ENZB - 1866 - A Clergyman. Australia in 1866... with Notices of New Zealand [New Zealand pages only]

[Text of New Zealand pages]

AUSTRALIA AS IT IS.

CHAPTER I.

PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS.

CHINESE EXPEDIENTS FOR COMMUNICATING INFORMATION TO CHINESE SETTLERS--REASONS FOR EMIGRANTS REFRAINING FROM LETTER WRITING--PRECARIOUS CONDITION OF NEW SETTLERS--CAUTIOUS GOLD-DIGGERS--AUSTRALIA, TASMANIA, AND NEW ZEALAND--MISTAKES OF EMIGRANTS IN NOT ASCERTAINING THE DISTRICTS SUITABLE FOR THEM--A LOCAL GOVERNOR'S ADVICE--COTTON GROWING--MANNERS AND CUSTOMS--PECULIARITIES AND UNCERTAINTIES OF COLONIAL LEGISLATION.

ON one occasion I entered a shepherd's hut, which formed one of the numerous out-stations of a large grazing establishment, and found a Chinaman, who acted as hutkeeper, busily engaged in reading a Chinese volume. Having signified a desire to be informed as to the nature of the contents of it, and of a number of other Chinese books which lay beside him, he replied in

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English, 'All this country this Chinaman write--other Chinamen write--all write China,' pointing at the same time in every direction around him, and finally in the direction of China. In traversing bush tracks, and the main lines of roads, one not unfrequently sees trees which have been neatly stripped of their bark a few feet above the ground, with Chinese characters carefully written in ink on the white surface--one of the many expedients resorted to by Chinamen with the object of communicating information to their countrymen, and saving them from loss and disappointment. A volume of letters of recent dates, from some of those observant foreigners who, engaged in different pursuits, have settled in different parts, would probably be one of the best handbooks of Australia which could be published. Not the least of the writer's objects in the following chapters is to give a trustworthy view of life and manners, for the guidance of those who may be interested in the subject. What is true of one place may not be true of another place, and what is true at one time may not be true at another time; and the fitful changes--periods of prosperity alternating with periods of depression, which have unfortunately been of frequent occurrence in the Australian colonies--are very unfavourable to letter-writing--hence much of the uncertainty which exists in the public mind as to the real condition of society in those regions. A carpenter told me that on his arrival at a large seaport town, which happened at the time to be in a most flourishing condi-

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tion, he obtained employment at the rate of twenty-five shillings a day, or half-a-crown an hour. The climate was agreeable, beef was sold at one penny per lb., and Australia seemed to him to be a very land of Goshen. He wrote to inform his comrades at home of his good fortune, with the object of inducing them to follow his footsteps; but he deeply regretted afterwards that he had done so, for his letter had not reached the equator when he was thrown out of employment, and instead of receiving half-a-crown an hour, he could not get employment at any rate of wages. He made a shift--as many are obliged to do when hands of their own craft are too numerous--and became a gardener. A treacherous dependence may be sometimes placed on first impressions; and the shame of having to contradict themselves--to say that they were altogether wrong in what they had previously written--leads many emigrants to forego correspondence. The affections are very apt to go along with the interests--new ties of friendship are formed, old ties are broken; and there are those who forget--those, too, always very numerous, who wait 'tomorrow and to-morrow,' to write more favourable intelligence. To-morrow, with its favourable intelligence, does not come, and they do not write. One young man, who had emigrated very much against the will of his parents, said to me that he had not written to them for seven years. In his case it would have been rather disagreeable to have written to state how he

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was situated, as he had resigned a good situation, in Glasgow, and was not receiving one-sixth part of the salary which he had been in receipt of at home. He wrote at last, but, like many others, not until he felt himself justified in doing so--that is, when his pecuniary circumstances were more favourable. The spirit of commercial enterprise is so much abroad--the arts of money-making are so numerous, and the power of self-interest is so strong--that failing the aids supplied in trustworthy correspondence, no alternative would seem to be left to newly-arrived emigrants but to grope their way. When a new gold-field--regarding which flattering accounts may have been circulated in the newspapers--has been discovered, the more experienced and better-informed diggers employ and pay a party of reliable persons to visit it and furnish a report--a fact of some significance, proving the necessity for caution on the part of intending settlers.

Every one who has been resident in any of the Australian colonies very soon becomes familiar, however, with the leading local characteristic features--some things standing out very prominently, and distinguishing one quarter from another. The first colony in the line of the overland mail from England, and calling at King George's Sound, is--

WESTERN AUSTRALIA--Capital, Perth.--It has a large unexplored interior, and, being a penal settlement, labour is cheap, with everything as in the days of yore in New South Wales.

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SOUTH AUSTRALIA--Capital, Adelaide.--Mouth of the river Murray, draining the interior of Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland, navigable for 2000 miles, dividing with Queensland the present right to and interest in the projected new colony of North Australia. Products--wheat, copper, and wool.

VICTORIA--Capital, Melbourne.--'Go-a-head' population. Products--wool and gold. Distinguished by manhood suffrage and political troubles.

NEW SOUTH WALES--Capital, Sydney.--Pine harbour. Parent of all the other colonies. Products--coal, oranges, wool, and gold. Is also distinguished by manhood suffrage and political troubles.

QUEENSLAND--Capital, Brisbane.--The latest formed colony. Warm climate. Products--pine apples and turtles. Squatting is in the ascendant. There are great facilities for occupation of the territory, and an abundant supply of labour under the land-order system.

TASMANIA (Van Dieman's Land)--Principal towns, Launceston, Hobart Town.--English climate and English hedgerows. Products--potatoes, oats, and apples.

NEW ZEALAND, though about the same size as Great Britain, extends over 13 degrees of latitude. There are very considerable differences in the climate of one place from another--the southern extremity being cold, the northern warm. There are about sixty thousand natives, usually called 'Maories,' in New Zealand, and of this number there are not more than five thousand

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in the middle island, where Southland, Otago, Canterbury, and Nelson are situated. The northern island, the principal settlements in which are Auckland, Wellington, and New Plymouth, being warmer than the middle island, is preferred by the Maories, as it would also seem to be by the European residents.

More enlarged observation and better acquaintance with the Australian colonies would have convinced some of the latter with whom I met in the southern settlements in New Zealand, where I had gone in 1850 on a health-seeking excursive, that they had committed serious mistakes in settling there. Such places as Southland and Otago are not at all adapted for persons who suffer from pulmonary complaints, in consequence of the frequent rains and cold south-westerly winds, and those emigrants ought to have gone to the high upland parts of Australia in the gold-digging regions, where the climate is more favourable, where they could have obtained employment easily at remunerative rates, and would not have been required to do manual labour at sheep stations. A great deal has been said of the healthiness of the Australian climate; this must be understood, however, to apply chiefly to the high mountainous parts of the interior, where the atmosphere is very rare, dry, pure, and warm. Along the coast, and in low-lying parts of country, the atmosphere is much denser; stifling heats prevail, and some affections, such as dyspepsia, might be aggravated instead of being relieved in such places. The seats of com-

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merce and large towns would seem to be far more favourably adapted to those--such as clerks--who have been accustomed to the occupations of town life, than the embryo agricultural settlements. Those settlements, always bidding high for public favour, are in need of a different class of emigrants. The consumption of exciseable commodities by those persons amply reimburses the government for the expenses incurred in granting them free passages. The advantages to the labouring class are certainly great when they find employment at high wages. Those who are in possession of small, carefully accumulated capital, generally require, however, to be cautious as to the mode of investment, 'Don't trust any one; judge for yourself. Look at two sides of a shilling,' were the words which I heard spoken by the superintendent, or local governor, of one of the New Zealand settlements, to two young men who had entered into conversation with him regarding their intentions of settling. Ignorance may be ruinous. There are many most important things to be learned on the spot, a knowledge of which cannot be very well dispensed with, for in Australia, as elsewhere, instead of the man overcoming the difficulties, the difficulties may overcome the man. 'Two are better than one;' and the term 'mates' is a very favourite expression, well understood by all experienced colonists. The human heart was formed for friendship, and, generally speaking, it will not be found good on the part of either individuals or families to be

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alone in Australia. There is very little to be said about the old and established settlements, the population of towns, and those in the neighbourhood who are engaged in agriculture, in vine and in tobacco growing. In those places channels for labour and industry have been opened up and very clearly defined, indicating to emigrants the safest course to follow. In newly formed settlements, however, there are often difficulties in the way of ascertaining the proper season for the sowing of grain, and the kind of cultivation suitable to the locality. A 'land-order' emigrant in Queensland told me that a friend of his had sustained great loss from these difficulties. After much labour and expense in clearing and trenching ground, and in planting it with fruit trees, they died in spite of every available precaution. In a more elevated part of Queensland, and in a sheltered situation, there would have been less risk of a loss of this nature, however. What may be grown with advantage in one place may not be grown with equal advantage in another. Wheat and maize are the two cereals most extensively cultivated. In all the hot districts they are liable, however, to be attacked by the weevil in stack or in bin, the cold in winter not being sufficient to check the ravages of that much dreaded insect. Australia being of very great extent, there is a variety of climate, and climate will always determine the kind, as well as the mode of agricultural industry to be adopted. There was a great deal of good sense in a Sydney merchant with whom

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I met, who had brought 500 coolies from India in one ship, with the object of cultivating cotton on his land in Queensland. Coolies would be much more likely to succeed as labourers in a cotton plantation than English, Scottish, or Irish immigrants. Besides, they can live very cheaply on rice and sugar, The following extract from the editorial article of a Queensland newspaper, if not conclusive, contains some truth on the subject of cotton growing:--

'Instead of cotton cultivation increasing in proportion to the increase in our population, it has decreased, and now, after six years' trial, there seems less probability than ever of its soon taking its place with our wool, hides, and tallow, as one of the large staple products of the colony. The public companies which were started for the purpose of cultivating cotton in Queensland under the stimulus of choice land on easy terms, and a government bonus on the cotton produced, have all either become insolvent, or have given up the cultivating of cotton; and of all the small farmers who commenced with the cultivation of cotton four or five years ago, scarcely one can now be found who has a single plant, except it be in his garden as a curiosity.'

The squatting, or grazing, cattle-breeding, woolgrowing parts of the country--Australia proper--have many characteristics in common, a in the observations of the writer have a wide general application in relation to those districts. There are many things in Australia, as elsewhere, for which no reason whatever can be given, and it is sometimes rather idle and unprofitable to inquire for a reason. Manners and customs operating in a coun-

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try, and regulating the conduct of its people, ultimately attain the force of law, and it is for the advantage of every one interested to be made acquainted with them. It was not in the bond--it was not according to the letter, that those who went and took possession of the unoccupied lands should hold those lands in perpetuity, and claim rights to them almost tantamount to purchase in fee simple. The words in the bond were, that the land was to be taken from them when required for agriculture. Very, very little, indeed, will ever be required for agriculture; and the majority of the occupants of the land, who are called squatters, are not likely to be much interfered with in their possession, so long as they continue to pay the small rental to government with which they are charged. They have acquired a right to the land by discovery or by occupation. 'Possession,' it is said, 'is nine points of the law,' and use and wont--King-custom--rules rampant. The present occupant may not have discovered the land, but he paid very highly for his right of occupation to the previous occupant, who, if he did not discover the land, also paid for his right of occupation. There was a district in New South Wales which was sold in this way, without a sheep, horse, or hoof of cattle upon it, for £40,000--sold, not by the government, but by one private person to another. Grievances arise, and always will arise, from such questions where population increases. Smith cannot see the fairness of his buying land at twenty

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shillings per acre, whilst his neighbour, Thomson, retains possession of twenty, sixty, or one hundred thousand acres, and does not pay one penny per acre of rental. More than one penny might be paid, however, in Victoria, and less in Queensland. Thomson has undoubtedly the best of it; his land, requires no fencing, ploughing, or sowing, for there is an excellent crop of natural grass upon it. But Smith, after, all, has not much good ground for complaint. There is plenty of unoccupied territory, and if he desires the advantages of Thomson, he has only to do as Thomson or his predecessor did--go and 'take up country,' or, what one Smith cannot do, ten Smiths can accomplish--purchase a station, of which there are many for sale.

The larger number of mankind are born to live on trust, and to think little of the laws by which they are to be governed, save how to obey them. They leave legislation to the study and occupation of those who have leisure for the task--to those whose presumably superior wisdom and intelligence they would much rather confide in than their own; and it is very annoying to many poor struggling emigrants, looking out for the means of subsistence for themselves and their families, to find that no sooner have they set their feet on the shores of Australia, in Victoria, and in New South Wales, than they are instantly installed politicians, called on to give their votes for a member of Parliament, and often to express opinions on matters of which they actually know nothing. Indeed, it would

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seem to be necessary for one's safety and security to study colonial politics. A member of the New South Wales Parliament, whose hospitality I frequently enjoyed, said to me on one occasion, in self-congratulation, 'I knew what was coming--I have sold out.' All the people cannot be members of Parliament, and all have not the opportunities which this gentleman had of hearing that the newly-elected liberal representatives, and those who were at the helm of state, intended at that time to reduce the value of all the best land in the colony, and that land for which he had paid £1, £2, and £4 per acre, would soon not be worth more than five shillings per acre. Other highly disturbing changes frequently take place. A diminution in the revenue occasions an alteration in the tariff; there is an imposition of new duties, and merchants, if they will not suffer loss, must watch political movements. Bankers also, and indeed every class in the community, are involved in those changes, for politics reach to, and often shake, the foundation of the whole fabric of colonial society.

CHAPTER II. THE BUSH.

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CHAPTER II.

THE BUSH.

FIRST SIGHT OF AUSTRALIA--PHYSICAL OUTLINES AND CONFIGURATION--EASTERN AND WESTERN FALLS OF THE WATER--CLIMATE--QUEENSLAND--VEGETATION--BIRDS, WILD AND DOMESTIC--FISH--WILD ANIMALS--REPTILES--FRUITS, INDIGENOUS AND EUROPEAN--ENGLISH VEGETABLES--ATMOSPHERIC PECULIARITIES AND PHENOMENA--DIVERSITY OF COUNTRY AND CLIMATE--OCCUPATION OF THE LAND--GEOLOGICAL WONDERS--ALLIGATORS--NEW DISCOVERIES.

'BUSH' is the name given to the natural forest or uncleared land, of which there is much, especially along the coast, extending considerable distances inland, characterised by dense vegetation. In the interior, however, there is very little to be met with, the country generally presenting a park-like appearance, with ridges, hills, valleys, and mountains covered with grass, dotted here and there with trees. On the first sight of Australia seaward, a vastness discovers itself in hill ranges and high mountain peaks which appear in the far distance, in many directions, and the view thus obtained, though very extensive, is dull, heavy, and

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monotonous. All the land seems to be covered with trees, and there are no green hills or parts of country entirely clear of timber, to relieve the eye from the oppressive, dusky, and sombre shade of the Australian forest.

The similitude of Australia, in its great physical outlines and configuration, to the dropping from a cow, though very homely, is not a bad illustration. There is greater or less unevenness on the surface beginning at the coast, with its irregular and ill-defined ridges, hills, valleys, and mountains, then there is a gradual steepness of ascent, in travelling towards the interior; and this steepness continues till the Australian Alps are reached--ranges of high hills and mountains running parallel to the coast, at elevations of two, three, and four thousand feet above the level of the sea. Passing beyond the Australian Alps, there is a descent, though scarcely perceptible, into the interior. The

climate here is warmer; the country more level and more thinly wooded than the quarter which has its fall of water to the coast. The eastern and western falls of the water are well understood-the eastern being the fall of the water into the ocean, the western the fall of the water into the large basin of the interior, of which the River Murray at Adelaide, navigable for some hundreds of miles, is the great outlet. All the other rivers are navigable only for very short distances.

There are great differences in the climate according to latitude, elevation, and situation. In regard to

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latitude, a mountain in Queensland, for example, may be as high as a mountain in Victoria or in New South Wales, and whilst there will be snow in winter on the mountain in Victoria, and on the one in New South Wales, there will be none on the one in Queensland; the last place being farther north and nearer the tropics. There are some parts of Queensland which are extremely hot in summer; too much so, one would think, for the English constitution. There are other parts, again, in high mountainous districts which are very agreeable, where the heat is not felt to be so oppressive. There are always cooling sea-breezes blowing a long way inland, and in the high upland districts, the pure balmy atmosphere is most delicious all the year round. Even in the interior during the hottest days in summer, a gentle westerly wind generally commences about ten o'clock every morning, tempering the great heat of the rays of the sun; serving as a fan, and drying, as it were, all the perspiration on the body, so that one would never seem to perspire, unless he is engaged in manual labour, or is exerting himself, as in riding. This is not the case in lowland parts, however, such as those near the coast, the atmosphere there being much denser. The nights in hot districts in Queensland are frequently extremely cold, and the days extremely warm. The two great extremes of cold and heat would not seem, however, to be prejudicial to health. The climate is very dry, and catarrh and many other diseases are almost unheard of.

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Botany Bay was a very appropriate name for the part of Australia which was first discovered, for that region is thickly covered with large flowering shrubs, of a varied and beautiful character; but the whole continent might well admit of the designation, 'Botany Land.' There seems to be an endless variety of vegetation, differing in different parts of country according to climate, soil, and situation; and the economy of nature is very striking, every quarter being occupied by, and appropriated to, the growth of some description of vegetation suitable to the locality, and found nowhere else. In a temperature and soil, for instance, similar to those of New Zealand, the ground is thickly covered with fern, including the tree fern, and the cabbage tree. In the great variety of climate there is a corresponding variety in the forms of the vegetable world, and what may be found in one place will not be found in another. One of the greatest hopes of the graziers in New Zealand is the naturalisation and the rapid diffusion of English grasses. There is nothing of this kind wanted in Australia, however, as it is already stocked with natural grasses, of sorts exactly suited to the particular districts in which they are found growing. English and other grasses have been introduced, and some of these, as the white clover, may be found growing most luxuriantly in alluvial spots. It only grows, however, for a very short period, the great heat and dryness of the climate being unfavourable to spreading. The natural grasses strike their roots

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deeply into the soil and are very hardy; though exception might perhaps be taken to them in many places where they appear to be tufty, thickly spread, and not covering all the surface, whilst they are liable to be seriously injured by over-stocking. This is not so much the result of the nature of the grasses as the faults of the soil and of the climate, as in more favourable situations the land is thickly matted with grass, and over-stocking would seem to benefit instead of injuring it. It is not merely grass, however, but a great variety of nutritious herbs, upon which sheep, cattle, and horses are dependent for pasturage. During a day's journey over the open pasturage land of New Zealand, one might see little else than stinted flax and fern tussock, grass and anise plant. During a day's journey over some of the pasturage land in Australia, however, one would see wild flax, the same as that which is cultivated in Great Britain; wild tares, wild oats, wild hops, trefoil, chicory, cammomile, sarsaparilla, horehound, daisies, buttercups, hyacinths, violets, wild carrots, parsnips, and an innumerable variety of other vegetables. It would be futile to attempt to give any general description, however, as one part of the country differs so greatly from another, whilst what is found in one place may not be found in another. An astonishing variety of vegetable life is certainly one of the great leading physical characteristics of Australia, but one must travel far and wide to be made acquainted with this fact; and it does certainly appear most remarkable, that amid the apparently endless

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variety of vegetation, poisonous plants are rarely heard of. In some parts of South Australia, the tute, so annoying to sheep-farmers in New Zealand, is found; but with this solitary exception, no one ever hears of sheep or cattle dying from poisonous plants in Australia.

It is a beautiful arrangement of Divine Providence, and a good illustration of the special care of Him who doeth all things well, that in a part of the world of his creation, liable to severe droughts and want of seasonable showers of rain, a special remedy should have been provided to meet the want, and a kind of coverlet should be made altogether of a singular texture, to be thrown over the land to protect it, and thus to render it adapted for the purpose in the great design of its creation. Had all the human beings since the creation of the world been employed in digging, trenching, casting up large mounds of earth mixed with stone, gravel, and boulders of rock, to prevent the soil from being washed away by floods, the whole sown with nutritious grasses, and finally planted all over with trees to prevent the grasses from being scorched and burnt up to the roots by the fierce heat of the sun's rays, it never could have been done so well as it has been done by the great Creator. The trees which are spread all over the land are just of a kind specially adapted to give covering and shelter to the grasses without destroying them. They are ever-green, and the most prevailing kind of them shed their bark and not their leaves; not their whole bark, but the outer layer, like the scarf-

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skin of the human body. The leaves are of a narrow elongated shape, of hard gummy texture, and they all droop down towards the earth: the heat of the rays of the sun in passing through them and the trees' spangled branches, is thus broken, and genially tempered to the tender grasses underneath. The value of these Australian trees for shelter has been appreciated by the sheepfarmers in New Zealand, who are importing seed of the gum trees--which grow very rapidly and to a large size--and planting part of their farms with them; the pasturage land in New Zealand often resembling the bleak bare hills of Scotland. The timber is valueless for cabinet-making purposes, however. In some places a considerable distance from the coast there are clumps of forest to be met with, similar to the forest in New Zealand, which contain a large variety of hardwood trees, pine, rosewood, satin-wood, cedar, and many others which for cabinet-making purposes, are quite as good timber as any which can be found in New Zealand. In the interior there is nothing of this kind, and the only serviceable wood for building and fencing are the 'stringy and ironback: failing these, the box. The ironback, as its name denotes, is an exceedingly hard and durable description of wood. There are similar hardwood trees along the coast, and small pieces of them form a considerable article of export to Great Britain for the use of ship-builders. The so-called cherry-tree, with the stone outside, resembles a large shrub of the pine species, having small red berries upon it, like the

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pine-trees in New Zealand. The myall is in great repute for making handles for stockwhips; it is very close grained, highly scented, and never grows to a large size: cattle are very fond of eating the leaves, and, as a consequence, 'Myall country' is usually considered first-class. The apple-tree, so named from the leaves bearing some resemblance to the leaves of the ordinary apple-tree, is the only other tree for the leaves of which, cattle and horses would seem to have any liking. There are many of the trees oddly named, and their names are sometimes calculated to mislead. The oak resembles a pine-tree, and is never found save where there is water, by the side of a creek or a river. The honeysuckle is a tree, and would appear to have received the name from its deep green and shining leaves.

'Limestone ranges,' 'box,' 'myall,' 'apple-tree,' 'saltbush,' 'gum and stringy bark,' 'plains,' and many other names are seen in the advertisements of 'runs' for sale. There is one general description applicable to the whole, they are thinly covered with trees, and the plains are not an exception to this. There may be plains, and of very considerable extent, without trees, where the mirage beguiles the wearied traveller, but they bear no proportion to the country described as plains which have trees growing upon them. There are scrubs occurring in some places; those on the eastern side dividing range, visited by the coast rains, from which the cedar and other highly prized wood is obtained, are dark, dense, and impenetrable forests, surpassing anything of

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the kind to be met with in New Zealand, containing countless varieties of plants, bushes, and trees, like some epitome of the whole vegetable kingdom, differing in the luxuriance of growth from aught found elsewhere, and seeming as if a part of Borneo or some other tropical region had been transferred to Australia. Many of the trees, as cedar, pine, and rosewood, are of gigantic proportions. Parasitical and creeping plants are very numerous, and the wild vine hangs down in festoons so much woven and interwoven in the branches of the trees, that entrance into one of the scrubs is impossible without the aid of a hatchet, and even with this auxiliary it is not very safe for the uninitiated to attempt an entrance. In addition to the risk from snakes there is a nettle-tree which has been fatal to horses and cattle which may have come in contact with it, and it would not likely be less sparing of a man's face or hands. There are bricklow scrubs in some parts of the northern interior, much complained of by recent pioneers as a harbour for blacks, and occasioning great difficulty in getting the cattle out of them when they are wanted. Scrubs are of rare occurrence, however, and it is very seldom that they are heard of as impeding the operations of the grazier.

One is very apt to imagine that families dwelling far apart from each other in the pastoral districts, three, four, six, or eight miles, must be liable to suffer and be distressed by a painful feeling of solitariness. This is rarely the case, however; at least I never knew of

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any one making the complaint. Persons who are out with their flocks of sheep from morning to night, from one year's end to another, may indeed frequently complain, but they always look forward to a more settled mode of life when they have earned sufficient pecuniary means to establish themselves in a township, and follow the occupation to which they had been originally accustomed. There is a great deal in the topographical features of the country and its teeming abundance of life to amuse, interest, and relieve the mind of the feeling of loneliness which might otherwise prey deeply upon it. The adaptation of external nature to the human mind is here wonderfully manifested. There is a largeness, openness, and sincerity in its natural aspect, every part being distinctly marked and visible in the pure gleaming sunshine. There are no dark dells, places of concealment for the mind to conjure up objects to alarm; and there is no want of the most cheerful and innocent companions in innumerable feathered songsters, from the early dawn of the morning to the setting of the sun. It is said that the birds of Australia do not sing, that they merely chirp and chatter. Some of them chant most hilarious notes like the tinkling of bells. The 'laughing jackass' is a prodigy, giving out unexpectedly a loud uproarious noise sufficient to awaken the 'Seven sleepers.' Many of the birds are of the same type as those of Great Britain; some, however, varying a little in their plumage. There is the domestic pet, the robin, with the wren, wagtail,

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crow, curlew, plover, and snipe. There are also the harbingers of spring and summer in the several varieties of swallows, and the cuckoo. The cuckoo is only heard at night. There are bats, owls, and hawks in great abundance, and the mountain pheasant or lyre bird, which however is rare. The eagle hawk is very large, and destructive to young lambs: there is one species of pure white colour. There are many varieties of pigeons; one is very small, being about the size of a house sparrow: it is seldom that more than two or three are. seen together; and there are no large flocks of them such as are seen in the forests of New Zealand. The fleshy berries with which the pine-trees are there covered furnish them with the greatest abundance of food, and they do not appear to have the enemies there which they have in Australia. The macaw, a large black parrot, and the quail, seem to be the only two birds exactly alike in the two countries, with this remarkable difference--the macaw in New Zealand is very tame, permitting one to come near and kill it; at least I know that one permitted me to approach it: but in Australia it is exceedingly wild--said indeed to be untameable. There are some large birds in New Zealand which do not fly, and some of singular habits, as the mutton bird, which burrow holes in sandy places in the ground. The natives have their seasons for catching them, and adopt ingenious methods of preserving them when killed, for future use, by the use of their fat and aromatic herbs. There is the robin, too, in New Zealand, where it is

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very tame. Whilst travelling, one perched itself on my shoulder. There are many other birds of hallowed associations which make the forest resound with mirth and melody. The most remarkable perhaps is the 'tui,' or 'parson bird;' the latter name having been given it in consequence of its being jet black, and having two small white feathers like a clergyman's bands hanging out from its breast. It is of the same size as the blackbird, and is the most noisy of all the New Zealand birds. There are parrots in New Zealand, but not in any proportion to the very great variety which exist in Australia. The climate in Australia being so widely different, there is a corresponding difference in animal life. Among the birds, the most prevalent are parrots. The large white parrot-cockatoos are always seen in flocks, and are great pests to the farmers. The greatest favourite is the magpie, which may always be observed hopping about the door of a dwelling, piping out a long carol of friendly salutations. Of the wild turkey, more properly the bustard, one seldom sees more than two together. The brush turkey, very like the Norfolk, but much smaller, and found in the scrubs in hot districts, is very remarkable for laying a large quantity of eggs, for covering them with leaves and sand, and leaving the sun to hatch them. The emu is nearly as large as an ostrich, to which it bears some resemblance, but it is dark in colour; it lays about a dozen eggs, and hatches them in the same way as domestic fowls. Large numbers of them may be seen together; they do not

[Pages omitted relating only to Australia]

CHAPTER III. PIONEERING.

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CHAPTER III.

PIONEERING.

EARLY SETTLEMENT--VARIETY OF COUNTRY--ABORIGINAL GUIDES--A PIONEER'S EXPERIENCES--HOW TO TREAT BLACKS--FACTS RELATING TO THEM--ORIGIN OF SQUATTING--EXPERIENCES OF NEW SETTLERS--ABORIGINES OF AUSTRALIA--ABORIGINES OF NEW ZEALAND--FACTS RELATING TO THEM.

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NEW ZEALAND
By J. Bartholomew, F.R.C.S.

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others guilty of spearing cattle and breaking into huts. There is never any friendly feeling subsisting between one tribe of blacks and another; they are very often at war, and blacks taken from other tribes, usually far distant, will heartily enter into a scheme of pursuing other blacks and bringing them to justice. Consequently the native police were the very men wanted--in accordance with the old adage of 'set a thief to catch a thief.' When a black is once put upon the track of others, he will follow it up like a bloodhound, until he comes upon the object of his search--not by the sense of smell, but by the astonishing power of sight, by minute observation of the impressions left on the ground of the footsteps of those on whose tracks he has been directed to follow. Native police, or black trackers, are never heard of except in districts where the blacks are troublesome--that is, in newly settled districts. They are all in the pay of Government, are taught the use of fire-arms, and are clad in uniform like other police officials. They are first-rate horsemen, and take great pride in their gay soldierly appearance and high position.

The nude, houseless aborigines of Australia present a striking contrast to the aborigines or Maoris of New Zealand. Climate will explain the cause of the different types of character of many things on the earth's surface, but the great difference in the climate of New Zealand and Australia will not explain the difference in the character of the native races of the

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two countries. The New Zealanders have sprung from an entirely different stock of the human family. The aborigines of Australia are jet black, have strong, coarse black hair, a slim build, and not much muscular strength. The New Zealanders are of a brown tawny complexion, and have also black hair, but not so coarse and strong. Their bodily frame is well developed--each one seeming tall and muscular, and they have finely formed features. They have pahs or villages in which they reside, though these seem at a distance little better than a large motley collection of thatched pigsties; and the first impression of them is not much improved on approaching nearer and examining them--a stockade formed of trunks of trees, sunk in the ground, and close to each other, usually surrounding them. They are most industrious, cultivate the soil, and are acutely alive to the advantages of European civilisation. Many of them acquire wealth, and have sawmills, flour-mills, and small vessels; but in trading, however, they always bear the character of being frightfully avaricious--cannot endure to see others gaining anything that they think they might possess themselves; hence their jealousy of the English colonists, and the wretched New Zealand wars. Marriages are not of unfrequent occurrence between Europeans and Maori women, and the children by these marriages are noted for being good-looking. A German with whom I met in the northern island was married to one, and he said that he had found no cause

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to regret it. Their children were receiving the best education which the town of Wellington could afford. He had fifty Maoris employed as servants. The New Zealanders are said to be partial to these marriage connections with the Pakehas or Europeans; and half-castes are numerous--chiefly the progeny of old whalers, runaway sailors, and convicts. In a rambling tour, the writer having entered one of these settlers' houses, agreeably to the invitation of the owner, found the Maori wife to be the very paragon of excellence as an active, bustling, thorough-going housewife, whilst the bouse was well provided with all the usual domestic comforts. Them children were attended to in their education, along with Maori children, by a missionary. The man, an old whaler, deeply lamented the misfortunes which he had suffered from English settlement, as he had been formerly doing a brisk trade with the natives, and with vessels off the coast--all this, however, was now at an end. The following incident is worth relating, as an illustration of the presence of mind and shrewdness of the Maoris; and in this case of a Maori woman. A ship, in which the writer was a passenger, having arrived in the harbour of one of the settlements, a number of New Zealanders came in their canoes alongside, for the purpose of selling fish, potatoes, and fowls, which they had brought with them. In the midst of a great deal of haggling between them and the mate of the vessel, as to the price of their commodities (they are hard 'gripping' persons to

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do business with), a Maori woman, with the usual mat on her shoulders, hair floating in the breeze, and otherwise very sparingly clad, took it into her head to clamber up the ship's side. There was no objection to this. On reaching the deck of the vessel she stood erect as a statue, in no way abashed; and commenced walking about with an amount of ease and dignity which would have graced a princess. After satisfying her eyes with all that was to be seen, she came boldly up to a lady who stood behind me, and entered into conversation with her; some of her words were English, and her meaning could be understood. At last she put the question, 'What kind of country yours?' The lady had come from Edinburgh, and commenced describing, by pointing to the windows of the ship's cabin, the fine houses, riches, and splendour of the city of Edinburgh. The Maori woman listened very thoughtfully and attentively to all that was said, and with great amazement in her face, replied, 'And what brought you here? It was a poser. The Scottish lady gave an answer, but a very unsatisfactory one, which must have confused the New Zealand woman's mind more and more, as to a people who had such a good country of their own coming to theirs, probably to take their country from them.

Their susceptibility to religious impressions, and their attachment to the outward observance of religion, are very remarkable. More strict observers of the Sabbath could not have been found anywhere than at a

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pah at which I was present on a Sabbath. One native declined to speak to me, pointing with his finger towards the sky, and saying it was Sabbath. In acting thus he was following the injunctions understood to have been given by the missionaries to avoid intercourse with Europeans on the Sabbath. There is a wild, magnificent beauty to be met with in many parts of New Zealand. This Maori settlement was one of these places. It was beside a large bay, having a narrow entrance into the ocean, a strip of flax and fern land skirted it on one side--sloping from the base of a very large and high mountain, which was clad to the very summit with dense, dark, impenetrable forest, and communicated to the mind an impression of great strength and protection--whilst a feeling of awe and solemnity seemed to hang over the Maoris, nestled at its foot, and engaged in the pursuits of peaceful industry. There were patches of cultivation scattered everywhere about, interspersed by small streams of water, pure as crystal, proceeding from the bendings of the mountain. It was Sabbath, and some of the Maoris had come considerable distances on horseback to attend divine service. There was as much commotion as at a fair during the early part of the day. The quarrelling of dogs and pigs, which had accompanied some of them, was very great, and there was no small ado in establishing order amongst those unruly animals. There was a neat church and belfry, which the Maoris had erected at their own expense. The church was not

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used, however, as it was a day of beautiful sunshine, and they preferred squatting themselves on a grassy knoll beside it. There were 'young men and maidens, old men and children,' all seen wending their way to the house of God. All the old men were tatooed, and some of them had frightful visages; none of the young men were tatooed, however, as the practice had been discontinued through the influence of their Christian teachers. There were many clothed with their native mats--others partly clad in English clothing; and some of the half-caste females were attired in the latest style of fashion. Quietly, one by one, and without a sound or whisper, they arranged themselves in circles on the grassy knoll--the men by themselves and the women by themselves. They had not all sat on the ground when there commenced, in all the 'stillness of Sabbath morn,' the tolling of the Sabbath bell. How strange the sound of that Sabbath bell seemed to me in that place, calling to church such an assemblage of Christian worshippers! The greatest extremes in the world--the highest civilization and barbarianism--seemed suddenly to meet and close in harmony; the Christian brotherhood of men asserting itself independently of all earthly distinctions. The hidden springs of action and motives to conduct are far beyond the reach of mortal eye. It is God that searcheth the heart, --man looketh on the outward appearance; but one might have travelled over all Christendom, and have not seen a more devout demeanour in a large body of Christian

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worshippers on a Sabbath-day. They all appeared as if spell-bound, and under the shadow of a great overawing power--in the actual presence of the Supreme--as indeed they were. They had been under the ministry of a Wesleyan Methodist missionary, but, as he had many places to attend to, he was absent on this occasion, and his place was supplied by a native teacher, who conducted the services in the Maori language.

Pioneering and the searching for 'runs' has prevailed in New Zealand as in Australia--more especially in the southern or middle island--that part of New Zealand in which the provinces of Southland, Otago, Canterbury and Nelson are situated. The natives there are not numerous, and there is no hostility to be dreaded from them. Graziers are not given to complaining; they have the use and benefit of the land, are not required to purchase it--and indeed they are not permitted to purchase; though this has occurred sometimes--so that a family, all things considered, with a few cows and plenty of pasturage, might not find much ground for complaint in New Zealand. If there are no native dogs in New Zealand, there are not wanting wild ravenous animals. I heard one grazier state that his brother killed, with his rifle, fifteen hundred wild pigs in one year. They had destroyed nearly all his lambs. There was no use made of the dead pigs, and they were left to rot on the ground where they were killed. In their wild state they do not appear to fatten. There

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are dogs bred for the purpose of catching them, called 'pig dogs.' Some have adopted a clever method of clearing their cultivated land of fern roots, which are very difficult to get rid of, by folding pigs on the land and leaving them nothing to eat but the fern roots.

If a rebellion had broken out among the natives of Australia, two or three ounces of gunpowder would have been amply sufficient, and far more effectual than two or three millions of good sterling English money which has been expended in the endeavour to suppress the rebellion of the natives in the northern island of New Zealand--that part of New Zealand, in which Auckland, Wellington, Taranaki, or New Plymouth, are situated. The different tribes of natives in New Zealand, it appears, don't agree any more than the different tribes of natives in Australia. A chief of a tribe sells his land to the Government, at Auckland; --there are other chiefs opposed to the selling of land, and they fall upon the chief who has sold his land, and kill him and his men. The British authorities don't interfere, and bring the murderers to justice. 'This won't do,' say some of the more intelligent native chiefs; 'let Queen Victoria rule her people, and let us have a Maori king to rule our people.' 'Mistaken clemency is at the bottom of all our troubles in New Zealand,' says the Reverend S. Ironside, at the head of the Wesleyan Mission--twenty years a missionary amongst the natives, and personally acquainted with the rebellious

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chiefs. In a lecture on New Zealand, delivered and published in Sydney, by Mr Ironside--a copy of which he presented to the writer--the following remarks made are not without interest, being written from personal observation. 'The north island is mainly a system of mountains and valleys. A rugged mountain range runs down the centre, mostly covered with dense bush, scrub, and creeping vine, up to its very summit, with two or three snowy peaks lifting up their hoary heads to the sky. This range sends out its spurs either way towards the coast, sometimes abruptly abutting on the shore, with valleys of the finest agricultural land, a rich black loam, several feet in depth, between them, through which a never-failing stream of the purest water merrily sings on its way to the ocean. These streamlets abound everywhere. In the inland forests and hills, nature has provided for the traveller a good substitute for ladders in climbing, in the roots of the large trees spread along the surface of the ground, while the clinging vine not unfrequently furnishes a capital hand-rail. But, at best, the getting over the ground is slow, heavy, wearisome work. Through the whole extent of the country you may travel everywhere without fear of sting or bite, for there is no ravenous beast, no venomous reptile, to be found. There are materials for a very comfortable bivouac. Wood and water for the fire and for cooking--palm leaves and fern for your couch, and you may speedily replenish your stock of provisions from the neighbouring

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stream or bush. The rivers and seaboard are well stocked with fish, from the magnificent hapuka, or rock cod, through all the varieties down to the piharau, or delicate lamprey. I remember once, when voyaging in the mission boat, in Cook's Straits, my natives, with rude appliances, in about two hours, loaded the boat far more deeply than was desirable with baracoota. Then the forests, lakes, and rivers equally abound with feathered game, such as the kupuka, the kaka, the weka, the patangitangi. There are, moreover, the fern root, the mamuka, and other edible and succulent roots, and stems of native plants, from which in former times the natives derived a large portion of their subsistence. I think, therefore, by the way, that the rebellious natives are not to be readily starved into submission. They can live in comparative abundance in their native country, where a white man would starve. The best harbours on the coast have the least quantity of available land in their neighbourhood, as they are mostly hemmed in by high and rugged forest-clad mountains, rendering great outlay necessary in order to open up the country, while the finest plains and valleys, with hundreds of thousands of acres of rich and fertile soil, are without harbours at all--either an indifferent roadstead, like Taranaki, or a river with a frightful sandbar stretching across its mouth. The rivers and harbours on the west coast have all their sandbars at the heads. The prevailing westerly wind, meeting the current coming out of the river, raises a bar across the mouth,

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on which, even in comparatively fine weather, the sea sometimes breaks with awful fury.

'The middle island differs materially in its general features from the northern. There is a rugged mountain range, a great part of which is above the snow line, running down the island, from north-east to northwest, but through the whole distance it runs nearly along the western coast; its spurs run right down to the coast line, and deep blue water runs between them right up to the bases of the lofty hills, very much like the fiords of Norway, I should imagine. There are no soundings in some of the inlets--you might take the "Great Eastern" and moor her to the stately forest trees on the precipitous shore. The east side of the island presents the fine spectacle of splendid rolling prairies of rich natural grasses, varying in width from fifty to seventy, and, in some places, one hundred miles, to the foot of the western range. This grassy land, I am told, will carry in its wild state one sheep to the acre; in some places more than this. These rolling plains are as fine an agricultural and pastoral country as is to be found in the world. There are few natives on the island--not more than five thousand altogether. The climate is too cold for them, and the former cannibal raids of the northern tribes have greatly diminished the few residents. The settlers of the five provinces, into which the island is divided, have a glorious future before them. They have no fear of war with the natives; they are only just near enough to hear the

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bursting of the storm. Everything there is fair and flourishing. Many useful and valuable minerals only wait the necessary capital for their development. To say nothing of the gold-fields, successful rivals of our own, there are copper, chrome, iron, plumbago, coal in abundance; and I quite expect that marvellous though the past of that island has been, its future will be more so.'

* * * * * *

'They have derived great benefits from civilization. Their implements for husbandry, and for building their houses and canoes, were of the rudest description. It must have cost them weeks of patient labour to bring down a forest tree with their rude stone axe, of some six inches long and two or three inches broad, with a very blunt edge. Their dress was composed of flax mats of various degrees of fineness. I have seen Kaitaka mats of such a fine and beautiful texture, worked by native women, that they would grace the form of the lovliest of her sex. But all these things are passing away. Being well supplied with European tools and wearing apparel, their own rude substitutes are thrown aside. The Maori is very imitative; he soon knows how to use the tools of civilization. There is nothing in husbandry, or in the mechanical arts, that a native will not acquire, and in some instances he will surpass his teacher. His ingenuity in discovering means of increasing his ammunition during the present war is a marvel to the civilized soldier. Marble, copper

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tokens broken up into slugs, and other hard substances, serve him in the place of lead; while the exploded percussion-cap is made to serve over and over again, by putting in the phosphorized head of a vesta.

'Ever since I have known the Maories, their numbers have been rapidly diminishing. Year by year, the decrease is great. In one valley, I remember, twenty-four years ago, with at least one thousand souls living there, not more than three hundred could now be found. A large proportion of the population is adult; in a careful census of the people of the district under my charge some years ago, I found five hundred men, three hundred and seventy-five women, and about two hundred and fifty children; and from late inquiries, it would appear that a like proportion obtains all over the country. If an epidemic visits the country, it makes fearful ravages among the poor natives--the measles having destroyed hundreds of the people.

'I wish, with all my heart, they could have been preserved as a race. I hope the remnant may. But "the Lord reigneth." His purpose in placing man on the earth was, that he should "be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it." The poor Maori could not do this, and would not allow others to do it for him, so he is passing away. Noble efforts have been made by the British Government, by Christian missionaries, and by high-minded philanthropists, to serve him, and they have been so far a comparative failure. I cannot but grieve deeply over this untoward

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result. But those beautiful and fertile islands will be the home of a healthy, happy, prosperous community -I hope a truly Christian one--and the remnant of the native race will blend among the descendants of our own people. If the dream of Macaulay about the future is to be realized, and a New Zealander in the coming age, seats himself on the broken arch of London Bridge to sketch the ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral, it is likely he will be an Anglo-New Zealander.'

1866 - A Clergyman. Australia in 1866... with Notices of New Zealand [New Zealand pages only] - [Text of New Zealand pages]