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

Of Sight,  So

His Intended Escort Returned To Port.  Mr. Latrobe's View Of

Gippsland Was Very Cursory.

 

Rabbit Island Was Stocked With Rabbits In 1839 By Captain Wishart,

The Whaler.  In 1840 He Anchored His Barque,  The 'Wallaby',  In Lady's

Bay,  And Lanced His Last Whale Off Horn Point.  A Great,  Grey Shark

Happened To Be Cruising About The Whaling Ground,  The Taste Of Blood

Was On The Sea,  And He Followed The Wounded Whale; Until,  Going Round

In Her Flurry,  She Ran Her Nose Against Wishart's Boat And Upset It.

Then The Shark Saw Strange Animals In The Water Which He Had Never

Seen Before.  He Swam Under Them And Sniffed At Their Tarry Trousers,

Until They Landed On The Rocks:  All But One,  Olav Pedersen,  A Strong

Man But A Slow Swimmer.  A Fin Arose Above The Water Between Olav And

The Shore.  He Knew What That Meant,  And His Heart Failed Him.  Three

Times He Called For Help And Wishart Threw Off His Wet Clothes And

Plunged Into The Sea.  The Shark Was Attracted To The Naked Captain,

And He Bit A Piece Out Of One Leg.  Both Bodies Were Recovered; That

Of Wishart Was Taken To Hobarton,  And Olav Was Buried On The Shore At

The Foot Of A Gum Tree.  His Epitaph Was Painted On A Board Nailed To

The Tree,  And Was Seen By One Of The Pioneers On His First Voyage To

The Old Port In 1841.

 

Before Gippsland Was Brought Under The Law,  Rabbit Island Was

Colonised By Two Whalers Named Page And Yankee Jim,  And Page's Wife

And Baby.  They Built A Bark Hut,  Fenced In A Garden With A

Rabbit-Proof Fence,  And Planted It With Potatoes.  Their Base Of

Supplies For Groceries Was At The Old Port.

 

They Were Monarchs Of All They Surveyed,

From The Centre All Round To The Sea.

 

They Paid No Rent And No Taxes.  Sometimes They Fished,  Or Went To

The Seal Islands And Brought Back Seal Skins.  In The Time Of The

Potato Harvest,  And When That Of The Mutton Birds Drew Near,  There

Were Signs Of Trouble Coming From The Mainland.  Fires Were Visible

On The Shore At Night,  And Smoke By Day; And Page Suspected That The

Natives Were Preparing To Invade The Island.  At Length Canoes

Appeared Bobbing Up And Down On The Waves,  But A Shot From The Rifle

Sent Them Back To The Shore.  For Three Days And Nights No Fire Or

Smoke Was Seen,  And The Two Whalers Ceased To Keep Watch.  But Early

Next Morning Voices Were Heard From The Beach Below The Hut; The

Blacks Were Trying To Launch The Boat.  Page And Jim Shouted At Them

And Went Down The Cliff; Then The Blacks Ran Away Up The Rocks,  And

Were Quickly Out Of Sight.  Presently Mrs. Page Came Running Out Of

The Hut Half Dressed,  And Carrying Her Baby; She Said She Heard The

Blacks Jabbering In The Garden.  In A Short Time The Hut Was In A

Blaze,  And Was Soon Burned To The Ground.  The Two Men Then Launched

Their Boat And Went To The Port.  Davy Shipped A Crew Of Six Men,  And

Started In His Whaleboat For The Island; But The Wind Was Blowing

Hard From The West,  And They Did Not Arrive At The Island Until Next

Day.  The Blacks Had Then All Disappeared; And,  As The Men Wanted

Something To Eat,  Davy Told Them To Dig Up Some Potatoes,  While He

Went And Shot Six Rabbits.  When He Returned With His Game,  The Men

Story 14 (Gippsland Under The Law..) Pg 204

Said They Could Not Find Any Potatoes.  He Said,  "That's All

Nonsense," And Went Himself To The Garden; But He Could Not Find One

Potato.  The Blackfellows Had Shipped The Whole Crop In Their Canoes,

So That There Was Nothing But Rabbit For Breakfast.

 

In This Manner The Reign Of The Page Dynasty Came To An Abrupt

Termination.  The Baby Heir-Apparent Grew Up To Man's Estate As A

Private Citizen,  And Became A Fisherman At Williamstown.

 

 

Story 15 (Until The Golden Dawn.) Pg 205

After Mr. Latrobe's Short Visit To Port Albert,  Gippsland Was For

Many Years Ruled By Mr. Tyers With An Authority Almost Royal.  Davy,

After His First Rebellious Outburst At The Burning Of The Huts,  And

His Subsequent Appointment As Pilot,  Retired To The New Port Albert

And Avoided As Much As Possible The Haunts Of The Commissioner.  On

The Salt Water He Was Almost As Powerful And Imperious As Was His

Rival By Land.  He Ruled Over All Ships And Shipwrecks,  And Allowed

No Man To Say Him Nay.

 

Long Mason,  The First Overseer Of Woodside Station,  Took Over A Cargo

Of Fat Cattle To Hobarton For His Brother.  After Receiving The Cash

For The Cattle He Proceeded To Enjoy Himself After The Fashion Of The

Day.  The Shepherd Knocked Down His Cheque At The Nearest Groggery

And Then Returned To His Sheep Full Of Misery.  Long Mason Had Nearly

300 Pounds,  And He Acted The Part Of The Prodigal Brother.  He Soon

Made Troops Of Friends,  Dear Brethren And Sisters,  On Whom He

Lavished His Coin; He Hired A Band Of Wandering Minstrels To Play His

Favourite Music,  And Invited The Beauty An Chivalry Of The Convict

Capital To Join Him In His Revels.  When His Money Was Expended He

Was Put On Board A Schooner Bound For Port Albert,  On Which Davis (Of

Yarram) And His Family Were Passengers.  For Two Days He Lay In His

Bunk Sick And Suffering.  As The Vessel Approached The Shore His

Misery Was Intense.  He Demanded Drink,  But No One Would Give Him

Any.  He Began To Search His Pockets For Coin,  But Of The 300 Pounds

Only One Solitary Sixpence Was Left.  With This He Tried To Bribe The

Cabin Boy To Find For Him One Last Taste Of Rum; But The Boy Said,

"All The Grog Is Locked Up,  And The Captain Would Welt Me If I Gave

You A Single Drop."

 

So Long Mason Landed At The Port With His Sixpence,  Was Dismissed By

His Brother From Woodside Station,  And Became A Wandering Swagman.

 

The Next Overseer For Woodside Voyaged To Port Albert In The Brig

'Isabella' In The Month Of June,  1844.  This Vessel Had Been Employed

In Taking Prisoners To Macquarie Harbour And Port Arthur Until  The

Government Built A Barque Called The 'Lady Franklin'; Then Captain

Taylor Bought The Brig For The Cattle Trade.  On This Voyage He Was

Anxious To Cross The Bar For Shelter From A South-East Gale,  And He

Did Not Wait For The Pilot,  Although The Vessel Was Deeply Laden;

Story 15 (Until The Golden Dawn.) Pg 206

There Was Not Water Enough For Her On The Old Bar; She Struck On It,

And The Heavy Easterly Sea Threw Her On The West Bank.  It Was Some

Time Before The Pilot And His Two Men Could Get Aboard,  As They Had

To Fight Their Way Through The Breakers To Leeward.  There Was Too

Much Sea For The Boat To Remain In Safety Near The Ship,  And Davy

Asked The Captain To Lend Him A Hand To Steer The Boat Back To Sunday

Island.  The Second Mate Went In Her,  But She Was Capsized Directly.

The Ship's Boat Was Hanging On The Weather Davits,  And It Was No Use

Letting Her Down To Windward On Account Of The Heavy Sea.  Davy Ran

Out To The End Of The Jibboom With A Lead Line.  He Could See The

Second Mate Hanging On To The Keel Of The Capsized Boat,  And His Two

Men In The Water.  The Ebb Sea Kept Washing Them Out,  And The Heavy

Sea Threw Them Back Again,  And Whenever They Could Get Their Heads

Above Water They Shouted For Help.  Davy Threw The Lead Towards Them

From The End Of The Jibboom,  But They Were Too Far Away For The Line

To Reach Them.  At Length The Ship's Boat Was Launched To Leeward,

Four Men And The Mate Got Into Her,  But By This Time The Two Boatmen

Were Drowned.  While The Ship's Boat Was Running Through The Breakers

Past The Pilot Boat,  The First Mate Grabbed The Second Mate By The

Collar,  Held On To Him Until They Were In Smooth Water,  And Then

Hauled Him In.  It Was Too Dangerous For The Seamen To Face The

Breakers Again,  So The Pilot Sang Out To Them To Go To Snake Island.

 

About Two O'clock In The Afternoon The Vessel Lay Pretty Quiet On The

Ebb Tide; A Fire Was Lighted In The Galley,  And All Hands Had

Something To Eat.  There Was Not Much Water In The Cabin; But,  As

Darkness Set In,  And The Flood Tide Made,  The Seas Began To Come

Aboard.  There Was A Heavy General Cargo In The Hold,  Six Steerage

Passengers,  Four Men And Two Women (One Of Whom Had A Baby),  And One

Cabin Passenger,  Who Was Going To Manage Woodside Station In Place Of

Long Mason,  Dismissed.

 

The Sea Began To Roll Over The Bulwarks,  And The Brig Was Fast

Filling With Water.  For Some Time The Pumps Were Kept Going,  But The

Water Gained On Them,  And All Hands Had To Take To The Rigging.  The

Two Women And The Baby Were First Helped Up To The Foretop; Then The

Pilot,  Counting The Men,  Found One Missing.

 

"Captain," He Said,  "What Has Become Of The New Manager?"

 

"Oh,  He Is Lying In His Bunk Half-Drunk."

 

"Then," Replied Davy,  "He'll Be Drowned!"

 

He Descended Into The Cabin And Found The Man Asleep,  With The Water

Already On A Level With His Berth.

 

"Why The Blazes Don't You Get Up And Come Out Of This Rat-Hole?" He

Said.  "Don't You See You Are Going To Be Drowned?"

 

The Manager Looked Up And Smiled.

 

"Please,  Don't Be So Unkind,  My Dear Man," He Replied.  "Let Me Sleep

A Little Longer,  And Then I'll Go On Deck."

Story 15 (Until The