Australian Tales and Adventures.

Wairarapa Standard, Volume XX, Issue 2017, 14 January 1887, Page 1 (Supplement)

Australian Tales and Adventures.

No. 12. A RACE FOR LIFE. * By B. P- Whitworth. CHAPTER I. OP FETES CHAMPBTRBfI “ Let us, my brothers, breakfast in Scotland, lunch in Australis, dine in Knglaad, and sup in France.” To this effect speaks Henry Kingsley, in his charming prose poem, Geoffiy Hamlyn. But oh, my brothers, aye, and you too “my sisters, and my cousins and my aunt,” to say nothing of that nearer and dearer tie. “ Sweethearts and wives,” one thing he assuredly omitted in this bis oatagory of good things, namely, the Australian picnic. Let us, say I, also picnic in Australia, in the sweet summer time, and we shall have filled up the measure of sublunary delights. It matters little where, so long as the day is soft and balmy, with no wind, except now and then a faint puff that raises a low sleepy rustle in the bush overhead, and that we have found a camping place beside a shallow pool, in the cool shady corner of a clear oteek. I have, dear reader, and probably yon have too, enjoyed the dolee far Nientc, the true sans soiwi of Australian picnics in many parts, from the gnarled and twisted ti-tree, swamp oak, and Mangrove flats of Queensland, where the broad River flowed on in silent reaches to the sea, reflecting the bine firmament and the floating rack of fleecy cloud above, a river bounded by low downs, here and there covered with dark primeval bush, and ever and anon by plantation after plantation of waving sugar cane or graceful bananas drooping with their heavy golden winter crop, of grove after grove of huge sombre mulberry trees, relieved by clumps of birch like china peaches, laden with their wealth of delicate early blossom, dark patches of pine apples, guavas, cape gooseberries, and the thousand and one other fruits that flourish in rank luxuriance almost all the year round in this favoured clime, to the solemn calm of the shady glens nnder the fluted columns of Mount Wellington in Tasmania. From the lovely beaches of Port Jackson, where the rippling wavelets shimmer and sparkle in the sunshine as they kiss the golden sand and shingle, to the deep and dim fern gorges of New Zealand, where the rushing nvers foam and tumble with an everlasting roar, and where the cool winds come from the shining peaks in the realms of eternal snow and glacier. From the pleasant gullies and glades of Fernshaw or Dandenong, and the nearer slopes of Studley Park on the Yarra River, to the pure atmosphere of Mount Lofty with the fertile Adelaide plains stretching away to the sea, to the mysterious darkling mahogany forests of little known West Australia.

All these and many more. Each has its special charm, its individual beauty, its own indelible impression on the mind attnned to the everlasting and immutable harmony of Nature.

CHAPTER 11. WHOM WK WERE, 01 all places in Australia, a country of holidays in the holiday season, Melbourne has attained what may be justly considered a preeminence for the number and extent of its junketings, and various occasions and kinds of sport, recreation, and pleasure, and it would be hard to name any form of these known in the civilized world that has not its due amount of representation in our midst. But amongst the numerous means of pleasure taking, none, perhaps, are more availed of during the heats of summer, and indeed throughout all the milder portions of the year than the delights afforded by picnicing, which may be characterised as a mild form of camping out in the bush. And, in fine weather, and with good company, and the material, but indispensable accompaniments of a well planished basket, there are really many less pleasant methods of spending a day’s holiday. So at all events, thought a happy party of eight young folks who, staying at the same time at the delightful watering place Lome on Loutitt Bay, had been, of necessity thrown together by the somewhat free and easy exigencies of sea side society and consequent acquaintance.

We, or I should rather say, they, for I was one of the heavy convoys, appointed with my wife, and certain other elderly parties to play propriety to the fleet of lighter craft who went to form the squadron, were located at the various hotels in the township, bad met at dinner, on the pier, during our matutinal or post-prandial rambles, and where not else, and in accordance with the semi-Bohemian sea side visitors, aided to a great extent by the good offices of young Tom Lippinoott, who knows everybody, or who, at all events claimed, and made, acquaintance with everybody, and who would just as soon have asked the Lord Bishop for a light to his pipe, and invited him to dinner afterwards as no would his most familiar friend, bad struck up, first of all a kind of general watering place acquaintance, and had, by a rapid transition from cold bows and the ordinary courtesies of civilized rociety, become tolerably familiar. The sun of New Year's eve had set in a crimson,' gold, and purple glory, behind the densely timbered Cape Otway ranges, evening had merged into night, and the filmy haze on the distant sea line and the clear star studded firmament, betokened a hot day to-morrow. And so it came to pass that having danced thC'Old Tear out, and the New Year in, to the enlivening .strains of a concertina and flute placed half way down the pier, it was determined that instead of sweltering on the beach, or wasting the golden hours of New Year’s day in the much affected siesta, the entice party or as many of them as chose to go, should seek some cool shady recess in the semicircle of forest which half enclosed the township, and should cat our next year’s dinner in a sensible way, by the bank of some purling stream.

Of such desirable spots there were plenty, but most of these, the excursions par c.rcdlance, had been visited already. Tue Erakine Falls, sis miles and a bittock, the Phantom Falls, Stony Creek, the Rapids, Teddy’s Look Out, the Sanctuary, et hoc genus omm, had been done already, aud it was determined therefore to find fresh woods and pastures new, to conquer unknown wilds, to, in a word, go by bpat a lew miles down the beach, land at some convenient spot, and explore some unknown region in the magnificent and mys. terious solitudes which lay “ so near, and vet so far." ' It was an idea which possessed the ofaarm of novelty, and had at the same time a spice of romance, for were there not the perils of being lost in the bush, of falling in with gigantic snakes, huge and nameless lizards, ferocious dingoes, nay even the terrible Bunyip himself, to say nothing of the fun of having to carry the ladies ashore, of helping them up slippery rooks, and across deep gullies, of having your bravery of apparel half torn off your backs by the thick undergrowth, and of returning draggletailed, mud-covered to the waist, and in that state ol general dirt and wet in which the npgiown ns well as the infant heart

rejoices, for “ men and women are not children of a larger growth.”

Early then on New Yeat’smorn, ere yet the sun had hardly risen from his vast bath in the east, the rataplan of the drum with which Tom Lippincott occasionally made life a terror and a burden to us, was heard under the windows, and, as wc knew that further sleep was out of the question, for that he would never leave cl! until we all mustered, we rose, more or less willingly, and prepared for onr day’s adventure. Certainly the undertaking did not look so bright and pleasant in the raw grey morning as it had in the clear moonlight of the previous evening, but we were pledged, the boats engaged, the hampers packed, and “in for a penny, in lor a pound.” A hasty breakfast was snatched, of whatever the larder afforded, tor wc were much at home at Lome, a place, by the way, where visitors eat, drink, and sleep much as they please, all asked of them in return being to amuse themselves and add, in a general way, to the enjoyment of others; and a start was made tor the boats, of which we had two. Our party consisted of twelve, all told, comprising Kate and Laura Forsyth, two charming laughter loving girls of, say twenty and eighteen respectively, the two daughters of Mr. Alexander Forsyth, a Queensland squatter, who was also with us; their cousin Emma Ross from Hobartown, a pretty blonde of about sixteen, and Miss (for we never dared even think of her by her Christian name of Clara) Nugent a tall Juno like woman, with wonderful dark piercing eyes, and a wealth of that blue black hair for which the brunettes of Andalusia and of Connemarra are celebrated. Her we spoke of amongst ourselves, and with bated breath as the “ Duchess,” and for highborn beauty, grace, and dignity, she well deserved the title. Then Miss Forsyth, Bister and housekeeper to Mr. Forsyth, and duenna to those wild romps, bis daughters, a little mild eyed lady of uncertain age, and of ultra conventional habits and feelings, whose heart was “ sair ” with the mad pranks of her unrestrainable charges; and my dear old wife, who with her undeniable tendency to plumpness, to say the least of it, and her wholesome terror of boats, snakes, centipedes, tarantulas, and all other things appertaining to the bush, had a heart as good as gold and as wide as the universe in love of all that was young, and bright, and gladsome (of our own children two were with the angels, and one, the eldest, and perhaps best beloved cf all, a sailor away with bis ship in India, China, or elsewhere), had ventured on this unknown pilgrimage, despite all her fears, out of pure love for the younger ones of the party. Representing the male persuasion were first of all Mr Forsyth, a hale, hearty, bluff old Scotchman, who looked upon these picnicings and ramblings as follies and nuisances, or said he did, which I never believed, tor he joined in them ali with as much gusto as anybody. Next came Richard Nugent, or as we had got to call him, Dick, a tall, black bearded, blackavieed Irishman, brother to Mias Nugent, but, except in personal experience, as different a being as it is passible to conceive, for he was as full of song os his native “ thrush singing in a bush,” and jest, quip, crahk,| repartee, and occasionally, unmistakable Irish ball, flowed from bis lips from early morn to dewy eve, 88 naturally as the bee hums, or the sparrow twitters. He had been a soldier in years post, one of the Cape Mounter Rifles, the Galloping Green Boys, as they were called, and;had, after the disbandment of thatjirregular corps, immigrated to Australia where bo had taken up the calling of gold mining, and had, amongst the few, been f uecessful. Tom Lippincott, the wag and wit of the patty, was a bank clerk in Melbourne, spending bis well earned month’s holiday at Lome, and having, as he told us, fallen in with suoh pleasant company, disinclined to move although the President of the Legislature Council, the Governor, and Lord Knowsoo had already fought a triangular duel on Collingwood Flat, to decide which of them he should dice with first, and that the Town Hall Sag was at half mast because he would not go to the Mayor’s ball. Then came the Hon Pierce Vansittart, a young shred of nobility from the old country, who was at first inclined to put on a little bit of side, but finding that nobody took any particular notice of bis airs, had the good sense to drop them, and because a pleasant fellow enough, and Jack Thompson, a Melbourne newspaperman, come down, as ho said to recuperate, after a long and severe attack of parliamentary gas-tritis, although vll he did to recover bis tone, so far as I could see, was drink beer and smoke strong tobacco. Last, was myself, Bourke Collins, Esq., gentleman at large, better known as the General, to whom, as having had some little experience in bush life was deputed the task of guide, and track blazer, who acted as fugleman, and whose duty it was to see that none of the party strayed away from camp, and got lost in the pathless wilds to which we were bound.

CHAPTER 111, WHAT WE DID. Wa pulled steadily along the coast lot about font miles, post the Spit, and the wide but shallow opening of Cumberland Creek, and espying a small sandy beach between two rooky btulfa, headed the boat for it, getting within about 100 yards of it in shoal water. After disembarking, amidst plenty of fun from the ladies having to be carried ashore, a task the young fellows seemed to enjoy heartily, and after getting the baskets of provisons on dry land, we hauled the boats up high and dry, moored them to some ti-trec bushes, and clambering over a quarter of a mile or so of sand hummocks, struck boldly into the thick scrub, leaving the blue waters of the great Southern Ocean behind us.

A few yards onward in the of that dense forest, and we were as completly isolated from the outside world as though we had been miles within its intricacies. Here the indescrible loveliness of this lovely, and comparatively unknown region burst upon of us. A tortuous path, or rather no path, save such as could be picked or made among the luxuriant undergrowth, led us along tortuous avenues of straight tall trees of magnificent timber, box, blue and rad gum, iron-bark, blaokwood, and pencil wood, clad with bright green foliage, and mingled in bizarre profusion and confusion, With tree ferns, mimosa, and tender smelling pepperment. Overhead the sky was almost shut eut from view, while in front of us seen through the broken vista, [rose the* sombre mass of forest, rolling tier above tier, to the summit of the mountains beyond. A little of the travelling, struggling through the thick scrub of brush aad fern, and clambering oyer fallen timber, with an ocoasional tumble into the interior of some rotten mon. aroh of the forest who had lain there eating his heart away for generations perhaps, soon brought us to a halt, and we sat down on the Whitening trunk of a mighty gum tree which lay prone many a rod along, to gain breath, and consider further proceedings. “Be the piper, but this is a nuare place we’ve got into anyhow," ejaculated Dick Nugent, looking round him, “ I'm here, I know that, but it would be a mortal puzzle to me to find my way back.” "I hope,Bourke dear,yon have not lost us in this wild place, and that we shan’t bo devoured by savage beasts, or swallowed alive by serpents or alligators,’' said my old wile who was crimson with heat and exertion, and whose knowledge of the natural historv ot the region was remarkably limited far one who had dwelt in the Colonies lor so manv years. }

" For “7 Part,*’, grumbled old Forsyth, with a anew, I think the whole affair is a piece tom foolery, and 1 heartily wish \

were at home at ease instead of dragging my weary limbs through suoh an absurd tangle as this is—Yah 1 what's that ? ”

That—was the uproarious peal of hilarity of a couple of laughing j&ekassee which had Fettled on the bough of a lofty gum tree at a little distance, and which emitted their volleys of esebination, apparently at the hapless and forlorn state of some of our party. "Lord be good to us,” cried Miss Forsyth in a flurry, “ if I didna think it was a pairty o’ savages come to murder and scalp us." A hearty burst of laughter from the younger portion ut the party greeted this exclamation of dismay, in the midst of which I beard a distant sound, never very familiar in the bash, but when once heard, never forgotten. I raised my hand to command silence, and with an expressive “bash," said “ listen.” “ By and bye the sound was repeated.

It was the distant cry or song of the bellbird, a sound always welcome to the traveller in the bush, as it invariably denotes water. “ Listen," said I, " and follow quickly." “ Still keeping the track we made through the virgin forest, blazed by means of a tomahawk, we proceeded onward in a general northerly direction for about a mile (although the ladies of the party declared we had oome a dozen), until suddenly turning round a belt of thick undergrowth we came across a nook in the forest, the beauty of whioh fully repaid us for the toil and trouble we bad undergone, and which even induced exclamation! of admiration from my fairly fagged out rara sposa, and the professedly disgusted paterfamilias of the two girls. Led by the sonorous cry of the bell-bird, so rarely heard anywhere near civilization, and by the steady murmur of falling water, we crossed a belt of heavy timber, and plunging down a rapid descent, arrived at a spot wbieb, to our entranced eyes, looked like an earthly paradise.

Below na murmored a narrow stream, shimmeringin (he rays of (heson (ha( shot through (he thick foliage aloft, and darkling beneath the incense breathing waters that here and there marked its coarse, while }ast shore os it spread oat into a shallow pool, barred by a dyke of dark basalt, the head of a miniature waterfall. Up the creek the gully took a gentle sweep to the right, narrowing ae it went fur* ther, until all was closed in by a thin belt of peppermint bush, in which the cicadas kept np a ceaseless ohirropping. Beyond this, away to the westward, and rising to the foot of the distant ranges lay a wide tract of dense bash, dark and solemn, the mysterious and untrodden home of the Koala and the gorgeous plumaged lyre bird, and still farther away the purple summit of Mount Sabine, the loftiest peak of the ranges.

Descending the slope to the green sward which bordered the creek, a spot where we had determined to camp, and where the gallant Lippineott—who had manfully carried his fishing rod all the distance, determined to have a oast for a blackfish in the pool, I was suddenly checked in my downward career in advance by a short scream of terror in my rear.

Kate Forsyth, who bad led the van of the main body, following in my footsteps as pioneer, bad started a black snake from his lair under a fallen log, and had, with true womanly instinct, after eluding the venomous creature’s spring by opening her parasol in the puzzled reptile's face, screamed aloud, and fainted—just in time to be caught in the manly arms of Dick Nugent, who had darted forward to the rescue, after the beast, with a vengeful snap at the shining silk, had glided ailently away into the fern. As a matter of course this little incident created quite a commotion in oar party, • commotion that did not subside until we had settled down quietly to our lunch, or dinner, or what not, in that solemn tabernacle onder the shady wattles by the creek, although I observed by the merry twinkle in my wile's eyes and by certain—well, I won't say winks—but rather feminine telegraphic signs, that the little episode of the snake, so far as Dick Nugent and Kate Forsyth were concerned, had not, even in the unwonted scare, been altogether nnnotioed.

God bless them both; they are man and wife now, and, although I am getting on ahead of my story, I can't help saying so. But I don’t altogether think that it was tbs snake incident that induced her to say yea to the gallant fellow’s suit. No, indeed I don’t. It was rather, 1 think: {To hr fim/inuri!,)