The Book Of The Bush, George Dunderdale [thriller novels to read .txt] 📗

Sheriff,  And

Lived To A Good Old Age.

 

 

 

Story 12 ( Wanted, A Cattle Market.) Pg 173

Rentoul,  Had No Meat,  And Dared Not Kill Any Without Orders; So

Mcmillan And Davy Fried The Pigeons,  And Ate One Each For Supper.

Next Morning They Shot Some Ducks For Breakfast,  And Then Proceeded

On Their Journey.  They Called At Mewburn Park,  Arrived At Bushy Park

(Mcmillan's Own Station),  And Davy Began Making The Sails The Same

Evening.  Next Morning He Crossed The River In A Canoe,  Made Out Of A

Hollow Log,  To Boisdale,  Lachlan Macalister's Station,  And Went To

The Milking Yard.  The Management Was Similar To That Of Dancer At

Greenmount.  Eleven Men And Women Were Milking About One Hundred And

Fifty Cows,  Superintended By Nine Highlanders,  Who Were Sitting On

The Toprails Discoursing In Gaelic.  One Of Them Was Jock Macdonald,

Who Was Over Eighteen Stone In Weight,  Too Heavy For Any Ordinary

Horse To Carry; The Rest Were Macalisters,  Gillies,  And Thomsons.

The Stockmen Were Convicts,  And They Lived With The Highlanders In A

Big Building Like The Barracks For Soldiers.  Every Man Seemed To Do

Just What He Liked,  To Kill What He Liked,  And To Eat What He Liked,

And It Was Astonishing To See So Little Discipline On A Station Owned

By A Gentleman Who Had Seen Service Both In The Army And In The

Border Police.

 

The Blacks Were At This Time Very Troublesome About The New Stations.

They Began To Be Fond Of Beef,  And In Order To Get It They Drove Fat

Cattle Into The Morasses And Speared Them.  This Proceeding Produced

Strained Relations Between The Two Races,  And The Only Effectual

Remedy Was The Gun.  But Many Of The Settlers Had Scruples About

Shooting Blackfellows Except In Self-Defence,  And It Could Hardly Be

Called Self-Defence To Shoot One Or More Of The Natives Because A

Beast Had Been Speared By Some Person Or Persons Unknown.  John

Campbell,  At Glencoe,  Tried A Dog,  A Savage Deerhound,  Which He

Trained To Chase The Human Game.  This Dog Acquired Great Skill In

Seizing A Blackfellow By The Heel,  Throwing Him,  And Worrying Him

Until Campbell Came Up On His Horse.  When The Dog Had Thus Expelled

The Natives From Glencoe,  Campbell Agreed To Lend Him To Little

Curlewis For Three Months In Order To Clear Holey Plains Station.

Curlewis Paid Ten Heifers For The Loan Of The Dog,  And Campbell

Himself Went To Give Him A Start In The Hunt,  As The Animal Would Not

Own Any Other Man As Master.  But The Blacks Soon Learned That

Campbell And His Dog Had Left Glencoe Unprotected,  And The Second

Night After His Departure They Boldly Entered The Potato Patch Near

His Hut,  And Bandicooted The Whole Of His Potatoes.

 

When The Sails Were Made,  The Two Boats Were Provisioned With Tea,

Sugar,  Flour,  And A Keg Of Whisky; The Meat Was Carried In The Shape

Of Two Live Sheep,  To Be Killed When Required.  The Party Consisted

Of Eight Men,  And Each Man Was Armed With A Double-Barrelled Gun.

Mcmillan,  Mclennan,  Loughnan,  And Davy Went In One Boat,  And In The

Other Boat Were William Pearson,  John Reeve,  Captain Orr,  And

Sheridan,  Who Was Manager For Raymond At Stratford.  Sheridan Was A

Musical Man,  And Took His Flute With Him.  When Everything Was Ready

They Dropped Down The River To Lake Wellington,  And Took Note Of The

Soundings During The Whole Of The Voyage As They Went Along.

Wherever They Approached Either Shore,  They Saw Natives Or Found

Traces Of Them.  Every Beach Was Strewn With The Feathers Of The

Ducks,  Swans,  And Other Birds They Had Killed,  And It Was Difficult

Story 12 ( Wanted, A Cattle Market.) Pg 174

To Find Sufficient Dead Wood Near The Water To Make A Fire,  The

Blacks Having Used So Much Of It At Their Numerous Camping Places.

 

The Gins Had An Ingenious System Of Capturing The Ducks.  They Moved

Along Under Water,  Leaving Nothing But Their Nostrils Visible Above

The Surface,  And They Were Thus Able To Approach The Unsuspecting

Birds.  As Opportunity Offered They Seized Them By The Legs,  Drew

Them Quickly Under Water,  And Held Them Until They Were Drowned.

When They Had Secured As Many As They Could Hold In One Hand They

Returned To Land.

 

One Of The Explorers Always Kept Guard While The Others Slept,  The

First Watch Of Each Night Being Assigned To Davy,  Who Baked The

Damper For The Next Day.  One Of The Sheep Was Killed Soon After The

Voyage Commenced; And The Duty Of Taking Ashore,  Tethering,  And

Guarding The Other Sheep At Each Landing Place Was Taken In Turn By

Pearson And Loughnan.  At The Lower End Of The Lakes The Water Was

Found To Be Brackish,  So They Went Ashore At Several Places To Look

For Fresh Water.  They Landed On A Flat At Reeve's River,  And Davy

Found An Old Well Of The Natives,  But It Required Cleaning Out,  So He

Went Back To The Boat For A Spade.  It Was Loughnan's Turn That Day

To Tether The Sheep On Some Grassy Spot,  And To Look After It; The

Animal By This Time Had Become Quite A Pet,  And Was Called Jimmy.  On

Coming Near The Boats Davy Looked About For Jimmy,   But Could Not See

Him And Asked Loughnan Where He Was.

 

"Oh,  He Is All Right," Said Loughnan,  "I Did Not Tether  Him,  But He

Is Over There Eating The Reeds."

 

"Then He's Gone," Replied Davy.

 

Every Man Became Seriously Alarmed And Ran Down To The Reeds,  For

Jimmy Carried Their Whole Supply Of Meat.  They Found His Tracks At

The Edge Of The Water,  And Followed Them To The Foot Of A High Bluff,

Which They Ascended,  Calling As They Went Repeatedly For Jimmy.  They

Looked In Every Direction,  Scanning Especially The Tops Of The Reeds

To See If Jimmy Was Moving Amongst Them,  But They Could See No Sign

Of The Sheep That Was Lost.  The View Of Land And River,  Mountain And

Sea,  Was Very Beautiful,  But They Were Too Full Of Sorrow For Jimmy

To Enjoy It.  On Going Away They Agreed To Call The Bluff Jimmy's

Point,  But Other Voyagers Came Afterwards Who Knew Nothing Of Jimmy,

And They Named It Kalimna,  The Beautiful.  Near The Shore A Number Of

Sandpipers Were Shot,  And Stewed For Dinner In The Large Iron Pot

Which Was Half Full Of Mutton Fat.  Then The Party Pulled Down To The

Entrance Of The Lakes At Reeve's River,  Went Ashore,  And Camped For

The Night.

 

Next Day They Found An Outlet To The Ocean,  And Sounded It As They

Went Along,  Finding Six Feet Of Water On The Bar At Low Tide.  But

The Channel Proved Afterwards To Be A Shifting One; The Strong

Current Round Cape Howe,  And The Southerly Gales,  Often Filled It

With Sand,  And It Was Not Until Many Years Had Passed,  And Much Money

Had Been Expended,  That A Permanent Entrance Was Formed.  In The

Meantime All The Trade Of Gippsland Was Carried On First Through The

Story 12 ( Wanted, A Cattle Market.) Pg 175

Old Port,  And Then Through The New Port Albert.  For Ten Years All

Vessels Were Piloted Without Buoy Or Beacon; In One Year One Hundred

And Forty Having Been Entered Inwards And Outwards.

 

The Party Now Started On The Return Voyage.  In Going Up The Lakes A

Number Of Blacks Were Observed On The Port Beach,  And The Boats Were

Pulled Towards The Land Until They Grounded,  And Some Of The Men Went

Ashore.  The Natives Were Standing Behind A Small Sand Hummock

Calling Out To The Visitors.  One Of Them Had Lost An Eye,  And

Another Looked Somewhat Like A White Man Browned With The Sun And

Weather,  But Only The Upper Part Of His Body Could Be Seen Above The

Sand.  One Of The Men On Shore Said,  "Look At That White-Fellow."

That Was The Origin Of The Rumour Which Was Soon Spread Through The

Country That The Blacks Had A White Woman Living With Them,  The

Result Being That For A Long Time The Blackfellows Were Hunted And

Harassed Continually By Parties Of Armed Men.  When The Natives

Behind The Sand Hummock Saw That The White Men Had No Arms,  They

Began To Approach Them Without Their Spears.  Sheridan Took Up His

Flute,  And They Ran Back To The Scrub,  But After He Had Played A

While They Came Nearer Again And Listened To The Music.

 

After Pulling Two Or Three Miles,  Another Party Of Natives Was Seen

Running Along The Sands,  And The Explorers Went Ashore Again At A

Point Of Land Where Seven Or Eight Men Had Appeared,  But Not One Was

Now Visible.  Davy Climbed Up A Honeysuckle Tree,  And Then He Could

See Them Hiding In The Scrub.  Several Of Them Were Seized And Held

By The White Men,  Who Gave Them Some Sugar And Then Let Them Go.

 

The Boats Then Sailed Away With A Nice Easterly Breeze,  And In

Mclennan's Straits Hundreds Of Blackfellows Were Seen Up In The Trees

Shouting And Shaking Their Spears; But The Boats Were Kept Away In

Mid-Stream,  Out Of Reach Of The Weapons.

 

That Night The Camp Was Made At Boney Point,  Near The Mouth Of The

River Avon; The Name Was Given To It On Account Of The Large Quantity

Of Human Bones Found There.  No Watch Was Kept,  As It Was Believed

That All The Blacks Had Been Left Behind In Mclennan's Straits.

There Was Still Some Whisky Left In The Keg; And,  Before Going To

Sleep,  Orr,  Loughnan,  And Sheridan Sang And Drank Alternately Until

The Vessel Was Empty.  At Daylight They Pulled Up The Avon And Landed

At Clydebank,  Which Was At That Time One Of Macalister's Stations,

But Afterwards Belonged To Thomson And Cunningham.  After Breakfast

They Walked To Raymond's Station At Stratford,  And Then To Mcmillan's

At Bushy Park.

 

The Cattle Brought Over The Mountains Into Gippsland Soon Grew Fat,

And The First Settlers Sold Some Of Them To Other Men Who Came To

Search For Runs; But The Local Demand Was Soon Supplied.  In Two

Years And A Half All The Best Land Was Occupied.  An Intending

Settler,  Who Had Driven A Herd Of Cattle Seven Hundred Miles,  Had

Some Bitter Complaints To Make About The Country In June,  1843.  He

Said:  "The Whole Length Of Gippsland,  From The Bore Of The Mountains

In Which The Road Comes,  Is 110 Miles,  And The Breadth About Fifteen

Miles,  The Whole Area 1650 Square Miles,