Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake, Commanded By the Late Captain Owe - Volume 1, John MacGillivray [read dune txt] 📗

trifling additional service asking for bisiker muro, choka muro, neipa, or some such thing. Still a few of these same blacks make a very agreeable addition to a shooting party, as besides their services as guides, and in pointing out game, they formed amusing companions and enlivened many a noonday bivouac or dull thirsty march in the hot sun with their songs, jokes, and mimicry.

(*Footnote. Derived from the Kowrarega word Kutaig (younger brother); here in the jargon used between us it signified friend, associate, companion, etc.)

INDUCE THEM TO GET UP A NIGHT DANCE.

One evening I was asked to join a party made up for the purpose of witnessing a native dance. Many strange blacks were then encamped on the margin of the beach, and altogether about 150 people belonging to four or five tribes had collected. Not being apprised of our coming they showed much surprise and suspicion at our landing after dark, but, with some trouble, a number were induced by the promise of a quantity of biscuit to get up a dance round a large fire on the sand to the music of a drum which we had taken with us to announce our approach. The dance after all was a very poor affair-none of the performers were painted and decorated, there was little scenic effect, and they seemed glad when it was over. The bag containing the promised biscuit was most injudiciously handed over to an old woman named Baki, or queena woman Baki, as someone had taught her to call herself, for distribution among the party. She doled out a few handfuls to some women and children who had not been at all concerned in the matter, and would have marched off with the remainder had she not been prevented. The appointment of a woman to this office gave great offence to the men who had been dancing-while not one among them would have scrupled forcibly to deprive her of the whole on the very first opportunity, yet every man there scorned the idea of having to ASK a woman for anything-the consequence was that the performers were not rewarded, and naturally imagined that we had broken faith with them. The discontent increased, some of the men left in a state of great excitement, and went for their spears and throwing sticks. One or two rockets were sent up soon after to amuse them, on which the few remaining women and children hurried to their sheds of bark and hid their faces in terror. When a blue light was burned, and lit up the gloomy shadows of the neighbouring bush, it disclosed the spectral figures of many armed men among the trees, singly and in groups, intently watching our motions. Paida, who with other native allies of ours still remained with us, was very urgent for us to be off, telling me that spears would be thrown immediately (kaibu kalaka muro); being a kotaig of mine, he considered himself bound to attend to my safety, so conducted me to the boat which he assisted in shoving off, nor did he retire from the beach until we had got into deep water.

NEARLY QUARREL WITH THEM.

I have alluded to this occurrence, trivial as it may appear, not without an object. It serves as an illustration of the policy of respecting the known customs of the Australian race, even in apparently trifling matters, at least during the early period of intercourse with a tribe, and shows how a little want of judgment in the director of our party caused the most friendly intentions to be misconstrued, and might have led to fatal results.

OBSERVATIONS ON CAUSE OF OFFENCE.

I must confess that I should have considered any injury sustained on our side to have been most richly merited; moreover, I am convinced that some at least of the collisions which have taken place in Australia, between the first European visitors and the natives of any given district, have originated in causes of offence brought on by the indiscretion of one or more of the party, and revenged on others who were innocent. As a memorable instance I may give that which happened during Leichhardt's overland journey to Port Essington, when his camp was attacked one evening, and Mr. Gilbert lost his life. Long afterwards the undoubted cause of this apparently unaccountable attack transpired in the acknowledgment, while intoxicated, by one of the persons concerned, that a gross outrage had been committed upon an aboriginal woman a day or two previously, by the two blacks belonging to the expedition.

One day I witnessed a native fight, which may be described here, as such occurrences, although frequent enough in Australia, have by Europeans been witnessed only in the settled districts. It was one of those smaller fights, or usual modes of settling a quarrel when more than two people are concerned, and assumed quite the character of a duel upon a large scale. At daybreak, I landed in company with six or seven people who were going out on different shooting parties. The natives came down to the boat as usual, but all carried throwing-sticks-contrary to their usual practice of late; and at the place where they had slept, numbers of spears were stuck up on end in the sand. These preparations surprised me, but Paida would not explain the cause and seemed anxious to get me away. The shooters marched off-each with his black-but I loitered behind, walking slowly along the beach.

WITNESS A NATIVE FIGHT.

About 200 yards from the first camping-place, two groups of strange natives, chiefly men, were assembled with throwing-sticks in their hands and bundles of spears. While passing them they moved along in twos and threes towards the Evans Bay party, the men of which advanced to meet them. The women and children began to make off, but a few remained as spectators on the sands, it being then low water. A great deal of violent gesticulation and shouting took place, the parties became more and more excited, and took up their position in two scattered lines facing each other, extending from the margin of the beach to a little way in the bush, and about twenty-five yards apart. Paida, too, partook of the excitement and could refrain no longer from joining in the fight; he dropped my haversack and bounded away at full speed to his camping-place, where he received his spears from little Purom his son, and quickly made his appearance upon the scene of action.

The two parties were pretty equally matched-about fifteen men in each. The noise now became deafening; shouts of defiance, insulting expressions, and every kind of abusive epithet were bandied about, and the women and children in the bush kept up a wailing cry all the while rising and falling in cadence. The pantomimic movements were of various descriptions; besides the singular quivering motion given to the thighs placed wide apart (common to all the Australian dances) they frequently invited each other to throw at them, turning the body half round and exposing the breech, or dropping on one knee or hand as if to offer a fair mark. At length a spear was thrown and returned, followed by many others, and the fighting became general, with an occasional pause.

DEXTERITY IN THROWING THE SPEAR.

The precision with which the spears were thrown was not less remarkable than the dexterity which with they were avoided. In nearly every case the person thrown at would, apparently, have been struck had he stood still, but, his keenness of sight enabled him to escape by springing aside as required, variously inclining the body, or sometimes merely lifting up a leg to allow the spear to pass by, and had two been thrown at one person at the same moment he could scarcely have escaped, but this I observed was never attempted, as it would have been in war, here each individual appeared to have a particular opponent. I had a capital view of the whole of the proceedings, being seated about fifty yards behind and slightly on the flank of one of the two contending parties. One spear thrown higher than usual passed within five yards of me, but this I was satisfied was the result of accident, as I had seen it come from Paida's party. Soon afterwards I observed a man at the right extreme of the line next me, who had been dodging round a large scaevola bush for some time back, make a sudden dart at one of the opposite party and chop him down the shoulder with an iron tomahawk. The wounded man fell, and instantly a yell of triumph denoted that the whole matter was at an end.

Paida rejoined me five minutes afterwards, apparently much refreshed by this little excitement, and accompanied me on my walk, still he would not explain the cause of the fight. The wounded man had his arm tied up by one of our people who landed soon afterwards, and, although the cut was both large and deep, he soon recovered.

DISCOVERY OF MEW RIVER.

The frequent excursions of our shooting parties being more extended than during our last visit became the means of adding considerably to our knowledge of the surrounding country. One of the immediate consequences was the discovery of several small streams of fresh water. The principal of these, which we named Mew River (after its first finder, the sergeant of marines on board) has its mouth in a small mangrove creek three quarters of a mile to the eastward of Evans Bay. About five miles further up its source was found to be a spring among rocks in a dense calamus scrub. It waters a fine valley running nearly east and west behind the range of hills to the southward of Evans Bay, and its line is marked by a belt of tangled brush exceeding in luxuriance anything of the same description which I had seen elsewhere. The variety of trees in this dense brush is very great, and many were quite new to me. The Seaforthia palm attained the height of 60 to 80 feet, and the rattan was very abundant, and from the recurved prickles catching and tearing the clothes, it was often no easy matter to penetrate the thickets. Among the plants along the river the most interesting is an indigenous species of banana or plantain, probably the same as that found at Endeavour River during Cook's first voyage. The fruit is of small size with numerous hard seeds and a small quantity of delicious pulp; cultivation would, doubtless, wonderfully improve it. Another remarkable plant found on the grassy borders of the jungle and characteristic of rich damp soil is a beautiful species of Roscoea (?) (one of the Scitamineae or ginger family) about a foot high, with a solitary leaf and large bracteae, the lower green and the upper ones pink, partially concealing handsome yellow flowers. From its succulent nature I failed in preparing specimens for the herbarium, but some roots were preserved and given to the Botanical Garden at Sydney.

THE VALLEY OF THE MEW.

The lower part of the valley is open forest land, or nearly level and thinly wooded country covered with tall coarse grass. Further up it becomes more beautiful. From the belt of wood, concealing the windings of the river, grassy sloping meadows extend upwards on each side to the flanking ridges which are covered with dense scrub occasionally extending in straggling patches down to the water, and forming a kind of imperfect natural fence. The soil of these meadows is rich sandy loam, affording great apparent facilities for cultivation from their proximity to what is probably a never-failing supply of fresh water. Here, at the end of the dry season, and before the periodical rains had fairly set in, we found the stream