Peter Parley's Tales About America and Australia Part 12

Instead of giving the bear another shot, the hunter stood close to him, and addressed him in these words:--

[Ill.u.s.tration]

"Hark ye! bear; you are a coward, and no warrior, as you pretend to be.

Were you a warrior, you would show it by your firmness, and would not cry and whimper, like an old woman. You know, bear, that our tribes are at war with each other, and that yours were the aggressors." As you may suppose, I was not a little surprised at the delivery of this curious invective.

CHAPTER XV.

PARLEY TELLS ABOUT THE UNITED STATES.

The English settlements in America grew very rapidly into power and importance. The French settlements also increased in extent and influence, and a rivalry between the French and English, fostered and nourished by the "_natural enmity_" which was said to subsist between the Gauls and the Britons, broke out at last in terrible warfare. War is very frightful under any circ.u.mstances. It looks very much like murder; and, even at the best of times, a battle-field reminds us of Cain and Abel. Brother slaughters brother, and the conqueror rejoices and describes his sanguinary work as "a glorious victory." In the war between the English and French settlers in America, a new and atrocious feature was introduced. The Indians were engaged, for pay and powder, on either side, to commit the most hideous cruelties; and things were done which must not be told here, but the very thought of which should make us shudder and turn pale.

The English got the better of the French, and they took Quebec, a strong city in Canada. General Wolfe, a young man and an excellent soldier, captured the city; but it cost him his life. During the heat of the engagement, Wolfe was shot. "Support me," said he to an officer near him; "do not let my brave fellows see my face!" He was removed to the rear, and water was brought to quench his thirst. Just then a cry was heard, "They run! they run!" "Who runs?" exclaimed Wolfe, faintly raising himself. "The enemy!" was the reply. "Then," said he, "I die content," and expired.

The result of the war in which General Wolfe perished, left a vast amount of debt as a heavy weight upon the country. The English settlers had fought very bravely all through the war, and they thought that the English at home ought to pay the debt, and not tax them for its payment.

But the king and the parliament thought differently. They taxed the American settlers very heavily; they would listen to no remonstrance; and, when some signs were given of resistance, they were threatened with punishment, like so many unruly schoolboys. Certain privileges which had been granted them were taken away, and troops sent out to enforce obedience. One very objectionable tax to the Americans was a stamp duty on newspapers. Another was a tax on tea. They urged that it was unfair for the British government to tax them without they were allowed to send members to Parliament to look after their interests; but remonstrance only tended to make the British government more determined; and so at last they came to what somebody has called gunpowder law, that is to say, fighting.

I need not enter on the events of the war. It ended in the triumph of the American settlers, and in the declaration of American independence and the formation of the United States. The foremost man, both as a statesman and a soldier, in the conduct of the war, on the part of the Americans, was George Was.h.i.+ngton. He was elected three times to the presidency, and no name is more revered than his by the Americans.

Since the separation of America from England, more than one quarrel has occurred between them. That which most vitally touches the future prosperity of the states is the warfare which now rages between the northern and southern sections of the republic. Most of you are aware that slavery prevails to a great extent in America. The negroes or blacks (the word _negro_ means _black_) are more particularly found in the southern states. The northern states do not _hold_ slaves, but they have so far _held_ with slavery as to give up runaways, and tolerate the laws which make a man--because he was black--a mere beast of burden. A quarrel, however, on this question, and others of minor importance, has at last broken out between the north and south. The southerners have separated from the northerners, and established a new republic of their own. Their _right_ to do this has been denied by the north, and a civil war has commenced in consequence. What may be the final result it is impossible for any one to predict. The quarrel threatened at one time to involve a war with England; but this is no longer apprehended. It seems a very sad thing that a people so clever, so enterprising, so prosperous as the Americans, should, by a quarrel and separation among themselves, endanger--if they do not entirely overthrow--one of the most important states in the world. We cannot forget what it is that lies at the bottom of the mischief--SLAVERY.

"O execrable crime! so to aspire Above our brethren, to ourselves a.s.suming Authority usurped from G.o.d, not given.

He gave us only over beast, fish, fowl, Dominion absolute; that right we hold By his donation: but man over man He made not lord--such t.i.tle to himself Reserving, human left from human free."

I may now tell you something about some of the chief cities in the United States.

New York is the princ.i.p.al seaport and commercial metropolis of the States. It is situated at the southern extremity of an island called Manhattan Island, near the mouth of the Hudson river. Its progress has been very rapid, and its population is more than double that of any other city in the new world. The approach to the city is very fine--the sh.o.r.es of the bay being wooded down to the water's edge, and thickly studded with farms, villages, and country seats. New York measures about ten miles round. It is triangular in form. The princ.i.p.al street is Broadway, a s.p.a.cious thoroughfare extending in a straight line through the centre of the city. The houses have a clean, fresh, cheerful appearance; many of the stores or shops are highly decorated; the public buildings, including the churches, while they can make no pretension to grandeur, are good of their kind; the university is probably the finest building in the city. The hotels in New York are far more extensive than anything of the kind in Europe, and they are fitted up and conducted on a scale of princely grandeur. The city of New York was founded by the Dutch in 1621, and called New Amsterdam; but it was given to the Duke of York (afterwards James II.) in 1604, and was henceforth called by his name. The first congress of the United States was held there in 1789.

Was.h.i.+ngton is the government capital of the States, and is so called in honour of the distinguished man--the father of the Republic--to whom I have already alluded. The entrance to the city by the Pennsylvanian avenue is 100 feet wide, and planted with some of the trees. The president's residence is called the "White House." The chief public offices and halls for the a.s.sembly of congress are contained in one building known as the Capitol. It stands on a hill, and is said to be the finest building in the Union. It is surrounded by ornamental grounds, and overlooks the river Potomac.

BOSTON is a maritime city, and a great place of trade; it is situated on an extensive bay, and is connected with the interior of the country by ca.n.a.ls, railways, and river navigation. It is the great seat of the American ice trade. In the history of the war of independence it occupies a conspicuous place, as the Bostonians displayed great energy in a.s.serting popular rights. At Boston, when the "taxed tea" was sent over by the British government, a number of the citizens disguised themselves as Mohawk Indians, boarded the s.h.i.+ps in which it had been brought over, seized upon and staved the chests, and threw their contents into the sea. This affair was known as the Boston tea party.

Boston is the birth-place of Dr. Benjamin Franklin--the "Poor Richard"

of whom I have no doubt you have often heard, and whose excellent advice cannot be too well remembered nor too carefully applied.

CHARLESTON is another of the princ.i.p.al sea-ports of the States.

It is the largest town in South Carolina, and is situated at a low point of land at the confluence of two rivers. It is the stronghold of slavery. One of the most recent events connected with it is that of the Northerners blocking up the harbour by sinking several s.h.i.+ps, laden with stones, at the entrance. This is a very barbarous act, as it closes--perhaps for ever--one of the first ports in America.

PHILADELPHIA is the last city I shall mention. It is the great Quaker city; its streets are remarkable for their regularity, and the houses and stores for the peculiar air of cleanness which they exhibit.

The public buildings are nearly all of white marble. It is distinguished for its vast number of charitable inst.i.tutions and religious edifices, and it is a thriving place of business. The city was founded by William Penn in 1682. There is a monument marking the site of the signing of Penn's famous treaty with the Indians. With some little account of this treaty I shall conclude my notice of America.

King Charles II. made a grant of land to Penn, but this good man would not enter upon its possession until after he had arranged a treaty with those to whom he justly thought it more fairly belonged than to the King of England--namely, with the Indians. He consequently convened a meeting--under the wide spreading branches of an elm tree, the Indian chiefs a.s.sembled. They were unarmed; the old men sat in a half-moon upon the ground, the middle aged in the same figure, at a little distance from them; the younger men formed a third semicircle in the rear. Before them stood William Penn,--a light blue sash, the only mark which distinguished him from his friends, bound round his waist.

"'Thou'lt find,' said the quaker, 'in me and mine, But friends and brothers to thee and thine, Who above no power, admit no line, Twixt the red man and the white.'

And bright was the spot where the quaker came, To leave his hat, his drab, and his name, That will sweetly sound from the trumpet of fame, Till its final blast shall die."

It is to be regretted that the speeches of the Indians on this memorable day have not come down to us. It is only known that they solemnly pledged themselves to live with William Penn and his people in peace and amity so long as the sun and moon should endure. This was the only treaty, it has been said, between these people and the Christians that was _not_ ratified by an oath, and that was _never_ broken.

AUSTRALIA.

CHAPTER XVI.

PARLEY TELLS ABOUT NEW SOUTH WALES.

At the termination of the American war, of which I have just given you a short account, the United States of America, which had been called by England her American Colonies, ceased to be any longer subject to Great Britain.

The province of Virginia, in America, had for a long time been the only authorized outlet for those criminals in Great Britain and Ireland, who had been sentenced to transportation.

It now became necessary for the English government to fix upon some other country, to which those of her subjects might be transported, who were condemned to banishment for their crimes.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

After much deliberation in the British Parliament, it was determined to form a penal settlement in New South Wales.

If you will look at a globe, or, if you have not a globe, at a map of the world, turning the South Pole from you, or uppermost, and, supposing yourself to be in a s.h.i.+p, sail across the Atlantic Ocean till you come to the Equator, which is an imaginary line that divides the northern half of the globe from the southern; then "cross the line," as it is called, and sail along the South Atlantic, in the direction of the coast of South America, till you arrive at its southern extremity, which you will see is called Cape Horn; then sailing round Cape Horn, (which is called doubling Cape Horn), and directing your course westward, right across the Great Pacific Ocean. After having sailed across these three great oceans, you will find yourself, if you have a prosperous voyage, exactly on the opposite side of the globe, and before you, an extensive chain of large islands, lying off the South-eastern extremity of the continent of Asia.

This group of islands has been named Australasia, which means Southern Asia, and the largest of these, which is the largest island in the whole world, has been called Australia, or New Holland.

This is so large an island, that if you were to divide the whole of Europe into ten parts, New Holland is as large as nine of them: and hence, from its great extent, some geographers have dignified it with the t.i.tle of a continent.

The northern and western coasts of this vast island were discovered by a succession of Dutch navigators, who gave them the name of New Holland.

The eastern coast, which has been explored, and taken possession of by the English, was discovered by Capt. Cook, who gave it the name of New South Wales.

At the southern extremity of Australia or New Holland, you will see VAN DIEMEN'S LAND, which was discovered by Tasman, one of the Dutch navigators, who was sent from Batavia by Anthony Van Diemen, the Dutch governor-general of the Indies, to survey the coast of New Holland.

In this voyage Tasman discovered an extensive country lying to the south of New Holland; in giving a name to which, he immortalized his patron, by calling it "Van Diemen's Land," having no suspicion at the time that it was an island.

It was not till the year 1798 that it was discovered to be such; as in all the old maps and charts it is represented as part of the main land of New Holland.

This important discovery was effected in an open boat, by Mr. Ba.s.s, a surgeon in the royal navy, who found it to be separated from Australia by a broad strait, which has ever since borne the name of its discoverer, "Ba.s.s' STRAITS."

A fleet of eleven sail was a.s.sembled at Portsmouth in March, 1783, for the formation of the proposed settlement on the coast of New Holland.

On board of these vessels were embarked 600 male, and 250 female convicts, with a guard consisting of about 200 soldiers, with their proper officers. Forty women, wives of the marines, were also permitted to accompany their husbands, together with their children.

Captain Arthur Phillip, an officer highly qualified in every respect for the arduous undertaking, was appointed governor of the proposed colony.

The little fleet which was thus placed under the command of Captain Phillip, and which has ever since been designated by the colonists "_the first fleet_," set sail from Portsmouth on the 13th of May 1787, and arrived at Botany Bay, in New South Wales, in January 1788, after a long, but comparatively prosperous voyage of eight months and upwards.

Captain Phillip soon found, to his disappointment, that Botany Bay was by no means an eligible harbour; nor was it, in other respects, suitable for the establishment of a colony, and he determined, even before any number of the convicts had been permitted to land, to search for a more eligible site.