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Title: The Murray River - Being a Journal of the Voyage of the "Lady Augusta" Steamer
Author: Kinloch, Arthur
Language: English
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[Illustration: CLEARING CLAIM.
“The surface-soil is usually first skimmed off before digging is
properly commenced.”]
[Illustration: MARKING CLAIM.
“In all directions men were engaged in marking out their claims, which
were eight feet square.”]
THE MURRAY RIVER:
BEING A
JOURNAL OF THE VOYAGE
OF THE
“LADY AUGUSTA” STEAMER
FROM THE
GOOLWA, IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA,
TO
GANNEWARRA, ABOVE SWAN HILL, VICTORIA;
A DISTANCE FROM THE
SEA MOUTH OF 1400 MILES.
BY ARTHUR KINLOCH, Esq.,
CLERK OF THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA.
LONDON:
HOPE & CO., 16, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET.
1856.
TO
HIS EXCELLENCY SIR HENRY EDWARD FOX YOUNG, KNIGHT,
LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA,
WHO HAS KINDLY AUTHORISED
MY PUBLICATION OF A JOURNAL OF THE EXPEDITION ON THE MURRAY,
I RESPECTFULLY
DEDICATE THIS SHORT NARRATIVE OF THE VOYAGE
OF THE
FIRST STEAMER ON THE WATERS OF THAT NOBLE RIVER.
ARTHUR KINLOCH.
PREFACE.
Lest this description of the River Murray should appear in some points
to differ from the accounts of other travellers, it may be necessary to
observe that the present little work is merely a _Journal_ or daily
record of what the writer observed during his voyage up the River, which
was at the time considerably flooded, though it had not then attained
its highest elevation, which occurs about December.
The English reader may also bear in mind that rivers in England are not
the scale whereby to estimate the streams of other portions of the
globe, or even of Europe, and that some of the larger rivers of that
Continent are in like manner subject to the vicissitudes of dry seasons
and partial floods.
This occurs particularly in Spain and in the South of France, as, for
example, in the Rhone, which is materially influenced by the seasons in
its volume of water.
In more tropical climes the difference is still greater; thus, the rise
of the Nile is sometimes not less than thirty-eight feet, that of the
Euphrates twelve feet, that of the Tigris twenty feet; whilst in India
the large rivers are also increased or diminished in a considerable
degree during the dry and wet seasons.
The English reader, therefore, the writer would again repeat, should not
be surprised at hearing of the easy navigability of the greatest
Australian river, or wonder that other works have stated the stream of
the Murray as quite insignificant and ill adapted for steamers.
The voyage of the _Lady Augusta_ steamer has proved the fact of the
navigation being open for at least six months during a very dry season,
and no doubt can exist that in ordinary years the River Murray may be
used by steamers for at least seven months.
A system of embankments and occasional canals at a more distant day,
when labour shall become abundant, will probably lay open the course of
the river for a still longer period, although the present navigability
has been deemed sufficient for all immediate purposes of traffic.
The first Navigators by Steam of the River Murray; or, a List of the
Passengers, Officers, and Crew of the “Lady Augusta” Steamer and the
“Eureka” Barge.
Passengers.
His Excellency Sir H. E. F. Young, Lieutenant-Governor of South
Australia.
J. Grainger, Esq., M.L.C.
Wm. Younghusband, Esq., M.L.C, and Agent for the Murray Steamers.
R. Davenport, Esq., M.L.C.
A. Kinloch, Esq., Clerk Executive Council.
Geo. Palmer, Esq., Indian Civil Service.
Geo. Mason, Esq., Sub-Protector of Aborigines.
E. W. Andrews, Esq., _South Australian Register_.
Travers Finnis, Esq.
James Allen, Esq.
Regd. Bright, Esq., (left the party at Swan Hill).
H. Jamieson, Esq., of Mildura (joined the party on the river, at his
own station).
Mrs. Finniss.
Mrs. Younghusband.
Mrs. Irvine.
Miss Sarah Younghusband.
Miss Eliza Younghusband.
Miss Louisa Younghusband.
Isabella Williamson.
Officers and Crew of the “Lady Augusta” and the “Eureka” Barge.
Commander, Francis Cadell.
_Lady Augusta._
Wm. Davidson, Master.
Wm. Webb, Chief Officer.
R. Napier, Engineer.
Thomas Nevin, Seaman.
Henry Petrie, ditto.
Robert Robson, Stoker.
Evan Thomas, ditto.
Wm. Cruise Teague,[1] Stoker.
Lewis Chandler, Chief Steward.
John McAulay, Second Steward.
Jemy, Native of China.
Wm. Gylmour, Cook.
_Eureka._
Edmund Robertson, Master.
J. H. Copeland, Chief Officer (a native of New York).
John Nelson, Purser (native of New South Wales).
Jimmy (South Sea Islander).
Tee Harry (South Sea Islander).
Hy. Winsby, Carpenter.
Neil McGregor, Carpenter’s Mate (from New Brunswick).
Arman (Madrassee).
Kurreem (Bengalee).
James Giles.
Three Wellington Blacks.
One Police Trooper, John Phillips, joined the party, on duty, at Mr.
Chapman’s Paringa.
Total—Forty-five persons.
JOURNAL
OF
VOYAGE ON THE MURRAY.
Amongst the anomalies which may be said to distinguish the continent of
Australia from other inhabited portions of the globe, not the least
remarkable perhaps has been the almost unnoticed existence of one of the
longest and most navigable rivers in the world. This river is the
Murray, which, deriving its sources from the deep gorges over which
Mount Kosciusko, the loftiest of the Australian Alps, rears its snowy
crest, pursues its placid course for upwards of two thousand[2] miles
through the Colonies of New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia,
until, losing its channel in the broad but shallow Lake Alexandrina, it
eventually finds a passage for its waters through the boisterous surges
which beat upon the shores of Encounter Bay. This great stream,
exceeding in the extent of its course the Ganges, the Indus, or the La
Plata, three of the longest rivers in the world, and with thrice the
development of the Rhine, the Rhone, or the Elbe, is fed also by
tributaries, which, in magnitude and, during certain seasons, in
navigability, may not be much inferior to those European streams. These
are the Darling, the Lachlan, and the Murrumbidgee; of which the first,
rising in the vicinity of Moreton Bay, in about latitude 28° and
longitude 152° 30′ (and with tributaries reaching almost to the tropic),
after stretching for about half its course, or near one thousand miles,
in a west and south-west direction, descends at length to join its
waters with the Murray, in latitude 34° 10′ and longitude 142°.
The second, the Lachlan, rising in the Blue Mountains, near Bathurst,
trends to the north-west, but eventually unites with the main river,
about 200 miles in a south-easterly direction from the junction of the
Darling, and after having been previously swelled by the waters of the
Murrumbidgee for a distance of 150 miles. This last river, which issues
not far from the Maneroo Plains, east of the Australian Alps, at a point
more distant still than the sources of the Murray, has a tortuous course
in a westerly direction for many hundred miles, with a stream described
by Captain Sturt as rapid and impetuous until its junction with the
Lachlan, in longitude 144° 20′. If it should prove navigable by steam,
the advantages that would accrue to the adjacent province could hardly
be inferior to those anticipated from the opening of the water
communications of the Murray.
In addition to the streams which thus increase the waters of the Murray
throughout its sinuous course, it enumerates among its tributaries many
rivers which, from their length, if not from the varied country they
traverse, cannot but be deemed interesting, if not important. Such are
the Lodden, Campaspe, Goulburn, Mitta-Mitta, Ovens, and others,
including the Lindesay, first noticed by Captain Sturt, and which,
passing through much auriferous country, severally and conjointly water
about two-thirds of the province of Victoria, or a superficial extent of
more than 50,000 square miles.
Independent, moreover, of these minor affluents which swell the drainage
amount of the river Murray—a basin stretching from near the 25th to the
36th parallel of latitude, and from the 139th to beyond the 152nd degree
of east longitude, an estimated extent of 540,600 square miles,[3] or
nearly seven times the superficial extent of Great Britain—there exists
in close connection with the main stream a network of rivers which may
perhaps have been destined to fulfil those purposes which the vagaries
of Nature have transferred to the parent river. These are denominated
the Edward, Logan, Wakool, and Neimur Rivers; which, having a more
direct course than the Murray itself, would, but for their unfortunate
termination, after some hundred miles in a shallow creek, at no very
distant period, have proved themselves of inestimable value to the
internal prosperity of the adjacent provinces. As it is, nothing but a
superabundant population will probably succeed in turning these streams
to a useful or, at least, a navigable end.
The Murray, thus combining within its basin nearly the entire drainage
of the province of Victoria, with a large portion of that of New South
Wales, and much of the eastern part of South Australia, appears to have
been unknown to British Colonists before 1830, when Captain Charles
Sturt, of the 39th Regiment—one of the most ardent and intrepid
explorers the world has ever seen—whilst tracing the source, or rather
course, of the Murrumbidgee, by order of the Sydney Government, came
upon this noble river; to which, in honour of the then Colonial
Secretary, the distinguished Sir George Murray, he gave its present
name. His party, on this occasion, consisted, himself included, of no
more than eight individuals, a portion of whom were convict prisoners,
the main body of the expedition having been left (January 7th) in depôt
at the Murrumbidgee, with instructions to repair, after a few days’
delay, to the Goulburn Plains, from whence a communication might be
maintained with Sydney. Captain Sturt’s means of transport were
comprised in a whale boat and small skiff, built in seven days on the
Murrumbidgee, and with these means and a stock of provisions barely
sufficient, it afterwards appeared, for subsistence, this determined man
did not hesitate to follow the course of the Murray to its mouth; this,
after many obstacles, in the Murrumbidgee, from the “snags” or sunken
logs with which it was encumbered, and, at that season, it appears from
the rapidity of the current, and in the main river (which averaged 200
yards in breadth) from the unequivocally hostile demeanour of the
numerous tribes of natives encountered on its banks, he reached in
thirty-two days, from the depôt. Thence, after traversing the broad but
shallow lake in which the Murray terminates before reaching the sea,
finding it useless to attempt to force a passage in his frail boat
through the dangerous navigation of the sea mouth, or hopeless of any
advantage to his party, even were it effected, he took the decided,
though perhaps inevitable, course of retracing his steps up the stream
and thus returning to the depôt of his party; who, he conceived, would
then be in search of him. With an aching heart, but a firm will, as
Captain Sturt himself relates, was this resolution carried into effect,
and after thirty-nine days from the sea, on the very day his stock of
flour had failed him, and when his party were all but incapable of
further exertion, he fell in with his people, who had been summoned to
his aid by two of the heroic crew who had shared his dangers and
privations; and whom, as a last resource, he had dispatched to seek the
depôt.
The length of the water passage thus effected was eighty-eight days; and
Capt. Sturt estimated the distance traversed on the different rivers at
2,000 miles, during which, with the exception of the timber on the
Murrumbidgee, and the rare occurrence of a sandspit on the main stream,
no obstacle to steam navigation was discovered. The official report was
forwarded to Sydney, and published by the Government, and is to be found
appended to Capt. Sturt’s own narrative of his adventurous voyage.[4] No
steps, however, appear to have been taken by those in authority to
render available the great discovery which the energies of this brave
man had thus rendered patent to all.
At length, in the year 1850, Sir Henry Young, the Lieutenant-Governor of
South Australia, an officer of enlarged ideas and considerable knowledge
of geographical subjects, acquired during a lengthened service in many
parts of the world, appears to have taken up the matter, and brought it
before the Colonial Legislature. In September and October, 1850,
accompanied by the Surveyor-General of the Province, and some friends,
including ladies, His Excellency ascended the Murray as far as its
confluence with the Darling, or above 600 miles, and found it navigable
with ease throughout that extent, with a breadth varying from 180 to 300
yards, and a depth of water of from two to four and even five fathoms.
The project, in the mean time, had been opposed by the Legislative
Council; who, actuated, it would seem, by mistaken views of the real
interests of the Colony, objected especially to the appropriation of
£20,000 from the Land Fund, in the construction of a tramline to connect
the Murray at the Goolwa with the conveniences of the harbour at Port
Elliot—a distance of nearly eight miles. Sir Henry Young was, however,
fortunate enough to obtain the approbation of the Secretary of State for
the Colonies to the proposed scheme, as also the general good opinion of
the Colony in favour of the Murray navigation; whilst, with regard to
interference with the supply of labour, as alleged by the opponents of
the project, the recorded opinion of Earl Grey, that “the execution of
the work could not fail to promote the sale, at an enhanced price, of
the land benefitted by the proposed communication,” must have been
particularly gratifying to His Excellency. Moreover, as His Lordship
observed, “the funds applicable to the purposes of emigration would
assuredly be increased, and labour itself economised by providing for a
more expeditious and less costly mode of conveying produce to a place of
shipment, from an extensive and important district.”
The necessity of the harbour at Port Elliot arises from the difficulty
of navigating the Murray sea-mouth at all times or seasons; nor, indeed,
is it probable that any undertaking will thoroughly overcome this
obstacle, until a crowded population or an overflowing treasury shall be
enabled to cope with the difficulty by concentrating the waters of the
Murray in a narrow and more rapid channel in place of their, at present,
vague and diffused passage over the broad but shallow surface of Lake
Alexandrina. A natural breakwater has rendered the formation of the port
in this locality inexpensive; but to be perfectly secure in all winds,
the barrier against the sea should be extended by a further addition to
the present ridge of rocks, in the shape of a breakwater arm. Labour is,
however, at present so costly, that no likelihood exists of this purpose
being speedily effected. An application to the Admiralty for the
assistance of a man of war’s crew in the formation of a secure port at a
point likely soon to become of considerable importance, might perhaps be
deemed irregular: though with the existing dearth of labour, if likely
to be attended with success, it were well worthy the consideration of
the Executive. Indeed, it may here, _en passant_, be observed that, in
all human probability, the day is not far distant when to the exertions
of the sister services of the Mother Country—the British Army and
Navy—Australia must owe the greatest and most beneficial changes her
destinies have as yet demanded.
As to the tramline to connect Port Elliot with the Goolwa, it will
probably be finished in less than six months’ time; and at a total cost,
all necessary expenses included, of about £23,000.
To return to the more immediate subject of the Murray navigation. The
descent of this river was partially effected from the township of
Albury, situated 400 miles south-west from Sydney, by Mr. Richard
Gerstacker, in a gum-tree canoe, at a time when “the stream was lower
than ever it had been since the white man approached its banks.” Mr.
Gerstacker, whose progress was stopped by the sinking of his canoe on a
“snag,” informs us that he left Albury, on the 5th May, 1851, in a
gum-tree canoe, drawing about eleven inches water; and that throughout
the distance he accomplished, there would have been water for three or
four inches further draught. The river, however, being unusually low,
the stream appeared filled with “snags,” or dead gum trees, some of
which obstruct the navigation to such a degree that steam power would be
necessary to dislodge them. Below the Murrumbidgee these impediments,
the writer reports, for the most part ceased, and after the junction of
the Darling scarcely one was to be seen; whilst the sharp bends, so
embarrassing to steam navigation, were no longer met with—the river,
though tortuous, offering wide sweeps which afford plenty of “sea room”
in mid-channel, even for steamers of considerable size. Sandbanks,
however, occasionally occurred up to the North-west Bend, but not in
mid-channel.
Mr. Gerstacker, whilst confessedly unacquainted with the resources of
the Murray district, or the probable requirements of the settlers on its
banks, is yet of opinion that the navigation of the river would be the
means of drawing a largely increasing population to the Murray, not to
say, the probable cause of augmenting in an incredible degree the zeal
and efforts of the present inhabitants, no longer left in a state of
isolation and comparative abandonment. Moreover, it may be added, the
dray journeys for the transport of wool, produce, and supplies, being
not only most tedious, but beset with difficulties, considerable returns
for goods and passengers would be the certain result of a regular water
communication.[5] Mr. Gerstacker, after referring to the energetic
efforts which, in North America, have cleared almost impassable streams
from the impediments of fallen timber, &c., concludes by saying, that
except in an extraordinarily dry season, even the upper part of the
Hume, or Upper Murray, as far as Albury, usually contains sufficient
water, during eight months of the year, to float boats drawing four or
five feet; but he leaves it to those acquainted with the resources of
the country bordering these rivers to decide whether sufficient
remuneration would be afforded to steamers thus accomplishing the
navigation.
The favourable statements of many settlers on the Murray might be added
to the statements of Mr. Gerstacker, but the question has now received a
more direct solution by the successful voyage of the _Lady Augusta_
steamer; before narrating which, some retrospective glance is perhaps
requisite.
The opposition in the Legislative Council of South Australia to the
immediate navigation of the Murray and the consequent outlay at Port
Elliot and the Goolwa appears, after a time, to have ceased; and in
June, 1851, a premium of £4,000 was offered by the Legislature to the
first and second iron steamboats of not less than forty horse power, or
more than two feet draught of water, which should succeed in navigating
the Murray from the Goolwa to, at least, the junction of the Darling.
This liberal offer, it seems, however, was not taken up, possibly from
the difficulty of providing boats of the requisite material, and the
Murray navigation was apparently deferred _sine die_. At length, Captain
Francis Cadell, formerly commander of the _Queen of Sheba_ and the
_Cleopatra_ steamer (1,500 tons), entered into the matter with an
evident determination to carry it through. He laid on a small steamer at
Sydney, of above eighty tons burthen, forty horse power, and three feet
draught of water when loaded[6]—proposed to the Legislature of South
Australia to carry his boat through the sea mouth—to navigate the river
to the Darling (600 miles) twelve times in the year; or to perform six
trips as far as Swan Hill, a distance of 1,250 miles from the sea. For
the first performance he was to receive £500; for the passage up to the
Darling, £1,000; and for the subsequent eleven or six trips, a further
sum of £1,000—the whole in quarterly payments. These terms, proposed by
himself, having been recommended to Sir Henry Young by an address from
the Legislative Council, were approved of by His Excellency, who gave
his assent to the apportionment of the stipulated premium for the
prescribed object.
Captain Cadell then proceeded to the river, carrying with him from
Melbourne a canvas boat, twenty-one feet in length and three in breadth,
which, on arrival at Swan Hill, he put together, and having obtained a
crew of four returning diggers, dropped down the Murray, and after
visiting every station and ascertaining the probable traffic to be
derived from each, in the matter of wool, produce, rations, stores, &c.,
reached the Goolwa in twenty-one days. There he arranged the
construction of a small vessel of about 100 tons capacity, to accompany,
as a lighter, the little steamer _Lady Augusta_, which in July, 1853,
was navigated round from Sydney, by Mr. Davidson, formerly master of the
_Hawk_ schooner; and, indeed, not the least extraordinary portion of
this undertaking has been the voyage in midwinter by so small a vessel,
of nearly 1,100 miles, through a sea at all times boisterous, and often
most adverse even to the best and most weatherly craft. The round-house
which occupies three-fourths of the _Augusta’s_ deck, renders her on
this account by no means fitted for the open sea; whilst it affords
admirable accommodation on board for sixteen cabin passengers, including
ladies, for whom a commodious after-cabin has been reserved.
These preliminary matters having been duly arranged, and the _Lady
Augusta_ pushed through the sea-mouth by Captain Cadell, a party
including His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, some Members of the
Legislative Council, with ladies and other friends, was arranged to
accompany the meditated expedition up the Murray, which, the return
voyage included, it was supposed would occupy about five weeks.
August the 19th, accordingly, His Excellency, accompanied by Mr. J.
Grainger, of the Legislative Council, and the writer, left Adelaide to
ride to the Goolwa, a distance from the capital of rather more than
sixty miles. The road—generally indifferent, after ascending some fine
open downs—passes through Noarlunga, on the Onkaparinga, a thriving and
most promising township; and the first day’s halt took place at
Willunga. This is one of the prettiest spots in the province, and well
adapted to become, at a future and not very distant day, the resort of
those inhabitants of Adelaide, who shall have the good taste or the
leisure to exchange the dust, the heat, and the glare of a provincial
town for the pleasing verdure of a country scene, rendered here
particularly attractive by park-like glades and a charming sea-view.
A new inn would, however, be required; the accommodation of the “Bush”
being quite insufficient for the traffic. On this occasion, the house
being otherwise occupied, His Excellency took up his quarters for the
night at Mr. Kell’s; Mr. Grainger finding a bed with the clergyman of
the district, a Mr. Burnett.
A few miles beyond Willunga, the country is of the richest description,
combining the most attractive forest scenery with far extended land and
sea views. From thence onward, however, it deteriorates sadly,
terminating in that dreary expanse of bush and sand, which is here
denominated “scrub.” Descending to the Encounter Bay coast, a slight
improvement takes place; and after emerging on the tract of land, over
which runs the new tramline from Port Elliot to the Goolwa, some
excellent pasture appears, which must soon assume a valuable character
in connexion with the River Murray and the works in progress in this
district. His Excellency repaired at once on board the _Lady Augusta_,
which we reached about three p. m., there to await the arrival of
Captain Cadell and party, who were to come down the following day and be
present at the launching of the _Eureka_, as the new vessel built on the
Goolwa by Messrs. Wisby (two brothers), formerly the carpenters of the
_Cleopatra_ steamer, had been styled. Some delay, however, occurring
with regard to this ceremony, Sir Henry Young repaired to the house of
Mr. Laurie, the harbour agent at Port Elliot, where, with Mr. Grainger,
he remained some days. The launch commenced on the 23rd; but, rather to
the disappointment of the young lady destined to perform the
bottle-breaking ceremony, and with the expenditure of some pretty
tri-coloured silk, the _Eureka_[7] was only finally brought alongside
the steamer on the morning of the 24th.
On the evening of the 25th, the _Lady Augusta_, with a full complement
of passengers, and including the _Eureka_, which was towed alongside, an
aggregate number of forty-three persons, steamed off from the Goolwa
Jetty, amidst the cheers of the assembled settlers of the district, many
of whom had traversed long distances to witness the departure of the
first steamer on the waters of the Murray.
It was calculated that 300 persons were present at the launch; and,
previous to the departure of the boat, a _déjeûner_, by a large and
respectable number of the community, had been given to Captain Cadell,
in honour of the enterprise he had engaged in, and as a mark of the
sense entertained by the public of the zeal and energy with which he had
carried on his measures.
To particularize the features of this trip by a diary of the daily
proceedings on board, or by the diurnal progress of the little vessel
against the stream, would be tedious and uninteresting. Comprising good
cheer in abundance, and, with hardly the exception of an unfavourable
day, unvaried fine weather, our passage up the river could not afford
much scope to the imagination, or offer a prolific subject even to the
highest descriptive powers.
[Illustration: MELBOURNE.]
[Illustration: ADELAIDE.]
The Murray is a noble stream; but, at the present day, not a
particularly interesting, or, at any rate, a highly picturesque river.
The banks throughout are pretty, sometimes even romantic, but from the
sameness of the forest trees—consisting chiefly of gum tree glades—and
the expanse of flooded surface through which, at this season, the vessel
passed, the scenery cannot but be regarded as generally tame. The
reaches, nevertheless, at times are fine, and, here and there, cliffs of
moderate height, varied colours, and perhaps grotesque shape, occur to
break the monotony of an otherwise interminable flat. The volume of
water rolled down by the Murray is imposing, the breadth of the stream
after passing Lake Alexandrina (a sheet of water about thirty miles in
length and twenty-five in breadth), averaging from 150 to 300 yards; the
current is ordinarily from two to three knots per hour; and the course
of the river, after the first 250 miles, tortuous in the extreme. The
steamer generally came to anchor in the evening, about nine or ten
o’clock; and started in the morning, before dawn. Wood had been
provided, at certain stations, by previous arrangement; at other points,
parties from the vessel went ashore to provide fuel, the consumption of
which averaged about three fourths of a ton per hour. It took 168 hours
steaming to reach the Darling, where we arrived at midnight, on the 6th
of September, under sail and steam; the distance being calculated at
about 650 miles from the Goolwa. On the point of reaching this station,
we managed to upset a native canoe or “mungo,” propelled by a black and
his “lubra,” or spouse. The former scrambled up the vessel, but the
female was compelled to swim to the shore. The man being asked why he
had not attempted to assist his dusky helpmate, answered, with the
utmost composure, “Plenty cold; black lubra walk well!” So much for
native gallantry. The blacks on the Murray are not now so numerous as
formerly, infanticide prevailing among them, it is said, to a great
extent; indeed, we observed but one child in our passage up to the
Murrumbidgee.
The principal stations, up to this point of the voyage, had been Mr.
Mason’s, Wellington; Mr. Walsh’s; Mr. Scott’s, Moorundee; Messrs.
Chambers’, Wigley’s, Chapmans’, Moruna, the Jackson’s (commonly called
Bob and Harry’s), and the inn at the Darling (McLeod’s). Here blacks
were generally found in greater or less numbers; and, as far as we could
learn, they had everywhere proved of service to the settlers. They are
protected by the Government, and to a certain extent fed and clothed;
but the issues of blankets and flour, in South Australia at least, are
as yet too scanty. Several of these people were taken by Captain Cadell
up the river, to assist his crew in procuring fuel, and they proved
useful and obliging upon these occasions.
No accident, save the temporary indisposition of some of the ladies of
our party, and Captain Davidson’s unfortunate entanglement of his foot
in the machinery, occurred to interrupt the serenity of our voyage; some
atrocities, however, committed by the natives upon white men, had, it
appeared, disturbed the tranquillity of the river. Mr. Scott, the
Government officer from Moorundee, we found, had been in pursuit of some
of these malefactors, and from this gentleman, whom with his brother we
encountered at Chapman’s Station (Paringa), we learned that one of these
natives had been wounded desperately in an attempt to escape from the
police; and that another had been killed by the settlers, whilst
endeavouring to arrest him. A third, captured by one of the Adelaide
police, we conveyed to the Darling, where he was handed over to Mr.
Fletcher, a Magistrate of New South Wales[8], whose professional
services (for he had formerly been a medical practitioner) had been
called in request on Mr. Davidson’s account. This gentleman, who lived
fifteen miles from McLeod’s, where a tolerable inn and some good horses
were discovered, was sent for at His Excellency’s request, and in
obeying the requisition unfortunately received a fall from his horse,
which, though inflicting no severer injury than a bruised forehead and
face, must have been sufficiently annoying to spoil the pleasure which,
in common with all other settlers upon the river, he evidently derived
at the arrival of the steamer. His services, I may also mention, were
called into play by the sudden illness of one of the ladies of our
party, whose rashness in bathing, at an early or unseasonable hour
appears to have been followed by serious though brief indisposition. Mr.
Fletcher spoke with some degree of feeling of a barbarous murder
committed by a black, about ten days before, upon a white man, whose
horse he had undertaken to guide through a ford. Indeed, these acts of
reiterated villany call for the active interference of the Sydney
authorities.
The land on the Murray to this point (the Darling) is all occupied,
chiefly by large stock proprietors or squatters; for agriculture,
whether on account of the excessive dryness of the soil, or for want of
labour, appears little attended to. The settlers seem to want energy in
their pursuits, but perhaps the badness of the communications hitherto
with a market, and the uncertain tenure of their runs, may explain their
inactivity. Irrigation and embankment could not fail to improve the
land, but if there existed no means of disposing of produce, it is
easily imagined why these labours have not been tried.
On this subject, or rather with regard to the present system of land
allotment, I may here observe, that His Excellency, after proclaiming,
as the “Hundred of the Murray,” the two miles frontage on each bank,
proposes to offer for public sale blocks of land of from ten to 640
acres, granting to the occupiers a commonage in rear of their property
for pastoral purposes. It is probable that such an alteration in the
existing system of leases may induce a larger proportion of settlers to
look to the Murray for their locations.
With respect to the much-engrossing pursuit of gold digging, which now
occupies so large a portion of the population of these two Provinces
(Victoria and New South Wales), it would seem that further discoveries
are likely to take place. A Mr. Paterson, or a Mr. Walsh (I am not
certain of the name), who visited us at the Darling, mentioned as a fact
that a nugget of three or four ounces weight had been picked up on the
upper Darling, by one of the settlers, in the ranges which abut on that
river, and as quartz hills exist still further back, it is not
improbable that considerable gold deposits may be found in these
localities.
The animal and vegetable kingdom of the Murray is apparently not
productive in uncommon or very peculiar productions. Of the four-footed
inhabitants of the bush, up to this point of our trip (the vicinity of
the Thirteen Lakes[9]), I have heard of none being seen by our party,
save and except one solitary kangaroo. Ducks and quail are abundant; the
former comprising the musk, black, and wood duck, teal, and widgeon.
These are netted by the natives with considerable success; the plan of
action being, I understood, to spread the nets over the mouths of the
creeks or brooks, and then drive the birds towards them. Wild turkeys
are said to be plentiful near the lakes, which are numerous on some
parts of the banks, but none have as yet been seen. The white cockatoos
are numerous, and occasionally a pretty parroquet has been observed.
These, with pelicans, cranes, and sometimes, though rarely, a swan,
comprise the chief portion of the feathered inhabitants of the Murray
and its banks, but very small birds, unknown by name to those on board,
have been also seen.[10] The fish of the Murray consist chiefly of the
cod, perch, and cray fish, with a few small turtles, and, in the
adjoining lakes, a kind of smelt. The cod is of large size and weight,
and well tasted. The most delicate fish is, however, found in the
Darling—the name I could not gather.
The timber on the Murray is almost entirely confined to the gum, of
which there are three varieties—the white, red, and flooded; and
occasionally a few pines. Edible roots are found by the natives, and
comprise a considerable portion of their food; but the only fruit, as
far as I could learn, in use amongst the whites, is that called the
“quandong”—a species of wild peach, which is largely used as a preserve.
Wild flowers are generally abundant.
At MacLeod’s we embarked some cargo for Mildura; and several natives
were taken on board, and one woman whose conjugal affection seemed very
prominent. The males were, many of them, fine tall men, with very
muscular limbs, huge beards, and unsightly countenances. It is a pity
the Governments of the respective provinces, which occasionally issue
blankets and rations to the Aborigines, do not extend their protecting
cares still further. A supply of clothing, however scanty—were it only a
long blue shirt—would be a blessing to these poor savages, who appear at
times to suffer considerably from the keen cold air of the Australian
wilderness; nor would it, we may presume, render them less disposed to
the ameliorating influences of civilization and mental improvement.
In South Australia, considerable progress has been made in the
intellectual and moral training of these degraded people, which has been
chiefly owing to the exertions and indefatigable zeal of Archdeacon
Hale, at Port Lincoln, where the seminary for their instruction exists.
Many failures, of course, have taken place, particularly amongst the
females; some of whom, after serving as domestics for several years,
apparently most contented with their lot, have suddenly disappeared from
their houses to seek refuge in the woods, and then relapse into their
pristine barbarism—nature is invincible, it would seem.
From the Darling junction our course was marked by as few incidents as
had hitherto fallen to our lot. I find my daily memoranda somewhat to
the following effect:—
Wednesday, September 7th.—Left the Darling, which we found a fine broad
stream with considerable depth of water,[11] after having taken in a
large quantity of very indifferent wood—the steaming, in consequence,
slow.
During the night and following morning, heavy rain fell, penetrating
even to the interior of the cabin, probably owing to the excessive
dryness of the decks, caused by the heat.
Thursday.—Towards four p.m., arrived at the Messrs. Jamieson’s station,
Mildura, pleasantly situated on a turn of the river, about fifty miles
by water from Macleod’s. Mr. Jamieson, who appears to be thoroughly
acquainted with the resources and commercial statistics of the river,
which he most obligingly has communicated without reserve to all on
board, joined us here with a native servant, in order to accompany the
expedition as far as Swan Hill, 600 or 700 miles further. About this man
hangs a tale, establishing, I think, a fact, which, though generally
credited with regard to native propensities, has not perhaps been
thoroughly authenticated. I allude to their cannibal habits. The man,
who goes by the name of Mickie, himself tells the story. He says, that,
returning on one occasion from Melbourne, where he had been serving as a
police trooper, he fell in with some natives of the Loddon tribe, one of
whom, following him, and threatening to spear and eat him, he attacked
and killed.[12] This effected, he was not content with his triumph, but
did actually eat a portion of the man’s body—a part of his kidney
fat—which he pronounced good eating, and not unlike pork and duck. Nor
does it appear that Mickie was thus prompted for want of food, or from a
specific predilection for such a meal; but rather because he imagined
that thus would be infused into him his enemy’s strength; and that,
moreover, the skin which he lavishly distributed amongst the natives of
his tribe, would prove a charm for his fishing nets.
The settlers about the Darling appear desirous of coming under Adelaide
jurisdiction. The fact is, they are so distant from Sydney, that they
imagine themselves quite neglected by authority, and entirely cut off
from all legal jurisdiction. What difference the advent of the steamer
upon their waters may cause in their ideas, is yet to be seen.
Undoubtedly, it is a source of unmingled satisfaction to all settlers
here; indeed, we are told of some who actually meditated the abandonment
of their runs, in utter despondency at the impracticability of
transporting their wool produce to a port,[13] or even of obtaining the
supplies necessary for their subsistence. Dancing on board the _Eureka_
till half-past ten.
Friday.—Took in a quantity of pine wood, about five tons, for fuel; and,
after passing Williams’s, arrived at (Carwarp) Messrs. McGrath’s, a
station occupied by three brothers; who, from the condition of common
labourers, have raised themselves, by their industry, to a position of
comparative affluence. They are the possessors of 10,000 sheep on this
run, about the numbers which are depastured at Mildura. The weather
continues cold, though dancing was kept up for an hour in the evening.
The cabin was much crowded at this station; and some of our party
addicted to going early to bed, complained a little of the disturbance
on board.
Saturday.—Morning cold. Reached Messrs. Keane & Orr’s (native name
Kulkyane), where we remained till early on Monday morning. The natives
at this station were numerous, and some of them apparently intelligent,
but in appearance disfigured, if that is possible, by the circles of
white clay which they had drawn round their eyes and noses. This, we are
informed, is symbolical of mourning for deceased relatives—perhaps the
unfortunate children who are, it is said, so often slaughtered.
Monday.—Steamed on to wooding station, in a picturesque country with
high banks.
At four a.m. on Tuesday, September 13th, the Captain reported a comet in
sight, which, after considerable incredulity on behalf of some of our
party, was at length acknowledged to be a most brilliant meteor. Euston
Township (Nowong), so called after the Grafton family, we reached at ten
a.m. It is a Government reserve, and seemed a fine clearing, though as
yet the settlement is comprised in the Commissioner’s house, an inn,
some huts, and a black encampment. Mr. Cole, the Crown Commissioner,
received nearly all our party with great politeness, showed the ladies
over his quarters—a log house, not impervious to the weather, but
otherwise comfortable, if not pretty, which, indeed, none of the
stations are; he then produced some wine, eggs, and lastly a salad. Here
we obtained a sight of some newspapers, the latest from Melbourne, of
the 23rd of the previous month.
The ladies were invited to see two specimens of the “lowen” or “luanna,”
a bird resembling in some degree the pheasant of Europe, and also
reckoned of delicious flavour.[14] The peculiarity of these birds is,
that the hen does not hatch her own eggs, but buries them in layers of
sand, whence, after a little time, the process is effected by heat. The
Commissioner—whose district contains about 70,000 sheep, 15,000 or
16,000 head of cattle, and nearly 300 horses—complains of the
impossibility of completing his establishment of white police,
notwithstanding the liberal allowance of the Government to troopers,
which amounts to 5_s._ 6_d._ daily, in addition to rations and quarters;
he is, however, he tells us, to be joined by a European sergeant
immediately.
From this point, Euston, there was, until lately, a post to Sydney and
back, which, while it lasted, was conducted with rapidity; the floods,
however, have been so troublesome, that it has been recently given up.
The blacks here were numerous, and two-thirds of them, at least,
disfigured with their mourning marks. Some of them were dressed in
uniform as police troopers attached to the Commissioner. Mr. Cole, with
a Mr. Morey, who has 7,000 sheep contiguous to the Government reserve
(twenty-five square miles), came on board to dinner, when our
commander’s champagne flowed freely; they afterwards accompanied us up
the river some miles. The comet was reported very brilliant about four
a.m.
Wednesday.—We reached the station of a Mr. Ross at an early hour. Here
some shearers, who were rather the worse of their early potations, were
inclined to be troublesome. Captain Cadell turned one of them out of the
fore cabin without ceremony; and, shortly after, three of these men,
endeavouring to aggravate some of the crew whilst taking in fuel, and to
prevent the natives from giving their assistance, received from them a
well-merited chastisement, which, though to a looker-on it might appear
unnecessarily severe, had yet a well-timed and useful result. Nothing
but a rough and summary mode of proceeding would be effectual with such
people, whose conduct might destroy the comfort of all decent classes of
passengers. They were probably _ci-devant_ convicts, or, as they are
here termed, “old lags.” At this station, we heard that 7,500 store[15]
sheep had been brought over from Bathurst (500 miles), for the
convenience of shearing, and afterwards transshipping the wool clip to
Adelaide. We took in a stock of wood lower down the river, and, after
passing Mr. McCullum’s station (Wella), where there are 13,000 sheep,
pursued our onward course towards Swan Hill.
From the junction of the Murrumbidgee, or rather of the Logan or
Wakool,[16] up which we steamed a short distance, the volume of the
Murray diminishes, and its sinuosity increases; but the steamer made
good progress on her way, anchoring about half-past twelve a.m., on
Thursday morning, the 15th September, in mid-channel, with a strong tide
running. Here we had lain perhaps an hour and a-half, when all on board
were awakened by an awkward lurch of the _Lady Augusta_, which upset the
cabin tables, and created considerable confusion in the dark. Some
inquiries were made as to the cause of the unusual position of the
steamer (for she did not right herself), but no steps were taken to
ascertain the real cause of the accident, and all was attributed to the
strength of the tide. Some, however, were not satisfied with this
solution, or found sleeping on an inclined plane disagreeable; and,
after the lapse of nearly half an hour, it was discovered that the _Lady
Augusta_ had made considerable water, which, rushing to one side, had
caused the “list” complained of. The pumps were then set to work, as
also buckets, and the hold eventually cleared of water. It appeared that
some valve connected with the engines had been left unclosed—whence the
shipment of so much water. At dawn, we had been passed by a little
steamer, called the _Mary Ann_, which indeed had been seen lying
off-shore the previous night. We found her again at the station of a Mr.
Phelps. She is an open boat, apparently about fifty feet in length,
carrying two masts, and fitted with an engine, by her owner, a Mr.
Randall, whose enterprising talent, and skill in navigating his little
craft, are highly to be lauded. At this station we found an old
“man-of-war’s man,” a Mr. Reynolds, who had been so long away from
civilised pursuits, that he said he hardly knew a steamer by sight. He
supplied us liberally with milk and butter. I understood him to say that
he had been thirty-six years in the Colony. Mr. Phelps’s brother is
accounted a large sheep owner in this district, being the possessor of
an extensive “run,” and about 17,000 sheep.
Lest the term “run” should not be clearly intelligible to some
non-Australian readers, it may be here observed, that it is an extensive
tract of country devoted to sheep-breeding, and held on lease from the
Government for a term of years. Its chief excellencies are, of course,
pasturage and good water; moreover, it must, at least, be capable of
carrying 4,000 sheep, or an equivalent number of cattle—extra £2 10_s._
per annum for every additional 1,000 sheep, or proportionate increase of
cattle.
For this run, the owner takes out a licence of occupation, at a rental
proportioned to the number of sheep or cattle which the district is
calculated to support. The capabilities of the location are estimated by
a Commissioner of Crown Lands, and a half-yearly assessment is also laid
on all the live stock at the station—a halfpenny per head for sheep,
three halfpence for cattle, and threepence for horses. Formerly, the
holder had the option of purchasing, at any time, the entire run at
twenty shillings an acre; but this law has now been altered and, as some
think, amended, by the impossibility, under the present system, of the
existence of a race of licensed settlers, or leaseholders, in
perpetuity, who might have been likened to the Crown feudatories of the
middle ages, and paid an annual quit-rent for their possessions. These
landholders are termed in Australia, “squatters.” In these runs, which
sometimes equal in extent an English county, and usually about the
centre or frontage, stands the homestead, a rude wooden building, with a
garden, stores, offices, and adjacent stock or farm yards. A spacious
grass paddock, and some smaller ones for tillage, all enclosed with a
post and rail fence, with a large shed for shearing the sheep and
storing the wool, are also necessary adjuncts of the head-quarters. The
two great epochs of pastoral life are the lambing and shearing seasons;
the latter duty having been performed annually by a distinct class of
persons, who went about from station to station to be hired for this
work. Since the gold discoveries, however, this duty has been in some
degree performed, with considerable difficulty at times, by the settlers
themselves. Independent of the head-quarters or head-stations on these
runs, there are usually what are called “out-stations,” with small
flocks of from 500 to 1500 sheep, in charge of two shepherds and a
hut-keeper; who, whilst the former tend the sheep, looks after the
yards, cooks the victuals, and watches by night against the attacks of
the “dingo,” or wild dog—the most destructive of Australian vermin.
The cattle grazing is carried on generally in a different part of the
run, by a stockman, who is provided with a hut-keeper. The chief
requisite here is a firm seat on horseback, and great activity of body,
as the cattle are much disposed to run wild, and are often with
difficulty collected. Both cattle and sheep were annually slaughtered in
great numbers, and boiled down for tallow, which was readily bought up,
by foreign merchants, for the London market, and became an article of
large export. The price of wool and mutton has, however, now put an end,
or nearly so, to this custom. To improve the feed of a cattle or sheep
run, recourse is often had to firing the country; and this practice,
apparently singular in so dry a soil, is said to be effectual.
As a remarkable instance of the nature of Australian occupations, or the
ups and downs of fortune, the list of shepherds given by a writer, in a
certain district, is worthy of notice. They comprise “an apothecary, a
lawyer’s clerk, three sailors, a counting-house clerk, a tailor, a Jew,
a Portuguese sailor, a Cingalese, a barman, a gentleman’s son, a
broken-down merchant, a former Lieutenant in the East India Company’s
Service, a gipsy, a black fiddler, a dancing master. Of these the
gentleman’s son, the Jew, and the barman made the best shepherds.”[17]
This summary of sheep farming—the substance of which is taken from a
series of very good papers upon Australia, relating chiefly to New South
Wales—is also applicable, in most respects, to the banks of the Murray,
and I therefore introduce it here.[18]
Leaving this digression, our first station yesterday (September 15) was
that belonging to Mr. Hamilton. It appeared very populous. Towards
evening the river became tortuous in the extreme; indeed, with the
breadth the _Lady Augusta_ and _Eureka_ occupy upon the water (forty-two
feet), steering the vessels, without a check, through the narrow curves
and opposing branches, which continually met us at every point, was
almost an impossibility. The weather, which had been lowering since
morning, in the evening became perfectly tempestuous; and, amidst
flashes of lightning, occasional peals of thunder, and sudden gusts of
wind, little else was heard but the crashing of the opposing trees, or,
in the deep tones of our commander, the often repeated words, “stand by,
below;” “stop her;” “turn a-head, slow;” and at length the welcome
order, “full speed.” Thus, for some hours, did we advance, dimly lighted
by an overcast moon; and the storm at length abating, without any other
mishap than some slight damage to the _Augusta’s_ funnel, and the
destruction of part of the _Eureka’s_ rails—thanks to Captain Cadell’s
perseverance—we were enabled to hold on till two a.m., about which time
we made fast alongside the station of a Mr. Coghill.
To-day (Friday, September 16), steamed on, with some difficulty, through
the endless sinuosities of the river, now narrowed to an average breadth
of seventy or seventy-five yards, but still affording near four fathoms’
depth of water. At some points, indeed, we were delayed a considerable
time, from inability to stem the current in so contracted a space,
without becoming entangled in the surrounding wood. Altogether, I am
inclined to think that the passage of the river for steamers, such as
that in which we now voyage, will be difficult above the Murrumbidgee,
except during the flooded season, or about five months in the year. To
improve the navigation, however, much might be done by the passage up
the stream of a small boat (such, for instance, as the _Mary Ann_)
provided with means to clear away the “snags” or sunken trees, to cut
the overhanging branches, &c.
In course of time also, canals, were it only a few yards in length,
might be formed for the purpose of connecting the stream by a more
direct channel, instead of compelling ascending vessels to navigate the
continued sinuosities of the river throughout its entire course.
Swan Hill, a green oasis rising amidst what is, apparently, a desert of
reeds, is a valuable station, containing some excellent pasture. Indeed,
from these very reeds, which are annually burnt, springs up a “second
growth,” affording admirable food for cattle; whilst the flats, at
present flooded in all directions, are in summer perfectly dry. On the
crest of the hill, 119 feet only above the sea, is now building a sort
of lock-up, or wooden gaol. Lower down stands the inn, which appears
comfortable, and a store, where the prices of goods and articles were
denounced by some of our party as extravagant, even for the
neighbourhood of the diggings.[19] I heard 2s. mentioned as the price of
a wine-glass of brandy, and 1s. 6d. or 2s. a pound for flour; but do not
vouch for the correctness of my information.
We arrived at Swan Hill about mid-day on the 17th September, after 112
hours’ steaming from the Darling (a distance of about 600 miles), having
left our consort, the _Eureka_, on the run of a Mr. Coghill, some miles
behind, to commence loading wool for the return voyage. There being a
police force here, consisting of six mounted troopers, and a Lieutenant
and Clerk of the Court, his Excellency availed himself of it to forward
his report to the Secretary of State, and copies of the document to the
Governors of New South Wales and Victoria. We remained on this station
during the whole of Sunday, hearing Divine Service performed in the
verandah of the latter by a travelling ex-member of the Church of
England, who read us our beautiful Liturgy in a blue Jersey shirt, and
had the good sense or good taste (which, perhaps, are synonymous) not to
weary his congregation with too long a sermon.
The _Mary Ann_ joined us on the Saturday evening, and both vessels
remained stationary until Monday afternoon, September 19th, when the
_Lady Augusta_ proceeded up the river, stopping about twelve miles from
Swan Hill to take in some fuel. The country continued reedy and flooded;
but the banks of the river were lined with gum trees. Our party, I
should mention, has been diminished by one member, a Mr. Bright, who
left us at Swan Hill to ride to Melbourne (210 miles), where he purposes
taking passage to England.
A few miles from Swan Hill, we observed several of the native turkey,
or, more properly, the bustard; they are reckoned delicious eating, but
are approached with difficulty on the open plains, where they love to
feed. Birds are now more plentiful; and I should have said that three
wild swans were seen near Swan Hill.
Tuesday, September 20.—After wooding for two or three hours where we had
anchored the previous night, we steamed on as usual; the river widening
and presenting beautiful reaches overhung with trees,[20] whilst the
continued volume of this noble river, at so great a distance from the
sea, has surprised all on board. This morning, we passed a connecting
offshoot, or, as it is termed here, “backwater” of the Loddon, which
flows into the Murray, near Swan Hill. We are now cramped a little on
board for walking room, the deck being too high for many to promenade
upon at once, as it causes the vessel to heel over from too much of what
is termed “top-hamper;” nevertheless—the weather continuing delightful,
even for Australia—and no European climate can surpass, I believe, the
Australian mornings or evenings, nor Naples itself, at times, equal the
wondrous tints of the sky—all get on, to use an expressive word,
“swimmingly,” though none seem to know as yet to what distance our
exploration is to extend. On Tuesday evening, the 20th September, we
reached the station of a Mr. Hogg, and made fast for the night. A Mr.
Dickens, who presented a letter of introduction to His Excellency,
joined us here. He was one of the _Melbourne_ steamer passengers, but
appears to retain no ungrateful recollections of his detention at
Lisbon.[21] The country through which we have passed is flat and reedy,
but occasionally sprinkled with gum trees, and now and then offering
glimpses of forest scenery of a more open kind than the dense forests
which distinguish the lower part of the river.
Wednesday, September 21.—We took on board wood and played some games of
quoits; leaving Mr. Hogg’s station about noon. The river, as we
advanced, passes through a flat but pleasing and open country, with
occasional patches of reeds. “Snags” became rather frequent in this
part, and doubtless, if the stream were low, would seem almost to
interlace its bed; otherwise, the river is broad and fine. About dusk,
we stopped for some wood at Gannewarra, the lands of a Mr. Campbell.
This—about six tons weight—employed all hands yesterday; the Captain and
Mr. Jamieson proceeding up to the house. The following morning, we found
that Mr. Campbell had invited the whole party to his dwelling; and about
ten o’clock, the arrival of eight horses and a double gig enabled every
one to accept the invitation. To reach the settlement, distant about
three miles from the river, we passed through a forest of fine open
glades of very lofty timber, and partook of an excellent early dinner in
Mr. Campbell’s rude but commodious habitation. Then we had some music
from the piano, which must have tended to enliven us after a month’s
imprisonment on board the steamer. Somewhat late, the boat of the _Lady
Augusta_ arrived with three of the party, who had pulled up the winding
creek on which the settlement stands. Nothing occurred in the way of
adventure, but the destruction of the shafts of Mr. Campbell’s gig;
which, entrusted to a black, got smashed by the horse running into an
adjacent pile of wood. Fortunately, no one was within. In the afternoon,
we rode back, accompanied by Miss ——, Mrs. Campbell’s pretty sister, who
remained on board, as also Mr. Campbell. This gentleman is the possessor
of 4,000 or 5,000 head of cattle and 10,000 sheep, and has been in the
colony eleven years.
Friday morning (September 23rd) was distinguished by the fall of two
majestic trees, each exceeding 110 feet in height, and which, hollowed
by age, had been set on fire, and then partially sawn asunder. The
effect was very grand, for, truly, “great was the fall thereof.” About
eleven, accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Campbell and Miss C., we steamed a
few miles up the river, returning to drop them near Gannewarra, where
their horses, brought down by some natives, took them home.
Mr. Campbell seems to be one of the most flourishing settlers on the
river; and complains only of his inability to grow vegetables—though his
garden has been made on the banks of a fine creek.
His station—the farthest extent of the _Lady Augusta’s_ exploration—may
be estimated at about 1,400 miles from the sea-mouth of the Murray.
Leaving Gannewarra, we proceeded down the river—the return homewards
having been at length resolved. Our pace, going with the current, was
rapid, but some malign influence appeared this day to beset the _Lady
Augusta_. We had gone but a few miles when we encountered a huge tree,
blocking up nearly the entire stream; this we broke through, by sheer
force of steam, but not without almost sweeping the deck of the
passengers, who with difficulty avoided the branches as they passed over
the vessel. The after bulkhead was also stove in. Arriving at Mr. Hogg’s
station, one of the funnels was considerably damaged, and slight injury
received by the upper deck. Leaving this station, we did not leave our
ill luck behind us, for, rounding a moderately sharp turn, a few miles
below this run, we managed, when about to “haul up” for the night, to
run so violently in upon the land, that the steamer, instead of floating
alongside, as intended, remained hard and fast, nor could all the
efforts of the crew get her off. In the morning, the wood being taken
out of her, she floated without any difficulty, much to the satisfaction
of the crew, who, both officers and men, have had hard work in carrying
in our wood, splitting it, &c. Now we are going down the stream, at the
rate of ten or twelve knots an hour. This is very good steaming for a
small vessel like the _Lady Augusta_; though Captain Cadell is not, I
understand, as yet quite satisfied, and purposes, or expects, by means
of a condenser and feather floats, to obtain three miles an hour greater
speed. This would be a great advantage on a river so circuitous as the
Murray; and, as a further improvement, if a disconnecting engine, by
which one paddle would work forward and the other backward, were
provided, boats of greater length, power, and tonnage, might be
employed. Whilst upon this subject, I perhaps ought to mention, that our
engineer (Mr. Napier) has declared that, for boats of shallow
construction—such as the _Lady Augusta_—tubular boilers should be used,
by which means a space of from six to eight feet only would be required,
where, at present, thirty or more is entirely occupied.
On Monday (September 26), we left Tyn-Tyndyer,[22] the station of a Mr.
Beveridge, who is the owner of 11,000 sheep, 2,000 or 3,000 head of
cattle, and what he calls a “mob” of horses, or about 100. The only
thing remarkable about his run, which was some fifty miles in extent,
appeared to me to be his garden, the aspect of which, adorned with some
willows, introduced on the river by himself, was particularly refreshing
to our eyes, fatigued as they had been with the endless monotony of the
sombre foliage of the gum tree. Shortly after leaving Tyn-Tyndyer, we
rejoined the _Eureka_, which was lying very snugly in a pretty bend of
the river, a few miles lower down, and adjacent to the run of a Mr.
Coghill. The next morning, taking her in tow, the _Lady Augusta_
proceeded down the stream for the purpose of ascending the Wakool, there
to take in 220 bales of wool; a process, by effecting which, instead of
waiting on the Murray, much time would be saved.
The navigation towards the junction was most intricate, and so continued
throughout nearly the whole day. All the _Eureka’s_ starboard rails were
carried away, and continued stoppages, whether owing to the current, the
sharpness of the bends, or defective steering, detained us for some
hours. However, if the improvement of the navigation of the river be
seriously taken up by the three Governments, many of the obstacles now
experienced will be removed. During the last week we have passed several
points where a little labour, concentrated in cutting fresh channels,
would cause a saving of many miles’ distance, and, moreover, obviate the
angles which at present it is so difficult to navigate, at least, with
anything like speed.
The Wakool is a most navigable river,[23] not so broad, indeed, as the
Murray, being scarcely ninety yards wide, but deep and without current,
and singularly free from “snags,” or overhanging branches.
We passed Turora, Messrs. Grierson’s station, on the Tuesday evening,
and the next morning the public house and ferry, kept by Mr. Talbot; the
soundings gave four and a-half fathoms and “no bottom.” Very shortly
afterwards, Poon Boon, or Westmeath, the station of the Royal Australian
Bank, appeared in sight; and here, awaiting our arrival we found the
wool, consisting of 220 bales, averaging 200 lbs. the bale. This, the
first fruit of the river, and the first cargo of the _Lady Augusta_, was
received with all due ceremony, the first bale being hoisted up with one
of the crew to the mast-head of the _Eureka_, where “three times three”
was given in its honour. Some bottles of champagne, and “Success to the
commerce of the Murray,” followed in the cabin; and in the evening a
dance, at the head station on shore, terminated the day.
The superintendent, or person in charge here, informs me that his drays,
with the supplies for this year, have not yet returned; and that to
transport his wool to Melbourne by that mode of conveyance would cost
him £45 per ton. The arrival of the steamer has, however, to use his own
expression, “quite set the settlers on their legs again;” and although
the freight, £25 per ton, is as yet rather high, there is no doubt that
it will soon fall, whilst the land-transport from the Goolwa to Port
Elliot will be performed per tramway, at the moderate rate of sixpence
per ton per mile.
The stock of sheep belonging to the stations of this Company,[24]
recently amounting to 50,000, is now reduced by extensive sales to
12,000, but the number, so rapid is the increase, it is expected will
again amount to that quantity in two or three years. The present value
of sheep (for sale) is from fifteen to eighteen shillings; during the
bad times of the colony it was as low as two shillings and sixpence.
After leaving Poon Boon, we regained the Murray without any difficulty,
save the passage of one shallow bar, where extreme precautions were
exercised successfully.
At Canally, one of the stations of Mr. Phelps, wool to the amount of
forty-nine heavy bales was taken in; and leaving this on Friday,
September 30th, we again steamed down the river, having left the two
carpenters and the Chinaman near the mouth of the Wakool, there to
prepare the frames of two more barges, as tenders, to be used for the
further navigation of these rivers. This day, however, was doomed to be
one of melancholy remembrance to all on board, for an accident, not less
sad from its sudden occurrence than by its tragical issue, did then
happen, in a manner most painful to all who witnessed it. About four
o’clock, or rather later, whilst sitting in the cabin, I was disturbed
by hearing an outcry, and tumults on the deck above; and running out, I
discovered by the preparations for casting off the boat, then towing
astern, that a man was overboard. Looking further astern, the steamer
having now reversed her engines, I discovered what must have been the
top of the unfortunate man’s head floating about forty or fifty yards
behind us, and distinctly saw his hands upraised, and as it were waving
in a convulsive manner for help. This position he maintained for a
minute or two, but the boat was not easily cast loose, and the steamer
had drifted with the current, which here runs perhaps two and a-half
knots per hour. Shortly afterwards I again looked, but nothing was
visible, for the wretched man had sunk never again to rise; though one
of those in the boat declared that they were so close to him that from
the bow he might have been touched with an oar. It was, however, too
late, and after waiting vainly for the chance of his reappearance, we
were at length obliged to continue our course without even the
satisfaction of discovering his body. The man’s name, I afterwards
learned, was William Crewse Teague, a native, it was supposed, of
Cornwall, and he had been employed as a stoker on board. The cause of
the accident, as far as I could ascertain, was the giving way of one of
the gangway rails, against which the man must have leaned whilst drawing
a bucket of water; the rail, which is usually fastened by a peg and
chain, having fallen into the water with him.
On the first of October, we took in fifty-one bales of wool at Mr.
Ross’s (Meilman), and remained alongside this station until Monday
morning, the 3rd, when we proceeded down the river, touching at Messrs.
Grant’s, who had some wool awaiting transport on the banks. The
Captain’s previous arrangements prevented, however, his taking these
bales on the present trip. Leaving this station (Bombany), Messrs. Grant
and their friends being on board, the _Eureka_ managed to tilt some of
her load into the water, from whence it was rescued, not without
considerable labour. It appears the two vessels had been kept on a level
by two spars, one of which having been moved, the strain on the other
became too great, and it snapped, thus destroying the equilibrium of the
barge. In the evening, we reached Euston, the Commissioner’s station,
where we halted for the night; the little steamer _Mary Ann_, which
passed us during our difficulties, being anchored a short distance
ahead. It seems, from the owner’s account, that she had reached Maiden’s
Punt, about 250 miles beyond Swan Hill, without a check. At Euston, the
Crown Commissioner, Mr. Cole (styled by some of our party “King Cole”)
received us with his wonted urbanity; and some dancing was achieved in
his quarters. The functions of this officer consist in superintendence
of the lands belonging to the Crown, on which he is bound to prevent all
trespass in the way of cutting timber or depasturing cattle. He is also
authorized to prevent the intrusion of people on the lands of their
neighbours; to estimate the capabilities of the land for grazing
purposes; and he has allotted to him a certain force of police—white or
native troopers—to assist him in his duties, which comprise those of a
magistrate with extraordinary powers, together with a general
supervision of an extensive district. The salary of these officers in
New South Wales is £500 a year, and there are not less than fourteen of
them.
Mr. Cole accompanies us to the Darling; which, after taking in 100 bales
of wool the previous day, we reached on the evening of the 6th—having
left McGrath’s before dawn in the morning, and Mildura (Messrs.
Jamieson’s) about four p.m.
The weather, which yesterday was cold and boisterous, is now again
“Australian,” and I have no recollection of a finer morning in any
climate than to-day. Personally, perhaps, as in some degree invalided
for the last five years, I feel more the luxury of this matutinal
freshness; having passed, I am told by my next neighbour, Mr. Grainger,
who sleeps in the berth under me, a most uneasy night; which I can
attribute only to the deleterious effects of the _tea_, of which,
contrary to my usual abstinence, I last night imbibed rather more than
one-third of a cup.[25] It is very annoying to be subjected thus to the
caprices or the malicious propensities of cooks, stewards, or others
whose duty it may be to infuse these our evening potations; and most
unjust that the innocuous or even the independent members of society
should be exposed to the chance of a nightmare or an apoplexy by such
proceedings. Nor can the evil be without remedy; for, without coinciding
with the Rev. Sydney Smith, “That a bishop must be burnt before railway
accidents are prevented;” or agreeing with Mr. D’Israeli, “That an
architect should be sacrificed to ensure a National Gallery worthy of a
great nation;”[26] I must be pardoned for the suggestion, that society
generally—and all are concerned in the suppression of such
annoyances—might visit with a kind of moral _decimation_, all the
perpetrators of these iniquities.
The country, as we approach South Australia, is now improving in
appearance, as the waters having receded, the forest appears more open,
and even the “Mallee scrub” is less monotonous than before. We learn,
however, that this subsidence has not taken place on the upper part of
the river, the Murray having risen some feet at Maiden’s Punt, probably
from the floods on the Campaspe and Goulburn, for as yet the Alpine
snows have not contributed their quota to the stream. With respect to
the “Mallee,” which covers so large a portion of the vicinity of this
river, it may not be uninteresting to mention that there is a root of a
particular kind of this shrub well-known to the natives, which, being
cut into strips and placed in a pannikin or other vessel, has the
property of exuding water from within, which, slowly dripping out of the
wood, is thus preserved for the thirsting traveller.
Friday, October 7th.—We reached the Darling last night, at eleven p.m.,
notwithstanding the cloudiness of the sky; and about one, despatches,
papers, &c., came on board for His Excellency and some members of our
party. The news does not seem of importance, the South Australian
journals being too much occupied with our trip, and the English,
especially the beautifully _Illustrated London News_, with the mimic war
at Chobham.
This morning (Saturday), the steamer took in some tons of wood and nine
bales of wool, which, besides some sheep skins and tallow, completes the
cargo to 441 bales, of an average weight of 300lbs., and an aggregate
value of £9,000 or £10,000, with which we trust her owners will for the
present remain satisfied. We are now steering on for Mooruna, the
station of the Crown Commissioner of the Albert District, where we are
to leave Mr. Cole—having dropped the Messrs. Jamieson, with most hearty
farewells, at the Darling junction. One of these gentleman, the Mr. Hugh
Jamieson, who has accompanied us thus far on our expedition, has been
successfully exerting himself in moving addresses to His Excellency and
Captain Cadell, which, with Sir Henry Young’s rejoinder, are as
follows:—
“_Address presented by the Murray Settlers of New South Wales and
Victoria to Sir Henry Young, when approaching the boundaries of South
Australia, on his return to Adelaide, in the_ Lady Augusta, _steamer._
“To Sir Henry Edward Fox Young, Knight, Lieutenant-Governor of South
Australia, &c., &c., &c.xxx
“May it please your Excellency—
We, the undersigned, proprietors of stock in New South Wales and
Victoria, resident on the Murray and surrounding districts, hail with
satisfaction the present opportunity afforded us by the safe return to
this part of the Murray of the _Lady Augusta_ steamer from her
inauguration voyage from the Goolwa to beyond Swan Hill, and beg to
congratulate your Excellency on your safe return to the frontiers of
your own Province; and respectfully desire to convey to your
Excellency some record expressive of our opinion with reference to the
opening up of these extensive districts, by means of inland steam
navigation, throughout the interior of Australia.
“We deem it unnecessary, on this occasion, to enlarge on the
importance of this enterprise, the great public and varied interest
therein involved, and the very evident advantages to arise from it;
but would desire to convey to your Excellency our unanimous opinion,
and just appreciation, of the liberal and enlightened policy of the
Legislature of South Australia in encouraging so highly important an
undertaking; and, at the same time, we would desire to express to your
Excellency our acknowledgments, not only for the persevering exertions
and valuable support which the enterprise has all along received from
your Excellency, at the seat of your own Government, but also for the
favourable manner in which you have brought under the consideration of
the Home Government, the Governor-General in Sydney, and the
Lieutenant-Governor of Victoria, the importance of the early
establishment of steamers on the Murray, on a scale commensurate with
the requirements of so large a river.
“As the successful accomplishment, so far, of the first voyage of the
steamer _Lady Augusta_ permits us to look forward, with some
confidence for the future, to the easy transit of goods and produce,
to and from South Australia, by means of steam navigation, we may
here, perhaps not improperly, retrospectively allude to the
difficulties and tedious delays we have all, for so many years,
encountered in reaching a market for our produce; and, in doing so, we
are unwilling to forego the pleasure of assuring your Excellency that
we shall ever look back with satisfaction to the time when, in these
remote parts of the Colony, and surrounded by many discouraging
circumstances, we had, in the year 1850, the strongest proofs afforded
to us of the interest taken in the Murray and its navigation by
finding your Excellency undertake and accomplish, at considerable
personal exertion and inconvenience, a voyage of exploration, in an
open boat, from the junction of the Darling with the Murray to the
Goolwa.
“We would only, further, beg to express to your Excellency that we
recognize, with much satisfaction, the permanent honour, which in
after years, must attach to you, for having so successfully aided the
accomplishment of the Murray navigation; and we would offer you our
cordial expression of hope, that, whether you may be resident in this
or in other and more distant parts of the world, you may, for many
future years, learn, with equal interest, the permanently beneficial
results of the Murray navigation; convinced, as we are, that these
results will prove highly important, not only to the best interests of
your own Province, and to the Australian Provinces generally, but also
to England, and other parts of the world; affecting, as they most
indisputably will do, thousands of the population who may, in future
years, make choice of Australia as the land of their adoption.
D. Fletcher, J.P.
H. Jamieson, J.P.
J. Lecky Phelps, J.P.
Sylvester & Smith
Edward Lintott
James A. Liscombe
Joseph J. Phelps
N. Chadwick
James Hamilton
William Ross
John Grant
John Grant, jun.
Simon Grant
Edmund Morey, J.P.
Bushby Jamieson
Thomas McPherson
John McNichol
Crozier & Rutherford
Andrew Beveridge
Peter Beveridge
George Beveridge
Albion Gibbs
J. J. Keene
K. Nox
R. H. Jones
James Rutherford
M. McGrath
James McGrath
Thomas McGrath
Henry Williams
George B. Fletcher
James McLeod
“On board the _Lady Augusta_,
River Murray, near the junction of the Darling,
October 7, 1853.”
_Reply of His Excellency Sir Henry Young to the foregoing Address._
“Gentlemen—I have the honour to acknowledge, and to thank you for, the
Address which you have presented to me.
“The steam navigation of the great River Murray and its tributaries—of
which this voyage has been the auspicious commencement—is an object of
such general and permanent importance, that, had any exertions to
promote its prosecution been awanting on my part, I should have
considered the omission a dereliction of my duty.
“It is a great gratification to me that you have appreciated the
utility of the enterprise, and have been enabled to witness its
accomplishment.
“My earnest hope and belief are, that it will realise for the future
all the great and permanent advantages which are so reasonably to be
anticipated.
“I feel highly honoured by the obliging terms in which you have
expressed yourselves in regard to myself personally, and
“I have the honour to be, Gentlemen,
“Your very obedient and faithful servant,
“H. E. F. Young.
“River Darling, October 7, 1853.”
At the same time was addressed to Captain Cadell the following letter,
from the same place:—
“We, the undersigned, proprietors of stock on the River Murray and its
tributaries, appreciating the very great benefits which cannot fail to
result from the introduction of a line of steamers for passengers and
produce, on the Murray, desire to congratulate you on the personal
distinction of being the first successfully to accomplish this
important work.
“Our earnest wishes and expectations are, that, however extended the
field of this enterprise may hereafter become, your share of the
benefits may at least bear due proportion to the energetic spirit
which has acquired for you the permanent honour of opening up the
trade and commerce of this great river, by means of steam
communication.
“Whilst we recognize with satisfaction the enterprising spirit you
have displayed in carrying out so successfully the establishment of
this important undertaking, in the midst of difficulties of no
ordinary description, consequent upon the vast and well-known changes
which have arisen from the gold discoveries throughout Australia, we
beg to assure you, that we feel it alike a duty and a pleasure, on the
present occasion, to take this the very earliest opportunity to
intimate to you, that a certain amount of money has been equally
subscribed by us, for the purpose of being applied in any manner most
agreeable to yourself, in the acquisition of some memorial of your
first steam voyage on the River Murray.
“You are aware of the extreme distances at which our respective
stations are situated, and the consequent difficulty of our waiting
upon you and ascertaining personally when and where it would be most
suitable to you for the presentation of the testimonial to take place.
“We shall, therefore, feel much indebted by your communicating your
wishes on this subject to the Hon. Secretary, at your earliest
convenience.
“Foregoing Signatures.xxx
“Francis Cadell, Esq., Commander, _Lady Augusta_.”
[Illustration: AN AUSTRALIAN FARM SCENE]
Sunday, October 9.—The weather, rather oppressively warm during the day,
is now overcast and threatens some continuance of rain. Having, however,
fortified myself with Roscoe’s admirable Memoir of Lorenzo di Medicis, I
feel in some measure independent of clouds and sunshine. The books we
have on board are numerous, and many of them excellent, but, after seven
weeks, some novelty is refreshing. We passed Mooruna, the station of the
Albert Commissioner, about 3 p.m., and left there some articles and
stores for that official. It has not a pleasing aspect, being, even at
this season, almost denuded of verdure, and, moreover, fiercely red.
About dusk, we were hailed by a native from Messrs. Rutherford and
Crozier’s station, and accordingly “lay-to,” taking Mr. Crozier on
board. This detention, though at the time it appeared unnecessary, was
of service to the Captain, as he was enabled to obtain, through Mr.
Crozier and the natives of the station, the exact “whereabouts” of a
sunken rock,[27] which lies nearly in mid-channel, and opposite to
Rutherford’s Ferry. During the night, heavy rain fell, which wetted us a
little in the cabin; but has not, we trust, injured the cargo.
Saturday, October 8th.—The morning wet and cheerless, and so continued
till we deposited Commissioner Cole at the station called Bob and
Harry’s, which is not far distant from Lake Victoria—a sheet of water of
some extent, connected with the Murray by a stream called the Rufus. At
night, we anchored under some high sand cliffs, of singular formation,
near the boundary of South Australia—which province, it is presumed, we
have now entered. On Monday morning early, we expect to be at Mr.
Chapman’s, remaining here all Sunday—which, to us, is a _dies non_. It
now occurs to me, that I commenced these notes with a declaration and
determination not to chronicle our daily proceedings on board, which, I
had imagined, could not but prove “flat, stale, and unprofitable.” As,
however, I have infringed on this rule, it may, perhaps, be now
excusable to continue in transgression, by giving the routine of our
river life. _Pour commencer_, then, we—that is, the gentlemen of the
party, who sleep in the main cabin, the sofas of which form two tiers of
berths—rise about six, sip some coffee, and dress in the fore cabin.[28]
At a little before nine, is breakfast, a _déjeûner à la fourchette_;
about twelve, bread and cheese, with a glass of ale or wine; at four is
dinner, a substantial and most abundant meal, of which, good curry is a
predominating feature; at seven, comes tea, which does not appear to be
so favourite a beverage as it deserves—partly, perhaps, for want of
milk, which is only occasionally obtained; at nine, the beds are made
up; and about eleven, most on board appear to sleep. These particulars
will also answer, in most respects, for the ladies of our party, whose
cabin (the after one) opens into the main saloon. The deck of the _Lady
Augusta_ is now the only place for walking on board, but it serves well
enough for a few at a time; as, however, the vessel must stop almost
daily to take in wood, there is no want of opportunities for
exercise—the real mainstay of health, I certainly believe, in every
climate. On this subject, however, I feel compelled to say, that though
I most willingly accompanied His Excellency—as in deference to his
wishes I was bound to do—and although, I doubt not, the river voyage may
eventually prove of service to my health, yet, had I been aware of some
of the _dèsagrémens_ which I have since encountered, I might, perhaps,
have been enabled to shorten my stay on board. “It is wrong to look a
gift horse in the mouth;” and it would be ungenerous to find fault where
no wrong has been intended; but though Captain Cadell’s attention to all
his guests has been as unremitting as his navigating energy, the
courtesy of his officers (who, from the extent of our party, must have
been somewhat incommoded) universal, and the disposition of the crew
most obliging, yet have we all, I think, without exception, been found
at times to complain of the effects, it is to be presumed, of our daily
meals. I believe, myself, the ladies have been the greatest sufferers;
but they have borne their trials with such endurance through this picnic
voyage of more than seven weeks, that it may seem a bold assertion to
admit it all.
Sunday.—During the whole of this day we have had continual showers, and
the weather has been altogether cold, and most unlike Australia,
particularly at this season, and on the Murray, where it is said, it
never rains. Most of our party, however, managed to climb the cliffs
under which we lay, and from whence an extensive and pleasing view of
the river was obtained.
On Monday morning, early, we cast off, having taken in a small stock of
wood, which was procured by the officers and crew cutting down the pines
above us, and hurling them over the cliff. The blacks, brought by Mr.
Mason from Wellington, then carried it on board, and afterwards sawed
and split it asunder. These three natives, I may add, have proved
particularly useful whilst on board.
About one we reached Mr. Chapman’s (Paringa), conspicuous from afar by a
tri-coloured flag with the words “_Cead mille failthea_” inscribed
thereon—having passed this morning through a more open country, and if
not more picturesque, certainly of a bolder character. This consisted of
ranges of bold red cliffs, which, at a distance, bore some resemblance
to the Avon or the Wye. On a nearer approach, however, their rugged
aspect and scanty verdure—a few scrub bushes, interspersed with pines
and gum trees—belied so soft a simile; and, but for their waterworn
appearance, I would now rather liken them in feature to the wilder
scenery of portions of the rivers in the west of Brittany. We wooded
again in the evening, and then steamed on till one or two a.m., of
Tuesday, the 11th of October, having been all rather disturbed during
the night by an awful crash amongst the gum trees; this, however,
appeared more formidable than it really was, and committed no other
havoc but an addition to the honourable scars which the _Lady
Augusta_—now “stove in” in various places—bears upon her sides. Now, we
pursue our way through a more varied country, particularly about Talibka
(Mr. Wigley’s), to the “North-West Bend,” which we hope to reach this
evening; the weather remaining cool and cloudy, and far more like an
English than an Australian climate. Our wooding place this evening bears
quite a resemblance, the sandy soil excepted, to an English park; and
sweeping round it, above the stream, is a fine range of bold cliffs.
Last night we managed to get the _Eureka_ aground, and she was not set
afloat again without considerable exertion of steam force. The shadows
cast by the trees, which overhang the water, render night navigation
somewhat difficult, and though we pressed on with full power we did not
succeed in reaching the Bend, as we anticipated. Meanwhile the stores
are getting less, and yesterday we had nothing but champagne at dinner,
instead of the accustomed layer of good draught port. This is something
like the guardsman roughing it on his beefsteak and his bottle of port,
but that, in this part of the world, there is never any fear of being
without the staple commodity—good mutton.
The _Lady Augusta_ left her boat this morning at the wooding
station,[29] and we were consequently unable to land at Mr. Walsh’s,
which appears one of the prettiest stations on the river. Mr. W.,
however, came on board in a nice little wherry, reminding one more of
the Thames than the Murray, and left some newspapers, which have again
put us in possession of the state of affairs in Adelaide. Our party,
however, complain that they contain no news; though I have, myself, been
much amused, I may say interested, by a journal of our trip up to Swan
Hill, which appears in the _Register_; nor am I sorry to find therein,
from the report of the Select Committee of the Legislative Council on
the proposed Civil List, that my salary, amongst others, is likely to be
doubled.
We reached Moorundee about two p.m., and found it almost surrounded by
water. Mr. Scott was from home, and the fair mistress of the demesne
engaged, I suppose, within; as, however, I did not myself join the party
on shore, I must delay, till the ladies return, my inquiries after Mrs.
Scott and the news of the Murray.
We left Mr. Scott’s about five p.m., and steamed on all night, the
weather still rather cold. About sunrise, I found the steamer had
entered the magnificent valley below the Reedy Creek, comprising Mr.
Baker’s “run”—a tract of great extent, named, I believe, Wall—and where,
in point of scenery, the character of that river becomes wholly changed.
Here, the Murray, leaving the confined channel of forest, which for so
many hundred miles has enclosed its course, issues into a wide vale,
terminating in an extended basin, which though much encumbered with
reeds, yet in the contour of its outlines, and the diversified variety
of its wooded or rocky slopes, far surpasses any other portion of the
river we had as yet seen. The volume, too, of the stream is here very
considerable, its breadth being nearly 350 yards; whilst sailing
majestically on its surface we descry numerous black swans in close and
amicable contiguity with flocks of unsightly pelicans. Continuing to
pass through a country of this kind, we soon leave behind us the granite
formation, with the huge “boulders” of rock which mark its character;
and after meeting an island, in mid-stream, again enter upon an Arcadian
country, which, undulating in small rounded hills, dotted with trees of
moderate height, bears some resemblance to the shores of Greece. Strange
to say, however, as the land appears good, even if occasionally rocky,
there is scarcely a habitation to be seen; though here, one would say,
is quite the scene to realize the poet’s dream, the
“Speluncæ vivique lacus, ac frigida tempe,
Mugitusque boûm, mollesque sub arbore somni.”
About twenty-four measured miles (according to Mr. Mason) from
Wellington, in the vicinity of the granite masses, visible from the
deck, is a large rock, at present under water, but visible when the
river is low. The next object I find worthy of notice is a “mob” of
sixty or seventy horses, seemingly lost in wonder at the smoking and
noise-making intruder upon their wonted solitude. After a time they lose
their fears, and, fascinated as it were with the novel sight and sound,
follow us in wild confusion along the rugged shores.
Thursday, October 13th, quarter to one p.m.—We are now at Wellington,
where, amongst the spectators on the sandy banks, I observe His
Excellency’s police-orderly, who, coming on board, informs us that the
horses are here. Sir Henry Young having, however, determined to
terminate his voyage only at the completion of the enterprise, by the
arrival of the steamer with her first cargo, the Golden Fleece,[30] at
her starting point, the Goolwa, the horses are ordered to that point.
Being, however, myself, desirous of returning to Adelaide at once, and
his Excellency spontaneously giving me the option of so doing, I here
determine to bid adieu to the river, and place myself with the least
possible delay on one of the horses which the trooper brought from
Adelaide some days ago.
Here then, I leave the Murray! and I do so in the firm belief that,
whether it is to become in the future—as it has been, perhaps
prophetically, designated—the “Australian Nile;” or whether it is to be
the connecting link and general highway of the Australian capitals,
existing and to be; this river is of incalculable advantage to the whole
of Australasia, and its steam navigation, thus far successfully
accomplished, an event worthy of record and narration by far abler pens
than mine.
After a glance at Captain Cadell’s canvas boat, I left Wellington a
little after two p.m. on the 13th, mounted on a horse hired by Mr.
Grainger, and by no means remarkable for speed. The excellent natural
road runs for some miles over fine plains covered with wild flowers, and
affording, I should imagine, rich pasturage, with some lakes adjacent.
Thence you arrive at a tract of dreary and sandy scrub, rendered still
more disagreeable by a road which is quite a reflection upon a civilized
district, and from the number of stumps, which like “_trous de loup_”
project from it, is really a most dangerous thoroughfare. At about
eighteen or twenty miles from Wellington, is Langhorne’s Creek, a
settlement, near which I was shown the finest wheat in the Colony, and
where there is a tolerable inn, with moderate charges and prompt
attendance. Leaving this, the road—one place excepted, a most superior
natural one, passes through a fine open forest country, fed over by
abundant cattle, whose condition testifies to the quality of their food.
Strathalbyn is then reached; it is a most flourishing settlement, and
boasts a good inn; in the vicinity are some mines, worked for seven
years, and shortly to be turned to more profit by the introduction of
expensive machinery, which, possibly may be transported thither _via_
Wellington and the Murray, the approach from Adelaide, being, I am told,
scarcely passable for heavily loaded drays. I arrived at Strathalbyn a
little after six! and about nine, a further detachment of our party,
consisting of Messrs. Davenport, Andrews, and Allen, came in, having
left Wellington just after me in a sort of dog-cart. The following
morning between seven and eight, I left for Adelaide; the trooper, with
his Excellency’s horses, proceeding onward to the Goolwa, distant about
twenty miles. I found the country from Strathalbyn to the capital
exceedingly beautiful, combining, indeed, every variety of forest
scenery, water alone excepted. Its aspect is Devonian; but between
Strathalbyn and Macclesfield is encountered a conglomerate of hills,
heaped together in such wild and mountainous confusion, that to
construct a highway might have puzzled General Wade himself. It must,
however, at some time or other be done, for at present the road is
execrable; and when the land is so fine, and the settlements between
Adelaide and the Murray so important, it is perhaps bad policy, not to
say almost an injustice, to leave the inhabitants without good means of
communication. Some miles, however, beyond the Echunga diggings—a tract
of gravelly waste, honeycombed as it were with pits, there is now
constructing a new line of road, passing Crafer’s (ten miles from
Adelaide), which, though cut through a difficult country, and not
apparently formed in strict accordance with “Henry Law,” will,
doubtless, be made highly available to the interests of the settlers of
Mount Barker, Strathalbyn, &c.
About Glen Osmond, for a distance of some miles, the views are splendid,
comprising the whole of the Adelaide plains, and a vast and magnificent
sea-view extending completely across the Gulf of St. Vincent. The town
itself lies spread out below the hills as upon a map; but perhaps from
the want of spires or lofty buildings, the City of Adelaide is not, from
a distance, very imposing in appearance. Descending Glen Osmond, three
or four miles of hard, if not good, road, brings the traveller to the
town, which—rather tired, I confess—I reached about half-past four p.m.;
my horse being equally knocked up with myself, though the distance from
Strathalbyn is not more than thirty-eight miles.
Sir Henry Young left the steamer the same evening (Friday, October 14),
at the Goolwa, after a smooth passage across the Lake, and took up his
quarters for the night at Port Elliot. The next day, accompanied by Mr.
Grainger, His Excellency rode into Adelaide, a distance of about
fifty-eight miles.
By way of postscript to my journal, I append a letter from Mr. Randell,
the enterprising owner of the little _Mary Ann_.
Adelaide, October 21, 1853.
A. KINLOCH.
Gumeracka Mill, October 17, 1853.
Sir,—In answer to yours respecting the character of the River Murray,
above Swan Hill, I beg leave to state, that for some distance above
the Point the _Lady Augusta_ reached (Campbell’s), the flats by the
river side improve in quality, and are more extensive. I observed many
which were not flooded, which looked beautifully green and thick with
herbage as far as the eye could reach. Many of the flats, as usual,
were entirely covered with water; and even those that I before spoke
of are very low, being only a few inches above the level of the river.
For the last three days before reaching Maiden’s Punt (the highest
point we attained), the river begins to narrow, and to be particularly
sinuous, though not so incommoded with fallen trees or overhanging
branches as many parts we had passed, both above and below Swan Hill.
The banks begin to rise rather suddenly, and are clothed in many
places with thick jungles of the mimosa or wattle; though of a
different kind from any in the Adelaide district. I am told the kind
is plenty at Rivoli Bay, also in Van Dieman’s Land. The bark is as
good for its tanning properties as the Adelaide wattle. Gum and box
trees abound as below. The depth of the river at Maiden’s Punt we
found to be thirty feet, and forty to fifty yards broad; the river
rose two feet while we were there, and was still rising when we left.
I consider Maiden’s Punt to be a much more important place than Swan
Hill, from the fact of its being much nearer all the diggings than
that place (fifty-five miles from Bendigo, forty from Goulburn, and
100 miles from the Ovens), and from its being on the high road from
Melbourne to the Murrumbidgee, Edwards, and indeed all the country
northward. Maiden’s Punt is situated one and a-half miles from the
junction of the Goulburn; and, from information I received, I consider
that river navigable for small boats, like ours, within twelve miles
of the Goulburn diggings.
I was informed, by Mr. Maiden, the proprietor of the punt and inn,
bearing his name, that some short distance above his place, at the
junction of the Edwards and Wakool—or rather where these rivers leave
the Murray—that, at flood time, the channel of the river is lost among
large reedy lakes, and that its course could not be found without
native assistance—that the country is quite destitute of trees for a
considerable distance. After leaving this part, the timber becomes
plenty again, and continues so; the banks keep high, and continue to
improve in quality; the river becoming more sinuous still, and the
current much stronger. I do not think I have anything more of
importance to mention, but should anything strike you, on which I
could render you any information, I shall be most happy to do so.
I remain, dear Sir,
Yours respectfully,
WILLm. RICH. RANDELL.
Arthur Kinloch, Esq., Clerk Executive Council.
APPENDIX.
Enumeration of the quantity of sheep to be shorn in the present year
(1853), upon the Rivers Murray and Lachlan, as far as Swan Hill, in the
Provinces of South Australia, Victoria, and New South Wales.
Owners. Sheep.
Mr. Pyke 20,000
Westmeath 40,000
Messrs. Sylvester & Smith 15,000
Mr. Lintott 6,000
Grierson 3,000
Messrs. Phelps & Connolly 12,000
Mr. Beveridge 10,000
Hamilton 5,000
McCallum 13,000
Grant 6,000
Ross 7,000
Morey 7,000
Gibbs 5,000
McPherson 6,000
Keane 16,000
McGrath 10,000
Jamieson 10,000
Messrs. Crozier & Rutherford 13,000
Mr. Paterson 7,000
Bagot 5,000
Chambers 6,000
Mr. Walker 6,000
Coomar 5,000
Hart 6,000
Walsh 6,000
Haywood 3,000
Scoott 4,000
Fletcher 12,000
Scott 7,000
McLennan 7,000
McLean 6,000
McFarlane 4,000
Cameron 4,000
THE LACHLAN.
Mr. Peters 10,000
Messrs. Phelps & Co 20,000
Mr. Wentworth 50,000
Laing 15,000
Firebrace 6,000
Messrs. Firebrace and Brown 10,000
Mr. Nyne 40,000
Total number of sheep 443,000
To this number may be added an unestimated amount of sheep upon the
Darling River, amounting certainly, to 17,000; which at a very low
calculation will give 460,000 sheep; yielding a supply of wool—at 2 lbs.
per sheep, and an average of 250 lbs. weight per bale—of 3,680 bales;
or, at a rough estimate of £20 per bale, £73,600; or, at the not unusual
yield of 2¼ lbs. per sheep, £82,080.
This estimate extends no further than Swan Hill, about 280,000
1,300 miles from the sea. To give a correct idea of
the probable amount of wool to be derived from Swan
Hill and north of the Murray, onwards, is not easy,
but including the runs to Albury and Gundegai, and
from thence again to near the junction of the
Lachlan, it may be estimated at
Again, on the north bank of the Murrumbidgee there may be 90,000
set down twenty stations, depasturing each 4,500
sheep, or
In Victoria, and on the south side of the Murray, from 220,000
Swan Hill to Albury, not embracing the stations at
the Campaspe, Goulburn, or Ovens, excepting those at
their respective junctions
Total 590,000[31]
In this calculation, out of 124 stations, seventy only have been put
down as cattle stations, or unlikely to send their wool to Adelaide.
A third estimate of produce likely to go to the Adelaide market, and
taking Swan Hill as a depôt, would bring in a very large quantity of
wool, _via_ Lake Lalbert to Swan Hill.
The stations producing this wool are situated on the Rivers Loddon,
Avoca, Avon, Richardson, and the Wimmeira country, towards Lake
Hindmarsh; and a good road, with a little trouble, might be made
available to Lake Lalbert, which is distant only twenty-five miles from
Swan Hill.
From the above enumeration, it is evident that the opening of the Murray
navigation by steam cannot be otherwise than most advantageous to the
interests of the settlers.
In previous years they were necessitated to forward their wool by dray
to Melbourne, at a cost of £40 or £45 per ton. In many cases these
drays, instead of bringing back the annual supplies of provisions, &c.,
have been detained, broken down, or delayed by the loss of bullocks, or
other difficulties. The settlers are now to pay £20 or at most £25 per
ton for the same purposes, and even this freight will gradually come
down. In a word, as has been before observed, “the steamer has quite set
the squatters on their legs again,” many of them having actually
resolved, in consequence of the difficulties attending labour and
transport, to abandon their runs.
It may, at the same time, be mentioned that, in all probability, the
steamer’s profit returns will be highly remunerative, which, indeed,
would be requisite, as the daily expenses during our stay have been
estimated at £30.
SUPPLEMENT.
Referring to the remarks which, at the opening of this Journal, have
been directed to the circumstance of the navigation of the Murray having
been left so long unserviceable, in spite of the early exploration of
the river, I am gratified to find myself supported in my conclusions by
the high authority of the Lieutenant-Governor of the Province, whose
opinions, extracted from a letter to a Mr. Hull, a gentleman at that
time interested in forming a company to purchase land in the vicinity of
the River Murray, are thus declared:
Writing from Government House, June 29, 1852, Sir Henry Young observes:—
“That this extensive navigability of the River Murray should have
remained so long unserviceable to the Continent of Australia, and
especially to South Australia, within whose territory flow so many
hundred miles of its course to its final exit on the Southern Ocean,
requires some explanation to persons ignorant, perhaps, of the first
and present condition of this infant Colony; and figuring only to
their own imagination how the labour, wealth, art, science, and
enterprise, teeming in Great Britain, would, without loss of time,
have been engaged in improving this gigantic ‘water privilege.’ The
memorable and important discovery of the River Murray by Sturt, and
the arduous and courageous exploration of it, which his enterprise
first carried to the ocean, and his fortitude retraced, despite the
uncertainty of ever safely returning through a wilderness peopled with
unknown tribes, no doubt gave a powerful incitement to the subsequent
colonization of South Australia.
“In the early days, however, of the plantation of this Colony, the
impracticability of the sea-mouth of the River Murray—its shifting and
narrow channel—its fearful surf and heavy rollers—its unmitigated
exposure to the swell of the Great Southern Ocean—the disappointments
and fatal accidents which attended all attempts, save one, to enter it
from the sea—the ignorance then felt of the power and disposition of
the aborigines on its banks—the supposed insufficient depth of water
through Lake Alexandrina—the absence in those days of steamers of
light draught of water, adapted to the navigation of rivers—the then
scanty number of Colonists, who found for their immediate purposes a
more than sufficient extent of agricultural and grazing land adjacent
to Port Adelaide, Gulf St. Vincent; all these causes sufficed to
render the solitary instance of the success of Captain Pullen, in 1841
(in entering the river from the sea, in a little cutter of thirty
tons, which has never made its exit again), unproductive of further
efforts in South Australia at that time, to penetrate the interior of
New Holland from the sea by the navigation of the Murray. Nor was this
great object, whilst left unachieved for all practical purposes by
enterprise from hence, likely to engage the attention of the
less-interested Colonists of New South Wales. Indeed, the squatters on
the Australian Continent—those useful pioneers of colonization—were
otherwise profitably employed. The occupation of new country, which
led to the settlement of Port Phillip, in 1837, and of Twofold Bay, in
1839, had been carried, in 1840, 300 miles to the north, beyond and
behind Moreton Bay—whilst to the south and west, sheep and cattle
stations extended beyond Port Phillip to the very confines of South
Australia; thus, colonization and the attendant investment of
commercial speculation were chiefly directed to these outlets to the
sea, alongside the eastern side of the ridge of mountains parallel to
the Pacific, between the 26° and 32° of latitude.
“An inspection of the map of New Holland will show that the streams
which rise from the eastern side of this mountain ridge (aback of
Sydney) have but comparatively a short course to the sea; moreover,
from this side of the ridge the descent to the sea is steep and
difficult. The ports north of Sydney are Moreton Bay, the Clarence
River, and Port Macquarrie; south of Sydney, Bateman’s Bay, Twofold
Bay, Port Phillip, and Portland Bay. Whilst, therefore, the remote
interior, on the opposite or western side of this mountain ridge, can
have no other exit to the sea, eastward than the above-mentioned
ports, accessible only by a long, expensive, and difficult
land-carriage, it is obvious that the export of wool could not, beyond
certain limits of distance, be continued with profit, because of the
difficulty and cost of transport to its places of shipment: and this
limit to the wool-producing region becomes practically the terminus of
the squatter’s enterprise—the boundary of the location of
Europeans—the end of the war on the wilderness; because the beginning
of a solitude untenanted by civilised man. But, when we again revert
to the map, and view the western side of this mountain ridge, it is at
once perceived that there is a remedy for this arrest of the progress
of settlement. The waters of the Darling River, after a long
circuitous course, unite themselves with the River Murray, and,
reinforced with other tributaries, maintain continuous course to the
Southern Ocean, near Port Elliot. The great trade, then, which is
likely to result from the steam navigation of the River Murray,
comprises all that present and future pastoral produce on the western
side of the mountain ridge, aback of Sydney, which it will be
difficult and costly to send for shipment to the enumerated ports on
the coast line of New South Wales and Port Phillip.”
Speaking of Port Elliot, in the enclosure to the same Despatch (No. 77),
his Excellency continues:—
“With respect to Port Elliot, the criticisms which have been passed,
in doubt of its capaciousness and safety, are such only as new and
untried ports frequently receive until they become better known. Until
this experience shall have been gained, it is satisfactory to know
that Captain Lipson, R.N., the Naval Officer of the Province, after
frequent visits to it, and enquiries respecting its character, reports
two vessels of from 500 to 1,000 tons may lie at the existing
moorings, which are in six and four fathoms of water respectively,
sufficiently sheltered by the breakwater to be considered in a safe
anchorage; that, after the port is better known, five or six large
ships may anchor there; and that it would probably prove safe to
extend the anchorage, for large ships, much farther out. A remarkable
verification of this last-expressed opinion has recently been
furnished to Captain Lipson in the case of the Ameer, a vessel of 400
tons, which in a gale of wind, blowing in on the shore, came to anchor
outside the moorings, and beyond the shelter of the breakwater, where
she remained safely, although greatly underhanded, both as to the
number and the efficiency of the crew. Ever since the Colony has been
founded, coasters have been in the habit of going in and out of Port
Elliot, at all seasons of the year, whenever freights have offered,
and no accident has ever happened, or has any vessel ever been driven
on shore, although furnished, as they generally are, with very
inferior ground tackle. The holding ground, then, being thus proved to
be so good, even outside of the moorings, it is only necessary to
place additional moorings beyond the site of the present ones,
whenever the exigencies of commerce may require this accommodation.
The trade of Port Elliot will, however, probably for a long while, in
connection with the River Murray, not require more tonnage than can,
at any one time, at present safely find anchorage there. Of the
readiness with which mails may be landed at Port Elliot, as compared
with mails to be landed (especially in winter time) in Gulf St.
Vincent, and of the great use, to vessels bound to Port Elliot, of the
Sturt Light, on Cape Willoughby, Kangaroo Island, it is only necessary
that I should refer you to Captain Lipson’s report, published in the
Government Gazette of the 10th February last:”—
_Extracts from the Report of Captain Lipson on Port Elliot._
“Harbour Master’s Office, Port Elliot.
“I know, from long experience of this coast, that the strong winds,
which prevail during the winter, are from south-west, west, and
north-west, and that when the wind shifts to south it invariably
moderates; and being assured, by all the masters of whalers in that
district, that the south or south-east winds were only during the
summer months, and that the shelter from the Murray beach prevented
any fetch into Port Elliot, I feel assured that, after a time, it will
be found quite safe to extend the anchorage for large ships further
out. * * * * * * *
“Port Elliot lies in lat. 35° 32′ 45″ south, and long. 138° 43′ 15″
east, and is about six miles from Rosetta Head. The new lighthouse on
Cape Willoughby, Kangaroo Island, is situated in lat. 35° 49′ 20″
south, long. 138° 43′ 15″ east; and, with respect to it, Port Elliot
bears north 55 east, twenty-nine miles. I do not consider it necessary
to give any particular sailing directions for making this port, as
there is nothing remarkable with regard to headlands, &c., to point
out to the attention of mariners. As a port of refuge from south to
north-west, which are our usual winter winds, I have never met a
person who did not acknowledge the safety and ease of riding under the
island. In proof of this, ever since the Colony has been founded, our
coasters have been in the habit of going in and out at all seasons of
the year, whenever freights have offered, and no accident has ever
happened, or has any vessel ever been driven on shore, although
furnished, as they generally are, with very inferior ground tackle.”
Referring to the eligibility of Port Elliot as a mail-station, Captain
Lipson’s report thus concludes:—
“It must be well known to those who are in the habit of trading
between Adelaide and the different ports along the coast, that, now
there is a good light on Cape Willoughby, with the west and northwest
gales which blow so frequently during the winter season, they may go
into Port Elliot, and oftentimes back again, either to Van Diemen’s
Land or Port Phillip, in less time than they could beat through
Backstairs Passage; besides the difficulty of returning down the Gulf
against the south-west gales. I have no hesitation in saying, that two
mails may easily be delivered at Port Elliot, for one at Port
Adelaide, during the winter months, &c.
“I have, &c.,
“THOS. LIPSON,
“Naval Officer and Harbour Master.
“Hon. the Colonial Secretary.”
NAVIGATION OF THE MURRAY.
Message No. 24, from His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor to the
Legislative Council.
Lieutenant-Governor Sir Henry Young has the gratification to announce to
the Legislative Council the arrival, at the Goolwa, of the first
river-borne wool, the produce of the vast basin of the Murray.
In congratulating the Council on this auspicious commencement of the
steam navigation and commerce of the great River Murray, the
Lieutenant-Governor is happy to state that Captain Cadell’s voyage
reached to one hundred and fifty miles beyond Swan Hill, a distance of
about fourteen hundred and fifty miles from the sea; and was also
extended to sixty miles up the Wakool—an important branch of the Murray.
The first cargo comprises wool of the Murray, the Darling, the
Murrumbidgee, and the Wakool Rivers.
H. E. F. YOUNG, Lieutenant-Governor.
On board the _Lady Augusta_ steamer,
Goolwa, October 14, 1853.
Address of the Legislative Council to his Excellency the
Lieutenant-Governor.
To His Excellency Sir Henry Edward Fox Young, Knight,
Lieutenant-Governor of Her Majesty’s Province of South Australia, &c.
&c.
May it please your Excellency—
The Legislative Council has experienced sincere gratification in the
announcement made to it by your Excellency, of the arrival, at the
Goolwa, of the first river-borne wool, the produce of the vast basin of
the Murray.
The opening up of the navigation of the Murray has long been anxiously
desired; and your Excellency’s earnest and undeviating exertions to
promote that important object well deserve the warmest thanks of this
Council and of the Colonists of South Australia.
Your Excellency’s personal superintendence of the first practical
experiment—which has resulted in demonstrating that that great river is
navigable by steam, for commercial purposes, for at least fourteen
hundred and fifty miles of its course—must necessarily connect the name
of your Excellency with that successful enterprise; and the Council
think that so great a public service should be appropriately
acknowledged.
The Council, therefore, requests your Excellency to cause three Gold
Medals to be engraved, with suitable device and
inscriptions—commemorating the auspicious opening up of the steam
navigation and commerce of the Murray, and the first arrival at the
Goolwa of river-borne wool. And the Council requests that—as the
Lieutenant-Governor of South Australia, whose personal exertions
promoted this great enterprise, and in whose administration it
originated and has been successfully accomplished—your Excellency would
be pleased to receive one of the said Medals.
And the Council further requests that your Excellency will be pleased to
cause one of the said Medals to be conferred on Captain Francis Cadell,
who completed the first commercial voyage, as owner and commander of the
_Lady Augusta_ steamer and _Eureka_ barge, with a cargo of Murray wool;
and the remaining medal may be deposited with the records of the
Legislature of South Australia, under whose sanction the necessary
pecuniary aid was voted in encouragement of the steam navigation of the
River Murray.
JOHN MORPHETT, Speaker.
Legislative Council Chamber, Adelaide,
21st October, 1853.
Reply of His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor.
Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen—
I receive with great gratification the Address which you have presented
to me.
In conformity with your request, I shall cause Medals of South
Australian Gold to be struck, in commemoration of the opening up of the
commerce and navigation of the river Murray.
I shall have great pleasure in conferring on Captain Cadell the Medal by
which the Lieutenant-Governor and Legislature desire to distinguish him
with honour, in having successfully accomplished the first commercial
steam voyage on the river Murray.
I concur with you in deeming this important event to be worthy of
permanent record in the annals of South Australia; and I shall cause a
commemorative medal to be placed conspicuously among the public
archives.
I shall not fail to seek Her Majesty’s gracious permission to accept
from the Legislative Council the honour of one of the Medals for myself,
as a memorial of the happy fortune by which I have been privileged to be
a co-operator with the Council in opening up the steam navigation of the
river Murray, and thereby establishing a bond of commercial and social
union between three prosperous Colonies of Australia.
H. E. F. YOUNG.
Government House, October 24, 1853.
PROCLAMATION
By His Excellency Sir Henry Edward Fox Young, Knight,
Lieutenant-Governor of Her Majesty’s Province of South Australia, and
Vice-Admiral of the same, &c. &c.
(_L S_)
H. E. F. Young.
Whereas, in order to provide for the interests of future settlers, and
the probable course of future settlement along the banks of the
now-ascertained navigable waters of the River Murray, it is expedient,
that as respects the River Murray, and its Lakes Alexandrina or Victoria
and Lake Albert, in South Australia, there should be adopted and applied
the principles recognised and acted upon in the Royal Order in Council
of the 9th March, 1847, by which it was declared that in New South Wales
and Victoria there shall not be included in leases for pastoral purposes
any lands lying and being within the distance of three miles from the
sea coast, and within the distance of two miles from either of the
opposite banks of certain rivers then named in the above-mentioned Royal
Order: And whereas, for these and other purposes, it is expedient that
the portion of the Province of South Australia hereinafter described
should be created a Hundred: Now, therefore, I, the Lieutenant-Governor,
in the name and on the behalf of Her Most Gracious Majesty, by virtue of
the powers and authorities in me vested, do, by this my Proclamation,
declare and appoint that the several parts of the said Province of South
Australia, hereinafter more particularly described, and which are in
part bounded by the shores of Lake Alexandrina or Victoria and Lake
Albert, and by the banks of the River Murray, shall, from and after the
first day of July next ensuing the date of this Proclamation, be, and I
do by this my Proclamation constitute the same a Hundred of the same
Province by the name of the “Hundred of the Murray:” And I do by this my
Proclamation further proclaim and declare that—All those lands which lie
within the distance of two miles from either of the two opposite banks
of the River Murray, within the Province of South Australia, together
with all those lands which lie within the distance of two miles from the
north shore of Lake Alexandrina, between Salt Creek Trigonometrical
Station and the Murray, and two miles from the east shores of Lakes
Alexandrina and Albert, and also all the land in the County of Russell
lying west of Lake Albert, as the same are respectively delineated in
the public maps deposited in the office of the Surveyor-General of the
Province, shall be within and shall constitute the said Hundred.
Given under my hand and the public seal of the said Province, at
Adelaide, this ninth day of November, in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, and in the seventeenth year of
Her Majesty’s reign.
By command,
B. T. FINNISS, Colonial Secretary.
God save the Queen!
Colonial Secretary’s Office, Adelaide, Nov. 9, 1853.
The margins of Lake Alexandrina and Lake Albert, and each bank of the
River Murray, for two miles inland, having been constituted and
proclaimed the “Hundred of the Murray in South Australia:”
Notice is hereby given that applications will be received by the
Surveyor-General for the survey of sections on the said lands, in blocks
of 10, 80, and 640 acres, according to the wishes of intending
purchasers.
Access from the back lands to the water, and necessary roads for the
convenience of the public, will be reserved in the usual manner.
Purchasers of land will have the customary privilege of commonage within
the Hundred, according to the regulations.
By His Excellency’s command,
B. T. FINNISS, Colonial Secretary.
Footnotes
[1]This poor man was unfortunately drowned, September 30th.
[2]According to Balbi, the course of the Murray is nearly 3,000 miles.
[3]This calculation can only be approximate.
[4]Expeditions into the Interior of Australia: 2 vols.
[5]The return of supplies taken each trip up the river, it is
calculated, will be equivalent to about one-half the value of the
cargo brought down; the orders for goods amounting already to £3,000
and upwards.
[6]The dimensions of the _Lady Augusta_ (so called in honour of Lady
Young), are as follows:—Extreme length on deck, 105ft.; extreme
length of keel, 98ft. 6in.; depth of hold, 5ft 6in.; breadth of
beam, 12ft.; on the cross guards, 21ft. She is built altogether upon
the American principle and model, and cost about £5,000. Her
engines, furnished from Sydney, are of twenty horse power each, and
of best workmanship. Her total tonnage, including engines which
weigh thirty tons, is ninety-one tons. Her beams and planking are of
New Zealand pine, and her timbers are of honeysuckle. She draws 3ft.
water when full, and 2ft. 4in. when light. She possesses
accommodation for sixteen first-class passengers and half as many
second. There is also accommodation in the _Eureka_ barge, which
tows alongside.
[7]The _Eureka_ launch is built of blue gum below, her upper planks of
New Zealand pine, and her decks of Baltic deal. Entire length on
deck, 106 feet; entire length of keel, 96 feet; breadth of beam, 12
feet; breadth of cross guards, 21 feet; depth of hold, 8 feet. Her
dimensions were:—Estimated measurement tonnage, 87 tons; draught of
water, with cargo, 3 feet; draught of water, without cargo, 13 to 15
inches. The deck, which is covered with an awning, is, from her
peculiar construction, large enough for a vessel of 300 or 400 tons.
[8]This man, for want of evidence, was released, and sent back from
whence he came.
[9]From those lakes, salt, in considerable quantities, is gathered and
transported into the interior, or to the nearest towns.
[10]October 4th, above Euston, three emus or cassowaries were observed
swimming across the river. Amongst the Australian aborigines there
has been an evident desire to preserve this gigantic bird, and for
this purpose its flesh is forbidden, it is said, to their young men.
The Europeans, however, hunt it down without any consideration,
unless it be for the sake of its feathers or for a steak of its
flesh. An emu, we are told, with a kick can kill a dog or break a
horse’s leg, and to judge from the size of their claws (some of
which we have on board) this can be no exaggeration. Dogs are,
however, trained to seize them by the neck, and, in this way,
overpower them easily.
[11]The Darling, during more than half the year, would, it appears, be
navigable for upwards of 150 miles from its junction with the
Murray. A few years ago indeed, it was settled as far as Lake
Minindie, a Government Reserve, 200 miles from the mouth; but the
outrages of the blacks—the distance from an available market—or
other causes—led to the abandonment of these runs. It has now only
50,000 sheep upon its banks; but would, it is said, depasture four
times that number, and might be occupied up to Fort Bourke, 500
miles from the junction. The waters of the Darling, at times
fordable, begin to rise about July, and subside again in February.
[12]According to Mr. Jamieson, Mickie had a companion; and the native
was alone.
[13]In Victoria, as much as 35s. had been demanded for one day’s
stabling and food for one horse.
[14]These birds were afterwards brought on board and conveyed to
Adelaide.
[15]These “store” sheep, as they are called, are sent overland to be
fattened on the banks of the river, whence the clip is easily
transported to Adelaide.
[16]In the Wakool we found three and a-half fathoms water.
[17]As in some degree confirmatory of this last extract, it may be
mentioned that on taking in wood, at the Great Bend, we were
informed that, of the woodcutters who had been working for us, one
had been a West India proprietor, and the other the nephew of a
noble Earl, whose ancestors have borne a prominent place in Irish
history.
[18]It is worthy of remark, that the sheep on the Murray appear to be
singularly exempt from disease—neither catarrh, scab, nor foot rot,
being now known amongst them.
[19]The nearest diggings to Swan Hill are the Koorong, about 100 miles
distant.
[20]On this voyage, up the Murray, has been remarked by more than one of
our party the singular resemblance to Gothic arches presented by the
overhanging trees. It is not impossible that the idea of their
construction has thus originated; at any rate, of the notion we may,
I think, say with the Italian, _si non è vero è ben trovato_.
[21]The Company, it appears, allowed the passengers 8s. a-day during
their detention.
[22]Near this station, on the borders of a lake, is found a quantity of
a kind of gypsum or talc, perfectly transparent, which possibly may
yet be turned to some useful purposes.
[23]Strange to say, the Wakool is stated in the dry season to be quite
salt; if so, the salt springs must predominate over the waters of
the Murray, of which it receives the “backwaters.”
[24]The Royal Australian Bank have two other sheep stations in the
vicinity of the Wakool, as also two cattle stations on the Neimur
and Murray; the whole being under the superintendence of Mr. Walter
Murray.
[25]It is not fair to inflict upon the public the minutiæ of one’s daily
ailments; but when one has not enjoyed a day’s health for five
years—have suffered partial blindness for four years—and for nearly
two years have lain down nightly with the chance of falling into a
fit—as has been my case, I think this note may be pardoned.
[26]I crave the forgiveness of these gentlemen, if I have incorrectly
quoted their opinions or their words; but am reminded, as I write,
of the witty words of Voltaire, when told that Admiral Byng had been
shot by order of the British Government,—“_C’est pour encourager les
autres._”
[27]The Captain called it a spiral rock, and I understood there is only
four feet water over it.
[28]The excellent arrangement of which (small as it is), it is but just
to say, was chiefly due to the exertions of Mr. Younghusband’s
valet, groom, and coachman; for, I believe, “James” combines these
three capacities in his own person.
[29]The trees on the Murray being of large size and lofty growth, it
cannot be doubted that timber cutting and rafting in all its
branches will erelong be introduced on the stream; on parts of which
saw mills might with advantage be erected: the timber, when cut down
and sawn, being formed into large rafts, and floated down, as on the
rivers of Europe and America.
[30]The result of this expedition to the Colony of South Australia may
truly be called the discovery of the Golden Fleece; for by the
successful achievement of the navigation of the Murray by Captain
Cadell’s steamer, Sir Henry Young has obtained an immediate increase
to the exports of the Province of certainly 1,000,000lbs. of wool,
of the value of about £80,000. I limit the amount to about this sum,
because, for another twelve months, I doubt the steamer being able
to carry the estimated quantity of wool even from Swan Hill—and
amounting, with two years’ clip, to £162,000—unless, indeed, the
boats navigated, as is expected, from England, for the Murray,
should arrive. But when the boats are equal to the freight, I
conceive the addition to the exports of South Australia will not
fall short of £350,000.
[31]For these statistics, with much other information, I am indebted to
Mr. Jamieson, of Mildura.
Transcriber’s Notes
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printed book) for no-cost, unrestricted use with this eBook.
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_underscores_.
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