History of Australia and New Zealand from 1606 to 1890
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Title: History of Australia and New Zealand from 1606 to 1890
Author: Alexander Sutherland
George Sutherland
Release date: June 18, 2008 [eBook #25828]
Language: English
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND FROM 1606 TO 1890 ***
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[Illustration: CAPTAIN COOK.]
* * * * *
THE
HISTORY
OF
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND
FROM 1606 TO 1890
BY
ALEXANDER SUTHERLAND, M.A.
AND
GEORGE SUTHERLAND, M.A.
LONDON
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
AND NEW YORK: 15 EAST 16th STREET
GEORGE ROBERTSON AND CO.
MELBOURNE, SYDNEY, ADELAIDE, AND BRISBANE
1894
* * * * *
THE ABERDEEN UNIVERSITY PRESS.
* * * * *
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
Captain Cook, _frontispiece._
William Dampier, 6
Rocks, South Heads, Sydney, 13
Town and Cove of Sydney, in 1798, 17
Matthew Flinders, 21
Cook's Monument, Botany Bay, 24
The Explorers' Tree, Katoomba, N.S.W., 26
Governor Collins, 33
Governor Macquarie, 39
Blue Mountain Scenery, Wentworth Falls, N.S.W., 41
St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney, 46
Captain Charles Sturt, 51
The First House Built in Victoria, 56
The First Hotel in Victoria, 57
Edward Henty, 61
John Pascoe Fawkner, 62
Governor Latrobe, 65
Collins Street, Melbourne, in 1840, 66
First Settlement at Adelaide, 1836, 69
Governor Hindmarsh, 71
Proclamation Tree, Glenelg, 74
Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, 81
Edward Hargraves, 92
Perth, Western Australia, in 1838, 114
Perth, 1890, 115
Boomerangs, or Kylies, 122
Parliament House, Brisbane, 123
Victoria Bridge, Brisbane, 126
Government House, Brisbane, 130
Robert O'Hara Burke, 144
William John Wills, 145
Sir John Franklin, 156
Queen Truganina, the last of the Tasmanians, 163
King William Street, Adelaide, 167
George Street, Sydney, 169
The Lithgow Zigzag, the Blue Mountains, 172
The Town Hall, Sydney, 174
Collins Street, Melbourne, 177
Town Hall, Melbourne, 182
Port of Melbourne, 183
A Maori Dwelling, 185
Milford Sound, South Island, New Zealand, 191
Rev. S. Marsden, "the Apostle of New Zealand," 195
Auckland, from the Wharf, 206
Stronghold of the Maoris at Rangiriri, 222
Sir George Grey, 224
Knox Church, Dunedin, 228
Christchurch Cathedral, 230
The Maori King, 232
Rangiriri, from the Waikato, 236
The Cargill Fountain, 243
Victoria Defence Fleet, 245
* * * * *
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER PAGE
I.--The Early Discoverers, 1
II.--Convict Settlement at Sydney, 1788 to 1890, 11
III.--Discoveries of Bass and Flinders, 18
IV.--New South Wales, 1800 to 1808, 25
V.--Tasmania, 1803 to 1836, 31
VI.--New South Wales, 1808 to 1837, 38
VII.--Discoveries in the Interior, 1817 to 1836, 48
VIII.--Port Phillip, 1800 to 1840, 55
IX.--South Australia, 1836 to 1841, 67
X.--New South Wales, 1838 to 1850, 75
XI.--South Australia, 1841 to 1850, 84
XII.--The Discovery of Gold, 89
XIII.--Victoria, 1851 to 1855, 98
XIV.--New South Wales, 1851 to 1860, 107
XV.--West Australia, 1829 to 1890, 111
XVI.--Queensland, 1823 to 1890, 119
XVII.--Explorations in the Interior, 1840 to 1860, 131
XVIII.--Discoveries in the Interior, 1860 to 1886, 143
XIX.--Tasmania, 1837 to 1890, 155
XX.--South Australia, 1850 to 1890, 163
XXI.--New South Wales, 1860 to 1890, 168
XXII.--Victoria, 1855 to 1890, 175
XXIII.--The Times of the Maoris, 184
XXIV.--New Zealand Colonised, 200
XXV.--White Men and Maoris, 215
XXVI.--New Zealand, 1843 to 1890, 227
* * * * *
HISTORY OF AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND.
CHAPTER I.
THE EARLY DISCOVERERS.
#1.# To the people who lived four centuries ago in Europe only a very
small portion of the earth's surface was known. Their geography was
confined to the regions lying immediately around the Mediterranean, and
including Europe, the north of Africa, and the west of Asia. Round these
there was a margin, obscurely and imperfectly described in the reports
of merchants; but by far the greater part of the world was utterly
unknown. Great realms of darkness stretched all beyond, and closely
hemmed in the little circle of light. In these unknown lands our
ancestors loved to picture everything that was strange and mysterious.
They believed that the man who could penetrate far enough would find
countries where inexhaustible riches were to be gathered without toil
from fertile shores, or marvellous valleys; and though wild tales were
told of the dangers supposed to fill these regions, yet to the more
daring and adventurous these only made the visions of boundless wealth
and enchanting loveliness seem more fascinating.
Thus, as the art of navigation improved, and long voyages became
possible, courageous seamen were tempted to venture out into the great
unknown expanse. Columbus carried his trembling sailors over great
tracts of unknown ocean, and discovered the two continents of America;
Vasco di Gama penetrated far to the south, and rounded the Cape of Good
Hope; Magellan, passing through the straits now called by his name, was
the first to enter the Pacific Ocean; and so in the case of a hundred
others, courage and skill carried the hardy seaman over many seas and
into many lands that had lain unknown for ages.
Australia was the last part of the world to be thus visited and
explored. In the year 1600, during the times of Shakespeare, the region
to the south of the East Indies was still as little known as ever; the
rude maps of those days had only a great blank where the islands of
Australia should have been. Most people thought there was nothing but
the ocean in that part of the world; and as the voyage was dangerous and
very long--requiring several years for its completion--scarcely any one
cared to run the risk of exploring it.
#2. De Quiros.#--There was, however, an enthusiastic seaman who firmly
believed that a great continent existed there, and who longed to go in
search of it. This was De Quiros, a Spaniard, who had already sailed
with a famous voyager, and now desired to set out on an expedition of
his own. He spent many years in beseeching the King of Spain to furnish
him with ships and men so that he might seek this southern continent.
King Philip for a long time paid little attention to his entreaties, but
was at last overcome by his perseverance, and told De Quiros that,
though he himself had no money for such purposes, he would order the
Governor of Peru to provide the necessary vessels. De Quiros carried the
king's instructions to Peru, and two ships were soon prepared and filled
with suitable crews--the _Capitana_ and the _Almiranta_, with a smaller
vessel called the _Zabra_ to act as tender. A nobleman named Torres was
appointed second in command, and they set sail from Peru, on a
prosperous voyage across the Pacific, discovering many small islands on
their way, and seeing for the first time the Coral Islands of the South
Seas. At length (1606) they reached a shore which stretched as far as
they could see both north and south, and De Quiros thought he had
discovered the great Southern Continent. He called the place "Tierra
Australis del Espiritu Santo," that is, the "Southern Land of the Holy
Spirit". It is now known that this was not really a continent, but
merely one of the New Hebrides Islands, and more than a thousand miles
away from the mainland. The land was filled by high mountains,
verdure-clad to their summits, and sending down fine streams, which fell
in hoarse-sounding waterfalls from the edges of the rocky shore, or
wandered amid tropical luxuriance of plants down to the golden sands
that lay within the coral barriers. The inhabitants came down to the
edge of the green and shining waters making signs of peace, and twenty
soldiers went ashore, along with an officer, who made friends with them,
exchanging cloth for pigs and fruit. De Quiros coasted along the islands
for a day or two till he entered a fine bay, where his vessels anchored,
and Torres went ashore. A chief came down to meet him, offering him a
present of fruit, and making signs to show that he did not wish the
Spaniards to intrude upon his land. As Torres paid no attention, the
chief drew a line upon the sand, and defied the Spaniards to cross it.
Torres immediately stepped over it, and the natives launched some arrows
at him, which dropped harmlessly from his iron armour. Then the
Spaniards fired their muskets, killing the chief and a number of the
naked savages. The rest stood for a moment, stupefied at the noise and
flash; then turned and ran for the mountains.
The Spaniards spent a few pleasant days among the fruit plantations,
and slept in cool groves of overarching foliage; but subsequently they
had quarrels and combats with the natives, of whom they killed a
considerable number. When the Spaniards had taken on board a sufficient
supply of wood and of fresh water they set sail, but had scarcely got
out to sea when a fever spread among the crew, and became a perfect
plague. They returned and anchored in the bay, where the vessels lay
like so many hospitals. No one died, and after a few days they again put
to sea, this time to be driven back again by bad weather. Torres, with
two ships, safely reached the sheltering bay, but the vessel in which De
Quiros sailed was unable to enter it, and had to stand out to sea and
weather the storm. The sailors then refused to proceed further with the
voyage, and, having risen in mutiny, compelled De Quiros to turn the
vessel's head for Mexico, which they reached after some terrible months
of hunger and thirst.
#3. Torres.#--The other ships waited for a day or two, but no signs being
seen of their consort, they proceeded in search of it. In this voyage
Torres sailed round the land, thus showing that it was no continent, but
only an island. Having satisfied himself that it was useless to seek for
De Quiros, he turned to the west, hoping to reach the Philippine
Islands, where the Spaniards had a colony, at Manila. It was his
singular fortune to sail through that opening which lies between New
Guinea and Australia, to which the name of "Torres Strait" was long
afterwards applied. He probably saw Cape York rising out of the sea to
the south, but thought it only another of those endless little islands
with which the strait is studded. Poor De Quiros spent the rest of his
life in petitioning the King of Spain for ships to make a fresh attempt.
After many years he obtained another order to the Governor of Peru, and
the old weather-beaten mariner once more set out from Spain full of
hope; but at Panama, on his way, death awaited him, and there the
fiery-souled veteran passed away, the last of the great Spanish
navigators. He died in poverty and disappointment, but he is to be
honoured as the first of the long line of Australian discoverers. In
after years, the name he had invented was divided into two parts; the
island he had really discovered being called Espiritu Santo, while the
continent he thought he had discovered was called Terra Australis. This
last name was shortened by another discoverer--Flinders--to the present
term Australia.
#4. The Duyfhen.#--De Quiros and Torres were Spaniards, but the Dutch also
displayed much anxiety to reach the great South Continent. From their
colony at Java they sent out a small vessel, the _Duyfhen_, or _Dove_,
which sailed into the Gulf of Carpentaria, and passed half-way down
along its eastern side. Some sailors landed, but so many of them were
killed by the natives that the captain was glad to embark again and sail
for home, after calling the place of their disaster Cape Keer-weer, or
Turnagain. These Dutch sailors were the first Europeans, as far as can
now be known, who landed on Australian soil; but as they never published
any account of their voyage, it is only by the merest chance that we
know anything of it.
#5. Other Dutch Discoverers.#--During the next twenty years various Dutch
vessels, while sailing to the settlements in the East Indies, met with
the coast of Australia. In 1616 Dirk Hartog landed on the island in
Shark Bay which is now called after him. Two years later Captain Zaachen
is said to have sailed along the north coast, which he called Arnhem
Land. Next year (1619) another captain, called Edel, surveyed the
western shores, which for a long time bore his name. In 1622 a Dutch
ship, the _Leeuwin_, or _Lioness_, sailed along the southern coast, and
its name was given to the south-west cape of Australia. In 1627 Peter
Nuyts entered the Great Australian Bight, and made a rough chart of
some of its shores; in 1628 General Carpenter sailed completely round
the large gulf to the north, which has taken its name from this
circumstance. Thus, by degrees, all the northern and western, together
with part of the southern shores, came to be roughly explored, and the
Dutch even had some idea of colonising this continent.
#6. Tasman.#--During the next fourteen years we hear no more of voyages
to Australia; but in 1642 Antony Van Diemen, the Governor of the Dutch
possessions in the East Indies, sent out his friend Abel Jansen Tasman,
with two ships, to make new discoveries in the South Seas. Tasman first
went to the Island of Bourbon, from which he sailed due south for a
time; but finding no signs of land, he turned to the east, and three
months after setting out he saw a rocky shore in the distance. Stormy
weather coming on, he was driven out to sea, and it was not till a week
later that he was able to reach the coast again. He called the place Van
Diemen's Land, and sent some sailors on shore to examine the country.
These men heard strange noises in the woods, and saw trees of enormous
height, in which notches were cut seven feet apart. These they believed
to be the steps used by the natives in climbing the trees, and they
therefore returned to report that the land was exceedingly beautiful,
but inhabited by men of gigantic size. Tasman, next day, allowed the
carpenter to swim ashore and set up the Dutch flag; but having himself
seen, from his ship, what he thought to be men of extraordinary stature
moving about on the shore, he lost no time in taking up his anchor and
setting sail. Farther to the east he discovered the islands of New
Zealand, and after having made a partial survey of their coasts, he
returned to Batavia. Two years after he was sent on a second voyage of
discovery, and explored the northern and western shores of Australia
itself; but the results do not seem to have been important, and are not
now known. His chief service in the exploration of Australia was the
discovery of Tasmania, as it is now called, after his name. This he did
not know to be an island; he drew it on his maps as if it were a
peninsula belonging to the mainland of Australia.
#7. Dampier.#--The discoveries that had so far been made were very
imperfect, for the sailors generally contented themselves with looking
at the land from a safe distance. They made no surveys such as would
have enabled them to draw correct charts of the coasts; they seldom
landed, and even when they did, they never sought to become acquainted
with the natives, or to learn anything as to the nature of the interior
of the country. The first who took the trouble to obtain information of
this more accurate kind was the Englishman, William Dampier.
[Illustration: WILLIAM DAMPIER.]
When a young man Dampier had gone out to Jamaica to manage a large
estate; but not liking the slave-driving business, he crossed over to
Campeachy, and lived for a time in the woods, cutting the more valuable
kinds of timber. Here he became acquainted with the buccaneers who made
the lonely coves of Campeachy their headquarters. Being persuaded to
join them, he entered upon a life of lawless daring, constantly fighting
and plundering, and meeting with the wildest adventures. He was often
captured by the American natives, still more often by the Spaniards, but
always escaped to enter upon exploits of fresh danger. In 1688 he joined
a company of buccaneers, who proposed to make a voyage round the world
and plunder on their way. It took them more than a year to reach the
East Indies, where they spent a long time, sometimes attacking Spanish
ships or Dutch fortresses, sometimes leading an easy luxurious life
among the natives, often quarrelling among themselves, and even going so
far as to leave their captain with forty men on the island of Mindanao.
But at length the time came when it was necessary to seek some quiet
spot where they should be able to clean and repair the bottoms of their
ships. Accordingly, they landed on the north-west coast of Australia,
and lived for twelve days at the place now called "Buccaneers'
Archipelago". They were the first Europeans who held any communication
with the natives of Australia, and the first to publish a detailed
account of their voyage thither. Growing tired of a lawless life, and
having become wealthy, Dampier bought an estate in England, where he
lived some years in retirement, till his love of adventure led him forth
again. The King of England was anxious to encourage discovery, and
fitted out a vessel called the _Roebuck_, to explore the southern seas.
Dampier was the only man in England who had ever been to Australia, and
to him was given the command of the little vessel, which sailed in the
year 1699. It took a long time to reach Australia, but at last the
_Roebuck_ entered what Dampier called Shark Bay, from an enormous shark
he caught there. He then explored the north-west coast as far as Roebuck
Bay, in all about nine hundred miles; of which he published a full and
fairly accurate account. He was a man of keen observation, and delighted
to describe the habits and manners of the natives, as well as
peculiarities in the plants and animals, of the various places he
visited. During the time he was in Australia he frequently met with the
blacks and became well acquainted with them. He gives this description
of their appearance:--
"The inhabitants are the most miserable wretches in the universe, having
no houses nor garments. They feed upon a few fish, cockles, mussels, and
periwinkles. They are without religion and without government. In figure
they are tall, straight-bodied and thin, with small, long limbs."
The country itself, he says, is low and sandy, with no fresh water and
scarcely any animals except one which looks like a racoon, and jumps
about on its long hind legs. Altogether, his description is not
prepossessing; and he says that the only pleasure he had found in this
part of his voyage was the satisfaction of having discovered the most
barren spot on the face of the earth.
This account is, in most respects, correct, so far as regards the
portion of Australia visited by Dampier. But, unfortunately, he saw only
the most inhospitable part of the whole continent. There are many parts
whose beauty would have enchanted him, but as he had sailed along nearly
a thousand miles without seeing any shore that was not miserable, it is
not to be wondered at that he reported the whole land to be worthless.
He was subsequently engaged in other voyages of discovery, in one of
which he rescued the famous Alexander Selkirk from his lonely island;
but, amid all his subsequent adventures, he never entertained the idea
of returning to Australia.
Dampier published a most interesting account of all his travels in
different parts of the world, and his book was for a long time the
standard book of travels. Defoe used the materials it contained for his
celebrated novel, _Robinson Crusoe_. But it turned away the tide of
discovery from Australia; for those who read of the beautiful islands
and rich countries Dampier had elsewhere visited would never dream of
incurring the labour and expense of a voyage to so dull and barren a
spot as Australia seemed to be from the description in his book. Thus we
hear of no further explorations in this part of the world until nearly a
century after; and, even then, no one thought of sending out ships
specially for the purpose.
#8. Captain Cook.#--But in the year 1770 a series of important discoveries
was indirectly brought about. The Royal Society of London, calculating
that the planet Venus would cross the disc of the sun in 1769, persuaded
the English Government to send out an expedition to the Pacific Ocean
for the purpose of making observations which would enable astronomers to
calculate the distance of the earth from the sun. A small vessel, the
_Endeavour_, was chosen; astronomers with their instruments embarked,
and the whole placed under the charge of James Cook, a sailor whose
admirable character fully merited this distinction. At thirteen he had
been a shopkeeper's assistant, but, preferring the sea, he had become an
apprentice in a coal vessel. After many years of rude life in this
trade, during which he contrived to carry on his education in
mathematics and navigation, he entered the Royal Navy, and by diligence
and honesty rose to the rank of master. He had completed so many
excellent surveys in North America, and, besides, had made himself so
well acquainted with astronomy, that the Government had no hesitation in
making their choice. That it was a wise one, the care and success of
Cook fully showed. He carried the expedition safely to Tahiti, built
fortifications, and erected instruments for the observations, which were
admirably made. Having finished this part of his task, he thought it
would be a pity, with so fine a ship and crew, not to make some
discoveries in these little-known seas. He sailed south for a time
without meeting land; then, turning west, he reached those islands of
New Zealand which had been first seen by Tasman. But Cook made a far
more complete exploration than had been possible to Tasman. For six
months he examined their shores, sailing completely round both islands
and making excellent maps of them.
Then, saying good-bye to these coasts at what he named Cape Farewell, he
sailed westward for three weeks, until his outlook man raised the cry of
"land," and they were close to the shores of Australia at Cape Howe.
Standing to the north-east, he sailed along the coast till he reached a
fine bay, where he anchored for about ten days. On his first landing he
was opposed by two of the natives, who seemed quite ready to encounter
more than forty armed men. Cook endeavoured to gain their good-will, but
without success. A musket fired between them startled, but did not
dismay them; and when some small shot was fired into the legs of one of
them, though he turned and ran into his hut, it was only for the purpose
of putting on a shield and again facing the white men. Cook made many
subsequent attempts to be friendly with the natives, but always without
success. He examined the country for a few miles inland, and two of his
scientific friends--Sir Joseph Banks and Dr. Solander--made splendid
collections of botanical specimens. From this circumstance the place was
called Botany Bay, and its two headlands received the names of Cape
Banks and Cape Solander. It was here that Captain Cook, amid the firing
of cannons and volleys of musketry, took possession of the country on
behalf of His Britannic Majesty, giving it the name, "New South Wales,"
on account of the resemblance of its coasts to the southern shores of
Wales.
Shortly after they had set sail from Botany Bay they observed a small
opening in the land; but Cook did not stay to examine it, merely marking
it on his chart as "Port Jackson," in honour of his friend Sir George
Jackson. The vessel still continued her course northward along the
coast, till they anchored in Moreton Bay. After a short stay, they again
set out towards the north, making a rough chart of the shores they saw.
In this way they had sailed along thirteen hundred miles without serious
mishap, when one night, at about eleven o'clock, they found the sea grow
very shallow; all hands were quickly on deck, but before the ship could
be turned she struck heavily on a sunken rock. No land was to be seen,
and they therefore concluded that it was upon a bank of coral they had
struck. The vessel seemed to rest upon the ridge; but, as the swell of
the ocean rolled past, she bumped very heavily. Most of the cannons and
other heavy articles were thrown overboard, and, the ship being thus
lightened, they tried to float her off at daybreak. This they were
unable to do; but, by working hard all next day, they prepared
everything for a great effort at the evening tide, and had the
satisfaction of seeing the rising waters float the vessel off. But now
the sea was found to be pouring in through the leaks so rapidly that,
even with four pumps constantly going, they could scarcely keep her
afloat. They worked hard day and night, but the ship was slowly sinking,
when, by the ingenious device of passing a sail beneath her and pulling
it tightly, it was found that the leakage was sufficiently decreased to
keep her from foundering. Shortly after, they saw land, which Captain
Cook called "Cape Tribulation". He took the vessel into the mouth of a
small river, which they called the Endeavour, and there careened her. On
examining the bottom, it was found that a great sharp rock had pierced a
hole in her timbers, such as must inevitably have sent her to the bottom
in spite of pumps and sails, had it not been that the piece of coral
had broken off and remained firmly fixed in the vessel's side, thus
itself filling up the greater part of the hole it had caused. The ship
was fully repaired; and, after a delay of two months, they proceeded
northward along the coast to Cape York. They then sailed through Torres
Strait, and made it clear that New Guinea and Australia are not joined.
#9. Subsequent Visits.#--Several ships visited Australia during the next
few years, but their commanders contented themselves with merely viewing
the coasts which had already been discovered, and returned without
adding anything new. In 1772 Marion, a Frenchman, and next year
Furneaux, an Englishman, sailed along the coasts of Van Diemen's Land.
In 1777 Captain Cook, shortly before his death, anchored for a few days
in Adventure Bay, on the east coast of Van Diemen's Land. La Perouse,
Vancouver, and D'Entrecasteaux also visited Australia, and, though they
added nothing of importance, they assisted in filling in the details. By
this time nearly all the coasts had been roughly explored, and the only
great point left unsettled was, whether Van Diemen's Land was an island
or not.
CHAPTER II.
THE CONVICT SETTLEMENT AT SYDNEY, 1788-1800.
#1. Botany Bay.#--The reports brought home by Captain Cook completely
changed the beliefs current in those days with regard to Australia. From
the time of Dampier it had been supposed that the whole of this
continent must be the same flat and miserable desert as the part he
described. Cook's account, on the other hand, represented the eastern
coast as a country full of beauty and promise. Now, it so happened that,
shortly after Cook's return, the English nation had to deal with a great
difficulty in regard to its criminal population. In 1776 the United
States declared their independence, and the English then found they
could no longer send their convicts over to Virginia, as they had
formerly done. In a short time the gaols of England were crowded with
felons. It became necessary to select a new place of transportation;
and, just as this difficulty arose, Captain Cook's voyages called
attention to a land in every way suited for such a purpose, both by
reason of its fertility and of its great distance. Viscount Sydney,
therefore, determined to send out a party to Botany Bay, in order to
found a convict settlement there; and in May, 1787, a fleet was ready to
sail. It consisted of the _Sirius_ war-ship, its tender the _Supply_,
together with six transports for the convicts, and three ships for
carrying the stores. Of the convicts, five hundred and fifty were men
and two hundred and twenty were women. To guard these, there were on
board two hundred soldiers. Captain Phillip was appointed Governor of
the colony, Captain Hunter was second in command, and Mr. Collins went
out as judge-advocate, to preside in the military courts, which it was
intended to establish for the administration of justice. On the 18th,
19th, and 20th of January, 1788, the vessels arrived, one after another,
in Botany Bay, after a voyage of eight months, during which many of the
convicts had died from diseases brought on by so long a confinement.
#2. Port Jackson.#--As soon as the ships had anchored in Botany Bay,
convicts were landed and commenced to clear the timber from a portion of
the land; but a day or two was sufficient to show the unsuitability of
Botany Bay for such a settlement. Its waters were so shallow that the
ships could not enter it properly, and had to lie near the Heads, where
the great waves of the Pacific rolled in on them by night and day.
Governor Phillip, therefore, took three boats, and sailed out to search
for some more convenient harbour. As he passed along the coast he turned
to examine the opening which Captain Cook had called Port Jackson, and
soon found himself in a winding channel of water, with great cliffs
frowning overhead. All at once a magnificent prospect opened on his
eyes. A harbour, which is, perhaps, the most beautiful and perfect in
the world, stretched before him far to the west, till it was lost on the
distant horizon. It seemed a vast maze of winding waters, dotted here
and there with lovely islets; its shores thickly wooded down to the
strips of golden sand which lined the most charming little bays; and its
broad sheets of rippling waters bordered by lines of dusky foliage. The
scene has always been one of surpassing loveliness; but to those who
filled the first boats that ever threw the foam from its surface, who
felt themselves the objects of breathless attention to groups of natives
who stood gazing here and there from the projecting rocks, it must have
had an enchanting effect. To Captain Phillip himself, whose mind had
been filled with anxiety and despondency as to the future prospects of
his charge, it opened out like the vision of a world of new hope and
promise.
[Illustration: ROCKS, SOUTH HEADS, SYDNEY.]
Three days were spent in examining portions of this spacious harbour,
and in exploring a few of its innumerable bays. Captain Phillip
selected, as the place most suitable for the settlement, a small inlet,
which, in honour of the Minister of State, he called Sydney Cove. It was
so deep as to allow vessels to approach to within a yard or two of the
shore, thus avoiding the necessity of spending time and money in
building wharves or piers. After a few days the fleet was brought round
and lay at anchor in this little cove which is now the crowded Circular
Quay. The convicts were landed, and commenced to clear away the trees on
the banks of a small stream which stole silently through a very dense
wood. When an open space had been obtained, a flagstaff was erected near
the present battery on Dawe's Point; the soldiers fired three volleys,
and the Governor read his commission to the assembled company. Then
began a scene of noise and bustle. From dawn to sunset, nothing could be
heard but the sound of axes, hammers, and saws, with the crash of trees
and the shouts of the convict overseers. They lost no time in preparing
their habitations on shore; for the confinement of the overcrowded ships
had become intolerably hateful.
#3. Early Sufferings.#--More than a third of their number were ill with
scurvy and other diseases--sixty-six lay in the little hospital which
had been set up, and many of them never recovered. Those who were well
enough to work began to clear the land for cultivation; but so soon as
everything was ready for the ploughing to begin, the amazing fact was
discovered that no one knew anything of agriculture; and had it not been
that Governor Phillip had with him a servant who had been for a time on
a farm, their labour would have been of little avail. As it was, the
cultivation was of the rudest kind; one man, even if he had been a
highly experienced person, could do very little to instruct so many. The
officers and soldiers were smart enough on parade, but they were useless
on a farm; the convicts, instead of trying to learn, expended all their
ingenuity in picking each other's pockets, or in robbing the stores.
They would do no work unless an armed soldier was standing behind them,
and if he turned away for a moment, they would deliberately destroy the
farm implements in their charge, hide them in the sand or throw them
into the water. Thus, only a trifling amount of food was obtained from
the soil; the provisions they had brought with them were nearly
finished, and when the news came that the _Guardian_ transport, on which
they were depending for fresh supplies, had struck on an iceberg and had
been lost, the little community was filled with the deepest dismay. Soon
after, a ship arrived with a number of fresh convicts, but no
provisions; in great haste the _Sirius_ was sent to the Cape of Good
Hope, and the _Supply_ to Batavia; these vessels brought back as much as
they could get, but it was all used in a month or two. Starvation now
lay before the settlement; every one, including the officers and the
Governor himself, was put on the lowest rations which could keep the
life in a man's body, and yet there was not enough of food, even at
this miserable rate, to last for any length of time. Numbers died of
starvation; the Governor stopped all the works, as the men were too weak
to continue them. The sheep and cattle which they had brought with so
much trouble to become the origin of flocks and herds were all killed
for food, with the exception of two or three which had escaped to the
woods and had been lost from sight.
#4. Norfolk Island.#--Under these circumstances, Governor Phillip sent two
hundred convicts, with about seventy soldiers, to Norfolk Island, where
there was a moderate chance of their being able to support themselves;
for, immediately after his arrival in New South Wales, he had sent
Lieutenant King to take possession of that island, of whose beauty and
fertility Captain Cook had spoken very highly. Twenty-seven convicts and
soldiers had gone along with King, and had cleared away the timber from
the rich brown soil. They had little trouble in raising ample crops, and
were now in the midst of plenty, which their less fortunate companions
came to share. But the _Sirius_, in which they had been carried over,
was wrecked on a coral reef near the island before she could return, and
with her was lost a considerable quantity of provisions.
#5. The Second Fleet.#--The prospects of the colony at Sydney had grown
very black, when a store-ship suddenly appeared off the Heads. Great was
the rejoicing at first; but when a storm arose and drove the vessel
northward among the reefs of Broken Bay, their exultation was changed to
a painful suspense. For some hours her fate was doubtful; but, to the
intense relief of the expectant people on shore, she managed to make
the port and land her supplies. Shortly after, two other store-ships
arrived, and the community was never again so badly in want of
provisions. Matters were growing cheerful, when a fresh gloom was caused
by the arrival of a fleet filled to overflowing with sick and dying
convicts. Seventeen hundred had been embarked, but of these two hundred
had died on the way, and their bodies had been thrown overboard. Several
hundreds were in the last stages of emaciation and exhaustion; scarcely
one of the whole fifteen hundred who landed was fit for a day's work.
This brought fresh misery and trouble, and the deaths were of appalling
frequency.
#6. Escape of Prisoners.#--Many of the convicts sought to escape from
their sufferings by running away; some seized the boats in the harbour
and tried to sail for the Dutch colony in Java; others hid themselves
in the woods, and either perished or else returned, after weeks of
starvation, to give themselves up to the authorities. In 1791 a band of
between forty and fifty set out to walk to China, and penetrated a few
miles into the bush, where their bleached and whitened skeletons some
years after told their fate.
#7. Departure of Governor Phillip.#--Amid these cares and trials the
health of Governor Phillip fairly broke down, and, in 1792, forced him
to resign. He was a man of energy and decision; prompt and skilful, yet
humane and just in his character; his face, though pinched and pale with
ill-health, had a sweet and benevolent expression; no better man could
have been selected to fill the difficult position he held with so much
credit to himself. He received a handsome pension from the British
Government, and retired to spend his life in English society. Major
Grose and Captain Patterson took charge of the colony for the next three
years; but in 1795 Captain Hunter, who, after the loss of his ship, the
_Sirius_, had returned to England, arrived in Sydney to occupy the
position of Governor.
#8. Governor Hunter.#--By this time affairs had passed their crisis, and
were beginning to be favourable. About sixty convicts, whose sentences
had expired, had received grants of land, and, now that they were
working for themselves, had become successful farmers. Governor Hunter
brought out a number of free settlers, to whom he gave land near the
Hawkesbury; and, after a time, more than six thousand acres were covered
with crops of wheat and maize. There was now no fear of famine, and the
settlement grew to be comfortable in most respects. Unfortunately, the
more recent attempts to import cattle with which to stock the farms had
proved more or less unsuccessful; so that the discovery of a fine herd
of sixty wandering through the meadows of the Hawkesbury was hailed with
great delight. These were the descendants of the cattle which had been
lost from Governor Phillip's herd some years before.
#9. State of the Settlement.#--Twelve years after the foundation of
the colony, its population amounted to between six and seven thousand
persons. These were all settled near Sydney, which was a straggling town
with one main street 200 feet wide, running up the valley from Sydney
Cove, while on the slopes at either side the huts of the convicts were
stationed far apart and each in a fenced-in plot of ground. On the
little hills overlooking the cove, a number of big, bare, stone
buildings were the Government quarters and barracks for the soldiers.
[Illustration: TOWN AND COVE OF SYDNEY IN 1798.
(Compare with page 169.)]
Attempts had been made to penetrate to the west, though without success.
The rugged chain of the Blue Mountains was an impassable barrier.
Seventy miles north of Sydney a fine river--the Hunter--had been
discovered by Lieutenant Shortland while in pursuit of some runaway
convicts who had stolen a boat. Signs of coal having been seen near
its mouth, convicts were sent up to open mines, and, these proving
successful, the town of Newcastle rapidly formed. In 1800 Governor
Hunter returned to England on business, intending to come out again; but
he was appointed to the command of a war-ship, and Lieutenant King was
sent out to take his place.
CHAPTER III.
THE DISCOVERIES OF BASS AND FLINDERS.
#1.# No community has ever been more completely isolated than the first
inhabitants of Sydney. They were three thousand miles away from the
nearest white men; before them lay a great ocean, visited only at rare
intervals, and, for the greater part, unexplored; behind them was an
unknown continent, a vast, untrodden waste, in which they formed but a
speck. They were almost completely shut out from intercourse with the
civilised world, and few of them could have any hope of returning to
their native land. This made the colony all the more suitable as a place
of punishment; for people shrank with horror at the idea of being
banished to what seemed like a tomb for living men and women. But, for
all that, it was not desirable that Australia should remain always as
unknown and unexplored as it then was; and, seven years after the first
settlement was made, two men arrived who were determined not to suffer
it so to remain.
When Governor Hunter came in 1795, he brought with him, on board his
ship the _Reliance_, a young surgeon, George Bass, and a midshipman
called Matthew Flinders. They were young men of the most admirable
character, modest and amiable, filled with a generous and manly
affection for one another, and fired by a lofty enthusiasm which
rejoiced in the wide field for discovery and fame that spread all around
them. Within a month after their arrival they purchased a small boat
about eight feet in length, which they christened the _Tom Thumb_. Its
crew consisted of themselves and a boy to assist--truly a poor equipment
with which to face a great and stormy ocean like the Pacific. They
sailed out, and after tossing for some time like a toy on the huge
waves, they succeeded in entering Botany Bay, which they thoroughly
explored, making a chart of its shores and rivers. On their return,
Governor Hunter was so highly pleased with their work, that, shortly
after, he gave them a holiday, which they spent in making a longer
expedition to the south. It was said that a very large river fell into
the sea south of Botany Bay, and they went out to search for its mouth.
#2. Boat Excursion.#--In this trip they met with some adventures which
will serve to illustrate the dangers of such a voyage. On one occasion,
when their boat had been upset on the shore, and their powder was wetted
by the sea-water, about fifty natives gathered round them, evidently
with no friendly intention. Bass spread the powder out on the rocks to
dry, and procured a supply of fresh water from a neighbouring pond. But
they were in expectation every moment of being attacked and speared, and
there was no hope of defending themselves till the powder was ready.
Flinders, knowing the fondness of the natives for the luxury of a shave,
persuaded them to sit down one after another on a rock, and amused them
by clipping their beards with a pair of scissors. As soon as the powder
was dry the explorers loaded their muskets and cautiously retreated to
their boat, which they set right, and pushed off without mishap.
Once more on the Pacific, new dangers awaited them. They had been
carried far to the south by the strong currents, and the wind was
unfavourable. There was therefore no course open to them but to row as
far as they could during the day, and at night throw out the stone which
served as an anchor, and lie as sheltered as they could, in order to
snatch a little sleep. On one of these nights, while they lay thus
asleep, the wind suddenly rose to a gale, and they were roughly wakened
by the splashing of the waves over their boat. They pulled up their
stone anchor and ran before the tempest--Bass holding the sail and
Flinders steering with an oar. As Flinders says: "It required the utmost
care to prevent broaching to; a single wrong movement or a moment's
inattention would have sent us to the bottom. The task of the boy was to
bale out the water, which, in spite of every care, the sea threw in upon
us. The night was perfectly dark, and we knew of no place of shelter,
and the only direction by which we could steer was the roar of the waves
upon the neighbouring cliff's." After an hour spent in this manner, they
found themselves running straight for the breakers. They pulled down
their mast and got out the oars, though without much hope of escape.
They rowed desperately, however, and had the satisfaction of rounding
the long line of boiling surf. Three minutes after they were in smooth
water, under the lee of the rocks, and soon they discovered a
well-sheltered cove, where they anchored for the rest of the night.
It was not till two days later that they found the place they were
seeking. It turned out not to be a river at all, but only the little bay
of Port Hacking, which they examined and minutely described. When they
reached Sydney they gave information which enabled accurate maps to be
constructed of between thirty and forty miles of coast.
#3. Clarke.#--On arriving at Port Jackson, they found that an accident
had indirectly assisted in exploring that very coast on which they had
landed. A vessel called the _Sydney Cove_, on its way to Port Jackson,
had been wrecked on Furneaux Island, to the north of Van Diemen's Land.
A large party, headed by Mr. Clarke, the supercargo, had started in
boats, intending to sail along the coasts and obtain help from Sydney.
They were thrown ashore by a storm at Cape Howe, and had to begin a
dreary walk of three hundred miles through dense and unknown country.
Their small store of provisions was soon used, and they could find no
food and little fresh water on their path. Many dropped down, exhausted
by hunger and fatigue, and had to be abandoned to their fate. Of those
who contrived to approach within thirty miles of Sydney, the greater
part were murdered by the same tribe of blacks from whom Bass and
Flinders had apprehended danger. Clarke and one or two others reached
Port Jackson; their clothes in tatters, their bodies wasted almost to
the bones, and in such a state that, when a boat was brought to carry
them over the bay to Sydney, they had to be lifted on board like
infants. Mr. Clarke, on his recovery, was able to give a very useful
account of a great tract of land not previously explored. The crew of
the _Sydney Cove_ were meanwhile living on one of the Furneaux Group,
and several small ships were sent down from Sydney to rescue the crew
and cargo; these also served to make the coast better known. Flinders
was very anxious to go in one of them, in order to make a chart of the
places he might pass; but his ship, the _Reliance_, sailed for Norfolk
Island, and he had to be a long time absent.
[Illustration: MATTHEW FLINDERS.]
#4. Discovery of Bass Straits.#--His friend Bass was more fortunate; for
Governor Hunter gave him an open whaleboat, together with provisions for
six weeks, and six men to manage the boat. With these he discovered the
harbour and river of Shoalhaven; entered and mapped out Jervis Bay;
discovered Twofold Bay, then rounded Cape Howe, and discovered the
country now called Victoria. After sailing along the Ninety-mile Beach,
he saw high land to the south-west; and, standing out towards it,
discovered the bold headland which was afterwards named Wilson's
Promontory. Bad weather drove him to seek for shelter, and this led to
the discovery of Western Port, where he remained thirteen days. But as
his provisions were running short, he was forced, with a heavy heart, to
turn homeward. He had again to seek shelter, however, from strong head
winds, and in doing so discovered what is called Corner Inlet. In all he
prolonged his voyage to eleven weeks, before he again reached Sydney:
during that time he had explored six hundred miles of coast, and had
discovered four important bays, as well as what is perhaps the most
important cape in Australia. His greatest service, however, was the
proof that Van Diemen's Land is not joined to Australia, but is divided
from it by the wide strait to which Bass's name is now so justly given.
All this, effected in an open whaleboat on a great ocean, may well fill
us with admiration for the courage and skill of the young surgeon.
#5. Flinders.#--When Flinders returned from Norfolk Island, he obtained
leave to join the next vessel that should start for the wreck of the
_Sydney Cove_. Having arrived at Furneaux Island, during the time that
the wreckage and remaining cargo were being gathered, he obtained the
loan of a small boat for five days, and in it made careful surveys of
the islands and straits to the north of Van Diemen's Land. It was in
this trip that he made the first discovery of that peculiar Australian
animal, the wombat.
#6. Circumnavigation of Van Diemen's Land.#--Next year (1798) Governor
Hunter gave to the two ardent young men a small sloop--the _Norfolk_--in
which to prosecute their discoveries. They received three months' leave
of absence, in which time they proposed to sail round Van Diemen's Land.
This they did, and discovered during their voyage the river Tamar and
its estuary, Port Dalrymple. It was not in discovery alone that they
were successful. Flinders made the most beautiful and exact charts of
all the coasts; he sometimes spent whole days in careful and laborious
observations and measurements, in order to have the latitude and
longitude of a single place correctly marked.
#7. Fate of Bass.#--On their return to Sydney Bass met some friends,
who persuaded him to join them in making their fortune by carrying
contraband goods into South America, in spite of the Spaniards. What
became of Bass is not known, but it is supposed that he was captured by
the Spaniards and sent to the silver mines, where he was completely lost
from sight. He who entered those dreary mines was lost for ever to human
knowledge; and Bass may have perished there after years of wearisome and
unknown labour. After all his hardships and adventures, his enthusiasm
and his self-devotion, he passed away from men's eyes, and no one was
curious to know whither he had gone; but Australians of these days have
learnt to honour the memory of the man who first, in company with his
friend, laid the foundation of so much of their geography.
#8. The Publication of Flinders' Charts.#--Flinders remained in His
Majesty's service, and in the following year was raised to the rank of
lieutenant. With his little ship, the _Norfolk_, he examined the coasts
of New South Wales, from Sydney northward as far as Hervey Bay. Next
year (1800) he went to London, where his charts were published,
containing the first exact accounts of the geography of Australia. They
were greatly praised, and the English Government resolved to send out an
expedition to survey all the coasts of Australia in like manner.
Flinders was placed at the head of it; a vessel was given to him, which
he called the _Investigator_; a passport was obtained for him from the
French Government, so that, though England and France were then at war,
he might not be obstructed by French war-ships. Sailing to the south
coast of Australia, he discovered Kangaroo Island and Spencer's Gulf,
and then entered Port Phillip under the impression that he was the
discoverer of that inlet, but afterwards learnt that Lieutenant Murray,
in his ship the _Lady Nelson_, had discovered it ten weeks before.
#9. Baudin.#--As Flinders sailed down towards Bass Strait he met with a
French expedition, under M. Baudin, who had been sent out by Napoleon to
make discoveries in Australia. He had loitered so long on the coast of
Tasmania that Flinders had been able to complete the examination of the
southern coast before he even approached it. Yet Baudin sailed into the
very bays which had already been mapped out, gave them French names, and
took to himself the honour of their discovery. Some months later the two
expeditions met one another again in Port Jackson. Flinders showed his
charts, and the French officers allowed that he had carried off the
honours of nearly all the discoveries on the south coast; but, in spite
of that, a report was published in France in which Flinders' claims
were quite ignored, and Baudin represented as the hero of Australian
discovery. The colonists at Port Jackson, however, treated the French
sailors with much kindness. Many of them were suffering from scurvy, and
these were carried to the Sydney hospital and carefully tended; and
though the colonists had themselves eaten only salt meat for months
before, in order to preserve their cattle, yet they killed these very
cattle to provide fresh meat for the sick sailors. Baudin and his
officers were feasted, and everything was done both by Flinders and the
people of Sydney to make their stay agreeable.
#10. Imprisonment of Flinders.#--Flinders continued his voyage
northwards, rounded Cape York, and examined the northern coasts, making
an excellent chart of Torres Strait; but his vessel becoming too rotten
to be longer used, he was forced to return to Sydney. Desiring to carry
his charts and journals to England, he took his passage in an old
store-ship, but she had not sailed far before she struck on a coral
reef; the crew with difficulty reached a small sandbank, from which they
were not released till two months after. Flinders saved his papers, and
brought them back to Sydney. A small schooner, the _Cumberland_, was
given him in which to sail for England; but she was too leaky, and too
small a vessel to carry food for so long a voyage; so that he was forced
to put into the Mauritius, which then belonged to France. He fancied
that his passport from Napoleon would be his protection; but the
Governor, De Caen, a low and ignorant fellow, seized him, took his
papers from him, and cast him into prison.
[Illustration: COOK'S MONUMENT, BOTANY BAY.]
Baudin soon after called at the Mauritius, and would probably have
procured the release of his brother-mariner had he not died immediately
after his arrival. The charts of Flinders, however, were all sent to
France, where they were published with altered names, as if they were
the work of Frenchmen. Meanwhile, Flinders was spending the weary months
in close confinement at the Mauritius.
#11. Death of Flinders.#--Nearly six years passed away before the approach
of an English fleet compelled the French to release him; and when he
went to England he found that people knew all about those very places
of which he thought he was bringing the first tidings. He commenced,
however, to write his great book, and worked with the utmost pains to
make all his maps scrupulously accurate. After about four years of
incessant labour, the three volumes were ready for the press; but he was
doomed never to see them. So many years of toil, so many nights passed
in open boats or on the wet sands, so many shipwrecks and weeks of
semi-starvation, together with his long and unjust imprisonment, had
utterly destroyed his constitution; and on the very day when his book
was being published, the wife and daughter of Flinders were tending his
last painful hours. He was, perhaps, our greatest maritime discoverer: a
man who worked because his heart was in his work; who sought no reward,
and obtained none; who lived laboriously, and did honourable service to
mankind; yet died, like his friend Bass, almost unknown to those of his
own day, but leaving a name which the world is every year more and more
disposed to honour.
CHAPTER IV.
NEW SOUTH WALES, 1800-1808.
#1. Governor King.#--Governor Hunter, who left Sydney in the year 1800,
was succeeded by Captain King, the young officer who has been already
mentioned as the founder of the settlement at Norfolk Island. He was a
man of much ability, and was both active and industrious; yet so
overwhelming at this time were the difficulties of Governorship in New
South Wales, that his term of office was little more than a distressing
failure. The colony consisted chiefly of convicts, who were--many of
them--the most depraved and hardened villains to be met with in the
history of crime. To keep these in check, and to maintain order, was no
easy task; but to make them work, to convert them into industrious and
well-behaved members of the community, was far beyond any Governor's
power. King made an effort, and did his very best; but after a time he
grew disheartened, and, in his disappointment, complained of the folly
which expected him to make farmers out of pickpockets. His chances of
success would have been much increased had he been properly seconded by
his subordinates. But, unfortunately, circumstances had arisen which
caused the officers and soldiers not only to render him no assistance
whatever, but even to thwart and frustrate his most careful plans.
[Illustration: THE EXPLORERS' TREE, KATOOMBA, N.S.W.]
#2. The New South Wales Corps.#--In 1790 a special corps had been
organised in the British army for service in the colony; it was called
the New South Wales Corps, and was intended to be permanently settled in
Sydney. Very few high-class officers cared to enter this service, so far
from home and in the midst of the lowest criminals. Those who joined it
generally came out with the idea of quickly gathering a small fortune,
then resigning their commissions and returning to England. The favourite
method of making money was to import goods into the settlement and sell
them at high rates of profit; and, in their haste to become rich, many
resorted to unscrupulous devices for obtaining profits. A trade in which
those who commanded were the sellers, whilst the convicts and settlers
under their charge were the purchasers, could hardly fail to ruin
discipline and introduce grave evils, more especially when ardent
spirits began to be the chief article of traffic. It was found that
nothing sold so well among the convicts as rum, their favourite liquor;
and, rather than not make money, the officers began to import large
quantities of that spirit, thus deliberately assisting to demoralise
still further the degraded population which they had been sent to
reform. So enormous were the profits made in this debasing trade that
very few of the officers could refrain from joining it. Soon the New
South Wales Corps became like one great firm of spirit merchants,
engaged in the importing and retailing of rum. The most enterprising
went so far as to introduce stills and commence the manufacture of
spirits in the colony. By an order of the Governor in Council this was
forbidden, but many continued to work their stills in secret. This
system of traffic, demoralising to every one engaged in it, was shared
even by the highest officials in the colony. In the year 1800 the chief
constable was a publican, and the head gaoler sold rum and brandy
opposite the prison gates.
#3. State of the Colony.#--Under these circumstances, drunkenness
became fearfully prevalent; the freed convicts gave themselves up to
unrestrained riot, and, when intoxicated, committed the most brutal
atrocities; the soldiers also sank into the wildest dissipation; and
many of the officers themselves led lives of open and shameless
debauchery. This was the community Governor King had to rule. He made an
effort to effect some change, but failed; and we can hardly wonder at
the feeling of intense disgust which he entertained and freely
expressed.
#4. Mutiny of Convicts.#--Most of the convicts, on their arrival in
the colony, were "assigned"--that is, sent to work as shepherds or
farm-labourers for the free settlers in the country; but prisoners of
the worst class were chained in gangs and employed on the roads, or on
the Government farms. One of these gangs, consisting of three or four
hundred convicts, was stationed at Castlehill, a few miles north of
Parramatta. The prisoners, emboldened by their numbers and inflamed by
the oratory of a number of political exiles, broke out into open
insurrection. They flung away their hoes and spades, removed their
irons, seized about two hundred and fifty muskets, and marched towards
the Hawkesbury, expecting to be there reinforced by so many additional
convicts that they would be able to overpower the military. Major
Johnstone, with twenty-four soldiers of the New South Wales Corps,
pursued them; they halted and turned round to fight, but he charged with
so much determination into their midst that they were quickly routed,
and fled in all directions, leaving several of their number dead on the
spot. Three or four of the ringleaders were caught and hanged; the
remainder returned quickly to their duty.
#5. Origin of Wool-growing.#--During Governor King's term of office a
beginning was made in what is now an industry of momentous importance to
Australia. In the New South Wales Corps there had been an officer named
Macarthur, who had become so disgusted with the service that, shortly
after his arrival in Sydney, he resigned his commission, and, having
obtained a grant of land, became a settler in the country. He quickly
perceived that wool-growing, if properly carried on, would be a source
of much wealth, and obtained a number of sheep from the Dutch colony at
the Cape of Good Hope, with which to make a commencement. These were of
a kind which did not suit the climate, and his first attempt failed; but
in 1803, when he was in England on a visit, he spoke so highly of New
South Wales as a country adapted for wool-growing, that King George III.
was interested in the proposal, and offered his assistance. Now, the
sheep most suitable for Macarthur's purpose were the merino sheep of
Spain; but these were not to be obtained, as the Spaniards, desirous of
keeping the lucrative trade of wool-growing to themselves, had made it a
capital crime to export sheep of this kind from Spain. But it so
happened that, as a special favour, a few had been given to King George,
who was an enthusiastic farmer; and when he heard of Macarthur's idea,
he sent him one or two from his own flock to be carried out to New South
Wales. They were safely landed at Sydney, Governor King made a grant of
ten thousand acres to Mr. Macarthur, at Camden, and the experiment was
begun. It was not long before the most marked success crowned the
effort, and in the course of a few years the meadows at Camden were
covered with great flocks of sheep, whose wool yielded annually a
handsome fortune to their enterprising owner.
#6. Governor Bligh.#--In 1806 Governor King was succeeded by Captain
Bligh, whose previous adventures have made his name so well known. In
his ship, the _Bounty_, he had been sent by the British Government to
the South Sea Islands for a cargo of bread-fruit trees. But his conduct
to his sailors was so tyrannical that they mutinied, put him, along with
eighteen others, into an open boat, then sailed away, and left him in
the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Bligh was a skilful sailor, and the
voyage he thereupon undertook is one of the most remarkable on record.
In an open boat he carried his little party over 3,500 miles of unknown
ocean to the island of Timor, where they found a vessel that took them
home.
In appointing Captain Bligh to rule the colony, the English Government
spoiled an excellent seaman to make a very inefficient Governor. It was
true that New South Wales contained a large convict population, who
required to be ruled with despotic rigour; yet there were many free
settlers who declined to be treated like slaves and felons, and who soon
came to have a thorough dislike to the new Governor. Not that he was
without kindly feeling; his generous treatment of the Hawkesbury
farmers, who were ruined by a flood in 1806, showed him to have been
warm-hearted in his way; he exerted himself to the utmost, both with
time and money, to alleviate their distress, and received the special
thanks of the English Government for his humanity. And yet his arbitrary
and unamiable manners completely obscured all these better qualities. He
caused the convicts to be flogged without mercy for faults which existed
only in his own imagination; he bullied his officers, and, throughout
the colony, repeated the same mistakes which had led to the mutiny of
the _Bounty_. At the same time, he was anxious to do what he conceived
to be his duty to his superiors in England. He had been ordered to put a
stop to the traffic in spirits, and, in spite of the most unscrupulous
opposition on the part of those whose greed was interested, he set
himself to effect this reform by prompt and summary measures, and with a
contemptuous disregard of the hatred he was causing; but, in the end,
the officers were too strong for him, and in the quarrel that ensued the
Governor was completely defeated.
#7. Expulsion of Bligh.#--Month after month Bligh became more and more
unpopular; those whom he did not alienate in the course of his duty he
offended by his rudeness, until, at last, there was scarcely any one in
the colony who was his friend. Many were inflamed by so bitter a hatred
that they were ready to do anything for revenge, and affairs seemed to
be in that critical state in which a trifling incident may bring about
serious results.
This determining cause was supplied by a quarrel which took place
between Mr. Macarthur and Mr. Atkin, the new judge-advocate of the
colony. Mr. Macarthur was condemned to pay a heavy fine for neglect, in
having permitted a convict to escape in a vessel of which he was partly
the owner. He refused to pay, and was summoned before the court, of
which Atkin was the president. He declined to appear, on the ground that
Atkin was his personal enemy. Thereupon Atkin caused him to be seized
and put in gaol. Bligh appointed a special court to try him, consisting
of six officers, together with Atkin himself. Macarthur was brought
before it, but protested against being judged by his enemy, stating his
willingness, however, to abide by the decision of the six officers. The
officers supported his protest, and the trial was discontinued. Bligh
was exceedingly angry, and, by declaring he would put the six officers
in gaol, brought matters to a crisis. The officers of the New South
Wales Corps all took part with their comrades; they assisted Mr.
Macarthur to get up a petition, asking Major Johnstone, the military
commander, to depose Governor Bligh, and himself take charge of the
colony. Major Johnstone was only too glad of the opportunity. He held a
council of officers, at which Mr. Macarthur and several others were
present. Their course of action was decided upon, and next morning the
soldiers marched, with colours flying and drums beating, to the gate of
the Governor's house. Here they were met by Bligh's daughter, who
endeavoured to persuade them to retire; but they made her stand aside
and marched up the avenue. Meantime the Governor had hidden himself in
the house; the soldiers entered and searched everywhere for him, till at
length they discovered him behind a bed, where he was seeking to hide
important papers. He was arrested, and sentinels were posted to prevent
his escape. Major Johnstone assumed the Governor's position, and
appointed his friends to the most important offices in the Government
service. He continued to direct affairs for some time, until Colonel
Foveaux superseded him. Foveaux, in his turn, was superseded by Colonel
Patterson, who came over from Tasmania to take charge of the colony
until a new Governor should be sent out from home. Patterson offered
Bligh his liberty if he would promise to go straight to England, and not
seek to raise a disturbance in the colony. This promise was given by
Bligh, and yet no sooner was he free than he began to stir up the
Hawkesbury settlers in his behalf. They declined to assist him, however,
and Bligh went over to Tasmania, where the settlement to be described in
the next chapter had been formed. Here he was received with great
good-will, until the news arrived from Sydney that, according to the
solemn promise he had given, he ought at that time to have been on his
way to England. An attempt was made to capture him, but he escaped to
England, where his adventures in New South Wales were soon forgotten,
and he rose to be an admiral in the English navy. When the news of the
rebellion reached the authorities in England, Major Johnstone was
dismissed from the service, and Major-General Lachlan Macquarie was sent
out to be Governor of the colony. Major Johnstone retired to a farm in
New South Wales, where he lived and prospered till his death in 1817.
CHAPTER V.
TASMANIA, 1803-1836.
#1. First Settlement.#--After the departure of Baudin from Sydney it was
discovered that there was an inclination on the part of the French to
settle in some part of Australia. It was known that the inlet called
Storm Bay, in the island then known as Van Diemen's Land, had especially
attracted their notice, its shores having been so green and leafy. It
was now known that Van Diemen's Land was severed by a broad strait from
the mainland, and the Governor at Sydney thought that if the French
proposed to make a settlement anywhere they would be certain to
appropriate this island, and deny that the English had any claim to it.
He, therefore, prepared an expedition to proceed to Storm Bay and take
possession of its shores. For that purpose he chose Lieutenant John
Bowen, who had recently arrived as an officer of a ship of war, and
appointed him commandant of the proposed settlement. The colonial ship
called the _Lady Nelson_ was chosen as the means of conveying him and
eight soldiers, while a whaling ship called the _Albion_ was chartered
for the purpose of carrying twenty-four convicts and six free persons,
who were to found the new colony. This was a very small number with
which to occupy a large country; but Governor King thought that in the
meantime they would be sufficient to assert a prior claim, and that the
authorities in England could subsequently decide whether the settlement
should be increased or withdrawn.
Governor King saw also another object in founding this new colony. He
had some most unruly convicts in Sydney, who were only a source of
trouble and annoyance to all the rest. It seemed to him an advantage
to be able to send these off to a place by themselves, under specially
severe discipline. In September, 1803, the two ships sailed up Storm Bay
and into the mouth of the river Derwent. Lieutenant Bowen caused them to
anchor on the right side of the estuary, in a little bay called Risdon
Cove. The people were soon on shore, and pitched their tents on a grassy
hill a little back from the water. Bowen went out to survey the country,
while the convicts set to work to build huts for themselves; a little
village soon appeared, and in the long grass that surrounded it a few
sheep and goats were pastured for the use of the rising colony. The
place was named Hobart Town, after Lord Hobart, who was then Secretary
of State for the Colonies. A month later Governor King sent forty-two
convicts and fifteen soldiers to increase the strength of the
settlement; and the little village was beginning to look populous, when,
unexpectedly, there came a great accession from another source.
#2. Collins.#--During this same year, 1803, the British Government, moved
by fears of a French occupation, had resolved to form a settlement on
the shores of Port Phillip. Accordingly David Collins, who had been
judge-advocate at Sydney, but had taken a trip to England, was chosen to
be Lieutenant-Governor of the new colony, and was despatched with 307
convicts, 24 wives of convicts, 51 soldiers, and 13 free settlers, on
board two ships, the _Calcutta_ and the _Ocean_. Collins had made an
effort to form a settlement at Port Phillip, on a sandy shore, near the
site of Sorrento, but had grown disgusted with the place; and early in
1804 he carried off all the people, and resolved to abandon Port Phillip
in favour of the Derwent. He landed at Risdon on the 15th February, and,
after a short examination, came to the conclusion that the situation was
unsuitable. Next day he went in search of a better place, and chose a
little bay on the opposite side, some six miles nearer the mouth of the
estuary, and thither the whole settlement was soon after removed. There,
at the very foot of the lofty Mount Wellington, Hobart Town began to
grow in its new situation. Houses were rapidly erected; most of them
consisted of posts stuck in the ground, interwoven with twigs of wattle
trees, and then daubed over with mud. The chimneys were built of stones
and turf, and the roofs were thatched with grass. Whilst the new town
was growing, a party of convicts and soldiers was still busy on the
little farms at Risdon, and early in May they had a most unfortunate
affray with the natives. A party of two or three hundred blacks, who
were travelling southward, came suddenly in sight of the white men and
their habitations. These were the first Europeans whom they had seen,
and they became much excited at the strange spectacle. While they were
shouting and gesticulating, the Englishmen thought they were preparing
for an attack and fired upon them. The blacks fled and the white men
pursued them, killing about thirty of the unfortunate natives. Thus was
begun a long warfare, which ended only with the complete extinction of
the native races.
[Illustration: GOVERNOR COLLINS.]
#3. Patterson.#--Next year, 1804, the Sydney Government sent another party
of convicts, under Colonel Patterson, to found a colony in the north of
Tasmania. The position selected was near the entrance to Port Dalrymple;
and here, for eight years, a small settlement continued to exist in an
independent state, until, in 1812, it was placed under the charge of the
Governor at Hobart Town.
#4. Death Of Collins.#--The colony at the latter place was meanwhile
slowly establishing itself; and in 1808, when Bligh visited it after his
expulsion from Sydney, he found the little township with quite a settled
and comfortable appearance. In 1810 it lost its amiable and warm-hearted
Governor. While calmly and cheerfully conversing with a friend, Mr.
Collins fell back dead in his chair. He was a man of a good and kindly
nature, a little vain and self-important, but earnest and upright, and
possessed of very fair abilities. The distinguished part he played in
the early colonisation of Australia will always render him a prominent
person in our history.
#5. Governor Davey.#--It took some time for the news of the Governor's
death to reach England, and during the three years that elapsed before
his successor could be sent out, the place was filled in turn by three
gentlemen, named Lord, Murray, and Geils, till, in 1813, the new
Governor, Davey, arrived. He had been a colonel of marines, and had
shown himself a good soldier, but he had few of the qualities of a
Governor. He was rough and excessively coarse in his manners, and
utterly regardless of all decorum. He showed his defiance of all
conventional rules by the manner of his entry. The day being warm, he
took off his coat and waistcoat, and marched into the town in a costume
more easy than dignified; he listened to the address of welcome with
careless indifference, and throughout showed little respect either for
himself or for the people he had come to govern. Yet, under his rule,
the colony made progress. In his first year he opened the port to
ordinary merchant ships; for, previously, as the town was a convict
settlement of the most severe type, no free person was allowed to land
without special permission. From this time commerce began to spring up;
free settlers spread over the country, and cultivated it with such
success that, in 1816, besides supplying all the necessities of their
own community, they were able to export grain to Sydney.
#6. New Norfolk.#--In 1807 the settlement of Norfolk Island had been
abandoned by the British Government, on account of its expense, and the
convicts, of whom many had there grown to be decent, orderly farmers,
were brought to Tasmania. They formed a new settlement on the Derwent,
about fifteen miles above Hobart Town, at a place which they called "New
Norfolk," in affectionate memory of their former island home.
#7. Bushranging.#--About this time the colony began to be greatly annoyed
by bushrangers. From twenty to forty convicts generally escaped every
year and betook themselves to the wild country around the central lakes
of Tasmania. There, among the fastnesses of the western mountains, they
led a desperate and daring life, sometimes living with the natives, whom
they quickly taught all the wickedness they themselves knew. Their
ordinary lives were wretchedly debased; and, in search of booty, or in
revenge for fancied injuries, they often committed the most savage
crimes. They treated their native companions like beasts, to be used for
a while, and then shot or mangled when no longer wanted; and it is not
surprising that the blacks soon became filled with intense hatred of all
the white invaders of their land. Frequently the aboriginal tribes
united to attack the lonely farm-house and murder all its inhabitants.
Hence, every settler in the country districts was well supplied with
arms, and taught all his household to use them; the walls were pierced
here and there with holes, through which a musket might be directed in
safety against an advancing enemy. The fear of bushrangers who might
attack them for the sake of plunder, and of natives who might massacre
them in revenge, kept the scattered settlers in constant terror and
trouble.
#8. Governor Sorell.#--But in 1817, when Governor Davey grew tired of his
position and resigned it, choosing rather to live an easy-going life on
his estate near Hobart Town, than be troubled with the cares of office,
Colonel Sorell, the new Governor, set himself with vigour to suppress
these ruthless marauders. He was to some extent successful, and the
young colony enjoyed an interval of peace. Farming was profitable, and
the exports of wheat began to assume large dimensions. The best breeds
of sheep were brought into the island, and Van Diemen's Land wool, which
at first had been despised in England, and used only for stuffing
mattresses, grew into favour, and was bought by the manufacturers at
high prices. Thus many of the settlers became wealthy, and the estates
from which their wealth was derived began to have a correspondingly
high value, so as to give the colony an assured prosperity which was
certainly remarkable in the sixteenth year from its foundation. Another
industry was added, which indirectly contributed to the wealth of
Tasmania. The captain of a merchant vessel, on his way to Sydney, had
seen a great shoal of whales off the south coast of Tasmania, and, along
with the Governor of New South Wales, secretly formed a scheme to fit
out a whaling expedition. But his crew also had seen the whales, and
soon made the fact widely known; so that, by the time the captain's
party was ready to sail, there were several other whaling vessels on the
point of starting. They were all successful, and very soon a large
number of ships was engaged in whale fishing. Now, as Hobart Town was
the nearest port, the whalers found that it saved time to go thither
with their oil, and to buy their provisions and refit their ships there;
so that the trade and importance of the little city received a very
material impetus in this way.
Much of the progress was due to the sensible management of Governor
Sorell, who spared no effort to reform the convicts, as well as to
elevate and refine the free settlers. Hence it was with great regret
that the colonists saw his term of office expire in 1824. They
petitioned the English Government to allow him to stay for another six
years; and when the reply was given that this could not be done, as
Colonel Sorell was required elsewhere, they presented him with a
handsome testimonial, and settled on him an income of L500 a year from
their own revenues.
#9. Governor Arthur.#--After Colonel Sorell had left, bushranging became
as troublesome as ever. Governor Arthur arrived in 1824, and found the
colony fast relapsing into its former unsettled state. He learnt that,
shortly before, some thirteen or fourteen convicts had succeeded in
escaping from the penal settlement in an open boat, and had landed on a
lonely part of the coast. They were joined by a great crowd of concealed
convicts, and, under the leadership of Crawford and Brady, formed a
dangerous horde of robbers, who, for years, kept the whole colony in
terror. For a while they plundered without hindrance, till a party of
about a dozen attacked the house of an old gentleman named Taylor, who
had the courage to fight and defeat them. With his three sons, his
carpenter, and his servant, he fired upon the advancing ruffians, whilst
his daughters rapidly reloaded the muskets. The robbers retreated,
leaving their leader--Crawford--and two or three others, who had been
wounded, to be captured by Mr. Taylor and sent to Hobart Town, where
they were executed. Brady then became chief leader of the band, and
though his encounter with Mr. Taylor had taken away all his ardour for
fighting, he contrived to plunder and annoy for a long time. Deep in
the woods, along the silent banks of the Shannon, the outlaws lived
securely; for, even when the soldiers ventured to penetrate into these
lonely regions, the outlaws could easily escape to the rugged mountain
sides, where they could hide or defend themselves. Governor Arthur's
task was not an easy one, for Brady could command a powerful force, and
his was not the only one of the kind; the result was that, for a long
time, the country was unsettled and trade was paralysed. Seeing no other
course open, Governor Arthur offered a pardon and a free passage home to
those who surrendered. So many were thus induced to submit peaceably
that, at length, Brady was almost alone; and whilst he wandered in a
secluded valley, without followers, he was surprised by John Batman,
who, several years after, assisted in the settlement of Victoria. Brady
surrendered and was executed; the bushrangers, by degrees, disappeared,
and the colonists once more breathed freely.
#10. Separation.#--Hitherto Tasmania had only been a dependency of New
South Wales, but in 1825 it was made a separate colony, with a Supreme
Court of its own. In 1829 it received its first legislative body,
fifteen gentlemen being appointed to consult with the Governor and make
laws for the colony. For some years after, the history of Tasmania is
simply an account of quiet industry and steady progress. Hobart Town, by
degrees, grew to be a fine city, with handsome buildings and well kept
streets. The country districts were fenced in and well tilled, good
roads and bridges were made, and everything looked smiling and
prosperous. The only serious difficulty was the want of coin for the
ordinary purposes of trade. So great was the scarcity of gold and silver
money that pieces of paper, with promises to pay a certain sum--perhaps
a sixpence or a shilling--were largely used in the colony, in place of
the money itself. At the request of Governor Arthur, coins to the value
of a hundred thousand pounds were sent out from England for the use of
the colonists.
Governor Arthur's period of office expired in 1836, and he left the
colony, greatly to the regret of the colonists, who subscribed L1,500 to
present him with a testimonial. He was succeeded by Sir John Franklin,
the famous voyager, whose history will be related in a subsequent
chapter.
CHAPTER VI.
NEW SOUTH WALES, 1808-1837.
#1. Governor Macquarie.#--In 1808 the English Government held an inquiry
as to the circumstances which had caused the expulsion of Governor
Bligh; and though they cashiered Major Johnstone, and indeed ordered the
whole of the New South Wales Corps to be disbanded, yet, as it was clear
that Bligh had been himself very much to blame, they yielded to the
wishes of the settlers in so far as to appoint a new Governor in his
place, and therefore despatched Major-General Macquarie to take the
position. He was directed to reinstate Bligh for a period of twenty-four
hours, in order to indicate that the authorities in England would not
suffer the colonists to dictate to them in these matters; but that they
reserved completely to themselves the right to appoint and dismiss the
Governors. However, as Bligh had by this time gone to Tasmania,
Macquarie was forced to content himself, on his arrival, with merely
proclaiming what had been his instructions.
[Illustration: GOVERNOR MACQUARIE.]
In the early days of the colonies their destinies were, to a great
extent, moulded by the Governors who had charge of them. Whether for
good or for evil, the influence of the Governor was decisive; and it
was, therefore, a matter of great good fortune to Sydney that, during
the long administration of Governor Lachlan Macquarie, this influence
was almost wholly on the side of good. Not that Macquarie had no faults.
He was a man full of vanity and self-conceit; a man who, instead of
sober despatches to his superiors in England, wrote flowery accounts of
himself and his wonderful doings; a man who, in his egoism, affixed the
names of himself and of his family to nearly every place discovered in
the colony during his term of office. Yet, apart from this weakness,
Macquarie may be characterised as an exemplary man and an admirable
Governor. He devoted himself heartily to his work; his chief thought for
twelve years was how to improve the state of the little colony, and how
to raise the degraded men who had been sent thither. An ardent feeling
of philanthropy gave a kindly tone to his restless activity. Once every
year he made a complete tour of the settled portions of the colony, to
observe their condition and discover what improvements were needed. He
taught the farmers to build for themselves neat houses, in place of the
rude huts they had previously been content with; he encouraged them to
improve their system of farming, sometimes with advice, sometimes with
money, but more often with loans from the Government stores. He built
churches and schools; he took the warmest interest in the progress of
religion and of education; and neglected nothing that could serve to
elevate the moral tone of the little community. Certainly, no community
has ever been in greater need of elevation. The fact that the British
Government thought it necessary to send out 1,100 soldiers to keep order
among a population of only 10,000 indicates very plainly what was the
character of these people, and almost justifies the sweeping assertion
of Macquarie, that the colony consisted of those "who had been
transported, and those who ought to have been". Yet Macquarie uniformly
showed a kindly disposition towards the convicts; he settled great
numbers of them as free men on little farms of their own; and if they
did not succeed as well as they might have done, it was not for want of
advice and assistance from the Governor.
#2. Road over the Blue Mountains.# The most important result of
Macquarie's activity was the opening up of new country. He had quite a
passion for road-making; and though, on his arrival in the colony, he
found only forty-five miles of what were little better than bush tracks,
yet, when he left, there were over three hundred miles of excellent and
substantial roads spreading in all directions from Sydney. He marked out
towns--such as Windsor, Richmond, and Castlereagh--in suitable places;
then, by making roads to them, he encouraged the freed convicts to leave
Sydney and form little communities inland. But his greatest achievement
in the way of road-making was the highway across the Blue Mountains.
This range had for years presented an insurmountable barrier. Many
persons--including the intrepid Bass--had attempted to cross it, but in
vain; the only one who succeeded even in penetrating far into that wild
and rugged country was a gentleman called Caley, who stopped at the
edge of an enormous precipice, where he could see no way of descending.
But in 1813 three gentlemen--named Wentworth, Lawson, and
Blaxland--succeeded in crossing. After laboriously piercing through the
dense timber which covers some of the ranges, they traversed a wild and
desolate country, sometimes crawling along naked precipices, sometimes
fighting their way through wild ravines, but at length emerging on the
beautiful plains to the west. On their return they found that by keeping
constantly on the crest of a long spur, the road could be made much
easier, and Governor Macquarie, stimulated by their report, sent
Surveyor Evans to examine the pass. His opinion was favourable, and
Macquarie lost no time in commencing to construct a road over the
mountains. The difficulties in his way were immense; for fifty miles the
course lay through the most rugged country, where yawning chasms had to
be bridged, and oftentimes the solid rock had to be cut away. Yet, in
less than fifteen months, a good carriage highway stretched from Sydney
across the mountains; and the Governor was able to take Mrs. Macquarie
on a trip to the fine pasture lands beyond, where he founded a town and
named it Bathurst, after Lord Bathurst, the Secretary of State. This was
a measure of great importance to the colony, for the country between the
mountains and the sea was too limited and too much subject to droughts
to maintain the two hundred and fifty thousand sheep which the
prosperous colony now possessed. Many squatters took their flocks along
the road to Bathurst, and settled down in the spacious pasture lands of
the Macquarie and Lachlan Rivers.
[Illustration: BLUE MOUNTAIN SCENERY, WENTWORTH FALLS, NEW SOUTH WALES.]
#3. Governor Brisbane.#--In 1821 Governor Macquarie left for England, much
regretted by the colonists. The only serious mistake of his policy had
been that he had quietly discouraged the introduction of free settlers,
"because," as he said, "the colony is intended for convicts, and
free settlers have no business here". His successor--Sir Thomas
Brisbane--and, afterwards, Sir Ralph Darling--adopted a more liberal
policy, and offered every inducement to free immigrants to make their
homes in the colony. It was never found possible, however, to obtain
many of that class which has been so successful in America, consisting
of men who, having with difficulty gathered sufficient money for their
passages, landed in their adopted country without means and with no
resources beyond the cheerful labour of themselves and of their
families, yet settled down in the deep, untrodden forests, and there
made for themselves happy and prosperous homes. This was not the class
of immigrants who arrived in New South Wales during the times of
Brisbane and Darling. For in 1818 free passages to Australia had been
abolished, and the voyage was so long and so expensive that a poor man
could scarcely hope to accomplish it. Hence, those who arrived in
Sydney were generally young men of good education, who brought with them
a few hundred pounds, and not only were willing to labour themselves,
but were able to employ the labour of others. In America, the "squatter"
was a man who farmed a small piece of land. In Australia, he was one who
bought a flock of sheep and carried them out to the pasture lands,
where, as they increased from year to year, he grew rich with the annual
produce of their wool. Sir Thomas Brisbane was pleased with the advent
of men of this class: he gave them grants of land and assigned to them
as many convicts as they were able to employ. Very speedily the fine
lands of the colony were covered with flocks and herds; and the
applications for convicts became so numerous that, at one time, two
thousand more were demanded than could be supplied. Hence began an
important change in the colony. The costly Government farms were, one
after another, broken up, and the convicts assigned to the squatters.
Then the unremunerative public works were abandoned; for many of these
had been begun only for the purpose of occupying the prisoners. All this
tended for good; as the convicts, when thus scattered, were much more
manageable, and much more likely to reform, than when gathered in large
and corrupting crowds. In Macquarie's time, not one convict in ten could
be usefully employed; seven or eight years after, there was not a
convict in the colony whose services would not be eagerly sought for at
a good price by the squatters.
This important change took place under Governors Brisbane and Darling,
and was in a great measure due to those Governors; yet, strange to say,
neither of them was ever popular. Brisbane, who entered upon office in
1821, was a fine old soldier, a thorough gentleman, honourable and
upright in all his ways. Yet it could not be doubted that he was out of
his proper sphere when conducting the affairs of a young colony, and in
1825 the British Government found it necessary to recall him.
#4. Governor Darling.#--He was succeeded by Sir Ralph Darling, who was
also a soldier, but was, at the same time, a man well adapted for
business. Yet he, too, failed to give satisfaction. He was precise and
methodical, and his habits were painfully careful, exhibiting that sort
of diligence which takes infinite trouble and anxiety over details, to
the neglect of larger and more important matters. His administration
lasted six years, from 1825 to 1831. During this period an association
was formed in England, consisting of merchants and members of
Parliament, who subscribed a capital of one million pounds, and received
from Government a grant of one million acres in New South Wales. They
called themselves the Australian Agricultural Company, and proposed to
improve and cultivate the waste lands of Australia, to import sheep and
cattle for squatting purposes, to open up mines for coal and metals,
and, in general, to avail themselves of the vast resources of the
colony. Sir Edward Parry, the famous Polar navigator, was sent out as
manager. The servants and _employes_ of the association formed quite a
flourishing colony on the Liverpool Plains, at the head of the Darling
River; and though, at first, it caused some confusion in the financial
state of New South Wales, yet, in the end, it proved of great benefit to
the whole colony.
#5. The Legislative Council.#--In 1824 a small Executive Council had been
formed to consult with Governor Brisbane on colonial matters. In 1829
this was enlarged and became the Legislative Council, consisting of
fifteen members, who had power to make laws for the colony. But as their
proceedings were strictly secret, and could be completely reversed by
the Governor whenever he chose, they formed but a very imperfect
substitute for a truly legislative body. Yet this Council was of some
service to the colony: one of its first acts was to introduce the
English jury system, in place of arbitrary trials by Government
officials.
#6. The Newspaper War.#--Governor Darling was never popular. During the
greater part of his period of office intrigues were continually on foot
to obtain his recall; and from this state of feeling there arose what
has been called the newspaper war, which lasted for four years with
great violence. The first Australian newspaper had been established in
1803 by a convict named Howe. It was in a great measure supported by the
patronage of the Government, and the Governors always exercised the
right of forbidding the insertion of what they disliked. Hence this
paper, the _Sydney Gazette_, was considered to be the Government organ,
and, accordingly, its opinions of the Governors and their acts were
greatly distrusted. But, during the time of Brisbane, an independent
newspaper, the _Australian_, was established by Mr. Wentworth and Dr.
Wardell. A second of the same kind soon followed, and was called the
_Monitor_. These papers found it to their advantage, during the
unpopularity of Darling, to criticise severely the acts of that
Governor, who was defended by the _Gazette_ with intemperate zeal. This
altercation had lasted for some time, when, in the third year of
Darling's administration, a very small event was sufficient to set the
whole colony in an uproar.
A dissipated soldier named Sudds persuaded his companion, Thompson, that
their prospects were not hopeful so long as they remained soldiers; but
that, if they became convicts, they had a fair chance of growing rich
and prosperous. Accordingly, they entered a shop and stole a piece of
cloth. They were tried, convicted, and sentenced to be transported to
Tasmania for seven years. This was what they wished; but Governor
Darling, having heard of the scheme they were so successfully carrying
out, took it upon himself to alter the course of the law, and directed
them to be chained together with heavy spiked collars of iron about
their necks, and to be set to labour on the roads. Sudds was suffering
from liver disease; he sank beneath the severity of his punishment, and
in a few days he died--while Thompson, about the same time, became
insane. This was an excellent opportunity for the opposition papers,
which immediately attacked the Governor for what they called his illegal
interference and his brutality. The _Gazette_ filled its columns with
the most fulsome flattery in his defence, and Darling himself was so
imprudent as to mingle in the dispute, and to do what he could to annoy
the editors of the two hostile papers. Very soon the whole colony was
divided into two great classes--the one needlessly extolling the
Governor, the other denouncing him as the most cowardly and brutal of
men. For four years this abusive warfare lasted, till at length the
opponents of Darling won the day; and in 1831 he was recalled by the
English Government.
#7. Governor Bourke.#--Sir Richard Bourke, who succeeded him, was the most
able and the most popular of all the Sydney Governors. He had the talent
and energy of Macquarie; but he had, in addition, a frank and hearty
manner, which insensibly won the hearts of the colonists, who, for years
after his departure, used to talk affectionately of him as the "good old
Governor Bourke". During his term of office the colony continued in a
sober way to make steady progress. In 1833 its population numbered
60,000, of whom 36,000 were free persons. Every year there arrived three
thousand fresh convicts; but as an equal number of free immigrants also
arrived, the colony was benefited by its annual increase of population.
[Illustration: ST. ANDREW'S CATHEDRAL, SYDNEY.]
#8. The Land Question.#--Governor Bourke, on his landing, found that much
discontent existed with reference to what was called the Land Question.
It was understood that any one who applied for land to the Government,
and showed that he would make a good use of it, would receive a suitable
area as a free grant. But many abuses crept in under this system. In
theory, all men had an equal right to obtain the land they required;
but, in practice, it was seldom possible for one who had no friends
among the officials at Sydney to obtain a grant. An immigrant had often
to wait for months, and see his application unheeded; while, meantime, a
few favoured individuals were calling day by day at the Land Office, and
receiving grant after grant of the choicest parts of the colony.
Governor Bourke, under instructions from the English Parliament, made a
new arrangement. There were to be no more free grants. In the settled
districts all land was to be put up for auction; if less than five
shillings an acre was offered, it was not to be sold; when the offers
rose above that price, it was to be given to the highest bidder. This
was regarded as a very fair arrangement; and, as a large sum of money
was annually received from the sale of land, the Government was able to
resume the practice, discontinued in 1818, of assisting poor people to
emigrate from Europe to the colony.
#9. The Squatters.#--Beyond the surveyed districts the land was occupied
by squatters, who settled down where they pleased, but had no legal
right to their "runs," as they were called. With regard to these lands
new regulations were urgently required; for the squatters, who were
liable to be turned off at a moment's notice, felt themselves in a very
precarious position. Besides, as their sheep increased rapidly, and the
flocks of neighbouring squatters interfered with one another, violent
feuds sprang up, and were carried on with much bitterness. To put an end
to these evils Governor Bourke ordered the squatters to apply for the
land they required. He promised to have boundaries marked out; but gave
notice that he would, in future, charge a rent in proportion to the
number of sheep the land could support. In return, he would secure to
each squatter the peaceable occupation of his run until the time came
when it should be required for sale. This regulation did much to secure
the stability of squatting interests in New South Wales.
After ruling well and wisely for six years, Governor Bourke retired in
the year 1837, amid the sincere regrets of the whole colony.
CHAPTER VII.
DISCOVERIES IN THE INTERIOR, 1817-1836.
#1. Oxley.#--After the passage over the Blue Mountains had been
discovered--in 1813--and the beautiful pasture land round Bathurst had
been opened up to the enterprise of the squatters, it was natural that
the colonists should desire to know something of the nature and
capabilities of the land which stretched away to the west. In 1817 they
sent Mr. Oxley, the Surveyor-General, to explore the country towards the
interior, directing him to follow the course of the Lachlan and discover
the ultimate "fate," as they called it, of its waters. Taking with him a
small party, he set out from the settled districts on the Macquarie, and
for many days walked along the banks of the Lachlan, through undulating
districts of woodland and rich meadow. But, after a time, the explorers
could perceive that they were gradually entering upon a region of
totally different aspect; the ground was growing less and less hilly;
the tall mountain trees were giving place to stunted shrubs; and the
fresh green of the grassy slopes was disappearing. At length they
emerged on a great plain, filled with dreary swamps, which stretched as
far as the eye could reach, like one vast dismal sea of waving reeds.
Into this forbidding region they penetrated, forcing their way through
the tangled reeds and over weary miles of oozy mud, into which they sank
almost to the knees at every step. Ere long they had to abandon this
effort to follow the Lachlan throughout its course; they therefore
retraced their steps, and, striking to the south, succeeded in going
round the great swamp which had opposed their progress. Again they
followed the course of the river for some distance, entering, as they
journeyed, into regions of still greater desolation; but again they were
forced to desist by a second swamp of the same kind. The Lachlan here
seemed to lose itself in interminable marshes, and as no trace could be
found of its further course, Oxley concluded that they had reached the
end of the river. As he looked around on the dreary expanse, he
pronounced the country to be "for ever uninhabitable"; and, on his
return to Bathurst, he reported that, in this direction at least, there
was no opening for enterprise. The Lachlan, he said, flows into an
extensive region of swamps, which are perhaps only the margin of a great
inland sea.
Oxley was afterwards sent to explore the course of the Macquarie River,
but was as little successful in this as in his former effort. The river
flowed into a wide marsh, some thirty or forty miles long, and he was
forced to abandon his purpose; he started for the eastern coast, crossed
the New England Range, and descended the long woodland slopes to the
sea, discovering on his way the river Hastings.
#2. Allan Cunningham.#--Several important discoveries were effected by an
enthusiastic botanist named Allan Cunningham, who, in his search for new
plants, succeeded in opening up country which had been previously
unknown. In 1825 he found a passage over the Liverpool Range, through a
wild and picturesque gap, which he called the Pandora Pass; and on the
other side of the mountains he discovered the fine pastoral lands of the
Liverpool Plains and the Darling Downs, which are watered by three
branches of the Upper Darling--the Peel, the Gwydir, and the Dumaresq.
The squatters were quick to take advantage of these discoveries; and,
after a year or two, this district was covered with great flocks of
sheep. It was here that the Australian Agricultural Company formed their
great stations already referred to.
#3. Hume and Hovell.#--The southern coasts of the district now called
Victoria had been carefully explored by Flinders and other sailors, but
the country which lay behind these coasts was quite unknown. In 1824
Governor Brisbane suggested a novel plan of exploration; he proposed to
land a party of convicts at Wilson's Promontory, with instructions to
work their way through the interior to Sydney, where they would receive
their freedom. The charge of the party was offered to Hamilton Hume, a
young native of the colony, and a most expert and intrepid bushman. He
was of an energetic and determined, though somewhat domineering
disposition, and was anxious to distinguish himself in the work of
exploration. He declined to undertake the expedition in the manner
proposed by Governor Brisbane, but offered to conduct a party of
convicts from Sydney to the southern coasts. A sea-captain named Hovell
asked permission to accompany him. With these two as leaders, and six
convict servants to make up the party, they set out from Lake George,
carrying their provisions in two carts, drawn by teams of oxen. As soon
as they met the Murrumbidgee their troubles commenced; the river was so
broad and swift that it was difficult to see how they could carry their
goods across. Hume covered the carts with tarpaulin, so as to make them
serve as punts. Then he swam across the river, carrying the end of a
rope between his teeth; and with this he pulled over the loaded punts.
The men and oxen then swam across, and once more pushed forward. But the
country through which they had now to pass was so rough and woody that
they were obliged to abandon their carts and load the oxen with their
provisions. They journeyed on, through hilly country, beneath the shades
of deep and far-spreading forests; to their left they sometimes caught a
glimpse of the snow-capped peaks of the Australian Alps, and at length
they reached the banks of a clear and rapid stream, which they called
the Hume, but which is now known as the Murray. Their carts being no
longer available, they had to construct boats of wicker-work and cover
them with tarpaulin. Having crossed the river, they entered the lightly
timbered slopes to the north of Victoria, and holding their course
south-west, they discovered first the river Ovens, and then a splendid
stream which they called the Hovell, now known as the Goulburn. Their
great object, however, was to reach the ocean, and every morning when
they left their camping-place they were sustained by the hope of coming,
before evening, in view of the open sea. But day after day passed,
without any prospect of a termination to their journey. Hume and Hovell,
seeing a high peak at some little distance, left the rest of the party
to themselves for a few days, and with incredible labour ascended the
mountain, in the expectation of beholding from its summit the great
Southern Ocean in the distance. Nothing was to be seen, however, but the
waving tops of gum trees rising ridge after ridge away to the south.
Wearily they retraced their steps to the place where the others were
encamped. They called this peak Mount Disappointment. Having altered the
direction of their course a little, in a few days they were rejoiced by
the sight of a great expanse of water. Passing through country which
they declared to resemble, in its freshness and beauty, the well-kept
park of an English nobleman, they reached a bay, which the natives
called Geelong. Here a dispute took place between the leaders, Hovell
asserting that the sheet of water before them was Western Port, Hume
that it was Port Phillip. Hume expressed the utmost contempt for
Hovell's ignorance; Hovell retorted with sarcasms on Hume's dogmatism
and conceit; and the rest of the journey was embittered by so great an
amount of ill-feeling that the two explorers were never again on
friendly terms. Hume's careful and sagacious observations of the route
by which they had come enabled him to lead the party rapidly and safely
back to Sydney, where the leaders were rewarded with grants of land and
the convicts with tickets-of-leave.
[Illustration: CAPTAIN CHARLES STURT.]
#4. Captain Sturt.#--The long drought which occurred between 1826 and 1828
suggested to Governor Darling the idea that, as the swamps which had
impeded Oxley's progress would be then dried up, the exploration of the
river Macquarie would not present the same difficulties as formerly. The
charge of organising an expedition was given to Captain Sturt, who was
to be accompanied by Hume, with a party of two soldiers and eight
convicts. They carried with them portable boats; but when they reached
the Macquarie they found its waters so low as to be incapable of
floating them properly. Trudging on foot along the banks of the river
they reached the place where Oxley had turned back. It was no longer a
marsh; but, with the intense heat, the clay beneath their feet was baked
and hard; there was the same dreary stretch of reeds, now withered and
yellow under the glare of the sun. Sturt endeavoured to penetrate this
solitude, but the physical exertion of pushing their way through the
reeds was too great for them. If they paused to rest, they were almost
suffocated in the hot and pestilent air; the only sound they could hear
was the distant booming of the bittern, and a feeling of the most lonely
wretchedness pervaded the scene. At length they were glad to leave this
dismal region and strike to the west through a flat and monotonous
district where the shells and claws of crayfish told of frequent
inundations. Through this plain there flowed a river, which Sturt called
the Darling, in honour of the Governor. They followed this river for
about ninety miles, and then took their way back to Sydney, Sturt being
now able to prove that the belief in the existence of a great inland sea
was erroneous.
#5. The Murray.#--In 1829, along with a naturalist named Macleay, Sturt
was again sent out to explore the interior, and on this occasion carried
his portable boats to the Murrumbidgee, on which he embarked his party
of eight convicts. They rowed with a will, and soon took the boat down
the river beyond its junction with the Lachlan. The stream then became
narrow, a thick growth of overhanging trees shut out the light from
above, while, beneath, the rushing waters bore them swiftly over
dangerous snags and through whirling rapids, until they were suddenly
shot out into the broad surface of a noble stream which flowed gently
over its smooth bed of sand and pebbles. This river they called the
Murray; but it was afterwards found to be only the lower portion of the
stream which had been crossed by Hume and Hovell several years before.
Sturt's manner of journeying was to row from sunrise to sunset, then
land on the banks of the river and encamp for the night. This exposed
the party to some dangers from the suspicious natives, who often
mustered in crowds of several hundreds; but Sturt's kindly manner and
pleasant smile always converted them into friends, so that the worst
mishap he had to record was the loss of his frying-pan and other
utensils, together with some provisions, which were stolen by the blacks
in the dead of night. After twilight the little encampment was often
swarming with dark figures; but Sturt joined in their sports, and
Macleay especially became a great favourite with them by singing comic
songs, at which the dusky crowds roared with laughter. The natives are
generally good-humoured, if properly managed; and throughout Sturt's
trip the white men and the blacks contrived to spend a very friendly
and sociable time together.
After following the Murray for about two hundred miles below the Lachlan
they reached a place where a large river flowed from the north into the
Murray. This was the mouth of the river Darling, which Sturt himself had
previously discovered and named. He now turned his boat into it, in
order to examine it for a short distance; but after they had rowed a
mile or two they came to a fence of stakes, which the natives had
stretched across the river for the purpose of catching fish. Rather than
break the fence, and so destroy the labours of the blacks, Sturt turned
to sail back. The natives had been concealed on the shore to watch the
motions of the white men, and seeing their considerate conduct, they
came forth upon the bank and gave a loud shout of satisfaction. The
party in the boat unfurled the British flag, and answered with three
hearty cheers, as they slowly drifted down with the current. This humane
disposition was characteristic of Captain Sturt, who, in after life, was
able to say that he had never--either directly or indirectly--caused the
death of a black fellow.
When they again entered on the Murray they were carried gently by the
current--first to the west, then to the south; and, as they went onward,
they found the river grow deeper and wider, until it spread into a broad
sheet of water, which they called Lake Alexandrina, after the name of
our present Queen, who was then the Princess Alexandrina Victoria. On
crossing this lake they found the passage to the ocean blocked up by a
great bar of sand, and were forced to turn their boat round and face the
current, with the prospect of a toilsome journey of a thousand miles
before they could reach home. They had to work hard at their oars, Sturt
taking his turn like the rest. At length they entered the Murrumbidgee;
but their food was now failing, and the labour of pulling against the
stream was proving too great for the men, whose limbs began to grow
feeble and emaciated. Day by day they struggled on, swinging more and
more wearily at their oars, their eyes glassy and sunken with hunger and
toil, and their minds beginning to wander as the intense heat of the
midsummer sun struck on their heads. One man became insane; the others
frequently lay down, declaring that they could not row another stroke,
and were quite willing to die. Sturt animated them, and, with enormous
exertions, he succeeded in bringing the party to the settled districts,
where they were safe. They had made known the greatest river of
Australia and traversed one thousand miles of unknown country, so that
this expedition was by far the most important that had yet been made
into the interior; and Sturt, by land, with Flinders, by sea, stands
first on the roll of Australian discoverers.
#6. Mitchell.#--The next traveller who sought to fill up the blank map of
Australia was Major Mitchell. Having offered, in 1831, to conduct an
expedition to the north-west, he set out with fifteen convicts and
reached the Upper Darling; but two of his men, who had been left behind
to bring up provisions, were speared by the blacks, and the stores
plundered. This disaster forced the company soon after to return. In
1835, when the major renewed his search, he was again unfortunate. The
botanist of the party, Richard Cunningham, brother of the Allan
Cunningham already mentioned, was treacherously killed by the natives;
and, finally, the determined hostility of the blacks brought the
expedition to an ignominious close.
In 1836 Major Mitchell undertook an expedition to the south, and in this
he was much more successful. Taking with him a party of twenty-five
convicts, he followed the Lachlan to its junction with the Murrumbidgee.
Here he stayed for a short time to explore the neighbouring country; but
the party was attacked by hordes of natives, some of whom were shot. The
major then crossed the Murray; and, from a mountain top in the Lodden
district, he looked forth on a land which he declared to be like the
Garden of Eden. On all sides rich expanses of woodland and grassy plains
stretched away to the horizon, watered by abundant streams. They then
passed along the slopes of the Grampians and discovered the river
Glenelg, on which they embarked in the boats which they had carried with
them. The scenery along this stream was magnificent; luxurious festoons
of creepers hung from the banks, trailing downwards in the eddying
current, and partly concealing the most lovely grottos which the current
had wrought out of the pure white banks of limestone. The river wound
round abrupt hills and through verdant valleys, which made the latter
part of their journey to the sea most agreeable and refreshing. Being
stopped by the bar at the mouth of the Glenelg, they followed the shore
for a short distance eastward, and then turned towards home. Portland
Bay now lay on their right, and Mitchell made an excursion to explore
it. What was his surprise to see a neat cottage on the shore, with a
small schooner in front of it at anchor in the bay. This was the lonely
dwelling of the brothers Henty, who had crossed from Tasmania and
founded a whaling station at Portland Bay. On Mitchell's return he had a
glorious view from the summit of Mount Macedon, and what he saw induced
him, on his return to Sydney, to give to the country the name "Australia
Felix". As a reward for his important services he received a vote of one
thousand pounds from the Council at Sydney, and he was shortly
afterwards knighted; so that he is now known as Sir Thomas Mitchell.
CHAPTER VIII.
PORT PHILLIP, 1800-1840.
#1. Discovery of Port Phillip.#--The discovery of Bass Strait in 1798
had rendered it possible for the captains of ships bound for Sydney to
shorten somewhat their voyage thither; and as this was recognised by the
English Government to be a great advantage, a small vessel, the _Lady
Nelson_, was sent out under the command of Lieutenant Grant, in order to
make a thorough exploration of the passage. She reached the Australian
coast at the boundary between the two present colonies of Victoria
and South Australia. Grant called the cape he first met with Cape
Northumberland. He saw and named Cape Nelson, Portland Bay, Cape
Schanck, and other features of the coast. When he arrived in Sydney he
called the attention of Governor King to a small inlet which he had not
been able to examine, although it seemed to him of importance. In 1802
the Governor sent back the _Lady Nelson_, now under the command of
Lieutenant Murray, to explore this inlet. Lieutenant Murray entered
it, and found that a narrow passage led to a broad sheet of water,
thoroughly landlocked, though of very considerable extent. He reported
favourably of the beauty and fertility of its shores, and desired to
name it Port King, in honour of the Governor; but Governor King
requested that this tribute should be paid to the memory of his old
commander, the first Australian Governor, and thus the bay received its
present name, Port Phillip. Only sixty days later Flinders also entered
the bay; but when he arrived, some time afterwards, in Sydney, he was
surprised to find he was not the first discoverer.
It was at this time that the Governor in Sydney was afraid of the
intrusion of the French upon Australian soil, and when he heard how
favourable the appearance of this port was for settlement he resolved to
have it more carefully explored. Accordingly he sent a small schooner,
the _Cumberland_, under the charge of Mr. Robbins, to make the
examination. The vessel carried Charles Grimes, the Surveyor-General of
New South Wales, and his assistant, Meehan; also a surgeon named
M'Callum, and a liberated convict named Flemming, who was to report on
the agricultural capabilities of the district.
[Illustration: THE FIRST HOUSE BUILT IN VICTORIA.]
On arriving at Port Phillip they commenced a systematic survey, Robbins
sounding the bay, and making a careful chart, while the other four were
every morning landed on the shore to examine the country. They walked
ten or fifteen miles each day, and in the evening were again taken on
board the schooner. Thus they walked from the site of Sorrento round by
Brighton till they reached the river Yarra, which they described as a
large fresh-water stream, but without naming it. Then they went round
the bay as far as Geelong. They carried a good chart and several long
reports to the Governor at Sydney, who would probably have sent a party
down to settle by the Yarra, had it not been that an expedition had
already set sail from England for the purpose of occupying the shores of
Port Phillip.
#2. Governor Collins.#--This was the expedition of David Collins, already
mentioned. He brought out nearly 400 persons, of whom over 300 were
convicts. There is good reason to believe that Collins from the first
would have preferred to settle at the Derwent, in Tasmania, but at any
rate he carried out his work at Port Phillip in a very half-hearted
manner. Tuckey chose for the settlement a sandy shore at Sorrento, where
scarcely a drop of fresh water was to be had, and where the blazing sun
of midsummer must have been unusually trying to a crowd of people fresh
from colder climates.
[Illustration: THE FIRST HOTEL IN VICTORIA.]
It soon became apparent that the site selected would never prove
suitable, and Collins sent Lieutenant Tuckey in search of a better
place. That officer seems to have made a very inefficient search. He
found no river, and no stream better than the little one on which the
town of Frankston now stands. Here he was attacked by a great crowd of
blacks, and had a conflict with them sufficiently severe to prevent his
landing again. He was thus debarred from exploration by land, and the
stormy weather prevented him from remaining long in the open bay. Tuckey
therefore returned with a very gloomy report, and increased the
despondency of the little community. Every one was dull and dispirited,
except the two or three children who had been allowed to accompany their
convict parents. Among these, the leader of all their childish sports,
was a little lad named John Pascoe Fawkner, who was destined to be
afterwards of note in the history of Port Phillip. Everybody grew
dispirited under the heat, the want of fresh water, and the general
wretchedness of the situation; and very soon all voices were unanimous
in urging the Governor to remove. Collins then sent a boat, with
letters, to Sydney, and Governor King gave him permission to cross
over to Tasmania. He lost not a moment in doing so, and founded the
settlement at the Derwent, to which reference has already been made.
Before he left, there were four convicts who took advantage of the
confusion to escape into the bush, hoping to make their way to Sydney.
One returned, footsore and weary, just in time to be taken on board; the
other three were not again seen. Two are believed to have perished of
hunger, and thirty-two years passed away before the fate of the third
was discovered.
#3. Western Port.#--When Hume and Hovell returned to Sydney after their
exploring expedition, Hovell insisted that the fine harbour he had seen
was Western Port. He had really been at Geelong Harbour, but was all
that distance astray in his reckoning. Induced by his report, the
Government sent an expedition under Captain Wright to form a settlement
at Western Port. Hovell went with him to give the benefit of his
experience. They landed on Phillip Island; but the want of a stream of
permanent water was a disadvantage, and soon after they crossed to the
mainland on the eastern shore, where they founded a settlement, building
wooden huts and one or two brick cottages. Hovell had now to confess
that the place he had formerly seen was not Western Port, and he went
off in search of the fine country he had previously seen, but came back
disappointed. The settlement struggled onward for about a year, and was
then withdrawn.
It is not easy to explain in a few words why they abandoned their
dwellings and the land they had begun to cultivate. It seems to have
been due to a general discontent. However, there were private settlers
in Tasmania who would have carried out the undertaking with much more
energy. For in Tasmania the sheep had been multiplying at a great rate,
while the amount of clear and grassy land in that island was very
limited. One of the residents in Tasmania, named John Batman, who has
been already mentioned, conceived the idea of forming an association
among the Tasmanian sheep-owners, for the purpose of crossing Bass
Strait and occupying with their flocks the splendid grassy lands which
explorers had seen there.
#4. Batman.#--John Batman was a native of Parramatta, but when he was
about twenty-one years of age he had left his home to seek his fortune
in Tasmania. There he had taken up land and had settled down to the life
of a sheep-farmer in the country around Ben Lomond. But he was fond of a
life of adventure, and found enough of excitement for a time in the
troubled state of the colony. It was he who captured Brady, the leader
of the bushrangers, and he became well known during the struggle with
the natives on account of his success in dealing with them and in
inducing them to surrender peaceably. But when all these troubles were
over, and he had to settle down to the monotonous work of drafting and
driving sheep, he found his land too rocky to support his flocks.
Knowing that others in Tasmania were in the same difficulty, he and his
friend Gellibrand, a lawyer in Hobart, in the year 1827 asked permission
to occupy the grassy lands supposed to be round Western Port, but the
Governor in Sydney refused. In 1834 some of them resolved to go without
permission, and an association of thirteen members resolved to send
sheep over to Port Phillip, which was now known to be the more suitable
harbour.
Before they sent the sheep, they resolved to send some one to explore
and report. John Batman naturally volunteered, and the association
chartered for him a little vessel, the _Rebecca_, in which, after
nineteen days of sea-sickness and miserable tossing in the strait, he
succeeded in entering Port Phillip on the 29th of May, 1835. Next
morning he landed near Geelong and walked to the top of the Barrabool
Hills, wading most of the way through grass knee-deep. On the following
day he went in search of the aboriginals, and met a party of about
twenty women, together with a number of children. With these he soon
contrived to be on friendly terms; and after he had distributed among
them looking-glasses, blankets, handkerchiefs, apples and sugar, he left
them very well satisfied.
#5. The Yarra.# A day or two later the _Rebecca_ anchored in Hobson's Bay,
in front of the ti-tree scrub and the lonely shores where now the
streets of Williamstown extend in all directions. Batman again started
on foot to explore that river whose mouth lay there in front of him.
With fourteen men, all well armed, he passed up the river banks; but,
being on the left side, he naturally turned up that branch which is
called the Saltwater, instead of the main stream. After two days of
walking through open grassy lands, admirably suited for sheep, they
reached the site of Sunbury. From a hill at that place they could see
fires about twenty miles to the south-east; and, as they were anxious to
meet the natives, they bent their steps in that direction till they
overtook a native man, with his wife and three children. To his great
satisfaction, he learnt that these people knew of his friendly meeting
with the women in the Geelong district. They guided him to the banks of
the Merri Creek, to the place where their whole tribe was encamped. He
stayed with them all night, sleeping in a pretty grassy hollow beside
the stream. In the morning he offered to buy a portion of their land,
and gave them a large quantity of goods, consisting of scissors, knives,
blankets, looking-glasses, and articles of this description. In return,
they granted him all the land stretching from the Merri Creek to
Geelong. Batman had the documents drawn up, and on the Northcote Hill,
overlooking the grass-covered flats of Collingwood and the sombre
forests of Carlton and Fitzroy, the natives affixed their marks to the
deeds, by which Batman fancied he was legally put in possession of
600,000 acres. Trees were cut with notches, in order to fix the
boundaries, and in the afternoon Batman took leave of his black friends.
He had not gone far before he was stopped by a large swamp, and so slept
for the night under the great gum trees which then spread their shade
over the ground now covered by the populous streets of West Melbourne.
In the morning he found his way round the swamp, and in trying to reach
the Saltwater came upon a noble stream, which was afterwards called the
Yarra. In the evening he reached his vessel in the bay. Next day he
ascended the Yarra in a boat; and when he came to the Yarra Falls, he
wrote in his diary, "This will be the place for a village," unconscious
that he was gazing upon the site of a great and busy city. Returning to
Indented Head, near the heads of Port Phillip, he left three white men
and his Sydney natives to cultivate the soil and retain possession of
the land he supposed himself to have purchased. Then he set sail for
Tasmania, where he and his associates began to prepare for transporting
their households, their sheep and their cattle, to the new country.
#6. The Henty Brothers.#--But even earlier than this period a quiet
settlement had been made in the western parts of Victoria. There, as
early as 1828, sealers had dwelt at Portland Bay, had built their little
cottages and formed their little gardens. But they were unauthorised,
and could only be regarded by the British Government as intruders,
having no legal right to the land they occupied. In 1834, however, there
came settlers of another class--Edward, Stephen, and Frank Henty. Their
father--a man of some wealth--had in 1828 emigrated with all his family
to Western Australia, carrying with him large quantities of fine stock.
But the settlement at Swan River proving a failure, he had removed to
Tasmania, where his six sons all settled. Very soon they found the
pastoral lands of Tasmania too limited, and as Edward Henty had in one
of his coasting voyages seen the sealers at Portland Bay and noticed how
numerous the whales were in that bay, and how fine the grassy lands that
lay within, he chartered a vessel, the _Thistle_, and crossed in her to
settle at Portland Bay with servants, sheep, cattle, and horses.
[Illustration: EDWARD HENTY.]
The land was all that had been anticipated, and soon Frank, and then
Stephen, arrived, with more stock and more men to tend them. Houses and
stores were put up, and fields were ploughed. Ere long other settlers
followed, and in the course of five or six years all the district lying
inland from Portland Bay was well settled and covered with sheep, while
at Portland Bay itself so many whales were caught that there were not
tanks enough to hold the oil, and much of it was wasted. The English
Government after some delay agreed to sell land to the settlers, and
before 1840 a thriving little town stood on the shores of Portland Bay.
[Illustration: JOHN PASCOE FAWKNER.]
#7. Fawkner.#--John Pascoe Fawkner, who, as a boy, had landed at Sorrento
in 1803, had grown up to manhood in Tasmania through stormy times, and
had at length settled down as an innkeeper in Launceston; with that
business, however, combining the editing and publishing of a small
newspaper. For he was always a busy and active-minded worker, and had
done a great deal to make up for the defective education of his earlier
years. When Batman arrived in Launceston with the news of the fine
pastoral country across the water, Fawkner became quite excited at the
prospects that seemed possible over there. He accordingly began to
agitate for the formation of another association, and five members
joined him. At his expense, the schooner _Enterprise_ was chartered and
loaded with all things necessary for a small settlement. On the 27th
July, 1835, he set sail from Launceston; but the weather was so rough
that, after three days and two nights of inexpressible sickness, Fawkner
found himself still in sight of the Tasmanian coast. He therefore asked
to be put ashore, and left Captain Lancey to manage the trip as he
thought best. The captain took the vessel over to Western Port, as had
been originally arranged; but the land there was not nearly so good as
they understood it to be in the Port Phillip district. So they sailed
round and safely anchored in Hobson's Bay, bringing with them horses and
ploughs, grain, fruit trees, materials for a house, boats, provisions,
and, indeed, everything that a small settlement could want. Getting out
their boat, they entered upon the stream which they saw before them;
but, unfortunately, they turned up the wrong arm, and, after rowing many
miles, were forced to turn back, the water all the way being salt and
unfit for drinking. For this reason they called this stream the
Saltwater; but next morning they started again and tried the other
branch. After pulling for about an hour and a half they reached a basin
in the river whose beauty filled them with exultation and delight. A
rocky ledge over which the river flowed kept the water above it fresh;
the soil was rich, and covered with splendid grass, and they instantly
came to the conclusion to settle in this favoured spot. Next day they
towed the vessel up, and landed where the Custom House now is. At night
they slept beside the falls, where the air was fragrant with the sweet
scent of the wattle trees just bursting into bloom.
They had not been on the river many days before Mr. Wedge--one of
Batman's party--in crossing the country from Indented Head to the Yarra,
was astonished to see the masts of a vessel rising amid the gum trees.
On reaching the river bank, what was his surprise to find, in that
lonely spot, a vessel almost embedded in the woods, and the rocks and
glades echoing to the sound of hammer and saw and the encouraging shouts
of the ploughmen! Wedge informed Fawkner's party that they were
trespassers on land belonging to John Batman and Company. Captain
Lancey, having heard the story of the purchase, declared that such a
transaction could have no value. When Wedge was gone, the settlers laid
their axes to the roots of the trees, and began to clear the land for
extensive cultivation. A fortnight later Wedge brought round all his
party from Indented Head in order to occupy what Batman had marked as
the site for a village, and the two rival parties were encamped side by
side where the western part of Collins Street now stands. A little later
Fawkner arrived with further settlers and with a wooden house, which he
soon erected by the banks of the Yarra, the first regularly built house
of Melbourne. He placed it by the side of the densely wooded stream,
which was afterwards turned into Elizabeth Street. Great crowds of black
and white cockatoos raised their incessant clamour at the first strokes
of the axe; but soon the hillside was clear, and man had taken permanent
possession of the spot.
#8. William Buckley.#--Meanwhile a circumstance had happened which
favoured Batman's party in no small degree. The men left at Indented
Head were surprised one morning to see an extremely tall figure
advancing towards them. His hair was thickly matted; his skin was brown,
but not black, like that of the natives; he was almost naked, and he
carried the ordinary arms of the aborigines. This was William Buckley,
the only survivor of the three convicts who had escaped from Governor
Collins's expedition. He had dwelt for thirty-two years among the
natives. During this long time he had experienced many strange
adventures, but had not exercised the smallest influence for good upon
the natives. He was content to sink at once to their level, and to lead
the purely animal life they led. But when he heard that there was a
party of whites on Indented Head, whom the Geelong tribes proposed to
murder, he crossed to warn them of their danger. Batman's party clothed
him and treated him well, and for a time he acted as interpreter,
smoothing over many of the difficulties that arose with the natives, and
rendering the formation of the settlement much less difficult than it
might have been.
#9. Excitement in Tasmania.#--The news taken over by Batman caused a
commotion in Tasmania. Many settlers crossed in search of the new
country, and, before a year had passed, nearly two hundred persons, with
more than 15,000 sheep, had landed on the shores of Port Phillip. But
they soon spread over a great extent of country--from Geelong to
Sunbury. They were in the midst of numerous black tribes, who now, too
late, began to perceive the nature of Batman's visit, and commenced to
seek revenge. Frequent attacks were made, in one of which a squatter and
his servant were killed beside the Werribee. Their bodies lie buried in
the Flagstaff Gardens.
#10. Governor Bourke.#--These were not the only troubles of the settlers;
for the Sydney Government declared that all purchases of land from
ignorant natives were invalid, and Governor Bourke issued a
proclamation, warning the people at Port Phillip against fixing their
homes there, as the land did not legally belong to them.
Still new settlers flocked over, and a township began to be formed on
the banks of the Yarra. Batman's association found that their claims to
the land granted them by the natives would not be allowed; and, after
some correspondence on the subject with the Home Government, they had
to be content with 28,000 acres, as compensation for the money they had
expended.
#11. Lonsdale.#--Towards the close of 1836 Governor Bourke found himself
compelled to recognise the new settlement, and sent Captain Lonsdale to
act as a magistrate; thirty soldiers accompanied him to maintain order
and protect the settlers. Next year (1837) the Governor himself arrived
at Port Phillip, where he found the settlers now numbering 500. He
planned out the little town, giving names to its streets, and finally
settling that it should be called Melbourne, after Lord Melbourne, who
was then the Prime Minister of England.
#12. Latrobe.#--in 1838 Geelong began to grow into a township, and the
settlers spread west as far as Colac. Next year Mr. Latrobe was sent to
take charge of the whole district of Port Phillip, under the title of
Superintendent, but with almost all the powers of a Governor. The
settlers held a public meeting, in an auction-room at Market Square, for
the purpose of according a hearty welcome to their new Governor, whose
kindliness and upright conduct soon made him a great favourite.
[Illustration: GOVERNOR LATROBE.]
A wattle-and-daub building was put up as a police-office, on the site of
the Western Markets, where it did duty for some time, until one night it
fell; some say because it was undermined by a party of imprisoned
natives; but others, because a bull belonging to Mr. Batman had rushed
against it. A court-house was erected, and four policemen appointed. A
post-office next followed, and, one by one, the various institutions of
a civilised community arose in miniature form. Numerous ships began to
enter the bay, and a lucrative trade sprang up with Tasmania. In 1838
the first newspaper appeared. It was due to the enterprise of Fawkner.
Every Monday morning sheets containing four pages of writing were
distributed to the subscribers, under the title of the _Advertiser_.
After nine issues of this kind had been published, a parcel of old
refuse type was sent over from Tasmania; and a young man being found in
the town who had, in his boyhood, spent a few months in a printing
office, he was pressed into the service, and thenceforward the
_Advertiser_ appeared in a printed form--the pioneer of the press of
Victoria. Mr. Batman had fixed his residence not far from the place now
occupied by the Spencer Street Railway Station. Here, in the year 1839,
he was seized with a violent cold; and, after being carefully nursed by
one of his daughters, died without seeing more than the beginning of
that settlement he had laboured so hard to found. Mr. Fawkner lived to
an advanced age, and saw the city--whose first house he had
built--become a vast metropolis.
[Illustration: COLLINS STREET, MELBOURNE, IN 1840.
(Compare with page 177.)]
The year 1839 brought further increase to the population; and before the
beginning of 1840 there were 3,000 persons, with 500 houses and 70
shops, in Melbourne. In 1841, within five years of its foundation, it
contained 11,000 persons and 1,500 houses.
CHAPTER IX.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA, 1836-1841.
#1. Edward Gibbon Wakefield.#--In 1829 a small book was published in
London which attracted a great deal of attention, not only by reason of
its charming style and the liveliness of its manner, but also on account
of the complete originality of the ideas it contained. It purported to
be a letter written from Sydney, and described the annoyances to be
endured by a man of taste and fortune if he emigrated to Australia. He
could have no intellectual society; he could not enjoy the pleasures of
his library or of his picture gallery; he could hope for none of the
delights of easy retirement, seeing that he had to go forth on his land,
and with his own hands labour for his daily food. For, said Mr.
Wakefield, the author of this little book, you cannot long have free
servants in this country; if a free man arrives in the colony, though he
may for a short time work for you as a servant, yet he is sure to save a
little money, and as land is here so excessively cheap, he soon becomes
a landed proprietor. He settles down on his farm, and, though he may
have a year or two of heavy toil, yet he is almost certain to become
both happy and prosperous. Thus, the colony is an excellent place for a
poor man, but it is a wretched abode for a man of means and of culture.
Wakefield therefore proposed to found in Australia another colony, which
should be better adapted to those who had fortunes sufficient to
maintain them and yet desired to emigrate to a new country. His scheme
for effecting this purpose was to charge a high price for the land, and
so to prevent the poorer people from purchasing it; the money received
from the sale of land he proposed to employ in bringing out young men
and women, as servants and farm labourers, for the service of the
wealthier colonists. Now, said Wakefield, on account of the immense
natural resources of these colonies, their splendid soil, their
magnificent pasture lands, their vast wealth in minerals, and their
widespread forests of valuable timber, which stand ready for the axe, a
gentleman possessed of only L20,000 will obtain as large an income from
it as could be procured from L100,000 in England; yet he will be able to
enjoy his learned and cultured leisure, just as he does at home, because
all the work will be done for him by the servants he employs. For three
or four years this agreeable fallacy made quite a stir in England:
famous authors, distinguished soldiers, learned bishops were deceived by
it; noblemen, members of Parliament, bankers and merchants, all combined
to applaud this novel and excellent idea of Mr. Wakefield.
#2. South Australian Association.#--in 1831 the first effort was made to
give a practical turn to these theories, and the southern shores of
Australia were selected as a suitable locality for the proposed colony.
A company was formed; but when it applied to the British Government for
a charter, which would have conceded the complete sovereignty of the
whole southern region of Australia, Lord Goderich, the Secretary of
State, replied that it was asking a great deal too much, and abruptly
closed the negotiation. Two years later the South Australian Association
was formed, and as this company asked for nothing beyond the power to
sell waste lands and apply the proceeds to assist immigration, the
British Government gave its consent, and an Act was passed by the
Imperial Parliament to give the association full power to found a
colony. This Act directed that commissioners should be appointed to
frame laws for the colony, to establish courts, and to nominate its
officers; land was to be thrown open for sale at not less than twelve
shillings an acre, and even this comparatively high price was to be
raised, after a short time, to L1 per acre, in order to keep the land in
the hands of the wealthy. It was expressly stated that no convict would
be allowed to land in the new settlement, which, it was hoped, would
become in every respect a model community. The British Government
declined to incur any expense in establishing or in maintaining the
colony, which was to be purely self-supporting. Eleven commissioners
were appointed, of whom Colonel Torrens was chairman in England, and Mr.
Fisher the representative in Australia, where he was to take charge of
the sale of lands and supervise the affairs of the colony. At the same
time, Captain Hindmarsh was appointed Governor, and Colonel Light was
sent out to survey the waste lands preparatory to their being offered
for sale.
[Illustration: THE FIRST SETTLEMENT AT ADELAIDE, 1836.
(Compare with page 167.)]
In May, 1835, during the very month in which Batman was wandering for
the first time on the banks of the Yarra, these appointments for the
foundation of a fourth Australian colony were being published in the
English _Government Gazette_. Thus Victoria and South Australia took
their widely different origins at almost the same time; but while the
first actual settlers landed at Port Phillip towards the end of 1835,
the pioneers of South Australia did not reach that colony until the
middle of 1836.
#3. Adelaide.#--The first emigrants to South Australia landed on Kangaroo
Island, of which Flinders had given a most attractive account; but
though the place was beautifully wooded, and of the most picturesque
aspect, it was found to be in many respects unsuitable for the
foundation of a city; and when Colonel Light shortly afterwards arrived
with his staff of surveyors, he at once decided to remove the settlement
to St. Vincent's Gulf. Here, about six miles from the shores of the
gulf, he selected a broad plain between the sea and the pleasant hills
of the Mount Lofty Range; and on the bank of a small stream, which he
called the Torrens, he marked out the lines of the infant city. Queen
Adelaide was the wife of the reigning King of England, and, as she was
exceedingly popular, the colonists, with enthusiasm, adopted her name
for their capital. A harbour was found seven miles distant from the
city, and on it a town was established, to which the name Port Adelaide
was given.
#4. Governor Hindmarsh.#--In December, 1836, Governor Hindmarsh landed,
and beneath a spreading gum tree near the beach he read his commission
to a small audience of emigrants and officials; but when he proceeded to
examine what had been done, he was filled with disgust and indignation.
The only landing-place for vessels was in the midst of a mangrove swamp
at the mouth of a muddy little creek; and all goods would have to be
carried six or seven miles inland to the city. To a sailor's eye, it
seemed the most reckless folly to make so unusual a choice, and he at
once determined to remove the settlement to Encounter Bay; but neither
Colonel Light nor Mr. Fisher would permit any change to be made, and a
violent quarrel took place. As resident commissioner, Mr. Fisher had
powers equal to those of the Governor, and was thus enabled to prolong
the contest. Of the settlers, some sided with the Governor; others gave
their support to the commissioner, and the colony was quickly divided
into two noisy factions. After fourteen months of constant wrangling,
the English Government interfered. Mr. Fisher was dismissed and Governor
Hindmarsh recalled, while the offices of both were conferred on Colonel
Gawler, who arrived in the colony during the year 1838.
[Illustration: GOVERNOR HINDMARSH.]
#5. Early Failures.#--The Wakefield system could not possibly realise the
hopeful anticipations which had been formed of it; for the foundation of
a new colony and the reclaiming of the lonely forest wilds are not to be
accomplished by merely looking on at the exertions of hired servants.
Ladies and gentlemen who had, in England, paid for land they had never
seen, were, on their arrival, greatly disgusted at the sight of the
toils before them. They had to pull their luggage through the dismal
swamp, for there were neither porters nor cabs in waiting; they had to
settle down in canvas tents, on a grassy plain, which was called a city,
but where a few painted boards here and there, fastened to the trunks of
gum trees, were the only indications of streets. Then, when they went
out to see their estates, and beheld great stretches of rude and
unpromising wilderness--when they considered how many years must pass
away before there could possibly arise the terraces and gardens, the
orchards and grassy lawns, which make an English country-house
delightful--their courage failed them, and, instead of going forth upon
the land, they clustered together in Adelaide. Every one wished to
settle down in the city, and as it was expected that, with the growth of
population, the value of town allotments would rapidly increase, the
idea became prevalent that to buy land in the city and keep it for sale
in future years would be a profitable investment. But there were so many
who entertained the same astute design that, when they all came to put
it in practice, there was little gain to any one; and the only result
was that Adelaide was turned into a scene of reckless speculation and
gambling in land.
#6. Governor Gawler.#--Meantime poorer emigrants were arriving in
expectation of obtaining employment from their wealthier predecessors,
who had been able to pay the high price demanded for land. They found
that those whom they expected to be their employers had abandoned the
idea of going out into the country to cultivate the soil. There was,
therefore, nothing for them to do; they had no money with which to
speculate in town allotments, they had no land on which to commence
farming for themselves, and they were in a wretched plight. Provisions
had rapidly increased in price, so that flour rose from L20 to L80 per
ton; no food was being produced from the land, and nothing whatever was
being done to develop the resources of the colony, whilst the money
which the settlers had brought with them was rapidly being spent in
importing shiploads of provisions from other countries.
In order to give employment to those of the settlers who were really
destitute, Governor Gawler commenced a series of Government works. He
constructed a good road between Adelaide and its port. He formed
wharves, and reclaimed the unwholesome swamp; he built a Custom House,
with warehouses and many other costly buildings, the Government House
alone costing L20,000. Now, these were all in themselves very desirable
things; but it was difficult to see how they were to be paid for.
Colonel Gawler spent nearly the whole of his own private fortune in
paying the wages of the unfortunate persons he employed, but that could
not long support so great a concourse of people. He persuaded merchants
in England to send out provisions and clothing for the famished people;
but the only means he had of paying for these goods was by drafts on the
British Treasury, which were accepted at first as equivalent to money,
for it was believed that, whenever they were presented in London,
payment would immediately be made by the British Government. But this
was a serious mistake: though the first series of drafts were paid
readily enough, yet when the authorities in England found that others,
for larger and larger amounts, continued to pour in, they refused to
pay, and reminded the colony that, by the terms of its charter, it was
to be entirely self-supporting. A series of drafts, to the amount of
L69,000, were therefore dishonoured; and the merchants, finding the
drafts to be worth no more than so much paper, demanded their money from
the Governor; but he had nothing with which to pay, and the colony had
to be declared insolvent, having debts to the amount of about L400,000
which it could not meet.
#7. The Collapse.#--Matters were now in a very gloomy condition. Most of
the colonists became anxious to return to England, and therefore sought
to sell their land. But when nearly all wished to sell, and scarcely any
wished to buy, the price went down to a trifle, and men who had invested
fortunes in town allotments, realised no more than enough to pay their
passage home. In the meantime the English merchants declined to send
out any further supplies, and those who had not the means of leaving
Adelaide seemed in great danger of starving. But as land could now be
bought very cheaply, many industrious people of the poorer class settled
down to clear the country for farming. This was what should have been
done at the very beginning; for no colony can be prosperous, or look for
anything but bankruptcy, until it commences to produce grain, or wool,
or minerals, or some other commodity with which it can purchase from
other lands the goods which they produce. The lands of South Australia
are admirably adapted for the growth of wheat; and, after a time,
success attended the efforts of the farmers, who thus laid the
foundations of future prosperity.
[Illustration: PROCLAMATION TREE, GLENELG.
(The colony of S. Australia proclaimed a
British dependency, 28th December, 1836.)]
Another industry was also added about this time. The young squatters of
New South Wales, attracted by the high prices given for sheep in the
early days of Adelaide, had been daring enough, in spite of the blacks
and of the toilsome journey, to drive their flocks overland; and the
new-comers soon gave quite a wool-growing tone to the community. These
"overlanders," as they were called, affected a bandit style of dress; in
their scarlet shirts and broad-brimmed hats, their belts filled with
pistols, and their horses gaily caparisoned, they caused a sensation in
the streets in Adelaide, which rang all evening with their merriment
and dissipation. But as they brought about fifty thousand sheep into the
colony during the course of only a year or so, they were of essential
benefit to it. Many of them settled down and taught the new arrivals how
to manage flocks and prepare the wool, and thus they assisted in raising
Adelaide from the state of despondency and distress into which it had
sunk.
#8. Recall of Governor Gawler.#--The British Government eventually decided
to lend the colony a sufficient sum of money to pay its debts; but it
was resolved to make certain changes. The eleven commissioners were
abolished, Captain George Grey, a young officer, was appointed Governor;
and one day in May, 1841, he walked into the Government House at
Adelaide, presented his commission to Governor Gawler, and at once took
the control of affairs into his own hands. This summary mode of
dismissing Governor Gawler must now be regarded as somewhat harsh; for
he had laboured hard and spent his money freely in trying to benefit the
colony, and the mistakes which were made during his administration were
not so much due to his incapacity as to the impracticable nature of the
theory on which the colony had been founded. In 1841 he sailed for
England, deeply regretted by many who had experienced his kindness and
generosity in their time of trouble.
CHAPTER X.
NEW SOUTH WALES, 1838-1850.
#1. Gipps.#--In 1838, when Governor Bourke left Australia to spend the
remainder of his life in the retirement of his native county in Ireland,
he was succeeded in the government of New South Wales by Sir George
Gipps, an officer who had recently gained distinction by his services in
settling the affairs of Canada. The new Governor was a man of great
ability, generous and well meaning, but of a somewhat arbitrary nature.
No Governor has ever laboured more assiduously for the welfare of his
people, and yet none has ever been more unpopular than Gipps. During his
term of office the colonists were constantly suffering from troubles,
due, in most instances, to themselves, but always attributed to others,
and, as a rule, to the Governor. It is true that the English Government,
though actuated by a sincere desire to benefit and assist the rising
community, often aggravated these troubles by its crude and ill-informed
efforts to alleviate them. And as Sir George Gipps considered it his
chief duty to obey literally and exactly all the orders sent out by his
superiors in England, however much he privately disapproved of them, it
was natural that he should receive much of the odium and derision
attendant on these injudicious attempts; but, on the whole, the troubles
of the colony were due, not so much to any fault of the Governor or to
any error of the English Government, as to the imprudence of the
colonists themselves.
#2. Monetary Crisis.#--During twelve years of unalloyed prosperity, so
many fortunes had been made that the road to wealth seemed securely
opened to all who landed in the colony. Thus it became common for new
arrivals to regard themselves, on their first landing, as already men of
fortune, and, presuming on their anticipated wealth, they often lived in
an expensive and extravagant style, very different from the prudent and
abstemious life which can alone secure to the young colonist the success
he hopes for. In Sydney the most profuse habits prevailed, and in
Melbourne it seemed as if prosperity had turned the heads of the
inhabitants. The most expensive liquors were the ordinary beverages of
waggoners and shepherds; and, on his visit to Port Phillip in 1843,
Governor Gipps found the suburbs of Melbourne thickly strewed with
champagne bottles, which seemed to him to tell a tale of extravagance
and dissipation.
#3. Land Laws.#--Whilst many of the younger merchants were thus on their
way to ruin, and the great bulk of the community were kept impoverished
by their habits, the English Government brought matters to a crisis by
its injudicious interference with the land laws. The early years of
South Australia, and its period of trouble, have been already described.
In 1840 South Australia was on the verge of bankruptcy, and the
Wakefield policy of maintaining the land at a high price had not
produced the results anticipated. Now, many of the greatest men in
England were in favour of the Wakefield theory; and, in particular, the
Secretary of State for the Colonies--that is, the member of the British
Government whose duty it is to attend to colonial affairs was a warm
supporter of the views of Wakefield; so that when the people of South
Australia complained that their scheme could not be successful so
long as the other colonies charged so low a price for their land, he
sympathised with them in their trouble. "Who," they asked, "will pay one
pound an acre for land in South Australia, when, by crossing to Port
Phillip, he can obtain land equally good at five shillings an acre?" To
prevent the total destruction of South Australia, the Secretary of State
ordered the other colonies to charge a higher price for land. New South
Wales was to be divided into three districts. (1) The Middle District,
round Port Jackson, where land was never to be sold for less than twelve
shillings an acre. (2) The Northern District, round Moreton Bay, where
the same price was to be charged. (3) The Southern District, round Port
Phillip, where the land was of superior quality, and was never to be
sold for less than one pound an acre.
A great amount of discontent was caused throughout New South Wales by
this order; but South Australia was saved from absolute ruin, and the
Secretary of State declined to recall the edict. In vain it was urged
that a great part of the land was not worth more than two or three
shillings an acre; the answer was that land was worth whatever people
were willing to pay for it. For a time it seemed as if this view had
been sound, and land was eagerly purchased, even at the advanced prices;
in 1840 the amounts received from land sales were three times as great
as those received in 1838. But this was mostly the result of
speculation, and disastrous effects soon followed; for the prices paid
by the purchasers were far above the real value of the land. If a man
brought a thousand pounds into the colony and paid it to the Government
for a thousand acres of land, he reckoned himself to be still worth a
thousand pounds, and the banks would be willing to lend him nearly a
thousand pounds on the security of his purchase. But if he endeavoured,
after a year or two, to resell it, he would then discover its true
value, and find he was in reality possessed of only two or three hundred
pounds: every purchaser had found the land to be of less value than he
had expected; every one was anxious to sell; and, there being few
buyers, most of it was sold at a ruinous price. Men who had borrowed
money were unable to pay their debts, and became insolvent. The banks,
who had lent them money, were brought to the verge of ruin; and one of
the oldest--the Bank of Australia--became bankrupt in 1843, and
increased the confusion in monetary affairs. In order to pay their
debts, the squatters were now forced to sell their sheep and cattle; but
there was scarcely any one willing to buy, and the market being glutted,
the prices went down to such an extent that sheep, which two years
before had been bought for thirty shillings, were gladly sold for
eighteenpence. Indeed, a large flock was sold in Sydney at sixpence per
head. Fortunately, it was discovered by Mr. O'Brien, a squatter living
at Yass, that about six shillings worth of tallow could be obtained from
each sheep by boiling it down; and, if this operation had not been
extensively begun by many of the sheep-owners, they would, without
doubt, have been completely ruined. So great was the distress that, in
1843, the Governor issued provisions at less than cost price, in order
to prevent the starvation of large numbers of the people.
Yet, the Secretary of State in England knew nothing of all this, and in
1843 he raised the price of land still higher, ordering that, throughout
all Australia, no land should be sold for less than one pound an acre.
#4. Immigration.#--It is not to be imagined, however, that the English
Government ever took to itself any of this land revenue. Every penny was
used for the purpose of bringing immigrants into the colony. Agents in
Europe were appointed to select suitable persons, who received what were
called bounty orders. Any one who possessed an order of this kind
received a free passage to Sydney, all expenses being paid by the
Colonial Government with the money received from the sale of land. The
Governor had the power of giving these orders to persons in New South
Wales, who sent them home to their friends or relatives, or to servants
and labourers, whom they wished to bring to the colonies. Now, Governor
Gipps imagined that the land would continue to bring in as much revenue
every year as it did in 1840, and, in the course of that year and the
next, gave bounty orders to the extent of nearly one million pounds.
But in 1841 the land revenue fell to about one-twentieth of what it had
been in 1840; so that the colony must have become bankrupt had it not
been that more than half of those who received bounty orders, hearing of
the unsettled state of the colony, never made use of the permission
granted. Governor Gipps was blamed by the colonists, and received from
the Secretary of State a letter of sharp rebuke.
As for the immigrants who did arrive in New South Wales, their prospects
were not bright. For a long time many of them found it impossible to
obtain employment. Great numbers landed friendless and penniless in
Sydney, and in a few weeks found themselves obliged to sleep in the
parks, or in the streets, and, but for the friendly exertions of a
benevolent lady, Mrs. Chisholm, who obtained employment at different
times for about two thousand of them, their position would, indeed, have
been wretched.
Mrs. Chisholm founded a home for defenceless and friendless girls,
of whom nearly six hundred were at one time living in Sydney in
destitution, having been sent out from home with bounty orders, under
the impression that employment was certain whenever they might land at
Port Jackson.
Gradually the return of the colonists to habits of prudence and thrift
removed the financial distress which had been the primary cause of all
these troubles. Land ceased to be bought at the ruinously high rates,
and goods returned to their former prices.
#5. Separation.#--But these were not the only cares which pressed upon the
mind of Sir George Gipps. He was entrusted with the management of the
eastern half of Australia, a region stretching from Cape York to
Wilson's Promontory. There were, it is true, but 150,000 inhabitants in
the whole territory. But the people were widely scattered, and there
were in reality two distinct settlements--one consisting of 120,000
people round Sydney, the other of 30,000 round Port Phillip. The latter,
though small, was vigorous, and inclined to be discontented; it was six
hundred miles distant from the capital, and the delays and
inconveniences due to this fact caused it no little annoyance.
There was, indeed, a Superintendent in Melbourne, and to him the control
of the southern district was chiefly entrusted. But Mr. Latrobe was
undecided and feeble. Though personally a most worthy man, yet, as a
ruler, he was much too timid and irresolute. He seldom ventured to take
any step on his own responsibility; no matter how urgent the matter was,
he always waited for instructions from his superior, the Governor.
Under these circumstances, it was natural that the people of Melbourne
should wish for an independent Governor, who would have full power to
settle promptly all local affairs. In 1840 they held a meeting in a room
at the top of the hill in Bourke Street, to petition for separation from
New South Wales. But, next year, the Sydney people held a meeting in the
theatre to protest against it. Here, then, was another source of trouble
to Gipps; for, from this time, the colony was divided into two parties,
eagerly and bitterly disputing on the separation question. Governor
Gipps and Mr. Latrobe were not in favour of separation, and, by their
opposition, they incurred the deep dislike of the people of Port
Phillip. The authorities at home, however, were somewhat inclined to
favour the idea, and as Gipps was necessarily the medium of announcing
their views to the colonists, and carrying them into force, he became
unpopular with the Sydney colonists also. No man has ever occupied a
more trying position; and a somewhat overbearing temperament was not at
all suited for smoothing away its difficulties.
[Illustration: COLONIAL SECRETARY'S OFFICE, SYDNEY.]
#6. Representative Government.#--In 1842 a meeting was held in Sydney to
petition for representative government. The British Parliament saw its
way clear to concede this privilege; and in July, 1843, the first
representatives elected by the people assembled in Sydney. The new
Council consisted of thirty-six members, of whom twelve were either
officials or persons nominated by the Governor, and the other
twenty-four were elective. It was the duty of this body to consult with
the Governor, and to see that the legitimate wishes of the people were
attended to. Six gentlemen were elected for Port Phillip; but residents
of Melbourne found it impossible to leave their business and go to live
in Sydney. The people of Port Phillip were therefore forced to elect
Sydney gentlemen to take charge of their interests. However, these did
their duty excellently. Dr. Lang was especially active in the interests
of his constituents, and in the second session of the Council, during
the year 1844, he moved that a petition should be presented to the
Queen, praying that the Port Phillip district should be separated from
New South Wales, and formed into an independent colony. The Port Phillip
representatives, together with the now famous Robert Lowe, gave their
support to the motion; but there were nineteen votes against it, and
this effort was supposed to have been completely baffled. But Dr. Lang
drew up a petition of his own, which was signed by all the Port Phillip
members and sent to England. Nothing further was heard on the subject
for some time, until Sir George Gipps received a letter from Lord
Stanley, the Secretary of State, directing him to lay the matter before
the Executive Council in Sydney; and stating that, in the opinion of the
English Government, the request of Port Phillip was very fair and
reasonable. An inquiry was held, the Sydney Council sent to England a
report on the subject, and received a reply to the effect that steps
would at once be taken to obtain from the Imperial Parliament the
required Act.
The people of Port Phillip were overjoyed, and in 1846 gave a grand
banquet to Dr. Lang to celebrate the occasion. But they were not
destined to quite so speedy a consummation of their desires. The English
Government which had given so favourable an ear to their petition was
defeated and succeeded by another Government, to whom the whole question
was new. Year after year passed away, and the people of Port Phillip
began to grow impatient, and to complain loudly of their grievances.
First of all, they complained that, although it was a well-recognised
principle that the money received by Government for the waste lands of
any district should be employed in bringing out emigrants to that
district, yet the Sydney Government used much of the money obtained
from the sale of land in Port Phillip for the purpose of bringing out
new colonists--not to Melbourne or Geelong, but to Sydney itself. And
thus, it was said, the people of Sydney were using the money of the Port
Phillip district for their own advantage. And, again, the people of
Melbourne complained that, although they were allowed to elect six
members of the Legislative Council, yet this was merely a mockery,
because none of the Port Phillip residents could afford to live in
Sydney for five months every year and to neglect their own private
business. The former of these accusations seems, so far as we can now
determine, to have been unfounded; the latter was undoubtedly a
practical grievance, though more or less unavoidable in every system of
representation.
#7. Earl Grey.#--For a year or two the English Government forgot all about
the separation question; and, in 1848, the wearied colonists at Port
Phillip determined to call attention to their discontent. Accordingly,
when the elections for that year approached, they determined not to
elect any member, so that the English Government might see of how little
use to them their supposed privilege really was. It was agreed that no
one should come forward for election, and it seemed likely that there
would be no election whatever, when a gentleman named Foster offered
himself as a candidate. This placed the non-election party in a dilemma;
for if they declined to vote at all, and if Mr. Foster could persuade
only two or three of his friends to vote for him, then, since there was
no other candidate, he would be legally elected.
Now, at this time, Earl Grey was Secretary of State for the Colonies;
and when some one proposed to nominate him for election, in opposition
to Mr. Foster, the idea was hailed as a happy one. The non-election
party could then vote for Earl Grey, and he would be returned by a large
majority. But Earl Grey, being an English nobleman and a member of the
British Government, would certainly never go to Sydney to attend a small
Colonial Council; so that there would be, in reality, no member elected.
But the attention of the Secretary of State would be drawn to the
desires of the district. Earl Grey was triumphantly elected, and when
the news went home it caused some merriment. He was jokingly asked in
the House of Lords when he would sail for Sydney. And for several weeks
he underwent so much banter on the subject that his attention was fully
aroused to the long-neglected question. He weighed the matter carefully,
and, resolving to do the people of Port Phillip full justice, sent out
word that he would at once prepare a Bill for the Imperial Parliament,
in order to obtain the necessary powers. At the same time he intimated
that Queen Victoria would be pleased if the new colony should adopt her
name. Nothing could give the colonists more satisfaction, and they
waited with patience until affairs should be properly arranged in
England.
#8. Sir Charles Fitzroy.#--All this agitation, however, had not taken
place without much irritation and contention between the people at Port
Phillip and their Governor at Sydney, from whose authority they wished
to free themselves. Sir George Gipps had much to harass him, and in 1846
he was glad to retire from his troublesome position. He was succeeded by
Sir Charles Fitzroy, a gentleman in every respect his opposite. By no
means clever, yet good-tempered and amiable, he troubled himself very
little with the affairs of the colony. The Sydney Council managed
everything just as it pleased; Sir Charles was glad to be rid of the
trouble, and the colonists were delighted to have their own way. As for
the separation question, he cared very little whether Port Phillip was
erected into a colony or not.
In 1850 the news arrived that Port Phillip was to be separated from New
South Wales, and in the middle of the next year its independence was
declared. Its Superintendent, Latrobe, was raised to the dignity of
Governor, and the new colony received its Constitution, conferring on it
all the legislative and other powers which had previously been possessed
only by New South Wales.
#9. Abolition of Transportation.#--It was during this period that the
English Government resolved on sending no more convicts to Australia. A
committee of the Imperial Parliament held an inquiry into the effects of
transportation, and reported that it would be unwise to continue the
system. From 1842, therefore, there was practically a cessation of
transportation, although the majority of the squatters were averse to
the change. They found that the convicts, when assigned to them, made
good shepherds and stockmen, and that at cheap rates. They subsequently
petitioned for a revival of transportation; but, after some hesitation,
the British Government resolved to adhere to their resolution to send no
more convicts to Sydney. Van Diemen's Land was still unfortunate; it was
to receive, indeed, the full stream of convicts, but from 1842 Australia
itself ceased to be the receptacle for the criminals of Great Britain.
CHAPTER XI.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA, 1841-1850.
#1. Governor Grey.#--The colonists of South Australia had, in 1841,
received a sharp but salutary lesson, and we have seen that they
profited by it. They had discovered that the land was their only source
of wealth, and many, who had sufficient means to purchase farms or
stations, went out into the country, determined to endure a year or two
of hardship in hopes of prosperity to come. Nor had they very long to
wait; in 1844 they were able to export corn to the extent of L40,000,
and in that year the colony possessed 355,000 sheep and 22,000 cattle.
The new Governor, Captain George Grey, took every care to assist the
colonists in returning to more prudent courses. Many changes were
needed; for in 1840, while the colony had a revenue of only L30,000, it
had spent at the rate of L171,000 per annum. Such imprudence could lead
to nothing but ruin, and the first task of the Governor was to reduce
all expenses as far as possible. In the first year the expenditure was
cut down to L90,000; in the next, to L68,000; and in 1843, to L34,000.
Instead of employing the poorer labourers on costly and unnecessary
public works, he persuaded them to take employment in the country with
the farmers and squatters, who were rapidly opening up the interior
parts of the colony. He settled many on small farms or stations of their
own, but in this he was greatly impeded by the high price of land; for
Wakefield's friends in England were not yet convinced that their
favourite scheme was defective--they attributed every mishap to the
incompetence of Governors Hindmarsh and Gawler. "To lower the price,"
said they, "will be to ruin the colony;" and lest such a thing should
happen, they raised the price of all lands, whether good or bad, to one
pound per acre. But many of those who had bought land in the first days
of the settlement had been so anxious to part with it during the crisis
that they had sold it for much less than it cost them; and thus a great
number of the poorer people became possessed of land at very moderate
prices. In 1839 there were but 440 acres under cultivation; three years
afterwards there were 23,000 acres bearing wheat, and 5,000 acres of
other crops. So rich and fertile was the soil that, in 1845, the
colonists not only raised enough of corn to supply their own wants,
but were able to export about 200,000 bushels at cheap rates to the
neighbouring colonies, and even then were left with 150,000 bushels,
which they could neither sell nor use. So rapid a development of
resources and so sudden an accession of prosperity have probably never
occurred in the history of any other country.
#2. Mineral Wealth.#--Such was the success attendant upon careful
industry, exercised with prudence, and under favourable circumstances;
but the colony was to owe yet more to accidental good fortune. During
the year 1841, a carrier, while driving his team of bullocks over the
Mount Lofty Range, had been obliged, by the steepness of the road, to
fasten a log to the back of his waggon in order to steady the load and
prevent its descending too quickly. As the log dragged roughly behind on
the road, it tore great furrows in the soil, and in one of these the
carrier noticed a stone which glanced and glittered like a metal. On
looking more closely, he saw that there were large quantities of the
same substance lying near the surface of the earth in all directions.
Having taken some specimens with him, he made inquiries in Adelaide, and
learned that the substance he had discovered was galena, a mineral in
which sulphur is combined with lead and small quantities of silver. The
land on which this valuable ore had been found was soon purchased, and
mines opened upon it. At first there was a large profit obtained from
the enterprise; and though, in after years, the mines became exhausted,
yet they served to call the attention of the colonists to the
possibility of discovering more permanent and lucrative sources of
mineral wealth.
#3. Copper.#--At the Kapunda Station, about forty miles north-west of
Adelaide, there lived a squatter named Captain Bagot. One day, during
the year 1842, he sent his overseer--Mr. Dutton--to search for a number
of sheep which had strayed into the bush. After spending some time in
fruitless efforts, Mr. Dutton ascended a small hill in order to have a
more extensive view of the country, but still he saw nothing of the lost
sheep. On turning to descend, his attention was attracted by a bright
green rock jutting from the earth. It seemed to him peculiar, so he
broke a small piece off and carried it down to Captain Bagot's house,
where he and the captain examined the specimen, and came to the
conclusion that it consisted of the mineral malachite, containing copper
in combination with water and carbonic dioxide. They let no one know of
the discovery, but proceeded to apply for the land in the usual manner,
without breathing a word as to their purpose. The section of eighty
acres was advertised for a month, and then put up to auction; but as no
one was anxious for this barren piece of ground, they had no
competitors, and the land fell to them for the price of eighty pounds.
As soon as they became possessed of it, they threw off all appearance of
mystery, and commenced operations. During the first year the mines
yielded L4,000; during the next, L10,000; and for several years they
continued to enrich the two proprietors, until each had realised a
handsome fortune, when the land was bought by an English company.
#4. The Burra Mines.#--The discovery of copper at Kapunda caused much
excitement in the colony. Every one who possessed land examined it
carefully for the trace of any minerals it might contain; and soon it
was rumoured that, at a place about one hundred miles north of Adelaide,
a shepherd had found exceedingly rich specimens of copper ore. The land
on which these were discovered had not yet been sold by the Government,
and in great haste a company was formed to purchase it. This company
consisted of the merchants, professional men, and officials of Adelaide;
but a rival company was immediately started, consisting of shopkeepers
and tradesmen, together with the farmers of the country districts. The
former always maintained a haughty air, and soon came to be known
throughout the colony as the "nobs"; while they, in their turn, fixed on
their rivals the nickname of the "snobs". For a week or two the
jealousies of the companies ran high, but they were soon forced to make
a temporary union; for, according to the land laws of the colony, if any
one wished to buy a piece of land, he had to apply for it and have it
advertised for a month; it was then put up for auction, and he who
offered the highest price became the purchaser. But a month was a long
time to wait, and it was rumoured that a number of speculators were on
their way from Sydney to offer a large sum for the land, as soon as it
should be put up to auction. It was, therefore, necessary to take
immediate action. There was another regulation in the land laws,
according to which, if a person applied for 20,000 acres, and paid down
L20,000 in cash, he became at once the proprietor of the land. The
"nobs" determined to avail themselves of this arrangement; but when they
put their money together, they found they had not enough to pay so large
a sum. They therefore asked the "snobs" to join them, on the
understanding that, after the land had been purchased, the two companies
would make a fair division. By uniting their funds they raised the
required amount, and proceeded with great exultation to lodge the money.
But part of it was in the form of bills on the Adelaide banks; and as
the Governor refused to accept anything but cash, the companies were
almost in despair, until a few active members hunted up their friends in
Adelaide, and succeeded in borrowing the number of sovereigns required
to make up the deficiency. The money was paid into the Treasury, the two
companies were the possessors of the land, and the Sydney speculators
arrived a few days too late.
Now came the division of the 20,000 acres. A line was drawn across the
middle; a coin was tossed up to decide which of the two should have the
first choice, and fortune favoured the "snobs," who selected the
northern half, called by the natives Burra Burra. To the southern part
the "nobs" gave the name of "Princess Royal". The companies soon began
operations; but though the two districts appeared on the surface to be
of almost equal promise, yet, on being laid open, the Princess Royal was
soon found to be in reality poor, while the Burra Burra mines provided
fortunes for each of the fortunate "snobs". During the three years after
their discovery they yielded copper to the value of L700,000. Miners
were brought from England, and a town of about 5,000 inhabitants
rapidly sprang into existence. The houses of the Cornish miners were of
a peculiar kind. A creek runs through the district, with high
precipitous banks of solid rock; into the face of these cliffs the
miners cut large chambers to serve for dwellings; holes bored through
the rock, and emerging upon the surface of the ground above, formed the
chimneys, which were capped by small beer barrels instead of
chimney-pots. The fronts of the houses were of weatherboard, in which
doors were left; and for two miles along each side of the stream these
primitive dwellings looked out upon the almost dry bed of the creek,
which formed the main street of the village. Here the miners dwelt for
years, until the waters rose one night into a foaming flood, which
destroyed the houses and swept away several of their inhabitants.
In 1845 Burra Burra was a lonely moor; in 1850 it was bustling with men,
and noisy with the sounds of engines, pumps and forges. Acres of land
were covered with the company's warehouses and offices, and the handsome
residences of its officers; behind these there rose great mounds of
blue, green, and dark-red ores of copper, worth enormous sums of money.
Along the roads eight hundred teams, each consisting of eight bullocks,
passed constantly to and fro, whilst scores of ships were employed in
conveying the ore to England. From this great activity the whole
community could not but derive the utmost benefit, and for a time South
Australia had every prospect of taking the foremost place among the
colonies.
#5. Governor Robe.#--In 1841 Governor Grey had been of the greatest
service to the colony in changing the state of its prospects, but he was
not permitted to see more than the commencement of its great prosperity;
for, in 1845, he was sent to govern New Zealand, where troubles had
arisen similar to those which he had helped to cure in South Australia.
His place was filled by Colonel Robe, a military gentleman, of what is
called the old school, honourable and upright, but inclined to think
that everything ought always to be as it has been. He disliked all
innovation, and did what he could to prevent it, much to the discontent
of the young and thriving colony, which was of necessity the scene of
constant and rapid changes. He passed a very troublous time for three
years, and in 1848 was heartily glad to be recalled.
#6. Governor Young.#--The colony was then placed under the care of Sir
Henry Young, whose policy was completely the reverse. He sought by every
means in his power to encourage the ceaseless activity of the people.
His failing was, perhaps, an injudicious zeal for progress. For
instance, in his desire to open up the river Murray to navigation, he
wasted large sums of money in schemes that proved altogether useless. He
made an effort to remove the bar at the mouth of the river, but fresh
deposits of sand were constantly being brought down by the current, and
lashed up into a new bar by the waves that rolled ceaselessly in from
the Southern Ocean. He spent about L20,000 in trying to construct a
harbour called Port Elliot, near the entrance to the Murray; but there
are now only a few surf-beaten stones to indicate the scene of his
fruitless attempt. He offered a bonus of L4,000 to the first person who
should ascend the Murray in an iron steamer as far as the river Darling.
A gentleman called Cadell made the effort, and succeeded; he obtained
the reward, but it was not enough to pay his heavy expenses, and when he
endeavoured afterwards to carry on a trade, by transporting wool to the
sea in flat-bottomed steamers, he found that the traffic on the river
was not sufficiently great to repay his heavy outlay, and in a short
time he was almost ruined. The attempt was premature; and though, in our
time, the navigation of the Murray is successfully carried on, and is,
undoubtedly, of immense advantage not only to South Australia, but also
to New South Wales and Victoria, yet, at the time when the first efforts
were made, it led to nothing but loss, if not ruin to the pioneers.
CHAPTER XII.
THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD.
#1. Importance of the Year 1851.#--The year 1851 was in many ways an
eventful one to Australia. In that year the colonies received from
the Imperial Parliament the amended Constitutions they had so long
expected. Tasmania, South Australia, Port Phillip, and Western Australia
were now no longer under the absolute control of Governors sent out by
the colonial authorities in England; they could henceforth boast the
dignity of being self-governed communities, for, in 1851, they were
invested with political powers which had previously been possessed by
New South Wales alone. They now had the privilege of electing two-thirds
of the members of a Legislative Council which not only had the power of
making laws each for its own colony, but also of framing any new
constitution for itself according to its own taste and requirements.
Each colony kept its Legislative Council for only a year or two until it
could discuss and establish a regular system of parliamentary government
with two Houses and a Cabinet of responsible Ministers. Again, it was on
the 1st of July in the same year that Port Phillip gained its
independence; from that date onward its prosperous career must be
related under its new title--Victoria.
But the event which made the year 1851 especially memorable in the
annals of Australia was the discovery, near Bathurst, of the first of
those rich goldfields which, for so long a time, changed the prospects
of the colonies. For several years after the date of this occurrence the
history of Australia is little more than the story of the feverish
search for gold, with its hopes, its labour, its turmoil, and its
madness; its scenes of exultation and splendid triumph, and its still
more frequent scenes of bitter and gloomy disappointment.
#2. Early Rumours of Gold.#--For many years there had been rumours that
the Blue Mountains were auriferous. It was said that gold had been seen
by convicts in the days of Macquarie, and, indeed, still earlier; but to
the stories of prisoners, who claimed rewards for alleged discoveries,
the authorities in Sydney always listened with extreme suspicion, more
especially as no pretended discoverer could ever find more than his
first small specimens.
In 1840 a Polish nobleman named Strzelecki, who had been travelling
among the ranges round Mount Kosciusko, stated that, from indications he
had observed, he was firmly persuaded of the existence of gold in these
mountains; but the Governor asked him, as a favour, to make no mention
of a theory which might, perhaps, unsettle the colony, and fill the
easily excited convicts with hopes which, he feared, would prove
delusive. Strzelecki agreed not to publish his belief; but there was
another man of science who was not so easily to be silenced. The Rev. W.
B. Clarke, a clergyman devoted to geology, exhibited specimens in
Sydney, on which he based an opinion that the Blue Mountains would,
eventually, be found to possess goldfields of great extent and value.
Some of these were taken to London by Strzelecki; and in 1844 a great
English scientist, Sir Roderick Murchison, read a paper before the Royal
Geographical Society in which he expressed a theory similar to that of
Mr. Clarke. In 1846 he again called attention to this subject, and
showed that, from the great similarity which existed between the rocks
of the Blue Mountains and those of the Urals, there was every
probability that the one would be found as rich as the other was known
to be in the precious metals. So far as theory could go, the matter had
been well discussed before the year 1851, but no one had ventured to
spend his time and money in making a practical effort to settle the
question.
[Illustration: EDWARD HARGRAVES.]
#3. Edward Hargraves.#--About that, time, however, the rich mines of
California attracted a Bathurst settler, named Edward Hargraves, to seek
his fortune on the banks of the Sacramento; and though, among the great
crowds of struggling and jostling diggers, he met with but little
success, yet he learned the methods by which gold is discovered and
secured, and laid the foundation for adventures in Australia which were
afterwards to bring him both wealth and renown. Whilst he toiled with
increasing disappointment on one of these famous goldfields, the scenery
around him, and the appearance of the rocks, recalled to his memory a
certain secluded valley beyond the Blue Mountains, which he had visited
thirteen years before; the notion floated vaguely through his mind that,
perhaps, in that silent spot, there might lie great treasures, such as
he saw his more fortunate companions from time to time draw forth from
the rocks and soil around him. Day after day the image of that winding
creek among the hills near Bathurst recurred with increasing vividness
to stimulate his imagination and awaken his hopes. At length this
feeling impelled him to seek once more the shores of Australia in order
to examine the spot which had so often been present to his day-dreams.
He lost no time in sailing, and scarcely had he arrived in Sydney ere
he set out on horseback to cross the Blue Mountains. On the 11th of
February, 1851, he spent the night at a little inn a few miles from the
object of his journey, and shortly after dawn he sallied forth on his
ride through the forest, carrying with him a spade and a trowel and a
little tin dish. In the cool air of the morning the scent of the
spreading gum trees braced up his frame as he plunged deeper and deeper
among those lonely hollows and wood-clad hills. In an hour or two he
reached the well-remembered spot--the dry course of a mountain torrent
which, in rainy seasons, finds its way into the Summerhill Creek. He
lost no time in placing a little of the grey-coloured soil into his tin
dish, and at once carried it to the nearest pool, where he dipped the
whole beneath the water. By moving the dish rapidly, as he had learned
to do in California, he washed away the sand and earth; but the
particles of gold, which are more than seven and a half times heavier
than sand, were not so easily to be carried off. They sank to the corner
of the dish, where they lay secure--a few small specks, themselves of
little value, yet telling of hidden treasures that lay scattered in all
the soil around.
A few days were spent in a careful examination of the neighbouring
valleys, and when he was absolutely certain that the hopes he had so
warmly indulged would not prove empty, he set out for Sydney, taking
care, however, to breathe no word of what he thought or of what he had
proved. On the 3rd of April he wrote a letter to the Colonial Secretary,
in which he stated that, if the Government were willing to give him
L500, he would point out localities in New South Wales where gold was
abundantly to be found. In reply, the Colonial Secretary announced that
no preliminary reward could be given; but that, if he chose first of all
to point out the localities, he would afterwards be recompensed in
proportion to the results. He accepted these conditions; and Mr.
Stutchbury, the Colonial Geologist, was sent to accompany him to the
Summerhill Creek. On the 8th of May they set to work, and soon obtained
several ounces of grain gold; on the 13th, they discovered a single
piece worth L30, and next day Mr. Stutchbury reported to the Government
that he had seen enough to convince him that the district was rich in
the precious metal. Five days afterwards, the little valley of the
Summerhill contained four hundred persons, all stooping over the creek
in a row about a mile long, each with a dish in his hand, scarcely ever
raising his head, but busily engaged in washing the sand for gold. Lumps
were frequently found of value varying from L5 to L200. A week later,
there were a thousand persons at work on the creek near the formerly
lonely gully.
#4. Rush to the Goldfield.#--The excitement throughout the colony now
became intense: workmen quitted their employment, shepherds deserted
their flocks, shopkeepers closed their stores, and a great tide of
fortune-seekers pressed onward, day by day, to the west. Most of these
had sold everything they possessed, in order to make up a little bundle
of necessary articles. Yet there were very many but ill-provided for a
lengthened stay; they hurried along the road with the fallacious idea
that gold was simply to be shovelled into bags and carted to Sydney. But
when they came upon the scene, and saw that in the case of most of them
it would only be after weeks and months of severe and constant toil that
they could be rich, they grew faint-hearted, lounged for a week or two
on the diggings, and then started for home again; so that, for some
time, there was a counter-current of grumbling and discontented men
passing back to Sydney by the road. These men thought themselves
befooled by Hargraves, and it might, perhaps, have cost him his life had
he fallen into their hands. On his trip to Sydney he was careful to
disguise himself, to avoid their threatened revenge. He received from
Government, however, his preliminary reward of L500, and, in after
years, New South Wales voted him the sum of L10,000, which was
supplemented by a present of L2,381 from Victoria. Other profits also
accrued to Hargraves; so that he was, in the end, recompensed for his
toil
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