September 3, 2025 • 25 mins
Dive into a fascinating collection of letters penned by the early pioneers of Victoria, addressing the Lieutenant-Governor Charles Joseph La Trobe in response to his circular dated July 29, 1853. These correspondences provide a glimpse into the early days of the colony, its interactions with the Aboriginal community, and the perspectives of those who shaped its history. While these letters offer valuable insights, they are not without their flaws; as noted in the preface, they cannot be deemed infallible records of our past. The series concludes with a unique compilation of Aboriginal words and phrases gathered by a dedicated woman, which, though their accuracy may be uncertain, stands as a testament to her commitment to preserving cultural heritage. Remember, the views expressed in these letters reflect the sentiments of the time and may not necessarily align with modern perspectives. (Annise)
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Section forty nine of Letters from Victorian Pioneers. This is
the LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
Letters from Victorian Pioneers. Letter forty nine from E. P. S. Sturt,
Lonsdale Street, twentieth of October eighteen fifty three. My dear Sir,
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as far as my recollections will allow me to record
some of the circumstances attending my early career and travels
through this southern portion of our Australian possessions, and by
so doing contribute to the fund of information you have
already gathered through your own long experience and personal observation.
It will afford me much pleasure. My early initiation into
bush life was as a Commissioner of crown Lands for
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the Murray District in eighteen thirty seven, a portion of
the colony at that time very thinly occupied by stations,
though now forming one of our richest grazing districts. Provided
with a good tent and camp equipage, a small supply
of books and riding materials, a trusty Wesley Richards, with
an ample supply of ammunition, a capital nag, and some
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fine kangaroo dogs. You may easily conceive that I looked
forward to my expeditions with feelings of pleasure and excitement.
My means of transport was a light cart with two
draft horses, which, with a large topollan afforded an ample
shelter for the men. The district allotted to me was
from the left side of the Murrambiege to the right
bank of the Ovens River, forty miles on the Port
Phillips side of the Murray. The country was at this
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time most beautiful, miles of it, untrodden by stock, and
indeed unseen by Europeans. Every creek abounded with wild fowl,
and the quails sprung from the long kangaroo grass which
waved to the very flaps of the saddle. Seldom on
my return to the encampment after a long day's ride
to some outstations, But what I had to acknowledge the
culinary talents of my tent servant, as the savory steam
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of a shoe or pastry would rise from the iron
pot simmering by a glorious fire in front of the tent.
No dinner cooked by the most cunning Our teast is
equal to that one enjoys under such circumstances as those
I describe. Nor can anything equal the relish which is
afforded by the quart pot of tea, a delicacy. I
know you have yourself appreciated on some of your Excellency's
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flying expeditions. It has often been a source of regret
to me that all the charms attending the traversing of
a new country must give way to the march of civilization.
The camp on the grassy sward is now superseded by
the noisy roadside inn, the quart pot of tea, by
the bottle of ale. All the quiet serenity of an
Australian bush as we have known it has yielded to
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the demands of population. And this, though a necessary change,
is not the less to be regretted. I look back
to those days as to some joyous scene of schoolboy holidays.
The seasons appear to me to have undergone a considerable change,
and to have become both colder and more moist. For
though a fire was fully appreciated, the weather generally was
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mild and dry. My impression with regard to the increased
rains is borne out by the fact that many tracts
of country are now occupied by stock, which I have
ridden over, vainly seeking for water to relieve my distressed
horse and moisten my parched lips. I may particularly allude
to the Bilibon country, and to those plains and flat
box country extending between the Edward and Murrambidge rivers. For
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miles and miles I have ridden over this monotonous, dreary flat,
not a hill to be seen, to raise the hope
that some creek or water hole might be at hand.
The eyes aching with the dazzling reflection and mirage of
the plains. Sheep are now occupying the whole of this country,
the supply of water for the stations being obtained by
sinking water holes and throwing dams across the slight falls
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or declinations of the plain, which, though barely visible, yet
here and there in the wet seasons become runs of water.
Even this, however, affords a precarious supply, and the losses
and suffering of these settlers are very great. In the
dry seasons, they frequently have to move on with their
flocks towards some of the rivers for their absolute salvation,
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and driven to become interloperes and marauders on others runs.
Their existence is far from enviable. Their risk to spreading
or contracting contagious diseases among their flocks thus becomes very great.
The heat is also here excessive, which, together with the
general dryness of the atmosphere and pasturage, deteriorates the character
of the wolves. Notwithstanding, however, these drawbacks, it may safely
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be considered a fine pastoral district. The country to the
southeast of the main Sydney Road to Port Phillip rises
towards the Australian Alps, to which snow capped mountains. We
are indebted for the numerous streams and rivers flowing through
the lower and in summer arid regions to the north
and northwest, most of which unite with the Murray. The
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nearer we approach the mountains, both the climate and character
of the soil change. I've noticed that the upper Murray
and table lands of Omio afford an abundant but coarse,
unnutritious grass. The trees also assume a cold and wintry appearance,
and the foliage becomes yet more somber than the generality
of Australian trees. One circumstance I noticed as strange and
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difficult to account for. Though the climates on the Murray
and Murrambidgee rivers exactly assimilate and the distance between them
is inconsiderable about one hundred thirty miles, the appearance of
the two rivers differs materially. The banks of the Murrumbidge
are wooded with large swamp oak, as is also the
case with its tributaries, the Lachlan Burrower and Tumut rivers,
et cetera, et cetera. On the latter, these large oaks
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overhang the banks until they nearly meet, imparting a peculiar
gloom to this rapid stream. On the Murray, the oak
entirely disappears, being replaced by the bright wattle or acacia.
The scent of its masses of blossom in the spring
pervades the air and adds to the pleasing effect this
graceful tree has on the mind of the traveler, enhanced
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by the wild, sweet call of the bell bird. Another
peculiarity attending these rivers flowing to the north and northwest
is that they abound in a fine fish called the
murray cod. In season, these fish are very rich and
afford the chief sustenance of the natives, who spear them
from their canoes, at the prow of which they have
a brilliant fire of pines which attracts the fish at
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night and entices them to their destruction. Strange to say
that all the streams and rivers flowing to the south
and Southwest, though in many instances taking their source from
the same mountains, are devoid of the river cod, having
only the blackfish, a peculiar kind of herring, and the eel,
which run to a large size. About this time commenced
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the stream of emigration into Port Phillip, and the main
line of road became enlivened by the overland parties, crowding
one after another to the newly opened and rich pastriages
of the south. Numerous were the incidents, both by flood
and field, which these adventurers met with. The rivers were
all unbridged and afforded no small obstacle to the overlander,
taxing both his courage, enterprise, and invention to overcome his difficulties.
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The danger of attack for the natives was not inconsiderable,
and I need hardly call to your recollection the melancholy
destruction of mister Faithful's party who were attacking the Ovens River,
several of the men being killed. I happened to meet
one of the poor wretches who escaped thanks to his
speed of foot and endurance, as he was pursued many
miles by the merciless savages, and though severely wounded, he
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ran forty miles and at last dropped at my tent,
overcome by fatigue and terror. The Natives were at all
times treacherous to a degree, and the murders they committed
were numerous. I admit that they sometimes met with treatment
from some of the whites sufficient to excite their enmity,
but I cannot attribute their acts of murder to a
spirit of retaliation, nor do I believe that any cruelty
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was evinced towards them by the Europeans until exasperated by
their savage acts of treachery. The natives of Australia are
devoid of any feeling of mercy or pity. No native
of a foreign tribe would be safe for an hour
if in the power of others of the same race.
The most cold blooded murder will excite no remorse. The
braining of a wretched luber only add to the heroic
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and indomitable character of the savage. I knew a fine
young lad whom doctor Martin had civilized. He was a
stockman and a very intelligent lad. He accompanied a party
with fat stock to Melbourne. At bonan Jong, he fell
in with a tribe of natives, and in the act
of giving them tobacco, was basely speared and died in
the greatest agony. His only offense was that he belonged
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to a strange tribe. I have seen a lad of
twelve years old driver's spear through the body of an
old man because he refused the loan of his pipe.
The father of this precocious youth submitted his head without
a groan, to three terrific blows from a nulla nulla
inflicted by a relative of the old man's. This was
in extenuation of his son's offense. Love to their offspring
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is the only softening feature in these natives, and that
is but an animal propensity natural to the brute creation.
March is laid to the evil effects resulting from the
intimacies known to exist between the shepherds and stockmen, and
the native women. This encouraged a familiarity with the tribes,
which revealed the defenseless state of the Europeans, and they
too often availed themselves of this knowledge. But as sensitiveness
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on the point of their women, I muched doubt for
the first overture, as the savage makes in barter, is
the tender of his unfortunate lubra, that there are some
instances of their becoming useful men. I cannot deny, as
we might instance some of poor Darna's black troopers. But
they are rare. Indeed, it is only under compulsion that
their natural disposition can be restrained. Poor mister William, whom
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I assure your Excellency recollects, is now undergoing his sentence
for a breach of the laws at the Goldfields. He
is now at Penridge Stockade in the capacity of a
servant to mister Barrow. In that capacity he is a
useful good creature, being a capital nurse and playmate for
Barrow's children. Turn the poor fellow away and he would
soon be seen in the streets of Melbourne a drunken sot.
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I suppose the example of others had its effect with me,
and seized with an overland fit. I resigned my appointment
and started for Bathist and thence with sheep and cattle
to Adelaide. It would be uninteresting to give any details
of the expedition. I believe I was the first to
run the Murhambidgee down with stock. At least no trace
of four footed beast was to be seen as we
approached the field of reeds forming the outlet of the
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Lochland into the Murrumbidge. Here I thought we should have
been stopped. As far as the eye could reach was
one bed of reeds about fifteen feet high. The lochland
here ceases to have the appearance of a river and
loses itself in this bed of reeds. With the drays first,
then the cattle, we managed to break down a track
for the sheep, and, confident that there was no deep
bed of a river to stop us, on we went,
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and three days hard work saw us through the Lochland swamps.
I was among the most fortunate of the overlanders, having
avoided any serious collisions with the blacks. The country itself
was monotonous to a degree. The river runs through a
nearly level country, the river. Flats average about half a
mile wide on each side, and afford fine feed for
the stock and famous camping places at night. From these
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flats a bank rises to the plains, which extend for
hundreds of miles. These plains, in some places are thickly
covered with a low polyganum scrub. The soil is a
species of whitish clay, formed into small hills and hollows
like mole hills. Some fine silvery grass grows in these hollows,
and the tops of the rises are utterly devoid of vegetation.
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The plains are sometimes intersected by a belt of murray
scrub running down to the very river. Also, I met
with some belts of pine forest, in which some very
beautiful shrubs and flowers are to be found. The whole
of this country has, to my surprise, become now occupied.
But I hear that the herbage is improve from being
fed over, and the sheep seem to thrive on the
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various salcillaceous plants which abound it. Still, however, takes a
vast extent of this kind of country to support any
number of sheep. The gum trees on the ollivial flats
are magnificent, stately trees, and some of our encampments were
singularly picturesque. As for the Murray ever becoming an agricultural country,
the idea is absurd. The produce which the Henry Young
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fancies will all be invade to Adelaide by steamers is
a chimerical idea which never can be realized. The alluvial
river flats constitute the sole land in any way suitable
to agriculture, and these are flooded during the spring and
early part of summer by the melting of the snow
on the mountains. There is hardly a settler on the
lower Murray who can even luxuriate in a vegetable. The
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weather during my expedition was most beautiful. We of course
kept regular watches, and the bugles sounding the morning watch
at two o'clock was the signal for the camp to arouse.
Breakfast was then cooked, drays loaded, bullocks yoked, and the
stock moved off. We then traveled on, but seldom could
do much of After ten o'clock in the morning, when
the heat would become too intense. The sheep would cluster
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in knots, seeking any shelter from the intense rays of
the sun. We generally managed to make one of the
bends of the river at this time, and there lay
by until four or five o'clock, when we would accomplish
another three or four miles of our journey. The extraordinary
number of birds which collect on the river afforded abundant
sport as well as capital dinners. It appears to be
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now indisputably settled that the interior of this country is
chiefly characterized by barren scrubs and sterile sand hills, forming,
as it were, a basin. And yet the flights of
birds all from the north would lead one to suppose
that there must be some oasis in that desert tract.
Extending to Sir Thomas Mitchell's discoveries on the Victoria River
on which the migratory feathered race might rest on their
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weary flight. The air would sometimes absolutely resound with the
chatter of birds, the lagoons swarming with ducks and snipe,
and then the luxury of a plunge into the fresh
stream after a hard day's work. With the thermometer at
one hundred and ten degrees fahrenheit cannot be exceeded. It
is curious to observe the skill shown by the natives
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in their pursuit of game. They catch vast numbers of
ducks in an ingenious manner. The lagoons run for some length,
narrowing at the end where the trees close in. Two
or three blacks plant themselves near this narrow pass, having
extended a large net from tree to tree. The others
then proceed to the top of the lagoon, driving the
ducks before them. As they fly by the ambuscade, they
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throw their boomerangs, whizzing over the heads of the birds, which,
dreading that their enemy, the hawk is sweeping at them,
make a dash under the trees, strike the net, and
fall as if shot. When the natives dash in after them,
I imagine it's a panic that seizes the poor birds,
for I have seen a hundred court by such means.
We encountered some difficulty in crossing our stock and drays
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over the rufous and darling, but none which with a
good heart we did not overcome. Indeed, such difficulties added
zest to our labors. At the northwest bend of the Murray,
the river takes a sweep to the south into Lake Alexandrina.
From this point I left our party to strike across
the scrub into Adelaide, or rather into the settled parts
of the colony. We had run short of flour and sugar,
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and my object was to cut through the scrub with
a light horse cart and bring out supplies for the party,
as well as ascertain the best route in for the
stock to take tracks of former parties indistinct. And at
the point I struck in, we noticed for some distance
a single cart track going the direction I wished to follow. This, however,
we soon lost and I discovered that we had fearfully
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miscalculated the width of the scrub or its density at
the point I entered. Since then, poor young Bryant perished
in the same scrub whilst on an expedition with Colonel Gawler,
the then Governor of South Australia. It appeared the Governor
wished to penetrate to some hills north, but finding the
scrub too dense and no water to be had, he
hastened back to the river, after having had to kill
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one of the horses. The party somehow separated in pushing
for the river. It was a struggle for life, as
another day's sun would have been fatal. Poor Bryant must
have lost his presence of mind, for his tracks were
found running the scrub down parallel to the river, but
no traces of the poor fellow could ever be made out.
He must have perished a miserable death. To return to
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my own misadventures, my party consisted of two men and
a native of New South Wales. For two days we
cut through the scrub, with little appearance of getting out
or of finding water. The labor was excessive and the
men were improvident with our limited supply of water. The
third day saw us without any Still. I was determined
to push on to the hills, knowing that by keeping
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firm in the one direction I must succeed. The heat
was terrific, and the second day told fearfully upon us.
It was doubtful whether we could have made it back
to the river and the hills, the object of our
aim and hopes of water I saw before us. So
still we plunged on, the poor horses, being in a
most pitiable condition. The third day we crossed the hills,
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but not a sup of water to be found in
the poorous granite rangers. We camped at three o'clock, the
men being utterly prostrated, and the horses in a dying state.
The plains of Adelaide were before us. I was sure
water must be near, so leaving the men at a compass
with directions that should I not return by mourning, they
should kill one of the horses and moisten their mouths
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with its blood, and then push on in the same course.
I started, or I may say, tottered on for about
two miles when overcome I sunk at the foot of
a tree. I never shall forget my sensations. At that
time I felt the miserable death awaiting me. I then
thought of home, and that I was in some richly
carpeted drawing room, and I struggled against insanity. When I
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recovered to some extent, it was a bright, fresh night.
I sat up, endeavoring to collect my senses when I
heard a flight of birds overhead and the unmistakable cry
of the wood duck. With renewed energy, I pushed on,
and within a hundred yards of me was the creek.
An hour served sufficiently to restore me, and soaking my
woolen shirt in the water, I retraced my steps to
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the cart. We were saved, but it was touch and go.
One of the men never recovered it, and the last
time I saw him he was an idiot. In Adelaide,
we were but three days without water, but it was
summer and we were working with a blazing sun overhead.
My residence since eighteen forty four has been at Mount Gambia,
about half way between Melbourne and Adelaide. I there formed
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a stay and occupied a most splendid portion of country.
I just missed your excellency when you were at the mount,
being then on the point of taking up the country
adjacent to the mount. I look at this portion of
a colony decidedly as the finest I have ever seen,
and it would be most interesting to a geologist. When
I first occupied its surface, water was very scarce, being
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found only in a few tea tree springs or in
the craters of the extinct volcanoes. I, however, subsequently discovered
that the whole country was cavernous, and that absolute streams
and rivers were flowing within in some places a few
feet of the surface. The rock is generally limestone, which
crops from the surface in all directions. Indeed, in some
places there are but a few inches of soil above
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the mass of limestone. Our early occupation of Mount Gambia
was marked with perhaps more of the difficulties and troubles
generally attending a settler's life. When I took up the station,
I was again beginning the world with little more than
deer bought experience. The ruinous years of eighteen fourty two
and eighteen forty three had involved me in the I
may nearly say, universal crash, thanks to the improvidence which
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I believe is as characteristic of the early squatters as
of the British sailor, as also to the simplicity with
which so many of us scribbled our autographs to pieces
of paper for the relief of pretended friends whom we
found too willing to shuffle their own difficulties on the
shoulders of their more generous dupes. There is nothing of
which a young man commencing his career in the colonies
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should be more earnestly warned against than this same yielding
to the impulse of good nature. When I fixed on
the site of my new homestead, I had not a
shilling in the world. Unfortunately, the boot was very much
on the other leg. But thanks to the success attending
sheep farming. I have outlived my difficulties. The natives very
inimical when we first arrived, and to add to my difficulties,
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all our men, with the exception of one deserted us.
I had, however, a trusty friend in poor Edward White,
whose daring energy of character has been fully tested in
his expertstions in the survey department, to which I am
sure your excellency will fully testify. Another young friend, mister
brodrib also bravely adhered to my fortunes. There were but
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four of us, but we managed to lamb the sheep
down and build a bark shed for shearing. With little assistance,
we sheared the flocks and managed I can hardly say
how to turn the wool into supplies for the following year.
Our neighbor, mister Leek, suffered many losses from the natives,
some thousands, I believe, but we escaped any attack, which
I attribute to the astonishment they evinced at seeing the
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effects of a good rifle aimed by a correct eye.
For not a crow would dare to core on the
highest tree near our camp, but a rifle ball reached him,
or a kangaroo bound through the forest within shop, but
the sharp ring of the rifle saw him stretched on
the sward. I have always thought this gained us their respect.
They gave me the name of a chief who had
fallen in battle, and affirmed that I had again come
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among them as a white fellow. We gained their respect,
but it was through fear, and subsequently their confidence through kindness.
Many of them have since become useful shepherds and been
of the utmost service to me. But it is difficult
to have fat sheep where natives shepherd them, for they
are too indolent even for that service. The whole of
this country is volcanic, but of a different character to
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that of Mount Napier and the Belfast district, where the
rivers of lava can be followed for miles, now having
the appearance of rivers of huge rocks of trap, cracked
and rent by time and heat. At Mount Gambia there
is little rock save the limestone, and the eruptions of
the expired volcanoes of the Gambia, Shank and others are
only marked by a deposit of scorye and ashes. The
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bottoms of the craters are now lakes of unfathomable depth.
The waters of which on a cloudy day, asshume an
inky darkness which gives a degree of solemnity to the scenery.
There is also a singular feature in the country. There
are many holes and caves. The caves appear endless, and
it requires some degree of nerve to head an exploring
expedition in these subterranean territories. Some of them are very
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beautiful when lit up by torchlight. Long pendulous staalic tights
hang from the ceiling or roof of the cavern, connecting
themselves with the floor, and the continuous dripping of the
water and deposit of the sediment has formed itself into
the most grotesque shapes. Niches and seats appear of this
glittering white marble, which are not very imaginative mind might
conceive to be the seats of the presiding Genius and
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his attendant satellites. I have never discovered any petrifactions in
these caverns, but I thought once to have discovered something
that would have handed down my name to posterity. In
one of these niches, I observed the figure of a
man bent as in an attitude of thought, his elbows
resting on his knees, I approached and felt this object.
When I found it to be the body of a man,
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as I supposed, petrified anxiously, I examined it and took
an arm and hand, which were loose, to the open air,
for closer inspection. I then found that it had more
the appearance of a mummy, the skin having become hard
and dry and containing nothing but dust. It however, merited
closer inspections, but I had some miles to ride and
determined to defer such examination to another time. Since then,
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I have never been near the spot. The holes which
I have before alluded to are perfectly perpendicular and vary
in size. Some go down perpendicular, as if bored by
a huge auger. Some two hundred feet. At the bottom
is water, which has all the appearance of being bottomless.
The country between the mount and Adelaide is very flat,
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having large gum forests, well grassed, and extensive swamps and plains.
It has evidently been recently flooded by the sea, there
being large beds of oysters exposed where any large tree
has been blown down and torn up the soil. The
surface is also covered with oyster shells and other deposits
of the ocean to the north, the country becomes arid
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and barren of any vegetation save the eternal Murray scrub.
I have traveled much through the Western country, ascended the crater,
or rather descended it of Mount Elyes. But of all
that country you are equally well informed with myself. Of
the plenty which you asked me to mention, I have
no pleasing reminiscences. I only know at that time it
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consisted of a district of cattle stealers. The only pleasing
recollection is that of a certain trip I took with
your excellency, when certainly our bush experience did not ensure
us a perfect knowledge of our locale. I fully believe
you attribute our eccentric course to my guiding, but you
will allow, and I have always believed you are fonder
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of leading than being led. Thus I take no credit
for our short cuts on that occasion. I fear I
have spun this out much longer than your patients will allow.
But if any portion will afford matter worth noting, I
shall be glad with a sincere hope that I may
have the pleasure of talking over Australian life with you,
happily united to your family in brave Old England. Believe me,
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my dear mister Latrobe, Yours most sincerely, E. P. S.
Sturt to C. J. LA Trobe, a Squire. End of
Section forty nine
Section forty nine of Letters from Victorian Pioneers. This is
the LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
Letters from Victorian Pioneers. Letter forty nine from E. P. S. Sturt,
Lonsdale Street, twentieth of October eighteen fifty three. My dear Sir,
(00:26):
as far as my recollections will allow me to record
some of the circumstances attending my early career and travels
through this southern portion of our Australian possessions, and by
so doing contribute to the fund of information you have
already gathered through your own long experience and personal observation.
It will afford me much pleasure. My early initiation into
bush life was as a Commissioner of crown Lands for
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the Murray District in eighteen thirty seven, a portion of
the colony at that time very thinly occupied by stations,
though now forming one of our richest grazing districts. Provided
with a good tent and camp equipage, a small supply
of books and riding materials, a trusty Wesley Richards, with
an ample supply of ammunition, a capital nag, and some
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fine kangaroo dogs. You may easily conceive that I looked
forward to my expeditions with feelings of pleasure and excitement.
My means of transport was a light cart with two
draft horses, which, with a large topollan afforded an ample
shelter for the men. The district allotted to me was
from the left side of the Murrambiege to the right
bank of the Ovens River, forty miles on the Port
Phillips side of the Murray. The country was at this
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time most beautiful, miles of it, untrodden by stock, and
indeed unseen by Europeans. Every creek abounded with wild fowl,
and the quails sprung from the long kangaroo grass which
waved to the very flaps of the saddle. Seldom on
my return to the encampment after a long day's ride
to some outstations, But what I had to acknowledge the
culinary talents of my tent servant, as the savory steam
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of a shoe or pastry would rise from the iron
pot simmering by a glorious fire in front of the tent.
No dinner cooked by the most cunning Our teast is
equal to that one enjoys under such circumstances as those
I describe. Nor can anything equal the relish which is
afforded by the quart pot of tea, a delicacy. I
know you have yourself appreciated on some of your Excellency's
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flying expeditions. It has often been a source of regret
to me that all the charms attending the traversing of
a new country must give way to the march of civilization.
The camp on the grassy sward is now superseded by
the noisy roadside inn, the quart pot of tea, by
the bottle of ale. All the quiet serenity of an
Australian bush as we have known it has yielded to
(02:38):
the demands of population. And this, though a necessary change,
is not the less to be regretted. I look back
to those days as to some joyous scene of schoolboy holidays.
The seasons appear to me to have undergone a considerable change,
and to have become both colder and more moist. For
though a fire was fully appreciated, the weather generally was
(02:58):
mild and dry. My impression with regard to the increased
rains is borne out by the fact that many tracts
of country are now occupied by stock, which I have
ridden over, vainly seeking for water to relieve my distressed
horse and moisten my parched lips. I may particularly allude
to the Bilibon country, and to those plains and flat
box country extending between the Edward and Murrambidge rivers. For
(03:22):
miles and miles I have ridden over this monotonous, dreary flat,
not a hill to be seen, to raise the hope
that some creek or water hole might be at hand.
The eyes aching with the dazzling reflection and mirage of
the plains. Sheep are now occupying the whole of this country,
the supply of water for the stations being obtained by
sinking water holes and throwing dams across the slight falls
(03:43):
or declinations of the plain, which, though barely visible, yet
here and there in the wet seasons become runs of water.
Even this, however, affords a precarious supply, and the losses
and suffering of these settlers are very great. In the
dry seasons, they frequently have to move on with their
flocks towards some of the rivers for their absolute salvation,
(04:04):
and driven to become interloperes and marauders on others runs.
Their existence is far from enviable. Their risk to spreading
or contracting contagious diseases among their flocks thus becomes very great.
The heat is also here excessive, which, together with the
general dryness of the atmosphere and pasturage, deteriorates the character
of the wolves. Notwithstanding, however, these drawbacks, it may safely
(04:27):
be considered a fine pastoral district. The country to the
southeast of the main Sydney Road to Port Phillip rises
towards the Australian Alps, to which snow capped mountains. We
are indebted for the numerous streams and rivers flowing through
the lower and in summer arid regions to the north
and northwest, most of which unite with the Murray. The
(04:48):
nearer we approach the mountains, both the climate and character
of the soil change. I've noticed that the upper Murray
and table lands of Omio afford an abundant but coarse,
unnutritious grass. The trees also assume a cold and wintry appearance,
and the foliage becomes yet more somber than the generality
of Australian trees. One circumstance I noticed as strange and
(05:10):
difficult to account for. Though the climates on the Murray
and Murrambidgee rivers exactly assimilate and the distance between them
is inconsiderable about one hundred thirty miles, the appearance of
the two rivers differs materially. The banks of the Murrumbidge
are wooded with large swamp oak, as is also the
case with its tributaries, the Lachlan Burrower and Tumut rivers,
et cetera, et cetera. On the latter, these large oaks
(05:33):
overhang the banks until they nearly meet, imparting a peculiar
gloom to this rapid stream. On the Murray, the oak
entirely disappears, being replaced by the bright wattle or acacia.
The scent of its masses of blossom in the spring
pervades the air and adds to the pleasing effect this
graceful tree has on the mind of the traveler, enhanced
(05:54):
by the wild, sweet call of the bell bird. Another
peculiarity attending these rivers flowing to the north and northwest
is that they abound in a fine fish called the
murray cod. In season, these fish are very rich and
afford the chief sustenance of the natives, who spear them
from their canoes, at the prow of which they have
a brilliant fire of pines which attracts the fish at
(06:14):
night and entices them to their destruction. Strange to say
that all the streams and rivers flowing to the south
and Southwest, though in many instances taking their source from
the same mountains, are devoid of the river cod, having
only the blackfish, a peculiar kind of herring, and the eel,
which run to a large size. About this time commenced
(06:34):
the stream of emigration into Port Phillip, and the main
line of road became enlivened by the overland parties, crowding
one after another to the newly opened and rich pastriages
of the south. Numerous were the incidents, both by flood
and field, which these adventurers met with. The rivers were
all unbridged and afforded no small obstacle to the overlander,
taxing both his courage, enterprise, and invention to overcome his difficulties.
(06:58):
The danger of attack for the natives was not inconsiderable,
and I need hardly call to your recollection the melancholy
destruction of mister Faithful's party who were attacking the Ovens River,
several of the men being killed. I happened to meet
one of the poor wretches who escaped thanks to his
speed of foot and endurance, as he was pursued many
miles by the merciless savages, and though severely wounded, he
(07:19):
ran forty miles and at last dropped at my tent,
overcome by fatigue and terror. The Natives were at all
times treacherous to a degree, and the murders they committed
were numerous. I admit that they sometimes met with treatment
from some of the whites sufficient to excite their enmity,
but I cannot attribute their acts of murder to a
spirit of retaliation, nor do I believe that any cruelty
(07:40):
was evinced towards them by the Europeans until exasperated by
their savage acts of treachery. The natives of Australia are
devoid of any feeling of mercy or pity. No native
of a foreign tribe would be safe for an hour
if in the power of others of the same race.
The most cold blooded murder will excite no remorse. The
braining of a wretched luber only add to the heroic
(08:01):
and indomitable character of the savage. I knew a fine
young lad whom doctor Martin had civilized. He was a
stockman and a very intelligent lad. He accompanied a party
with fat stock to Melbourne. At bonan Jong, he fell
in with a tribe of natives, and in the act
of giving them tobacco, was basely speared and died in
the greatest agony. His only offense was that he belonged
(08:22):
to a strange tribe. I have seen a lad of
twelve years old driver's spear through the body of an
old man because he refused the loan of his pipe.
The father of this precocious youth submitted his head without
a groan, to three terrific blows from a nulla nulla
inflicted by a relative of the old man's. This was
in extenuation of his son's offense. Love to their offspring
(08:43):
is the only softening feature in these natives, and that
is but an animal propensity natural to the brute creation.
March is laid to the evil effects resulting from the
intimacies known to exist between the shepherds and stockmen, and
the native women. This encouraged a familiarity with the tribes,
which revealed the defenseless state of the Europeans, and they
too often availed themselves of this knowledge. But as sensitiveness
(09:06):
on the point of their women, I muched doubt for
the first overture, as the savage makes in barter, is
the tender of his unfortunate lubra, that there are some
instances of their becoming useful men. I cannot deny, as
we might instance some of poor Darna's black troopers. But
they are rare. Indeed, it is only under compulsion that
their natural disposition can be restrained. Poor mister William, whom
(09:28):
I assure your Excellency recollects, is now undergoing his sentence
for a breach of the laws at the Goldfields. He
is now at Penridge Stockade in the capacity of a
servant to mister Barrow. In that capacity he is a
useful good creature, being a capital nurse and playmate for
Barrow's children. Turn the poor fellow away and he would
soon be seen in the streets of Melbourne a drunken sot.
(09:50):
I suppose the example of others had its effect with me,
and seized with an overland fit. I resigned my appointment
and started for Bathist and thence with sheep and cattle
to Adelaide. It would be uninteresting to give any details
of the expedition. I believe I was the first to
run the Murhambidgee down with stock. At least no trace
of four footed beast was to be seen as we
approached the field of reeds forming the outlet of the
(10:12):
Lochland into the Murrumbidge. Here I thought we should have
been stopped. As far as the eye could reach was
one bed of reeds about fifteen feet high. The lochland
here ceases to have the appearance of a river and
loses itself in this bed of reeds. With the drays first,
then the cattle, we managed to break down a track
for the sheep, and, confident that there was no deep
bed of a river to stop us, on we went,
(10:33):
and three days hard work saw us through the Lochland swamps.
I was among the most fortunate of the overlanders, having
avoided any serious collisions with the blacks. The country itself
was monotonous to a degree. The river runs through a
nearly level country, the river. Flats average about half a
mile wide on each side, and afford fine feed for
the stock and famous camping places at night. From these
(10:56):
flats a bank rises to the plains, which extend for
hundreds of miles. These plains, in some places are thickly
covered with a low polyganum scrub. The soil is a
species of whitish clay, formed into small hills and hollows
like mole hills. Some fine silvery grass grows in these hollows,
and the tops of the rises are utterly devoid of vegetation.
(11:17):
The plains are sometimes intersected by a belt of murray
scrub running down to the very river. Also, I met
with some belts of pine forest, in which some very
beautiful shrubs and flowers are to be found. The whole
of this country has, to my surprise, become now occupied.
But I hear that the herbage is improve from being
fed over, and the sheep seem to thrive on the
(11:37):
various salcillaceous plants which abound it. Still, however, takes a
vast extent of this kind of country to support any
number of sheep. The gum trees on the ollivial flats
are magnificent, stately trees, and some of our encampments were
singularly picturesque. As for the Murray ever becoming an agricultural country,
the idea is absurd. The produce which the Henry Young
(11:59):
fancies will all be invade to Adelaide by steamers is
a chimerical idea which never can be realized. The alluvial
river flats constitute the sole land in any way suitable
to agriculture, and these are flooded during the spring and
early part of summer by the melting of the snow
on the mountains. There is hardly a settler on the
lower Murray who can even luxuriate in a vegetable. The
(12:20):
weather during my expedition was most beautiful. We of course
kept regular watches, and the bugles sounding the morning watch
at two o'clock was the signal for the camp to arouse.
Breakfast was then cooked, drays loaded, bullocks yoked, and the
stock moved off. We then traveled on, but seldom could
do much of After ten o'clock in the morning, when
the heat would become too intense. The sheep would cluster
(12:42):
in knots, seeking any shelter from the intense rays of
the sun. We generally managed to make one of the
bends of the river at this time, and there lay
by until four or five o'clock, when we would accomplish
another three or four miles of our journey. The extraordinary
number of birds which collect on the river afforded abundant
sport as well as capital dinners. It appears to be
(13:02):
now indisputably settled that the interior of this country is
chiefly characterized by barren scrubs and sterile sand hills, forming,
as it were, a basin. And yet the flights of
birds all from the north would lead one to suppose
that there must be some oasis in that desert tract.
Extending to Sir Thomas Mitchell's discoveries on the Victoria River
on which the migratory feathered race might rest on their
(13:24):
weary flight. The air would sometimes absolutely resound with the
chatter of birds, the lagoons swarming with ducks and snipe,
and then the luxury of a plunge into the fresh
stream after a hard day's work. With the thermometer at
one hundred and ten degrees fahrenheit cannot be exceeded. It
is curious to observe the skill shown by the natives
(13:45):
in their pursuit of game. They catch vast numbers of
ducks in an ingenious manner. The lagoons run for some length,
narrowing at the end where the trees close in. Two
or three blacks plant themselves near this narrow pass, having
extended a large net from tree to tree. The others
then proceed to the top of the lagoon, driving the
ducks before them. As they fly by the ambuscade, they
(14:06):
throw their boomerangs, whizzing over the heads of the birds, which,
dreading that their enemy, the hawk is sweeping at them,
make a dash under the trees, strike the net, and
fall as if shot. When the natives dash in after them,
I imagine it's a panic that seizes the poor birds,
for I have seen a hundred court by such means.
We encountered some difficulty in crossing our stock and drays
(14:27):
over the rufous and darling, but none which with a
good heart we did not overcome. Indeed, such difficulties added
zest to our labors. At the northwest bend of the Murray,
the river takes a sweep to the south into Lake Alexandrina.
From this point I left our party to strike across
the scrub into Adelaide, or rather into the settled parts
of the colony. We had run short of flour and sugar,
(14:49):
and my object was to cut through the scrub with
a light horse cart and bring out supplies for the party,
as well as ascertain the best route in for the
stock to take tracks of former parties indistinct. And at
the point I struck in, we noticed for some distance
a single cart track going the direction I wished to follow. This, however,
we soon lost and I discovered that we had fearfully
(15:10):
miscalculated the width of the scrub or its density at
the point I entered. Since then, poor young Bryant perished
in the same scrub whilst on an expedition with Colonel Gawler,
the then Governor of South Australia. It appeared the Governor
wished to penetrate to some hills north, but finding the
scrub too dense and no water to be had, he
hastened back to the river, after having had to kill
(15:30):
one of the horses. The party somehow separated in pushing
for the river. It was a struggle for life, as
another day's sun would have been fatal. Poor Bryant must
have lost his presence of mind, for his tracks were
found running the scrub down parallel to the river, but
no traces of the poor fellow could ever be made out.
He must have perished a miserable death. To return to
(15:53):
my own misadventures, my party consisted of two men and
a native of New South Wales. For two days we
cut through the scrub, with little appearance of getting out
or of finding water. The labor was excessive and the
men were improvident with our limited supply of water. The
third day saw us without any Still. I was determined
to push on to the hills, knowing that by keeping
(16:13):
firm in the one direction I must succeed. The heat
was terrific, and the second day told fearfully upon us.
It was doubtful whether we could have made it back
to the river and the hills, the object of our
aim and hopes of water I saw before us. So
still we plunged on, the poor horses, being in a
most pitiable condition. The third day we crossed the hills,
(16:33):
but not a sup of water to be found in
the poorous granite rangers. We camped at three o'clock, the
men being utterly prostrated, and the horses in a dying state.
The plains of Adelaide were before us. I was sure
water must be near, so leaving the men at a compass
with directions that should I not return by mourning, they
should kill one of the horses and moisten their mouths
(16:54):
with its blood, and then push on in the same course.
I started, or I may say, tottered on for about
two miles when overcome I sunk at the foot of
a tree. I never shall forget my sensations. At that
time I felt the miserable death awaiting me. I then
thought of home, and that I was in some richly
carpeted drawing room, and I struggled against insanity. When I
(17:15):
recovered to some extent, it was a bright, fresh night.
I sat up, endeavoring to collect my senses when I
heard a flight of birds overhead and the unmistakable cry
of the wood duck. With renewed energy, I pushed on,
and within a hundred yards of me was the creek.
An hour served sufficiently to restore me, and soaking my
woolen shirt in the water, I retraced my steps to
(17:37):
the cart. We were saved, but it was touch and go.
One of the men never recovered it, and the last
time I saw him he was an idiot. In Adelaide,
we were but three days without water, but it was
summer and we were working with a blazing sun overhead.
My residence since eighteen forty four has been at Mount Gambia,
about half way between Melbourne and Adelaide. I there formed
(17:59):
a stay and occupied a most splendid portion of country.
I just missed your excellency when you were at the mount,
being then on the point of taking up the country
adjacent to the mount. I look at this portion of
a colony decidedly as the finest I have ever seen,
and it would be most interesting to a geologist. When
I first occupied its surface, water was very scarce, being
(18:21):
found only in a few tea tree springs or in
the craters of the extinct volcanoes. I, however, subsequently discovered
that the whole country was cavernous, and that absolute streams
and rivers were flowing within in some places a few
feet of the surface. The rock is generally limestone, which
crops from the surface in all directions. Indeed, in some
places there are but a few inches of soil above
(18:43):
the mass of limestone. Our early occupation of Mount Gambia
was marked with perhaps more of the difficulties and troubles
generally attending a settler's life. When I took up the station,
I was again beginning the world with little more than
deer bought experience. The ruinous years of eighteen fourty two
and eighteen forty three had involved me in the I
may nearly say, universal crash, thanks to the improvidence which
(19:06):
I believe is as characteristic of the early squatters as
of the British sailor, as also to the simplicity with
which so many of us scribbled our autographs to pieces
of paper for the relief of pretended friends whom we
found too willing to shuffle their own difficulties on the
shoulders of their more generous dupes. There is nothing of
which a young man commencing his career in the colonies
(19:27):
should be more earnestly warned against than this same yielding
to the impulse of good nature. When I fixed on
the site of my new homestead, I had not a
shilling in the world. Unfortunately, the boot was very much
on the other leg. But thanks to the success attending
sheep farming. I have outlived my difficulties. The natives very
inimical when we first arrived, and to add to my difficulties,
(19:50):
all our men, with the exception of one deserted us.
I had, however, a trusty friend in poor Edward White,
whose daring energy of character has been fully tested in
his expertstions in the survey department, to which I am
sure your excellency will fully testify. Another young friend, mister
brodrib also bravely adhered to my fortunes. There were but
(20:11):
four of us, but we managed to lamb the sheep
down and build a bark shed for shearing. With little assistance,
we sheared the flocks and managed I can hardly say
how to turn the wool into supplies for the following year.
Our neighbor, mister Leek, suffered many losses from the natives,
some thousands, I believe, but we escaped any attack, which
I attribute to the astonishment they evinced at seeing the
(20:33):
effects of a good rifle aimed by a correct eye.
For not a crow would dare to core on the
highest tree near our camp, but a rifle ball reached him,
or a kangaroo bound through the forest within shop, but
the sharp ring of the rifle saw him stretched on
the sward. I have always thought this gained us their respect.
They gave me the name of a chief who had
fallen in battle, and affirmed that I had again come
(20:53):
among them as a white fellow. We gained their respect,
but it was through fear, and subsequently their confidence through kindness.
Many of them have since become useful shepherds and been
of the utmost service to me. But it is difficult
to have fat sheep where natives shepherd them, for they
are too indolent even for that service. The whole of
this country is volcanic, but of a different character to
(21:15):
that of Mount Napier and the Belfast district, where the
rivers of lava can be followed for miles, now having
the appearance of rivers of huge rocks of trap, cracked
and rent by time and heat. At Mount Gambia there
is little rock save the limestone, and the eruptions of
the expired volcanoes of the Gambia, Shank and others are
only marked by a deposit of scorye and ashes. The
(21:38):
bottoms of the craters are now lakes of unfathomable depth.
The waters of which on a cloudy day, asshume an
inky darkness which gives a degree of solemnity to the scenery.
There is also a singular feature in the country. There
are many holes and caves. The caves appear endless, and
it requires some degree of nerve to head an exploring
expedition in these subterranean territories. Some of them are very
(22:01):
beautiful when lit up by torchlight. Long pendulous staalic tights
hang from the ceiling or roof of the cavern, connecting
themselves with the floor, and the continuous dripping of the
water and deposit of the sediment has formed itself into
the most grotesque shapes. Niches and seats appear of this
glittering white marble, which are not very imaginative mind might
conceive to be the seats of the presiding Genius and
(22:21):
his attendant satellites. I have never discovered any petrifactions in
these caverns, but I thought once to have discovered something
that would have handed down my name to posterity. In
one of these niches, I observed the figure of a
man bent as in an attitude of thought, his elbows
resting on his knees, I approached and felt this object.
When I found it to be the body of a man,
(22:43):
as I supposed, petrified anxiously, I examined it and took
an arm and hand, which were loose, to the open air,
for closer inspection. I then found that it had more
the appearance of a mummy, the skin having become hard
and dry and containing nothing but dust. It however, merited
closer inspections, but I had some miles to ride and
determined to defer such examination to another time. Since then,
(23:06):
I have never been near the spot. The holes which
I have before alluded to are perfectly perpendicular and vary
in size. Some go down perpendicular, as if bored by
a huge auger. Some two hundred feet. At the bottom
is water, which has all the appearance of being bottomless.
The country between the mount and Adelaide is very flat,
(23:26):
having large gum forests, well grassed, and extensive swamps and plains.
It has evidently been recently flooded by the sea, there
being large beds of oysters exposed where any large tree
has been blown down and torn up the soil. The
surface is also covered with oyster shells and other deposits
of the ocean to the north, the country becomes arid
(23:46):
and barren of any vegetation save the eternal Murray scrub.
I have traveled much through the Western country, ascended the crater,
or rather descended it of Mount Elyes. But of all
that country you are equally well informed with myself. Of
the plenty which you asked me to mention, I have
no pleasing reminiscences. I only know at that time it
(24:07):
consisted of a district of cattle stealers. The only pleasing
recollection is that of a certain trip I took with
your excellency, when certainly our bush experience did not ensure
us a perfect knowledge of our locale. I fully believe
you attribute our eccentric course to my guiding, but you
will allow, and I have always believed you are fonder
(24:27):
of leading than being led. Thus I take no credit
for our short cuts on that occasion. I fear I
have spun this out much longer than your patients will allow.
But if any portion will afford matter worth noting, I
shall be glad with a sincere hope that I may
have the pleasure of talking over Australian life with you,
happily united to your family in brave Old England. Believe me,
(24:49):
my dear mister Latrobe, Yours most sincerely, E. P. S.
Sturt to C. J. LA Trobe, a Squire. End of
Section forty nine
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