A note on Structure


: Macquarie’s First Intervention



Download 3.05 Mb.
Page5/30
Date05.05.2018
Size3.05 Mb.
#47859
1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   ...   30

1814: Macquarie’s First Intervention


While the Gazette was keen to point out parallels with conflicts in the past that coincided with the harvest; there had been no such reports in the Gazette for a number of years. Drought was certainly a contributory factor in the fighting in 1814 as it had been in past years. The outbreak of fighting in 1814 on the Nepean River can be linked directly to the escalation of land grants to free settlers upstream of the Hawkesbury.
Settlement along South Creek and between the Georges and Nepean Rivers differed significantly from the Hawkesbury. Large grants were made to free settlers, clergy, officers and the families of Governors King and Bligh. These were large estates that stocked sheep and cattle rather than crops. Samuel Marsden bought 128 acres on South Creek, near St Marys in 1804. He called it Mamre and bred sheep there.40 In 1805 in the district of Evan, Governor King granted 1,300 acres to William Chapman, 1,000 acres to Captain Daniel Woodriffe (site of modern Penrith) and 1,000 acres to Thomas Jamison. To the south Governor King granted 880 acres to Darcy Wentworth at Bringelly in 1805. Governor King made grants to his family at Dunheved on South Creek in 1806 of over 2,000 acres. Governors King and Bligh reciprocated grants of land to each other’s families in 1806 and 1807. Settlement was forbidden on the west bank of the Nepean except for the farms of Macarthur, (Camden Park 1805) and Davidson (Belmont 1805). Macquarie continued the trend of large grants to free settlers, clergy and officers. Governor Macquarie either confirmed earlier grants or made new ones. O’Connell’s 2,500 acre Riverston Farm was an 1810 wedding gift made to the commander of the 73rd Regiment and his bride, Mary, the widowed daughter of Governor Bligh.41 John Oxley received Kirkham and Elderslie in 1810; by 1815 he had increased his holdings to 1,000 acres. John Campbell, Macquarie’s secretary, received Shancomore, a 1,550 acre grant, on the junction of Bringelly Creek and the Nepean River in 1811. The Luttrell family received 1,170 acres to the south of modern Penrith in 1811. Governor Macquarie granted 1,500 acres at Upper Minto to Charles Throsby, surgeon, which Throsby called Glenfield. William Broughton, the acting commissary, was granted 1,000 acres near Appin. Gregory Blaxland’s, Cubbady farm, (Governor Macquarie named the area Cobbedee, but it is now known as Cobbity) was granted in 1812. Robert Lowe, a free settler, was granted 1,000 acres at Bringelly in 1812. Wivenhoe was granted to the Reverend William Cowper in 1812. Macquarie Grove, 1812, was granted to the Reverend Rowland Hassall and passed on to his son Samuel Hassall. Denbigh was granted to Charles Hook in 1815. Freshfields was granted to James Hassall in 1816. He later bought Matavai which had been granted to his brother Jonathon.
The fighting that broke out in 1814 according to Broughton was related to the killing of Botagallie’s wife and two of their children. In the attack Botagallie’s wife was scalped and an arm was cut off. When fighting broke out Governor Macquarie was sanguine about it, appreciating the retributive nature of Aboriginal attacks and in the latter half of the year made preparations for the opening of the Native Institute.

2nd of February, 1814: the spearing of William Reardon


The spearing of William Reardon well illustrates the difficulties of working with early records. I first came across his killing in the St Matthew’s Church of England burial records: “William Reardon aged 50 free, came as a prisoner, speared by natives, buried at Castlereagh.”42 At that time all births, marriages and deaths in the surrounding areas were recorded at St. Matthew’s. There is, however, a record of an inquest in the Papers of the NSW Colonial Secretary, which have been placed on line.43 The inquest reveals that William Reardon was a timber cutter on George Cox’s Fernhill estate. He was was probably speared in mistake for a settler who had accused some Aboriginal men on Fernhill, of ripping up his vegetable garden. There is a possibility that Reardon may have been taken as far as William Cox’s Claendon estate. Reardon died at Jamison’s Regentville Estate and was buried in the Castlereagh cemetery.

March to September 1814: Croppy Beach and the Marramarra Creek middens


The short and violent careers of Patrick Collins and Dennis Donovan as bushrangers throws an important light on relations between Aboriginal people and settlers on the Nepean and Hawkesbury Rivers in 1814. In February 1814 Patrick Collins and Dennis Donovan were transported to Newcastle. Shortly after they escaped and headed back to Sydney. They reached the Hawkesbury River and crossed at “Croppy Beach” by unknown means. Croppy Beach was, according to local Aboriginal people, the favoured spot for convict escapees to cross the river. The name Croppy Beach apparently came from the local Aboriginal people.44 The name indicates that Aboriginal people were aware of the lowly status of the convicts. The name Croppy comes apparently from the crop-headed haircut of the convicts.
The convict escapees Collins and Donovan appear to have made their way upstream on the right bank of the Hawkesbury where they came upon a Hawkesbury vessel moored at Maher Creek to the north of Berowra Creek. Maher Creek was an anglicised version of the Aboriginal name Marra Creek. It was also known as Mother Maher Creek, which was an approximation of its present name, Marramarra Creek. Marra apparently means fish, suggesting it was a good fishing spot.45
The boat belonged to Joseph Mann and William Alder who shared a farm near the MacDonald River. They left Sydney on the 13th of March and reached Maher Creek about 14 to 15 miles upstream of Croppy Beach on the 14th. On board were William Alder, Thomas White and his partner Hannah Schuller.
On the evening of the 14th John Winch, a lime burner sent a young Aboriginal boy to the boat to borrow some sugar. On the 15th some other Aboriginal people told John Winch’s boss, William Stokes, that the boat was empty. This evidence is significant, not just because it shows Aboriginal people and settlers living and working together, but because of John Winch’s work. As a lime burner Winch was burning Aboriginal middens to produce lime to be used in mortar for brick laying. Middens are an important part of Aboriginal cultural life. They are part of the cycles of regeneration and rebirth and are central to Aboriginal belief. The presence of Aboriginal people around the lime burners points to the cataclysmic affect of settlement upon Aboriginal life.
William Alder, Thomas White and Hannah Schuller were bashed and hacked to death by Collins and Donovan. Clothing and goods taken from the boat were used as evidence against Donovan who had been arrested after raping a woman in Sydney. Donovan was hung shortly after. Collins was captured in mid September at the ‘Devil’s back” by a party of soldiers from Liverpool. John Warby was the chief guide and Collins was captured after being speared by an Aboriginal warrior. All this happened while the Nepean River was supposedly in a state of war.46

7th of May, 1814: killings on the Nepean


I have included accounts of trouble on the Nepean River in 1814 and 1816 in this work because it is relevant to the Hawkesbury. As well, some of these accounts come from letters written by literate free settlers, which both illuminate and contrast with events on the Hawkesbury where literacy levels were not as high among settlers with a convict background. Macquarie’s assessment of the hostilities that broke out in May 1814 was quite objective. William Reardon, who was buried in March 1814, may have been one of the “Europeans” killed. The soldier who was killed was probably Private Eustace. Macquarie’s description of the killing of the Aboriginal woman and two children differs significantly from the account in the Gazette of 14th May 1814.

7th of May, 1814: Governor Macquarie to Earl Bathurst

‘Some Hostilities have been lately exhibited in the remote parts of this Settlement by the Natives, who have killed one Soldier and three other Europeans. In consequence of this Aggression, I dispatched a small military Party to the disturbed District, on whose approach the Natives retired without being attacked or Suffering in any degree for their Temerity. In course of this Business, I have caused enquiry to be made into the Motives that might have produced it, and from thence I have learned that Some idle and ill disposed Europeans had taken Liberties with their Women, and had also treacherously attacked and killed a Woman and her two children whilst Sleeping, and this unprovoked cruelty produced that retaliation whereby Persons perfectly innocent of the Crime lost their lives. Having had their Revenge in the way they always Seek for it, I am not at all apprehensive of their making any further attacks on the Settlers unless provoked, as before, by Insults and Cruelties.



I have, &c.,

L. macquarie.’47
The following accounts of attacks on the farms of Cox and Macquarie’s secretary, Campbell, suggest that the owners were absentees, leaving the management to overseers and convicts. It certainly was an early model for transferring the blame for trouble from the free settlers to their convict servants.
‘The mountain natives have lately become troublesome to the occupiers of remote grounds. Mr. Cox's people at Mulgoa have been several times attacked within the last month, and compelled to defend themselves with their muskets, which the assailants seemed less in dread of than could possibly have been expected. On Sunday last Mr. Campbell's servants at Shancomore were attacked by nearly 400; the overseer was speared through the shoulder, several pigs were killed, one of which, a very large one, was taken away, together with a quantity of corn, and other provisions; the overseer's wearing apparel, and cooking utensils.
Similar outrages have been committed in other places; which it is to be hoped will cease without a necessity of our resorting to measures equally violent to suppress the outrages.’48
While the article described conflict in the Appin district it was important and relevant to the Hawkesbury for several reasons. It highlighted that the peace had endured for up to seven years. It showed that Aboriginal warriors had lost their fear of muskets and were becoming adept in fighting musket-armed soldiers and settlers. Private Eustace was killed while reloading his musket, the time in which he was most vulnerable to attack.49 Chopping his hand off was almost certainly designed to prevent him from using a musket in his next life. The difference between Governor Macquarie’s despatch and the Gazette’s account of the killing of the Aboriginal woman and her two children highlighted the unreliability of the Gazette. By placing the blame for the hostilities on the “wild temperament of fury natural to the savage state of Man” the Gazette continued its demonisation of Aboriginal people within the framework of the colonial discourse. The authoritative tone of “Repulsive measures we have had frequent necessity of resorting to, as the only means of self defence” strongly supports my contention that punitive expeditions, both official and unofficial were frequent and under-reported. That some “small tribes” who straggled in settled areas came in at this time strongly suggested that Aboriginal numbers were declining and resistance was not universal.
‘Our public duty once more lays us under the painful necessity of reporting violences between the natives and ourselves, which from the tranquillity and good understanding that for the last 5 or 6 years has subsisted we had entertained the flattering expectation were not again likely to occur. - It appears from information received, that on Saturday last three privates of the Veteran Company50 in the district of Appin, fired on a large body of the natives who were plundering the corn fields of a settler, and refused to desist, at the same time making use of every term of provocation and defiance, and in token of a determined spirit, menacing with their spears. – A native boy was unfortunately killed, and the small party was immediately attacked with a promptitude that put it out of their power to re-load. They were compelled to fly: and two escaped: but the third, whose name was Isaac Eustace, was killed on the spot. This unhappy rencontre took place on the grounds of one Milehouse, contiguous to which lay the farm of a settler of the name of Bucher, which being also reported to be attacked, a party of 14 went thither to prevent injury, if possible, to the persons residing on it: The mangled body of the deceased Eustace had been previously found, stripped, and one of the hands taken from the wrist. The party fell in with a groupe (sic) of the natives, and fired upon them: - they fled, leaving a woman and two children behind them, dead. The next day they made an attack on a stock-keeper's hut belonging to Mrs. McArthur, when the stock-keeper, Wm Baker, and a woman named Mary Sullivan, generally called Hirburt, were both killed. Some other atrocities have this day been reported, but we have no present reason to treat them with any degree of confidence. - Without offering an opinion to which side the first act of aggression may justly be attributed, we feel confident in asserting that every effort will be used by Government in ascertaining the fact; and we have every hope that the measures judiciously acted upon will put a speedy termination to those evils to which the lonely settler is exposed from the predatory incursions of an enemy whose haunts are inaccessible, distant, and unknown, and who by surprise or stratagem accomplish every project they devise in a wild temperament of fury natural to the savage state of Man. The care of Government, and the general disposition of the inhabitants to preserve a friendly intercourse with them had in former years seldom been disturbed but at this identical season of the year, when the fields of ripened maize were open to their pillage. Without property, or a wish to obtain any thing by industry, they respected it not in others, and the slightest opposition they retorted with the bitterest hostility - which we may almost venture to affirm, was until within the last 6 or 7 years periodically repeated. Repulsive measures we have had frequent necessity of resorting to, as the only means of self defence, and we have always found a temporary banishment effect a speedy reconciliation, as those accustomed to live among us derived benefits from the intercourse which the woods of the interior could not replace: Those of the latter description, whose small tribes straggle about the part of the coast, are already coming in, as an evidence of their taking no part in the excesses of their brethren of the mountains; who, on the other hand, are reported to have wholly disappeared from the settlements of the interior which they visited, but whether with a view to their own security, or for the purpose of alarming the yet more distant inhabitants, seems doubtful. In the present state of things with them, it would be advisable for settlers and travellers to be well upon their guard; to be ready to give assistance in every case of alarm, and to be cautious at the same time not to provoke or irritate them by ill treatment, but endeavour on the contrary to soothe them into a better disposition than their present seems to be. - Travellers, and more especially those who are but little acquainted with their manners, should in the mean time be very wary, as they are liable in a moment to be surprised and surrounded from the sides of the roads, and subjected to very ill, most likely barbarous treatment.’51
While the following account from page 105, Old Times, May 1903, differs from the other accounts in some respects, e.g., Eustace becomes Hewitt, it provides additional insights. It locates the killing of the old soldier on Broughton’s farm. It shows that by burying the murdered woman and two children on his property, Kennedy maintained his good relationship with local Aboriginal people. It identifies another two men, Price and Noonan, whose deaths do not appear to have any other record. The account of the two Sykes children escaping death in two separate incidents strongly suggests that revenge was measured and directed, rather than haphazard as some would have. While it appears that the ninety year old recollections contain a possible anomaly by linking Captain Wallis’ 1816 expedition directly to these incidents, it is more likely that the story simply moves from 1814 to 1816 in the final paragraph.The reference to a government reward for decapitated heads receives no mention elsewhere in Australian records; however, the exactness of the government reward of thirty shillings and a gallon of rum for each of them suggests this happened. In 1820, Sir George Mackenzie published, Illustrations of Phrenology with engravings, London 1820. It contained an engraving of Carnimbeigle’s skull and an account of how the skull was collected by Lieutenant Parker, forwarded to Surgeon Patrick Hill, who in turn forwarded it to Edinburgh, where it came into the hands of Sir George Mackenzie. The book carried an advertisement for the sale of plaster casts of the skulls of Carnimbeigle and two others.52
Decapitation was not uncommon, but was not mentioned in official reports or records, showing that records were selective in what was recorded. 53
I first found this story by an old settler in a genealogical site54 before sourcing the original in the State Library.
‘“As a matter of fact,” said Mr. William Byrne, Sen., when the “OLD TIMES” representative expressed surprise at the excellence of his memory. “I can remember the events of seven and eighty years back better than more recent ones. My parents arrived in Sydney in 1798. My father was a member of the 102nd Regiment, or “condemned regiment,” as they were called. On January 26th, 1808, he took part in the celebrated arrest and deposition of Governor Bligh, in which Major Johnston was nominally the leader. While doing duty during these disturbances he caught a severe cold, which resulted in his death in the June following, and I was born on October 24th of the same year at Parramatta.
“My earliest recollection is Howell’s mill, which was owned by the grandfather of Howell, the cricketer.
“We left Parramatta in December 1812, when I was four years old. My mother had in the meantime married a Mr. Sykes, who had received a grant of land at Appin. We were the first settlers there, and I remember having our Christmas dinner in the barn before our house was built. After we arrived, there was considerable trouble with the blacks. This was largely due to the fault of the settlers themselves, who often treated the blacks with a great deal of cruelty. Outrages by both blacks and whites extended over the years 1813, 1814, and 1815, up till 1816, when the settlers were granted military protection.
“Our neighbours were Commissary Broughton and Mr. John Kennedy, my brother-in-law. The latter treated the aboriginals very kindly, and was popular with them in consequence.
“The first murder of the blacks was by an old soldier named Hewett, who was a servant on the Broughton Estate, and saw some of them in the cornfields. He and two other men fired a volley in to them. The blacks showed fight. They killed Hewett, cut off his hands and went round to the settlers mockingly, asking them to place a piece of bread in the outstretched palm, which they worked by pulling the sinews.
“After this Mr. Broughton's men went into Campbelltown, and brought out a party of settlers, who fired into the blacks' camp and killed an inoffensive old lady, and two children. The blacks found out the names of these men — Price and Noonan — and lay in wait for them on the plantation. They killed Noonan on the spot, but Price, though he had several spears sticking into him, managed to run about two hundred yards, as far as Mr Kennedy's gates, when a well directed spear went right through his heart. My eldest sister went past the body a few minutes later, but was unharmed. The fact that Mr Kennedy had buried the lubra and two piccaninnies mentioned above, and fenced the graves off on his ground, probably had something to do with this.
“After this the blacks expressed their determination of murdering a white woman and two children as a blood revenge. They were then under the leadership of a chief named Wallah, and one day surrounded my brother John. Things looked pretty queer for him till Wallah interfered and said, 'No; him mother (Mrs Sarah Sykes) given um bread; no kill.' Shortly after they crossed the river and killed an old man and his wife who lived in a hut by themselves. The Government then sent up a detachment of soldiers who ran a portion of the tribe into a drive and shot sixteen of them, and hanged three on McGee's Hill. They afterwards cut off their heads and brought them to Sydney, where the Government paid them thirty shillings and a gallon of rum for each of them. After this we had three soldiers billeted on each homestead, and things were fairly quiet after 1816, when they were removed back to Sydney’.55
John Macarthur sent his nephew Hannibal Macarthur home in 1812 to manage his trading ventures. Hannibal, in a letter to his uncle of the 16th of May 1816, offered another insight into the killing of William Baker (this was not William Baker, the former marine in Tench’s Company, who had been the superintendent of government stores at Windsor). ‘The natives have become extremely troublesome and amongst others we have become sufferers in the Death of a Shepherd’s wife and your old favourite Wm. Baker who were inhumanly murdered at the Upper Camden Yards. This horrid event was represented to the Governor but he is so much taken up with a Parade of a garrison that he has “no means of Defence or Protection for those distant Establishments” so that the possession of Stock is rendered very precarious as in addition to the Natives numbers of convicts are roving uncontrolled through the country committing all kinds of depredations, and, I have every reason to believe some of them were concerned with the Natives in the attacks of our yards.’56
Hannibal’s letter is important in that it shows that remonstrations were made directly to the Governors when killings took place and that records of such requests for assistance were not often recorded. As well, it shows anger towards the Governor for his perceived inaction. In 1805 the killing of MacArthur’s stockmen appeared to have been the catalyst for Governor King’s General Orders. Consideration must be given to the incremental affect of such complaints upon the Governor.57

4th of June, 1814: Watch on the Nepean


On the 4th Of June 1814 the Gazette printed an alarming report of a coalition of warriors poised to descend upon the Cowpastures. On the same date in his journal Governor Macquarie recorded the celebration of the King’s birthday. “I entertained 84 Officers Civil & Military, & other Gentlemen of the Colony at Dinr. at Government House on this occasion in honor of the Day. — Mrs. Macquarie also entertained the principal Ladies at Sydney, in the Evening at Govt. House, with Tea & Coffee, Cards & Music.”58 There can be little doubt that the gentry pressed Macquarie for action at this gathering. Although the following passage is not set in the Hawkesbury it has relevance. The passage shows that, as in the Hawkesbury, the combination of a shifting frontier, drought and harvest precipitated hostilities. As in 1805, this conflict involved a coalition of warriors. As in the Hawkesbury, the more isolated settlers came in from the edge of the frontier. As in 1805, Aboriginal ranks were not solid. Cowgye, also known to us as Gogy, never one for half measures, abandoned his fellows, claiming the mountain tribes were cannibals. As revealed in Barrallier’s journal, the Gundungurra had a longstanding grievance with Cowgye/Gogy which was the real reason for his precipitate flight.
‘The hordes of Natives that shew themselves at a distance in the environs of the Cow Pasture Settlement, excite considerable alarm among the Settlers. Many of their wives and children have forsaken their dwelling; and sought shelter in securer places. The natives of Jarvis's Bay are reported in good authority to have coalesced with the mountain tribes; they commit no depredations on the corn fields, but have declared a determination, that when the Moon shall become as large as the Sun, they will commence a work of desolation, and kill all the whites before them. —
The full of the moon, which yesterday took place, was clearly understood to be the fixed period alluded to; and the settlers, in self defence, had formed a resolution to watch their respective farms by night, and by voice or gun communicating to each other any immediate danger of attack; in case of which all within the Settlement were to repair to the place of danger: But by the advice of Mr. Moore, the worthy Magistrate of Liverpool, this plan, however meritorious or excellently designed, underwent an alteration which seems to promise greater security. This was the constituting a regular corps-de-garde at the farm of Mr. Hume, which is nearest the Nepean in Appin, comprising 8 or 10 settlers of the district; who alternately keep a night watch, and are intent on making the best defence practicable, in case of attack; and if hard pressed by their assailants, who appear to have less dread of fire arms than formerly, they retire upon the district of Airds, which being more numerously settled, will be capable of affording them a shelter. The natives of Jarvis's Bay have never been otherwise than inimical to us; for small vessels have never touched there without experiencing their hostility in some degree or other. Small crews have been obliged to fire upon them (we should hope in self-defence alone), and these skirmishes may have strengthened their aversion, in which they have ever appeared determined. The mountaineers are a much more athletic and hardy race than those of this part of the sea coast. They are taller, lighter coloured, much more comely in their persons and features, and wear their hair tied in a bunch behind:59 but one circumstance is observable in their present encampments which seems to prognosticate that their designs are not so hostile as might have been feared (not by a body of armed men), but by the remote families who are most exposed to their attack: This is, a knowledge we have gained that the mountain natives, unlike those of the coast, go to war unattended by their women and children — who are now along with them.60 Their chief, whose name is Cowgye, has wholly abandoned them, and gone to Broken Bay, from a personal wish to maintain a friendly footing with us.61 He calls the mountain tribes cannibals; but that they are so has never yet been known to us. As soon as the whole of the maize is gathered, we may hope they will retire; but we cannot before expect it, although it is certain they have not for the last fortnight committed any act of depredation whatever. We are happy to learn that the settlers have adopted the best possible measures for their own security, and the best calculated to prevent any further mischief.’62

14th June 1814: Elizabeth Wilberforce


Elizabeth Wilberforce was probably born on the 14th of June 1814 at Wilberforce. Her father was a “White man”, her mother an “Aboriginal native”. Elizabeth was baptised by the Reverend John Cross on the 10th of July 1825. Elizabeth was buried in the Wilberforce Cemetery on the 8th of January 1829.63 It is likely that Elizabeth died as a result of the 1828 influenza epidemic.
Elizabeth’s short life provides important insights into the complex relationships between Aboriginal people and settlers. It would appear that Elizabeth’s father was a convict assigned to Edward Reynolds. Edward Reynolds and his younger brother James were transported in 1791 and by 1820 were both quite prosperous. Edward was literate. Edward also apparently adopted James Thomas Levy, the son of Joseph Levy, a convict assigned to Edward and an Aboriginal woman.64 Elizabeth’s surname almost certainly came from the location of her birth. However, her Christian name, Elizabeth, may have come from, Elizabeth, daughter of William and Barbara Wilberforce. Elizabeth did not attend the Native Institution. John Pilot Rickerby and Elizabeth Wilberforce, are the only people of Aboriginal parentage that I have found, so far, buried in a Christian cemetery in the Hawkesbury. Unfortunately it is not possible to identify where she was buried.65

18th of June, 1814: Macquarie’s Proclamation


The following article was an official order, reprinted on the 25th June 1814 and on the 2nd July 1814. It very much reflected Macquarie’s despatch of 7th May 1814 and sheeted the latest hostilities home to the actions of some settlers in killing an Aboriginal woman and two children. His order was important for several reasons. While Macquarie made it clear that he would not sanction settlers taking the law into their own hands; the killer of the woman and two children remained at large. For those settlers so inclined, the implication was clear – don’t get caught – leaving the historian again without adequate evidence of unsanctioned killings. Macquarie’s instruction that the order be read during Divine Service on two occasions indicates the strong links between these two pillars of authority. And while the order was objective and even handed, it was very much a line in the sand, suggesting that the free settlers had moved Macquarie in their discussions on the 4th of June.
‘The Governor and Commander in Chief feels much Regret in having to advert to the unhappy Conflicts which have lately taken place between the Settlers in the remote and the Natives of the Mountains adjoining those Districts; and He sincerely laments that any Cause should have been given on either Side for the sanguinary and cruel Acts which have been reciprocally perpetrated by each Party.
The number of Lives sacrificed, as well by the Settlers as the Natives, in Retaliation for real or supposed Injuries, but without due Regard either to previous Aggression on the Part of the unfortunate Sufferers, or to the Dictates of Humanity, have already given Rise to a legal Investigation before a Bench of Magistrates; and although it was not sufficiently clear and satisfactory to warrant the Institution of Criminal Prosecution, it was enough so as to convince any unprejudiced Man that the first personal Attacks were made on the part of the settlers and of their servants.
It appears, however, that the Natives have lately shewn a Disposition to help themselves to a Portion of the Maize and other Grain belonging to the Settlers in these District, in a Manner very different from their former habits; and the latter have of course just Grounds of Complaint for the Depredations committed upon them.
But whilst it is to be regretted that the Natives have thus violated the Property of the Settlers, it has not appeared in the Examination of Witnesses that they have carried their Depredations to any alarming Extent, or even to the serious Prejudice of any one individual Settler.
From this Review of the past occurences, the Governor desires to admonish the settlers from taking the law into their own Hands for the future, and to beware of wanton Acts of Oppression and Cruelty against the Natives, who are, in Like Manner with themselves, under, and entitled to the Protection of the British Laws, so long as they conduct themselves conformably to them. And it is a Duty which the Governor will be always prompt in the Performance of, mutually to restrain the Aggressions of the one and other Party, and to punish in the most exemplary Manner every Person, whether Settler or Native, who shall premeditately violate those Laws.
When it is taken into Consideration that several Years have elapsed since any thing like a Principle of Hostility has been acted upon, or even in the slightest Degree exhibited in the Conduct of the Natives, it must be evident that no deep rooted Prejudice exists in their Minds against British Subjects or white Men; indeed, the free and kindly Intercourses that have subsisted between them from the Foundation of the Colony (now upwards of 26 Years ago) to the present Time, with the Exception of a few slight Interruptions, prove beyond a Doubt that the Natives have no other Principle of Hostility to the Settlers than what arises from such casual Circumstances as the present may be attributed to.
In such Circumstances it will be highly becoming and praiseworthy in true British Settlers to exercise their Patience and Forbearance, and therein to shew the Superiority they possess over these unenlightened Natives by adopting a conciliatory Line of Conduct towards them, and returning to the Performance of those friendly Offices by which they have so long preserved a good Understanding with them. In acting thus, they will reflect Credit on themselves, and most effectually secure their own personal Safety; but should Outrages be then further committed by the Natives, on information being given to the Magistrate of the District, the most active Measures will be taken for the Apprehension and Punishment of the Aggressor, in like Manner as under similar Circumstances would take Place when British Subjects only were concerned. The Governor has lately taken much personal Pains to impress this Circumstance on the Minds of several of the Cowpasture and other Natives of the Interior, and to point out to them the absolute necessity for their desisting from all Acts of Depredation or Violence on the Property or Persons of the Settlers; and he has had strong Assurances from them, that if they be shot at, or wantonly attacked (as in the Case which occurred lately in Appin, wherein a Native Woman and two Children were in the dead Hour of Night, and whilst sleeping, inhumanly put to death), they will conduct themselves in the same peaceable Manner as they had done previous to the present Conflict; they have at the same Time the fullest Assurance from the Governor, that any Complaint they may be disposed to make to him will be duly attended to; and any Person who may be found to have treated them with Inhumanity or Cruelty will be punished according to the Measure of their Offences therein.
Some few sacrifices May be required; and it is hoped they will be cheerfully made by the settler, towards the Restoration of Peace; but should the Governor be disappointed in his Ardent Wish for the Reestablishment of Good Will between the Settlers and the Natives, minute Enquiries will be made into the Motives and Conduct of each Party, and the Aggrieved will receive the fullest Protection, whilst the Formenters of those Hostilities will meet with the most exemplary Punishment.
This Order requiring the earliest and greatest Publicity, His Excellency the Governor desires that shall be read on Sunday the 26th Instant, and Sunday the 3rd of July next, during the Time of Divine Service, by the Chaplain, at their respective Churches or Places of Worship throughout the Colony; and the Magistrates are also directed to assemble the Settlers with all convenient Expedition in their respective Districts, and to impress fully on their Minds the Necessity for their prompt and implicit Obedience to this Order.

By Command of His Excellency

The Governor,

J. T. CAMPBELL, Secretary’66

Tuesday, 15th of July, 1814: The killing of two Daly children


It is not possible to deduce whether this incident was related to earlier ones or was precipitated by a fearful woman firing at a group of Aboriginal people. The fact that two children were killed while the woman and infant were spared suggests that Bottagellie, who had lost his wife and two children, may have been involved. The recollections of the Sykes family that Wallah was the leader of a group determined on the killing of “a white woman and two children as a blood revenge” suggests that Wallah was also involved.67 Certainly Bottagellie and Wallah were identified in Macquarie’s subsequent orders to Warby and Jackson. The article reinforces my contentions that fear was an important and under-reported cause of settler hostility towards Aboriginal people; and that Aboriginal revenge was targeted and measured. The woman may have been spared because she was breastfeeding the infant. The article is also of interest because of gender bias. It was not only Aboriginal women who were invisible. The woman in this account was simply “the wife of a person named Daly”.
‘We have reluctantly to record another unhappy instance of the dreadful effects of a warfare with the natives of the interior. - Yesterday se'nnight the wife of a person named Daly, at Mulgowy, having only 3 days lain in was alarmed by the noise and shouts of a number of native unexpectedly and rising from bed fired a musket at them to intimidate them - which had the contrary effect. The poor woman immediately exited the house, leaving 2 fine children, besides the infant that was in bed; and on her return had, the wretchedness to behold the two eldest lifeless on the floor, and the little infant tumbled out of the bed, which they had stripped but the child other-wise unharmed. The natives, before assistance could be assembled, had escaped towards the mountains.’68

22nd of July, 1814: Warby and Jackson’s expedition


On 22 July 1814, Macquarie authorised John Warby69 and John Jackson to lead an armed party of twelve Europeans and four native guides to track down and capture five Aboriginal people; “Goondel, Bottagellie, Murrah, Yellamun, and Wallah”, who had been identified as being responsible for attacks on settlers. Apart from Warby and Jackson who were constables, the other Europeans were assigned servants. The party was provided with provisions (salt pork, biscuit, rice, sugar, tea and tobacco) and weapons (twelve muskets, 144 rounds of ammunition and 24 lbs (?) of buckshot). They returned without making contact.
‘To John Warby

And John Jackson,

Some of the wild Mountain Natives having lately committed most cruel and wanton acts of hostility and barbarity against the persons and property of several of the European peaceable settlers, their wives and children, particularly in recent instances in the District of Bringelly, and near the South Creek, having in the former district barbarously murdered two infant children, on the farm belonging to a man named Daley and there being good reason to suppose that the five following natives have been principal actors in, and formentors of all the late acts of Hostility and murders committed on the Europeans settlers and their families, namely Goondel, Bottagellie, Murrah, Yellamun, and Wallah; you are hereby authorised and directed, together with the ten armed Europeans and four friendly Native Guides,70 placed under your orders, to proceed forthwith in quest of the said five Hostile Natives and endeavour, if practicable to apprehend and take them alive, and bring them in Prisoners (sic) to Sydney, in order that they suffer the punishment due to their crimes. – In case, however, you may not find it practicable, to seize the said five natives alive by surprise or stratagem, you are authorised to use force in taking or compelling them to surrender at discretion, without making terms with them, or holding out to them any promise of pardon or indemnity for the various crimes they have committed; observing at the same time every possible precaution not to molest, kill or destroy any of the innocent Natives who may happen to be in company with those hostile ones when you come up with them. – Much however must be left to your own discretion and humanity, and I confidently trust and hope that the authority you are both thus invested with will not be abused and I feel Confident you will both act with mutual cordiality and unanimity, and to the best of your respective judgements, in the execution of the very important service you are now engaged in and entrusted with as the two principal Conductors.

Given under my hand at Government House Sydney. New South Wales, this Friday the 22nd day of July 1814.

L. Macquarie’71
The Gazette, Saturday 6th August, 1814, recorded that the Governor allocated £24-0-0 to “Mr Lewin, John Warby, and John Jackson, as a remuneration for their trouble, whilst recently visiting the Native Tribes in the Interior of the Country.” The others who accompanied Warby and Jackson appeared to have received no reward. One of these men, Joseph Bridge ended up in irons again. His widow, Elizabeth, and their children took up a grant at Screech Owl Creek on the Hawkesbury. His son, Joseph, married Sarah Woodbury, daughter of a Hawkesbury constable.72
In 1816 Bottagellie and Yellaman were protecting the farms of Kennedy and Broughton.

27th of August, 1814: Colebee and Joe Molgowy work for William Cox


Further evidence of the collaboration of settlers and Aboriginal people can be found in William Cox’s journal when building the road over the Blue Mountains. “Joe from Mulgoa “was also known as “Joe Molgowy” and “Coley” was almost certainly Colebee, Yarramundi’s son. Colebee may well have been named after Colebee who visited Yarramundi with Governor Phillip in April 1791. The fact that one of these men shot a kangaroo challenges stereotypes about relations between Aboriginal people and settlers.
‘August 8.

Timber and brush very heavy and thick from the ninth to tenth mile. Thos. Kendall ill, unable to work. Mr. Hobby, with R. Lewis,73 went forward with John Tye74 about four miles, and marked the trees. Two natives from Richmond joined us; one shot a kangaroo.
August 27.

Measured to the 16th mile, immediately after which the ground got very rocky, and in half-a-mile we came to a high mountain, which will cost much labour to make a road over. Got two natives, who promise to continue with us--Joe from Mulgoa and Coley from Richmond”.75

7th of October, 1814: the first official use of the word Aborigines by Macquarie


While Matthew Everingham’s use of the word Aborigines in 1795 may have been its first recorded usage in New South Wales,76 the earliest evidence of the word being used officially with specific reference to the First People of Australia appears to have been by Macquarie in the following despatch. While the Historical Records of Australia have transcribed the word as Aborigines, he originally wrote Ab-origines in his proclamation of the Parramatta Native Institution on the 10th of December 1814. While it can be argued that his choice of words placed Aboriginal people within the mantle of God’s creation, it can also be argued that it placed Aboriginal people at the lowest level of humanity. In the following despatches Macquarie put forward a proposal to establish a native institute for Aboriginal children as the first step in their civilization.

7th of October, 1814: Macquarie to Earl Bathurst


‘I have great Pleasure in reporting to Your Lordship that this Country is at present in a State of perfect Peace and Tranquility. In My former Dispatch77 I had to Notice Some Sanguinary Acts on the part of the Natives, but since that Period they have Entirely discontinued their predatory Incursions and Savage Attacks on the Settlers. They have even Made such Advances towards a good Understanding for the future as to Make Submissions for the past. It has long been in Serious Contemplation with me to Endeavour to Civilize the Ab-origines of this Country so as to render them Industrious and Useful to the Government, and at the same time to Improve their own Condition. Having made some Arrangements for this purpose, I shall address a Separate Dispatch*78 to Your Lordship on that Subject by the present Opportunity.’79

8th of October, 1814: the next step to civilization


‘governor macquarie to earl bathurst.

My Lord, 8th October, 1814. I feel peculiar Pleasure in submitting to Your Lordship's Consideration some Reflections, which, in the Course of My government, have Occurred in My Mind in regard to the Character and General Habits of the Natives of this Country; by A Communication of Which, I trust I shall be enabled to Interest Your Lordship's humane and liberal Feelings in behalf of this Uncultivated Race.
Scarcely Emerged from the remotest State of rude and Uncivilized Nature, these People appear to possess some Qualities, which, if properly Cultivated and Encouraged, Might render them, not only less wretched and destitute by Reason of their Wild wandering and Unsettled Habits, but progressively Useful to the Country According to their Capabilities either as Labourers in Agricultural Employ or among the lower Class of Mechanics.
Those Natives, Who resort to the Cultivated Districts of this Settlement, Altho prone like other Savages to great Indolence and Indifference80 as to their future Means of Subsistence,81 Yet in General, are of free open and favorable Dispositions, honestly Inclined, and perfectly devoid of that designing Trick and Treachery, Which Characterize the Natives of New Zealand and those of the Generality of the Islands in the South Seas. The Natives of New South Wales have never been Cannibals. In fact they seem to have as great an Abhorrence of practices of that kind as if they had been reared in a Civilized State. The principal part of their Lives is Wasted in Wandering thro' their Native Woods, in Small Tribes of between 20 and 50, in Quest of the immediate Means of Subsistence, Making Opossums, Kangaroos, Grub Worms, and such Animals and Fish, as the Country and its Coasts Afford, the Objects of their Fare.
The Introduction of Herds and Flocks has not even Yet tempted them to Alter their Mode of living, Which is a Circumstance .to be Calculated on as peculiarly fortunate; since, had they been Inclined to Make prey of them, it would have been a Matter of the Greatest Difficulty, if not altogether Impossible in the early state of the Colony, to have guarded against their Depredations, and the Consequence would have been that Instead of the Numerous and promising Herds and Flocks, which now extend over the face of the Country, very few would have been preserved, and the Supplies of Animal Food would not have been in any Degree equal to our Wants.
Those Natives, who dwell Near Sydney or the other principal Settlements, live in a State of perfect Peace, Friendliness, and Sociality With the Settlers, and even Shew a Willingness to Assist them Occasionally in their Labours; and it seems only to require the fostering Hand of Time, gentle Means, and Conciliatory Manners, to bring these poor Un-enlightened People into an important Degree of Civilization,82 and to Instil into their Minds, as they Gradually open to Reason and Reflection,83 A Sense of the Duties they owe their fellow Kindred and Society in general (to Which they Will then become United), and taught to reckon upon that Sense of Duty as the first and happiest Advance to a State of Comfort and Security.
From Whatever Motives or Causes Some of these Natives have been Induced to Commit Acts of Hostility against the Settlers, it seems to bear a reasonable Inference that Provocation or Aggression from some Undiscovered or Unacknowledged Cause may have given Rise to them, Under an Impression of temporary Revenge; but when once Induced to forego this Vindictive Spirit, which Kindness and Encouragement and, Social Intercourses together Would Sooner or later bring about, their next Step towards Civilization would be rapid and easy, and they Would learn to Appreciate that Degree of Importance to Which they had thus progressively Attained.
From Considerations of this kind, Which in a great Measure have been Guided and Strengthened by My own personal Knowledge and Observation, I have determined to make an Experiment towards the Civilization of these Natives, Which is the Object I have in View by this Address, and trust it Will Meet Your Lordship's benevolent Patronage. As a preliminary Measure I intend to establish an Institution at Parramatta, first on a Small Scale under the Direction of a Mr. William Shelley (formerly a Missionary), Whom I shall Appoint as Superintendant for Educating, and bringing up to Habits of Industry and Decency, the Youth of both Sexes, Commencing at the Outset with Six Boys and Six Girls. Mr. Shelley Appears to be Well Qualified for such an Undertaking, is a Moral, Well Meaning Man,, and has Manifested great Zeal and Promptitude On this Occasion, Insomuch that I Consider him a very fit Person to be Entrusted for such a Purpose.
Herewith I do Myself the Honor to transmit Your Lordship Mr. Shelley's Plan and Estimate of the Annual Expence of such an Institution, and I trust they Will Meet Your Lordship's favorable Consideration and Approval. The Expence Appears high for so small a Number of Scholars, but it Will diminish in proportion to the Increase of Scholars to be expected. Whatever Degree of Doubt May Impend over An Attempt of this Nature, it Appears to Me to be Worth the Trial of two Years, and the Expences will be defrayed from the Colonial Fund.
I have it Also in Contemplation to Allot a piece of Land84 in Port Jackson bordering on the Sea Shore for a few of the Adult Natives, Who have promised to Settle there and Cultivate the ground. Such an Example Cannot, I think, fail of Inviting and Encouraging other Natives to Settle on and Cultivate Lands, preferring the productive Effects of their own Labor and Industry to the Wild and precarious Pursuits of the Woods.
Whilst it is Well known that Considerable Sums of Money are Expended, by the Missionary Societies of London and other parts of England, in Attempting to Evangelize the Natives of New Zealand and Otaheite, it may be Allowed to be an Object favorable to the Interests of Humanity to see an Attempt of this kind made on a frugal and prudent Scale in the Territory of New South Wales, the Natives of Which Appear to Me to have peculiar and strong Claims to the philanthropic Protection of a British Government. I have, &c.,

L. macquarie.’85



10th of December, 1814: Establishing the Parramatta Native Institute


On the 10th of December 1814, Governor Macquarie’s plans for the Native Institute were announced, echoing his earlier use of the word “Ab-origines”, though the Gazette changed it to “aborigines” in the lower case.86 The plan reflected the Governor’s determination not only to change Aboriginal people but to assert his right to do so. By using the word “Ab-origines“ and asserting the colony had ‘never met with any serious or determined Hostility from them, but rather a Disposition to submit peaceably to such Establishments' as were necessarily made on the Part of the British Government on the Formation of this Settlement’ the Gazette the Governor placed the First peoples of Australia on the lowest levels of creation to justify the taking of land, language and lives. Such a reductionist myth also enabled reprisals by magistrates, settlers and soldiers to escape scrutiny.
On 27th December the first annual feast was attended by about 60 Aboriginal people. Quite insightfully the Gazette attributed the paucity of numbers to Aboriginal fears “that they were to be forcibly deprived of their children, & themselves sent to labour”.
The Gazette of 31st December 1814 justified the Native Institution on the grounds that Aboriginal people were increasingly dependent upon the settlers because of the shortage of Kangaroos, possums and yams caused by the clearing of land for farming. While it is true that the infectious nature of influenza and tuberculosis was still unknown the editor’s claim that “in June, July and August, when the weather is cold, the woods afford them little or no food, and they become a prey to many loathsome diseases which poverty entails upon the human frame” was spurious. In this article Howe reinforced the paradigm of an active and caring role for the settlers and a passive one for Aboriginal people. It marked a shift in the discourse of settlement towards blaming anything but the act of settlement for declining Aboriginal numbers.

10th of December, 1814: rules and regulations for the Native Institute


‘Government House Sydney

Saturday 10th December 1814

Civil Department

His Excellency the Governor having long viewed with sentiments of Commiseration the very wretched State of the Ab-origines of this Country; and having resolved in his Mind the most probable and promising means of ameliorating their condition, has now taken the Resolution to adopt such measures as appear to him best calculated to effect that Object, and improve the Energies of this innocent, destitute and unoffending Race.
With this Anxiety to make one Experiment so interesting to the Feelings of Humanity, and to endeavour to ascertain how far the Condition of the Natives may be improved by the Application of such Means as are within his Power, His Excellency feels that he is making an Acknowledgement to which they are in some Degree entitled, when it is considered that the British Settlement in this Country, though necessarily excluding the Natives from many of the natural Advantages they had previously derived from the animal and other Productions of this Part of the Territory, has never met with any serious or determined Hostility from them, but rather a Disposition to submit peaceably to such Establishments as were necessarily made on the Part of the British Government on the Formation of this Settlement.
With a View, therefore, to effect the Civilization of the Ab-origines of New South Wales, and to render their Habits more domesticated and industrious His Excellency the Governor, as well from Motives of Humanity as of that Policy which affords a reasonable Hope of producing such an Improvement in their condition as may eventually contribute to render them not only more happy in themselves, but also in some Degree useful to the Community, has determined to institute a school for the Education of the Native Children of both sexes and to assign a Portion of land for the Occupancy and Cultivation of adult Natives, under such Rules and Regulations as appear to him likely to answer the desired Objects, and which are now published for general Information.
First, that there shall be a School for the Ab-origines of New South Wales, established in the Town of Parramatta; of which His Excellency the Governor is to be Patron and Mrs Macquarie, Patroness.
Secondly, That there shall be a Committee, consisting of seven Gentlemen, for conducting and directing the Institution; one of the Committee to act as Treasurer and Secretary.

Thirdly, That the Institution shall be placed under the immediate management and care of Mr William Shelly as Superintendant and Principal Instructor.
Fourthly, That the Main Object of the Institution shall be Civilization of the Ab-origines of both Sexes.
Fifthly, That the Expences of the Institution shall be defrayed for the first two years by Government, in such Manner as the Governor may deem expedient; but with a View to extend the Benefits of it after that Period, that Subscriptions shall be solicited and received from public Societies and private Individuals.
Sixthly, That this Institution shall be an Asylum for the Native Children of both sexes, but no child shall be admitted under four, or exceeding seven years of Age.
Seventhly, That the Number of Children to be admitted in the first Instance, shall not exceed six Boys and six Girls; which Numbers shall be afterwards increased according to circumstances.
Eighthly, That the Children of both sexes shall be instructed in common, Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic; That the Boys shall also be instructed in Agriculture, Mechanical Arts, and such common Manufactures as may best suit their Ages, and respective Dispositions; That the Girls Shall also be taught Needle-work. For all which Purposes, Instructors, properly qualified, will be employed.
Ninethly, That the Manager or Superintendant shall have the immediate Care of the Children, the Purchase of Provisions, and of the Materials for employing them, together with the Disposal of the Articles manufactured by the Children.
Tenthly, That a Portion of Land shall be Located for the use of adult Natives, which shall be invited and encouraged to cultivate it and that such Assistence shall be rendered them for that Purpose by Government, as may be deemed expedient: That the Management and Superintendance thereof shall be also vested in Mr Shelly; and under his immediate Inspection, subject to such Directions as he shall receive from the Committee.
Eleventhly, That the Committee shall meet Quarterly at the Town of Parramatta, on the first Wednesday in each succeeding Quarter, for the Purpose of inspecting and auditing the Quarterly Accounts of the Manager; and also of examining the Pupils as to their Progress in Civilization, Education, and Morals; and how far the necessary Attention has been paid to their Diet, Health, and Cleanliness.
-That the Committee (which shall at no time consist of less than five members) shall have Power to take cognizance of and correct any existing Abuses, and frame such additional Regulations as may appear necessary for the Improvement and benefit of the Institution.
Twelthly, That the Committee shall make a written Report of the Result of their Observations and Enquiries, at their Quarterly Meeting, to His Excellency the Governor, as a Patron of the Institution; and also of such Rules and Regulations as they may deem necessary to frame for the Benefit of the Institution; which must receive the Sanction of the Governor, previous to their being carried into Effect.
Thirteenthly, That the proposed Institution shall be opened for the Reception of the Prescribed Number of Children, on Wednesday the 18th Day of January next, being the auspicious Anniversary of the Birth of our Most Gracious Queen.
Fourteenthly, That no Child, after having been admitted into the Institution, shall be permitted to leave it, or be taken away by any Person whatever (whether Parents or other Relatives) until such Time as the Boys shall have attained the Age of Sixteen Years, and the Girls Fourteen Years; at which Ages they shall be respectively discharged.
Fifteenthly, The undermentioned Gentlemen having expressed their Willingness to forward and promote the Objects of the proposed Institution, His Excellency is pleased to constitute and appoint them (with their own Concurrence) to be the Committee for Conducting and Directing All the Affairs connected therewith.
Committee

1. John Thomas Campbell, Esq

2. D’Arcy Wentworth, Esq

3. William Redfern, Esq

4. Hannibal McArthur, Esq

5. The Revd William Cowper

6. The Revd Henry Fulton

7. Mr Rowland Hassall
His Excellency is further pleased to appoint John Thomas Campbell, Esq. to be Secretary and Treasurer of the Institution.
By Command of His Excellency

The Governor,

(Signed) J T Campbell,

Secretary.’87
‘THE Governor wishing to hold a public Conference with all those Tribes of the Natives of New South Wales who are in the Habit of resorting to the British Settlements established in this Colony, in order to make a personal Communication to them on the Subject of the Native School or Institution which His Excellency is now about to establish, requests that they will assemble and meet him at the Market Place, in the Town of Parramatta, at the Hour of Eleven o'Clock in the Forenoon of Wednesday, the 28th of the present Month of December, that being the next Day after full Moon.
All District Constables and other Peace Officers are hereby directed to make this Communication known to the Natives residing in, or resorting to their respective Districts, in due Time to enable them to attend and assemble accordingly. The Gentlemen of the Committee appointed to Conduct the Affairs of the Native Institution are requested to meet His Excellency the Governor, on this Occasion, at the Time and Place herein before mentioned.

By Command of His Excellency

The Governor,

J. T. Campbell, Secretary GOVERNMENT and GENERAL ORDERS.

Government House, Sydney, Saturday, 10th December, 1814.’88

31st of December, 1814: The first Annual Feast.


‘On Wednesday His Excellency the GOVERNOR went to Parramatta, for the purpose of seeing and conferring with the Natives, agreeably to the benevolent design intimated in the General Orders of the 10th instant. At one o'clock His Excellency, accompanied by the Lieutenant Governor, and a number of Officers Civil and Military, went to the Market-place, where the interview had been appointed to be held, und conversed with them for an hour, pointing out in an affable and familiar way the advantages they would necessarily derive from a change of manners, and an application to moderate industry. The whole number assembled, of all ages and sexes, did not exceed sixty, owing, as it was conjectured, to some false impressions which the more distant tribes had given way to, relative to the design of the convocation, suspiciously imagining that they were to be forcibly deprived of their children, & themselves sent to labour. Those who did attend gave information that numbers were in the neighbourhood, but unwilling to come forward, owing to their doubts, which they had in vain endeavoured to appease and satisfy - After a length of conversation, three children were yielded up to the benevolent purposes of the Institution: and after HIS EXCELLENCY, His Honor the LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR, and the accompanying Officers had bestowed every possible pains in producing a confidence necessary to the proposed ends, the natives were seated in a circle, and served with a fine dinner of roast beef, and a cheering jug of ale. At two o'clock His Excellency took leave of them, and returned to Sydney, accompanied by Mrs. MACQUARIE. During the afternoon their number increased, and the strangers were welcomed by Mr. Shelly, who continued the same hospitable treatment to all that arrived, from the remaining stock, which had been provided for a much greater number. Another child has since been offered, without solicitation or persuasion, and added to the list of candidates for civilization. That the proposed number will very shortly be obtained there can be no reason to doubt; while on the other hand it may readily be believed, that in the course of a very few months that number might, if required, be very considerably increased. The house preparing for their reception is near the Church of Parramatta, and will be inclosed only by a paling; one good effect of which will be, that they will be frequently in the view perhaps of their parents, as well as other persons; and when those become eyewitnesses of the benefits accruing to their children from the change, it cannot be doubted they will feed thankful to the beneficence that projected and accomplished it. The plan that has been adopted must appear the best suited to the ends proposed. At a tender age it affords to the children an asylum against the distressing wants they feel, more especially in June, July and August, when the weather is cold, the woods afford them little or no food, and they become a prey to many loathsome diseases which poverty entails upon the human frame. The kangaroo has almost disappeared about the Settlements; the opossim, long substituted as their chief dependence, has at length become as scarce; the roots of the earth are by nature too sparingly administered to constitute any thing like a dependence to them; and the tribes of each district dare not incroach upon any other. In the summer those of the coast subsist by fishing; but in the winter, only for the occasional aid they derive from us, their situation would be equally miserable: -And whence have those evils originated, but in the clearing of the immense forests which formerly abounded in the wild animals they lived upon? This admission certainly gives them a claim upon the consideration of the British Settler; and we cannot imagine for a moment, that any one who bears that character will withhold any means that may fall within his power of forwarding the benevolent views of the Native Institution.’89



Download 3.05 Mb.

Share with your friends:
1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   ...   30



The database is protected by copyright ©ininet.org 2024
send message
    Main page
last week
west bank
legislative council
native people
general appearance
blue mountains