CHAPTER V. [Part]
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...concert given in the court-house by Mr, Chester. Mrs. Chester was the principal and only female singer. She had been a professional both in London and Sydney. Mr. Chester was a clerk at a store, and had only been a short time in the city. Concerts were rare things in Newcastle; and when the night came, the house was crowded with all the fashion and beauty of the city and neighbourhood. Mr. Spragg, in order to be in full trim for the occasion, had two nights of rehearsal in his own drawing-room. A short time before the concert hour, the kitchen was turned into a green-room. I lent him a long pair of ridge-and-furrow Scotch stockings, which he drew on over white trousers and fastened at the knees with pieces of red ribbon. A loose shooting-jacket was thrown across his shoulders, and a rustic hat well floured, crowned the whole man. As a finishing-stroke, his face was coloured with rouge, and his hair was dusted with whiting. He spent an hour at this evening's toilet. His duty was to shine in the character of a country clown; and before a large glass on the chimney-piece he studied his part so well, that he was "perfect" by the time he was called upon. Mrs. Chester sung several popular songs, accompanied by the piano; Master Sydney Chester, a boy of 14 years, sung several nigger melodies; Mr. James Hannel sung an Irish song; and then came Mr. Spragg, who sung the "Country Fair."
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This song elicited a hurricane of applause, which died away in the gruff sounds made by some clever imitator of a braying donkey. The whole of the proceedings passed off so well, that there was another concert on the following week, at which Mr. Spragg appeared in the same character, and Mr. Rogers, grotesquely attired, sung his usual ditty.
Some days after this, a number of mountebanks, from Maitland, paid a visit to Newcastle, and by permission, located themselves in Mrs, Croft's yard, at the end of Mr. Spragg's premises. These nimble gentry stayed four days, and were amply enriched by their visit.
One lovely evening, while standing upon the verandah, amusing myself with a telescope I held in my hand, on directing it towards the sea, I saw a fine barque rounding the Nobbies and making for the harbour. After some time I went down to the wharf. She proved to be the William Hyde, of London, and had come from Sydney to take in a cargo of cattle, sheep, and horses for Wellington, New Zealand.
I had a great desire to see the country, so I engaged a berth in the cabin, at steerage fare, £8, and mess with the steward.
The crew consisted of eleven Maories, or New Zealanders, and six Europeans, in addition to the officers. The Maories all came into the city that
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night, and their singular appearance attracted much attention. They were strapping young fellows. Some grotesquely tattooed; one or two had ear-rings of a peculiar kind of shark's teeth suspended by a piece of ribbon from their ears. There were a few who were not disfigured by tatooing, and their complexions were as fair as those of our agricultural labourers. The others were of a brownish olive tinge, but none were very dark. After strolling about the place for a considerable time, they mustered in front of James Hannel's, to look at a group of black fellows and gins, who were dancing a corrobory. The gins and their lubras, however, were so lazy that neither drink, tobacco, nor money, would induce them to go through aught beyond the preliminaries of that wild pastime. No sooner had they ended, than the Maories commenced their terrible war song. Squatting themselves down, with their legs crossed in the oriental fashion, they began by making a noise not unlike the snorting of an "iron horse," heard half-a-mile off. This noise was accompanied by violent gestures, and the rapid motion of their hands through the air. As they became more excited, their eyes rolled in frenzy, and their heads turned from one side to the other. And at every turn they sent forth roars the most piercingly savage and demoniacal that I ever heard from human beings. When the song was finished, one of them went round with his
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cap and made a collection. After the collection was secured, they all started to their feet, gave a tremendous yell, ran down to the ship and divided the spoil.
There were some valuable materials that evening for an ethnologist. Four, at least, out of the five different races into which Blumenbacke has divided the human family were present in the city. The Negro race, by the natives; the Malay, by the Maories; the Mongolian, by the Chinese; and the Caucassian, by the English, and other Europeans.
The William Hyde would be ready for sea in twelve days, and I determined to have another excursion up the country before I left. I decided on going to Maitland. The distance from Newcastle to that place, by road, is twenty miles, and by river forty. The fare by mail was 4s.; by steamer 4s. 6d., and 2s. from Morpeth by omnibus, in all 6s. 6d. I chose the road, and took a seat in the mail cart. It was a low square box, firmly bolted together, seated on all sides, and well-adapted in every other respect for the roads of the bush. The driver was a fine young fellow--a native, and the best whip in the colony. My fellow passengers were two Irishwomen, a little girl, and a shepherd. The latter was nearly blind with ophthalmia, and was a patient of Dr. Bowker's, who had given him little hope of recovering his sight. We started on the journey about six o'clock in the morning. The
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day was exceedingly hot, and nothing but the very lightest kind of clothing could be endured. A broad brimmed white felt hat, and a loose fitting linen blouse were my dress, and the others were arrayed in the lightest manner possible. One of the women, the mother of the little girl was both good-looking and agreeable. She had also that keen natural relish for fan, so peculiar to Irish females. The other was lean and ill-favoured, and to make matters worse, not entirely sober. There was only room for three of us in the body of the cart, on account of the mail bags. so I took a seat in front, by the side of the driver, the little girl sat on my knee. These preliminaries being arranged, off we started. The cart was drawn by three horses, which for powers of endurance and swiftness could not be equalled out of New South Wales. On we went at a rapid pace, down the long straggling street, and across the green space which borders the bush. The road, for the first two miles, had many windings, and was overhung by immense gum and iron-bark trees, giant cedars, and graceful wattles.
The rapid manner in which we swept along gave to the scenery a shifting character of the most romantic and enchanting description. The driver pulled up to cut a handle for his whip, which till then he had not thought of using. Shortly after, we came upon a fine piece of road, bounded on each side by a thick forest. This road, for two miles,
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was straight as an arrow. We had not gone far till we met two handsome young ladies, riding on fine-looking bay horses. One was dressed in a tight fitting linen jacket and cabbage-tree slouch, the other in a black silk visite, and bonnet and veil, of the latest fashion from Sydney. Both wore long riding-habits, made of some light material. A few minutes more brought us opposite a small clearing, with a few shed-like buildings on the far side, close to the trees, and sheltered from the fierce rays of the sun. Three or four milch cows, and a few dairy utensils stood outside the dwelling. This was Iron Bark Farm, the residence of the two young ladies we had recently met. The road now became much worse; stumps of trees, deep ruts, and other impediments, tested the skill of the driver. We nevertheless, still kept on our course at full speed, and our whip felt proud while showing his ability in steering clear of all obstacles. Now and then however, we were well jolted, despite his dexterity. On one occasion, whilst passing over a very bad piece of road, the car gave a tremendous shake, and one of the women threw her arm round my waist, to avoid being thrown upon the mail bags, I must confess that I felt uncomfortable in this ludicrous position, although some of my fellow passengers seemed highly delighted at the predicament. And, as if to add to my discomfiture, the woman every now and then gave me a hearty
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squeeze, by way of reminder of her "attachment." There was, however, no shaking her off, and no help for the annoyance; for had I made the least objection, I might have fared worse. so I bore it and laughed with the rest. The pleasant prattle of the little girl on my knee, and the lovely scenery through which we were passing, made me forget my tormentor.
The purity of the atmosphere, our rapid rate of travelling, and the bright gleams of golden sunshine that streamed through openings amid the trees, the clear blue sky above, long stretches of forest expanding before us, and here and there the Hunter river, like a brilliant mirror, reflecting the loveliness of the ever-changing scenery--all tended to impart a buoyancy to the animal spirits, and produce an impression on the mind similar to that made by the perusal of the first fairy tale read in early life. Again, passing through the umbrageous parts of the forest, where lofty trees and low scrub interwoven into a thick veil that shut out the sunlight, was like reading a gloomy page in the "Pilgrim's Progress."
We came next to a steep hill, called Iron Bark Brow, at the bottom of which there is a small creek and swampy ground. The creek was crossed by a low ricketty wooden bridge. This place had been remarkable in the history of the road, for upsetting mail carts and other conveyances. Down
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the hill, and across the bridge we went in a few seconds, to the foot of another brow of less elevation on the opposite side. After this ascent, the road turned to the right, and kept close to the left bank of the Hunter, as far as the eye could reach. A narrow strip of firm greensward, with the river on one side and the forest on the other, formed the road, and over it our horses bounded along at a marvellous rate. Many of the large trees we passed presented splendid specimens of the stag-horn fern, growing upon them, about fifty feet from the ground.
Iron bark huts, and other tenements, began to make their appearance, some with half-a-dozen children scampering about in the greatest glee, looking the very picture of health and contentment. We were then within the boundary of Hexham township, and in sight of the half-way house, at which we shortly after arrived. Mr. Smith, the owner of the place, and two brawny shoemakers with their leather aprons on, came out to receive us. These men had committed crimes, and were doing their lagging with Mr. Smith, who appeared to be a very humane man, and they seemed to have easy times of it. The house was a plain building, of two stories, having a kitchen and other out-offices at the rear. We entered the bar; it was presided over by Mrs. Smith, a pale looking slender Irishwoman, as agreeable in every respect as her husband.
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Both of my female friends ordered a nobbler immediately as a foundation for breakfast; but I turned into the breakfast-room, and the rest soon followed. The breakfast-table was covered with a white cover, and spread over with joints of cold meat, bread, butter, cheese, and the most delicious cream, to which was added tea and coffee. The charge was 1s. Breakfast finished, the females again paid their respects to the bar, where they were joined by a tall broad-shouldered countryman of their own, a farmer in the neighbourhood. He paid particular attention to my good-looking friend, and a piece of pleasant banter passed between them that kept the place in a roar of laughter till the time for starting. This son of Erin wore a long blue coat and light fustian trousers. He was finished at the head with a large cabbage-tree hat, and at the feet by a pair of enormous brogues. His beard was long, stiff, and grizzly. When we were seated in the car, he came to shake hands with Mrs. Tierney, his lively countrywoman, and she flung her arms round his neck, and gave him a most loving salute in true Irish style. He was so much pleased with this unexpected frolic, that he doffed his hat, and threw it up in the air with gestures and a yell peculiar to excited Irishmen. Off we started, leaving him to finish his fandango, and the bystanders to recover their gravity. He scampered about in front of the house, amid the
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cheers and laughter of the crowd; and the last thing we saw about the place, as it faded from our view, was the cabbage-tree hat rolling in the air, high above the top of the half-way house.
The next stoppage was at Hexham post-office. An old native, the last of his tribe, wall-eyed and nearly blind, came to the side of the mail cart, not to beg--but to speak to the driver, whom he knew. He seemed highly pleased with the little girl, and still more so when he was told she was a native like himself. His only covering was an old blanket, and in his face there was perceptible none of that low cunning, which is so peculiarly characteristic of savage tribes. On the contrary, his countenance was indicative of frankness and intelligence. His wants were abundantly supplied by a few individuals residing near the river, on whose banks he spent much of his time in basking in the sunshine. From his emaciated condition it was evident that the tide of life was ebbing fast, and that he would soon be gathered unto his people.
We took up another passenger here, a gentleman farmer, resident in Hexham, who was going to Maitland on business; and off we went again. The road passed through the principal part of Hexham. In the middle of this village there is a neat wooden chapel, and a short distance from it a small school, and about half-a-dozen houses scattered over the distance of nearly a mile among the fields. There
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were grazing paddocks covered with rich herbage, fields covered with stubble, nearly a yard high, the remains of the last crop. In others, rich crops of Indian corn enlivened the scene.
Two miles from Maitland there was a lone cottage by the road side, which presented a melancholy appearance. Its owner and his family had gone to the diggings. The windows were broken, some parts of the wood-work removed, and a portion of the roof had fallen in. The little square garden plot behind was full of rank weeds, in the midst of which stood a fine peach-tree heavily laden with luscious fruit; but none felt inclined to gather them. We arrived in Maitland about noon.
