The Story of the Blacks.

Mataura Ensign, Issue 1417, 29 November 1904, Page 3

The Story of the Blacks.

- THE ABORIGINES OF AUSTRALIA. (By Charles Write, author of "Convict Life in New Sototh Wales and Van Diemen's Land," Australian BufehraDging," etc.) (Published by Special Arrangement.) One day while camped on the Mara.-' noa, the leader being absent, the purty received a visit from two nati.es, painted white, who boldly entered the camp, each carrying several sueais and boomerangs and followed by two females, similarly loaded with veap- - ons. The men, somewhat alarmed at this display of weapons, formed a line . in front of the tent, and one of ihein called upon the blacks to halt, 'i he latter then pointed in the direction in which Sir •Thomas had gone and motioned to the men to go off in the same direction ; but the men remaned firm and in turn mentioned to the blacks to go, when the latter became \ angry and poised their spears, but as this did not appear to intimidate the travellers, one of them turned, round and hurled contempt upon them, in true civilised fashion by "scorniully slapping his posteriors." This f orm of attack proved more forceful than spear pointing, for there was a British soldier in the ranks of the Europeans, and he could not suffer the indignity of such an insult withv.it remonstrance. He discharged his musket over the head of the insulting black, who forthwith sprang several feet into the air and then speedily made off, followed. by his companions. So runs the record; but if the truth were known it might be found that the shot from the gnu did not ell go over the head of the dusky savage; hence the spring. ' Subsequently the

same party returnee], and one of them having advanced to the front of • the tents, where the men were .dundiiig with their, firearms in their hands, commenced to vociferate very loudly and with much gesticulation', evidently wishing the strangers to understand that his people were sole possessors of the soil and that the whites were intruding upon territory to which they had_ no claim. A gin Sj (woman) standing* near frequently is" prompted the, orator and pointed to landmarks as the boundaly of territory; but finding that their Jify oratory produced no impression upon *J 'the Europeans, the spokesman struck - ~a spear 4h the ground and indicat ?d ■Mry words and gesture that on the one side the ground should be occupied by the whites and on the other by his tribe. -The explorers gave them to understand that they would agree to this agreement, and the £>borgines at once took their depart >ire, evidefiEy quite satisfied. When the leader returned and heard what had ■> transpired he issued instructions that 4nc larger of the two reaches near the camp should be held -Sacred to the blacks, and no whites should visit the river banks in that direction, aim that the cattle should not be allowed to feed in the vicinitv.

At the junction of the Claude, and a tributary from the south-west the party found the blacks rather troublesome. On one- occasion seventeen of tnem, all very strong, tull men, entered the cam]), and the two leaders began to lay hands upon everything within their reach. Each of the Seventeen carried several clubs, and gave the 'explorers to. understand that the whole of the surrounding cou-i'ry belonged to them. At this time Sir Thomas and the surgeon were absent. and the. men in charge treated the . blacks civilly, and induced them to sit down, thinking Sir Thomas on his return might be able to glean sonic information from them conceniing the nature of the country. Alter _"STwlfHe, however, a sharp altercation ensued between the old chief and a younger black who appeared to lie his colleague, and seeing the I alter rife and approach the tents, beckoning to other of his companions to follow him,' an invitation which some of them accepted, the Europeans seized their muskets and fell into line: Seeing the compact order *of ibis small force, and the strange-looking weapons which they held, the advancing blacks stood still, evidently afraid of.the kind of reception they would meet with if they ventured any nearer. At this moment the explorers' dogs rushed at the blacks, who immediately turned and: fled, loudly laughed at by the Europeans and the rest of the tribe, who stood at some distance watching the proceedings. Having arrived at the conclusion /that- the river which he had been following did not, as he'at first sup"poscd, lead to the Gulf of Caro.-n----taria, Sir Thomas resolved to return by the tracts made try the journey onwards, branching off before coming to .the main camp to explore the country to the westward, in order to find the division between the eastern and western waters. Shortly afterwards the party returned to Sydney by easy stages, having been absent for over twelve months. Although this formed one of the most important journeys into the interior of all Sir Thomas Mitchell's expeditions, it . was remarkable that no serious collision took place with- the aborigines, and that no loss of ■ life or property occurred during this passage occupied , by a people who had good reason to 'I . look upon the party as invaders.

CHAPTER IX. - DB JLEICHHARDT'S EXPERIEJfCtiS. „ The intrepid German botanist and explorer, Dr Ludwig * Leiehhardt, the -- mystery ol whose fate in the wilds of '. Australia'is not ever likely to be satisfactorily solved, had some strange i experiences among the aboriginal ' F tribes whose territory he invaded in ■• the interests of science, f, . His first exploring expedition (with six Europeans and. two native guidei), the object of which was to obtain icliable information of the. country l,etween Moreton Bay and Port Essing- ; ton, set out in September, ued ' the first interview witft the tilacks <ccurred ou the far side of the CondaY mine Plains, two months after -taii- *" ing. The natives behaved in a fri.-nrl- [ ly manner, pointing out where honey r 'was to be obtained and assisting tiie |, explorers in catting Aii sweet stoiv3 t out of the trees. They particularly admired the red blankets of the Euro-. . -aeons, but were.terror-stricken at the sight of a native sword, which they tremblingly begged might be returned into its sheath. Coming upon the r " 'dry channel of a river, ehree months i later, the party saw that'the'blanks J were not inexperienced in. the art of >C- water conservation, for round tl.c W edges of the ponds branches v.<-n? ?' thickly and rejkilarly planted, to jvre|J- vent the sand and clay from entering, S.. and inside tlie fence were t dug several |. small wells, evidently intended for the y. reception of the purer and colder •vatlE' er obtained by filtration. f-sr About this time a tribe of blacks the explorers and made ™"<nnw or«jP>it« of feathers, boomerangs *antl articles, receiving .in return W&p 'medal, -with which they appeared

much pleased. They had evidently never before seen white men, as tiiey expressed much curiosity eooeeining the Vhite skins of the party, and frequently patted their cheoks in admiration. Shortly after this a tribe wasmet with who .were extraordinarily shjv They conversed freely with the guides, but as soon as one of 'he Europeans approached they would avert their faces, turn their backs, or run away. Up to this time the blacks had not manifested any hostile disposition, and '.now the party were destined to meet with opposition both formidable and dangerous. A party of blacks,. attempted stealthily to drive away the whole of the cattle, but thogattempt was frustrated by tl.e watchfulness of the men in charge ; and then followed an organised ;>t-

tack upon the camp. On June 2S—nine months after starting on their expedition—the explorers . encamped .near a small pool, surrounded by a narrow belt of tea-trees, Robert und Calvert pitching their tents within the belC Gilbert and Murphy placing theirs among the trees, while Phillips sat down at a spot on the opposite side of the pool. Having partaken < f their evening meal the party went to their several tents. Leichhardt. accDiding to custom, stretching himself on the ground near the lire, where he soon siept. A #1011(1 noise and a call for help, in a short time roused him from his slumbers, and he ut once discovered that the natives had ettacied the camp in a body. .' J'hey had watched the party during; the afternoon and as soon as it was di.rk hud hurled a shower of spears at the several tents. The native guides were tl.o first to spring forward in defence of the party, but as caps had rot been left on the muskets, some time elapsed before any ' answering cha ge could be made,'and in. the mean Anile the assailants were busy at their sanguinary. Work. ■ At the first report of the firearms the blacks all (led, and it was then discovered that Roper and Calvert .had been pierced with scveril spears, while Gilbert lay dead with a spear sticking through Ins body. Jt, appeared that "at the first alarm lie had sprung up and rushed out of his tene with a gun in hand and was preparing to lire when he received )ps death wound. The utmost difficulty was experienced in extracting the spear points, which were barbed, front the persons of Calvert and Roper, one having to be forced right through I lie lalter's arm and one having to 1.0 cut out of tl,e latter's groin, ft «■;.« not ascertained how much the ulaeks I had suffered from the lire of the Europeans, but it was known that at the least one of the number had been wounded, as the wailing of the women mourners was heard duriug the nigh'.. The explorers extinguished their fires and watched during the remainder of the night, anticipating another assault. . When morning dawned the wounds of the unfortunate, men were properly dressed by T.eichhardt. <>ud further precaution against attack having, been taken, the dead body of the slaughtered man was burial, the Church of England service being rend by the leader. A large lire was s'lbsei|iiently kindled over the grave to | revent the aborgines from discovering and disinterring the remains. The party tarried at this camp for several days to permit 6f the wounded men taking rest.

Seven days .. subsequently, having reached entirely different country, a rather strange encounter took place. Alter the party hud made their ar rangemonfs for the night a fine. strapping hlackfellow walked leisuv< iy into the camp towards one of the earn)) fires, which he had evidently mistaken as belonging to his own. tribe. The man who first saw the strange visitor called out in alarm. "A blackfcllow ! a blaekfellow 1 " and in ail instant -every gun was re.ulv. but as it became at once. apparent that the stranger was unconscious of his position, no shot was fired. As soon as the black discovered his 1 , mistake he ran at top speed to a, tree and with remarkable agility -climbed high info the branches, where he remained motionless and silent, despile the signs and calls of the explorers : nor had the discharge of a gun the desired effect of making him speak or stir. One of the guides then climbed ir.to a neighboring tree to show the. savage that he was not beyond re_v'i. and upon this he began to "pooh," and hiss and cooey, making such unearthly ureses and causing the :iors"s to break from their tethers in affright. One of the iruides tried hard to prevail upon r.eichhardt to shoot the savage, asserting that if he did not the whole party would be killed ; but the leader was averse to the needless shedding of blood, and ordered the party to retire several paces so that the black could see that he had a clean way of escape : and this movement proved effective, for the cries ceased and a rustling in the scrub told that the terror-stricken black had escaped from what he evidently considered a most awkward and dangerous predicament. Next day a veilarmed tribe was observed watehi.ig the explorers from a distance, but they did not evince any desire to offer molestation. On the banks of tin; .Van Diciuan river the party found the huts of the natives of superior construction, end hears of chaff lying around showed that certain grass sect) was used as a substitute for corn. Some of the blacks aopeared to be very much afraid of' the horses, the guide having told, them that they would bile life dogs ; and the exolorers seeing this always tethered three of the h irso* near the tents when they retired to rest-, while a fourth was kept bridled in the eaijip with a bell on his neck." When near the sea coast some tribes were met with who caused the iv.rty n-t n little trouble and anxiety, for they surrounded them on all .sides mid became unduly familiar. On one revision, while the men were preparing some beef, they hovered round in considerable" numbers, and climbed . the trees rear the eamo to watch more cntically what was going on. As the afternoon oroQTe-s*d the numbers increased, and annroaehin'* t'ie cxnl.-r----rrs in u bodv thev vociferated fier ■ elv »-d -hon'- tri""r.sroa-s and club*, as th-iifdi about to ma'.e on ett^c 1 - bi a t-odv • bi|i on some of the me,, n.k\ineino- towerr's t'-em on Vo.-«»Wl.- ' 1 firbi-r se-eval shots in the tor.. H-e Mads beat a i-roebifate nive-.f. P~.vc a,rnMi the ~j.yfl„iv->-s came aeivt--shallow'wells, which had been sw,->>d out '£ *he aboivrlpes to "reserve a fresh water in drv seasons. and at tl-<we wells. vliVh were'..-•.-..>.... limes only separated from (he salt

water of the rivers (the party was near the coast) by a narrow wall of clay, the explorers samctimes p tched their camp. On the Macartuur river they had an interview with a most friendly and civil tribe. The blacks ran after the Europeans for a :onsiderable distance, calling loudly, and when the leader halted and came to a parley, he was met by an old man and three or four of the younger malesof the tribe. As soon as the chief saw that T.eichhardt intended to give him a present he prepared to give him one io return, and he offered tome of the ornaments which he wore on his person in exchange for the rings and buckles which he received. These blacks were well-made and good-look-ing, - one of them being described us ! "even handsome." All the males appeared to have been eirumeised. 'V yond the Roper river, also, friendly blacks were met with. Three of tlie number coining boldly forward, presents were exchanged, and they gave a pressing invitation to the leader to visit their cauip. When they visited the explorers a second time they announced their nxproueh by whistling. and woWd not enter the" canip until imited by the leader. Thev accompanied the party for a consid.-rihln distance, and when hunger at Ijngth compelled them to return, tlioy again invited the while men to aeromnnny them, indicating at the same time that they had an abundance of food at their camp. Tese men were alio circumcised. A few days later, hewever, a tribe of a different char-v'ter was encountered.. The blacks hovered round ehe camp for some time, and at nightfall were observed stealing towards the tents evidently bent on attack, wnen a few shots", put them to tlighf.