The chief held up a compass
But after vainly attempting to prevail on their captive to betray the English colony into their hands, the Indian referred his fate to Powhatan, the king or principal sachem of the country, to whose presencethey conducted him in pompous and triumphant procession.
This prince received him with much ceremony, ordered a rich repast to be set before him, and then adjudged him to suffer death by having his head laid on a stone and beaten to pieces with clubs.
The prince received him
At the place appointed for his execution, Smith was again rescued from impendingdestruction by Pocahontas, the favourite daughter of the chief, who, finding her first entreaties disregarded, threw her arms round the prisoner, and declared her determination to save him or die with him.
Her generous compassion prevailed over the cruelty of her tribe, and the king not only gave Smith his life, but soon after sent him back to James Town, where the benificence of Pocahontas continued to follow him with supplies of provisions that delivered the colony from famine.
This eminent commander continued for some time to govern the colony with the greatest wisdom and prudence, when he received a dangerous wound from the accidental explosion of some gunpowder. Completely disabled by this misfortune, and destitute of surgical aid in the colony, he was compelled to resign his command, and take his departure for England. He never returned to Virginia again.
I recollect when I was staying in America, an old Delaware Indian came to Boston to sell some skins and furs, and he called at the house where I was stopping. He had once been a chief among the Indians, but was now poor.
I went to this Indian's home, which was a little hut near Mount Holyoke. We found his wife and his three children; two boys and a girl. They came out to meet us, and were very glad to see their father and me.
I was very hungry and tired when I arrived. The Indian's wife roasted some bear's flesh, and gave us some bread made of pounded corn, for our supper.
I then went to bed on some bear skins, and slept very well. Early in the morningI was called to go hunting with the Indian and his two sons. It was a fine bright morning in October. The sun was shining on the tops of the mountains; we climbed Mount Holyoke, through the woods, and ascended a high rock, from which we could see a beautiful valley far below us, in the centre of which was the little town of Northampton, much smaller than it is now.
Do you see those houses?
"Do you see those houses?" said the Indian to me, "When my grandfather was a boy, there was not a house where you seeso many: that valley which now belongs to white men, belonged to red men."
"Then the red men were rich and happy; now they are poor and wretched. Then that beautiful river which you see running through the valley, and which is called the Connecticut, was theirs. They owned these fine mountains too, they hunted in these woods, and fished in that river, and were numerous and powerful,—now they are few and weak."
"But how has this change happened?" said I, "who has taken your lands from you, and made you so miserable?"
"I will tell you all about that to-night," said he, "when we return home."
We proceeded cautiously through the woods, and had not gone far when the Indian beckoned us all to stop. "Look yonder," said he to me, "on that high rock above us!" I did so, but could see nothing. "Look again," said he; I did, and saw a young hind standing upon the point of a rock which hung over the valley; she was a beautiful little animal, full of spirit, withlarge black eyes, slender legs and of a reddish brown colour.
He now selected a choice arrow, placed it on the bow, and sent it whizzing through the air. It struck directly through the heart. The little animal sprang violently forward, over the rock, and fell dead many feet below, where Whampum's sons soon found it; we now returned to the wigwam, carrying the fawn with us.
Death of a hind
In the evening I reminded him of his promise to tell me how the Indians had been robbed of their lands and reduced to poverty. He accordingly began as follows:—
"A great many years ago," said he, "when men with white skins had never been seen in this land, some Indians who were out fishing at a place where the sea widens, espied at a great distance something very large, floating on the water, and such as they had never seen before.
"These Indians immediately returning to the shore, apprized their countrymen of what they had observed, and pressed them to go out with them and discover what it might be. They hurried out together, and saw with astonishment what the others had described, but could not agree upon what it was; some believed it to be an uncommonly large fish or animal, whilst others were of opinion that it must be a very large house floating on the sea.
"They sent off messengers to carry the news to their scattered chiefs and warriors that they should come together immediately.
"The chiefs were soon assembled and deliberating as to the manner in which they should receive the Manitou or Supreme Being on his arrival. Every measure was taken to be well provided with plenty of meat for a sacrifice, the women were desired to prepare the best victuals, all the idols were examined and put in order, and a grand dance was supposed not only to be agreeable to the Great Being, but it was believed that it might tend to appease him if he was angry with them.
"Distracted between hope and fear, they were at a loss what to do; a dance, however, commenced in great confusion; fresh runners arrive, declaring it to be a large house, of various colours, and crowded with living creatures.
"Many are for running off into the woods, but are pressed by others to stay, in order not to give offence to their visitors, who might find them out and destroy them. The house at last stops, and a canoe of small size comes on shore, with a man clothed in red, and some others in it; some staywith his canoe to guard it. The chiefs and wise men assembled in council, form themselves into a large circle, towards which the man in red approaches, with two others; he salutes them with a friendly countenance, and they return the salute in the same manner; they are lost in admiration, the dress, the manner, the whole appearance of the unknown strangers is to them a subject of wonder; but they are particularly struck with him who wore the red coat, all glittering with gold, which they could in no manner account for.
"He surely must be the great Manitou; but why should he have a white skin? Meanwhile a large Hack-hack is brought by one of his servants, from which an unknown liquid is poured out into a small cup, and handed to the supposed Manitou; he drinks,—has the cup filled again, and hands it to the chief standing next to him; the chief receives it, but only smells the contents and passes it on to the next chief, who does the same.
"The glass or cup thus passes through thecircle without the liquor being tasted by any one, and is upon the point of being returned to the red-clothed Manitou, when one of the Indians, a brave man and a great warrior, suddenly jumps up and harangues the assembly, on the impropriety of returning the cup with its content: It was handed to them, said he, by the Manitou, that they should drink out of it as he had done: to follow his example would be pleasing to him, but to return what he had given to them, might provoke his wrath, and bring destruction on them; and since the orator believed it for the good of the nation, that the contents should be drunk, and as no one else would do it, he would drink it himself, let the consequences be what they might: it was better for one man to die, than that a whole nation should be destroyed.
"He then took the cup, and bidding the assembly a solemn farewell, at once drank up its whole contents. Every eye was fixed on the resolute chief, to see what effect the unknown liquor would produce.
"He soon began to stagger, and at last fellprostrate on the ground; his companions now bemoan his fate, he falls into a sound sleep, and they think he is dead: he wakes again:—he asks for more, his wish is granted; the whole assembly then imitate him, and all become intoxicated.
The man with the red clothes
"After this general intoxication had ceased, the man with the red clothes, who had remained in his great canoe while it lasted, returned again and distributed presents among them, consisting of beads, axes,shoes and stockings, such as white people wear.
"They soon became familiar with each other, and began to converse by signs; the strangers made them understand that they would not stay here, that they would return home again, but would pay them another visit next year, when they would bring them more presents and stay with them awhile.
"They went away, as they had said, and returned in the following season, when both parties were much rejoiced to see each other; but the white men laughed at the Indians, for they had the axes and hoes, which they had given them the year before, hanging to their breasts, as ornaments, and the stockings were made use of as tobacco pouches. The whites now put handles to the axes for them, and cut down trees before their eyes, hoed up the ground, and put the stockings on their legs: here, they say, a general laughter ensued among the Indians, that they had remained ignorant of the use of such valuable tools, and had borne the weight of them hanging to their necks forsuch a length of time. They took every white man they saw for an inferior attendant on the supreme Manitou in the red laced clothes.
They took every white man as an inferior attendant
"As they became daily more familiar with the Indians, the white men proposed to stay with us, and we readily consented.
"It was we who so kindly received them in our country, we took them by the handand bade them welcome to sit down by our side and live with us as brothers; but how did they requite our kindness? They first asked only for a little land, on which to raise bread for themselves and their families, and pasture for their cattle, which we freely gave them; they soon wanted more, which we also gave them; they saw the game in the woods, which the Great Spirit had given us for our subsistence, and they wanted that too; they penetrated into the woods in quest of game; they discovered spots of land which pleased them, that land they also wanted; and because we were loath to part with it, as we saw they had already more than they had need of, they took it from us by force, and drove us to a great distance from our ancient homes; they looked everywhere for good spots of land, and when they found one, they immediately, and without ceremony, possessed themselves of it; but when at last they came to our favourite spots, those which lay most convenient to our fisheries, then bloody wars ensued. We would have been contented that the white people and weshould have lived quietly beside each other, but these white men encroached so fast upon us, that we saw at once we should lose all if we did not resist them. The wars that we carried on against each other were long and cruel,—we were enraged when we saw the white people put our friends and relatives, whom they had taken prisoners, on board their ships, whether to drown or sell them as slaves in the country from which they came, we know not; but certain it is, that none of them have ever returned, or even been heard of.
"At last they got possession of the whole country, which the Great Spirit had given us; one of our tribes was forced to wander far to the north, others dispersed in small bodies, and sought refuge where they could.
"How long we shall be permitted to remain in this asylum, the Great Spirit only knows. The whites will not rest contented till they shall have destroyed the last of us, and made us disappear entirely from the face of the earth."
The old Indian said no more: he lookedsad, and his two sons looked sad also; and I shall never forget the impression his story made upon my mind.
Thus, these good Indians, with a kind of melancholy pleasure, recite the long history of their sufferings; and often have I listened to their painful details, until I have felt ashamed of being a white man.
A few days after this we set out upon another hunting excursion, and again climbed the mountains. We had proceeded some distance when we heard the report of a gun, and coming round the point of a rock which lay just before us, we saw a Delaware Indian hunter, who had just discharged his carabine at a huge bear, and broken its backbone; the animal fell, and set up a most plaintive cry; something like that of the panther when he is hungry.
The Indian includes all savage beasts in the number of his enemies, and when he has conquered one, he taunts him before he kills him, in the same strain as he would a conquered enemy of a hostile tribe.
Instead of giving the bear another shot,the hunter stood close to him, and addressed him in these words:—
An Indian kills a bear
"Hark ye! bear; you are a coward, and no warrior, as you pretend to be. Were you a warrior, you would show it by your firmness, and would not cry and whimper, like an old woman. You know, bear, that our tribes are at war with each other, and that yours were the aggressors." As you may suppose, I was not a little surprised at the delivery of this curious invective.
The English settlements in America grew very rapidly into power and importance. The French settlements also increased in extent and influence, and a rivalry between the French and English, fostered and nourished by the "natural enmity" which was said to subsist between the Gauls and the Britons, broke out at last in terrible warfare. War is very frightful under any circumstances. It looks very much like murder; and, even at the best of times, a battle-field reminds us of Cain and Abel. Brother slaughters brother, and the conqueror rejoices and describes his sanguinary work as "a glorious victory." In the war between the English and French settlers in America, a new and atrocious feature was introduced. The Indians were engaged,for pay and powder, on either side, to commit the most hideous cruelties; and things were done which must not be told here, but the very thought of which should make us shudder and turn pale.
The English got the better of the French, and they took Quebec, a strong city in Canada. General Wolfe, a young man and an excellent soldier, captured the city; but it cost him his life. During the heat of the engagement, Wolfe was shot. "Support me," said he to an officer near him; "do not let my brave fellows see my face!" He was removed to the rear, and water was brought to quench his thirst. Just then a cry was heard, "They run! they run!" "Who runs?" exclaimed Wolfe, faintly raising himself. "The enemy!" was the reply. "Then," said he, "I die content," and expired.
The result of the war in which General Wolfe perished, left a vast amount of debt as a heavy weight upon the country. The English settlers had fought very bravely all through the war, and they thought that theEnglish at home ought to pay the debt, and not tax them for its payment. But the king and the parliament thought differently. They taxed the American settlers very heavily; they would listen to no remonstrance; and, when some signs were given of resistance, they were threatened with punishment, like so many unruly schoolboys. Certain privileges which had been granted them were taken away, and troops sent out to enforce obedience. One very objectionable tax to the Americans was a stamp duty on newspapers. Another was a tax on tea. They urged that it was unfair for the British government to tax them without they were allowed to send members to Parliament to look after their interests; but remonstrance only tended to make the British government more determined; and so at last they came to what somebody has called gunpowder law, that is to say, fighting.
I need not enter on the events of the war. It ended in the triumph of the American settlers, and in the declaration ofAmerican independence and the formation of the United States. The foremost man, both as a statesman and a soldier, in the conduct of the war, on the part of the Americans, was George Washington. He was elected three times to the presidency, and no name is more revered than his by the Americans.
Since the separation of America from England, more than one quarrel has occurred between them. That which most vitally touches the future prosperity of the states is the warfare which now rages between the northern and southern sections of the republic. Most of you are aware that slavery prevails to a great extent in America. The negroes or blacks (the wordnegromeansblack) are more particularly found in the southern states. The northern states do notholdslaves, but they have so farheldwith slavery as to give up runaways, and tolerate the laws which make a man—because he was black—a mere beast of burden. A quarrel, however, on this question, and others of minor importance, has at last broken out between the north and south.The southerners have separated from the northerners, and established a new republic of their own. Theirrightto do this has been denied by the north, and a civil war has commenced in consequence. What may be the final result it is impossible for any one to predict. The quarrel threatened at one time to involve a war with England; but this is no longer apprehended. It seems a very sad thing that a people so clever, so enterprising, so prosperous as the Americans, should, by a quarrel and separation among themselves, endanger—if they do not entirely overthrow—one of the most important states in the world. We cannot forget what it is that lies at the bottom of the mischief—Slavery.
"O execrable crime! so to aspireAbove our brethren, to ourselves assumingAuthority usurped from God, not given.He gave us only over beast, fish, fowl,Dominion absolute; that right we holdBy his donation: but man over manHe made not lord—such title to himselfReserving, human left from human free."
I may now tell you something about some of the chief cities in the United States.
New York is the principal seaport and commercial metropolis of the States. It is situated at the southern extremity of an island called Manhattan Island, near the mouth of the Hudson river. Its progress has been very rapid, and its population is more than double that of any other city in the new world. The approach to the city is very fine—the shores of the bay being wooded down to the water's edge, and thickly studded with farms, villages, and country seats. New York measures about ten miles round. It is triangular in form. The principal street is Broadway, a spacious thoroughfare extending in a straight line through the centre of the city. The houses have a clean, fresh, cheerful appearance; many of the stores or shops are highly decorated; the public buildings, including the churches, while they can make no pretension to grandeur, are good of their kind; the university is probably the finest building in the city. The hotels in New York arefar more extensive than anything of the kind in Europe, and they are fitted up and conducted on a scale of princely grandeur. The city of New York was founded by the Dutch in 1621, and called New Amsterdam; but it was given to the Duke of York (afterwards James II.) in 1604, and was henceforth called by his name. The first congress of the United States was held there in 1789.
Washington is the government capital of the States, and is so called in honour of the distinguished man—the father of the Republic—to whom I have already alluded. The entrance to the city by the Pennsylvanian avenue is 100 feet wide, and planted with some of the trees. The president's residence is called the "White House." The chief public offices and halls for the assembly of congress are contained in one building known as the Capitol. It stands on a hill, and is said to be the finest building in the Union. It is surrounded by ornamental grounds, and overlooks the river Potomac.
Bostonis a maritime city, and a great placeof trade; it is situated on an extensive bay, and is connected with the interior of the country by canals, railways, and river navigation. It is the great seat of the American ice trade. In the history of the war of independence it occupies a conspicuous place, as the Bostonians displayed great energy in asserting popular rights. At Boston, when the "taxed tea" was sent over by the British government, a number of the citizens disguised themselves as Mohawk Indians, boarded the ships in which it had been brought over, seized upon and staved the chests, and threw their contents into the sea. This affair was known as the Boston tea party. Boston is the birth-place of Dr. Benjamin Franklin—the "Poor Richard" of whom I have no doubt you have often heard, and whose excellent advice cannot be too well remembered nor too carefully applied.
Charlestonis another of the principal sea-ports of the States. It is the largest town in South Carolina, and is situated at a low point of land at the confluence of tworivers. It is the stronghold of slavery. One of the most recent events connected with it is that of the Northerners blocking up the harbour by sinking several ships, laden with stones, at the entrance. This is a very barbarous act, as it closes—perhaps for ever—one of the first ports in America.
Philadelphiais the last city I shall mention. It is the great Quaker city; its streets are remarkable for their regularity, and the houses and stores for the peculiar air of cleanness which they exhibit. The public buildings are nearly all of white marble. It is distinguished for its vast number of charitable institutions and religious edifices, and it is a thriving place of business. The city was founded by William Penn in 1682. There is a monument marking the site of the signing of Penn's famous treaty with the Indians. With some little account of this treaty I shall conclude my notice of America.
King Charles II. made a grant of land to Penn, but this good man would not enter upon its possession until after he had arranged a treaty with those to whom he justlythought it more fairly belonged than to the King of England—namely, with the Indians. He consequently convened a meeting—under the wide spreading branches of an elm tree, the Indian chiefs assembled. They were unarmed; the old men sat in a half-moon upon the ground, the middle aged in the same figure, at a little distance from them; the younger men formed a third semicircle in the rear. Before them stood William Penn,—a light blue sash, the only mark which distinguished him from his friends, bound round his waist.
"'Thou'lt find,' said the quaker, 'in me and mine,But friends and brothers to thee and thine,Who above no power, admit no line,Twixt the red man and the white.'And bright was the spot where the quaker came,To leave his hat, his drab, and his name,That will sweetly sound from the trumpet of fame,Till its final blast shall die."
It is to be regretted that the speeches of the Indians on this memorable day have not come down to us. It is only known thatthey solemnly pledged themselves to live with William Penn and his people in peace and amity so long as the sun and moon should endure. This was the only treaty, it has been said, between these people and the Christians that wasnotratified by an oath, and that wasneverbroken.
At the termination of the American war, of which I have just given you a short account, the United States of America, which had been called by England her American Colonies, ceased to be any longer subject to Great Britain.
The province of Virginia, in America, had for a long time been the only authorized outlet for those criminals in Great Britain and Ireland, who had been sentenced to transportation.
It now became necessary for the English government to fix upon some other country, to which those of her subjects might betransported, who were condemned to banishment for their crimes.
Map of Australia
After much deliberation in the British Parliament, it was determined to form a penal settlement in New South Wales.
If you will look at a globe, or, if you have not a globe, at a map of the world, turning the South Pole from you, or uppermost, and, supposing yourself to be in a ship, sail across the Atlantic Ocean till you come to the Equator, which is an imaginary line that divides the northern half of the globe from the southern; then "cross the line," as it is called, and sail along the South Atlantic, in the direction of the coast of South America, till you arrive at its southern extremity, which you will see is called Cape Horn; then sailing round Cape Horn, (which is called doubling Cape Horn), and directing your course westward, right across the Great Pacific Ocean. After having sailed across these three great oceans, you will find yourself, if you have a prosperous voyage, exactly on the opposite side of the globe, and before you, an extensive chain of largeislands, lying off the South-eastern extremity of the continent of Asia.
This group of islands has been named Australasia, which means Southern Asia, and the largest of these, which is the largest island in the whole world, has been called Australia, or New Holland.
This is so large an island, that if you were to divide the whole of Europe into ten parts, New Holland is as large as nine of them: and hence, from its great extent, some geographers have dignified it with the title of a continent.
The northern and western coasts of this vast island were discovered by a succession of Dutch navigators, who gave them the name of New Holland.
The eastern coast, which has been explored, and taken possession of by the English, was discovered by Capt. Cook, who gave it the name of New South Wales.
At the southern extremity of Australia or New Holland, you will seeVan Diemen's Land, which was discovered by Tasman, one of the Dutch navigators, who was sentfrom Batavia by Anthony Van Diemen, the Dutch governor-general of the Indies, to survey the coast of New Holland.
In this voyage Tasman discovered an extensive country lying to the south of New Holland; in giving a name to which, he immortalized his patron, by calling it "Van Diemen's Land," having no suspicion at the time that it was an island.
It was not till the year 1798 that it was discovered to be such; as in all the old maps and charts it is represented as part of the main land of New Holland.
This important discovery was effected in an open boat, by Mr. Bass, a surgeon in the royal navy, who found it to be separated from Australia by a broad strait, which has ever since borne the name of its discoverer, "Bass' Straits."
A fleet of eleven sail was assembled at Portsmouth in March, 1783, for the formation of the proposed settlement on the coast of New Holland.
On board of these vessels were embarked 600 male, and 250 female convicts, with aguard consisting of about 200 soldiers, with their proper officers. Forty women, wives of the marines, were also permitted to accompany their husbands, together with their children.
Captain Arthur Phillip, an officer highly qualified in every respect for the arduous undertaking, was appointed governor of the proposed colony.
The little fleet which was thus placed under the command of Captain Phillip, and which has ever since been designated by the colonists "the first fleet," set sail from Portsmouth on the 13th of May 1787, and arrived at Botany Bay, in New South Wales, in January 1788, after a long, but comparatively prosperous voyage of eight months and upwards.
Captain Phillip soon found, to his disappointment, that Botany Bay was by no means an eligible harbour; nor was it, in other respects, suitable for the establishment of a colony, and he determined, even before any number of the convicts had been permitted to land, to search for a more eligible site.
In Captain Cook's chart of the coast, another opening had been laid down, a few miles to the northward of Botany Bay, on the authority of a seaman of the name of Jackson, who had seen it from the foretop-mast-head; and Captain Cook, conceiving it to be nothing more than a harbour for boats, which it was not worth his while to examine, called it Port Jackson.
It is no wonder that Captain Cook came to this conclusion; for no opening of any kind can be perceived till you come close in with the land.
This opening Captain Phillip examined, and the result of that examination was the splendid discovery of Port Jackson,—one of the finest harbours, whether for extent or security, in the world.
To this harbour the fleet was immediately removed, and the settlement was ultimately formed at the head of Sydney Cove, one of the numerous and romantic inlets of Port Jackson.
The labour and patience required, and the difficulties which the first settlers musthave had to encounter, are incalculable; but their success has been complete.
The forest has been cleared away, the corn-field and the orchard have supplanted the wild grass and the bush, and towns and villages have arisen as if by magic. You may hear the lowing of herds where, a few years before, you would have trembled at the wild whoop of the savage, and the stillness of that once solitary shore is broken by the sound of wheels and the busy hum of commerce.
Swan
The natives of this part of Australia are, beyond comparison, the most barbarous on the surface of the globe.
They are hideously ugly, with flat noses, wide nostrils, eyes sunk in the head, and overshadowed with thick eyebrows. The mouth very wide, lips thick and prominent, hair black, but not woolly; the colour of the skin varies from dark bronze to jet black. Their stature is below the middle size, and they are remarkably thin and ill-made.
To add to their natural deformity, they thrust a bone through the cartilage of the nose, and stick with gum to their hair matted moss, the teeth of men, sharks, andkangaroos, the tails of dogs, and jaw-bones of fish.
On particular occasions they ornament themselves with red and white clay, using the former when preparing to fight, and the latter for the more peaceful amusement of dancing. The fashion of these ornaments was left to each person's taste, and some, when decorated in their best manner, looked perfectly horrible: nothing could appear more terrible than a black and dismal face, with a large white circle drawn round each eye.
Personal ornamentation
They scarify the skin in every part with sharp shells.
The women and female children are generally found to want the first two joints of the little finger of the left hand, which are taken off while they are infants, and the reason they assign is, that they would be in the way in winding the fish-lines over the hand.
The men all want one of their front teeth, which is knocked out when they arrive at the age of fifteen or sixteen, with many ridiculous ceremonies; but the boys are not allowed to consider themselves as men before they have undergone that operation.
They live chiefly on fish, which they sometimes spear and sometimes net; the women, on the parts of the coast, aiding to catch them with the hook and line.
"The facility," (observes Captain Sturt), "with which they procured fish was really surprising.
"They would slip, feet foremost, into the water, as they walked along the bank of the river, as if they had accidentally done so;but, in reality, to avoid the splash they would have made if they had plunged in head foremost.
"As surely as a native disappeared under the surface of the water, so surely would he re-appear, with a fish writhing upon the point of his short spear.
"The very otter scarcely exceeds them in power over the finny race, and so true is the aim of these savages, even under the water, that all the fish we procured from them were pierced either close behind the lateral fin or in the very centre of the head."
Fishing
If a dead whale happens to be cast on the shore, numbers flock to it, from every part of the coast, and they feast sumptuously while any part remains.
Those in the interior are stated to live on grubs, insects, ants and their eggs, kangaroos, when they can catch them, fern roots, various kinds of berries, and honey; caterpillars and worms also form part of their food.
Captain Phillip took every possible pains to reclaim these ignorant savages, and he once nearly lost his life in endeavouring to conciliate a party of them, having ventured amongst them unarmed for that purpose; one of the savages threw a spear which pierced the upper part of his shoulder and came out at his back.
But all the efforts of the governor to effect the permanent civilization of these miserable people proved utterly abortive.
They possess the faculty of mimickry or imitation to a very considerable degree. I was walking with a friend, one beautiful evening, on the banks of the Paramatta,when Bungarry, chief of the Sydney tribe of black natives, was pulling down the river with his two jins, or wives, in a boat which he had received as a present from the governor. My friend accosted him on his coming up with us, and the good-natured chief immediately desired hisjinsto rest upon their oars, for he was rowed by his wives. During the short conversation that ensued, my friend requested Bungarry to show how governor Macquarrie made a bow.
The Chief in his boat
Bungarry happened to be dressed in the old uniform of a military officer, and standing up in the stern of his boat, and taking off his cocked hat, with the requisite punctilio, he made a low formal bow, with all the dignity and grace of a general officer of the old school.
The rich variety of vegetation on the Illawarra mountain, which is a lofty range running parallel with the coast, contrasts beautifully with the richness of the scenery. The fern tree, shooting up its rough stem, about the thickness of a small boat's mast, to the height of fifteen or twenty feet, and then, all at once shooting out a number of leaves in every direction, each at four or five feet in length, and exactly similar in appearance to the leaf of the common fern; while palms of various botanical species, are ever and anon shooting up their tall slender branchless stems to the height of seventy or a hundred feet, and then forming a large canopy of leaves, each of which bends gracefully outwards and then downwards, like a Prince of Wales' feathers.
Another beautiful species met with in the low grounds of Illawarra, is the fan palm, or cabbage tree, and another equally graceful in its outline, is called by the natives Bangalo.
Fan Palm
The nettle tree, which is also met with in the bushes, is not only seen by the traveller, but occasionally felt, and remembered, for its name is highly descriptive.
Both the animal and vegetable creationin Australia, are wholly different from those in every other part of the world.
To show that the existence of a thing was not believed in, it was compared to ablack swan, but in New Holland we find black swans, and blue frogs; red lobsters, and blue crabs; flying opossums, and beasts with bills like ducks; fish that hop about on dry land, and quadrupeds that lay eggs.
The quadrupeds hitherto discovered, with very few exceptions, are all of the kangaroo or opossum tribe; having their hinder legs long, out of all proportion when compared with the length of the fore legs, and a sack under the belly of the female for the reception of the young.
A jackal
They have kangaroo rats, and dogs of the jackal kind, all exactly alike; and a little animal of the bear tribe, named the wombat,but the largest quadruped at present discovered is the kangaroo.
These pretty nearly complete the catalogue of four-footed animals yet known on this vast island.
There is, however, an animal which resembles nothing in the creation but itself, and which neither belongs to beast, bird or fish.
This animal is called the Duck-billed Platypus.
Duck-billed Platypus
Of all the quadrupeds yet known, this seems the most extraordinary in its conformation; exhibiting the perfect semblance of the beak of a duck on the head of a quadruped.
The head is flattish, and rather small than large; the mouth or snout so exactly resembles that of some broad-billed species of duck, that it might be mistaken for one.
The birds and fish are no less singular than the beasts. There is a singular fish, which when left uncovered by the ebbing of the tide, leaps about like the grasshopper, by means of strong fins.
Moenura superba
The Mœnura Superba, with its scalloped tail feathers, is perhaps the most singular and beautiful of that elegant race of bird, known by the name of Birds of Paradise.
Cockatoos, Parrots, and Parroquets, are innumerable, and of great variety.
The Nonpareil Parrot is perhaps the most beautiful bird of the parrot tribe in the whole world.
The Mountain Eagle is a magnificent creature; but the Emu, or New Holland Cassowary, is perhaps the tallest and loftiest bird that exists.
A Cassowary
The capital of the colony, and the seat ofthe colonial Government is Sydney. The Town of Sydney is beautifully situated in Sydney Cove, which I told you is one of the romantic inlets of Port Jackson, about seven miles from the entrance of the harbour. The headlands at the mouth of the harbour form one of the grandest features in the natural scenery of the country.
It is not, however, a distant or cursory glance that will give you a just idea of the importance of this busy capital.
In order to form a just estimation of it, you should take a boat and proceed from Sydney Cove to Darling Harbour, you will then see the whole extent of the eastern shore of the latter capacious basin equally crowded with warehouses, stores, dock-yards, mills, and wharfs; the store-houses built on the most magnificent scale, and with the best and most substantial materials. The population of Sydney is supposed now to exceed 10,000 persons.
The second town in the colony is Paramatta. It is distant about fourteen miles fromSydney, being pleasantly situated at the head of one of the navigable arms of Port Jackson. It contains nearly 5,000 inhabitants. The other towns in the colony, are Windsor, Liverpool, Campbell Town, Newcastle and Maitland. The last will doubtless ere long be the second in the colony, as it is situated at the head of the navigation of Hunter's river.
Very fine roads have been formed in Australia, particularly one leading across the Blue mountains to Bathurst, on the western side of that range, which is 180 miles from Sydney.
The openness of the country around Bathurst is more favourable for hunting and shooting than most other parts of the colony.
The Kangaroo and the Emu are both hunted with dogs; they are both feeble animals, but they are not altogether destitute of the means of defence.
In addition to swiftness of foot, the Emu has a great muscular power in his long iron limbs, and can give an awkward blow to hispursuer, by striking out at him behind, like a young horse, while the Kangaroo, when brought to bay by the dogs, rests himself on his strong muscular tail, seizes the dog with his little hands or fore-feet, and thrusts at him with one of his hind feet, which is armed for that purpose with a single sharp-pointed hoof, and perhaps lay his side completely open.
A Kangaroo
When hotly pursued, the kangaroo sometimes takes to the water, where, if he happen to be followed by a dog, he has a singular advantage over all other quadrupedsof his own size, from his being able to stand erect in pretty deep water.
In this position he waits for the dog, and when the latter comes close up to him, he seizes him with his fore-feet and presses him under water till he is drowned.
The Bustard, or native turkey, is occasionally shot in the Bathurst country. It sometimes weighs eighteen pounds, and is different from the common turkey, in the flesh of the legs being white, while that of the breast is dark-coloured.
Among the natives the old men have alone the privilege of eating the Emu, and married people only are permitted to eat ducks.
The natives suffer no animal, however small, to escape them.
One of the blacks being anxious to get an Opossum out of a dead tree, every branch of which was hollow, asked for a tomahawk, with which he cut a hole in the trunk above where he thought the animal lay concealed. He found, however, that he had cut too low, and that it had run higher up. This made it necessary to smoke it out; he accordinglygot some dry grass, and having set fire to it, stuffed it into the hole he had cut.