"Then blessings all. Go, children of my care,
To practice now, from theory repair."
POPE.
When William Ferguson left the presence of his sister, he hastened with
his sable attendant to overtake his brother; whom he joined a few miles
on the road. As might have been gathered from his conversation with his
sister, the object of the brothers in undertaking their present journey,
was to visit some tracts of country, the right of tenure to which was
offered them by the possessor for sale; and if the nature of the country
pleased and suited their views, it was the intention of their father to
purchase it, and start them in life, by giving them sufficient sheep to
commence stocking it. To decide upon the eligibleness of the run, they
had appointed to meet the vendor at his station, and to proceed together
to the ground, inspect it, and form their own opinion of its
capabilities. With this intention, they had left Acacia creek early in
the day, to enable them to reach the town of Warwick before night, and
their place of appointment by the close of the third day.
New England, in the northern portion of which their father's station was
situated, is separated from what was then known as the Moreton Bay
district by a geographical boundary, formed by the peculiar face of the
country; consisting of stony plains and bare ridges, and establishing a
natural division in the courses of the rivers, the routes of traffic,
and the intercourse of the people.
Moreton Bay, which is situated on the eastern shore of the Australian
continent, about five hundred miles north of Sydney, was first settled
as a penal colony in the year 1824, and retained its position, as one of
the vilest hells and sinks of iniquity, until the year 1842; when, to
satisfy the enterprizing demand of the settlers for new country to
occupy with their herds, convicts were withdrawn, and the district
thrown open to free settlement. The country to the back of this, and
skirting the coast, is mostly undulating; in some parts very broken and
hilly, and traversed by rivers of considerable size. Parallel to the
coast line, at an average distance of from fifty to seventy miles, the
land rises abruptly and almost precipitously, in what is called the
"Main Range," to an altitude of some three thousand feet, and extends in
rich and fertile plains for thousands of square miles. This table-land,
covered with the most luxurient pasturage, and displaying an unbroken
extent of splendid country, like a succession of highly cultivated
parks, is known as the "Darling Downs," and at the time of Mr.
Ferguson's settlement of Acacia creek was conceived to be only a
trackless waste, offering no inducement to squatters to risk their lives
and property in its settlement or exploration. Such, however, was the
rapidity, when its value became known, with which flocks after flocks
poured into "the Downs," following the footsteps of the first pioneer,
that in the course of a few years, what was before an unknown
wilderness, became one of the most favoured and thriving of the pastoral
districts of the colony. It was approaching this delectable land, then,
that we left our young heroes, when making this digression.
They had journeyed some time over these dividing plains, depending more
in their course upon the position of the sun, than on any visible road
or track, when they determined to push on for Warwick; as, owing to the
dilatory manner in which they had been riding, they had still a long
distance to proceed, and the sun was fast sinking on the horizon. They
accordingly urged their horses into a sharp canter; and soon emerged
from the barren part through which they had been journeying, into the
more hospitable country approaching the town; where they purposed
halting for the first night.
As the sun sank below the western hills our travellers drew near, by one
of the three converging roads, the antipodean town of Warwick; which, to
describe to the reader, we need only to say, seen at a short distance,
bears a striking resemblance to an English village, and will sustain
very creditable comparison with some of the prettiest in our blessed and
favoured isle. This view, however, the young men were not at the time
permitted to enjoy; as in that country, where there is little or no
twilight, darkness almost instantly succeeds sunset; and the panorama
that lay stretched before them was rendered indistinct by the fast
approaching shades of night. Pleasing as Warwick appears at a distant
view, upon a close inspection the favourable impression of a stranger is
likely in a great measure to be dispelled; for there is about it, in
common with all other bush towns, an air of carelessness and
discomfort, calculated to destroy the interest felt by its extreme
freshness and novelty. One or two pretty wide streets may be noticed
laid out at right angles, their lines and extent being presented to the
eye, by the fences enclosing the inhabitants' properties, and
residences; which are sparsely distributed over the extent of the
settlement; frequently leaving entire unenclosed gaps in the lines of
streets. The houses are built according to the will or caprice of the
owner, without any degree of uniformity, in all imaginable positions,
and of all possible architecture; some few of brick, but the majority of
wood (either weather-board or slab). Here, you may see a fine brick
edifice facing the main street, containing possibly a large shop and
store-house, with a comfortable dwelling; and forming one line of
buildings, which are faced by a deep verandah, on the part of which
before the shop goods of all descriptions may be seen exposed. This is
easily recognised as the establishment of the principal store-keeper of
the town; while his less opulent trading brethren carry on their
vocations in humbler tenements. On the opposite side of the street will
be perceived a long one-storied building, also with a verandah (on to
which all the rooms open by means of French lights); and, even without
the aid of the pendent sign, would be readily distinguished as the
principal hotel. In one end of the building will be situated the bar,
where the common herd congregate in their libations, and in the other
the coffee-room; where the more exalted lords of the creation assemble
to discuss, at the same time, the liquors and edibles of mine host,
their own local politics, and bucolic topics; ever the subjects of
paramount importance to the squatter.
In all probability, the next habitation will be a slab hut, roofed with
sheets of bark; the whole structure standing on a spot of ground about
eight feet square, not even dignified or protected by a fence, and
contrasting strangely with the adjoining property. Here we will have an
enclosure of about an acre of ground; displaying, in its tastefully laid
out grass plots and flower beds, the neatly trimmed creepers, and the
air of order and comfort about the pretty little cottage which stands in
the centre of this Eden, the taste for refinement, tranquillity,
permanent settlement, and happiness, so rarely to be met with in the
bush. The cottage is a square four-roomed one, with detached kitchen and
out-houses. It is built of what are called weather boards, that is
planks sawn diagonally so as to be of the thickness of about one inch at
one edge, and about a quarter of an inch on the other. In the
construction of such a house, the form, or skeleton, is erected first,
and these boards are then affixed so as to overlap one another; each
plank as it is put on being made to cover, with its thick side, the thin
edge of the one preceding it: thus being alike impervious to wind and
weather. The roof is shingled, or, in other words, covered with pieces
of wood split into much the same shape as narrow slates, and put on in a
similar manner. The cottage has a verandah on its front, enclosed by a
small railing, tastefully painted, and ornamented with a few running
plants, which intwine its posts; and, while charming the eye, lend the
delicacy of their fragrance to render to this spot the enchantment of an
Arcadian bower, when the family adjourn thence from the interior of the
house, to enjoy the refreshing zephyrs of the summer evenings. The
windows facing this verandah are made to open in the French fashion, so
that, upon opening any one of them, a person can step out at once; they
are protected from the sun by venetians, which are generally folded
back, and which, with the railings of the verandah, are painted green,
while the house itself is scrupulously white. The door is of polished
cedar, and adorned with a bright brass knocker and plate, which may
possibly have done service in London, or some other city or town in the
old country. Picture such a spot as this in the imagination, kind
reader; and some idea may be formed of the residence of the medical man
of the place.
The feeling of admiration, occasioned by witnessing the charming
domicile of the local disciple of AEsculapius, is only equalled by the
disgust experienced at gazing on the apparent wreck, filth, and squallor
of the next tenement. Standing contiguous is another such hut; prevented
only by the support of a stout pole, which props its frail and shaken
frame, from ending that miserable existence of which it seems ashamed;
while it proclaims its humility by an apparent emulation of the posture
of that far-famed structure of Pisa. This dwelling is probably followed
by an edifice of a similar kind, though of more spacious dimensions and
solid construction; and, by the sparks emitted from a low chimney, the
din of the workman's hammer, and the dull heavy sound of the bellows, is
distinguished as the abode of the village Vulcan; while the surrounding
yard, with drays in various stages of dilapidation, wheels, poles,
axles, and other dismemberments strewing the ground, presents the
appearance of a perfect vehicular golgotha. With one or two wool-laden
drays drawn up before a public-house, in which the guardians of the
tractive animals, and who are designated bullock-drivers, are solacing
themselves with a plentiful libation of the liquor which cheers and also
inebriates; a similar ponderous vehicle, stationed before the door of
the first described premises, undergoing the operation of lading with
stores for a distant station; a few horses tied up to the posts in front
of the hotels; a few equestrians; as many pedestrians; a sprinkling of
the sable sons of the soil in all imaginable variety of costumes,
composed of the left-off garments of their fair-skinned brethren; here,
a gigantic denizen of the forest standing in the centre of a street,
raising his majestic head high above the settlement, and seeming to look
down with lofty contempt on the scenes enacted beneath him; there, the
charred stump of another tree, with its semi-calcined trunk lying by its
side, where it had fallen at some remote period, perhaps years before
the settlement had been thought of; but had never been removed, on the
principle that each burgess thought it no business of his, and the one
most interested and affected never dreaming that a small personal outlay
of money and trouble would be of considerable benefit and advantage to
himself; in the wet weather, with the streets, which are nothing but the
surface soil without any improvement, save the hardening of continual
traffic in the dry season, transformed into a mass of mud and mire, into
which drays sometimes sink to their axles, equestrians to their horse's
knees, and foot passengers, unless well acquainted with their location,
often plunge only to extricate themselves with the loss of a boot; and
with the occasional enclosures in the neighbourhood, of paddocks more or
less covered with trees, interspersed by numerous fallen and rotting
trunks, half burnt logs, and gigantic stumps, the reader has a general
description of bush towns, and (with some slight and insignificant
modifications) of the town of Warwick. They rarely have much industry,
and as little enterprise; while, there being no extensive demand for
artistic or mechanical labour, and no agricultural pursuits, the
inhabitants are generally dependent upon the trade arising from their
intercourse with the squatters.
As we have already informed the reader, it was nearly dark when the
young Fergusons rode into Warwick; and dismounting at the door of the
"Bullock's Head," leaving their horses and packs to the charge of their
black boy Joey, they ensconced themselves in the general apartment of
the hostlery dignified by the name of coffee-room. If the room had few
pretensions to elegance, it had less to cleanliness, and least of all to
comfort; its furniture consisted of a long table, protected by an
oil-cloth cover, on which stood a hand bell, and a jug containing water
of very questionable purity. Around it were arranged a number of solid
cedar chairs, in the manufacture of which the desideratum to be
attained seemed to have been a capacity to withstand the rough usage
they were destined to endure; and they bore unmistakable evidences of
having, at various periods of their existence, taken part in some severe
and desperate conflicts. On the mantelpiece stood some stoneware
representations of maids and swains, who combined a pastoral occupation
with the gratification of a musical talent; while they gazed with a
languishing air on their protrusive neighbour, a portly individual with
a highly-coloured, rubicund, and grinning physiognomy, and scalpless
cranium, from which he invited the lovers of the narcotic weed to
extract a supply of that universal solace. These were supported, on the
background, by a mirror of ordinary size; which presented unmistakable
signs of the household's reluctance to disturb the sacred dust of ages.
Its sides and corners had a very dingy appearance, like an opaque
coating, which left a circle in the centre of dim translucency; and from
this circumstance, a visitor might have assumed that some individual,
wishing to gratify his vanity by seeing a reflection of his own visage,
had applied his sleeve, at the same time that he exercised his arm in a
rotary motion, to remove the impediments to such vision. The lining of
boards to the room had been covered, in the general ornature, with a
gorgeous coloured paper; but no precaution had been taken to provide for
the wood's shrinking, and the consequence was that the paper had split
with the timber's contraction, and left a gap between each board it
covered. Around the walls were distributed some antique prints, such as
Queen Victoria in her gracious teens, considerably discoloured by the
application of water, in a manner in no way advantageous to her
complexion; a coloured print of the Derby in "the good old times," and
the representation of a naval conflict executed in a bold and imposing
style, with a studied disregard to perspective. The floor was covered
with a dingy half worn oil-cloth; while half a dozen men were sitting
at the table smoking, drinking, and maintaining an animated and
boisterous dialogue upon the relative merits of their horses. Such then
was the place and company in which our young friends found themselves,
and were hardly noticed as they rang the bell to attract the attention
of some one in the house. Their summons was, after a time, answered by a
bare-armed, bearded, and greasy-looking biped of the genus homo,
honoured by the confidence of the landlord, deigning to fill the post of
waiter, and, from a deformity of his person, rejoicing in the soubriquet
of "Hopping Dick."
To a request, to be shown a room which they might appropriate for the
night, the brothers were ushered into a crib leading out of the
coffee-room, and measuring about eight feet square; while on each side
of it was stationed a bed of similar dimensions to a coffin, with
appurtenances of relative magnitude. After depositing their valises and
ordering a meal, they strolled out to the stables to see that Joey had
well looked after their horses; and, upon their recal by the limping
Ganymede, turned into the house to partake of their repast. During their
short absence, the company had increased by the entrance of a few of the
towns-people, who had joined the circle, and added fresh impetus to the
argument (if their disjointed disputation could be called such), and
stimulated an increased devotion at the shrine of Bacchus. Amid this
earthly pandemonium, John Ferguson and his brother sat down to discuss
their meal.
The "fast" style of life, so common among the early settlers in the
bush, but now happily dying out, rarely found favour in the eyes of the
native youths of the colony; and the Fergusons, having been brought up
to entertain an abhorence of such scenes, naturally felt a repugnance to
the society into which they now found themselves thrown. Curiosity to
see the termination of their companion's orgies, however, detained them
in the room; and for the consummation of their desire, they were not
destined to wait long.
The party consisted principally of individuals called "supers," or more
properly speaking, the superintendents of stations, the owners of which
were not resident on their properties; and in the management of which,
excepting the disposal of stock, they had entire control: a few settlers
of considerable means, whose stations, being situated in the remote
bush, afforded them very rare opportunities of visiting town, but, when
such an occasion presented itself, it was the means of supplying an
indulgence, such as the present, of the wildest and most reckless course
of dissipation that could be devised: one or two settlers of minor
importance, and dignified with the title of "stringy bark" or "cockatoo"
squatters: and, as we have already said, one or two of the towns-people,
who would run into any excess, and expose themselves to any expense and
ignominy, to court the patronage, conversation, and companionship of
the squatter, who in his sobriety would not condescend even to recognise
him, made up the group.
At one end of the table, sat a squatter of collosal size, whose features
were hardly discernible from the hair that almost covered his face. He
was dressed in the usual bush costume: that is, a low-crowned,
broad-brimmed hat, made of the platted fibre of the cabbage tree, and
called after the plant from which it is named, "a cabbage tree hat;" a
loose woollen frock, barely covering his hips, made so as, in putting on
and taking off, to require slipping over the head, and as a garment of
constant use, is elegantly designated "a jumper;" and heavy knee riding
boots with spurs. The name in which he seemed to be recognised, from its
frequent mention by the company, was Smith. Adding to his uncouth
appearance and wild gesticulation, he had a voice decidedly unmusical;
while his conversation was copiously interlarded with expletives,
anathematizing some portion of his anatomy. This was the presiding
spirit of the conclave.
The excitement by this time ran high; great had been the exploits
detailed by the company of their various steeds, and the dangers through
which they had carried their several owners; while the prodigies of
speed, power, patience, and endurance, enumerated of the wonderful
animals, would have made even Bucephalus hang his head at the idea of
his own ordinary capacity. How long this state of braggadocio would have
lasted, it is impossible to say; probably until a vinous philanthropy
subdued the mental faculties of the company, and acted as an opiate on
their senses, by composing them to sleep under the canopy (not of
heaven), but of the table. But the mere relation of deeds was speedily
brought to a stand, by the challenge of Smith to bet "a shout" to the
party all round, or accept the same himself from any one there, that he
would ride his own horse into the room, and leap him over the table
without touching or displacing anything on it. No one of the boasted
equestrians offered to perform the feat; though the bet was readily
accepted involving Smith's performance of the exploit; but before we
proceed to detail the attempt, we may be permitted to enlighten our
readers upon the nature of the bet. "A shout," in the parlance of the
Australian bush, is an authority or request to the party in waiting in a
public-house to supply the bibulous wants of the companions of the
shouter, who of course bears the expense; and when a shout is proffered
as an earnest of sociality, or as an obligation in a bet, it indicates
the disposition, in the one case, to increase as much as possible the
cost of the shout, while it involves the necessity, in the other, to
provide whatever is required by the recipients.
Smith speedily appeared with his horse saddled and ready for the leap;
and to give him a better opportunity of performing his task, his friends
had removed the table to a transverse position, and stationed
themselves along the sides of the room, to witness the performance:
carrying on their conversation in as animated a spirit as ever; while
varying their opinions of his chances of success with bets on the event,
and arrangements for fresh trials of a similar kind.
The landlord, who from the increased din and uproar, imagined something
was astir, made enquiries of his oleaginous-looking colleague, by whom
he was apprised of the proceedings; but being accustomed to scenes of
equal recklessness, and being, moreover, a discreet man, and
anticipating, in the event of any breakages, a means of reaping a
plentiful harvest, he was conveniently deaf, and found occasion for his
presence at a spot far removed from the scene of action. From his
retreat, however, he was speedily summoned by Hopping Dick, to witness
the result of the manoeuvre.
It would be difficult to describe the scene that presented itself to the
landlord's vision, upon his entering the coffee-room; where, from the
boisterous laughing of some of the party, the interjective swearing of
others, the Babel of voices advising and expostulating, and the crowding
in of the towns-people, who had been attracted to the house by a rumour
of what was going on,--he could hardly discern the nature of the
accident, the extent of the injury sustained, or, what concerned him
most, the damage done to his furniture and premises. Upon clearing the
room of strangers, and removing, as far as possible, the signs of wreck,
he retired, leaving his lodgers to their meditations; while he indulged
in calculations bearing a direct application on the late amphitheatre
practice. He was, as we have already said, a prudent man in matters of
monetary interest, and he wished not to question the acts of gentlemen
residing in his house, and therefore desired no explanation; but, for
the reader's enlightenment, we will briefly detail the circumstances
that occasioned this untoward event.
Smith brought his horse, which was a noble high-bred animal, into the
room; and when the door was closed, he mounted for the leap. Intoxicated
as he was, it was evident from his deportment he was a good rider; and
sitting well and firmly in his saddle, was certainly a picture for
admiration; though, to a thoughtful mind, the feeling would give rise to
a regret, that some more dignified object had not called forth the
energies of the man, than that which made a ridiculous exhibition of
himself, degraded his noble steed, and risked his own neck. However, no
such remorse entered the breast of the redoubtable horseman; and with a
glance of conscious success directed round the room at his anticipating
companions, he dashed spurs into the sides of his steed. The animal thus
urged, apparently terrified with the uproar that assailed his ears, and
hardly knowing, in the singularity of the situation, what was required
of him, exhibited symptoms of terror and uneasiness. His rider, however,
was not to be deterred from his purpose, and bringing him up to the edge
of the table, again administered the spurs at the same time that he
raised him to the leap; while the horse, frightened by the excited
throng around him, and having his metal thoroughly aroused, made one
bound, more than adequate to take him clear of the table. The rider not
anticipating so lofty a spring, and incautiously omitting to take due
precaution in the suddenness of his exaltation, allowed his head to come
in violent contact with the ceiling; which stunning him, and causing
him, in his attempt to recover himself, to suddenly draw up his reins,
had the effect of swerving his horse from his balance, and brought the
pair down amidst the symbols of the late revel. While they lay stretched
on the floor, surrounded by the ruins of the table and the fragments of
glass, both bleeding and bruised, the landlord made his appearance; and
after removing the astonished quadruped to more congenial quarters, the
frolicsome and sportive inebriates separated for the night.
The thoughts of the young men, as they retired to rest, after having
been the silent spectators of the late scene, may well be imagined; such
to them was entirely new, and the disgust which it gave rise to in the
mind of John was fully equalled by the contempt engendered in that of
William; though, it must be confessed, when the contemplation of the
event passed through the latter's brain, he could not refrain from
indulging in a laugh at the ridiculous appearance of the actors, and
from feeling amused at the humiliating termination of the vain gasconade
of the pompous and conceited principal, who became a self-immolated
victim to his own vanity. The only object that excited one spark of
William's pity or sympathy, was the poor deluded horse. With these
reflections, and an occasional outbreak of reminiscent cachinnations on
the part of the junior, the brothers dropt off to sleep, tired with the
day's journey and the events of the night.