W. Pridden

“ Unhappily, this division, the fruitful source of all kinds of evil feeling, has to a great extent prevailed in our penal colonies; and nothing, it may be boldly asserted, except religion will ever root it out. Attempt to continue the exclusive privilege of caste to the free population, and you sow the seeds of a servile rebellion. Open your hands to give concessions and privileges to the emancipists, and you scatter good seed upon the stony rock, you vainly endeavour to satisfy the daughters of the horse-leech. ”

“ Near the coast, the sea breezes, which set in daily from the great expanse of waters, are very refreshing; whilst in the interior, except in Van Diemen’s Land, or in very high situations, the hot winds are extremely disagreeable. Especially in the colony of New South Wales, during the summer season, the westerly wind, which blows probably over immense deserts of sandstone, or over miles of country set on fire by the natives, is scarcely endurable at certain times, but feels like the heated air at the mouth of a furnace, and is then far from wholesome or pleasant. ”

“ Throughout all the funeral solemnities of savage and heathen nations the same distinguishing mark is to be observed,—they are the vain devices, the miserable inventions of men who sorrow for their departed friends as those that have no hope. Nothing, it is asserted, can awake in the breast more melancholy feelings than the funeral chants of the Australians. They are sung by a whole chorus of females of all ages, and the effect produced upon the bystanders by this wild music surpasses belief. ”

“ Whenever the kangaroo looks round, its enemy stands still in the same position he is in when it first raises its head, until the animal, again assured of safety, gives a skip or two, and goes on feeding: again the native advances, and the same scene occurs, until the whizzing spear penetrates the unfortunate creature, upon which the whole wood rings with sudden shouts; women and children all join in the chase, and, at last, the kangaroo, weakened from loss of blood and encumbered by the spear, places its back against a tree, and appears to attack its pursuer with the fury of despair. ”

“ Some are standing, some are felled; the unmolested monarchs stand full 200 feet high, and heave their white and spectral limbs in all directions; the fallen monsters, crushed with their overthrow, startle you with their strange appearances; whilst underfoot a wild variety of new plants arrest your attention. The bush-shrubs are exquisitely beautiful. Anon a charred and blackened trunk stops your path: if you are in spirits, you jump over all; if you are coming home serious, weary, and warm, you plod your way round. ”

“ If we can bring those children up in the right way, as dutiful children of God and faithful members of the Church of England, then, indeed, the blessings resulting from our efforts may make themselves felt in the very ends of the earth—in the solitary wilds of New Holland. But otherwise, if we continue to neglect our own people, and disgrace our profession of Christianity by encouraging tacitly the growth of heathenism around us, then we may judge by the moral and social evils which have already resulted from this course what the final consequences are likely to be. ”

“ So that, upon the whole, in New Holland, as in most other uncivilised [Pg 125] countries, old age is a period of much dignity, and of considerable enjoyment of life.
But, whatever may be the troubles, or whatever the enjoyments, of old age, they are, in their very nature, even above our other troubles or enjoyments, brief and transitory. The aged warrior of Australia can plead no exemption from the common lot of mortality, and death draws a veil over the chequered existence,—the faults and follies, the talents and virtues, of every child of Adam. ”

“ It was absurd, indeed, although no more than usually happens, to see men of the humblest, if not of the lowest, classes in the mother country, suddenly aspiring to become exclusive and grand in the colony. And, on the other hand, it was a pretty sure sign that the convicts, though emancipated from their shackles, were not well rid of their vice or impudence, when they laid claim, even with the aid of a governor’s encouragement, and often of great wealth not very scrupulously acquired, to the highest society and most important offices in the settlement. ”

“ A day’s hunting is often the cause of no small excitement, even in England, among men who care nothing for the object of their chase, and are certain of a good dinner at the end of their day’s sport; but we may suppose this to be a matter of more serious interest to the Australian, who depends upon his skill and patience in hunting for his daily food. His whole manner and appearance, accordingly, are changed on these occasions; his eyes brighten up, his motion becomes quick though silent, and every token of his eagerness and anxiety is discoverable in his behaviour. ”

“ Still we may form an idea of the occasional violence of the heat in the interior of New Holland, from Captain Sturt’s account of his expedition across the parched-up marshes of the Macquarie River, where the sugar which his men carried in their canisters was melted, and all their dogs destroyed.
The scourge of Australia is drought; and when a native of the British Islands has lived a few years in that part of the world, he begins to understand and feel better than he ever before did, the frequent allusions in the holy Scriptures to water as an emblem and sign of the greatest blessings. ”

“ Port Arthur, one of these, is on the last-named Peninsula, a sterile spot of about 100,000 acres, surrounded by sea, except where a narrow neck of land connects it with the main island; and this isthmus is guarded, night and day, by soldiers, and by a line of fierce dogs. Nothing particularly deserving of further notice presents itself, and therefore we may conclude our brief sketch of Van Diemen’s Land, wishing it and all the other British colonies in Australia a progress no less rapid in religion and morals, than their recent progress in commerce, agriculture, riches, and luxuries has been. ”

“ And as for those persons who are weak enough to talk as though newspapers were the great or sole means of [Pg 261] diffusing truth and knowledge among the people, they are not less mistaken than others would be, who might affirm that newspapers were the chief or only means of spreading lies and ignorance among them. But if so much evil is mingled with the good produced by the public press in Great Britain, how must the case stand with the same mighty agent of benefit or mischief in a colony like that of New South Wales? ”

“ But when we reflect upon the nature of the country, and remember that the intervening counties are in a great measure occupied by the Blue Mountains, with their tremendous ravines and dreary sandstone wastes, all wonder will cease at finding the green pastures and smiling country beyond the mountains occupied, while the rugged tract is suffered to remain for the most part in its natural state, and instead of becoming populous itself, is employed only as a channel of communication between the consuming population on the coast and the producing population of the more fertile interior. ”

“ For not only are the ordinary obstacles arising from man’s fallen nature to be surmounted, but the effect of unusually evil influence and bad example is to be counteracted in a convict population. And far from opposing this mischievous spirit by “endeavouring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace,” professing believers are nowhere more at variance than in Australia; so that the work of turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the Just is perpetually being disturbed by strife and jealousies among those who ought to be one, even as Christ and the Father are One. ”

“ Nay, the Australian savage, in his natural state, may be a far higher and nobler character than the British convict sometimes is in his degraded state; and, nevertheless, it may be correct to class the nation of the former among barbarians, and that of the latter among civilized people. But in forming our judgment respecting the real character of the natives of the Bush we must beware lest we try them by our own standard,—a standard by which it is unjust to measure them, since they have never known it, nor ever had the means of reaching it. ”

“ And, during a journey of many days, the same rich and sublime scenery still appeared, mingled together in beautiful and endless variety. Every day the party of [Pg 70] travellers passed over land which, for natural fertility and beauty, could scarcely be surpassed; over streams of unfailing abundance, and plains covered with the richest pasturage. Stately trees and majestic mountains adorned the ever-varying landscape, the most southern region of all Australia, and the best. ”

“ What nation had within a single century more than doubled its population without having built or endowed a score of new churches? To whose neglect is it, partly, though not entirely, owing, that when heathens meet, in far distant countries, with our lower classes, or when their homes are visited in our great towns and cities, the very heathens are sometimes forced to yield the palm to them in wickedness and in sin? ”

“ After the exploring party had passed the highest point in the channel to which the tide flowed from the sea, this huge river bed was perfectly dry, and looked the most mournful, deserted spot imaginable. Occasionally water-holes were found eighteen or twenty feet in depth, and it is from these alone that travellers have been enabled to satisfy their thirst in crossing over the unexplored parts of the bush, where no water could elsewhere be obtained. ”

“ It is not for us to defend these judgments of the world, as though they were, in any case, altogether righteous judgments, but this we may safely affirm, in the particular instance of Australia, that, upon the whole, it is a gain to the cause of truth and virtue for Christian England to possess those wilds, which lately were occupied by miserable natives; and, while we own that it is wrong to do evil that good may come, yet may we, likewise, confess with thankfulness the Divine mercy and wisdom which have so often brought good out of the evil committed by our countrymen in these distant lands. ”

“ And thus it is that a native, when he feels afraid, sings himself into courage, or, if he is already in a bold mood, he heaps fuel upon the flame of his anger, and adds strength to his fury. The deadly feeling of hatred and revenge extends itself to their public, as well as to their private, quarrels, and sometimes shows itself in a very fierce and unexpected manner. In the valley of the Wollombi, between Sydney and Hunter’s River, some years ago, three boys of a certain tribe had been persuaded to reside in the families of three of the British settlers there. ”

“ We must by no means form our ideas of the appearance of an Australian forest from that of the neat and trim woods of our own country, where every single branch or bough, and much more every tree, bears a certain value. Except that portion which is required for fuel or materials by an extremely scattered population in a very mild climate, there is nothing carried off from the forests, and, were it not for the frequent and destructive fires which the natives kindle in many parts, no check worth mentioning would be placed upon the natural increase and decay of the woods of New Holland. ”

“ Whatever may be the particular evils of civilized society, and however some wild imaginations may be tempted by these to regard with regret or envy the enjoyments of savage life, after all it must be confessed, these enjoyments are, at best, very scanty and very uncertain, whilst the miseries attendant upon such a state are of a nature continually to try the patience and weary the spirit of him who has to endure them. ”

“ The season in Australia for catching frogs and fresh-water shell-fish, is when the swamps are nearly dried up by the heat; these animals then bury themselves in holes in the mud, and the native women, with their long sticks, and taper arms, which they plunge up to the shoulder in the slime, manage to drag them out. In summer a whole troop of females may be seen paddling about in a swamp, slapping themselves to kill the mosquitoes and sandflies, and every now and then plunging their arms down into the mud, and dragging forth their prey. ”

“ So fondly does the human soul cling to the very faintest semblance of hope, that the adventurers would rather have wandered up and down these barren and arid banks, in vain search after water, than tear themselves away by one bold effort from the deceitful expectations held out to them by the empty channel. ”

“ CHAPTER IV. MEANS OF SUBSISTENCE IN THE BUSH.
One of the most important occupations of every man in this present state of things, is the pursuit of food and necessary sustenance for himself and those belonging to him. But this occupation, being in some respects more difficult, or at least, more uncertain and engrossing, stands more forward in savage life, and appears more important than ever; while, at the same time, the contrast upon this subject between the rude child of nature and the civilized inhabitants of the earth, becomes even stronger than usual. ”

“ May that God who maketh men to be of one mind in a house or nation, so dispose events, that in due time the valleys and hills of Australia Felix may be dotted with churches, and filled with faithful members of Christ! Then will it become a happy land indeed. Then may its inhabitants feel a lively interest, both in the social and religious welfare of their country; and each one may join, from the distant shores of the once unknown Southern Land, in the holy aspirations of the Royal Prophet: “For my brethren and companions’ sakes I will wish thee prosperity. ”