Australia, its history and present condition Part 5

"'The natives cannot see them. The _Boyl-yas_ do not bite, they feed stealthily; they do not eat the bones, but consume the flesh. Just give me what you intend to give, and I'll walk off.'

What secrets can the human breast contain, When tempted by thy charms, curst love of gain!

"'The _Boyl-yas_ sit at the graves of natives in great numbers. If natives are ill, the _Boyl-yas_ charm, charm, charm, charm, and charm, and, by and by, the natives recover.'"

Nothing further could be learned from this terrified and unwilling witness. The custom spoken of in the last part of his evidence, that of sitting at the graves of the dead, is found in nearly all the known portions of Australia, and the object of this practice is to discover by what person the death of the deceased individual has been caused, which is supposed to be declared by dreams or visions. A similar custom among the Jews is reproved by the prophet Isaiah, chap. lxv. 4, 5.

Once, when Major Mitch.e.l.l had been hara.s.sed, and two of his party killed by the hostile natives, he reached a spot of security, where, while admiring the calm repose of the wild landscape, and the beauteous beams of the setting sun, he was antic.i.p.ating a night free from disturbance.

He was alone, waiting the arrival of his party, but his reveries were dissipated in the most soothing manner, by the soft sounds of a female voice, singing in a very different tone from that generally prevailing among the Australians. It sounded like the song of despair, and, indeed, it was the strain of a female mourning over some deceased relative; nor could the loud "hurra" of the men, when they came up, angry at the recent pillage and murder of some of the party, put to flight the melancholy songstress of the woods. On these occasions it is usual for the relatives of the deceased to continue their lamentations, appearing insensible of what people may be doing around them.

The rude verses, given below, and forming the substance of a chant, sung by an old woman to incite the men to avenge the death of a young person, may serve at once for a specimen of the poetry and superst.i.tion of the Australian wilderness:--

"The blear-eyed sorcerers of the north Their vile enchantments sung and wove, And in the night they sallied forth, A fearful, man-devouring drove.

"Feasting on our own lov'd one With sanguinary jaws and tongue, The wretches sat, and gnaw'd, and kept Devouring, while their victim slept.

Yho, yang, yho yang, yang yho.

"Yes, unconsciously he rested In a slumber too profound; While vile Boyl-yas sat and feasted On the victim they had bound In sleep:--Mooligo, dear young brother, Where shall we find the like of thee?

Favourite of thy tender mother, We again shall never see Mooligo, our dear young brother.

Yho, yang yho, ho, ho.

"Men, who ever bold have been, Are your long spears sharpened well?

Fix anew the quartz-stone keen, Let each shaft upon them tell.

Poise your _meer-ros_, long and sure, Let the _kileys_ whiz and whirl Strangely through the air so pure; Heavy _dow-uks_ at them hurl; Shout the yell they dread to hear.

Let the young men leap on high, To avoid the quivering spear; Light of limb and quick of eye, Who sees well has nought to fear.

Let them s.h.i.+ft, and let them leap, While the quick spear whistling flies, Woe to him who cannot leap!

Woe to him who has bad eyes!"

When an old woman has commenced a chant of this kind, she will continue it until she becomes positively exhausted; and upon her ceasing, another takes up the song. The effect some of them have upon the a.s.sembled men is very great; indeed, it is said that these addresses of the old women are the cause of most of the disturbances which take place. Thus, even amid the forests of New Holland, the _influence of woman_ will, in one way or another, make itself felt.

The ceremonies observed at the funeral of a native vary, as might be expected, in so great a s.p.a.ce, but they are wild and impressive in every part of New Holland. According to Collins, the natives of the colony called New South Wales were in the habit of burning the bodies of those who had pa.s.sed the middle age of life, but burial seems the more universal method of disposing of their dead among the Australians. Some very curious drawings and figures cut in the rock were discovered by Captain Grey, in North-Western Australia, but whether these were burying-places does not appear. For the account of these works of rude art, which is extremely interesting, but too long to transcribe, the reader is referred to the delightful work of the traveller just mentioned.

The shrieks and piercing cries uttered by the women over their dead relatives, are said to be truly fearful, and agreeably to the ancient custom of idolatrous eastern nations mentioned in 1 Kings xviii. 28, and in Jer. xlviii. 37,[61] they tear and lacerate themselves most frightfully, occasionally cutting off portions of their beards, and, having singed them, throwing them upon the dead body. With respect to their tombs, these are of various sorts in different districts. In the gulph of Carpentaria, on the Northern coast, Flinders found several skeletons of natives, standing upright in the hollow trunks of trees; the skulls and bones, being smeared or painted partly red and partly white, made a very strange appearance. On the banks of the river Darling, in the interior of Eastern Australia, Major Mitch.e.l.l fell in with a tribe, which had evidently suffered greatly from small-pox,[62]

or some similar disease, and in the same neighbourhood he met with some remarkable mounds or tombs, supposed to cover the remains of that portion of the tribe which had been swept off by the same disease that had left its marks upon the survivors. On a small hill, overlooking the river, were three large tombs, of an oval shape, and about twelve feet across in the longest diameter. Each stood in the centre of an artificial hollow, the mound in the middle being about five feet high; and on each of them were piled numerous withered branches and limbs of trees, forming no unsuitable emblems of mortality. There were no trees on this hill, save one quite dead, which seemed to point with its h.o.a.ry arms, like a spectre, to the tombs. A melancholy waste, where a level country and boundless woods extended beyond the reach of vision, was in perfect harmony with the dreary foreground of the scene.

[61] See Deut. xiv. 1, where the very spot is mentioned,--"between the eyes,"--which is always torn and scratched by the Australian female mourners.

[62] This disease made dreadful ravages among the natives about the same time as the colony in New South Wales was settled. "The recollection of this scourge will long survive in the traditionary songs of these simple people. The consternation which it excited is yet as fresh in their minds, as if it had been an occurrence of but yesterday, although the generation that witnessed its horrors has almost pa.s.sed away. The moment one of them was seized with it, was the signal for abandoning him to his fate. Brothers deserted their brothers, husbands their wives, wives their husbands, children their parents, and parents their children; and in some of the caves of the coast, heaps of decayed bones still indicate the spots where these ignorant and helpless children of nature were left to expire, not so much, probably, from the virulence of the disease itself, as from the want of sustenance."--WENTWORTH'S _Australia_, vol. i. p. 311. Third edition. See also COLLINS' _New South Wales_, p. 383.

Indeed, to those who have been from infancy accustomed to the quiet consecrated burying places of our own land,--spots which, in rural districts, are usually retired, yet not quite removed from the reach of "the busy hum of men;" to those who have always looked upon a Christian temple,

"Whose taper spire points, finger-like, to heaven,"

as the almost necessary accompaniment of a burial-place, the appearance of the native tombs in the desolate wilds of a savage and uncultivated country, must be dreary in the extreme. Scenes of this character must appear to the eye of a Christian almost emblematical of the spiritual blank--the absence of any sure and certain hope--in the midst of which the natives, whose remains are there reposing, must have lived and died.

How striking is Captain Grey's description of another tomb, which was found in a totally different part of New Holland, near the western coast, and at no great distance from the Swan River settlement! The scenery, not, indeed, in the immediate vicinity, but very near to the newly-made grave, is thus described. Even at mid-day, the forest wore a sombre aspect, and a stillness and solitude reigned throughout it that were very striking. Occasionally, a timid kangaroo might be seen stealing off in the distance, or a kangaroo-rat might dart out from a tuft beneath your feet, but these were rare circ.u.mstances. The most usual disturbers of these wooded solitudes were the black c.o.c.katoos; "but I have never, in any part of the world," adds the enterprising traveller, "seen so great a want of animal life as in these mountains."

It was not far from this lonely district, in a country nearly resembling it, only less wooded and more broken into deep valleys, that a recent grave was found, carefully constructed, with a hut built over it, to protect the now senseless slumberer beneath from the rains of winter.

All that friends.h.i.+p could do to render his future state happy had been done. His throwing-stick was stuck in the ground at his head; his broken spears rested against the entrance of the hut; the grave was thickly strewed with _wilgey_, or red earth; and three trees in front of the hut, chopped with a variety of notches and uncouth figures, bore testimony that his death had been bloodily avenged. The native Kaiber, who acted as guide to the travellers, gazed upon this scene with concern and uneasiness. Being asked why the spears were broken, the trees notched, and the red earth strewed upon the grave, his reply was, "Neither you nor I know: our people have always done so, and we do so now,"--quite as good a reason as many who think themselves far more enlightened are able to give for their actions. When a proposal was made to stop for the night at this solitary spot, poor Kaiber resisted it; "I cannot rest here," said he, "for there are many spirits in this place."[63]

[63] See, however, a more pleasing picture of a native burying-place, in Mitch.e.l.l's Three Expeditions, vol. i. p. 321.

When Mr. Montgomery Martin was in Australia, he obtained with some difficulty the dead body of an old woman, who had long been known about Sydney. Hearing of her death and burial in the forest, about twenty-five miles from his residence, he went thither, and aided by some stock-keepers, found the grave,--a slightly elevated and nearly circular mound. The body was buried six feet deep, wrapped in several sheets of bark, the inner one being of a fine silvery texture. Several things which the deceased possessed in life, together with her favourite dog, were buried with her,--all apparently for use in another world. The skull of this poor creature was full of indentations, as if a tin vessel had been struck by a hammer; light might be seen through these hollows, which had been caused by blows of _whaddies_ (hard sticks) when she was young, and some bold youths among the natives courted her after this strange fas.h.i.+on. It seemed scarcely possible that marks so extraordinary could have been made in the human skull without fracturing it.[64]

[64] Martin's New South Wales, p. 143.

In a society of men so simple and so little advanced in refinement or civilisation as the inhabitants of New Holland, it is evident that their wants must be few and easily satisfied, their stock of earthly riches very small and humble. Indeed, these people nearly always carry the whole of their worldly property about with them, and the Australian hunter is thus equipped: round his middle is wound a belt spun from the fur of the opossum, in which are stuck his hatchet, his _kiley_ or _boomerang_, and a short heavy stick to throw at the smaller animals.

In his hand he carries his throwing-stick, and several spears, headed in two or three different manners, so that they are equally suitable to war or the chase. In the southern parts, a warm kangaroo-skin cloak, thrown over his shoulders, completes the hunter's outfit; but this is seldom or never seen northwards of 29 south lat.i.tude. These, however, are not quite all the riches of the barbarian, a portion of which is carried by his wife, or wives, as the case may be; and each of these has a long thick stick, with its point hardened in the fire, a child or two fixed upon their shoulders, and in their bags, in which also they keep sundry other articles, reckoned valuable and important for the comfort of savage life. For example; a flat stone to pound roots with, and earth to mix with the pounded roots;[65] quartz, for making spears and knives; stones, for hatchets; gum, for making and mending weapons and tools; kangaroo sinews for thread, and the s.h.i.+n-bones of the same animal for needles;--these and many similar articles, together with whatever roots, &c. they may have collected during the day, form the total of the burden of a female Australian; and this, together with the husband's goods, forms the sum and substance of the wealth of an inhabitant of the southern land. In Wellesley's Islands, on the north coast of New Holland, the catalogue of a native's riches appears somewhat different, from his maritime position.[66] A raft, made of several straight branches of mangrove lashed together, broader at one end than at the other;--a bunch of gra.s.s at the broad end where the man sits to paddle,--a short net to catch turtle, or probably a young shark,--and their spears and paddles seem to form the whole earthly riches of these rude fishermen.[67] But one essential thing must not be overlooked in the enumeration of a native's possessions. Fire, of procuring which they have not very easy means, is usually carried about with them; and the women commonly have the charge of the lighted stick, in addition to their other cares.

[65] See p. 114.

[66] "In many places a log of wood, or a wide slip of bark, tied at either end, and stuffed with clay, is the only mode invented for crossing a river or arm of the sea, while in other parts a large tree, roughly hollowed by fire, forms the canoe."--M. MARTIN'S _New South Wales_, p. 147.

[67] Flinders' Voyage, vol. ii. p. 138.

It is no very easy matter for civilized man to realise the perfectly free and unenc.u.mbered way in which these natives roam from place to place, accordingly as seasons or provisions may serve, constantly carrying with them a home wherever they go; and (what is far more difficult in civilised society) leaving no cares of home behind them in the spot from which they may have recently removed. Certainly there must be something very delightful in this wild sort of life to every one, who has from his early infancy been accustomed to its pleasure and inured to its hards.h.i.+ps, neither of which are by any means to be measured by the standard of the cold and changeable climate of England. The grand objects of the savage, in almost every part of the globe, are to baffle his human enemies, and to a.s.sert his dominion over the lower races of animals. For these purposes, the activity, secrecy, acuteness, and sagacity of man in an uncivilised state are almost incredible; nor could we have supposed, were not the truth shown in numberless instances, that the senses of human beings were capable of so great perfection, their bodies and limbs of such exertion and agility, as they gain by continual practice and early training in the forests of America or Australia. In these bodily excellencies, the inhabitants of the last-named continent might safely challenge the whole world to surpa.s.s them. The natives once approached Major Mitch.e.l.l's camp by night; and though nine fire-sticks were seen in motion, no noise was heard. At length when the lights had approached within 150 yards, every one suddenly disappeared; the bearers preserving, all the while, the most perfect silence. It was then thought advisable to scare these noiseless visitors away, and a rocket was sent up, at which signal the English party rushed forward with a shout; and this had the desired effect. It is said that the natives regard, as an important matter, the falling of a star, which would account for their alarm at the rocket. On another occasion, when an English exploring party had discovered a few traces of natives near their place of encampment, an active search after them immediately took place; and it appeared that they had crept up within about one hundred yards of the camp, after which they had been disturbed, and had made off. Their mode of approach was by a stream of water, so as to conceal their trail; after which they had turned out of the stream up its right bank, and had carefully trod in one another's footmarks, so as to conceal their number, although traces of six or seven different men could be perceived as far as the spot where they had been disturbed.

From this point these children of the Bush had disappeared, as it were, by magic: not a twig was broken, not a stone was turned, nor could it be observed that the heavy drops of rain had been shaken from a single blade of gra.s.s. All efforts to hit upon the direction in which they had fled were to no purpose, except to put the explorers more constantly on the watch against beings who were often near them when they least dreamed of their presence. Human wisdom would enforce this lesson from such circ.u.mstances; but how often does heavenly wisdom lift up its voice to us in vain, teaching us by what is pa.s.sing around us to be upon our watch constantly over our own conduct, since we are never very far from the Almighty presence of G.o.d himself!

To the quick-sighted natives, the surface of the earth is, in fact, as legible as a newspaper, so accustomed are they to read in any traces left upon it the events of the day.[68] For once, Major Mitch.e.l.l informs us, he was able to hide so that these people could not find; but then his buried treasure was only a collection of specimens of stones and minerals, of the use of which they could know nothing, and concerning which they were little likely to have any suspicions. The notes written by the traveller, and concealed in trees, seldom escaped notice;[69] nor did provisions, nor, in short, any article which they could either use or suspect pa.s.s un.o.bserved.

[68] See a most remarkable instance of this in M. Martin's New South Wales, pp. 156-158.

[69] Latterly, however, experience suggested to him what seems to have been a successful mode of concealment. See Mitch.e.l.l's Three Expeditions, vol. ii. p. 271.

In Western Australia, Captain Grey, having galloped after some wild cattle which he had met in his journey, found, upon wis.h.i.+ng to ascertain the hour, that his watch had fallen from his pocket during the chase. He waited until the rest of his party came up, and then requested Kaiber, their native guide, to walk back and find the watch. This, Kaiber a.s.sured the traveller, was utterly impossible, nor could his a.s.sertion be gainsaid; nevertheless, the watch was too valuable to be given up without an effort for its recovery. "Well, Kaiber," said the captain, "your people had told me you could see tracks well, but I find they are mistaken; you have but one eye,--something is the matter with the other," (this was really the case)--"no young woman will have you, for if you cannot follow my tracks, and find a watch, how can you kill game for her?" This speech had the desired effect, and the promise of a s.h.i.+lling heightened his diligence, so they went back together in search of the lost article. The ground that had been pa.s.sed over was badly suited for the purpose of tracking, and the scrub was thick; nevertheless, to his delight and surprise, the captain had his watch restored to his pocket in less than half an hour.

Even in the simple arts and rude habits of the people of New Holland there are different degrees of advancement and progress to be observed.

On the west coast, a few degrees to the north of the British settlement at Swan River, a great difference was noticed by Captain Grey in the arrangements of the native population. The country near the Hutt River is exceedingly beautiful and fertile, and it supports a very numerous population, comparatively with other districts. The exploring party found a native path or road, wider, more used, and altogether better than any before seen in that region. Along the side of this path were seen frequent wells, some of them ten or twelve feet in depth, which were made in a superior manner. Across the dry bed of a stream they then came upon a light fruitful soil, which served the inhabitants as a _warran_ ground. _Warran_ is a sort of _yam_ like the sweet potato, and its root is a favourite article of food with some of the native tribes.

For three miles and a half the travellers pa.s.sed over a fertile tract of land full of the holes made by the natives in digging this root; indeed, so thick were they, that it was not easy to walk, and this tract extended east and west, as far as they could see. The district must have been inhabited a great many years, for more had been done in it to secure a provision from the ground by hard manual labour than it would have appeared to be in the power of uncivilised man to accomplish.

It can be no subject of surprise that the various tribes of Australia, living in a wild country, and blessed with no clear nor adequate ideas of their Maker, should be exceedingly superst.i.tious, as well as ignorant and simple. The strange aversion felt by some of them to a sort of muscle or oyster, found in fresh water, has already been mentioned; and the horror of the native population at the supposed effects of sorcery has also been detailed. Kaiber, Captain Grey's guide, was bidden to gather a few of these muscles to make a meal for the party of hungry travellers in the Bush, but at first he would not move, declaring that if he touched these sh.e.l.l-fish, the _Boyl-yas_ would be the death of him. Unable to bring any instance of mischief arising from them, he shrewdly answered, that this was because n.o.body had been "wooden-headed"

enough to meddle with them, and that he intended to have nothing whatever to do with them. At last, with much difficulty he was prevailed to go, but whilst occupied in his task, he was heard most bitterly deploring his fate. It was his courage and strong sinews, he said, that had hitherto kept him from dying either of hunger or thirst, but what would these avail him against the power of sorcery? However, the muscles were brought, and Kaiber's master made his meal upon them, but no persuasions could prevail upon him to partake of them. The same evening, the half-starved, half-clothed party of travellers were overtaken by a tremendous storm, which put out their fires, and they continued during the night in a most pitiable state from exposure to the cold and weather. All these misfortunes were set down by the sagacious native to the account of the muscles, nor was it till his master threatened him with a good beating, that Kaiber left off chattering to himself, while his mouth moved with the effect of the extreme cold:--

"Oh, wherefore did he eat the muscles?

Now the _Boyl-yas_ storms and thunder make; Oh, wherefore would he eat the muscles?"

Among the superst.i.tions of Australia, that feeling of awe which revolts from mentioning even the name of a deceased person is very remarkable; and the custom of silence upon this subject is so strictly enforced, that it renders inquiry respecting the family or ancestors of a native extremely difficult.[70] The only circ.u.mstance enabling the inquirer to overcome this hindrance is the fact, that, the longer a person has been dead, the less unwilling do they appear to name him. Thus did Captain Grey obtain some curious information respecting their pedigrees and family customs; for he began with endeavouring to discover only the oldest names on record, and then, as opportunity served, he would contrive to fill up the blanks, sometimes, when they were a.s.sembled round their fires at night, encouraging little disputes among them concerning their forefathers, by means of which he was able to gain much of the information he wanted.

[70] It is even said, that persons bearing the same name with the deceased take other names, in order to avoid the necessity of p.r.o.nouncing it at all. _See_ COLLINS' _Acc. of Col. of N. S. Wales_, p. 392.

One very singular notion prevailing among the native population of Australia, and proving that the belief in a spiritual world and in a future state, is not quite extinct even among them, is the idea which they entertain of white people being the souls of departed blacks. This supposition may serve to explain the reason of the disagreeable process complained of by Sturt, who says, that every new tribe examined them, pulling them about, measuring the hands and feet of the strangers with their own, counting their fingers, feeling their faces, and besmearing them all over with dirt and grease. A more powerful feeling than curiosity even may have prompted this conduct, and they may have sought, impelled by superst.i.tion, to recognise in the foreigners their own kindred. But however that may have been, most travellers in Australia mention the peculiar idea alluded to. Captain Grey was once vehemently attacked by the caresses of an old, ugly, and dirty black woman, who recognised him as her son's ghost, and was obliged to endure them. His real mother, the captain says, could scarcely have expressed more delight at his return, while his sable-coloured brothers and sister paid their respects to him, when the vehemence of a mother's affection had somewhat subsided. He was convinced that the old woman really believed him to be her son, whose first thought, upon his return to earth, had been to revisit his old mother, and bring her a present!

The natives believe that the _night-mare_--a subject likely enough to give birth to superst.i.tion--is caused by some evil spirit, in order to get rid of which they jump up, seize a lighted brand from the fire, and, after whirling it round the head with a variety of imprecations, they throw the stick away in the direction where they suppose the evil spirit to be. They say the demon wants a light, and that when he gets it, he will go away. However, besides supplying this his need, they likewise take the precautions of changing their position, and of getting as near as they can into the middle of the group of their companions who are sleeping round the fire. If obliged to move away from the fire after dark, either to get water or for any other purpose, they carry a light with them, and set fire to dry bushes as they go along.

A profound respect, almost amounting to veneration, is paid in many districts of Australia to s.h.i.+ning stones or pieces of crystal, which they call "_Teyl_." These are carried in the girdles of men, especially of the sorcerers or _corad-jes_, and no woman is allowed to see the contents of the round b.a.l.l.s made of woollen cord from the fur of the opossum in which these crystals are enclosed. They are employed as charms in sickness, and are sometimes sent from tribe to tribe for hundreds of miles on the sea-coast or in the interior. One of these stones, which was examined by an Englishman, to whom it was shown privately by a black, was of a substance like quartz, about the size of a pigeon's egg, and transparent, like white sugar-candy. The small particles of crystal which crumble off are swallowed in order to prevent illness. Many other instances of the like superst.i.tious folly might very easily be gathered from the writings of those who have had the best opportunities of becoming acquainted with the manners of the Australian tribes.

The following is from the pen of the Rev. G. King, a missionary of the Society for Propagating the Gospel, who speaks thus of the natives near Fremantle, in Western Australia: "The native children are intelligent and apt to learn, but the advanced men are so far removed from civilisation, and so thoroughly confirmed in roving habits, that all the exertions made in their behalf have found them totally inaccessible; but we have no reason to conclude that they have not a vague idea of a future state. They are exceedingly superst.i.tious; they never venture out of their huts from sunset till sunrise, for fear of encountering goblins and evil spirits. When any of their tribe dies they say, 'He'll soon jump up, white man, and come back again in big s.h.i.+p;' and when a stranger arrives, they examine his countenance minutely, to trace the lineaments of some deceased friend; and when they think they have discovered him they sometimes request him to expose his breast, that they may see where the spear entered which caused the life to fly away so long."[71] Altogether, experience bears witness, in their case, of the same fact which is to be perceived in other parts of the globe, namely, that where there is little religion, there is often a great deal of superst.i.tion, and that those who do not "believe the truth," almost always fall into the snares of falsehood, so as to "believe a lie."

[71] S. P. G. Report, 1842, p. 59.