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

Were

Prisoners Of The Crown,  Receiving Half A Dollar A Day.  He Was

Afterwards Collector Of Customs At The Mersey.

 

In November,  1835 The Schooner 'Elizabeth' Returned To Launceston

With 270 Tuns Of Oil.  The Share Of The Crew Of A Whaling Vessel Was

One-Fiftieth Of The Value Of The Oil And Bone.  The Boat-Steerer

Received One-Thirtieth,  And Of The Headmen Some Had One-Twenty-Fifth,

Others One-Fifteenth.  In This Same Year,  1835,  Batman Went To Port

Phillip With A Few Friends And Seven Sydney Blackfellows.  On June

14th He Returned To Van Diemen's Land,  And By The 25th Of The Same

Month He Had Compiled A Report Of His Expedition,  Which He Sent To

Story 2 (First Settlers.) Pg 24

Governor Arthur,  Together With A Copy Of The Grant Of Land Executed

By The Black Chiefs.  He Had Obtained Three Copies Of The Grant

Signed By Three Brothers Jagga-Jagga,  By Bungaree,  Yan-Yan,  Moorwhip,

And Marmarallar.  The Area Of The Land Bought By Batman Was Not

Surveyed With Precision,  But It Was Of Great Extent,  Like Infinite

Space,  Whose Centre Is Everywhere,  And Circumference Nowhere.  And In

Addition He Took Up A Small Patch Of One Hundred Thousand Acres

Between The Bay And The Barwon,  Including The Insignificant Site Of

Geelong,  A Place Of Small Account Even To This Day.  Batman Was A

Long-Limbed Sydney Native,  And He Bestrode His Real Estate Like A

Colossus,  But King William Was A Bigger Colossus Than Batman--He

Claimed Both The Land And The Blacks,  And Ignored The Crown Grant.

 

Next,  John Fawkner And His Friends Chartered The Schooner

'Enterprise' For A Voyage Across The Straits To Australia Felix.  He

Afterwards Claimed To Be The Founder Of Melbourne.  He Could Write

And Talk Everlastingly,  But He Had Not The 'Robur' And 'As Triplex'

Suitable For A Sea-Robber.  Sea-Sickness Nearly Killed Him,  So He

Stayed Behind While The Other Adventurers Went And Laid The

Foundation.  They First Examined The Shores Of Western Port,  Then

Went To Port Philip Bay And Entered The River Yarra.  They

Disembarked On Its Banks,  Ploughed Some Land,  Sowed Maize And Wheat,

And Planted Two Thousand Fruit Trees.  They Were Not So Grasping As

Batman,  And Each Man Pegged Out A Farm Of Only One Hundred Acres.

These Farms Were Very Valuable In The Days Of The Late Boom,  And Are

Called The City Of Melbourne.  Batman Wanted To Oust The Newcomers;

He Claimed The Farms Under His Grant From The Jagga-Jaggas.  He

Squatted On Batman's Hill,  And Looked Down With Evil Eyes On The

Rival Immigrants.  He Saw Them Clearing Away The Scrub Along Flinders

Street,  And Splitting Posts And Rails All Over The City From Spencer

Street To Spring Street,  Regardless Of The Fact That The Ground Under

Their Feet Would Be,  In The Days Of Their Grandchildren,  Worth 3,000

Pounds Per Foot.  Their Bullock-Drays Were Often Bogged In Elizabeth

Street,  And They Made A Corduroy Crossing Over It With Red Gum Logs.

Some Of These Logs Were Dislodged Quite Sound Fifty Years Afterwards

By The Tramway Company's Workmen.

 

 

Story 3 (Discovery Of The River Hopkins.) Pg 25

"Know Ye Not That Lovely River?

Know Ye Not That Smiling River?

Whose Gentle Flood,  By Cliff And Wood,

With 'Wildering Sound Goes Winding Ever."

 

In January,  1836,  Captain Smith,  Who Was In Charge Of The Whaling

Station At Port Fairy,  Went With Two Men,  Named Wilson And Gibbs,  In

A Whale Boat To The Islands Near Warrnambool,  To Look For Seal.  They

Could Find No Seal,  And Then They Went Across The Bay,  And Found The

Mouth Of The River Hopkins.  In Trying To Land There,  Their Boat

Capsized In The Surf,  And Smith Was Drowned.  The Other Two Men

Story 3 (Discovery Of The River Hopkins.) Pg 26

Succeeded In Reaching The Shore Naked,  And They Travelled Back Along

The Coast To Port Fairy,  Carrying Sticks On Their Shoulders To Look

Like Guns,  In Order To Frighten Away The Natives,  Who Were Very

Numerous On That Part Of The Coast.  On This Journey They Found The

Wreck Of A Vessel,  Supposed To Be A Spanish One,  Which Has Since Been

Covered By The Drifting Sand.  When Captain Mills Was Afterwards

Harbour Master At Belfast,  He Took The Bearings Of It,  And Reported

Them To The Harbour Department In Melbourne.  Vain Search Was Made

For It Many Years Afterwards In The Hope That It Was A Spanish

Galleon Laden With Doubloons.

 

Davy Was In The Sydney Trade In The 'Elizabeth' Until March,  1836; He

Then Left Her And Joined The Cutter 'Sarah Ann',  Under J. B. Mills,

To Go Whaling At Port Fairy.  In The Month Of May,  Captain Mills Was

Short Of Boats,  And Went To The Hopkins To Look For The Boat Lost By

Smith.  He Took With Him Two Boats With All Their Whaling Gear,  In

Case He Should See A Whale.  David Fermaner Was In One Of The Boats,

Which Carried A Supply Of Provisions For The Two Crews; In The Other

Boat There Was Only What Was Styled A Nosebag,  Or Snack--A Mouthful

For Each Man.

 

On Arriving Off The Hopkins,  They Found A Nasty Sea On,  And Captain

Mills Said It Would Be Dangerous To Attempt To Land; But His Brother

Charles Said He Would Try,  And In Doing So His Boat Capsized In The

Breakers.  All The Men Clung To The Boat,  But The Off-Sea Prevented

Them From Getting On Shore.  When Captain Mills Saw What Had

Happened,  He At Once Pushed On His Boat Through The Surf And

Succeeded In Reaching The Shore Inside The Point On The Eastern Side

Of The Entrance.  He Then Walked Round Towards The Other Boat With A

Lance Warp,  Waded Out In The Water As Far As He Could,  And Then Threw

The Warp To The Men,  Who Hauled On It Until Their Boat Came Ashore,

And They Were Able To Land.

 

All The Provisions Were Lost.  The Water Was Baled Out Of The Boat

That Had Been Capsized,  And She Was Taken Over To The West Head.  All

The Food For Twelve Men Was In The Nosebag,  And It Was Very Little;

Each Man Had A Mere Nibble For Supper.  In Those Days Wombats Were

Plentiful Near The River,  But The Men Could Not Catch Or Kill One Of

Them.  Captain Mills Had A Gun In His Boat Which Happened To Be

Loaded,  And He Gave It To Davy To Try If He Could Shoot Anything For

Breakfast Next Morning.  There Was Only One Charge,  All The Rest Of

The Ammunition Having Been Lost In The Breakers.  Davy Walked Up The

Banks Of The River Early In The Morning,  And Saw Plenty Of Ducks,  But

They Were So Wild He Could Not Get Near Them.  At Last He Was So

Fortunate As To Shoot A Musk Duck,  Which He Brought Back To The Camp,

Stuck Up Before The Fire,  And Roasted.  He Then Divided It Into

Twelve Portions,  And Gave One Portion To Each Of The Twelve Men For

Breakfast; But It Was A Mockery Of A Meal,  As Unsubstantial As An

Echo--Smell,  And Nothing Else.

 

The Two Boats Were Launched,  And An Attempt Was Made To Pass Out To

Sea Through The Surf,  But The Wind Was Far Down South,  And The Men

Had To Return And Beach The Boats.  The Sails Were Taken Ashore And

Used As Tents.  In The Evening They Again Endeavoured To Catch A

Story 3 (Discovery Of The River Hopkins.) Pg 27

Wombat,  But Failed.

 

On The Next Day They Tried Again To Get Out Of The River,  But The

Surf Half Filled The Boats With Water,  And They Were Glad To Reach

The Camp Again.

 

Captain Mills Was A Native Of Australia,  And A Good Bushman; He Told

The Men That Sow Thistles Were Good To Eat,  So They Went About

Looking For Them,  And Having Found A Quantity Ate Them.  On The Third

Day They Tried Once More To Get Out Of The River,  But Without Success.

 

On The Fourth Day Mills Decided To Carry The Boats And Whaling Gear

Overland To A Bight In The Bay To The West.  The Gear Was Divided

Into Lots Among The Men,  And Consisted Of Ten Oars,  Two Steer-Oars,

Two Tubs Of Whale Line Each 120 Fathoms In Length,  Two Fifty-Pound

Anchors,  Four Harpoons,  Six Lances,  Six Lance Warps,  Two Tomahawks,

Two Water Kegs,  Two Piggins For Balers,  Two Sheath Knives,  And Two

Oil-Stones For Touching Up The Lances When They Became Dull.  These

Were Carried For About A Quarter Of A Mile,  And Then Put Down For A

Rest,  And The Men Went Back To The Camp.  The Boats Were Much Lighter

Than The Gear,  Being Made Of Only Half-Inch Plank.  One Boat Was

Capsized Bottom Up,  And The Men Took It On Their Shoulders,  Six On

Each Side,  The Tallest Men Being Placed In The Middle On Account Of

The Shear Of The Boat,  And It Was Carried About Half A Mile Past The

Gear.  They Then Returned For The Other Boat,  And In This Way Brought

Everything To The Bight Close To The Spot Where The Bathing House At

Warrnambool Has Since Been Erected.  There They Launched The Boats,

And Got Out To Sea,  Pulling Against A Strong Westerly Breeze.

 

The Men Were Very Weak,  Having Had Nothing To Eat For Four Days But

Some Sow Thistles And A Musk Duck,  And The Pull To Port Fairy Was

Hard And Long.  They Landed About Four O'clock In The Afternoon,  And

Captain Mills Told Them Not To Eat Anything,  Saying He Would Give

Them Something Better.  At That Time There Was A Liquor Called "Black

Strap," Brought Out In The Convict Ships For The Use Of The

Prisoners,  And It Was Sold With The Ships' Surplus Stores In Sydney

And Hobarton.  Mills