dry, nor could we
obtain it elsewhere, although Burnett had examined the Bogan to Burdenda.
I knew by the result of our former search for Mr. Cunningham that no
water was to be procured down the bed of the river for many miles; and I
therefore cut off four miles of this day's route and continued our
journey as far as possible, having provided against a night without
water by carrying as much in barrels as supplied the whole party, and
afforded half a gallon to each of the horses and bullocks. We encamped on
a grassy plain, about five miles on in our journey of the 1st of May.
MR. LARMER OVERTAKES THE PARTY.
September 3.
I sent Burnett and two men forward to examine some ponds beyond our
former camp of the 30th of April, while the rest of the party followed.
Mr. Larmer overtook us during this day's journey, having last night been
encamped with his party only three miles behind us.
RESULT OF HIS SURVEY.
He had found in Duck creek long reaches, like canals, full of excellent
water, and covered with wildfowl of every description. On its banks grew
large gumtrees like those on the Darling; and he had traced this channel
to a large lagoon near the Macquarie, the bed of which was found to be
quite dry. Many small watercourses led from the Macquarie into Duck
creek, which indeed appeared to be the lowest channel of this river, the
general fall of the country being to the westward. The identity of the
two channels was further established by the quartzose sand found in both.
It appears that a low range of firm ground separates the Bogan from Duck
creek, the bed of which and all the land between it and the Macquarie
consists of an alluvial soil altogether different, according to Mr.
Larmer, from any we had seen on the Darling. This surface was covered
with a luxuriant green crop of grass, a sight which we had not enjoyed on
this journey, and there were also numerous kangaroos and emus, for whose
absence from the plains of the Bogan we could not previously account.
Mr. Larmer's men were still seven miles behind him, and had had no water
since they left the Macquarie two days previously, nor much to eat, for
they had carried rations for seven days only, and this was the ninth
since they quitted the camp. We therefore sent back a man with a loaf and
a kettle of water, and he met them four miles behind the party. We
continued the journey four miles beyond our old camp, to a pond which the
overseer had found, and was then the nearest water to our former
position. To this pond the cattle came on tolerably well after having
travelled fourteen miles, and having passed the previous night almost
without water. The party was at length reunited here; and we had now
passed the so much-dreaded long dry part of the bed of the Bogan. An old
native and a boy, apparently belonging to the Myall tribes, came in the
evening, but we could learn nothing from them. They were covered with
pieces of blanket, and the man used a Scotch bonnet as a bag. They said
they had been to Buckenba where there were five white men.
TRACES OF MR. CUNNINGHAM.
In the bed of the river where I went this evening to enjoy the sight of
the famished cattle drinking, I came accidentally on an old footstep of
Mr. Cunningham, in the clay, now baked hard by the sun. Four months had
elapsed since we had traced his steps, and up to this time the clay bore
these last records of our late fellow-traveller!
September 4.
The old man with a hideous mumping face again came up, and took his place
at one of our fires, having sent the boy on some message, probably to
bring others of his tribe or tell them of our movements. I asked him
about Mr. Cunningham but could only obtain evasive answers, and I thought
it best to order him peremptorily to quit our camp. This I did in loud
terms, firing a pistol at the same time over his head. He walked off
however with a firm step, and with an air which I thought rather
dignified under the circumstances. Early this morning I sent overseer
Burnett on before us with three of the party to look for water, leaving
the cattle and the men who came in yesterday to rest until 10 A.M. Today
and yesterday we once more beheld a sky variegated with good swelling
clouds, and enjoyed a fresh breeze from the south-west. The sight even of
such a sky was now a novelty to us, and seemed as if we had at last got
home. We had in fact already ascended five hundred feet above the level
of the plains of the interior, and were approaching the mountains. At
eleven we proceeded and struck into our old track where it touched on the
Bogan, and we crossed its channel half a mile beyond where we had been
encamped so long when looking for Mr. Cunningham. On this day's journey
we again intersected his footsteps; and I could not avoid following them
once more to the pond on the Bogan where he must have first drunk water
after a thirst and hunger of four or five days! There was water still
there, though it had shrunk two yards from its former margin; but not the
impression of a native's foot appeared near it, nor any longer the traces
of Mr. Cunningham. I was now about to follow the Bogan further up in
order to make sure of water, and thus to leave our track, with the
intention of falling into it again at Cogoorduroy or Cookopie Ponds. We
had now passed the scene of Mr. Cunningham's distresses, and I judged
that a man on horseback might travel safely along our old route with
despatches. We had been about five months shut out from all communication
with the colony, and I was eager to avail myself of the first safe
opportunity of sending to the government a report of our progress.
SEND OFF A COURIER TO SYDNEY.
We were still about 120 miles from Buree, a distance which could be
travelled over on horseback in three days, and William Baldock, who was
in charge of the horses, was very willing to be the courier. The party
was to proceed by a new route in the morning, consequently I had only the
night for writing all my letters.
September 5.
I sent off my courier at ten A.M., having ordered him positively not to
encamp at waterholes, but only to let his horse drink, fill his own horn,
and choose his resting-places at a distance from any water. He was also
instructed to ask any natives he might meet with if they had met the
other whitefellows, etc. This last being a ruse to prevent the tribes
from annoying him, which they were more likely to do when they saw him
quite alone.
The Doctor and two men were sent forward at an early hour along the banks
of the Bogan in search of waterholes. We followed in the same direction,
crossing to the right bank at that very pond at the junction of Bullock
creek which saved the lives of the cattle after they had thirsted two
days (April 16). We finally encamped on some good pools after a journey
of seven miles. The Doctor joined us long after it was dark and reported
that he had found plenty of water all along the bed of the river as far
as he had proceeded, which was about ten miles higher, in a direct line.
MARKS OF MR. DIXON.
Near where we encamped the marks of Mr. Dixon's cattle and horses were
very plainly visible, and by their depth we perceived how very wet and
soft the ground had then been.
TANDOGO CREEK AND MAGNIFICENT PINE FOREST.
September 6.
We set forward on a bearing of east-south-east, which I took to be the
general direction of the Bogan, considering the position of Croker's
range on the east, and that of the hills in the south, which I had
traced. We travelled through forests of magnificent pine trees (Callitris
pyramidalis) and crossing, at twelve miles further, a dry creek which
appeared to be that of Tandogo, we encamped on the Bogan where there was
a good pond of water. This abundance was the more acceptable as we had
now left behind a part of the bed of this little river which for thirty
miles was quite dry; the total want of water there being chiefly owing to
the absorbent nature of the subsoil. We were now drawing towards its
sources amongst the hills, and the same scarcity no longer prevailed. The
height and girt of some of the callitris trees were very considerable.
Thus we found that Australia contains some extensive forests of a very
good substitute for the cedar of the colony (Cedrela toona, R. Br.) which
is to be found only in some rocky gullies of the Coast range and is
likely to be exhausted in a short time. The Acacia pendula adorned the
immediate banks of the Bogan, but the grass was old and dry, being a crop
of two years' growth; the cattle consequently did not feed well on it,
and at last grew so weak that they could not be worked more than four
hours, and thus our progress was limited to about eight miles a day.
HERVEY'S RANGE IN SIGHT.
September 7.
We followed the bearing of 139 1/2 degrees as the direction in which we
were most likely to find the Bogan, considering its general course and
the position of the hills to the southward. After travelling eight miles
a sight of the highest point of Hervey's range enabled me at once to
determine my place on the map.
IMPROVED APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY.
We then proceeded on the bearing of 103 degrees, and made the Bogan at a
spot where its banks were beautiful, and the grass of better quality than
any we had seen for some time. The Acacia pendula grew there in company
with the pine (or callitris) the casuarina and eucalyptus, besides many
smaller trees in graceful groups, the surface being very smooth and
park-like.
September 8.
Proceeding in a south-south-east direction we crossed, at seven miles, a
creek, which I took for that of Tandogo, and thereupon turned towards the
south-east. After a journey of eleven miles we encamped about
three-quarters of a mile from the Bogan on a spot where we found
excellent grass. We had now arrived where the pasturage was so much
better than any we had seen that we could not doubt that a greater
quantity of rain had fallen here than in the regions where we had been.
The improvement was obvious, not alone in the quality of the grass, but
in the birds, the woods, the clouds, and distant horizon, which all
bespoke our approach to a more habitable region than that in which we had
so long been wandering. We crossed some fine sloping hills and found on
the Bogan a rich flat, somewhat resembling those tracts of black soil
which are so much prized on some of the larger rivers of the colony. A
hot wind blew from the north and now brought with it smoke and an
overcast sky, which in the evening turned to nimbus clouds. A south-west
wind (the usual antidote to the hot winds of Sydney) came in the evening,
and some genial showers fell during the night.
September 9.
A drizzling rain fell early in the morning but about midday the weather
cleared up. We had not proceeded far before I was stopped by the Bogan,
the course of which I found at length to come more from the south. I had
been fortunate in the line which I had pursued as the supposed direction
of this river, above the part previously surveyed. This was on the
bearing of 139 1/2 degrees, and chosen after considering the position of
hills and other circumstances relative, and I now found that this line
nearly cut through our three last camps on the river. We were at length
to turn southward, and this still appeared to be the main channel,
judging by the breadth of the bed and the long deep ponds of water.
Indeed we had no longer any apprehensions about finding water while
travelling along the main channel; and this day we crossed over ground
well covered with grass.
MEET THE NATIVES WHO FIRST ACCOMPANIED US.
During our progress along this unsurveyed part of the Bogan we had
several times heard the natives and called to them, but they could not be
induced to come near us. Today however I saw smoke at a distance, and
hastened towards it with Burnett who succeeded (although the rest of the
tribe fled) in intercepting one individual between him and me who proved
to be our old friend Bultje, the very intelligent native who had formerly
been our guide. The rest of the tribe soon returned, and gathering around
us they all seemed much amused with our relation (and representations) of
the conduct of the Myall blackfellows on the Darling. They could not
afford any explanation of those ceremonies which appeared to be as
strange to them as they had been to us. The only observation of Bultje,
on learning that some of them had been shot, was "Stupid whitefellows!
why did you not bring away the gins?" We eagerly enquired whether he knew
anything of one whitefellow of ours who had been lost, but he appeared
surprised to hear it.
ARRIVE AT A CATTLE STATION.
He told us however that we were near a cattle station where two white men
had been recently established, having come from the colony along our
track over the mountains. I hastened towards the dwelling of these white
men, and the symmetrical appearance of their stockyard fence, when it
first caught my eye, so long accustomed to the wavy lines of simple
nature, looked quite charming as a work of art. Our hearts warmed at the
very sight of the smoking chimney; and on riding up to the hut I need not
say with what pleasure I recognised two men of our own race. On seeing my
pedestrian companions however, armed, feathered, and in rags; these white
men were growing whiter, until I briefly told them who we were, and that
we really were not bushrangers. They said a bushranger on horseback had
been seen in that country only a few days before by the natives, at whom
he had fired a pistol when they had nearly caught him at a waterhole. I
was glad to ascertain the fact, even in this shape, that my courier
Baldock, whom they of course meant, had got safely so far with my
despatches.
LEARN THAT MR. CUNNINGHAM HAD BEEN KILLED BY NATIVES.
One of these men having but lately left the settled districts had seen in
the newspapers an account of one of my party having been killed by
natives; and he stated that the names of four natives and two gins were
mentioned, adding that the person murdered was supposed to have been my
man in charge of the sheep. My informant also pointed towards where the
white man was said to have been killed, as indicated by the blacks; and
this was exactly where our distressing loss befell us. I was also
informed that the natives thereabouts were now in dread of the arrival of
soldiers, and thus, for the first time, I learned that poor Cunningham
had really been murdered by these savages. Intelligence of this kind
often travels in exaggerated shapes through the medium of the natives;
and I had lately been anxious to see some of them, as many of those so
near the colony can speak very well. Now we understood why the Bogan was
deserted. The non-appearance of the chief who had been so obsequious on
our going down was perhaps a suspicious circumstance when connected with
the fact that a silk handkerchief had been seen on the first of that
tribe whom we met, and the strange movements and bustle which took place
among those at our camp at Cudduldury during my absence of four days.
The station which we had reached was occupied by the cattle of Mr. Lee of
Bathurst; the two stockmen, for such the white men proved to be, seemed
to have enough to do to keep the natives in good humour as the only means
of finding the cattle or securing their own safety among the savage
tribes. With the latter object probably in view they seemed to have
encouraged the expectation of soldiers on the part of the natives about
them. Soldiers have been too seriously instrumental in the civilisation
of the aborigines, wherever they have become civil, to be soon forgotten;
and the warfare by which the Bathurst settlers were first established in
security would be remembered, no doubt, with some apprehension of the
consequences of this last act of barbarism. The stockmen informed me that
I should meet with another cattle station which had been established by
Mr. Pike where my route crossed Goobang creek. The fact that the stock of
the settlers already extends over all available land within reach of the
present limits of location is clearly exhibited by the speedy occupation
of these two stations. They are placed on the only two good tracts of
land crossed by our party before we reached the arid plains of the
interior. Even my boat depot on the Namoi, the terra incognita made known
only by my first despatch, was immediately after occupied as a cattle-run
by the stock-keepers of Sir John Jamieson.
COOKOPIE PONDS.
The Bogan still coming from the south-east, we continued our journey in
that direction for four miles beyond the cattle station and then halted.
Near this camp two branches of the Bogan united, and the one which came
from the eastward appeared to contain most water. I calculated that we
were within eleven miles of Cookopie; a pond in our old track at which we
had encamped on the 13th of April, and which bore south-east from this
camp. Here we killed our last remaining sheep but one: and it was worthy
of remark that, after travelling upwards of 1100 miles, it was found to
be fatter and weigh more by two pounds than any of those which had been
previously killed as we proceeded, although the best had been always
selected for slaughter. It appears thus how well a wandering and
migratory life agrees with sheep in this hemisphere, as of old in the
other. Ours gave very little trouble, and at length became so tame that
they followed the horses or cattle like dogs. The sheep were leanest on
the Darling, and on their way back their improved appearance was
remarkable.
September 10.
Accompanied by four natives and a boy we continued our journey, and as my
reckoning since I deviated from our old route had been by time only, I
allowed a black named Old-Fashioned and the boy to guide us to Cookopie.
In going south-west we soon crossed the first creek, and for some way
could not proceed on the bearing which led to the other as the natives
pointed, and which had the best ponds in it. At length its course came
more from the northward, and we travelled on good, open, forest-land,
until our guides brought us directly to the very pond of water beside
which we formerly encamped. We had travelled but nine miles, which was
two miles less than I reckoned the distance to be, a pleasant discovery
in our present case when even the proposed journey for the day, although
short, had appeared too much for the very weak condition of our animals.
I had indeed thought of going up the first creek in order to join our
route at Coogoorduroy; but we had now been so fortunate as to gain, by a
journey of nine miles, the point which, had we gone round by
Coogoorduroy, must have been the end of our second day's journey. We had
here the satisfaction of recognising the track of my courier's horse
tracing our foot-marks homewards at a good fast pace. This pond was
nearly dry, the little water remaining being thick and green. It was more
however than I expected to find, and it was quite sufficient for our
wants.
GOOBANG CREEK.
By resting here it was in my power to reach, by another day's travelling,
Goobang creek, where the ponds were deep and clear and the grass good.
This pond of Cookopie appeared to be near the head of a small run of
water arising in hills behind Pagormungor, a trap hill distant only five
or six miles along our route homeward.
September 11.
This morning Fahrenheit's thermometer stood at 23 degrees, and the pond
was frozen three-quarters of an inch thick. There was however so little
water left that only three of the bullocks could be supplied before
starting. The natives who had promised to go on with us nevertheless
remained behind; but we proceeded by our old route to Goobang creek, and
encamped on its left bank nearly a mile above where we had crossed it
formerly. Here the grass was superior to any we had seen lower down;
numerous fresh tracks of cattle were visible on the ground, and the water
lay deep and clear in ponds, surrounded by reeds. There were no reeds
about the waterholes of the Bogan; and we had in fact this day left that
river, and reached the sources of the Lachlan, to which stream the
Goobang must sometimes be an important tributary. The ground separating
these waters, which must travel towards the distant channels of such
spacious basins as those of the Lachlan and Darling, consists here only
of some low hills of trap-rock, connected with gently sloping ridges of
mica schist. The country on the Goobang or Lachlan side appears to be the
best; for the grass grows there much more abundantly, and the beds of the
streams appear to be much more retentive.
CHARACTER OF THE RIVER BOGAN.
All the water which we had used during five months belonged to the basin
of the Darling, but today we again tasted of that from channels which led
towards the Lachlan. The chief sources of the Bogan arise in Hervey's
range, and also in that much less elevated country situated between the
Lachlan and the Macquarie. The uniformity of the little river Bogan from
its spring to its junction with the Darling is very remarkable. In a
course of 250 miles no change is observable in the character of its
banks, or the breadth of its bed, neither are the ponds near its source
less numerous or of less magnitude than those near its junction with the
principal stream. Mr. Dixon estimated the velocity of the current at four
miles per hour where its course is most westerly. There are few or no
pebbles in its bed, and no reeds grow upon the banks, which are generally
sloping and of naked earth but marked with lines of flood similar to
those of the Darling. It has often second banks and, as near that river,
a belt of dwarf eucalypti, box, or rough gum encloses the more stately
flooded-gumtrees with the shining white bark which grow on the immediate
borders of the river. It has also its plains along the banks, some of
them being very extensive; but the soil of these is not only much firmer,
but is also clothed with grass and fringed with a finer variety of trees
and bushes than those of the Darling. Yet in the grasses there is not
such wonderful variety as I found in those on the banks of that river. Of
twenty-six different kinds gathered by me there I found only four on the
Bogan, and not more than four other varieties throughout the whole
course. It appeared that where land was best and grass most abundant the
latter consisted of one or two kinds only, and on the contrary that where
the surface was nearly bare the greatest variety of grasses appeared, as
if nature allowed more plants to struggle for existence where fewest were
actually thriving.
NATIVE INHABITANTS ON ITS BANKS.
The aboriginal inhabitants of the banks of the Bogan include several
distinct tribes.
1. Near the head of the river is the tribe of Bultje, composed of many
intelligent natives, who have acquired a tolerable knowledge of our
language; the number of this tribe is about 120. One, or in some cases
two, of the front teeth of males is extracted on arriving at the age of
14.
2. The next is the Myall tribe, who inhabit the central parts about
Cudduldury, at the great bend of the Bogan to the northward. These
natives can scarcely speak a word of our language, and they have several
curious customs. Some of the young men are gaily dressed with feathers,
are all called by one name, Talambe, and great care is taken of them. The
chief and many of the tribe say they have no name, and when any others
are asked the names of such persons they shake their heads, and return no
answer. The tribes in various parts of the colony give the name of Myall
to others less civilised than themselves, but these natives seemed to
glory in the name, and had it often in their mouths. They were the only
natives I ever knew who acknowledged that they were Myalls; and I can say
of them, as far as our own intercourse enabled me, that they were the
most civil tribe we ever met with. They do not extract the front teeth.
3. The Bungan tribe, with whom the one last mentioned made us acquainted,
inhabits the Bogan between Cambelego and Mount Hopeless. They are perhaps
less subtle and dissimulating than the Myalls, and if possible more
ignorant than they of our language and persons. Yet the Bungans came
forth from their native bush to meet us with less hesitation, observing
at the same time that downcast formality which is the surest indication
of the natives' respect for the stranger, and ignorance of the manners of
white men, especially when accompanied, as in this instance, with an
openness of countenance and a frankness of manner far beyond the arts of
dissimulation.*
(*Footnote. I have since been informed by an officer who had been some
time in Canada that he noticed, when on shooting excursions with the
Indians, that they observed a somewhat similar silence on meeting with
strangers.)
Lower down the Bogan we saw so little of the inhabitants that I cannot
characterise the tribes, although there appear to be two more, the haunts
of one being eastward of New Year's range, those of the other to the
north of the Pink hills. Both these tribes appeared to be of rather an
inoffensive and friendly disposition than otherwise, although quite
ignorant of our language. They were terrified at the sight of our cattle,
and even still more afraid of the sheep.
Unlike the natives on the Darling these inhabitants of the banks of the
Bogan subsist more on the opossum, kangaroo, and emu than on the fish of
the river.
THEIR MODE OF FISHING.
Here fishing is left entirely to the gins, but it is performed most
effectually and in the simplest manner. A movable dam of long, twisted
dry grass through which water only can pass is pushed from one end of the
pond to the other, and all the fishes are necessarily captured. Thus
when, at the holes where a tribe had recently been, if my men began to
fish any natives who might be near would laugh most heartily at the
hopeless attempt.
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.
The gins also gather the large freshwater mussel which abounds in the mud
of these holes, lifting the shell out of the mud with their toes. There
is a small cichoraceous plant with a yellow flower named tao by the
natives, which grows in the grassy places near the river, and on its root
the children chiefly subsist. As soon almost as they can walk a little
wooden shovel is put into their hands, and they learn thus early to pick
about the ground for those roots and a few others, or to dig out the
larvae of ant-hills. The gins never carry a child in arms as our females
do, but always in a skin on the back. The infant is seized by an arm and
thrown with little care over the shoulders, when it soon finds its way to
its warm berth, holding by the back of the mother's head while it slides
down into it. These women usually carry besides their children, thus
mounted, bags containing all the things which they and the men possess,
consisting of nets for the hair or for catching ducks; whetstones;
yellow, white, and red ochre; pins for dressing and drying opossum skins,
or for net-making; small boomerangs and shovels for the children's
amusement; and often many other things apparently of little use to them.
PREPARE TO QUIT THE PARTY.
On this creek the grass was excellent and today, for the first time, we
saw cattle from the colony. As our own required rest and I wished to
examine the state of the equipment, arms, ammunition, and stores previous
to my leaving the party, as I now intended soon to do, I determined on
halting here for three days previous to ascending Hervey's range. I also
wished to amend that part of our traced line by returning in advance of
the party and marking out a better direction for the ascent of the carts;
and to find out also, if possible, some water which should be at a
convenient distance for a day's journey from the present camp.
When on first advancing I overlooked this lower country the sun had
nearly set, and I was anxious the expedition should reach the valley and
find water before darkness set in; the descent from these heights was
thus made without selection and at a point which happened to be rather
too abrupt. To ascend it was a still more difficult labour now that our
cattle were much weaker and would be also exhausted by the fatigue of a
long journey.
September 12.
I was occupied nearly the whole of this day in examining the ration
accounts and taking an inventory of the equipment, stores, etc. We had
made five months' rations serve the party nearly six months by a slight
alteration of the weights; this having been thought the best expedient
for making our provisions last till the end of the journey, availing
myself of the experience of my former travels in the interior when I
found that the idea of reduced rations was disheartening to men when
undergoing fatigue. The sheep which we took with us as livestock had
answered the purpose remarkably well, having, as already stated, rather
mended than otherwise during the journey. Their fatness however varied
according to the nature of the countries passed through. They became soon
very tame, and the last remaining sheep followed the man in charge of it,
and bleated after HIM when all his woolly companions had disappeared.
THE BOATS.
The two boats mounted on the carriage were still in a perfect state; and
although we had not derived much advantage from them, still in no
situation had they appeared a superfluous portion of our equipment.
Possessing these we crossed the low soft plains and dry lagoons of the
Darling without any apprehension of being entirely cut off by floods,
while we were always prepared to take advantage of navigable waters had
we found any of that description.
PLAN OF ENCAMPMENT.
The carriage with the boats, mounted on high and covered with tarpaulin,
when placed beside the carts according to our plan of encampment, formed
a sort of field-work in which we were always ready for defence. We
adhered to this which had been arranged not less with a view to general
convenience than for defensive purposes. The carts were drawn up in one
line with the wheels close to each other (see the woodcut); and parallel
to it stood the boat carriage, room being left between them for a line of
men. We had thus at all times a secure defence against spears and
boomerangs in case of any general attack. The light waggons and tents
were so disposed as to cover the flanks of our car-borne citadel, keeping
in mind other objects also, as shown on the plan.
The two light carts (9) covered one flank, the men's tents (5, 5) the
other. These light carts carried the instruments, canteens, trunks, and
articles in daily use. The situations of the different fires were
regulated also, and only allowed to be made in the places fixed for each.
The door of my tent (2) was usually towards the meridian (1) and in
observing stars it was desirable that no such light should shine before
the sextant glasses, nor any smoke impede the observations. By the
accompanying plan it will be seen that no light was in the way, while, by
these positions, other purposes were also answered. The cook's fire (11)
was near the light carts. Mr. Larmer's fire and tent-door (3) were placed
so as to be in sight of the cook. The men's fire was made opposite to the
two tents (5, 5) so as to serve for the men of both. The other fire of
the men (5) completed a general arrangement of firelight around the boats
and carts, so that nothing could approach by night unseen by the people
at their fires. One of the heavy carts (7) was sufficient for the
carriage of all articles in daily use: it was called the shifting cart,
being the only one in the line which required to be loaded and unloaded
at each camp; the rest contained gunpowder (6) and stores which were
issued in rations every Saturday. One great convenience in having such a
fixed plan of encampment was that I could choose a place free from trees
and establish the whole party on the ground by merely pointing out the
position for my own tent (2) and how it was to face (1).
No further orders were necessary and I could thus at once mount my horse
and proceed to any distant height with the certainty of finding the whole
camp established as I intended on my return. In arriving late at night on
any spot and the party having to encamp in the dark, still everyone knew
where to go, for by constant custom the arrangement was easily preserved.
Thus anything we wanted could be found by night or day with equal
facility; and we might be said in fact to have lived always in the same
camp, although our ground was changed at every halt.
A stockman came to our camp, whose station was about six miles further up
the creek, in one of the valleys amongst the ranges. He had heard from
the natives that they had killed a "white man, gentleman," as they said,
and he added a number of horrible particulars of the alleged murder of
Mr. Cunningham by the aborigines which subsequent accounts however proved
to have been much exaggerated.
MOUNT JUSON.
This day I recognised Mount Juson, a conical hill where the beacon which
he had erected while I was engaged at the theodolite, still stood. Mr.
Cunningham had requested that I would give to the hill the maiden name of
his mother, which I accordingly did. This appeared to me at the time
rather a singular request, and now it seemed still more so for, from his
melancholy fate almost immediately after, it proved to be his last.
LEAVE THE PARTY AND MARK A NEW LINE OF ASCENT TO HERVEY'S RANGE.
September 13.
Taking forward with me two men to the first of the two rocky places in
our line which, as already stated, I wished to alter, I found that both
acclivities might be avoided, and the road also shortened at least a
mile, by taking a more easterly direction up a valley which led almost
entirely through fine open forest land to our old route. I completed this
alteration about an hour before sunset. Water was the next desideratum,
and I had the good fortune to find also enough of it in a rocky gully
where there was also greener pasturage than any that I had seen during
the journey, distant only a quarter of a mile to the northward of my
newly marked line. This was the only link wanted to complete the route
which the carts were to follow; and it may be imagined with what
satisfaction I lay down for the night by that water which relieved me
from all further anxiety respecting the party I had succeeded in
conducting through such a country during a season of so great drought.
September 14.
Having despatched the two men back to the camp with information and
written directions respecting the line to be followed, the plan of
encampment and the water; I struck again into our old track by following
which I hoped to reach Buree that night, this being the station whence I
first led the expedition towards the Interior.
The consciousness of being able, unmolested, to visit even the remotest
parts of the landscape around, was now to me a source of high
gratification; but this feeling can be understood by those only who may
have wandered as long in the low interior country under the necessity of
being constantly vigilant, on account of the savage natives, and to
travel cautiously with arms forever at hand.
GET UPON A ROAD.
At length I came upon a dusty road presenting numerous impressions of the
shoes of men and horses; and after having been so long accustomed to view
even a solitary, naked footmark with interest, the sight of a road marked
with shoes, and the associations these traces revived, were worth all the
toil of the journey. The numerous conveniences of social life were again
at hand, and my compass was no longer required for this road would lead
me on without further care, to the happy abodes of civilised men.
ARRIVE AT BUREE.
On reaching Captain Raine's station at Buree, a native named Sandy
informed me of the melancholy end of poor Cunningham; the particulars he
described having been gathered by him from other natives who were
eye-witnesses of the appalling circumstances. A report from the officer
of mounted police, whom these natives afterwards guided to the remains of
my unfortunate fellow-traveller will be found in the Appendix 1.2.
I hastened to Bathurst and made arrangements for sending back a cart and
fresh horses to bring on the sick men of the party, as quickly as
possible to the hospital. Whiting, contrary to my expectation, lived to
reach it; and he and the other invalids having received every attention
from Mr. Busby, the Government surgeon, were restored to health in about
three weeks after their arrival.
...
(BAROMETRICAL JOURNAL KEPT DURING THE JOURNEY INTO THE INTERIOR OF NEW
SOUTH WALES IN WINTER 1835.
RANGE OF THE THERMOMETER AND JOURNAL OF THE WEATHER.)
...
APPENDIX 1.1.
LETTER FROM CAPTAIN FORBES, 39TH FOOT, COMMANDANT OF THE MOUNTED POLICE.
Sydney, Sunday Night, 10 o'clock, 27th November, 1831.
My Dear Major,
Colonel Lindesay desires me to say that although there is no relief on
the road he thinks it of sufficient importance to despatch a man all the
way through to Pewen Bewen, to acquaint you with what we have just heard
by express, that The Barber HAS ESCAPED.
I need not say how exceedingly I regret this on all accounts, but
particularly as I think it is likely to add to your difficulties; and
certainly does increase the necessity for very great vigilance and
caution on your part and that of your men, but PARTICULARLY OF YOUR OWN.
The Barber succeeded in filing his irons through and again digging
through the wall, there was no military guard over the gaol, and the
constable in charge appears to have deserted his post.
The Barber is supposed with what reason I know not to have made for
Liverpool Plains, and old Sergeant Wilcox is again despatched after him.
It is probable that he would rather avoid than approach so strong a party
as yours, but nevertheless it will be well to be very shy in letting any
of the blacks come within your camp. They are decidedly a treacherous
race. A convict ship came in from England last night, the Surry, sailed
17th July. No particular news, except that the Coronation was positively
to take place on the 8th of September.
If you have anything to send to Head Quarters the bearer will bring it
for you.
Believe me, my dear Major,
With the most sincere wishes for your success,
very truly yours,
(Signed) J.D. FORBES.
The Barber was retaken, but his gin or native wife who had facilitated
his escape then proceeded, as is supposed, to the tribes beyond Liverpool
range. He was conveyed to the hulks at Sydney and, having been tried and
condemned, his sentence was finally commuted to banishment to Norfolk
Island where he remained from 1832 to 1835. He was then sent to Sydney
with a party of expirees (or prisoners whose sentences of banishment to
that island had expired). The Commandant of Norfolk Island had then
reported to the Governor of New South Wales that amongst these expirees
was "a man named George Clarke, who, according to private information he
had received, intended some injury to Major Mitchell." This was
communicated to me, and I at length recollected that this might be George
the Barber, whose life I had been in some degree the means of sparing. He
wrote me a letter, couched in the most grateful terms, and in which he
offered to accompany me, if permitted, on my expedition into the interior
(in 1835) and which proposal I was inclined to accept, and indeed made
application through Colonel Snodgrass for this man, as one of my party,
but Sir Richard Bourke appreciated his offer much more judiciously, as
events proved, and sent The Barber to Van Diemen's Land, where he was
soon after hanged. He was undoubtedly a man of remarkable character, and
far before his fellows in talents and cunning; a man who, in short, under
favourable circumstances, might have organised the scattered natives into
formidable bands of marauders.
...
APPENDIX 1.2.
REPORT FROM LIEUTENANT ZOUCH, MOUNTED POLICE, RESPECTING THE DEATH OF MR.
CUNNINGHAM.
Bathurst, December 7, 1835.
Sir,
I have the honour to state that in conforming with the instructions
contained in the Colonial Secretary's letter of the 16th of October,
together with your orders directing me to proceed to the interior for the
purpose of ascertaining the fate of Mr. Cunningham, I proceeded with the
party on the 24th of October for Buree, which place I left on the 29th,
accompanied by Sandy (the black native mentioned in my instructions). On
the 2nd November I fortunately met with two blacks who knew the
particulars of a white man having been murdered on the Bogan, also the
names and persons of the perpetrators of the deed; they likewise offered
to accompany the police to where the tribe to which the murderers
belonged were encamped; I accordingly took them as guides, and on the
evening of the 6th they informed me they could see the smoke from fires
of the Myall blacks--on the borders of a lake called Budda. On arriving
on the banks of the lake we found a tribe encamped, consisting of upwards
of 40 men, women and children, all of whom we succeeded in making
prisoners, without any resistance on their part. Having questioned them
as to the murder of a white man, they acknowledged to one having been
killed on the Bogan by four of their tribe, three of whom they delivered
up, the fourth they stated was absent on the Big river. On searching the
bags of the tribe we found a knife, a glove, and part of a cigar case
which the three blacks acknowledged they had taken from the white man,
and which Muirhead* said he was sure belonged to Mr. Cunningham.
(*Footnote. Muirhead was one of my men, who, with Baldock, was sent with
this officer.)
The three murderers, whose names are Wongadgery, Boreeboomalie and
Bureemal, stated that they and another black, about six moons ago, met a
white man on the Bogan, who came up to them and made signs that he was
hungry, that they gave him food, and that he encamped with them that
night. The white man repeatedly getting up during the night excited
suspicion, and they determined to destroy him the following morning,
which they did by Wongadgery going unperceived behind him, and striking
him on the back of the head with a nulla-nulla, the other three then
rushing upon him with their weapons, speedily effected their purpose.
I then determined to proceed to the spot where the murder was committed,
which I was informed by the blacks was distant three days' journey, but
learning from them that there was a great scarcity of water, I deemed it
advisable to take only a small party, consisting of three troopers and
Muirhead, and one of the prisoners (Bureemal) as a guide across to the
Bogan, leaving the remainder of the party, having the other two prisoners
in charge, under the command of Corporal Moore, to proceed to a station
about 30 miles distant from Wellington, there to await my return.
On Tuesday the 10th I arrived at a place called Currindine, where the
black showed me some bones, which he said were those of a white man they
had killed, and pointed out a small portion of a coat, and also of a
Manilla hat. Being thus convinced of the truth of their statement, and
also of the spot where the melancholy event had occurred, I collected all
the remains I could discover, and having deposited them in the ground,
raised a small mound over them, and barked some of the nearest trees, as
the only means in my power of marking the spot.
Having thus accomplished the object of the expedition, I proceeded on my
return, and on rejoining the party under Corporal Moore, I learned the
escape of the two prisoners, which took place on the night of the 11th
November, when trooper Leard was on sentry, against whom I have forwarded
a charge for neglect of duty. The fulfilment of my instructions being
thus partially defeated, I considered it my duty to proceed in search of
the runaways, and continued the pursuit, I regret to say without success,
until I was obliged to return, our stock of provisions being consumed.
I arrived here with the party yesterday, and shall forward the prisoner
Bureemal to Sydney, together with the articles I was enabled to collect,
supposed to have belonged to the late Mr. Cunningham.
I have the honour to be, etc.
(Signed) W. ZOUCH,
Lieutenant Mounted Police.
To Captain Williams,
Commandant of Mounted Police.