Pe-mul-wy
Strange idea respecting him
Civil court meets; nature of the business brought before it
Advice of the governor to the settlers
The _Francis_ returns from Preservation Island
A trusty person sent to look for a salt hill said to be to the westward
The wild cattle seen
A new animal, the Wombat, found; described
Some Irish runaways give themselves up
A seizure made of timber for government
Transactions
Weather
April
The criminal court meets
Three men executed
Reflections
Accidents among the stock
Discoveries prosecuted
Settlers and their complaints
An old woman accused of dreaming
Works in hand
Weather
March.] A strange idea was found to prevail among the natives respecting
the savage Pe-mul-wy, which was very likely to prove fatal to him in the
end. Both he and they entertained an opinion, that, from his having been
frequently wounded, he could not be killed by our fire-arms. Through this
fancied security, he was said to be at the head of every party that
attacked the maize grounds; and it certainly became expedient to convince
them both that he was not endowed with any such extraordinary exemption.
On the 5th, the court of civil judicature was held at Parramatta. Several
writs were issued, and prosecutions for debt entered; and on the 7th the
court adjourned until the 19th. On that day it met, and continued sitting
until the 24th, when all the business before them was concluded. This
consisted chiefly of litigation about debts contracted between the retail
dealers and the settlers. As a proof to what a height this business had
reached, it need only be mentioned, that an appeal was made to the
governor in one prosecution for a debt of £868 16s 10d; which appeal was
however withdrawn, the defendant consenting to pay the debt.
The governor, having received from the settlers in each district, through
the medium of the two gentlemen whom he sent amongst them for that
purpose (the Rev. Mr. Marsden, and Mr. Arndell), a clear and correct
statement of their grievances and distresses, informed them, that it was
with real concern he beheld the effects of the meeting of each civil
court, which, for the public accommodation, he from time to time had
occasion to assemble. The vast load of debt with which they so frequently
felt themselves burdened, through the imposition and extortion of the
multitude of petty dealers by whom the colony was so much troubled, with
the difficulties under which the industrious man laboured for want of
some other mode of providing the necessaries which he required, were
grievances of which he was determined to get the better; and, as far as
his situation would authorise him, he would adopt every means in his
power to afford them relief. To this end he found it absolutely necessary
to suppress many of those licensed public houses which, when first
permitted, were designed as a convenience to the labouring people; but
which he now saw were the principal cause whence many had candidly
confessed their ruin to have sprung.
He wished it were possible to dissuade them from heaping such heavy debts
upon themselves by the enjoyment of articles which they could do without,
or by throwing away their money in purchasing, at every public auction,
rags and trifles for which such exorbitant sums were exacted. He urged
them, with a paternal anxiety, to consider, that their folly involved
their whole families in ruin and misfortune, and conjured them to wait
with patience the result of some representations which he had made to
government, as well in their behalf, as in behalf of the settlers upon
Norfolk Island; by which he hoped that ere long they would have an
opportunity of purchasing every European article that they might want at
such a reasonable and moderate price as they, by their industry, would be
very well able to afford from the produce of their labour.
The island upon which Captain Hamilton had run his ship, and thereby
prevented her sinking with them at sea, was thenceforward to be
distinguished by the name of Preservation Island. From thence the
Colonial schooner had arrived with what remained of the property. As soon
as she was unloaded, the property was put up to sale for the benefit of
the underwriters; when the little effect of the governor's recommendation
of patience was seen, by the most enormous prices being paid for every
article. The money that should have been expended in the cultivation and
improvement of their farms was thus lavishly thrown away; and it
happened, fortunately enough for the underwriters that the wheat of this
last season had been received into the public granary, and immediately
paid for. Twenty-two shillings were paid at this sale for one common cup
and saucer.
Wishing to obtain some further information respecting the salt-hill seen
by Wilson and his companions in their late excursion, the governor had
sent Henry Hacking thither. At his return he produced some specimens of
various veins of salt which he fell in with in different places, of 10
and 12 feet in depth. He reported, that he found the country every where
intersected with narrow, but deep and rapid branches of fresh water
rivers, over some of which he was obliged to swim; others he was able to
ford.
Having been directed to seek for the wild cattle while in their
neighbourhood, he reported, that about five or six miles from the place
where we usually found them, he suddenly fell in with the most numerous
herd that he had yet seen; in which he counted 170 very distinctly, and
afterwards saw a few stragglers. It was some satisfaction to know that
they were perfectly safe.
By the _Francis_, the governor received one of the animals on which
the people had chiefly lived during their abode on Preservation Island.
It was brought to him alive, but thin and faint for want of food, which,
owing to its state of confinement on board the vessel, it would never
take. It, however, appeared to recover on shore; and, although during the
short time it lived, it was not observed to eat during the day, yet there
was reason to think it was not so abstemious in the night. It was offered
flesh; but this it would not touch, although it was supposed to visit the
nests of the puffin which burrowed on the island.
This animal had been found to the southward and south-westward, by Wilson
and his companions, who shot one, and, in their want of provisions, might
be said to feast upon it. They observed, that it resembled pork in
flavour, though not in colour, being red and coarse. It was very fat, as
were the kangaroos which they found in the interior; differing in that
point very widely from any kangaroos which had been before seen; not a
particle of fat having ever been found on one of them.
The mountain natives named this new animal Wombat, and said it was good
eating; but it was wholly unknown to those who were admitted into the
settlement.
The men who, in the beginning of January last, had boarded and carried
off the boat belonging to Owen Cavanagh, were heard of again. About the
latter end of this month, a report was brought in, that a piratical boat
was infesting the harbour of Broken Bay, and the Hawkesbury. The day
following, the governor received a letter signed by these men, in which
they professed to repent of their former conduct, and implored
forgiveness. They said, they had been wrecked about 400 miles to the
northward, when they with difficulty got on shore, saving as much of the
remains of Cavanagh's boat as enabled them to build a smaller, in which
they had returned, and surrendered themselves to justice; pretending to
have had their eyes opened to the danger with which attempts at desertion
from the colony must ever be attended, and promising to convince the
minds of their ignorant countrymen that every such attempt must be
followed by inevitable ruin. The language of this letter was far above
the capacity of any of the party; and the part of their story which
related to their building a boat capable of carrying the whole number so
great a distance wore very little appearance of probability. The truth
was, they had by some means reached as far as Broken Bay, where they had
been lurking about for some days; meaning, no doubt, to seize the first
boat loaded with grain which they might be able to secure, and then put
off again for as long a time as their provisions would last. They
certainly proposed to live by piracy; but not being able with their small
boat to come up with any of the boats which they pursued, and being no
longer able to exist without provisions, added to the danger they were
always in of being pursued and at length taken, they preferred giving
themselves up. They were armed with five muskets; and certainly had the
will as well as the ability to do a great deal of mischief. They were
placed in confinement, and charges preferred against them for piracy.
This was absolutely necessary; as the suffering such offences to pass
with impunity would have been productive of the greatest evil. Crimes
would have been multiplied on crimes, which the officers who composed the
court of criminal judicature would certainly have deemed unnecessary. The
utmost vigilance was constantly requisite to guard against robberies both
on the land and water. It was impossible, in such a community as this, to
have a police too strict, or to be sufficiently aware at all times of
such a nest of villains. Many examples had been made; but, after a few
days had elapsed, they were forgotten; and every act of lenity or
indulgence was found to be ruinous to the welfare and comfort of the
whole. It was to be hoped, however, that the introduction of more of the
better, and fewer of the worst sort of characters, would in due time give
the balance a favourable turn.
In each grant of land to individuals from the crown, there was a clause,
expressly reserving for the use of government such of the timber which
might be growing thereon as should be deemed fit for naval purposes. The
wanton destruction of this timber occasioned the publication of an order
in the month of December 1795, prohibiting the cutting it down. The
practice, however, continuing from time to time (for of what avail were
orders among such a disorderly set of people), the _Sydney_ schooner
was sent round to the Hawkesbury, to make a seizure of a quantity of
timber that had been cut down by individuals for private sale. This
seizure was of some consequence just at this time; as the governor was
building a brig to replace the _Supply_ (from 125 to 150 tons burden),
which had been condemned by survey as totally unfit for the future
service of the settlement, and a large boat, a new Cumberland, in
the room of that which had been taken away by the crew. The colony was at
this time in such want of naval stores of every kind, that the ruin of
all the floating craft, so lately in good condition, was nearly effected.
The bottoms of the boats were destroyed by the worms, for want of pitch,
tar, paint, and oil; and in order to enable the Colonial schooner to
proceed to Norfolk Island (for which place she was preparing to sail, in
company with the _Reliance_), it had been necessary to reduce part
of the _Supply's_ sails, and convert them to her use.
Arrivals from England, with provisions as well as stores, were now rather
anxiously expected, as 16 months had elapsed since the last were
received. Public works of all kinds went on slowly; the servants of
government being but few in proportion to the labour to be performed by
them, and all kinds of implements bad in quality, and scarce. A few slops
were served to the male convicts in the beginning of this month, they
being nearly naked, and the store unable to supply them with covering.
The tower of the new wind-mill was, under all these disadvantages,
completed, and the machinery put in hand. This tower was of large
dimensions, being 30 feet in height, and erected on a rock which was
considerably higher than the surrounding ground. The wheel was four feet
in thickness, and the diameter within was 20 feet.
There was very little intermission of rain, thunder, and lightning,
during the whole of the month.
April.] This month opened with a necessary act of justice. Five men were
capitally convicted, before the court of criminal judicature, of seizing
two boats, the property of individuals, with an intent of escaping from
the colony. One man was capitally convicted of a robbery; three were
transported to Norfolk Island for 14 years; one for 7; one was adjudged
corporal punishment, and one acquitted.
Two of the five that were condemned for seizing the boats suffered death
at Sydney, after a week's preparation for that awful moment. Their
companions were respited at the place of execution. They were all
extremely penitent, confessed the justice of their sentence, and
acknowledged how much mischief they had done, and how much more they
meditated, had they not been overtaken by justice.
One man, for robbery, was executed at Parramatta, George Mitton, who
certainly was a very fit subject for an example. He had been twice
pardoned when under sentence of death; once in Ireland; and once in this
country, by the present governor, for an offence similar to that for
which he now suffered.
These melancholy instances, had they been properly attended to, must have
shown to the convicts not only the difficulty which accompanied every
attempt to escape privately from the colony, and the danger to which
those who made the trial exposed themselves, but the certainty of meeting
that punishment which the various crimes that they committed on such
occasions so highly merited. The governor, in an order which he now
published, was desirous of calling back to the recollection of these
misguided people, who had been, either through ignorance, or through the
profligacy of their dispositions, so readily prevailed upon to engage in
such dangerous enterprises, that they would find an attention to the
advice which he had so often given them the most effectual means of
ensuring their real happiness. They would also recollect, that an
information was given him on the 19th of January last, in which he
appeared to have foreseen, and had pointed out to those piratical gangs
who wished to make their escape from hence, what would be the fate of
those who were of least use to the general plan of such gangs, that they
would probably, if in danger at sea in their boat, be thrown overboard to
lighten her, or be landed on some part of the coast, where, beyond a
doubt, they would perish. How far this prediction had been verified,
those who were concerned in taking off the settlers' boat, and who might
now be in the settlement, could best tell. It was well known, that they
had treacherously left seven men upon a desolate island far to the
southward, where they must have perished for want, had they not been
discovered in a most miraculous manner. He wished those facts to be
impressed upon the minds of the whole colony; they would then probably
discover in what their real interest consisted, and on what their true
happiness depended. To be honest and industrious had been often hewn to
be the most certain means of procuring those blessings.
Mitton, before he was executed, confessed in a moment of penitence, that
many robberies had been concerted, and were to have been committed by him
and some others. He mentioned, as their chief instigator upon these
occasions, a woman of the name of Robley (the wife of a blacksmith at
Sydney), who received all the property which they might collect in this
way. Dreading this discovery, she found it convenient to offer to accuse
others, or she would inevitably have been convicted herself.
It was reported by a native woman from the Hawkesbury, that she had seen
the two mares which were stolen some time since from Parramatta, and that
they were in the neighbourhood of that river. She also mentioned, that
one of the men who went off with them had been killed by the natives, and
that the other had perished with hunger.
The proprietors of this valuable article of stock were rather unfortunate
in the care of it, notwithstanding the high price which it bore. The
acting commissary lost a very fine mare, through the stupidity of an
Irish servant, who put a short halter round her neck, with a running
knot, by which she was strangled in the night; and information had been
received of the death of two foals belonging to government. This accident
proceeded from want of proper care in those who were appointed to look
after them; but unfortunately, though they were often changed, the change
was never found to be for the better.
When Hacking was sent to the salt-hill in the preceding month, he was
accompanied by Wilson and another man, who were directed to penetrate as
far into the interior of the country as the provisions which they were
able to carry would permit them. They returned after an absence of three
weeks, and reported that they had been about 140 miles in a direction SW
by S from Prospect Hill. In the course of their journey they travelled
over a vast variety of country, and fell in with more salt-hills. They
also met with many narrow rivers or creeks (with which the country
appeared to be much intersected), and found some very extensive tracts of
open luxuriant ground, as well as much unpromising land. They ascended
several hills of great height, from which their prospect was extensive,
and whence they discovered mountains rising upon mountains to the
westward; all of which appeared exceedingly high. They did not, however,
meet a single native in all their journey (a proof that the human race
was but thinly scattered over the interior part of this extensive
country); but they brought with them another of those beautiful birds
before described.
Wishing to ascertain the truth of every report that tended to improve our
knowledge of the internal advantages which this country possessed, the
governor sent a small party, with some natives, to determine whether
there was any salt in the neighbourhood of Broken Bay. Captain Waterhouse
(of the _Reliance_), who undertook the search, found the place that
had been described, and also discovered some salt; but it had been
produced by the spray of the sea near which it laid, and which, breaking
over some rocky parts of the shore in bad weather, and draining down
behind, had occasioned the accumulation of a large quantity of that
article among the sand, and upon the adjacent rocks.
The settlers, although certainly undeserving of the attention which they
met with from the governor, were constantly laying their complaints
before him. He now received a petition from them, in which they
represented the great distress that they laboured under, as well from the
high wages which they gave to hired servants for working their ground, as
from the immense price which they paid for every article necessary to
carry on that business. On this account, they requested that the price of
maize might be continued at the same rate as in the last year.
The governor, sensible of their distresses, and ever ready to listen to
any reasonable application which those distresses might induce them to
make, gave directions to the commissary to receive it at the price which
they petitioned for. But, as it was no less his duty to diminish the
heavy expenses of the colony, than it was his wish to render the
situation of the industrious farmer easy and comfortable, they were
informed, that they must very shortly look forward to a reduction in the
price of grain of every kind.
They laboured, however, under another evil, which was the effect of an
unbounded rage for traffic that pervaded nearly the whole settlement. The
delivery of grain into the public storehouses, when open for that
purpose, was so completely monopolised, that the settlers had but few
opportunities of getting the full value for their crops. A few words will
place this iniquitous combination in its proper light. The settler found
himself thrust out from the granary, by a man whose greater opulence
created greater influence. He was then driven by his necessities to
dispose of his grain for less than half its value. To whom did he dispose
of it! to the very man whose greater opulence enabled him to purchase it,
and whose greater influence could get it received into the public store!
Orders had been repeatedly issued on this very subject, the store-keepers
being most pointedly directed to give the preference to the man whose
grain was the produce of his own labour; and if any favour were shown, to
let it be to the poor but industrious settler who might be encumbered
with a large family. But these necessary and humane directions had been
too often frustrated by circumstances which were carefully kept from the
knowledge of the governor; it was, however, proved to him, that on
occasion of the store at the Hawkesbury being opened for the reception of
1500 bushels of wheat, the whole was engrossed by two or three of these
opulent traders, to the exclusion and injury of others, and the petty
farmers in general. The store-keeper was not dismissed, because a better
might not have been found; but the governor directed, that half the
quantity of wheat thus partially and improperly put in should be taken
away, and room made for the accommodation of the settlers.
A report prevailed at this time among the labouring people, particularly
the Irish, who were always foremost in every mischief and discontent,
that an old woman had prophesied the arrival of several French frigates,
or larger ships of war, who were, after destroying the settlement, to
liberate and take off the whole of the convicts. The rapidity with which
this ridiculous tale was circulated is incredible. The effect was such as
might have been expected. One refractory fellow, while working in a
numerous gang at Toongabbie, threw down his hoe, advanced before the
rest, and gave three cheers for liberty. This for a while seemed well
received; but, a magistrate fortunately being at hand, the business was
put an end to, by securing the advocate for liberty, tying him up in the
field, and giving him a severe flogging.
A few days after he had been informed of this circumstance, the governor
visited the working gangs at Toongabbie. On his return to Parramatta, he
met the prophetess upon the road, a very old Scotch woman, who, as soon
as she discovered the governor, held up her hands, and begged that he
would listen to her for a few minutes, while she would endeavour to
contradict the malicious reports which had been propagated in her name.
She said, that she had heard that he was offended with her; which he
assured her depended upon the truth of the information which he had
received. This, she was anxious to convince him, was totally false, and
had proceeded from a bad man, who, as she made a little beer, and sold it
to the labouring people, had called for some one day at her hut, and
entered into conversation with her about the expected arrival of ships
with stores from England. This induced the old woman to recount a dream
which she had had the night before, and from which she was led to hope
that ships would soon arrive. Out of this conversation and dream, a story
had been fabricated, purporting that this harmless old creature had
prophesied many extraordinary things; so that she had the credit of all
the absurd and extravagant additions which some designing and wicked
villains had made to the original story.
The governor told her that he saw through the whole business, and desired
that she would no longer be uneasy about the impression which the first
account had made upon him. With this condescension she appeared to be
highly gratified; for she had been under much distress and vexation
before she met with this accidental opportunity of showing him from
whence this mischievous story had originated.
The timber for the new wind-mill was brought in during this month; and the
floor of the government house having given way, the carpenters were
employed to repair it.
Arrivals from England were now hourly expected, as strong gales had blown
for some time from the southward.