Читать книгу The Story of the Blacks - Charles White - Страница 9

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Although numbers of the convicts, from choice, consorted with the natives, or from necessity, when fleeing from servitude to which they had been condemned, made homes in their camps, very few cases of continuous residence among the black are recorded.

From the few that have been handed down, the case of the runaway convict Buckley is undoubtedly the most strange. While the expedition under Colonel Collins remained at Port Phillip, a number of the convicts ran away. Several returned to the settlement before it was finally abandoned, after wandering in the bush for some days; but others delayed their return too long, and when, worn out with fatigue and hunger, they came back, intending to give themselves up, they found the place deserted. Thus situated they had to choose between starvation or the likelihood of being killed by the blacks, and one or other of these events appears to have happened in the case of all of them, with the exception of the one man referred to. Buckley, who was described as a man of gigantic stature, again wandered into the interior, and fell in with a tribe of blacks, who treated him kindly. With this tribe Buckley remained for thirty-three years, living exactly as they lived, and acquiring great influence over them. So long was he with them that he forgot his native tongue. Once only during this long period did he see white men—a boat's crew who had landed in order to bury a companion. Buckley endeavoured to arrest their attention, but though they looked at him earnestly, they did not recognise in his features a man of European race. As he was dressed in kangaroo skins and armed with spears they took him for a native. He appears to have used his influence with his black friends in favor of the first settlers at Port Phillip, and was probably the means of preventing bloodshed on more than one occasion. The new colony of Port Phillip had made considerable progress before he was restored to the society of civilised men, and after his restoration he appeared to be unequal to the task of reasonable converse in the English tongue, and was taciturn to a degree, appearing to the whites as remarkably dull and stupid. He answered most questions with a simple yes or no, and the impression he left on those who attempted to converse with him was that his intellectual facilities were nearly obliterated, and although he lived for nearly twenty years after his return to civilised life, very few particulars could be obtained from him concerning the aborigines, or his manner of life while amongst them. Yet he is said not to have been at all deficient in intellect, and the influence he exercised over the aborigines has been quoted as proof that his dullness was simply the result of prolonged and exclusive intercourse with those whose habits of life, in the natural condition, are from year's end to year's end most mournfully monotonous. Nearly all the Europeans who have been similarly situated, even for a much shorter time, are said to have lost the mental activity which characterized them before their close association with the blacks.

For six or seven years preceding 1814 there was a period of comparative quiet between the colonist and the natives, but the year mentioned was marked by the outbreak of fresh hostilities. The rapidly diminishing natural food supply, for which the Europeans were chiefly responsible, their encroachments on the one hand and their fishing and hunting excursions on the other, making fish and animals either shy or scarce, drove the natives to the verge of destitution and despair; and it was very natural that their anger towards the usurpers should find vent in deeds of robbery and violence. In the district of Appin a body of natives marched into a field of ripe maize in the open day and began carrying off the corn, when three of the military settlers advanced with firearms to defend their fields. But the blacks were not to be thus intimidated. Putting on a bold front, a party of them went to meet the settlers and poised their spears in a threatening manner while their companions continued to pluck the corn. The Europeans fired and the blacks at once replied with a shower of spears, one of the settlers falling mortally wounded, and the others beating a retreat. Next day the settlers assembled in large force and pursued the aggressors into the bush where a pitched battle was fought, lives being lost on both sides. This was the commencement of a sanguinary warfare which raged along the borders of the colony for several weeks. It is needless to say that the superiority of the whites made itself manifest and that many natives fell before the well organised forces that were arrayed against them.

Shortly after this Governor Macquarie, who recognized that the natives were entitled to a little consideration, set apart a tract of land at George's Head near Sydney, exclusively for the use of those of them who resided in the neighbourhood. In order that they might be enabled to follow to greater advantage their favourite pursuit of fishing, he presented to them a boat with the necessary gear. The Governor and Lady Macquarie attended personally at the founding of the settlement, an caused to be distributed to the blacks a suit of clothes each, together with an assortment of implements of industry. The little community, all told, numbered only sixteen male adults, with their wives and families; but the experiment was not so successful as the Governor expected it to be, and after a little time the blacks got tired of the spot and wandered off in search of variety and entertainment. The habits of a lifetime could not so easily be changed by the adults, and it was not to be expected that the younger members of the community would take kindly to the spade and hoe without encouragement and example from their elders.

Early in 1816 several organised raids were made by the blacks on the settlers who had located on the banks of the Nepean. At Bringelly, twenty or thirty of the natives suddenly came from their retreats in the bush and plundered the farm of one of the wealthier settlers, carrying off large quantities of corn, as well as other effects. On the day following, seven white men, well armed, crossed the river hoping to recover the stolen property and to punish the robbers; but the blacks, in anticipation of such a movement, had prepared themselves. No sooner had the Europeans crossed the water than the aborigines, rushing from their lurking places, surrounded the party, and before they knew what had happened every man of them was disarmed and powerless. Then commenced the work of murder. Their own muskets, as well as the spears and nulla-nullahs of the enemy were turned against the whites, and four were killed outright, one was severely wounded, and two only escaped. Emboldened by their success, next day the blacks assembled in superior numbers, and again attacked the farms, carrying off anything they deemed of any value, and destroying what they did not take away. At the first alarm the settlers fled for their lives. In one of the farm houses the mistress and a servant man alone remained, having no time to escape. The two took shelter in the upper storey of the barn, fastening the door inside; but the blacks were not to be foiled in the murderous enterprise. They drove their spears through the crevices of the house, and as they could not thus reach the inmates, they proceeded to unroof the barn. The servant man now recognised one of the attacking party as a former acquaintance, and ventured to open the window and make himself known, at the same time urging the black to influence his companions is the direction of mercy. Recognising the man as one who had been kind to him in the past, the black complied and his companions conceded the mercy sought, and desisted, saying they would not "kill um this time," and they went away after calling out in chorus "good-bye." But another woman and her man servant were not so fortunate, for they were murdered in cold blood by the natives, who further indulged their savage ferocity by mangling the bodies of their victims after death. Large numbers of blacks, never before seen within the limits of the settled districts, came in from the mountains and reinforced the frontier tribes. At Cow Pastures they were exceedingly troublesome, and on the newly-formed Bathurst Road travellers on their way over the mountains to the new country were stopped and their drays plundered and their cattle killed. At Lane Cove, in the vicinity of Sydney Harbour, also, at least one raid was made upon the settlers, a body of nearly a hundred aborigines making their appearance suddenly and committing various depredations; the Indian corn, which was then extensively grown, being the chief attraction, that being with them a favourite article of food.

In order to intimidate the offending tribes, and check the outrages which were becoming common, a detachment of the 46th Regiment, under Captains Shaw and Wallis, was sent out to make a circuit round the out-stations. At the same time a Government proclamation was issued, prohibiting any aboriginal from appearing armed within one mile of any town or village, and prohibiting even unarmed aboriginals from assembling in larger numbers than six. To the well-disposed blacks who cared to provide themselves with such protection passports were given by the Government; and in the same proclamation, evidently moved by a desire to show the natives that he was as anxious to promote their welfare as to check their outrages, the Governor made known that he would grant to such of them as desired to conform to the habits of civilised life, allotments of land in suitable localities, with provisions for six months for themselves and families, together with agricultural implements and seed, and a suit of cloths and a blanket for each person. In order to make this proclamation widely known, a congress of the aborigines of the colony was invited to be held at Parramatta. At this meeting some hundreds of blacks were induced to attend, and the whole thing was explained to them. Shortly afterwards a school for young natives was established in Parramatta, and a considerable number of the children were handed over by their parents to be educated. This assembly of the blacks at Parramatta resolved itself into an annual affair, and was continued during a number of years. The school continued to be well attended until the near tribes, from whom the fluctuating school roll was kept up, had so far decayed that very few, either of young or old, remained within the then settled districts of the colony.

The military detachment sent out for the protection of the remote settlements returned after scouring the country, reporting that at a place called Airds they had encountered a large tribe of blacks, gave battle, and that they were not vanquished until fourteen of their number had been killed and five taken prisoners. Numbers of others were also arrested and marched in chains to Sydney, where they were imprisoned for a time—as a warning to others not to disobey a proclamation, the terms of which they could not understand, and the conditions of which they could not possibly fulfil. Ten of the most troublesome of the blacks were solemnly outlawed by name, and a reward of £10 each was offered by the authorities for their capture, alive or dead.

The proclamations that were issued by the Governor are unique as specimens of labored composition and grandiose sentences, and are well worth preserving among the curiosities of the early days of Australia. The preamble set out the various offences committed by the aborigines, and the lenity, humanity, forbearance, protection, assistance and indulgence shewn by His Excellency towards them in the effort to conciliate them to the British Government, followed by the sending out of a military force which had unavoidably killed and wounded several natives, including some few innocent ones; and then the proclamation ran as follows:—

"And whereas the more effectually to prevent a Recurrence of Murders, Robberies, and Depredations by the Natives, as well as to Protect the Lives and Properties of His Majesty's British Subjects residing in the several Settlements of this territory, His Excellency the Governor deems it his Indispensible duty to prescribe certain rules, Orders and Regulations to be observed by the natives, and rigidly enforced and carried into effect by all Magistrates and Police Officers in the Colony of New South Wales, and which are as follows:

"First.—That from and after the Fourth Day of June next ensuing, that being the birthday of His Most Gracious Majesty King George the Third, no Black Native, or Body of Black Natives, shall ever appear at or within one mile of any Town, Village, or Farm, occupied by or belonging to any British Subject, armed with any Warlike or Offensive Weapon or Weapons of any Description, such as Spears, Clubs or Waddies, on Pain of being deemed and considered in a state of Aggression and Hostility and treated accordingly.

"Second.—That no number of Natives exceeding in the whole six persons, being entirely unarmed shall ever come to lurk or loiter about any Farm in the Interior, on Pain of being considered Enemies and treated accordingly.

"Third.—That the practice hitherto observed among the Native Tribes, of assembling in large Bodies or Parties armed, and of fighting and attacking each other on the plea of inflicting Punishment on Transgressors of their own Customs and Manners, at or near Sydney, and other Principal Towns and Settlements in the colony, shall be henceforth wholly abolished as a barbarous custom, repugnant to the British Laws, and strongly militating against the Civilisation of the Natives, which is an Object of the Highest Importance to effect, if possible. Any armed Body of Natives, therefore, who shall assemble for the foregoing purposes, either at Sydney or any of the other Settlements of this colony after the said Fourth Day of June next, shall be considered as Disturbers of the Public Peace and shall be apprehended and Punished in a summary manner accordingly. The Black Natives are therefore hereby enjoined and commanded to discontinue this Barbarous Custom, not only at or near British Settlements, but also in their own Wild and Remote Places of Resort.

"Fourth.—Than such Natives as may wish to be considered under the Protection of the British Government, and disposed to conduct themselves in a peaceable, inoffensive and honest manner, shall be furnished with Passports or Certificates to that Effect, signed by the Governor, on their making application for the same at the Secretary's Office at Sydney, on the First Monday of every succeeding month; which Certificates they will find will protect them from being injured or molested by any Person, so long as they conduct themselves peaceably, inoffensively, and honestly, and do not carry or use offensive weapons contrary to the Tenor of this Proclamation.

"The Governor, however, having thus fulfilled an imperious and necessary Public Duty in prohibiting the Black Natives from carrying or using offensive Weapons, at least in as far us relates to their usual Intercourse with the British Inhabitants of these Settlements, considers it equally Part of his Public Duty, as a Counter-Balance for the Restriction of not allowing them to go about the country armed, to afford the Black Natives such means as are within his power to enable them to obtain an honest and comfortable Subsistence by their own Labour and Industry. His Excellency therefore hereby proclaims and makes known to them that he shall always be willing and ready to grant small Portions of Land in suitable and convenient parts of the Colony, to such of them as are inclined to become regular Settlers, and such occasional Assistance from the Government as may enable them to cultivate their Farms, Namely:—

"Firstly.—That they and their Families shall be victualled from the King's Stores for Six Months, from the time of their going to reside actually on their farms.

"Secondly.—That they shall be furnished with the necessary Agricultural Tools, and also with Wheat, Maize and Potatoes for Seed;

"Thirdly.—To each person of a family, one Suit of Slops and one Colonial Blanket from the King's stores shall be given. But these indulgences will not be granted to any Native unless it shall appear that he is really inclined and fully resolved to become a Settler, and permanently to reside on such Farm as may be assigned to him for the purpose of cultivating the same for the support of himself and his family.

"His Excellency the Governor therefore earnestly exhorts, and thus publicly invites the Natives to relinquish their wandering, idle and predatory Habits of Life, and to become industrious and useful Members of a Community, where they will find Protection and Encouragement. To such as do not like to cultivate Farms of their own, but would prefer working as Laborers for those Persons who may be disposed to employ them, there will always be found Masters among the Settlers who will hire them as Servants of this Description. And the Governor strongly recommends to the Settlers and other Persons to accept such services as may be offered by the Industrious Natives desirous of engaging in their employ. And the Governor desires it to be understood that he will be happy to grant Land to the Natives in such Situations as may be agreeable to themselves and according to their own particular Choice, provided such lands are disposable, and belong to the Crown.

"And whereas His Excellency the Governor, from an anxious Wish to civilise the Aborigines of this Country, so as to make them useful to themselves and the Community, has established a Seminary or Institution at Parramatta, for the purpose of educating the Male and Female Children of those Natives who might be willing to place them in that Seminary; His Excellency deems it expedient to invite a general, friendly Meeting of all the Natives residing in the Colony, to take place at the Town of Parramatta, on Saturday, the 28th December next, at Twelve O'Clock Noon, at the Public Market Place there, for the purpose of more fully explaining and pointing out to them the Objects of the Institution referred to, as well as for Consulting with them on the best means of improving their present Condition. On this occasion, and at this public general meeting of the Natives, the Governor will feel happy to reward such of them as have given proofs of Industry and an Inclination to be Civilised.

"And the Governor, wishing that this General Meeting or Congress of the friendly Natives should be held Annually, directs that the 28th Day of December, in every succeeding year, shall be considered as fixed for this Purpose, excepting when that day happens to fall on a Sunday, when the following day is to be considered as fixed for holding the said Congress.

"And finally, His Excellency the Governor hereby orders and directs that on the Occasions of any Natives coming armed, or in an Hostile Manner without arms, or in unarmed parties exceeding Six in number, to any Farm belonging to or occupied by British Subjects in the Interior, such Natives are first to be desired in a civil manner to depart from the said farm, and if they persist in remaining thereon, or attempt to plunder, rob, or commit any kind of Depredation, they are then to be driven away by Force of Arms by the Settlers themselves; and in Case they are not able to do so, they are to apply to a Magistrate for aid from the nearest Military Station; and the Troops stationed there are hereby commanded to render Assistance when required.

"Given under my Hand at Government House, Sydney, &c.

"LACHLAN MACQUARIE.

"By Command of His Excellency,

"J. T. Campbell, Secretary."

God Save the King!

The other Proclamation was issued by the Governor in July of the same year. It recited that the military parties had been sent to punish the "Banditti," or Tribes of Black Natives, for their "sanguinary disposition" and "wanton and barbarous murders"; and that an invitation had been given them in a previous proclamation to become peaceable and law-abiding citizens.

It then proceeded:—

"And whereas the natives whose names are hereunder mentioned are well known to be the principal and most violent Instigators of the late murders, namely:—

1 Murrah

2 Myles

3 Wallah, alias Warren

4 Carbone Jacky alias Kurringy

5 Narrang Jack

6 Bunduck

7 Kongate

8 Wottan

9 Rachel

10 Yallaman

"Now it is hereby publicly proclaimed and declared that the said ten natives above-named, and each and every one of them are deemed and considered to be in a State of Outlawry, and open and avowed enemies to the Peace and Good Order of Society, and therefore unworthy to receive any longer the Protection of the Government which they have so flagrantly revolted against and abused.

"And all and every one of His Majesty's Subjects, whether Free Men's Prisoners of the Crown, or Friendly Natives, are hereby authorised and enjoined to seize upon and secure the said ten outlawed Natives, or any of them, wheresoever they may be found, and to bring them up to the nearest Magistrate to be dealt with according to Justice. And in case the said Ten prescribed Hostile Natives cannot be apprehended and secured for that purpose, then each of His Majesty's Subjects herein before described are and shall be at liberty by such Means as may be within their Power, to kill and utterly destroy them as Outlaws and Murderers as aforesaid; and with this view, and to encourage all His Majesty's said Subjects, whether White Man or Friendly Natives, to seize upon, secure, or to destroy the said Outlaws, a Reward of Ten Pounds sterling for each of the said ten proscribed Natives, will be paid by Government to any person or persons, or who shall under the circumstances bring in their persons, or produce satisfactory proof of their having killed or destroyed them within a period of Three Months from the Date hereof.

"And the Settlers are further hereby strictly enjoined and commanded, on no Pretence whatever to receive, harbour, or conceal any of the outlawed Banditti, or afford them any countenance or assistance whatever; nor are they to furnish aid or provisions to any of the friendly natives who may visit their farms, but upon the express Condition of their engaging and promising to use their best endeavours to secure and bring in the said Ten Outlaws and deliver them up to the nearest magistrate, or lodge them in Prison; And these friendly Natives are to be given to understand that if they faithfully and earnestly exert themselves in apprehending and bringing in the said Outlaws, every reasonable Indulgence and Encouragement will be afforded them by the Government; whilst, on the contrary, until this Object is attained, no Peace or Amnesty with the Natives at large in this Territory will be made or conceded.. .. .. With a view to overawe the hostile Natives generally, in those parts of the colony where they have committed the more flagrant and violent Acts of Cruelty and Outrage, three separate Military Detachments will be forthwith stationed at convenient distances on the river Nepean, Grose, and Hawkesbury, to assist and afford protection to the Settlers whenever Occasion may require it, each Detachment to be provided with a European and also a Native guide."

A week later a notice appeared in the Gazette to the effect that several of the natives who were suspected to be most atrocious actors in the late barbarities had been apprehended and placed in confinement. One of the natives, named Dewall, was banished by the Governor to a distant settlement, in order to strike alarm into the minds of the tribe. It was also stated that the proclamation prohibiting them travelling armed about the Settlements had proved effectual in stopping attacks upon travellers. Several of the ten natives named were either killed or captured, and the proclamation of the outlawry was annulled; but the natives were solemnly assured that if any further outrages occurred measures "more strong and effective" would he resorted to for the purpose of punishing the transgressors.

The first military "drive" was thus described in the Government Organ, the Gazette of current date:—

"The three military detachments despatched on the 10th ultimo, under Captains Schaw and Wallis, and Lieut. Dawe, of the 46th Regiment, in pursuit of the hostile natives returned to Head Quarters on the 4th instant. In the performance of this service the military encountered many difficulties, and underwent considerable fatigue and privations, having to traverse a widely extended range of country on both sides of the river Nepean, from the banks of the Grose, and the second ridge of the Blue Mountains on the North, to that track of country on the Eastern Coast, called "The Five Islands." Captain Schaw, with his party, scoured the country on the banks of the Hawkesbury, making digression East and West, but observing a general course to the Southward; whilst Captain Wallis, proceeding by Liverpool to the district of Aird and Appin, and thence into the Cow Pastures, made his digression East and West of the Nepean, taking his course generally Northwards, with a view either to fall in with the Natives or, by forcing them to flight, to drive them within the reach of the Central Party, under Lieutenant Dawe, stationed at Mrs. Macarthur's farm in the Cow Pastures; or if they should elude his vigilance that they might fall in with Captain Schaw, who was advancing from the second ridge of the Blue Mountains, and the banks of the Grose. It appears that the party under Captain Wallis fell in with a number of the natives on the 17th ultimo, near Mr. Broughton's farm, within Aird's district, and killed fourteen of them, taking two women and three children prisoners. Amongst the killed were found the bodies of two of the most hostile of the natives, called DURELLE and CONIBIGAL. We are also informed that Lieutenant Dawe had on the 12th ultimo, nearly surprised a small encampment, but having been discovered the natives suddenly took to flight, leaving only a boy about 14 years old, whom he took prisoner, and there is every reason to believe that two of them had been mortally wounded. Without being able to trace more particularly the progress of the military parties on this expedition, we learn generally that several of the natives were taken prisoners and have since been brought to Sydney and lodged in the gaol. The humanity with which this necessary but unpleasant duty has been conducted throughout by the officers appointed to this command claims our warmest commendations, and although the result has been not altogether so successful as might have been wished, yet there is little doubt but it will ultimately tend to restrain similar outrages, and a recurrence of those barbarities which the natives have of late so frequently committed on the unprotected Settlers and their Families."

In a subsequent number of the Gazette, the editor, after stating that a body of natives had stopped and robbed a cart belonging to Government carrying provisions for the supply of the prisoners stationed on the mountains, and that they demonstrated considerably less apprehension than formerly from the effects of firearms, thus sought to shew the natives how full of Christian charity he was. "In justice to those who do not engage in these mischievous acts," said he, "we should be at all times ready to receive CORRECTED STATEMENTS in favour of any whose names may have been erroneously reported as present on such occasions." The reader can imagine how gratified the innocent aborigines would have been at this display of generosity—if they had been able to read and understand the paragraph; and how many "corrected statements" they would have sent in to the editor—if they had been able to write. But, alas, for the darkness of their savage state, they were not able to do one or the other.